#the ultimate lgbt rep im .

[1-800-free-oo-mox]

BUY PARAMOUNT+ AND STREAM STAR TREK NEMESIS AS MUCH AS YOU CAN SO THEY WILL MAKE NEMESIS 2.

If possible, watch it on all of your devices/lots of tabs at once. Theres literally no reason you can't have it on repeat in the background during your day. Personally I have been sleeping to it on repeat (make sure its loud enough to hear while you're asleep) and I started having these dreams where im data and i choose to blow myself up in the ultimate sacrifice and I wake up feeling refreshed and absolved of my otherwise constant guilt (literally the only thing that's worked) We need to thank paramount for giving awesome one of a kind movie with LGBT rep (tom hardy) a home ❤Send letters to Stuat Baird, Dick Bertman, Tom Hardy, paramount+ execs, with your favourite nemesis moments:

"Captain, I do not think it is appropriate for a Starfleet officer to appear... naked." - Worf

and tell them we Ladies, Gentlemen and Invited Transgendered Species WILL NOT STOP UNTIL WE HAVE NEMESIS 2. I'm still trying to organise the nemesis 2 bus but none of you are fucking donating?? (And i thought SOME of you low-key cared about me/ST nemesis.) I'm having to fund it myself taking out a loan but I invested the the money at Betfred so I could hire a plane as well and my fucking horse DIED. I lost my job cus I was watching nemesis a lot at my desk EVEN THOUGH IT MAKES ME BETTER AT WORKING. Please donate if you are a true trekkie! LLAP 🖖

-the Nemisiser

[poughkeepsies]

hey thanks for answering my ask! definitely agree to disagree on some points (I think we're just interpreting the story differently which is fine + some of my thoughts werent well fleshed out in that ask so I think they didnt come across the way I intended) and I think neither of us want to really argue about it. but I did want to clarify that I wasnt referring to people that started watching the show for representation (Love that!!) but rather, like you said people that are disregarding the other lgbt rep that the show has. or people that are just fetishizing bucktommy's relationship (this Ive more seen on twitter so its a me problem for even going on there. I havent taken issue majority of the discussion about them on here). but saying "weird fetishy" was probably the wrong choice of words as it did come off as describing a large group of fans when it probably applies to a smaller subset of people who's comments go too far so sorry about that

I think agree to disagree sounds perfect lol. ultimately I think it just comes down to we're all gonna interpret the show slightly differently and want different things from it and that's perfectly fine

thank you for the clarification, I'm glad it's what I assumed. those types of fans are certainly insufferable on their own but maybe it's just my threshold for insufferable fans im pretty good at letting stuff like that bounce off me and not influence my opinion of show canon atp. end of the day I hope you're still having fun with the show cause that's all that matters honestly. this is all supposed to be a hobby and a source of joy

[mintharan]

oh my god i felt like i was crazy for being upset that theres like. No gay or lesbian characters in video games but im glad someone else feels this too lol. like idk if this is a hot take or whatever but bg3 for example having like. literally just cis bi characters as their meaningful awesome queer rep and p much Nothing else is like. not the great representation achievement ppl think it is lol. and ngl it feels more like a marketing ploy than anything else for the people who just care abt the romances to have more options to mix and match or something. then again i might be going insane

I was actually making the case that I prefer the bg3 playersexual method, to the far more offensive characters have different sexualities (like the rogue trader example in my previous post) but then they're either straight or bi, with no lesbians or gay men. This makes it pretty obvious that the devs main concern is a heterosexual playerbase, because they don't want het people to feel like they're missing out on romance options.

Bg3 actually deserves some acknowledgement for having the companions show romantic and sexual interest in other same-gender characters and in very blatant ways, to say nothing of major gay relationships, like Dame Aylin and Isobel, Minthara and Orin, the million gay gnomes but especially Barcus and Wulbren, Ansur and Balduran/the Emperor and I could go on.

This to me makes it feel like having playersexual companions is more of a game design choice, rather than caving to heterosexisist sensibilities.

I agree with you thought that there's a lack of trans characters, not just as companions but in the world, the only one I can think of is Nocturne.

Ideally, lgbt characters would be given the same content and effort as straight characters but in practice this isn't what happens, which is why I ultimately prefer games with playersexual characters, as long as there's effort to develop their sexuality beyond the player (I think bg3 does this meaningfully, it's obvious that Astarion prefers men, it's obvious that Minthara prefers women, it's obvious that Wyll and Halsin are firmly bisexual, it's obvious that Gale prefers women, and so on and so forth)

[c0rpseductor]

also like its kind of funny bc in terms of video game franchises dragon age actually DOES do fairly (?) well when it comes to representation of lgbt characters. at least by sheer volume. and a lot of games whose writing i prefer fall extremely flat in comparison. so it probably seems silly that im so much more ready to tear da apart

like in ffxiv, emet-selch isn't actually gay despite how many posts i make about his loving joan crawford and dolly parton. he's heavily queercoded (ESPECIALLY in the localization) in order to remind you he's the bad guy. like, it's cheap; the best xiv can do in terms of lgbt rep among its cast is Heavily Imply a relationship between ryne and gaia, and i don't deny that it's really great that they did that, but it's also like...not much. and i think it does suffer from this pitfall of like, "we intentionally chose pretty teenage girls in a very chaste relationship to Imply Homosexuality About, because male homosexuality is gross." like i'm not saying Less Lesbian Rep Is Good or something or that it's a contest or some shit like that, i just think it's clear in this case they made this choice bc the devs have kind of evinced a bit of disgust toward gay men. most of the time (not all the time!) when male homosexuality or homoerotic imagery with men is brought up in the game i think it's sort of as a gross-out joke. also, as sort of an aside, transmisogyny is like. A Gag That Happens Way Too Much. However i think xiv is a much better-written game/series as a whole and i will be sucking it off until the end of time.

dragon age is like, nominally a lot less homophobic and transphobic, but i feel a lot more critical of and less generous toward its representation of lgbt characters because this is also a Big Selling Point for them. bioware i think has sort of built this image as like a really character-driven sensitive liberal crunchy kind of studio (i just really wanted to say crunchy lol) and seem to kind of pride themselves on having this really deep tactful groundbreaking lgbt rep. so if it falls short of those standards i'm going to be mad at being ripped off, naturally, and at bioware for patting their own asses for doing ultimately very little.

ffxiv did not at any point try to sell me Gay Rep. ffxiv did not say "hey, we're square enix and we're a really cool progressive company, we're going to make an mmo for the gays!" square enix looked me in the eyes and said "we have an mmo. our character creator has catgirls, and almost every single outfit in the base game is unconscionably hideous," and i said "HOLY SHIT CATGIRLS!!!" and have been playing it for nearly a decade now. i've never felt cheated out of sensitivity square promised me. i kind of know the score with them, as a company they can be pretty regressive and that often reflects in how they handle real-world issues in their games.

to use a food metaphor here, if i'm told i'm going to be given the most enormous delicious tasty stake ever and then it's like...good enough but ultimately very average, i'm going to feel a little cheated and probably be meaner about that steak than i would if i were simply told "i made steak. have some." i might even appreciate a kind of middling or even Not That Good steak without complaint if i'm not hyped up for no fucking reason first. this is kind of my feelings.

[dragynkeep]

I'll never understand people who try to excuse RWBYs bad writing by bringing up the low budget bc yeah, you cant expect a low budget indie show to look that great bc animation and models and stuff cost quite a bit of money even if you are horribly unpaying the but with writing its like, bro all you need is a program that you can type text into and some brain power to produce a decent script and if youve got that, no one will care that your show looks like shit yknow

Actually, since ive been doing the unthinkable and revisiting dsmp, I would argue that you dont even need a script if youve got a bunch of guys who can improvise some shit on the spot like, as far as Im aware all of the dialogue is always improvised and a lot of mayor story events are planned out pretty loosely and despite that (and a lot of mayor miscommunication behind the scenes) its still like. better than RWBY lmao. Also, since that seems to be the hot topic of the week, its got better lgbt+ rep, although at this point i feel like silent movies from the 1920s have better queer rep so idk if thats an archievement lmao

RWBY's writing at the beginning could've been more acceptable with MK growing along with it, since RWBY was the first project that they were head writers on iirc. Was it good writing? No, absolutely not, but ultimately Monty didn't intend for it to be a massive story. He just wanted to animate cool fights.

But that doesn't excuse everything when they tried introducing serious topics. Abuse, racism, corruption in society with classism and colonisation, all these shouldn't have been attempted when you barely have any experience in writing.

And I'm sorry, but RWBY has been here for ten years. The writing should not be getting worse than it did years ago. The Beacon arc wasn't groundbreaking, but at least it fucked up every character and plot point it touched.

[foulserpent]

exhaustive list of all bi representation in media:

-slutty bisexual sterotype

-sexual predator gay/bi man stereotype

-sexual predator gay/bi woman stereotypw

-bi woman whos same gender attraction exists only to be gratifying to men in the audience

-character depicted as straight but theyll mention a same gender ex or smth

-character depicted as straight except for the purposes of funny gay jokes

-character depicted as straight but confirmed bi by word of god (either bc of executive meddling preventing it being shown or the writers just being homophobic)

[atvie]

mac (mayz/maisie) mikovich aka that one gay that you assume is straight bc xyr fashion taste is That Bad but no xe’s just depressed

oldest of 3 siblings (two younger brothers)

likes painting,

is often asked to do face paints at kids’ birthday parties & shit

college art student,, broke..

cripplepunk

right eye got injured as a child & xe’s blind there (not natural heterochromia, basically)

Yearns,,

[spicydadshowdown]

Tidus is the Bicon we deserve but we'll never get because Dreamworks (and every giant animation corporation ever) is only concerned with making money and doesnt give a single iota of a fuck about LGBT rep. But hey, I can dream.

[kidflashimpulse]

Hi! So, there are probably way more interesting things I could be asking you, but I wanted to go with this. While it’s basically canon that Bart is gay, do you think that’s how he identifies? Like, he comes from an apocalyptic future in which I doubt people had the same terms we do for everything that concerns sexuality ( since most of their knowledge probably came from old sources or aliens ), or maybe they just couldn’t care less. So, how do you think he would react/ identify himself?

Hello :D ! Thank you for your ask, its actually such a good question because I have thought about this a lot, especially in terms of what it means to be LGBT+ within the context of growing up in his alien invaded post-apocalyptic time-line.

Also, can we take a moment to appreciate how absolutely awesome and crash it is that we can say that hes basically canon gay like... sure its frustrating the way the YJ creators need to go about this considering the situation but like when Greg first pretty much confirmed it, it was such a moment for me to have a character that is so loved and important to me and so many others being confirmed for what many HC and speculated him as. Like it was so re-affirming and shows why rep is so important, especially to us as part of the community.

Now as to answer your question, I need to explain (as concisely as I can because im not exaggerating when I said i thought about this a lot due to world building but ill try to be as direct to the point as possible lol) how I interpret the Reach and their effects on the civilisation of the post-apocalyptic earth society.

So what is the Reachs background and ultimate goal? Directly from the DC Database (source: the Blue Beetle vol 7 comics, amazing read btw highly recommend) they're explained as: "an alien race of intergalactic conquerors. Their primary goal is taking over planets to enslave the natives and make an economic profit."

From what we saw of them in the Young Justice series, this description pretty much perfectly suits them. (Off note: I think its an incredibly interesting type of alien invaders because I find its like an allegory on the fatal repercussions of consumerism and capitalism but this really isn't the place for me to write this all out LOL). Uh right, back to the point.

So, what have we actually seen from the show that we can interpret about the Reach´s, "practices"? We def have seen that they're driven by economic gains, to the point that Barts timeline was shown to be incredibly polluted and run down. They see humans as live-stock, refer to them as "meat" and probably use them for all sorts of purposes, e.g: slave labour and experimentation, which we have explicitly seen from Barts timeline as well as their actions in the present.

Now what about the Reachs own practices for their own species? I find they're very similar to the Bugs on New Genesis, they're a hive-like species with no sense of identity beyond their designations which is shown by how they don't have any names, only roles. So we have the "Ambassador" (the annoying male leader guy), "Scientist" (the evil but smart female researcher) and the "Warrior" (Black Beetle). From what we have seen, the Ambassador is a condescending, manipulative, ends justify the means, tunnel-visioned, over-confident person in power who definitely places himself and the warriors above others like the scientist. He leverages his position of power to talk down and overrule suggestions by the scientist, no matter how valid they might've been for the evil cause (lol). Hes also shown to threaten the scientist for trying to speak up.

So with all this in mind, the power dynamics and practices of the Reach I find is very much reminiscent of everything wrong with society lol.

Also, we know that if we were to talk only about how human society develops in times of hardship, lets take the pandemic as an example. Its no secret that the rates of radicalisation and extremism has had an uptick and the people who ultimately suffered the most are minorities or those who are financially disadvantaged. People with privileges, facilitated by their place in society could make use of this power dynamic more whereas those who are systemically disadvantaged r statistically more likely to suffer.

Now to tie this in, my personal understanding and I guess pessimistic view, is that in the event of an apocalypse, a post apocalyptic human society is very much backwards and has regressed. Now combining this with the Reach´s inherent affinity for power abuse as well as what I interpreted as them also having systemic issues like misogyny, things like misogyny, racism, homophobia etc are very much rampant among the surviving human society. Its important to note that hes only from 40 years in the future, so I think whilst things were bad and have regressed, not even 1 full generation of time has passed so im sure there was a good portion of people though that at least managed to retain, practice and pass on good values of their pre-apocalyptic times to newer generations and was most probably prevalent among the surviving hero-communities of his time.

Historically, oppressors have largely passed down some values/practices onto the oppressed because again, power dynamics, so the Reachs influence on human customs can't be denied, for ex linguistically with Bart calling people meat or our fave terms mode and crash lol

Lastly, whilst im sure the Reach could care less about human constructs, considering they treated humans like live-stock I doubt they would have been favourable to same-sex couples.

So to tie this all in to answer your questions. Within only 40 years, I am doubtful that within the remaining human society, things have changed to the extent that social constructs and terminology has changed significantly for things like sexuality to be radically different. I do think that with the context of a post-apocalyptic wasteland, society has generally regressed and things like racism, misogyny, homophobia etc run rampant, amplified by the power abuse and values of the Reach. I think some people might assume "oh everyone is suffering, no one could care less about those kind of issues" but the thing is those are exactly the kind of circumstances where those issues actually get worse and affects people.

So taking all this context into account, I believe Bart has been around both good and bad people, where hes been allowed to be passed on good values (particularly from any surviving hero community members, maybe like his family when they were still around, or just generally good people) but hes also seen a lot of messed up sht too. So regardless of at what point he realised hes gay, either during his original timeline or after he travelled to the past in the new time-line, I believe he might've had at the very least at some point some identity inner-struggle or out of survival instinct would try to keep the fact that hes gay under wraps/on the down-low. I don't think his post-apocalyptic climate was friendly at all to LGBT+ ppl and I think in the present hes most probably struggled and panicked a bit over his own identity considering all this.

I hope I managed to answer your questions with this essay lol and thank you again for your ask <3 also apologies for the length of this post as always lol

[philsmeatylegss]

As a side note on heartstopper, its such a great show because its actual positive queer rep. Its not about how being queer means suffering which is what we see with most queer rep, its about how being queer can mean happiness and thriving, something I desperately needed to understand as a teenager. I wish I had something like this a few years ago and maybe accepting being gay wouldn't have been so hard for me. Anyway im just really glad it exists as an example for teens and adults.

yes!!!!! that’s what i’ve been saying from the start. i can count on one hand the movies that exist that is about a gay couple and doesn’t involve violence, drugs/drinking addiction, explicit sexual content, abuse, violence or extreme homophobia. i honestly can only name two. and that’s so toxic to see the only representation of a movie focusing on a gay couple is always portrayed to be about serious and adult content. it’s so nice just to have a little, sweet romcom with regular teen problems. and the problems are normal and not extreme. it’s so nice to just have a cute teen romcom with a gay couple like the millions of straight ones that exist. that’s why i think this book/show is such a hit. it’s a lot more than just a sweet storyline. alice ode man is such an incredible storyteller and the actors in the show are incredible. it just feels comfortable and happy. and also there’s amazing representation with there being main characters who are a variety of sexualities and a variety of genders and race and interests and it’s very easy to identify with one character because of this. i know i connect a lot with charlie because there’s specific traits about him and his personality i relate to. and the characters are so detailed that you connect so well. and there is homophobia but it’s not super violent or the main problem of the storyline. it ultimately leads to good and it doesn’t dampen the mood like most gay movies with homophobia do. i could talk for so long about why this show/book is so good and how impactful it is outside of just the story. tiktok is awful, but i’ve seen thousands of people who connect deeply with this story. people getting really emotional watching it. mostly lgbt+ teens. people talk about themes and concepts in it and break down and observe the story closely and literally spending their time doing fucking literary analysis of this shit. i get especially to a cishet person this sounds like overkill on my end, but the impact this story has on every viewer is so cool to see. i didn’t mean for this to turn into a rant and i refuse to reread this so good luck. i just really love this story and i don’t shut up

[ursawood]

alex hirsch is like. hes just some guy. i dont think hes a Homophobe or anything and i think its not BAD that hes speaking up about disneys censorship of lgbt characters (its a good point and its true that disney is shit when it comes to lgbt rep but still participates HEAVILY in rainbow capitalism) but like ultimately he’s a cishet dude. im sure theres lgbt creators in the industry making the same points as him whose voices ppl could be amplifying and listening to

gravity falls is a good show but it is far from perfect like.. it had its own issues with transmisogyny and casual racism. i dont think you should let the fact that you like the show cloud your vision and put him on a pedestal. im not saying this to #cancel him or whatever just like. some people on here get SO defensive about him and like. hype him up for the most bare minimum 

[chipchopclipclop]

ok. actual question bc i dont want to look up too many details in case i get spoiled. on a scale of 1 to 10 how canonically gay are those dudes from witch hat atelier. i wanna read it and im fine if its like not canon but easily interpreted as such but i dont want to be queerbaited by it yknow

canonically the two are each other’s closest friend respectively in the manga, and If the they were canonically queer in any respect i don't think you’d have heard the end of it from me at this point (lol) so if you specifically want to get into it to look for something like lgbt rep i ultimately wouldn't recommend it on that basis

though to that point ofc i don't think any characters sexuality is confirmed really and its a manga that's ongoing, so i cant speak for anything the author would like to do down the road, only for how it is at the moment. I don't think it’d be entirely out of the realm of possibility to hope for something like that to be covered later on (perhaps not with these two characters specifically ofc) since it does handle other topics fairly well when they’re brought up (themes of and characters with disability for example)

It terms of subtext though these guys do all but like. make out in a panel it feels like 80 percent of the time when they're around each other (holds my head) so if you’re up for some easy interpretation I’d go right ahead (and check out the spinoff manga about cooking)

[enbypanposi]

hey genuine question but whats the difference between bi and pan? so sorry if this sounds rude but im just curious

Alright so im gonna use this ask to soapbox a little. Your question is not bad and is in fact a common one so no shame but I just have some Thoughts on this.

Hot take, but: There is no functional difference that matters among any mspec identity. Hear me out:

I see loads of posts trying to find a difference, and they ultimately become very granular and honestly thats not how orientation usually works. Its an instinct and and impulse and we dont control it. There a whole lot of “bi means 2 or more and pan means all with no preference and omni means all with preference” and etc for every mspec identity but thats not accurate. Pan people have preferences, omni people might not, and there are definite flaws with the ‘two or more’ definition of bi that bi blogs have pointed out better than I ever could. When we get more and more specific with identity that way we exclude people who dont fit the definition because we make it retroactively narrower. “Pan means x and y but not z” leads to “therefore all mspec people who are x and y must be pan no matter what label they use” and “therefore pan people who are z must use a different label.” Thats not right. Labels arent just words whose definitions we fit, their words we CHOOSE to describe us. Definitions dont pick peoples labels, people pick peoples labels. So I think when we ask this ‘whats the difference’ question we mean well but ultimately reinforce gatekeeping identity. ‘Whats the difference’ is kind of meaningless because sexuality is individual and everyone has different experiences with it and how they define themself, which may not be exactly 10000% in line with their chosen label. A bi and pan person may both describe their sexuality the same way, but that doesnt mean that they ARE the same, and plenty other bi and pan people will describe it in different ways. Sexuality isnt rigidly defined and in fact cant be. It may make it easier to think about when we invent these rigid definitions but ultimately thats not a good thing and will just make people more confused about themselves. Not everyone is able to parse out and differentiate x and y and z in their sexuality. Plenty of people dont want to. They shouldnt be barred from these labels and these labels shouldnt be made to bar people.

Now, that doesnt mean they should all be collapsed into one label, it means that this ‘whats the difference’ question is irrelevant and ultimately made to create restrictions. These restriction shouldnt exist. Labels are and should remain flexible terms we choose to apply to ourself. They should not be forced on us because we fit that definition ‘better’ than another, thats just weaponizing definitions. And honestly? I do see people do this quite a bit and its not right. Bi people will say they use that label because theyre capable of being attracted to anyone and people will tell them they should be using pan instead then. Thats not right. This happens not just to bi people but to all mspec people, and I want to make it extra clear that thats the exact kind of nonsense that happens when we insist that these things are rigid and inflexible and that the only reason we use labels is because we fit the definitions. Not true. Personal choice and attachment plays a huge role, and no one can or should force another to adopt a certain term. So, the idea that they have to be monumentally, quantifiably different and distinct only really plays into this idea. Are there distinctions? Yes. Are there reasons a person might choose one over the other? Yes. But BOTH of those things are ultimately person to person, not innate truths of the words themselves. The words are just loose ways to be mspec, and individual people will be mspec in their own way which is as varied as people can be, ie: infinite.

Again I dont think this means that its all one label or should be collapsed into one. I think no matter how you try to do that youre going to be elevating one mspec identity while insisting the others are inferior to it. The Bi+ Umbrella is just one example--no shade to people or organizations who choose to use it. I understand how its important from a legal standpoint to say ‘all mspec people fall under the B in LGBT+’ because otherwise there are no protections for us mspec folk who are not bi--I think it gets a bad rep from folks who dont get this and I think theres definitely BETTER ways to do it, but, sure, it exists for a reason which deserves to be acknowledged. What it does, however inadvertently, is imply that Bi is the pinnacle of being mspec and all the umbrella identities are less. Youll see a lot that Bi is a macro identity and that Pan, Ply, Omni are each microlabels because ‘they all fit the definition of bi’ but in truth each fits the definition of each other anyway. You could easily say that Omni is a macro identity and Bi Pan and Ply are microlabels because they each fit the definition of omni and youd be right. Its not a useful way to describe labels no matter which way you slice it. Theyre equals and the distinctions are as varied as the people who use them. Its one grand community of mspec people all using the same words in different ways and that should be celebrated! When we focus in on differences we just separate from each other and exclude and nitpick the words we use for ourselves and each other. It prevents us from forming solidarity as people who all face the same oppression and the same joy.

TLDR?: Theres not really any kind of distinction that matters since sexuality is different to different people. Its better to leave labels vague and flexible because thats how theyre used and doing the opposite reinforces gatekeeping and other negative ways to view being mspec. The differences arent identity based theyre person based and rooted in experience and not the literal definitions of words. Forming solidarity is much more important than picking out the minor ways we are different.

[telehxhtrash]

hey im the dudebro anon and i really really appreciate your thought out response! I agree completely, it is sad to not really see much queer representation in media, and when you do it ends in death because of course it does. (I have some anime suggestions for you to check out that I think you'd like based on this topic! But ya, it ends in death :/ ). Ultimately for me, killua and gon's relationship can touch people in different ways, so really their bond is what the reader/watcher makes of it.

Hi ! don’t refer to urself as dudebro anon HAHA ure not a dudebro, if u were u wouldnt be on tumblr first of all and u wouldnt have read my reply ! 

and ye, queer animes usually end in death (banana fish broke me.) or the relationships are deeply problematic (don’t get me started on citrus or even bloom into you) WHICH SUCKS.

yeah you’re right, for now it’s very open to interpretation! 

i just really hope togashi doesn’t leave it ambiguous because the queer community really need that undeniable, queer relationship in an anime. we really need that anime where we can stand proud and say “this anime is queer” without any possibility of refutation. - uncertainty is the enemy of proper queer representation because u don’t know if u can truly identify with the work or not because there’s always the chance of people saying you’re projecting etc, which is extremely hurtful when u’re queer.

and since mr togashi is a queer rep legend and theres a shitton of subtext, and it looks like it’s headed this way, i think the lgbt community is just really happy we finally have a proper shot at good rep without it being ambiguous (like 99% of straight romantic pairings in anime) 

[sldapa]

I just need to vent *sigh*

People be like 'wow we got so much finn/poe we were fed so well!!' And im like,,, no... we were not.

Mostly we saw 2 actors gunning for the romance they want and feel is natural for their characters and are ultimately not getting it bcus of corporate overlord disney.

And they had the *audacity* to add the two ladies kissing in the end to appease the fans? To get to pretend that they're progressive? Oh my god imagine how tired we are.

I used to depend on mainstream media for rep too, but ever since ive moved on to more independent works (podcasts, books, webcomics, comics, even more indie shows and movies) i began to learn what real representation looks like. You'll be surprised how present lgbt people can be in media. How normalized we are if the artist chooses to do so. There is no tip-toeing, no misinterpretable looks, no bread crumbs. We deserve to exist in plain sight.

Yeah ok we got alot in tros. But breadcrumbs also seem like alot when compared to nothing.

Tl;dr disney queerbaits and they suck

[neverlearnedtoread]

A Thousand Beginnings and Endings

⭐⭐⭐: perfect for reading before bed, endlessly confusing if you have no idea what cultural ballpark you’re meant to be playing in

Oh?? 👌😉😏

diversity, babey!!!! poc main characters throughout, and most side characters too, from different asian cultures (filipino, indian, chinese, japanese, middle eastern)

a lil’ bit of LGBT+ rep in some stories - not much, just one or two, but it was nice to see it

im a sucker for folklore in general, so this is one of those books I read to take notes on - it counts as research, right? right??

author’s notes - it was super interesting to see the author’s thought process and reasoning behind their adaptation choices

No.. ❌🤢🤮

personal preference - some of the stories had narrators that were way too casual sounding, and that threw me off

it was pretty hard to tell what was folklore influence and what was the author’s interpretation for some stories - i almost wished to have a side-by-side comparison of how the original matches up with the adaptation

jumps around a lot between cultures and influences - this isn’t a criticism, but i would love if this anthology sparked ‘spin-offs’ where you could read one book solely based around chinese myths, and another about filipino ones, and indian ones, and japanese ones, and so on...

Summary: An anthology of myth and folklore retellings by Asian authors. They take a story from their culture they feel particularly connected to and adapt it. Each story ends with an author’s note where they explain the original myth or folklore they drew inspiration from, what they changed/kept the same, and their reasons behind the adaptation.

Concept: 💭💭💭💭💭

I love anthologies - what’s not to love about a collaboration among a bunch of like-minded authors? I know a lot of people say it’s hard to enjoy them, because it’s rare to connect with all the stories, but I appreciate anthologies as little collections of stories. You might have a favourite piece, but its the set that makes the whole thing work! And anthologies are always good jumping off points for further research - for example, now I have fifteen Asian myths/stories from a variety of cultures I can use as diving off points to learn more about their folklore!

Execution: 💥💥💥

I think the addition of author’s notes at the end was inspired - but I wonder if it would be better if they had been at the start of the stories instead? For some of the stories, I’d either heard before or knew enough of to recognize partway through the narrative, this wasn’t an issue - for example, in Olivia’s Table, I felt pretty smug when I realised the story was about the Hungry Ghost Festival, and would’ve lost that if the anthology had given the game away at the beginning. But for some others, especially those that put their own twist on the story, it was hard to figure out what was folklore and what was the author’s interpretation.

Personal Enjoyment: ❤❤ to ❤❤❤❤❤

❤❤ = 3 stories

❤❤❤ = 5 stories

❤❤❤❤ = 4 stories

❤❤❤❤❤ = 3 stories

Fave Story: Olivia’s Table; the Hungry Ghost Festival is something pretty unique to East Asian folklore, I think, and from past attempts to explain, it is a relatively difficult concept to convey - quite a few people have given me this face, like: you have a celebration for that? I don’t quite know how to explain that sure, it’s a bit creepy, and a lot sad, but ultimately, it’s a festival about having compassion. I really resonated with Alyssa Wong’s take on it, especially the details she put in about the history of Chinese immigrants on American soil. It’s sad to think about how many of the Chinese diaspora died so far from their ancestors.

Fave Author: Aliette de Bodard, who wrote Counting of Vermillion Beads (that I also rated 5-stars). Her style is very magical realism, which I adore.