#butch characters

[oh-hush-its-perfect]

I once said this on Twitter and got a LOT of backlash for it, but I think it's worth saying. Piper McLean is not hyper-femme. She's not even femme. Piper McLean is a butch sapphic woman. Though there's no problem with portraying her in pink or doing "girly" things every once in a while, if everyone is doing it all of the time, it creates a fandom misinterpretation of the character. It erases her identity as butch. Yes, she improved her internalized misogyny. No, that does not mean that she has become femme or "feminine." Part of feminism and eliminating internalized misogyny is the realization that women have the choice of how they want to present. Piper presents in a more androgynous/masc way. That's how she is, and I don't think all fanart of her should misrepresent her in such a way.

[your-blorbos-are-queer]

luz noceda from the owl house is bisexual (canon), genderfluid, gender non-conforming, and butch (headcanon)

submitted by @dragons-and-cake123

[furiousfinnstan]

Why does the butch character accept so readily that their sacrifice is necessary? Why do they strive for their deaths—literally throwing themselves in harm’s way in both of these novels? Maybe we can go back to the history of lesbian literature for that. Butches are already tragic characters; we’re used to seeing them in pain, watching them bear it. We watch them sacrifice themselves with love and awe. With that history of literature behind us, however, we can’t help but ask, is this sacrifice an act of self-destructive punishment or is it absolution? Is it the character becoming more and ultimately herself with this choice? By achieving the most noble form of masculinity, self-sacrifice, is her trespass no longer wrong? Does her death justify her own transgressive existence, make her better or more worthy of being?

The Crosses We Bear: The Butch Martyr in SFF

C.L. Clark

[thehereticprinceseries]

Main Character Web Weaving, #1

Mychal Halwood

a game of thrones- george rr martin // “wait for me (reprise)” from hadestown- anáis mitchell // joan of arc // verberation- tumblr // product of my own design- artio// blossoms- the amazing devil // apelcini- tumblr // from “on earth were briefly gorgeous”- ocean vuong // work song- hozier

[amarrymeinbostonwriter]

12/22/22- Our prince has arrived! 

“Gerry”/Lady Geraldine Starling (formerly Miss Geraldine Davenport) 

The chivalrous and knightly wife of Lord Paul Starling (a gay man). Gerry married Paulie mainly as a favor to him. Gerry lives at Radclyffe Heights, The Starling Manor, with Paulie, his devoted life long lover Sir Mortimer Highwater, and the woman she happens to be courting at the time. 

She is three years older than Tilly, the same age as Miss Adelaide Green. Tilly looks up to her, as if in awe, when they first meet. 

Self described as a “gambling lad of a girl”, Gerry often puts herself in harms’ way to protect other women and gay men. She duels frequently in the story.

Notable connections to other characters: 

Coachman Dave (Best Friend), Lord Paul Starling (Legal Husband), Lady Isadora Davenport (Mother), Mrs. Mabel Umber (a widow who becomes her girlfriend), Miss Adelaide Green (her first girlfriend), Miss Angela Townsville (girlfriend), Miss Olivia Beaufort (girlfriend), Professor Matilda Knight (friend who later becomes her long term girlfriend) 

Birthday: November 7th (Scorpio) 

Gerry is a stone butch with a rash nature. 

Her hat has The Starling family crest on it which is a starling bird rising upwards, being flanked by four stars. 

[antygabo14]

Posting old art, Powerpuff girls but they’re cyberpunk robots

[hoofpeet]

Hits Senshi (and Laios) with my 'he's a really butch woman' beam

[dollhousefemme]

Mrs. S by K. Patrick

[cherryfull]

Tilly and Harlow artdump since Tiktok liked them so much!! 🎃🦇

[hollis-art]

women !!

[marcelshorjian]

just butches

[furiousfinnstan]

In these stories, the butch character inevitably falls in love with a femme character and loses her to a ‘proper, safe relationship’ (aka, a heterosexual one) or she dies by suicide, leaving the other woman free to find that safety without the burden of the butch partner. That is what was most palatable to an audience that saw lesbians as titillating at best, or monstrous at worst. While queer writers might have been writing through their own experiences, in the hands of cis-heterosexual writers, these narratives have historically damaged queer/lesbian readers. Many butch lesbians came of age afraid of ending up alone unwillingly, rejected by society and by partners who would eventually give up the ‘game’ of lesbianism to ‘grow up’ and settle down in the ‘real’ heterosexual world. (While this may be changing, we’re still very much in generations that are impacted by these beliefs and it causes intra-community strife like biphobia and transphobia as well.) And so, with all of this, it’s interesting to see how queer authors both replicate and subvert these same patterns in SFF—and what the genre even offers as a unique medium for these explorations. I think one reason readers and writers love these pairings is that both characters depict versions of womanhood that are taboo—both women who will do anything for ambition and women who take on traditionally masculine appearances and protector roles, enacting the ‘male’ code of chivalry. (We also come for the deep bond, a love great enough to sacrifice for each other, enough to mourn the other, as well as the idea of a rugged paladin on her knees, looking up at a woman with the power to crush her, and believing that she won’t, because maybe, just maybe, she loves her just as much. Or maybe that’s just me. Maybe some of us want to be crushed.)

The Crosses We Bear: The Butch Martyr in SFF

C.L. Clark

[thehereticprinceseries]

The Heretic Prince is officially OUT NOW!

Your next favorite queer YA/NA fantasy is finally here! A transmasculine prince who ran away from home and comes back to save his family— and the love of his life. If you like queer and trans characters, knights and magic, prophecies and gods, this is the book for you! Get yours today, paperback or digital!

[amarrymeinbostonwriter]

So I'm going to recycle some of my old ideas and do a character change for a new project. I finally wrote something for the first time in a long time last night. It's probably not my best work but it is something.

Yes, it involves Gerry, my beloved butch gentlewoman. Essentially, I'm rewriting an old story so Gerry is the main character instead of the original main character. I ended up moving him to a WWI story instead.

[sixofclovers]

The Knight and her Princess