#This is legit like bi erasure

[thatone-aroace-friend]

Please stop shipping characters on the aroace spectrum

guys please stop doing this because it can be kinda harmful to people on the aroace spectrum because your essentially erasing their identity. Cuz as a community we get very little representation in the media which is just kind of sad and annoying because I spent a good portion of my elementary and middle school years wondering why I wasn't really getting crushes like everyone else and everyone was fascinated with the dating world which was bizarre to me. I didn't know what it meant to be aromantic or an asexual until the middle of my seventh grade year and for a lot of people they don't find out until they are much older. This is partially because we get so little representation and at this point we are willing to take whatever we can get. Okay like I can count all the characters in the media who are on the aroace spec on one hand. ONE HAND. It also doesn't help that we are often excluded from lgbtq+ spaces. This is because a lot of people think we aren't really repressed or discriminated against. or whatever the fuck which it's always funny for me to hear someone say that because when they say that they're only contradicting themselves. When I came out to one of my friends who was also gay gave me a look of disgust when I said it and just kind of rolled her eyes. Even though I am bi or pan or whatever the fuck I don't know to explain it but ugh Anyways point is the fact that straight and cis aroace spec people are constantly discriminated against by the lgbtq+ community because we're straight passing. However we are also constantly told that we'll find someone someday and that we're just being picky and it fucking passes me off. So yeah don't ship character in the media who are on the aroace spectrum because we get very little representation as it is

[katyspersonal]

Tried to play with the concept of 'comphet'... and lost. Not bi erasure justification team anymore </3

[loycos]

-Teenagers on twitter are legit fighting to the death over whether a fictional character is lesbian or bi

-Each side claims the other is "x-phobic" for disagreeing with their headcanon

-The character isnt confirmed as either

What happened to 'live and let live'? I honestly cant understand why people care so much about what other people think about a person that doesnt exist.

What bothered me the most was the twisted way each side claims that thinking differently is harmful somehow. No its not? Its great that we have many interpretations of the media we consume. Its great that many people of different identities can see themselves in one character. What is this jealousy over fictional characters? Theyre not yours, they belong to someone else, and you dont get to go around and police what people are "allowed" to see in them. Grow up.

And i get that. I get that feeling of seeing yourself in a fictional character that you headcanon as, say, a lesbian, and you come across a drawing of said character kissing a man. You feel a little grossed out. Betrayed. But that feeling is not universal truth. Someone else finds comfort in that character just like you, but in a different way than you. part of being an adult is understanding that you can't make a tantrum over every little thing that inconveniences you, and that includes this. This isn't erasure, this isnt harmful. Its simply... sharing.

Im not saying you have to like other headcanons, just accept that they're there. That theyre not a threat to you, your thoughts, your interpretations, or even canon itself. Learn to share the space, make fandom just a little less hostile.

[nevermore-selfship]

You know it's rare for me to openly speak out on a topic such as this, I've, legit only ever drawn attention to my stance on things like this literally only once, like, like ever I think?? Cause someone asked but like-

Could we just let, people, like things?? Like y'all, I, everyone who is ever in a fandom, especially for selfshipping, you, do know we're all basically playing with evolved stages with our imaginations, that which does not affect the real world like, whatsoever??

If you like a villain character, you can write how they legit loathe everyone else but you, that they're the softest around you, and would raze the entire world if it meant that you'd be smiling and all theirs.

If you like a character that happens to have a sexuality pertaining to the gender you're not, you can just CHANGE IT so that it does involve you, if you love the character, it is JUST A FICTIONAL BEING, do the things that make you happy! That make you comfortable, that is fitted for yourself, hence the term "selfshipping", it shouldn't be a concern or worry to anyone else about how you go about, what you want to do to a character unless you share your love to the world.

Take it from someone who has been harassed before over an incredibly stupid list of things, (villain characters, age difference as my f/os are much older than me, bi erasure??? yeah okay), let people, just, be, people, it's not hard to do - if you don't like something, don't look at it, and leave the person alone-you're not saving a fictional character who's gonna somehow thank you if you call out something that you don't like personally, you just look like a prude who has control of a keyboard and taking advantage of anonymity as long as it lasts.

Live by the creed of, "if they're not hurting anyone, if they're not hurting living, breathing people, then do what you want."

And while I kinda prefer not to sway over to a label in the selfshipping community, proship people you are ALWAYS safe here on my blog, gush about a character, talk to me about it, I welcome it.

This will never be an area where happiness is forbidden or talked down upon. Fandom areas are, oddly enough very dangerous which is so, bizarre to me, that people get that insanely mad over someone just trying to enjoy the piece of media they are.

[nomsfaultau]

I think it’s hilarious Tommy being bi-curious is actually legit how fandom treats many bi characters. Like yes he has a girl friend and is married to a man but have we considered that only straight or gay people exist? Checkmate

Like obviously a very different situation and speculating on the sexuality of people you don’t know well is kinda rude, but it really does mirror the amount of bi erasure I’ve seen

[eldritchsun]

I found my Realm Of the Elderlings opinions in my diary and I still stand by them almost 5 years later

first entry and it's already terminal :

aug 30 2018

OHHHHH my god fitzchivalry YOU ARE THE REAL FOOL

i am so fucking done with this ABSOLUTE dumbass i can’t deal. the farseer books got me fucked up. he is SO stupid sometimes!! [ranting in french] fitz you are so self absorbed!!!! you really are just furious because u love the bastard. i swear to god fitzchivalry, just square the fuck up i’m teleporting to les six duchets just to shake you a lil

sep 26 2018

My ass is losing it reading The Liveship Traders!!!

Altheaaaaaa!! Mrs Hobb I BEG you!! We’ve suffered enough with One Dumbass Teenager! Fitzchilvary growing up is enough Pure Dumbassery-driven decision making for the next ten years of my life, and that’s from someone who’s still running on dumbassery themselves!!

The worst of it is... rn I’m like Althea... hoe plz... stop... but I can feel it. This is how Fitz got me... is this a stupid teenager with Big Problems who’s gonna grow through and despite them? What is this within my heart?

And Robin Hobb bursts through my door, my beating heart in her hands, slams it on the table and bellows “ITS THE SEEDS OF LOVE”

oct 19 2018

Kennit “[wintro's french name] is beautiful” Pirate King

Hobbs recurring gay themes r so ??? To me but at the same time bring me so much joy lol

Canon nonbinary Annoyance Fool “in love with Fitzchilvary” Prophet

Althea “drag king” Vestrit and lesbian/bi girl solidarity friendship with amber.

Malta “Homophobic Queen” Havre.

And now, absolute legend kennit “surcoure do you love me” pirate king. I know one gay couple is actually endgame over the course of Hobbs books [ndlr i don't remember wtf i was talking about] and I’m thinking it might be this one. I mean, it’s not great hashtag representation but it’s great story telling!

Sweet monk Wintrow with dumbass pirate kennit? Who’s completely and irrevocably in love and admiration for him?

This idiot of a kennit is literally constantly like [french ranting about kennit etta hate and wintrow love]

Lol kennit mate come out

however the next entry doesn't make much sense but features the sentences "kennit thinks he’s so smart!! Fuck you, half a pirate!!!" (the title of the entry (oct 26 2018) is "kennit bitchass of the century" so clearly he fell out of favour)

nov 26 2018

Literally in ROTE if I was there for one of Ambers prophecies I would legit be like... ok sis... wig?

nov 30 2018

Checked the notes on that women writers rec list and several other people already wrote “this is Robin Hobb erasure” in those exact words :’)

So in honour of this hivemind I must say : I am having the time of my life with the Liveship Traders, excites rant with (huge) spoilers ahead :

I am at that point where Kennit is about to get absolutely WRECKED and I swear to god it feels so satisfying. The character arc and development for every single character in these books is pure mastery. In the case of Kennit you really go from “what a despicable man he really just has luck on his side” to “well I guess even if he did good accidentally he still did good... I almost love this Awful Imbecile” and finish straight into “OH!! NEVERMIND he really was a despicable man the whole time!!!”, a pit of disgust right on time where the whole story is setting up to absolutely destroy him. Kennit is a great example of how “does the right thing for the wrong reasons” is not equivalent in terms of ethics as “does the right thing for the right reasons”. But to quote a great thinker “they really had us in that first half I’m not gonna lie!”

What I really like in these books is that the centristTM opinions of certain main characters are not automatically & heavily presented as the right ones. I am still cackling at Hiémain’s “but they didn’t deserve to die!!” bullshit not being put on a pedestal. Ms Hobb did that! Her mind! Also the Vestrit family not being given an (entirely, let’s be real) free pass for not standing up to Kyle and letting Vivacia happen. The main characters, the actual heroes try to pass off responsibility for bad things and in most media it’s like “but they didn’t directly kill someone with their own hands so aren’t they kinda innocent?”

and then it skips to a single entry line (dec 3 2018) "reyn khuprus is a massive idiot" :')

dec 12 2018

Fitz I missed u so much

I have not seen this boy for 9 books and this hoe is worried abt being ugly, please never change boo

dec 14 2018

Fitz and the fool interacting is genuinely maddening I’m just walking along like KISS! KISS! KISS!

Fitz you are an immense idiot and the smartest one of the bunch is the goddamn wolf.

Jan 8 2019

Ohhhh my goodness gracious

I have gone full baby on Dutiful, he is the sweetest most cute drama teen since Fitzchivalry himself. I love him with the force of an exploding sun. His interactions with every other character are both precious and absolutely hilarious. He’s got a great mini-me vibe going on with Fitz, wrapped in Hobbs usual delicious irony.

Also poor Dutiful so lonely and starving for warmth, human attention!! The bit where Fitz is like all them hoes been begging me for this for MONTHS but I just can’t say no to those baby blues. I was like congrats Dutiful you just got a dad! Free dad with your meal!

And the Fool interaction like Dutiful you lucky boy you! You went from zero dads to TWO! It’s buy one get one free.

This dad was kinda mean so I had to get another one to counter balance it.

Jan 15 2019

Fitzchilvary « Homophobia » Farseer

Fitz!!!!!!!! Fitz!!!!!!!! Robin Hobb I swear to god you better gay these boys up or i will see you in court

the latest entry is apparently post "the golden fool"

Jan 29 2019

BELOVED WENT HAND TO MOUUUUUUTH!!!!!!

I am absolutely losing it! hand to mouth hand to mouth !!! Fitz called him BELOVED!!!!!! YAS MF QUEEN! Icon! legend!

and if i remember rightly (which i don't, it was five years ago, i don't remember anything) i got real upset at queerbaiting and stopped reading. i like googled "are they actually gay" the answer came back hashtag no and i stopped reading out of disgust :/

[rockybloo]

My Boundaries for Interactions

I feel like it's a lot easier if I just make a boundary list for my stuff instead of having my FAQ list be so long.

I ask people respect my boundaries about me and my OCs and not cross them since I mean...breaking anyone's boundaries sucks dude like come on man.

While I understand these boundaries may bum some others out and there are series that have all sorts of head canons and shipping, I must remind people that I'm not a studio or a team and am just a hobbyist storyteller. I enjoy sharing stories about things, some of which are personal to me. 

These boundaries will def be updated over time if there are interactions that lead to new additions.

DO NOT send in suggestions or ideas if I do not ask for them. It is my biggest pet peeve and I only allow close friends and people I trust to aid me in story writing.

If I state an OC does something, do not tell me that you cannot imagine them doing that said thing even as a joke. This is another big pet peeve of mine, especially because I am the creator of the OC. I LITERALLY know them better than anyone.

Due to personal reasons, I prefer not to be sent fanfics you've written of my OCs. You, of course, can keep them to yourself or share them with friends but I cannot read them.

Don't kin my OCs. It's just really weird since I put parts of me in them.

I ask people don't head canon major things like sexualities unless I previously state them. While it's cool that people might relate to a character and how they may interact with others and might crack a joke or two, I'd rather avoid having people trying to hold me to a canon of theirs or getting upset that I might change a dynamic. All my OCs are also Bi and Pan and to change their sexualities would be erasure of that.

Please do not play matchmaker and ship my OCs together in uncanon couples. Especially if I have an OC in a relationship with another like Red Beans, Licorice, or Blackberries, not to ship them with another character. My OCs aren't toys for other people to play matchmaker with, even if some are single. My OC ships are also huge comforts and personal to me and I prefer they be kept together. I will genuinely get bummed and uncomfortable out seeing them with other people. There are plenty of characters from other legit series people can play with that have vastly looser rules to them. Leave my babies be.

Do not ship your OCs with mine unless I specifically state they are open to such a thing. An example of an open OC is Husky who was literally created to be a yandere boyfriend. I prefer shipping with close friends due to how into shipping characters I get.

Do not use my OCs as fetish fonder. I consider it especially disrespectful when people do not tell me they have a fetish for something but create content including my OCs participating in said thing or continue to ask me about something relating to their fetish. Please make or use your own characters for such things and leave mine alone.

Please do not create any nsfw of my OCs. I'm okay with suggestive stuff (if you are 18 or older) since my art can be suggestive on my public accounts sometimes but I am not comfortable with straight up nsfw of my characters. Especially with much of their anatomy not matching with what some may expect.

This blog is ONLY for my original characters and stories (and sometimes me as a creator). I will not respond to questions about other series like movies, games, comics, etc. Such asks will be deleted from my inbox. I have a fan blog linked in my pinned post y'all can send those type of asks to.

[fruity-phrog]

hiiiiii would love some bi!keeley headcanons if you have any i mean its basically confirmed at this point hellooo all those lingering looks @ jack + "dip my toe in the lady pool"??? queer recognize queer ok......

Bisexual Keely headcanons, let's go:

First off, she had a maybe-crush on Rebecca at some point. Keely is definitely the type of girl to fall in love with intimidating women and wasn't sure if she was attracted to or terrified of Rebecca. Eventually she realized it didn't matter either and became her friend either way.

Also. Yes. The Jack thing. First off, the straightest thing about that woman is her hair. She has the Bisexual Bob.

When I saw the scene where Keely realizes the woman in the stall was Jack, the thing that stood out to me was obviously Keely's reaction. She would not take her eyes of Jack. Like, Shandy said something and she just vaguely muttered "Yeah..." without looking away. On top of that, she did that embarrassed nervous giggle that could have been because of the whole scene in the bathroom but legit just sounds like it was because she just met an incredibly attractive woman.

Another headcanon is that she realized she was bisexual very early on, like at age eleven or something. I also feel like someone like Michelle Pheiffer that was her bi awakening - definitely a milf kinda woman.

Also, do you remember that scene in season two? That dog kennel woman was totally obsessed with Keeley and she was loving it. Did you see her face when the woman kissed her hand?? Positively in love.

But seriously the bisexual erasure annoys me so much. Keeley's dated two men, but she likes women too. She literally told Rebecca she's had sex with women before. She was obsessed with Rebecca's boobs in that photo when they first became friends. She has said she wants to kiss Rebecca on multiple instances. Yes, Colin is the first character in a same-sex relationship but Keeley was the first queer character. I'm glad we're getting more representation, I really am, but people are ignoring Keeley left right and center. Half the fans that think she's bisexual call it a headcanon. It's not a headcanon. It's a fact.

Thanks for the ask!!

[woomycritiques543]

Your post commenting on Chaz also feels like it could be misinterpreted as bi erasure since it reads like you're not acknowledging that Moxxie is bisexual. Unintentionally implying that Moxxie choosing to be with Millie means he's gone straight.

I.... legit never said that.

Im bisexual :/ and I was just commenting on how they show interprets w/w and m/m compared to that of w/m.

"W/M." Includes people that are bi. So all that you did by commenting this was erase a label that includes us.

God you people are such hypocrites....

[vtori73]

I'm so FUCKING tired of you all, I SWEAR to god like... how the fuck does it it make sense to say trans masc/men have privilege over trans women? HOW DOES ONE TRANS GROUP, BASING ONLY ON GENDER, MARGINALIZE ANOTHER??? TRANS men are TRANS... LOOK, look at me, repeat it with me please... TRANS! They don't HAVE privilege over fucking anyone UNLESS we start taking into account other identities they may hold which then, yes, ALL white trans people HAVE privilege... YES, ALL OF THEM!

Like... y'all need to stop falling for white trans people's bullshit, I've seen plenty of TRANS WOC point out that white trans women co-opt this narrative of being the most oppressed by using stats and info about violence against trans women to quiet ANY criticism of them & such when these stats and info are mostly what trans WOC face! (Yes, white trans women are still marginalized for being trans but AREN'T for being white).

Not to mention y'all seem to be okay with ignoring the issues trans men actually face in order to keep making a specific queer group into the boogyman/bad guy. Like, trans men have the highest rates of suicide, with trans woman & nonbinary individuals tied for second. Also, the fact that violence trans men face gets erased often, we know this happens with trans women so we shouldn't be surprised at ALL that this would happen to trans men especially considered trans men in general ARE often erased and treated as just tomboys or empowering women who broke gender roles!

Trans men face erasure, belittlement/ infantalization and fetishization, some of these aren't unique to just Trans Men BUT what is unique is how this sort of treatment is also hugely encouraged by other queer people to partake in and spread.

And what I find interesting about this is how this seems eerily similar to how bi women are treated by other queer people and while I'm not smart enough or knowledgeable enough to fully dissect this while doing it justice... what i WILL say is that this at least continues to prove that a lot of intercommunity bigotry is nothing but recycled talking points that get slapped onto the next acceptable target so these specific queers have an acceptable punching bag to take out their frustrations onto and not be seen as bad people for it! I mean, look at how Asexual people were treated (and still are, it's just not AS easy to find) a LOT of that rhetoric used against them ALSO sounded like old recycled biphobia.

Sorry, but I also think it's hilarious (in a haha wow y'all are not slick at all kind of way) that y'all just refuse to be critical and only decide to use intersectionality when it is convenient for y'all. I mean, some of y'all still refuse to acknowledge MOC are marginalized (yes, in general) even though we've just recently seen the horrific shit Palestinian men and boys have had to face and YET... we still have people continue to dehumanize them by refusing to acknowledge that they are victims too, only ever mentioning the women and children there and would rather continue to believe they are all evil, violent, rapists and oppressors even though that's just what white supremacy wants you to believe, and you do! Congrats.

I would feel sorry for you if I had a legit reason to but I don't, so I won't, lol! The only exception I will make is for kids who don't know any better BUT even then I'm not arguing with children, if you can't be mature and realize you may not have all the info or know all that you could about x queer topic & thus should be willing to hear queer adults out who HAVE done research, have experience, etc, then you aren't owed our time or patience. For ANY adults however... GET IT THE FUCK TOGETHER and stop being henchpeople to the white allocisheteropatriarcy.

[kittenintheden]

queerness is nuanced y'all and I legit wish we could stop fighting about how to be appropriately queer vis a vis fictional characters

like multiple truths can exist. gay erasure and bi/pan erasure and ace erasure exist simultaneously. trans issues are both linked to and separate from sexuality discourse. sexual trauma can really fuck with your whole situation in ways you can't even articulate for a very long time. sexuality is both fluid and fixed. some people have a visceral avoidance of the term "queer" and that's understandable and valid. other people adopt it as a valuable part of their identity and that is ALSO UNDERSTANDABLE AND VALID.

like fandom really really really does not have to be a "who is the best at being queer and representing queerness" competition. it truly doesn't.

is the thing hurting you? like, personally? in a real, tangible way, not just in a way that you don't like? plz. I'm begging. let's just talk and geek and be.

also like if you're a cis woman who's getting your hair in a bunch bc you like to watch the boys kiss and it makes you pissy when they don't then get outta here my gal.

tl;dr hard agree lol

Just curious but has it not been established many times now that Astarion is canonically pansexual? I know for a fact that Neil Newbon has made official statements confirming that Astarion is pansexual. I understand that Larian has backed this up as well? Also, if you don't romance either him or Lae'zel and their both single, they'll sleep with each other on the night of the tiefling party. He will hit on and flirt with Lae'zel, Karlach, and Shart. I'm positive that there's dialogue lines stating that he took both male and female victims to bed. Anyway this is just my long way of saying that Astarion is definitely attracted to women too. It's /canon/ that he's pansexual. So anyone harassing people over romancing him with a female Tav are dumbasses who need to touch so much grass

Honestly anon, like...fuck canon. It very well may be that Astarion has a canon sexual orientation, idk. He seems to be very unsure and disconnected from his sexuality imo. Makes sense since he got turned when he was a teen in elf years and then used as a honey pot for 200 years.

But this is fandom. We are in the realm of "everything's made up and the point don't matter" ya know? So for me, even if Astarion was canonically only into men (which...like this man will still be down to fuck if you're a mindflayer), if a someone wants to write a fic where he falls in love with a female character, who cares! That's how they wanna play with the dolls? Let them.

Other way around, if someone wants to write Astarion as strickly gay, GO FOR IT!! idk why the concept of just....letting ppl do what they want and find/make what them want is so....difficult for ppl.

sorry for the rant anon ahahah

[rughydrangea]

‘...Ronan didn’t know any other living dreamers to ask. He’s only known two in his life--his father and a now-dead student at his high school...’

‘Ronan [had] spent most of his high school years...being the only gay person he knew...’

this is starting to feel personal! kavinsky did not spend all that time and energy drugging you and kidnapping your brother and touching you inappropriately and nakedly, shamelessly, desperately flirting with you for you to not even think his name, ronan! (to be fair, when you list it out like that, sure, i think if i were ronan i also would not want to dwell too much on this guy, but, uh, i am not ronan, and it turns out that five years later i am still living that kavinsky appreciation life!)

[sourpatchbeast]

Hot, steaming hot take, but even after all this time, I still feel like if they were gonna make an established character in marvel that had a history of womanizing and reveal that they are in fact gay, they shouldn't have done Iceman.

Should've been Human Torch.

Just think about it, Bobby has had numerous actually romantically and sexually fulfilling relationships with women. If he was going to come out, he should've come out as openly Bisexual. That shit felt like Bi erasure man, and a spit in the face of his character defining relationships.

But Johnny? None of his relationships strike me as particularly good for him? Like legit, Crystal he kept making excuses for it to not work, his one-off flings he keeps neglecting- fucking Lyja the Laserfist, the living embodiment of romantic Trauma for that guy. It is so easy to write this as him seeking out relationships he knows wouldn't work out, so he doesn't have to confront the real reason he's not happy with them completely.

Their environments and the teams they're on even kinda support my case. Why should Iceman, as a founding member of the X-men, pariahs from society as Mutants, give a flying fuck about coming out of the closet? He is just surrounded by open minded and loving people that have also read his mind all the time, in Jean Grey, Prof X, Emma Frost and definitely plenty others. Being that repressed, feels like such an ass pull.

Now Johnny though, he has a very different living situation. The Fantastic Four only exists as a public group, because Reed was terrified that he and his friends would be outcasts from the world if he didn't get ahead of the curve and control the public narrative to be in their favor and didn't end up like mutants. That, is exactly the sorta scenario that would make a guy stay repressed even now. Internalizing the idea that if you come out as gay, your family could be branded as monsters is WAY more believable. Getting rid of that mental block would be hard, just like it's hard for a lot of people still in the closet today.

This doesn't even get into the gay as hell stuff involving Peter mother fucking Parker, and his "former roommate" Wyatt Wingfoot.

I don't know, this shit had been, lingering on my mind for so long I had to type it out, let my thoughts into the world. I know I'm right, I'm going to stand in my Truth

[mistchievous]

If Eddie revealed in the next few episodes that, all his life he's been drinking coffee but he doesn't really like it, and now he discovered tea and found his perfect drink, would you reconsider your stance on the superiority of gay lo-- err tea?

Oh man. Anon, I know you're just in here teasing, but you have accidentally stepped in an issue that makes me want to word vomit all over Tumblr.

As much as I'd like to engage with this at a surface level and stick to talking about tea vs. coffee, you've turned the discussion into something else.

I'm not upset with you, but this is gonna be a rollercoaster of a response. So bear with me.

People in fandom have a really bad habit of forgetting what the point of fanfiction and the like actually are. It's right there in the name. The word fiction.

As much as people like to think otherwise, fanfiction and headcanons and whatnot are not fact. They're ideas created by fans. None of them are canon. The words headcanon, fanon, etc. exist for a reason, and it's okay to explore something in fanfiction that has no real basis in canon.

Because the entire point of fanfiction - of creating things in a fandom - is to explore non-canon ideas. What would happen in this situation? What if we put these characters in a different universe where so-and-so owns a coffee shop? What if, what if, what if...? It's all about having fun with the characters, setting, etc.

One of the problems in this particular fandom is that people can't seem to differentiate between exploring ideas and applying those ideas to canon. And that's an issue.

And I'm going to use the issue you brought up to explain it.

The Gay!Eddie vs. Bi!Eddie discourse is important. Now, the issue isn't with people addressing this in fanfiction. If people want to write about Eddie being closeted this entire time and yadda yadda, more power to them. Let them explore that idea.

But talking about it as though it has a basis in canon and wishing for it to be canon can be problematic because then you dive headfirst into erasure. Eddie very much loved his wife. He not only loved his wife; he enjoyed having sex with her. A lot. He was not only with her for Chris. He was fucking her while hiding her from Chris entirely. That was for himself. What we see on-screen is him very much being into Shannon. Sneaking around just to get into bed with her. Dude is having a grand time. There are no actual signs that he didn't love her and no actual signs that he wasn't attracted to her. Just a lot of twisting and reading into things by fans.

So, using your own analogy, him discovering he likes tea does not mean he never liked coffee. It doesn't mean he still doesn't like coffee. It just means he's discovered something else that he enjoys.

And people will say "Oh, but Michael." But we have no idea what his and Athena's sex life was like. It's not like we saw him fucking Athena into incoherency and enjoying the hell out of it just for him to turn around and be like "Oh. I'm gay." It was implied that this was something he wrestled with for quite a while before being honest with her. We don't even know if he ever sought her out for sex. We don't know what he felt when having sex with her or how into it he was. Not to mention there are mental and physical aspects to sex. Mental and physical stimuli. And they're different.

Bi erasure is a big problem irl. The idea that "Oh, well you like so-and-so now or this gender or whatever means that you didn't really like/love that other person before". The writers going ahead with Gay!Eddie in canon would mean they would literally have to erase and invalidate his previous relationships. Particularly his relationship with Shannon. Because canonically, as I've already mentioned, the dude was really into his wife, and we literally saw it on-screen.

They'd have to go back and be like "Nah. That wasn't legit."

Nothing was erased on-screen for Michael. Like I said, we saw nothing of his relationship with Athena beyond the fact that they care for each other, and that didn't change.

But with Eddie, it would literally be a push to validate bi-erasure, and that's not okay. There is literally no reason for them to invalidate his previous relationships just to confirm that he's into men. None whatsoever. If they confirm he's into men, it should be "also" not "instead of". And pushing for "instead of" and trying to twist previous interactions he's had with Shannon to disprove the legitimacy of his past relationships with women in canon is erasure and is a problem.

If you want to explore it in fandom, feel free. But when you start twisting canon or saying certain things should have been done in canon, you're crossing a line that you might not even realize is there.

And it's not just with this issue.

90% of the discourse in this fandom would fucking vanish if people understood this more.

Even the anti-Maddie fics aren't an issue just because they exist. Technically, you can write what you want. Because yes, "Dont like; don't read" is a thing. People can just filter you out and move on.

But this fandom doesn't just write what they want and tag problematic content that can then be easily filtered. They then defend it and talk about it as though this is how it should have happened.

"Maddie should have been arrested." "Buck should have blah blah blah when she told him about Daniel."

People in this fandom want their bashing fics to be validated instead of just acknowledging that they're bashing fics. So in author's notes and Tumblr posts and the like, they'll say this should have happened and twist entire interactions to justify whatever problematic content they create.

And that's fucked up. Because no. None of that shit is what should have happened to Maddie. Victim-blaming is extremely dangerous and damaging.

But again, this fandom can't just be like "This is bashing and you won't like it, so stay away." They try to defend it to actual victims. They're spreading dangerous ideas because they want validation that they're right about a character or a situation to avoid having to acknowledge that they're creating content with problematic themes.

And that's not okay.

This fandom needs to learn how to explore something in fiction without:

Acting as though it is or should be canon.

Acting as though projections on a character are equal to analyses of a character. (Ex. Buck did not care about Taylor unlocking his phone even if you would have. Your boundaries are not the same as every other person on the planet's.)

Hiding behind "Don't like; don't read" as a blanket statement to spew hate and dangerous ideas. (Tag your hate and own that what you're writing is some kind of guilty pleasure fic instead of trying to promote and defend the idea as a good and legitimate one that applies to actual people.)

Anyway, I've gone wildly off-topic. This doesn't even touch on things like racism and the like. I could vent all day about fandom.

But Idek how much sense I'm making anymore, so lemme stop here. I'm literally rambling now.

Anyway, anon. I know you were just teasing, but you kinda stepped on an ant pile. Sorry. 😂😭

[psychokangaroo]

I absolutely have a thing for Sandra Ma in Oh My General (which is the gayest Chinese drama I've watched, including CQL and WOH). Like when she has the iron whip out I'm just like... gah pls. Like any time she has some sort of weapon out I'm just like she can peg me ANY DAY. I know that we hate her cousin (okay actually I love her as a character because she's so complicated and tragic) but in her defense ye Zhao is really swoon-worthy.

But okay also while main ship is male-female, it features a canonically bisexuality female character and bisexual-coded male character, as well as a few arguably bisexual side characters. Like main girl talks about shamelessly flirting with girls as a teenager and still occasionally flirts with brothel girls on occasion and she definitely still florts with the concubines in her home. Main male characters first appearance was dancing with a male dancer in a brothel while half naked and kept on insinuating liking the male form. Like legit twink bisexual disaster and butch bisexual disaster get into an arranged marriage ft sweet bisexual concubines who ship it. Hijinks ensue. They kill a few assholes, fight in a few wars, help with disaster relief, and basically becomes one of the emperors main helpers in court.

And like yeah there's a harem involved but it's a small harem and pretty low on drama and they get along. They are concubines and know they are concubines and understands the unfortunate situation of being a woman in that time period but they also recognize that the butch lady is a very good main wife and very nice to them (and oh soooooo hot) and that the twink is also a good master of the house who is generous and treats them kindly. Like honestly the sweetest harem story I've seen

Like so sweet??? And so gaayyy?

10/10 recommend even if only for Sandra ma as a lady general. I would totally be one of the ladies swooning in the presence of her character.

PS: did I mention the main characters dress in the colors of the bisexual flag??? I'm so surprised this drama made it past the Chinese censors, but I guess there is some benefits to bi-erasure, right?

[ravenadottir]

I feel like Bobby might be nonbinary - idk whether this is coming from my nb mind, but Bobby seems to have that vibe. What do you think about this potential headcanon?

oh i absolutely see it!!

here's the thing... bobby to me is a bisexual non binary adorable creature, always has been, and for whatever reason, when i talked about this a couple of years ago, people came for me!

COULD YOU HIDE YOUR BI ERASURE AND HOMOPHOBIA WHEN TALKING TO ME? THANK YOU.

he does have a vibe to how he conducts himself. there's a familiar something that makes me think of him as an enby but i can't put my finger on it.

it might be the number of enby's i've met before... maybe it's his history of confidence and how he walks/talks today?

maybe it's the imagery of him on the outside? as in, how he dresses, how he legit doesn't give many fucks about what people has to say about him?

possibly how he often comes across as someone who doesn't follow gender roles?

'cause it's not only about priya's dress, even though it contributes to it, but it's also how i can totally see him in a skirt, on a night out, and it's NOT a kilt. it's legit a cute skirt.

i can see him wearing scene/emo shit back when he had a punk rock band, like... bobby was definitely experimenting with his looks and expressing himself through clothes and hairstyles for sure!

rocking the eye liner and colorful hair (hopefully not straightening it though).

i love bobby's character so deeply, you don't even know how much, and part of my adoration towards him is very this, how he defies gender roles through playful things and glosses over them, because those things are not a big deal.

they're normal. a dress is just a gather of fabrics. a skirt is just fabric wrapped around someone's legs and bum and that's that. but when a dude wears them unapologetically, i have to say, it stands out, all for the right reasons.

if i would guess his pronouns it would probably be a solid he/they. i feel like he would be comfortable with both but get gender euphoria when referred by they/them.

there's a unspoken thing about bobby, along with henrik, being the only ones that truly have thought about, and understood, gender and masculinity. i can't say the other boys in this season have.

or girls, for that matter.

it's kind of like, if someone asked you what masculinity or femininity is, as an enby you would probably have the answer ready to go. me, as a genderfluid person, i do.

bobby and henrik also do, the others haven't been asked about it, so there wasn't any thinking about the matter for them.