#like i'm in a same sex presenting interracial relationship

[mermaidsirennikita]

besides everything you have brilliantly pointed out, there are also the underlying implications of fran theoretically not being attracted to john but having sex with him. i know they could potentially have a sexless marriage and skip the miscarriage, focusing the future struggle on the grief and guilt of moving on with someone new but... if fran doesn't really love John that would mostly be a michaela pov and we know the show isn't good at exploring the love interests (of color) trauma and motivations. also john has been presented as a sweet man that sees francesca, it would be highly unbelievable if he didn't realize she wasn't into the sex. and it seems ooc for him to keep going with it too even if at the time it happened. so if they do follow the miscarriage/pregnancy route... that could be problematic. not that they care considering what daphne did to simon but still.

First off, thank you!

Second, I've been thinking about my thoughts on this (lol thinking about my thoughts) because I want to be very careful about expressing my opinion on this subject. I know it's very sensitive and I get that, and I don't want anyone to feel dismissed or unheard (and I don't want to at all validate people who are being so homophobic and vile about this).

But yes, I thought about this as well. It seems like we really don't know where Fran and John's relationship is at all at the end of the season, even though enough time has passed for them to forge some kind of physical relationship. And I just feel like... If John was a real character in the script, if his sweet and sensitive nature was honored, then I would IMAGINE that he'd notice something, unless Fran was really good at putting on a good face (and maybe she is).

When you're with someone you care about, though.... if they held off on intimacy, he'd notice that. If Fran didn't like it, I think he'd notice that, too? Which adds some messiness to tacking this on at the end of the season. This needed TIME. It adds to this idea, too, that John isn't a character, because like? He's gonna have feelings too? Not just Fran. There's more to this than FRAN'S feelings.

I would find it really sad if they did keep the miscarriage plot, tbh, if Fran truly isn't physically attracted to him. I don't want to think of her having to put up with or frankly be traumatized by that, and I don't want to think of John being framed as this source of trauma. Besides, that's Sir Philip's thing. And yeah, him being a Black man also MATTERS, and this is something (I say this as a white woman who doesn't identify as straight these days) I really dislike seeing white viewers just sort of dismiss. This is not just a queer love story. This is an interracial queer love story, and frankly, a love triangle that involves two people of color (who happen to be related... again.... And it is interesting how that's happening again, and it does kind of say something in that these show is like "two love interests of color? MUST BE FROM THE SAME FAMILY!". Like, yeah, Kate and Edwina and Michael and John are related in the books, but those aren't actual full-blown love triangles in the books).

I think I'm just so burned by the way s2 handled Edwina and Kate that the idea of them doing a GOOD job with Michaela, especially with her added layer of her being queer in the world the show constructed, is like... I'm skeptical. And maybe that's unfair. Maybe I shouldn't be skeptical. But in general, the Btons' love interests of color have really been notably sidelined in favor of their lovers' arcs, and it was bigger for Kate than it was for Simon. Hey, Simon got a backstory.... Even if his trauma was ultimately subsumed by Daphne's story after she assaulted him.

But hey, I'm happy to be proven wrong. I really hope I will be.

I'll also say, however--I just really think that people need to understand that we can support the gesture while critiquing the writing and the way it's coming together. There are a lot of people who simply hate that they aren't getting Michael, or that there is queerness on the show at all. A LOT. Some people, however, have valid critiques. Some of them are queer people; some of them are people of color; some are both. Critique isn't JUST coming from straight women who want to see Michael.

And I mean, I've already seen a historical romance author who does identify as bi on her Twitter profile and does write actively queer books get dogged out for critiquing it, so.

[elumish]

You saying to avoid “'this white girl’s relationship with this white boy is forbidden because society hates love' forbidden love because it’s a bit played out" needlessly isolates a race of people. I know it's popular to make fun of white people as a perceived table-flip, but it's uncomfortable like it would be to point out any other race. You could say a standard 'nothing obviously wrong' relationship has no need to be dramatic, without putting a spotlight on a type of people for no reason.

Good morning (or whatever time zone you're in)!

I'm going to assume this is in good faith and you're not a troll, so I hope you take this with all due respect when I say, I think you have a fundamental misunderstanding of how race is talked about and presented in media.

I'm getting a whiff of "reverse racism" in this comment, and so first things first, bringing up the existence of whiteness isn't making fun of white people. (Also I think you're using the term table-flip wrong, but that's neither here nor there.) Acknowledging that white people are white*, and acknowledging that white people are treated differently in media than People of Color, isn't racist or making fun of white people or needlessly isolating a race of people.

Avoiding talking about race, and avoiding talking about the privileging of certain identities, is how we as a society get away with continuing to pretend that racism doesn't exist and the way that People of Color are treated in society is disconnected from the color of their skin or their cultural or ethnic background. We as a society talk about white people differently!

There's nothing inherently uncomfortable about talking about that--and if there is, well, maybe that's a discomfort you should sit with. Maybe you should consider why you're so uncomfortable with the idea of talking about race and about whiteness.

And now to the actual topic you were referencing.

I'm a writing advice blog. I give writing advice. And one of those pieces of advice is, when tropes become old and stale and irrelevant, let's stop writing about them.

Now, I will acknowledge that there are a lot of reasons why a white girl and a white guy might be forbidden from being in a relationship--a mismatch in socioeconomic status, a difference in religion, etc.

But what writers often do in stories where the idea is that it's forbidden because Society Hates LoveTM is they replace the very real struggles faced by same-sex or same-gender couples and interracial couples (as well as interfaith couples) and place them on a white girl and a white guy who are the same in class, religion, culture, and everything else that tends to actually cause this forbidden love.

It's generally cishet white people taking other people's real trauma and making it palatable to white people by removing the queerness and removing the mention of race. We get nice, neat stories where we get to pretend that sometimes love is just Forbidden because Society Is Mean, and it has nothing to do with things like homophobia or racism. It lets white people tell other people's stories without having to think about those other people too hard, because they're good with those white cishet people being together, but they might not actually be so okay with it if those people were both men or both women or if one of them wasn't white.

*the concept of whiteness is extremely complicated and situation-specific, but that's a topic for a different essay

[raayllum]

I think the reason TDP is left out of queer rep discussions is because it's not as known as other shows with LGBTQ+ representation, which mainly advertize themselves as that while TDP tends to lean more towards adventure, comedy and drama. It could also be because, from my fandom deep dives, some call Duren's queens' death "bury your gays" trope or think the creators simply wanted to make a "woke" show. But these are just my quesses about the matter.

This might be a very cynical slant to take but: I actually think a lot of it has to do with race. Now, queer rep in live action vs animation is very different. M/M ships / pairings still dominate the live action landscape in terms of rep and in terms of fandom. Western animation is one of the only places - as far as I know of - where femslash is actually more represented. And I'm not going to get into why, because it's long and complex and I don't have all the answers there, but we're gonna put a pin in that point because it's relevant for later.

The fact of the matter is that, in spite of cartoon tumblr's insistences that they care about Intersectionality, they don't actually care about disabled or racial representation. And I know this, largely because of how the VLD and SPOP fandoms treat their disabled and darker skinned characters of colour. I was in the VLD fandom for 2.5 years as a Shiro (disabled, chronically & mentally ill queer man of colour) and Allura (Black woman) fan. For SPOP I dabbled in the fandom alone, but my favourites were always Bow, Scorpia, and Adora.

While I have mixed feelings regarding Sh*ra and adore TOH as a very fun and cute show, there are commonalities between them. Just a quick disclaimer: I don't like Catra/Adora (also never shipped Adora/Glimmer) and I think Luz/Amity is adorable. I am acknowledging my shipping preferences, but they actually have very little to do with the sort of analysis I'm doing here, which is on a structural narrative level. But just to get it out of the way, they're there.

Now, the most popular queer ships of the past 5 years have been Keith/Lance, Sokka/Zuko, Catra/Adora, and Luz/Amity. All four are (technically, in CA's case) interracial, with strong corresponding elements between each m/m and f/f pair.

Keith/Lance and Sokka/Zuko both feature a paler angstier boy who's a bit of a loner paired with a more flirtatiously written (whether that's canon for Sokka is debatable) darker skinned boy. CA and Lumity both feature a character who's mean or cruel at first due to their home life, but is eventually reformed. All four ships are rivals or enemies to lovers.

There's a few key differences between CA, Lumity, and Janaya. The first two both feature at least one protagonist (Catra would likely fall under deuteragonist, Amity is a main side character, same as Janai and Amaya; for the record Keith and Lance would have fallen under this as well). Another main difference is that Janai/Amaya is the only one where the rivalry / enemy status is truly reciprocal and completely impersonal. But I think the biggest differences, honestly, between why CA and Lumity are so much more popular than JA?

It's because CA and Luz/Amity offer more projection fodder for things that young teens in particular are going through in regards to Amity and Catra's characters being very easy to project onto, and that both ships hardcore protect White Femininity somewhat at the expense of their darker skinned ladies of colour.

For example: Amity and Adora are both the more feminine ladies in appearance and disposition in some ways, i.e. being in dresses whereas their ship half is in something more masculine leaning (or in Luz's case, a true mix). Again, put a pin this, cause we'll be back to it in a second.

As for projection, Catra and Amity both struggle with having very controlling mothers. They have hard outer shells as a coping mechanism, with the protagonist being someone who opens and softens them up. As such, the shipping content itself tends to hinge on how Catra and Amity feel, over how Luz and Adora feel. Canon reflects this; Amity blushing episodes before Luz does, catching feelings when they're only really just starting to be friends. We're supposed to believe that Catra has "always loved" Adora - in her own words - even though she brainwashed her in season two (which is what Horde Prime, endgame big bad, did to Catra in season five - and we got to see trauma there addressed, but what Catra did to Adora is never brought up ever again), and accepting their happily ever after means accepting that truth.

TOH does a better job at showing why Luz is interested in Amity, first as a friend and then as a love interest. Catra and Adora's relationship is more sloppily handled.

However, one key thing is still there: in season five, the show presents Catra as Adora's saviour: "It doesn't always have to be you! [...] What do you want, Adora?" Likewise, much of Luz and Amity's relationship hinges on Luz, by proxy, transforming Amity's life and helping to free her from her family. In spite of the way Catra is brutal to Adora in the past, her side of the relationship arc in the show with the final season in mind is ultimately about saving the more feminine, white woman she's fallen in love with. (This is also Netossa's entire character arc, btw; we never see her white wife have to fight for her, either.) Amity has very few arcs that aren't related to Luz / her gayness - whereas as Luz has plenty outside of it, which makes it so much better - but relationship wise, Amity hasn't wrought the big transformative changes out of Luz in the same capacity that Luz has created for Amity.

Now reading Catra as brown is complicated for a few different reasons (she's often specifically seen as Latina, and Catra is by far the most sexualized character in the show as well as being the angriest / more aggressive / literally animalistic), but that doesn’t mean it’s a disingenuous reading. Noelle Stevenson themselves has supported it, in fairly typical “I didn’t think through all the implications” fashion SP*P is riddled with.

Now, how does this relate to Janaya? Well for one, Amaya is significantly more masculine presenting in comparison to Janai. Neither deal with parental issues that can be projected onto; Khessa disapproves, but she arguably brings Janai and Amaya together instead, and Janai has her own authority as a political figure. Janaya has a very reciprocal relationship, both taking steps towards the other. The relationship doesn't hinge on one having strong feelings far sooner than the other to justify their redemption arc or their cruelty towards the other. Neither of them are mean, although if one is characterized as more angry or stand offish in a fic, it is often Janai, who is a darker skinned Black woman, because... fandom falls back on stereotypes, I suppose? But related to the projection, is that because Janai and Amaya have a lot of character background that isn't related to each other, they're more complex characters to write. Catra basically doesn't have a motivation outside of Adora and neither does Amity; they kinda exist, within text, to be love interests, even if their characters also have more than that going on personally.

But Janai does not Exist, narratively, just to be Amaya's love interest. Most of her motivations exist outside of Amaya (i.e. Amaya is an obstacle to protecting her people, whereas Catra fights Adora to spite Adora) and Amaya never overtakes them (which can't be said for Amity or Catra; although they're setting aside negative motivations like shame or expectations, those motivations aren't replaced by anything other than their love interests). She has her own interiority, and that makes her less appealing.

Janai and Amaya are going to change each other's lives, yes, but in smaller ways outside of changing things between elves and humans. The fics I've seen that try to give that "Janai doesn't have much of a life outside of Amaya" read (ie. that Janai didn't have many friends growing up) is baffling for a few reasons. The first is that, unlike Rayla or Ezran in canon, there's nothing in canon to support it, and it's a lazier less interesting route for a grown woman who would have camaraderie with her troops (and her two canonical siblings) if nothing else.

There's a lot of interesting think pieces on what gets popular for m/f ships and why that you can read here, but one of those overlaps is the emphasis on dynastic power and - usually the male - 'liberating' the female character from a life she's trapped in. Again: sound familiar at all? And again, is also extremely common for enemies/rivals to lovers ships.

Which is to say: TDP's ship that would've fit the format would've been Rayla/Claudia. Not only are they both white, which definitely helps shipping popularity, but Rayla is the more masculine leaning between the two, and Claudia can't be evil, because she's a quirky feminine white girl! She just needs someone to save her from her father - or, in one oneshot I stumbled upon, a very aggressive Corvus who's attacking Rayla, because making out a Black man as aggressive and violent when he's not that in canon whatsoever so your white lesbians can get together is Progressive, right? Who cares if Rayla is someone she dehumanizes in canon? They can be a power couple together.

But TDP canon didn't give a single damn thing to Rayla/Claudia, and so the ship died out.

Janaya has the dynastic power, but it is privileged to a Black woman, and so is her emotional arc. Amaya will be her queen, not the other way around. Nor are they liberating each other from anything. They are two people who already have most of their shit figured out, figuring out the rest together. It is refreshingly mature, and honestly common with a lot of TDP’s couples, even Rayllum (who has the reciprocal transformative side of things done perfectly). 

So I guess the TLDR version is;

A combination of age demographic of tumblr's animation community; the tropes that Janaya don't fall into that leads to less interrelated projection; and race.

Because let's be honest, a lot of queer rep in fandom is predicated entirely on shipping, which is why bi characters in m/f relationships or interracial representation is given a backseat to Gold Star Gays.

The second thing is that TDP has a Lot going on besides shipping. Any of the main five are pretty equally popular among general fans, everyone gets multiple arcs a season. There's intensive worldbuilding, lore, and history. There's a lot of over arcing plot and platonic foundations / relationships are prioritized (i.e. friends, siblings, etc).

TOH tries to balance between a school show (both familiar) and has actual worldbuilding here and there, which I'm very grateful for. Sh*ra does worldbuilding whenever it feels like it, which is very rare, and dismantles it's emphasis on friendship by having almost literally everyone get into romantic relationships within the last two episodes. The main draws of each of the shows are shipping; TOH privileges Amity's relationship with Luz in terms of emphasized screentime over Gus and Willow, which is strange because Luz never had Friends before, and because it's only started to feel recently (i.e. s2) like she and Amity have a strong friendship outside of crush feelings. Which yeah, as an aro-spec person, is Important to me to get Invested, lmao. Shera has completely stagnant characters, sometimes for entire 6-13 episode long seasons, and the war only matters when the show wants it to, resulting in multiple, very odd and jarring tonal shifts. Both shows struggle with highlighting their men of colour and giving them individual arcs, although again, TOH does significantly better.

But fandom - especially young, queer fandom - doesn't know how to exist in fandom without shipping, and without an extreme emphasis on same sex presenting couples, and are unlearning a lot of their own western imposed whiteness and... Yeah. (That's not to say I'm not unlearning my own, but I'm probably further along than a 16 year old, and I Know I was further along at 16 than a lot of teens on twitter these days, unfortunately.)

TDP just says, "Here are our characters and the world they inhabit, and you just get to observe them." It's complete and utter normalization, for any of the intersections of representation involved. TDP makes their representation Clear and Obvious without making it Important, as an interview, marketing, or in story factor. These characters just get to Be. They get to live and die and love like anyone else. There's no attention drawn to it in the first place, it just is.

But you know, as frustrating as it can be sometimes that TDP doesn't get the credit it deserves, as it is undeniably the show that has made me and a lot of other people along different intersections than me feel the Most Seen, I'd take just getting to Be - even if it's just in a fictional universe for now - over Distinction, any day.

[heresathreebee]

French Lace and Silk Stockings

[1950s AU Colonel Rick Flag X Female Reader]

Summary: You find some unworn lingerie and try it on | Masterlist

Tag(s): 18+ | 2k words | takes place between 1950-1959 (interracial marriage was illegal until 1967 in the US, this has not changed in the story), lingerie, established relationship, po orn without plot, oral sex (female receiving), clothed sex.

AN: unedited/ no beta. Happy first day of black history month MUTHAFUCKAS 🖤

Your husband bought it for you during your second year of marriage. It was an anniversary present– one that made both of your faces warm– and since then it lay at the bottom of your bureau drawer, clean and untouched. 

You were cleaning out old clothes when you uncovered it. You run your fingers over the intricate lace and wonder how it would feel on your skin. 

You had never worn anything else with more than a tiny trim of lace before, and certainly nothing made of silk fabric. You had time... before Rick would come home to try it on, feel it, then throw it out with the rest of the old clothes. 

After placing a call to your friend to reschedule lunch, you close all of the windows in your apartment and draw the blinds before returning to your shared bedroom. Your heart pounds with anticipation as you strip down, feeling a strange tingle in your thighs as you try to stay standing. 

You glance at your naked body in the mirror and can't help but cover yourself. Is this what your husband sees when he looks at you? He always seems so enamored, so bewitched, so taken by your physical form that as blasphemous as it may seem, it makes you feel divine. 

The silk is cool on your heated skin as you pull the underwear up your legs. The garter belt is wide but fitted and lightly boned like a corset. The cups of the bra fit surprisingly well, so much so that you wonder what lucky girl had the pleasure of watching Rick's ears turn red trying to explain the size and shape of your breasts. You chuckle to yourself as you buckle the top of your stockings to the hanging garter clips. 

You look at yourself in the mirror and gasp. "Oh wow…" 

You turn around, slowly, watching how the fabric hugs and accentuates your figure, the color of apricot glowing against your skin. It takes your breath away. You find the silk has warmed fast against your body as this breathable fabric catches the light and seems to glisten. 

"Maybe…" you bite your lip, "maybe I'll wear it a little longer…" 

You end up unknowingly missing your late lunch date and keep finding tiny things to clean around the house. Anything to keep you inside, shielded from the eyes of onlookers and free to wear your comfortable and coquettish undergarments. If only your husband could see you now. 

He can. See you, that is. In fact, the sight of it is so shocking that his briefcase slips through his fingers and clatters to the floor, startling you out of your wool gathering. He hasn't even had the time to remove his hat and coat yet, just staring at you with an open mouth and wide eyes. 

"Oh dear," you press your hand over your heart, "I'm so embarrassed… I…" 

You look at the clock in the kitchen. "I hadn't the faintest idea you'd be home, I must have lost track of time or I'd be dressed properly..." 

"Why are you wearing that?" His voice is dark and he's standing as rigid as stone. 

You try not to feel intimidated as you answer. "Well, I-I found it with some old clothes and I never wore it, so I thought I would try it on… honestly, I was going to wear something over it…" 

Your gaze is glued to the floor as you chew on a finger. The tips of Rick's recently scuffed shoes enter the edge of your vision and he uses a finger to gently lift your chin. When you look at his face, his pupils are blown wide and his body holds the same intensity you feel before he usually makes love to you… 

"I didn't know it would look like this," he whispered. "The girl who sold it to me wanted to sell me a 'nude' color, but this? This looks so much better." 

"You must have left out some very important information about me," you chuckled, running a hand down his forearm and feeling the hair there stand on end. He shed his coat which lay on the floor but you ignored it for now. 

"Nothing she didn't need to know about." You know he hates the way people react when they find out about the two of you. They tended to be friendlier when they assumed certain 'traits.' "Is it comfortable?" 

You hum affirmatively. "Do you want to touch it?" 

You watch his Adam's apple bob and he nods his head minutely. You let him smooth his hand down the column of your neck, fingers leaving a warm, tingling feeling as they skim over your collarbone. They slip right over the decorative bow tying your cups together and down to smooth over the silk slip covering your belly and hips. 

His hand feels warm like a wood fire in winter, caressing your body with a patience that seems juxtaposed by the dark lust he harbors behind his gaze. 

"Sweet girl," he mutters as he fingers the hem of your slip and dips under to run a finger over the garter. "So very pretty…" 

Your heart is pounding in your ears. You want to ask him about the new cut on his brow but you are distracted by your need for him taking over you. Instead, you let your hands wander up his suspenders, tugging on them lightly and watching him shrug out of them for you. The anticipation of more is driving you to salivate almost uncontrollably. 

"Aren't you going to kiss your wife?" You didn't mean for it to sound so commanding, but Rick takes no offense as his lip curls upward in the corner and he leans down to plant a chaste kiss upon your lips. 

"Is that what you wanted, darlin'?," he growls against your lips. 

It makes you beyond impatient but you tamp it down and try to match his painfully sluggish pace for no other reason than to make him as mad as he makes you. What you do do is close the gap between you, wrap your arms around his waist and give him a hug, sighing pleasantly and smirking as you feel him tense up suddenly. 

"I've missed you so much, sugar," you raise your head and plant your chin on his chest. "Do you get to stay for the rest of the night?" 

Rick's jaw tightens to the point of grinding his teeth. They couldn't drag me back to that office if they tried, he thought as he lost himself in the sight of your needy little face and scantily clothed body. But he answers quite simply with, "yes dear, I can stay." 

You light up like the summer sun after a rainfall. Rick does not resist following when you take one step backwards, then two. You chat innocently all the way to the bedroom as you pull him along, pointedly ignoring the prod of a certain male appendage pressing into your stomach. Rick plucks a downy feather from your hair and carefully maneuvers you around furniture and through doorways until the back of your calves touch the edge of the bed. 

"Let's just…" you flick his hat and he lets it tumble to the floor. "There, that's better." 

Rick leans down for a kiss, taking you in deeper than before. He wraps his arms around your shoulders to hold you close and draws the scent of your perfume in until he's drunk on it. 

You moan into his mouth as he rolls his hips and rubs his clothed erection against you. He must be aching by now, a product of his own time management and teasing. He parts from the kiss for a moment and trails a finger delicately over your jawline. 

"Lay down, darlin'," he whispers. 

Your body obeys before your mind processes his words. You bounce a little on the springs and suddenly feel naked beneath his wandering gaze. Everywhere his eyes glance is like it's own touch, igniting your skin with a burn so hot that it feels cold, too. 

"Touch your wife, Colonel," you gasp. 

His eyes flick to your face and there's a dangerous darkness to them suddenly. It's all you can do not to squirm cowardly beneath his intense gaze as he gently parts your thighs to stand between them. 

"Yes ma'am." His voice is teasing, and so is the warm breath you feel ghost over your clothed sex. "Smell so good, darlin'." 

Your face heats to a molten degree and hands fist the sheets as his aquiline nose brushes over your mound. His tongue is not far behind and presses against that lovely little pearl that makes you see stars. 

You gasp as you feel one of his sturdy fingers (you just know it's the one with his wedding band) rub against the damp patch of your unmentionables before he pulls away and gently discards them. Rick kisses his way back up your stocking covered leg before tossing both of them over his shoulders. 

"So soft," he mutters between your legs and you are unsure if he means your stockings or you. 

"Ricky, you don't have to," you pant and whine, "need you up here, sugar, all over me… please…" 

His tongue goes right back to your sensitive pearl, this time without a barrier. "Love it when you beg for me, dear," he purrs. 

It's taken all your control not to tug on his hair, now a darker blond as perspiration gathers to slicken it. You do thread your fingers through it and hold on as your husband laves at your entrance, interrupting long, deep strokes of his tongue with open mouthed kisses. 

He penetrates you with his long, pink tongue and hums, causing you to jerk unexpectedly. At the sudden tug of his hair, his groan deepens and acts as a switch. His touch alters from exploratory to militial and greedy in an instant, as if seeking out his own pleasure by pleasuring you. 

You pant, voice rising as he plunges two experienced fingers inside you and his mouth works over your pearl. "Ricky, dear… oh Rick…" 

You are vaguely aware of the hand anchoring your hips to the bed disappearing but you're so lost in the active sensations of Rick trying to eat you alive that you are completely unaware of him squeezing himself through his tented trousers. He groans against your clit and it's the last straw as you are pushed from the edge of pleasure into pure, blinding bliss. 

Your thighs clamp down around his neck and draw him closer. As your back arches, Rick smiles to himself as you attempt to ride his face for more. He rubs himself through his pants faster and just as your hips stop rolling against his chin, his eyes roll backwards and you both sigh as he comes in his pants. 

You feel light headed, almost giddy with dizziness to the point where you giggle as your husband gets up from his knees to lay beside you. You reach for the button of his pants only to find a dark, wet patch down his pant leg. Rick looks sheepish, his ears turning slightly pink as your eyes widen in disbelief. 

Your shocked face softens and you tug him down for a kiss, tasting yourself on his lips. "You make me crazy, sugar." 

He threads his fingers in your searching hand and kisses the back of your hand. His hair is falling into his eyes. He said only:

"the things you do to me…" 

"Not as crazy as you make me," he replies with a loving smirk. 

@phoenixhalliwell

[thehouseofgrey]

Personally, I think the feminization of Alec (or Magnus for that matter) only happens in one part of the Fandom who I think is less and less popular each day. The viewers at home don't do that, for example I'm a gay guy and my boyfriend loves Alec because he says he identifies in him so much as a masc gay who is just there to do his job and at the same time is proud of his sexuaility.

I’d really like to believe you’re right. That the fetishizing side of the fandom is small and getting smaller. They’re very loud though and exhausting to listen to. They write so much of the smut and it shows. As both a mlm and a wlw (genderfluid) i guess i just get tired of playing roulette when I open Twitter, Tumblr, AO3. will i be reading a post or a fic that should have nothing to do with sex and see some reference to how demure and effeminate one or the other of them is? maybe not but i can never be sure. will there be a fight in the mentions of an SHTV post about clizzy between wlw who genuinely keep getting shafted and Straights™ who insist on reminding us that S*zzy is endgame (a lot of sizzy shippers are fine people but just as many of them are fucking asshats and you may quote me on that)?

and while that side may be waning in this fandom, it doesn’t really solve the overall trend in fandom which was the case well before I entered fandom and will be for the foreseeable future.

I love this show to the death of me because it’s broken some of those stereotypes. Seeing a bisexual character treated with such respect, never being accused of cheating or being greedy or just being in a phase is so refreshing. To see that same character spit in the face of gender roles, to see him present so androgynously and be so fully confident in who he is, it’s so nice. And, like you mentioned, to see such a clearly masculine young gay man come into his own and be in a position of power and prestige on his own merits, neither helped nor hindered by the fact that he is gay? iconic. an interracial gay power couple? god tier. getting to see the vast and complex inner workings of their relationship? groundbreaking. it makes me cry on the regular to see a gay couple to not only be the main couple on the show (i said what i said) but treated so normally. 

so, it’s not really the fault of anyone but this deep-seated fan-culture phenomenon that this small loud group of women exists. you make an excellent point about the rest of the fandom not being like that and for the most part i’ve managed to curate both my twitter and tumblr experience so that i don’t experience the grossness of this small section of the fandom. but there’s not way to filter for them on AO3 really and I think that’s where it gets to me most. I hate that queer voices get buried in the avalanche. i know if i want wlw content at all i probably have to write it myself because there are so few wlw writers. and i know that if i want malec fic written by mlm i have to go hunting for it. and it seems unfair to me that they get to be the loudest and often the most influential even though there’s so few of them. (like few enough that i could name you authors to avoid when looking at fic in general but smut especially)

I’m glad your bf identifies with alec. and at the end of the day, that’s what makes me love this show despite its issues. it’s giving real queer people real representation and that’s a gift. 

[fabelds-blog]

📖 January 2022 Reads

No reviews just thoughts on the books I finished this month.

The Song of Achilles was very good, but I did myself a disservice by reading Circe last year because the latter (IMO) is a much better book. However, Miller's prose is always *chef's kiss*.

One Last Stop is a book I'm planning on picking up the next time I'm at my local bookstore (I read all of these through my library app). The execution of the premise was well-done, and I enjoyed how McQuiston wove a lot of the threads together. This is despite wanting to throw up during the sex scene on the train. Subway cars are just not sexy places, ick.

The Love Hypothesis surprised me with how much I liked it. Although I was much more interested in the "FinnPoe" side-relationship.

I don't read historical romance, and I don't remember why I sought out An Extraordinary Union, but if you told me last year that I would be reading an interracial romance set during the Civil War I would've laughed until I passed out. But I read this one! Cole writes about sensitive subjects with such care and reverence that I'd like to finish the series.

Quote of the Month:

"It felt like I had run for miles, though when I looked down I saw that my feet had beaten the same circle over and over again, flattening the same dry grass as if preparing a dancing field. Constant terror had siphoned and drained me, even though somehow I always seemed to be in a lull, a strange pocket of emptiness into which no men came, and I was never threatened. It was a measure of my dullness, my dizziness, that it took me until midafternoon to see that this was Achilles’ doing. His gaze was on me always, preternaturally sensing the moment when a soldier’s eyes widened at the easy target I presented. Before the man drew another breath, he would cut him down." - The Song of Achilles, Madeline Miller

[raayllum]

One of the things I like about tdp is how diverse it is, and not only with LGBTQIA+ people/couples. Nothing wrong with that ofc, but some shows that market themselves with "representation" only have that as the main focus, and its nice to have a show that has that AND more without all the dumb stereotypes. And honestly as a woc i'm just glad to see an asian who isn't short or nerdy for once lmao (I hope this doesn't come off as homophobic or anything btw, and sorry if this got posted twice ;w;)

Oh, you are preaching to the choir, and you are absolutely right. I’ve written before on how fandom prioritizes queer rep — specifically “same sex” presenting rep — above all else, particularly race. It’s super evident in the way interracial couples (canon or fanon, but it’s especially annoying when the ship is canon) is bemoaned as “can’t a guy and girl just be friends” often so the white character of the match can have a same sex relationship with another white character. It very much reeks of competing representation needs that queer white people in particular (which as one, I think I can say) don’t realize are competing. I’ve written more extensively about it before and it’s beyond annoying.

Especially bc I’m a white pan queer in a same sex presenting relationship (neither my partner nor myself are women but we’re still socially perceived that way), so like, I get it. But I will always be just as happy about a cute & healthy interracial “het” relationship as I would be about a queer ship.  (Because my relationship is also interracial, too.) Because Yes, it’s wonderful seeing my queerness in things like The Dragon Prince and the Owl House — I’ve shed happy tears over it before — but it’s also important to see beyond my own personal representation horizons to pursue and support others.

It’s also frustrating how much representation has become synonymous with queer rep when like, no, it’s not the only rep that matters. Disabled rep matters, neurodivergent rep matters, religious (ex: Jewish, Muslim) rep matters, racial rep matters. And we need stories with all of those things even when they don’t overlap, and to celebrate when they do.

Like I love the How To Train Your Dragon franchise, but an antagonist in the tv show falls into antisemitic caricatures (so does Tangled, twice unfortunately) and what little racial rep it has also isn’t great. But the two main leads are disabled with another two disabled characters, and that’s all awesome and important. Again, more diverse stories for variety is key.

Hot take, maybe, but TDP would still be groundbreaking with its racial and disabled rep even if there was no queer rep, which is a lovely — and is groundbreaking in its own way. The Dragon Prince has two same sex kisses in 27 episodes — one of which takes place only fifteen episodes into the series. What other kid’s animated show can say that?

And TDP’s Asian rep is also something I don’t feel enough people praise, tbh, particularly in regards to Callum and Ezran in some ways? Like Amaya and Sarai are heavily praised, and rightfully so, but Callum is also an Asian lead (and arguably the Main lead of the show) and Ezran is Black and Asian. 

It was a source of frustration when people felt like they had to justify shipping something “het” like Rayllum by making it “woke” somehow, based upon gender roles and insisting that Rayla had to be taller and Callum had to stay shorter (because one inch is that important, apparently?). And I’m totally fine with that headcanon, I have no problem with it. I do not care. But it ignores the interracial aspect of Rayllum’s relationship and that Asian men being shorter is the stereotype. Just like how women being shorter is a stereotype. In fandom, they can coexist, and whichever one canon goes with (if either) will be subversive in its own way. But the whole thing and the way it pops back up from time to time is absolutely a symptom of people not knowing how to look at race just as much as gender or queer rep in fandom.

Most of the Dragon Prince is good about it, though, which I appreciate, and I think it’s a great reflection of how the show treats representation, too: all important, overlapping, and intersecting.