Snowflake Challenge 2025 #11

[bedes]

Challenge #11

In your own space, share your love for a trope, cliché, kink, motif, or theme.

The people who know me already know where this is going.

Listen. More and more these days, I see people saying, "Less stories ruined by internalized homophobia, more genre fiction where characters happen to be queer!" And I understand that it's because there isn't enough of the latter, but also, the answer to there not being enough queer stories is Never to make less queer stories. And also, these people have yet to consider that internalized homophobia is my jam. My bread and butter. When a queer character has internalized homophobia in a series my friends are watching, they'll message me about it, THAT'S how all about it I am.

I need characters who don't accept themselves in order to live. Deep repression narratives are my lifeblood and I want them injected into my veins. People act like, for whatever reason, it's regressive to show characters with internalized homophobia, or like it 'ruins' a ship. But homophobia is a key part of the FLAVOR of a queer ship to me, you know? An essential spice.

It doesn't even necessarily have to be the "I wish you were born (the opposite gender)" flavor. It can be "we're the same gender, so it doesn't count/it isn't serious"-flavored. "Religious trauma ‘same-sex attracted, not gay'"-flavored. "This will ruin my reputation"-flavored. Any flavor of internalized homophobia, I eat it up like a 4-course Michelin Star meal!!!

The fact that I grew up as a preacher's queer child in a religious town in the deep South may or may not be relevant to my enjoyment of this trope. Who knows? /sarcasm (Also, shoutout to my second-favorite trope, cannibalism and hunger as a metaphor/analogy for overwhelming desire, especially as it intersects with queerness.)

Comments

[vendettadays]

As I was reading your post, I was reminded of the novel "The Secret Life of Albert Entwhistle" by Matt Cain. The story follows a lonely 65 year-old postman who is nearing retirement and threaded throughout novel is how Albert deals/faces the internalised homophobia he has. I'm probably not describing it quite well, but it was a novel I enjoyed for how it dealt with the character's queerness. Thank you for sharing your post!

[bedes]

OOH that's definitely going on my TBR list, ty!!

[phantasmalpoison]

Ooh, yeah, I love guilty desire in general, be it because what someone wants is actually wrong or because of e.g. internalised homophobia, dirty sexy nasty feeling.

And absolutely it's because I was an incredibly horny polyamorous bisexual Christian. I have to save myself for a monogamous heterosexual marriage!

[bedes]

I LOVE GUILTY DESIRE punches a hole directly through the wall It's so good!! (Also we are shaking hands with the "liking guilty desire and internalized homophobia because of Christian upbringings" thing)

[ngtskynebula]

You tell'em!!! (This got me thinking about how my tastes in literature converse with my own traumas, and oh boy...)

[bedes]

HAHA yeah, once I realize why I like certain tropes I can't unsee it!

[bitflip]

Huh! you might like my gravity falls/flatland oc x bill cipher novel if it werent so awfully written and weird and 2D.