#vx820

Sorry if this gift comes too early or too late, our time zones are quite different, I also set this post to auto-publish on a timer, so I hope everything works out as I plan lol

p.s. Thank you for your work, it really lifts my spirits every time I see it in my feed or in a notification. I wish you don't get burned out from drawing, also that your merch sales spread if it pleases you, attract a new audience to your art, or just feel satisfied with your work♡

Best regards,

It's funny back in the old days when the fandom was more openly homophobic, I intended to have these two's relationship be very very subtle until it was 'suddenly revealed' at the end they were sapphic. It wasn't quite a cliche yet lol. I didn't plan a confession or obvious actions like kissing or even them explicitly getting together, but they were in love.

Revisiting them in 2019, with more acceptance and the 'sudden reveal' now being overdone and unnecessary, I just wrote them having been clearly together. Ironically, because their identities also developed, they don't appear as sapphic (people tend to see 19 as a 'girl' and 2-0 as a 'boy'). I genuinely don't mind how people see them as the characters themselves would not care, but I do find it funny given the history of their development.

That being said, when I think about 19 and 2-0 were written before, I actually don't feel it is much different. It's more explicit now, but their relationship and the way they cared for each other is largely the same. I sort of miss it, them being in love without needing to say 'I love you' to convey it.

But then I remember 'gals being pals' and people being ultra oblivious even when it's smacking them across the face lol........some people really cannot see things until it's outright told to them and sometimes they'll even fight that.

I feel like that is the same with a lot of bigotry still....that some people are just so blind to subterfuge that they won't believe it until someone outright says they want to kill people.

I've been feeling nostalgic and bitter about that lately.

I recently talked with an old fan, one that tried to help me un-ban the slash thread from the old forum (back then we were only allowed to talk about anything gay in that thread and it was banned twice effectively making it so we couldn't talk about it anywhere) and it seemed like they honestly don't remember much of the old days.

I also talked to another old fan that vaguely recollects that they were homophobic due to their upbringing, but didn't remember exactly the things they did.

One old fan a while back popped on my blog to corroborate the old days with me and that was nice.

A newer fan, also a while back, talked to me how they heard the fandom used to be homophobic and wondered if that was fake and that made me sad.

On one hand, I do appreciate where we are now in the fandom that homophobia seems so far removed, but it also feels like complacency? Naivety?

Like ignoring the outright bigots, a lot of homophobic people back then just didn't think they were being homophobic. I know a lot of these type of people that say they've grown up and learned better and for some, I do believe it's true.

But some feel like they didn't truly learn. That again, they are doing actions that are bigoted, but they don't think they are and are falling for the same exact pitfalls with other forms of bigotry like racism or transphobia.