CharCharChar

Spoiler for Shang Chi: how a relationship is described and where that relationship ends up.   The September 2021 Carnival of Aros theme is LANGUAGE . A significant portion of Aros, I haven’t taken a poll, don’t appreciate the phrase “just friends” because it enforces a relationship hierarchy of romance as superior to friendship.  Someone once questioned this dislike, citing that “just” can be used to clarify “this not that” and doesn’t necessarily mean a value comparison.  For example, “Did you get apples and bananas from the store?” - “No, just bananas.” However, the connotation of “just” tends to be a diminishment.  “What was that noise?” - “Nothing, just goofing around”. In this example, “just” is used to say the noise is nothing to be concerned about because it is less than what the person who heard it and worried thought it might have been. The same thing happens with an accusation that someone is having an affair and the defense that “we are just friends.”...

This post is for the August 2021 Carnival of Aros: Amatonormativity and Wellbeing .  "What are some things you do to mitigate the impact of amatonormativity on yourself, such as with self-care practices?"  I write drabbles (exactly 100 words of fiction) exploring non-amatonormative relationships. Like so: Drabble Time!      “You know how I’m polyamorous?” he asks.       “Mmhmm,” I voice, our cuddling making nodding inconvenient.       “You understand that I tell my partners about my other relationships?”      “What words would you use for this?” I ask.       “You’re physically affectionate, but evasive as soon as I try to define us.”      I grin wide to hide my fear. “Did you know I give fantastic backrubs?”      “I did not know this,” he says. “Are you offering?”      “I am, turn around.”      He complies.   ...

This post is for the August 2021 Carnival of Aces: Second Change at Any Past Topic .  I recently discovered the 10 minute drabble. A challenge to write a scene or microfiction of exactly 100 words in 10 minutes.  What better prompts for my team of ace and aro superheros than the first year of Carnival of Aces prompts? How amazing is it that Carnival of Aces has been going for a decade?!  Coming Out - May 2011 “Are you interested in our team?” asks a latina with lightning bolts dotted across her cape, the design clownish and out-dated. “Um,” I say. I look up at the “Ace and Aro Heroes” banner. I had only meant to wander the booths to appear interested in various teams. It seems my subconscious had another plan.  “How ‘out’ would I have to be, hypothetically.” “Well, if you join the team people would know. Do you not want that?” “I’m focused on the saving people part. I’m worried having to defend myself from all the ‘that’s not real’ would trip me up.”   Comm...

 For pride month I participated in Kathy Trithardt's collab video by recommending three aromantic short stories for " Ace BookTubers Recommend Ace Books ." The original call was for ace/aro content, but based on the title it looks like mainly ace content was recommened, so I've linked to the time code where I talk about the aromantic short stories.  It was great having a deadline and a three story limit, and getting to contribute to a group project during pride month. The following is the transcript of my aromantic short story recommendations.  To Unmask a Witch by agnezztealeaf "This has an old woman who lives in the woods, and there's these three three or four children trying to sneak up on her because they think she's a witch,  and they're looking for proof. And it's just full of mischief and bravery  and not meeting people's expectations and that being okay." A Problem Unsolved by candypeel "features a witch and a love potion...

I'm Amazing! I completed my "finish line" goals. I completed the "side quest" of reaching 50% for the 2021 Books that Burn Challenge . I completed 2 of 3 long shot goals! I was on track to completing every single goal, even though completing every goal wasn't the goal :P, but then a nasty headache stole a few hours. But I feel confident I could have achieved this out-there set of goals if that hadn't happened, which is a nice empowering feeling. I do not know where all this focus came from, but I'm loving it.  Today I read: 40 pages of poetry 45 pages of graphic novel 1 short story 219 pages of fiction 4.8 audiobook hours

 Day 6 I completed all my Day 6 goals! (with one small adjustment). During the time I planned to read Tonguebreaker , I was magically inspired to work on an important project I'd been postponing. I did manage to do an hours worth of reading sprints for Tonguebreaker in the evening, so I call that a win-win. " Once and Future King " (short story) by Jeanette Ng 11:35 am - 12:35 pm reading  Tonguebreaker Chapter 4 of  How to be Ace Pass 50% of  Iceman: Thawing Out As much of  Carry the Ocean  as I want, AFTER the other goals I read more than I challenged myself to today. 🎊 Day 7 Goals The final day is upon us 😱 Cross the Finish Line Last 54 pages of Tonguebreaker Last 40% of  Iceman Thawing Out Side Quest (to hit 50% for the 2021 Books that Burn challenge) " Blood is Another Word for Hunger " by Rivers Solomon " Who is like God " by Akwaeke Emezi Long Shot Goals Read last 50% of  Suicide by Ghost Read last 366 pages of Carry the Ocean Listen t...

Day 5 I had very specific goals for Day 5: 36 pages of  Tonguebreaker 49 pages of  Honor Girl  and/or  How to be Ace 3.2 audiobook hours (less in real time) of  Freshwater  and/or  Girls of Paper and Fire 22 pages of  Carry the Ocean Daddy & Dada  (picture book) " A Vector Alphabet of Interstellar Travel " (short story) I charged through many of them "first thing in the day" aka midnight to 2am. But didn't even scratch the more difficult goals of Tonguebreaker and Freshwater. I had fun with such specific goals and want to try again, but this time with an eye for what didn't work yesterday.   Day 6 Goals It's time for me to let go of Freshwater by Akwaeke Emezi. This book is not good for me. As much as I'd like to choose to be unaffected, that's not how mental health works. Akwaeke Emezi is one of the authors for the Books That Burn Queer Authors of Color 2021 reading challenge, but I can read the short story " Who is like God ...

Day 4 My goal for Day 4 was to focus on "fun" reads and progress on Freshwater. Goal technically accomplished! I wished I'd created a more specific goal so I could feel more sure of completing it, but in breaking out of burn out it can be helpful to keep goals loose. For fun reads, I read short story " Open House on Haunted Hill " which fills my "choose your own prompt" square to read a piece by an out LGBT+ author where to my knowledge the piece doesn't have clearly indicated LGBT+ characters. I was expecting She of the Mountains to focus more on the positive after a single positive scene. I was incorrect. There are a few more positive moments spread out, but much of the content focuses on hardship.  Woops. Not a "fun" read like the goal asked for, but I did finish. (To be clear, I found She of the Mountains to be meaningful and well-crafted, I just wouldn't label it "fun") I am uncertain if I will use She of the Mountains ...

Small Spoilers for Iceman: Thawing Out and How to be Ace On Day 2 I reached my goal (see Day 1 ), and on Day 3 I rested. I am feeling burned out by the hardship in How to be Ace, Freshwater, Carry the Ocean, Tonguebreaker,   and She of the Mountains. How to be Ace  was meant to fill my "brings you joy" square. It's not, at least not yet. The art style is cute and the words are large and legible. But the main character is just suffering quietly without much agency, in a very relatable ace way, which is just making me glum about my own experience growing up ace. However, it should be a quick read and perhaps there will be a positive framing later on. Oh, and there's a page that literally put aromanticism under the umbrella of asexuality. Face palm. --- Though on that note, I appreciate that the author made separate informational pages about once a chapter instead of trying to weave explanations into the story.  Day 4 (morning) I started Day 4 off with continuing  She o...

Day One Goal accomplished! I sampled each title from my TBR pool . I started with the picture books out on the grass on a beautiful sunny day. (Something bit me!) No, I didn't finish the picture books. A Day in June has a lengthy but interesting reading guide at the back. (It turns out leather has meaning :P ) And I was interrupted in the middle of My Two Uncles .  The rest I charged through from 11pm to 12am because I'd forgotten. For the short stories I squeezed in a few sentences from each. But there was victory nonetheless. Day Two Goals Reject (temporarily or permanently) titles for this readathon and titles I happen to have checked out. I have too many :P Complete a few short titles to feel like I'm making progress, but not all of them, so that I can have some easy reads for other days Focus on Freshwater  the group read. Oh! And I almost forgot. Queer Books I Happen to be Reading Right Now, that aren't Specifically for the Readathon Carry the Ocean by Heidi Culli...

Queer Lit Readathon round 7 (June 6 - 12) is here! CharCharChar's TBR Pool Instead of a typicaly TBR (to be read) list, I'm calling this a "pool" of titles that I could read. Challenges Tonguebreaker: poems and performance texts by Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarsinha Burning Sugar: poems by Cicely Belle Blain A History of my Brief Body: essays by Billy-Ray Belcourt Audiobooks Freshwater by Akwaeke Emezi She of the Mountains by Vivek Shraya Graphic Novels Honor Girl by Maggie Thrash How to be Ace: a Memoir of Growing Up Asexual by Rebecca Burgess Iceman: Thawing Out  by Marvel Short Stories " The Squid who Lived Forever " by Polenth Blake  " Association of Dead " by Naomi Kanakia " A Vector Alphabet of Interstellar Travel " by Yoon Ha Lee " Blood is another word for hunger " by Rivers Solomon " Once and Future King " by Jeannette Ng Picture Books My Two Uncles by Judith Vigna This Day in June by Gayle E. Pitman...

The March 2021 Carnival of Aces is dreams .  I love daydreaming even more than I love talking about writing. And you're right, this set up is not conducive to completing stories. But for now I'm enjoying the ride.  How characters connect with eachother in my daydreams varies. I've tapped into a dozen attraction types (yes there are a dozen or more), woven in boundary and expectation discussions, visualized hug positions and slow escalation of intimacy and breaking away and coming back together.  The bit that trips me up is - what do I want for myself? Do I want a person to sleep next to in bed? To lean against on the couch? To confide my emotional pain in? To split the chores with? To ask "how was your day"? To inform for the hundredth time how adorable my cat is? To take with me to family gatherings? I don't know.  Enjoying a daydream is a very shaky error-ridden blueprint for what would be enjoyed in reality.  In these quarantine times, I can't go out ...

The March Carnival of Aros is intersectionality and inclusivity .  I'm starting up a local Ace and Aro group . I've been meaning to do it for a while, and I'm getting the ball rolling again. Now is a great time to think about inclusivity. This post focuses on race, but the concepts can be applied to general inclusion of marginalized groups.  The Situation I'm white I'm starting a local ace and aro group I live in a city highly ranked for segregation. *cue the sad confetti* There is an assumption that asexuality/aromanticism/queerness is a "white thing"** Online spaces, queer spaces, and online queer spaces are often white-centric** **I don't recall specifically where I learned the last two points, or what evidence they had, but I believe these points to be true I'm not inventing the Wheel I'm not in this alone. I don't have to figure out how to be inclusive by sitting around with my thoughts.  The  White Supremacy Culture Characteristics ...

For AroWriMo 2021. The theme is "choosing to be yourself".  Also published with the 2021 ASAW edition of AAA Literary Journal here . Content Notes: a ghost, pressure.   Word Count: 1885 Lights, Camera, Aro! "Stop," says the man holding the threads of my future in my hands. "Look darling, come here for a second would you?" I approach the dimly lit desk, his co-chairs in too dim of lighting to make out after being in the stage lights. "We all know you can act, you wouldn't have made it this far if you couldn't act. What I'm asking for from you, is to emote, to bare your soul through improv. Can you do that?" I stand frozen, fighting back tears that don't belong. This is where good little girls say "Yes, I can do that." But it's too much of a lie. I don't know what's there to emote, and if I'm willing to look at it, let alone let others see. "We picked this scene specially for you darling," he adds...

 For Aro Jam 2021 and AroWriMo 2021. You can play the game here:  https://charcharchara.itch.io/superhero-inc As of 2/28/2021 it is only a demo.  How did I work in aromanticism? The main character is aromantic.  No matter your early choices, you will come to the choice "keep quiet" or "set her straight" in response to a coworker "heavily implying aros don't count as LGBT+".  If you choose "keep quiet," your decision is validated as you are not required to be an educator. If you choose "set her straight" you give a spiel about aromanticism.  I use clickable text so that readers who already know the meaning or don't want more information can just keep reading, or the reader can click to read more. The intent is to not bog down those who are familiar with aro concepts, to let those who do not wish to be exposed to aro-negativity skip the specifics, and to keep the story accessible to those who are not familiar with aro concepts.  I...

For AroWriMo 2021. A novella with the theme fantasy & ancient world.  I am looking for sensitivity readers to help me with my portrayal of inter-LGBT+ invalidation and conflict in later chapters. Comment or email me at CharCharCharAce@gmail.com if you are interested. The Syrinxian Diamond Summary: After a heist gone wrong, our hero is caught up in an interdimensional prophecy that just may bring them answers to the questions they don't know how to put into words, a feeling of difference, of not feeling right acting how they're supposed to act - but what other way is there to be? Follow our hero through desert ruins, the Wild West, a royal ball, and of course, a midnight trip to the library.  Word Count: 2539 Content Note: Unsupportive sibling, chapter one features the absence of knowledge of aromanticism, and doesn't feature aromanticism directly.  Chapter One: A Heist "I'm going to poke around a bit once I'm down there." Sand dances around my sh...

For AroWriMo 2021. The theme for script/play was humanity.  Content Notes: Depression, manipulation, unhealthy romantic relationship, processing self-blame Title: Leaving A fractured personal narrative on entering and leaving an unhealthy relationship and the pain of being aromantic without that knowledge. Cast of Characters BUG :                              Teen. Female. Two braids. Dressed to go out and be active. LILY :                              Early-mid 20's. Female. Long messy hair, unstyled. Loose clothes. No shoes. NARRATOR :              Late 20's. Female. Dressed in layers. Short hair (or hidden under a hat).  HIM :                               Male. Early-mid 20's. ...

For AroWriMo 2021. The theme was humanity.  Human = ( X - Y ) / Z What is human? to have homo sapien DNA a bipedal primate to pass the turing test to seek purpose and meaning in our lives the ability to communicate new and unique thoughts through language the desire to create and express to care, to strive to love -                    romantically. What am I then,              if for a time                         I am silenced?                        I am hollowed out, coccooned, waiting to breathe again?              if                    forever and always                         I do not love in the way ...

For AroWriMo2021. The zine theme was "choosing to be yourself" which didn't fully make it into the final version, but it was the inspiration.  Page by Page [My Aro Heart: by CharCharChar] ["Have you seen by heart?" A grey character with a heart shape missing in it's chest stands under a tree. "I could have sworn it was just here?" The character looks the other direction.] ["Ah! There it is!" The character points to the next page. "My love for the Aro Community is so big I saved some on these pages for you." The character stands in front of the green shape so it's heart is now green.] ["I love you all. Happy Aromantic Spectrum Awareness Week 2021"] ["The End"] Unfolded The unfolded zine shows that the green shapes from each page come together to form a giant green heart.