#great news lesbian community she is also one of yours!

[cultspawn]

I have another clown oc by the way but I don’t think she’s gonna be as popular with the clown cat crowd

She’s a Barotrauma fan character who is part of the cult of the Honkmother!! Her mask is broken from when it was stabbed by a Husk which is what also scarred her face.

[creatingblackcharacters]

How to spot a Stereotype: An Example

Okay, so I talked about this in my Lesson 6 Stereotypes series, but I feel like people haven't quite... Understood what I meant. So I'm doing a mini lesson/application. First, I'd really appreciate it if you take the time to read the links in my posts, because that will provide you the historical and social context necessary. If you lack it, you will never be fully able to understand this. Remember, all I do here is provide the beginning steps. You have to be willing to do the rest!

One thing I constantly emphasize is that it's not the description of a character that (always) reveals an existing stereotype, but the writing! And again, until you grasp why anti-Black stereotypes are what they are, you will continue to be frustrated with how to avoid incorporating them, both in your writing and in your mindset. I'm going to use one stereotype as an example.

The Mammy Stereotype

"[Black woman character] is very fond, doting, and protective. She's like the team mom of the group."

On the surface, people who are worried about this stereotype will worry, because Black readers have long rolled their eyes and said we're tired of seeing this as one of the Only Options for Black women characters. And we are. Here's the disconnect: the attributes are not what we're tired of, but how they were utilized in the writing- often by non-Black writers!

Mammy: put simply, the caricature of the Mammy is the Black nursemaid that would take care of the Master's white children and the Mistress, prioritizing them above the well-being of herself, her own children, and her own community. She is fat and homely (so as not to attract the Master from the Mistress), unthreatening, sweet and subservient.

In other words, the only value she held was to serve white people's needs (and quench their guilt).

While the image of the Mammy herself is a strong imagery that has faded from its specific origin, I would say the modern day fan archetypes that ring of the Mammy stereotype are the Black woman character that "holds the Braincell", the "begrudgingly fond mother of the group", the canon love interest now relegated to the "mommy/mean lesbian" whose feelings are erased altogether, her new role to help the two white characters get together without acknowledgment of her own potential. She has no real story of her own, or as mentioned, has her own story stolen because "it doesn't look good with her in it" (which is its own bag of worms).

Now, people often give these characters motherly (or what society deems motherly) traits: caring, sweet, protective, loving, self sacrificial. Because they want to defensively show that "they're a great person! Nothing bad! I still think they're good! I'm not racist!"

But upon learning of the stereotype, there appears this insecurity- "oh, my Black woman character has these traits, is she playing into this stereotype?" When you get to this question, what you really need to be asking yourself is:

What makes the Mammy a Mammy?

They are a tool, a utility to white people with more power.

They lack autonomy. How they feel is irrelevant, if it does not serve the white person.

Nonthreatening so as to feel "harmless" to white people who bask in her "selfless" care.

They are not allowed to show frustration or upset at their lot or at life; it is seen as a negative attribute because if they are not caring, they have no use (and may now even be considered a threat).

They will also disagree with anyone else, even to the detriment of themselves, to the benefit of the white person. This is considered "selfless", rather than sacrifice (consider that "real" Mammies were originally slaves. They probably hated every single day with the people they "cared" for, but God forbid they speak on it. To white people, they were supposedly so happy and grateful! Smile and nod!)

Notice, out of the things I listed, "strong", "protective", "intelligent", and "caring" weren't there! Because those aren't bad attributes for a Black character to have! Why would we ever suggest that?? Why would I be mad that a Black woman was any of those wonderful things to her peers? That's not the issue. The issue is that they are often used in service of usually white characters and their stories. They're a tool of the writer to coddle their white characters, versus a character that has their own inner workings and existence.

Knowing what you know now; things that would make your strong, protective, and caring Black woman character fit the Mammy stereotype can include:

If she is pushed to the side with no autonomy or inner life of her own, as the narrative centers the white characters and their needs.

If she is never shown to have any reason for acting outside of to the benefit of the white characters around her. That's the only time her presence counts.

If her disagreeing with, getting upset with, or refusing (or really, just not being "motherly") the white characters is deemed trashy by the narrative (whereas anyone else receives nuance or reason for their behavior).

If the white characters in the story treat her poorly, and it is treated as a good thing that she "stays calm" without any sort of reflection on her feelings.

You can come up with any sort of setting, plot scenario, and description of your Black woman character. But at the end of the day, what's going to make it the stereotype is how the narrative treats her, which you will only find out by writing it, and then reviewing your own work!

You're going to have to approach any stereotype this way. It's part of the *intent* thing I keep pushing 😅 if you don't intend to write a stereotype, you're going to have to actively understand what it is, which will help you actively avoid it.

[punksocks]

Astro Observations No.19

(Thank you so much for the support everyone! I appreciate you following my blog c:)

*Just based on my experiences, only take what resonates

-Starting a new relationship during Venus in retrograde is guaranteed to teach you a karmic lesson with a probably karmic partner (I’ll never forget mine oml)

-Under developed Venus ruled men/ Men with heavy Venus placements are a nightmare. Underdeveloped ones choose to be chaotic with charming energy. Like f-boys or like vampires. They just tend to run through people and use them for validation. Sometimes they grow out of it and become better. A lot of times they just get too big of an ego and get narcissistic in this energy and are just destructive.

-The house your Juno is in could be an indicator of your soulmate’s placements (ex if your Juno is in Aries your partner may have Juno in first. Or if your Juno is in 5th they may have Leo in Juno. If your Juno is in Libra they may have Juno in 7th.)

-Libra/Taurus/Venus in 1st house people can get away with such criminal behavior lol, people will never blame them or they will always want to see the best in their actions. I feel like Leo Asc/Sun in 1st can get through a lot of actions with confidence but they usually do face blow back at some point if they’re behaving badly.

-Neptune 1st house/Pisces rising will have a more erratic sort of filter applied to them. Like usually they’ll get like subconsciously softened and idealized by others but they’ll also get certain traits like air head or spacey applied to them. Basically getting elevated and infantilized the most imo.

-Having North Node in Pisces can be a murky karmic placement. I’ve found that North Node in Pisces can manifest as anything from spiritual devotion and detachment from others to lifelong addiction and reliance on substances, any path that has heavy Neptunian themes which feels like a roulette since Neptune rules over confusion.

-Mars MC can be a sex symbol placement for any gender, someone known for their body or having a striking presence.

-Venus MC is definitely someone that’s known for being a charmer at best and a player at worst. Still very good with people either way.

-MC in Scorpio can manifest as someone that’s seen as constantly going through transformations and tribulations in their career and public life. Alchemy or catastrophe, always at an extreme.

-Venus can show where you are the most appealing to others (Venus in 1st would be seen as charming and probably having a very pretty face, Venus in 2nd would been seen as luxurious and having many resources and having a pretty body, Venus in 3rd would be a very charming speaker and likely have a voice that draws in others, etc I can make a whole post on this if anyone’s curious)

-Aquarius Venus/Venus in 11th fall in love with someone unconventional, or someone they met in an unconventional way (online dating, penpal programs, stuff like that)

-I find all fixed moons have really intense emotions, they just express it in different ways (yo if you’ve ever just disagreed with an Aquarius moon you know they can get touchy if you’re not on the same page with their logic)

-Aquarius is not a great way to figure out if someone is queer imo. The connotation of being lgbtqia+ being essentially strange/out of the norm is … something already but plenty of queer icons that live with their careers/lives revolving around the queer community have no Aquarius in their charts at all (I was looking at Elvira’s chart after this Matt Baume video on YouTube about how she’s a queer icon that was elevated by the queer community and was a closeted lesbian and she turned out not to have a single Aquarius placement, a Virgo stellium and Leo placements stood out the most to me). Sappho is the asteroid to check out for wlw I’m not sure for mlm but I’m sure Greek mythology has given us a great asteroid for the mascs

-Squares to north node can present “delays” with your destiny (more so having to hone aspects of your personality, having certain experiences beforehand, and coming into your destiny later in life, Joe Biden is an interesting example of this lots of squares and harsh aspects to north node and he ran for president like 7 times before he won, even became Vice President before, so interesting)

- (TW scars, harm) Scorpio can show where you have organic scars/birthmarks (Scorpio in 1st birth marks/freckles just appear on my face) where as Pluto can show where you get scars through experiences (I have Pluto in 2nd and I got burned on the lower third of my body when my dad left me in a hot water bath as a baby :/)

[hotvintagepoll]

Propaganda

Alla Nazimova (A Doll's House, Camille, Salomé)—She was a proud lesbian, she was a director, she was artsy and experimental, she was instrumental in the rise to fame of Rudolph Valentino, she had the worlds biggest strap on energy

Xia Meng, also known as Hsia Moog or Miranda Yang (Sunrise, Bride Hunter)—For those who are familiar with Hong Kong's early cinema, Xia Meng is THE leading woman of an era, the earliest "silver-screen goddess", "The Great Beauty" and "Audrey Hepburn of the East". Xia Meng starred in 38 films in her 17-year career, and famously had rarely any flops, from her first film at the age of 18 to her last at the age of 35. She was a rare all-round actress in Mandarin-language films, acting, singing, and dancing with an enchanting ease in films of diverse genres, from contemporary drama to period operas. She was regarded as the "crown princess" among the "Three Princesses of the Great Wall", the iconic leading stars of the Great Wall Movie Enterprises, which was Hong Kong's leading left-wing studio in the 1950s-60s. At the time, Hong Kong cinema had only just taken off, but Xia Meng's influence had already spread out to China, Singapore, etc. Overseas Chinese-language magazines and newspapers often featured her on their covers. The famous HK wuxia novelist Jin Yong had such a huge crush on her that he made up a whole fake identity as a nobody-screenwriter to join the Great Wall studio just so he can write scripts for her. He famously said, "No one has really seen how beautiful Xi Shi (one of the renowned Four Beauties of ancient China) is, I think she should be just like Xia Meng to live up to her name." In 1980, she returned to the HK film industry by forming the Bluebird Movie Enterprises. As a producer with a heart for the community, she wanted to make a film on the Vietnam War and the many Vietnam War refugees migrating to Hong Kong. She approached director Ann Hui and produced the debut film Boat People (1982), a globally successful movie and landmark feature for Hong Kong New Wave, which won several awards including the best picture and best director in the second Hong Kong Film Award. Years later, Ann Hui looked back on her collaboration with Xia Meng, "I'm very grateful to her for allowing me to make what is probably the best film I've ever made in my life."

This is round 3 of the tournament. All other polls in this bracket can be found here. Please reblog with further support of your beloved hot sexy vintage woman.

[additional propaganda submitted under the cut.]

Alla Nazimova:

HOT as hell. GAY as hell. TALENTED as hell. Producer, director, writer, actress. A silent era superstar who is credited with having coined the term "sewing circle" as a code-word for gatherings of lesbian and bisexual women. Has been called "the founding mother of Sapphic Hollywood" and was the owner/operator of the Garden of Alla Hotel in West Hollywood, which she bought in 1919 and sold in 1928 after deciding she wanted to go back to Broadway. In addition to starring opposite Valentino in Camille, she also had an affair with BOTH of his wives (Jean Acker and Natacha Rambova). In her day, she was one of the most influential women in the business.

"Nazimova was primarily a star during the silent film era, and her career in film started when she was almost forty. She was openly bisexual, and was engaged in two lavender marriages during her life while she carried on relationships with women (including at least one, and possibly two, of Rudolph Valentino's wives). She was brilliant and an autodidact - when she first moved to the United States from Ukraine, she spoke no English, but taught herself "in about five months" and went on to work as a screenwriter (among other things). Her predilections lay in art film, and she's credited with starring in / producing / directing one of the first American art films, the adaptation of Oscar Wilde's play Salome (1923). She has an elegant and commanding presence in all of her films, and is an absolute sensation to watch in motion."

Gif link, another gif link

A great actress who also produced a great deal of her films, Nazimova is absolutely mesmerizing to watch. She was also bi and coined the phrase "sewing circle" for sapphic celebrities.

Xia Meng:

[alexbkrieger13]

I haven't read it yet so maybe it's just a summary from another interview or something, but I just saw this (it's in German)

https://twitter.com/queer_de/status/1739592775115366576

looks like a new interview!!!

Lesbian professional couple: "Women's football has always been a safe space"

Pernille Harder and Magdalena Eriksson from FC Bayern are not only top footballers. For the gay couple, their commitment to the LGBTI community is also important. An interview about kissing and fighting.

By Martin Moravec, dpa Today, 11:22 a.m.  9 Min.

The world-class footballers Pernille Harder (31) and Magdalena Eriksson (30) have been playing for FC Bayern Munich since this summer. Together. This was also very important for the Danish-Swedish couple in their private lives (queer.de reported). In an interview with the German Press Agency, Harder, a striker who has just recovered, and Eriksson, a defender who is currently injured, talk about communication in a long-distance relationship, Tetris while disposing of waste and two kisses that made history.

Ms. Eriksson, Ms. Harder, you met ten years ago at Linköpings FC in Sweden. What was your first impression of each other? Eriksson: I thought Pernille was great as a football player. She really impressed me, she was next level for me. I had never played with a player as good as her before. I was also surprised at how modest she was, even though she had so much talent. And she's a nice person too (laughs). We became good friends and then had a mutual group of friends who did a lot together. Harder: We are both very interested in mathematics and then we took a math course together. We got to know each other even better. After a few months we became a couple.

You were in a long-distance relationship for several years. How difficult was that for you as a couple?

Harder: It was difficult. You really have to work hard to make it work. But the time we were apart was also good for our relationship. Luckily, we developed in the same direction. The fact that we lived apart for three and a half years and are still together shows that our relationship is really deep and resilient. We both felt that this relationship was worth fighting for, even if we often only saw each other once a month. Magda often flew from London to Wolfsburg for a day and a half. Eriksson: You learn a lot about communication when you have a long-distance relationship, because that's the key. If you don't communicate, you actually have nothing because you don't see each other, you're not physically close. We've learned over the years that we had to get better at talking to each other and expressing our feelings with words. That helped us grow into our relationship. We communicate much better now than before our long-distance relationship. We have also become much stronger in this respect. The distance has disappeared at Chelsea FC, where they played together from 2020 to 2023, and now also at FC Bayern Munich. Did you have to get used to being so close to each other again? Eriksson: It really went from zero to 100 (laughs). Harder: The fact that we lived together for two years before I went to Wolfsburg in 2017 meant that we knew what our routines were. Eriksson: We had to sort out more practical things: who does the dishes, who does the laundry? Harder: And who takes out the garbage... (laughs) Eriksson: In a relationship, one partner always thinks that they have more to do with the housework than the other. How do you divide it up? Eriksson: In England I did the dishes and Pernille took out the garbage. Now it's more balanced. But there was a point where I thought she was playing Tetris with the garbage, she was trying so hard to balance garbage in the garbage can just so she didn't have to take it out straight away (laughs). Harder: It's funny how people can have different opinions about washing up, whether something is already clean or still not (laughs). But we're of the same opinion now. Apart from that, it was completely natural to get back into a common rhythm. Can you imagine leaving your job again to change clubs? Harder: I really like it here. FC Bayern is a great club, Munich is a great city. I'm enjoying it, even though I've been injured for two months now. We have a contract for the next three years and I can imagine staying here longer. Eriksson: It's the first time we've moved to a new club together. It's really nice to have the security of having Pernille with me. Football can be quite lonely when you're away from your family and maybe your partner. Having started a new adventure here with her is inspiring and cool. Like Pernille, I couldn't wish for a better environment. In 2019 during the World Cup, you kissed in the stadium after Eriksson's Sweden team won against Canada. It was just a kiss, but the photo of this public kiss caused a stir around the world. Harder: I didn't realize at first that the photo had such a wow effect because I was simply at the World Cup to support Magda. It wasn't our first public kiss after a game either, we had kissed a few times before (laughs). The photo quickly attracted a lot of attention on social media, became popular and attracted a lot of positive comments. It was interesting for me to see how much society apparently needed this image. Eriksson: We were surprised at how necessary such a photo was for football. We had also lived in our own bubble before and had been open about our relationship for a long time. But after that special moment, we realized how important it is to be visible, to do things that come naturally to us and to be proud of it. I think the best way to be an example to others is to express yourself and be yourself. That's exactly what we did. I'm happy and proud that the photo of our kiss became such a big topic because it was obviously something that football really needed.

As a teenager, did you have role models that you could look up to, that made you feel like your sexuality was perfectly fine the way it is? Eriksson: My older sister Amanda has always been very important to me. She encouraged me to be comfortable with who I am and not to think about what others might think of me. Growing up, she was always this calming voice that said, 'You are good the way you are. Be yourself.' I came out when I was 16, my sister was very important to me in the early years so that I didn't feel like an outsider. Harder: My parents, Annie and Mogens, always let me know that it doesn't matter who I love or who I bring home. They are happy as long as I am happy. I don't know if they expected me to bring a girl home one day (laughs), but they always made me feel like I could be who I am. I was really lucky in that respect. How far do you think football has come in terms of diversity and inclusion for women and men today? Eriksson: Women's football has always been a safe space for me and a place where I can be myself. I never felt like I had to hide any part of my sexuality or myself. I have never been discriminated against by fans because of my sexuality either. Harder: That applies to me too. I never felt like I had to hide, I can always be myself in football. Eriksson: There are more and more players who use their platforms and speak out on social issues. But we still have a lot of work ahead of us. We have to continue to create this safe space so that men's football becomes even more diverse, including in terms of sexual orientation. Harder: The next generation is growing up in an environment of increasing acceptance, which makes them more open. I therefore hope that men's football can continue to develop as a traditional sport. Unfortunately, there will probably still be people in the next ten or 20 years who are not happy about a gay man playing football. Is it easier to discuss such topics with younger people? Harder: I think that when you are younger, your own values ​​are not yet completely set, so you have the opportunity to provide input on what can and cannot be valuable for an open society. Older generations, on the other hand, often have their values ​​and opinions on certain things already set. Then it is more difficult to change your attitude. Do you find it strange that sexual openness is normal in women's football, but not in men's football? Eriksson: Women's football is a much younger sport. A lot has become entrenched in traditional men's football over the course of more than 100 years. Women's football is therefore more influenced by modern views. I hope that the more women's football grows, the more men's football can learn from it in certain aspects.

Your famous photo was taken at the 2019 World Cup. In 2023 at the World Cup there was a contrary photo when the now resigned Spanish association boss Luis Rubiales kissed national player Jennifer Hermoso on the mouth at the award ceremony. Hermoso saw the kiss as an act of violence, Rubiales, who also has to answer to the court, speaks of mutual consent. What do you think about that? Eriksson: They are the two ends of a spectrum. I always try to see things positively, even in a situation like this. Something has actually changed for the better for the Spanish national team since then. They started a fight against their association almost a year ago in which they wanted to bring about a change in the culture towards more safety and respect. They have now achieved that. I don't know if it would have been possible without this attack. Harder: The fact that the change has taken place shows how far we have come in society, how we are moving in the right direction. We do something when something unacceptable happens. The Spanish players fought for their cause, which was noticed worldwide, and brought about change. Eriksson: A kiss like the one at the World Cup this year might not have been a big deal ten years ago because times were different then and the team might not have felt they were in a position to openly address and criticize such a disgusting act. That kiss may have felt like a big step backwards for women's football at the time, but everything that has happened since then shows that we are becoming more and more confident and can really make our voices heard if we want to.

[lurkingshan]

Japanese QL Corner

ICYMI: There are so many Japanese qls airing weekly, so I’m going to start posting this little round up at the end of each week. Most of these shows are on Gaga and I highly recommend watching!

Tsukuritai Onna to Tabetai Onna 2

Besties, I screamed!!! We were blessed with episodes 9-12 of this fantastic second season this week, and we finally reached the moment we've been building toward for so long. I AM SO PROUD OF KASUGA AND NOMOTO. Amazing job using your words, ladies. And I loved the way they tied Kasuga's family plot in here, with her need to move giving her the motivation to finally tell Nomoto what she wants. Nomoto was ready for it, too, and already planning to confess on her own (still not over that adorable screamsqueal she let out after inviting Kasuga for Valentines dinner). I can't wait for them to buy a big house, invite Nagumo and Yako to live with them, and start their very own lesbian commune where every meal is amazing.

Chaser Game W

I did some investigating this week because the way these characters are written was just not making sense to me. And as it happens, not only is this show about women written by a male screenwriter, it was adapted from a het manga! Itsuki's character was originally a heterosexual man. Let me tell ya, this made a lot click into place for me. Trust a male writer to take a het romance about power dynamics, gender swap one of the characters to make it a gl, and fail to adjust the characterizations and plot for the completely different power dynamics and communication styles that would entail. It doesn’t explain all the issues with the writing, but it sure does explain a lot about the puzzling lack of feelings processing and communication between these two women. Despite that messiness, I will finish watching this one to support the ratings so we get more gls soon.

My Strawberry Film

What we got here is a love chain of pain. Chika loves Ryo, but Ryo loves Hikaru, and Hikaru is fixated on Minami. Everyone is pining and there is no way for everyone to get what they want. A classic high school angst set up, though admittedly not my favorite kind of story. I will continue to hope that Chika experiences an awakening and we end up with both a bl and a gl pair in this show. I did not expect them to find Minami that easily (or that she would be their peer), so I'm curious to see where they take the plot for this one.

Sukiyanen Kedo Do Yaro ka

Last week I said I was wary of them bringing Mizuki back into the mix to interfere in the relationship, and as expected I was irritated with the way the show used him in this week's episode. I like where that final conversation between Sakae and Soga ended up, but I didn't care for the way Mizuki was used to interfere. It felt like a retread of the last couple weeks, didn't accomplish anything new for those relationships, and just made Sakae seem kind of weak willed and immature. Sakae was not feeling confident about Soga's feelings because he had not communicated clearly, but every time Soga tried to talk to him, Sakae just stood there and let Mizuki get in the way. I would have liked to see him draw a firmer boundary with Mizuki and talk to Soga like an adult, but instead he was wavering through most of the episode and not giving Soga the chance to explain things. It was an annoying dynamic and I hope it's actually over. But of course, Mizuki hasn't left yet and the episode didn't allow us more than a brief happy moment before flashing forward to a breakup, so we're clearly in for more seesaw shenanigans before this ends.

Perfect Propose

I love this show, y'all. I already posted a little love note to this episode, which I thought was so smart and authentic in the way it depicted Hiro's ongoing struggles with work, his burnout, and his fear about moving on (also shoutout to this post from @befuddledcinnamonroll for a great overview on why the storytelling choices are so effective). And for an episode where Hiro and Kai shared only a couple scenes, it got a surprising amount of relationship development done, as Hiro became more aware of his growing feelings for Kai and Kai made his intentions and his boundaries clear. I love that he put the ball firmly in Hiro's court to decide what he wants and ask for it, and I am so looking forward to seeing Hiro run next week. If only I could get another six episodes, everything here would be perfect.

Ossan's Love Returns

I'll be honest, this show has been kinda wobbly for me in the back half. It feels like they put too many balls in the air and are not quite sure how to land them all. For one, I am just not nearly as invested in this Izumi/Kiku loveline as the show clearly wants me to be--I've been shipping Kiku x Moving On the whole time and was hopeful we may be finally getting there, but it just keeps coming back around. Takegawa's story seems to have gotten lost somewhere along the way, and I was so confused by some of the storytelling choices re: Kurosawa's plot this week that I had to convene @twig-tea and @my-rose-tinted-glasses, and our collective brain power still couldn't quite piece together the show's intent. I loved the first stretch of the episode with the whole squad assembling to puzzle through what they know about Chief's health woes and support him, but then they lost me with that goodbye video sequence immediately followed by a one month later psyche! moment. If they are not killing Kurosawa off (which I don't think they are) the very overwrought final scenes with him, Haruta, and Maki hit pretty weird. Having now seen the end scene that undercuts it all, it could be that it was meant to feel like comedic melodrama, but in the absence of any solid reassurance to the audience that the health threat was not real, that did not really land. All that said, I still love all of these characters and it's been a real delight to see Haruta and Maki settle into their married life, so I'm still very happy to be watching and looking forward to how they wrap up.

[panther-os]

Full Name and Family Headcanons

For the extended 141 family plus the fruity bastard betrayer (derogatory (affectionate)), some more complete than others. If any of this is directly contradicted by canon, I don't care, that's why they're headcanons

Soap

John Steven Donald MacTavish

Two loving parents, the youngest with at least 3 older siblings, all sisters. Closely enough related to the Chief of the Name and Arms of MacTavish to a) be considered low upper class and b) know his exact place in the line of hereditary succession. Also the kilt he wears on special occasions is always the modern MacTavish tartan, do your research. Grew up in Bonnyrigg outside Edinburgh and is emotionally attached to Sir Salter Scott

Ghost

Simon Lorcán Riley

Same family and circumstances as '09 Ghost (extremely poor, abusive dad, oldest of two boys), but give him loving maternal grandparents and three cousins. He's Irish by ethnicity and heritage, which a few family members kept alive and passed down to him, but British by nationality. His great-great-(great-?)grandparents migrated to Manchester during the Great Hunger, but his aunt moved back to Ballylongford where some of the family originally lived. His cousins and maternal grandmother are all alive but think he's dead and he keeps it that way for their safety. His middle name is after his maternal grandfather who died when he was young and was given to him by his grandma. I do also hc he's trans and have a deadname headcanon for him but I don't share those. The specific neighborhood he grew up in inside Manchester was Beswick

Gaz

Kyle Adam Garrick

Grew up in Brixton in London, relatively poor with two loving but working parents, but also with an enormous tight-knit community and more neighborhood aunties and uncles and cousins than he knew what to do with. Has one baby sister but she's 20 years younger than him so she's a baby baby and he was already enlisted and moved out when she was born

Price

John Matthew Price

Grew up in Anfield in Liverpool, near the football stadium. Avid fan, ropes Ghost into Liverpool vs Man United debates every season. Ghost doesn't even like football. Middle class, working dad and stay at home mom, older sister, younger sister

Roach

Gary Parker Sanderson

Working poor, older sister, younger brother

Laswell

Katherine Emma Laswell

Middle class child of divorce, no step-siblings or step-parents, lesbian wine aunt who's basically Kate Kane (coincidentally Kate's favorite superhero)

Nikolai

Nikolai Antonovich Pokrovsky

Absent parents, one younger sister

Farah

Farah Leyla Karim

Canon family - two loving parents killed by AQ, one older brother. Her middle name is the Georgian spelling of the Arabic name Layla (see my post about Urzikstan and Abkhazia for why this spelling)

Alex

Alexander Jeremiah Keller

Two older sisters, two triplet sisters (one an hour older, one three hours younger), two younger sisters, single mom, also raised by aunt and grandmother

Alejandro

Alejandro Ernesto Vargas Leon

Grew up working poor, dad died when he was three, mom had to work, older brother 4ys older took jobs for the cartel starting at 12-ish to make ends meet and left Ale as the "man of the house" at 8. Also has one 4ys younger sister (same dad, mom was pregnant) and 12ys younger twin baby brothers (different dad who chose not to be in the picture, oopsie babies). He loves the twins but wants to hang them upside down by their shoelaces more often than not, his sister is just as mischievous but more mature and subtle about it which made her easier to raise

Rudy

Rodolfo Ildefonso Parra Rosales

Born into a poor family, cartel killed his parents when he was three, adopted by a single mom after that. His new family is unrelated to the Cartel but his bisabuela is just as feared and respected as El Sin Nombre and La Araña before her, if not more in some parts of the city. Learned his best chancla skills from her. Only child but grew up in a massive multigenerational multifamily home with at least 20 older cousins - was the baby until he was 7 and now he's the second youngest

Graves

Phillip Windsor Graves

Upper class, born to parents who had an heir to the company because it was expected of them but who didn't actually want or like kids. Essentially raised by a rotating cast of nannies

[thebluestbluewords]

And they were roommates

I’m having fun with the rise of red trailer! This movie is going to be absolutely bonkers and I’m going to have a great time. Also I think Red and Chloe should be in lesbians together.

"Who are you?" 

The girl jerks her head up from her paint. Her lips are red, not like blood, but like the last-season cherry red lip tints that were on trend before the current sheer glitter gloss phase swept in. "I'm your new roommate." 

Chloe stops. She’s— 

She’s misheard something. The girl must mean dorm mate, or neighbor, or else there’s been some sort of mistake. Sure, she’s living in a double room as just one student right now, but that’s because nobody else in her class needs the accessible shower on this floor. Unless this new girl also has a prosthetic? She can’t count that out yet. Maybe there’s just been a communication error. "My what?" 

The girl grins, and yeah, that’s definitely cherry-red lipstick. So last season. "Roommate. You have those here, right?" 

Chloe takes a second to assess the possibility that she’s been hit on the head and this is all a hallucination. Sure, she’s out of her room later than she’s strictly supposed to be, but there’s nobody but this girl around who could have hit her, and she’s been up late studying, not fencing. Her swords aren’t even out of their cases yet. 

The odds that this hot-but-weird girl is just a concussion- induced hallucination are low. Chloe pinches her own arm, subtly. Yeah, ouch. Odds of a hallucination are less than 5%, and dropping further the longer the girl stands here staring.  "Yeah, but this isn't my room. This is a hallway." 

Cherry-red rolls her eyes. Her hair is red too. Same shade, like she bathes in it. "Outside our room." 

"Okay,” Chloe admits, because yes, this girl is in almost the right place, if she really is who she says, and the school really gave her a roommate with no warning. “But this still isn't our room. You can't paint the hallways just because they're outside our room. It's against the rules, and also, it stinks. Can't you open a window before you vandalize school property?" 

"No." 

Maybe the fumes are what’s causing the hallucination. "Fine, then I'll do it." 

Red flinches forward. "No! No. You can't." 

Well, isn’t that something. Little miss trouble doesn’t want the whole school smelling her spray paint stunt yet. "Why not?" 

Chloe’s watching the girl’s face, so she sees the moment of hesitation before Red opens her mouth. "Because it's nighttime. Duh.”

Her mother always says that it’s important to have courage, so Chloe pushes. In the form of rolling her eyes. And popping her hip. She’s going to look like the most annoying, stuck-up princess ever, and then once her maybe-roommate gets angry enough, she’ll show her hand. "So? It's September. It's not too cold out. We're allowed to open the windows for fresh air, and besides, even if we weren't, you don't seem to care too much for the rules."

"I care about one set of rules. Mine." 

Chloe turns to the window, but she keeps the girl in the corner of her eye. "Cool. I care about being able to breathe in here, so I'm opening the window." 

She’s lucky that she catches the flinch. Red is good at keeping a straight face, even with paint cans in each hand and an unknown stranger harassing her about her artistic hallway design choices. 

"Fine,” Red casts her eyes up to the ceiling like she’s annoyed, instead of afraid. Or maybe she really is annoyed, and Chloe is just wildly misreading the situation. “Don't come crying to me when your face gets eaten."

"My—“ don’t think about kissing her. Don’t think about kissing her. Don’t. Throwing herself face-first onto that red smirk is the last thing that Chloe needs to do right now. Even though it would feel good and probably distract the girl from the whole vandalism thing. “My what?" 

Red throws Chloe a look like she knows exactly what she’s been failing not to think about. "Your face. Eaten off. By the toves." 

"Sorry, the what?" 

"The toves,” Red repeats, like Chloe’s the fool for not knowing what a tove is. “They're wonderland creatures, you wouldn't get it anyway. Just don’t worry about it.” The smirk is back. “Go ahead, open up that window. See where it gets you.” 

Wonderland. Red. 

Ohh, this girl is from the Red Queen’s court. The notorious topsy-turvy upside-down land where rules aren’t real, and if they’re not, then they’ve got to be followed anyway. Chloe’s never been allowed to travel to wonderland herself, but she’s got a souvenir snowglobe that her brother brought back for her un-birthday when she was ten, so she likes to think of herself as a little bit of a multicultural expert.   "If they're from wonderland, then why are they here?" 

Red spins one of her paint cans over the back of her hand. She’s not looking at Chloe anymore. Not that Chloe wants to be looked at. She’s cool, and calm, and she’s totally not feeling anything like butterflies in her belly from the way Red’s lips curve up at the corner.  

"My mom."

"This is a boarding school,” Chloe points out, only because it’s weird to have parents at school. Not because she wants Red to look at her again. “Why would your mom be here?" 

"To visit me?" Red’s voice drips with condescension. “Duh?” 

Right. 

Bubbly princess time. 

Chloe smiles, and forces the threat of a giggle into her tone. "That's fair. I deserve that one. Are you going to go inside our room, or just stay out here in the hallway?" 

Red spurts a little heart of paint around her own reflection in the hall mirror. "I don't have a key. Yet." 

"Did Fairy Godmother check you in? Or– Headmaster Uma. She's the one to see about that. She’s really cool, she probably won’t even give you trouble over showing up so late.” 

Another heart. This time it’s over her face. "She's dealing with my mom." 

There’s a message there, and Chloe’s not dumb enough to miss the fact that her new roommate, vandal or not, doesn’t want to talk about it. "Oh. Okay. I guess I can let us both in for tonight." 

Red adds a little lightning bolt from her other can, bisecting the hearts. “Much appreciated, princess. I’ll try not to get paint on your bed.”

[alexissara]

Play Thirsty Sword Lesbians

So on bird app I talked about how many community copies of Thirsty Sword Lesbians there was and now 100s of people have claimed community copies of the game [Note Community Copies are free copies of PDFs which are on many itch.io TTRPGs and even community made TSL playbooks]. Since a ton more people now have access to my favorite game and one I've worked on for every edition so far as well as making a fan playbook, I wanted to talk about what is special about the system, what makes me love it so much, and why you might want to give it a try.

Thirsty Sword Lesbians is a simple game to understand but it refines even the most simple parts of it's design to make a better experience. In Thirsty Sword Lesbian's there is no failure or success. You roll d26 plus your modifier then you are either given a down beat, a mixed beat, or an upbeat. None of these mean you did what you intended. You can have a down beat where you knocked out the guard you had been trying to knock out but it turns out she was your girlfriends sister and without the context she just witnessed you assaulting her family. You may get an upbeat trying to do something and trip and fall and end up landing perfectly knocking away the sacred stone that the villain needs to turn the world into skeletons, with witnesses now thinking your amazing where in truth you have never quite been good at this.

Playbooks are designed with great intentionality to them each is designed with an emotional conflict at the heart. Where classes and playbooks can often be more like picking your powerset, in TSL your picking a struggle. It's not that other things might not be also bothering you but the conflict is something internally you are dealing with that's standing above the rest of the other conflicts you might have. This is an element that just feels very queer, we all have our problems, our traumas, and we work through them together. Each playbook also has a core mechanic that makes it stand out from the others, these have a narrative weight and a textual weight. These core mechanics typically take the form as some advantageous ability but are also deeply rooted in your conflict. They encourage you as a player to roleplay just by using the most basic aspect of your character.

I have to be real though, the thing that first made me fall head over heels with Thirsty Sword Lesbians was how funny and cool the adventures were. When I was reading the playtest version of the game, before I was brought on to write Yuisa Revolution and later The Matriarch, I was just playing a one shot and thought the name sounded fun. I read Best Day Of Their Life and just knew, this game was gonna be utterly my shit. At first I was just skimming like I do with most TTRPGs at first glance, but I read the first couple lines of the setting and I decided "fuck, I have to read all of this." I read the whole thing, made a character for my one shot and right after that session signed up to run multiple one shots of the game so others could get to play it because I loved it so much.

I don't normally like to play in premade settings but each of these are simple enough to really build on with enough going on that made it easier to run if you didn't want to get super creative and make a bunch of new shit. It really made me fall in love with setting writing in a way I just didn't before. I had gotten asked to work on Mutants and Master Minds before I TSL but I thought it was so boring working on the setting I quit and left money on the table. However, when April approached me to write a setting, I said yes, right away, no hesitation and now I work in TTRPG design. I had done TTRPG design work before but I wasn't locked in after quitting comics, it was how exciting the settings were that got me so inspired to create.

While many refer to Thirsty Sword Lesbians as a Powered By The Apocalypse game and by all means it is in a lot of senses, I think Powered By Lesbians is a very distinct flavor. It cuts out everything bad about PBTA and adds so much to the table. Chiefly among them is the smitten mechanic which is a mechanic I wish like every game had. It is one of the most clever pieces of game design ever convinced of. Being smitten has you do a moment of dramatic introspection, while I am one for more bright and cheery and less drama focused stuff, it's amazingly juicy hooks for a GM to get into. It not only allows you to put out your characters personal doubts about a potential relationship but it also says to the GM and everyone playing "I like this character, I want to see more of them, I want to explore where this goes." It's also in addition a way for players to tell each other "I want to be romantic with your character" and if they chose to get smitten back it's mechanically saying without even needing an out of game chat "Let's roleplay some romance."

Thirsty Sword Lesbians is really something special, I could gush on and on but already a lot given I worked on it and am currently working on it but I just wanted to talk about why the system is special to me. I hope I got you interested and I don't make any royalties on TSL sales [yet] so like I am not really biased here outside of the pages I worked on and that I made friends with a lot of folks who worked on it over my time working on it and after. Go clash swords and cross hearts.

[life-in-the-monster-haus]

omg not u believing a quiz in a website made by a third party company solely for the purpose of a failed giveaway in australia that mixes up the movie and cartoon/doll continuities over an actual leaked bible from a huge 4chan (not reddit!) nickelodeon leak that matches up with stuff released after it that's firmly believed by all the trusted doll leak sources...

and what was that about twyla and venus?

Why is it y’all only have the guts to air your greviences to me on anon? I wont block you for disagreeing with me, I’m not sensitive or a wuss and I’m much more inclined to be polite to someone with a name and not a faceless nobody. Just an FYI.

An international branch of Mattel is a way more reliable source than Reddit & if you think it’s a flex telling me the “leaked show Bible” came from 4chan & NOT Reddit, BOY have I got some news for you about the legitimacy of 4chan.

Yes, the Live Action Movie & The Show have different canons… is there a point to that statement or are we just saying the obvious? Not everything is going to be quadruple confirmed in canon like Draculaura being Asian or Frankie being nonbinary (movie character, actor, TV character, voice actor) all things won’t be hammered in that hard so we gotta take what we can get and international monster high is fair game because Mattel has to approve everything they do.

That leaked show “Bible” is sketchy as hell & no Monster High enthusiast worth their salt has taken it seriously. If you know anything about children’s media there is a lot of language used in it that is not Nickelodeon appropriate and I’m not the only one who thinks so. We don’t know where it came from, who wrote it or who posted it. Y’all saw something that looks slightly official and ran with it and that my darlings is a fool’s errand.

Y’all need to be more critical of the information you consume and perpetuate. “You should believe in nothing that you hear and only half of what you see- Edgar Allen Poe.”

And we need to stop screaming theories as if they are canon. I PERSONALLY head canon Twyla & Venus as lesbians (not together, Twyla is obviously in love with Howleen) because UNLIKE Clawdeen who has shown an interest in boys in previous generations they have never shown an interest in actual boys as far as I know. (I also made a chart of Clawdeen being attracted to girls for equal measure) that is how I see them, I don’t go shooting off that, that is canon information.

I know a lot of you desperately want Clawdeen to be a lesbian, I am very, painfully aware of this head canon but it is just that! A head canon! Yes it’s a very popular & persistent head canon but it’s a head canon nonetheless. G3 Clawdeen appears to have a crush on Deuce, now we don’t have time to unpack that weird ass ship but it does rule out Clawdeen as a lesbian. It does NOT however mean she is straight! Clawdeen could very well be Bi or Pan or any other sapphic inclusive sexuality. I PERSONALLY see her as Bi (for the reasons stated above) but you don’t see me claiming it’s canon.

“But Jess! What about compulsory heterosexuality!” - Clawdeen was created by a gay man. Do y’all really think a member of the LGBTQA+ community would put her through something that was hell for so many of us!? I highly doubt it.

I do not make the canon, I just study and report the canon, if had my way everyone would be fatter, browner and gayer.

Please, for the love of your deity of choice: stop believing everything you read, always ask for a source and stop being so cool with people making fake leaks it’s not some fun new fad it’s intentionally misleading & a little cruel to those of us who aren’t so great at social cues.

Mattel makes the canon & if it’s not from Mattel it’s probably not real.

[inbetweenknacksandnooks]

Heya! Gosh, you were really over-achevieving with those headcanons, huh? It's great to see! (As long as you're fine with it and don't get overwhelmed/burnt-out ofc)

I was kind of wondering what your favorite girlies are! So is it alright if you tell?

It can be HSR, ZZZ, or both!

—🔺️

Glad you saw my little headcanon work! I wasn't getting burnt out, so much as I was worrying about my works being repetitive/bland to read, since I made all the HSRs in one night and stuff...

And sure!

For HSR I have... too many, I think... I don't really have one singular one I obsess over, so much as I have a bunch of gals that I say, "Awe! Look at the cute idiot babygirl! I luv her so much! Awee! She so dummy! HEY! BACK OFF FROM HER! I STF I WILL FIGHT YOU! GO AWAY!" Whenever there's interaction with them.

For HSR there's Asta, though I think I mostly like her backstory and her Character Event Quest because she sadly doesn't get all that much interaction throughout the game :<.

She'd be such a caring girlfriend, though! She's probably never had someone who's genuinely wanted to date her for her, so she's constantly overanalyzing everything that she and you do. She probably tries her best to have good communication, but frets and worries if it's something too small, and probably blames herself for the smallest things, like if you were to get a migraine, or are pushing yourself at work a lot and come home late.

That's something she'll need to work on a bit, but she'll catch on if you're clear about what you say, and a simple, "I'll tell you if I need some space, or if I have a migraine, so you don't have to guess." Should put her at ease.

March is so silly, and I adore teasing her in-game, her reactions are incredibly cute and amusing. And the way that she just basks in the fact that you're praising her in the new Marcher event is honestly so, so cute! If there was ever a choice between teasing and praising, I'm not so sure I'd be able to choose between the two.

She'd absolutely be such a fun girlfriend to have! I like taking walks a lot, and it would be really cool to go sightseeing or something with her!

Stelle is the little idiot-jokester... I love her corny face so much. And. That. Voice! Have you HEARD it!?

I took a bunch of recordings of her voice, at first it was mostly because it was so rare for her to talk, but later it was because of how it sounded! I began to notice during the Ruan Mei event, when Stelle's choices weren't matching with her words. Then in Fyxstroll Garden Quest, and now in 2.4 she's more vocal than ever! It's great!

She's also such a mischievous little goober! If she had earned any less than 2 Praise-of-High-Morals during her lifetime, she'd totally be doing poorly-done graffiti, and I would 100% follow along!

Topaz, Robin, and Firefly are some standouts. I just keep. Coming. Back to them.

Topaz was the first banner I ever rolled on after getting HSR, when I was a confused little nugget that had no clue how to work this new UI, and... I failed and got Yanqing instead...

Robin was the 2nd banner I rolled on, before I even hit the Luofu. I was majorly confused about her, but caught wind of the Robin!Lesbian?! Drama and defended her by.... ignoring the ones in denial, because everyone else argued before me, and also better than me, so I stayed quiet, but began to learn about her on the side.

Long story short, I rolled for her and got... Gepard.

Finally, I reached Penacony. And really, really ended up falling pretty hard for Firefly. Robin was great, but I didn't get to interact with her all that much :<

Firefly, though...

Throughout your journey on The Astral Express, we've visited many places. And while some journeys collided in opposition, others coalesced for a common goal, journeying with Firefly and going on little dates with her...

Felt like the first time I was exploring someone else's world.

Once I heard Firefly's banner was coming up, I saved like 50 bucks, and a bunch of Stellar Jades and got...

Gepard.

Again.

Then I rolled and got Firefly 50 warps later :D!

I like lots of the HSR girlies, but these are some of the more special ones.

Now for Zenless...

None of them are specially special, but I adore Anby so much! I want to go on a movie date and get some really great junk food with her!

I love characters that have this straight-forward, but not-quite-all-there sort of brainspace. I really, really want to see more of Anby!

Nicol is pretty neat, too, though I mostly have a little attachment to her because, just like with Anby, I insta-upgraded her as soon as I could. I don't care if neither are going to be useful longterm, my wifies. Need. Their. Promotion!

I want to wait a while before anything else. Currently she's at Cinema level 5 with the banner.

Oh, who's banner by the way—?

Zhu Yuan's.

She and Grace are two characters that I like pretty-well. I think it's mostly the promotional material (since I sadly haven't gotten to their parts in-game yet :( ).

So much personality oozes from what they do, what they love, and how they interact with the world.

Once again, though, I really love them, but I can't vocalize why until I see them in-game.

B-b-b-booonuss rooound!

I'm never going to do Genshin Impact, but screw you, I'm giving you the ladies I love from there, too!

Fun-fact:

I've only played Genshin three times.

Each time was because of 1 character.

I love 5 of them.

Let's start.

I first started playing because I was reading TV Tropes to see what Genshin was all about, and went into the character section to check out some of them, because like 3 of my friends were just like, "Yoooooo! This dude character has a jiggly BULDGE!"

"Okay?"

"AAAAA!"

Thus. I stumbled upon Collei. Then, I read her manga. Then fanfiction. Then I checked out some of her art.

I heard there was an event going on at that time where you could get a free Collei.

I assumed it was limited time event, and downloaded the game. Wow... it sure is taking a lot of gigs... even more than FateGO and the Yu-Gi-Oh card game combined... it's still going....

Anyway, after hopping on, not understanding anything about what anyone was saying and getting a Noelle I turned the game off to go to sleep.

I woke up, got my wings from Amber, and tried to do this quest for this Pirate Dude in Fantasy Police Force.

Then I began to travel and died by a level 12 Hillichurl.

"Too bad there's no automatic healing system and no quick-telwports..." I grumble to myself, not realizing that there are, in-fact, quick-teleports.

I dropped the game after that, but I still really love Collei.

I like Amber because she's Collei's best friend and helped her through serious trauma, and also from a fanfic I once read.

I liked Amber enough to make an OC similar to Collei, except her trauma isn't very traumatic, and she lives in the forest with her mother and people who kidnapped her when she was a child.

Then Jean.

I really like Jean

Funfact: she's extremely reminiscent of my first favorite Fate GO character: Chevalier D'eon.

Additional fun-fact: The first X Reader I read was a Jean x Reader headcanons!

She's so baby, and I want to hug and cuddle all her stress away!

Arle. Fricken. Cchinno. Arlecchino.

I don't think you know how many Arlecchino x Fem bots there are on Character AI. It was SCARAMOUCHE level (well, maybe half his level, but that's still a ton!)

I kept seeing various Arlecchino x Fem!User bots over and over, and so... I clicked, and chatted, and chatted with various others.

It was only when I heard her in relation to Genshin that I found out, "Wait? She's an already-established character?" And the rabbit hole was jumped down yet again.

Only this time I burrowed.

I picked up the game again, for a day, and spread the contagious dirt into my best friend's eyes (as I often do), until she was infected.

Then we were making regions and OCs, and Archons.

Very fun.

I love Arlecchino, and, though I'll never get her, she'll likely be my first thought whenever someone mentions Genshin.

Lastly, and most-recent:

Mavuika!

I don't know a lot about her... but... those sunglasseeessss! Those EYES! That zipper that I somehow didn't notice until someone mentioned it. Those eyes! Gooooshhhh! I really just want to push her into a wall and nuzzle my head right into her throat while she squeezes me tight!

Legit thinking about installing Genshin for a 3rd time, just for her.

A/N:

Wow! All of that was super-long and unhinged.

Why am I like this?

[american-dream-novel]

REVIEW: The Ex-Girlfriend of My Ex-Girlfriend Is My Girlfriend by Maddy Court

Whenever I delve into a new project, I make serious considerations about what research is necessary for it. What areas do I lack knowledge in? What is the project focused on, and can I answer to those themes intelligently? The next step is to start finding books I feel might answer those questions and get reading.

When it comes to American Dream, I knew I would have to delve into gender and sexuality. In particular, lesbian identities and experiences, especially those that dyke/butches, etc. experience. I identify as bisexual, but there is something within the dyke/butch/masc labels that, while I do not feel comfortable taking up as my own, appeal to me and my identity.

Because of this and the centrality of the characters' lesbianism — I knew I had to read up. I checked out The Ex-Girlfriend of My Ex-Girlfriend Is My Girlfriend without knowing it was actually dating advice for queer folk. Nevertheless, it proved to be informative!

I read all of Maddy Court's (and friends) advice in one sitting. I'm currently going through a weird phase in my own romantic life — breaking up with my partner of 3 years, exploring polyamory & generally what I want out of relationships, discovering I may not be as sex-apathetic as I’d thought — so on a personal level, Court's book was extremely helpful. If you're a queer person, the book covers everything from new love, getting over someone, finding your place in the community, coming out, etc. There's a little something for everyone. It was comforting, even though I've been out for 5ish years, to read something written for you in mind.

What shocked me the most about reading TEGOMEGIMG (lol) is that I forgot straight people get all these resources about love, relationships, etc. and we don't have that same wealth of resources, which is especially frustrating as our love inherently exist outside of what our society deems "normal" or "acceptable" or the "status quo." This book did a phenomenal job of reminding me that I may be queer, but I'm human, too. In that way, I cannot recommend this book enough!

TAKEAWAYS & IMPORTANT INFORMATION:

On a I'm-researching-for-a-book level, I would not say that this does the job except in a very particular way. This isn't a problem! I'm the dumbass who didn't read the description before checking it out lol. For research purposes, though, these are the things I found most informative:

Transmisogyny is alive and well in the queer community! As a trans masc individual, I'm keenly aware that the experiences of trans femmes/trans women are different from my own, and given Judi is a trans woman (a particularly masc-presenting one at that), the book opened my eyes to some considerations I should have when writing her, what her experiences might be realistically, etc. Central to her character is her feelings of alienation and loneliness. What role would her experiences in queer, sapphic communities have in those feelings? I want things to be nuanced of course, and the question from Ex-Girlfriend that deals specifically with these experiences and frustrations (beautifully answered to by Mey Rude) points to some of those considerations in representation.

The difficulties in finding your queer community, even when you move to a new place or think you've found some great people. Each of the main characters face some level of alienation, both self-imposed but also as a result of their experiences. Eddie really struggles with finding his place, especially in rural Michigan, and I found Maddy's perspective as a midwestern queer illuminating — how her dating life has adapted to the fact that her pool of queer friends and acquaintances isn't terribly large, so she's accepted that LDRs are going to be common in her life.

Compulsive heterosexuality. While I wouldn't call it a central part of Birdie, I do want to explore that part of her. When the story starts, she's with a man — her best friend of 6-8 years, someone she grew to love over time and found attractive. She thinks of him as the one-off guy, even though she's had other partners in the past that were men. Overall, the q's regarding comp het and internalized homophobia were illuminating in this regard, especially as I struggle with both myself.

FINAL REVIEW:

9/10, but not very useful for the purposes of researching queer identities and representation. I would recommend the book to literally anyone — it's such a short read, and you'll walk away with a leveler-head. You'll feel like you're filled up with all this good advice, all this love for yourself, your friends, for the people you will meet. The book soothed a lot of my anxieties, some I hadn't even been able to recognize. For what it is, Maddy Court's The Ex-Girlfriend of My Ex-Girlfriend Is My Girlfriend does exactly what it set out to do. In that way, there's not much criticism to give.

[urlocalnonbinarybastardwrites]

Heyy ive requested a ship paring for outsiders before but i was wondering if you could do one for PJO! Ill paste all the info from my old one plus some new stuff(pink) since it would be PJO universe :)

My name is Claire, im 5’2 and midsized. Im 15 turning 16. I have dirty blonde hair that had highlights n copper lowlights :)im getting it dyed a more strawberry blonde color soon. its a couple inches past my shoulders and its about 2a i would say :) My typical clothes are sporty but im trying to go for a more clean girl/neutral soft girl look more recently. I have blue grey eyes and light freckles on my nose, i wear clear glasses and usually brown mascara!

I enjoy weightlifting, reading, gaming, and sun bathing :) im working as a life guard this summer as i grew up swimming and used to be on a swim team! My friends would describe me as smart, funny, and loud loll, i get very talkative sometimes when im interested! I shut down completely when im upset and i have issues communicating my emotions

Im an ENFJ which is Extrovert, intuitive(creative, more in my head day dreaming) ,feeling (heart over head), and judging(more organized and neat)

I have 3 older brothers who all wrestled, did football, were really jocky so i am used to sibling violence lolll

Ive taken multiple quizzes and tests as well as asked all my friends and they think i would be in Aphrodite’s cabin or Athenas :)

I wrestle, do softball, and im thinking about joining cross country! Although i have asthmaaa

I wouldnt participate in capture rhe flag a lot i currently have a cyst in my knee meniscus that causes a lot of pain (rip) or if i did i would most likely be an archer or something not close combat

Im bisexual with no preference, my type for guys is gentle buff giants and for women is mean buff lesbians haha

I hope i gave you enough info! Your writing is amazing and i love seeing your outsiders skits as well, when i see you posted it makes my day! :)

I’m glad you liked my skit! ♥️♥️♥️

Your PJO ship: Clarisse La Rue luckkkkkkkky

(I think the main reason I shipped you with her above anyone else is I think that your personalities and styles would conflict really well. Like you would be an emotionally stable couple and style wise you both look really good together, her and her masculine army style and you with your more clean girl/soft girl style. I think that you could make her a nicer person and I think she could teach you more about fighting and speaking of which I could totally see talk excersizing/weightlifting/sparring together and being on a similar skill level with different styles of fighting. Tbh I also get sweet enemies to lovers tension between yall. You guys just have a really great mutually beneficial relationship)

[wildissylupus]

Hi! i know you already get those asks but i really want to vent: i think them making pharmercy canon now would not be satisfating for me - im a lesbian, i feel like there was no indication since the game release that they have anything for each other, if anything mercy was very close to genji, they were very sutil with that, and all pharmercy 'flirt' lines are so recent feels like rushed. One of my favorite lesbian ships ever is Caitlyn and Vi from league, they construed they relationship for YEARs, from partners to lovers and just NOW in 2023 after years and everything they confirmed both as lesbians and even in Arcane they doing great with their romance. another exemple is leona and diana and killjoy with reze in valorant, compared with overwatch feels like they dont know how to develop a organic/fresh relationship between their female characters from the game, rigth now looks just pandering for me.

And yeah I do see where your coming from, Gency has had years of build up in canon while Pharmercy has just started being pushed. Though because of the fact that in the past we've seen OW writers say that they ship Pharmercy I don't think it pandering exactly. I think it's more wish fulfilment.

I also agree with what you're saying about what happened in other games when it comes to LGBTQ+ rep, those ships have had build up. To the point where I, a person who doesn't play either game, know what your talking about. I myself am also a lesbian and I have recognized Pharah as lesbian coded since I first got into Overwatch, which was back in 2016, they've had plenty of time to add things like voice lines or lore to this relationship but they haven't. I looked up their old Overwatch 1 interactions for this post and basically none of them have that flirting vibe that the new voice lines have, most of the personal ones being Mercy saying how she thinks Ana would be proud of Pharah and Pharah just going "are we talking about the same person here?"

Also I've stated it briefly in other posts on Pharmercy but I just don't think they would work, at least they wouldn't stay a couple for a long time. A big thing that people forget when it comes to Pharmercy is that Angela has a lot of issues she needs to sort out, one of those being her terrible communication skills and her ability to say goodbye to people. The reason this is important is because Fareeha has abandonment issues, and we see how Angela's inability to communicate already affects their relationship in "As You Are", we clearly see that Angela leaving without saying goodbye affected Pharah.

This also culminates into this being a story where one person has to wait for the other to sort out their issues, which is something I don't want for Pharah. This plot line with Gency works because it's mutual. If Pharah is going to be with someone I either want them to be dealing with something that Pharah can actually help with (like Symmetra and her inevitable identity crisis) or for her partner to be just as sure of herself as Pharah is (like Sombra or Kiriko).

Again I don't want Pharah to have to wait for Angela to get her issues sorted out, she already has to wait for her mother to come back, she shouldn't have to wait for her romantic life either, and Angela's problems are not something Pharah is really equipped to help with. We actually see how Genji and Angela talk while Pharah tends to offer silent support.

I don't hate Pharmercy and under different circumstances I think they would work, however, not only are the writers kind of fumbling to get me invested but Pharah and Mercy have so many things working against them on a personal level. Not only that but they're fundementally different morally, I think a lot of people forget that Angela doesn't like helix calling them mercenaries with no regard for civilian life, while knowing full well that Pharah works for Helix. That kind of difference would work in a friendship but that would not go well in a romantic relationship.

Anyway, again I don't hate Pharmercy, it's not one of my top ships but I do like it. However, what has been presented in canon either just doesn't get me invested or I just don't want to see happen in terms of characterization (again Pharah shouldn't have to wait for her romantic life in the same way she needs to wait for her family).

[lesbicona]

why is season 6 of community your favourite /genq im just curious !! :]

the short answer is frankie

the long answer is: im very particular about endings, not in that i need them to have specific qualities (like sad or happy or epilogue-esque or what have you) but in that i need them to have narrative intent. we came close to living in a universe where basic story and basic sandwich closed community's story, and as much as i do genuinely like those episodes (mostly for comedy reasons), i only like them in the context of the full show we have now. i was not old enough to appreciate the show as it aired, but looking back i can see opinions at the time of the ending were divided. season 5 in general, honestly, seems close to season 4 in people's minds- in the post you're referencing where i expressed this opinion, season 5 received literally 0 votes. season 4 is controversial, but season 5 commits a worse sin- it's forgettable. (and i do like it, i really liked prof hickey which is truly a take on this webbed site, but this is my impression of the public opinion of it).

so in just existing, season 6 elevates my personal opinion of the show, but i mentioned public opinion in the paragraph prior because season 6 often gets lumped in with 4 and 5 as 'bad'. now while i have my own set of takes about even just season 4 (really guys, it's fine, it's just an ok season of tv in an excellent show, but it's not BAD) i will try very hard not to get into here, it is an objective divide between the widely acclaimed seasons 1 through 3 and the more controversial rest. my opinions of season 6 are very influenced by this, because it's like my little meow meow i must protect from the haters.

i feel season 6 closes up the themes of community, as evolved and changed as they are, in a satisfying way, and gives the characters themselves a logical narrative end. i especially enjoyed the themes of growing up continued from season 5, which are very pressing in a show about college. of course i realize this is a silly sitcom we're talking about, so i'm not saying that it put forward anything groundbreakingly subtle or even new, but any long-running show (especially one which could not keep the entirety of its main cast) that can wrap up so satisfyingly deserves praise.

and yet, because of the season 4 hurdle, which leaves many people with a bad taste in their mouth for the rest of the entire show, it is not as acclaimed as i think it deserves to be. i don't think people realize how much the show was probably going to change in season 4 even without dan harmon's departure. the idealized season 4 in people's minds seems to be season 3 part 2, which could not have happened for a successful season of television. seasons 1 through 3 are all already very different from each other despite being clumped together. yet people despise every single change to the show from season 4 onward indiscriminately. so of course season 6, with its many, many changes, is so far from season 3 that people blinded by the latter's glory cannot even see the former.

but most if not all of the changes season 6 brings are purely beneficial in my perspective. frankie and elroy are excellent additions to the cast; they are great comedic forces, with a strong role in relation to the others. they both play the almost-straight man jeff used to be, normal in reaction to most of the shenanigans of the original cast while bringing in their own insanity. they also represent the aging of the show. by bringing them in instead of, for example, freshmen students, the new, more grown perspective of the show is reinstated. the bits of their lives outside the committee that we get to see are interesting, funny, and bring them depth.

of course in particular im fond of frankie, who's normal to the point of pathology, whose line deliveries have a 90% chance of obliterating me on the spot, and who is just like me fr fr (a lesbian). she does not budge in her responsibilities, leading to her fluctuating role in the eyes of the cast, antagonist in some episodes and co-lead in others. her presence adds something new for each character to compare themselves to, for the better. in particular, annie, jeff and the dean are all improved because of her.

britta also receives some focus she hadn't since a few seasons past, and while i do not agree with the narrative framing of all of it (as clearly the show itself does not side with her in disliking her parents, as much as she, as a character, has proper reason to), the contents are extremely enjoyable to me. getting a chance to analyze the wannabe-therapist's relationship with her parents is perfectly ironic just as a concept.

season 6 offers some of my favorite comedy of the whole show. while my favorite line forever remains "i need help reacting to this" (which i saw you also enjoy <3), i was in tears of laughter at the end of a majority of season 6 episodes on my first watch. elroy's addiction to encouraging white people is absolutely unforgettable.

sorry for the Whole Fucking Essay! the medium answer, which you unlocked by reading the long answer, is: though perhaps not the objective best community has to offer, i love season 6 twice as fiercely to protect it from its undeserving haters. stan frankie, bring me 6 cans of olives, goodbye.

[the-paris-of-people]

I truly don't understand some of the criticisms of the sex lives of college girls season 2, particularly with the s2 finale. Yes, I agree the pacing is confusing and inconsistent, but the same can also be said of the Mindy Project, s3 of Never Have I Ever, or a LOT of other popular shows. They definitely could have defined time better in the show by explicitly stating major holidays/ I'm going to be detailing my response to some of the criticisms that I've seen from both reviewers and critics:

1.) The constant introduction of new characters and high romantic relationship turnover:

Honestly this one confuses me greatly because.... it's their first year of college? You're constantly meeting new people and "trying them on" as friends, as romantic partners, as hook-ups. It's realistic that you would be able to look back on your freshman year and laugh at how you had sex with your annoying biochem lab partner, or fucked a short king and cheated on your boyfriend and screwed things over, or went through a twincest phase, or were constantly catching the eye of the campus hotties. Honestly, the fact that these characters are slowly reckoning with their own identities and figuring out what they want out of their relationships (and the fact that some of them have!! after their first year of college!) is incredibly realistic. Also it's the second season of the show!! The characters need novel experiences (or at least just EXPERIENCES) for "character building" in the later years of their college journeys. Freshman year of college (and even just being 18-19) is supposed to be messy, and fun, and make no sense because you're figuring out who you are. I don't understand how people can't attribute the "messiness" of the plotlines with the life phase of the girls

2.) The fall of Leighton x Tatum and the revival of Leighton x Alicia:

Truly, I didn't know people were nvested in their relationship. From the very beginning, Tatum was cited as part of a "twincest" phase of coming out by Miss Willow (who is my favorite btw) and there was nothing that negated that. Tatum simply served as a catalyst for Leighton realizing how far she had come in embracing her lesbian identity, and just generally, realizing she cared wayyyy more about the LGBTQ+ community and other people's feelings that putting on this cool girl facade. Everything she did to impress Tatum at the beginning (the art gallery, trying to catch her attention) should how image and status-obsessed Leighton was, only for it to all fall down when she realized she cared more about changing and becoming a better person. Which is a positive thing! Also, what "relationship" was there to ruin? Tatum and Leighton had just started seeing each other and if count their dates including the dinner with the dads, had probably only had been on a small number of dates. This is in stark contrast with Leighton's relationship with Alicia, who she spent LOADS of time with at the women's center and privately in their own personal relationship. Alicia, on the other hand, who initially was everything Leighton didn't want to be in season one, actually was the person who taught Leighton a lot and made Leighton into a better person through Alicia's efforts at the women's center. I truly don't understand people's criticisms of Alicia's character that she was "so performative" and Tatum "showed that you can just be gay and exist without all this activism" I feel like that's code for "Tatum is more easily digestible in this cis, white, heteronormative world therefore I like her better as a love interest" Alicia, in my opinion, has a lot of positive qualities. She's bright, hilarious, has great chemistry with Leighton, and is incredibly caring and devoted to the LGBTQ+ community. I don't understand how it's a bad thing that she's seen an activist, she is just trying to create a safe space and make the world a more inclusive place.

3.) Bela's character demise:

This one REALLY pisses me off. To see people turn on Bela in what is clearly a trauma response after they claimed to stan her so hard in season one is absolutely reprehensible to me. Also, like the NHIE fandom shows, it proves that you can be a white woman and get away with anything whereas if you're POC, you make one mistake (particularly this is in response the point in the series where Bela cheated on Eric with Dan) and everyone turns against you. Seriously, no one says a word about Leighton gaslighting Natalie for not informing her about her chylamydia? And she never apologized to her either! People are forgetting how traumatizing the world of the Catullan was to Bela in s1. She was assaulted and belittled, and in the very beginning of the show was taught (with the six handjobs) that it was beneficial to leverage her sexuality to get ahead. Eric perpetuated this idea when Bela chided him for showing off in front of Dan in front of her, this idea that she needed to do whatever possible to rise to the top of her field. Also, the rigorous "rushing" process of the Catullan made her feel like other people also had to tough it out and that ultimately went to her head when she was in a position of power, which is NOT UNCOMMON! AT ALL! From the very beginning, Bela was a people pleaser and trying so hard to get people (her roommates, comedy writers, etc.) and coming up short so from the start this was built into her character. People are saying they hated Bela's character arc this season clearly do not understand TV and are not in it for the long haul. Regular people do not have linear journeys. They go through traumatic or triggering events which fuck them up, then they go down to their darkest point before they can rise again. The fact that this was written into Bela's character and the fact that they thought about her trauma response and wrote it into journey this season is amazing to me, and a sign of GOOD writing, not bad writing at all. The fact that people don't have anything but empathy for my girl is incredibly sad to me.

3.) Whitney's love affair with biochem and sex affair with the son of Julia Louis Dreyfus:

I feel like I haven't seen as much criticism of this besides the lack of direction in her romantic life. To that I say, Whitney explicitly said she was focused on finding herself this season. Her main goal was to explore her other interests outside soccer and to have fun, outside of relationships. Her cheating trauma (from that ugly ass man dalton) came back when she checked Canaan's phone, and though bio bro didn't really teach her much about romantic relationships, but like.... does everyone have to? Isn't it fun to hook up with your lab partner while discovering your passions? Also catty-words did a much better job of articulating Whitney's arc with Canaan than I ever could. Again, college is for being messy and self-discovery and Whitney is on the right track. Also this season 100% indicated that her relationship with her mom is much better than it used to be and I thought the moment they shared was really sweet (when her mom tried to get her the internship) I've seen people say Whitney had a terrible arc in season 1, and her grooming by Dalton served no purpose, but honestly I think they missed the point (which again, this post is complaining about people with no media literacy) Whitney not confiding in her mom about Dalton acted as a catalyst for relationship growth with her mother, and I'm sure it will come up in future seasons.

4.) Kimberly's story arc:

Oh, boy. I think I am going to make a whole separate post for the relationship of Kimberly and Canaan and how (to me) they make perfect sense together and the show has been building to since their first interaction. But I want to speak on Kimberly's egg donation storyline and betrayal (which I think is a strong word) of Whitney. A lot of complaints I've seen about the egg donation storyline is that it was just dropped. I agree with how it was strange that it was dropped, but upon future reflection, if this show is about all the four years of college, I'm sure the repercussions of the egg donation and Kimberly's revelation of the loss of her scholarship will come up in future seasons, which makes the most sense (because how can Kimberly deal with her donated eggs and the possibility they are being used to make babies if she JUST gave them. And I don't want her to have a medical issue right after, she had already been through so much!)

As for her betrayal of Whitney, well.... I have a controversial opinion about that. Whitney has every right to feel hurt and upset about seeing Kimberly kiss Canaan. HOWEVER, if my rough calculations are correct, Canaan and Whitney only dated for a month to a month and a half, 5-6 months ago. They were only official for a few days (though you can make the argument that Whitney thought they were serious for longer) Whitney showed no indication to her roommates (and even Willow when they were together at the last Theta party of the year) that she wanted to be with Canaan again, so Kimberly didn't know it was going to hurt Whitney as much as she did. As for "Whitney gave Kimberly the option to confess" I don't necessarily think a roommate breakfast was necessarily the best forum for Kimberly to deliver that news, and Kimberly KNEW that because she opened her mouth, saw how hurt Whitney was, and changed her answer. I ABSOLUTELY think that Kimberly should have spoken to Whitney about liking Canaan before kissing him and should have told her privately about it, but honestly, I know that most viewers at the ages of 18-19 would 100% be stunned at how to navigate the situation if they were in Kimberly's place as well. Again, these girls are still learning how to communicate with other people and honestly they 100% act more maturely than most people I knew in college so stop being so freaking harsh on them, JESUS! Also, they were setting up a Whitney x Canaan x Kimberly "love triangle" (because I think the feelings are unfortunately unrequited on Whitney's side from Canaan) from THE FIRST EPISODE. This tension between them was ALWAYS SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN because Canaan (at least in my eyes) was introduced as a love interest for Kimberly in the sense that their first meeting was a funny story that will be one to reminisce and Whitney hooked up with Canaan also in the first episode. Also this isn't a situation of "two girls fighting over a guy" this is more the situation of "my close friend didn't confide me or come to me first about an issue that affects me and that betrayal hurts me deeply and I don't think I can bare to live with it" which I feel is incredibly relevant and relatable. I heard a podcast that said Whitney is not so much hurt by Canaan liking another woman, but that Kimberly wasn't completely transparent with Whitney, which also occurred with Leighton and Nico in s1 and is VERY consistent with Kimberly's character. I have no doubt they will work it out and it'll make their friendship stronger. Whitney's hurt hurts ME (Jesus Alyah Chantelle Scott is amazing) but I know they'll get through it.

TL;DR: They're young, they're stupid, they're 18-19, and a friendship breakup/going through rough patches in a friendship and particularly a large friend group in college is so, so NORMAL. Have some grace for these wonderful young women and their messy journeys. If you actually examine the show and characters holistically s2, while not as good as s1, makes a LOT of sense. Also why is no one talking about how we got so much Lila this season and it was glorious?? She's a gift to this world.

Tagging @thefabulousfab-3 @basiltonpitch