The sun has set on Inuyasha Pride Month, and we're here to bring you the masterlist of entries for 2023. We'd like to thank everyone that participated, celebrated, and cheered creatives on in their exploration. Below the cut, you'll find links to tags used throughout the month to help you navigate.
And remember! June is just a month, pride is a state of mind, we're queer all year, and we'd love to hear from you, whenever that may be.
Love,
The Mods ♡
Here's each prompt, broken down by tags. Within each reblog, we've tagged a character/ship/identity where applicable, and included the media type. So if you want to see fanart only, for instance, there's a tag for that!
All 2023 Entries 🌈
Day 1: KagKik
Day 2: InuKog
Day 3: KaguKik
Day 4: SessMir
Day 5: AyaKag
Day 6: InuMir
Day 7: KagSan
Day 8: Lesbian
Day 9: Gay
Day 10: Bisexual
Day 11: Transgender
Day 12: Non-Binary
Day 13: Asexual
Day 14: Pansexual
Day 15: Pink
Day 16: Red
Day 17: Orange
Day 18: Yellow
Day 19: Green
Day 20: Turquoise
Day 21: Indigo
Violet Week
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romantic attraction =/= sexual attraction, aromanticism =/= asexuality
For most people, their romantic identity matches their sexual identity (e.g. aroace, gay, straight, bi) but that doesn’t mean that they are the same. Alloromantic asexual people and aromantic allosexual people might be the best examples for this but it’s also possible to be heterosexual and panromantic.
As far as I know, alloromantic allosexual Sesshōmaru is the most common representation of him in fan works which makes sense because most people on the planet identify that way.
In regards to “proof” that Sesshōmaru might be one identity or another, in my judgement, there is none, neither in manga nor anime – not even in YH, which I do not include in this because for me, it is not canon. There are several instances where Sesshōmaru’s kind of feelings are ambiguous, especially in the case of Kagura, but none show explicitly that he feels romantic or sexual attraction to anyone. (If you disagree, feel free to let me know!)
So, in accordance with the “lack of proof on sexual and romantic attraction”, I interpret Sesshōmaru to be aroace. But this is influenced by me being ace and thinking in the pattern “asexual until proven allosexual”. Similarly, alloromantic allosexual people might think “allo/allo until proven otherwise” and see Sesshōmaru that way until he says something like “I am not interested in romance and/or sex” and that’s valid as well.
But 1) we can’t look inside his brain, heart or body and determine what he experiences
and 2) we as fans can headcanon him as whatever identity we like.
(I personally separate interpretation from headcanon for interpretation to mean “something that can be supported by the text” and for headcanon to mean “whatever someone imagines – whether supported by the text or not”.)
Interpreting or HCing Sesshōmaru as demisexual and/or demiromantic seems to be the best compromise for a lot of people, allo and aro-/ace-specs alike. Like, he ‘is’ asexual/aromantic until he forms a deep bond with someone and he then ‘becomes’ allo.
Demisexual/-romantic people, please tell me what you think of that wording because I’m not a fan of it. It reminds me of things allo people tell a-spec people, the whole “You just have to find the right person”, or of what supporters of Purity Culture want people to be like: Abstaining from sex, sexual thoughts, fantasies etc. until you marry and then having sex regularly to reproduce, pleasing your partner etc.
I’m also not fond of the wording of the common definition of demisexuality/-romanticism: “Experiencing sexual/romantic attraction after developing a strong emotional bond with someone” because it can make it seem like you automatically experience these attractions once you formed said bond when I don’t think that’s the case for most demi people.
I prefer the definition that I heard from a demi person (Christi Kerr), in the vein of “rarely experiencing sexual/romantic attraction and when you do, it’s towards someone you developed a strong emotional bond with”. [Source]
Demisexuality and -romanticism aren’t experienced in a monolithic way. Some might develop sexual/romantic attraction to every person they bond with emotionally, some might predict a possibility that they will develop attraction once they get close to a specific person and some might get close to people (with the hope/assumption that they’ll develop attraction) only to realize that they still don’t feel attraction towards them.
(As an asexual person who only experiences sexual attraction towards 1 fictional character, I’m pretty jealous of the first two groups. Like, “It’s THAT easy for you guys? GREAT. Wish that were me.” But I know that no experience is “easy”, people can still deal with unreciprocated feelings/attraction, fleeting attraction, and many other struggles.)
What worries me about people HCing Sesshomaru as demisexual/-romantic is the potential that some allo people only use that HC to fetishize/project their own fantasies onto the real identities of demisexuality/-romanticism. Like, they might accept the aro/ace parts only because he does experience attraction towards them/their OC(s)/the person(s) they’re shipping him with (and attraction is kinda a must-have in romance/smut works) and because it gives them a sense of relationship security, fewer reasons to get jealous towards people he’s interacting with.
But I have to be fair and acknowledge that people can separate fact from fiction and can see their fantasies as such. Though, I must admit, I’m pretty pessimistic about that since the spectrums of asexuality and aromanticism are not common knowledge and a lot of misconceptions are roaming about...
I absolutely love that an Inuyasha pride month exist. This series/fandom is so painfully straight. We need to see some queer love with these characters! ♥️
Hello @grooveisintheheart 🥳 Thank you so much for your sweet message, it's made our day! It's been so fun to see these characters taken in so many directions this year, and we love that you're loving it.
And we could not agree more, apply those headcanons and run wild! Happy Pride! 🌈🌈🌈
Red for @inuyashapridemonth! I wanted to draw Yura but wasn't sure when and where, so I went with a two-tone red piece for her. She's proud of her skull collection...? And also that she's gay but that should be obvious
We’re at the middle mark for @inuyashapridemonth, and we wanted to take a moment to check in and see how everyone’s doing. We’ve seen gorgeous creations in celebration this year, and we hope you’ve had as much fun creating, sharing, and fawning over all your hard work as much as we have!
For our fellow creators, we have a few points to keep in mind for the following weeks, and after:
Our prompts are merely a guide! If it’s queer, it has a place here, and only you can create the fandom you want to see. Not only do we have Violet Week to run wild, but rare-pairs, minor characters and lesser-known identities will always find a home here. Our mods love tag wrangling, and will figure out how to file your work, regardless of what you make or when you post it.
Take care of yourself and allow yourself time to rest and recharge. Pride is a state of mind, after all, and no one is ever late. If you’ve missed a specific day, or even the whole month, we’re here to share your work whenever you’re ready. We're queer all year!
And for those who cannot celebrate, for whatever reason, know that we are thinking of you, not just during Pride Month, but always.
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
✓ Live Streaming✓ Interactive Chat✓ Private Shows✓ HD Quality✓ Free Actions
Free to watch • No registration required • HD streaming
It's "Asexual Day" in @inuyashapridemonth but I felt like including aromantic and aroace in this as well (bc romantic identities are just as valid as sexual ones).
I can't draw well enough to contribute fanart so I hope some cheap photo manip is okay ^^'
Sesshōmaru is the most obvious character in IY to interpret as ace, aro or aroace. My teenage self who didn't know they were ace yet fell for him right away because of that (and bc of his androgynous/GNC looks) and started unconsciously writing an asexual romance.
