#kids can be queer

[laughingcatwrites]

As a reminder that good exists out there, a coworker recently confessed to me that he found out his child is questioning their identity (kid's gender redacted for this post). The kid is keeping it from him, so he can't say anything to them or show that he knows, but he's doing his best to get mentally prepared and educated so that he'll be ready whenever his kid does feel comfortable enough come to him.

For context, this guy is a big, bulky middle aged dude who loves sports and typical outdoor "manly" activities. As his coworker and friend, I know he's a kind and sweet teddy bear of a person, but his kid probably views him as a stern, authoritarian figure, the way most teenagers view their parents. His family lives in a conservative area, so I'm sure between that, their dad's looks and interests, and the fact that their dad is a Figure of Authority, the kid is worried that they won't be accepted.

But you know what? When he found out about his kid, the first thing he did was reach out to his closest queer friend and ask for resources for parents of questioning children. His biggest fears are that his kid will be bullied or discriminated against and won't feel comfortable enough to be themself. His second action was to find himself a mentor in another parent who went the same situation (kid coming out in a conservative town). The other person is preparing him for some of the struggles his kid may face and the fights he may need to take on as a parent to make sure his kid is safe and treated well.

Something I want to emphasize for people focused on language as the primary method of allyship is that when we spoke, he used some outdated terms and thoughts about gender and sexuality. That does not make him bad. These were the terms and thinking used about questioning teenagers when he was growing up and he never needed to learn more current ones. But now that he does have that need, he's throwing himself in head first because that's his kid and he's darn well going to make sure that his kid feels welcomed and has a safe place to be themselves even if they never come out to him.

[apollos-boyfriend]

so my younger cousin is flying in to visit from brazil on sunday, and will be staying here for like, the entirety of july. which, don't get me wrong, is super cool! i love the kid! but it felt like a super weird move, considering his parents are the SUPER strict and borderline helicopter parents. even the smallest prank/roughousing with him/his little sister would lead to a strict talking to from his parents, he couldn't ever do anything without their clear permission, that sort of stuff. so letting him fly at alone at 16 to a whole different country and stay there for a whole month seemed WILDLY out of character. additionally, it just felt like a super last-minute trip. it's not like we have any plans to do when he gets here, and the flight itself and stuff only got booked like, midway through june.

and i was talking to my mom about it, kind of trying to nudge some answers out of her, and after a while she went, "yeah, i think they're sending him over here to get away for his boyfriend. see if the distance breaks them off." which, first of all, surprised me because last i checked, they didn't KNOW he had a boyfriend. literally everyone in the family did EXCEPT for them because while that entire side of the family being semi-conservative, his parents (mostly his dad) are EXTREMELY old-fashioned. so clearly something already went wrong. and considering the only reason the rest of the family knew is because one person found out and it spread like wildfire, i have a sneaking suspicion he wasn't the one to tell them, either.

and second of all. they're sending him HERE. to try to make him forget his homosexuality. i couldn't do anything but just wordlessly gesture to the multiple pride flags scattered around my room, then to myself, because really? he has like two other cousins in the us and they're sending him to me? honey i am about to introduce this kid to queer scenes you have never even heard of. he'll be returning home with labels only shrimp can perceive

[chronicowboy]

sorry actually tommy is perfect for buck's first guy. like they're both so embarrassing. buck talking about tommy's fake mouth static in an accidental plea to be kissed. tommy fluctuating between calling him evan and kid. on god you two are going to be so disgusting together and i love it so much.

[chaoticace2005]

The reactions to Chaggie in these episodes really do show the different ways some families react to someone coming out

Charlie’s (estranged, not super close) Dad: YOU LIKE GIRLS?! THANK GOD! WE HAVE SOMETHING IN COMMON- hahahaha

Vaggie’s ex-family that literally hurt her and kicked her to the curb: Disgusting. Can’t believe she likes you, you worthless piece of shit. You better betray her or we��ll reveal stuff about your past.

[bidoofenergy]

pleas please ambrosius is the model knight, he's what all knights should aspire to be, he comes from the right family he does well in training, he's the model knight, he works within an institution because it benefits him--as long as he works in it, because the second the director thinks he's questioning things too much she kills him--are you picking up what im putting down? he keeps his true feelings buried--never show doubt, don't show conflict, keep your head down, do what you're told, aren't you so lucky to have this chance, aren't you glad you were born as you are and not like the others--are you hearing what im saying

(listen to eugene lee yang talk about this on the trypod)

[fl4kf4n]

Another old post... this is a badly formatted comic but I wanted to finish it so it wouldn't stay a coloured sketch anymore :0

[itscherryterry-again]

yea

[sunfloweraroace]

Ah yes my favourite genre… Be Gay, Do Crime

[yellowocaballero]

Trigun 98 really is the anime of all time. It did absolutely say "Here is the biggest idiot you've ever seen in your life. It's going to be four episodes until he does anything that is not blindingly moronic and it's going to be five before he says a sentence that is not a lie. We are now going to vaguely imply that he has a dead girlfriend and that's why he's sad. You will learn ten episodes later that the dead girlfriend is his mother. In episode nine a random man is going to call him depressed and they will spend the next three episodes doing absolutely nothing important but forming an unshakable bond of friendship, and we are also going to learn that they are in space."

What are we supposed to do with any of this. Insurance agents with fifty guns and one gigantic gun respectively are the only reason we have a plot at all. An entire episode's resolution only makes sense with information we are never told and barely implied. The main character is Jesus but also a deconstruction of Jesus. I feel like the show is giving me a rabid guinea pig and leaving me to wonder why this guinea pig is on crack before telling me three hours later that he's a robot guinea pig, answering no questions and raising so much more.

[windienine]

ngl i keep seeing new iterations of "all landmark queer media is children's media! i want queer media for adults!" and i guess i kind of get where it comes from but i have never really experienced this issue

new adult queer cinema is coming out all the time, a lot of it very good and a lot of it not, new adult queer fiction is coming out all the time, a lot of it very good and a lot of it not, and i totally get it when you say queer kids' stuff isn't enough for a queer art-loving adult to subsist on (you're right, it's not enough for me either!)

but like, are you actually checking out new and exciting queer stories that appeal to your sensibilities? or are you spending your time in insular fandom spaces instead of going out and looking for art that speaks to you?

listen to new albums, click through galleries, find art made by people who might not be where you're from or share every life experience with you, and talk to folks about that stuff and you'll make lots of friends.

[gay-jesus-probably]

Okay so I have a lot of thoughts about the whole thing of the Gerudo being a race of entirely women, with the only exception being one man born every hundred years, and that man automatically being their king. Now this worldbuilding comes from Ocarina of Time, and there's obviously a metric fuckton of unfortunate implications there, because it was 1998. And it seems that Tears of the Kingdom is sticking with the lore of Gerudo men being extremely rare and becoming the King of their people, which once again has a metric fuckton of unfortunate implications because it's 2023 and Nintendo has somehow gotten even worse about this shit.

But let's set aside the whole... everything, and look at this from just the in-universe perspective. How does it work? I mean, it's pretty clear that there is no overlap between the kings; the old ones are normally long gone by the time a new one is born, but the Gerudo manage to take care of themselves during the hangtime. So they must have an established system of government and leadership that doesn't involve a king, and somehow that system is set up in a way that does a smooth transfer of power once a new king is born and old enough to take the throne. But why bother always declaring a random guy to be your King when you already have a perfectly functional system in place?

I mean again, the whole thing has a lot of sexist implications, but we're not looking at this from a real world context, we're examining it in-universe. And we could just go the lazy route and say that their king is in charge just because he's the only man, but I don't like that. I mean come on, the Gerudo are a race of entirely women, and most of their outside problems come from Hylian men being creepy about it. They are entirely a matriarchy; there is literally no reason for their culture to have an inherent respect for men, even if the man in question is one of them. And they're desert people; they live in an extremely harsh and dangerous landscape, if they don't have their shit together, they will die. By sheer necessity, their culture needs to put a lot of value in being practical, because if they're stupid about things, people die. They really can't afford to have a shitty leader take over, and just letting some guy take the wheel doesn't really fit with the way their culture must otherwise work.

So again, why the fuck do they bother having a King?

I think it's mainly just a ceremonial position. Yes, if the guy is a good leader he'll be in charge, but if he isn't good at being a King or isn't interested in the job... fuck it, they've already got a functional government system that's been leading their people the whole time, why fix what isn't broken? The title of Gerudo King isn't about leadership or power. I think it's more about belonging. Because the Gerudo are a culture where every single one of them can be defined in the same way... and there is exactly one exception once a century. Men are considered to be inherently outsiders at the best of times, and more often they're enemies. A man born into this culture is a natural outsider; he is completely unique, and that means he doesn't really fit into his community. And well... when someone is fundamentally different from the rest of their community, they tend to be ostracized.

So I think that's why the position of Gerudo King exists. It isn't about them needing or even wanting a man to lead them. The title of King doesn't need to involve any leadership at all. It's about giving the man born every century a place in their society. It's a way of saying yes, you are one of us, you are a Gerudo, you belong here, you are wanted and you are loved.

The Gerudo know that every hundred years, one of their children will be fundamentally different from all of his peers. And so their society is built to ensure that a child who is completely different from them will still be loved and accepted. He will always have a place in their society. He doesn't need to earn their love, he has it just for existing. These are his people.

The title of Gerudo King isn't an inherent position of authority. It's a promise of acceptance.

[jesncin]

First School Visit as published authors!!

we've done a handful of school visits before as comic artists, but this is the first time we've been invited as published authors (for a school's literature event no less!). These photos are a mix of being taken by me and the wonderful staff of British School Jakarta.

We talked to secondary students of all ages! From "what's it like to make comics" to Career Talk for the seniors. We also had the absolute pleasure of befriending fellow visiting author Will Kostakis, a seasoned professional at school visits and prolific Aussie writer! I'm reading his book "We Could Be Something" and loving it. We're still blown away by his kindness and enjoyed bickering about the publishing industry together, haha.

We couldn't have asked for a better school to do our first author visit! Tightly organized, fun crowds of kids, and an incredibly supportive staff team. This has! Ignited me to the challenge of school visits! I really enjoy these, and I can't wait to make all the more books so I can do this all over again. Just a delightful week.

[sporesgalaxy]

fuck everything else ive ever said about making a video essay. Ive just had a divine epiphany. My first youtube video essay NEEDS to be "Why Is Roronoa Zoro Gay?"

[maelancoli]

i'm kind of late to this but i just finished reading the scholomance trilogy by naomi novik and i feel like it is such an underrated urban fantasy?? taking the chosen one trope and turning it on its head with a fmc who has been prophesied to bring death and destruction, who is imbued with terrible power, but cannot even properly use said power to solve any of her obstacles because it would obliterate them and her soul. it takes a tired trope and the idea of an 'overpowered mary sue' and throws it back in your face by showing how all the power and destiny in the world is useless against a system filled with corruption that has burdened you with an easy way out (evil/destructive magic) that you can't take so now you have to work twice as hard as everyone else just to do simple, constructive spells instead of flicking your wrist and being done with it.

[cryptid-phoenix]

"You can't stop progress..."

I just love restoring and coloring old Tintin sketches!

[incorrect-hs-quotes]

TT: I went to the store with my mom and said I wanted the lesbian candle. TT: She looked at me and said, and I quote; MOM: u have enouhg lesbian shit already how bout getitng a gf for once thag's pretty lesiban to me TT: During pride month, too. Like, Mom???

TT: Can you guys stop rebubbling my worst moment ever?