Blaire, sweetheart, your brain. I think it’s broken.
Nah, but seriously, seeing Riley’s face at the top panel breaks my heart. I feel bad that she’s being subjected to this nonsense in a completely serious way.
Every page update seems to unlock a new level of disgust and/or rage in me……… and yet I continue to wait patiently for the next page gdi I hate/love you Rusty
Oh for someone (Jaden) to gently take Riley’s face in her (Jaden’s) hands and lovingly whisper to her “None of this makes any damn sense, and you are not evil for recognizing the fact that none of this makes any damn sense.”
Starting a prayer circle for when Jaden inevitably meets the QT club circus.
*SMH so furiously, it’s giving me headaches* They have no problems in saying Jaden is a trans man, but I bet they would wet their pants if someone call them “girl”. The QT circus are a bunch of hypocrites.
Jaden is actually a man because: clothes, no make up, short hair, hairy legs.✅️✅️ (so normal)
These QT women with make up on their faces and no hair on their legs are still women regardless of how they perceive themselves in their brains or associate with sex stereotypes, because every single cell in their body is female. They have female reproductive organs, fat distribution, susceptibility to disease, skeletons, centres of gravity. It’d all fucken female!! ❌️❌️ (twansphibia!!!)
But don’t the gendies think Riley is Also a closeted trans person?? That’s what Brick implied, and it seems that Blaire also thinks that too.
So Riley Would have this “transdar” if you followed their logic lol it’s all such made up bullshit (also, when was it ever ok to openly talk about a closeted person’s sexuality like gossip!?
if gender is as personal as sexuality they shouldn’t, but they can’t even stick to the unspoken rules of the community they’re stealing from)
Riley’s suspected trans when it’s time for them to feel good about themselves for trying to ‘help’ her ‘discover her true identity’ – and also because she cannot possibly be a woman with shortish hair, who doesn’t shave, wear make up, but does wear pants and comfortable clothing.
But when it’s time to exert control, or silence questions, they accept her denial of having a gender identity (‘cis’). 🙁
On a serious note tho, I’ve noticed your style changing quite a bit recently. Before it was a little more western-webtoon comic feel, but now it seems to have gotten more cutesy or anime-like. Is this intentional, like to present the QT club, or do you just enjoy to experiment along the way? I also thought you may be working together with other artists.
It’s an intenntional style change/experimentation! I was a big weeb in my teen years and I loved trying to emulate the anime style. But I also saw a lot of art tutorials and posts in general mocking the style so originally with LB I thought I should ‘move away’ from it to be taken more seriously.
I’m still drawing everything myself – but I’ve had a lot of guidance from my good friend @artbustorum on tumblr. Not just in time saving techniques, and gesture tricks, but also in just having fun with my art again. She often refers to the way I was producing my art as a ‘chokehold’, and I can really see it now. It got to a point where I wasn’t even really enjoying the drawing aspect of LB anymore, it was a stressful chore with all these self-imposed rules I thought were neccessary for it to be ‘good art’.
She really helped me let loose and just have fun. And I always had the most fun doing silly big eyed doodles so that’s what I’m doing. I also love drawing big shiny anime eyes lol. You can see me sneaking them in as early as CH7 XD
Haha I love this comic! Especially how you drew the “AGP” gang. As a WOMAN with a hair between my brows, a mustache, chiseled face, and wrinkles on my forehead, it really made me want to hurl.
Even other radfems think I’m ugly scum.
this page isn’t about that and you talking about it here is weird as hell. Also No one said it was a bad thing? Your comment is honestly just weird to put here, considering those few pages were drawn actual years ago now. Calm down.
I am literally going insane over the logic acrobatics the “cuties” are performing. Riley, sweetie, it’s okay to not understand this bullshit. Gender identity is like golf: it’s for people with a lot of free time and a lot of money.
tbh at this point, especially being both a curious person who would look for more info and a quietly social person who would seek people’s advice…
I would guess Riley has already started quietly reading gender/trans critical stuff online.
I’d imagine she ran into the right-wing critics who are actually pro-gender and very anti-gay (unless it suits them to pretend otherwise for a hypocritical moment or two) AND left-wing critics (feminists, gay activists) and all others. The dissonance there would probably be excruciating for her.
I know it has been for me. How do you speedrun your friends through this massive tangle of nuances???
Like ok we have to cover…
sex biology including the complicated world of differences of sexual development,
how sexism and homophobia operate, sexual orientation research, studies on brain sex,
breakdown on what bioessentialism actually is (and how trans ideologies and conservative ideologies both fall for it),
the political landscape of the issue including grifters and political hacks and the silencing of left-wing gender critics that leaves us severely underrepresented in the public sphere (under our own names, and with any level of platform) and so that’s why it’s those aforementioned grifters, hacks, and right wing clowns that SEEM to represent criticism of trans ideologies…
and that’s the barest chill off the surface of the iceberg.
For however much it probably is also a stylistic, narrative choice to put off anyone in the comic mentioning actual radical feminists, other feminist critiques of trans movement, or the nut-house of the right-wing response to it all…………… it also just makes realistic sense.
Even if someone like Riley would look it up, and start reading, that shit is going to stay verrrrry verry much on the down low for her. Probably within her own mind. That kind of thing you keep looking up at odd hours, binging on, then closing out of your “private browsing” tab or clearing your history, pass out and feel like it was nothing but a weird dream by the next morning, to be forgotten (almost) entirely until the dissonance (and insomnia) build up again.
Kind of obsessing here, but I have been thinking a lot about the plot and how it might end up introducing various other groups, ala QT collective’s intro, who represent other political sides or ‘cliques’ that might collide with the story here… the major groups I think could be portrayed would be:
dyed in the wool feminist and gay activist types of a few different stripes, including womyn’s land/festival womyn…
and on-the-ground activists (mostly found running dv shelters with rats nailed to the doors courtesy of “BabyGirl”) ….. could be some overlap there.
Within these there’s about a 50% atheist/agnostic contingent, a scattering of those still with a major religion, and then the various spiritual goddess worship women (idk I just think the diversity of approaches is neat) ……….
…….. then there’s the grifter and center-reactionary to right-wing sphere (think like the youtubers who go on and on about the HORRIBLE DEGENERATES (lumping gay people in with trans ideology, blaming it on feminism too) and who say sexist shit like “hmph my big issue is these so called trans women don’t even bother to be feminine or pass… at least show us you’re trying to be a woman!!!”
And honestly there’s a lot of people caught up in between. Feminists who somehow don’t spot (or care about) the antifeminism and homophobia of right-wing figures because they hit out at the trans ideologues. People way too addicted to “good team vs bad team” “if they agree with me on this they must be good” thinking.
It’s really weird showing up to a trans-related protest or in-person event (like a public comment session) as someone left-wing, used to criticizing all this with other feminists and gay activists, and being suddenly out numbered by people who throw in some “kids can’t EVER know they’re gay, that’s like a vegan cat, kids are being trained trans (and gay!), ban mentioning sexuality at all in schools, it’s a p*do trap!!” rhetoric with everything they say.
It’s just ………….. excruciating. Surrounded on all “sides” with oceans of warring bullshit on gender, and not a drop of fresh water anywhere.
I feel like at the very least, silver lining, it would make a heart-wrenching plot point for Riley in particular, who can’t stand to hurt anyone or disappoint anyone… who’s sexist/homophobic family background would have sensitized her to right-wing homophobia and sexism……
and who would always have Blaire in the back of her mind confirming what a horrific person she’s becoming, an absolute “nazi”, along with probably some homophobic relative in the other corner of her mind going on about how all this trans bullshit “proves” how corrupting [homophobic slur]s are.
We can only hope some savvy and patient female-only festival organizer runs into her at Yonique and takes the pressure off before she explodes.
Bring on the obsession! Your comments have made for a very interesting read!
Riley has not looked into gender critical stuff as of yet, for the record. As she is an analogue for many women who start to feel an unease with genderism, I feel it’s most effective to hone in on those relatable emotions of confusion, isolation and silent questions rather than bog down the story with every single side of the argument.
There will definitely be characters with differing perspectives along the spectrum to come tho!
Ok so this part reminds me of how, being someone who when I don’t present myself as fem and don’t go out of my way to try and be “conventionally attractive” by most mens standards, I am sometimes read as a trans woman, or otherwise people just leave more leeway Just In Case, but once they know I’m not male I get treated infinitely worse, where when they were speculating they treated me better than when they were not.
It’s kinda like the real life version of people making posts with “TME/TMA”, and whenever they have “TME” (which is only ever used for trans men and the like, never by cis men online) in their bio/post, it doesn’t matter if they’re trans, black gay/bi, they will be overlooked and treated worse.
37 thoughts on “CH11P6”
Wool
Picks up Riley and runs and takes her somewhere safe
becca
“brick and the other cuties” Blaire please I can’t keep defending you like this
rustyhearts
The constant struggle BLaire stans face 😔
Sofiya
😭 I just wanna hug Jaden and Riley and take them far away to a safe space for all gnc lesbians. My poor babies!
rustyhearts
Sounds like a paradise.let the rest of us know if you find it 😔🙏
MarsGirl365
Blaire, sweetheart, your brain. I think it’s broken.
Nah, but seriously, seeing Riley’s face at the top panel breaks my heart. I feel bad that she’s being subjected to this nonsense in a completely serious way.
Pam Dang
Every page update seems to unlock a new level of disgust and/or rage in me……… and yet I continue to wait patiently for the next page gdi I hate/love you Rusty
rustyhearts
Oh breastie, we are really in it now 😞😞
arbustorum
i cant believe youve done this!!!!!!!!
rustyhearts
>:3c
Normie Lesbian
every time you post a new page like this one I take 5 points of damage. You are going to kill me soon with these recent ones lol
rustyhearts
Gonna be “0HP Lesbian” at this rate 😭😭
art
Hey rusty can you please make somewhere for fanart soon?
rustyhearts
The forum (where i intend ladies to put their fanart) is gonna take some time, please be patient.
mouse
Oh for someone (Jaden) to gently take Riley’s face in her (Jaden’s) hands and lovingly whisper to her “None of this makes any damn sense, and you are not evil for recognizing the fact that none of this makes any damn sense.”
Starting a prayer circle for when Jaden inevitably meets the QT club circus.
whyyy
Oh, Riley, don’t worry, they have headcanons about you, too 😭
Worm2004
Omg I want to throw Blaire in this chapter so far 😭 leave Jaden alone!!
Nonnie
*SMH so furiously, it’s giving me headaches* They have no problems in saying Jaden is a trans man, but I bet they would wet their pants if someone call them “girl”. The QT circus are a bunch of hypocrites.
rustyhearts
Jaden is actually a man because: clothes, no make up, short hair, hairy legs.✅️✅️ (so normal)
These QT women with make up on their faces and no hair on their legs are still women regardless of how they perceive themselves in their brains or associate with sex stereotypes, because every single cell in their body is female. They have female reproductive organs, fat distribution, susceptibility to disease, skeletons, centres of gravity. It’d all fucken female!! ❌️❌️ (twansphibia!!!)
anonymoo
But don’t the gendies think Riley is Also a closeted trans person?? That’s what Brick implied, and it seems that Blaire also thinks that too.
So Riley Would have this “transdar” if you followed their logic lol it’s all such made up bullshit (also, when was it ever ok to openly talk about a closeted person’s sexuality like gossip!?
if gender is as personal as sexuality they shouldn’t, but they can’t even stick to the unspoken rules of the community they’re stealing from)
rustyhearts
Riley’s suspected trans when it’s time for them to feel good about themselves for trying to ‘help’ her ‘discover her true identity’ – and also because she cannot possibly be a woman with shortish hair, who doesn’t shave, wear make up, but does wear pants and comfortable clothing.
But when it’s time to exert control, or silence questions, they accept her denial of having a gender identity (‘cis’). 🙁
You’re so right tho!
Ms.Clicker
Me as Riley like: That’s great babe! hey btw, I gotta get some milk and cigarrettes from the store so sorry if my cellphone is off for a while, bye <3
rustyhearts
LMAOO, problems solved! If you were riley this arc would be over so quick
Ms. Clicker
On a serious note tho, I’ve noticed your style changing quite a bit recently. Before it was a little more western-webtoon comic feel, but now it seems to have gotten more cutesy or anime-like. Is this intentional, like to present the QT club, or do you just enjoy to experiment along the way? I also thought you may be working together with other artists.
rustyhearts
It’s an intenntional style change/experimentation! I was a big weeb in my teen years and I loved trying to emulate the anime style. But I also saw a lot of art tutorials and posts in general mocking the style so originally with LB I thought I should ‘move away’ from it to be taken more seriously.
I’m still drawing everything myself – but I’ve had a lot of guidance from my good friend @artbustorum on tumblr. Not just in time saving techniques, and gesture tricks, but also in just having fun with my art again. She often refers to the way I was producing my art as a ‘chokehold’, and I can really see it now. It got to a point where I wasn’t even really enjoying the drawing aspect of LB anymore, it was a stressful chore with all these self-imposed rules I thought were neccessary for it to be ‘good art’.
She really helped me let loose and just have fun. And I always had the most fun doing silly big eyed doodles so that’s what I’m doing. I also love drawing big shiny anime eyes lol. You can see me sneaking them in as early as CH7 XD
👖🔥👖🔥👖🔥👖🔥👖🔥
Haha I love this comic! Especially how you drew the “AGP” gang. As a WOMAN with a hair between my brows, a mustache, chiseled face, and wrinkles on my forehead, it really made me want to hurl.
Even other radfems think I’m ugly scum.
What
this page isn’t about that and you talking about it here is weird as hell. Also No one said it was a bad thing? Your comment is honestly just weird to put here, considering those few pages were drawn actual years ago now. Calm down.
kawaiidesu
I am literally going insane over the logic acrobatics the “cuties” are performing. Riley, sweetie, it’s okay to not understand this bullshit. Gender identity is like golf: it’s for people with a lot of free time and a lot of money.
Norm L. Esbian
Oh, Riley…
Blaire's Wife
Obsessed with Riley’s little “haha” at the end of her message, she’s trying so hard to not be confrontational
rustyhearts
She’s ‘haha’ing for her life out here U_U
Joan
tbh at this point, especially being both a curious person who would look for more info and a quietly social person who would seek people’s advice…
I would guess Riley has already started quietly reading gender/trans critical stuff online.
I’d imagine she ran into the right-wing critics who are actually pro-gender and very anti-gay (unless it suits them to pretend otherwise for a hypocritical moment or two) AND left-wing critics (feminists, gay activists) and all others. The dissonance there would probably be excruciating for her.
I know it has been for me. How do you speedrun your friends through this massive tangle of nuances???
Like ok we have to cover…
sex biology including the complicated world of differences of sexual development,
how sexism and homophobia operate, sexual orientation research, studies on brain sex,
breakdown on what bioessentialism actually is (and how trans ideologies and conservative ideologies both fall for it),
the political landscape of the issue including grifters and political hacks and the silencing of left-wing gender critics that leaves us severely underrepresented in the public sphere (under our own names, and with any level of platform) and so that’s why it’s those aforementioned grifters, hacks, and right wing clowns that SEEM to represent criticism of trans ideologies…
and that’s the barest chill off the surface of the iceberg.
For however much it probably is also a stylistic, narrative choice to put off anyone in the comic mentioning actual radical feminists, other feminist critiques of trans movement, or the nut-house of the right-wing response to it all…………… it also just makes realistic sense.
Even if someone like Riley would look it up, and start reading, that shit is going to stay verrrrry verry much on the down low for her. Probably within her own mind. That kind of thing you keep looking up at odd hours, binging on, then closing out of your “private browsing” tab or clearing your history, pass out and feel like it was nothing but a weird dream by the next morning, to be forgotten (almost) entirely until the dissonance (and insomnia) build up again.
Joan
2 be clear “studies on brain sex” to me = reading up on how the idea of “brain sex” is totally fake (as in Cordelia Fine’s “Delusions of Gender”) …
I know you know this just saying for any hate readers that may be like aha the “terfs” believe in brain sex!!1 ….
which is what they have tried to do (hilariously) to any bullshit they get attached to or make up but then grow tired of and turn against.
Joan
Kind of obsessing here, but I have been thinking a lot about the plot and how it might end up introducing various other groups, ala QT collective’s intro, who represent other political sides or ‘cliques’ that might collide with the story here… the major groups I think could be portrayed would be:
dyed in the wool feminist and gay activist types of a few different stripes, including womyn’s land/festival womyn…
probably too-online bloggers (benefits: tireless consciousness raising, drawbacks: myopic cranks at times) …
and on-the-ground activists (mostly found running dv shelters with rats nailed to the doors courtesy of “BabyGirl”) ….. could be some overlap there.
Within these there’s about a 50% atheist/agnostic contingent, a scattering of those still with a major religion, and then the various spiritual goddess worship women (idk I just think the diversity of approaches is neat) ……….
…….. then there’s the grifter and center-reactionary to right-wing sphere (think like the youtubers who go on and on about the HORRIBLE DEGENERATES (lumping gay people in with trans ideology, blaming it on feminism too) and who say sexist shit like “hmph my big issue is these so called trans women don’t even bother to be feminine or pass… at least show us you’re trying to be a woman!!!”
And honestly there’s a lot of people caught up in between. Feminists who somehow don’t spot (or care about) the antifeminism and homophobia of right-wing figures because they hit out at the trans ideologues. People way too addicted to “good team vs bad team” “if they agree with me on this they must be good” thinking.
It’s really weird showing up to a trans-related protest or in-person event (like a public comment session) as someone left-wing, used to criticizing all this with other feminists and gay activists, and being suddenly out numbered by people who throw in some “kids can’t EVER know they’re gay, that’s like a vegan cat, kids are being trained trans (and gay!), ban mentioning sexuality at all in schools, it’s a p*do trap!!” rhetoric with everything they say.
It’s just ………….. excruciating. Surrounded on all “sides” with oceans of warring bullshit on gender, and not a drop of fresh water anywhere.
I feel like at the very least, silver lining, it would make a heart-wrenching plot point for Riley in particular, who can’t stand to hurt anyone or disappoint anyone… who’s sexist/homophobic family background would have sensitized her to right-wing homophobia and sexism……
and who would always have Blaire in the back of her mind confirming what a horrific person she’s becoming, an absolute “nazi”, along with probably some homophobic relative in the other corner of her mind going on about how all this trans bullshit “proves” how corrupting [homophobic slur]s are.
We can only hope some savvy and patient female-only festival organizer runs into her at Yonique and takes the pressure off before she explodes.
rustyhearts
Bring on the obsession! Your comments have made for a very interesting read!
Riley has not looked into gender critical stuff as of yet, for the record. As she is an analogue for many women who start to feel an unease with genderism, I feel it’s most effective to hone in on those relatable emotions of confusion, isolation and silent questions rather than bog down the story with every single side of the argument.
There will definitely be characters with differing perspectives along the spectrum to come tho!
Thanks again for sharing your thoughts 🥰
rand0
Ok so this part reminds me of how, being someone who when I don’t present myself as fem and don’t go out of my way to try and be “conventionally attractive” by most mens standards, I am sometimes read as a trans woman, or otherwise people just leave more leeway Just In Case, but once they know I’m not male I get treated infinitely worse, where when they were speculating they treated me better than when they were not.
It’s kinda like the real life version of people making posts with “TME/TMA”, and whenever they have “TME” (which is only ever used for trans men and the like, never by cis men online) in their bio/post, it doesn’t matter if they’re trans, black gay/bi, they will be overlooked and treated worse.
rustyhearts
When push comes to shove, people know who to direct their misogyny at.
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