#real lesbian representation

[rhfffas]

lesbians keep winning

[stars278]

Umm so I know this isn’t Les Mis but I’ve just come across the most amazing Gelphie Pop Figures and I don’t know if everyone’s seen them yet??? They’re literally selling Glinda and Elphaba Valentines Couples Pop Funkos… they come as normal size, two-pack minis and the tiny Bitty size where they come in a little red and pink poppy bouquet?! I am not okay… they’re in LOVE! They’re lesbians confirmed! ❤️💖

(EDIT: I found them on the Funko Europe site but they should be available everywhere else too!)

[luzsadventures]

coming straight from my three page long notes app essay I wrote at 4am after seeing the barbie movie, some thoughts on why barbie is definitely aroace, and why that means the world to me tbh:

BARBIE IS AROACE. TELL ME IM WRONG.

barbie not wanting to be with ken is so important. she never has to explain herself. she’s just not interested. and that’s okay. she’s never shamed or ostracized because she’s not interested in ken. it's not played for jokes. there’s never even a moment of “well, maybe barbie will have a realization that ken's been there all along and they'll end up together”. nope, there’s never any expectation. and it’s not even in a girlboss feminism, “she doesn’t need a man” kind of way. she just doesn’t want that, and the movie respects that. the movie respects what she wants, which is something we don't see much when it comes to aroace rep (or like most rep when it comes to women tbh).

barbie also turns down ken in a way that makes it clear that she's just not interested. there's no hesitation or sugar coating to it. we see this in the "girls night" scene in front of the dreamhouse, when barbie says simply, she doesn't want ken there. even later on when she turns him down in ways that are a little nicer, she's still very firm in her decision. time and time again we see barbie knowing what she wants and asserting it. we live in a world where when turning down men women always feel the need to be nice about it and "let them down easy" either out of being polite or sometimes as a safety precaution. regardless, to see barbie be able to be firm in her decisions is so empowering.

I love how this subverts expectations, bc we know ken is (supposed to be) barbie’s boyfriend. she’s everything and he’s just ken (although we can get into the nuances of that statement some other time). that is the role ken has always played. so to have that subverted, to make it clear to begin with that barbie is not really all that into ken is such a nice change.

this is also SO important because barbie is a beacon of “stereotypical” femininity, and has also been historically sexualized. so the fact that the movie lets her be feminine and girly but she can still not be interested in ken is amazing. she is still allowed to be herself, and her femininity is neither tied to, nor does it detract from her want to not be with ken. the movie said girls can be feminine without being tied to male attention !! girls can be feminine just bc its fun !!

I can talk about this for hours it’s so genuinely healing for me. I doubt many others picked up on it, hell idk that this all was intentional, but I loved it <3

[holyblanchett]

Confirmed Agathario baby is so insane. So you're telling me Nicky is really in the afterlife seated on a throne? What in the ao3 fanfic was happening in that writers room Jac Schaeffer? I fear she cooked with this one.

[camelspit]

theres lesbians. OH MY GOD. THERES LESBIANS. AND THEYRE MARRIED. AND THEY LIKE KOALAS AND THEYRE AUSTRALIAN AND THEY HAVE KIDS. HOly oh my god oh my god oh my god oh my god ob my god

[aardvaark]

sometimes i forget leverage is from over a decade ago, and then i hear in the commentary that multiple people had to fight really hard to let one character - who is only in 3 episodes - briefly allude to being a lesbian.

[yalster54]

her swagless looks and cringe fail personality have captivated me

[vyeoh]

I'm rewatching all the Marvel Defenders shows on Netflix and as much as I mock the MCU now, I need non-Marvel fans to understand that I was and still am a fan of "Daredevil fighting the gentrifying assshole who bought out the police force because ACAB both as a lawyer and vigilante of the community" and "Jessica Jones fighting the man who mind controlled her into doing unspeakable things and forming a community of fellow survivors and allies while dealing with PTSD in a range of both healthy and unhealthy ways" Marvel. God I love these idiots they carried so hard

[lvthkllr]

So I have been thinking a lot about Eloise as a character, and how she is often perceived as being a lesbian due to her disinterest in men and marriage. For a long time I had agreed with this sentiment because my mind took the logical route of “if she doesn’t like men then she must like women”, but through my own exploration of romantic and sexual identities I have developed a new theory.

I think that Eloise is lands somewhere on the aromantic spectrum.

I do want to acknowledge that I fully understand that many queer women and non-men often describe their journey to fully understanding their sexuality by pointing out that a lack of interest in dating men was a “early warning sign” of their queer identity, and I in no way shape or form want to invalidate that. I also want to say that I fully understand that romantic and sexual orientation are two very different things, and in my mind the queer characters of Bridgerton feel sexual attraction and love for anyone regardless gender.

That all being said, I think it’s worth noting that when fandoms speculate and theorize on a specific character’s sexual orientation, they often bunch it up with romantic orientation, and I think that’s a huge mistake when it comes to Eloise.

We’ve seen in the show with Theo, that Eloise can and does experience romantic attraction to men. What differentiates her from her peers and siblings is that she requires a lot more than simply meeting and flirting. Similar to those on the aromantic spectrum, Eloise’s romantic attraction is atypical to the societal expectation of meet, flirt, marry; she requires more.

When she met Theo she seemingly had no romantic interest in him, however as they spent time to together and explored each other’s interests we saw that Eloise began to develop romantic feelings for him. And I know what some of you are going to say “that’s literally just the friends to lovers trope”, BUT ACTUALLY NO because prior to and after meeting Theo in season 2, Eloise does not experience any other explicit romantic attraction on screen.

I just think that we as a fandom need to take a step back and acknowledge that while it may be true that Eloise has a sexual attractions to women as well as men, we also need to acknowledge that the her character development past season 1 shows that her avoidance of marriage may have nothing to do with men and everything to do with avoiding the societal pressure of romantic attraction, especially when she doesn’t experience it in the same way as her peers.

[spop-romanticizes-abuse]

it’s legitimately frustrating how much people discredit steven universe’s queer representation. i’ve actually seen people say that “it’s not actually queer because the gems don’t have genders” and what do you think being non-binary or being under the non-binary umbrella means? whether you see the gems as women or genderless, they still count as queer representation! not to mention, there were human characters who were queer as well.

[web-novel-polls]

I know it's been, like, over half a year, and I probably shouldn't be concerned with it anymore, but I think what bugs me so badly about people being so self-righteous about Jiang Cheng "being homophobic" in the Aroace Spec Character Tournament is that directly correlates to actual experiences and interactions I see within the LGBTQIA+ community. It's so close to the fear and shame that leads to the question of, "how much of comfortability and well-being do I have to give up to live within an amatonormative world? At what point do I speak up about my own repulsion? Do I ever?Why am I the always the one who has to change?"

I can't help but come back to that AITA about an aro and/or ace GSA member who was shamed and called homophobic by what should be their own community for the simple crime of looking away from PDA. Their club advisor who acted like they were the problem because it's "supposed to be a safe space for the other kids" but not really answering whether it's also supposed to be a safe space for the submitter. How aroace people are "included" until they're uncomfortable or don't want to talk about sex or romance. How sex and romance repulsed aroaces are never allowed to show repulsion, or they're prudes, homophobic, ruining the fun. Why is someone being uneasy something THEY have to apologize for? Why is it an attack, if not to protect the amatonormative idea that anyone who is personally unsatisfied, uncomfortable, rejecting of love and sex is somehow lesser or hostile to love and sex itself? How aroace are we allowed to be before we become "problematic"?

[I'm aware this is an emotional reaction for this specific instance. Don't be weird. Don't be a dick. Don't be aroace-phobic. Do be gay and aro and ace and trans and-]

[rhfffas]

jules: hi im jules im your sisters "friend" chloe: yes i know what you are🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈

[meatmunching]

I NEED MORE BUTCH/FEMME BUT THE FEMME IS THE GUARD DOG

GIVE ME MORE BUTCH/FEMME WHERE THE FEMME IS THE CREATURE THAT EATS PEOPLE!!!!

MORE BUTCH/FEMME WHERE THE FEMME IS THE MORE DANGEROUS AND FERAL ONE!! STAT!!!

[disventure-rewrite-takes]

i would have put more emphasis on lakes sexuality in her original season. We only know she’s a lesbian because of a pride post. It would have been cool to see her talking about it with Rosa maria or maggy. About how she doesn’t want to get married to this guy because she isn’t attracted to men, but doesn’t have the words to describe it. Maybe Rosa and maggy help her realize that being same sex attracted is normal and nothing wrong with it. (Maggy autocorrected to maggot like 4 times wtf)

fr like i think besides jaiden, season 2 had no mention/hint of queerness and then BAM half the cast shows up in the pride post. uhhh thanks for the half-assed representation from unbearable/boring characters that we will never see again i guess! you’re so progressive ONC!

[bronzemettle]

Is it common for DC characters to be members of the Avengers of for Marvel characters to be members of the Justice League in the BronzeRealms?

It's not common, no. But it has happened from time to time. The Marvel/DC distinction obviously doesn't exist in-universe, but there is a cultural divide and methodological beef between the Justice League and Avengers that has led to a lot of heroes feeling like they should "pick a side" even if they're not on either team. But no-one's getting bullied for who they do team-ups with either (at least, not much).

Let's give a few examples. I mentioned in another post that Huntress was kicked out of the Justice League for a time because she started killing again. During that time, she briefly joined the Avengers. However, she made one horrible mistake, and hooked up with Tony Stark. She had to leave before too long.

You can flirt with Tony Stark. Everyone flirts with Tony Stark! At this point he's used to being told a flat "never", just once, taking it on the chin, and still being able to sass a little afterwards. But if he actually thinks it's GOING somewhere!?! If one time out of twenty he can actually get a Yes from someone?! Doomed. Constant, insufferable torrential flirting as he pushes that Skinner Box button "sex please?" over and over waiting for the treat.

Next example. She-Hulk had a substantial, successful stint on the Justice League Dark. Nothing bad happened. She could easily jump in with them again. She gets along with half the team better than they get along with half of each other. She just has a lot else going on!

Damian Wayne and Kamala Khan are good friends and have teamed up a good handful of times. They're around the same age (Kamala a year or so older), both based in Jersey, and just... terrifyingly formidable. They dated, for a little bit, but then Kamala helped Damian accept that he's Aromantic and there's nothing wrong with that, and him not being interested in relationships isn't a sign of being socially stunted from his assassin upbringing and he shouldn't force himself through the motions of it.

Kitty Pryde joined the Birds of Prey for a little bit too. She was crushing on Barbara p. hard... And then she realized basically half the team have crushes on Barbara, and decided that wasn't healthy, so she quit the "waiting for Oracle to stop being a useless bisexual and realize she has a harem waiting" support group, and bounced out of Gotham altogether to just move on with her life.

Red Tornado was part of the original Defenders (Doctor Strange, Namor, Hulk, Silver Surfer, Valkyrie) for a time, but not very long (then again, not that much shorter than the normal tenure with that version of the team).

The Xenomorph survivor named Kara who Superman rescued from a dome city called The Rock in events-generally-similar-to the excellent comic "Superman Vs Aliens"... She isn't Supergirl, but she does exist, and she joined the Guardians of the Galaxy.

I was focusing on the hero teams for this post but the biggest examples of Marvel and DC characters being on teams together is on the villain teams. Especially Cadmus, but that really deserves its own whole post, so for now I'll leave things here.

I'll probably come up with more hero examples later, too, and maybe people here can suggest a few of their own!

EDIT:

Okay Azrael BELONGS on the Midnight Sons.

[manichewitz]

something i've noticed is that whenever a movie or TV show has an obviously fem gay or butch lesbian character people immediately start criticising it bc "you're just playing into queer stereotypes wtf!! we're not all like this!!" meanwhile it's literally just a gnc queer person existing. like yeah maybe we're not all like this but...some of us are??