2019-06-24 Double A's

[killpurakat]

... It's honestly a bit weird for me to see someone else who identifies as Asexual and Agender (I go with female because it is my default thanks to biology and I am lazy, but I feel not-female and not-male most of the time; and many characters of my own creation are inbetween/non-gendered/both-gendered, so... yeah, it fits).

Thank you for doing this mini-comic series about the various characters that don't fit the standard cis-het definition, Amber. It has been wonderful to see the representation.

And to hear all the other voices yelling out, "Me too!" 

[Drakkenmensch]

As someone who's personal sense of gender varies like a weatherwave in a hurricane, I want to thank you Amber for being so sweet and so open with all of us. You're a wonderful person/artist/creator/taco enthusiast.

[Hariman]

You are who you are, and you shouldn't have to deny that or live a lie to fit in.

Living a lie hurts, I know by experience, though for an entirely different reason. (Straight male here.) 

Just, learn the why of why you are who you are, and be yourself.

[LoneHowler]

Yet another Agender-Asexual, I'm also A-romantic, and Androgynous. I usually just go by the first two. My Androgyny is natural. I could be wearing the frilliest,  girliest top and get addressed as masculine, or I could be wearing my usual cargo pants and baggy T-shirt and get addressed as feminine. It's a good thing I'm not cisgender, because It doesn't matter how they address me it's ok

[killpurakat]

Yet another Agender-Asexual, I'm also A-romantic, and Androgynous. I usually just go by the first two. My Androgyny is natural. I could be wearing the frilliest,  girliest top and get addressed as masculine, or I could be wearing my usual cargo pants and baggy T-shirt and get addressed as feminine. It's a good thing I'm not cisgender, because It doesn't matter how they address me it's ok

I'm Aromantic as well. Seems there are many more of us than I originally knew. I'd say we should start a club, but any club with lots of A's in it might be confused with that other organization.

I wish I could pull off androgynous, but my figure kind of skews towards one side.

[Rippledragon]

After years of reading dmfa, I finally joined the forum to respond to this update!

This comic has taught me a lot about others identities in such a positive way during my formative years (I believe Abel was the first time I ever heard about asexuality). I remember how exciting it was to see a character in ANY media be anything other than straight and dmfa was full of firsts for me.

Most of all, I came here to congratulate Amber. Congratulations! Knowing yourself is tough but crucial. Letting others know you is even harder but so *nice*! It's good to see the people who already posted above me see themselves reflected in somebody they admire.

So thanks, Amber. DMFA is a positive experience and you're good people.

[Raskahn]

Thanks again for doing this arc Amber, I'm happy it was just as helpfull for you as it was for some of us.

Here's to many more years of DMFA and, the great community around it.

Edit: spelling

[Sofox]

Hey Amber, It's really great to see you express yourself like this. It can be terrifying at times, but you're right, at the end of the day who you are is who you are, and I personally interpret the best part of Pride (and sometimes life) to be about expressing who you really are, being honest about yourself. I always looked up to characters, real or fictional, that lived live according to who they were. Not just trying to fit themselves into spaces in society, but expressing their own loves, feelings, opinions and taking the sorts of action that they could look back on and be proud of. I've always tried to live that sort of life, not always successfully, but most often in a way that's benefited me a lot and helped me be more open with other people. I often do what makes sense to me, and while it's always easy to suddenly self doubt, I find you've got to just have confidence and let what's inside guide you.

Anyway, thanks for the arc. So much Pride stuff is flag waving and while that's great for a lot of people, for me I'm always interested in diving deeper and finding out what really drives people, what their motivations are and how they feel. You've truly done this during this arc, and I feel I'll be looking back at it ever so often.

Take care Amber, and I wish the best to you and everyone else who's read your stuff.

[WhyNot?]

As an Autistic Asexual (Probably Aromantic?) who has never been questioned about my lack of partners or otherwise faced difficulties (well at least for the sexuality part) for it participating in pride stuff, not counting general outside the community support and well wishes, has always felt like it'd be kinda phony. Like it undermines the struggle of people who need to fight to be recognized by the community let alone the world at large.

So I'm glad that this exists to reaffirm the validity of being part of it regardless.

As an aside I made a couple of collage type things out of the strips:

Main Pictures
Heart Flags

I feel like the heart one's pretty weak due to fill tool use messing with the right of the hearts and some outlines, but anyway I hope people get enjoyment out of them.

[killpurakat]

As an Autistic Asexual (Probably Aromantic?) who has never been questioned about my lack of partners or otherwise faced difficulties (well at least for the sexuality part) for it participating in pride stuff, not counting general outside the community support and well wishes, has always felt like it'd be kinda phony. Like it undermines the struggle of people who need to fight to be recognized by the community let alone the world at large.

So I'm glad that this exists to reaffirm the validity of being part of it regardless.

As an aside I made a couple of collage type things out of the strips:

Main Pictures
Heart Flags

I feel like the heart one's pretty weak due to fill tool use messing with the right of the hearts and some outlines, but anyway I hope people get enjoyment out of them.

Those are really cool! I like them!   

[Grey Wolf]

*Bangs fists and chants*
One of us! One of us!

But for real; happy Pride, Amber, and thanks!

[Kenji]

Hey. Thumbs up, Amber.
Have kind of come to terms over the past few years that AA battery is what I am, as well.
Hope you're doing well, by the way, lost in the wilds of the wooly north.

[Dracologist]

To be honest.  I wasn't expecting this to end here.  I was kind of expecting to see Mab presented as Pansexual.  Being (basically) a deity she finds love in all forms or something.  If this is where it ends then fine.

[e_voyager]

Well I do have a semi-firm preference for my gender I can understand a good portion of the breast. Sometimes I say sometimes I kind of wish I could just hit my belt buckle and roboticized my body and not have to deal with these how oh you're supposed to be like this if you're this gender. Why are you going to find a spouse when are you going to have some kids and so forth. it wears on you after a while

[Alondro]

I am... a machine?  I might as well be, for all that any of this matters.

I don't 'identify' as anything.  I am currently biologically XY male.  This is a scientific fact.  If I suddenly mutated into a tentacle monster with either 12 billion genders or no gender at all, it really wouldn't phase me in the least so long as my mind remained intact.  That would simply be the new fact of my existence.

To put it simply: sexuality is meaningless to me.  I tend to find people put an absurd amount of over-emphasis into it as a defining trait.  I don't rely on hormones for anything other than essential physiological homeostasis.

Probably why I've had zero relationship problems and zero depression/anxiety of any sort. 

I don't take 'pride' in anything regarding reproductive physiology nor attractions.  It's like being proud of craving chocolate or proud of having an eclectic attraction to shoes, or perhaps pride in being right-handed or left-handed, or having a certain natural hair color.  It's all mere quirks of developmental neuroanatomical variability and endocrinology; nothing 'meaningful' at all. 

That's it in a nutshell.

[Kenji]

I am... a machine?  I might as well be, for all that any of this matters.

I don't 'identify' as anything.  I am currently biologically XY male.  This is a scientific fact.  If I suddenly mutated into a tentacle monster with either 12 billion genders or no gender at all, it really wouldn't phase me in the least so long as my mind remained intact.  That would simply be the new fact of my existence.

To put it simply: sexuality is meaningless to me.  I tend to find people put an absurd amount of over-emphasis into it as a defining trait.  I don't rely on hormones for anything other than essential physiological homeostasis.

Probably why I've had zero relationship problems and zero depression/anxiety of any sort. 

I don't take 'pride' in anything regarding reproductive physiology nor attractions.  It's like being proud of craving chocolate or proud of having an eclectic attraction to shoes, or perhaps pride in being right-handed or left-handed, or having a certain natural hair color.  It's all mere quirks of developmental neuroanatomical variability and endocrinology; nothing 'meaningful' at all. 

That's it in a nutshell.

As long as eating something and mixing test tubes is an option, you're good, mate. ;P