#Bosie posts.

[lord-alfred-douglas-official]

God, I wanna be pregnant….

@oscar-wilde-official-account.

Oscar. Oscar, get your dick over here.

OSCAR.

[four-of-cups]

Thinking about the way Jensen Ackles continues to characterise Cas as Dean’s ‘brother-in-arms’ and how it ties deeply into both the homoeroticism and the misogyny of spn. 

I love season 8 and I’m rewatching it right now and it just seems like such A Choice to not have introduced any female characters in purgatory. And then to characterise it as a ‘pure’ place.

They really just made purgatory into a homosocial space where violent contests of strength and will determine survival. This is...textbook hegemonic masculinity?

In this context, of course Benny is the companion they come up with. (No shade - I adore Benny.) He's an exemplary brother-in-arms. The wartime allegory isn't exactly subtle and it's clear that the writers and actors are very interested in exploring this space.

But in doing so they end up queering the narrative again because hey - their audience is savvy enough to understand that these cis-male-only hyper-masculine mythologies are closer to propaganda than vehicles for good story-telling.

And we know that excluding other genders from a narrative doesn't inherently diminish a male character’s capacity for love or tenderness or desire.

And so we end up with a driving narrative that feels deeply romantic: the single most important person in this world to Dean is Cas. It could not be more overt in the text that Dean's primary motivation is not getting back to the world or Sam - it's finding and saving his angel.

We’ve seen Cas as the object of Dean’s motivation before and we’ll see it again. But it does feel singleminded in purgatory in a way that I think the show only ever permits in this hyper-masculine space.

Marylin Frye puts it best: "To say that straight men are heterosexual is only to say that they engage in sex exclusively with women. All or almost all of that which pertains to love, most straight men reserve exclusively for other men [...] Heterosexual male culture is homoerotic; it is man-loving."

Purgatory is the stage on which Dean's performance of masculine heterosexuality is most visibly entwined with the show's misogyny and the result is deeply homoerotic.

And it explains, to me at least, why Jensen’s characterisation of Cas as a brother-in-arms feels both romantic and dismissive: it’s true even while it refuses to look at deeper truths. 

It describes a love so deeply overshadowed by a fear of femininity that the shadows of violence and death and sacrifice end up being its only ‘pure’ place of expression. And even there, it remains unnamed. 

[mr-oscarwilde]

Surely we can do better by now

It seems that every time someone gets involved in the Oscar fandom these days, it’s the same thing over and over again, and it’s really just brain-numbingly frustrating at this point, after years of seeing it happen.

Wilde (1997) is a beautiful and beloved film and does a wonderful job of giving a sense of Oscar and his story. But it is just that: a sense. It should not need to be said, but apparently, it must be: you cannot use a film as a piece of historical fact. It is not possible to convey the complexity and nuance of something such as the life of Oscar Wilde in two short hours.

In the same vein, you cannot use De Profundis as a piece of historical fact, either. As a primary document? Yes. An insight into Oscar’s mind at a specific time? Yes. As an objective observation of fact? No! Coming from two people with degrees involving history-- when do we ever use documents such as De Profundis objectively in any other piece of academic work? And the Richard Ellmann biography, published in the 1960s -- how many inaccuracies is that known to contain? How much has scholarship advanced in sixty years?

Ah, and weren’t Robbie and Bosie such rivals, as shown in Wilde, and The Happy Prince? Nope-- it was not until many years later that their friendship fell apart.

Their common secrets, and a mutual love of the world of art as revealed by Wilde, created a fast intimacy between Robbie and Bosie. Robbie had never known his father and Bosie had been disappointed and hurt by his. Both had chosen a new father figure in the person of Oscar. They were brothers. (Laura Lee, Oscar’s Ghost)

The funeral fight is a myth, too; Bosie and Robbie were ‘on terms of great friendship’ at the time. Additionally, Oscar and Robbie were not some perfect ‘couple’ to be pitted against Bosie. Oscar was in love with Bosie. Robbie had a distinct life away from Oscar; why do we not discuss that? Why do we not admire Robbie’s actual long-term relationships with other men? He had a fifteen-year partnership with More Adey, for example-- another friend of Oscar’s. And, after prison, Oscar used Robbie as he needed; he wrote letters saying one thing to him, whilst doing another. And yet those are the letters that have formed the accepted narrative.

Bosie, as well as Oscar, was a flawed man; but would Oscar have been in love with, and so inspired by, someone evil? Is it not a disservice to Oscar, to mindlessly criticise Bosie? He was a wonderful poet in his own right; he generously gave away clothes to rent boys (the letters Wilde suggests he left carelessly lying about were, in fact, stolen by Alfred Wood); before everything, even Constance had seemingly grown close to Bosie’s mother, and she (and Oscar) visited her often; he never abandoned Oscar, and especially not financially-- he had both his mother, and his brother Percy, supporting Oscar financially during the trial, and after prison, Bosie himself continued to support Oscar, with he and Percy providing a substantial allowance for him; Bosie bought Oscar lovely gifts in return (a silver cigarette case still exists today to attest to this); even in 1903, Bosie paid off an outstanding debt of Oscar’s amounting to 600 francs.

Is it also not worth considering that throughout the years they were together, there are only specific instances dragged up over and over again? Oscar was not some passive spectator in his own life.

Wilde was not a martyr to Victorian morality: he was its enemy, and he was hardly the passive victim of his contemporaries’ prejudices […] According to Lord Alfred Douglas, Wilde retained in his last years “an extraordinarily buoyant and happy temperament, a splendid sense of humour, and an unrivalled faculty for enjoyment of the moment.” Douglas has frequently been disparaged because of the self-aggrandizing strains to the numerous accounts of Wilde he published in the decades before his death in 1945, but he knew and loved Wilde more intimately than any other individual in the period with which we are concerned, and there is more than a hint of truth to his observations […] (Nicholas Frankel, Oscar Wilde: The Unrepentant Years)

This is not a post excusing any behaviour that truly occurred-- but it is a plea for people to read a damn book before they start making nasty and/or uninformed posts. There shouldn’t be such a thing as a ‘Bosie-apologist’, or whatever else people are labelled. Historians put aside their biases (or they ought to, in consideration of some of Oscar’s biographers). It’s time some people here started to do the same.

[thewordsayer]

I have returned from the dead with

A Vital Discovery!

After a long and tiresome quest it has finally been found. That thing which all Oscar Wilde enthusiasts long for…

An unflattering image of Lord Alfred Douglas!!

Here the two of them are, from 1898! Behold!!!!

[wilde-shit-posting]

Well it's here. It's queer. Bitchboy Bosie here I come.

[cowlickers]

Now I dont have any self-image issues about how I look but I also think it is extremely gratifying that there is a demographic of individuals who find Muffin tops just as sexy as tiddies

[ballad-of-death]

Kissing the boo boo away

;;PAIRING : Jake Peralta x cop!reader

;;SUMMARY : after getting shot, the last thing you expect is a confession from your colleague.

;;NOTES : HEHEHHEHEHHEHE JAKE BRAINROT ENSUES. Also yes very cliche blah blah blah. Anyways! First fic to post on here i hope you guys like it :)

Gettig shot is not like in the movies. You dont just calmly lay and hold the wound. Its loud. It pierces trough you. It makes you gasp for air and yelp in pain. Then there's the force of the blow throwing you back onto the floor and the warm feeling of the bullet going through your skin. The smell of burnt cloth and skin. The ringing in your ears after the shot.

The worried yells of your partners.

You try holding on to the wound but even the smallest bit of pressure makes you want to throw up.

The sound of steps and shots ringing in the background as a habd on your shoulder brings you back to reality.

"Hey! Hey! Dont close your eyes stay with me now! Its me Jake! Hey look at me!" The detective held your shoulder and tried keeping you awake as much as he could. He tried to put pressure on your wound but you just winced and groaned in pain. The bullet shot you theough the abdomen and you couldn't sit upright without immense pain.

"Dont worry everything will be okay just look at me. The medics are on their way just hold on a little longer!"

Jake said with obvious worry in his tone. You tried your best to open your eyes but the heavy feeling of tiredness washed over you. The warmth of your bosy as the blood pumped more and more seemed... comforting in a sense... just closing your eyes to rest wouldn't hurt right? The pain would still keep you awake right?

"No, No, No, No, No! Hey he look at me Hey! Dont "

The bliss of rest entwred your mind and all you could think about was... nothing. Just nothing. Pure nothingness. If it were a movie it would be a black screen, yet not in a bad ending way but a break between plots.

----

You woke up to the beeps of the ECG next to your bed. You look arounf the room but your eyes are still adjusting.

Yet, you can clearly make out the sillouette of a person to your right. They are holding your hand and seem to be sleeping. As your eyes finally adjust you see who it is. Jake.

You tap his hand a few times to try and wake him up and it works.

Hes gasps and jotls closer to you his eyes still slightly closed.

"Hm? What? Wait. Y/N! You're awake! Oh i thought you were going to sleep for like three days like in the movies oh my god you scared me to death!" He rambles on as you chuckled to yourself.

"Thanks Peralta, you know how to make someone feel better" you smile at him letting him know you were joking.

"Yes sorry. But are you okay? Should i call the nurse? Does it hurt? Are you okay? Do you need anything? Anything at all?" He seemed distressed, worried even. You never saw him like this. He wasnt his goofy self anymore. He was more serious.

"'M fine Jake. But you sound more worried the I am. Is everything okay with you?"

"Yes...no... maybe? I dont know but i doesnt matter. You cant do this to me! You cant be so brave ! When you got shot you worried me so so so so much Y/N! I thought i lost you! Like actually. This isnt like a monologue i put on because i had to. You actually scared me. I care about you so much and you just get shot like that." He held your hand tighter and looked you in the eyes. His voice was really serious.

Your hand reached for his head and cupped his face lightly.

"Jake... I'm sorry, although its not my fault i got shot but...im sorry. Dont be so worried about me though. No matter what i will be fine" you smile at him.

"No Y/N i will worry about you. I will. You mean so much to me and now when i thought i lost you... Y/N you seriously dont know how much you mean to me. I was so shit scared about you and it made me realize that... that i care about you. More than anything actually.... what im trying to say is—

When i thought you were gone i realized that a life without you would be hard. I love you Y/N. So so so sod so fucking much." He sighed, his eyes were glossy as if he was about to cry.

Your heart ached at this sight. He also meant much to you. The sight of him sad and worried was very rare. Infact you haven't seen him cry ever.

"Jake—"

"No i know its stupid we're coworkers and like it wouldn't work out and you think im saying this because of your state. But im serious Y/N."

"I know you are, but let me finish. I care about you too Jake. And I think i care about you in the same way you do abiut me. I think i might love you too Peralta."

"You know how to ruin a moment using my last name dont you?" You both luaghed. You were relieved he was already back to his normal self.

"Also, the nurse asked me to ask you if you need someone to kiss your booboo away?"

"Not very smooth Peralta, if you want to kiss me just do it."

"Cool, cool cool cool cool cool cool cool"

[hanasnx]

hear me out: anakin who realizes you have a thing for his hands. ooh boy. him slowly realizing how much you pay attention to his fingers as he's pointing out different things on the holomap for different battle strategies. him having a hunch, but brushing it off until he can test his theory. slowly, he starts testing his theory in little ways just to see how you react - his hands on your hips as he scoots you over to move past. his tracing patterns on your skin casually, but smirking as the traces leave goosebumps in their wake. noticing how you try to hide how your breath catches when his hands are touching near your pulse points. oh and now that he knows? that smug mf is using that power all. the damn. time. foling the sleeves of his robes up in a way that makes his forarms look fuckin scrumptious, ESPECIALLY after he's done the subtle pressure of the weight of his hands as his fingers wrap around your throat. him using his fingers so much when he explains thing, just to watch your eyes focus on them. him as he gives you two fingers to suck on under the guise that he's just getting them wet, but then he's all like "all that just for my fingers? already a fucking whore just for my hands, hm? pathetic little thing." him making you wait before he fucks you with his fingers. him tracing over every part of your bosy - staring with the insides of your wrist up your arms to the pulse point on your throat, then down your chest where he traces around the outline of your nipples just to watch the way you whimper, and then down your hips before you feel the pressure as his finger trace up the sensitive skins on the insides of your thighs... he makes you beg for it, reveling in just how much power he has over you. asking you, "aw, you want something, baby? tell me what you want. you want me to kiss you? want my mouth? ...my tongue?" "hm?" "but that's not what you want, is it?" "no pussy's fucking soaked just for my hands." "pretty little thing is falling apart and all i've done is touch you" "what, you're thinkin' about me fucking you with your fingers? how full they make you feel, even with just two? hm?" or are you thinking about my fingers wrapped around that throat of yours? makin' you dizzy till you're dumb for me? gonna fuck you on these fingers so good you're gonna think of it every time i touch you ." oops sorry i just had some thoughts and i wanted to share but this got away from me

next post

as someone who loves hands and has an arm kink, i’m delighted by this offering. here are my favorite lines:

☥ “his hands on your hips as he scoots you over to move past”

ik it’s mad annoying when guys do this, but if anakin did it i’d be twirling my hair n shit poppin my ankle like omggg🥴🫶💕he touched meee

especially bcos it can be treated with a natural subtlety. during the day when your relationship must remain a secret, no one could suspect anything sinister by anakin moving you aside like that. it’s just innocent enough for him to get away with it.

touching the small of your back whenever possible too, to lead you places or guide you out of the way or to walk alongside you and leaning into your atmosphere to “hear you better”

☥ “rolling the sleeves of his robes up in a way that makes his forarms look fuckin scrumptious; the subtle pressure of the weight of his hand as his fingers wrap around your throat”

i want him to choke me like i’m obi-wan during the mustafar fight scene. steal my breath away, bend me backwards over your knee. make my life flash before my eyes—

the rolling of the sleeves.. oh my god. he’s such a slut tbh knowing what it does to you and doing it to achieve that specific purpose. slut behavior.

☥ “he gives you two fingers to suck on under the guise that he's just getting them wet, but then he's all like ‘all that just for my fingers?’”

literally over here losing my mind at the idea of being caught. sucking on his fingers like a good girl until he checks your panties to confirm his theory, lo and behold you’re soaked

☥ “‘tell me what you want. you want me to kiss you? want my mouth? ...my tongue?’”

this,, the way it was worded. oh my fucking goddd. like i can hear his playful tone daring you to tell him what you really want. he wants to hear you say it. you want his fucking fingers. dirty little whore.

☥ “‘or are you thinking about my fingers wrapped around that throat of yours? makin' you dizzy till you're dumb for me?’”

i ,, i fucking. love. dumbification. when people write him calling reader names like “dumb little baby” while he’s balls deep inside. “can’t even speak, can’t even think. too cock-drunk. too fucking stupid.” i go fucking wild. being dumb for him is a dream of mine, thank you for including it.

☥ “‘gonna fuck you on these fingers so good you're gonna think of it every time i touch you.’”

the fact i absolutely would be. like every time i feel those big fucking hands on me you best believe i’m reliving whatever pleasure he brought me while finger fucking me into oblivion. that thrill shooting through me in a bone shaking shudder when i feel the warmth of his hand graze me in some way.

suffu,,, i love this. thank you. i got to feel like the excited reader this time

[tangledbea]

Varian and the Seven Kingdoms Consolidation of Info

Requested by anon

This is going to be a consolidation of all the official Vat7K stuff I have on my blog, including copy/pasting of posts Kay Ritter and Anna Lencioni have posted, and to a lesser extent, things I’ve posted with insider knowledge I had before Kay ever released their notes. Alexa Bosy was also involved in the project.*

*Please note that all these asks were sent when Kay was still going by Kait and was still using she/her pronouns. I have edited to reflect their preferred name and pronouns when referencing them, but did not edit the content of the original asks.

The Cast

Via Kay: Here is some higher-res art of that initial, old line-up. These are some of the character page descriptions we gave when we presented “Varian and the Seven Kingdoms!” I had to shut of my asks because I’m just getting slammed every day, so I’m sorry if I don’t get back to any of you!! I appreciate all the enthusiasm, though! ; - ; Please enjoy and keep creating!!! (Also enjoy some Anna sketches- she designed Varian’s cousins and they’re dang cute!)

The Design

Via Kay: Some character design/ costume concept art for a fan project me and Anna dreamed up. It was a little spinoff comic about Varian continuing his adventures in alchemy through the seven kingdoms in order to learn the seven alchemical laws and attain forbidden knowledges. New characters we wanted to play with were Varian’s mom, who design-wise was a in flux, since we only had one reference image to go off of…but we really wanted to match her aesthetic to Varian/ that of a field researcher. We always imagined her as being a lot like Varian! Tried to develop some motifs between the other characters (L-R: Hugo, Donella, and Donella’s muscle-man) to make them look like the evil pack they were. Hugo was a sneaky artificer who conned the wealthy and worked for Donella: Varian’s mother’s former research partner. We also had Yong and Princess Nuru- who were some new friends that Varian would meet on his journey! And of course, Prometheus, a farm donkey Quirin gifted to Varian before he left Corona. (Not quite a Maximus…but, hey!) 

Sample Pages

Rough layout by Anna Line cleanup by Alexa Ink/color by Kay

Beat Boards

Via Kay: Here are some old beat boards Anna and I did when we were making this fan-baby!

The first few explored Varian meeting Yong and making his first friend, completing the first trial of the seven kingdoms. In the nighttime one- Anna had a cool idea that Princess Nuru’s dress was an active star chart and that she could act as the group navigator, using it to guide them. The last few were just some group interactions and Varian coming face to face with his mother.The super short story is: we imagined each of the seven kingdoms would teach one of the seven alchemical stages of transformation and reveal a totem. With all seven totems acquired, Varian would be able to use them to reunite with his long-lost mother (we’d called her Ulla) who was trapped somewhere unreachable by her former partner, Donella, long ago. Donella was after the totems as well to prevent Ulla’s release and sent Hugo to collect them as a double-agent within the group. Hugo would later betray Donella in service of helping Varian reach Ulla. We viewed Hugo and Varian’s relationship evolving from a sort of Pinocchio/ Lampwick situation (literally what that drawing is from) to that of an equal one. In a way, their bond repaired the partnership that frayed between Ulla and Donella.

Notes

Anon Ask: Kait! Appreciate the infodump (I'm the currently-Tumblr-less user w the bombardment of Q's earlier) & I'm stoked that you've given us your blessing to use the concept!:P Got more random Q’s, if you’re up for it! Was the comic outfit Varian’s final, or the other designs would’ve been used too (same w Ulla’s 2 designs)? 7 trials ideas, & 7 kingdoms’ names? How much time after TTS would this be? & finally, was Varian planning on actually RIDING that donkey, or would he pull a caravan(?)thing?xD -GC

Kay’s Answer: The outfits were still in flux- the comic was a representation of our first draft and the other designs came later (including Hugo’s upgrade, Donella, etc.) The red dress Ulla was a flashback type of look whereas the teal one is more like…how Varian would have found her. You know I actually found some screenshots of the ol’ docs we wrote using the 7 alchemical stages to mirror the seven kingdoms. We tried to find an alchemical story component, a magical story component, and a figurative/character story component for each! We never actually named the kingdoms and we also crafted a lot of them before they existed canonically in the show (I think there’s an episode of RTA where Raps competes against princesses from the seven kingdoms and they’re mentioned there)…so just know it’s not accurate to that at all, haha.

But here! These are very note-to-self format…so…apologies lol...

Via Anna: I don’t wanna clutter my main tumblr page but here was the rough outline Kait and I wrote for our fan comic “Varian and the Seven Kingdoms!” Just a reminder that this is totally unofficial, just fan stuff. Would have been fun, wish we could have done it even just recreationally!! Hope you all can use this however you want and continue to enjoy it 🖤

Questions and Answers

Anon Ask: Hello Kait! I would like to know more about Hugo’s past. Your friend mentioned that Hugo is an orphan. Where did Hugo grow up? So, where will he go after betraying Donella?  Does he have a permanent place of residence? 

Kay’s Answer: I’m trying to recall what Anna said, but he definitely grew up an orphan. From what I can remember, the kingdom he grew up in had a very highly divided class system and Hugo was determined to find a way not to live on scraps. And not just that, but to like…get back at, take advantage of as many rich idiots as possible. He’s Robin Hood robbing the rich to feed himself. Someone here called him a champagne-taste kind of guy and that’s exactly right.

He’s manipulative, so he’s probably well ahead of developing technologies and other things for the rich people who invest in him. He’d probably just withhold the best stuff for himself and do what he needed to stay in his patrons’ good graces. And he’d steal whatever they didn’t give him and never get caught.  (I think Anna designed like a motorized bike or something for him once…he’s literally the cool guy with a car. He’d totally keep something like that all for himself.)

Donella and her gang offered protection more than anything…so he offers most of his work to her first. Including his sneakier services. That’s how he ends up being the one to go after Varian. It’s probably also how (in our wildest dreams) we imagined him possibly having pulled a job (and likely conned) Eugene back in his Rider days. Pulled a Rider on a Rider as a sneaky kid.

All of this is also why he’d switch alliances on Donella when it felt right to do so. Hugo has a wild compass but he follows it in service of himself pretty much always. Becoming close to Varian kinda changes that streak in him. He’d probably hang out with Varian whenever everything blew over, maybe settle back down in Corona. Meet this princess everyone keeps talking about. Wait…Rider lives in a CASTLE NOW?!

~*~*~

Anon Ask: Kait! Varian and the seven kingdoms is giving me so much life during quarantine bless your heart for all this :’) I have a question, what kind of life did our sweet boy Yong live? Was he an orphan too? Or did Varian promise his parents/guardian he’d take care of him? After they finish their adventure does Varian take Yong under his wing so he stops blowing stuff up and causing fires? 

Kay’s Answer: I love Yong, I think everyone loves Yong, I think Yong’s parents and family (which I always imagined as being very big) all love Yong. But I think they are all very tired and very grateful that he has made a friend who is willing to take him on as a mentee. I imagine he’s gone through a few. (Very Young Hercules lol.)

~*~*~

Anon Ask: This is a question on the 7 kingdoms au thing. When Ulla was researching in the Dark Kingdom, was this before or after it was abandoned? It was likely before it was abandoned but I'm just not sure. Also, this is probably more of a question for Kritterart, but since she made that post about getting too many asks I decided to ask that question to you. 😅 

My Answer: Yeah, I have absolutely no idea how to answer that. Seeing as how the Dark Kingdom was on the seven kingdoms list in the comic, I have to guess that they hadn’t yet developed in the series that the kingdom had been abandoned, but that’s just my guess. 

Kay’s Reply: (We were thinking it was before…and also where she met Quirin, fell in love with him! Just before they moved to Corona- the place where the final trial/totem were. She paused her research to have a family, that bummed Donella out, Quirin let her go after Varian was born, and she never came back.)

~*~*~

Anon Ask:  If VAT7K ever became canon, would Varian and Hugo been an actual couple? Making Varian bi? 

My Answer: Yes.

Well.

Okay, I don’t know for a fact that they’d have been a couple or endgame, however, I was talking to Kait about it a long time ago and she told me that Vat7K would confirm that Varian is bi (and she was referring to Hugo).

An Important note from Kay

I’m getting way more 7K questions than I have time or any real authority to answer considering there is no ACTUAL CONTENT to reference lol, but I just wanna let you guys know how much I appreciate them all! I’m sorry if I don’t answer your question. I also just don’t want my art tumblr to turn into a huge Q&A, haha.We’ve been loving all the fanart and support and curiosity. It’s amazing! That said- 7K and its dealings, characters are NOT CANON. So if it’s not for you, that’s so totally okay. You’re super valid. We made it for you guys, but it’s yours to take what you like from it and change what you don’t when you use it (or don’t) to tell your own story! We just wanted to help Varian’s story continue, like many of you! So whatever you love or don’t love, don’t be afraid to create based on it!!! We love it all. You guys are the best! Please have fun!!!!

[jasontoddisrightfuckyou]

okay this is something that's been bothering me for a very long time but I've struggled to put words to it. Until just now.

I hate how often sexualisation of men, or male sexiness or male sexuality is often just sexualised male feminisation.

Now obviously femine and masculine is different and not the same as being a woman or being a man, but for the sake of this post I'll go by the common definition of masculinity vs feminity which is as following:

Feminity: feminity usually refers to the stereotypical physical or cultural traits and expectations of a cis woman

Masculinity: masculinity usually refers to the stereotypical physical and cultural traits and expectations of a cis man

Now, personally I think feminity/masculinity refers more to a aesthetic and certain way of being than it does gender, but it is still undeniably contacted to gender. Which makes the fact that Male Sexiness often involving or equaling male feminisation even more disturbing. its not just a common fetish. it's heteronormative. it's misogynistic. it's misandric. I will elaborate on why bellow.

Feminisation being equalled to sexualisation and male sexiness involving or being equalled to feminisation is something I specifically see within mlm content. In fact, the only time I see masculinity consistently being sexualised is in m/f (and often straight) media.

it's often in mlm content you see men dressed up in lingerie with feminine design, in heels, or "maid outfits". its in mlm content you see men bekng out in feminine clothing or traditionally female roles, as a way to portray them as sexy. In both fanfiction or original writing, a man's attraction to another man is often about his ass (which is not necessarily a feminine trait) or his hips. his slim waist. his large pectorals (which are often referred to as tits or boobs or breasts)

Very rarely do I see physical attraction towards men talking about anything stereotypically masculine outside of musculature. Why is it never about someone's broad shoulders, their hairyness, the bulge in their pants, their largeness.

At most, I see mentions of their large muscles and washboard abs. Which is a ridiculous beauty and bosy standard put upon men, but that's a different discussion.

That a men is only considered sexy to the point of sexualisation within mlm or queer media is not only a problem, but indicates deeper issues. Like I said heteronormativity. misogyny and misandry.

and here I'll explain why, in case it is not clear.

Heteronormative: It pushes masculine and feminine, male and female roles and dynamics onto a mlm couple, forcing them into a falsisfied and fake heterosexual dynamic

Misogyny: oversexualising of feminine traits or roles. Equaling and resucing feminity and anything stereotypically female to sexiness

Misandry: Equaling and reducing sexiness to feminity and anything stereotypically female. Implies and pushes the idea than masculinity cannot be or isn't sexy.

As a transmasc agender person it fills me with great dysphoria to see men's pectorals always being referred to as tits or boobs or breasts. The focus, fascination or sexualisation of big and lushus pectorals have never bothered me, but the trend of calling them tits or boobs do. Same when people cat like they function like boobs. Like a push up bra creating cleavage, or muscular pectorals requiring a bra to support them. Neither of which is true. Pectorals enlarged due to fat, aka Man-boobs (commonly referred to as moobs) are different, and could both require a bra to help support the extra weight on the chest, and as they consist of fat, not hard muscle, they could be pushed up by a push-up bras. Yet they do not get referred to as tits, boobs, nor do people talk about moobs in bras. This is also an example of fat phobia and the ridiculous body and beauty standards for men, but I'm getting of topic. My point about moobs is that in cases where a bra would be physically possible or serve a practical purpose, they are not included. But when it comes to large pecs being of muscle they will be used as to enhance the sexiness, through feminising the person and the body part. Meaning the bra - and the subsequent feminisation - is only attarctive and wanted when it can be used to sexualise.

And I am. so tired of this trend. I am all for men or masc presenting people wearing skirts, heels, make up, or lingere. but when they wear them, why not let them remain masculine. Let men and masculine people wear a skirt in a masculine way. (Have you seen Scots in kilts?? it's definitely possible for a man or masc person to look both sexy and masculine in skirt like clothing) Or why not try removing any stereotypical feminine stuff altogether? Sexualised rugged (non-washboard ab'd with cut muscles) men with chest hair and hairy arms and legs, stubble and a visible bulge. Talk about mlm physical attraction regarding a bulky torso and thick thighs. a visible bulge and a hot ass. Emphasise those broad shoulders, narrow hips and square jaw

let men be sexy for being masculine. let masculinity be sexy.

don't equal sexiness to femininity. dont equal feminity to sexiness. it's time we sexualise masculinity

edit: this is not to say that the feminisation of med or sexualisation of feminity in men is inherently bad or forbidden. I'm not trying to demonise anyone or what they are into. Explore what you like, create what you're into. I'm just trying to bring up an issue I've seen become more normal and want to bring it up to talk about it and discuss it. if you are a femboy, are into femboys or just like them please know this is not an attack on you. I am just bringing up my own experience and how I wish masculinity was more celebrated and sexualised for being masculine, as well as wishing for more content of men and masc people wearing traditional feminine stuff and STILL be masculine, or even wear it in a masculine way. or just men and masc people wearing traditional feminine things without it being sexualised

[lord-alfred-douglas-official]

Why would you ask me if I'm fine? Have you seen me? I'm fine as hell.

[murfpersonalblog]

LDPDL, Incarceration, and Oscar Wilde's De Profundis

I was writing this up as a tangent in another post, thinking about IRL gay men at the turn of the 20th century as another source of Gothic literature Anne Rice was inspired by when she wrote the VC, and most importantly, how IRL Victorian-Edwardian era homophobia might have affected AMC!Louis as he struggled with his own sexuality/vampirism. Particularly, a point I made awhile ago about homosexuals & the mentally ill being locked up in sanatoriums. It just got way too long and off topic, so I've decided to post this bit first.

@wordforworldisforest noted that for all the reading Louis does in Eps2-7, we NEVER see him reading in Ep1 while he's still human. Iolanta's the first time we see Louis enjoy stories (plays/opera/books), but after he marries Lestat, Louis' reading whole libraries about heterosexual & homoerotic love & marriage. So I'm wondering what bb!Louis might've read during his human lifetime, too, and why he was keeping it such a secret from everyone--what/why was he hiding? And I started thinking about Oscar Wilde.

Closeted: Oscar, Louis & Vampirism

Oscar Wilde was the MOST (in)famous gay man during the late 1880-90s while Louis was growing up. If Louis was born 1877 (as per his gravestone in Ep5), he would've been 13 when The Picture of Dorian Gray was published, and 18-20 when Oscar was arrested for sodomy from 1895-97. De Profundis is the letter Oscar wrote to his male lover (Lord Alfred "Bosie" Douglas) while he was in jail, which was published posthumously in 1905. Ain't no way Louis didn't read it, or at least hear about it. 👀

Like, Dorian Gray's a known homoerotic book that was brought in as evidence during Oscar Wilde's sodomy trials. But Louis was 13 when it came out--MAYBE it flew under the radar for him, fine. But Louis's super stylish--he followed fashion trends (even in Dubai he's STILL casket sharp). And Oscar Wilde was a fashion icon/maverick in his heyday; an international sensation. But there was ALL KINDS of sexist/homophobic crap printed about Oscar cuz of the way he looked & dressed & styled his hair & carried himself in public (newspapers, Punch magazine, etc), before his love affairs with men were even made common knowledge.

Oscar was a well-connected rich white man, and even HE caught flack from homophobes/xenophobes on both sides of the Pond for his effeminate behavior, and critiques against British and American aesthetics. While anti-Irish sentiments PALE in comparison to ACTUAL anti-black racism--(the Irish enslaved & lynched black folk same as any white racist colonizer, just look at Scarlet O'Hara--I've mentioned this before about racist Finn O'Shea, who burned the Azalea down in 1917)--Oscar being Irish definitely didn't help his reputation in British-American circles, as seen in anti-Irish caricatures from Victorian magazines like Punch.

Oscar, a world famous white man, served only TWO years of jailtime and it nearly KILLED him--so just IMAGINE what a gay black former pimp in Jim Crow South would've gone through.

Vampirism's linked to xenophobia, as seen in my Brides of Lestat Dracula post (and speaking of Dracula....). But xenophobia against a white man's different from racism against a black man. Homophobic cops threatening Lestat's one thing--if he was on his own he'd've hypnotized the cops, ate a few of them, and skipped town long ago. He felt ZERO affinity or allegiance to the human world, populated merely by "the meat." Lestat embraced his alien status--Frenchness & vampirism, delighting in unsettling people & flouting social mores & gender norms. Since Louis insisted that they live as regular mortals, Lestat was "caught up in human affairs, too." But the ONLY one in any real danger of suffering the consequences of societal pariahism was LOUIS himself.

(De Profundis, Wilde)

Louis enjoyed a high degree of protection living with Lestat--the magical Frenchman who gave Louis the impetus to live more or less "out" in an open-secret gay relationship. But before meeting Lestat, Louis would've had ZERO security. Louis would've been around 18 when the scandal broke & Oscar was arrested, 22 when De Profundis was partially published, and 23 when Oscar died. His downfall likely would've been a frightening reminder for teen-20s Louis to stay in the closet; validating the need to keep up his image & the lies; but also contributing to his alcoholism, avoiding going to Confession, and ultimately his resistance to Lestat.

Loustat: Gilded Cages & Hubris/Pride before the Fall

So, I wonder how much Louis (AR/AMC) was pulling from Oscar Wilde in his own interview. Louis' access to Gothic/Victorian literature likely contributed to his excuses for Lestat's obvious vampirism (on top of NOLA's overall occult subculture); and Louis' own affinity for things that went bump in the night ("days were for sleeping off the previous night's damage," etc). But Oscar's lifestyle leading to his ruination & depression might've struck a chord with Louis too, considering his own fears/struggles with his sexuality.

“[Louis] is so good at grieving! He wears woe as others wear velvet; sorrow flatters him like the light of candles; tears become him like jewels.” (TotBT).

Louis' life was dictated by fear--of being oppressed/disrespected, shamed, outed & ousted--publicly shunned. But vampirism proved to be the very embodiment of ostracism & imprisonment; with his Maker/"Massa" Lestat as the ultimate oppressor in their townhouse--the gilded cage/trap he built specifically for Louis. It's no coincidence that the Great Depression coincided with Loustat going "underground" to lay low after Claudia's murder sprees brought the cops to their door, and her running away from home led to Louis to stop taking care of the house or himself. (Accidia is the deadly sin Sloth.) Louis spent 14 years doing nothing but reading in the townhouse--7 while Claudia was gone, and 7ish while Lestat was gone. De Profundis was reprinted in 1912, and catholic!Bosie started openly repudiating Wilde & other homosexuals by 1918. So Louis definitely would have had time to read all of Oscar Wilde's works from 1923-37 (Claudia leaving & Lestat coming back).

Oscar painted a grim picture of what prison was like on the inside, and what public humiliation was like on the outside. For a prideful man like Louis, shame & humiliation was his worst nightmare--Icarus "flying too close to the sun," as the Alderman put it. (Louis was in his 60s the first (& last) time he openly kissed Lestat at the Mardi Gras ball--the night he was gonna leave America for good anyway.)

So I'm certain Oscar Wilde's scandal would've negatively colored Louis' developing outlook on his own homosexuality. And if Louis was (re)reading Wilde after Loustat's separation/divorce, it must have resonated, perhaps even moreso, as history repeated itself.

Lestat & Louis have been compared to Oscar & Bosie before. Their stories aren't perfect 1:1s ofc, but it's the overall Mess that most resembles Loustat. Oscar was an older, worldly, far better educated man; Bosie was a spoiled but broke little lordling whose hedonistic lifestyle of male prostitutes was bankrolled by Oscar. Bosie's homophobic father was determined to see Wilde ruined, and had him arrested for sodomy. Oscar was sentenced to 2 years of hard prison labor. Jailtime made Oscar reevaluate his life, his impending death, and his relationship with Bosie--"the love that dare not speak its name." Oscar was HELLA critical of Bosie in De Profundis, and after being released from jail they split up; Oscar fleeing to Paris where he soon died. Bosie converted to Roman Catholicism, and after Oscar's complete letters were published in 1912 he publicly repudiated Wilde, renouncing homosexuality and marrying an heiress, only to die penniless anyway. Ohhhhh, Louis would've eaten that news up, I know he did.

Just look at how Oscar talks to Bosie in his letter, and tell me it doesn't sound like Louis' talking/complaining about Lestat:

Plenty of scholars have pointed out Oscar's hypocritical criticism of Bosie, as he reams Bosie for filth for half the letter, then talks about not being bitter towards him & finding Jesus & forgiveness for the second half. Likewise, I've said before that Book!IWTV reads like a hit piece, Louis skulldragging Lestat while downplaying Louis' own culpability in his downfall. However, AMC!Louis takes more accountability than book!Louis, focusing on the ways HE in particular failed Claudia (and himself), rather than blaming so much of it all on Lestat. Louis' more forgiving of Lestat than Daniel/the show leans--perhaps cuz Claudia's older; able to act against Lestat the way Louis couldn't bring himself to, even for her.

But naturally, AMC!Louis has more on his plate than book!Louis ever did, as the racial/societal challenges of their time also played a much more significant part in Lestat's relationships with Louis and Claudia souring. Louis' far more ambitious, but doomed, so his fall from grace hits that much harder, as he blames himself more for the things he could and couldn't control.

Loumand: Wardens, Austerity & Suffering

My final point concerns Louis' time in Dubai with Armand. Here, the notion of imprisonment takes on a far more disturbing flavor, because Louis is mentally ill/traumatized. He's completely surrendered to Armand; who isn't pampering/spoiling him like a prince(ss), so much as nursing/babying him like a mental patient in a padded cell.

Loumand's cold & hollow penthouse is the polar opposite of Loustat's lush & vibrant townhouse. They're living like monks. Ofc that tracks with Catholic austerity (see this awesome post about Louis & Anchorites); but I also suspect Louis might've consulted New Age Buddhism as a form of therapy/meditation too--cuz what's with the tangzhuang outfit? 🤨

It's the most out-of-place piece in Louis' Dubai wardrobe of highwaisted slacks & tops. And for a show that's so dang particular about clothes & colors & cuts etc, this HAS to mean something. And considering Louis' penchant for monastic self-denial, I think De Profundis has interesting parallels with Catholicism and Buddhism.

Like, Louis has access to all the modern marvels of science, and as much blood as he can get--"AB- fresh from the Farm," Damek, Dr. Fareed, blood banks, exotic animals, etc. Yet he's also eating human food, even though it tastes like chalk/paste, just to humble/deny/punish himself. (It's as hypocritical as it is sincere, crazy enough.)

It's all sus, cuz we know Armand's a master hypnotist with the Mind Gift & Spell Gift. Louis' interview seems less like the confessions of a suicidal/grieving man, or the unburdening of an incarcerated/rehabilitated man's guilty conscience. Instead, Louis seems like he's speaking from the Sunken Place; like he's one trigger away from a complete and utter meltdown.

Which makes it veeeeery interesting that Louis keeps pushing/suffering through the interview, despite his pain; while Armand seems to be VERY against the entire endeavor--the one who keeps trying to get them to stop talking about the past at all.... 👀

So yeah, this was all swirling around, keeping me from getting any effing sleep. I hate this show.

[mr-oscarwilde]

@sagewhisper It would be a massive pain to try to reply to you in the comments of our post, so we’ve just put our response in one single thing. 

It is bold of you to assume that we have not read De Profundis. It was one of the first things we read when we started having an interest in Oscar. Kindly refer to our post; we never said that it was not a valid piece of evidence. It is evidence of a lot of things—chiefly Oscar’s state of mind whilst he was in prison. But it is not objective fact. You mustn't take our word alone for it, though:

Oscar’s feelings towards Bosie at this time were complicated. Contrary to what it might at first seem, De Profundis is not a break-up letter. Oscar still, very much, wanted to be with him. […] Wilde brings up the ‘Oxford Mishap’ again and again in De Profundis. He emphasises this to show that Bosie was already ‘corrupted’ before they became intimate. Wilde also highlights the times he thought about ending the relationship and depicts a dynamic in which Bosie is constantly in pursuit, and he is constantly trying to escape. The explanations and justifications of his actions, and the anger and recriminations, make up such a large part of the letter that the ‘record of bitter moments’ overwhelms the more loving parts. Had he written the story of his friendship with Bosie at another time, he might have focused on the moments of joy rather than pain. (Indeed, there was such a record once, before Bosie burned his love letters.) In prison, he could produce only a story of suffering. [...] In the context of the prison document, nothing Bosie does is good enough. (Laura Lee, Oscar’s Ghost, ch. 17)

Douglas Murray also points out the distortion of Oscar’s recollections in his biography of Bosie (pages 77 and 101-102 are particularly relevant here). Interestingly enough, this entire topic is the source of increasing scholarly debate:

If one of them was exploiting the other, it’s not entirely clear who was the predator and who was the victim. The extent to which Bosie was responsible for Wilde’s downfall has been debated, while the source of Wilde’s foolish decision to sue the Marquis (arrogance? blind love for Bosie? deliberate martyrdom for a cause?) has likewise come under scrutiny. (Jean Roberta, ‘What Wilde Left Out of De Profundis’, The Gay & Lesbian Review)

Why shouldn’t we discuss this beyond the same old narrative that has been pushed for the past 100 years? That’s the thing with history; we have the incredible benefit of hindsight to objectively look at all the evidence, and should be able to posit views informed by research without being accused of ‘fetishizing’ or thinking their relationship was ‘some cutesy aesthetic’. Obviously. I’m pretty sure everyone knows they weren’t exactly an unproblematic couple. But you cannot conclusively state that Bosie was “a horrible excuse for a man and partner”, any more than you should act like Oscar was without flaws. He wasn’t. How did so many, after his death, recall him fondly? He was incredibly complex and possessed both good and bad traits, some of which appeared at different stages of his life. And if you cared to read more about Bosie—whilst not making his actions excusable (in particular reference to many of his actions that really were bad in the 1900s and 1910s)—he later recognised many of the mistakes he had made. He had masses said for Robbie, years after his death. He managed to converse with Vyvyan, at a ball in the late 1930s. He strongly rejected his earlier condemnation of Oscar, and Oscar Wilde and Myself. Oscar himself ends De Profundis by requesting that Bosie should tell him about his life, and his article in the Mercure de France, and the dedication of his poems: 'I have no doubt that there will be beauty in it.' He then goes on to explicitly express his belief that Bosie could learn from him; if he was so awful, would Oscar still display such faith in him, or demonstrate such an interest in him and their future reunion?

In pointing this out, we are not ignoring Bosie's bad sides. Shake your head all you want. We are not ‘Bosie apologists/defenders’; we are fully capable of acknowledging wrongdoing where wrongdoing was done. But these things can and should be discussed without the lens of De Profundis blurring Oscar’s entire relationship with Bosie. Do you think we have not read more about Bosie? We’ve read two biographies dedicated to him, alongside works focusing on Oscar.

This response can end on one of Bosie’s recollections, of words spoken by Oscar, ‘to the following effect’:

Surely you are not bringing up against me what I wrote in prison when I was starving and half mad. You must know that I didn’t really mean a word of what I said.

Considering Oscar rather happily returned to Bosie after his release, this bears some consideration, no?

[wilde-shit-posting]

Lord Alfred Douglas's white girl gossip

[confusedhomicidalrage]

*looks at all the blogs I have* a gimmick blog, my main blog and a Stimboard blog... *Sees a funny post* ...What if I make a bosie blog....Nah, that would be too many blogs...

[hermitcraft-8]

hi, i think im late but i saw your post about sexual attraction and sex repulsion and have come to tell you about aegosexuality. Basically, experiences sexual attarction, but there is "a disconnect between mind and bosy" therefore, while you may still be attracted to people or experience fantasies, you don't want to actually participate in it.

I use the label cuz it's pretty damn accurate for me (though im also grey sexual i think) but when i found out about it i was stoked. like 'oh! there's a word for how i feel! awesome!' so i thought i'd tell you about it, in case you feel the same.

Hope you're having a good day ^-^

yeah that sounds right. thank you so much