Nova Draws Things

If you’ll all pardon my Americentrism for a moment, the amount, visibility, and flamboyance of Pride merch available in clothing, home goods, and comestibles stores is a DIRECT reflection of how safe it is to be queer in public in the United States.

How? Simple. Out groups aren’t profitable. If you’re not “acceptable” in the current social climate, big franchise businesses will not market to you. (Prime example - Look how quickly Target dropped all their Pride merch after having been wall-to-wall rainbows every June for almost a decade prior.)

Sure, capitalism sucks and being viewed as an exploitable marketing demographic isn’t a fun concept.

HOWEVER.

The grim truth is that being normalized enough to be considered profitable by corporations IS A GOOD THING in terms of the barometer of social acceptance.

Same thing goes for smaller businesses that throw kitschy Pride events or even just put a token rainbow flag in the window or somewhere inside the shop. That’s a level of acceptance that DID NOT EXIST thirty years ago, and I can tell you because I was there.

The fact that we can scoff and bitch about being an exploitable marketing demographic nowadays means we have made GIGANTIC strides since the 1990s. It also speaks to the fact that the drive and the conversation surrounding LGBTQ+ rights and acceptance are continuing. And getting louder.

You can be cynical about it if you want. But I will take a store that puts out lip-service rainbow merch over a world that pretends we don’t exist any day of the week. Because that will always mean something.

Lou and ally’s characters are doing some weird gay shit on the down low and are not(?) Emily’s character’s dads but are cousins by marriage

Siobhan is doing some Chappell Roan Good Luck Babe shit to some NPC

very little actual city council things are happening but Bigfoot is involved somewhere and Brennan puts parking apps very high on his list of societal evils

murph’s character is a superhero with Emily’s character as a sidekick but Emily’s character wants to be a zoologist? And went into the superhero business because the university didn’t offer night classes

Zac’s character is also likely doing some gay shit with murph’s and some of the people I follow think their size difference is hot

the dog being mayor has little plot relevance but might be a werewolf? Unclear

LaVonte and HJ are THE toxic old man yaoi and the layers go so deep and so intertwined that they can’t imagine life without one another and promised to kill each other on a bridge. Also LaVonte got really into basil for like an hour.

Darkness Man and Bat Child’s arch nemesis is a gossip column reporter who followed them to Purpee and they refuse to kill her because she’s just doing her job.

Madeleine ruined thanksgiving somehow and continues to be a hot nepo baby mess.

Ghorse. All of Zaeth’s Disney princess shenanigans and Ghorse.

Bigfoot knows kumite?

Still not much city council going on but the dog was actually the vampires’ candidate and has not yet succeeded in becoming mayor.

Purpee’s population is falling and they don’t have any social services. The dog might be running to fix that? Unclear.

Short story: under 7,500

Novelette: between 7,500 and 17,500

Novella: between 17,500 and 40,000

Novel: over 40,000