#I can’t tell if how I think of them is platonic queer platonic or romantic

[moraent-keys]

So I know a bunch of aroace people can’t really tell the difference between platonic and romantic (myself included), but do any other aroace people have this problem when it comes to ships? /genq i would like to know if others experience this

I can’t tell how I ship something or how I view relationships in general anymore and I’m confused

[beauspot]

Good Omens Is a Big Deal

With everything going on I haven’t acknowledged how grateful I am for what Neil (and John) did this season. I always saw Good Omens as a romantic story and everyone involved seemed to be super supportive of that. To actually see a follow through on those themes was wonderful though. To see Aziraphale continue to look at Crowley like he’s the earth, the moon, and the stars. To see Crowley continue to save his angel not because he needs them to, but because they love him.

To see them have their dinners, and give the other access to their prized possessions. To see them dance. They love each other. They are in love with each other and it’s not implied or a throwaway line that can be edited out.

It’s the beating heart at the center of the story.

And they weren’t meant to be. Neil himself will tell you when he and Terry wrote the book Aziraphale and Crowley were meant to be friends and that’s it. Over time their relationship evolved and where a lot of writers would simply ignore that and keep pushing forward Neil pivoted and said “you know what? let’s see where this goes.” The last time I can remember something like this happening was with Hannibal years ago, it’s so rare with queer pairings.

I know everyone was excited about the kiss and it is refreshing to see queer people actually get to kiss, it’s still not something that happens all the time, but that’s not what made them canonically queer to me. If they remained completely asexual and never kissed or showed interest in kissing one another I’d feel the same. While I always felt they were queer what sealed it for me were 3 things:

1. Nina and Maggie, a romantic pairing that parallel our angel and demon break down to Crowley how she and Aziraphale are partners (and it’s clear they don’t mean business partners, does Crowley look like he runs a bookshop?) but they never say what they’re really thinking. They go on to state how that’s all they needed, the obvious implication here being that Nina and Maggie shared their romantic feelings with one another and that Crowley and Aziraphale need to do the same. Upon hearing this Crowley takes that as a sign to confess his feelings.

2. Gabriel and Beelzebub, another pairing that parallels Crowley and Aziraphale who are also clearly in love with one another is something Crowley references while he is confessing his feelings. “If those two lovestruck idiots can go off together, so can we. Because I love you.”

3. Crowley and Aziraphale express plainly to each other that they need the other. Crowley says to Aziraphale he wants to stop pretending they aren’t a team, a group, a them.

Aziraphale says verbatim “We can be together.” and “I need you.” He doesn’t say “We can work together” or “I need you to help me” or some other cop out that a lot of other shows or movies might come up with to continue to bait their fans, while having plausible deniability.

They love each other and it’s not platonic.

To me, the kiss serves as a way to seal the deal for people who only understand queer love when it’s punching them in the face. That’s not to say queer people can’t like the kiss, it’s one of my favorite scenes in the show simply because of how heartbreaking it is, but they were a couple to me long before that. And to add onto that by making every other important pairing in the show queer as well? Nina and Maggie being happy sapphics who don’t die at the end. They’re not together, but the implication is that one day they will be. Two non-binary beings—Gabriel and Beelzebub—falling in love and choosing to be with one another forever. The angels and demons are all genderless and no one misgenders them and no one gives a FUCK.

That means so much to me and I genuinely cannot express how thankful I am that this show and this season were made. The only thing I can say is thank you for standing for something, because not everyone does.

[autistic-katara]

does it annoy tf out of anyone else that when a character says smthn like: “i’m not in love with [a male character], i was in love with [female character], it took me a while to accept and i’m incredibly scared telling you please don’t tell anyone” people immediately go “ah yes, canon lesbian, i don’t know how u can’t pick up on that”

meanwhile when a character says smthn like: “i’ve tried for years to force myself into a romantic relationship, thought it would ‘fix me’. but i realise now that’s not how it works, a romantic relationship won’t fix me and i honestly don’t think i was attracted to any of the people i tried to date, im going to swear of romantic relationships for life bcz i don’t experience romantic attraction, later guys ily platonically” 99% of the fans go “oh, ok. so they’re probably asexual but it’s definitely up to interpretation. wtf is ‘a romantic’, yeah they’re a romantic; in a romantic relationship with their ‘best friend’ who i ship them with and is basically canon. very homophobic of the author to make them explicitly state that they weren’t into them like that. they must hate gay people despite the rest of the queer characters in here…”

[pally-plate]

I just learned about alterous attraction and…

It perfectly describes how I feel. I don’t think google really explains it very well, so I’ll explain it how I saw it explained.

So basically, it’s the a-nonbinary version of love (a-nonbinary is where you’re outside of the binary as well as removed from the nonbinary spectrum, you’re your own thing.).

So, romantic is one end of the spectrum, and platonic is the other end. Queer-platonic is everywhere else on the spectrum. But alterous attraction is completely separated from the spectrum. It’s just its own type of attraction.

‘Romantic’ can also be replaced with any other type of attraction, such as sexual, aesthetic, sensual, etc, I’m just focusing on romantic attraction since that’s the one I was most confused about, so it’s the one I connect with the most.

I used this analogy to explain it to one of my friends and I think I got it down perfectly, exactly how I feel:

My attraction is like: warhead vs a Swedish fish. (Romantic and platonic attraction.) If you eat them both at once, it’s both sour and sweet at the same time, and you can’t really tell where one candy starts and the other ends. (Both of them mixed together would be queerplatonic attraction). But my attraction to people is more like a tart nerds candy. It’s still candy, and it still has a bit of sour and a bit of sweet mixed in, but at the end of the day, it’s its own flavor.

Feel free to use this analogy if you wish, no need to credit me, but please keep it related to alterous attraction if you do choose to use it.

But yeah, I’m very proud of this analogy, as it perfectly describes how I feel attraction to other people.

[orionsangel86]

I’m not sure how much sense this will make since it’s almost midnight, but am I crazy for thinking how insane it is for Charles to go “I can’t say that I’m in love with you back or anything” and then immediately follow up with “but there’s no one else who I’d go to Hell for”? Cause like, my brain doesn’t know how to not interpret that as Charles reciprocating Edwin’s specific type of love, but not realizing it. Maybe it’s because I grew up in a super religious household so I already have some predispositions about Heaven and Hell, but my point of view for that is just thinking that someone better be pretty damn special for me to go to Hell for them. Like a wife or kid kind of special.

I don't think its crazy to interpret it that way at all. I think its rare to find that level of devotion among two people and when used as a trope it is usually related to extreme romantic love - see the OG Orpheus and Euridice as the prime example. Charles comparing himself to Orpheus in that moment (however naively because he didn't know how the story ended) is far more telling than he seems to realise.

That's not to say that only people with romantic/passionate feelings for someone can experience that level of devotion. Familial and forms of queer platonic love can also certainly be that devoted, and I have seen a lot of people talking about how they view the boys relationship as a queer platonic one, where Charles in particular, doesn't need to feel romantic love in order to be completely devoted to Edwin. I think that's a really great form of representation and can go someway to explaining how much of a deep and profound bond the two have (as a SPN fan I do not use that term lightly lol).

Though I think throughout the series we see Charles display forms of jealousy towards Edwin's connection with Monty and the Cat King, and he does also confirm he likes Crystal because she reminds him of Edwin - even he was joking at the time. I also think it was lovely that in the confession he doesn't once say that he isn't into guys, or that he doesn't think he could ever feel something more romantic for Edwin. He just says he isn't in love with him at that point. Whether or not that particular statement was the whole truth or just Charles' own form of denial and inability to properly process the confession since they were literally running away from a horrible giant spider doll demon from Hell at that point in time remains to be seen.

I think enough hints have also been dropped during cast and writer interviews that if they get a season two, it will go some way to explore Charles' own feelings and build on the aftermath of that confession. Whatever the situation between them is, it is the primary relationship of the show and it is quite clearly built on love and devotion regardless of what forms they or we interpret that as. They have literally forever to figure it out, and I really hope we get to watch at least some of that!

[spirit-meets-the-b0ne]

In the middle of my HotD rewatch

The gyroscope of interpretation on this show has been at the forefront of my rewatch along with now having read some of the script and read/watched cast interviews.

This one inference made by Olivia Cooke (via Sarah Hess) has plagued me for the first few episodes.

Now, now I know these waters are really muddy what with a few obvious conceptual things: "isn't this queer baiting" "if it wasn't it wouldn't be good sapphic representation anyway" "this is an actors interpretation" blah blah blah. I'm not arguing any of that.

Just that Olivia's head canon held against this scene hits SO MUCH HARDER

Because I gotta say MY GOD imagine how that strikes Alicent if at some point her mother caught them together. Before they even really knew what they were doing (objectively to the tune of they were 13/14 not fully clear on platonic/romantic love) her mother impressed upon them it was wrong. When they denied and in some way or another Alicent/Rhaenyra saying "she never touched me." Only for Alicent to hear it echoed back to her years later like this... Knowing that even in her naïveté she would recognize the truth. That Alicent’s mother, naturally, kept this contained. Which honestly plays more to truly making Alicent more complex by the way she saw what “scandal” her mother covered up for her only for her to act out some perversion of this with Aegon when she’s a mother. A learned behavior twisted in the worst way, because that's what she knew.

Listen I fully understand that this show is NOT taking this angle even though there seems to be a huge division between what some writers and actors are playing to and the editors at HBO imaginably being like "what's all this gay shit?" BUT

I think it's part of what this show missed about TRAGEDY and I mean come on you want drama???? These girlies were ready to hand it to you on a silver plater! In this context I needed:

Rhaenyra being devastated by the news that Alicent was going to be marrying her father. The sheer heartbreak of “this can’t be happening” and knowing she would have lost Alicent to a husband but not THIS. Show her with Syrax, confiding in her dragon because now she has no other friend to talk to - I’m just saying if they were going with the context of “Fire & Blood itself is an unreliable narrator and only shows certain people’s views” - then a scene like this disrupts nothing. Tell me how when they prayed together and Alicent told her to "kneel with me" that part of Rhaenyra prayed for that world where they flew off on dragon back and ate cake.

Alicent being devastated - having her heart torn in two, crying behind every closed door knowing she was going to break the heart of her best friend. The deleted scene does give a peak of that being the case - but again it could/should have been included. Show me Alicent begging Rhaenyra to forgive her and desperately saying she loves her. I think one of the things that Team Green argues the most could have been explored by this avenue, Alicent is a victim of her marriage - it would be inherently more compelling if in the process she is also losing the closest thing to a "first love" she had. Show me Alicent at her desk writing letters to Rhae once a week and then ceremoniously burning them in the braziers. Alicent leaning more into religion as a means of getting out from under her repressed desires and past actions.

Show me both women struggling in their adulthood to even remember why they held "such childhood affections" for each other. Knock the fucking wind out of me with a line like, "the worst part of it all was that they only ever wanted to love each other."

To me one of the worst parts of this production (of which there's a few) has got to be this was the apex of completely missed opportunities to explore. In the premise of "going by unreliable sources" their queerness would be suppressed information. I even think it plays into the dynamic between Rhae-Alicent-Criston in a kind of "Jennifer's Body" way where Rhae was really only interested in him as the object of Alicent's desires which I believe is made a little clearer in the books. A kind of "see this could have been us if you didn't marry my bag-of-bones father" for Rhaenyra who clearly had no aversion to consorts.

I'm sorry to go on this rant, and yes I KNOW - the counter arguments for many of these points. I would even argue some of them further such as the sapphic representation not being invalidated simply because both women do end up with men in the source material. If this was the case then why was "Portrait of a Lady on Fire" received so well? This at the very least to say if they made Alicent and Rhaenyra explicitly queer it would still be less controversial than what the queer men on that show got … Still its not even to say "it's a better way" to explore more of Rhaenyra and Alicent's characters but its at least A WAY to do it. More than we got. Surely both sides could agree on that.

Sorry, now I'm just being pedantic. As a queer woman naturally I have a bias but I still think this was objectively a missed opportunity to explore. Both girl's back stories could have been enriched and tbh a lot of HOTD fans I know also had the same complaint that the time skip came in too early. I think it also makes things less likely to be so divisive between TG and TB when you look at the central pillars of this conflict. You can truly grieve for Alicent and Rhaenyra and what they lost already while on the verge of losing it all. Anyway, I gotta go cry about my divorced lesbian war wives.

[queer-reader-07]

few things bother me more than people saying that it’s “dumb” or “intentional ignoring” or “impossible” to have interpreted crowley and aziraphale’s relationship platonically.

and look i could go on about all the things that do point to romance but enough people have done that so i’m gonna defend myself here and explain why i read them as platonic for so long and why i think it’s perfectly reasonable to have read them platonically.

and a disclaimer that all of this is from my perspective and my opinion. so if i make a statement as though it’s matter of fact, know that i’m speaking from my perspective and just can’t be bothered to preface every sentence with “in my opinion…”

and it mostly boils down to one thing: their love reflected the love me and my friends have for each other.

so no shit i interpreted them platonically because they looked like my real life platonic relationships!!

i’ve talked at length about how i think there’s a specificity to the way queer people love. i think there’s something special about the way queer people show love, especially platonic love.

here’s the thing. i’ve been mistaken as my best friend of 16 years’ girlfriend more than once. i’ve been mistaken as one of my other best friend’s partner so many times her friends were genuinely shocked when she got a boyfriend because they thought she was dating me.

i understand the whole “being so platonically in love that people think you’re also fucking” situation. i unironically live that situation on the regular. so naturally i assumed that’s what was happening with aziraphale and crowley.

my thought process was basically this

1) they love like i love (specifically, crowley loves like i love). therefore, they’re platonically in love.

2) weird, everyone on the internet is convinced they’re dating. something something everyone values romantic love over platonic love

3) well whatever they’re still platonic in my heart

and it stayed like that quite literally until i watched episode 6 of season 2. and you can tell me i was being oblivious all you want, but that doesn’t change the fact that i genuinely believed they were platonic. queer platonic? sure. but definitely not romantic.

i saw all the witty quips and banter between the two of them and didn’t read any sexual or romantic tension, i read friendship. i saw aziraphale damsel in distress-ing himself on the regular so crowley could save him and thought “well it’s the only way he can spend time with crowley. checks out”. and i saw the bandstand breakup and the burning bookshop and “you told my only friend to shut his mouth and die and i did. not. care. for it.” and aziraphale so desperately trying to shield crowley from the horrors of the world and obviously i saw love. a love that is deep and profound, yes. it just never read romantic to me because i would do and say all of those things for and to my friends.

one of the few things i will never cease to find joy in is my friendships. i will ALWAYS love loving the people close to me, i will ALWAYS support them, and most importantly, i ALWAYS want to protect them. even when i know what is going to happen is inevitable, i don’t want to see them hurt. i want to shield them from the cataclysmic experience of the human condition and only have to experience in the moments of joy that await them. i don’t want to see the people i love hurt or in pain or jaded by how fucked up the world is.

because i already am those things. i am jaded by the world, i’m constant falling into the pit of cynical despair that the state of the world can manage to throw you down. and i know how fucking hard it is to pull yourself out of that place, to find hope and move forward and allow yourself to even enjoy the love and support you do have in life.

and the last thing i ever want is for the people i love dearly to experience those things.

so yeah. i related hard fucking core to crowley and the way he loves aziraphale SO. FUCKING. DEEPLY. and of course i read it platonically because it’s platonic for me. so deeply platonic in the best way.

and i could go on about how a lot of this stems from how much i value platonic love. how much i don’t adhere to social norms of love and how people express love. i will loudly proclaim my love for my friends, because i love them. i’m in love with them. but that doesn’t mean i want to date them or kiss them. and that makes perfect sense to me, and if it doesn’t make sense to you. well then, idk what to tell you.

this is longer than i intended but my point is that it hurts seeing people who act like those of us who did genuinely read aziracrow as platonic the first go around are stupid or that we chose to ignore the romance.

because, to me at least, it always felt like people were calling the way i love stupid or that i’m actually ignoring my “real” feelings

[clone-anon-after-dark]

So, can I get a Fives with an ace reader, the theme is up to you

Here we go!

Campfire

Fives x Asexual GN Jedi Reader

Word Count: 1199

Warnings: None really. The start of a queer platonic relationship with just a little hand holding and closeness.

A/N: I really wanted to show the start of a new relationship that isn’t going to include the usual romantic tropes. Some discussion of relationships versus attachment. Originally I wrote this for a male reader, but then realized that it doesn’t indicate the reader’s gender anywhere.

You watched the moon brighten as night overtook the planet.  Fives looked through the supplies you’d brought with you for this little scouting mission. 

“Found an ax,” he said as he walked back out of the small ship.

“Want some help,” you asked.

“I can handle it, general.” He struck a bit of a pose to make you smile.  He looked pleased when you let out a bit of a laugh.

You got serious for another moment and replied, “I told you, Fives, you don’t have to call me that out here.” 

Fives gave you a grin, but didn’t say anything. Instead, he approached a fallen tree and started cutting off large branches for some firewood and kindling.  You pulled out a pot and a packet of dehydrated soup from the supplies. It wasn’t the best food, but it was better than ration bars.  Fives made a fire and you heated the food. Dinner was quiet at first, but then you spoke up.

“I don’t think I’ll be a general in this war. I certainly don’t want to lead anyone into battle.”

“Why not? You’re a Jedi.”

“There are many ways to be a Jedi.  I’m better with jobs like this. Supporting civilians.”

“You’re good at it,” Fives replied. “You’re good with people.”

“So are you.”

You smiled at him as you finished your food. You liked helping people and you didn’t like war. You were grateful to have the ARC trooper with you. Rex had given him leave to help you after Anakin found out you’d be going alone. At first you thought this mission wasn’t going to need more than one person, but after seeing how complicated the situation had gotten, it helped to have Fives’ support. He was great with the little kids who were all still reeling from the recent attack on their community.  He spent a lot of time in the makeshift hospital. As soon as he saw the children, he went in to visit, telling them stories and reading to them from a small collection of books that had been donated.  Your heart warmed when one little girl crawled into his lap while he read.  Beyond this, he communicated needs with the 501st.  They were sending in more support and were to arrive the next day. The locals needed food, medical supplies, and support in clearing debris.  It wasn’t the first time you’d worked with Fives. You’d worked with other clones before and always admired them, but there was something about Fives.  He made you feel a way that no one else had.  You had a special place in your heart for him.

You cleaned up from dinner and Fives watched the sky.  It was clear he was deep in thought.

“What is it,” you asked.

He cleared his throat and said, “I was thinking about how I…” He took a breath and stared at his hands for a moment. You’d never seen him nervous quite like this.  “I was thinking about how I care about you, but I know you’re a Jedi. You can’t be in a relationship.”

“That’s not true,” you said.

“It’s not? But isn’t love and attachment, not allowed? Forbidden?”

You shook your head and sat next to him, scooting a little closer.  

“There are many ways to have a relationship.  I certainly wouldn’t be opposed to exploring what that might mean.”  You paused and collected your thoughts before continuing.  “With a few exceptions, we aren’t supposed to get married. Ki-Adi Mundi has multiple wives, but that’s because his species has few males. He says he’s unattached to them, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t care about them either.”

“So you can love but you can’t get attached. How does that work?”  Fives mouth twisted in a bit of frustration. He knew how he felt and it seemed so simple. Putting all of this into so many words felt like it could easily trap someone in a complicated mess.  You held out your hand toward his.

“Don’t offer me that if you don’t feel the same,” he said cautiously. You didn’t push. 

“I’ve always known I was different,” you stated. “I don’t feel attraction in the way that a lot of people do. I see beauty in the force, in the universe, in people, but I have never wanted sexual intimacy or anything like that. I realize that’s what some people would want.  Maybe to me this seems simple because for me it is.”  You left your hand out toward him and added, “I care about your Fives. I feel great love for you. Not being attached means that I know I can’t control you or the future. If you were gone, I’d be sad, but I would know that you’re now one with the force. The force is everywhere, so we will never be without each other. Being unattached means that we are free to do our duty. Don’t mistake my lack of attachment for a lack of caring or a lack of love. I love deeply even if I don’t act on it in the way most people would.”

Fives took in all that you said. He felt a comfort in how you put it. He wasn’t sure about all the details of the force, but he often felt like his fallen brothers were watching out for him. Maybe this was the feeling of someone being one with the force and always being there.  He liked that thought. It was comforting. He reached for your hand and interlaced his fingers with yours.  He closed his eyes and took some deep breaths.  He hadn’t felt this close to anyone.

Several minutes passed and you both felt a calm come over you.  You studied his face. Little muscles that were worried now relaxed. His beautiful brown eyes grew softer. The warm light of the campfire lit up his features. You could see every bit of wear on his armor. So many battles and so many stories and yet he was always ready to help and do his job. You admired him and felt your connection grow. You hoped he understood how you felt.  

Fives looked back at you. His kind smile was accompanied by some butterflies as he looked into your eyes.  He gently squeezed your hand.  You sensed his vulnerability and wanted to comfort him.

“I like spending time with you. I like you. Let’s just see where things go. That okay?”

He nodded.  “More than okay.”  Then, for the first time instead of calling you general, he whispered your name. 

You were both distracted from the moment when you heard a battle droid’s voice from the edge of town. You drew your lightsaber and he had his blaster out, each wanting to protect the other.  You walked around the ship, but put your weapons away with a sigh as it was revealed that the noise was simply a group of stray tookas play fighting on top of a pair of halved droids. You let out a sigh and returned to the fire together.

You sat shoulder to shoulder and he put an arm around you. You briefly rested your head on his shoulder before reaching for his hand and watching the stars.

Tagging: @dukeoftheblackstar @trixie2023 @staycalmandhugaclone

[strawberryflavoredsapphic]

A bunch of videos on Comphet, internalized homophobia and trying to figure out if it’s Comphet or attraction that helped me. These (mostly) just other lesbian’s experiences. It’s ok if you don’t relate to them. And relating to them doesn’t necessarily mean you’re a lesbian either bc people can’t put their whole life story into a video.

Anyways, I found these to be more helpful than the “am i a lesbian?” Masterdoc.

TikTok 1: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT8j59gEV/ Get rid of it: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT8j5Q3RA/ Experience 1: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT8j54mbS/ How to tell: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT8j5HJH8/ Platonic vs romantic love: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT8j5V1fx/ Experience 2: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT8j5Swcw/ Loneliness: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT8j5WAeY/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT8jaRUx2/ Why do lesbians date men before knowing they’re lesbian: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT8j5T9PB/ Experience 3: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT8j5GVJK/ Carrd: https://href.li/?https://howdoiknowimalesbian.carrd.co Understanding attraction: https://www.tumblr.com/ghostisventing/725035378401296385 Internalized homophobia: https://youtu.be/K7WvHTl_Q7I?si=lH3d__Rr6DMORNqq YouTube: https://youtu.be/HGS5zoqNnSk?si=rAD9qaBI3MYn4JzV Bi vs lesbians: https://youtu.be/9X1DTtpABxc?si=cNmkXErMzXMvfDFr https://youtu.be/s6KA8RB4sQg?si=fS7SHvFxM0pClLOp https://youtu.be/n_nvfr0sH-Y?si=D9q5D0NxJ8wgUonA Comphet: https://youtu.be/t1FpEi28ciE?si=dxBTQ-Ltf7gxncuO

[sliceofdyke]

what r ur favorite wlw movies u would recommend (and also possibly where i could watch them for free)

also unrelated but i was trying to remember the url u had right before this one and i can’t 😭 i’m terrible at remembering stuff like that. but i feel like u always have urls that are so You, like i remember i came back after a hiatus once and u sent me an ask like “oh im maddie btw this is my new url!” but i could already Tell lol bc it’s always aggressively aquatic and/or sapphic. queen of urls fr 🔥🔥

HI STARRY!!! resident dyke at your service 🫡 pleased to share some of my favs! linked is each movie's letterboxd, and ill also share where i watched them! (i recommend watching on a computer with some sort of adblocker extension like ublock origin.)

saving face (2004) dir. alice wu - MUST WATCH for all the gaysians out there! it's about a closeted chinese-american lesbian and her traditionalist mother, and centers on their relationship as well as both women's individual struggles in love and life. it's primarily a comedy but it has its serious moments, and i absolutely loved every second. racial and cultural familial expectations are an element present throughout this movie, and that's one of the reasons i like it so much. but i think it's presented in a way so that people who aren't chinese can understand! also, the relationship between the mc and her love interest is so engaging, and it really captures the struggle of many queer relationships where one person is more "out" than the other. the first site i found that has this movie in good quality was 0123movie.net!

next up is the incredibly true adventure of two girls in love (1995) dir. maria maggenti!! this movie was so good i audibly yelled at one point. although it's a lesser-known indie movie with a low budget, it has a raw honesty and heart to it that modern queer cinema often lacks (cough cough euphoria cough cough love simon). i was absolutely sold on the two mcs' chemistry and the progression of their relationship, and i loved how their blossoming first love was portrayed so authentically complete with all the rough edges and awkward glances. randy and evie were so endearingly dorky and cute, and i related to them SO bad. the heartfelt depiction of a multiracial sapphic teen love story really made me burst with joy. also a note to anyone who watches: trigger warning for pedophilia, lesbophobia & the d slur, verbal abuse, and threats of physical abuse. i can elaborate on these if anyone wants! btw a lot of more popular p1rating sites don't have this movie, but one that does is braflix.ru!

we all know her. we all love her. it's bottoms (2023) dir. emma seligman!! truly one of the best satirical works of our generation /srs. it's about two lesbians who end up starting an after-school fight club to lose their virginity before the end of senior year, and the shenanigans that ensue. bottoms does not take itself seriously at all, and lots of things make no sense plot-wise, but that is exactly what enables it to be so hilarious and silly. class periods are less than five minutes long, there are curse words in the school announcements, murders occur that are never addressed. and it's so FUN!!! a super good movie to watch with a group of friends that are as gay as you are. trigger warning for blood (lots of it) and comedic use of homophobic slurs. you can watch it on most p1rating sites but one that i've seen has it is myflixerz.to!

fourth, the half of it (2020) dir. alice wu! another masterpiece by miss wu, this time about a nerdy introverted high school girl who gets roped into ghostwriting love letters from a cheerful jock to the hot girl he has a crush on, and she ends up falling for the crush as well as they become friends. i watched it a couple years ago and rewatched it last year, and i loved it both times! i really appreciate how it's a story about friendship above all else and shows how platonic love can be just as important (if not more) than romantic love. and from what i remember, the filmography is also really good. this one is also available on myflixerz.to!

last but not least is kase-san and morning glories (2018) dir. takuya sato! anime movie about the budding romance between a shy gardening enthusiast and the charismatic ace of the girls' track team. this is a perfect movie if you want to watch something very low-stakes and laid-back! you can watch it on allmanga.to (this site has no ads on mobile which is so nice). i watched the subbed version but there is a dub as well. this movie is based off the manga of the same name, which finished in 2017, but there is also a currently ongoing sequel series about the couple's post-high school lives! if you're interested in reading that after watching the movie, feel free to reach out and i'll send you the website i read it on.

some other sapphic movies i've been meaning to watch but haven't gotten around to yet are: but i'm a cheerleader, the watermelon woman, portrait of a lady on fire, the handmaiden, and desert hearts!

hope this helps :)))

[aromantic-diaries]

IDK if this is an unpopular take, and idk if its because I just have a lot of bad experiences with allo-norms and has constantly see how it hurts friendships and devalues them, but I'd love aro/ace's POV on this: I feel it would be more useful to label relationships by boundaries rather than a binary of romantic vs platonic. Friends can live together, raise kids together, have sex. Doesn’t mean they have romantic attraction necessarily. (And when romantic attraction is described as just a "stronger" form of platonic attraction like 99% of the time, it’s not helpful either - it bugs me when people say stuff like 'romance/sex is just an intimate friendship' which no. it really isn't IMO.) Categorizing feelings is difficult but people have to be so obsessed with “am I in love” they can’t focus instead on “what do I want my future with this person to be like” It should be more common for people outside of aro/ace spaces or even queer spaces to challenge traditional ideas of romantic vs platonic relationships even.

People really only hurt themselves and perpetuate toxic ideals by limiting themselves like that.

Like I’ve seen people be like “I cherish and value this friend above all else but I’m not attracted to them” and I want to shake them and be like “you don’t have to belittle your friendships because of allonormativity!!! You can value a friend that way!!! It’s ok!!!!”

But some people would tell them “you’re just in denial of your romantic feelings” and I want to shake them up too.

I could go into how romance/allonormativity is toxic in itself too but I don't wanna ramble too much; I guess I just have a lot of frustrations with allo-ism as a normalised concept and how, I feel it can be more toxic then not but I don't want to let my own bad experiences with it bring down others. This isn't to say ace/aro ppl are superior of course, like i said i think relationships should be determined by boundaries rather then binary.

This is a really interesting take and I actually agree with you on this. The idea that romance is the absolute highest form of love is restrictive for alloromantic people just as much as it is for aros.

I don't believe in the relationship hierarchy, especially when it's based on the type of love you feel for someone rather than yknow, trust, the level of intimacy or how strong your bond is. The type of love shouldn't be what determines how close you are with someone and placing romance above everything and putting up a border for when it's no longer "just friends" and is now romance is bullshit from both straight and queer perspectives. I personally hate the idea that two friends can't possibly be close without it crossing into the romance territory cause it's such a narrow view of how relationships work. Me and my best friend for example are very close, to the point where we consider ourselves to be like brothers and we have no romantic feelings for eachother, yet people still kind of assume we Must be "more than friends". As for stuff like friends with benefits, it shouldn't be so outlandish to consider that friends might have sex and still be friends without entering a romantic relationships. Especially in the queer community where sleeping with friends is considered pretty commonplace.

All in all, yeah, this is something to think about. It's kind of mind poisoning to view relationships as forming a hierarchy and it shouldn't be an aro-exclusive thing to deconstruct that idea

[landhficrecs]

Asexual Character/s

Wouldn’t It Be Nice by pinkskies 36k

Louis goes to pride for the first time and meets a trans girl named Harry, who goes a little too hard and crashes on Louis’ sofa for the night. When he wakes up, she’s gone, and Louis doesn’t expect to ever see her again. Except he does. 

alternatively; Louis gets a job at a diner to pay for college, doesn't have a clue how to tell his parents that he’s asexual, and is almost positive Harry keeps accidentally running into him on purpose.

Talk with me, Walk with me by loulovehome 3k 

"I don't think sex entices me anymore."

AU where Louis and Harry’s relationship develops at the same time that Louis starts figuring out his asexuality.

Like to Keep You Laughing by kikikryslee 12k

Louis gasped. “Are you straight? Oh, I'm sorry, man. You should’ve just told me; I would’ve left you alone.”

“No, no, that’s not it," Harry said. "I like guys. I definitely like guys.”

“OK…”

“Louis, I’m ace.”

Louis snorted. “Kind of full of yourself, aren’t you?”

---

Or, the one where Louis is a frat boy who likes to hook up and Harry is someone who doesn't hook up ever.

Who would’ve thought? By iilarryii 9k

“Do you see the curly haired boy there?” Liam asks pointing across the room where a boy was standing with two girls.

Louis nods, “What about him?”

“Well I think that we should put your acting skills to work. I want to see how good you are,” Liam says smiling droopily. “So I want you to go over there and act like you're his boyfriend.”

Or a story between two boys who believed in love but didn't think that they could achieve it.

Inner Crisis by Neondiamond 5k

Louis calls an LGBTQ+ crisis hotline after coming out as asexual to his friends and family doesn’t quite go as well as he’d hoped. Harry answers his call.

Partners by 2Larry_Stylinson2 5k

Asexual Louis Tomlinson meets asexual Harry Styles at one of his college's queer clubs on campus and they hit it off right away. As they grow closer, however, they discover that their feelings for one another aren't exactly platonic anymore. But they aren't romantic or sexual either. In comes a queer-platonic relationship, brought to you by a game of truth or dare between four friends who were supposed to be studying.

Somebody Get Me Through This Nightmare by lululawrence 11k

“I am not subjecting you to my poor dog in his moment of vulnerability!” Louis cried. “That would be cruel to you, but also to Clifford.” Louis got up and started pacing again like he had been before. “He is so cuddly and honestly is also quite spoiled, and now he probably thinks I’ve abandoned him over this. And I essentially have! I’m serious, Harry, I close my eyes and the visuals of his bald head haunt me. God, how am I going to sleep tonight? I can’t even bring myself to walk back into the house.”

“You are always welcome to sleep on my couch if you need,” Harry offered immediately. “I still don’t think it’s quite as bad as you seem to believe it is, but I’d much rather you be next door than fifteen or twenty minutes away at someone else’s house.”

Louis was flooded with relief. “God, if you really don’t mind, I would really appreciate that.”

now you’re in my life (I can’t get you off my mind) by we_are_the_same 34k

Harry loves romance.

In theory, anyway.

He loves the romantic movies, the careful brush of fingers against the back of a neck, the hand holding and the endless gazes. He loves the possibilities, the tension and the wonder. He loves the idea of falling in love, finding someone to come home to.

In reality, it’s a little different. Because as much as Harry loves the concept of dating, the reality sucks.

making me sweat by honey_beeing 9k

A not-exactly University AU where Harry and Louis meet at an orgy where the both of them don't intend to have sex at.

Give me all of your love (something to dream about) by thetigersdinner 5k 

As his mind drifted off to sleep, he couldn't help but think that his life was perfect. There wasn't a single goddamn thing he would change. He had his career, and he had his friends, but most important of all, he had Louis. and Louis loved him exactly the way he was, and that's everything he could ever wish for.

_______________

OR

I couldn't sleep, so instead I wrote 5.5k words of Harry being asexual and louis loving him for it. enjoy!

Peach Blossom Has Just Begun To Bloom by flamboyo 4k

 Thoughts flood in, a mess of how are you this lovely and I'm gonna have to kiss you again and I'm not letting you go, hope you're alright with that, but what comes out of Louis' mouth is: "Shit, I got glitters all over you." * The Pride parade has always been Louis’ favorite event, but this year it gets even better when he happens to kiss a gorgeous, tattooed stranger. Losing sight of their friends, Louis and Harry decide to spend the march together talking about their identity and their pride, and eventually concluding to never let each other go.

@so-why-let-your-voice-be-tamed @lululawrence @neondiamond @flamboyantommo

(Please @ the authors if you can xx)

[us-the-voices-and-more-voices-2]

What do you think gay men are attracted to in men that they can’t be attracted to in women?

It can’t be anything about femininity or masculinity obviously. That’s both sexist, and cultural so can’t be what drives men-only attraction.

It can’t be anything about stated identity because someone could lie just as easily as they could tell the truth in such a statement, and it makes no sense because homosexuality and heterosexuality exists in other species with no stated identities. It’s not like other animals without gender are all pan.

Saying idk it’s the vibes or some indescribable trait men have that women can’t but “I can’t explain” is a nonanswer.

Soooooooo what is it? Or do you think any sexuality but bi/pan is just cultural performance or an identity rather than an inborn orientation?

- [ ]

not sure, I think it's deep in your soul tho.

this, pleasantness yk?

it's something in your brain, that just goes "I like men :)"

it's just a closeness and love yk? or like a sexual closeness.

and you want to love other men, not for looks or their sex.

(like genitals and secondary sex characteristics btw that's what I'm referring to)

but for just them, the palpable longing and wanting to be close.

the want to be loved by a man, idk it's the best I can describe.

"Soooooooo what is it? Or do you think any sexuality but bi/pan is just cultural performance or an identity rather than an inborn orientation?"

oh no both are very real, some people long for both men and women or andgronyous/nonbinary people.

I think the super interesting framework mogai kids came up with 10+ years ago actually works really well here for an explanation.

so theres a couple forms of attraction, please read the links they'll explain so much better than I can.

sexual

platonic

queer platonic

romantic

aesthetic

sensual

tertiary

a couple you may have never heard before lol, but thanks to this new frame work it starts to help us understand why some people are bi or pan or polyamorous or ace or whatever!

we all exist on that spectrum, some men love men purely romantically and not sexually.

(some may identify as asexual or not)

some men love purely sexually and not romantically.

(they'd probably identify as alloaro or allosexual aromantic or not)

and then there's platonically, and everyone feels this mostly but some want a close platonic relationship. ever heard of platonic marriage? yeah that.

(so like a) queer platonic or b) purely platonic, depends lol.)

but this frame work is interesting because it uncovers that being gay has less to do with what you look like, but how you feel about other men. do you get me?

probably not! but because these things exist on a spectrum and there's many different types of attraction I'd say it has more to do with the type of people or person they like.

:shrug emoji:

hard to explain? but that's how I'd put it, this is a beyond shitty explanation but I hope it helped

[jadejedi]

Fantasy Book Review: The Tarot Sequence (Books 1-3) by K.D. Edwards

JJ’s rating: 4.5/5

How feral did it make me: 5/5 

My book reviews

Okay, I read these kind of randomly, not really sure what I was getting into, and oh my god. Oh my god!! Okay, so most of the sci-fi/fantasy books I have read other than these were written by AFAB authors in their 20s and 30s. Which is great, and fine, but that’s a fairly limited perspective. These novels were written by an asexual man in his forties (sorry Keith, just sort of guessing on your age here lmao) and is it weird to say that it’s kind of refreshing to read a mlm romance actually written by a queer man? No, I don’t think so. These books, despite the dark topics they sometimes cover, feel like warm coziness to me. Reading these books feels like following along with a group of your beloved friends. God. I love them. 

Summary time! In a world in which Atlantis was a secret society of demigods called the Arcana (all named after tarot cards) before being destroyed in a civil war with humanity, the remaining Atlantean society has relocated to the island formerly called Nantucket. Rune St. John is the last son of the Sun Court, the rest of the Sun Court destroyed in a mysterious attack that left Rune with emotional, mental, and physical scars. Rune and his Companion (think platonic soulmate meets bodyguard), Brand, hire out their work essentially as mercenaries to scrape by. When a son of Lady Justice goes missing, Rune and Brand are hired to find him. Also, they acquire an orphaned teenager? Are they fathers now? They might be fathers now. 

These characters guys. Holy shit. They are perfect to me. K.D. Edwards was really out here like, what if I just… smash every toxically masculine stereotype out there? What if I make a snarky bodyguard character who unabashedly loves his best friend? What if these two men who have known each other all their lives are not afraid to be open about how important they are to each other and how much they genuinely LOVE each other? What if I make a romantic interest who is patient and kind and loving and not at all threatened by the relationship between his boyfriend and his boyfriend’s oldest and most important relationship? What if I create a relationship between these three men that blurs the lines between romantic and platonic?? What if I create an urban fantasy society in which queerness is normal and accepted, and where polyamory is normal and accepted? What if I make a group of characters who need a family and then FIND ONE WITH EACH OTHER???? WHAT. THEN????? (then we all cry, that’s what)

FUCK! 

These books are fun, witty, full of monsters and villains, but also some of the most heartwarming characters and relationships I’ve ever read??? Like, god. These are some of the few books that I have bought both audio book and e-book copies because I could not put them down. I *had* to be reading them, if I were at home, or at work, or in the car. And as soon as I finished them, I picked up the first one and reread them. 

This series is planned to be a trilogy of trilogies, with books 1-3 currently finished, and book 4 being written right now. I am so excited for more of this series, I can’t even tell you. Dear god. 

There is some dark content covered in these books, specifically based around what happened to the Rune on the night when his father’s court was destroyed, so if you have any questions about trigger warnings, don’t hesitate to ask. 

These books are an absolute DELIGHT. They are the queer fantasy I’ve always wanted to read, because Edwards understands that what makes the queer community special is the COMMUNITY. It’s about finding and CHOOSING your family, bitch!

Here’s a meme I made a while back to convince people to read these books (yes I spelled dinosaur wrong. oops):

READ THEM!!!

[the-sky-the-stars-the-sea]

Okay people of Tumblr. Now it’s time for you to go wild or do nothing.

Get this post to 100k notes and I’ll give my tumblr-using crush my url.

Get this post to 200k notes to get me and I’ll tell said crush I have a crush on them. (Yes telling them my url and telling them are two different things and yes both require lots of motivation just go with it)

(Yeah I know they’d probably figure out I have a crush on them once they find my tumblr but we’re not into logistics right now)

Get this post to 300k notes and I will ask said crush plus my other crush if they maybe want to start a polycule. (I keep imagining we’d make a great throuple)

Get this post to 500k notes and I’ll tell my other other crush who is also polyam that I’m open to dating them if they are open to the idea of dating me.

Get this post to 666k notes and I’ll tell my roommate of one week (school trip) that I’ve had a crush on them since the autumn of 2020.

Get this post to 999,999 notes and I’ll tell my childhood best friend that I have known for as long as we’ve been friends that I’ve always loved them and always will, and maybe not just in a platonic or queer platonic way. (I still can’t figure out just how I love them. I just feel like I’m hiding something from them when they don’t know just how much I feel for them)

Make any homophobic/transphobic/aphobic/ anti-polyamory comment and you’re blocked.

No you are not allowed to judge my non-existent love life or my looking for love priorities. I can’t stop you from asking questions but I can’t guarantee I’ll give you answers (though I am more likely to give answers to genuine questions)

And because I’m curious, here’s a poll:

If you see this post after the poll closes (look I know that some people know how to manipulate polls to make them longer than a week but I’m not that smart) but still wanna answer the question just put in comments or tags which one(s) you’re most invested in.

Alright, Tumblr. I’ll give you 6-12 months. I’ll shorten the length if this takes off faster than a rocket. However this will remain the same: if this post does not reach 100k notes by the Ides Of March 2025, then nothing will happen.

(also if you think I should rearrange these priorities feel free to tell me, I’m open to opinions)

Alright tumblr. Do (or don’t do) your thing.

[vvh0adie]

an aspect of heteronormativity i don’t get is telling your friends they can’t date your ex

preface: no. don’t get with a person that was abusive towards anybody, friend or not. you’re not an exception to the rule because it will always creep up

that being said, if people don’t end on bad terms, why are you still holding ownership over that person -and quite frankly your friends?

now i can understand if the relationship was just fresh and your homie immediately jumping in dms and i honestly find it crazy that an ex would entertain it because it’s like you just got out of a relationship. give yourself a break (someone people have a fear of being alone and think they constantly need to be in a relaahionship)

but after some time you need to let people move on and you need to as well. whatever those people do does not concern you

you can’t keep memories tied up with a person. have them but don’t think they’re only unique to you. your ex was apart of the relationship to and they moving on

seeing someone you thought you’d end up with become intimate with your friend can be tough. but if things didn’t end tragically and this person is able to move on, is that not a sign that you may need to sit with why you can’t?

the more you dwell on them, having tunnel vision, the greater you are at missing out on your person

granted if you continue to be around, you shouldn’t be subject to jabs by the new couple and other friends every waking second about the relationship not working out. and honestly if your friend group is doing that, honey it’s time to cut them off

and also getting upset that they may be doing things for your friends that they never did for you can be bittersweet. i wouldn’t call that emotional abuse but rather a lack of commitment/passion which obviously made the relationship end. maybe not in the sweetest of terms but no break up is gonna feel good. nobody was at fault, you just weren’t compatible and that doesn’t make neither one of you bad people

i’ve never seen this amongst queer people -at least nonheteronormative ones and i’m sure it happens in ones that are, it’s just very rare. i actually have a tendency to want to date my friends. i want to get to know you then develop further

(hit dog will holler. if it don’t apply, let it fly for this next part)

cuz from my viewpoint, why would i be building that platonic relationship within our dating phase? that sounds like im just bumbling around with a stranger while learning everything about them as im kissing and holding their hand and possibly having sex with them

that’s scary to me. next thing i know, im married to a person and im learning the basics of who they are during our marriage. why didn’t i know you had all these complications before we became partners?

and of course you’re never really going to know how someone acts in a romantic relationship until you get with them, but you should at least know their basic disposition towards humanity. if they not a good friend -person overall- what makes you think they’ll be an even better partner?

i would def let my ex date my friend. cuz honestly im not “letting” them do anything. i can’t control them and i shouldn’t want to. is that really a friend?

and no i’m not exempt from having those bittersweet feeling but i do have the autonomy to dictate how i act around them. the same for them

if you can’t do that and you know you’re going to be combative and lingering on “what could have been” then maybe it’s time to leave them people behind

it’s okay for friendships to end

but i would hate to lose out over something like that. to sever those friendships. like you miss out on a wedding. baby announcements. friend trips. academic accomplishments

like yeah they can be built elsewhere but depending on how long you’ve known your friends thats gotta be hard

if your ex and friend aren’t causing you any harm (instigating emotional, mental or physically harm) then let them be happy with each other

your emotions are valid, but you must be accountable for your emotions/actions and know when you need to dip for your own happiness and theirs. (even if you can’t bring yourself to be happy for them, just do it for yourself)

cuz if we being honest some people sabotage or harm themselves by engaging with things that they know they can’t take. and they should seek therapy

note: i feel this way about divorced people too.