Writing this part of that Karkat<>Kanaya essay is actually making me pretty upset the more I write it because it reminds me of the awful argument that Karkat<>Kanaya shippers are erasing Kanaya’s sexuality by demeaning her relationship with Vriska. Not only is that not true — I ship Vriskan for God’s sake — it is dawning on me to my great distress that it is very nearly the other way around! By saying that Vriskan makes other Kanaya pale quadrant fills impossible, you’re not only wrong (after they’ve broken up, anyway) — you’re erasing Kanaya’s own (lesbian!) emotions and desires, her feelings for Vriska that are flushed. I just can’t even on that argument.

On top of that it is dawning on me that saying Kanaya is not attracted in conciliatory quadrants to men is also erasure, though not of sexuality — but of the no less than five men towards whom she has held ashen feelings, three of whom are purely in her head. You can’t claim to be defending Kanaya’s canon preferences when you flagrantly defy them!

But I just don’t want to throw around the term sexuality erasure like it’s a toy because, ugh, I know how much being accused of that hurts. Because their side does it to ours all the time (although as my essay argues, it does so wrongly). And it’s just getting me way too upset about issues that, strictly speaking, I’m only really an ally on. Aaaaaaaaugh. Why am I even wading into this ship war.