books?? amazing. paperbacks?? soft, cozy, may fit in your pocket, cheap so you don’t feel bad for taking notes in them. hardcovers??? beautiful, pristine, ground you into the world they hold by making you grip them tighter, the stars of every bookshelf. ebooks?? convenient, cheap, always with you, a vast library that you can hold in your palm. new books?? crisp, the smell of wood, ideas waiting to imprint themselves upon the world. old books?? objects transcending history, sweet smelling, enriched by the hands that stroked their pages. books.
i don’t think anyone in the tumblr roleplay community understands how isolating it is to be a lesbian in the rpc. i don’t, because i’m not one, but i listen to what lesbian roleplayers are saying and it bothers me that it seems like no one else is caring to listen.
last evening, we learned that cheryl blossom on riverdale is a lesbian who has been struggling with comp het. today, the rpc has decided to loudly support the continued portrayal of cheryl as a non-lesbian despite lesbian roleplayers, many of whom are part of the riverdale rpc themselves, expressing how this feels like a slap in the face. lesbians were already dissatisfied with their level of acceptance within the rpc (doubly so if the muse they play is a lesbian as well) and this refusal to accept canon when it means celebrating a lesbian character has caused a lot of pain as yet another example of how unimportant they are. as a bisexual woman, i can understand a moment of hesitation when it comes to changing your muse’s sexuality from bisexual to lesbian if you are bisexual yourself. however, what matters is the choice you make on how to continue. if you come back from reflecting on this update to canon to make excuses for yourself, you have turned your back on the lesbian community and told them that they are not important. cheryl’s story specifically relates to experiencing comp het and for roleplayers to refuse to allow her to be her truest self reflects the refusal of society and individuals to allow lesbians to be their true selves. that is why this hurts, and why so many lesbians in the rpc are taking this seriously.
but this issue is not isolated to riverdale. lesbian roleplayers are confronted with rules/guidelines pages that specify the mun’s dislike of f/f relationships every day. if f/f relationships are allowed, they are subject to specific rules and hurdles that must be jumped over. why do we exclude lesbians, both muns and muses, at every step of the way? why do we feel the need to qualify them as the other?
bisexual muns and those portraying bisexual muses must be better. if your muse is a bisexual woman, but you will not roleplay f/f then change your muse’s sexuality or do not roleplay as them. stop giving lesbians in the rpc false hope that you will interact only for you to characterize them as “ship wh*res” or force-shipping. this is unacceptable.
lesbophobic statements like the below should never be included in your rules/guidelines pages and you should unfollow people who do this.
i really do not care if you think this is dramatic or unfair. people i care about are hurting because of you. lesbians deserve to come to the rpc and have fun. they should not be confronted with lesbophobic rhetoric supported by others in the lgbt community. i’m done.
I’ve been roleplaying Irey for years, but I’m just getting back into the swing of things after a year of absence, so I could use some new friends and rp partners!
books?? amazing. paperbacks?? soft, cozy, may fit in your pocket, cheap so you don’t feel bad for taking notes in them. hardcovers??? beautiful, pristine, ground you into the world they hold by making you grip them tighter, the stars of every bookshelf. ebooks?? convenient, cheap, always with you, a vast library that you can hold in your palm. new books?? crisp, the smell of wood, ideas waiting to imprint themselves upon the world. old books?? objects transcending history, sweet smelling, enriched by the hands that stroked their pages. books.
i don’t think anyone in the tumblr roleplay community understands how isolating it is to be a lesbian in the rpc. i don’t, because i’m not one, but i listen to what lesbian roleplayers are saying and it bothers me that it seems like no one else is caring to listen.
last evening, we learned that cheryl blossom on riverdale is a lesbian who has been struggling with comp het. today, the rpc has decided to loudly support the continued portrayal of cheryl as a non-lesbian despite lesbian roleplayers, many of whom are part of the riverdale rpc themselves, expressing how this feels like a slap in the face. lesbians were already dissatisfied with their level of acceptance within the rpc (doubly so if the muse they play is a lesbian as well) and this refusal to accept canon when it means celebrating a lesbian character has caused a lot of pain as yet another example of how unimportant they are. as a bisexual woman, i can understand a moment of hesitation when it comes to changing your muse’s sexuality from bisexual to lesbian if you are bisexual yourself. however, what matters is the choice you make on how to continue. if you come back from reflecting on this update to canon to make excuses for yourself, you have turned your back on the lesbian community and told them that they are not important. cheryl’s story specifically relates to experiencing comp het and for roleplayers to refuse to allow her to be her truest self reflects the refusal of society and individuals to allow lesbians to be their true selves. that is why this hurts, and why so many lesbians in the rpc are taking this seriously.
but this issue is not isolated to riverdale. lesbian roleplayers are confronted with rules/guidelines pages that specify the mun’s dislike of f/f relationships every day. if f/f relationships are allowed, they are subject to specific rules and hurdles that must be jumped over. why do we exclude lesbians, both muns and muses, at every step of the way? why do we feel the need to qualify them as the other?
bisexual muns and those portraying bisexual muses must be better. if your muse is a bisexual woman, but you will not roleplay f/f then change your muse’s sexuality or do not roleplay as them. stop giving lesbians in the rpc false hope that you will interact only for you to characterize them as “ship wh*res” or force-shipping. this is unacceptable.
lesbophobic statements like the below should never be included in your rules/guidelines pages and you should unfollow people who do this.
i really do not care if you think this is dramatic or unfair. people i care about are hurting because of you. lesbians deserve to come to the rpc and have fun. they should not be confronted with lesbophobic rhetoric supported by others in the lgbt community. i’m done.
I’ve been roleplaying Irey for years, but I’m just getting back into the swing of things after a year of absence, so I could use some new friends and rp partners!
I’ve been roleplaying Irey for years, but I’m just getting back into the swing of things after a year of absence, so I could use some new friends and rp partners!
