so we all know the unwanteds is incredibly queer, but in most cases, i avoid really labeling how i think the characters identify in terms of their sexuality and gender. i wrote some thoughts about this while working on to see yourself so glowing, so i figured i would clean them up and post them here.
as always, i do want to mention that artimé (and the larger world they're in) does have elements of our society and culture. whether that be from the people who got stuck there, or the books they have access to, etc. i think they do have access to some of our thoughts on sexuality and gender and how those are expressed/portrayed. i doubt it's nearly as important to them as it is to us, considering they can do pretty much whatever they want while we're stuck with centuries upon centuries of opinions in the foundation of our laws and opinions, but it is there, a little bit.
all that to say: heteronormativity, for them, isn't quite the same as it is in our world. quill is heteronormative, yes, but it also doesn't have love, so i'm not even sure how many people would view a quillen marriage in the same category as an artiméan romance. thus, i don't think that being strictly heterosexual would be seen as the norm when it comes to attraction.
i think, for a lot of artiméans, it's just being in love with someone, whoever that happens to be. it's not "i'm attracted to women," it's "i'm attracted to that girl, just like i was attracted to that other girl a long time ago." i think noticing patterns is normal, but i also think it's more likely that they would draw a boundary to define what they don't feel rather than what they do.
i find it interesting that henry says that he's "not really into girls" rather than explicitly saying he's into boys (though i'm aware the context of the scene is alex asking him about girls), and lisa confirming that meghan isn't really into boys rather than that she's into girls or into no one at all. these obviously don't mean much in the grand scheme of things, but they're the only two pieces of actual discussion we have on sexuality in artimé, and wow, don't they look kinda similar?
still, i don't think most people would even want to define that boundary, if our view of "pansexual" is the expectation. i think most people just take it one step at a time, wherever their heart desires.
i do like the idea of kaylee knowing that she was queer before she left home, and i do think she knew a decent amount about queer culture; as much as a young teenager in the early 2010s can, at least. i think it's entirely reasonable that she would know some of the more common terms (though i can't personally see it being many) and would introduce it to artimé, it's just a matter of whether or not they would be adopted.
in most cases, i don't think they would be. labels and terms and boxes would be something quillen in their eyes, and while i think some unwanteds are comfortable with reclaiming that sort of thing, there's probably a lot of others who want to feel their feelings without that perceived restriction.
this is part of why, even though his feelings are complex and nuanced, i won't define alex more specifically than "aroace." it would be a stretch for him to use terms even that simple, and he wouldn't be able to--and likely wouldn't want to--delve any further into finding the exact term for how he feels. he just feels it, and even if it's a work in progress setting boundaries around those feelings, he's going to figure it out for himself.
i also think it's entirely reasonable to never find a romantic partner. perhaps there's some pressure, considering i see that as part of why sky and alex got together in the first place, but as a whole, i don't think it's nearly as strong as it is in our world.
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