#who are really invested in the idea of lesbians specifically being with

[madtomedgar]

Are there conversations to be had about attraction within the lesbian community? Sure.

Do men have any place at all in this conversation? Absofuckinglutely not.

[kndrules]

Similar to that previous ask you answered... What are some more of your headcanons for Hoagie? Yours are very unique and I'm very invested in them

OKAY LET'S SEE.... Yes and also all of my Headcanons are also @sector-v / @eltube 's Headcanons. We share a brain. We mind-meld.

I'm gonna start with their family stuff since that's what I did for Abby!

The most important thing is that hoagie is Jewish, on their mom's side. I have this headcanon that Lydia is a Holocaust survivor but as time passes I wonder if it makes more sense for it to be Lydia's parents who were survivors. Either way, there's a direct line there. hoagie is German on both sides of the family.

That being said, hoagie isn't very devout. They go through the motions of attending services, participating in high holidays (but don't ask if they've ever successfully fasted for Yom Kippur), and they had their Bar Mitzvah- but I don't think they care that much about it really. It's just habit.

The big question we all love to talk about is whether their dad died or their parents are just divorced. My answer is both. Their parents divorced because Betty is a lesbian, but she's still pretty much in the closet even now. Their dad died a few years after that. Both parents are from the Midwest, hence the accents.

On their mom's side, the only family they have is their immediate family. Meanwhile, their dad had a very large family, but there's a lot of tension between hoagies immediately family and the dad's family, cuz they don't like Betty very much. They're very judgemental and the cousins bully hoagie so hoagie resents them a lot.

My idea is that every other Christmas they go and spend it with the dad's family. Hoagie hates this. Ive had a comic idea for YEARS about it, but I've never gotten around to making it

Otherwise... Lemme think

Hoagie is a classic nerd while in middle school, but starts to realize she doesn't actually like those kids very much. She ends up spending more time with other trans women nerds, like Angeline, who plays videogames with hoagie once a week.

No surprise to anyone, she gets into a really good university right out of high school and studies aerospace engineering and applied physics. They ultimately get a PhD in physics. While they love aerospace engineering, pretty much any career path involving it is tied into the arms industry one way or another, so they don't pursue it in any official capacity. I mostly picture them becoming a University professor who also does laboratory research.

I alluded to this when I talked about Abby, but Hoagie and Abby grow very close during grad school, which is when they start dating. They get married and have two kids. Their daughter Naomi takes after Hoagie a lot and has a knack for engineering

Hoagie always remains very close to her mom and brother

Okay this feels like enough for now. I'm still very willing to answer more specific questions too

[scuderlia]

haircut!anon again: ok. wow. had to slam my phone down in my uni computer lab and wait until i could string together a coherent thought again. first off like au itself on back burner your MIND and the way you construct this narrative is INCREDIBLE and so raw adn true and pulling on the queer (as in deviant and as in gay) hair experince sooo deeply i feel soooooo deeply you are a magician. further. i was PICTURING max in braids and god fuck the tenderness of charles and max setting their mise en place and sitting together and braiding her hair before their prey comes in…. god. jesus. i can't stop re-reading the snippets. FUCK! sorry this isn't coherent thoughts after all. max and control and cutting charles' hair. fuck me uppp….

anon! i spent so long smiling like an idiot because of this ask, at this point you're basically my betrothed <3

but yeah, you get it. at the core of max and charles' relationship is truly their hounded devotion and acceptance of one another. the queer experience really is defined by those you hold close, and it's been interesting (for me) to try and thread that idea through this greater story about desire and hunger in a way that feels genuine. i've pulled on a lot of my personal experiences of being a young lesbian and being guarded about sexuality, but ultimately it all comes back to (like you mentioned) the idea of relinquishing some control and feeling comfortable enough with someone to let go of the safety of doing things alone.

i also love love love giving characters their own little rituals, and seeing as how max and charles both have a lot of emotional connections to their hair/haircuts/etc. the braids were an easy decision.

(more about max and her relationship to hair below the cut)

there's this really interesting article by Amelia Abraham titled 'What butch queer identity has to do with hair' that got put out by Dazed in 2022. it primarily covers a photography exhibition called Close Shave—which centers itself around butch haircuts and identity—but also goes into the cultural relevance of 'masc' hairstyles and their role in queer (mainly lesbian) expression.

i remembered and re-read it when i was in the early stages of fleshing-out max's character. i recommend the article to everyone, but especially people who are maybe looking to better understand the history of butch optics, and kind of where i'm coming from with some of max's characterization.

(see one of my favorite quotes from the article below)

While having short hair and identifying as butch don’t necessarily come as a pair, for butch people, haircuts can be transformational – getting your hair cut off brings you closer to your gender identity.

like I mentioned in the the answer to your previous ask, max's haircut kind of serves as a physical manifestation of her relationship with her father, and more specifically, how that relationship influences her feelings of shame (and eventually acceptance) towards her own sexuality.

part of the reason that max is so struck by charles saying she'd let her cut her hair is in large part because, for max, hair is incredibly representative of an individual's ability to control how others perceive and relate to them. by breaking the ritual with her mother, charles is essentially showing max that she not only finds comfort with her, but also trusts her enough to have her identity placed in her hands.

i could honestly talk about this forever... since body politics and queerness are things i'm just genuinely very passionate about... but i will save the innocent bystanders of this blog from having to read through all of that in one sitting.

(anyways, i'm so happy that people are as invested in this as i am... keep sending me long asks like this... if you couldn't already tell i'll take any opportunity to talk more about this au)

[deathlooksgoodonyou-if]

Hi, Hope you're doing great!

So let me say that any story with a high potential of gay angst is an instant favorite i. My book ( i might just be projecting a tad too much..)

That's why Jules really intrigues me, a small part of me kinda wish there's a happy ending to be found in their route (pls let them be secretly alive, or at least real enough in mc's mind)

So since you seemed to list homophobia in the trigger warning, i wander how much is it gonna play in the story? I know its a heavy topic and shoild be handled with caution but i feel like there has yet to be any IFs that brings it to focus you know, most just kinda glazes over it, which us honestly underdtandable. So, it makes me think that for F!Jules her dating Dylan might also be a way to avoid her queerness? Like its a comphet situation and it just bring the angst in. Though i guess this won't work for M!Jules since he dated Dylan, but i guess ut can bring gay angst for MC as in "Oh, so he DOES like guys, just not me specifically :(" kinda way???

Gaah honestly i just love the ideas that you bring?? That'll be all! Thanks soo much for listening (reading?) To my rambling!!

That's why Jules really intrigues me, a small part of me kinda wish there's a happy ending to be found in their route (pls let them be secretly alive, or at least real enough in mc's mind)

Sadly that is never happening ahaha. Part of mc's character arc is learning to let go of Jules, understanding their grief and moving on.

So since you seemed to list homophobia in the trigger warning, i wander how much is it gonna play in the story?

The mc won't be facing judgement from other people in the present timeline for being who they are but when the mc's backstory is revealed, it will heavily influence the mc's inner monologue depending on the way mc chooses to react to the homophobia/transphobia they are subjected to by their mother. I will soon be adding internalised homophobia/transphobia to the trigger warning as well. I am currently thinking of way these scenes can be avoided by people but I am not sure if that will be possible because they are somewhat important in shaping the mc. These struggles are what give the mc more character depth. So, we'll have to see.

I know its a heavy topic and shoild be handled with caution but i feel like there has yet to be any IFs that brings it to focus you know, most just kinda glazes over it, which us honestly underdtandable.

It is a sensitive topic. Which is exactly why I want it discussed in my IF. I don't like writing my characters as gay, lesbian etc. etc. just for the "inclusivity and representation." (Not talking about IFs but media in general.)

So, it makes me think that for F!Jules her dating Dylan might also be a way to avoid her queerness?

In ways, yes. The mc on this path can choose to be like "Oh. Of course. I should have known. Pretty girls always go for the pretty boys. Why would she ever look my way?" Or You can go on wishing you were born a man.

Though i guess this won't work for M!Jules since he dated Dylan, but i guess ut can bring gay angst for MC as in "Oh, so he DOES like guys, just not me specifically :(" kinda way???

You got that one right, anon.

Gaah honestly i just love the ideas that you bring?? That'll be all! Thanks soo much for listening (reading?) To my rambling!!

Thank you, anon. <3 and please ramble to me all you want. Its a sign that people are invested.

[quinloki]

is it specifically the lesbians' part or just the winning prizes part cause I gotta say I enjoyed that in birds of a feather

thinking of a few boys specifically on how they'd handle winning the prizes part and it's funny

kid would be HILAROUS he'd either be really good at it and he smug as shit or REALLY REALLY bad at it and you gotta leave bc he's about to fight a carnie

......

competition between marco and sabo on who can win you the biggest prize at the carnival just a fun little game before yall are actually seeing eachother and the fam is there too and bam the first winner is bestie ace and he gets the hug and a kiss on the cheek >> izou then sneaks by being the 2nd giving the two of them smug ass look and then it's an all out competition to win you prizes by all the brothers lmaoooo you walk home barely able to carry them all

XD I meant it with the f/f context in place, but! There’s no reason to not have fun with it.

The Whitebeard Boys descending on a carnival and the carnies just all sigh. It’s not all bad though, they’ll clean out the prizes, tickets and food, and the crowds they tend to bring keep the rides going and the more destructive gangs/families at bay.

I love the competition idea - at the end of it all, it’s Pops who wins, coming in out of nowhere and giving you like some massive white teddy plushie you need someone else to carry for you cause you can’t lift it over your head to be able to See Anything xD

Kid I think is good at those games. I can see him having spent time working carnival gigs as an under the table deal when he was 13/14 and needing work.

Sanji wants to be good at carnival games, but he’s more likely to be gifted wins by his date than win anything for them.

Robin is ruthlessly good at them - Nami too.

Crocodile and Doffy are middling, but smart, patient, and rich enough to get to the prize quickly.

Zoro’s not bad at them, he’s just not invested.

Law is kind of bad at them, but patient and tactical and driven enough to get there.

Shachi is AWFUL at them.

Penguin is solidly good at them.

Shanks plays at being awful but then nails the goal six times in a row and you’re not buying the whole beginner’s luck BS.

Mihawk is efficient.

Smoker’s great, but he’d rather guide you to winning at them than win for you. (Lots of helping you aim, being close to you and murmuring advice in your ear, knowing he’s flustering you in the process.)

[wifelinkmtg]

you guys i’m starting to think magic story might not be that good

I’m really really happy the Phyrexia essay found its intended audience, and i’m glad it resonated so deeply with so many of you! People have asked me if they can quote it or lift concepts from it, and the answer is yes, absolutely! Please attribute it to me if you do, and if you want to send me whatever you’re using it in I would love to read it, though that’s optional. That’s the first thing.

The second thing is, man, was March of the Machine story a wet dud or what? I try to set my expectations low with official WotC stuff, but I did not have them set anywhere near low enough. Consequently, it’s been difficult to muster the energy lately to do things on this blog because, like, jeez, what an unceremonious and largely consequence-free waste of potential all of that was (except for the Ixalan story. The Ixalan story had everything: amazing kaiju fights [sorry Ikoria] and Magic’s best lesbian couple [sorry Gruulfriends, also congrats Gruulfriends.] “But what about the Ravnica story?” you, an incorrect person, say, “I thought the Ravnica story was really good,” you continue, incorrectly. The Ravnica story was very bad! It had really good ideas in it, but it was exceedingly-poorly written. My most charitable interpretation is that there was a miscommunication, and the author expected there would be a thorough editorial pass, and instead they just published it as-is. Sad! I would have really enjoyed a well-written version of that story. </hater>) But also it’s been difficult to muster enthusiasm to do Magic stuff lately because of WotC’s extracurriculars (increasingly-predatory attempts to more thoroughly monetize D&D, the fucking thing with the fucking Pinkertons.) But today I took an Adderall because it’s one of the rare days I actually have to focus on a task at work, and I’m using the residual focus to post an overdue update here, hello!

And I’m not done with this blog! Far from it. I’m going to keep posting dumb horny card art reviews here, for sure, but here’s some other stuff you can expect to see in the next few months or so:

1. a follow-up to the Phyrexia essay digging into the question of what a “fascist aesthetic” is, what it’s for in fiction, what it means to enjoy things that contain those elements. I think this is a really interesting topic with a lot of depth and hopefully nuance to it, and I really only skirted it in the original essay, and oh man did people have things to say about that (most of them polite). I addressed a similar topic previously on this blog when I talked about the conquistador vampires in Ixalan, but I don’t think I’m satisfied with that post. I think we can also talk about how we engage with a text, and how we engage with a text like Magic: the Gathering specifically. This is a lot to cover, and it may end up getting trimmed down, or I may succumb entirely to the seduction of scope creep. Who can say!

2. an essay on chivalry in its historical contexts, how it’s been used, what purposes it serves in a society (its role, for instance, in sustaining white supremacy in America), and what it means when we encounter it in “sword lesbian” media (the Locked Tomb books, Revolutionary Girl Utena, etc.) This is going to require a great deal of research and I have no idea what my ultimate conclusion will be, but it’s a topic I’m personally very invested in for a whole host of reasons.

3, maybe. I’ve been toying with the idea of writing MtG fic for a while, because they keep wasting potential and I think I could do a better job. If I do, I’ll post it here, but no promises. Fiction isn’t my main genre, and fanfic isn’t something I’ve gotten seriously into before, despite being on tumblr since 2011. But someone needs to do Avacyn justice, so we’ll see.

4. other writing. I’m a lightly-published poet in real life, and I’m currently working on my first chapbook, so maybe I’ll try putting some of it on tumblr, and since this blog’s readership has surpassed my personal, I guess? I’d put it here? Or, possibly, the short horror stories I infrequently write. Again, we’ll see.

5. Obviously I’m going to keep doing the horny Magic card art reviews. I’m not feeling the new stuff right now, but there’s a lot of older sets I haven’t done yet. The Tarkir block is next - and in fact, I think that will be the next post on this blog. I think it’s time we started appreciating Monastery Swiftspear for more than her brutal efficiency in aggro decks, because frankly she’s a snack and this should be acknowledged.

Anyway, thank you all for reading, hit me up if you wanna play some Commander, and I’ll see y’all in the next one!

[sissytobitch10seconds]

Her Husband

Fandom: Stranger Things Summary: Robin's a nervous person, everyone knows that. First dates are also a nerve-wracking ordeal for everyone, but more so for her. Warnings: Mentions of period typical homophobia Word Count: 782 Ship(s): Steve Harrington&/Robin Buckley

Archive link!

A/N: So this is the first half of a two-part (or maybe more if I decide there's a need for it) series and it may not make a ton of sense alone. I hope that you all enjoy this part and are prepared for the next one! Stay sissy and bitchy everyone <3

Robin shifted uncomfortably on her chair. This was probably her least favorite part of having a first date with a new romantic interest. She had done it over a dozen times at this point,a ll the way through college and even into her adult career. She thought that it would get easier after a little while but it almost seemed like the world was specifically against her to make her just as anxious about it every single time she did it.

“I have something that I have to confess if we’re going to keep going down this path,” she cleared her throat awkwardly.

“Oh yeah?” her date asked.

Ashley was pretty and kind. She had long red hair that she kept in a braided bun on the back of her head because she worked with animals. Her hands were calloused on her right middle finger and along the base of her thumb. She had fair skin that refused to freckle no matter how long she stayed in the sun. Tonight she had worn a pretty blue dress that kept slipping off of her shoulder to reveal the lacy black bra that she was wearing. The fact that she was kind, worked with animals, and had obviously come to their date with the expectation of the night ending in sex was what was making it so much worse for Robin.

She wiped her hands on her pants and reminded herself that she had faced way worse than this. She would much rather have to tell pretty women who wanted to have sex with her the little secret that she kept tucked into another part of her life than fight Vecna or be tortured by Russians. But it didn’t always feel like it.

“I have a husband,” she explained.

Ashley immediately wrinkled her nose and leaned back in her chair like Robin had just told her that she had the Black Death. “You mean that you led me on to help you cheat on someone?”

“No,” she shook her head. “He knows that I’m here and he supports it wholeheartedly-”

Robin had a whole spiel in her head that she always tried to use when she was telling dates this, but she almost never got it out all the way when they began to freak out. It turned out that it was going to be the same this time as it was every other time. Ashley leaned forward and spoke in a hushed voice so that none of the other patrons in the surrounding tables would be able to hear her as she said, “You know that lesbianism isn’t some gross kink for men, right? Some of us, such as myself, think that we can only be with women. I’m not going to sleep with you so that your husband can watch through your blinds or in your closet or something. That’s fucking disgusting.”

“You don’t understand,” Robin whimpered. She usually dropped it when the person she was talking to obviously wanted the conversation to end, but she had been really invested in the potential relationship she could have with Ashley. “It-it’s not like that. We’re not together romantically or sexually. We’re married and we love each other but he-he’s more like my platonic soulmate. It was like when the gods were making us or whatever he decided that I was going to love my best friend with my entire chest but only be interested in women and-”

Ashley cut her off again, “So he’s a beard? I’ve dated women like that before but it didn’t really work out.”

“No, he’s not a beard! He’s my husband,” Robin objected, frustrated. The idea of her husband only being her beard or something that was totally disposable once she found the right woman made her want to vomit. He was far more important to her than any romantic foray, so she decided that she was just going to take the hit and try again some other time. “I don’t think that this is going to work out. Thanks for trying, sorry for wasting your time.”

She fished out the proper amount of money and then set it on the table before she slung her purse over her shoulder and walked away. It was frustrating to have that happen over and over again, but she would always place her husband above any romantic or sexual encounters that she would have. It was hard to explain to people, especially with the limited vocabulary that still existed for queer people even in the mid-nineties, but it was very important to her that whatever future romantic partner she may have recognize that first and foremost, Steve was her husband.

[redheadbigshoes]

Hi ya'll 🌻anon here! I wanted to thoughtdump after seeing someone post 'I see all this discourse about queer identity and labels and i kinda agree but disagree with both of them but I just call myself queer' and like, it struck me that a lot of people might not know how important queer identities are for some people?

I grew up in a small town in the deep south, heavily indoctrined by a christian family, homophobic and transphpbic media, and hostile culture, it was isolating and grew self-hatred into me that I still struggle with. I literally didnt have a word for 'gay woman' or being transgender until college, I did not know these were possible, that other people who felt like I did existed.

While I was starting transition, my therapist withheld hormones from me unless I was actively dating a man, and combined with internalized transphobia telling me no cis woman woupd ever see me as a woman, and internalized homophobia telling me that I should just be straight, I was suffering being indoctrinated again that you cant be a woman without being attracted to men.

Without the identity, the language of lesbianism, I honestly wouldn't be here today, I was self-harming and suicidal until I was able to get hormones away from my therapist and be myself. I had language to communicate to others how I felt, a community of people who felt like I do that I can talk about these experiences with.

I think people who aren't part of any particular queer identity, or aren't invested in one, have trouble understanding how it opens up our world, we don't live in a magical fantasy world where everybody has knowledge of all of the spectrum of human experiences and and nobody faces discrimination or oppression for their differences.

So yeah, it matters that we have language for an idea that may save someone's life, sue me for caring about that.

-🌻

Hi!

A lot of people since labels are not important for them they treat as if they aren’t important for anyone else. People need to understand if they do decide to label themselves with something specific, the least they could do is respect the label’s meaning.

If our society wasn’t misogynistic, homophobic, racist and transphobic labels wouldn’t be so important.

A straight person doesn’t really care about the fact they’re straight and keep using that label every time, and that’s because they have their rights and experiences respected.

If lesbians were respected (or if any other identity that’s a minority) we wouldn’t keep needing to remind people of who we are and fight for our rights.

And not only that, language exists for communication, and communication exists to facilitate things. Misusing words and ignoring their meanings isn’t doing anything, that’s not helpful and that’s only making communication difficult.

[cabeswaterdrowned]

klena and carolena for the ship ask game 💖

assuming by Klena you mean Klaus/Elena and not Katherine/Elena because that reply would be different lol

Whether I ship it or not: not really

Why I ship it or not: there’s no very deep reason, it just isn’t one of the dynamics for either of them that pops to me / makes me want to get invested I do respect the desire to want Elena in non-salvatore ships but I’m more of an Elena/Rebekah and Elena/Elijah girl myself when it comes to Mikaelson/Elena pairings.

My opinion on their canon potential (chemistry, canon interactions, etc): I can see where people get some vibes from things like how he reacts to her in certain late s2/early s3 scenes but again other interactions grabbed me more. In terms of chemistry combined with storyline potential I think Klaus/Bonnie had a lot more going for it, more than a lot of Klaus canon ships (and I say that as someone who did enjoy most canon Klaus ships to different degrees with the exception of Klamille which I didn’t dislike at all but which left me cold).

My opinion on fanon interpretations/fandom around it (Favorite widespread hcs, pet-peeves, etc): I haven’t gotten very deep into the fandom for them so mostly a blank slate but I do think it’s sus when shippers react negatively to Bonnie/Mikaelson ships or people shipping Bonnie in non canon ships with duplicitous people she has chemistry with like Klaus Kai etc. but then go for Klena and Kailena outside of that specific fan archetype I don’t have a problem (sorry this was not a very involved answer I just genuinely don’t think about them much).

Carolena

Whether I ship it or not: hmmm. It actually kind of depends on my mood + what I’ve rewatched last and how I felt about it, I’ve been into the idea at some points but less at others. So I guess yes and no and ultimately sometimes lmao, but regardless their dynamic holds interest to me.

Why I ship it or not: for the yes/warmer on them side of things they play on some archetypes I am into in terms of shipping in general, I do enjoy a toxic teen girl situationship or just a messy friend-situationship and I like ships between chars who are set up to be foils which they really are so moments and storylines that play on/emphasize that can get me thinking of them in a shippy mood. And there are interesting things about the way they treat each other and how the show treats them and like the arc of their relationship on a meta level…. On the other hand the reason why they’ve never been a hardcore ship/otp of mine has to do with how strange and transient I find the writing for them… I’ve actually been trying to make sense of my overall feelings about them more on this rewatch so consider this a very *atm* answer that could evolve lol but I just find the way tvd wrote female friendships very odd they’re both interesting to me and uninteresting to me at the same time, if that makes sense and this is really how I feel about barolena dynamics in general so while I have shipping moments with them I find it hard to get really invested in them romantically the way I did with say, different combos of girls on Pll or even Legacies. I think it’s why all my TVD femslash Otp’s ended up being antagonistic ones other than the fact I just like antagonistic femslash in general (see Elena/Rebekah Caroline/Katherine Bonnie/Nora) because the writing just clicked for me better and I could understand nuances in those dynamics and them being awful to each other better which seems counterintuitive but it’s how I felt ultimately…

My opinion on their canon potential (chemistry, canon interactions, etc): I think they have some standout gay moments “lesbian friend necklace” some of Caroline talking about how perfect Elena is and their chemistry is fine idk if I would say they have amazing chemistry for this show but it’s definitely not bad chemistry for this show either. I tend to be more into Nina and Candice’s on screen chemistry in Katholine scenes but again that might be more subjective because their storylines tend to hold interest for me.

My opinion on fanon interpretations/fandom around it (Favorite widespread hcs, pet-peeves, etc): There are a lot of different takes about the contentiousness of their relationship which I do think should be analyzed/explored but stans do tend to take sides based on who they like more and especially some of the hardcore Caroline stans I’ve seen get into this unfairly vilify Elena in the dynamic imo, I’m sure there’s some of the reverse too but I see it less probably because Care is more of a fan favorite. So I dislike that specifically… but I generally find it interesting to read people’s takes about them maybe also because there are so many different ones lol. ty for the ask!

[psychewritesbs]

i'm a bit confused by the different translations of what Shoko says, like she was in love or not with any of them? Is that what you mean by ambiguous? or am I not getting this either lol

HOLA!

Well, I'd say it depends on how you want to interpret the statement. Literally, this is what it comes down to.

For me, I like the idea of an ot3 between them, so to me it reads ambiguous. I'm sure you noticed I used TBC's translation and not VIZ's.

Some of the comments I've read on the matter of the translation is that VIZ's translation was more literal, and to be honest, I don't care enough to fact check. This is partly because, in my experience, VIZ's translations have lacked nuance (this is not necessarily a criticism given they are writing for a specific audience in mind) and A LOT gets lost in translation.

What I mean by ambiguous under the cut...

Anyways, that said, I paid for chatgpt to help me do my job (best investment ever) and this is what it had to say about Choko's words as translated by TBC:

Based solely on the statement given, it seems that the speaker has a strong aversion or negative feelings towards a group of people, to the point that they express that it would be impossible for them to develop romantic feelings towards anyone from that group, even under extreme circumstances (such as hell freezing over).

I also asked the chatbot whether it thought that strong aversion could be an attempt at suppressing strong attraction, but it said that the lack of positive language "suggests a strong resistance to the idea of falling in love with someone".

I'm unconvinced, however. Gege has been writing about romantic love through Yorozu so I have a lot of head canons swimming around in my head. Amongst them is the idea that you can't consciously choose who you fall in love with. Rather, your heart makes that decision.

So, to me, an aversion to falling in love could mean the mind's rejection of an inkling of the heart. This is ambiguous because we can't tell wether she really just straight up hates the idea of falling in love with either or both of them, or whether she was suppressing those feelings.

The official translation implies that she was in love with one of them. She's ambiguous about who it is she was in love with because she doesn't come out and say it, but my best guess is that it was Geto.

Actually, on second thought, the VIZ translation is so awkward that I have to agree that it is probably the most literal.

But I've seen comments about how her words as translated by TBC mean Shoko was lesbian af all along.

So I guess that's what I meant about it being ambiguous? It's not easy to define and pinpoint and the interpretation is highly dependent on the interpreter's biases.

Hopefully this helps! I say find the interpretation you like best because I doubt we're going to get a clearcut from Gege unless someone straight up asks him in an interview.

So, again... for me that is ot3 🔥 lol.

Thanks for asking ;)

[hugewoman]

@marmorada this wasn’t a conversation about “leftist activism” it was very specifically one about feminist philosophy, and something that also kneecaps that is derailment from outside observers who feel the need to step in to infantilize the participants by attempting to mediate the dialogue as if it were a playground brawl rather than a discussion amongst adult intellectual equals

Femsolid is 100% correct in that no one fucking does this to men, decides to try and play the “you’re hurting us all” nonsense to shut down meaningful discourse about… yet so often feminist discussion is interrupted and talked over by people trying to stop us from having a meaningful meeting of minds

Anyways, I was going to jump onto this thread to agree with femsolid in that I think while separatism may be a sliding scale it’s one that you’re supposed to work your way up as far as you comfortably can. I can’t see a way that being het-partnered doesn’t sort of cut that off at the ankles.

The shallowest end of avoiding consumption of male content/media and instead seeking out female creators is a good start but is ultimately almost akin to choice feminism. Choosing how invested we personally want to be in the pop culture around us that is predominantly created and dominated by males isn’t much of a choice. Engaging with female made books/music/film can be fulfilling, but can feel similar to the superficial “empowerment” rather than liberation that liberalism often touts as being the all important conclusion of feminist action.

The personal is the political, and I feel like we can all agree that certain actions taken can be more radical than others. The things we do with and to our body are naturally going to be more meaningful than the music we listen to or the movies we watch or even the hobbies we keep (although I do appreciate hadesoftheladies point about female gatherings being a critical element of feminist engagement). Abolition of things like makeup and shaving and bras and long hair are highly impactful and enormously liberating. Further still, actual physical separation from men is the greatest tool in our arsenal.

I can understand how for heterosexual women this can seem unfair and like a demand from lesbians to remain celibate or unfulfilled. I ask you to instead consider the ways that it might be framed as an investment in your own long term safety and well-being. The greatest danger to women is men, and the men that women are most at risk from is statistically their spouse or life partner. Everything we know about the data of straight marriage firmly suggests that it is one of the greatest risks to her life and happiness that a woman can take on outside of walking through a bad neighborhood at night.

While I generally agree with femsolid’s take on separatism outside of the bedroom being essentially for show, hadesoftheladies said something early on in the thread that resonated with me:

“separatism is uncomfortable and frightening because it challenges the fundamental structure of society. It attacks what is most dear to patriarchy and the economy: the nuclear home + male access to women”

And I think it illustrates how I think the two of you are sort of talking about different situations. If you’re single, I think avoiding men altogether is a phenomenal idea. But the married woman who starts learning about feminism later in life and who wants to take feminist action is going to feel alienated by the idea of separatism bc she’s usually in it for the long haul. She’s not going to leave her husband for the sake of female separatism, but she might start trying to make more female friends and doing things apart from her husband, and that’s going to have a very meaningful impact on her individual life and happiness, and maybe even the other women in her life as well.

I think we really need to remember those women when we think about degrees of feminist action. What seems like small beans for young single politically minded women may be hugely radical for the woman who never thought about feminism in her life before now.

At the same time though, I think straight women who complain about celibacy in regards to separatism need to have an honest reminder about the facts and realities of dating/hookup culture and how dangerous and unsatisfying it is for women in general. Coming from a lesbian who has had bad sex with men and deeply regrets it, I’m sure being told to avoid sexual contact with men seems like the start of a bad joke. But lack of orgasm and risk of assault are very real threats to the women who engage with men, and seem like they should be stronger arguments than they currently are. Straight women who say they won’t become celibate often say they deserve pleasure and fulfillment, but realistically what consistent and reliable pleasure do men offer that can’t be taken care of yourself?

Edit/update: I saw two additional reblog from you guys after making my long comment gah! I’d like to add that I think fems metaphor of veganism is a good analogy, and that it’s absurd to call yourself vegan if you’re going around eating pork, ie to say you’re a separatist while being married to a man or raising sons is incongruous. That being said I think it’s another thing altogether to take what possible baby steps you can towards separatism, that it’s less like falsely calling yourself vegan and more like just saying you’re cutting back on meat lol.

Also hadesoftheladies I hope this doesn’t come across as patronizing or pandering but I thought it was really big of you to admit your original post was de-radicalizing and I’m honestly impressed

btw separatism is mutli-modal and you can still be het-partnered and practice separatism. as much as i believe the most effective kind of separatism is not partnering with men, i don't think that excludes women from other forms of separatism bc it doesn't.

[bonnissance]

yo so what if Pippa is a she/they nonbinary femme who sent up Pentangle’s bc they were sick of nonbinary and genderfluid magic casters not having schools to learn magic in bc gender segregated methods. And they were tired of young trans casters having to transfer schools and leave all their friends behind as they figured themselves out just so they could learn magic approp. to their gender. 

So they set up a school that integrated prev. segregated methods of casting so that students would find the right balances of magic vibes to make their casting work, in a logistics structure where children don’t have to uproot their lives when they figure out they’re trans and nb children don’t have to choose between closeting/misgendering themselves for education and self- or coven teaching themselves magic 

Pentangle’s School for Hardcore Crafty Types ftw

[lgbtpopcult]

A note from the editors...

On First Kill and What it Says About Netflix, Media and the Undo Burden Queer Women Have to Carry

I have no criticisms for First Kill. The people who worked on it did their best with the limited budget and experience they had. Even with its flaws the concept was good and the story of the two girls alone managed to get more viewership than many Netflix series that are constantly renewed.

I will however talk about Netflix. I have been very vocal of my criticism of Netflix in the past but always put that aside so we can promote wlw media on this blog wherever they came from. But it was always blatant how the idea of queer women leads is viewed on the platform.

Netflix initially launched into mainstream culture in great part due to offering diverse shows like Orange is the new Black (a show specifically diverse in terms of women's sexuality, with queer women leads). Shows that were considered alternative and progressive compared to Network TV. After succeeding in gaining popularity because they offered the thing others didn't, Netflix content shifted. Even though investing in creating a quality show with a wlw main couple had paid off in the past they decided being more like network TV was the best strategy. Any attempt at inclusion for queer women was either carefully veiled behind projects that "are not really about the gay girls, the gay girls are just there" like The Prom, promoted without a hint of the lgbt content like Everything Sucks and Teenage Bounty Hunters or not promoted at all like Feria The Darkest Light, The Half of It and I'm Not Ok With This. They were generally given very little room to succeed. Most of the wlw focused projects were never promoted, had unknown actors and given a small budget.

If the project was big, well promoted and expensive it meant the screentime of the queer woman was limited. Even Warrior Nun (based on very gay source material) and Babysitter's Club (with everyone thinking the lead has to be queer) simply gave a side character 2 minutes to be out as a gay girl and called it a day. If they're investing big you can count on the gay woman part to be small. This came to a head when they changed the lead's sexuality in Archive 81 (who was a lesbian with a wife in the original podcast) and made her wife her gay roommate. "And they were roommates!". It was in some ways laughable to what lengths they'd go to because of their need to limit queer women to side characters in big projects they're actually invested in.

But First Kill was a series putting the wlw couple front and center so we had to believe all of the above was a coincidence right? We gave them another chance and they proved everything we had been seeing was right. They set it up to fail and when it didn't they justified the cancellation by saying it didn't succeed enough. That's the thing. It would have succeeded enough if they hadn't set it up to fail so blatantly.

Netflix will rain unbelievable amounts of money to get the biggest names from the TikTok, acting and music worlds to star in their big budget straight cheesy romances. They gave First Kill 10 dollars and candy to paraphrase a person who worked on the show. They were unwilling to pay for the really good, experienced writing team needed to turn a vampire romance story into a well fleshed out TV show. As a result the writing was acceptable for a vampire romance novel but not for live action TV dialogue. They were unwilling to pay for good cgi. As a result the cgi made CW shows look good in comparison. They were unwilling to pay for expensive, popular actors. They were unwilling to pay for any sort of production value. Why? Because they don't have enough faith in projects about queer women to invest in them. But the wlw shows have to succeed anyway or else we confirm their aversion to invest in our projects was right. We are asked and creators are asked to make a hit out of something without given the proper tools and then told we don't sell.

That is our vicious circle with Netflix even if it's proven that when money and work is put in to a project that centers wlw, people will come. Even if millions are lost on failed projects that center straight ppl. Even in a world where Gen Z is set to rule the world and it's a generation that is more and more queer.

Queer women are expected to consume projects that are lesser than those of straight ppl and even those of gay men. Unfortunately, we live in that messed up intersection of misogyny and homophobia that makes investing in us somehow the last risk to take. As they liberally throw money away on worthless trash. But it's straight trash so...

Good news is Network TV is dying. Netflix imitating their focus on a default basic straight audience (and the white gay pretty boys they can fetishize) does not seem like a good strategy for the future. Other services that are putting real effort into bringing queer women out of the TV margins will become the entertainment providers of the most sexually diverse generation of women we've ever had. Let's bring about that future as soon as possible. Go watch Paper Girls, Yellowjackets, Harley Quinn animated series, Dickinson, Crush... If you're a woman, or non-binary person, and not straight, fuck Netflix. Cancel your Netflix account.

Do fear for The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. Expect as little from Netflix as possible. That's what they're willing to give you.

Twitter said it best:

[wlwanakin]

since you said to be more specific if i wanted to know more then can you talk abt what youve mapped out of grells and madams relationship? redcliff is my otp so i would love to hear what you think of the red murder wives

ok so!! my biggest thing w them is that to me they are just. horrible for each other. they are soulmates they are tied together by the red string of fate but god is it unhealthy. like if u build a relationship off of brutally murdering ppl ur not gonna have a healthy dynamic i’m sawrry (ESPECIALLY when it ends with murder. u don’t kill ur gf that casually if ur relationship is healthy). there’s so little content of them but the bits we see seem pretty tumultuous (i base a lot off that one rainbow butler one shot bc that shit was so gay but sooo toxic it’s scrumptious) so i just run with it! they’re both very mentally ill and homicidal that shit was doomed from the start

the whole relationship like a slow build from their first meeting bc anne is immediately like Live With Me and they’re inexplicably drawn to each other (read: horny) but it’s a slow evolution from yearning and going marginally insane and probably like drunk making out they refuse to talk abt after to insane love confessions and kinda just running with the idea that they’re basically married. and the whole time it’s just a constant flux between desperately needing each other always and divorce worthy fighting. so much divorce worthy fighting.

grell falls HARD like really fucking hard like despite being the world’s worst gf she’s also more invested. she has insane tunnel vision for anne like she abandoned her whole life for her so ofc she does!! it’s a genuine obsession and it’s so unhealthy and she’s desperately needy and anytime it feels like it may be crumbling she goes hard on trying to sabotage bc she will not leave until the bridge is burnt to fucking ASH (she’s also insanely impulsive abt it like the minute she regains common sense she’s just like “why did i do that” and then wants to rekill herself so bad).

anne is very very infatuated but she’s kind of the normaler party in the sense that she can have a life outside of grell (and grell does not like that). she’s a workaholic abt the murder and also about the Being An Aunt and she’s having a crisis of morality at all times and this makes her very preoccupied but also lowkey without grell she’d kill herself. grell is like her key to being able to live with herself morally it’s like. “no one will love me with how horrible i’m being but this bitch not only loves me but also condones my atrocities!! if she leaves me i’m blowing up the world.” but the thing is she’s confident enough that grell Won’t leave her to not be as invested in her. and she’s also not afraid to be a frigid bitch when she’s pissed at her and can be so extremely hot and cold about everything it’s absolutely insanity inducing.

they’re stuck in this insane loop of being madly in love, anne kinda zoning out of everything and getting cold, grell vying for attention via acting out or manipulation or cheating or something, Big Fight, and then back to being madly in love and they NEVER WANNA STOP bc they understand each other so deeply and fundamentally in a way no one else ever will!! they enable the worst parts of each other and they feel so safe with each other. they’re each other’s home but god that home is the worst place you’ve ever stepped foot in.

there’s also an internalized homophobia layer going on for sure that definitely does not help things. esp bc anne was probably grell’s bi awakening. i always write madam red as a lesbian who has already unpacked that and dealt with it so while she has like. period typical internalized homophobia it’s way less of a Thing for her. but for grell it’s just like Oh God What Is Happening Why Do I Want To Live In Her Skin What Are The Gender Implications Of This I Am Having A Bad Time!! so like the double whammy of a full blown sexuality crisis and first time doing commitment r driving her a little insane the whole time.

it also makes grell nerfing anne a lot less random in my brain. she just snapped in that moment and it was a 2.5 year buildup of frustration that she just let loose bc she felt like she was being rejected and like all her fears of abandonment were being confirmed and she kinda just lost it. i don’t even think she fully gets why she did it tbh it kinda just happened and she ran with it and processed it all two hours later and was like “oh shit i’m going to pretend that won’t make me wanna die forever” but it’s also just a response to a constant pattern of Fucking Everything Up So Bad Now, Kiss And Make Up Later except oopsies it was fatal this time!!!

basically when the relationship is good it’s perfect and idealistic and amazing in every way and when it’s bad it’s the worst fucking relationship you’ve ever seen. it’s a mess they’re a mess it’s so fun!!

[undead-moth]

I've already shared my thoughts on the sauce scene (which are obviously just my personal interpretation too) but basically, I think that's a broken sauce, and so Carmy's intention wasn't to make the sauce look black with white dots. I also think that's why he throws the dish away. That being said, I do think the writers purposefully made the sauce resemble Syd's bandana and were using that to symbolically indicate that Sydney is one of Carmy's personal character motivations, so I do still think it's a symbol of eventual romance between them.

Totally on board with interpreting them through a Queer Theory lens, although I think it would be giving the writers a lot of credit to say that we were meant to. I do love the idea of them being a queer allegory though - I've seen a lot of people make comments about how they would love The Bear so much more, or be more invested in it, or it would work well if Carmy was a butch lesbian and honestly? I dig that so much (even though I think a lot of his characterization is deeply in line with someone who grew up with the privileges of being a cis man).

I think it works really well too, because it would explain a lot, as you said. Not just Carmy's inability to talk, or the fact that he dated a girl basically because she was there and everyone thought he should, or because he wasn't sure if Claire was his girlfriend and didn't have girlfriends in high school, which would seem to indicate both that he hasn't had a lot of romantic relationships and that he doesn't really understand the relationships he had - but also on Syd's end, with her struggling to talk too, and her feeling uncomfortable with Marcus asking her out and it seemingly not occurring to her he might be interested.

As for Luca...Honestly? Maybe I just, like, missed something, but I did not think we were meant to see any potential between Syd and Luca at all. I did not think that was even supposed to cross our minds as a possibility. All of Syd and Luca's conversation at the dinner was (like every other conversation at the dinner) I felt, a commentary by the writers about Carmy. Like, there's the part where Syd talks about how the dish with the peas is a "trauma dish" and Luca says that Carmy repurposed the peas into a desert one time, and Syd says something like, "Oh he repurposed the trauma," and Luca says, "That's all we can do, right?" Like...none of that, in my opinion, was being used to develop anything between Luca and Syd. And then, later when they're in the kitchen talking, it's mostly about siblings? And again...I felt like we were getting a commentary about Carmy, specifically I thought we were meant to be thinking about Carmy's relationship with Michael. Their conversations were so completely void of any of the usual markers for two people interested in each other, even physcially... I really think they were just being friendly the whole time, I don't know.

Like, no hate at all to SydLuca shippers, but I was completely shocked anybody was speculating that Luca was meant to be a love interest for Syd. And again, I might be missing something, but I just do not see it. (Would love to see Luca with Marcus tho.)

I think Carmy is both the reason Sydney is considering leaving The Bear, and the reason she can't leave The Bear. She recognizes that the way Carmy is behaving this season isn't something she wants to put up with, but she's also grown to care for him and is aware that this isn't the real him, and this isn't what he has to be like. She admired him as a chef from the beginning, and they built The Bear together, and she cares about him so much.

I don't personally think either of them are aware they have feelings for each other yet, but I do think the feelings are there, and I do think it's playing a major role in why Sydney hasn't already decided to accept Chef Adam's offer and just leave. I think it's also part of the reason why she struggles so much to bring it up to Carmy - trying to talk to him about why she's considering leaving, or not leaving, would require her to come dangerously close to admitting to herself/confessing to him how she really feels.

I’m sorry I’m rewatching The Bear again and laughing because Syd makes a dish at Carmy’s place and they plate it together and they both try it and it’s so disgusting that Carmy has to spit it out and literally like less than a minute later he looks at Syd and says, like, very sincerely and softly, “This really was almost perfect.”

[johnmulaneys]

ok. rebelde 2022 thoughts from someone who has been a rebelde 2004 fan since it originally aired 

let’s start with: i don’t like the netflix 8-episode seasons, they don’t give me enough time to actually know everything i need to know about these characters and get attached to them (it’s the same issue i had with young royals tbh). rebelde 2004 was a telenovela that aired almost daily for basically 2 years. they could spend 5-6 chapters with some b-plot storyline going on and still have us hooked with other storylines and all that, and then move on to a completely different storyline the next week, you know?

so having jana be like “i thought what we had was real” to esteban after (what it feels like) only knowing him for 3 days? blargh. also having them as the main couple was just... a terrible idea. they’re boring, very troy and gabriella which is nothing like the rebelde couples we love. mia and miguel? diego and roberta? the blueprints of enemies to lovers. maybe the 2022 romantic dynamic that hit the closest to a rebelde dynamic was dixon x mj, with dixon being the more wildcard, rebellious one and mj being more sweet and innocent (a similar dynamic to lupita and santos) and even that still felt a little rushed (again 8 episodes... not enough); i also really liked andi x emilia but thats because rebelde 2004 didn’t have gay people so 2022 wins there.

also that jana x esteban break-up at the end felt so out of the blue. it lacks drama, it lacks silliness, it lacks everything that made the og rebelde so good.

another thing: the personalities for these characters felt really flat. out of the main 6, luka was the one with the most distinguished traits, i feel like he was the one that was the closest to having a whole “hero’s journey” going for him (obviously he’s my favorite). the thing about rebelde 2004 that really worked was that the main 6 characters were very flawed, completely different from one another and very cartoonishingly so. 

mia was an extremely girly-girl-spoiled-bratty-most-popular-daddy’s girl ever, roberta was the most rebellious-rock-n-roll-post-feminism-punk girl, lupita was the peak angelic-church-going-innocent-eternally-virginal type, etc. all these characters were very distinctively different from one another to the point where watching them learn how to get along felt much more interesting and rewarding. and even the supporting characters, the teachers, the parents, etc., all of them felt very unique. meanwhile in 2022 these traits that are supposed to tell them apart are kind of... flat. i can kinda compare them to the og 6 but i cannot right away categorize jana or esteban in any kind of archetype, all these 2022 characters feel like a bella swan-ification of the og main 6 and it’s boring tbh

don’t get me started with la logia... 2004 la logia were truly terrifying. they’d specifically target scholarship students, it was some sort of neonazi allegory, using anonymous threats and real violence and it was genuinely scary whenever they were around. like you’d be fearing for these characters’ lives when they were caught by la logia, people would end up in the hospital fighting for their lives fr!!!!!!! and now... la logia catches the newbies (regardless of status) and makes them... sing? laughable

and “you can’t compare the two” won’t fly here. it’s a direct continuation of an iconic piece of entertainment, and i am a fan of the source material, i am exclusively watching it to make comparisons. not to mention, the characters themselves made direct comparisons - which actually make me dislike them a little more (jana cohen you will never be mia colucci)

and a few lore issues:

so pilar and tomás just... broke up? i guess it happens, of course not all of the couples that ended up together in the 2004 version would be together forever but when you’re making something for people who watched the material source... maybe a little explanation wouldn’t hurt? i wasn’t even that invested in pilar and tomás (i’m more of a lesbian pilar truther tbh)

celina was pregnant when the og rebelde ended. where is the child? that child would be 15-16 in 2022 which is the perfect age for them to be in elite way school... being a character... causing trouble...

speaking of elite way school: this new version is so fucking ugly. the og ews was this DREAM school we all ENVIED and the students would use their laptops in class (i remember being so jealous because laptops were still like. A Big Deal) but this new one is like: concrete. here’s all these students with this wannabe 2000s aesthetics, but this school will be just boring concrete. ugly as fuck and looks tiny

why were there no celina and pilar scenes? they’re literally the two characters that connected us to the original story and they’ve known each other for a long time. celina now has pilar’s dad’s job! and i would’ve felt it in my heart if, in that final scene of the nonames (i refuse to call them rebelde) singing that iconic song, celina and pilar had just fondly smiled at each other because of the good ol’days..... but then didn’t do it! ugh

but let’s go to what i liked:

luka. i’d be biased anyway because he’s a colucci but as i mentioned before he felt like the most distinctive character out of the main 6 and his journey felt the most rewarding to follow.

the anita twist: was genuinely surprised by that. maybe i wasn’t that interested in the logia storyline since it felt so silly compared to the og but seeing her in that revelation scene was quite surprising

diversity: something rebelde 2004 really lacked and the 2022 version managed to do better (we can always keep improving though).

andi x emilia: although it still felt rushed (fucking 8 episode season), it was very refreshing to see a queer storyline in the rebelde universe

lourdes: she was very likeable (even though she purposefully tries not to be), loved her attitude with the students and i wish we had seen even more of her

the covers: i actually enjoyed the covers (although i thought the salvame mv was very corny but not in a camp way like the 2004 one, you know?), listening to songs i’ve loved for more than half of my life in new versions was fun and i’m always up bop to tras de mi .

these are my first thoughts tho. if i think of anything else i’ll keep talking about it i guess lmao