#I’m already behind on it being a sapphic queer
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Lavender Chamomile Tea Latte, with oat milk. Chamomile from my garden (inevitably died in the Phoenix heat). I like to add honey to sweeten it up a bit, but it’s fine without.
🌝😻✨
#divine#tea#tea latte#vegan#vegan treats#witch shit#real life#high posts#mental health#full moon#full moon ritual#vegetarian#vegetarian treats#the honey was local too#organic#organic foods#this is the whitest shit I’ve ever done#I gotta go buy a Subaru now#I’m already behind on it being a sapphic queer#lesbian shit#cottagecore#tradwife
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actually yeah i would like to talk about how other queer people specifically were the reason it took me so long to come out as a gay trans man
(this is really fucking long, but especially if you’re not a trans man or trans masc, i’d like you to read it all the way through.)
as a preface, i’m not a kid. i’m a fully fledged adult who has been in the queer community for about ten years now, both online and offline. most of the queer people i know irl are my age or older. i turn 30 next year. also before you use the words ‘chronically online’, consider the fact that the things people say online are what they actually believe and will take out into the world with them.
anyway.
when i try to talk about transphobia directed at trans men and mascs from within the queer community, or lateral aggression from trans people who are not trans men or trans mascs (this is not just trans women and femmes, this includes any trans people who aren’t trans men or mascs. i have heard some vile shit out of the mouths of other ‘afab’* trans people), people often respond with “but cishets are the real enemy!!! they’re the ones causing all the actual damage and oppression!!!!!” and while i get the sentiment, that is where you’re wrong my friend. the thing causing my oppression isn’t cishets, it’s the cisheteropatriarchy. cishets tend to be the ones that chug that koolaid most readily, but queer people, even other trans people, have gleefully gulped down gallons of the stuff, and that specifically is what made it so difficult for me to accept myself and come out.
*i fucking hate the term ‘afab’ but this post is already so goddamn long
when i first entered the lgbtq community, it was on facebook in the early 2010′s. before that, i’d been stuck in a conservative small town and didn’t even know that not being a girl was an option. so obviously when i encountered a bunch of people that were like me, i was ecstatic and wanted to be a part of their community. because i still thought i was a girl at the time, i was immediately funneled into sapphic spaces. for the most part, they were great and lovely, i just felt left out because i couldn’t relate to the way they talked about their love of women. but i knew i was some sort of fruity, which meant clearly i was just repressing my attraction to women, so i needed to try harder to like women. some of this came from the things i’d heard in those groups, but a lot of it was just pressure from myself to deal with a reality that didn’t make sense.
the longer i spent in those groups, though, the more i ran into rhetoric like ‘men are inherently incapable of love and respect, it is impossible to be in a truly fulfilling relationship with a man’ and ‘masculinity is inherently evil and femininity is inherently good.’ some people tried to have nuance, but a lot, especially cis women, didn’t. in those groups, people were mocked for being in relationships with men, they were told that if they had a boyfriend they weren’t even allowed to mention it in the group because the group needed to be a ‘space completely free of men’, people were told that if they were being abused by a man then it was their fault because they should have been dating a woman instead, they should have known better. i was one of those people who was blamed for my own abuse.
as i started to realize that shit maybe i’m not a girl, there was a lot of pressure for me to make sure that i always stayed within the confines of ‘non man.’ because the second i slid over that line, it was over. i was lost. does that rhetoric sound familiar? it’s terf rhetoric, and the irony is that all of these spaces explicitly condemned terfs.
i was in a group for ‘non men’ and when people in the group came out as trans men, they were asked to leave. the network of groups that this one was connected to was of the mindset that trans men oppressed all nonmen, including cis women. the reasoning given was ‘it would be misgendering!!!!!!!’ but behind closed internet doors, the actual reasons were very clear. on a scale of ‘oppressed’ to ‘privileged’ it went trans women -> cis women -> trans men -> cis men, with nonbinary people being inserted into whatever category was most convenient for argument’s sake.
after that, i stuffed my doubts down for years, terrified of crossing that horrible threshold from ‘nonman’ to ‘man.’ even now, i still cling to the term ‘nonbinary’ because it makes other queer people view me as a more complex person. as soon as i started tentatively using the word ‘man’ to describe myself without all the disclaimers of ‘but don’t worry i’m not actually a man!!!!! i’m still a person!!!!!!!’, the way people interacted with me changed drastically.
i was the exact same person, still non-passing, still gender noncomforming, still someone with a very complex relationship to gender because of my sexuality and being autistic, but because that word ‘man’ was there, suddenly people felt they had the right to silence me and speak over me. cis women who were being blatantly transphobic dismissed me saying ‘i don’t argue with men’, queer people dismissed me saying ‘stop mansplaining’ and telling me that regardless of my presentation, regardless of how i was treated out in the world, i was still privileged because i identified with the label of ‘man.’
i made a video on tik tok about how traumatic it was to come to terms with being a man as someone who has been hurt by cis men, and an old mutual of mine started tagging me in cis men’s videos about unlearning toxic masculinity, telling me i needed to watch myself if i was going to be a man. another mutual also shared in that trauma, and theirs was exacerbated by a racial element. i tried to make more videos about my experiences, documented by journey with top surgery, but as soon as i started speaking loudly about including trans men and mascs in the fight for abortion rights, everything went downhill.
terfs started to find my account and get my videos taken down. queer cis women claimed i was ‘silencing women’ and used the ‘trans man’ in my bio to claim ‘mansplaining’ despite the fact i am nonpassing and the world sees me as a woman. a trans femme stitched one of my videos to chide me for saying that repealing roe v wade affected trans men and mascs, because i should have been talking about how it affected trans women and femmes and the rest of the queer community, not ‘centering men.’ a trans woman commented on their post in my defense, and they deleted her comment. after that, cis women reported by account by the dozens and i was eventually banned.
that’s when i realized, men hadn’t caused me trauma. the cisheteropatriarchy had caused me trauma. the system that had allowed my abusive ex to treat me the way he did, that allowed my friends to watch and say nothing, that allowed a woman who was a bystander in a public domestic violence incident to complain to us that we were ruining her day at the mall and threatening to call the police on both of us rather than standing up for someone who was literally publicly being physically attacked. the system that allowed cis women to say, quite literally, that because trans men and mascs were a numerical minority of the people who would be affected by the repealing of roe v wade that we shouldn’t be in the spotlight, that cis women should be centered, that it was somehow ‘misogyny’ to point out that anti-abortion laws quite literally would affect trans men and mascs more severely and in more ways than cis women.
women and other queer people may not have been the ones hitting me or writing these bills, but for years they were the ones telling me my abuse was my fault, that i was morally incorrect for being a man, that i could never love or be loved if i was a man, that i should sit down and shut up, regardless of how much my community was hurting and dying. that i would always be an afterthought, if even.
i think very often about two tik toks i saw of a trans masc person talking about transition, and one said “you spend the first half of your life being subjugated by the sins of men, then you transition and you spend the rest of your life paying for the sins of men” and the other commented about another user’s video saying “a beard, facial hair, stands in the way of this person being perceived as innocent and being perceived as capable of roofieing your drink.”
and i realized that’s part of why i’m terrified to go on t. completely separate from the fact that i have a career which relies on my voice so going on t would absolutely nuke that, i have already experienced so much aggression and isolation based on just identifying as a man. i cannot even begin to imagine how much worse it would get if i started to look ‘like a man.’ i have lamented the fact that i’m forced to lose my softness, whether i want to or not, that the very community that wants to break down barriers and liberate people are the ones who are forcing me into a box for the sake of convenience in online arguments.
and people can mock me and go on about ‘toxic masculinity’ all they want, but this is a hard truth about the community that we really need to start talking about, because i have absolutely no doubt that experiences like mine are what contributes to trans men and masc’s astronomically high rates of suicide, self harm, depression, anxiety, eating disorders, etc.
i feel more like myself than i ever have in my life. and i also feel more isolated than i ever have in my life. there was a moment where things finally clicked for me, and for a fraction of a second i was so excited. i wanted to share my revelation with my community and be celebrated. but then i thought back about the way people had talked about men, trans men, masculinity, loving men, and that little tiny moment of celebration was brought to a screeching halt. i realized that every other time i’d seen a gay trans man or masc come out and talk about their gender and sexuality, the responses had been peppered with ‘sorry for ur loss’, ‘ew lol’, ‘so u chose to become a man?????’, ‘omg u have to date men and be a man????? i feel sorry for u lmao.’
and now as i delve into the dating pool as a gay trans man, i see that all this online bullshit isn’t just ‘chronically online,’ it’s manifested in real life too. the way queer trans men and mascs are treated as entitled for wanting to date cis queer men, the way people respond if we say we’re unhappy with just being a hookup or a fling because we should be happy anyone wanted us in the first place. the way we’re treated as fetishizers and freaks, the way people specifically search through the ‘ftm’ tag on grindr looking for ‘sissy boys/femme bottoms/etc’ then get angry when you don’t respond to them. the way other queer people respond to you when you try to talk about this. the way trans men and mascs who can’t go on t are treated as less than men but also aren’t allowed to talk about their experience of someone perceived as ‘less than men’, the way testosterone is spoken about in queer communities as a poison, as something that makes you ugly and disfigured and gross and dirty when for so many of us it’s literally lifesaving medical treatment. the way we can’t talk about the things we go through without random cis people dragging trans women and femmes into it when, even though there are some concerning trends of lateral violence that need to be discussed, most of the aggression comes from cis queer women.
so when trans men make posts or host events or just do anything to celebrate trans manhood and masculinity, and your first reaction is to make fun of us, project your frustration with the cisheteropatriarchy, or respond with “we don’t need positivity for men”, i want you to think about the number of trans men and mascs who kill ourselves, and i want you to think “maybe i should not say this, maybe i should just do this one thing to make life a little easier for them, even if i don’t get it.”
#trans#transgender#trans man#trans masc#queer#trans community#queer community#lgbtq#transphobia#transandrophobia#transmisandry#antimasculism#it does not fucking matter what we call it#what matters is that it's killing us and y'all don't want to acknowledge it
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Lost in Your Current Like a Priceless Wine
A queer analysis of wine mentions in Taylor Swift’s discography (folklore and evermore)
Rose’ flowing with your chosen family.
Chosen family is a very queer concept. Rose as a lighter version of red wine (literally), and also that it’s casually flowing refers to how this person (who was not “the one”) is able to freely express queerness around their chosen family, whereas Taylor is still digging up the grave another time. We’ll come back to this when I analyze Maroon (your roommate’s cheap-ass screw-top rose).
August sipped away like a bottle of wine.
God this fucking song. I saw someone say that, since the song is from August's perspective (I know Taylor said "Augustine" but i think August is a prettier name), she’s saying that she herself was sipped away like a bottle of wine, carelessly. When you get to the end of a bottle of wine, you’re drunk and surprised that the bottle is already empty. The song as a whole is about a relationship that was unexpected, wrong, desperate, secret. “Are you sure?” “I’ve never done this before.” (Never have I ever as a teenage party game paired with “seven years in heaven” on happiness.)
August is a retrospective. It’s nostalgic in lyrics and production. “Wanting was enough, for me it was enough” harkens back to False God and the desperation to stay for the sake of wanting each other. August remembers; she wonders if her former lover does to “do you remember when I pulled up and said get in the car…” The repetition of the outro reminds me of All Too Well 10 Minute Version. It was rare, I was there, I remember it all. Wind in my hair, you were there, you remember it. Wine is so fleeting but it leaves a permanent stain, as we first saw in Clean.
“Meet me behind the mall” implies a youthful secrecy. August as a part of the cardigan/betty lore solidifies it as a song themed around adolescence. I want to write more on this later, but I believe the queer concept of “second adolescence” plays heavily into folklore, whereas evermore is the end of that adolescence.
Lost in your current like a priceless wine.
I think I’ll do a full queer analysis of willow someday, because the lyrics are actually devastating. The set-up for the song is that this person came into the narrator’s life unexpectedly and derailed her plans dramatically. We have secrecy (“wait for the signal and I’ll meet you after dark”), the lover feeling exceptional from others (“as if you were a mythical thing”), and desperation for the lover to stay as they’re leaving (“Wherever you stray, I”ll follow; I’m begging for you to take my hand”).
Here in the first verse, Taylor says she’s “lost in your current.” She didn’t mean to fall, but it’s “like a priceless wine,” the most meaningful love she’s had. The most meaningful, but once the bottle is open, that wine gets sipped away. It’s the best thing that’s ever been hers, and it’s almost gone. The rest of the album is about loss and endings.
And drink my husband’s wine.
Ivy is almost universally believed to be sapphic (though non-gaylors will call it fictional). It’s very Emily Dickinson (I watched all of Dickinson on Apple TV+ to get to the moment this song plays). Ivy is about an extremely risky affair, one that will inevitably end in fire and destruction, but one that is beautiful. There are so many queer themes included in the lyrics. What is more “magnificently cursed” than being queer and forced to hide it?
In ivy, to “drink my husband’s wine” means drinking it both secretly and in a way that takes from said husband. This wine is supposed to be the husband’s, but now it represents what the illicit lover can’t have. (i’ll mention here that I also think wine could also be a metaphor for pussy. tried to find a more delicate way to say it but u get it.) If wine represents sexuality, the context of it being her “husband’s wine” implies that, while they may continue to be together in secret, there will always be the shadow of this man looming over them. They’ll never truly belong to each other as long as the narrator is forced to stay in a heteronormative relationship.
Summary: here, wine is used in the context of loss. The end of the bottle is the end of the relationship. What was once full and beautiful and light has become sour and empty.
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Love at First Snowfall
By Skyler10
Summary:
Daisy's grumbling about having to share a snowy family vacation with another family in their cabin ends suddenly when she meets their gorgeous daughter. Love at first sight might not be real, but this is making a believer out of Daisy. Luckily for her, Carol is a confident woman who goes after what she wants. And what she wants is Daisy. Like the snow outside, these girls are falling hard and fast.
Based on this image prompt from @ficwip
Read on Ao3
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Daisy pulled her parka tighter as she trudged through the snow behind her parents. She was 25 but felt like a teenager, grumbling that snow was stupid and family vacations were stupid and blizzards blocking the driveway up to their cabin were especially stupid. It was cold, dark despite being only 6 p.m., and the groceries she was carrying from the convenience store in the village were threatening to break through their plastic bags. Plus, another family from the Air Force Officer’s Club was coming and sharing the cabin with them. Technically, the Coulsons were in side A and the other family was renting side B of the split duplex, but that side didn’t have any heating, so the three-bedroom three-bathroom side A half of the cabin would have to do for all six of them.
“Ughhhh,” Daisy groaned as they approached the cabin and discovered the other family had arrived. A burly man with a snow shovel was clearing the driveway for his wife to pull in their giant SUV. Another “ughhh” sounded from the driveway as the door on the far side of the SUV opened and slammed shut.
“Let me help!” a blonde young woman insisted to the burly man, who could only be her father.
“I told you to wait in the car,” he insisted. “Young ladies don’t need to be out in this weather.”
“Dad!”
The two stopped bickering long enough to notice Phil, Melinda, and Daisy approaching, likely given away by the sound of their boots crunching on the icy snow.
“Hey! I can grab some of those bags! Oh.” The blonde walked over, then exhaled a puff of white air as she saw Daisy up close.”Hi. I’m Carol.”
Her rosy cheeks, soft smile, and bright eyes charmed Daisy immediately. “God, please let her be queer,” Daisy prayed to the rainbow gods.
Carol’s mom turned off the SUV and got out to greet them, and introductions all around set the snowy week in motion.
“And here we are,” Daisy concluded the short cabin tour for Carol, who plopped her duffle bag on the unclaimed bed. Daisy’s bed, with a view out the window at the snow-draped forest, was already rumpled from the night before. “Um, I hope that dark pink duvet is okay. We washed both when I arrived yesterday, and I took the navy.”
“I like it.” Carol winked in a way that Daisy didn’t understand. “It suits us.”
“Sorry, what?” Daisy furrowed her brow, not following the reference.
Carol nodded to the bi flag sticker on Daisy’s laptop, sitting half-open on the bedstand. She then pulled out her phone and lit up the lock screen. A stylized lesbian flag appeared, complete with a stripe so dark pink it was almost maroon, just like the duvet Daisy pulled off the shelf.
So the sapphic goddesses did answer prayers.
Daisy cleared her throat. “Oh! And do you have a girlfriend who is going to be jealous of us rooming together?”
“I don’t have a girlfriend,” Carol answered with a wry smile. “And do you have anyone who—?”
“No! No,” Daisy clarified hastily. “I’m free. Free as a bird. Single as a … jingle? ANYWAY!” Daisy rushed to make her bed and sat down on it, then got up again abruptly, eyeing the door.
Carol strategically leaned against the doorframe, casually blocking Daisy’s escape. “My mom tells me you work at Stark Industries too? Shame I haven’t seen you before around the office. Then again, I’m up on the 10th floor with the rest of aerospace.”
“I… I mostly work from home, or, well, until recently I was in the New York office, but now, I’m not. I mean, I just moved back to Colorado. But I could be in the Denver office now more. Maybe visiting the 10th floor?” Daisy finished and blushed. She wasn’t used to being the flustered one. Usually she held all the cards, batting her lashes and pushing out her cleavage or wearing the perfect dress to make a man putty in her hands. But Carol Danvers was no man. This time it was Daisy fighting desperately for her cool-girl life.
“I’d like that. That is, if you’re not sick of me after this week,” Carol laughed in self-deprecation. “But I already know you’re a lot nicer to look at than any of the sweaty dudes up there. It’d be a nice change of pace.”
“I think there was a compliment in there?” Daisy laughed. “Thank you.”
“Welcome.” Carol gave her a cheeky once-over to make the flirtation clear.
Daisy’s heart skipped. “You know that officers’ dinner gala thing our parents have to go to on Wednesday night at the ski resort?”
Carol rolled her eyes and her smile fell. “Ugh, don’t remind me.”
“What if we stayed here instead? Made dinner together and got to know each other better?” Daisy held her breath as she waited for an answer.
“Hell yes.” Carol sighed in relief. “I hate those things.”
The night of the gala, the girls got dressed up anyway after the parents left. They ate dinner by candlelight, after lying to their parents that they were too tired from skiing and just wanted a “cozy girls’ night in.” While their parents assumed they were watching trashy TV and heating up a frozen pizza in their PJs, they were really having their first date.
Though they had only known each other a few days, their chemistry was instant. Love at first sight might be a myth, as true love grows over time with emotional intimacy and investment, but desire at first sight is as real as the sudden blanket of snow on a winter morning, fresh and sparkling with possibility.
Sometimes that pure desire is tarnished with exploration, but for Daisy and Carol, it grew with each moment. By the end of the week, they were waking up with limbs entangled under the navy duvet, watching the snowfall replenish itself to brave the light of a new day.
#daisy johnson#carol danvers#aos#agents of shield#captain marvel#daisy x carol#carol x daisy#wlw#sapphic fic#femslash#lesbian carol danvers#bisexual daisy johnson#skywriting#family vacation au#roommates#snowed in#love at first sight#winter fic
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genuine question, why do you support bi lesbianism? bisexual/pan seems to have it fully covered meaning-wise, and it is kinda reductive to go and try to include men in lesbianism after it was established in the 70s and during the aids crisis. i’m just curious about your ideology behind it.
This doesn't seem in bad faith like a lot of the others so I will go ahead and answer it here, because even though I've explained it already, those posts were long and included a lot of other stuff, so it would be good to have a post dedicated to it. It won't be concise, because I'm wordy, and I apologize in advance for that.
First, I want to start off by saying I am always a proponent of using whatever label makes you feel most comfortable so long as it's not harming anyone else. As much as some of the people who hate me for this opinion want to think that bi lesbianism harms lesbians by saying men have to be included in their label, it's just not true. This is the same argument exclusionists make against the bi label. Just because it can include men for some people doesn't mean that it has to include men for all people.
I also support the label because I think that obviously there is a need/ demand for it despite the fact that bisexuality could in theory include everyone who uses this label. It makes people comfortable, it gives them joy in describing themselves in the fullest/ most authentic way possible. As fellow queer people, why should we shoot down queer joy just because it confuses us or isn't our exact lived experience?
Also, as someone who is personally going through the bi/lesbian is it this one or that one deal right now, I can understand why people may want to use it. I think I'm attracted to both, but I cannot see myself actually being with a man, because I'm just not comfortable around them (I keep making the joke to my friends—I just don't think we have anything in common! I know I could probably very easily be friends with men, but I just never really have and I've never gravitated towards them, so even talking to guys is somewhat of a foreign concept to me).
I use the lesbian label because personally I've tried out microlabels in the past and they're just not for me—as a former aspec-identifying person, I now prefer to have labels I don't have to explain to everyone I meet—but I can see another version of myself who really identifies with this label. And I think this is true with a lot more sapphics than we think, because sexuality is so fluid and confusing at times, and sometimes its easier to settle on a slightly uncomfortable label than to think about it more or go seeking out the "perfect" label for yourself.
I supported mspec lesbians before I even knew I had attraction at all, so this is less of an important point, but it is something that has come to light as I've had this discussion in the past few weeks as someone who now recognizes their own attraction.
Tldr: I support bi lesbians because they don't cause harm, and because I support queer joy in general. It's why I call myself a label anarchist—I just think we shouldn't be upset with people for using whatever the fuck words they want to to describe THEMSELVES!!
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I'm pretty tired of certain edelkinnies projecting on her that she's some kind of grand sapphic rep we were all waiting for or something... As a non-edelstan wlw who enjoys pretty much every f/f ship in this game (that doesn't involve the few female characters I don't care for) I get really tired of the argument that not liking her means you hate gay women. Her story and character have nothing to do with telling an LGBT story of any kind, you could literally play as M!Byleth and she comes across as yet another waifu meant to pander to sweaty Reddit dudebros, but some people have decided that she's primarily meant as queer rep above everything else and decided the rest of us should view her that way too. It's already bad enough that "progressive" male fans will call you sexist for not liking their pixel waifu, now I have to deal with people from my own community acting like her being S-supportable by the female avatar erases all her flaws as and I gotta be okay with her bigotry and imperialism because she can be gay (also IntSys is like, SUPER woke and was totally thinking about people like us when creating her, yup!) I should just resort to using the same strawman whenever they talk shit about Rhea, who they don't seem to hold to the same ridiculous standard (and who has substantial f/f subtext in the game that doesn't involve the avatar). "You guys just hate to see a sapphic girlboss winning" will be my mantra from now on.
“certain edelkinnies” i feel like i’m missing out on some drama lmao but oh yeah anon i completely agree.
i can see why some lesbian/bi women would latch onto edelgard since wlw rep is pretty much always a welcome addition but it’s not a shield for her (or rather her stans) to hide behind when someone makes an argument they can’t go against and it’s definitely not cudgel to use against other people to attack their morals just bc they don’t see her in the same holy light u do. also being a villain doesn’t negate her sexuality in any way. she can still be in the wrong and have a crush on byleth of either sex… it’s not two exclusive traits.
personally, i’m not naïve enough to think that intsys made edel bi in an attempt to be more inclusive- it was a marketing ploy 100%. and guess what? i would say the same thing for rhea, dorothea, yuri, lin, etc. does this make me dislike them or view them as less bisexual? of course not but let’s not delude ourselves lol
and i find it kinda telling that i only see this behavior from one section of the fandom. i don’t see yuri or lin stans acting a fool (sometimes doro but not to the same extent). i might joke that rhea is a gay pope and if you hate her ur homophobic but never in a million years would i use that as an actual argument. rhea is bisexual and she still definitely torched those bitches at the end of cf.
#ugh there are so many good f/f ships in the game. ingrid/mercie is good. so is annette/lys. oh and doro/manuela. leonie/mari is a fave ❤️#asks
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this isn’t really advice and I don’t know if it’ll be helpful at all, but—i’m also sapphic and haven’t been in a relationship, and i’m almost 24.
it can definitely feel shitty and isolating at times, especially when there are people around you hitting big milestones like marriage and buying a house. i have straight friends my age who already have kids while i feel like i’ve missed out on most really basic dating experiences.
the thing that’s been most helpful for me is just talking with other queer people and being reminded that many of us do miss out on those basic experiences in our teens and early twenties for a variety of reasons.
i know how much it sucks feeling like you’re missing out or lagging behind in life, but just remember that you’re not alone in your experiences and at some point you’ll meet someone great and it’ll feel worth having to wait for so long. wishing you the best 💜
this is definitely very helpful and i appreciate you so much! thank you for taking the time to write this message and share your experience.
most of my friends are straight so i definitely do feel the isolation and almost embarrassment. like i sometimes feel like i’m too far behind or i’m missing out or like i’m not good enough.
hearing from other people in the community whether they’ve had relationships or like me haven’t had experience helps me so much. it can seem like a little thing but it really does make me feel less alone.
so thank you so much your words mean a lot. and i’m wishing you the best as well! 💙
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Rating Evermore Songs By The Homoerotic Subtext
Before i get into this please know that i do not give two shits about Taylor Swift’s personal life or sexuality. That is not what this is about. I’ve just gotten my grubby little gay hands on this album.
Willow: While it fucking slaps and is genuinely one of my favorite songs on the album i don’t really get a lot of homoerotic subtext from it. also the fact that im listening to it from a lesbian’s perspective and the line “that’s my man” is repeated a lot so i don’t connect to it on a homo level but it does slap. 2/10
Champagne Problems: ugh this song is so good. feels like it was written about happiest season, if im being honest. like the narrator is still closeted while her lover is out to her family. and like insert the plot of happiest seasons also the mention of flannel? come on. also like the narrator’s lover’s gender is never mentioned so im choosing to believe the narrator is singing about loving a woman while she’s in the closet. you can’t tell me that im wrong. impeccable homoerotic vibes 8/10
Gold Rush: this song is just overflowing in homoerotic subtext. “what must it be like to grow up that beautiful”????? “With your hair falling into place dominoes”????? “THE COSTAL TOWN WE WANDERED ‘ROUND HAD NEVER SEEN A LOVE AS PURE AS IT” ???? that’s me singing about my crush. The whole thing feels like im singing about my unattainable crush. That is what i chose to think this song is about. 9/10
’Tis the Damn Season: this song makes me go bonkers. yes yes its about going back home and reconnecting with an old flame. I get the homoerotic subtext out of this purely because i like it and there’s no reference to pronouns in it. Like i CAN make this about homoeroticism if I WANT to but it’s not like as inherent as some of the other songs. Pretty okay homo vibes. 5/10
Tolerate It - the homo vibes in this one hurt me. they hurt me!!! the line “I know my love should be celebrated but you tolerate it” hits HARD when you have family members who just Don’t Acknowledge your gayness. Like yes yes this is about a lover but god this song hits so hard in context of a queer person’s relationship with their less than enthusiastic family. Now I’m begging for footsteps in the story of your life? If it’s all in my head tell me now? Took this dagger in me and removed it? goddddddd it hits a little too hard. i can also related it to my love life of loving someone who only kind of cares about me so there’s homo subtext in that but jesus christ this song makes me think about my family. 7/10
No Body, No Crime: do you think that after the narrator killed ester’s husband she muttered to herself: “but no homo” ? 10/10 homoerotic subtext. I don’t need to explain it.
Happiness: i do not care about Miss Swift’s intentions, because there is little to no subtext in this one, tbh. to ME this song is about my relationship with my former self and how i’ve grown into my gayest self. I can’t make it go away by making her a villain. And she hasn’t me the new me yet. There will be happiness after her but there was happiness because of her. My relationship with my past self and my current self is complicated and messy and necessary 4/10
Dorothea: i mean, we know. we all know. it’s the betty of this album, but better. I firmly believe this will be the next song tiktok lesbians obsess over. interpret that as you will. 8/10.
Coney Island: references the long haul. like a Uhaul. lesbianism. anytime i hear a woman call her lover “baby” i automatically assume lesbianism. Also this song makes me think about One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston but y’all don’t know that yet. Unfortunately this song is a duet with a man. I don’t really connect to this song a lot, tbh. 2/10
Ivy: i mean like this song is about having an affair with someone who is not the narrator’s husband. The homoeroticism of this one JUMPED OUT. my GOD this just RADIATES secret lesbian love affair. like this is in the olden times when you couldn’t be gay and women had to be married to men in order to survive but the narrator is in love with a woman she can’t be with. the imagery of this song is so sapphic. 12/10. i love it so much,
Cowboy Like Me: Pack it up, Brokeback Mountain. 15/10.
Long Story Short: I can get nothing of my own out of this song because it is just so obviously taylor swift singing about her own life. those stronger than me might be able to get homoerotic subtext out of it but i can only hear Taylor Swift singing about Taylor Swift which is fine, it’s a good song, but it gets a 0/10 on the homoeroticism
Majorie - I know this is about her grandmother and i relate to this song a lot about someone in my life that i lost. it is a song about loss and loving someone you lost but how they never really leave you and its beautiful but unfortunately it is the song i think about when i think about my gay ships that got hit with the good old bury your gays trope. like this is a queliot song. it is. i don’t make the rules. but the song itself isn’t really homoerotic, more that i can just relate to it on many levels. 3/10 on the homoeroticism scale but a 10/10 for a well written song.
Closure: First of all, this song is a bop. It reminds me a lot of the ben platt song where eh says “did you read my letter? do you know me better than i know myself?” so therefore im already thinking in homo terms. I would say these are pretty solid homoerotic vibes. i relate to this song a lot because a lot of my “exes” i never officially dated and we broke up there was absolutely no closure and im just rubbing my grubby homosexual hands all over this song. 6/10
Evermore: i am completely erasing Miss Swiftie’s intentions behind a song, this song is about my struggle with finding my sexuality and my journey with coming out and how i felt suffocated by the closet and i was convinced that everything was going to terrible for forever and i felt very lost and i look back on this time very bittersweetly cause it sucked but it brought me to where i am today. 5.5/10 homoeroticism
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So I finally watched The Owl House
I wish I’d do this with every show I watch but it seems like only a lucky few get the She-Ra style rant of love treatment. Well, I finally watched The Owl House after my dash having been flooded for the past couple of weeks and I have some thoughts. Slight spoilers below.
First off, I love the whole vibe. I had a faint idea that this show would be about magic but I didn’t know much before watching - except for one thing, we’ll get back to that. The way it builds its world and deals with magic, though, is so refreshing. And I just have to mention here that I laughed out loud at all the Harry Potter jabs, they were hilarious. I expect we’ll learn much more about magic and its users as the show goes on but as far as the first season goes the introduction was really solid. It strikes the right balance between leaving things to the imagination but being more than “wave wand and magic happens”. It’s colourful, it’s creative, and I even like the ovens and school tracks, despite knowing that the story is about not conforming to those. It makes the Boiling Isles unique and make me want to learn more about the world even beyond the characters and the main plot.
TOH also presents a world that’s much more macabre than I was expecting from the Disney Channel, not that that’s a bad thing. I found myself thinking of Adventure Time at certain points and pondering, at scary moments, how kids would react. I think kids love this, though, and besides, nothing can be more scarring than Courage the Cowardly Dog was. It’s not that terrifying, of course, just daring enough to stand out. Overall the show has what I would classify as more of a Cartoon Network vibe than a Disney Channel one, but I admittedly haven’t really been following many Disney shows. In any case, I dig it. I dig the weird creatures and the beautiful backgrounds and I appreciate how alive the Boiling Isles feel. It doesn’t take long for TOH to immerse you in its world so I’m for one am hooked.
I make a big deal of loving the world itself because rarely does it happen that world-building stands out to me so soon in a series. I do love carefully constructed fantasy worlds but for the most part I’m more interested in the characters themselves. Here, I’d say it’s close to being a 50-50, which is something that even Avatar can’t say with its elemental masterclass in world-building (which is mostly because the character depth there is unrivaled but still). So yeah, kudos to The Owl House for achieving this. From Luz’s glyph magic to the covens and the titans, I’m excited to explore this world more.
Now, the characters. The real meat of any story. Starting with Luz, I have seen some criticism that she’s a generic hero so far, the “I’m a weirdo”, heart of gold, upbeat variety. I don’t think this makes her bland, though I do admit that being told over and over again that she’s weird makes me less engaged, even she’s also shown to be weird. I like the message of her arc and that the chosen one trope was deconstructed almost right away. I like that she’s relentlessly enthusiastic and kind to people and I like that she doesn’t have to get more bitter in order to get development. Instead, she learns from her mistakes but keeps being herself and brings her unique spirit to the Boiling Isles. We need protagonists like Luz, not just because she’s latina and bisexual but because her learning process doesn’t involve cynicism. Sure, there is a lot she needs to learn but her heart is presented as an asset and a sort of source of magic. I’m excited to see where her story goes, for sure.
I’m gonna write briefly about the other characters before I get to my favourite one. Eda is super cool and I quickly got over the fact that she’s not Beatrice Horseman, lol. She embodies such a youthful energy but the show also allows her to be a middle-aged woman comfortable in her own body - well, owl curse notwithstanding. Also, her relationship with Lilith is one of my favourite parts of the whole show. Eda subverts so many of the mentor’s traditional tropes and I’m here for it. I kinda thought she was the villain based on her design and when I didn’t know anything about the show but hey, happy she’s not.
I don’t think I’d even seen a picture of King before starting to watch the series and at first I thought I’d get tired of him real quick. He’s the type of character who can get really annoying instead of endearing really fast if he’s not given any depth or charm, both by way of writing and voice acting. Luckily, I ended up liking King and his antics. His design is indeed adorable and Alex Hirsch is a genius. The only time I felt like he went too far was, perhaps surprisingly, in the book writing episode, “Sense and Insensitivity”, but even there going too far was the point. So yeah, King’s also great, there’s much potential in his backstory and general character.
Alright so really quickly, other characters: Willow and Gus are generic best friend characters and though they already have other things going on, I expect more development as the series progresses. I like that Willow is actually super powerful, just not in the way people expected her to and Gus is clearly also talented despite being younger. I’d be happy to see more of the other kids, get more familiar with Hexside. Edric and Emira are fun characters but they were really shitty in their first episode so I was kind of surprised they weren’t more of a nuisance to Amity later on. I’m all for supportive siblings so I wouldn’t mind a good relationship between the three but I feel like it’s more complicated than that with the Blights.
Finally, I also have to mention that Hooty is... well, quite something, isn’t he. Much like with King, I thought he’d be much more annoying but somehow the show is self-aware enough that it makes Hooty tolerable. I’m almost always torn between feeling sorry for him and being thoroughly weirded out, and I think that’s the intention? It’s fitting that he’s the titular character as he embodies the tone of The Owl House well in my eyes. He’s there for the comedy but there’s just enough there to hint at something more. Very bizarre, strong CN vibes, here for it.
Now that I’ve written a paragraph more about Hooty than I expected to, let’s talk about Amity. Listen, no other character stood a chance to be my favourite as soon as I learned Mae Whitman voiced Amity. That woman gave me Katara so now I have a quasi Pavlovian response to her voice. I’d also say that I knew more about Amity going into the show than I did about any other aspect of TOH. I heard somewhere that she started out as an antagonist, I knew her parents were abusive, and the reason the show blew up on my dash and my general online bubble is the Grom episode. Lucikly I only saw stills of Lumity beneath the crescent moon but the pure Sapphic energy of that was enough to gay migrate me to this show. I’d like to note it here though that The Owl House is a good show in and of itself, the queer rep is just a nice extra. I’m gonna spend the next couple hundred words going on about Amity and her crush on Luz but I don’t value only that. The Gay Migration is great and rep is great but I’m also grateful to have a solid show behind it. That being said.
I’m a total dyke for Amity Blight. I was very biased before even being introduced to her character but I genuinely find her to be fascinating and she has great potential. She’s developing quite quickly, like much of The Owl House, but an arc not being stretched out for several seasons before getting a rushed conclusion is refreshing. The progress hits all the beats and the only note I have is that I want more. She starts out as a generic bully but the opportunity to be more is there from the beginning. We find out early on that she used to be friends with Willow, we see that she works hard and values honest work. When she becomes Luz’s rival, it doesn’t last long before Amity shows that she’s open to new perspectives. That’s not to defend or even justify her earlier and nastier moments, Amity was rude to both Luz and Willow. But through all that, she becomes a complex character who does bad things but isn’t a bad person and grows when she gets the space to. I think that’s neat.
Luz’s decision to befriend her might be cartoon logic but as someone who subscribes to the “kill them with kindness” ideology, I can totally relate. Amity’s softer side doesn’t take long to show and “Lost in Language” is such a great episode to show how complex people can be. Again, I was already biased when it came to Amity but she’s consistently shown to be capable of self-reflection and growth when others give her the chance. I think her past and potential future friendship with Willow is a great way to explore many different topics and I’m trusting the show to do it justice. I also can’t wait to meet the rest of the Blights, if only to get me some angst and further develop Amity. I half expected Grom to take the form of her parents. Too dark for Disney? Well, we don’t know Amity’s dynamic with her parents, exactly, but there’s so much subtext and potential. I love what we’ve already seen from her but I’d also say that she has one of the greatest potentials in the show.
Another way in which this potential manifests is Lumity, of course. Again, they’re developing quite quickly but that doesn’t mean it’s rushed. I’d love to explore Amity’s crush more and what Luz means to her. The Grom episode surpassed all expectations, still and gifs don’t do the stunning dance sequence justice. The animation is so smooth, the colours are amazing, the music is on point and the Sapphic vibes complete the picture. Poetic cinema, truly. Molly Ostertag and Noelle Stevenson are really out there giving wlw animation fans everything we ever wanted, huh. It also warms my heart that the crush is made very clear, not just by Luz’s name being on the note but by the delightful gay disaster that is Amity in “Wing It Like Witches”. I never thought I’d ever see such a relatable useless lesbian in animation so kudos to Dana Terrace and the whole crew. Wow, how far we’ve come.
So yeah, Amity is a funky little lesbian and I’m a 100% here for her gay disaster moments, but I also love where Lumity is going thematically. They’re great as foils and I’m hoping that they won’t get together at the very end. Look, I love me some Bubbline, Korrasami and Catradora, but it’s time a wlw relationship had the chance to exist onscreen and not only in the last episode. The Owl House has a great chance to do that. I know the creators don’t want romance to be the main focus and I respect that, I think the world they created deserves to showcased and explored to its full potential. Lumity could be a great subplot though, as representation on the one hand and as a thematically interesting dynamic on the other. Plus, Luz and Amity are just cute and sometimes, it’s as simple as that. Oh, and also the whole Little Miss Perfect thing? One of the best fandom discoveries I’ve made in a long while. Not only is the song truly perfect for Amity, I love that Joriah Kwamé went on to write Ordinary as well. This right here is why fandom is beautiful.
I think that’s about it for season 1 initial thoughts. The moral can be a bit on the nose at times, especially in the early episodes but the show is ultimately for kids and I appreciate its message. Interesting world and magic system, good characters, great potential for later seasons, just a well put together show that I’m really glad I started watching. I’m kind of sorry I didn’t keep up with season 1 as it was coming out but I would not have been able to wait between episodes. The pacing is good overall, deffo moves fast but I wouldn’t call it rushed, and the “filler” episodes still add something to the story. I’m not sure if I would still feel like the show moves at a fast pace if I hadn’t binged it but in any case it isn’t rushed, the necessary beats are all there and have time to sit. I’m going to watch as it comes out from now on so hopefully season 2 will arrive early next year.
Oh, and: I’m very new to the fandom, barely just found out about Little Miss Perfect, so any and all tidbits, fun facts, and fic recommendations are welcome. Also if you just want to chat my inbox is always open!
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yes sapphic questions 31-36 cuz i'm noisy
being nosy is totally fair, and it's great because I'm a chronic over-sharer so it balances out
31) Do you like decorating with or wearing any pride flags?
I feel like I always really want to do pride flags on my clothes but then I get really worried because I already have anxiety and I constantly try to impress other people and I'm just like "what if they suddenly hate me because im lgbtq" or "what if they dismiss me because im a lesbian and ignore all of my great science ideas" so I usually don't wear them, but I do have a 2 by 3 ft pride flag hanging on my wall behind my bed (ignore all the nonsense on the side table I'm working on cleaning my room rn):
32) Are you more of a city person or a country person? Why?
I really want to be a city person and I really like the vibes and aesthetic, but at the same time they make me really nervous as a person who grew up and still lives in a town with 2 thousand people (my history teacher once said 200 ppl showed up to town meeting day and I was like "this town has 200 ppl!!??") so the only real expose to cities I have is TV which usually makes it out as a very dangerous place. So I spent 9 days in Boston recently and I was a little on edge and I kinda kept being like "ppl are near me!!" but I eventually got pretty used to it. Therefore my conclusion is that I'm a city person I just need to adjust for like 2 weeks.
33) Tag a sapphic blogger you’d like to get to know, but have been too shy to message.
@mypeculiarparadox !!
34) What’s your aesthetic?
mmm good question. it's kind of a lot of things.... a bit of soft cottage core with a side of punk pop academia
35) Recommend some movies or TV shows.
-the old guard
-dirk gently's wholistic detective agency (on hulu)
-anything by mikoto shinkai or hayao Miyazaki, + Promare (very good queer symbolism)
-the suicide squad/bird of prey movies (I've been watching those a lot recently)
36) What songs do you love right now?
-Iris by the goo goo dolls
-youngblood by 5sos
-hold you down by X ambassadors
-Cosmic Love by Florence and the Machine
-Million pieces orchestral version by Bastille
-Eyes Closed (stripped version) by Halsey
#rambles#ask game#i made broccoli while answering thses#eat your veggies my loves#sorry I talked too much
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Prompt (list linked in a reblog): You live across from me in our apartments and we smile when we see each other but we don’t really know each other and oh you’re the stripper at my friend’s stag do/hen night fuck this is really uncomfortable
Sapphic!XiYao, 1900 words.
***
Lan Xichen's across-the-hall neighbor, a small, delicate girl named Meng Yao, left her apartment for work at the same time Xichen arrived home most days; her days off were Tuesday and Wednesday, and Xichen's were Saturday and Sunday, but they still managed to see each other nearly every day.
They saw each other and talked often, little tidbits of their lives, but they'd never truly spoken.
Meng Yao knew, for example, nearly every detail of Xichen's sister's love drama, that she was getting married in two weeks, that her and her fiancée's bachelorette parties were being organized so that each bride could have a party they actually enjoyed. Meng Yao did not know, for example, that Xichen was being teased by her sister's fiancée for her own inability to ask her cute neighbor out on a date.
As Xichen left her apartment on Saturday night, ready for a night on the town with Wei Wuxian and company, Meng Yao was locking her own door, in her regular commuting wear.
("You wear jeans to work?" Xichen had once asked her, curious.
"Oh, I change when I get there. Dancing in these would be so impractical." Her laughter was beautiful.)
As Meng Yao had turned around, she looked ready to say something, lips slightly parted. Whatever words she had been about to say stayed hidden behind them, however, as she slowly gave Xichen a once-over and, finally, looked up at her through her eyelashes and smiled. Lan Xichen had never worn anything less casual than a full suit in front of Meng Yao before; standing before her in a tank top that said "...so we're getting DRUNK" and light wash jeans felt almost more revealing than if she were standing in the hall naked.
"It must be your sister's bachelorette party tonight?" she asked, and Xichen blushed to the tips of her ears.
"Her fiancée's," she managed to say in a conversational tone of voice. "Wangji's was last night. We just had dinner, but a-Sang organized a-Xian's, and I am given to understand it will be considerably more exciting."
"I hope you have fun," Meng Yao said with another dimpled smile. Before Xichen could gather her thoughts enough to answer, Meng Yao was already gone, her wave of black silk hair flowing behind her.
***
At first, Lan Xichen thought that Wei Wuxian's solution to the problem of her and Wangji having all the same friends was perfectly fine. One bachelorette party for Wangji on Friday, which would be planned by Lan Xichen; another for Wei Wuxian on Saturday, which would be planned by Nie Huaisang.
Wangji's bachelorette party had gone swimmingly; a nice dinner, with wine for the guests and sparkling cider for the family, understated and quiet and over by eight.
Wei Wuxian's was also going well, if her and Huaisang's smiling faces were anything to judge by. Lan Xichen sipped her virgin margarita and smiled, watching her soon-to-be sister go from a sober friendliness to unmitigated, unguarded, freely-given affection as she cultivated her happiness at her upcoming wedding into a golden glow of love, pulling everyone around her into her orbit. Even Mingjue-jie and Jiang Wanyin, whose perpetual scowls were being ground down into fond smiles, were not immune.
They were entering their fourth club of the night when Huaisang, flushed pink, announced that the party had officially begun, and drug them into what had been listed on the itinerary as "dancing ;)".
There was, indeed, dancing. They were not the ones dancing.
"Wow, SangSang, do you think I could do that?" Wei Wuxian slurred out, attempting a high-kick as the girl on stage began what looked to Xichen like a arabesque penché, before wrapping her working leg around the pole and lifting the rest of her body into the air. Wei Wuxian stumbled into Jiang Wanyin, who rolled their eyes as they caught her.
Lan Xichen did not hear what a-Sang thought, but she was reasonably sure that Wei Wuxian could not, in fact, do that.
They were herded by an enthusiastic Huaisang and a member of the staff into "the bachelorette suite," which Xichen was reasonably sure by the expression on the face of the.... maître'd? was actually more commonly reserved for groups of cisgender straight men than groups of queers with four genders between them.
The decorations in the room were clearly chosen by Huaisang, consistent with the rest of the night's theming: black and scarlet and gold, with penis-shaped balloons even though neither of the brides had those, and a banner hung behind the stage with "Last Fling Before The Ring" printed in the same cursive font as their matching shirts.
A maypole with white and gold ribbons stood alone on the stage as they sat in the chairs, arranged in a U, with Wei Wuxian at the center and a-Sang and Jiang Wanyin on either side of her. Mingjue-jie and Jiang Yanli sat on either side of their siblings. Xichen thought that sitting between Mingjue, who was clearly confused, and Wen Ning, who looked as awkward as Xichen felt, would be the best way to hopefully avoid the largest part of the attention.
As the music began, their dancer walked out onto the stage, wearing a long, sleek silk robe with a flower motif, her hair held in place above her head with a matching lobster clip. She approached the center of the stage, face pointed down, and body held still.
The music began, and four counts in, she snapped her head up, and began to move.
Meng Yao.
With a snap and a flourish, her robe fell to the floor and heat rose in Xichen's face at her neighbor in skin-tight leather, twirling one of the maypole ribbons around her finger. Xichen definitely should not be seeing this. If Meng Yao wanted her to know that she worked in such a place, she would have told her. But to get up and leave in the middle of a performance, especially in such a small audience, would be the height of rudeness. If someone she knew left while she was performing a recital, it would shake her.
So she stayed and tried not to be aroused as Meng Yao drew the ribbons off the pole, delivering the first to Wei Wuxian with a teasing kiss on the cheek, to the rest of them -- finally, to her, with the barest touch of her fingers against Xichen's jaw, tilting her face up as though for a kiss and then pulling away, leaving a trail of electricity in her wake. Xichen crossed her legs and recited all 3000 rules of the Lan Academy for Girls, the periodic table of elements, all mutliples of 12. She was, unfortunately, completely unsuccessful in thinking of anything distracting once Meng Yao began to dance on the now-ribbonless maypole. Which, in retrospect, was clearly not a maypole at all.
Very fortunately for Xichen's sanity, even while drunk Wei Wuxian had no desire to do anything that might in her mind count as cheating on Wangji, and she finally connected the dots.
"SangSang," she whispered very loudly, "this is a strip club, isn't it? We should go home, SangSang-- a-Cheng! Hi! We should go home before Lan Zhan catches us, a-Cheng, we're breaking the rules and I care about this rule, a-Cheng."
Jiang Yanli, bless her heart, was on her feet and helping her giggling sister out of the club immediately, and gradually everyone else cleared out as well, until it Xichen was the only one left. She wasn't sure her legs would work when she stood up.
"I'm sorry about.... this." Xichen said to Meng Yao, as she sat primly on the edge of the stage. "I understand tipping is customary but I'm not sure...."
"Usually small bills as I dance," Meng Yao said quietly. "Don't worry about it, SangSang will make sure I get what I would have earned. We have a standing deal."
"Ah."
Awkward silence settled over them as they continued to sit in a room filled with dick-balloons.
"I am a dancer," Meng Yao said suddenly. "I didn't lie to you. I did ballet until I was 16, and I still --"
"This is dancing," Xichen said. She met Meng Yao's eyes, disregarding the blush she felt renewing itself under her skin. "Just because it isn't ballet doesn't mean it's somehow not dance." Meng Yao's eyes went wide, almost perfectly round, before she looks at the ground again.
"Would you like to see? Your friends had me for the next hour and a half, and I don't need to go out on the floor tonight. With events like this we get the rest of the night off."
Xichen nodded. "If you want to show me. I'd like that."
Meng Yao smiled slowly, and put her discarded robe on one of the chairs. She didn't turn the music back on. Instead, she stood on the stage, counted to eight, and simply moved.
She went slowly, her mastery of every muscle in her body evident as she held positions that should overbalance her, sensuously tracing over every curve and line with a delicate hand. She bent her body in ways that Xichen didn't know were possible, with the grace of an angel and a sweetly seductive smile on her face. She spun herself around the pole using only one hand to support herself.
Xichen's legs were crossed very tightly at the ankle as she reminded herself to appreciate the dance's artistic merit. It was not difficult to do so -- it was a beautiful and physically demanding thing, executed with technical precision. It was also extraordinarily sexy. Which, she supposed, added to its merit further.
Then, coming off the pole, Meng Yao smirked, and Lan Xichen's breath caught in her throat as she curtseyed, skin shiny with sweat and hair slightly mussed in its clip. As Xichen sat stunned, Meng Yao's smirk faded, and she suddenly grabbed her robe and hurriedly put it on, reaching for the door.
"Well, I hope that was a good demonstration, Lan Xichen," Meng Yao said. "I suppose I'll see you... eventually. At home."
"Wait," Xichen said, before Meng Yao could leave without somehow knowing that this didn't have to change anything, didn't have to cast them back into strangers. "I'm going to call a rideshare. You take the bus home, don't you? You can ride with me. We're going to the same place."
Meng Yao's hand paused over the doorknob. "I still have to change back into street clothes."
It wasn't a no.
"I'll wait," Xichen promised. "I'll wait for you to be ready."
They traveled in electric silence. Lan Xichen's throat was dry, and she understood now why people called this feeling "thirst," and her crush on Meng Yao seemed so heavy in the air between them that it truly was a wonder she had agreed. When they reached their apartments, Xichen could barely stand to say goodbye.
So, when she opened her mouth, goodbye was not what came out, but "Would you like some tea?"
Meng Yao smiled one of her fragile, genuine smiles and said yes.
#xiyao#lan xichen#meng yao#jin guangyao#mdzs#mo dao zu shi#the untamed#cql#63zun#my writing#one shot
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~ Queer Lit 30 Day Book Challenge ~
I decided to do this challenge I came across for June! Originally it was designed as a “day-by-day” thing, but my June was way too hectic to do a write up every single day… so I decided to make a nice compilation for the end of the month instead!
This is perhaps not the “purest” form of the challenge but I wanted it to be personal for me. Growing up when I did and where I did, I had very little exposure to queer books, especially age-appropriate queer books. That being said, there’s some books on this list that are really only “queer” by technically, or through a secondary character rather than the main character. I debated whether to include these but finally decided that, yes, I would. I owe it to myself. Even though some of these books that aren’t “as queer” as other, they were (or are) really important to me as a queer person and my journey is understanding that, so I wanted to acknowledge them!
More info about the books and the challenge under the cut!
Day One: First Queer Book You Remember Reading
Color by Taishi Zaou and Eiki Eiki
Remember how I mentioned a lack of available, age-appropriate queer books? I was one of those kids who was definitely exposed (probably too young) to queer manga/yaoi. It wasn’t necessarily what I wanted, especially as a wee ace teen, but it was the best I had at the time and it meant the world to me at the time, to see same-sex relationships even if looking back on them is very “YIKES”.
I’m sure I read others before this, but Color is one of the first that I really remember and which I a) actually owned and which b) wasn’t completely repellent in hindsight! I haven’t reread it in probably over a decade so I have no idea how it stands up, but at the time it read like a much more “realistic” account of two teenagers developing a crush and starting a relationship and as a questioning teenager it really helped me realize that this was a real, viable option.
Day Two: Queer Book That Reminds You Of Home
The Witch Boy by Molly Knox Ostertag
I hummed and hawed about this one for a long time because honestly I tend to read books that make me feel far from home. I decided to go with The Witch Boy though because it’s a story that challenges gender norms and stars a large family out in the woods, running wild and exploring magic, and honestly it gives me vibes that remind me of vacationing with my extended family. We’re also partially ginger and inclined to run wild in the woods. If we knew magic we’d have used it for sure.
This book is about 13 year old Aster, who lives in a family where the women all become witches and the men all become shifters. Aster, however, has no interest in shapeshifting and instead finds ways to study magic and learn the arts of witchcraft while constantly being pushed out by his female relatives… though everything might change when a new danger, that may or may not be connected to Aster studying magic, begins to appear.
Day Three: Queer Book That Has Been On Your TBR Too Long
Beneath The Citadel by Destiny Soria
That was an easy choice, this has been sitting on my bookshelf for months, staring at me accusingly every time I enter my room. I’m really excited to read it (Magical heist? Rebellion? With an asexual protagonist? Yes please) but for some reason I have not gotten around to it. Some day, baby, some day.
Day Four: Queer Book With A Name Or Number In The Title
George by Alex Gino
George is an absolutely charming middle grade novel about a child named George who the world perceives as male… but who knows she’s definitely a girl. The novel begins when her class decided to put on a play about the novel they had just read: Charlotte’s Web. George is desperate to play Charlotte, her favourite character, but isn’t even allowed to try out because it’s a “girl’s role”. George and her best friend struggle with how to handle this problem and manage George’s secret amid elementary school and home drama.
This book is really adorable – it was a nice, easy, cozy read for an adult, and would also make a great read aloud to elementary-age children if you want to introduce them to transgender characters.
Day Five: Queer Book Where The Protag Has A Fun Job
The Magic Misfits by Neil Patrick Harris
Not actually a queer protagnoist, but a queer side character who plays a major role in the series. Mister Vernon, one of Leila’s fathers, has arguable the coolest job: he’s a retired stage magician turn magic shop owner, which is complete with large rabbit, hidden room, and tons of fascinating gadgets to help a young practical magician learn their trade. He is hands down one of the neatest character in the series and is a major catalyst throughout the series.
The first book follows Carter, a runaway orphan who practices street magic to get by, as he runs away from his horrible uncle and winds up meeting a gang of magic-loving friends in a small town. Hiding from his uncle is only the beginning though, and the mysteries surrounding the town and Mister Vernon become thicker and thicker as the series goes on.
Day Six: Favourite Queer Graphic Novel
Check, Please! by Ngozi Ukazu
There’s lots of fantastic queer graphic novels out there, but I have to name Check, Please! as my favourite (and not just because I’m Canadian and am legally obligated to at least show interest in a hockey story). Check, Please! is the friggin cutest story about Eric “Bitty” Bittle, former figure skater and avid baker, who joins the Samwell University hockey team. The story is told in the form of Bitty’s vlog as he recounts the bizarre quirks of the Samwell hockey team, his struggle to overcome his fear of checking, and his growing crush on the team captain, Jack. Seriously guys, this is cavity-inducing sweetness and you can read it all online for free, here on tumblr @omgcheckplease or at its own website, checkpleasecomic.
Day Seven: Queer Book You Often Reread
Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan
Another book I haven’t reread in years, but this was the first queer novel I ever read (and owned!) so I read it obsessively, first the copy from the high school library and then my own copy (which is, let us say, well-thumbed by this point). It was pure fluff, in an aggressively diverse, relentlessly accepting, rainbow-coloured high school and it was exactly what I wanted in high school, and it still makes me happy whenever I remember it. It’s a straight-up high school romance, pretty traditional to the genre, but it has the most delightful supporting cast you could ever ask for. Maybe I should reread it again this summer…
Day Eight: Queer Book With A Happy Ending
Of Fire and Stars by Audrey Coulthurst
This was a bit more of a “yeah it was fine” book for me, but honestly… queer people deserve some average, run-of-the-mill YA fantasies. As far as my normal reading preferences go, run-of-the-mill YA fantasies are my bread and butter. And this one has a cute sapphic romance to go with it. It’s about Denna, a princess with a dangerous secret: she has a magical Affinity for fire, despite being betrothed to the prince of a kingdom that aggressively prosecutes and fears magic-users. So now Denna is in a strange land, trying to hide her increasingly volatile magic, solve an assassination that rocked the kingdom, and deal with the growing connection between her and the prince’s wild sister, Mare. It has court intrigue, a murder mystery, horses, and lots of confused sapphic pining so it’s totally worth picking up if you want a light summer fantasy adventure.
Day Nine: Queer Book With (Over) 100 Pages
River of Teeth by Sarah Gailey
I decided to try to get as close to 100 pages as possible! River of Teeth is a 114-page novella that I haven’t quite finished (work and covid stress happened) but which I am fucking losing my mind for. I can’t recommend it enough. It’s peak alternative history, about queer hippopotamus-riding cowboys in Louisiana during the early 20th (late 19th?) century. Like… I don’t know how to emphasize how unbelievably cool this book is. Genderqueer demolition expert with a giant crush and a penance for making things blow up and attempting to poison guests when they’re bored?? Check. Gay gunslinging hippo-riding cowboy with an angsty backstory (and also a giant crush)? Check. Sexy, fat, badass lady con artist with an albino hippo that she spoils? Check. Like damn guys. I’m not done the book and I’ve already bought the sequel because I know the second I pick it back up I’m not gonna stop until I’ve ploughed through it all. This book is the epitome of “refuge in audacity” and “rule of cool”. Is it over the fucking top? Absolutely but that’s the point.
Day Ten: Favourite Queer Genre Novel
The Red Scrolls of Magic by Cassandra Clare
I’ll be honest, I’m a little shaky on what counts as a genre novel (isn’t… everything… a genre??) so I decided to interpret it as “slightly trashy YA supernatural fantasy” because that sure is a hella specific genre I’m weak for.
I really thought I was done with the Shadowhunter novels, I thought they were a goofy series I left behind in teenagerhood that I could look back on with amused indulgence. And then I found out that there was a novel specifically about Alec and Magnus and! Oh no! Ding dong I was wrong. I fell back in hard because listen… I love them. They were one of the first canonical same-sex relationships I ever read about in an actual novel, they meant a lot to me then and still mean a lot to me now. I have nothing to say to defend myself here except that this book wrecked me and I can’t wait for the sequel.
Day Eleven: Queer Book You Love In A Genre You Don’t Read
Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me by Mariko Tamaki and Rosemary Valero-O’Connel
I am very rarely a slice-of-life / romance genre sort of person. I like my stories cut with a heavy dose of fantasy, scifi, action-adventure… something. So a graphic novel that’s not only a romance, but one about an unhealthy relationship and infidelity is like… super outside my usual range of reading material. But it was very much worth the read! The art was stunning, and the complicated emotions it tapped into really touched me. I’m very happy to have read it, and was so damn satisfied by the end.
Day Twelve: Queer Book With A Strong Sense Of Place
Belle Révolte by Linsey Miller
Linsey Miller is one author I very actively follow, I love her works and they always have very distinct, complicated worlds with unique societies and magic systems. Belle Révolte was her latest book and followed a prince-and-the-pauper type of story, in which wealthy Emilie des Marais is determined to learn noonday (magical) arts in order to become a physician, someone who can actually work to make her home a better place… but this is not something a proper lady would ever be allowed to do. So she flees her finishing school and meets poor, but magically gifted, Annette Boucher and offers her the chance to switch places. Annette goes back to school as “Emilie” and gets to hone her skills at the midnight arts while Emilie will use her name to sneak into medical school and fight her way up the ranks to physician. This is a challenging enough task, with rebellion roiling just beneath the surface and the country about to slip into a arrogant war that threatens the lives of hundreds…
Day Thirteen: Queer Book That Really Made You Think
Our Dreams At Dusk by Yuhki Kamatani
This is a four book manga series that is completely breath-taking. It’s touched by magical-realism and completely drowned in visually stunning metaphors and symbolism. Seriously, I’ve reread these books multiples times trying to digest how the wide variety of symbols overlap and contradict and compliment and challenge each other. I still haven’t really gotten a solid handle on it, it’s very fluid, so yeah… definitely makes me think.
The story starts with Tasuku Kaname who believes he may have just been outed as gay by a high school friend, and feels like he’s watching his entire world crumble around him. He is seriously considering taking his own life, when he runs into the mysterious woman “Someone-san” and winds up leading him to a drop-in center that’s run by a local non-profit, and is also a hub for a number of queer people in the community. The books follow Tasuku as he grows, learns, makes mistakes, and confronts his feelings, along with a number of other members at the drop-in center. It is completely beautiful, optimistic, but also quite stark and harsh at its look at homophobia and transphobia in modern Japanese society and how it can effect people in different ways. I just bought book four and can’t wait to read it and see how everything ends.
Day Fourteen: Queer Book That Made You Cry
The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline
Holy shit guys. Listen. Listen. If you don’t read any other book on this list, please consider reading The Marrow Thieves. It is hands down the best book I’ve read so far this year. Another book that doesn’t have a queer character as the protag, but as one of the main supporting characters and listen, his story fucking destroyed me as a person. That romance just… aaaaaaah. AAAAAAAAH.
Anyway. The Marrow Thieves is a Canadian dystopian novel. It takes place in a post-climate change world in which society has been ravaged – partially due to the wildly different and extreme weather patterns, but also through a strange disease that has spread through the population that has left people completely incapable of dreaming. Now unable to rest, process their lives, and dream of a future, people are being driven insane and only one group appears to be immune: North America’s First Nations people appear to be unaffected. And so they begin to be harvested, rounded up and collected in “school” in order for people to suck the marrow out of them to give to white people afflicted by this disease. The Marrow Thieves follows a First Nations boy named Frenchie as he flees the recruiters and tries his best to survive in this post-apocalyptic like wilderness, banding together with other First Nations people who are heading north, where they hope to find communities of their own people with whom they can shelter and start to rebuild their lives.
It’s a YA level novel, not very long, and such an insanely good read. I cannot emphasize enough PLEASE GO READ THIS BOOK.
Day Fifteen: Queer Book That Made You LOL
Mostly Void, Partially Stars by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor
Welcome to Nightvale always makes me laugh and it was a lot of fun to get to read the transcripts of the episodes. I’m a sucker for novelizations/transcripts of shows. It was a nice nostalgia trip and gave me an excuse to go back and relisten to some of my favourite episodes too! If you’ve never gotten into Nightvale… hey, it’s a classic! Podcast is fucking stunning if you’re into podcasts, and if you’re not but would enjoy a weird, queer, eldritch horror comedy then try the book! It’s the first “season” compiled in text form, exactly how it’s heard in the show.
Day Sixteen: Queer Book That Is Really Personal To You
Jughead volume 1 by Chip Zdarsky et al
Including this one because gee golly it sure did make me want to fight a lot of people for quite a while. It was one of the first stories I ever found/read that had an explicitly asexual main character… (and a character I already really loved! Which I now got to feel an even stronger connection to! It was so fun and validating!) so it was super awesome how like half of tumblr decided for a year there that this was apparently a cardinal sin. Imagine… one single version of old, long standing comic series deciding to retcon a character to represent a heavily under-represented community… imagine being so fucking angry about that that you decide to start a hate campaign on the internet. So much fun to live through that as an ace person. Anyway, these comics were nothing amazing but I sure do love them aggressively out of pure spite, even now that the aphobia on tumblr has died back down I will hold this to my chest and adore it.
Day Seventeen: Favourite Queer Book Sequel or Spin Off
The Lady’s Guide to Petticoats and Piracy by Mackenzi Lee
Honestly do I even need to say anything here? Is there any queer person who hasn’t read Mackenzi Lee’s The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue series? If you are someone who hasn’t read it yet… go do that?? Absolutely stunning, one of my all-time favourite book series. It’s the perfect combination of hilarious and goofy, intense action, heartfelt character development, and a dash of “wait was that supernatural or??” This sequel was fantastic, this time focusing on Felicity, Monty’s sister, and her quest to become a physician despite being a woman in the 18th century. Awesome look at femininity, feminism, asexuality, and race. (Also… OT3? OT3.)
Day Eighteen: Favourite Queer Book By A Favourite Author
Monstrous Regiment by Terry Pratchett
One of those “ehh is this technically queer? Not really but close enough, it is in my heart” books. It was one of the books I read as a teenager when I was still beginning to seek out and try to explore queer lit in so much as I could.
Terry Pratchett is, hands down, my favourite author, and though he doesn’t tend to write explicitly queer literature, his exploration of gender through allegory is top fucking tier. Everything to do with the dwarves in his series is fascinating, and a really great challenge/critique/exploration of gender, and this is the book that takes it to the next level (and brings in at least implicitly queer characters). It’s about Polly Perks, who lives in a small, war torn nation, choosing to join the army in order to find out what happened to her brother. However, as tradition dictates, she can’t join as a girl… so she disguises herself as Ozzer, a young man. There’s a lot of twists and turns, and as always Pratchett delivers fantastic humour and just absolutely delicious satire.
Day Nineteen: Queer Book That Changed Your Life
And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson
This was the book that made me realize that I, as a queer teacher, could have queer kid lit in my future classroom. Maybe a comparatively small revelation, but a really important one to me. It made me realize that this didn’t need to be something I kept a secret in my professional life and which could really positively influence children, especially queer children. It was the first queer children’s book I ever bought.
Day Twenty: Favourite Queer Book Series
Candy Color Paradox by Isaku Natsume
Alright… I’ll admit it, this isn’t actually my favourite series, but I’ve used my favourites in other spots. And this is a good one! Definitely more of an actual “yaoi” than the other manga I’ve included (here there be sex) but it has a very different vibe that what I’m used to from that type of manga. The main pair are actually both capable, mature adults, with careers they actively care about, and who get together in the first volume!
The rest of the series is less about them angst-ily toeing around their relationship, and much more about them learning to grow as a couple and balance their work and relationship and society. It’s funny and sweet, and I really enjoy these two losers. It’s a very low-stakes enemy-to-friends-to-lovers story, in which Onoe (a reporter) and Kaburagi (a photographer) are paired up on a news story they’re supposed to dig into together. What starts as a bickering rivalry gradually becomes respect, friendship, and love~ Onoe is a gremlin of a protag, so he’s a treat to follow.
Day Twenty-One: Queer Book That You Recommend A Lot
Mask of Shadows by Linsey Miller
To repeat myself: Linsey Miller is awesome! This is my favourite book of hers, the first of a duology. It’s kind of like an intense, edgy Tamora Pierce novel with murder. In this world, the Queen has a team of assassins known as the Left Hand. They’re an elite group that keeps the Queen safe and does the dirty work that needs to be done to protect the kingdom and keep the encroaching nations at bay. When the assassin Opal is killed, a contest is announced to find the new Opal. People from all over come to complete for the honour of being one of the Queen’s royal assassins, including gender-fluid thief Sallot Leon. Sal has some deep motivations to become Opal that go beyond a loyalty to their kingdom, but they’re going to have to survive their competitors if they even wants a chance at it… (Sal generally goes by either she or he in the books, but I’m using they in this instance since it’s in a more general sense.)
Day Twenty-Two: Queer Book That Made You Take Action
The Deep by Rivers Solomon
Uhh, I don’t really have any books that made me take action per se, but this one sure gave me a lot to think about. It’s about deep sea mermaids who originated from the pregnant slave women tossed into the ocean to drown during passage to North America. From those dying women, this race was born and were taken in by whales, raised and protected until they could descend into the deep ocean waters, to form their own safe society. Their collective past is so painful though that as a species they’ve developed a very short term memory. But a people can’t live without any ties to their roots and so one of them, the Historian, holds all the memories for their entire species and shares it with everyone once a year so that the community can be connected to their ancestors before once again returning the memories to the Historian for safe keeping. Yetu, the current Historian, is so overwhelmed by these memories, that she can no longer take it – she flees her people, her responsibilities, and her pain and escapes to the surface instead...
Day Twenty-Three: Queer Book By An Author Who I Killed Is Dead
Cybersix by Carlos Trillo
I cannot emphasize enough, this is not actually a queer comic, it is in fact a very homophobic, transphobic and sexist comic written by a horrible person.
That being said, he’s dead and I own it now the TV series was essentially about a genderqueer superhero and a very confused bi biology professor who has a crush on both personas. I had a passionate crush on both personas as a child, and I will cherrypick this comic until I die in order to enjoy the only kickass genderqueer/genderfluid noir antihero I’ve come across. I am valid and I am not open to debate or discussion. Do not read this comic it’s horrible (but consider watching the show).
Day Twenty-Four: Queer Book You Wish You’d Read When Younger
The Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang
This is such an incredibly soft story with the nicest art. There’s so much understanding and compassion in it and its exploration of gender and self-confidence and being true to yourself would have been very reassuring to me as a child, especially by late elementary/middle school.
Day Twenty-Five: Queer Book In A Historical Setting
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
A retelling of Achilles’ and Patroclus’ relationship from childhood to the Trojan war. So yeah, you can imagine that this was also a candidate for Day 14 :’) I haven’t read this one in years but god it was lovely and emotionally destroyed me as a person.
Day Twenty-Six: Queer Superhero Book or Comic
Overwatch: Reflections by Michael Chu and Miki Montillo
I don’t really read superhero stories very often (the comics have always driven me a little bonkers, trying to find a way to enter the totally unapproachable Marvel/DC canons, and the MCU burnt me out years ago for every other sort of superhero story) so this is the closest I can get. Tracer’s a superhero yeah? Anyway, I, like every other queer person in the Overwatch fandom, lost my fucking mind when this dropped for Christmas a few years back and officially declared Lena Oxton not only the face of the entire franchise but also a lesbian. It’s an adorable little comic and Tracer’s girlfriend is a sweetheart.
Day Twenty-Seven: Favourite Queer Children’s Picture Book
Prince & Knight by Daniel Haack
There’s a number of sweet queer children’s books that are popping up these days, but this is my favourite just because it’s less about “explaining the gays to children” (though those books also have their place) and more of a cute little fantasy adventure in which the actual protagonist is gay. It’s about a prince who sets out to find himself a bride who can help rule by his side, but it quickly becomes clear that he isn’t interested in any of the girls. Instead, when a fire breathing dragon threatens his kingdom, he meets a brave knight who fights along side him. It’s very supportive and the art is lovely.
Day Twenty-Eight: Queer Book That Made You Feel Uncomfortable
Let’s Talk About Love by Claire Kann
This is a book with an asexual protagonist that I was originally really excited for. I know there are a lot of people out there who really enjoy this book and connected with it, but it didn’t do it for me. Maybe because my expectations were too high, but the protagonist’s experience with asexuality was vastly different than my own and the narrative voice ended up rubbing me wrong (and let’s be honest, slice-of-life romance is NOT my usual genre at all). So it’s not “made me uncomfortable because it’s Bad And Wrong” more just… totally vibed wrong with me. Maybe the perfect book for other people but definitely not for me, I had to return this one unfinished because it’s portrayal of asexuality just made me so deeply uncomfortable.
Day Twenty-Nine: Queer Book That Made You Want To Fall In Love
The Gentleman’s Guide To Vice And Virtue by Mackenzi Lee
This book had to make it on here somewhere, and honestly it could have gone in a lot of different spots, but I chose to put it here because the relationship between Monty and Percy is so incredibly sweet and authentic it really does make you want something like that. TGGTVAV (for anyone who has somehow not heard of it) takes place in the 18th century, and is about Monty, his best friend (and crush) Percy, and his sister Felicity going on a final “hurrah” tour of Europe before Monty's father finally tries to pin him down in England and force every part of Monty that’s deemed “unacceptable” out of him. So Monty intends to live this summer up… until everything goes off the rail and the three of them are suddenly fleeing across the continent with assassins at their heels and a strange, stolen artifact in their possession.
Monty has a lot of growing to do in this novel, and that’s one of my favourite things about it. For his and Percy’s relationship to ever have a chance, Monty needs to learn and change and actually communicate with other people, and it makes the relationship feel strong. Not a fluffy, surface level romance that often happens in YA but something built from the ground up by two friends who really want to make it work. Ahh, it’s lovely. One of my favourite novels.
Day Thirty: Queer Book With Your Favourite Ending
My Brother’s Husband by Gengoroh Tagame
A two-book manga series that was completely stunning. It deals with queer relationships and homophobia in a very stark, real-world manner that you don’t often get in manga, while still being incredibly loving and sympathetic. The book is about Yaichi, a single father whose estranged brother (Ryoji) recently died. One day, a Canadian named Mike arrives, introducing himself as Ryoji’s widower. Mike had come hoping to visit his late husband’s homeland to try to get some closure, and Yaichi ends up inviting Mike to stay. The whole story looks Japan’s societal biases, through Mike’s experiences, Yaichi’s thoughts, feelings and prejudices, and those of his daughter who adores Mike.
Seriously, this is one of the kindest, most earnest looks I’ve ever seen to internal prejudices that critiques them without demonizing the person who feels them. Instead it lovingly embraces grief, growth, and love. This series made me cry multiple times, was good enough that even my straight brother practically ordered me to go out and buy the second book when he finished the first, and the ending was just *chef’s kiss*
Honourable Mentions
A few books I really wanted to fit on my list somehow but couldn’t quite manage it, so here: All Out an anthology of historical fiction short stories about queer teens. The Tea Dragon Society series and Princess Princess Ever After, graphic novels by the amazingly talented Katie O’Neill. Heartstopper a webcomic turn graphic novel by Alice Oseman about a pair of rugby players. The Different Dragon a cute picture book in which the boy has two moms and which is about accepting different ways of being. And Lady Knight a part of Tamora Pierce’s Protector of the Small series because because Kel is word-of-god aro(and/or ace) and I’ve adored that series and Kel since I was about thirteen so by god I’ll take it.
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Now for those that wanted to do their own challenge, I found it on @gailcarriger’s blog.
#queer lit#queer literature#queer books#pride books#pride 2020#book review#book reviews#lgbt literature#lgbt books#tggtvav#tlgtpap#mask of shadows#belle revolte#jughead#check please#shadowhunters#our dreams at dusk#my brother's husband#manga#witch boy#wtnv#the marrow thieves#canadian lit#canadian literature#river of teeth#the prince and the dressmaker#and tango makes three#the deep#song of achilles#idk and others i guess
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That Wentworth show you reblig sometimes. It's Netflix? Could I ask how diverse it is? How gay is it? Is there people of colour?
Yup. Wentworth (or Wentworth Redemption) is an Aussie show on Netflix that takes place at a women's prison. It just aired its 8th season (and they dropped the latest season on Netflix already).
Diversity, it's fairly diverse.
It's predominantly white, but they do have characters of color and they have improved on that as the seasons progressed.
The main character of color for all eight seasons so far is Will Jackson. The actor is Samoan.
In the early seasons, there was also an inmate, Doreen. She's Aboriginal. She was one of the warmest, and sweetest characters out of the brood.
But outside of those two, there weren't any main characters of color. And they had a couple of recurring background characters who were Asian, mostly of Chinese descent, I believe, but my apologies if I'm wrong on that.
In later seasons there are two main characters, both Aboriginal. And they have dominant storylines. Rita and Ruby.
And the last season there is a Black British character who is prominent.
You also see more racial diversity in the background but outside of an Asian gang of inmates who cause trouble on occasion, they have limited or no speaking roles.
Is it gay? Well, nonny. It is a women's prison after all. If you want Sapphic goodness? They got you.
They have lesbians for days. I'm pretty sure within the first five minutes you get your first sexy scene with Queen of the Wentworth Lesbians, Franky Doyle.
And the beautiful thing about her arc is we actually see her go from a casual bang kind of girl to someone who falls in love, and it's one of the most notable relationships in the series.
But man, we have good lesbians, we have bad lesbians. We have complicated and flawed lesbians. We have disaster bi's.
I only emphasize it like that because there IS disturbing things or potentially questionable depictions like promiscuity that may seem stereotypical on one end, and there are sexually abusive, sadistic, flat out rapists on the other end.
I feel like with a diverse group of complex queer characters it balances out more, if that makes sense. There are multiple queer characters. Mostly women. And two male guards. Although, unlike the women, who range from flawed or complicated to just flat out "bad," both men are honestly pretty damn crappy, IMO.
If you haven't noticed, all of Wentworth's characters are hella gray and the show doesn't really subscribe to the good/bad dichotomy in a traditional way. Some of the most loathsome characters ended up being my faves down the road and such. If you watch, you'll understand what I mean.
But yes, many canon queer characters (main and recurring), and it's explored. Actually, to get an idea of how they handle their queer characters, it's only now that I'm typing this that I realize how many queer characters there actually are. Enough where you just don't even think about it. So yeah, nonny. U suppose it is hella gay AF. 🤣.
But yeah, stories including a character sort of realizing that they are queer but minus the clichéd identity crisis angst, which is pretty refreshing, I think anyway.
Actually, the majority of romantic relationships on this series have been queer ones.
There is also a lot of gay subtext. Like soooooo much subtext it almost feels like just text. If you do choose to watch it, you'll figure out what I'm talking about. And it's delicious tbh. If you appreciate the concept of enemies to lovers and twisted love based on electric chemistry that probably shouldn't even be there and is twisted AF, you'll love one of the most popular ships.
But there are homophobic slurs and language used. There is sexual assault. There is mentions of homophobia etc. I imagine many things that could be potentially triggering.
Personally, while canon never confirmed it, there's one character who felt strongly Ace. But that's just my own personal thing. That's another thing about the show. There are so many complex characters and the subtle intricacies of them leaves ample room for interpretation.
Um, there are two confirmed trans characters with significant arcs and narrative importance. One trans female in the middle of the series and one trans male in the latest season.
HOWEVER. Maxine, the female trans character was played by a cis-man. So there's that. But I'm not exaggerating when I say she's easily one of the best characters of the series. She's one of my absolute favorite characters of the series.
But Reb, the trans male character that came later is played by a non-binary actor, so that is certainly progress from before.
And both characters deal with a lot of transphobia. Again, because this show spreads the wealth, if you will, putting all of their characters through the ringer and addressing so many issues, it's not a matter of only piling on disenfranchised characters for kicks, you know?
There are conversion therapy scenes that come up, so if that's triggering, just a heads-up.
There is also body diversity. There are plus-sized characters. But the most prominent one does fall into so many of the usual tropes, the lovable lug, the bully and muscle, etc. I've heard it critiqued.
There is age diversity. There are older characters as well as younger ones. It's not all about a bunch of young, pretty people in there 20s and 30s.
And these older women are still strong and sexual and powerful etc,.
It may sound weird or whatever, but it's also refreshing that most of the characters look just normal, you know? None of that super glammed up stuff. They look like everyday people, and I love that.
Offhand, I can't recall disabled characters. Actually there is one character who has a brain aneurysm and suffers from seizures.
There are also characters who battle PTSD, someone with severe OCD, um, dementia, Depression, and anxiety, a lot of addiction. These are all Canon and confirmed.
It also toys with the potentiality of Aspergers, Sociopathy/Psychopathy, and other little things like that with characters.
Ummm, obviously there are a lot of women. They do have some male characters but whether they're behind the bars or in front of them, it's mostly women.
And there isn't much going for religion or anything like that. I don't recall anything distinctly religious at all, so nothing to say from that angle.
I'm rambling, probably? I just bingewatched the entire series within the past couple of months, so I'm no expert. But I hope that answered your question or gave you an idea of what the diversity looks like or whatever.
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I noticed that some buddie shippers talk a lot about representation and why buddie is important, which is valid! But a lot of them are women and like.... Not that we should only be satisfied with just the one queer couple but Hen is right there with her wife and family. Like at some point it become a transparent that this has more to do with mlm fetishization than anything else plus some good old misogynoir cause I feel like buddie is more popular than Hen and Karen and..... they are really good sapphic representation?? They are complex and fun and loving and dedicated to one other but you're gonna go to the bat for the 2 conventionally attractive dude that spend most of their time being eye candy for the show like pleaaassee. I just. I know queer representation is not just interchangeable and the more the merrier but can you please focus on the good content you get a little?
Just for that I hope buddie doesn't become canon. Second reason is fuck Ryan Guzman we do not need him to become queer representation after last summer. Buck can bi as a treat but most buddie shippers from that fandom I am side eyeing so hard. Especially the twitter nutcases it's. on. sight.
i think part of the reason why buddie is shipped is bc buck is a main character and is way more focused on than many of the other characters in general in canon. and you’re right about the lack of attention towards hen and karen, but i guess considering that buck is a Main main character and eddie has a lot more focus than someone like karen, it’s easy to latch onto them just bc in general there’s more screentime dedicated to them and their relationship that’s just more than henren has ever had on the show (which is mainly due to hen’s status as a smaller main character like chim or eddie). i also think it’s again a story of couples that are already together vs the shipping ability of a couple that isn’t together. where people in fandom usually put way more focus on a couple before they get together than after- which is even common in many other popular sapphic ships (like supercorp rn or catradora, since they didn’t get together officially until the end)
i do also think you’re right about them being good sapphic rep tho !! it’s Amazing to see these two women support each other and have this beautiful family !! i can just Also understand that even if it was a mlm ship it would have less attention than whatever’s happening w buck just bc buck is more of a central character and his romance status is a heavily focused topic on the show !! established relationships have almost always been on the back burner compared to the main’s will they won’t they status w a “friend” (like swanqueen in OUAT compared to everything happening w snow and charming)
and i’m not trying to defend the most.. Loud. of buddie shippers bc there is a lot of misogynoir under some comments and ryan guzman doesn’t deserve anything after what he pulled but uhh. i just think there’s reasons behind the madness i guess
#i think you’re right !! i just want to explain where everyone’s coming from i guess#and as a buddie shipper who keeps to himself most of the time.. finding ur niche in this fandom is imperative#and where i’m at it’s love for all of the couples on this show#including madney and bathena !! who are also Great rep for interracial couples on this show#but there’s reasons behind these things i suppose#anon#where is all of this coming from sjdjdj
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7, 36 and/or 59
And back at you with 2 and a reason why for each character
2 - What are your top three favourite characters?
ohlala.... it's not a real order, like Dean is first but after that I can't make a top
Dean - idk why he's just so 😭 I think it's bc I project a lot, and I'm fascinated by how kind he is. Spn would have been sooo much better if the main pov was Dean's instead of Sam's. His story is way more interesting to me. He's just a guy, he's really just some guy with a lot of family issues. He's not part of the lucky ones, he got no money, he's queer af, he had no childhood. But he's still SO kind and he thinks everyone should get their happy end & no one should go through what he's going through. If he gotta take one from the team he'd take it. I wish he could care for himself as much as he cares for humanity. I wish he'd got to learn to care for supernatural creatures bc that's just the logical development but once again, spn is Sam's pov so Dean gets no rights.
Crowley - he's one of the best character EVER. everytime I see Crowley disrespect, in show or in the fandom, I love him even more. He deserved the world. He deserved a non-homophobic portrayal. I keep going off about Crowley so let's settle on one thing hm.... it's a very sad part of his story, but it gets to me: Crowley is so lonely and he just wants to be loved. But he has no friends, was already lonely in life, is as much alone in death - he's an outcast even for demons, even if he fits better here. He's Crowley and he's powerful and frightening, but he's Crowley - there're rumours around him, people call him nicknames behind his back, he gets made fun of (homophobically & transphobically). He has to be ambitious and threatening ; but he doesn't want to. He's just good at it (he's honestly so smart and honest???). And that's the only way he can be - if not loved, if not known - at least seen.
Amara - ok it's only bc I'm insane and I have this Good Version of Amara in my head........ I think she could have been SO MUCH. But if I gotta pick one reason I just love how she's just vibing. She's literally just chilling and enjoying Earth and finding joys in every little things. She knows about the big picture & she hates it, she hates the blueprint and the Rules and Chuck's big plan. But she loves the tiny things so much? She wants to explore and discover and feel everything. Because that's not what's wrong - humans, flowers, food - it's not them, by essence, the issue. It's the system they're trapped in.
Bela Talbot - yeh it's four but..... I can't pick. she's SO interesting. when Dean goes "so you know about what's out there and this is what you do with it? you become a thief?" it's soooo interesting. I wish we'd got more of her and her VS Dean bc the way they're so similar yet taking such different decisions....... I don't even dislike that she ended up going to Hell, bc her making a deal is actually part of her character now. I'm mostly pissed bc she never came back. There's NO WAY she wouldn't find a way to get out of Hell, like even as a demon. She's so strategic I'm still amazed at how she got Dean & Sam arrested. QUEEN.
7 - What is/are your BROTP(s)?
i think......... like in terms of actual sibling dynamic. I love Claire & Alex. I'm pretty sure the trio with Patience would be epic, but we didn't get to see more of them. I overall feel like spn can't write siblings properly (ironic I know) but they got Claire & Alex!!! ig it helps that they don't have a lot of scenes but 🤷♂️ it's about the love/hate between teenagers. it's about locking your sib inside the toilets but also beating down a guy who trash talked them. it's about the intimacy of sharing a house and making it a home <3
36 - If you could be a supernatural creature, what would it be?
I pretty sure I'd end up being a ghost bc as a taurus I'm a petty bitch. I WILL stay to haunt people. that's my toxic trait 😔 however that doesn't seem the most appealing it's just very sad :'(
I have basic taste I'd be down to be a vampire I think. I already struggle with sensory issues and vampires are hot and then I can get a werewolf gf and we can be vibing
59 - If you could have a spinoff about any characters other than the leads of Supernatural and Wayward Sisters, who would they be?
I've actually mentioned it a few times in passing and like. while rn I wanna say a Crowley spinoff bc he deserves the world!!!! what I actually want and think about is:
a spinoff about the evil-ish sapphics: Bela, Rowena, Ruby, and Meg :) Supporting characters includes Mary, Amara, Anael, and Belphegor. IDK what they'd be doing except girlboss shit and drinking wine and gossiping and whatever they want and supporting each others 💕
I'd both like pre-canon and post-canon, like I want to see demon Bela as well..... I just wanna see more women and more not-hunter shenanigans!!!
spn ask game
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Batwoman Season 2 Episode 1 Review: What Happened to Kate Kane?
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This Batwoman review contains spoilers for Season 2, Episode 1.
Batwoman Season 2, Episode 1
The freshman season of Batwoman made for a perfectly fine show with a serviceable story and people who undoubtedly can act, but inexplicably chose not to. It isn’t bad, but it isn’t exactly good either, existing in some kind of nebulous, mediocre middle ground that can be a dangerous place for series to linger too long in the era of peak TV. Still, The CW show put a queer female superhero on our television screens every week, which somehow still feel progressive despite the fact that gay people were invented centuries ago. Then, Kate Kane (Ruby Rose) donned a modified and bewigged batsuit and rose to folk hero status as Batwoman in Berlanti’s vision of Gotham City. Now, Ryan Wilder (Javicia Leslie) is stepping into her bulletproof boots, and facing off with new and familiar foes.
Ruby Rose announced her departure from Batwoman after the end of season one, which left the show’s writers with a challenge, and more than a few loose ends. Fortunately—or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it—Kate’s presumed death in a plane crash at the top of this episode wraps up her story quite succinctly. It is surprisingly easy for the writers to make room for a new lead without disrupting the larger narrative in any substantial way. This should be upsetting, Kate should feel more integral to the show, but I wasn’t very invested in her, and it seems neither was the plot.
In the inadvertent season one finale, Kate’s dad and leader of the Crows pretended to ally with Batwoman, but pulled the okey doke and tried to capture or kill her instead. Sadly, we won’t get to see this family drama play out, but there is still storytelling potential in Jacob discovering the truth about Kate and reckoning with what that means now that she’s gone. (It’ll be interesting to see how they play the Crows vs. Batwoman dynamic now that the woman behind the cowl is Black.) With Kate’s death, Alice’s plan for familial revenge is ruined. She gave Tommy Elliot Bruce’s face so he could procure kryptonite for her that she would then give to Jacob, who would kill Batwoman, presumably before realizing she is his daughter. As revenge plots go, it is brilliant. Unfortunately, as we learn at the end of the episode, Safiyah beat Alice to the punch by taking down the plane. Now, Alice has a new nemesis, and we have a new Batwoman.
Kate’s plane crashes near where Ryan is parked in the van she lives in. She examines the wreckage, saves someone with CPR, and finds the Batsuit. She immediately has plans for what she’s going to do with that newfound power, and she wastes no time getting after it. We learn pretty much everything about Ryan Wilder—through flashbacks, google searches, and the obligatory CW superhero monologue. Ryan’s birth mom died in childbirth and her dad wasn’t around. She was raised in the system, where she got into trouble, until she was adopted, and turned her life around. She and her mom moved to a nice(r) apartment, but squatters attacked them, and her mom died. Later, she was framed and convicted for drug possession with intent and incarcerated for 18 months. She can’t find work because of her record and she can’t pay her court fees because she can’t find a job, and she lives in a van.
*deep, heavy, negro spiritual sigh* This is where I digress …
Ryan Wilder is damn near a full board on the trauma bingo, and doesn’t even need the free space. My excitement when Javicia’s Leslie was cast was immediately dampened by my concern with how she would be introduced to the audience. The character bio they attached to the announcement did not assuage my fear that the Black, queer superhero would be reduced to overcoming a tough childhood or a “troubled” past. It felt inevitable, yet I was disappointed to be right. Still, I reserved judgement til I could see for myself how those choices shape the character.
Bruce Wayne and Kate Kane are rich, privileged, white folks whose problems will never threaten their comfort or security. Ryan Wilder comes from poverty and violence, and is an extreme departure from her vigilante counterparts. On the one hand, it feels more apt for someone to wear the suit who has lived in the Gotham that the Waynes And Kanes of the world can ignore from their penthouses. On the other, Black women can have trust funds, too.
All I’m saying is, choices were made. And this episode leans into the worst of those choices, when we flash back to the death of Ryan’s adoptive mom multiple times throughout. It isn’t the most violent death, and it is an effective tool for telling this particular story. We can immediately empathize with Ryan because we know what she’s been through and what she’s lost, but there are ways to motivate her that don’t require her trauma being played on a loop in her own head and on our screens. But I won’t dwell on this if the show won’t—and I hope they won’t—but writers need to examine why they assign certain attributes to characters when they are portrayed by certain people. Is all I’m saying.
Ryan suits up and seeks out leads on the people responsible for her mother’s murder, which just so happens to be the Wonderland gang, and Alice. This opens the door for an exciting rivalry, with both parties bringing an entirely different energy. Alice was a cute villain but her connection to Kate meant that there was a limit to how far she would go. She had many opportunities to kill her sister, and didn’t, so her threats became somewhat hollow even though she did a lot of other damage. This season, though, Kate is gone and Alice has neither her, nor Mouse, to keep her grounded. Alice unbound could be very fun, and with the way her story intersects with Ryan’s, there’s a lot of potential for conflict and some really great showdowns. Bring in Safiyah, who also has Julia Pennyworth on her shit list, and it’s a regular ruckus.
Read more
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How Batwoman Season 2’s Batsuit Improves on the Original
By Kayti Burt
TV
Batwoman Season 2 Casts Victor Zsasz
By Jim Dandy
What I enjoy most about this episode is how seamlessly Ryan is pulled into the existing narrative, and how comfortable Leslie looks in the role. Leslie doesn’t feel like a replacement; she feels like a correction. Ryan is more fun to watch, and has a bit more chemistry with Mary and Luke. She’s also queer and Sophie is out of the closet, and I’d be very happy to see a healthy Black queer couple, though shipping is not the point. I’m already more invested in Ryan than I ever was with Kate. That will not be the universal experience, but Julia Pennyworth is still there if you need badass sapphic white girl representation.
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Ryan wants justice and she, for the first time, has the power to obtain some version of it. But she’s a hero, or will be, and ultimately decides that the suit and what it represents is bigger than her and her personal vendettas. She’s someone worth rooting for, and I am ready to see what she has to offer. There is so much potential for compelling storytelling, and I am hesitant but hopeful that this season of Batwoman will deliver.
The post Batwoman Season 2 Episode 1 Review: What Happened to Kate Kane? appeared first on Den of Geek.
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