#also i know there are people who don’t like the word queer and that’s totally valid but that is literally how i describe both my gender

[erythriina]

reading bram stoker’s letter to walt whitman

[endcant]

save a bastion for queer culture in a famously hateful city

i’ll try to write a shorter and sweeter post about this later, but for now i will just beg at length.

there is a town near me called Murfreesboro where at various points they have banned or attempted to ban public homosexuality, drag, and pride flags. for a time their county’s youth incarceration rate was 48% (contrasted with the rest of the state at 5%) due to corruption in their local courts system. every juvenile case that made it to the wrong judge resulted in the child being sent to jail, because the county commissioner thought it’d be “cool” if the jail was a “profit center” (yes these are his actual words). these are just a few examples but suffice it to say, this is a very difficult place to grow up, especially for LGBT kids.

despite all of this difficulty, the area has a remarkable alternative music scene with a few small venues where queer people and young people who don’t fit in elsewhere can genuinely have fun and feel safe for the night. despite the city’s reputation, queer people in the broader area flock to the town for raves and DIY shows. in this area, music culture is intertwined with queer culture and leftist efforts to a much greater degree than i’m used to as somebody from the middle of california.

i really admire the venues and event organizers that cultivate a safe spaces like this in a place where it is decidedly unsafe for queer people, and where the youth are constantly in danger of having their lives ruined for totally arbitrary reasons.

this is why it breaks my heart that murfreesboro is trying to shut down a venue called The Graveyard Gallery. the graveyard gallery is a place where a ton of events are constantly held for lgbt, furry, and alternative communities. it is one of very few alternative places in the broader nashville area where i have felt really, truly safe and welcome as a person of color.

most recently, The Graveyard Gallery has come under attack for attempting to hold a Trans Day of Visibility punk show, with the apt title “Trans Day of Vengeance”. Conservative media, both local and national, directed the attention of their audiences towards this event, calling it “tone deaf” to have it on easter, and to have it sort-of-kind-of-close-to-but-not-quite-on the anniversary of the shooting in nashville. All of this, of course, ignoring that the date for TDoV was set in 2009, and that this was a small DIY punk show that really bore no threat to anybody. the show had to be canceled because of credible death threats, so it didn’t even happen, but that hasn’t appeased anybody.

in the wake of this, murfreesboro’s fire marshal has suddenly decided that the building is not acceptable for occupancy and it has to close immediately and for the forseeable future. people can claim it’s unrelated, but i’ve known people to have their businesses suddenly declined by fire marshals due to sheer bigotry before, and shitty towns will just use their fire marshal to bankrupt small business owners that they don’t like. i do not speak for the owners of the gallery on this front, but i personally believe that these things are related.

all this is to say, the graveyard gallery needs to raise money for their legal fees over this matter. this venue is very important to a lot of people, and may be even more important now that the city’s music scene is in the crosshairs of massive conservative media companies.

if you can donate please do, and if you can share this, please do that as well.

thank you for taking the time to read my post. i know there’s a lot going on in the world, but music venues are where people here gather, and music venues are often also a place where people organize to make meaningful change and promote causes that i know most of you would approve of. music is at the heart of this community, and the venues are where the music lives.

[tobethemselves]

People are commenting on how Harry’s whole persona and style feel extremely performative. Since his vogue cover he has not worn a dress either, so it seems very much like an act he put on to make more money, while never actually being interested in fashion like that. Also he’s never actually served any looks or dated a man so that could also be why ppl think he’s straight lol.

So I’m giving you the benefit of the doubt anon because english is not my first language but for me it sounds like you’re one of those people you’re talking about… Anyhow

Yes I saw the accusations about him queerbaiting. And to be honest with you I really really hate it. Not only because of Harry but also because of the massage that sends to all those baby queers who now think they have to act, dress or look a certain way to call themselves queer. Again:

The word queerbaiting came from fictional characters who often were invented from straight people who used to tease the queerness of said character as a marketing strategy to attract a wider audience for their show or movie even though in the end nothing queer ever happened to not make the homophobic part of the audience mad.

I don’t know how often it has to be said until it reaches every single brain out there but here we go again

A real person can’t queerbait.

Clothes don’t have a gender and don’t have a sexuality, there is no right way to look queer or straight. And there is no right or wrong way to dress queer.

Apart from that it’s totally normal to dress differently while being on stage then when you’re travelling/ at home/ in your comfort clothes. That fact has nothing to do with Harry’s interests in fashion. For real do you expect him to go on a train ride in one of his stage outfits? Not very comfy and not really clever if he doesn’t want to attract a bunch of fans.

Also, how do you know he never wore a dress since?

Everyone is so fast to judge as soon as it’s a celebrity often forgetting that they are humans too just like me and you. And humans have layers. Thousands of them. There is no way to know someone’s sexuality based on a different hairstyle and a few pictures.

And about your last point. Well you wrote an anonymous massage to a larry blog. So I think my opinion about if he ever dated men or not is pretty clear.

[memory-and-sky]

hobie x male reader """""""""dating"""""""" hcs?

okay this is something i can work on and get done relatively quickly. THANK YOU FOR THIS ANON! to everyone who’s sent in asks for fics, they are being worked on, i swear🙏 hope you like this though!

word count: i dunno, it’s a good chunk of headcanons

containing: explicit mention of homophobia, brief description of injury via fighting, small small small sexual reference, hobie brown x m!reader, could be cis or trans but i wrote this with cis males in mind

the rest of the headcanons are under the cut!

“dating” headcanons

hobie brown x male!reader

since Hobie lives in the 70s in Britain, gay rights weren’t really…. y’know, the best.

for your safety and his, the most he’d do in public is holding your hand. and even that was a big sign of rebellion. holding hands with a person of the same sex? how scandalous!

anyway, while holding your hand, he’d love to put both your hands in his pocket, especially if you run cold (like me :P).

he’d totally be the type to rub his thumb slowly on your palm, too.

Hobie knows a lot of people, especially in the queer and punk scenes. he gets invited to a lot of house parties, and feels safer to put your relationship on display more then, but he’s definitely not over the top with it.

a simple arm over the shoulder, around your waist, or a hand in the back pocket of your jeans, though he doesn’t need PDA to show your relationship off.

“Have ya seen this new patch on the ol’ battle jacket? Or this pin? Yeah, my lovely boyfriend made ‘em fo’ me. Gorgeous, innit?” [speaking to a random friend]

“Have ya had the pleasure of meetin’ my boyfriend yet?”

“I thought you said you hated labels…?”

“Mmh, (y/n)’s influential like tha’. Clearly ya haven’t met ‘em.” He’d say, undoubtedly with a smirk plastered on his face.

i really don’t think Hobie would get particularly jealous over you.

of course he loves you with all his little gay heart, but he doesn’t feel insecure or get upset at you or anything if you talk (or flirt) with another guy (as long as you communicate). if anyone is flirting with you and you seem really disinterested, he’ll totally intervene.

maybe hold you in a way that makes it clear you’re together, or explicitly tell the dude that you’re not interested.

but he doesn’t like treating you like an object he ‘owns’ at all, it’s why he’s pretty hesitant to slap the ‘boyfriend’ label down on your relationship right away.

and the 70s were a sexual revolution! revolting against gender norms and relationship norms, stuff like that.

if anybody ever dared ask you two ‘so who’s the man and the woman in the relationship?’ or ‘who’s the top and who’s the bottom?’ Hobie would be dreadfully disgusted and educate them immediately.

speaking of sexual revolution and whatnot, Hobie would be down for polyamory if you were.

you two have a very good line of communication, and if you wanted to open your relationship and communicated that to him, he’d be fine with it.

you’re so great, he gets how other guys might fall in love with you, too.

Hobie would give the best gifts, try and change my mind. whether it’s for your anniversary, birthday, or just a random gift, they’re always handmade.

maybe he’ll make you a piece of clothing like a shirt, hand-pick a bouquet for you, or even customizing/fixing one of your old clothing pieces with a bit of added Hobie flair.

Even small things, like a charm, pin, or patch have so much love put into them because he loves you!

touching on my first point again, homophobia was very present outside of the queer/punk scene, even in some aspects of the punk community he didn’t feel welcome at all.

usually, he’d tell people where to shove their opinion, but sometimes he’d feel completely unsafe to be himself around anyone.

yeah, he’s spider-man, but he’s also a very young adult. he could fight people, and he definitely used to, but he hated coming home to you being worried sick about all the horrible bruises, cuts, and scrapes on him.

back to the lighthearted stuff, he’s definitely the type of guy to cook for you.

doesn’t matter what meal it is, he’s gonna make it for you if he has the chance to. and he actually makes good food, despite living in Britain his whole life.

if you’ve got issues with trying new foods, his place will always be stocked full with your safe foods no matter what.

you’ll eat together, and he’ll gaze dreamily at you, wondering how he ever got so lucky to land such a stellar guy like you.

this man loves coming home after a long day, popping in a VCR for a movie of some sort (TV could be in your bedroom or living room, doesn’t matter), and just cuddling with you.

he doesn’t mind being either the big spoon or little spoon, but tends to like being big spoon cause he likes holding you close to him so much.

he’s very scrawny, but doesn’t mean he won’t love you all the same, and hold you tight.

one more thing, Hobie loves you above all else. he’ll protect you and fight for you anytime you need. when it comes to his partners, he does not play around!!

[t0ast-ghost]

Star Trek II: Wrath Of Khan thoughts:

For this post if I could simply embed the entire movie and just write the word, ‘queer’ I would. Unfortunately you are all stuck with this, happy pride month!

Spoilers for the entire movie will be featured in this post

Going forth:

- I know what the kobayashi maru is so I know they’re not in danger but that’s some good acting Bones

- “‘Physician heal thyself.’” “Is that all you’ve got to say? What about my performance?” “I’m not a drama critic.” Thinking about this pose thinking about this pose thinking about thi-

- “Galloping around the cosmos is a game for the young, Doctor.” He’s feeling something and projecting

- “Aren’t you dead?” That’s certainly a way to greet your husband

- They’re so cute. And sad. And cute.

- tiny guys hehe. The boots got sluttier somehow

- McCoy got him glasses cause he can’t read the book without it and bring up that post that’s saying how Spock and McCoy’s gifts go together but McCoy got the logical thing and Spock got the emotional one

- Don’t quote me on this but the things I would do to that man… I wouldn’t.. but holy shit that outfit is killing me.

- hi checkov

- Carol Marcus? Doesn’t she have Kirk’s-? okay then I won’t spoil that just yet

- Creature in a jar moving under the sand

- BOTANY BAY????? Oh wait a sec I should’ve seen that coming it’s called wrath of khan

- Did they kill Chekov?

- hello Khan. That’s a very long and dramatic reveal he’s kinda hot tho

- Thinking about genetic engineering and augmentation and how they’re illegal but star trek presents cases where people now exist and it’s not the fault of the person that they are what they are so they have to question if an entire person should be illegal because of the actions of others… anyway I don’t wanna get deep into this right now, back to the movie

- Are they going to kill Chekov? (edit: not sure why I’m so fixated on thinking they’re gonna)

- WOW THAT IS CERTAINLY A SWEAT DROP

- brain worms… this sounds recently familiar

- HES READING HIS BOOK WITH THE GLASSES THEY DIDNT NEED TO SHOW HIM DOING THAT BUT THEY DID AND ITS ADORABLE OMG

- The conversation between Savik and Spock is so precious. And it’s in Vulcan. And she says “He’s more human than I expected” and it’s like that’s her commenting on Spock’s husband

- Kirk does not want to do this inspection

- McCoy does a little bounce

- “For everything there is a first time. Wouldn’t you agree, admiral” “mmhhmm” “Would you like a tranquilizer?” *Kirk shakes his head*

- I think this one has a more solid plot. I’m enjoying so far :)

- Does McCoy serve on this ship or is he just following along?

- (Had to stop watching around here because I left for the weekend so these thoughts are potentially a bit different)

- wowah! Cool ship!

- uh oh. Chekov on the monitor with the brain worm!

- khan is kinda- yeahh

- I LOVE SAAVIK! RAHHH! Also apparently Saavik is canonically half Vulcan half Romulan according to the trivia

- I like how Bones is just there :)

- Putting Spock in black… they knew what they were doing

- They’re husbands your honour. Spock knows Kirk wants to take command and isn’t to proud to get in the way of making his wife happy

- “You are my superior officer. You are also my friend. I have been and always shall be yours.” Kissing would have been less romantic

- George Takei’s voice is majestic

- “He tasks me. He tasks me and I shall have him. I’ll chase him round the moons of Nibia and round the Antares maelstrom and round perdition’s flames before I give him up.” Not obsessive at all.. nope this is something completely and totally normal to say about your nemesis

- “Uhura, have Doctor McCoy join us (Kirk and Spock) in my quarters.” Hmmmmm.. gotta inform the whole polycule about the shady government experiment

- lmao BOTH Spock and McCoy know who Carol Marcus is

- oh so terraforming… NEVERMIND REALLY FAST TERRAFORMING

- “Really, Dr. McCoy, you must learn to govern your passions. They will be your undoing.” Flirting, gentlemen?

- How and why does Starfleet continually put Spock and McCoy together? Like this alert would be sent out 24/7

- Spock and his awesome daughter Saavik

- falling

- Kirk with the breast flap down

- such a good moment… such a great moment (sorry for shitty photos)

- Kirk has to put on his little glasses <3

- Kirk does NOT fuck around

- Poor Scotty. He’s got so much emotion about his dead crew mate and the doctor apologizing to him 🥺🥺🥺

- Saavik making up rules to make sure the admiral is safe. Love her.

- “Jim, be careful.” “We will.” MCCOY IS SO BITTER. Like ‘no wishes of luck for me, Spock? Fuck you!’

- The collar on that uniform is silly

- hehe McCoy got scared by a rat. OH HE ALSO GOT SCARED BY A DEAD BODY

- Kirk’s little disappointed “oh my god” as he finds Chekov in the cupboard

- “Suppose they went nowhere.” “Then this’ll be your big chance to get away from it all.” McCoy’s not leaving Kirk, but he still looks like he wants to strangle him sometimes

- Kirk not afraid to punch a bitch

- WAIT THATS KIRKS SON?!? Isn’t it?? I thought David was Carol’s brother. But nope!

- aww dammnit I knew they were still mind controlled :/

- Saavik saving David. Y’know it would be pretty cool if there was something about Saavik, David, and Johanna meeting and maybe serving on a ship of their own.. idk just thoughts.

- ewwww brain worm.

- OH THE ECHOING “KHANNN”

- mmmm Kirk without the jacket. The white turtleneck with sleeves… also McCoy and Saavik are slaying with their turquoise and orange turtlenecks

- “Food the first order of survival.” I bet the fanfic writers had a field day with this one (cause cause it’s a reference to Tarsus IV)

- Imagine this: you’re stuck underground with your husband, your other husbands adopted daughter, your ex, her son (who’s also your son), and your old Russian navigator who’s unconscious and tried to kill you while being mind controlled by a worm which came out of his ear

- David’s got Kirk’s curls <333

- Kirk has a thing for people who look good in blue. Change my damn mind.

- “I don’t believe in a no win scenario.” He immediately calls Spock afterwards cause he’ll never lose with his husbands around

- “You lied.” “I exaggerated.” Yep, he IS that bitch

- Saavik is learning so much from them

- They still just.. let anyone onto the bridge. Like David is just there now

- oh no Scotty! Well McCoy was miraculously there to catch him

- CHEKOV BACK ON THE BRIDGE!

- Once again. Kirk does not fuck around! He just killed those guys

- “To the last I will grapple with thee.” WOW. Okay. Well.

- Khan’s about to terraform this bitch

- McCoy stopping Spock from going into the chamber..

- “You’re not going in there!” “Perhaps you’re right. What is Mr. Scott’s condition?” SIKE BITCH SPOCK JUST FUCKING NERVE PINCHED HIM. McCoy you should’ve been tipped off by the fact he 1. Said you were right and 2. Gave up trying to self sacrifice so easily

- wait why’d Spock connect to McCoy’s psi points and say remember? Remember what?

- I like there’s just a sign that flashes the word ‘radiation’ in red letters

- McCoy and Scotty BEGGING Spock not to do this. Break my fucking heart why don’t you?

- Kirk’s little run to the engine room <3

- I know he’s dying but those boots are so slutty

- Solely watching Kirk’s face is already like watching 10 puppies get killed

- “Don’t grieve, admiral.” Has me crying already. Your closest and longest friend is watching your slow descent into death and you ask him not to grieve you. You want him to know your death meant something. It meant he’d be safe and that is nothing to grieve. I’m going to be sick

- don’t touch me I’m thinking about this

- SAAVIK IS CRYING OMG GIRL ME TOO

- Kirk’s voice breaking.. god. Shatter my fucking heart why don’t you?

- if they play bagpipes at my funeral I’m rising from the dead (violins would be nice though)

- NOO HIS CUTE LITTLE GLASSES BROKE

- “They’re just words.” “But good words. That’s where ideas begin. Maybe you should listen to them.” POP OFF DAVID ! Good line

- SON REVEAL! NOT CLICKBAIT

- There’s 8 minutes left of this. Did they leave this one with Spock dead?

- “He’s really not dead, as long as we remember him.” Good words McCoy. But perhaps maybe you might have some.. assistance remembering him?

- got distracted and drew Kirk but I love the last little Spock narration. Really brave to end a WHOLE MOVIE with one of the best most well known characters being dead

Well that movie did have its pros and… khans

…

See you next time

Masterpost

[dearweirdme]

Whoops I feel like I invited a bunch of nasties through my coworker ask 🫠

Hi anon!

😂... Oh, your summoning worked alright! I don't think you need three guesses to know who went and send me a long essay again while I was asleep.

Rest assured... they are not disappointed with you: You know I am not even disappointed at your anon for writing this but I am disappointed at you for posting this because at your age you should know better. At your age, you should know that none of these things that this obviously ignorant anon has written is how real relationships work and me mentioning your age isn’t me insulting you cuz it is a blessing to see 40 but after being alive for over 4 decades, it is kind of disappointing that you know little to nothing about life.

I guess a sense of humor isn't one of their personality traits. They proceeded going into detail why those takes are wrong 🙄.

Then they literally broke my mind! I did not want to post their ask (because jawn boring for the most part and also.. again trying to use my platform whilst being rude to me), but this just totally fried my brain... remember, this is a Jkkr talking!

It’s kind of funny to me that you are the one who is always yapping about the korean culture and what that means for queer people whenever anons on ur blog bring up certain moments which didn’t make sense with taekook. You talk about the the dangers queer people are in and how they feel a need to protect themselves and yada yada yada yet you think that these same people while being in public, in the midst of thousands of fans and cameras like at the Harry styles concert or Yoongi’s concert in korea, would openly display their affection towards each other by holding each other while singing romantic songs, sticking close to each other, wispering to each other and all. So are these queer people not afraid of how they may come across to the thousands of fans who are focused on them then? When people complained about that awkward hug that taekook shared on Jin’s discharge, didn’t you start with your long speech about the korean culture and queer people and how taekook had to be cautious because they knew they were being filmed? So they only had to be cautious then but then openly show their affection to each other by touching each other, hugging each other, whispering to each other while they are at crowded concerts with koreans? The same koreans? Rain, you are short sighted as hell. Besides, the way your anon describes the way they think Jk treated Jimin at that concert shows how ignorant they are because in the real world, people don’t feel the need to stick to their partners like that all the time and they definitely wouldn’t ignore their friends or coworkers just because their partner is there. That is a very childish way of looking at things and if you were honest with urself and applied the logic of how you think the korean culture affects how queer people in relationships behave with each other in public settings, then maybe, just maybe you would understand why Jk was all cozy with Tae at Harry Styles concert but it was Jimin whom he spent all his time with in private and maybe you would also see how your own words about queer people in korea go against taekook. Y’all must think this is some drama or something where those who are in love can’t keep their hands of each other IN PUBLIC. The way Jk behaves with Taehyung in public shows more than anything that those two don’t have anything to hide or would you say they can be that way in public but have to lie about not being with each other at certain moments because they have to hide their relationship?

Had this come from a neutral perspective and asking for my thoughts on this.. I'd been happy to explain (and it's honestly not that complicated), but imagine a Jkkr saying this to a Tkkr. A Jkkr who then later goes on to do what they always do...

I also don’t see you or any of your anons asking why during HS concert, Jimin and Jungkook “disappeared” together for almost 20 minutes.

Now who wants to take on bets as to whether they meant Jk and Jm were going to actually use the toilets... or -insert sexual behavior-...

So yeah... thanks for letting me rant again ����. I'm not going to be posting Jkkrs for a while. Back to Tkk pics it is.

[itwasntimethatdidit40]

Hello and welcome to my blog!

About me:

Masterlist:

All of my works are +18 and NSFW, please don’t interact if you’re a minor. English is not my first language and I have no beta reader, please have mercy.

Particularly sensitive topics marked with: 💔

Queer couples marked with: 🏳️‍🌈

Smut is present in all of them so make sure to read the warnings, I don’t want to make someone uncomfortable.

Joel Miller:

• Perfect ~ Soft Boyfriend!Joel Miller x Curvy AFAB!reader

No outbreak. Basically Joel worshipping you and your curvy body

• Be still, my foolish heart ~ Soft Single dad!Joel Miller x Curvy f!Reader

A meet cute at the clinic where you work leads to finding the best date you could ask for… our one and only Joel Miller

• Happy Birthday, little finch ~ Jackson!Joel Miller x AFAB!reader

Everyone forgets your birthday but you receive an unexpected invitation (wink) that will change the fate of the day. (No spoilers from the original second game, Jackson is totally made up by me)

• Guess ~ Soft boyfriend!Joel Miller x AFAB!reader

Pwp inspired by Guess by Charli xcx featuring Billie Eilish. Joel guess the color of your underwear and then eats you in a restrooom.

(Yeah, I have no excuses for this lmao)

• Special Needs ~ DBF!Joel Miller x F!reader, no outbreak

Joel lets you convince him that you can help him get back in shape.

• Shirt On ~ Sub!Joel X Soft dom! F reader

Joel getting pegged by you while you wear his flannel shirt.

• On a razor’s edge ~ Joel Miller x f!reader

Joel helps you shave. There.

• It started out with a kiss, how did it ended like this? ~ Young!Joel Miller x f!reader

You meet Joel at a party, everything is fine, he’s beautiful… will it end well?

• The right ones ~ soft!Joel Miller x reader / fluff and comfort (written in a neutral way so every person who menstruates can identify with it ❤️)

Joel buys you pads. ‘Cause Joel provides, you know, no matter the situation.

• Slow ~ Joel Miller x afab!reader

Tiny drabble, just pure smut.

• It wasn’t your fault ~ Sweet gentle priest!Javi G X hurt grumpy!Joel Miller, post cordyceps outbreak.💔🏳️‍🌈

Javi G helping Joel to accept his loss.

Marcus Acacius:

• Don’t say a word if this word is not “please”. ~ General!Marcus Acacius X slave trader!Javier Peña 💔🏳️‍🌈

Basically two people who hate their guts reciprocally but also want to f*** each other.

Oberyn Martell:

• Move, baby ~ Oberyn Martell x Ellaria Sand x f!reader 🏳️‍🌈

P*rn with very little plot, reader is a sex worker and happens to have a very great night with both Oberyn and Ellaria

Frankie Morales:

• You look like a fun place to sit ~ neighbor!Frankie Morales x f!reader

You decide to enjoy a night at the movies, your neighbor Frankie ruins it all. Or maybe not?

Javi G:

• A perfect day ~ Javier Gutierrez - The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent X Gabriela

Javi and Gabi, happily in love, spending time together on the beach.

Happy reading!

[literary-illuminati]

2024 Book Review #26 – The Late Americans by Brandon Taylor

This was my monthly dose of high literature, chosen because I subscribed to the author’s substack for a while and generally liked it. After somehow accidentally grabbing historic fantasy and dystopian sci fi, this time it did was actual proper adult contemporary litfic, even! So y’know, horizons successfully expanded.

The book is honestly a caricature of what an outsider would guess contemporary litfic to be. Meandering and plot light, eight different POVs whose chapters’ are largely character studies of their own interiorities and relationships, deeply preoccupied with the process and structures that produce Fine Art, about a bunch of miserable queer grad students in Iowa City. It did at least refrain from having a character actually be an author attending the Iowa Writers Workshop so like, not totally free of restraint here, but it’s still nearly overpowering.

Saying ‘plot light’ is still almost overstating it, really. Each chapter is a vignette from the perspective of a different character, with varying levels of personal connection to the other protagonists. Some individual characters have little arcs, but none exactly undergo a profound transformation – the book is largely just a study of them, their relationships, their damage and their neuroses as they drift through a year of their lives.

The characters themselves are all resolutely unexceptional. No prodigies, no savants, no stars in the making – they are all talented and dedicated, but in ordinary and unremarkable ways for their milieu. It’s precisely that ordinariness that Taylor seems most interested in – how people conceive of their relationship to art when they’ve devoted everything to a craft that only barely seems to love them back.

The relationships between the characters is the other real driver of the book. They’re all..kind of dicks? In the thoughtless, inarticulate, emotionally-illiterate-lashing-out way of incredibly stressed people in their mid-20s (though exaggerated a bit for effect. Or at least, I hope so). Everyone is broken and jagged, and rubs up against everyone else only with violence and force – resentful friendships, unhappy romances, comfortable enmities. No one ever makes a clean break with anyone – no one shows much sign of being able to even if they wanted – and what character growth there is is a matter of compromise and accommodation, making peace with the people you love around you whatever their shortcomings.

The characters are all very well-drawn, their neuroses and struggles believable and mostly compelling. There’s probably one or two too many of them – at a certain point I did start having trouble with whose tragic childhood (they of course all have tragic childhoods) or insufferable emotionally unavailable boyfriend was whose – but in the final analysis they all mostly worked for me. That said, the two female POVs seem almost..tangential? Less connected to everyone else, less richly examined, less grounded and dirty and vicious. Which is a bit unfortunate, both in terms of the novel’s overall strength and because almost literally the only other women with lines in it are a bunch of deeply unkind caricatures of poetry/literature-as-activism types in one of the character's seminars.

Speaking of relationships – if you don’t know what the stereotypical litfic sex scene looks like, this book overflows with examples to learn from. Partially just trying to be true to life about a cast of horny gay guys in their mid-20s – if you draw a chart of who fucked who I’m pretty sure it connects every man in the main cast – but the book also just tries to get a lot of characterization and symbolism across through sex scenes, and ends up devoting more word count and flowery prose to them than anything I’ve ever seen besides outright erotica. All the sex scenes do have a fascinatingly vast variety of valences and tones, though – some are passionate and romantic, some flagrantly exploitative or transactional, some are just something to do on a boring break in the middle of nowhere. The sex can get a bit monotonous, but at least it’s never one-note.

Taylor’s very interested in the culture of like, capitalized prestigious Fine Art, its production, and the relation of the university to both. The book, broadly, seems to take the point of view that the whole edifice is one great machine for chewing up and spitting out hopes and dreams. It’s a recurring theme that even among these people who have dedicated their entire lives to poetry or dance of the piano are unable to spend it making the kind of art they want. And that’s not even getting into how all the people you’re supposed to be making art with are the most insufferable pieces of shit to ever see the sun.

And on the note of insufferable pieces of shit – there’s also just a very strong recurring theme of class. Getting a MFA is largely the province of people who don’t really have to care about a near-future paycheck, and the cast is divided between those who fit the description and feel varying amounts of repressed guilt and awkwardness about it, and those that have to work some job to pay the bills and display a remarkable amount of restraint in not decking at least one classmate a day. The irony of art imagined as activism or world-changing being near-exclusively the result of elite educations and trust funds is bitter and plentiful, especially among the poets.

It’s, I think, a very sort of subtle humour that across the first half or so of the book the really poetic prose and most evocative imagery is used near-exclusively to describe the vulgar, low-class survival work that the less fortunate half of the protagonists do to support themselves – meal prep in a hospice kitchen, preparing cuts of beef in a slaughterhouse, recording porn of oneself to post online – while the actually art they create isn’t much described at all. This doesn’t last, but it’s a very funny joke while it does.

The book is, on a sentence-to-sentence and page-to-page level, really quite beautiful. Unfortunately, it ends up feeling like less than the sum of its parts. There’s a bit of a running narrative connecting half or so of the protagonists, who really are major parts of each others lives and enrich each others narratives with an outside view – and then the rest only appear outside their own chapters as cameos, if that. Exactly one characters gets two chapters from his POV – the first, and about halfway through the book – and he’s one of the people who barely touches the rest of the cast, so it’s not like he’s actually the protagonist or propelling the narrative. You end up with a novella and a bunch of short stories that, put together, are both constantly hitting the same beats but also lacking any real through-line tying them all together and pushing things forward. Which really isn’t helped by the fact that the ending reads like someone gave Taylor a maximum wordcount 5 pages before he hit it and he just did the best he could.

[farm-witches-fic-recs]

Our farm witch friends really delivered with their faves last month and we're here this week to share the last of that list. Thank you to everyone who responded to pass along the fics you love and help keep this fandom reading (and writing)!

Check these community fave works out and leave the authors some love!

=========

Bound by symmetry (barelypink) “I am and always will be a sucker for a slow burn. This one is a diamond.”

Goodwill (@spiders-hth-is-an-outlier) “I don't know why I love this as much as I do. It's really sad, but also really joyful. It unfolds so beautifully. I love all the introspection. And the socks. I'll always love the socks.” 

If not now (MoreHuman, swat117) “There is no truer test of a relationship than all the time in the world.”

If you say run, I’ll run with you (upbeat) “Wonderful, different take on the wedding.”

Language of Love (pandorasdaydream) “This series takes the 22 min tv episodes and fills in the moments we don’t see. David and Patrick are fleshed out, while staying true to Dan Levy’s characters. The series is beautifully written and developed.”

Left unsaid (@treepyful) “A very detailed day in the life of a rare pair in the Fandom. Like, so so detailed. But every word is glorious and intentional, and somehow, though there's only like 6 words of dialog in the entire fic, so much gets said. Also, there's one of the most incredible descriptions of a thunderstorm that I've ever read.”

Neither snow, nor rain (middyblue) “Christmas slow-burn.”

Post hoc ergo propter hoc (various) “I love all of the installments in this political AU because I liked the West Wing a lot but it was never queer enough. This series has all the humor and dialogue and romance and Queer Feelings (tm) you might ever wish for in a beltway workplace drama, plus President Johnny Rose and Stevie Budd as his (eventual) chief of staff.” 

Prismatic (thetrustytaco) **WIP**  “You only see b&w until you get close to your soulmate! Gah! Not finished but so good so far!!”

Sleepless (@wellschitt) “This fic is funny, sexy, and full of heart, and at just over 10k, it's the perfect length for a reread (or in my case many, many rereads) when you need a quick pick me up on a stressful day.”

Time until the end of time (@ships-to-sail, yourbuttervoicedbeau (@kiwiana-writes)) “I've been into the idea of a waiting room on the way to the after life for a long time, and this piece totally does our characters justice. If you have an ache in your life, it will knead it and might even heal you a bit.”

Value added (theMaura) “Short. Hilarious.”

Vampires Are People Too! (@petrodobreva) “It's a rare thing indeed for a fic author to create a unique, fully realized alternative world while still holding on to the spirit of the canon work that we all know and love, but that's exactly what petrodobreva manages to pull off in this teen vampire AU.” 

Winning the Game (@ladyflowdi) “One of the most hilarious laugh-out-loud fics in the fandom.” 

[canichangemyblogname]

Not sure how I feel about the deleted scene drop. I understand 100% why they originally cut it— it’s kinda a useless scene (they would cover or already had covered the same narrative bases in other scenes) that would have thrown the pacing of the episode in a very short season already not renowned for it’s fantastic pacing (y’know… because it’s so short). Plus, imho, the dialogue (writing) comes across as… out of place (if that’s the right word). It’s a bit of an awkward scene. But maybe that’s because I think “shovel talk” (as other fans have called it) over a 34 y/o man is a bit cheugy and I’m also not enjoying the “mother of the 118” role that ABC seems to want to box Hen into (I’m also begging y’all fans to stop calling black women and queer people “sassy”).

I also couldn’t figure out if Tommy was playing dumb or actually that dense, so, at first, the scene seemed— at least to me— like a 180 for a character that has otherwise been portrayed as competent and perceptive. (EDIT: I’ve been leaning toward “he was playing dumb” over “he’s really that dense.” Also, Tommy *does not* strike me as the type to “play dumb” to avoid a question, especially from someone he has a good rapport with, as some fans are suggesting; he strikes me as the type to approach a goofy situation with an old friend with some dry humor. Doesn’t mean my first reaction wasn’t, “🙄 Don’t play dumb, now.”) However, his dialogue did provide some comedy and levity 🤷‍♂️, and I do agree with analyses that paint the whole interaction as a back ‘n forth teasing.

I just personally find the whole “What are your intentions” thing kinda passé and cliche.

So, I’m a bit torn because the scene did also give us:

a second confirmation that Tommy is not pressuring Buck into anything Buck doesn’t want, like a certain subset of fans insist.

confirmation that they’re “taking things slow,” something we know Buck does enjoy. Buck wants his romantic partners to show that they’re also serious about him. He has gone out of his way with previous partners to slow things down or choose people who seem serious about dating. He didn’t have to ask Tommy to slow down like he did Abby or Taylor.

“He’s in ketosis” << literally laughed my ass off, but justice for my man, Buck; he loves carbs. (Joking aside— this is totally in character for Evan “fitness nut” Buckley, who casually talks to men with tape worms in their ass about the best low carb pasta options.)

another confirmation that they’re fucking, and fucking nasty. “I’m letting him set the pace, and I’m just trying to keep up,” is a fantastic precursor to the “God I hope so.” Tommy Kinard— your jokes about keeping up with a younger man are truly unmatched. (EDIT: Yes, I know the line wasn’t inherently about sex, you dorks, and that it can also be a reference to how Buck has seemingly sped run the “pre-dating” phase of his and Tommy’s relationship.)

more confirmation that Buck is into Tommy, and that he shows Tommy this, too.

Edit: I’m also torn about having a less than enthusiastic reaction to the scene because at this point, Tommy is like the Star Wars sequels. There are valid critiques of his characterization, his past, and how he’s been written, but because there is a large chunk of the fandom that cannot argue in good faith and has the most ass-backwards things to say about queer men, I spend more time defending the character from terrible takes than engaging with the source material the way I’d like to. I’d really like to just say what I think without having to fight through bad faith arguments.

[redditreceipts]

https://www.tumblr.com/genderkoolaid/736795285384216576/

🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯

The only coherent, non-rabidly misogynist and factually right thing OP say in this whole thing is at the very beginning when she recognized transgenderism as a completely made up modern human concept XDDDDD

Okay, let’s go through this word by word:

you can piss of both because it's just blatantly wrong and stupid. I could also say "the earth is flat" and piss of the catholic church and trans activists. what have I proven? nothing.

correct so far lmao

well yeah, everyone shares common experiences with trans and genderqueer people, because nobody identifies and behaves 100% according to their assigned gender at birth

woah, if I didn’t know that this was a gendie blog, I would think that this is a terf lmao. yes, some women are trans (aka trans men), and some men are trans as well (aka trans women)

I mean yeah, if you define “transphobia” as “opposition to gender nonconformity”, she sure as hell lived through transphobia. it’s just a bullshit definition, because being gender non conforming does not imply being trans. the thing with these definitions (i.e. defining trans as “not identifying with your gender assigned at birth” or defining transphobia as "an opposition to gender non-conformity") is that in this type of analysis, there is simply no space for gender non-conformity. every type of discrimination a gnc person experiences is transphobia, and every gnc person is trans or genderqueer.

yeah, maybe she just wore this type of clothing because she liked it. maybe she thought it looked stylish. maybe it suited her best. maybe she had sensory issues with skirts and dresses. maybe she really got a message from God. maybe she wanted to protect herself from sexual violence. it literally doesn’t matter, because she should be able to wear whatever she likes for whatever reason

good for her that she stood by what she wanted to do and started wearing the clothing she liked (which happened to be associated with the male sex in that time). and yeah, the society of that time was sexist, so they probably wanted to punish her for crossing gender roles

i mean, many gnc women wear clothes that are typically associated with the male sex for very different reasons, not just as a means to an end. women have always seen things that defy the patriarchy as vital to their soul, like loving other women, abortion, wearing certain clothes, doing certain trades etc. all of these things could have gotten them killed at one time or the other. you just pick “wearing masculine clothing”, because for you gender is just about fashion statements. 

also, nobody presents as cisfeminine, because femininity is an unreachable standard imposed by patriarchy, and “cis” would imply a total identification with that absurd standard. everyone is gnc in one sense or the other, some less and some much more, so there is really no inherent transness about Jeanne D’Arc. 

no, I don’t care about what the Catholic Church says, and we also don’t know whether Jeanne D’Arc actually heard some divine commandments or whether she just had mania or schizophrenia or something. It doesn’t matter at last, because “genderqueer” is not a useful analysis of anything. the human condition is one of being “genderqueer”, because at least for women, it is considered genderqueer to not shave - our natural bodies are “genderqueer”. you’re “queering” something that didn’t exist in the first place - a happily gender-conforming woman. Jean D’Arc is "genderqueer" because she did what she wanted, like every woman who does what she wants is "genderqueer". every free woman is “genderqueer”, every happy woman is "genderqueer", every courageous woman is "genderqueer". 

so in conclusion, this is not per se wrong, because gendies will just define any word how they like it and don’t do any analysis in the end, because the definition of things like “genderqueer” or “trans” is constructed in such a way that it always confirms the point the author wants to make. but because of its tautological nature, we don’t learn anything. 

but the huge problem with this type of analysis is that the language of “her gender expression”, “her masculine gender expression as vital to her soul”, and the individualised analysis of an experience that fundamentally, all women share to varying degrees: the inability to remain both a whole human and to submit to patriarchal demands. You can’t be gender-conforming and be a full autonomous member of society. And in that sense, being “trans” or “trans-adjacent” is an emotion that every woman shares, some more and some less. The thing is that gender roles were never meant to produce a woman that fulfils them completely, they were only ever meant to occupy women’s minds enough so they don’t start a revolution. 

But why do we have to call that very natural impulse “genderqueer”, implying that feeling like this distances you from womanhood in any way? Feeling like patriarchy is restrictive is the most female thing anyone could experience, and is a confirmation of Jean D’Arc’s womanhood. 

[genderqueerdykes]

i have cerebral palsy, and i’m a forearm crutch user. i’m also bigender and bisexual. i feel like people see me as more of a child or “innocent minded”, as i’ve been told. they don’t expect me to have the weird gender or any queerness at all.

i struggle a lot with passing, as i’m biologically male and want nothing more than to seem totally androgynous. but my disability prevents me from dressing how i’d like. when i use she/her pronoun pins, people go out of their way to misgender me. when i use he/him pins, they all call me she. it just sucks being a queer disabled person because it feels like no one takes you seriously for either thing because of the other.

hello there, i'm sorry this took so long to reply to, as well as to hear what you're going through

i understand where you're coming from for sure with feeling as though people infantilize you for using mobility aids. people do the same to me with my wheelchair, and when i used a walker. i'm sorry that people treat you poorly for your disability and then push that treatment on to your gender as well. people seem to find reasons to tear every part of you down when they see that you're disabled. it's sickening

i'm sorry to hear that people are going out of their way to misgender you no matter what. i find that i've had that experience around the wrong people, too. i think due to my autism a lot of people view me the same way, as "innocent minded" and go out of their way to see me as the opposite of what i want at any given time. people argue with my for being genderfluid and multigender and bisexual as well, people refuse to trust my own word for my experience and will become fixated on my birth sex for some reason

i'm sorry that people disrespect your pronouns whenever you try to express them, and i'm sorry they refuse to see you as who you tell them you are at that given moment. it's not fair to you that they treat you poorly because they know you're disabled. it happens to many of us, you're not alone, and people need to learn to trust us to be the arbiters of our lived experiences instead of forcing their views on us because they think we're incapable of thinking for ourselves just because we're disabled folk

take care of yourself. i know i'm not there for you in person, but i see you for who you are. your disability does not take away your ability to know who you are. you will always know yourself better than anyone else. i hope things get better for you. stay safe out there, you are valued

[im-not-a-l0ser]

Hi! Grace asker again.

I wasn’t intending to call you a misogynist by any means, I had simply seen a lot of differing opinions of Grace based on her insanity and just wanted to know if it was a female thing or if she was genuinely irredeemable. I’ve been in a few fandoms before where it was mostly just a female thing, and it gets very exhausting very quickly. But, if your dislike of Grace is because of her insane, cult-building, murderous tendencies, I get it. A lot of people just don’t like to see that in their fandoms.

However, does that same logic apply to how you view Max? He was also—in my eyes—an irredeemable monster, and it seems like the general consensus in NPMD is that life in Hatchetfield was undeniably better without him there. And he also was shown to be a huge bully and bigot in canon, so what makes it more acceptable to make him gay, yet not offer that same development to Grace?

Once again, maybe I’ll change my mind once I finish watching all of the content with her, but for now I’m just gauging where the line is here.

Okay, sorry. It's just a thing I've already heard and refuted before so I was a little defensive.

With Max, he isn't actually ever shown Ever doing or saying anything specifically about minorities, which is my main problem. Like, he's just generally a jerk, not specifically against queer people like Grace is.

I might be super wrong here, but I'm also pretty sure he's supposed to be bi in cannon. I don't know if that was Will Branner who said that or one of the Lang's, so take that with a pinch of salt.

He's definitely got way more of "I am being defensive because I am abused and I cannot be seen for how much I'm hurting," thing going on. If you haven't watched thw show, I totally get how you couldn't gather that. In one of my linked posts, I went a bit more in depth about it.

I've always tried to give any aggressor... well, not the benefit of the doubt, but I've always put thought into why someone might be doing something.

A great example from my own life was for a period of time, someone who'd bully me for years would call me by my chosen name, Conner. And then one day, when I posted something about how I'm not a girl, I'm nonbinary, he suddenly was really brash about it and began deadnaming me again. And instead of being offended, all I could think is "what on earth happened at home." Which is what shifted my view of it in the first place.

Just like how I don't like Grace, I can fully understand anyone who doesn't like Max, and i won't jump to his defense, I'll only jump to my own defense if I am specifically being attacked for how I perceive him, and even then it's just like "Oh, well, I see him like this."

Sorry for being agressive in the first response. It's not the first time I've heard shit like that, and it will not the last either.

I am interested in what you think after you watch the show, which I think you haven't based on how you're wording things, but I'm also at work, so I'm only skimming and I might be wrong. Either way, interested

[blueberryducky]

This is ridiculous but I’m feeling very vulnerable and emotional about the fact that I can put a label to my queerness I’m literally crying right now because I want to hug my past self and tell her everything will be ok.

I’m not exaggerating when I say I felt fucking RELIEVED the day I found out what asexual meant, and not only that but also there’s the term aromantic?? I was over the moon. I finally had a word to describe what I felt (or lack of felt in this case??).

I genuinely thought there was something off about me while growing up, and it got worse once I started watching all my friends and classmates getting into relationships and breaking up and feeling the pressure of having my first kiss and losing my virginity (a whole other discussion entirely bc of how wrong the concept is used and the importance is given) I was so fucking stressed and nervous all the time and felt so isolated and lonely.

I was scared I was not be prepared to have my first kiss.

I was so scared for someone to ask me out because of what my friends would think of me if I rejected them.

I felt violated every time someone made a sexual innuendo or hinted to a sexual situation with me.

I felt very uncomfortable when my friends talked about their relationships and getting intimate.

Fuck, I was and still am so scared of intimacy that I barely even hug my more trusted friends, and I only started doing that when I was 20 and felt like I could finally trust the first friend I made into adulthood.

Being a teenager and being told that you’re a late bloomer while you see everyone engage in intimacy and having their first experiences with being in a relationship makes one feel so alienated, I thought I would have to say yes to the first person to ask me out just to get it over with.

Not understanding yourself while making people believe that you ‘totally get why that actor is hot’ and ‘omg of course I kissed before’ for fear of rejection is like adding more confusion to an already unsolvable puzzle. Why did this happen to me?? Why did none of my friends have the same questions as I?? Why was everyone so fucking chill all the time about this when I was anxiously overthinking every single interaction for fear of being too cold or too friendly and hence making the other person believe I was interested in something other than friendship?? Why was I crying to sleep assuming I was unlovable and incapable of loving someone??

Realising that not only your feelings are valid but there’s other people out there who share the same burdens and questions as you feels like being able to breathe again. It’s like waking up from a nightmare where everyone was in on a bit that you just didn’t understand.

I’m still not at peace with myself because I have a lot of internalised bullshit, but being able to understand a part of me, a part that ate at every thought I ever had while growing up feels so good.

I don’t know if I’ll ever have answers to all my questions, and I don’t know if I will ever be ok with the fact that I can be alone without being lonely because right now that seems like fiction to me, but I’m healing and I’m trying and that’s enough for now.

[kanmom51]

Felt like I had to bring this back

Please forgive me @juliapark13 for hijacking your post, but I just had to, it being the perfect example of not only how stupid people are, but also of how there is no problem for people to make assumptions as to the members sexuality when it's about assuming they are straight. It only works in one direction though.

This ask:

And this post linked:

Because, I too feel for either of their non existent girl friends, former (past 7 years), present or future.

With all the noise about the word girl maybe or maybe not being in a snippet of a maybe JK song on his maybe album, I thought it fitting to bring a few posts back.

All part of my hardcore expose proving once and for all that, you guessed right, JK ain't gay.

RB - the Jikook conversation transcript.

Hickey-gate.

It's true. They have been covering for each other for years.

JK ain't gay pt. 1

JK ain't gay pt. 2

JK ain't gay pt. 3

JK ain't gay pt. 2 of pt. 3

And if talking about the gf...

I'm guessing that now with this shit circulating it's time for a part 4 of this expose then, right? I mean the word girl in lyrics to his song (maybe). That would surely mean he's straight, right? Cause Ricky Martin is 100% straight, always was.

Wait, he's not?

But surely he was when he was singing:

"Woke up in New York City

In a funky cheap hotel

She took my heart, and she took my money"

No?

Shite.

Could it possibly be that a queer artist sing a song with lyrics that have zero to do with his own personal life? Could it be?

Could a queer artist create art (song, dance, paintings, acting etc.) that has nothing to do with his sexual orientation?

And now I'm being dead serious. This is total bull. Of course queer artists create art that is not necessarily personal. Queer singers singing songs about loving women, queer actors playing roles being in love with a woman all while they are gay. Queer artists painting women.

Now about this song snippet specifically:

We don't know if this is an actual song or perhaps a guide song.

We don't know what he is actually saying there (I've literally heard so many different versions of it, some with girl some without).

We don't know the full lyrics of this specific song.

We don't know if this song is on his album.

We don't know what this album consists of, how many songs, how personal it is as a whole, who wrote the lyrics to some or all of his songs.

We just don't know.

If the song or songs on his album have female pronouns and talk about love and attraction to females, and if JK tells us the album and all songs on it are personal to him, only then will people be able to come around to our blogs and claim some sort of proof that JK might be interested in women.

But does that rule out him being queer?

Heck no. Cause you know, bisexual is a thing. Pansexual too.

But there is no talking to these people. When you are a brainless moron it's hard to understand that love is love is love. You also can't possibly see what these two have been up to for the past 7 years or so. You can't see, you can't hear everything they've showed us, told us. What a kick in their gut it was when JK came live in the past couple of months with JM on the mind. And what a kick in the gut it will be for them if we have a Letter like song on his album. Here's hoping. Yes, that's me being as petty as fuck.

[autistichalsin]

(Plastering an obligatory I AM A LESBIAN here.) (also, in retrospect this feels like soapboxing and if you feel uncomfortable in any way with me ranting about petty drama related to the harassment that you went through feel free to delete this ask)

Calling you lesbiphobic for not liking Minthara made me do a huge double take??

YES lesbiphobia is a problem, and people assigning lesbiphobia to not liking a character on the grounds that a lot of their friends who like her are lesbians only takes away from the actual severity of the word.

You can’t just wave words around. Is Minthara, as a character, a symbolization or statement about lesbianism in a way that critique or dislike of her character would imply some kind of inextricable problem with it?

Or has the way she’s seen or adopted in the fandom lead to her being inseparable from such subtext? And I don’t mean being liked by many lesbians simply because we think she’s neat or a cool character-

Is she known to be liked because we feel she represents something significant about lesbianism? Does the fact that many lesbians like her mean or present something notable about the lesbian experience, to the point where it’s a dialogue that can’t in good faith be ignored in discussions about her?

No. She’s openly sapphic, but she’s one of the many bisexual women companions, and while her queerness is an important facet of her character, the writing doesn’t linger on it- That is to say, it’s not a central theme to her character and story. She’s not seen as some grand statement or character symbolizing something about lesbianism in the fandom, either. A lot of us simply.. like her. (And that’s completely fine!!)

On top of that, she’s explicitly (EXPLICITLY) a EVIL character to boot. She’s a horrible person- she was THE evil route companion. (And, again, her evilness has nothing to do with her being a sapphic woman.) And that’s great! I like her because she’s an apologetically horrible woman who’s allowed to be unapologetically horrible And a woman without being punished specifically for that.

But somebody disliking her- as a character- as a fictional, made of pixels, not real character- BECAUSE of the numerous horrible evil things she does- isn’t lesbiphobia. And even if it was, that wouldn’t be grounds the harass them for it.

Thank you anon- and don't worry. I'm going to start taking things as discourse so those who don't want to see anymore don't have to because I feel like I've put enough sadness on their pages, but I definitely wanted to respond to this.

(The irony here is that I ALSO am a [nonbinary] lesbian, but they've made really gross implications that because of my thirsty posts about Halsin, I'm just lying...)

Yeah, it really is wild that not liking HER of all characters got me called that. But I guess, like... thanks for being so transparent, I guess??? Like it literally was never about any issue they pretended it was, it was literally that I didn't like their Drow Dommy Mommy.

Your point is totally correct, but I do have the feeling that if you asked them, they WOULD say that Minthara represents something "inherently lesbian" (I guess the lesbian quality of... being a terrible person who supports slavery? It's lesbiphobic to not support slavery I guess) such that rejecting her is rejecting lesbianism itself. And it's worth noting that this group of people are INCREDIBLY biphobic- they hate when you say Minthara is bi, as well as Shadowheart, and they say shipping SH with men is "icky." Which tells you all you need to know really.

They deny she's evil. Straight up. They literally ask what she did that was evil, feigning ignorance, or say it was sweet and romantic etc. The way they accuse others of not being able to tell fantasy from reality is because they themselves can't do it.