#but representation is important for everyone

[tirfpikachu]

it's also important to note that non-trans people can be post-gender!! and feel genderless without disassociating from their birth sex/agab in any way. they can choose to take off the gender that was forced onto them from childhood and choose to just be the animal they were born as, no matter how gnc they may be, no matter how little they start caring about social norms for their sex/agab class. and still not be trans at all. genderlessness isn't only a nonbinary thing, and it really shouldn't be if we want to abolish gender roles. some non-trans women and men can even use opposite-sex/agab pronouns or they/them and still be 100% solid in their non-trans identity! gender nonconformity has never been trans-exclusive or gay-exclusive.

cis/non-trans women especially should be reminded that they DO NOT need to stick with gender. while many people can play with gender aesthetics, gender subcultures etc etc gender as a concept has been used to oppress women and transmasc people for centuries. if you are a cis/non-trans woman, you do not need to even identify as trans to say fuck you to gender and think it's fake and bullshit and move on from it. you can be a genderless woman and still 100% be comfortable with sex/agab-congruent pronouns and the category of your body type. you can hate how you're treated for it. you can hate the struggles that come with it. but you can feel pride for it, and you can see it for what it is without the often toxic cloak of gender wrapped around it. many people find joy in being genderless in a trans way, but anyone and everyone can be genderless. it can be a feminist act of self-love and activism. it can be cis men showing allyship to gnc people and ofab/female people for being oppressed and denied basic human rights. they can also process their traumas and actually embrace the gnc parts of themselves as well.

i see a future where cis people embrace genderlessness. where they embrace being genderfuck beauties and gnc isn't seen as an only trans or gay thing to be. it will do wonders for women's rights, ofab rights, lgbt rights and gnc rights. stop telling people they're "eggs" if they don't feel an inner sense of gender - that's a GOOD thing. it means they haven't been corrupted by the patriarchy the way that rightwing brainwashed women/transmascs and rightwing male monstrosities have tried to achieve. stop telling non-dysphoric, sex-congruent cis people that they must be trans or gay if they dress or act a certain way, or if they think gender is bullshit and don't want any of it. we SHOULD be both carving out space for trans folks AND expanding the meaning of what it means to be a cis woman or man.

gender is just patriarchal drag, often toxic drag forced on us. whether you choose to play with aspects of it or ditch it altogether, to destroy the patriarchy we need non-trans people to realize this too. as a detrans woman, i would've saved myself so much pain if i had seen more representation of cis post-gender womanhood. and we WANT people to realize who and what they are as early as possible, whatever they may be. we need genderlessness and genderfuckery to be talked about more outside of trans/gay context.

post-gender gyns, i love you ♡♡

I think cis people should also be their gender of choice. Like, if you're a man, you should get to really enjoy being a man- have fun with it! If you're a woman, take the parts of womanhood that really deeply make you happy. If being a little androgynous or ambiguous or hidden is the part that really makes you happy, you don't have to be trans for that. If you wanna lean really hard into being femme or masc- do it! You have one life in your body, do what makes you happy. Ditch the stuff you don't like.

My sinister queer agenda is I think that everyone should be the gender they like in the way they like it.

[ruuari]

I am so serious when I say this. an amazing way to support your trans friends, mutuals and followers that you share fandom space with is to depict trans characters in your fanfiction and art. cis people get to turn to fandom works for comfort when things feel overwhelming and grim, and get to see themselves depicted. for trans people, this is rare. we don't get to experience the same comfort in fandom that cis people do, in a world that tries to silence us.

depicting trans characters in your fanfiction and fan art tells the trans people around you "I love you. I hear you. I care about you. your stories and your humanity are valuable and are worth depicting in the things that I care about."

[bayetea]

seeing non-black people critique rick's portrayal of black characters is interesting sometimes. only like 30% of the critiques I see make any sense to me to be honest

[gayofthefae]

So it's both purposeful and representative of something greater and stupid.

Also, yeah, she brought them all together...

So where are Lucas, Dustin, Steve, and Robin.

Also the inherent idea that El is a singular hero and her independence means that no one else required is such bullshit. The entire reason they lost is because everybody didn't come together and to an extent she was fighting alone.

Not to mention that last sentence being repeatedly contradicted by Will leading season 5.

Also if it were about her, I repeat, they would have ended on this.

Not her barely visible in the background hidden by an entire hill.

LMAOOOO BYEEEE

[whim-prone-pirate]

interviews with oliver stark that i really really really think you should all read

https://tvline.com/lists/911-buck-tommy-gay-kiss-explained-season-7-episode-4-recap/tommy-casting-explained/

https://variety.com/2024/tv/news/911-buck-tommy-kiss-queer-episode-100-oliver-stark-interview-1235956913/

https://ew.com/911-buck-tommy-kiss-bisexual-oliver-stark-interview-8624837

none of them are extremely long and altogether its only a few thousand words. if you are as elated and envigorated and affirmed as i am, oliver's words are only going to help.

[v7n5]

Sorry can’t talk rn, I’m conjuring up an au that involves fashion designer Jesse and his muse/ famous model boyfriend Nacho.

Ok fine. So a while ago, Jesse’s enthusiasm towards character design and sketching gave me the idea of him having a knack for it ever since he was little and following that passion as he grew up. His story about the wooden box is so dear to me not only because of the hopefulness it brings but also because it reveals that he pays great attention to detail and his craft, meaning he’d be a good tailor (creativity AND meticulousness? he’s a whole package). Despite his parents’ disapproval, he’d go on to receive a scholarship from a prestigious design school in New York - where he would move to to receive a higher education and really flourish.

Nacho, who still lives with his father in ABQ and has a hard time making ends meet, would be really close to going down that drug dealer path. Manuel would talk him out of it like “you’re destined for something great and legal mijo” and he’d actually listen. But he’d insist on moving somewhere else to get away from all the affiliations he had in ABQ and to find a better career opportunity/ himself.

Time skip. They’d meet in NYC in somewhat the same way all the supermodels got discovered. And that’s as far as I could get tbh.

(True story, my socials were bombarded with images and videos from the DSQUARED2 SS 2024 collection at the time, and my immediate thought I was “Yep, Jesse Pinkman would endorse this. And who (else besides Tyler Durden) would have enough cuntential to rock this unapologetically? Nacho Varga obviously.)

[altschmerzes]

one day my wife and i are gonna compile our enormous 'this is why this is garbage and everyone who wants to kiss this author's ass should so some serious personal reflection and also read another book im fucking begging you' review of all for the g/ame and then it will be over for all of us

[usercelestial]

a canon queer relationship will always and i mean always be more important and more revolutionary than a non-canon one. cope.

[impossible-rat-babies]

being nb/trans in bg3 is kinda funny to me in that there are really nasty evil people, but at least they will call you the correct pronouns while trying to murder you

[seraphic-sibyl]

An Portrait of the Artist Singing Will Wood During Karaoke Night (and Appearing As If They Were Giving A Rather Existential PowerPoint). Digital ink on canvas, 2024.

[statisticalcats2]

My principles and way of life are just gonna keep being based on "caring about others" while a bunch of people on all sides rant and rave about that being the most infuriating and inexcusable thing they've ever heard of.

[walker-lister]

I just have to remind myself sometimes that no matter what anyone else says, the way a piece of media makes me feel and the positive impact it has had on my queer identity is valid, and that tearing myself apart thinking I have to defend it or questioning my own place within queer communities is not at all important when compared to the almost tangible sense of 'rightness' that piece of media helped me to feel about myself.

[frogs-and-books]

I have to admit that it's so frustrating to me that people are doing this "He's canon ace but not canon aro" thing. It feels like people wanting to have it both ways at the cost aro people. If you're going to say only what's explicit in the text matters, then be honest with proper embrace of Death of the Author and disregard what Brennan said outside the context of the text. If you want to invest meaning in authorial intent, than be honest about the authorial intent with Riz. It's hard enough being aro in fandom as it is without people playing both sides of the fence on this

I'm sorry that there is a lack of aromantic representation, but you can't decide what the authorial intent was for the author. He could be aro! There's a lot of subtext and ways to read the story like that, but it's just as easy to read it as him being demiromantic or gray romantic or even just a late bloomer. Because of this, I can't confirm the authors intent unless he states it. I don't personally have an opinion on it, I just like Riz, and I'll like his character no matter what his sexuality is. I'm not going to disregard a statement from a cast member, especially when I doubt Brennan would have said without Murph's permission. That, to me at least, is confirmation of authorial intent.

I can understand why you're frustrated, but there aren't (or at least shouldn't be) sides. I'm simply saying that Riz is not canonically Aromantic, which is true. However, this does not mean that Aromantic people are somehow wrong in saying that they believe he is! Just like many other things, it is up for the viewer to decide currently.

If Murph comes out and says Riz is Aromantic, that's it. He's Aromantic. But until then, it's up for interpretation. You aren't wrong for saying he's Aromantic, but neither is someone saying he's not Aromantic.

I am so glad that Riz resonates with you, but others don't have your same experience and might relate to him in different ways, and their experience and interpretations aren't less valid than yours.

The world isn't black and white. There are so many nuisances that can be beautiful if you allow yourself to see them.

I'm not on the fence. I know exactly where I stand. Riz is canonically asexual and he has no confirmed romantic interests, although he has been shown to be less interested than his peers. This could mean many, many different things, but saying that thinking Riz is asexual but not aromantic is being on the fence is discounting real people who are asexual and not aromantic.

It's not all or nothing. I'm not out to get you or hurt anyone. It just frustrates me when people state their interpretations of media as facts and get upset when other people have different interpretations. Your interpretation isn't more valid just because it's more diverse. That would be like me reading a book where someone was never stated to have a race, but I decided that their character would make more sense if they were black, so now they're canonically black, even though I don't know what the author imagined them like. Just because it's adding diversity doesn't make it more morally correct. It doesn't make it more incorrect either. It just makes it your interpretation.

I know you're probably sick of hearing this, but it's up for interpretation, and you can't fault people for having a different interpretation of a character.

[newtness532]

all I'm saying is that if you are mad because you were expecting a sapphic kiss in a 2000s movie set in the 1950s that's a you problem

[chaossmagic]

I wish there was more representation for AFAB nonbinary people like me who don't hate our birth genders, don't want testosterone or top surgery, and are quite happy with having 'feminine' bodies and aren't that bothered about or feel the need to transition beyond a name change or new pronouns, maybe wear a binder or something similar from time to time.

So much AFAB nonbinary rep focuses on more transmasc people who want to transition to a more masculine body type or hate their boobs or whatever and I just...feel left out because that's not my experience.

[penwrythe]

After seeing the recent II episode, I've seen ND fans discussing how Cabby is treated in the episode. I also saw Justin comment his thoughts on the discussion as well.

Part of me want to share some insight into how I rewrote a scene in my script for Rise of Relics to remove an ableist implication of Nicodemus' behavior towards Nikey (see this post here about it). There's also another scene I plan to rewrite as well that has a few ableist implications and I want to show how to improve it with research and listening to those with physical disabilities.

I'm not sure if it's alright for me to share this, as some of the II fans have similar symptoms to Cabby's memory issues, I do not want to speak over them as I do not have any memory symptoms as they do. What I do have, in reference to the scene in Rise of Relics, is anxiety and (possible) undiagnosed OCD, and Nikey is written with the implication of having both of these. The other scene I want to later rewrite is also in reference to how Nikey finds comfort in others, sometimes invasively due to having poor coping skills, and Nicodemus is often the person who helps ground her.

I think it's best for me to listen to those who are most affected by the episode before I say anything. But, one thing I say is that condemning a character's aids and accommodations they use to cope with their symptoms is wrong. Showing unhealthy coping mechanisms is okay (carefully saying this while keeping in mind my own experience coping with anxiety), but I do think this episode should have been written with more care.

To Justin and the Inanimate Insanity team, please consult sensitivity readers for your scripts in the future, please.