#they are real freaks (lovingly endearingly affectionately)

[yonpote]

ao3 is so evil and wouldn't let me post my paragraphs long comment on @queerofcups latest chapter of your name – trace it twice so i'm just gonna post what i wanted to say and more here

i am obsessed with this fic. i yapped a while ago about how shapes and weights was one of the only omegaverse fics i read that discussed in depth how queer relationships look and function, and tho i got many great a/b/o recs that dabble in that territory or are honestly just some good smut, i still hadn't felt like any of them really went INTO it the same way shapes did. and then lo and behold queerofcups returneth and god damn have they delivered and continue to deliver.

the way they are able to present a/b/o dynamics and systemic oppression as analogous to western concepts of binary sex and gender within a patriarchal society WITHOUT completely dismissing the existence of real-life oppression for real-life identities is just 🤌🤌🤌 so good. like don't get it twisted im fine with some fantasy fulfillment here and there where everyone is cool with queer people and misogyny isn't real (or even a factor since most omegaverse is m/m lol) and everyone knows how they/them pronouns work. but it's weirdly nice??? to see people struggling with using the right pronouns for a character in a fic that isn't ABOUT transness. and struggling in that realistic way of "he - sorry, they" or dan not overtly correcting his mom about not using his partner's pronouns but still making sure to gender them correctly no matter what, or even just characters assuming dan's new partner is male because they use a traditionally masculine name (and dan making sure to overtly correct his friends and peers at the very least).

like, speaking for myself, As a TrAnS mAn, transness in fics ive read (both from cis and trans authors to be fair) are either fully in fantasy where everyone knows how to use the right pronouns and it's a complete non-problem, or it's partial fantasy where transphobia still exists, but it's individualized and inevitably overcome by the trans person's partner or family accepting them and everyone living happily forever. and i'm not hating on these presentations! that escapism can be really nice to read sometimes, especially when you're surrounded by the reality of transphobia in your own life. but as a person living in that reality, sometimes it's nice to see someone who knows your reality, with all the shit that comes with it.

and the fact that this fic isn't even about that is nice?? like this fic, like shapes, is very much focused on the fictional oppression and is directly influenced by real-world queerfeminist theory and culture, but it's not ABOUT dan struggling as a queer omega, but the ways both dan and phil navigate through this oppressive society as queer people both as they exist in the framework of activism AND the struggles in their own personal love lives (and how those two things messily intertwine)

and the fact that it's hot as fuck is a lovely bonus :)