Second, I live in fear of what happens when the gendie gang meets the Yonique members. And also when Blaire meets faith. So naturally I cannot wait for that to happen.
no offense, but this is kinda reminding of BL mangas where literally everyone turns out to be gay, even when I was a brain rotten fujo I found that some what absurd
Blaire's Wife
Rumor has it every time a comment like this is made, another lesbian Leasebound character is created. Thank you for your contribution.
3
rustyhearts
Yeah in BL everyone is usually male too. Very few if any female characters. There’s memes about it even.
Sharing this facet with BL but in the inverse (almost all female and lesbian characters) isn’t the slight you think it is. You left a previous comment elsewhere asking if I don’t like fujoshis – so I assume that’s what this is about.
My story is for lesbians. Of course the majority of the cast are going to be lesbians. It’s called knowing your audience.
2
Nonnie
You should have stopped at the first “but”.
Tenbelow
I don’t know, it seems odd to me to think it’s disorienting when a lot of the characters in a fictional story are gay or bisexual. When I go read a fantasy story I don’t get shocked when there’s magic or dragons or other things that don’t happen in real life. When a story openly says it’s lesbian-centric, I don’t go “that’s not what I expected” when I see a bunch of lesbian characters, haha.
I’m not reading fiction with the expectation that it’s entirely realistic. Most of the time I don’t want things in fiction to be realistic because I want fiction to be able to explore scenarios that can’t happen in real life.
There are some stories that seem to pride the story as being realistic, but most fictional stories have elements that aren’t tied to realism. A lot of the time, that’s the whole draw of the story and why readers pick it up in the first place. I’m not here reading Lease Bound cos I wanna see straight people.
It’s really not that hard to go find stories that feature VERY few lesbian, bisexual or gay characters while most of them are straight. I think a lot of the people who read Lease Bound are aware it’s for lesbians. Rusty has been clear about that. I also think a lot of the people who read boys love are reading it with the expectation that gay relationships are the focus.
Seems unrealistic to expect every story to go cater to one’s own personal taste. Seems a lot more realistic to seek out the stories that resonate rather then try to ask for other stories to conform to our personal expectations.
regarding your comment
>Yeah in BL everyone is usually male too. Very few if any female characters. There’s memes about it even.
I’d argue majority characters in BL and Yaoi are not real male, they way the behave, act, drawn are treated and even their bodies function is almost to that of women, then men
something like 1/10th of all MM fics on a03 feature Omegaverse/Mpreg, which is extreme dark hetroseuxal with extra steps
rustyhearts
They are absolutely male. However divorced they are from real life men, and actual gay male relationships, the same women would not flock to BL without them being men.
The characters in BL are basically dolls. Male dolls, for readers and creators to play with. That’s why they feel so separate from IRL men.
BL allows its female readers to:
1) Avoid confronting their own misogyistic biases when consuming media.
2) Mentally escape from the inherent inequalities of heterosexual partnerships/ dating as a woman while not turning their crticism to men themselves.
3) Make excuses about not to asking for more when it comes to female narratives and stories.
Lease Bound is a product of me asking for more. Instead of continuing to settle for male stories and male characters as the default (I am not immuneto misogynsitic bias) and waiting/hoping one day it will change, I’m being the change in want to see.
Your attempt to compare LB with BL (oooh but the acronyms contain the same letters~) completely ignores all context of the decision to have a largely single-sex cast.
BL is made by women, it’s made for women, but it’s not about women.
It’s all about what women WANT men to be while disassociating from themselves, from what IRL men are like, and using gay men as a stepping stone to get there.
LB is made by me, a lesbian, it was made for other lesbians, and it is about lesbians.
About giving depth to lesbian experiences, about acknowledging misogyny, about putting in the leg work to make female characters I was desperate to see anywhere else.
If that difference isn’t apparent to you, there’s nothing else for me to say.
This also isn’t even touching on the fact that BL is an entire GENRE. Not a single piece of media like LB.
Perfect! I shall knit her birthday sweaters and get myself admonished by her mum for letting her have too much sugar. Not as cool as the Yonique ladies, but I’ll do my best. 😀
Physical challenge: say transwomen are women or eat an entire lemon 😏 I can’t wait for the party tbh I know it’s gonna be hilarious and painful (ready for the pain)
Btw I love how you integrated real photos into your comic with the drawn sky! And Faith turned her hat around to match Jaden, really cute detail 💖
Thank you! I’m so happy with how the photo turned out. I’ve made some copies to experiment with in the future to save time on future establishing shots. 💪
Thank you for the birthday wishes!! 🥰
I appreciate EVERY LB update, even if I have to bleach my eyes afterwards bc of male abominations 🤮
Blaire shouldn’t run to the Coffeeshop but to the next busstation and skip town … Dreading to see more of Sir MustyBalloonBoobs
Decades and decades of “Oh, we’re roommates” or “That’s my daughter’s roommate”.
This time they really are roommates and someone doesn’t believe them 😀
YESS THE NORMAL WOMEN ARE BACK! Violet is so pretty I love her sm… What a beautiful page as well it’s so pleasant to look at, love the evolution of your artstyle throughout the years 🥺
I wasn’t trashing LB, I was just making an observation that like most BL stories, everyone being gay kinda takes me out of the story(that and the somewhat questionable portrayal of some of the WOC characters)
Believe me I was a messed up place and I was suffering from an addiction to yaoi, If you look up the actual history, since its inception BL was a way of women to basically project their desires through the vassal of feminized young boys and over consumption of it leads to trooning out, also most lesbians(at least the one’s I know) have men and straight women their lives, friends, brothers, sisters, fathers and sons and daughters, cause they live in the world
Always open to hear thoughts on my portrayals of women of different races. I know as a lesbian I’m not interested in seeing straight people portray homophobia so I use a similar mindset when approaching racism.
Check out the “Male Character Policy” section in the FAQ re: including more male characters. I’m well aware we live in a male + hetero-centric world that discourages women’s separation/independence from men.
Have you read the entirety of LB? Because there’s plenty of male family members and straight women present.
>Always open to hear thoughts on my portrayals of women of different races
okay so I’m not black but I am non-white and have black female friends and many of them would agree that the “strong independent black woman who don’t need no man” stereotype/trope does more harm then good(the stereotype its self comes from men to trying justify abusing their women and demanding they do all the parental, financial, etc labor)
now I am not a person who always criticizes media for not 100% matching my values, but I do find it kinda of weird who most of the black female characters are portrayed as being unnaturally large and are sure shown to be aggressive and capable enough to beat men, like I don’t you understand the racist implications of specifically a little black girl breaking the arm of a boy.
???
None of the characters fit that stereotype? And jaden is the only one who appears to be taller/more muscular than average. Her mom, nana, and violet are all average height or short judging from how they are draw, and jaden is a lesbian so why would she be interested in men?
Also faith didn’t break anyone’s arm so I’m pretty sure you haven’t actually ready the comic and are just skimming pages.
rustyhearts
Well this answers my question of if you’ve read it. You very clearly haven’t. Again if you’d even bothered to look at the Cast Pageyou could tell their heights. Jaden is one of two women above 6ft. The other is not black.
Secondly, Faith the little girl (who is a very normal height for 10) didn’t break any little boy’s arm. Look I’ll make it easy for you, this is the page here: CH11P9
Even just reading that ONE page will give context to what’s going on there instead of however you got to your conclusion.
Now tackling the “strong independent black woman who don’t need no man” stereotype. Which of the cast fits this stereotype?
Is it Jaden..The lesbian main character in a lesbian romance..?
Kinda obvious why she “don’t need no man”, no?
Or does my lack of male characters (that makes you very uncomfortable) constitute making all the female characters “strong independent women who don’t need no man” to you?
Also, what kind of logic is this? Women shouldn’t be strong and independent from men in media… Because men will use it to justify abusing women in real life?
Newsflash: men are misogynsitic opportunists and will do that with EVERYTHING and ANYTHING. They love twisting words like “empowerment” to label behaviours that benefit them. See: “motherhood and being a housewife is empowering”, “sucking my dick and casual sex with men is empowering”! “Pornography is empowering!”
I can’t help but notice you brought up “WOC” so, women of multiple races that aren’t white. But you’ve only talked about the black characters. If you just meant them, you should have specified. Unless you’ve got more to say on the others?
1
Ms. Clicker
Hi im black, lol. I honestly cannot understand this critique of WOC, specially of black women, that keeps being thrown at this comic. Rusty is a lesbian, she is a feminist, she is of course going to showcase capable, strong minded women. But let’s leave that aside and concentrate on what’s really bothering me here “strong independent black woman who don’t need no man” is surely a black female stereotype….for African-American women.
Perhaps the racial dynamics are exactly the same in Australia, I don’t know, but I believe it to be a faux pas when Americans try to extrapolate their own racial tension onto different diasporas or contexts where these stereotypes might not even have any meaningful relevance, something that I observe a lot specially when they try to compare or navigate African or Afro-latino racial dynamics through an american lense.
I suppose that when you mention this particular stereotype you’re referring specifically to Violet? Considering that stereotype speaks specifically about straight black women and Violet is the closest to fit that box (also since you mentioned faith) I think it is the case. We just don’t have information about why Violet is raising her daughter on her own. Maybe this was completely involuntary, maybe not. Maybe it was out of necessity, maybe not.
Josephine had to buckle down not because she felt herself to be too independent and strong to have a man, but because her husband died, and she couldn’t wait for a tinder match to propose marriage to start looking after her daughter. And she did in fact broke down and asked for help from her mother, showing that she actually couldn’t and didn’t want to bare that weight even if she eventually had to. Showing that vulnerability is what makes Josephine’s arc so important to explain her and Jaden’s current relationship.
Anyways, I’m not writing this wall of text to discourage you from having an opinion. I feel like the whole “If you are not X RACE then don’t comment” mentality in American discourse to do more harm than good. But I think it is good to have an informed opinion; not one we repeat from people we may trust; but one that we actually bothered to put to test.
Norm L. Esbian
@ miss clicker bc i can’t reply on your post, i get the feeling she hasn’t read lb and came here off a call out post or some shit personally 🤷
Norm L. Esbian
>but i have black friends
what in the tokenization
Nonnie
Faith giving a lesson to her bully is not showing a “strong/independent woc” trope, is showing that people should taught to their kids that bullies reserves what they have for being pieces of shit.
I mean the damaging stereotype hypermasculising black women/little girls that was created by those same men though. Like yeah no shit men will use anything, but why is this made up shit what you choose tto operate from? Does it have to be the black women who protect white and asian from men, and yeah you still choose to depict a black girl beating a boy
By your logic, someone might as well draw comics about onlyfans girls sucking dicks being “empowering”, and argue that since men will use anything to justify abuse, there’s nothing questionable about it.
rustyhearts
The goal posts sure have shifted. First it was “too many lesbians not enough man-loving”, then the “questionable woc”, then it’s actually “all the black women are too tall and independent”, and then when your assumptions were proved wrong once again you reveal it’s specifically Jaden who makes who uncomfortable (and a black girl standing up to her bully).
Go and read the comic. Fully read it. Leave comments on the pages that show examples of Jaden being “hypermasculine”. Show me. I want to understand what’s made you see her portrayal as questionable/damaging.
Everything you’ve described is based off assumptions you’ve made despite not having read it. It’s painfully obvious you’re not aware of other non-black, female characters who share all the traits you keep only attributing to Jaden.
“Does it have to be black women who protect white and Asian [women] from men”.
Get back to me once you’ve read Chapter 4: Endure and the last few pages of Chapter 10: Her Burden with an apology for lying out of your ass on this specifically.
Every new page showcases the growth in your art, this one is stunning!!!! Also, am I the only one who loves the gendie pages? It’s like a train wreck you can’t look away from.
then the “questionable woc”, then it’s actually “all the black women are too tall and independent”, and then when your assumptions were proved wrong once again you reveal it’s specifically Jaden who makes who uncomfortable (and a black girl standing up to her bully).
both are related, and standing up to a bully in a physical confrontation for girls can actually be a danger for them
>Get back to me once you’ve read Chapter 4: Endure and the last few pages of Chapter 10: Her Burden with an apology for lying out of your ass on this specifically.
already have read those parts and it does not take away from what i said, cause its too WOC
Anyway I probably have more agreements hen disagreements, though maybe not on motherhood(I personally do think it can be beautiful and powerful)
Have you never seen lesbian mothers before? some women have maternal instincts and some women don’t, it’s not for every woman but I believe without capitalism and assurance by the state, then most women would have children of their violation, even in “lesbian”(well political lesbian) feminist communes women were having children and raising them communally
rustyhearts
I’m waiting for examples of your ridiculously vague and evasive claims.
Lesbians participating in patriarchy doesnt make it “powerful”. Theres lesbians who wear makeup and heels too. When women are granted full bodily autonomy, birthrates drop. That’s neither here nor there.
Read the comic. I’ll be ignoring any other comments from you, that aren’t backing up your claims.
Sis you can disagree all you want but I’m honestly just as lost with your critiques here. I thought the problem was black women always having to defend white and asian women or something. Endure is all about Jaden’s complex about being uncapable of protecting others and being rescued by her partners Shez and Parniya, a malysian/Iranian couple both from countries where women are portrayed as submissive in the west and in their homeland as per the ideal of womanhood.
“But why did JADEN specifically had to fight?!!” Because she’s a bouncer sis. What was she supposed to do? twiddle her fingers and look down timidly at the ground when three men tried to enter her bar?
“Well then why JADEN specifically has to be a bouncer??!!” Because her whole arch is her getting a spine and taking risks for herself after a lifetime of living for other people; encouraged by the tragic breakup with her girlfriend; which is why she is also so eager to jump into her gig a Yonique, because it serves as a catalyst for not being able to help Alexis when she was sent away by her homophobic family.
Is all there in the comic, you see.
When Rusty tells you to read it is for a reason, not just to be an asshole or stomp out any criticism. It honestly doesn’t seem like you have read this with the due attention, or it is the case at least that you couldn’t be bother to explain yourself further on your concerns for the racial representation so people have to scamper to know exactly where you are coming from or what you’re talking about.
At this point I think people just want Rusty to picture quiet, damsel-like black women or not draw any at all; which she would still get no slack for, I’m sure.
Also that maternity shit was out of left field, who even mention that?? 😂😂 Josephine’s and Jaden’s relationship isn’t all honey and smiles so Rusty clearly thinks maternity is hellish and monstrous lmao.
Girl, if you’re not willing to read the comic by the first chapter and understand the whole plot on its own, then they webcomic is not for you. Go and read your yaoi shit like someone said. Rusty is doing this for the gyns that want a refreshing comic about women doing women stuff and lesbian being lesbians.
I scroll to the comments to an absurd amount of talking about why aren’t there straight or male characters and it spooked me that my comment a few weeks ago ( jokingly pining for a gay headcanon boyfriend) might have had the same impression 😳😳
For the Record, my gay male ass fell in love with the comic cause theres so few wholesome lesbian love stories online that aren’t just fetishism.
Also, random thought, if I recall correctly there are straight characters running around this anyway so….what even was the problem? Its not like its straight erasure (lord give me strengh) its just they aren’t the focus of a lesbian love comic involving a lesbian who works at a lesbian bar and lives with another lesbian
Nah. You said: “Hey I wish there were gay characters here too, but i get this is a lesbian focused comic”. Which shows both your own wishes and understanding of the general idea of the comic. She said “I found it unrelaistic when men arent next to lesbians” which would’ve been okay if she hadn’t gone on and on about it being an intrinsic defect, forgetting the whole idea of the comic is concentration on the women.
Besides there are tons of straight/gay comics in Webtoon or Tapas, so is not like that Zia girl is going to have a hard problem in finding a comic of her liking if Leasebound is not her taste.
Tbh I did think that was kind of what you were angling for but reading this comment paired with makes a lot more sense now. So thanks for the clarification.
Hey sorry for the Late response, work took over and ofc mobile doesn’t like replies so had to wait till I was near a PC otherwise replies would get messy.
Well, at least we can now thank the gendies for giving me the opportunity to show I’m not a random man trying to commendere a lesbian comic. Clearly their best contribution to culture and the arts, and it was even a gay man as well! So progressive of them.
no but really.
I do understand why my past comment might have seemed like “le entitled man”. I’m naturally sarcastic due to cultural ubringing so I tend to forget that me being jokey in text might not translate as being jokey (which is why when you delievered me a responce of all the gay males in the comic I was like “but….I know this”)
So Again, apologies for any “man wrecking-ball your comic” insintuation I caused. My original comment of “Sometimes I’m sad theres no cool gay (as in male) people in this” should be read in the same baby voice of Baby Girl; just instead of it being an identity, like a creep it’s being childish for the irony.
So, to translate per your artisic impression:
“Sometwims I’m sawddd that theres not more gawwwy people like me uwu! RCS wants a husbando!”
rustyhearts
Nah dude, don’t even sweat it. 🤣🤣
I’m definitely in a position where I default to “no reading comp” first, receipts at the ready, just because I see this “spare men, ma’am? Any men in this comic, you bigot” VERY frequently 😅😅
I have to say tho, even if I were to include more gay men, I don’t know if I’d be able to produce anything boyfriend-material wise for the three gay man readers I have. I am notoriously bad at drawing male bodies. It’s like no matter what reference I use my brain just “corrects” it 🤣
I didn’t even notice it until it was pointed out to me that I give men female looking hips (especially early on). And I was like “uhhh what other hips are there??” 🤣🤣
I absolutely ADORE the side profiles you do of Jaden in this page and P18 for this chapter! They look so well-proportioned and so smooth! I don’t nearly create art as much as I used to, but I always used to struggle with those types of character drawings, and yet you making it look effortless, and the phenomenonal growth your art has undertaken over these past few years, makes me consider getting back into my old hobby again!
That makes me so happy to hear! Side profiles were definitely an enemy of mine for many years (chapter 1 of LB is especially rough on side profiles lmao).
73 thoughts on “CH11P22”
Miss Moira
The lighting on this page is so gorgeous!
But now I’m just picturing the disaster that’s likely looming if and when the members of Yonique meet Blaire… 😟
rustyhearts
Thank you! I’ve got a few pages using this sunset pallet lined up 😀
Live in the moment~ Maybe everything will go totally fine~ Who knows~
Miss Moira
I’m definitely not suspicious or worried at all now, thanks~ 😊
rustyhearts
Everything is sooooo fine~
becca
This page is beautiful first of all.
Second, I live in fear of what happens when the gendie gang meets the Yonique members. And also when Blaire meets faith. So naturally I cannot wait for that to happen.
rustyhearts
Glad that you’re excited >:3
Zia
is faith gonna be a lesbian as well?
rustyhearts
Faith is a lesbian with a baby crush, yes. The info is actually in her bio on the Cast Page
Zia
no offense, but this is kinda reminding of BL mangas where literally everyone turns out to be gay, even when I was a brain rotten fujo I found that some what absurd
Blaire's Wife
Rumor has it every time a comment like this is made, another lesbian Leasebound character is created. Thank you for your contribution.
rustyhearts
Yeah in BL everyone is usually male too. Very few if any female characters. There’s memes about it even.
Sharing this facet with BL but in the inverse (almost all female and lesbian characters) isn’t the slight you think it is. You left a previous comment elsewhere asking if I don’t like fujoshis – so I assume that’s what this is about.
My story is for lesbians. Of course the majority of the cast are going to be lesbians. It’s called knowing your audience.
Nonnie
You should have stopped at the first “but”.
Tenbelow
I don’t know, it seems odd to me to think it’s disorienting when a lot of the characters in a fictional story are gay or bisexual. When I go read a fantasy story I don’t get shocked when there’s magic or dragons or other things that don’t happen in real life. When a story openly says it’s lesbian-centric, I don’t go “that’s not what I expected” when I see a bunch of lesbian characters, haha.
I’m not reading fiction with the expectation that it’s entirely realistic. Most of the time I don’t want things in fiction to be realistic because I want fiction to be able to explore scenarios that can’t happen in real life.
There are some stories that seem to pride the story as being realistic, but most fictional stories have elements that aren’t tied to realism. A lot of the time, that’s the whole draw of the story and why readers pick it up in the first place. I’m not here reading Lease Bound cos I wanna see straight people.
It’s really not that hard to go find stories that feature VERY few lesbian, bisexual or gay characters while most of them are straight. I think a lot of the people who read Lease Bound are aware it’s for lesbians. Rusty has been clear about that. I also think a lot of the people who read boys love are reading it with the expectation that gay relationships are the focus.
Seems unrealistic to expect every story to go cater to one’s own personal taste. Seems a lot more realistic to seek out the stories that resonate rather then try to ask for other stories to conform to our personal expectations.
Zia
regarding your comment
>Yeah in BL everyone is usually male too. Very few if any female characters. There’s memes about it even.
I’d argue majority characters in BL and Yaoi are not real male, they way the behave, act, drawn are treated and even their bodies function is almost to that of women, then men
something like 1/10th of all MM fics on a03 feature Omegaverse/Mpreg, which is extreme dark hetroseuxal with extra steps
rustyhearts
They are absolutely male. However divorced they are from real life men, and actual gay male relationships, the same women would not flock to BL without them being men.
The characters in BL are basically dolls. Male dolls, for readers and creators to play with. That’s why they feel so separate from IRL men.
BL allows its female readers to:
1) Avoid confronting their own misogyistic biases when consuming media.
2) Mentally escape from the inherent inequalities of heterosexual partnerships/ dating as a woman while not turning their crticism to men themselves.
3) Make excuses about not to asking for more when it comes to female narratives and stories.
Lease Bound is a product of me asking for more. Instead of continuing to settle for male stories and male characters as the default (I am not immuneto misogynsitic bias) and waiting/hoping one day it will change, I’m being the change in want to see.
Your attempt to compare LB with BL (oooh but the acronyms contain the same letters~) completely ignores all context of the decision to have a largely single-sex cast.
BL is made by women, it’s made for women, but it’s not about women.
It’s all about what women WANT men to be while disassociating from themselves, from what IRL men are like, and using gay men as a stepping stone to get there.
LB is made by me, a lesbian, it was made for other lesbians, and it is about lesbians.
About giving depth to lesbian experiences, about acknowledging misogyny, about putting in the leg work to make female characters I was desperate to see anywhere else.
If that difference isn’t apparent to you, there’s nothing else for me to say.
This also isn’t even touching on the fact that BL is an entire GENRE. Not a single piece of media like LB.
Lily
Have we got a cast page for the awful man of the previous page yet?
rustyhearts
Sure do! Come on down bestie: Cast Page
Lily
Absolutely gorgeous page also, the light is amazing
Ada
Thank you♥️
Wabber Bobble
Such beautiful and vivid colors. Well done!
Green
I’m blown away by how much your art has improved since the beginning of Leasebound! The colors look so pretty!
rustyhearts
Thank you!! I loved making and working with this sunset pallet.
K
This is such a pretty page, great job! Also, Faith continues to be the absolute cutest, I hope she’s okay with having a doting but not related aunt?
rustyhearts
Aww are you volunteering for the position. She’s used to having lots of unrelated aunts in her life – all the women at Yonique 🥰
K
Perfect! I shall knit her birthday sweaters and get myself admonished by her mum for letting her have too much sugar. Not as cool as the Yonique ladies, but I’ll do my best. 😀
anonymoo
Physical challenge: say transwomen are women or eat an entire lemon 😏 I can’t wait for the party tbh I know it’s gonna be hilarious and painful (ready for the pain)
Btw I love how you integrated real photos into your comic with the drawn sky! And Faith turned her hat around to match Jaden, really cute detail 💖
rustyhearts
👁👄👁🍋🍋🍋🍋🍋
Thank you! I’m so happy with how the photo turned out. I’ve made some copies to experiment with in the future to save time on future establishing shots. 💪
Well done noticing little Faith too!
Simp
Jokes
on you!! I love sour things
Crypty
God this page is gorgeous with the lighting and the color choices!
Also Faith is so sweet as always 😭
rustyhearts
More sunset pages to come!! (And Faith being precious)
Sunny
The colors are so freaking beautiful 😭😭😭
Kory is right, violet does look fine 👀
Sunny
Thank you for the birthday wishes!! 🥰
I appreciate EVERY LB update, even if I have to bleach my eyes afterwards bc of male abominations 🤮
Blaire shouldn’t run to the Coffeeshop but to the next busstation and skip town … Dreading to see more of Sir MustyBalloonBoobs
Tsath
Decades and decades of “Oh, we’re roommates” or “That’s my daughter’s roommate”.
This time they really are roommates and someone doesn’t believe them 😀
Pam Dang
Awwwww Faith turned her cap around to look like Jaden!! 🥺🥺😭
Pam Dang
……wait a minute, Faith is gonna end up at Jaden’s party with Blaire the Gender Terrorist isn’t she??????????
rustyhearts
Charly
YESS THE NORMAL WOMEN ARE BACK! Violet is so pretty I love her sm… What a beautiful page as well it’s so pleasant to look at, love the evolution of your artstyle throughout the years 🥺
Zia
I wasn’t trashing LB, I was just making an observation that like most BL stories, everyone being gay kinda takes me out of the story(that and the somewhat questionable portrayal of some of the WOC characters)
Believe me I was a messed up place and I was suffering from an addiction to yaoi, If you look up the actual history, since its inception BL was a way of women to basically project their desires through the vassal of feminized young boys and over consumption of it leads to trooning out, also most lesbians(at least the one’s I know) have men and straight women their lives, friends, brothers, sisters, fathers and sons and daughters, cause they live in the world
rustyhearts
Always open to hear thoughts on my portrayals of women of different races. I know as a lesbian I’m not interested in seeing straight people portray homophobia so I use a similar mindset when approaching racism.
Check out the “Male Character Policy” section in the FAQ re: including more male characters. I’m well aware we live in a male + hetero-centric world that discourages women’s separation/independence from men.
Have you read the entirety of LB? Because there’s plenty of male family members and straight women present.
Zia
>Always open to hear thoughts on my portrayals of women of different races
okay so I’m not black but I am non-white and have black female friends and many of them would agree that the “strong independent black woman who don’t need no man” stereotype/trope does more harm then good(the stereotype its self comes from men to trying justify abusing their women and demanding they do all the parental, financial, etc labor)
now I am not a person who always criticizes media for not 100% matching my values, but I do find it kinda of weird who most of the black female characters are portrayed as being unnaturally large and are sure shown to be aggressive and capable enough to beat men, like I don’t you understand the racist implications of specifically a little black girl breaking the arm of a boy.
???
None of the characters fit that stereotype? And jaden is the only one who appears to be taller/more muscular than average. Her mom, nana, and violet are all average height or short judging from how they are draw, and jaden is a lesbian so why would she be interested in men?
Also faith didn’t break anyone’s arm so I’m pretty sure you haven’t actually ready the comic and are just skimming pages.
rustyhearts
Well this answers my question of if you’ve read it. You very clearly haven’t. Again if you’d even bothered to look at the Cast Pageyou could tell their heights. Jaden is one of two women above 6ft. The other is not black.
Secondly, Faith the little girl (who is a very normal height for 10) didn’t break any little boy’s arm. Look I’ll make it easy for you, this is the page here: CH11P9
Even just reading that ONE page will give context to what’s going on there instead of however you got to your conclusion.
Now tackling the “strong independent black woman who don’t need no man” stereotype. Which of the cast fits this stereotype?
Is it Jaden..The lesbian main character in a lesbian romance..?
Kinda obvious why she “don’t need no man”, no?
Or does my lack of male characters (that makes you very uncomfortable) constitute making all the female characters “strong independent women who don’t need no man” to you?
Also, what kind of logic is this? Women shouldn’t be strong and independent from men in media… Because men will use it to justify abusing women in real life?
Newsflash: men are misogynsitic opportunists and will do that with EVERYTHING and ANYTHING. They love twisting words like “empowerment” to label behaviours that benefit them. See: “motherhood and being a housewife is empowering”, “sucking my dick and casual sex with men is empowering”! “Pornography is empowering!”
I can’t help but notice you brought up “WOC” so, women of multiple races that aren’t white. But you’ve only talked about the black characters. If you just meant them, you should have specified. Unless you’ve got more to say on the others?
Ms. Clicker
Hi im black, lol. I honestly cannot understand this critique of WOC, specially of black women, that keeps being thrown at this comic. Rusty is a lesbian, she is a feminist, she is of course going to showcase capable, strong minded women. But let’s leave that aside and concentrate on what’s really bothering me here “strong independent black woman who don’t need no man” is surely a black female stereotype….for African-American women.
Perhaps the racial dynamics are exactly the same in Australia, I don’t know, but I believe it to be a faux pas when Americans try to extrapolate their own racial tension onto different diasporas or contexts where these stereotypes might not even have any meaningful relevance, something that I observe a lot specially when they try to compare or navigate African or Afro-latino racial dynamics through an american lense.
I suppose that when you mention this particular stereotype you’re referring specifically to Violet? Considering that stereotype speaks specifically about straight black women and Violet is the closest to fit that box (also since you mentioned faith) I think it is the case. We just don’t have information about why Violet is raising her daughter on her own. Maybe this was completely involuntary, maybe not. Maybe it was out of necessity, maybe not.
Josephine had to buckle down not because she felt herself to be too independent and strong to have a man, but because her husband died, and she couldn’t wait for a tinder match to propose marriage to start looking after her daughter. And she did in fact broke down and asked for help from her mother, showing that she actually couldn’t and didn’t want to bare that weight even if she eventually had to. Showing that vulnerability is what makes Josephine’s arc so important to explain her and Jaden’s current relationship.
Anyways, I’m not writing this wall of text to discourage you from having an opinion. I feel like the whole “If you are not X RACE then don’t comment” mentality in American discourse to do more harm than good. But I think it is good to have an informed opinion; not one we repeat from people we may trust; but one that we actually bothered to put to test.
Norm L. Esbian
@ miss clicker bc i can’t reply on your post, i get the feeling she hasn’t read lb and came here off a call out post or some shit personally 🤷
Norm L. Esbian
>but i have black friends
what in the tokenization
Nonnie
Faith giving a lesson to her bully is not showing a “strong/independent woc” trope, is showing that people should taught to their kids that bullies reserves what they have for being pieces of shit.
ZIa
I mean the damaging stereotype hypermasculising black women/little girls that was created by those same men though. Like yeah no shit men will use anything, but why is this made up shit what you choose tto operate from? Does it have to be the black women who protect white and asian from men, and yeah you still choose to depict a black girl beating a boy
By your logic, someone might as well draw comics about onlyfans girls sucking dicks being “empowering”, and argue that since men will use anything to justify abuse, there’s nothing questionable about it.
rustyhearts
The goal posts sure have shifted. First it was “too many lesbians not enough man-loving”, then the “questionable woc”, then it’s actually “all the black women are too tall and independent”, and then when your assumptions were proved wrong once again you reveal it’s specifically Jaden who makes who uncomfortable (and a black girl standing up to her bully).
Go and read the comic. Fully read it. Leave comments on the pages that show examples of Jaden being “hypermasculine”. Show me. I want to understand what’s made you see her portrayal as questionable/damaging.
Everything you’ve described is based off assumptions you’ve made despite not having read it. It’s painfully obvious you’re not aware of other non-black, female characters who share all the traits you keep only attributing to Jaden.
“Does it have to be black women who protect white and Asian [women] from men”.
Get back to me once you’ve read Chapter 4: Endure and the last few pages of Chapter 10: Her Burden with an apology for lying out of your ass on this specifically.
Tommygirl
Every new page showcases the growth in your art, this one is stunning!!!! Also, am I the only one who loves the gendie pages? It’s like a train wreck you can’t look away from.
rustyhearts
Thank you! I think most people enjoy the gendie pages in a trainwreck sorta way.
Julie
I just started this series, it’s so neat! Thanks for creating it. Looking forward to the next page as always.
rustyhearts
Welcome aboard and thank you so much for reading!
TDOTNDOT21
Hmmmmmmm… Is that a bit of jealousy I sense from Violet..? Also, this page is stunning!
Zia
then the “questionable woc”, then it’s actually “all the black women are too tall and independent”, and then when your assumptions were proved wrong once again you reveal it’s specifically Jaden who makes who uncomfortable (and a black girl standing up to her bully).
both are related, and standing up to a bully in a physical confrontation for girls can actually be a danger for them
>Get back to me once you’ve read Chapter 4: Endure and the last few pages of Chapter 10: Her Burden with an apology for lying out of your ass on this specifically.
already have read those parts and it does not take away from what i said, cause its too WOC
Anyway I probably have more agreements hen disagreements, though maybe not on motherhood(I personally do think it can be beautiful and powerful)
rustyhearts
Depicting little girls getting self defence classes and successfully standing up to boys who harrass them; damaging.🤢🤢😢😢😱😱
Fucking/loving/birthing the children of men: powerful Yass queeeen 🥰🥰😍😍😍💖💖
Yeah it’s all making sense now.
Still waiting on the examples. No rush, you’re welcome to come clean and actually read it at anytime.
Zia
Have you never seen lesbian mothers before? some women have maternal instincts and some women don’t, it’s not for every woman but I believe without capitalism and assurance by the state, then most women would have children of their violation, even in “lesbian”(well political lesbian) feminist communes women were having children and raising them communally
rustyhearts
I’m waiting for examples of your ridiculously vague and evasive claims.
Lesbians participating in patriarchy doesnt make it “powerful”. Theres lesbians who wear makeup and heels too. When women are granted full bodily autonomy, birthrates drop. That’s neither here nor there.
Read the comic. I’ll be ignoring any other comments from you, that aren’t backing up your claims.
Norm L. Esbian
ok everyone pack it up, there it is!!
Ms. Clicker
Sis you can disagree all you want but I’m honestly just as lost with your critiques here. I thought the problem was black women always having to defend white and asian women or something. Endure is all about Jaden’s complex about being uncapable of protecting others and being rescued by her partners Shez and Parniya, a malysian/Iranian couple both from countries where women are portrayed as submissive in the west and in their homeland as per the ideal of womanhood.
“But why did JADEN specifically had to fight?!!” Because she’s a bouncer sis. What was she supposed to do? twiddle her fingers and look down timidly at the ground when three men tried to enter her bar?
“Well then why JADEN specifically has to be a bouncer??!!” Because her whole arch is her getting a spine and taking risks for herself after a lifetime of living for other people; encouraged by the tragic breakup with her girlfriend; which is why she is also so eager to jump into her gig a Yonique, because it serves as a catalyst for not being able to help Alexis when she was sent away by her homophobic family.
Is all there in the comic, you see.
When Rusty tells you to read it is for a reason, not just to be an asshole or stomp out any criticism. It honestly doesn’t seem like you have read this with the due attention, or it is the case at least that you couldn’t be bother to explain yourself further on your concerns for the racial representation so people have to scamper to know exactly where you are coming from or what you’re talking about.
At this point I think people just want Rusty to picture quiet, damsel-like black women or not draw any at all; which she would still get no slack for, I’m sure.
Also that maternity shit was out of left field, who even mention that?? 😂😂 Josephine’s and Jaden’s relationship isn’t all honey and smiles so Rusty clearly thinks maternity is hellish and monstrous lmao.
anonymoo
Go back to your yaoi shit, you clearly can’t handle a story about lesbian women that doesn’t coddle men.
Nonnie
Girl, if you’re not willing to read the comic by the first chapter and understand the whole plot on its own, then they webcomic is not for you. Go and read your yaoi shit like someone said. Rusty is doing this for the gyns that want a refreshing comic about women doing women stuff and lesbian being lesbians.
DasFeministMermaid
He’s 37??! 😭
RCS
I scroll to the comments to an absurd amount of talking about why aren’t there straight or male characters and it spooked me that my comment a few weeks ago ( jokingly pining for a gay headcanon boyfriend) might have had the same impression 😳😳
For the Record, my gay male ass fell in love with the comic cause theres so few wholesome lesbian love stories online that aren’t just fetishism.
Also, random thought, if I recall correctly there are straight characters running around this anyway so….what even was the problem? Its not like its straight erasure (lord give me strengh) its just they aren’t the focus of a lesbian love comic involving a lesbian who works at a lesbian bar and lives with another lesbian
Ms. Clicker
Nah. You said: “Hey I wish there were gay characters here too, but i get this is a lesbian focused comic”. Which shows both your own wishes and understanding of the general idea of the comic. She said “I found it unrelaistic when men arent next to lesbians” which would’ve been okay if she hadn’t gone on and on about it being an intrinsic defect, forgetting the whole idea of the comic is concentration on the women.
Nonnie
Besides there are tons of straight/gay comics in Webtoon or Tapas, so is not like that Zia girl is going to have a hard problem in finding a comic of her liking if Leasebound is not her taste.
rustyhearts
How I imagine you came into the comment section:
🤣🤣
Tbh I did think that was kind of what you were angling for but reading this comment paired with makes a lot more sense now. So thanks for the clarification.
I’m very happy you enjoy LB for what it is 🥰🥰
RCS
Hey sorry for the Late response, work took over and ofc mobile doesn’t like replies so had to wait till I was near a PC otherwise replies would get messy.
Well, at least we can now thank the gendies for giving me the opportunity to show I’m not a random man trying to commendere a lesbian comic. Clearly their best contribution to culture and the arts, and it was even a gay man as well! So progressive of them.
no but really.
I do understand why my past comment might have seemed like “le entitled man”. I’m naturally sarcastic due to cultural ubringing so I tend to forget that me being jokey in text might not translate as being jokey (which is why when you delievered me a responce of all the gay males in the comic I was like “but….I know this”)
So Again, apologies for any “man wrecking-ball your comic” insintuation I caused. My original comment of “Sometimes I’m sad theres no cool gay (as in male) people in this” should be read in the same baby voice of Baby Girl; just instead of it being an identity, like a creep it’s being childish for the irony.
So, to translate per your artisic impression:
“Sometwims I’m sawddd that theres not more gawwwy people like me uwu! RCS wants a husbando!”
rustyhearts
Nah dude, don’t even sweat it. 🤣🤣
I’m definitely in a position where I default to “no reading comp” first, receipts at the ready, just because I see this “spare men, ma’am? Any men in this comic, you bigot” VERY frequently 😅😅
I have to say tho, even if I were to include more gay men, I don’t know if I’d be able to produce anything boyfriend-material wise for the three gay man readers I have. I am notoriously bad at drawing male bodies. It’s like no matter what reference I use my brain just “corrects” it 🤣
I didn’t even notice it until it was pointed out to me that I give men female looking hips (especially early on). And I was like “uhhh what other hips are there??” 🤣🤣
J
I absolutely ADORE the side profiles you do of Jaden in this page and P18 for this chapter! They look so well-proportioned and so smooth! I don’t nearly create art as much as I used to, but I always used to struggle with those types of character drawings, and yet you making it look effortless, and the phenomenonal growth your art has undertaken over these past few years, makes me consider getting back into my old hobby again!
rustyhearts
That makes me so happy to hear! Side profiles were definitely an enemy of mine for many years (chapter 1 of LB is especially rough on side profiles lmao).
I hope you do get back into art🥰🥰
katz