*Materializes out of the void after another year* Hello
This is a bit overdue, but I wanted to address something since there's been a fairly recent revival in TMR fanfiction and most of the newer fans are young. Especially since I last discussed this on my account when it was announced and my account has grown since then.
In December of 2020, James Dashner sent out a tweet saying that Newt is, in canon, gay. Here is the tweet:
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When I was first discussing this, a lot of my LGBTQ+ friends (and even some friends who are not a part of that community) said that, when they first read the books, they had seen Newt as being queer coded. For those of you who don't know what it means, here is a definition:
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While I do wish that Newt's sexuality was confirmed in the books, especially since representation is so so important, I can kinda see JDash's point. Only Thomas had love interests in the books and they were hardly romantic together anyway. Plus the first book was published in 2009 and it was harder for big corporations to accept your work if it was gay. Gay marriage wasn't legalized in the U.S. yet and wouldn't be for another seven years.
I've gotten a few PMs asking if I'm going to remove my Newt trilogy, and the answer is no. The reason for that is because I finished it years before this announcement was made and I spent 4 years writing the trilogy, so I don't want to delete it. However, I have removed all fem!OC x Newt books from my TMR reading list, created male!OC x Newt plots in my shop, and implored people to reconsider writing a Newt fic with a female OC.
Now that we know about Newt's confirmed sexuality, it is vital to respect that and move forward with appropriate fanfics, edits, imagines, etc. It's quite possible that many of you weren't aware of this, but it's important to be respectful now that you are.
And I'm going to say this right now: it is not acceptable to make Newt fics where he is bisexual so he can still date women. That is not how representation works. I have seen this WAY too often in Alec Lightwood fics, as he is another character who is gay (though his sexuality is explicitly stated in the original work) and there are more fanfics for him that feature a female OC than a male one.
Yes, LGBTQ+ people do share some common setbacks and issues, but people of individual sexualities also experience their own separate ones. Having a male character who only likes men isn't the same as having a male bisexual character. Do not change his sexuality.
"But it's just fiction!!" Okay, and ??? people learn from fiction. Why do you think representation matters in the first place? It's because people see themselves in these characters when they are usually snuffed out of media.
"But people headcanon straight characters as gay all the time!" that's because straight isn't the default. Characters usually don't shout from the rooftops, "I AM STRAIGHT!!" and just because a character has only been with characters of the opposite gender doesn't mean they can't be bisexual, pansexual, etc. Sometimes a woman can be with men before she realizes "Okay yep, I'm definitely a lesbian." Straight people don't need representation. But taking away representation from people who already get so little of it is vile.
Don't create these fanfics just because you want to see Newt with a girl. It's very self-indulgent and disrespectful.
And if there are homophobic comments, I will stomp you to death with my hooves.
That is all. Thank you. Respect gay characters' sexualities or perish.
