#queers carving out space for themselves

[brawnie]

No fans will ever measure up to Spirk when it comes to queer ship history but there is something that feels important about Zosan. 20+ years of yaoi. Despite not being the biggest or most popular queer ship they’ve influenced so much…

[makingqueerhistory]

Seeing generative AI in queer spaces is chilling for a lot of reasons. Not least among them being that it's an easy way to edge out queer creators who are already in a precarious position, facing book bans and attacks from all sides.

As a queer history resource, watching an AI try and fill the roll that has taken so long to carve out for actual people, is disheartening. It's great to know that there is demand for queer history resources, but after so many queer people have worked so hard to build a space for themselves, it feels disrespectful to watch that spot be filled by machines.

Queer people have won the battle in a way, convinced the world that our stories are worthwhile. I suppose it shouldn't be shocking to see that the response is to try and find a way to not compensate queer people for any of their work and value.

[genderkoolaid]

Featuring exclusively transmasculine poets, the anthology carves out a new space in queer poetics in which these poets can see themselves and be affirmed and understood in their identity, and in turn go forth to continue the vibrant and important work of telling and listening to transmasculine narratives. From visits to doctor’s offices told in haunting starkness, to bodies mourned and reborn in resolute resiliency, to scenes of queer love that border on the divine, this anthology invites readers into a new and relatively uncharted space, bearing witness to a world that society has tried to disappear, and listening to voices that have been silenced for much of history.

Cannot recommend this anthology enough. 115 pages of wonderful transmasculine storytelling– eros and grief and Oklahoma and mermaids. I chose a few short ones to give you a taste, but there's a lot more to explore.

If this intrigues you, but you have no money, you are in luck! The entirety of “Transmasculine Poetics: Filling the Gap in Literature and the Silences Around Us” is available to download for free! (you can also read more about Dr. Remi Recchia here). Check it out & share your favorites!

Support transmasc art 🩵

[cardentist]

bigots other visible queerness and gnc presentation, treating their existence and depiction as inherently deviant, shameful, and insulting.

->

gnc queer people put in an extended effort to carve out spaces for themselves and normalize gnc presentation for everyone, both in person and through depiction.

->

bigots see these depictions and choose to other them not just through demonization, but Also through sexualization and fetishization.

->

there is an extended effort within queer spaces to explain how sexualization and fetishization are still harmful despite not being explicit violence, teaching a new generation that depictions of gnc queer people Can be influenced by bigotry.

->

the depiction and presence of gnc queer people is treated as inherently deviant, shameful, and insulting Within queer spaces out of fear of the spread of bigotry.

->

"twink" becomes a naughty no no word that you absolutely don't want any character to be ever. and lord help you if you want a gnc character to be transgender

do we see the issue here, do we see how the wires have been crossed.

[this-is-exorsexism]

I keep seeing people say that trans spaces predominantly cater to nonbinary people, but that's not my experience as someone who uses neopronouns and has a niche gender. I understand the point being made, especially since I see a lot of hate towards trans men, but I also feel a lot of hostility myself. So, I don’t know. I just wish we could all listen to each other more.

this is exorsexism.

yeah, trans spaces "predominantly catering to nonbinary people" is definitely not a thing. a lot of the most nonbinary-friendly trans spaces will still put us into binaries all the time. if a space is blatantly exorsexist like that, it's not catering to nonbinary people.

it's a very biased view. it reminds me of monogamous people going "everyone is polyam these days" or allo queers complaining about there being soooo many aces and aros in our communities or mono gays suddenly having a problem with openly bi people existing in gay spaces. groups that have had very little visibility for a very long time are gaining visibility now and that's threatening to people, so, intentionally or not, they make it into something bigger than it is. re: monogamous people i've specifically seen monogamous queers complain about there now being pressure to be polyamorous in queer spaces when that's not the case at all. all of these groups making these complaints either highly outnumber the other groups or have a higher social standing (e.g. we know that bi people outnumber mono gay people but historically and even now, mono gays play a part in bi erasure and exclusion. i don't know what the numbers are on nonbinary vs binary trans people, especially when it's framed as trans women vs trans men vs nonbinary people, ignoring any overlap between these categories. whether we outnumber binary trans people or not, due to falling inside of the gender binary, they have a higher social standing than we do, have claimed the trans label for themselves for a long time etc. nonbinary people not only have to fight to be recognised by cis people but also for our place in the trans community. trans communities have centred binary trans people for the longest time and still do, either outright or under the guise of inclusion. nonbinary people are carving out our own space within that community, being more visible, being more present. we chip away at binary understanding of transness very slowly and binary trans people who feel threatened by this will act as if trans communities suddenly centre us if they even make the narrowest space for us. spaces that still put us into binaries but this time with a bit more wiggle room (i.e. masc/fem instead of male/female) aren't "catering" to nonbinary people at all because they don't understand what we are on the most fundamental level.

trans male erasure is absolutely a thing and it's something i already noticed in some of my first experience with trans community: being a disabled young adult all i had access to was online community so i was part of some group chats, a lot of them had like 30 trans women, 5 trans men and if i was lucky one other nonbinary person in addition to me. went on reddit and most trans subreddits mostly had trans women posting etc. this is why i feel a deep sense of solidarity with trans men due to shared invisibility. but also let's be real, we experience vile crap from both sides of the binary all the time, like when my gender and that of another nonbinary person became a whole debate topic it was both trans women and men who happily picked on the incomprehensible weirdos who don't know they're binary yet.

anyone who thinks trans spaces predominantly cater to us clearly isn't a nonbinary person in trans spaces, especially not the kind that is completely separate from the binary. it's yet another case of people who aren't us telling us about our experiences.

[nonpracticinghumanbeing]

So Izzy said a thing.

The thing seems to be a part of a redemption arc and makes him sound like a human rather than a monster.

The Canyon went wild with joy and jubilation. The haters are doing everything they can to rationalize the thing in a way that would fit their point of view. One of these things makes me feel like a part of a wonderful, welcoming, and very queer community. The other makes me perplexed, annoyed, and sad at the same time - in a way that feels very personal.

OFMD is an explicitly and unapologetically queer show. And not just that, it shows a variety of non-normative behaviors (Jackie’s polyamory, Geraldo’s humiliation kink, Lucius and Pete’s penchant for “having an audience” to say nothing of Izzy’s masochistic tendencies) in a completely non-judgmental way, making the viewer feel like all ways of performing one’s sexuality are valid.

Izzy wants to be a part of this world. For all his anger and manipulations, and (yes, let’s call him out for the sake of fairness) his abusive behaviors, he desperately wants to be a part of the world where he is free to love who he loves, in whatever way he is capable of doing so. No matter how much the haters don’t want to acknowledge it, this is ultimately a story about love. Both Con and Daddy Jenkins admitted Izzy is in love with Edward and the fact that the antis are willing to contradict not only the actor (who, may I remind you, was instrumental in shaping Izzy’s character) but also the showrunner is very symptomatic of the larger issue of how queer people have been treated in society.

No one in their right mind chose to become a pirate unless they had no other option. Piracy was fraught with constant danger and meant being an outsider everywhere. The only place one could be more or less safe was between people in the same lifestyle. In OFMD that is represented by the Republic of Pirates, where not being a pirate would get one in trouble. Sure, there is some violence but it comes with the territory and - much more importantly - it’s never motivated by someone being a pirate.

Izzy claims to hate the Republic - and for someone as repressed as him it makes sense. There are people being a different kind of a pirate than Izzy would like there - drunk, rowdy, and undisciplined. He clearly takes great pride in his work and has built his whole identity around being Blackbeard’s first mate. Seeing people be pirates while taking their responsibilities lightly doesn’t fit his worldview because he’s been taught that all of his energy should be spent protecting whatever freedom the pirates managed to carve out for themselves.

Someone once wrote that despite what the popular meme says, Izzy isn’t a real pirate dropped into The Muppet Treasure Island, but rather a hard boiled queer-coded character from a 50s noir movie dropped into today’s Pride. He’s had to keep vigilant against any threat for so long he hasn’t noticed that there was a way to be a pirate/queer and still enjoy one’s life. That one can like frilly robes and be a somewhat competent sea captain. That it is possible to pine for one’s boyfriend and keep one’s crew safe. That being soft doesn’t necessarily mean being weak.

He’s willing to do whatever it takes and sacrifice whatever has to be sacrificed (Stede’s life, Edward’s happiness, his own status of the loyal first mate) to keep his little pirate/queer world safe. It’s this conviction that puts him in the way of Ed and Stede’s relationship and makes him an antagonist. But - and it’s something the haters seem to be incapable of grasping - an antagonist doesn’t have to equal a villain.

Why does Izzy react so violently to Stede, exactly? Why is he willing to go against his captain's wishes in challenging Stede to a duel? Why does he sell Stede out, making a deal with the enemy in the process? Because Stede is a stranger infiltrating Izzy’s safe space. The English are a huge threat, sure, but they are easily identifiable from a distance. Stede seems to Izzy to be something far more dangerous - an outsider worming his way into the heart of Izzy’s world, where he can do truly irreparable damage. The English are cops who chase gay boys around the park. Stede has the potential of being an undercover cop sent into a queer bar in the 1930s to get the dirt on the patrons so they can be blackmailed and arrested.

Of course, he may not be that, but it’s a risk Izzy can’t allow himself to take. With his vision of what it means to be a pirate/queer he's sure he sees through Stede’s ruse. Now, I’m not trying to excuse abusive behavior, as some of Izzy’s choices were hurtful to everyone around him. But as a queer person I do have sympathy for someone (grossly) overreacting in defense of their safe space. Constant vigilance is an inherent part of the queer experience, especially for those living in conservative countries or remembering the times before the Pride.

Like, for example, Con does. Con, who - yes, I will repeat this because it’s super important here - played a huge part in shaping Izzy’s character. Con, who despite having a decades-long career where he often clearly gravitated towards queer characters, only got comfortable enough THIS YEAR (and thanks to this show and this fandom) to publicly come out. Con, who - as a friend wonderfully phrased it - is queer as in start a riot, not as in love wins.

And Izzy is the same. He is a start a riot pirate/queer in a show full of love wins pirates/queers. His way of being what he is is so totally different from everyone around him that it makes him an antagonist. (Sure, there are other start a riot queers in the show - Jim literally kills a man who wronged them and Lucius is very outspoken about his opinions in a way that makes him somewhat radical, but neither of them is as extreme in their ways as Izzy is and neither goes against the main characters’ romance thus becoming an antagonist.) But. The thing is, when you are a part of a minority, when you are being prosecuted and targeted for who you are, you need safe spaces. And those safe spaces need protection, because every freedom can be taken away if wrong people come to power. No doubt the queer movement would look much more tame and palatable to the bigots if we were all the love wins queers. But we desperately need the start a riot queers if we are to survive.

So yeah, you can say Izzy said what he said because he needs a structure and clear hierarchy in his life. He absolutely does. Some of it comes from his submissive and masochistic tendencies, sure (I wrote a lot about that, including a piece for the Above All Else zine). Some of it may come from neurodivergence (some people read Izzy as autistic, I’m not going to discuss this because as a neurotypical person I have nothing of value to say about it). But it also ABSOFUCKINGLUTELY comes from the desperate need to protect his safe space from outsiders.

And there is one more thing the haters conveniently forget about: OFMD is also a show about growth. It’s about Stede turning from a wooden puppet into a real boy and then into a man. It’s about Edward learning there is a life beyond the legend of Blackbeard and peeling off at least some of the leather. And judging from the trailer, it’s about Izzy learning you can be a start a riot pirate while being accepting of the love wins pirates in your life. 

The more I think about it, the more likely I find it that Stede’s “I don’t care what anybody says, he’s actually a good guy” line from the teaser refers to Izzy. But even if it doesn’t, I am 100% sure the haters will be proven wrong. This show never relied on stereotypes and cliches. In fact, it actively does everything to break them (from Jim’s sacred quest for revenge ending up with them befriending Jackie to the only names that get mispronounced being those of white characters) while killing off the real enemies of the pirate/queer crew (Badmintons, Jack, Geraldo) and giving all its characters place to grow.

So, maybe one day we will all learn to love Izzy? 

[theghostsarefriendly]

fic where nico and will end up at the waystation and meet Emmy and Jo and nico has a happy breakdown because holy shit these are happy old queer people who fought against every odd and MADE IT. not just leaving the hunters, they wouldve been 'young' women when they left so for them to be in their 60's now they would have had to been in a relationship at least 40 years ago, including the AIDs epidemic.

consciously, he knew things were better for queer people now. but to see it? to see the space these two have been able to carve out for themselves and lead a happy life? to maybe think about how he could have that with will someday? when earlier in his life the idea of him being allowed that love would be inconceivable? have i asked enough rhetorical questions?

extra leo&nico friendship sprinkled in because i love them and also im not sure leo has even been informed they are dating. like he missed nico coming out entirely lmao. bro was busy being 'dead.'

will wouldnt be AS affected because he didnt have to grow up in the 30's and overcome as much internalized homophobia, but its still a moment for him. Gods is he thinking about him and nico's future together now.

it could also be written by the original non-changed-with-time books timeline where Percy was born in 1993 and the books take place in the 2000's and 2010's before gay marriage was legal in the US for extra emotion factor.

ANYWAYS old lgbt+ people make me feel So Many Things and i feel like they would make nico feel Things too. i regret to inform you i am almost guaranteed to never write this. if someone else likes the idea or parts of it they are absolutely free to use it!

[tobi-smp]

well ! if I'm posting about my other interests ! have a little how-to guide for getting into marble hornets:

firstly, what is it.

that's an answer in two parts! it's a foundational indie horror web series on youtube that was beloved in its time for its mystery, atmosphere, and editing (pioneering or popularizing many of the techniques that you'll see more commonly now in the analogue horror genre, just with the budget of college students in 2009).

and it's remembered fondly Now for its fascinating representation of mental health (in how it subverts the harmful ways that horror tends to depict more stigmatized disorders, but Also in how it depicts mental and physical health in general), and the underlying queer themes that While subtext at the time have ultimately been confirmed as intentional as one co creators (and actor for the main character) has come out as bisexual!

it is Also a wildly creative and beautiful comic series. written solely by troy wagner (the aforementioned co-creator) and illustrated by jackie reynolds (a long time fan of the series and insanely talented illustrator). taking place after the events of the webseries, the comics take full advantage of this new visual medium to express the horror, atmosphere, and emotions of the series in a more visceral way. and being self published they're free to make whatever they'd like

done entirely in water color and ink, it builds beautifully on what was laid down with the original series and carves out its own identity and legacy.

it's also just very lovely seeing queer creators who were once writing subtext be able to just. Be Open about it. both about themselves and their characters. it's a horror story that happens to have queer characters mind, but it's just ! nice.

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now ! being internet horror that's sat in that weird space between args and analogue horror (nightmind would call it Unfiction, but unfortunately that term hasn't caught on as much as I'd have liked) it's not as simple to get into as just like, Watching A Show.

that's not to say you Can't just watch it, but rather I have ways to help you get more out of it :>

1: The full chronological playlist for the marble hornets web series, including the totheark replies: [Link]

this is exactly what it says on the tin ! the entire series in order, I've even included the dvd extras at the end of each season !

two notes: firstly, the full series is captioned, and I think they're very nice captions! and secondly, there's a lot of loud noises in the series, which the captions help mitigate a bit. this is due in part to the nature of the kind of horror it is (though it doesn't have straight up jumpscares), but Also because troy wagner was HoH at the time he was doing the audio editing for the series.

there's significantly fewer issues with the audio as the series goes on (troy actually got surgery for his hearing!) but for the most part it's fine just keeping it Somewhat lower. except entry five. entry five is so very loud <3

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2: The in-character twitter for jay merrick (the main character of marble hornets): [Link]

much like the youtube channel is presented as being ran by the main character/pov character of the series (jay merrick), the twitter was created to run along-side the main series! it mostly exists to give us further insight into jay's mental state and personal life that you don't get in the main series, especially early on!

it's a little cumbersome nowadays, especially since twitter doesn't Like being archival. but you kind of just have to scroll all the way to the bottom to when the twitter was created and scroll up to follow along jlkfasdjlkfdas

this is made a Little more difficult because the account got hacked in 2020 and reinstated 2021, so all of the dates are wrong now. but the account always posted when new entries were uploaded so it's easy to watch an entry, check what was posted after it was uploaded, and then see the link for the next entry and know to stop until you've watched.

you don't Have to do it this way, but I think it's the way to get the most out of it!

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3: All of the translated codes for totheark/tta listed in order: [Link]

back in the day, youtube allowed you to make Video Replies, which would be displayed Under whatever video you were responding to! this feature was ultimately removed because of the tendency to do make clickbait in response to whatever was currently popular, but it was Wonderful in this instance !

the youtube channel and twitter were presented as in character, and they took advantage of this by having a second channel created (named totheark) start Replying to the entries as they were uploaded. these videos were highly edited and contained codes and secrets that were meant as messages to the main character (and the audience)!

there was a dedicated community for code breaking throughout the show's entire life, and this list here goes through every one! I like this one in particular because it Also gives us information on How the codes were broken, in a digestible way.

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4: Nightmind's marble hornets explained series: [Link]

this is definitely Optional. it's obviously not official media, is outdated now that the comics have started, and I'd say was flawed even at its release. (it's not a spoiler if nobody knows what I'm talking about, so I'll say now that I'm not a fan of his theory with masky, and the seth theory is very famously silly).

BUT! I Do think it's a very good resource when it comes to putting certain crucial things together. as the whole point of the series is that it's a Mystery. you see nearly everything out of order and you're intentionally limited in what you know about characters and their motivations. this series works as a good jumping off point in that it helps to put things into Context and change your perspective on certain events and character With the benefit of said context!

like I said, it's not Required, it might just be helpful! a starting point to help chew on things once you've watched the web series in full for the first time.

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Comics!: [Link]

comics ! they're all available on troy wagner's personal website! (along with other goodies that are periodically available!) you can buy them either physically Or digitally ! personally I'd recommend digital, as it's cheaper, instantly available, and the digital extras are wonderful!

they come with the script for the comics, a commentary version (including comments from troy and jackie on every page), and other extras like backgrounds, behind the scenes sketches, character art, etc!

I would very much so suggest buying the comics if you're interested. this is an indie project being ran and funded by two people (and again! there's other goodies in the store that are worth looking at). buttttttt, my friends may dm me <3

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Extras! [Extras]

Anniversary streams [Link] on a few different anniversaries for the series several of the creators have done streams rewatching the series and reacting to it live ! this is a playlist where I've collected all of the instances that I could find :>

I Also included the dvd commentary here ! the format is different, but it's a similar concept so, why not ljkfsdajklfasd

.

Interviews, QnA's, and con appearances: [Link] exactly what it sounds like !

I was, at one point, overtaken by some kind of madness and hunted down for every single Person Records Marble Hornets Creators Talking About Marble Hornets thing I could find, and then attempted to put it in order. this is just ! for fun. I do so adore it though, I have one con panel that was recorded on someone's 3ds.

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My silly posts:

some analysis posts I've main on my main account since having watched the series ! these all contain spoilers so I wouldn't suggest watching them until you've seen the show (though I Would suggest reading them if you do choose to watch the explained series)

this is my post going into what I think masky is supposed to be/represent, and why it's Important [Link] which I think pairs nicely with this post by tim sutton (one of marble hornet's actors) [Link]

my discussions on jay's mental health and behavior and how they're often misunderstood (which won't necessarily be needed if you've read through his twitter jlkfasdlkjafds) [Link 1, Link 2]

confirmation that jay is canonically queer :> [Link]

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Social Media

Social media for various marble hornets creatives !

Troy wagner (co-creator, actor for jay): Tumblr [Link] Twitter [Link] Instagram [Link]

Jackie Reynolds (main artist for the comics): Tumblr [Link] Twitter [Link] Instagram [Link] Linktree [Link]

Tim Sutton (actor for tim (I know)): Tumblr (inactive): [Link] Twitter: [Link]

Joseph DeLage (co-creator, actor for alex): Twitter [Link]

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and here's art jackie drew of masky marble hornets punching richard spencer in the face <3

[saint-vagrant]

heyyy, somehow gained many new followers recently. thank you very much for enjoying my work! in light of that, let's do a small introduction.

i'm Seosamh Dáire, or you can call me joe. he/him • sé/é only. transsexual butch man and leatherdyke ✦ fear tras/aiteach agus gearrán 🐗

i'm a painter, comic author-illustrator, web/html artist, petty designer, smalltime archivist, passionate marxist. i like anime and virtual pets both from ~1990. as someone working primarily with past decades, i'm interested in broadening our ideas of time/place and who was in it. pro-palestine, native rights and strong proponent/student of irish-native solidarity, blm, roma, the works (uninterested in debating these topics!)

i make trans gay art for perverts and i was recently an artist in residence in the Burren, focusing on traditional paintings and reflecting/writing on being Queer In The Land.

SUPERPOSE: the tremendous dark trans sci-fi comic i make with my life+work partner Anka @kingfisher-cove . take a look! this project is my whole LIFE, and almost every piece i make pertains to it, so if you're unsure of who or what my images are of, that's a safe bet. the comic is recommended for mature readers. here's a brief synopsis,

An ongoing queer sci-fi horror comic about physics.

On the Atlantic coast, in a town called PORT CITY— “a place out of time”

While a tourist destination boasting a popular beach and boardwalk, Port City is also home to ROMAN LABS, an aerospace-turned-tech company now floundering in the tech boom.

Rafael and Royal are each listless in their own lives as longtime locals with little mobility, whose orbits have only occasionally overlapped, until now. Turning a job at the lab into a last-ditch effort for a glimpse of a more equitable future brings Royal and Rafael together, and beaches Kas, a young physicist, on Port City’s shores.

Together they seize the opportunity to alter their future and carve out a place in time for themselves, finally shaking the town and their lives from standstill. Changing history begins with the machine.

(also a supplementary web art/ARG aspect, using flat digital spaces to create a sense of 3d depth and narrative.)

SUPERPOSEBLOG @superposeblog is the repository for all updates and news about the comic.

198X.LOVE our homepage & portfolio

PATREON is where i share most of my work first, early comic pages, WIP, process and thoughts and other resources. it's a direct way to support mine & my partner's work. we are an independent team of two and i'm sure you can appreciate the effort and dedication to managing our practise as well as life obligations. for one-time support, there's also ko-fi. thank you!

i've also begun a new, as of yet unnamed 18+ comic about trans disposability/sapped as a resource + weird blood + nuclear war. so look out for that next year 😘

[ilovedthestars]

and also just. the way ambiguity in relationships is assumed to be romantic, too. see, i wrote that whole post a while back about how I loved ambiguous fictional relationships, with deep devotion but no clear label as to the type of relationship. i called it love as in significance--that's where my tag comes from. love as in being important to someone, in whatever form that takes.

and what I said then about how this applies to romance still applies--when I'm reading about a fictional romance, I'll be much more engaged with one that feels built on that foundation of significance than one that isn't. flirting, the trappings of modern courtship, those feel empty to me without the feeling that these characters already matter to each other. (this is why in real life I'm so perplexed by things like dating apps, or people who actively seek out romance with strangers--I just personally can't fathom the idea of wanting that kind of closeness with someone you don't already know and care for.)

but in regards to ambiguity....I feel like I've been burned a little. I loved ambiguity because it meant you could take many things away from it. other people could see romance, but I could see the kind of deeply devoted platonic relationship that, let's be honest, is incredibly rare in fiction. but I'm starting to feel frustrated by the way ambiguity is assumed to be romance, without an explicit statement that it's not. (I've joked about the obligatory "no hetero" moments that have to be inserted into the start of a piece of media that has a male and a female protagonist with any kind of relationship other than romance--the "not with those lips" moment in the D&D movie, for example. It's funny, and i appreciate it being made very clear, but it's kind of sad that it has to be.)

and...okay, there's an elephant in the room that i really should acknowledge. I was talking about it in that first post, but I made a point of never mentioning it, although i'm sure plenty of people guessed.

I haven't watched Good Omens season two. I'm not sure if I'm ever going to. When I first wrote about my love for ambiguous relationships back in February of 2023, Aziraphale and Crowley were at the top of my list. When I wrote about how ambiguity left room for anyone to see themselves represented, and how i wished that a little more space was left for aro voices, I was talking about them. I was frustrated by people who saw that ambiguity as "queerbaiting"--didn't they see that the story was already queer, that Aziraphale and Crowley cared so deeply for each other, and whether they kissed or not wouldn't change anything?

But they did kiss. And it did change something. I don't feel like there's a place left for me anymore. And there's social pressure to celebrate, to be happy for another canon queer love story on TV, and god I'd love to celebrate that, but I can't help but feel a little betrayed by a story that I thought would leave space for me.

(and yes, a kiss doesn't have to mean romance--but in this, in hollywood, it's assumed to. the creators and the audience both understand it as such, unless someone stops to say no, we're friends who kiss each other the mouth, we're subverting your expectations. because the expectations are inescapable.)

I've been trying to give myself the space to feel upset about this. To remember that aro stories are queer stories too. And I think I'm raising my standards. I'll take ambiguity--I'll take any carved-out space I can find. But I'm not sure I trust it anymore. I want explicitly platonic relationships with the level of love and devotion and care usually reserved for romance. I want to read and watch and listen to stories about people who are significant to each other without romance even being in the picture. I want love that isn't synonymous with romance. I'm going to stop feeling like I have to settle for anything less.

[auslgbtqya]

An Unexpected Party: Queer Speculative YA Fiction Edited by Seth Malacari

(2024)

From the Publisher:

Co-published by Get YA Words Out and edited by Seth Malacari, An Unexpected Party brings together the stories of emerging authors from the LGBTQIA+ community.

From fantastical realms to real-world struggles, this anthology champions queer identity by challenging stereotypes and exploring the many facets of identity. Written with wit, heart and honesty, these stories take queer protagonists outside the box of young adult romance and centre them at the heart of stories that involve magic, paranormal beings and adventure.

Featuring trans and gender-diverse voices – asexual, aromantic, bisexual and more – the stories in An Unexpected Party are as diverse as their writers.

Praise for the book

‘A warm, tight hug, long overdue for the generations of queer young adults longing for a place in the world. An Unexpected Party contains an unashamed and beautiful honesty, carving out a space for broad, and ever resonant queer stories within the Australian YA cannon.’ Jade Breen, Children’s Book Council of Australia

‘An Unexpected Party is a profoundly humanising experience … It’s a world where all fictional elements, be they realistic or fantastic, exist to serve a necessarily complex space of identity, empowerment, trauma, grief and belonging for both the authors in this book and the characters they create.’ Laurie Steed, WritingWA

‘Queer readers or young people struggling to understand their individual and social selves could recognise aspects of themselves and the way they see the real world in these short science fiction or fantasy tales.’ Magpies

‘This collection of short stories is a veritable party of sparkling new voices, highly original stories that cover the spectrum of LGBTQIA+ experiences, within imaginary worlds, some sci-fi, some fairy story, some dystopian, some horror, but all are fresh and powerful writings that will attract a variety of readers.’ Helen Eddy, ReadPlus

‘A deeply touching, heartwarming anthology exploring queer stories in science fiction, fantasy and horror.’ Readings

Awards: Aurealis Awards, Best Anthology (Shortlisted 2024)

[chaifootsteps]

There are a plethora of issues regarding Vivziepop's writing, but the one that really stands out to me is her lack of themes. She has ideas, occasionally she has something to say, but she has no themes.

If you don't mind my ramblings; I have been considering an AU that is effectively divorced from the series, focusing entirely on the characters Blitzo, Barbie, and Fizzarolli. In brainstorming the story, I have been able to streamline the narrative to 3 core themes.

Masculinity, Control/Power, and Belonging.

Everything in the story is connected to one or more of these themes in regards to the characters and their motivations. Even side characters are wholly infused with these three concepts.

In my AU, FizzaRolli is not a performer, but a stray child with a group of other feral children Lord of the Flies. Blitz is the son of a circus owner who craves his father's approval even as he resents him. Barbie is an up and coming starlet brutally managed by her father who effectively curates her sense of identity as she creeps closer to the spotlight.

Much of Blitzo's story focuses on a young man coming into his own in a world that runs on toxic masculinity, balanced out by the guidance and love of his sickly mother whom he cares for. He's a young adult figuring out himself in a world and community who keeps telling him what he should be. Sub Themes of responsibility, respect, strength and the abuse of power are key cornerstones of his story.

Meanwhile FizzaRolli is the foil of Blitz's story. An orphan without parental guidance living out his coming of age in a Teenage Wasteland. Additionally, Fizz is gay, meaning his queerness colors over the themes in a fundamental way. Being in a Teenage Wasteland, Fizz is effectively in the closet because of how queerness can change others perception of him. And weakness often is associated with queerness, which has no place in a micro-society that elevates this toxic, Fight Club-esque concept of masculinity and belonging. Fizz seems to belong, carve out a space for himself in his community, but struggles come into himself. Especially because underneath it all is a severely traumatized child who never got to be a kid long enough to learn how to be a man.

And from the far other side, Barbie's relationship to these themes comes from the viewpoint of living under the patriarchy as a young woman. How girls are raised to cater to the needs of men, treated as glorified children unless they "prove" themselves over things that many men are merely handed. Her father prioritized her career above and beyond her as a person. While that isn't a trait inherently based in sexism, how he curates her life and downplays her desires and intelligence is rooted mainly in her being his daughter and thus not expected to "step out" into her own like her twin. Leaving her feeling impotent, infantalized and resentful even as she is held on a pedestal.

Control over one's self, perception, and direction.

How masculinity fosters respect and responsibility for young boys while simultaneously threatening punishment for not meeting or stepping outside of certain expectations. Especially the competitive aggression and emotional warfare in toxic masculinity

And a sense of belonging, be it in a community or an identity.

Themes help maintain a cohesion to a story, helps the characters feel interconnected and the world lived in regardless of how much emphasis is placed outside the main cast. It also helps ground the ideas of characters in an abstract way that doesn't place pressure to "prove" to the audience a character does fit the traits you as an author see in them. Most of all, it better enabled the author to pivot viewpoints and easily switch between characters so that they feel individual and not that there is a singular "voice" speaking behind them. It creates a unique soul rather than an empty skin suit for the author to don.

Sorry for the long rant.

No worries, Anon. Thanks for the ramble, it was an interesting read!

[fatiguedcorvid]

the Zoldycks are patriarchy

A lot of ink has been spilled about how queer-coded Killua is, but an aspect of his arc I haven't seen mentioned is that the Zoldycks are an intergenerational project. Implying that as the heir, he’s expected to eventually marry a woman and create baby assassins of his own. The Zoldycks aren’t just an abusive family. They're the cis hetero patriarchy.

They’re a literal patriarchy, with the ageing patriarch and the rising patriarch, Zeno and Silva, the grandfather and father who lead the family. Kikyo is relegated to 2nd in command, relishing in bossing around Kalluto and Gotoh, but not daring to step on Silva's toes. But on top of that they represent the social pressure by society to conform to a hetero amorous normative lifestyle, in line with tradition. Silva’s words about how Killua will return to the family because that’s his nature echo a lot of homophobic rhetoric about how young queer/questioning people are just ‘experimenting’ and they’ll eventually realise they were just confused and enter a hetero relationship.

On top of that, the literal brainwashing by Illumi’s needles are the source of his anxiety and insecurity in his relationship with Gon. In this analogy the needle is the internalised homophobia, literally implanted in his brain by his family. It prevents him from truly embracing his queerness. At one point, when captured by Nobunaga it almost makes him suicidally sacrifice his own life. The way he manages to overcome it eventually is through his love and care for Gon.

The election arc represents the importance of queer solidarity between different identities within the community. Killua’s managed to escape the grasp of his family and carve out a life for himself on the outside, but his trans sister, Alluka, hasn't. He can’t save Gon without her/Nanika’s help, and she can’t escape and build a life outside without his help. The only way they can truly liberate themselves is by working together. When Killua tells Nanika to hide away and never show itself again it shows how the dynamics of queerphobia and heteronormativity can recreate themselves within queer spaces. How respectability politics and trying to sweep the less socially acceptable parts of the community under the rug doesn’t work. Even though Killua tried to protect Alluka by telling Nanika to go into hiding, he still ended up recreating the abusive family dynamic on a new scale. The right thing to do is accept Alluka and Nanika the way they are.

In the end, even though he and Gon parted ways he didn’t come crawling back to the Zoldycks because his journey was about more than just an infatuation with one boy. It was about self-discovery and a fight for liberation.

[catgirlforeskin]

Is it okay if i ask ur thoughts on the whether T4T should include tme ppl or not? I'm leaning towards no currently after reading ouppykittygirlbileduct's post on it but I was curious about ur thoughts. Also do you think it'd be appropriate for someone to coin some sort of alternative that's inclusive of all trans people rather than transfem specific? I feel like it could b helpful to have a catchall for trans only relationships but I'm unsure what the alternative would look like because T4T is already used by a lot of people (perhaps incorrectly) to encompass a lot of different kinds of trans relationships. I would say "transunity" but the transandrophobia folks have already taken that one to do dumb shit with. Thank u if u answer this!!

Yeah for me on the questions of “does it include” and “should it include” the answer is a resounding no. It’s just another case of tme people seeing trans women carving out any space for themselves and going “why thing not about me? 🥺”

It’s not really a battleground I feel driven to fight on, but is annoying, and it happens with everything. I think it’d be fine for people to make a more general term, though it would feel a little silly, since the core of t4t isn’t just trans lesbian dating, it’s solidarity and putting each other first because transmisogyny is so vile everywhere else that we have to support each other or no one else will.

I just don’t think there’s that kind of dynamic for trans people at large. I feel no more solidarity with tme trans people than I do with cis queer people tbh, and often some of em make worse allies than cis queers.

So an all-inclusive t4t would just feel like something fun straight trans people could call themselves since they can’t say gay anymore, rather than any meaningful political project

[ahh-fxck]

If you've read Warrior's Blues anytime in the last four years, thank you. The fourth year anniversary of me hitting "publish" on the first chapter was the 26th, and as a result I've been thinking about this story a lot. I decided I wanted to share some of my process for writing it and the reason I decided to write this fic in the first place.

I was going back and forth about publishing this, but what pushed me over the edge was a movie I just watched. It's currently available on Disney+, the title is Swan Song and it stars Udo Kier. Of all the movies I've watched, TV shows, books, audiobooks, podcasts, this one piece of media hits me the hardest. Queerness was supposed to be invisible, shunted to the margins of society. But all of these queer men and women carved spaces for themselves and their joy. They made community and celebrated and loved and fucked and set their own standards for beauty and attraction. Our predecessors and ancestors (and most of them are ancestors now, far too soon) were everywhere, as unstoppable as flowers forcing their way through concrete. They connected with each other and their communities, they made spaces for themselves. Those connections laid foundations of love that set the stage, both literally and metaphorically, for the queer youth of today to thrive. We're here because of them.

Ancestors. Those who came before us, the roots from which we spring. They were on my mind when my friend @stressedspidergirlsfandomblog prodded me to write something for queer history month. I had just watched season one of the Witcher and I was struck Very Queer Feelings. My fingers got to tapping and I thought, I'll write a short little crack piece with some internalized homophobia and 90s nostalgia sprinkled on, I'll be done in a week, it'll be great. (LOL.)

But then it became so much more. Because somewhere in there I realized I was writing a love poem to the Witcher fandom about queerness, about queer history and queer love and the pressures of living before legalization in the USA. When I realized I was doing that, I started watching, listening to, and reading, everything I could get my hands on.

Four years in, I have taken in a ton of media as part of writing this fic (and I will take in much more before I'm done. Recommendations welcome!) Swan Song was especially poignant, but it's all been important in forming this story. When I'm not actively writing, I try to be taking in things that help me understand the times and places each of my characters is steeped in. I've been devouring everything about and from 1995-1951 for years now. I'm not picky, I've been trying to distill all of it- the good, the bad, and the ugly. Golden Girls has been a favorite. Pose too. Right now I'm watching the Simpsons. I've also read things like American Warrior, a book written by Army Ranger Gary O'Neal. When I do dishes I watch Cheers, or the Donna Reed show. Other days it's Seinfeld. Some of my research has been beautiful, like reading the works of Israeli poet Yehuda Amichai. A lot of it grates. It's painful to process all of the queerphobia, and it can be uncomfortable to wade through things that rub me wrong. But that's sort of the point. Queerness can be hard. It can also be so, so joyous.

More than reading, when I can feature vintage queer media in the story, I try to do so. Some of the easter eggs are subtle, and some of them much more obvious, like the Mapplethorpe photos in the bar. My hope is to honor their history and remember them with love.

I do want to make one special podcast shout-out: @makingqueerhistory has been an integral part of my research. Their archive of episodes is truly a treasure trove, and has enhanced not only my understanding of my characters' worlds but of the sheer depth and breadth of queer history itself. I am so grateful that this resource is available. I keep wanting to recommend them to you but I don't usually get around to talking about the media that goes into this story. So consider this a plug. If you love this story and you can donate to them, please do so, even if it's only a dollar or two.

As I mentioned before, this project got started during Pride month thanks to @stressedspidergirlsfandomblog goading me to write a fic. (Thank you friend, sometimes it helps to get a push) It is also my love letter to the Witcher fandom about Pride, about why it's important, about what our queer forbears did to pave the way to the world we live in today and what joy their hard work is bringing us. About why it's important to love what we have and also why it's so important to fight for our rights. I'm afraid for the future. I think a lot of us are, but what I see of our past gives me so, so much hope. We are strong, we are resilient, we have always been here. No matter what happens, we will persist. There is a reason that dandelions resonate with so many of us on this webbed site. Like them, we can flourish in the most adverse of conditions. They are fierce, and they are beautiful. Just like we are. We will keep popping up no matter what happens. I believe that queer people or all sorts deserve to exist. We deserve to celebrate ourselves and each other free of guilt, shame, or fear. And we deserve to experience joy. Cause you know what? Our joy is BEAUTIFUL. It's worth protecting! It's worth fighting for. Thank you for being with me on this journey. I'm in it for the long haul, and I appreciate each and every single one of you who's stopped in to enjoy this story along the way. You are wonderful.

And a special thanks to @stressedspidergirlsfandomblog. Without you, none of this would have happened. Love you, friend!

I hope this month brings everyone the joy they need. You all deserve it.

Happy Pride, family.

[hieronymph]

Started crying after I saw an older sapphic couple's (from my country) instagram page

It is so so so hard to imagine any kind of happy gay future as a POC especially in our oppressed country

I always thought that I could have my gay romance only if I worked for it. And working for it didn't mean dressing up and putting myself out there. Working for it meant writing IELTS, securing scholarship, having enough savings, moving overseas, struggling with a new country and its culture and securing their citizenship and only then being able to have a safe queer relationship

My country is still a hell for queer people but this couple has managed to carve a small gay space for themselves and I am so happy

It makes it seem possible for me

I really hope queer rights are realized in India

Please please please don't elect the right wing parties to power again