#sapphic representation matters

[multifandominfj]

Why is it that shows like Sueños De Libertad and Amar Es Para Siempre get how to write WLW ships better than American Soap Operas?

As an American who ADORES Luimelia and has been sucked down the Mafin rabbit hole…American WLW ships are terrible compared to them.

[multifandominfj]

The shy compliments, my heart can’t handle it. 🥹

Friends & Family Christmas (2023)

[nottawriter]

Being a fan of wlw representation is exhausting.

[thesophiewhit]

PHONING FAUST -- A Sapphic Novel of Demonic Contracts, Demisexuality, and Yearning by me! A cool queer author ~

Are you LGBT+ or BIPOC or just REALLY LOVE BOOKS? Interested in being an ARC reader and reading a book and helping a fellow queer indie author out? (Pretty please? -- ARC links all the way at the bottom of this post (beneath the rainbow banner) for those who like Sapphic demon x human angst books ~)

AND LOOK AT THE CHARACTER ART OF MEMPHIS (BADASS DEMON) AND DIAN (HUMAN) BY MY ARTIST FRIEND SNAX

https://linktr.ee/artsnaxk

ABOUT ME

Demisexual?? Queer? Nonbinary? All these were magical words to me until it hit...

Oh-- that's me.

It took me a while to come out as queer, longer to come out as nonbinary, and then some more time to reconcile all this with being a mixed Indonesian kid. A dash of mental health, a sprig of figuring out asexuality and neurodivergence. But atop all that? One thing has been constant.

I've always been a writer.

That's some live footage of me summoning some forces to reign my characters in from being feral.

WHY I WROTE PHONING FAUST

Well, well, well, after years of battling imposter's syndrome, I did it. I wrote another book! It's called PHONING FAUST and it's getting published with queer indie publishing company @ninestarpress-blog because they're all cool and LGBT+ and super talented!

Why did I write PHONING FAUST?

What is... a Faust?

A Faustian bargain is what's popularly known as the devil's bargain. A usually losing situation or a trick where the devil tricks someone out of their soul in exchange for ULTIMATE POWER!

I rewrote Faust to be Sapphic as can be. It stars a mixed Indonesian lesbian named Dian Faust who battles depression tooth and nail and ends up calling a mental health crisis hotline. Bc... she's lonely.

PAUSE-- and this is a horror comedy. Comedy. COMEDY-- you might say?

WHY? HOW? Sounds sad and depressing, right?

WHAT'S FAUST?

Well... in the original retelling version of Goethe's Faust (who retold it from folklore etc etc) the main character of Dr. Faustus accidentally summons the devil or something when he too is about to consider the meaning of life and it gets sad bc he doesn't see one so he makes the devil's bargain FOR ULTIMATE POWER. Or something.

But in my version-- it's based off my experiences as a queer person. Before I had community. Before I understood and accepted myself-- I had a rough time. For a whole bunch of factors outside of that-- I didn't feel like my life was in a good place. And even worse-- I felt isolated.

THE PLOT

I didn't want to bother my friends with my problems. So-- I'd call the Trevor Project or a crisis hotline just to have somebody to talk to. In the same way-- Dian Faust is struggling with depression in the story I write. So she calls a hotline like the Trevor Project just to not be alone.

And guess who she finds?

A super hot genderfluid devil called MEMPHIS, short for Mephistopheles. A pierced and tatted punk rocker who has an interest for telling tall tales and serving Dian Faust's every wish and command! (No, not like that!)

Because Dian Faust, like me, is a mixed Indonesian kid trying to figure out what it means to be queer AND demisexual (finding attraction only after really getting to emotionally connect with someone and feeling, as I explain in the book, a lack of that before then for anyone). And she's figuring plenty out--- including how to save her immortal soul and her feelings for a certain genderfluid demon but if you want to know more-- YOU CAN BUT YOU HAVE TO SCROLL TO THE END OF THIS POST TO FIND OUT !

I wrote this book PHONING FAUST (coming out in 2025 sometime with NineStar Press btw. I have these books CATCH LILI TOO and WAKE THE DEAD also starring Sapphic demiace MCs if it's helpful while you wait!

I WROTE MORE QUEER BOOKS (if interested)! (ARC SIGN UP LINK IS STILL BELOW THIS ONE THO! > FOLLOW THE RAINBOW !!)

MY OTHER QUEER BOOKS: https://sophiawhittemore.com/books/ ) <3 <3 <3

I wrote PHONING FAUST (train of thought, sorry, that's the neurodivergence) because I wanted people to feel less alone.

I was, like Dian Faust and like a lot of people, a queer person who felt like I was on an island unto myself. I didn't know who to turn to-- so I turned to no one. By reaching out to hotlines (no hot devils unfortunately), I managed to get the help I needed to avoid making rash decisions-- to get the help I needed to get better. To take that first step.

PHONING FAUST is a novel that raises the importance of mental health and finding community, and most importantly, not giving up. As Dian Faust says in my upcoming book...

There are stars out there-- I had only to see it.

***

🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈

🌈🌈🌈🌈ARC LINK SIGN UPS HERE 🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈

ARC LINK SIGN UPS IN LINKTREE <3

Want to be an ARC reader for this queer book starring a demisexual Sapphic couple and BIPOC cast?

Sign up here! : https://tr.ee/mWPM8I9Zev

***

Hmmm, demon contracts...now where might young 2010 emo me have heard that before... ? ?

[strangertheories]

riley inside out 2 is already the most relatable protagonist in the history of cinema as i really understand the experience of having new emotions surrounding cool women introduced to me by maya hawke

important edit: FORGOT TO MENTION!!! i am boycotting disney atm so please do not watch this film legally!

[the-eeveekins]

I've talked about it a lot over the last 6 months, but with the year ending, I want to express my feelings once again, with more clarity.

There may never be a character who means as much to me as Suletta Mercury does. There may never be a fictional couple that means as much to me as Suletta & Miorine do. Not just because I love them so much, but also because of what their representation meant to me.

I've been a Gundam fan for over 20 years. I'd basically given up on a female main character in a main series before G-Witch. Suletta Mercury gave me representation I desperately wanted from a franchise I'd loved for decades. Representation that I'd lost hope of ever seeing.

And then they gave me even more representation by making her a queer woman. You could not have convinced me before G-Witch aired that Suletta would fall in love with another woman. That Gundam would take that step with it's first female main character, especially with a target demographic of mostly teen boys. But it did. Suletta Mercury fell in love with a woman, and not just that, she fought and earned a happy ending married to that woman. A woman who is just as equally amazing as she is.

(And while it's not representation for me personally, I think Suletta providing representation for women of color and disabled fans is also a big deal.)

I'm sure as I grow up, queer and sapphic media will continue to push boundaries, and we'll get more queer female leads in mainstream media. But I can't think of any other franchise I love where making the main character a sapphic woman would mean close to what it meant to me when Gundam did it.

Certainly there's "better" anime out there, even Gundam anime. But none of them mean to me what The Witch From Mercury meant to me. None of them come close to the love I have for this show and these two women.

[leighlew3]

"Why can't we have movies/tv about female friendships and people not ship it?"

We can, and we do. But the ones in question where people ask this annoying question often utilize traditionally romantic tropes and create epic soulmate tales of yearning. And if it was a man/woman they would 100% be a romantic couple in the story.

[lecherouslylesbian]

Apple White and Darling Charming walked so Frankie Stein and Cleo DeNile could run

[sappho-favourite-pupil]

I'm literally so tired of seeing stereotyped representation of lesbian/sapphic couples in series and movies, BUT if i have to be 100% honest i do think that witnessing tragic ending after tragic ending to said love stories is even worse.

I don't know if it's just my personal sensibility or whatever, but i feel like we have a lot more tragic than happy endings, so much that it became kind of a cinematic trope with time? Not sure how to make it make sense, but there's that.

[thestarlightforge]

“I believe in you,” a Rhaenicent/Rhaesaria AO3 fic

NB: ~2500 words, probably a one-shot, featuring 14-y/o Alicent/Rhaenyra & present-day Rhaenyra/Mysaria

Hi, gamers!

So, I don’t often publish my fics. But in the midst of my summer musical (“Alice by Heart,” which I’ve been intimacy choreographer and assistant director on since May) getting its first weekend of shows shut down due to COVID, this Rhaenyra fic just sort of flowed out of me. Guess the intimacy director brain needed somewhere to go ¯\_ (ツ) _/¯ 😂

As I say in the author’s note, I did my best to follow Emma & Olivia & Sonoya & Emily & Milly & Sara Hess’s leads: I use they/them pronouns for Rhaenyra, elaborate on Olivia’s headcanon about Alicent’s mom shutting down Rhaenyra & Alicent’s youthful romance, and while Rhaenyra doesn’t have labels for their queerness, it’s existed for a long time and they’re exploring it now. It’s fairly canon-compliant, picking right up on 2x07.

Hopefully, this is a one-shot—if these awesome actors/writers/directors get their way, HOTD won’t have tons of queerbaity holes to fill like Game of Thrones did and their counterparts on TV often do. But I am always open to possibilities.

Enjoy! :))

And pls appreciate this tag (& the couple of small formatting errors I left in for luck), which I was especially proud of XD

[multifandominfj]

Telenovela WLW ships >> American Soap Opera WLW ships.

I said what I said. 🤷🏻‍♀️

And as an American fan of these shows, who’s a part of the LGBTQ+ community, these shows UNDERSTAND representation better.

[multifandominfj]

Excuse my while I jump off a cliff. 🥹❤️

Imagine Me & You (2005) // Friends & Family Christmas (2023)

[roseredsnow]

"Star Wars needs more non white characters"

High Republic

"Star wars needs more women"

High Republic

"Star wars needs queer rep"

High Republic

[nottawriter]

Simon posted a link on Twitter: Warrior Nun saved email sign up for updates and a countdown timer.

https://www.warriornunsaved.com/

[the-eeveekins]

I'm seeing a lot of "This is normal for the industry, they don't do explicit queer characters like this, why are you angry/surprised." and to that I say...

Yes, we know it's normal. And?

If queer characters are forever subtext in mainstream media, especially anime in this case, things will never get better for representation. We need shows like this that push the envelope for better representation, even if it's just little by little, so erasing our identities and stories stops being normal. That's why we're angry, because the staff pushed the envelope, gave us a textual explicit sapphic relationship in a mainstream anime that's basically unheard of outside of niche yuri adaptations, and some execs are desperately trying to stuff them back into the old "subtext" box. And we're not going to stand for that.

No one is really that surprised that Bandai took this route. In fact, I think a lot of us expected it, especially those of us who have been around anime, Bandai, and other mainstream queer stories. But shitty corporations are just as allergic to losing money as they are to taking stances on controversial issues, and it is surprising Bandai went this route when it will definitely cost them short-term and long-term profits. That they tried to sweep this under the rug, and tried to have their cake and eat it too isn't surprising, but as fans we can't just let them get away with that. We can't say nothing when companies court queer people and their money with representation, and then turn around and try to deny or erase that representation to appease people who would deny our rights and existence.

So no, I'm not surprised. But I am angry, and myself and others have every right to be. Whether they meant to or not, Bandai's series pushed the envelope for textual and explicit queer stories and relationships in a mainstream anime, and we can't just stay quiet while Bandai tries to walk that back. Every inch of representation we earn is hard fought and we can't just give up that ground by letting things go back to "normal" without a fight.

Sorry for the long rant, it's just frustrating when I see otherwise well meaning people try to even slightly excuse homophobic behavior because it's "normal." Queer people don't need the prevalence of homophobia in the world explained to us. Trust me, we KNOW things are homophobic, we all fucking know.

[queer-fangrrrl-daydreaming]

A little queer fangirl daydreaming 😶‍🌫️ while sketching Star Wars baddie Shin Hati 🧡🤍💖 Next I’m drawing her lover Sabine 😉

Graphite drawing on paper