impmansloot

[impmansloot]

In regards to your previous post, I'm just going to say, I agree that too many people feminize Hans. But you know why? *whispers* because most of those people are women/feminine. A lot of mlm shippers in fandoms are women/feminine. As a gay man, I appreciate hansry and what some of the fandom is doing already, but sometimes I see it stray a little too close to the proverbial sun. Is that controversial? sorry.

Apologies in advance, this turned out longer than I wanted it to. Also it's not controversial because I agree with you! Like I am a nonbinary feminine person and this has existed in fandom for ages!

I honestly don't mind when male characters are feminized especially in mlm relationships. I myself am nonbinary queer , and while I'm not a gay man, I don't see it inherently harmful. Some of the gay characters I've created are extremely feminine. I actually enjoy making feminine gay men because I don't really see them represented that much, and when they are, they are either caricatures or it's made to be a shameful thing. But I do agree what you mean, because it is imo already nearing the proverbial sun.

I think the issue is when you strip a character of everything that *makes* the character, just to fit a trope. And then wrongfully assume some tropes = femininity when that's not always the case. And then it is almost always at the expense of also, mischaracterizing the character that is deemed overly masc, when there is nothing to prove that.

Like, it would be one thing to make Hans a feminine knight, which they exist. Queer knights exist, and queer knighthood was a thing. There is a lot of evidence pointing highlighting queerness in knights, especially during the medieval era. For one group of Knights, the Knights Templar, this was unfortunately something that the King Philip and Pope Clement used to their advantage- this is not saying that they were queer, but what it is saying is that queerness among knights was speculated because it wasn't uncommon. Princes in the Middle Ages, even those who fought, could also be queer. I could most certainly use a better example that I am going to use now, but a great example is Ælthelstan from The Last Kingdom series.

So making a soldier, knight, etc, queer and feminine is not a harmful thing I all.

But what is harmful is to completely change them to fit your view of femininity? Making Hans much smaller than Henry, to make him 'feminine', taking away what make him, him? His love for fighting, his strength, his height, his athletic hobbies like hunting, etc. Making him so much smaller when in canon it is this opposite...

It also shows what people view as 'acceptable' feminine vs not. And the idea of someone strong, skilled, lover of fighting, tall, etc., being the 'feminine' one in the relationship, makes people uncomfortable. And that is where the issue is. People cannot just make someone feminine, they tend to reduce the character to their perception of femininity and what is acceptable. And it also shows once again, how fandoms tend to push shipping dynamics onto things to the point of making those dynamics harmful. In a fantasy setting, maybe a prince/noble boy would not fight in battles, maybe he'd be sheltered and meek. But in an actual medieval setting noble men/princes =/= damsel in distress. They were killing people and fighting because they always had to be ready for raids!

And this is not be saying that smaller femme gay men are bad, or anything. They're not--and they also deserve rep! But that also means actually representing those men, and not taking men who are not them and pushing those traits onto those men!

And then it begs to question--what makes Henry less feminine than Hans? Is it because he is a Blacksmith? Is it because he's poor/not noble? So therefore femininty is only associated with nobility/wealth/etc. Is it because he is tanner? Because also what I've noticed is how fans will drastically darken him from his natural tan to make him appear darker/bigger than Hans. Which is another harmful, racist trope that fans go out of their way to do. Like in my mind, I like to toy with Henry being feminine because I think it's possible as well, but I really don't see that at all in the fandom.

Like, I think it is super important to have feminine gay men. And yes, even them being 'bottoms' isn't inherently harmful. But when you strip a canonical queer man of his personality, just to fit a trope, then you really aren't doing it for respect to the character. You are doing it because his form of queerness makes you uncomfortable, and doesn't align with your, mostly white western version of yours (not you specifically anon, but other people. when i say you i'm not talking about you anon). And again, you are also slapping assumptions onto specific characters that don't fit. Hans is a noble man, he fights, he is strong, he is tall, he is large. Henry is a black smith, he had to learn how to fight, he was clumsy, he messed up, Hans beat him up, etc. None of this makes one or more of them more or less feminine than the other, but fans tend to cling on to this idea of certain things making one feminine, and thus stripping parts of the character to push a trope.

It's not lost on me that most people who do this to Hans are white and queer themselves, and may identify with someone who they feel is more like them. Hans is paler, he is upper class, and noble and again, they mix their perceptions of medieval nobility with fandom version, so then fandom!Hans is a noble man who is smaller, he is meek, his is shelter, him being femme also means him being smaller, docile and weaker. Whereas Henry gets to be the strong tan, nearing brown man who towers over him, who saves him, who is a blacksmith therefore is more toned (even tho this isn't even historically accurate. young boys could be black smiths). etc.

So like, as a nonbinary trans black person, I won't act like some of these portrayals don't sadden me. because I LOVE medieval history, and I write about medieval queerness all the time. IMO, Hansry could've been one of the best medieval queer ships, and i mean it is! But i will never really see it as authentic as other knight/knight ships, simply because the fans have stripped it of what makes it an authentic medieval queer ship and have really shaped it to match their comfortable version of queerness and femininity .

I think it is super important to portray feminine gay men, and i mean skinny ones, ones who don't fight, ones who might occasionally fall into the 'damsel', ones would rather be inside than be on the field, ones who don't want to be strong and muscly, etc. That's not the problem! The problem is taking a character who is not like that, and making him like that, simply because his queer identity makes you uncomfortable. SO many people assume that someone being strong or whatever means they aren't femme, and you just can't have that perception if you actually care about medieval knights and noble men who are also knights. And then my god, please stop with the dark=masculine, even by a twinge I see it so much. Fandoms have this thing of taking two canonically white characters and making the one they view top/masc brown and it doesn't help when he is slighter tanner (But still white), in canon. And i don't even mind racebends and making characters POC, but it saddens me when people typically do it just for shipping purposes.

But at the end of the day, people should just do what they want. Me, being (1) person who is put off by it, isn't going to stop anyone from doing what they are already doing. And TBH it shouldn't. This is just me voicing my grievances. Thank you for sending this ask in!

[impmansloot]

6 - dressing in steel

[impmansloot]

kcd femslash week day 5: tending to the wound

lady stephanie rlly needs some comfort

[impmansloot]

Naturally I couldn’t help but draw another Theresa/Bianca for Day 6: Dressing in Steel @kcdfemslashweek

[impmansloot]

Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you! Not exactly femslash but it is undeniably love

[impmansloot]

tending to the wound

[impmansloot]

Sara/Henry’s mother in some non canon scenario for Day 5: Tending to the Wound @kcdfemslashweek

[impmansloot]

KCD Femslash Week, Day 4: In Another Lifetime

[impmansloot]

Commission for @caponschampion!!

thank you so much for giving me an opportunity to paint these idiots🙏

[impmansloot]

im in an art block

[impmansloot]

[impmansloot]

me and the boys on our way to loot some corpses

[impmansloot]

You cannot save her

You cannot save her

You cannot save her

[impmansloot]

actually im posting these tags too fuck it

[impmansloot]

so i used to own a minecraft copy but it turns out i didn't really (and that's the reality of "owning" games nowadays) because i haven't played the game for like several years and apparently this account migration was going on which i was unaware of because uh i didn't even recieve any emails about it. cool!

[impmansloot]

4 - in another lifetime since kingdom come came from historical reconstruction, i couldn't pass the topic up

[impmansloot]

Myshka/Agnes for Day 3: Festival @kcdfemslashweek