#its great :) queer and trans joy is great

[izzysarchivedblogs]

reminder my pepper potts is proud to be a trans woman :)

trans your characters. trans your faves. nature will heal.

[glitterboy03]

NEW BINDER WAHOO

[snalsupremacy]

12 MANGA BY LGBT+ CREATORS

Happy pride month!! My time has come. Years of seeking lgbt manga lead me some great finds, and here's all the ones written by openly LGBT mangaka!

1- Our Dreams At Dusk by Yuhki Kamitani, an asexual x-gender creator!

A classic in the lgbt manga niche. Literally google "lgbt manga" and you'll find this one in the top results. It's popular for a reason! Starting Tasuku, a gay teen, the manga deals with members of the queer community from all walks of life living in a small town, and how being queer impact their lives. Yuhki Kamitani's poetic and abstract story telling abilities enhances a simple story line into one of the best emotional roller-coasters you'll ever ride on. TW: Attempt suicide, mentions of said attempt, groping of a minor, lots of homophobia

2- I Think Our Son is Gay by Okura, a gay creator!

An ADORABLE story about a progressive mom trying to learn more about how to support her closeted gay son without making it obvious that she knows. Super sweet and adorable, and the author's notes were so touching! queer joy all around

TW: Discussions and verbal displays of homophobia

3- Boys Run The Riot by Keito Gaku, a transmasc creator!

Another classic in this niche. The story follows a trans boy named Ryo who bonds with the trouble student Jin over men's fashion, and together they decide to start a fashion brand. It's refreshing to see the struggles of a trans boy portrayed so genuine and authentically.

TW: Gender dysphoria, outing

4- My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness by Kabi Nagata, a lesbian creator!

Kabi Nagata is an biographical essayist that publishes all her work in manga form. In one of her most popular works, My Lesbian Experience With Loneliness, Kabi tells the series of the events that led her to sleeping with a lesbian sex worker. Bold and authentic, Kabi has no fear to portray the ugly and fucked up parts of mental illness, in turn crafting an intimate and touching story.

TW: Self-harm, eating disorder, lots of discussions of mental illness, sexuality, and gender.

5- The Bride was a Boy by Chii, a transfem creator!

The biographical tale of the author, Chii, from realizing she's trans to meeting her husband, all told through 4-koma stories! The adorable chibi art-style and light-heartedness of this manga is sure to warm anyone's hearts! It's great to see the story of a trans woman told in such an optimistic and happy way. Details like the pop-ups of information about LGBT and Trans issues to the game-board illustrating her transition journey really show how proud Chii is of her identity, as she should!

TW: None that I remember

6- My Brother's Husband by Gengoroh Tagame, a gay creator!

The #1 non-sexual Bara, made by the #1 bara author. Tagame may be more known for his NSFW works, but his first SFW serialization shows the experience he's gained through the decades working on manga, even winning multiple awards (-) . After single father Yaichi's estranged brother passed away, Yaichi gets visited by his Canadian husband, Mike. A beautiful and sweet story of dealing with loss and overcoming homophobia, ft the cutest little child character and a very healthy divorced couple!

TW: Nudity (Technically non-sexual, but Tagame is a bear and it shows), Grief and loss of a loved one

7- To Strip The Flesh by Oto Toda, a transmasc creator!

An anthology book of various stories by Toda. The first of which, To Strip the Flesh (Where the manga gets its namesake) is inspired by the author's experience with dysphoria and coming out as a trans men. Toda was the assistant of Tatsuki Fujimoto (Chainsaw Men) during the serialization of Fire Punch.

TWs: Gender Dysphoria, gore, mutilation (no blood shown), house invasion, nudity, hunting and skinning of animals, gunshot wound, mysoginy

8-Gay Fuuzoku no Mochigi-san - Sexuality Is Life - by Mochigi, a gay creator!

Originally published on Twitter, Mochigi tells of his experience running away from home and coming to work in the bustling Shinjuku Ni-Chome, Tokyo's gay neighborhood. Through his sex work and work in gay bars, Mochigi tells an authentic story of the ups and downs of the gay culture in Tokyo.

TWs: Though not visually graphic, it goes into a lot of details about gay sex work

9- Vassalord by Nanae Chrono, a transmasc creator!

Y'all aren't ready for the synopsis... ok so this cyborg vampire who works for the Vatican is frenemies with this fuckboy vampire. They fight then make up then kiss and break-up (YOU!). Together they go on missions set by the church. Extremely emo and edgy vampires, actually really great action, and all the charm of early 2000's BL, now with extra blood! Nanae Chromo came out on twitter as trans only recently, and many news sources including Anime List still lists him as Female unfortunately.

TW: Bloody fights, enough homoeroticism to make your teeth rot

10- X-Gender by Asuka Miyazaki, a X-gender creator!

Miyazaki (AFAB) realizes at age 33 that they not only are X-gender, but like woman as well! The relatable and awkward biographical story of the author's experiences and new discoveries about their identity and the community. The manga also takes the time to explain all the terms used in the LGBT community, making it very accessible to those out of the loop! Also, the art-style is very cute.

TW: Lots of talks about sex and gender, possibly other things as I have not read it yet

11- Why I Adopted my Husband by Yuta Yagi, a gay creator!

The cute auto biography of Yuta and Kyota, a gay couple who have been dating for almost 20 years. The manga talks about not only their relationship, but also what it's like to live as a gay couple in Japan, and the draws and benefits of adoption as a way to seek the same legal rights of straight couples.

TWs: None

• Final Word •

I made this list to celebrate all the brave people who are open about their identities, but I also wanna point out that there are incredible LGBT manga out there written by anonymous or even straight creators!

Happy pride month to everyone but specially all the people living in places where it's not safe to be openly LGBT, everyday that you breathe is an act of rebellion, and we should be proud of that!

Here's a quickie of some other LGBT manga that didn't make the list for some reason or another- hmu if u want more details on them or just wanna talk about lgbt manga in general!

[mueritos]

Hi matteo! I think you’ve talked about gay and lesbian books you like, but I was wondering if you have any that you think every trans person should read?

hai!! good question :) I have a couple I can think of but they're definitely not very different from the ones Ive already offered. I think trans and cis queers should be reading the same literature, but I do also understand the want to find trans specific literature.

Transgender History by Susan Stryker...a good start but definitely not the most expansive look into trans history

Trans Sex by Lucie Fielding...this is definitely a more clinical book for folks who work in therapeutic settings with trans people, but reading it before I even decided to go into clinical social work gave me a lot of tools, knowledge, and lived experience to draw upon

The Trouble with Normal by Michael Warner...posted about it before but I do think its a must read for any freak/pervert/degenerate out there looking to academically justify "freakdom"...aka lets stop normalizing ourselves into the us imperial regime!

Trans Studies: The Challenges to Hetero/Homo Normatives...havent finished reading this but ive picked at some of the essays...some don't land all too well if you're BIPOC, but nonetheless are informative

Sex Wars by Lisa Duggan and Nan D Hunter...not necessarily a trans history book but I think its a book essential to understanding how radical feminism historically veered into conservatism...not to mention all the foreshadowing of language/policy/scapegoating being used by TERFs today...lol

The Joy of a Castrated Boy by Joon Oluchi Lee...def need to reread this because it was like so fucking epic for my brain but...you'll get it when you read it (he's also a fellow virgo)

Ill leave it at that lest I just bombard you with more readings. I actually have a queer theory google drive here if you're interested in checking out some readings/lists I have on file. Haven't had time to read everything in there but golly! lots of great places to start :)

[maddiem4]

I think one of the great things about the word "transhumanism" is that it leads you to make interesting connections through the metaphor of the transgender experience. And yet, not enough people take that invitation and run with it!

Like, okay, take the Cyberpunk universe, in the Capital C, CD Projekt Red sense. Kind of a fraught approach to its genre, but we can see that in more detail through the trans lens. People are empowered to customize their bodies in ways that feel better to themselves... but access to these customizations is gatekept by major corporations rather than available through socialized medicine. An underground DIY community exists, which mostly works for people but carries risks. These customizations can carry a cost of lifetime medication dependency, which is easily worth it for a lot of people, but can be a practical problem for (again) access reasons. And there's a lot of people who get upgrades they don't necessarily want because they feel that it's necessary on a practical level to get and keep jobs, which - that's not like the real life trans experience, but you know what it means? This is a forcefem world fantasy, except for a thing that isn't a gender. No wonder it has an "strangely enticing yet profoundly problematic" aura, we've seen that before!

There's a lot to be said here about the changing sense of self, and the sense of self incorporating changes. But I think what I want to talk about is arguably the biggest fumble of the world building - cyber psychosis. The idea that if you replace enough pieces of yourself, you lose your humanity and go insane. This obviously doesn't hold up to questions like "does my psychosis meter go up when I put on glasses or take my vitamins?" It doesn't have to, it's about feelings. There's something very queer respectability politics about the fact that most protagonist characters in this universe are modified, but look down on the people who went "too far." The literal dehumanization of modified people is an ugly thing to canonize as a mechanic of your universe. It's internalized transphobia for the characters and the authors - just, for a thing that isn't a gender.

I think if you really set out to write a transhumanist story about the economic pressure to transition in ways that increase your dysphoria rather than decrease it, you could easily write a better Cyberpunk. That's the power and clarity you get from engaging intentionally with the transgender metaphor. It's not the only connection that makes sense to explore - transhumanism intersects with a lot of topics and that's the intellectual joy of it - but I think you leave a lot of potential on the table if you're not checking in with the transgender allegory at some point in your writing process.

[nerdygaymormon]

“That means that few trans people will remain in the church, and that might be the ultimate goal.” Surely they can see that that is a terrible goal? What happened to all is welcome? Surely they can see that? Why would the true church of CHRIST want to exclude anyone? Why are they so scared? David, you’re a bit older than me (but not /that/ old) - is this worldwide transphobia an echo of how it was for gay people back then? Will it ever get better? Or will it just get worse and worse?

I agree it's a terrible goal.

I think because it wants to maintain that all are welcome, the LDS Church doesn't want to forbid a whole group of people, but it can make things intolerable enough that those people will remove themselves. That used to happen with gay people, and it was useful for the church because it didn't have to see the harm that its teachings had on their lives since they were no longer around.

There is tension in the church over queer issues. It would be easier if queer people remained "other" and not seen as part of the body of the church. Turns out that there's a group of people who are resistant to change and aren't willing to adjust their understandings because they're comfortable in their bigotry.

There are church members who have deep love for what they had been taught, members who eagerly opposed gay marriage, and who wish the church would go back to taking strong positions against gay people. The changes have made what once clear to now seem muddled.

Things will get better. God is love. The great commandments are love. The US Constitution offers rights to all citizens. The things which are right about this church and about American democracy & society can fix the things which are wrong.

Not knowing how long it will take is part of what makes this feel hopeless. Imagine if we knew that these new restrictions would be reversed in 3 years? It would make it easier to resist and endure.

There's no guarantees, but I believe there's reasons to be hopeful.

For one thing, there's a group of members who've gotten to know trans people and their eyes are opened to their divine humanity, they can't go back to not seeing.

Another is that while some states have implemented draconian anti-trans laws, court challenges are slowly rolling these back. And other states have opened their arms to trans people and many are moving to them from the inhospitable states, which means folks in the welcoming states will get to know trans people and view them as regular members of their community and want them to be treated with fairness.

Many queer people, including those who are trans, genderfluid, & nonbinary, have learned that God loves them as they are, that this is part of how they're meant to experience life. That truth is more important than any church policies and restrictions, or even church membership.

It makes me sad that the LDS Church is so scared of queer people because they can't see that God means for us to have joy and love. Many cherish the theology as they currently understand it and don't want to interpret things in a way that challenges or changes that understanding, it would mean going from feeling a secure stability to a feeling of unsurety as they step forward to new possibilities.

We need to learn how to see the great diversity of God's creation as being compatible with God's great plan

[foragerknits]

The Queer Politics of Craftivism: Crafting Trans Joy Through Quilting 

Right photo by @transjoyquilt, left by @poppythewitch (posted to @transjoyquilt) on IG

This essay was presented by me at a Queer conference at my University, and discusses queer craftivism in a historical context and contemporary one through the work of the Nortfolk Trans Joy Community Quilt. As a fiber artist, getting to talk with my professors and peers about craftivism was a big honor. It also couldn't be done without the publisher of The Norfolk Trans Joy Community Quilt Zine, Common Threads Press. Living in the US and on a time crunch they sent me a digital copy. All references are at the end of the essay, which I absolutely recommend reading, but I'd totally be willing to post other great resources that didn't make it into the final draft but are great works on queer craftivism.

The Queer Politics of Craftivism: Crafting Trans Joy Through Quilting 

“Craftivism,” a term popularized by activist and writer Betsy Greer, is the intersection of “crafting” and “activism.” Trans and queer activists have adopted the term to craft materials to express queer joy and resilient community in the face of abandonment and oppression by the state. Craftivism, while certainly involving anger, centers joy and love for the self and community. One of the most famous queer craftivist projects is the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt created in 1987 which memorialized thousands of people who died from AIDS and offered a way for the queer community to mourn. In this paper, I want to look at the Norfolk Trans Joy Community quilt to offer a more recent example of craftism that continues the political legacy of the AIDS Memorial Quilt. The Norfolk Trans Joy Community quilt was created earlier this year by trans people and allies in Norwich, England to offer trans people community and to highlight trans joy in a society that is continually working to criminalize the trans body.  

Craftivism has existed long before Betsy Greer popularized the name, and its influence reaches outside of queer circles, however one of the most notable works of craftivism is the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt. The government response to the AIDS crisis early in the epidemic was incredibly flawed and lacking with Ronald Reagan’s administration staying almost completely silent on AIDS until 1987 their only comments minimizing the scope of the epidemic on the queer community (Oritz 85). Reagan’s administration abandoned queer people to fend for themselves during the AIDS epidemic, needlessly allowing for thousands of people to die. The NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt, created in 1987, was crafted in protest to the government’s abandonment of queer people and to mourn as a community. The quilt initially consisted of 1,920 squares, each memorializing a person who died of AIDS, made by themselves or those who loved them (“The History of the Quilt”). Cleve Jones, the man who conceived the quilt, hoped that it would serve as a communal form of healing in dealing with the great loss the community was feeling, but also to publicly shame the government for their apathy and failure towards the queer community (“AIDS Memorial Quilt”). People combined their anger towards the governent and love and sadness towards losing someone close to them and channeled it into a quilt showcasing their emotions. Scholar Daniel Fountain writes in their essay “‘Queer Quilts’: A Patchworked History,” “Although the blocks can be exhibited independently of one another, the idea is that each panel – each life– would never be isolated or alone, even in death” (qtd in “The Norfolk Trans Joy Community Quilt Zine” 7).  The AIDS quilt simultaneously allowed queer people to come together as a community and mourn those they had lost, while also spotlighting the fact that the government did not acknowledge the scope of the epidemic.  

The conventional definition of “crafting” is gendered as one that is feminine and therefore “lower.” Art forms of knitting, embroidery, quilting, etc., come to mind over the more “masculine” and therefore more legitimate mediums of writing, painting, etc,. Associations with craft and queerness are tied, that they’re both too feminine and not as legitimate than their more recognized counterparts. Artist Ben Cuevas writes of their personal connection to the link of crafting and queerness stating, “by knitting with my male body, and referencing that in my work, I’m queering gendered constructs of craft,” (qtd in Chaich & Oldham 137). Queer people recognize the connection between the connotations of queerness and craft, and use it to materially render queer and trans experiences, including expressing joy and love for their community.  

Crafting, specifically quilting, is used to express queer joy due to the symbolic nature of quilts, and what the gift of a quilt means. The gift of a quilt tells someone that they love and care for them, that in a literal sense you never want them to be cold and alone. Quilting teacher and writer Thomas Knauer in his essay “The Gift of a Quilt is an Act of Love” writes of the symbolism present in giving quilts, “warmth — once a literal protection against the elements — is also a symbolic means of protection, and our desire to protect is a reflection of the love we feel for another.” People make quilts to express love. Furthermore, the gift of a quilt involves incredible amounts of patience and care. Quilts are not really practical as people in modern life have access to cheaper ready-made blankets, yet people spend weeks and months picking out fabric, and cutting and sewing them for another person to show their love. The Norfolk Trans Joy Community Quilt does this for an entire community of people. Individual squares are sewn together to become an entire quilt of trans people expressing their love for themselves and their community, that they do not want themselves or any trans person to be without joy or community. 

Queer craftivism subverts the idea of quilting as a symbol of cis-heteronormativity, instead making it a symbol of community. In their essay “‘Queer Quilts’: A Patchworked History,” Daniel Fountain writes of gendered associations of quilts, saying, “quilts are still largely associated with milestones in cis-heteronormative culture – birth, marriage, and death – and they are typically passed down through generations of biological family members, usually through matrilineality.” (Norfolk Trans Joy Community Quilt Zine 6). However in queer crafting, instead of marriage and family as the sole climactic moment in a person’s life worthy of a quilt, it is the moment in which a person expresses joy in being trans and queer that is worthy of a quilt. Community becomes family, which is important when many trans folks are shunned by their families and the matrilineal line is broken or strained.  

Trans joy is important now more than ever in a world that is increasingly criminalizing the trans body. The media has increasingly portrayed trans people as predators and dangerous, with CPAC speaker Michael Knowles stating earlier this year that “transgenderism must be eradicated from public life entirely,” (qtd in Wade & Reis). Despite the onslaught of cruelty thrown at trans people, craftivism is used a means to express joy and challenge the narratives against them. K, who created a square for the community quilt and was interviewed about it said, “As much as I want to express my anger, trans joy is defiant. It can’t be legislated out of existence, defanged or sold. It doesn’t have one look and it contradicts itself. Its complexity is powerful, trans joy is a protest in itself” (Norfolk Trans Joy Community Quilt Zine 21). Anger is not absent in craftivism, as it is a response to injustice and abandonment of marginalized groups which rightfully sparks outrage, yet joy is present in them as well, which is an important mode of protest against oppression. In other words, joy and anger are not mutually exclusive categories. 

Even when not being portrayed as dangerous, mainstream trans narratives are often filled with the trauma associated with being trans such as the violence inflicted on them, suicide, and survival sex work to name a few. While these are all real issues affecting the trans community, hyperfocusing on these issues in the media creates a false narrative that trans people are joyless, which the Trans Community Quilt hopes to reject. Alex, another person who contributed to the quilt and was interviewed said, “It helps to combat the tragedy of trans lives in lots of mainstream media, even in sympathetic cases.” (The Norfolk Trans Joy Community Quilt Zine 18). Instead of fetishizing trans folks through the lens of traumatic tragedy, the quilt highlights the joy in being transgender. K’s square features a pun which says “Orange you glad trans people exist?” Another square made by a person named Josh is an embroidered rendering of Josh’s chest nine months post top surgery. The quilt rejects the narrative that trans people are dangerous and tragic, but rather spotlighting the joy for self and community in being transgender. The focus on joy is not at the expense of histories of pain or struggle. 

The creation of the Trans Community quilt was largely community focused, with recurring workshops for queer community members to gather and create. Workshops included free materials and instruction for creating the squares in addition to providing a safe community space for community members. Therefore the quilt was truly made by the trans community of Norwich, and even after its creation the quilt will go on to be exhibited at various queer and trans events across England. The conceptors Beau Brannick and Alice Bigsby-Bye write, “The project aims to return ownership of queer collections to their communities and empower people to access, discover, and contribute to the objects that reflect their shared histories” (5). The quilt is also therefore owned by the queer and trans community in addition to being made by and for the community.  

 Craftivism has existed for a long time, with a notable queer example being the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt, and these kinds of projects have gone onto inspire others such as the Norfolk Trans Joy Community Quilt. The Trans Joy Quilt centers trans joy and community rather than suffering. This research as well as the work being done by queer and trans craftivists is important because activism that centers joy and resilient community is needed more than ever in a society that is working to criminalize the trans body. 

Works Cited 

“AIDS Memorial Quilt,” Williams College Museum of Art, March 17, 2019, https://artmuseum.williams.edu/aids-memorial-quilt/

Chaich, John & Oldham, Todd, Queer Threads: Crafting Identity & Community, AMMO Books, 2017.  

Knauer, Thomas. “The Gift of a Quilt is an Act of Love,” Hachette Book Group, https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/storey/gift-quilt-act-love/#:~:text=the%20room%20symbolically.-,The%20gift%20of%20a%20quilt%20is%20an%20act%20of%20love,those%20they%20are%20given%20to  

“The History of the Quilt,” National AIDS Memorial, https://www.aidsmemorial.org/quilt-history  

The Norfolk Trans Joy Community Quilt Zine, Common Threads Press, 2023. 

Ortiz, Jacqueline A. (2023) "Silence From the Great Communicator: The Early Years of the AIDS Epidemic Under the Reagan Administration," Swarthmore Undergraduate History Journal: 4 (2), 76-99. https://works.swarthmore.edu/suhj/vol4/iss2/6 

Wade, Peter & Reis, Patrick. “CPAC Speaker Calls for Eradication of ‘Transgenderism’ — and Somehow Claims He’s Not Calling for Elimination of Transgender People.” Rolling Stone, March 6, 2023, https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/cpac-speaker-transgender-people-eradicated-1234690924/  

[papakhan]

Lol why would someone even say that. Like... idk im transmasc im personally mortified of the idea of getting pregnant but... its none of my business if another man wants to be pregnant why would there be any judgement there 😭😭😭 plus the post was very funny people need to stop projecting over a sillay little post. Have a good night king the haters dont get it

the thing is I totally understand trans guys being uncomfortable with the concept of (trans) men getting pregnant. In our society its a very gendered concept, it gets fetishised by weirdos online all the time and to a lot of (especially queer) afab people its strongly associated with control and abuse. I totally get it. That was me not so long ago but after a lot of research I became more comfortable with it because I want to have children one day. I shouldn't have to expose this part of myself as a defence against people calling me transphobic when I am literally trans and half the fight for trans people is "my body my choice"

what gets me is that the tumblr fallout community gets in this fucking argument allll the fucking time over whether the fallout universe should be "dark and gritty and ~realistic~" in regards to Everyone being transphobic Or if the wasteland should be some kind of trans haven without the binds of society. I personally lean on the latter and get a lot of comfort out of the idea that the Great Khans specifically are a bastion of trans joy and experience and to them women having dicks and men giving birth is just. normal.

the end goal for trans people should be to de-gender concepts like pregnancy and penis but we're never gonna fucking get anywhere if trans people project their dysphoria onto each other and start self-flagellating themselves whenever someone steps out of line or makes a stupid joke.

And yeah this is an overreaction to someone critising a stupid post of mine but I'm more mad at the wider culture of the fallout community (and tumblr) regarding this topic because like I said shit like this keeps happening. part of my job is about educating people about trans bodies and saying shit like "don't assume who can and can't get pregnant" and trying to help fellow trans people find comfort in a country that's actively trying to get them all murdered. To then log onto tumblr dot com and get called transphobic because I said I love headcanoning Papa as trans and him being able to deflect the Legion's misogyny because of his transness is like a slap to the face. you guys are meant to be the transgender love website what the fuck are you talking about?? Also Saying that I'm enabling transphobia by allowing people who arent trans men to reblog my post is also stupid and for the record most people in my notes right now are either trans people who are genuinely agreeing that Papa is trans or ghost fans who think I'm talking about their band (but are still trans and still agreeing).

sure maybe I should have put a trigger warning on the post or something because it might trigger someone's dyphoria, but just say that. Don't act like I'm the problem and that I'm too stupid to recognise internalised transphobia and calling me "too comfortable with joking about trans bodies" when 1. I wasn't joking About trans bodies and 2. ITS MY FUCKING BODY

My joke was about how Caesar cant handle Papa being trans. it was a joke about how society cant handle trans people who they can't clock. it was also a joke about how Papa comes from a society where transness is so normalised that he wrongfully assumes that its something everyone can do. At no point was I "nasty about trans bodies" like this person claims I was. In fact I think that pretending that I was says more about how they view trans bodies than it does about how I do, That I can mention trans pregnancy and they automatically assume I'm fetishing or being disrespectful.

anyway. that's a lot of shit. thanks for letting me ramble and tucking me into bed so sweetly <3

[lqtraintracks]

Hey! I'm curious, pls indulge me: which book or fic that you've read in 2023 has made the most impression and why? x

Hi M! Great question! I waited to answer it until Wireless reveals posted! Under a cut because I went off lol. <3

A note about @hd-wireless in particular. There were so many fics that I missed reading simply because I started running out of reading steam, particularly my ability to sit down with a longer story. Posting also coincided with the end of writing my novel and I chose writing over reading in order to actually get the book finished. There are LOADS more great stories in this fest, is what I'm saying, but there were two that I read that simply sang to me.

About This Place by @academicdisasterfic Summary: Harry left everything, including Draco. Harry’s returned to everything, including Draco.

Things are never quite so simple, though perhaps they could be. My comment on it: The way this felt so viscerally real from the get-go, like... you put us right on the street. I could feel it in my body. And the queer joy tag was so spot-on! I wanted to cheer for them in this world! Your writing is absolutely breathtaking. Love love LOVE.

Sun Thief by @floydig Summary: “You’re stunning,” Harry blurts out, because Draco is pink-cheeked and his mouth is bitten and plump. Gasping beneath Harry, working his cock in his fist. “Say my name when you come?”

It’s 2005, and Draco Malfoy says, “Fuck the Ministry,” Harry works as a handyman in muggle London, and Draco should really stop pissing off the Squib gangs.

Or: Harry beats up a pimp and isn’t sorry about it, Draco deals black market potions, and they’re shagging. Again.

My comment: This fic was absolutely beautiful and moving and I LOVE the way you wrote it, the style, the voice (the subtraction of subjects from their sentences just made it seem like… Idk a way for them to keep themselves safe, to not have to say 'You' or 'I' or 'We', to own any of it, like this gruff little defensive mechanism made out of language and its omissions--I loved it!), the sparse and perfect use of details, like you drew them down from on high. Amazing stuff.

Also, I beta'd a story for @hp-lawofattraction-fest that I can't talk about but has fucking killed me dead, it's so good! :zipper mouth emoji: The fest starts posting Monday! <333

And then there are BOOKS! These are the books that have absolutely floored me so far:

To Paradise by Hanya Yanagihara A Lady for a Duke by Alexis Hall

Trust by Hernan Diaz

The New Life by Tom Crewe

and I just started a fucking banger:

Dancer from the Dance by Andrew Holleran

All literary fiction plus one beautiful romance that I will never get out of my head or my heart and I don't want to try! Yanagihara's name speaks for itself, but I think she's become an even more masterful writer since A Little Life. To Paradise will still rip your heart clean out of your chest but in a subtler fashion (still mostly queer though). Trust won the Pulitzer this year, along with Kingsolver's Demon Copperhead which I haven't gotten to yet. This book was EXQUISITE. What a writer! It's up there near The Goldfinch for me! The New Life and Dancer are both queer lit fic and very, very well done! A Lady for a Duke... God, it just stole my heart! I'm in love with the pairing of Viola and Gracewood! What a gorgeous trans love story!

Thanks for the lovely Ask! May I ask the same question of you? <3

[duckiemimi]

Hey mimi! Hope your first days of September are doing fine

If this isn’t uncomfortable for you to answer do you have any thoughts on the trans gojo headcanon ( or T4t stsg in general) I also see this hc be somehow popular in the fandom ( especially in gego twitter and ao3 )

Like I said if this is too uncomfortable you could not answer it!

i love personal headcanons! people interact with media and narrative art in such unique and individual ways, i love seeing how each person relates to a story through their own lived experiences—and i especially love interpretations through queer lenses because we’re so underrepresented within media 😭 i think it’s neat that so many people see parts of themselves in gojo (and geto!) and can interpret him (them both) as trans.

but of course, there’s more to this particular headcanon than just queer joy. there is definitely something to be said about the nuances within the bigger picture, outside of fandom and fanfiction. i recommend this article on an in depth look on ethics and headcanon (written from a trans person’s pov!).

there’s this one quote from the article that i think can aptly summarize this: “It’s a great thing to envision characters as trans, however, when done carelessly, it can encourage transphobic stereotypes.” and especially in difficult and trying times for trans folks, it’s so important to be mindful!

another quote that you could apply to trans gojo and trans geto headcanons: “Trans men can be feminine…However, the choice to headcanon a feminine guy as a trans man is definitely iffy. Separate from any other trans context, it implies first and foremost that cis men can’t be feminine, or that they shouldn’t be. This sort of headcanon also intricately tangles itself with strict ideas of a gender binary and its relationship with biological sex.”

again, everyone is free to relate to and interpret media in different ways, but mindfulness and consideration of the space you share with people different from you in fandom is very important! remember, your intention and its impact might not align in the bigger picture!

[boyswanna-be-her]

So I recently have begun questioning/experimenting with my gender identity, and as a consequence have been (possibly over-) identifying with horror movies that I have decided are trans allegories, at least to me. Many of these movies were definitely not meant to be queer metaphors but that hasn’t stopped me lol. Anyway as you are also horror fan and trans/non binary individual, I was wondering if you ever went through a similar era. My most recent was Jacob’s Ladder, with the chemical being a metaphor for the gendered socialization we all go through growing up. Also, hope your life/day/etc is going well and full of joy!

I've been thinking about this ask for FOREVER and honestly don't have a great response, or a succinct one. I tend to find myself in characters who are on the fringe/isolated and usually autistic coded (thinking the anti-heroes of "Re-Animator" or "Possession" or "Fade to Black") -or- in the characters who have good intentions but get in too deep because of it ("They Look Like People" or "Resolution"). It's not about gender on its surface, but I think the through line in the first type of movie is that these are people who can function in society and even some relationships from day to day, but over the course of the film they're slipping and it's becoming more and more obvious that they're out of step with the world around them. Pretty similar to my relationship with gender, I think, and the fact that no matter what I did, my actual relationship with gender was inevitably going to manifest in some material way in my life.

[shadeslayer]

I wanna thank you for being so open and real about fat love and fat liberation and all. I've known for a while that I like fat bodies, my own, my partner's, others', but it felt like something I had to keep quiet even within my own mind. I could admit to it but I couldn't be proud of it, you know? but after having followed you for a while and seen other perspectives, I've gone from tentatively acknowledging my feelings to fully joyfully embracing them. being fat makes me happy! seeing fat people makes me happy! I felt overwhelming amounts of joy about this. thank you for sharing what you do it's changed my world.

YES !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i saw this as i was going to sleep last night it melted my heaaaart <3333 FAT IS SEXY !!!!!!!!

theres a lot of stuff with marginalization where we can only be allowed to exist if we're ashamed of it, if we don't enjoy it, as long as its not a choice and as long as we dont actively want to be the way we are. and theres been good moves along trans joy, queer joy, being proud of your heritage and your skin and the same is happening if quietly within fat movements too and its the best shit ever. i understand peoples concerns but personally im fucking over it and im done with having to play nicey nice "im so sorry im fat skinny people look prettier skinny people are the ideal" games because im NOT sorry and fat people DO look prettier and fatness IS the ideal IMHO (in my huge opinion) !!! its great being fat and i love being fat and i love it when other people are fat and when other people are fat they look hot as fuck and the world is literally a more beautiful, more sexy, more vibrant place with fat people visibly existing in it. if people wanna be fussed about that thats THEIR problem !

if youre interested in fatlib and anti-diet movement/s i do have some book/blog/zine recs i can give you! but honestly its like. its so good to be able to say truthfully w ur whole chest that yeah i love the way fat people look, i love fatness, seeing fat people makes me happy and fat people are the ones who turn me on.

im also deeply flattered bc there are people im friends with / who i follow who have been formative like that for me, and im surprised i blog about fatness enough to count LOL. i feel a lot of it is all on my nsfw blog which isnt like suuper popular or anything. but honestly if u love fat talk u shld see me in the dms with my fat femme bestie bc we tear bitches up in there. i dont like to make waves too much esp w fatness bc it can be sooo divisive and intense (bc there is so much trauma in all of us over it, so i get it!) so i dont post much of my Real Hot Takes but im glad the fat love gets across. impossible 2 contain, same as my SEXY TUMMY IN THESE TINY SHIRTS !

literally it is so healing in ways that are innumerable. the way i live in my body has improved so much now that im proudly loving and excited abt and happy abt fat. so many little things and moments in my life have been turned around where i see myself as sexy when my shirt rides up, when my pants dont fit, when i get food on my shirt. that shit is hot. and dont let any COWARDS tell you differently

ALSO: being into fat and talking abt it as a fat person w ur fat partner is so fucking amazing and i promise if u start that discussion you will get some of the red hot sexiest pics u will ever see from ur partner bc thats happened in my rship and its like. [redacted for nsfw]

took a couple selfies to trace and drew this for u darling. go forth and be FAT

[stackofturtles]

Ranking the Fellowship in order of trans masc energy

It is well appreciated that Lord of the Rings is incredibly gay but one thing that I rarely see discussed is just how much transmasculine energy so many of the character, particularly in the fellowship, have. At the prompting of my partner asking me which member of the fellowship has the most trans masc energy I have ranked them from least to most trans masc energy. Note that I am specifically pulling from characterization from the books and not any adaptations.

10. Boromir- easily the lest trans masc member. Cis straight guy.

9. Gandalf the White- I’m splitting Gandalf the Grey and White because they’re energies are so different. This one is kind of frustrating because Gandalf’s death and rebirth could be such a great trans metaphor but also Gandalf the White loses so much of his fun and joy and thus his trans masculine energy.

8. Legolas- Legolas is low on they list because, while he is definitely dripping with trans energy, I see Legolas as more of a she/they or nb energy. I’m sure there are some femboy trans mascs who Legolas represents though, that’s fair, I see you, there is just so much trans masc energy on the rest of the list.

7. Gandalf the Grey- fun old bookish man who likes to smoke, we all hope to be him one day, future aspirations for when I am old.

6. Sam- I struggled with where to put Sam on the list but ultimately put him lower than expected because he could go many different ways- trans masc yes, but i get more he/him lesbian vibes from him. He also give me energy like Jack Black- a cis man with uncanny transmasc and/or butch lesbian energy, and there is so much trans masc energy in the fellowship at this point in the list everyone has a lot of it.

5. Aragorn- embodies so postitive masculinity! His trans masc energy is more representing an aspiration of masculinity than it is literal. Also very outdoorsy and a romantic soul. He was one of the crushes I had a teen which was really me just wanting to be him.

4. Pippin- Plucky young trans guy! Definitely has Peter Pan energy. He will absolutely be get carded at the Bar no matter old he gets. Kind of a lovable doofus but he has a big growth arc where we can see his growth mentally and physically cause the Ent Draughts are absolutely a metaphor for testosterone! Also good friends with Faramir who is also a trans man.

3.  Frodo- our protagonist! Adventurous and somewhat studious short guy, its too obvious really. The fact that he gets his big adventure when he is a little older also gives hope to those of us who transitioned in our 30s that we too could can be a plucky young Jim Hawkins style character on an adventure even though we missed it in our youth.

2. Gimli- SPECIFICALLY BOOK GIMILI- FILM GIMILI HAS NO TRANS MASC ENERGY-(love the movies but Jackson did Gimli dirty). That being said he has perfect noble chivalrous trans masc energy, so much positive masculinity to aspire to. And he’s a short king! He is so willing to throw down for the transfems he loves (Galadrial and Leglos) in true trans solidarity.

1. Merry- Are you gonna tell me Meriadoc is not a trans guy name? He is somewhat bookish like Frodo, and definitely the smartest hobbit in the fellowship. Has so much young adventurer vibes without being too much of a doofus like Pippin. Although this is mostly just part of the movies he is a bit of a fancy boy, i know he has a large collection of floral button ups. Eowyn hangs around him while exploring her gender, queer solidarity there. Becomes a knight of Rohan (goals!) and led the uprising of the hobbits again Saruman And as mentioned earlier the Ent Draughts are a metaphor for testosterone!

 @wretched-mog you asked for this!

[mcnuggyy]

Sorry to bother, just curious, is there a pause on Primavera still?:0 I am still so hyped for when it comes out :)

hi hi!! not a bother at all!! Can't remember if I've really spoken about this outside of my close circles but I have decided to focus exclusively on Cryptid♡Crush, commissions, and other projects at the moment. As an artist I've realized it's silly for me to force myself to work on projects that just don't bring me joy anymore, ya know? Not to say Primavera never brought me any joy, but more like I've outgrown the story and characters in a few ways. This was definitely a story I wrote for early 20's Izel, someone who was stil struggling with themselves gender and sexuality wise, and not sure how to feel comfort in this truth while being the child of mexican immigrants who were struggling to accept me.

Now I'm very much heading into my late 20's, I've moved out of what used to be an abusive household for me during much of my life. My parents have made great leaps in accepting me to the point where i've finally found the peace and ability to get married with my partner of 7 years. Of course I'm still figuring myself out in a lot of ways but I think more than anything I want to focus on something where characters already know who they are... they're just looking for that space of acceptance, a place to be themselves unabashedly and have fun and make friends and deal with the things i'm currently going through!

A lot of times I think our oc's tend to grow with us or we grow out of them and make new ones to fit our current selves ykno. And I think that's just kind of whats happened jajaja. Maybe one day I'll take a dive back into those characters, but they are very much tied to a very specific story and period of time in my life for me. I know I've kind of fucked myself in a lot of ways by committing to making art my job, and I know jobs aren't inherently fun, but god damn it I want to make sure I'm enjoying myself anyways... even if that means having to get a part time in order to work on a project that is less accessible to audiences but much more fun for me jajaja

In other words, I no longer find myself interested in telling the story about awkward gay mex-am 20 year olds figuring themselves out cause I'm now an extremely queer 26 year old who knows who they are and is much more focused on meeting other queer and trans people like me and making friends and surviving adulthood jajaja. And in a lot of ways those two things are very similar when it comes to acceptance and belonging! Just in different stages if that makes sense! And I'm sure when I'm in my 30's this will change, and 50's and so on!

Regardless I want to make sure I'm doing everything in my power to make sure I'm making myself happy in my own work... I originally became an artist because I loved the joy it brought to others, and it still is a very important to me that a lot of that remains true in my art! But I think keeping that joy sincere, by making sure its something I also find joy in, is even more important. :o]

ANYWAYS!!! I didn't mean to go on such a long rant just to say I wanna draw gay t4t monster sex but well there ya go JAJAJAJA!

[raggydraws]

I don't think i've ever shown off this character! More about her under the cut~

Minami Hoshiko, Swordsmith of the Demon Slayer Corps. I made her around the time I was just getting to the Sword Village Arc in the manga and noticed the strange lack of women in the swordsmith village. I think the only lady we ever see is Kozo's wife En and she's not in the anime at all!

Demon Slayer feels like there's a strange void of background women when it comes to the Corps specifically (unlike the rest of the show, there's a lot of civilian women just...no women in the corps aside from the handful we see. It's probably due to the grind of making Manga as fast as possible and it was an afterthought but it feels odd to me.)

So Anyways, Hoshiko! She's a 35 year old trans-woman who was childhood best friends with the "lovely" Haganezuka Hotaru. The two were social outcasts as they reacted to most things by either immediately bursting into tears or getting irrationally angry. The fact that the two even got along surprised a lot of the village but they figured having a friend would help the two eventually move past this "emotional phase" they were in.

It didn't.

Hoshiko would eventually leave the village to transition and apprentice under smiths and engineers outside of her home. This is also where she got the scars across her face, a minor demon attack that inspired her to also learn how to use the weapons she was making. (Hoshiko defiantly isn't on par with a Slayer since she doesn't use breathing or have the time to practice constantly, but she can hold her own.) Since we don't have any canon swordsmiths for anyone other than Tanjiro and Inosuke, I just made Hoshiko the swordsmith for Shinobu lol. (Hoshiko both loves and hates that sword. Its her pride and joy and the reason she's going to an early grave, it's great)

And finally...She's in a Queer Platonic Relationship with Haganezuka. Why? Because I headcanon him as AroAce (and also Autistic but thats another thing entirely) and while I don't have any concrete for Hoshiko's sexuality I can't really see her in hetronormative relationship either? They got married in their late 20s to get their families off their backs about "scaring suitors away". Plus they do genuinely care and trust each other, as sometimes it feels like the other is only person in the village willing to listen and understand them.

Aaaand thats Hoshiko! Pls send questions about her or literally any of my demon slayer ocs i want to yap about them so badly you have no idea

[queerofthedagger]

A couple of cute ones:

- pride last year there was a tween with their dad right in front of me and my friends. They were all decked out in flags and having a great time and their dad was there with like a little pin supporting them 🥺

- went to trans pride and just the sheer joy of seeing so many trans and queer people out supporting each other and protesting and having a great time.

- going to an art fair and buying lots of cool art from the stall holders, including a lino pring that says 'trans vengence'

- big "no pride without trans pride" posters in my local area which appeared recently

I hope these help 💕

TRANS VENGEANCE no I love that oh my god. Also ohh feeling you on the "no pride without trans pride!!" The march in my city this year had as its main theme the support of trans rights and demands to change some laws, and it really did drive home that a lot of the current discourse is dominated by a loud but small minority!!

These did in fact help thank you so much!! gonna go look for a trans vengeance pin now <3