Belasan ribu pengunjung menghadiri acara Comic Frontier 18 tanggal 11-12 Mei 2024 (foto oleh Lena Tama)
Oleh: Lena Tama*
SuaraKita.org – Acara Comic Frontier (Comifuro) kembali diselenggarakan pada tanggal 11-12 Mei 2024 kemarin dengan nuansa dan hiruk pikuk serupa seperti pada acara sebelumnya. Walau pada acara Comifuro yang ke-18 ini jumlah pernak-pernik bertemakan pride memang tidak sebanyak acara tahun kemarin, namun para seniman minoritas gender dan seksual yang berjualan di sana tetap semangat menjual karya-karya mereka.
Bicara soal para seniman minoritas gender dan seksual, dalam rangka perayaan International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, and Transphobia (IDAHOT), kali ini pewarta melakukan liputan khusus dengan salah satu tim seniman queer di Comifuro 18 yang telah lama berkarya di Comifuro dan di luar, yaitu tim Magnolia.
Berdiri sejak bulan Agustus 2018, tim Magnolia terdiri dari tiga anggota: Azura, seorang gender fluid panseksual selaku penulis, Marbelous, seorang ally cisgender laki-laki hetero selaku penggambar, dan Zaki, sosok queer yang masih eksplorasi selaku pemasar dan relasi publik.
Bersama, tim Magnolia menghasilkan sejumlah karya komik lokal orisinil maupun karya fan (fanmerch) serta beragam pernak-pernik lainnya seperti stiker, poster, dan kartu pos bertemakan minoritas gender dan seksualitas, khususnya Girls Love (GL).
Namun, satu karya dari tim Magnolia sangat menonjol, yaitu seri komik berjudul Everyday by Day. Menurut Azura, seri komik ini sudah setua Magnolia itu sendiri dan masih berlangsung sampai saat ini pada situs Webtoon yang bisa dibaca gratis oleh para pembaca.
“Everyday by Day adalah seri komik/cerpen GL yang mengisahkan keseharian lima pasangan sesama jenis yang tinggal di kota fiksi, Harbor City,” ujar Azura.
“Cerita ini saya tulis untuk orang-orang yang tidak punya waktu untuk membaca kisah panjang namun membutuhkan asupan queer. Ada unsur manis wholesome untuk semua umur dan juga unsur dewasa di dalamnya,” lanjutnya.
Motivasi dalam menciptakan Everyday by Day
Everyday by Day sendiri tidak muncul begitu saja. Hasrat untuk menciptakan karya ini berasal dari kegusaran tim Magnolia atas kurangnya karya GL di Indonesia yang menghormati genre tersebut.
Azura berkata, “Banyak sekali karya GL yang memandang genre ini sifatnya selalu seksual dan sekadar fetish mereka. Dari situ, saya sedikit mencurahkan hati dan kegelisahan untuk membuat cerita Everyday by Day, dan ternyata banyak orang yang memahami dan suka dengan ceritanya.”
Demografis pembaca Everyday by Day sempat didominasi oleh laki-laki ketika awal rilis, namun jumlah pembaca perempuan mulai bertambah seiring waktu berlalu karena ceritanya yang berdasarkan pengalaman asli tim Magnolia. Selain itu, mereka juga dapat membangun rasa empati untuk para pembaca laki-laki yang pandangan sebelumnya masih menseksualkan genre GL.
“Kita bisa menciptakan cerita dan membuktikan bahwa komik GL itu bisa tercipta tanpa selalu untuk diseksualkan oleh pembaca. Pelan-pelan, mereka sadar bahwa GL itu bisa wholesome, intim, dan menunjukkan kasih sayang sesama jenis,” ujar Azura.
Kendala dan tantangan tim Magnolia dalam menciptakan Everyday by Day
Namun, tim Magnolia sendiri mendapat banyak tantangan dan kendala seiring mereka berkarya di Indonesia. Everyday by Day sempat rilis menggunakan bahasa Inggris dan Indonesia serta tersedia di beragam media sosial, termasuk Facebook. Akan tetapi, mereka berhenti merilis bahasa Indonesia dan di Facebook pada tahun 2023 semenjak karya mereka viral dan mengundang banyak ujaran kebencian dari netizen.
Sejak itu, tim Magnolia hanya merilis Everyday by Day dalam bahasa Inggris dan mengandalkan para pembaca internasional maupun pembaca lokal yang memang mengerti konten mereka, termasuk di acara Comifuro yang cenderung netral terhadap konten GL maupun BL.
Selain itu, masing-masing personel Magnolia juga menghadapi rintangan sepanjang karir mereka. Azura sendiri kehilangan banyak teman sejak menciptakan Everyday by Day dan coming out atas identitasnya, sehingga ia lebih selektif mencari teman-teman di lingkungan Comifuro berbasis minoritas gender dan seksualitas.
Harapan dan keberanian untuk terus berkarya di Indonesia
Sejak tahun 2018, tim Magnolia telah menyaksikan dampak-dampak positif dari perjuangan mereka hingga saat ini. Selain itu, mereka juga menaruh banyak harapan pada karya-karya mereka agar bisa terus mendukung para pembacanya.
Azura berkata, “Saya ingin para pembaca maupun pengunjung tahu bahwa mereka itu tidak sendirian. Terlebih di lingkungan budaya pop Jepang, saya tahu rasanya kesepian karena tidak ada yang mengerti kita maupun ideologi kita.”
Tim Magnolia juga berharap untuk membesarkan nama mereka di luar acara Comifuro yang telah mereka ikuti sejak Comifuro 15 tahun 2022 kemarin. Mereka sempat berjualan di acara Doujima di Singapura bersama grup Yuri Nakama, dan kemudian akan hadir di acara Komiket Pride di Filipina tanggal 14-17 Juni 2024 nanti, bertepatan pada Pride Month.
Terakhir, Azura juga berharap bahwa masyarakat Indonesia bisa lebih menerima ragam identitas tanpa menghakimi satu sama lain, serta agar teman-teman minoritas gender dan seksualitas dapat bersatu dalam solidaritas.
“Kita itu tidak sedikit, hanya belum bersatu,” ujarnya.
[English Version]
Celebrate IDAHOBIT with Magnolia, Queer Comic Artist Team from Indonesia
Coverage By Lena Tama
Comic Frontier (Comifuro) convention returned on May 11-12 2024 with similar vibes and hustle & bustle as last year. Although the 18th Comifuro this time didn’t feature as many pride merch as last year, the gender and sexual minority artists who remained there were still vigorous in selling their works.
And speaking of gender and sexual minority artists, in celebration of International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, and Transphobia (IDAHOBIT), Suara Kita reporter conducted an exclusive report of one particular queer artist team in Comifuro 18 which has long been creating works for Comifuro and beyond, and it’s called Team Magnolia.
Founded in August 2018, Magnolia consists of three members: Azura, a gender fluid pansexual writer, Marbelous, an ally cisgender hetero male as well as the illustrator, and Zaki, a queer and questioning personnel who is also the marketer and PR.
Together, team Magnolia produced numerous local comics, both original and fanmerch, as well as other trinkets such as stickers, posters, and postcards with the themes of gender and sexual minority, particularly Girls Love (GL).
However, one notable work of team Magnolia is a comic series called Everyday by Day. According to Azura, this comic series is as old as Magnolia itself and still running to this day on Webtoon website which the readers can read for free.
“Everyday by Day is a series of GL comic/mini stories about the daily lives of five same-sex couples living in a fictional city, Harbor City,” Azura explained.
“I write the story specifically for people who have no time to read lengthy stories but still need a quick fix of queer stories. We have wholesome elements for all ages as well as adult moments,” she continued.
Motivations in creating Everyday by Day
Everyday by Day didn’t appear out of the blue. The team gave birth to it largely due to their frustrations by the fact that there weren’t enough GL works in Indonesia that respect the genre.Azura said, “A lot of GL works view the genre as a sexualized and fetishized genre. Due to that, I began pouring my heart and frustrations into writing the story for Everyday by Day, and it turns out a lot of people understood us and relate to us.”
The demographic of Everyday by Day readers was once dominated by males upon release, but the number of female readers began to increase as time went on thanks to the stories that became more influenced by team Magnolia’s personal experiences. In addition, they’re also able to build up empathy to the male readers who previously sexualized GL genre.
“We can create a story and prove that GL comics can exist without having to be sexualized by the readers every time. Slowly but surely, they realize that GL works can be wholesome, intimate, and simply show the love between same-sex couples,” said Azura.
Obstacles and challenges faced by team Magnolia in creating Everyday by Day
However, team Magnolia also faces numerous challenges and roadblocks as they continue their work in Indonesia. At one point, Everyday by Day was released in English and Indonesian, as well as being available to read in several social medias, including Facebook. But in 2023, they stopped releasing it in Indonesian language and on Facebook after their works went viral and attracted numerous hate speeches from the netizens.Since then, Magnolia team only releases Everyday by Day in English and relies on international readers as well as local readers who understand their contents, including in Comifuro events which is generally neutral towards GL and BL contents.
In addition, each personnel also faces challenges throughout their career together. Azura has lost numerous friends since releasing Everyday by Day and coming out, hence they generally become more selective in choosing friends within the Comifuro environment based on gender and sexual minority.
Hopes and courage to continue producing works in Indonesia
Since 2018, Magnolia team has witnessed positive results of their efforts to this day. In addition, they also put a lot of hope in their works in order to support the readers.Azura said, “I hope both readers and visitors know that they are not alone. Particularly in the Japanese pop culture environment, I know how it feels to be alone and lonely because nobody understands us and our ideology.”
Magnolia team also expects to expand their name beyond the Comifuro event which they have participated in since Comifuro 15 in 2022. They once opened a booth in Doujima convention in Singapore alongside Yuri Nakama group, and are now planning to participate in Komiket Pride in Philippines on June 14-17 2024, exactly during Pride Month.
Lastly, Azura also hopes that Indonesian citizens can accept diverse identities without being judgmental towards each other, and that the gender and sexual minority friends can unite in solidarity.
“We’re actually quite many, but we’re not united yet,” Azura said.
*Penulis adalah seorang penerjemah dan penulis lepas dari tahun 2016, Lena mulai mendalami dunia jurnalistik pada tahun 2020 bersama The Jakarta Post. Selain menulis, ia juga terlibat dalam pelatihan keamanan sosial dan pergerakan aktivisme untuk komunitas LGBTQ.
