Even Heroes Have Scars

[75] Important P.S.A.

P.S.A. Yes, I disguised this as a chapter to make sure people read it, so please read this in its entirety. It is very important.

Hello, everyone! Sorry, this isn't a chapter, but I really need your help for something super important. I NEED HELP BEFORE I MOVE FORWARD WITH THIS STORY. PLEASE READ ALL OF THIS. As most of you know, today (May 19th, 2021), Demi Lovato came out as non-binary. This means that Demi uses they/them pronouns for their self and would like for their friends, family, fans, and the rest of the world to use those pronouns out of respect for their preferences. They do not conform to society's ideals of the male or female genders. I am so proud of Demi for discovering this part of their self and for coming out to the whole world about who they are and how they identify.

If someone has a problem with this part of who Demi is and tries to spark a fight in the comments or anywhere on my page, I will absolutely not tolerate ANY slander towards Demi. That is completely inappropriate, rude, insensitive, and honestly disgusting, and I will not allow that to surface on my page. This is who Demi is, and if you have a problem with that or who they are, do not continue reading my story or even talk about Demi if you are not going to be supportive. (And if your argument is that you hate they/them's grammatical incorrectness, why would you place your grammatical comfort over who Demi is? Kind of shallow. I know it's difficult, but at least put forth the effort to be respectful and use correct pronouns. With time and practice, it'll become more natural.) However, if someone needs to talk to a member of the LGBTQ+ community about what it means to be non-binary and how to be respectful and supportive of Demi at this time, I am available for DM's to help extend my knowledge and educate my readers on how you can best help support Demi. However, I am a cis woman, so my knowledge is limited and comes from an external point of view.

When talking about Demi (in real life and in my author's notes at the end of my chapters), I will use they/them pronouns, and I expect my readers to as well. Of course, accidentally using wrong pronouns is something I expect, but I also expect for me and my readers to correct ourselves if we make an error. Demi even confirmed this on their podcast, 4D with Demi Lovato, this morning that they know and understand it'll happen, but that they can only hope that people will then correct themselves afterwards and apologize for their error.

Now, this is the part I need your help with. This is a very big part of who Demi is, and I, of course, want to honor and respect that. However, this is my proposal for the sake of this story. My idea is to continue using she/her pronouns for Demi in this story ONLY up until if/when it chronologically reaches 2021, when they came out as non-binary. Then, I would start using they/them pronouns for Demi. I want this story to have a certain amount of accuracy and truth to what Demi was going through, as some important events from their life will be incorporated into this story. Since Demi didn't really discover this part of their self until recently, it seemed a bit strange to me to switch the pronouns to they/them when the story is taking place in 2017, when Demi had yet to discover this part of their self and continued to identify as she/her. But if anyone who is non-binary or transgender or knows someone who is not cis (born a certain sex and then continuing to identify with that sex matching their gender) has a problem with this and would like for me to switch Demi's pronouns to they/them from this point forward (even with the story being in 2017), please comment or DM, and I will absolutely work on making that possible. I do not want to make anyone uncomfortable or upset, and if this is something that makes me sound like I am not supportive of Demi or anyone else who is nonbinary, gender non-conforming, or transgender/intersex, PLEASE educate me and let me know. I want to make this as comfortable as possible for my non-cis and fellow LGBTQ+ readers, as this is something relatively new to many of us, and I don't want to do it incorrectly. I know Demi will not read this story, so if they had a problem with this, they could not inform me. That is where all of you, my readers, come in.

I NEED COMMENTS! Please, if you have any preference or input, no matter your gender/orientation/sexuality, please comment what you think. And if you have any questions, please let me know that as well. This is a moment of reflection, education, and a call for help.

Also, the next chapter is almost done, but I am really relying on a couple comments on this before moving forward with uploading that chapter, so use that as incentive to comment.

Anyone who needs someone to talk to about this or any feelings of their own internal sexuality/orientation/identity crisis, there are helplines available, or you could even DM me to chat about it. You are not alone in your feelings. I want to help in any way that I can to be of service to you.

I do intend to include Demi's coming out as nonbinary in this story later on, so hopefully if there's any nonbinary people out there, you wonderful humans, who would like to help me make sure I write that coming out experience well (I have experience with coming out as queer, but I am still a cis woman), feel free to reach out and give me suggestions! I want this to help resonate with any viewers who really want to feel represented. I do not view any specific people to be spokespeople for their communities, but I do believe that input is important to prevent anyone from feeling invalidated, uncomfortable, or any other upsetting feelings. Again, my goal is accuracy and comfort for this story, so please let me know any feelings, good or bad, that you have about my idea.

Thank you to everyone who comments and to those who continue to read this story and support Demi in their journey. I love and appreciate all of you, and I know Demi appreciates your love and support for them as well.

I will have a new chapter uploaded by Saturday night unless I receive less than 3 comments on this. 

- Caitlin

(she/her)

P.S. Demi, I love you.