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kitkatopinions · 3 years

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The amount of biphobia in the RWBY fandom is frankly staggering.

Honestly, yeah. I don't go into the main RWBY tags anymore for a number of reasons, including the godawful takes, lots of ableism or just uncomfortable red flags, the intense amount of worship directed to the mains and towards MKEK, the amount of bee shippers when I don't vibe with the bees, and the oversexualization of literally any woman character. But on top of all that, there was a lot of biphobia. Not long into my time in the fandom, I heard both "Blake is a canon lesbian and if you ship her with a man, you're a homophobe," and "Bumbleby is a non-existent ship and fans are just reading into things and then attacking the writers for queerbaiting because they're not doing what they want.' I heard both "I can't believe the writers are pretending Blake isn't straight when we all saw her be attracted to Sun," and "I can't believe people are pretending Blake was ever attracted to Sun when Bumbleby is clearly superior." I saw both "If you read anything into Qrow and Clover or Qrow and James, you're an idiot," and also "Guys, stop talking about your 'straight' Qrow ships, the man is a bi icon."

Yes, I've literally seen people say Blake or Qrow are bi, and then condemn people for shipping them with someone of the opposite sex or even talking about their possible feelings towards people of the opposite sex.

And meanwhile, Yang and Weiss are widely regarded as lesbians and people who headcanon them as anything different are sometimes shamed, while both of them have expressed attraction towards the opposite sex. And meanwhile, many other characters are being assigned 'straight' just because they've flirted with the opposite sex. "James was established as hetero the moment he arrived on screen," for instance, or people acting like Qrow flirting with Winter in V3 means he was definitely straight, or people acting like Ren and Nora couldn't possibly ever date someone of the same sex as them despite breaking up because "why can't we have one straight ship?" (Btw, if I was writing this on my phone, I'd use the vomit emoji to show how I feel about that last one.) Also bi isn't the only other option either. Characters can be asexual or pansexual or aro or demisexual. Characters aren't confined to heterosexual or homosexual, but they're also not confined to heterosexual or homosexual or bisexual. Also, people acting like everyone is cisgendered except the Happy Huntresses just because we've never had it confirmed otherwise is also a thing. Like, there's a number of characters who I could see as trans, non-binary, or genderqueer.

Some people don't even realize that's how they're acting or that's how their wording comes across. And I get that how the story writers present these characters plays a big part in their perception. For example, the first three seasons are written with a heteronormative lens that seemed to portray everyone as straight, and that's the status quo in today's society anyway. It's much easier for people to see Yang as queer than it is for them to think of Nora that way, and it's easier to say Yang has always been a lesbian than it is to admit that the writers likely didn't actually plan the bees from the beginning and are lying about it... Idk, I'm trying to be understanding towards it, while at the same time acknowledging that I do feel like this exclusionary language and 'either straight or homosexual' mentality I've seen has been a bit upsetting. Especially when it's used against people who are just making headcanons, or just shipping something that makes them happy, or are just angry at being queerbaited, and expecting MKEK to follow through on the 'support' they claimed they were giving while they were selling pride merch with Team RWBY plastered on it.

Long post short, I think the mindset of 'if they express attraction towards one gender, they're canonly only attracted to that gender' needs to die. And in the RWBY community specifically, making passive aggressive posts or going into people's comments or ask boxes to tell them they're shipping wrong because they have a different headcanon or want a different ship that doesn't fit the sexuality other people assigned a character... That really needs to die, too.

#rwde #anti rwby #rwby bashing #anti fndm #fndm hate #anti mkek

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masterweaverx · 3 years

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So I’d like to open this by saying I’m autistic, and I generally operate on the presumption that I don’t understand anyone--at least, not without some investigation and interaction. Take everything I say with a grain of salt.

Recently, I’ve seen posts about an interesting paradox regarding representation; a lot of writers want to include XYZ group, but don’t want to risk doing it ‘wrong.’ Thus characters are Gay/Trans/Bi/Jewish/Islam/Black/Whatever and, yet, this is unimportant. Or we have tokenistic characters where being a member of This Group is their defining and, in fact, only character trait. Either too little, or too much. Or maybe they’re background characters, done right except for the part where they don’t affect the plot.

I think there’s a fundamental misunderstanding of representation is influencing this. We’re thinking of the group as archetype--a statue that is All Defined and we put clothes on it and make it move. But... paradoxical as it seems, being a member of a group is but one of many possible character traits. And the thing about character traits is that they affect a character, and through that influence the plot, but they rarely dominate the plot unless the plot is specifically about that character trait.

To take a fantastical and therefore somewhat obvious example: Blake Belladonna, from the Web Show RWBY, has cat ears. This is A Very Big Deal, because fantasy racism and also because she’s good at hearing things. A big part of the plot is her saying “This is how my cat ears affect me, and how having cat ears affects my parents, and how I’m reacting.” But having cat ears is not her only trait--and in fact, they’re not her defining trait.

Blake enters the series having just escaped a psychologically abusive relationship. That affects how she acts around the strangers that will become her new friends, and how she’s afraid her parents will never love her again. She’s also quite well-read, which gives her an interesting conversation with character Ruby Rose at the start of the series about fairy tales and real life. She has a ninja-like combat skill and a samurai-like sense of honor, so in situations that involve protecting others she never gives up (even if she thinks she herself isn’t worthy of love at the start of the series, see abusive relationship). And she wants to make the world a better place for a number of reasons--she’s been hurt by it, she’s hurt the world herself, and it’s just the right thing to do.

All of this, and a few other factors, combine to affect how she acts and reacts to the plot of the series. When the Fantasy Racism comes up, yes, her cat ears are important--but they don’t just snap out of existence when Yang Xiao Long says “Okay, it’s time for me to talk about my abandonment issues!” or when Cinder Fall says “My bad guy contract says I have to be malevolent now.” Blake’s ears let her hear small details, and her treatment because of them has her cautious about who to trust--very, VERY important things to the plot that, nonetheless, aren’t specifically about Cat Ear Racism.

One big example I can think of is her confrontation with her abusive ex, who at this point has just gone straight up Yandere and is blaming her for everything. The scene is not about her having cat ears--in fact, the cat ears are not at all included in all the false accusations he throws out. But, because she can hear something he doesn’t, she’s able to reposition herself and let her partner join in, dramatically shifting the direction of the scene.

The character trait affects the character’s action, and through that influences the plot. It has weight, but it’s not the only trait the character has. This is true for any character trait, no matter how fantastical or realistic.

May Marigold, from the same series, is a transgender woman. And she’s not just there to say “I need my Estrogen pills!” every four hours, but neither is her being transgender just a Neat Factoid You Find In The Manual. It influences her character--pretty clearly in one scene, where she outright states her biological relatives are no longer family--but it doesn’t mean she’s just The Trans Character. And, actually, let’s take her big speech as an example of what I mean.

Weiss: People are dying here, too. Don’t you have family in Atlas?

May: No. Mantle needed me, and to the Marigolds, that meant I wasn’t their son anymore. And I made sure that everyone knew that I wasn’t their daughter. So forget ‘em. They’ve got Henry, yours have Whitley. You get what I’m saying.

Weiss: I don’t know about-

May angrily turns to face Weiss.

May: Which side are you on, anyway?

Blake: We’ve heard that before.

May steps toward Blake to confront her, but Ruby chimes in.

Ruby: There are no sides! We want to help everyone. We’re all facing Salem together. And together is the only way we’re going to get out of it.

May: (sighs) So, how exactly do we get out of it?

As the group ponders their situation, Whitley Schnee can be seen in the hallway eavesdropping on the conversation.

The point of this scene isn’t “May is trans.” It’s that she had a very bad relationship with her biological relatives, to the point where they don’t consider each other family--and that as a result of that, she associated Atlas with all that’s wrong with the world and thinks Weiss should too, since Weiss ostensibly has a similar background. Her being transgender very clearly influences her speech, but it’s not the driving aspect of the plot. In fact, Whitley overhearing this and being compared to Henry (previously established as pretty shallow and horrible) directly causes him to affect the plot by becoming as helpful as he can. This is entirely unrelated to her being transgender, and much more related to her biological relatives being horrible people.

May is, in fact, somewhat in the wrong here--but it’s in character for her to be in the wrong, as she’s basing her choices off her own experiences. That said, she’s also got a sort of ‘cool anger’ in her speech--she’s used to people not getting why she’d be insulted (since not many people would instantly get transgenderism) and so keeps her tone calm even when she’s glaring at Weiss. It’s not until Weiss begins to directly contradict her that she snaps--again, another factor of transgender life is too many people saying ‘You sure? You could be wrong.’ This is all behavior that makes sense for a transgender person, considering their likely experiences, but applied to a subject that is not explicitly about transgenderism--in this case, whether Atlas or Mantle is more important to save from big bad Salem.

Character traits affect the characters, and through them influence the plot. But the character is never just one trait, and the plot is rarely about just one thing. May is an excellent character--she’s snarky, but willing to guide the youngsters, loyal to those who care about others, encouraging and realistic, very much a person who got saddled with too much responsibility in way too short a time and is trying her best. And she’s transgender, and that affects how she acts, both when she’s being great and when she’s slipping up.

If you want to write representation, don’t write The Whatever Character. Write a character that happens to be whatever.

#Representation #Analysis #I'm willing to admit I might be wrong on this #Like I said I don't understand people naturally #I'm just going from my experiences as a writer.#Also I'm not sure if my point is coming across?

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ayoalex · 4 years

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I didn't expect for me to do a rant about bumbleby but I've been rewatching RWBY while me and my friend wait till February for the next chapter and holy shit, there's a lot to talk about.

Maybe it's because the first time I watched RWBY was all together without needing to wait like all the fandom but I'm pretty sure bumbleby was either a thought, a path they had as one option or being something it was going to happen no matter what since they started writing RWBY.

All the hints, subtext, etc were there, since the first moment Yang and Blake meet.

We all know RWBY doesn't have all the time neither the budget to make a 30min or 1h long for every chapter, so all the faces, the details, body movements are there for a reason and not to waste time and money.

Yang sees Blake and it's immediately interested, Ruby tells her she knows her and what Yang do? Uses Ruby as an excuse to go closer to Blake and talk to her + this will help Ruby to come out of her shell.

Now, before I continue I want to say that I personally head canon Yang as a lesbian because I relate to her as one but it's perfectly fine if y'all head canon her as bi or pan, what we all know it's that the girl is NOT straight.

Let's continue, Yang try to start a conversation and Blake was not vibing with it until Ruby started talking about books. It's quite a funny moment for me because Yang is so used to people wanted to be with her or wanted to flirt with her that she gets awkward and her confidence start going low the moment she is the one actively going for it and not the other way around.

Yang is quite an interesting character because at first it looks like she's a flirt and knows clubs and illegal stuffs, she's really cool, confident and really attractive. But then as the series progress we see how damage she is, such a low self-esteem she has in certain stuffs, how she's really smart, she doesn't actually flirt and when it's someone she likes she gets all awkward and stuff.

Then you have Blake, we see since the beginning the strong sense of justice she has, how passionate about it she is, she's lowkey most of the times, serious but then we see all her issues, her low self-esteem, how scared she is and how humorous she is as well, assertive and direct. If Yang is not there then the person making the jokes is Blake and I find that really cool.

I mention this because the Blake we see in Emerald Forest is assertive Blake.

Yang gets into the forest and start looking for Ruby while Blake seems to have been following her since they landed in there. She's in the shadows keeping an eye close to Yang, she sees her fighting the Ursas and took advantage of that to help her and appear in front of her. Purposely smirking while looking her directly at her eyes.

Now, why would Blake choose Yang? Why not Phyrra? Or Ruby? Well, because Blake is attracted to strength. It's the same thing that attracted her to Adam, she sees the similarities but there are so many differences as well.

As they continue their journey to find the relic Blake seems to enjoy Yang company, smiling and smirking at her. We basically see a different Blake than we saw when Ruby and Weiss were around, this is more direct, assertive and flirty.

At this point Blake is attracted to Yang, smiling at her jokes, smirking, going all sassy, the way she walks or behaves around Yang.

The best part? She loves it.

My favorite part of bumbleby between v1 and v3 is absolutely when Yang tells her "I love it when you are feisty" and Blake smirks and it's loving it.

Blake loves when Yang gives her attention. It always been there, I'm so sorry y'all can't see it.

But between v1 and v3, while she absolutely loves being around Yang, she's still feels the weight of her past, which makes her still closed and not as free as she would like.

Before I talk about v4 and 5 and the end of v3 I want to talk about Sun.

He's important for Blake's growth and I feel a lot of people don't like that but this is what the media does every single time with women, they present them in the narrative only to make the main dude to growth so, it's actually nice seeing it the other way around + Sun does get a bit of growth and he has some plot in the books I think (I still need to read those but I can't find them 😭).

Since the moment Sun sees Blake he's attracted to her, understandable, she's hot. He tries to catch her attention by helping her, etc.

Blake does not shares the same sentiment until like v3 or something, in some funny way Yang is the one that pushed her to Sun by making her go to the dance and spent time with Sun.

But Blake goes to the dance because of Yang and she specifically tells Sun, in a really smug way btw, how her first dance is reserved for someone else. In the dance she constantly smiles to Yang and then we see her having an amazing time with Sun and Neptune which helps her to relax and making new friends!

At this point Blake seems to be attracted to both Yang and Sun or at least she's a bit attracted to Sun in a sexual way and not romantic wise. Blake loves the attention them both give her, is not in bitchy or selfish way(?) It makes her confident and tbh that's such a human like reaction, knowing that really attractive and amazing people are attracted to you? Please, I would be worst than Blake.

Then we have the end of v3, where Adam appears and everything goes to shit.

It's interesting how they decided to animate and write Blake, Sun and Yang in the Fall of Beacon.

Blake is constantly worried about Yang, specially after what happened, Yang calls Blake and wants to be sure she and Ruby are ok.

Later Blake goes after a Grimm and Sun and Yang are finally in the last place Blake was before disappearing.

Instead of Sun going after Blake it was Yang, he just stays there, behind Weiss.

Is in this volume that we find out that Adam wasn't Blake mentor, they were together in a romantic sense (which is disgusting because it means Adam not only abused her but groomed her). Adam tells her he's going to destroy everything she loves and in that exact moment Yang comes into scene yelling for Blake and poor Blake is mortified and Adam sees this which for him means that the blonde girl is someone that Blake loves.

The freaking meaning of all this is AMAZING, the narrative presents Yang as someone that Blake loves.

When Yang lose her arm it's when Blake gets out of her black state to protect Yang, she could have died but she didn't cared because she needed Yang to be alive, that's her partner and someone who she has confused feelings about.

Because that's the thing, yes Blake knows she's attracted to her but what does that mean? Adam is still around and she knows Yang is vulnerable and can't take much emotional damage.

So Blake leave because at least without her around Yang can still be alive because Adam is looking for her not Yang.

Here's something important, bumbleby of v1 to v3 is something fun, is a teenager thing but then bumbleby of v4 till now is more important, is deeper and goes beyond a crush.

Sun stalks Blake which was pretty bad specially cuz Blake was paranoid about Adam which makes her react violently (she slaps him which is bad as well).

Blake character development in v4 and v5 is really important, not only Sun helps her a lot but spending time with her parents help her heal some stuffs.

But it's in v5 that everyone should have got the confirmation needed for black sun.

There's a moment when they are talking about Adam and Blake tells Sun that she's thankful that he helped her and that's what she wants to do, she wants to be that friend to help Illia, the same thing Sun did for her.

This implies so much and the most important one is that for Blake, Sun is a friend, a very dear one btw, and that she wants to be a friend to Illia as well, she wants to be that safety net that Sun and her parents were for her but with Illia. This is so powerful because Sun is more than ok with that, he only wanted to help Blake and if she ended up falling for him? Cool, and if not, cool as well.

Sun already knew this, since the beginning.

In the end of V3 he saw it and came to terms with it.

You know who were looking out for Blake and Yang when Yang was unconscious and Blake was taking her hand while crying and apologizing? Ren and Nora, who were both tired. And in front of them was Sun, looking at them like "oh", like he understood that Blake eyes we're always on Yang and not on him.

That's why in all the conversations of blacksun in v4 and v5 Sun always brings up Yang and how she may feel because he knows that's the person for Blake, not him.

Because if not, tell me why no romantic business happened? It was perfect to expand their relationship! But they didn't.

Later he was the one pushing Blake to go with her team, he knows, Sun knows how important is for Blake to be with her team and to be with Yang. At the end of the day, the person Blake felt safe with after Adam was Yang.

Now, v6.

Listen, Ruby and Weiss don't get why Yang can't seem to forgive Blake but... Blake does, back in Beacon Yang had an heart to heart with her about her family, Blake knew about what leaving would be for Yang and that's why she so angst about Yang in v4 and v5.

So she tries her hardest, and while I agree that there's some parts that should be written better and they need to TALK about it... V6 was good for them.

The Apathy mini arc was amazing but it was the end of V6 that settle bumbleby to be canon.

Blake finally understanding that they need to be equals in their relationship, them both going against Adam, Adam rage to see how much they love and respect each other, the final blow, Blake break down...

But the most important of all was the beginning of the second part of Blake and Adam fight, because Yang listen everything that Adam said to Blake and it clicked for her.

Blake didn't left because she wanted, she left because she loves them. And the moment Yang hug her, comfort her and reassure her they are fine it's the moment she forgives Blake and a new stage in their relationship starts which lead us to v7.

V7 bumbleby is v1/v3 bumbleby but mature. They talk more (as we see with the scene about Robyn), they want to be more close and close to each other, etc.

Assertive Blake is back! She keeps flirting with Yang, keeps making Yang to compliment her, to pay attention to her, she giggles at Yang's jokes, she goes to a club!! Blake doesn't usually goes to clubs!

In V2 we see Blake can dance but in V7 she doesn't seem to find the rhythm... Ohhh the classic "please help" You give to your crush to make them get closer to you so you can flirt with them and maybe make a move. And Yang? She goes with the flow, because is what Blake wants and Yang wants Blake to lead because Adam is still fresh.

That's why she gets worried about what Blake thinks of her in V8, what they have is new, they are aware of the attraction and the feelings but haven't done anything about it.

I love making it seem they are clueless but they aren't, they are smart and observant young women, Blake knows Yang find her attractive, she encourages Yang to watch her, to flirt, to get closer.

There's a scene in V7 when Yang is watching Blake through the mirror and Blake purposely gets flirty when putting her make up on.

They know they are dancing around each other.

It's so great seeing an wlw couple being like this, I love it. Bumbleby is a slow burn and it's a really cute and adorable one, it's a shame people hate it or claim is queerbaiting.

Yeah, maybe there's some stuffs that could be written better but overall? Bumbleby has been here since the beginning and the development is beautiful to see.

Highly recommend to rewatch RWBY with all this subtext in mind so you will find Bumbleby since day one lol.

Btw, ship whatever you want guys, blacksun is a cute ship, just stop being dicks to the VAs and the writers of the show for something that's your fault, like... Literally, your fault, all the signs were there.

And sorry for making this so long and all over the place, I hope you enjoy this rant tho lol

#bumbleby #yang xiao long #blake belladonna #sun wukong #rwby #adam Taurus #blake and yang are gay and in love y'all #sun has a bet with weiss and ruby of when they start dating and for now weiss seems to be winning

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soupcorvus · 4 years

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what your favorite toh ship says about you

i thought this would be fun so uhhhhh yeah let’s go (feel free to add on w rbs and replies and such 👀👀) (all under cut)

lumity (luz and amity)- you came from at least one of the following: 1) rupphire (ruby and sapphire), 2) bubbline (princess bubblegum and marceline), 3) catradora (catra and adora), 4) diakko (diana and akko), 5) white rose (weiss schnee and ruby rose). there is about an 80% chance that you are a wlw and you know a good amount of little miss perfect, if not all of it. you are a gay (or bi or pan) disaster, there’s no putting it lightly

willuz (willow and luz)- you are soft and either get really happy or straight up freak out (in a good way) when luz is being really affectionate towards willow. what is a girlfriend if not just an advanced form of a girl friend? you either love them as very good friends or want to see them become something more because that would be cute

guz (gus and luz)- idk how many of y’all exist but uhhhh you either think they have good chemistry as a human and someone who appreciates humans (kinda like greg universe and rose quartz) or you just want to see this show be straight 🤡🤡

gillow (gus and willow)- same as guz, kinda, except you probably came from glimbow/glow. you’re a firm believer in friends to lovers (but no enemies/rivals to lovers first, just friends and then lovers)

willumity (willow, luz, and amity)- you just want to see all of them happy, and honestly, me too buddy!! you are a true chad in my book and i applaud you

emilia (eda and camilia) (camilia is luz’s mom for anyone who’s unaware)- we want to see two good mothers be good mothers together!! mothers!! moms!! MIL-

boscha and literally anyone- you probably sympathize with boscha and want to see her grow as a person and as a character. it’ll take a while but we all know that if it happens it’ll be rewarding for those who wanted it :)

hooty and literally anyone- IDK WHO YOU ARE BUT STOP IT STOP THAT YOU CUT THAT SHIT OUT

ik i probably got some ship names wrong, so feel free to correct me✨

#toh #the owl house #lumity #luz #luz the owl house #amity #amity blight #willuz #willow the owl house #gus #gus the owl house #eda #eda the owl lady #luz noceda #camilia noceda #boscha #boscha toh #toh ships #what your favorite ship says about you

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hellomynameisbisexual · 4 years

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5 Ways That Bi Erasure Hurts More Than Just Bisexual People

December 2, 2014 by Milo Todd

This year, Bisexual Awareness Day/Celebrate Bisexuality Day was on September 23rd.

That same day, the National LGBTQ Task Force thought it’d be a good idea to post an article entitled “Bye Bye Bi, Hello Queer,” in which leadership programs director Evangeline Weiss said “she is ready ‘to say bye bye to the word bisexuality.’

She said it does not describe her sexual orientation, and she encouraged readers to cease using the word as well as she felt it reinforced a binary concept of gender.

Let me drive that home a little more. The National LGBTQ Task Force not only thought it would be a good idea to publish an article insulting, misrepresenting, and forsaking the bisexual letter in their own name, but did so on Celebrate Bisexuality Day.

Rude.

And a fantastic example of the constant, ongoing erasure bisexual people have to deal with. This one just happened to be incredibly blatant.

What happened as a result of that article? People got pissed.

People got so pissed that the Task Force not only removed the article from their website, but posted in its place this non-apology (it keeps being referred to as an apology, but I’m not so easily pleased): “Having listened to a wide array of feedback on the timing and content, we recognize that this blog offended people. For this we sincerely apologize. It has been removed.”

In other words, “Sorry you got pissed off. Hopefully you’ll shut up if we take it down.” Which, as far as I can tell, isn’t much of an apology for a blatant disregard of an entire community of people.

Misunderstanding of the bisexual community has been the crux of biphobia’s history and the ongoing battle to erase bisexuality from the LGBTQIA+ community.

It’s a scary time to be bi, especially when your lesbian, gay, pansexual, and queer siblings and allies are calling for your blood simply because they’ve fallen victim to the mainstream agenda without realizing it. (Say what?! Jump to #5.)

It’s time for a change.

It’s time for all of us to properly understand one another and to — hope of hopes — become allies for our incredibly similar endeavors. To help initiate that friendship, I ask you, dear reader, to go through the following three steps.

Step 1: Look below. If I’ve played my cards right, virtually every reader should find at least one category with which they identify.

Step 2: Approach your designated section(s) with an open mind, an unprejudiced heart, and a desire to further enhance your own community/ies. It’s difficult for people to learn new things and see different views if they automatically approach them with resistance, which is often the case with bisexual topics.

Step 3: See how bi erasure hurts you as a person and, while you’re at it, likely hurts the people you care about. Because it really is happening.

So here are five ways in which bi erasure is hurting people of layered identities.

1. Female-Identified People and Feminists

Bisexuality is one of the only non-monosexual* identities currently recognized in the English-speaking world. If bisexuality is kept underground, it suppresses our limited, precious resources for open discussion about non-monosexuality. This hurts female-identified people and feminists regardless of their sexual orientation.

To this day, female-identified people can’t get a fair shake. Pay is unequal, birth control access is limited, and objectification is a daily thing. Non-monosexual women in particular are often not taken seriously because they’re seen as sluts, greedy, or unable to make up their minds.

Also, the general fetishizing of women is particularly intensified in the bisexual realm by (straight-identified) men, turning the very act of women’s sexual freedom, empowerment, and self-expression into nothing more than something for male gazes. (This is most often seen through the relentless prompts for female-female-male threesomes and masculine catcalls in bars when two femme-appearing women make out.)

By participating in or casually allowing bi erasure to happen, we’re ignoring the specific plights and abuses of bisexual women, thereby contributing to the ongoing problem of female inequality, objectification, and silence.

As feminists, we can’t pick and choose which women to fight for. The complexities of womanhood — and all of its cultural suppressions — are an all-or-none deal.

*Note: Non-monosexuality usually refers to someone who is interested in more than one sex or gender. (In other words, somebody who isn’t gay, lesbian, or straight.) Another way to say “non-monosexuality” would be “polysexuality” to help keep it from sounding negative.

2. Male-Identified People and Male Liberationists*

Just like with female-identified people and feminists, bi erasure hurts male-identified people and male liberationists regardless of their sexual orientation.

Allow me to make this pretty basic: Men continue to be fed the message that being gay is bad. Being gay means you’re not really a man, which means you lose your dude membership and the bulk of your male privilege. And since gayness equals the slightest shred of attraction to or intimacy with another male, all manners of bromance must be squashed.

In short, many guys live in a state of silent terror in this regard.

Bi men are afraid of being banished from the world of lady-loving, gay men are worried about losing all of their connections to hetero land, and nothing is worse for a straight man than being called a fag.

Constant monitoring, constant filtering, constant stress: Is this really the kind of world we guys want to keep living in?

By being able to talk about bisexuality — remember: one of our only non-monosexual identities — male-identified people can begin to break free from the masculine ideal.

Bi talk helps bridge the gap between being a man (straight) and not being a man (gay) and realizing, hey, having some manner of attraction to or intimate interaction with another guy is totally okay, masculinity unscathed.

Gay men can begin to regain their identities as men, bi men can finally start coming out, and “fag” will lose its strength as an insult from one straight man to another.

*Note: Male liberationists are more or less seen as allies to feminists and vice versa. Both will argue that patriarchy is bad, but while feminists talk of how it’s bad for females, male liberationists talk of how it’s bad for males. Examples include the inability to romantically or sexually love another male, the emasculation of men of color, and the physical, verbal, and mental abuse that comes from society’s expectations to be stereotypically masculine.

3. People Who Identify as Trans Sexual, Trans Gender, Genderfluid, Genderqueer, or Gender Non-Conforming

This one’s pretty easy. Some people on the trans spectrum identify as bisexual. But then they’re told they can’t or that it’s an insult to their trans siblings because bisexuality is believed to be trans-exclusive.

The problem with bi erasure is it adds to the ongoing problem of cis people — LGQ or not — telling trans people what to think. Cis people have a bad habit of thinking they need to speak for people on the trans spectrum even when trans people are quite capable of speaking for themselves. This is even more frustrating when it comes from a community supposedly meant to support them.

Despite the personhood for which they’re continuing to fight, trans people can receive backlash from the lesbian, gay, and queer communities as their identities and bodies are turned into political battlegrounds.

Sometimes, they’re used without consent by some cis individuals so that points can be made for non-trans-specific agendas, and sometimes they’re ironically used in the attempts for cis identities to help better the trans worlds.

For instance, automatically dismissing bisexuality as trans-exclusive and guilting any person on the trans spectrum that wants to identity as bisexual, if I may make so fine a point.

As blogger Aud Traher writes, “If you want to support trans people like me, don’t erase me or speak over me or cause me harm out of self-righteous biphobia. Look into yourself and deal with that internalized biphobia and then help others get over theirs. Don’t advocate for the destruction of a community in the name of ‘saving’ it. And, especially, don’t do it in my name.”

4. People Who Identify as Gay, Lesbian, or — Yes — Straight

Quite simply, it makes gays and lesbians (and straight people) look bad, too.

Bisexual people get a bad rap for apparently upholding the gender binary by saying they love only (cis) men or (cis) women, but isn’t that pretty much exactly what gays, lesbians, and straight people are saying when they identify as gay, lesbian, or straight? That they’ll only love either (cis) men or (cis) women?

But where’s their rampant backlash from the rest of the community for upholding the gender binary? I’m just sayin’.

Even when these groups extend their definitions to include trans people and people on the gender non-conforming spectrum, it’s often still as long as those trans people exhibit some manner of gender representation that falls into the lover’s category of desire.

Now, I’m honestly not trying to rag on gays, lesbians, or even straight people. They have as much right to identify how they want as anybody else. And there’s nothing wrong with feeling primarily attracted to only, say, cis or trans men if your brain simply tells you that you only like guys. That’s fine. Go ahead and do that. I’m not saying you can’t.

What I am saying is you can’t be spewing bi hate or letting bi erasure slide because 1) it’s incredibly one-sided and unfair, and 2) in the end, it’s making you look bad, too.

What do you think will happen if bi erasure is a success? You’ll be next, dears.

*cue Jaws theme*

5. People Who Identify as Queer, Pansexual, or Another Fellow Non-Monosexual

In late October, Lizzy the Lezzy — who I quite enjoy, by the way — shared a photo on her Facebook timeline explaining sexuality in terms of guests at a BBQ.

This would be all well and good if it didn’t include a glaring misconception about bisexual people, especially when compared to pansexuals. While bisexual people were defined as getting both hot dogs and hamburgers, pansexuals were defined as getting hot dogs, hamburgers, “and a salad.” Oops. What year is this again?

I’m going to make something very plain to you, dear reader: Bisexual people don’t just love (cis) men or (cis) women. That’s not how the ballpark definition goes. The “bi” in “bisexual” does not indicate a binary. Well, okay, it does indicate a binary, but probably not the one you think.

Instead of “bi” meaning a love for only cis men or cis women or otherwise putting men and women at two opposite ends of a spectrum, “bi” means a love for identities bisexual people identify with themselves and identities that they don’t.

Or, as the popular Robyn Ochs definition goes: “I call myself bisexual because I acknowledge that I have in myself the potential to be attracted – romantically and/or sexually – to people of more than one sex and/or gender, not necessarily at the same time, not necessarily in the same way, and not necessarily to the same degree.”

Look at that very closely. That’s still a binary. That’s still “bi.” And there isn’t a thing wrong with it, no exclusion to be seen.

When compared with the general concepts of pansexuals and queers, our orientations suddenly sound pretty darn similar: We love everyone.

Bisexual people get a bad rap for apparently being transphobic. While we’ve already seen a little bit in #3 as to why we aren’t, I want to further drive the point home here. A large portion of the transphobic accusations toward us come from the queer and pansexual communities, which in turn seem to derive from some serious misinformation and misdirection by the mainstream.

For the record, queers and pansexuals are cool. I like them. But the fact of the matter is that the misconception of the “bi” in “bisexual” as meaning an attraction to only (cis) men or (cis) women — and therefore upholding the gender binary — was created and imposed upon bisexual people by the mainstream. You know, the people that want the gender binary to stick around.

And some queers and pansexuals ate the propaganda they were fed? That’s terrifying. It starts to show just how large and sneaky the mainstream’s gender binary monster truly is.

By defining and erasing bisexuality on the grounds that it upholds the gender binary, pansexuals and queers are not only reinforcing the binary they so sorely wish to dismantle, but they are losing important focus on where the problem actually resides: the mainstream’s insistence to force the gender binary on non-mainstream groups such as bisexual people.

Further, holding bisexual people responsible for the abuse they’ve suffered is simply wrong. All that’s doing is blaming the victim. But, by recognizing and respecting bisexual people as they truly are, bisexual people can not only help dismantle the gender binary and put a new definition on the concept of the spectrum, but finally be allowed to team up with pansexuals and queers to crush mainstream abuse on non-mainstream identities.

Doesn’t that sound nice? I think it sounds nice.

TL;DR

Dear non-bisexual identities, please stop shooting yourselves in the foot and then wondering why you’re missing toes.

We’re here for the same reasons you are: for the right to love whoever we want and for the right for others to do the same.

So let’s finally be friends. We’re never going to get anything done if we keep spending our time putting each other down.

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owletarc · 5 years

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OK when RWBY was first made, was it meant to be the poster child for lgbtq lesbians, because when I first started watching it, seeing these group of girls kicking ass and being friends, not once did I think, yep this is definitely a show about lesbians, like was I just seeing it wrong or was this the plan from the start.

iirc crwby said from the beginning that there would be lgbt characters but they wanted to do the story naturally. however as a bi woman i will say that the main girls were written as straight girls ; crwby can say what they want now but there has been no inkling of same sex interest from any of them and the only interest 3 / 4 girls in rwby had was towards men. that might change now but people who say certain ships or sexualities were planned from the start are talking out of their ass and seeing things that aren’t there. rwby were written as straight girls with only male aligned interest. the only reason bi blake came about was because arryn said she wanted her to be bi (bc arryn herself is bi) and that was it. any moments that’re “queer coded” can easily be read as platonic ; unlike the blacksun flirting, weiss thirsting hard after neptune or yang’s perving after the boys.

i would love for any of the girls to be wlw but / shrugs. it would’ve been so easy to do it from the start, crwby just didn’t.

but also the shows handling of lgbt peeps is just ... not great. we didnt have a confirmed in universe lgbt character until volume 5, in ilia. and every lgbt character after her has been put on a bus and / or confirmed in outside media / sources.

coco adel : introduced in v2 / 2014, but not confirmed until she’s used as a marketing ploy to hook people into buying after the fall in 2019. no longer in the show.

scarlet david : introduced in v3 / 2015, but not confirmed until the manga anthology until 2018. confirmed by the mangaka but not by miles himself. no longer in the show.

team ndgo : introduced in v3 / 2015, said to be asexual by their voice actresses but not confirmed by the writers. no longer in the show.

matte skye : introduced in v4 / 2016, said to be nonbinary by their voice actor but not confirmed by the writers. no longer in the show.

ilia amitola : introduced in v4 / 2016 and confirmed to be a lesbian in v5 / 2017. no longer in the show.

saphron & terra cotta arc : introduced in v6 / 2018, confirmed in the show to be unspecified wlw. no longer in the show.

may marigold : introduced in v7 / 2019, said to be trans by her voice actress but not confirmed by the writers iirc. currently in the show.

i’m not saying that rt isnt trying with their rep, but when all of it is either gone or minor characters that’re so minor one doesn’t even have their own wiki page and the thing most memorized about them is their sexuality ... it’s not good. you don’t get to claim you’re such a woke lgbt show and then do this with your lgbt characters.

#rwby #ruby rose #yang xiao long #blake belladonna #weiss schnee #coco adel #scarlet david #team ndgo #matte skye #ilia amitola #saphron cotta arc #terra cotta arc #may marigold #owl speaks.#post，answered.#fandom，rwby.#damn laying it out like this uhhhh #rwby's lgbt rep is hella disappointing lmao #also they said no mlm rights i guess

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jadekitty777 · 5 years

Text

Sick Leave

Whoops. I did it again. (I played with your heart. Got lost in this Fair Game).

Rating: K+

Pairing: Clover/Qrow

Words: 3,000

Summary: When Qrow fails to show up for work one morning, Clover goes to investigate why and finds himself taking care of a more personal mission.

Ao3 Link: Sick Leave

“Alright, first up: the west wall in Mantle is showing signs of weakening. Who wants Grimm patrol duty on that? We need a team of two.” Clover called.

“Oh! Me, me, me!” As usual, Ruby was the first to bounce in her seat, swinging her arm around. Despite the many long weeks of duty, her enthusiasm hadn’t ebbed at all.

“I’ll go with her.” Jaune offered next, sipping on his coffee.

He nodded, turning back to the board and assigning their names to the job. “Next up is another haul of dust to Amity. Team of five.” He glanced back, about to volunteer himself and Qrow.

And realized the man’s seat was empty. It wasn’t entirely unusual; the older huntsman sometimes slept in and trudged in halfway through. He instead assigned Nora, Ren, Weiss, Harriet and Marrow as they volunteered. He tasked out the most pressing three search and destroy missions to Penny, Yang and Blake, and Elm and Vine.

Checked the seat once again – still empty. “Has anyone seen Qrow?”

“Maybe his alarm didn’t go off?” Nora offered.

The missing man’s nieces shared a glance, before the younger pulled out her scroll and said, “I’ll call him.” A moment later, she placed it to her ear, only to frown. “It’s going straight to voicemail.”

Yang frowned, before rolling her eyes. “Well. He got to three months at least.” When her little sister glared her way, she added, “What? You know that’s what he did.”

“You don’t know that! Maybe he broke his phone.”

“Yeah, when he dropped it in his drink at the bar.”

“Alright, that’s enough ladies.” Clover intervened before this could become a full-blown family dispute. “I’ll go check on him. The rest of you start your missions. That’s an order.”

No one rose argument, the room clearing out quickly. Ruby was the only one to hang back, looking at him. “Will you message me? Just so I can know if he’s okay?”

It was most obvious in her eyes how young of a huntress she was. So openly concerned and honest – something an enemy would eventually take advantage of. He’d have to teach her the finer points of a poker face somewhere down the line. “Of course, but I wouldn’t worry too much.”

She nodded, doing her best to smile before she followed after Jaune.

Clover headed out the opposite way, back towards the housing area, unable to get the sisters’ argument out of his head. He had remembered what Qrow had said last week, about having given up drinking. At the time, he hadn’t thought anything of it. But it seemed the other man had stretched the truth a bit – he wasn’t a former alcoholic, but a recovering one.

That… complicated things.

At least now he understood the root of Lieutenant Winter’s disdain for the seasoned huntsman. He had used to believe it was jealousy that made her sneer whenever Qrow’s name was uttered. After all, what trainee didn’t hear at least a few stories of the infamous STRQ who both held the record as the only team to win the Vytal Festival Championship Two bi-annual seasons in a row and still held the record for most completed field missions while still in school of all the Kingdoms’ academies? He certainly had, and had used those stories as a personal benchmark to overcome – he’d even been excessively proud when he and his team managed to quickly subdue Qrow when the man had first entered Atlas (though he’d never tell him that). Now he had to wonder if the only reason he’d won that fight that day was because Qrow was in the throes of withdrawal and not at the top of his game.

However, the more prominent question was, if the girls were indeed right and the other Huntsman has gone back to drinking, what could he do about it?

It didn’t take long to get to Qrow’s floor. One elevator ride and one left turn down the hall and he was at his door, giving it three hard raps.

When a minute passed without response, he repeated the action, harder and louder. “Qrow, it’s me!”

Nothing.

Clover frowned, suspicion shifting to worry. Even if he had gotten completely smashed last night, he wouldn’t be unresponsive. Something was wrong.

He pulled out his scroll, and though it was a bit unethical to use his high security access this way, he reasoned it away that he was just making sure the other was okay. He pulled up the mainframe for the dormitory doors and disengaged the lock, hearing it click. He pulled it open, stepping inside. It was standard issue, with a small kitchenette and living space and a short hallway that lead to the bed and bathroom. There were signs of it being lived in. A pair of dressed shoes haphazardly strewn under the coffee table. A half-full glass of water by the sink. A hand towel hanging over the edge of the counter. Bags of nonperishable foods left atop the mini-fridge.

But no Qrow.

Knowing there was only one place he could be, he headed down the hall, knocking on the bedroom door. “Qrow, you in there? It’s Clover.”

This, finally, yielded an answer. A somewhat unintelligible “Hold on!”, and then some shuffling, before the door was opening a few inches. Watery red eyes squinted out at him. “What?” He croaked, voice raspier than usual.

“You missed mission assigning and – you look awful.” He looked him over, taking in his overly gaunt and pale complexion and the blanket he’d draped over his shoulders. Felt relieved when he realized this had to be a natural sickness. Though rare for Huntsman, cold shock wasn’t an uncommon issue foreigners faced when traveling to Atlas, especially those daring to venture out into the tundra. The new environment combined with the brutal temperatures chipped away at even the strongest immune systems, often leading to some rather unpleasant sicknesses.

“Feel it too.” Qrow used the side of the door to prop himself. “Can I go back to bed now?”

“Of course.” He replied.

The other just nodded, not even bothering to shut the door as he trudged back to his bed and cocooned himself into the comforter.

Though it felt a little taboo, Clover invited himself in, walking over to his bedside. “Do you need anything? Medicine? Water?”

“Sleep.” He grumbled.

He gave a long-suffering sigh. Qrow was stubborn even in the best of situations; he couldn’t say he was surprised to learn he was an uncooperative ass when sick. But two could play it that game.

He reached out, placing his fingertips on the other’s forehead.

“Whachu doing, go ‘way!” Qrow whined, burying his face further into the blankets and out of Clover’s reach.

It was fine though, he got what he needed. “You’re burning up.”

“What a revelation. Who woulda thought the ill guy would have a fever?” His snark earned him a coughing fit.

Clover decided not to respond to it. “Have you taken anything?”

“Painkillers.”

“When?”

“Last night. Can you go away now?”

“Anything for the cough?” An annoyed groan was his only answer. “That’s a no. Alright then.”

He turned, heading for the bathroom. No protests came, Qrow either too sick or too tired to do so. As luck would have it, the bottle of medicine he was hoping to find was right on the counter and next to another half-full glass of water (seemed someone had a bad habit). He dumped what was left of the water, refilled it and shook out two pills, before returning to the other room.

Red-eyes glared up at him, but Qrow looked so miserable it made him appear more like an upset puppy than a true threat. “If I drink that will you finally leave?”

“Yes.” Clover promised.

He unearthed himself from the blankets, took the proffered medicine and then handed the glass back before curling back up into his nest.

“Good night.” He offered him, getting only a hum in return. He left the water by Qrow’s bedside in case he needed it, before he walked out and shut the door.

Then shut the second door as he left the suite. As he head down the hall, he mentally ticked off what he had back at his place that he could bring back here. After all, he’d promised he’d leave – he just never said for how long. Qrow would need something for that congestion of his, maybe the cough just in case, and some tea and soup would do wonders too.

Midway through his list, he remembered his other promise, and pulled out his scroll.

Not hungover. Just sick. He typed out.

Ruby’s reply was almost immediate. Oh no! Is he going to be okay? Should I come back?

Clover smiled. He really hoped Qrow knew what a great niece he had. He’ll be fine, but I’m putting us on sick leave for a few days.

The next text came rather slow for the speedster. ‘Us?’

He’ll have a speedier recovery with me around. Good luck and all. He wrote back. Never mind it wasn’t true – his semblance didn’t have that much pull with fate.

Oh, I guess that makes sense! Let him know I’ll come see him after work.

He guaranteed he would, before switching over to the Huntsman Missions app to update his and Qrow’s statuses. He knew the general would question it as soon as he saw it. Hopefully Clover could make the argument that Qrow was just too important an asset to leave unattended. In his weakened state, he wouldn’t be able to fight off any of Salem’s forces, so a ward to watch over him was the optimal option.

Yeah, that… sounded convincing, right?

As it turned out, it did sound convincing. In a ‘I totally know what you are doing but won’t give you a hard time because you’re one of my best operatives’ kind of way.

As Clover stirred the warming soup in the pot, General Ironwood’s sly canter as he said, “Qrow sure is fortunate to have such a loyal co-worker” continued to ring in his ears. He supposed he shouldn’t be surprised his boss had picked up on it; he hadn’t exactly been subtle with his flirting. What baffled him was his complacency. He’d gotten on the case of far younger and less reserved cadets for similar behavior, so why was he getting a pass?

Perhaps it was not the nature of the relationship, but the person involved? Was it because the general’s view of Qrow being a good friend made him more willing to look the other way?

“It’s boiling over.”

He jumped out of his thoughts, glancing at where Qrow was standing, still holding the blanket around himself like a lifeline, then down at the pot which was indeed on the verge of overflowing. He flipped off the burner and removed it off the heat. “Thanks.”

The other man eyed him. “You stayed.”

He wanted to say ‘Of course I stayed. I like you, you oblivious Dodo!’ but he wasn’t exactly ready for that amount of honesty yet. Knowing how insecure Qrow was, he doubted he was ready either. So instead, he said, “Just wanted to make sure you had everything you needed.”

Whether it was the medicine, the extra sleep or both, he seemed much less ornery as he said, “Thanks. Not used to people taking care of me.”

That was a tidbit of information that screamed ‘tread carefully’. “No one at all?”

“Wouldn’t say that. My sister and I looked out for each other, once upon a time. And Tai and Summer were mother hens; that got annoying real fast.” He rubbed his eyes as if the reminder was giving him a headache. “But where I grew up it was a ‘in it for yourself’ mentality.”

There was a lot to unpack from that statement, and one Clover was not willing to press on today, much less when Qrow was ill. Instead he poured half the soup in a bowl and announced, “Well, guess you can add me to the list. And, you know what they say, three is common. Four is lucky.”

“That was the most poorly executed clover joke I’ve ever heard.”

“It was truly clever; you’re just too sick-minded to know it.” He ascertained. “Now take a seat and eat your soup.”

“Yes sir.” Qrow gave a mock salute, before plopping down into one of the chairs at the small dining table where the soup, a spoon, more water and three different types of medicine was set before him. He eyed them, mumbling, “You running a pharmacy?”

“Legally, no. I’ve got a table at the black market though.”

At least that joke awarded him a small laugh.

Qrow ate at a pace that would have driven Harriet insane, but he managed to finish the bowl, though he declined seconds. Clover set the rest of the soup away for later and cleaned up the dishes, all the while watching as the other man shuffled the few feet to the couch to curl up on it as he watched some old program. He didn’t recognize it, and it was old enough it wasn’t in color, but from the rather rambunctious laugh track, it had to be a comedy.

When he came over to set a mug of steaming tea down on the table, he finally got a chance to ask. “What is this?”

“You’ve never seen Lady in Red?” Qrow craned his head back to look at him. “What era are you from?”

“I’m only seven years younger than you.” He refuted.

“And yet you missed a classic.” He clicked his tongue in disappointment. “Maybe you’re not so lucky after all.”

He chuckled at that. “Do you need anything else right now?”

“No. But I have a feeling if I tell you that you can go, you’ll just come check on me in a few hours, won’t you?”

“Absolutely.”

He sighed, overly-exasperatedly by a nonexistent dilemma. “Then I guess you might as well stick around. Get some culture while you’re at it.” He shifted his legs, freeing up the last cushion on the couch.

Clover was not such a fool that he wouldn’t accept that offer.

That was how he spent his afternoon, binge-watching an old show and running commentary with the man beside him. It was a peculiar change of pace. He wasn’t used to such lazy days – but spending it with someone made it infinitely better. Granted, Qrow drifted off somewhere between episodes 5 and 6. (Clover would tell no one about the many times he snuck glances at him as he slept or how he found the man’s light snoring endearing.)

Thankfully, the program was entertaining enough to enjoy even in the silence. So much so that, before he knew it, the sun had fallen and Qrow was stirred back awake by a knock on the door as an actual lady in red came to visit.

The next few days went similarly. Clover would wake up early to scan over progress reports and assign missions to the teams, before heading off to make breakfast for Qrow and sit in and watch old reruns all morning with him. They tended to start off quiet, but as the meds kicked in, the elder showed signs of more energy and alertness. It waned sometime after their small break for lunch and then it was back on the couch for more. Ultimately, he tended to drift off, sometimes until evening when his nieces came to visit and play a few rounds of video games while Clover would make dinner for all of them.

Yang was also intent on invading her uncle’s bed space with a new stuffed animal every night. Clover imagined it was meant to mildly annoy him – but considering he caught Qrow making the llama tap dance with the gorilla one morning, he didn’t think it was working.

The whole affair felt so unusually domestic. The way he figured most of the citizens of Atlas and Mantle lived; but not a huntsman like himself.

And though he knew it couldn’t last, for just a little while, he allowed himself to enjoy the rare coziness and warmth of it all.

Qrow’s fever finally broke by day four.

Clover left his status on sick leave, but changed his own back to active.

“A nest of Grimm are collecting back in the sewers. Which two-” Clover read off dully.

“Me!” Ruby sang as expected.

“I would be thrilled to accompany her.” Penny chipped in.

He nodded tapping them in. His eyes scanned the next one, yet another dust supply run. He withheld a sigh. He never thought coming back to work would be so difficult. “Next up, we’ve got another transport going to Amity.”

“Sign us up.”

That voice had him snapping out of his stupor. He looked up, seeing Qrow lumbering in.

“Sure you’re up for that?” Yang asked.

He waved her off. “I got it. Can’t be letting you brats do all the work.” He glanced his way. “Well? Any objections?”

Suddenly, hours spent driving through the endless tundra didn’t sound so boring. “None at all.”

He changed Qrow’s status and put down their names. The rest of the missions were assigned quickly and the teams broke off with their respective partners to get ready for the day ahead.

As everyone filed out, Clover joined his own teammate’s side. “I know the runs are usually pretty unexciting, but you really sure you can handle things if it turns south?”

“Pff, oh yeah. I’m pretty much back to 100%. That’s not why I chose that mission though.” He told him.

“Oh?”

“See, the Lady in Red’s two-part season finale airs at 6 tonight.” Qrow’s expression was utterly unashamed. “That’s the only mission that I’m guaranteed to get back on time.”

He snorted. “That’s awful.”

A shrug. “Well hey, if you bring some popcorn over, you’re welcome to watch it with me.”

For the first time that morning, Clover felt his energy flood back in, his usual smile pulling back at the edges of his mouth. Perhaps he’d just taken a medicine of a different kind. But the side effect was it made him do possibly foolish things as he responded with, “It’s a date.”

It must have been the luckiest day of his life, because Qrow smiled back.

#Clover Ebi #qrow branwen #fair game #rwby #fanfiction #Chase Firekitten's Tale

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19-bellwether · 4 years

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I'm sorry I don't know their names but the rwby characters

Thank you for the ask! I’ll do Team RWBY LGBT headcanons

Yang: Lesbian. Easy. She had one or two flirty scenes with guys in the early Volumes, but... meh. They can be explained away. Though I do have a M/F ship or two from before I started seeing her as a lesbian, so maybe bi in non-canon content? You’ll see with my later answers that my headcanons are definitely flexible. Within canon, I see her as a lesbian.

Blake: I’ve always viewed her as bisexual, and I think pretty much everyone else in the fandom did too. The recent canon confirmation came as no surprise. I’m also a fan of nonbinary Blake (and Yang too while I’m at it). All her outfits are masc-coded after all. When given the choice, she never wears skirts and dresses.

Weiss: She’s a bit weird because I like her best as bisexual, but she gives off either lesbian or straight vibes. Then again, someone’s v i b e s doesn’t inherently mean anything. Bisexual it is. Maybe with a general preference for men, but that’s just me being self indulgent since I’m the same way.

Ruby: Okay, where do I even begin with her? I like enby and/or ace Ruby (or demi) for sure. But I also dig bisexual/pansexual Ruby too. Lesbian is also cute. Trans girl Ruby is an adorable idea. But so is closeted trans guy Ruby? Everything, just give her everything. TL;DR Ruby is LGBT in some way, and the only thing I have for certain about her is that she likes girls.

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xaykwolf · 5 years

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Why don’t you spill your Bumbleby Percy Jackson au headcanons. I need help fleshing this out tbh.

Ohhhh man okay so:

Kali tried to teach Blake some of the Greek myths, and that’s where her love of reading comes from (Blake particularly likes to pick up the more...explicit stories when she’s older whups).

“You drool when you sleep” scene verbatim, because in hindsight we all know what that’s about and Yang would be like that™

Riptide’s pen form is one of those pens with a springy topper and that topper is a black cat (you can take this as seriously as you want lol)

Yang as a daughter of Athena is treated somewhat as a joke by some of the campers, because all they see when they look at her is an airheaded blonde

Blake: “Of course I would be in the Poseidon cabin. Alone, as usual. Maybe the gods are sending me a sign.”

Also Blake, being incredibly bi after metting Yang and Adam: “Holy SHIT, is everyone at camp hot???”

Ghira-as-Poseidon would be hilarious, because I can absolutely see him in Bermuda shorts and a Hawaiian shirt

Ilia is either Nico diAngelo or Reyna (*cough*crushing on Blake*cough*), though with her being Nico it would work better simply for the fading-into-the-shadows dilemma of Blood of Olympus as a parallel of her chameleon camo

(Actually the more I think about it, Blake as Percy is literally perfect, considering she canonically has a harem and like...so many characters fall for Percy...)

Ruby isn’t one particular character, but she’s a daughter of Hephestus (because iirc Trials of Apollo made it canon that gods can have kids with same-sex humans and even if it’s not canon you can fite me) and is a forge maniac. Like Leo-levels of ADHD and spends her time being the cabin’s weapon invention gremlin

In the same vein, Weiss is a daughter of Aphrodite, and her singing makes all the Apollo kids jealous

Blackjack is rainbow and is named “Pride” instead because reasons

As soon as she turns of age, Yang gets a motorcycle. Tai Has Concerns™

Yang is still deathly afraid of spiders, but Blake is the first person who doesn’t make fun of her when she finds out

Yang(’s arm) takes the strike meant for Blake that would’ve struck the one place she’s vulnerable on the bridge during the Battle for Olympus

I know we all dislike the idea of redemption-through-death for Adam the way Luke got it, so maybe the “final choice” of the prophecy was a radical rejection of Adam’s gaslighting. Blake choosing to believe in her own sense of what’s right, because letting Adam continue to hold Kronos won’t work out the way he says, it won’t bring the resolution they’ve fought for. And so Adam like...straight up tells her where his weak spot is and tells her she won’t hurt him because he’s arrogant he thinks she’s still wrapped around his finger and he gaslights her one more time. And then she chooses to reject that and stabs him with Yang’s knife. (Sorry the wording’s a little convoluted, my thoughts about it are pretty jumbled atm.)

Yang dislikes Nora for the simple fact that she’s everything Blake isn’t: loud, bright, and her abrasiveness isn’t from a rebellious attitude so much as simple obliviousness. But she also likes Nora because she’s like Blake in that she’s a bit flashy and impulsive (because lbr Blake would be exactly like That™ lol) and has that willingness to throw her whole self at a problem to solve it

Blake losing her memory to be sent to the Roman camp is super angsty because all she can remember is Yang’s name and that’s what drives her every action (also, who would Hera be? I’m trying to think of who to hate about the whole forced-camp-switch situation)

But also Blake isn’t surprised when she’s stuck in the “worst” Fifth Cohort, being an underdog feels like it tracks with the rest of her life that she can’t quite remember

When Yang receives the Mark of Athena she can’t believe it, because it’s the first time in forever that her mom’s even acknowledged her, and she had to do it like that???

“Blake smiled at her—that sarcastic, troublemaker smile that had annoyed her for years but eventually had become endearing. Her golden eyes were as gorgeous as she remembered. Her dark hair was swept to one side, like she’d just come from a walk on the beach. She looked even better than she had six months ago—tanner and taller, leaner and more muscular.” This entire passage. And then Yang judo flips her, a la Annabeth Chase, and threatens that if she ever leaves her again...

Yang has internal trouble asking Blake to drink from the Phlegethon, considering she’s prepared for the sensation of fire, but Blake is a Poseidon kid and oh god is it going to make her feel the opposite of when she’s in the water??? Like, she knows the stories about the river, but ohgodstheynevermentionifawaterdemigoddrinksitwhatifBlakegetshurt?

Just...an incredible emphasis on how they’ll be okay because they’re together

That scene at the Acropolis verbatim, because of course :3

#remedyhunger #Bumbleby Percy Jackson AU #I’ve Got More But This Is All That I Can Think Of ATM #Not That This Isn't Already Long Enough Whups #UGH Now My Wheels Are Spinning #I Need To Go Back And Reread The Series FACK

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nerdsideofthemedia · 6 years

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Bumblebee was always the plan part 2

It’s time to continue with my controversial posts. When I began writing this, it was intended to be mostly a response to arguments I see around and EF’s. Then my pretty confrontational post that had led to say to a friend “Thankfully no one reads my blog” became much bigger than I ever expected. There’s a good chance I would have gone for a different tone had I known it would get 500x the usual view of… 1, which is usually mine. This been said, it would have been a mistake. Still, I feel like I have to address some points that seem to have confused a few people and this is definitely to do that.

But first, soothing music to prevent knee-jerk reactions.

Let’s start with a claim that was kind of controversial: the suggestion that Blake could still turn out to be a lesbian instead of bi or pan as some claimed this was in itself bi erasure. I understand where this complaint comes from as bisexuality was basically considered to not exist in media, for example, Sex and the City has an episode where all the main characters but Samantha treat it as something alienating and a way to still be in the closet. Yeah, some episodes have not aged well. And I’ve lost count of the number of people that still don’t consider it a thing, even among progressive fandom like Janelle Monae’s and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend’s (I just gave you 2 bi anthems1). Just so we’re clear, even though I do think Blake is bothsexual (let’s see if someone recognizes that reference), I have to put on table of her being a lesbian as some gay people have dated members of the opposite sex for a very long time, and there’s high probability some of them were abused in said relationships. I can’t ignore those experiences (I suppose I can, but I shouldn’t and hopefully never will).

Black Sun: the ship that didn’t sail

Again, there were a few that didn’t like that I compared BB and BS, which they interpreted as a dick contest. That really wasn’t my goal. I did that because those were the ships involving Blake that had a chance to happen (Catmeleon and Enabling-abuse2 were not on the table) and I was arguing for Bumblebee having been the plan all along (which, to me, implies that Black Sun was meant to be a red herring, though I didn’t flat out say it – sorry, I didn’t think I needed to). The point was to illustrate how there had been hints for Bumblebee.

I argued for that way before volume 6 by pointing out several clues like the dance arc, the songs and the injury. At the time, someone asked me how I could know BB wasn’t the red herring. There are 2 reasons why:

While it’s not lacking in hints and foreshadowing, they are (mostly3) on the subtle side when compared to the very obvious Sun’s crush on Blake;

They’re a LGBTQ+ pairing. There are huge double standards when it comes to LGBTQ+ in comparison to hetero ones – many people will deny the first one until it’s impossible to do so. The point of the bait and switch is to have a little twist and you can’t have that if a significant part of your audience notices the switch, but doesn’t see the bait.

And if you have doubts about the last point, remember: in 6x11, Adam attacked Yang out of jealousy, then Blake held her hand while making a speech that put them as equal in contrast to Blake-Adam, a relationship where one of them constantly tried to make the other feel small (the point of the infamous speech). There were many denying BB. Then, he tried to make Yang feel insecure about Blake by telling her she had made the same promise to him and asked the super platonic question: “What does she even see in you?” and people still tried to deny it. In the last episode, Blake and Yang spent the time holding each other’s hands and yet, there were still people denying it. Not that I’m complaining, since it only increased my celebration time. It was like: episode 6x11, “yeah! Bees” for 3 days, the internet crashed my party for one, then 6x12, “yeah! Bees! This time is for sure” for another 3 days, again I had my enthusiasm dashed and finally, “yeah! Bees”. That time it stuck. So thanks guys! It would have been bad if by 6x13 I had already used all my fireworks.

If you thought BS was going to happen – that’s normal, because it was the bait. If I am aware that people tend to think of others as straight until proven otherwise, why do you think the writers aren’t? I may not live in the same country as them, but I still consume a lot of USA’s media and I know that if guy stalks girl, he usually gets her. Not to mention, the number of times media announces a LGBTQ+ character as tactic to gain some support yet deliver nothing, like saying Dumbledore is gay even though there’s nothing in the films or books indicating it (let’s leave the conversation about the “word of God” for some other time). There were more than a few LGBTQ+ people who were afraid Bumblebee would turn out to be just that: queerbaiting.

Miles and Kerry knew all of that and, more importantly, they were aware that you knew it too, so they played on your assumptions to make their bait-and-switch. However, there were plenty of hints that Sun was just the red herring and that Bumblebee was going to happen. Last time, I focused on the latter, this time let’s concentrate on the first. Let’s take a look at Sun and Blake’s relationship, shall we?

Sun was introduced in the last episodes of V1 and Blake trusted him immediately, because… he’s a Faunus. Though she told him about herself and the White Fang, he showed immediately he’s not on the same page as her as Faunus rights mean a lot to her and little to nothing to him. In 2x01, Sun talks to Neptune about Blake and concluded “and the best part is she’s a Faunus”, which goes completely against Blake’s words in the next episode “I want people to see me for who I am, not what I am”. She began going on a downward spiral to which he reacts with “Is she being all Blake-y?”, while Yang’s the one who gets through to her by exposing her own vulnerability.

Sun not fully understanding Blake is something the show hammers in our heads quite a few times even in more recent volumes. Like when he assumed she’s on her way to fight the White Fang when she was actually going to Menagerie to rest. Or suggested destroying the WF while Blake wanted to take it back.

In volume 3, they had literally no interactions besides him winking at her in the Vytal Festival – yes, she blushed, which can be explained by the fact that he did it in front of an entire stadium or that she had a crush on him. Personally, I’m inclined to the latter, but it really doesn’t mean much: not all crushes lead to something. A lot of them are a result of idealization and I think that was the case for Blake. By the way, I have to speak of Blake’s crush as likely, not certain precisely because it was never actually confirmed.

When Yang asked Weiss where Blake and Ruby were, Sun was there, yet it was Yang alone who went after Blake. The next time we saw him, it’s after their injuries and he is noticing an injured Blake grabbing Yang’s hand.

No, this shot doesn’t exist to show Sun seeing Blake injured, because he already knew that. He had just told Ruby that Yang was going to be OK, and the one who brought her there was Blake. Not to mention that if the point was to make him notice Blake’s injuries, it makes no sense for their hands to appear. Yang would have been kept out of the frame, instead of taking up more space than Blake. To me, this is the moment where Sun realizes Blake’s feelings for Yang. If the intention was for him to notice Blake’s injured, it would have made much more sense to see his face, then cut to her. Yes, they could have done the same with their hands, but this way they left it more ambiguous which was probably the intention. It would have made no sense for them to choose that if it was meant for Black Sun, because the audience was more than aware he was interested in Blake. We had been since V1 as there was never anything subtle about their relationship.

In volume 4, he flirts, Blake is usually either apathetic or downright annoyed. The exception is after the injury, and like I said, he’s the one who brings up Yang, revealing he realizes the bond between them. He is also hurt by the chick whose feelings weren’t reciprocated (I talked about that at length in part 1). In volume 5, their relationship is platonic.

Really, in spite of spending the volumes 4 and 5 together, it’s not about developing Black Sun in a romantic way.

Oh, a kiss on the cheek isn't romantic. It can be, but in the context, it was merely a "thank you".

Black Sun hasn’t sunk yet

While RWBY isn’t over, the possibility for Black Sun isn’t completely gone, though I don’t think I’m lying when I say it’s unlikely. You can like it more than Bumblebee, but it’s all right to admit it’s improbable. We (almost) all have been there. For crying out loud, in MHA, I sort of ship Kacchako4 (loses 2/3 of her readers – and that’s why this piece of trivia was originally intended to appear much later).

After everything he’s done for her (that she didn’t ask for)

This is usually phrased in a disgusting way.

There is a lot to unpack here.

First, it’s ridiculous to think you can be owed love/getting into someone’s panties. You can’t. People either love you/want to do you, or they don’t. If you want to do something for someone else, great, but do it because you want to and like (not necessarily in a romantic way) said person or because you’re altruistic – don’t expect a reward. This is what you sound like to us:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWFfrQtHag0

You wanted the guy to get the girl, fine. You know you can watch that in almost everything else, right?

Second, it’s idiotic to associate getting the girl with masculinity or not getting her with being “cucked”. If your notion of being a man is tied to getting someone else, that’s on you. If you need someone else to feel good about yourself, maybe you have some underlying issues to address (another reference to Crazy Ex-Girlfriend – watch the show, especially if you’re making comments like the one I showed: you need it. I feel like the narrator in “S.O.B.s”).

Third, even by the logic of “after everything I’ve done for you”, Sun doesn’t win, because Yang paid a much bigger price: she lost an arm and had PTSD while he had a minor injury from which he had basically recovered by the next episode. This isn’t a “Yang deserves her” either – that argument is nonsensical no matter the pairing being defended, I’m just pointing out that it doesn’t even favor BS.

By the way, I noticed that a few people completely missed the point of why I compared Yang’s injury to Sun’s and think I did it to indicate Yang deserves it more or to win (?). It’s a bit confusing because I flat out say why I made the comparison, but here it goes again: it’s not to say Yang deserves Blake, but to indicate that, in fiction, we usually associate romance with higher stakes. I literally wrote:

“I think Yang’s and Sun’s injuries are everything I should need to prove the likelihood of BB as they contrast the two main Blake ships: Bumblebee and Black Sun. While heroes tend to save many people who are indeed just friends or sometimes not even that, there’s a reason why Superman and Spiderman usually include Lois Lane and MJ (or whoever the love interest is in said film) in the climax – it makes it more personal, raising the stakes. From this perspective, it’s easy to understand the importance given to either by comparing: what the injury was, who caused it, why and Blake’s reaction, thus allowing to conclude which couple was given more weight.”

“[…] point Bumblebee as the first one is more associated with romance.”

That was me explaining what the points were as well as why I was comparing the 2.

And yes, paying attention to dramatic weight is completely valid, we are talking about fiction after all. It’s not like we accidentally walked in on a guy threatening a gal and saying “I’ll destroy everything you love… starting with her” as another woman appeared in real life. Things happened the way they did because writers (editors, directors, etc.) wanted them to.

Don’t pretend you didn’t know that it’s relevant that the one who caused Yang’s injury was Adam, Blake’s ex-boyfriend, while Sun’s was caused by Ilia, the friend whose feelings weren’t reciprocated, and that it doesn’t say anything about the links Adam-Yang and Sun-Ilia. I lost count of the number of BSers who wanted Sun to fight Adam and wanted him to be the one taking Adam down (even though it got in the way of Yang’s closure), which shows many of you were perfectly aware of the importance of said connection.

As for the dyke representation… (the fact that they phrased it that way is very telling) if it was just that, then any lesbian couple would do. RWBY is about 4 female characters. Seriously, how come people never ask themselves why this one is so popular, even though Yang and Blake aren't the most popular characters? From what I've seen, Weiss and Yang are.

The claims of “pandering” and “SJW” have been raining for a while and I expect them to continue until they realize CRWBY can’t be bullied into erasing BB. Count on that to happen whenever a show reveals a main character is LGBTQ+ mid-series (unless it’s a particularly progressive show). If your reaction to seeing LGBTQ+ characters is to call it “pandering”, it says a lot about you, none of it good.

I know that we perceive straight white male as default. This is so entrenched in our culture that the first Transformers didn’t have any female transformers because the writers thought it would require an explanation. Yup, apparently you need an explanation to include half of the world’s population.

I suppose screaming “pandering” is better than to pull an EF and say “Bumblebee was and is the safest LGBTQ ship they could have done. Lesbian couples are the safest representation a show can make […] It’s more comfortable to see woman on woman action just because of how fantasized they are”, which:

doesn’t justify why BB is the safest LGBTQ+ couple as there are a ton of lesbian couples possible (White Rose, Checkmate/Monochrome, Freezerburn, etc.);

fails to consider the high number of LGBTQ+ women in RWBY when compared to LGBTQ+ men probably has something to do with the fact it has more female characters;

when did we see woman on woman action in RWBY? How did I miss that episode?

if lesbians are so appealing to straight men, how come they’re the ones whining the most about BB?

The whole straight-men-like-lesbians while being the ones complaining about them is particularly odd to me. It doesn’t sound like they like they are spending their time wrapped up in sexual fantasies. Maybe they are and can't stop. And that's why they don't like Bumblebee anymore... Poor things... But really, it just sounds like they need some kind of… safe space.

You can tell them not to worry. They still have most shows/books/films. And for the next 2-4 decades, they'll be able to count on Disney (taking shots at it since my very first post).

As usual, the original.