i’m always so happy about seeing mlm feeling comfortable about publicly crushing on tom holland, bc he and the rest of the mcu spidey cast/crew have made sure they feel safe in the fanbase. like seeing tom at photo ops doing cute romantic poses with guys the same way he would with the girls, that’s so refreshing. seeing guys show up to the spidey set wearing “mentally dating tom holland” shirts and the cast takes pics of his shirt and give him thumbs up for it?? good ass shit there. it might not seem like a big deal to everyone, but it really is.
i’m getting some messages asking for “proof” of this so, here’s some con pics of tom with some male/masc fans doing romantic poses, and one of him holding up the trans pride flag:
here’s the male/masc fan wearing a “mentally dating tom holland shirt” happily posing for the cast/crew when they asked for pics of him in it, this is from remy hii’s instagram:
and here’s a question that jacob batalon and laura harrier got during the “homecoming” press tour, when doing an answertime on tumblr’s stardom blog:
and then when later asked about it in an interview jacob added this:
on top of that, “far from home” will have two trans male actors playing some of peter parker’s classmates. the mcu spider-man franchise is a safe space for lgbt+ fans.
The term “safe space” originates in LGBT communities and designates a place where homophobia isn’t tolerated.
The argument usually goes that safe spaces keep people from encountering ideas they disagree with, that they have an infantilizing and silencing effect.
I respond that when gay people are so sheltered that they have no idea what homophobia is, well, then I’ll admit that maybe things have gone a bit too far.
In the meantime, gay people not experiencing enough homophobia is not really striking me as a pressing social issue.
I was watching Pokémon: Indigo League on Netflix and the Pokédex called Kakuna a “transitional Pokémon”
and then suddenly this happened
so this post is officially 4 years old today. it’s far and away my most popular drawing, so much so that even now, it gets tons of notes and reblogs every day. i appreciate that! it’s exciting and I’m glad so many people like my idea and designs. as a trans person myself, seeing other people commenting on which Evolution they’re at and how much they identify with my designs makes me feel amazing! i feel like i’m giving back to my community and really helping people.
the problem however is that because of its popularity, this is also my most stolen and reposted work. i’ve seen my signature erased or cropped out more times than I can count, everywhere from Facebook to Twitter to Reddit to Instagram. recently people have started editing the picture for phone backgrounds and lockscreens, which I don’t support at all. i would’ve been happy to design custom lockscreens for these people, as I am a commission artist, but it’s easier for people to just photoshop my art. I can’t stop that.
it does hurt though.
so i just want to ask, if you like this work, if you’ve seen it floating around out there without credit to me, if it means something to you… consider buying me a Ko-Fi? i’d really appreciate it.
xx
Reblogging to boost and support the original artist.
Not too long ago, my friend Bella came out as aromantic to me, and now I’ve got some things to say.
I was the one who told her what aromantic means, because I was explaining different sexual orientations to her. I remember saying, “Asexualiy is when you have romantic attraction, but no sexual attraction.”
Bella immedently, without missing a beat, asked, “Is there an opposite to that?”
I asked what she meant, and she asked if there was a term for sexual attraction but no romantic attraction. I told her about aromantics. She got weirdly quiet, then excused herself.
Not two weeks later I was heading to my boat. I was supposed to meet Bella and another one of our muteral friends there for a day of fishing.
As soon as I was in earshot, I saw Bella storming off the boat, and our other friend standing there like an idiot. Boi had no idea what was happening.
Anyway, Bella isn’t looking where she’s going and walks smack dab into me. That’s when I realized she was crying. Puffy red eyes, wet cheeks, the whole nine yards… And if you know anything about Bells, she does not cry. Ever.
She’s been through some serious crap in her life, and she does not cry. She’s tough as nails. Bella has a steel core. She does not not cry. I’ve seen her fall off a roof and break her arm before, not a single tear. I can’t stress this enough, Bella. Doesn’t. Cry.
So seeing her in tears shook me. I took her by the shoulders and escorted her somewhere more private where we could talk. We ended up in the women’s restroom, which was weird as fuck for me, because haven’t been in a woman’s rest room for years. Luckily it was empty, and I’m realistic, I know I don’t pass so well, so I don’t think anyone would have said anything anyway.
Before I can even ask her what’s wrong she hugs me around my middle and burys her face in my hoodie. Then, in a voice I can only describe as traumatized, she says, “I think I’m broken.”
I’ve never seen her in so much pain, and Bella and I are CLOSE. She’s one of my dearest friends. She’s like my little sister, but if she’s like my sister, our other muteral friend is like her twin. He and Bella have know each other WAY longer, they’re practically inseparable. They come as a pair. They’re a duo. They’re a package deal.
Appearently, said muteral friend asked Bella out and forcefully kissed her. She shoved him off, and told him she’s aromantic, which she only recently figured out. She wasn’t ready to be out, but this muteral friend left her no choice. She tried telling him no, and he didn’t listen. Bella saw no other option.
Quote on quote, this is what he said to Bella. “That’s okay. You just haven’t dated me yet. We’ve been like, unofficially together for years. You’re probably just freaked out that it’s finally going somewhere.”
After that I’m not 100% clear on what happened, but apparently Bella kept saying no Nd trying to explain herself, but he kept insisting he could ‘fix her.’
Eventudally she started crying and stormed away. That’s when I found her.
Keep in mind, this was her first experience coming out, and her best, closest friend insisted he could fix her and forcefully kissed her. I found out later he also implied corrective rape would ‘solve the problem.’
Bella was traumatized. She’s still traumatized. I tried to make her feel better by buying her an aro pride shirt, and taking her go a local LGBTQ+ hang out. I wanted her to be around like minded people, so she could see she wasn’t broken, and her identity deserved to be respected.
Instead of a warm, welcoming environment… The first thing someone said to her was, “This place is for REAL lgbt people. You don’t belong here.” He also implied she wasn’t human.
Just think about that for a minute. Her first experiences with being an out aromantic have been limited to;
A person she trusted more than anyone forcing himself upon her, claiming she was ill, and needed to be fixed. (Raped.)
Sobbing in my arms in the women’s restroom because she thought she was broken and defective.
Being told she wasn’t welcomed in LGBTQ+ spaces and called inhuman.
This isn’t what I want for her. Bella deserves better than this. She needs a support system, not all this crap. I’ve spent the past week trying to undo all the damage exclusionists, arophobes, and people she trusted did.
Aromantics and asexuals belong in the LGBTQ+ community. You literally cannot change my mind.
Did I already queue this? Dunno. But let me say that I’ve never stood by while gatekeepers try to well, gatekeep.
I didn’t put up with it as a teenager really into sci-fi, I didn’t put up with it from the dude bros in game and comic shops, and I certainly won’t stand for it in my LGBT+ community.
I know a lot of lesbians that used to identify as bi who worried that coming out as a lesbian would contribute to invalidating bisexuality in some way, by making it seem like a “stepping stone” to coming out as gay. I’ve also known bi women who identified as lesbians and changed their labels later, and worried that they were contributing to some kind of idea about how men can ~turn lesbians. I just wanted to say that it’s no individual lesbian or bi women’s responsibility to fix straight people’s perception of us. Like, it’s not your duty to serve as a political symbol! It’s your duty to find happiness even if that means changing ur label at some points.
Here are the inaugural TEN weapons in my ORIENTATION & GENDER ARMORY series! Each weapon was designed using the flag of the orientation represented for inspiration!
If you want to pick up some sweet D&D/weapons enthusiast/not-just-another-flag-on-a-shirt-related pride gear, check out my redbubble here! I also have an Inprnt if you’re interested in that!
Stay tuned for info on new merch soon! Hope you love them as much as I do!
CaptainBubblebath 