#Homosexual Who Had Relations With Young Boys

[msclaritea]

Considering most of these extreme Climate Change groups are backed by self-interested billionaires, this is quite an interesting article to put out.

Oh yeah....Da Vinci was Homosexual and had relationships with young boys. Figures. 🙄 This is just like when they attacked the Wagner at the MET.

[imviotrash]

Maurice Cole and "Tart "culture at British public schools

In my research, I came across some articles about British public schools, in particular some of the queer cultures within those spaces. And while a lot of the elements and references of public schools were mentioned by name in the Weston arc (such as fagging, Prefects and the 4th of june), a cultural element that hasn't been mentioned is the culture of "Tarts", which despite not being named, was still featured in the arc.

So Maurice Cole has the role of the prettiest boy at school, being admired by many and causing many boys to get extremely flustered and excited as soon as soon as they're in his presence. While one may argue that this is because of his role as the prefects drudge/fag, I'd argue that this is a special case, since the students reaction to Clayton is quite different. He is clearly not only admired for his status but also for his look, as mentioned by the boys.

Through his beauty he was able to become a prefects fag/drudge and was also able to make not just students, but also adults (such as his dorms cook) do his work. In turn they get his attention, time and praise. Some even continue to do his work after knowing of his rotten character.

On top of that Maurice has a strong attachment to Edgar. And while the prefect and drudge bond is strong, it's very noticeable how obsessed Maurice in particular is. Not just because of his wish to become a prefect, but also because he wants to be the most liked by Edgar.

So what does that characterisation relate to the "Tart" culture in real British public schools?

"Tart" in the context of public schools refers to a young, effeminate boy who engages in romantic (and sometimes sexual) relations with (often older and powerful) students. While unmanly and effeminate students were often targets of harassment and bullying, "Tarts" had a protective status, due to the protection they receive from high ranking students (athletes, prefects, 6th formers). These are referred to as bloods. The relationships of "Tarts" and students were pretty much always solicited and not compensated through money, but through affection, influence, privilege and status. These sentimental relationships were therefore of value for the "Tart". This culture was well known across public schools and generally accepted as long as it was not publicly acknowledged.

(Reference: "Surprised by Joy" an autobiography by C. S. Lewis)

When looking at the characterisation of Maurice Cole, we can see this practice is perfectly reflected in him.

He talks sweetly to the students and compliments them frequently (older and younger ones). His femininity benefits him instead of causing harm, because of his good looks and charisma (which is also why his cosmetic upkeep was of such great importance for him). His heightened status as a "Tart" as well as a prefects fag/drudge greatly benefits him, since he is able to make others work for him, get close to the prefects and gain appreciation and approval. His wish for Edgar's approval goes beyond roles and status and definitely into the crush territory. Women as well as other students who divert attention away from him are proven to be enemies of his, because they are his competition.

He clings to his unofficial status as a "Tart", because it gives him the power that he so desperately craves. He's not able to get there by himself so he needs the attention and help of others to put himself on a pedestal. Once he was found out, not only did his status as a prefects drudge/fag disappear, but also his status as a "Tart", since his sweet persona was uncovered to be a facade.

I think it is interesting that this culture was featured in the arc, since it is often brushed under the rug. It establishes Maurice as a queer character (although that was already clear before my lil essay) and proves that the public school was a homosexual (and unfortunately often abusive) space.

[ouiouixmonami]

A while back I posted about how in the book Benedict Arnold: Patriot and Traitor by Willard Sterne Randall the author confuses John Laurens for Henry Laurens on two separate occasions.

I also posted about an unbecoming portrait of John André that I found in the book. In the same post, I mentioned that the author speculated that John André was in a homosexual relationship with Sir Henry Clinton, so now I'm here to share the details, or rather...lack thereof.

During the American Revolution, John André was quickly promoted (within about two weeks) to chief of the British intelligence operations. About this, Randall says:

There were also some Loyalists in New York City who believed that John André had risen so far so fast because he was having a homosexual affair with the commander in chief. There is no proof and very little in print on the subject, but there have been persistent rumors ever since. There is that suggestive remark by the staunch Chief Justice Smith about young men, men "without reputation, young and raw," rewarded for no apparent military ability or achievement and former staff officer Stephen Kemple's disgusted comment about the "unheard-of promotion" of "boys not three years in service." But if Clinton chose to alternate his dalliances between the sexes, he was much too discreet, as was André, to leave any evidence behind. André, the would-be thespian, was always playing a role, but there seems more than acting or the obsequiousness of the courtier in his notes to Clinton, nor are they a son to his father. His letters to Sir Henry are so strikingly intimate, self-deprecating, and ever solicitous to cover up Clinton's faults. And Clinton would one day be even more immobilized than usual when he lost his intimate young friend. Moreover, the evidence of the documents does not fully explain the venom directed toward Clinton by other career officers and Loyalist leaders (461-462).

Randall mentions "persistent rumors" but does not provide examples, and references intimate letters, but does not provide excerpts. Sure, I could locate their letters online and read them for myself, but why does he not provide any context to substantiate his argument? This would have been the perfect opportunity to do so. There are also no footnotes or endnotes related to the two quotes referenced in the above text, which is a bit bothersome.

Ultimately, this is perhaps the most bizarre speculation I have personally come across (so far!) in my reading and now I'm wondering...what do you think?

[hacvek]

Based on his interviews [Melvyn C.] Goldstein [in 'A Study of the Ldab Ldob'] explained that the dabdos presented a potential channel in Tibet for those who entered the monastic setting and enjoyed the advantages of monkhood but were somewhat deviant and unsuited to a typical monastic lifestyle. Thus becoming a dabdo presented an officially sanctioned path for those of a more aggressive and unruly temperament and as a result the dabdos came to comprise about 10 per cent of the monastic community in the larger monasteries. As mentioned in the previous article discussing the Dalai Lama, the political situation in Tibet prior to the Chinese invasion was not as unified as is commonly portrayed. The larger monasteries operated, by and large, as independent political entities and thus the dabdos populations occasionally functioned for monasteries as a kind of standing army that could be called into service as required.

Something else which distinguished dabdos from other monks was their participation in sporting competitions. Many dabdos trained for and took part in sporting competitions and games. The most famous of these was the Mchong intermonastery competition in Lhasa held every few years between the large monastaries of Sera and Drepung. These competitions required the construction of a special sloped runway and had to be sanctioned by the abbots and officials from both monastaries (involving an official written guarantee that no fighting would be permitted). At the events the dabdos would be arranged into two teams of twenty or so competitors, who would be paired by size and strength, and would then face each other in a series of athletic challenges including a number of long jump and rock tossing events.

Dabdos didn’t just fight other dabdos however they also fought with lay people and in a twist, which will be surprising to most, the most common reason for such fights was due to their “general propensity for homosexuality, and from this, their most infamous characteristic of ‘kidnapping’ young boys, and even adults, for homosexual practices”. The stories Goldstein relates of Tibetan school children banding together after classes to defend themselves with pen knives and barrages of rocks from gangs of marauding dabdos may seem fantastical and certainly don’t accord with the romantic images associated with Tibetan monks in the West but there is every indication that the dabdos penchant for young boys was a widely acknowledged problem in Tibetan society. With all their negative attributes it might seem surprising that the dabdos were tolerated in Tibetan monasteries at all but Goldstein argued that in actual fact the dabdos were “the backbone of the monastery” and to support this he identified several prominent roles they played in Tibetan monastic life: 1. As discussed, the dabdos provided a sanctioned route for those who are unsuited to monastic life but did not wish to leave the privileges of monk hood behind. This also served to effectively convert potential anti-monastic elements of society into pro-monastic elements who were, in their own way, devoted to defending monastic life and its institutions. 2. They provided a source of physical labour. Dabdos typically performed the majority of manual labour in the monastery- repairing the buildings, building houses, transporting goods and making the tea! 3. They served as a protective force and even occasionally as a quasi ‘police force’ for monasteries- policing religious festivals and processions and acting as bodyguards during official trips. 4. They provided an outlet for the inevitable youthful exuberance that accompanied monastic communities which had significant populations of young men. It is also notable that dabdos had a retirement age and typically by the age of 40 even the most infamous ‘punk monks’ would leave behind their violent past and assume more mainstream roles in the monastic community. It’s hard to fault this analysis when the brute fact remains that dabdos remained tolerated and accepted in Tibetan monastic communities for centuries despite their far from ideal behaviour. Yet it should also be noted that many of the well known sayings presented in Goldstein’s articles make it clear that the dabdos themselves recognised that their actions were deviant and that their primary function in monastic life was to act as a support to the more pious monks in the community: Even if the Buddha appeared in the sky, we would not know how to have faith, Even if the intestines of a sentient being were falling out, we would not know how to have compassion. … (We Ldab Ldob’s) are the outer walls, (The other monks) are the inner treasures.

Chris Kavanagh, 'The Punk Monks of Tibet', God Knows What.

[olympic-paris]

THIS DAY IN GAY HISTORY

based on: The White Crane Institute's 'Gay Wisdom', Gay Birthdays, Gay For Today, Famous GLBT, glbt-Gay Encylopedia, Today in Gay History, Wikipedia, and more …

September 13

c.1350 BC – Pharoah Akhenaten, husband of Queen Nefertiti, may also have had a male lover - his younger general, Smenkhare, who later became pharoah himself.

After the discovery in 1922 of the tomb of Tutankhamen (a child of unknown relationship to Akhenaten), Percy Newberry noted that objects had been taken from Smenkhkare's burial chamber to increase the treasure in Tutankhamen's tomb; and among these was a box inscribed on its knobs with "Smenkhkare beloved of Akhenaten" and "Akhenaten beloved of Smenkhkare."

Newberry in his article (1928) also drew attention to a small private stele (upright stone slab) in the Berlin Museum, originally made for a military officer, which showed two kings (identified by their crowns, one the double crown of Upper and Lower Egypt and the other a war crown), nude and sitting side by side. Although the piece is unfinished, with its cartouches blank (ovals which usually contained names), the figures seemed easily identified as Akhenaten and Smenkhkare, the former caressing the youth's chin while Smenkhkare rests his arm around the older king's shoulder.

Two other pieces then also came to mind, a relief of a similar youth pouring wine into Akhenaten's cup (Berlin Museum) and a sculptor's trial piece of Akhenaten kissing a child seated on his lap (Egyptian Museum, Cairo) - and some scholars pondered whether these pairs might also include Smenkhkare. (Actually the former conveys no sexual meaning, and the child in the latter seems very young.)

Subsequently, Egyptologists battled over Akhenaten's sexual biology and orientation. For example, Donald Redford, a Canadian archaeologist, wrote (1984) that he personally disliked "this effete monarch, who could never hunt or do battle," while Cyril Aldred, Keeper of Art and Archaeology at the Royal Scottish Museum in Edinburgh, saw (1968) "homosexual relations between the elder and the younger monarch" pictured on the Berlin stele, taking into account also the same-sex "beloved" titles, and the disappearance of Nefertiti's name from all records near the end of Akhenaten's reign.

c.570 BC – Anacreon, born in Teos, Ionia was one of the nine Lyric Poets of the golden age of Greek poetry. And being the good and manly Greek he was, Anacreon's poems and odes were largely about the beautiful boys he loved or longed for or held in his arms as he cooed lyrical poetry to them. He kisses and tells; he names names: Smerdis, Leukapsis, Smialus, Eurylus and Bathylus, are among the youths he sings to. From his erotic verse there survive striking images of his beloved young men: the peaceful character of Megistes, the eyes of Cleobulus, the blond locks of the Thracian Smerdis.

Anacreon's poetic sentiments and style were widely imitated by Hellenistic and Byzantine Greek writers, though they tended to exaggerate the strain of drunken eroticism and frivolity present in his work.

The structure of his poesy was so popular in its own time that others imitated the eponymously named "Anacreontics." Anacreon was rediscovered by English poets int he 19th century and they swooned for him like a well-oiled boy in the gymnasium. The vogue for Anacreontics in English culminated in the popular song "To Anacreon in Heaven." In 1814, Francis Scott Key wrote "The Star Spangled Banner" on this day, based on the then popular "To Anacreon in Heaven."

1928 – Robert Indiana, best known as the creator of the LOVE series of paintings and sculptures, is an openly gay American artist who has incorporated autobiographical and gay themes within his work.

Indiana was born on September 13, 1928. Oil company manager Earl Clark and homemaker Carmen Watters of New Castle, Indiana, adopted the infant as their only child. Clark attended local schools before studying Russian at Syracuse University. He served in the U.S. Army Air Corps from 1946 to 1949 and then entered the Art Institute of Chicago with the assistance of the GI Bill. He won a scholarship to the University of Edinburgh. He earned an M.F.A. there in 1954 and moved to New York City. Clark rented a loft in an old warehouse on the southernmost tip of Manhattan that became an artistic center because of its cheap rents. There he became part of a group of young artists including Agnes Martin, Lenore Tawney, Jack Youngerman, and Ellsworth Kelly. For a time, he and Kelly were lovers.

Clark changed his surname to Indiana in 1958 to reflect better the American focus of his work. He first attracted notice in 1959 with unpainted assemblages, stenciled with short words and constructed from scavenged wood, pieces of iron, and wheels. Indiana is part of the pop art movement, though he deprecatingly refers to himself as a "sign painter." Like other pop artists he invests commonplace objects and familiar images with new meaning. However, his works occasionally deviate from the pop art norm by evincing intense personal and political engagement. They express concern over social issues and make pointed political statements.

His painting Yield Brother (1962), for example, focuses on the peace movement while his Confederacy series (1965-66), created during the Civil Rights movement, attacks racism in four southern states.

In addition, Indiana tends to be more autobiographical than other pop artists. For example, his EAT/DIE (1962) diptych focuses on the last word, "eat," spoken to him by his mother on her deathbed. The painting also evokes the diner his mother managed, which had the familiar "EAT" sign looming overhead. Indiana also collaborated with gay pop artist Andy Warhol on the 1962 short film Eat.

Indiana has also been influenced by the great American queer writers Walt Whitman, Herman Melville, and Hart Crane. His Melville Tryptich (1961) is considered one of his classic images, and several paintings have been inspired by Crane's poem of longing and gay affiliation, "The Bridge."

In 1964, Indiana received a commission from the Museum of Modern Art for a Christmas card design. He created a picture that emphasized the words Love is God (1964). Typical of pop artists, Indiana serialized the image. In 1966, he exhibited a series of "love" paintings, including a definitive version featuring four red block letters completely filling the canvas against a blue and green background. Each letter fills a quarter of the picture, the L and a tilted O in the top quadrants, the V and E in the bottom quadrants. The LOVE image had an immediate impact, especially among the youth culture of the 1960s. As a painting, graphic design, and a sculpture, it has become one of the most pervasive and widely disseminated images of all time.

In 1973, the U.S. Postal Service commissioned Indiana to do a LOVE postage stamp. The resulting product became the most popular stamp ever issued by the U.S. government.

In 1978, Indiana moved to Vinalhaven, Maine. Working with Vinalhaven Press, he has used the traditional printmaking media of etching and lithography to depict the solitude and isolation of his life in rural Maine. Indiana's more recent works include biographical elements of gay lives, including his own. Indiana continues to accept commissions.

1952 – Randy Jones, born in Raleigh, North Carolina, is an American disco and pop singer and best known as the cowboy from Village People.

He attended Enloe High School in Raleigh, North Carolina and graduated in 1970. While there, he was a founder of Enloe's Drama Club, which was then called "Amicus Scaena"; Latin for "friend of scene" or "friend of theatre". He then studied at North Carolina School of the Arts before moving to New York.

Jones had a marriage ceremony with his boyfriend of 20 years, Will Grega, at a New York club on May 7, 2004. Although the marriage is not legally binding, as gay marriage was still illegal in New York state, Jones commented that: "It's only a matter of time before the courts rule in favor of what's morally right and humanly decent." The pair published a book together in 1996, titled Out Sounds: The Gay and Lesbian Music Alternative.

He released in 2007 a disco and pop solo album Ticket to the World. In 2009, he appeared on Flight of the Conchords in their music video for "Too Many Dicks".

1994 – Layton Williams is an English stage actor, best known as one of the boys who played the title role in Billy Elliot the Musical at the Victoria Palace Theatre in London's West End, and as the character Kylie in the BBC TV series Beautiful People 2008 and 2009. From late 2016, he began playing Angel in the 20th anniversary tour of Rent around the UK. The production, particularly himself, received rave reviews.

After several months of training at the Billy Elliot Academy in Leeds, Williams debuted in Billy Elliot the Musical on 26 February 2007. His training was documented on The Paul O'Grady Show in which he appeared in on 25 May 2007 and then in several morning TV shows, TV interviews, and short clips related to the musical. He is the second non-Caucasian boy, the other being Matthew Koon, and the first mixed race youth to star in the show. He gave his finale performance in the musical on 29 November 2008; Williams is still the second-longest running performer as 'Billy' in the show's history. On 31 January 2009, 2 months after his final performance, Layton appeared on the programme Feelgood Factor on ITV, where he and two other 'Billy' actors, Tanner Pflueger and Tom Holland, performed a specially choreographed version of Angry Dance from Billy Elliot the Musical.

Williams has studied street dance and drama at Carol Godby's Theatre workshop in Bury, Greater Manchester. He also studied ballet at Centre Pointe, Manchester. Williams was awarded a scholarship to Sylvia Young Theatre School in Marylebone, London and stayed there until 2008. He attended Broad Oak High School in Bury, his home town, but now attends the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts. During his time at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts Williams was featured in a children's documentary 'School for Stars' which was broadcast on the children's television channel CBBC.

He was offered the part as young Michael Jackson in the West End Musical Thriller Live where he did a few performances before he outgrew the role. Williams became well known to a TV audience as the character Kylie – acting, dancing, and singing – in the 2008 and 2009 BBC Two comedy Beautiful People, series 1 and 2. Since 2012 he has played Stephen Carmichael in the BBC Comedy Bad Education.

Following that he performed the part of Duane in Hairspray the Musical 2015 - 2016 tour. He has just announced that will will also be in the new 20th anniversary cast of Rent which begins touring in October 2016. Layton is a strong supporter of the charities Stonewall and Ditch the Label.

Williams is openly gay. His grandparents are from Jamaica, but his father was born in the UK.

[tervenby]

theres no point in making initial posts since the change forever ago where new blogs dont come up in search but it bothers me not to so heres a first post

im just a lesbian who has had life long sex incongurency and dysphoria. i first identified as genderqueer/nonbinary when i was about 11 or 12 years old when i first learned about the terms and got really excited because i felt seen - i grew up since i was a really young child referring to myself as both a girl and a boy, and i had physical sex incongruency since basically the start of my memory.

however as the gender fandom evolved and gained popularity, it turning into a giant homophobic mess that wants to erase biological sex, as well as various personal experiences that made me feel like i was doing something wrong by not rejecting any terms to describe my experiences, i dropped any sort of identification with any sort of labels relating to gender. basically everything i found to "work on dysphoria and reconcile with womanhood" just was not things i could relate to, but i stubbornly kept trying anyways. i strongly feel that i was born sex incongruent, and its something that has absolutely shaped my sense of self greatly. after diving deep into trying to make myself into a good little gender critical homosexual, i'm beginning to accept that it might be okay that this has enough impact on me that its okay to integrate that into my branding of myself, as trying to reject these parts of myself has only had negative impacts on my life and degraded my wellbeing. that im allowed to have both my opinions and my sense of self, and figuring out how to actually make my life something more comfortable and earnest to me, however offensive to anyone else that might be. too lazy to tag it since it wont do anything anyways :3

[justgottafinishthischapter]

Writing Worlds: Homosexuality in Historical Settings

As someone who loves period romances and craves romantic relationships between queer men, it’s very alluring to write queer romances set against the backdrop of historical settings and time periods. But, due to the treatment of homosexuality for a lot of our world’s history, it can make it tricky to know the best way to handle this topic. Consider this to be a sister post to go along with my Writing Romance: Courting post. The two go hand-in-hand.

ESCAPISM VS REALISM

The first hurdle is to decide whether your story is an escapist fantasy or favors realism. In an escapist historical queer romance, the queerness is simply not an issue. The prince can flat out tell his parents to arrange his marriage to male suitors, and the only real reaction is his mother immediately listing off good matches for him. The conflict has nothing to do with the fact that the relationship is between two same-sex characters, and would work just as well for a heterosexual romance story. With an escapist fantasy, you can show the Count of Yorkshire navigating the hardships of courting by having multiple young men vying for his hand, or the whirlwind romance as he catches the eye of the Duke of Orleans. And this romance can be just as open and public as any straight relationship. This option would fall under Historical Romanticism, the term used for when historical settings are made to be more idyllic and favorable than they likely were in real life. The only media where this approach tends to show up often is Fantasy, in worlds where homophobia simply never really existed. The Elder Scrolls is one such setting where male gods are married to one another, other gods change genders and pronouns as they like, and your player character is free to romance anyone of any gender as well as adopt without anyone making biggotted remarks.

On the other hand, Realism in a Historical Queer Romance is going to come prepackaged with a lot of tension and angst, as it’s automatically a forbidden romance. Because homophobia is a real issue that real queer people deal with, having queer characters deal with these issues can help your queer audience feel seen as these fictional characters can relate to their own life experiences. It’s also just more historically accurate to have queer lovers needing to tiptoe around behind people’s backs and hoping they don’t get caught. However, due to this prejudice, it’s also very easy for such settings and stories to come off as depressing, and can perpetuate unpleasant tropes in queer media, such as Bury Your Gays, Unhappily Ever After, and downer Nomance endings. Because their relationship isn’t “appropriate” for public eyes, it makes it hard for the couple to have a truly happy ending. For someone who’s tired of dealing with homophobia in their own life, or it just being present in almost all queer media, it can be tedious for those who want an escape to enjoy two guys smooching while looking dapper in period costumes.

Homosexuality and Religion

As a medieval historian, I actually did a full research paper on homosexuality in the middle ages as a part of my final for one of my medieval history classes. I still have the paper saved, so let me share an abridged version. Pagan cultures might have had some issues with homosexuality, such as the Norse favoring the “tops” over the “bottoms”, a sentiment shared by both the Greeks and Romans. However compared to later eras of history, these Pre-Christian cultures had little problems with same-sex relationships. Every Greek God but Ares, Hephaestus, and Hades had at least 1 male lover, Emperor Hadrian had his boy-toy Antinous deified after he drowned in the Nile, and the Sacred Band of Thebes was made up entirely of same-sex lovers. The idea that homosexuality was wrong only emerged with Christianity. Just... not as soon as you’d think. Christianity became a wide-spread faith across Europe around about 300 AD, mostly spread by Constantine’s deathbed conversion to Christianity. However, it would not be until the 12th century that homosexuality as a sin would emerge. This shift first started during what is known as the Medieval Renaissance when Christian theologians like St. Ambrose, St. Augustine, and St. Jerome altered the theological discourse on sin and virtue. Prior to the Medieval Renaissance, the mindset was that simply being Christian and accepting Christ as one’s savior was all it took to get into Heaven. After the Medieval Renaissance, the focus shifted to individual sin and the worthiness of the individual soul. They came to view Earth as sort of a testing grounds or waiting room, and any temporary Earthly pleasure was a wicked temptation sent by Satan to lead men astray. How you did on the test impacted whether you passed or failed. One thing that was declared a sin was fornication without the prospect of procreation. And this went for everyone. Any sexual act that would not result in childbirth was a sin, because you were doing it for the pleasure, not for the purposes of making a baby. Furthermore, any position except Missionary was also sinful, again in an attempt to limit pleasure. Since cis-gendered homosexuals cannot procreate, any homosexual acts were universally labeled as a sin by happenstance. Later in 1179, Peter Comestor proposed to the Third Lateran Council a link between the biblical condemnation of sodomy with explicitly condemning homosexuals, and not just anal fornication as a whole, even stating that clerks found guilty of this act should be removed from office, and laymen should be excommunicated from the church. It is Peter Comestor and his stance on homosexuality that truly caused homosexuality to be labeled as a sin on principal, and is why so many modern Christians still believe homosexual relationships are sinful by nature. However, it’s worth pointing out that the time from when Christianity was a widespread faith in Europe (approx. 300 AD) to the Third Lateran Council (1179) is a span of 879 years. As of this point in 2023, the time between Comestor’s condemnation of homosexuality and the present is only 844 years. Meaning that Christianity has a longer history of tolerating homosexuality than it has condemning it. I say all of this because in any setting where Christianity is not a part of the worldbuilding, there is no reason to have homophobia, unless you replace Christianity with a similarly homophobic fictional religion, as George RR Martin does with the Faith of the Seven in A Song of Ice and Fire. As for Judaism and Islam, I’m at a loss there. My studies didn’t really lead me to those topics, and I can’t offer much insight there.

Handwaving Escapist Diversity

Let’s be real, we can’t even cast People of Color in fantasy stories without racists crapping their pants, so unfortunately, we’re going to face similar problems having queer couples openly courting each other in a historical setting. But, there are a few ways around this where we can have our cake and eat it too without the homophobes being able to hide behind “historic accuracy” as a reason to have a problem with queer romances in historical periods. It’s all about the genre. Let’s look at some of the genres we can use.

Historical Fiction: This is the base form. Any period piece is going to be historical fiction. However, Historical Fiction comes in a wide array. Historical Romanticism is the lighter approach, simply putting make-up on the era to make it more palatable and appealing. Think of Bridgerton where the dresses are shaped historically and the characters behave historically, but the Queen is a woman of color, and the dress materials are far more colorful and bright than they would have been at the time. It’s still the Regency era, just with a bit of rouge. On the other hand, there’s Alternate History. Historical settings where a major deviation has occurred in the timeline. Whether the Roman Empire never fell, the British crushed the American Revolution and took over the entire world, Christianity never caught on and the Roman Pantheon is the most widespread belief system, or the industrial revolution exploded even harder, resulting in a more Steampunk vibe. A major upheaval has altered the face of history, and your queer romance is set in an utterly changed world with a different timeline.

Steampunk: As I just touched on, your world can be more technologically advanced, however, Steampunk can also be a genre for completely fictional worlds, giving you a great way to have a story set in an era with an 1880s - 1910s aesthetic, but easily exist as it own world with its own history and values where homosexual relationships aren’t a problem. Steampunk is also the most optimistic and aesthetically oriented of the science-fiction -Punk genres, compared to the much bleaker and more cynical outlooks of Cyberpunk, Diesel Punk, and Gothic Punk.

Gaslamp Fantasy: Basically, Steampunk but with fantastical elements. It keeps that late Victorian - Edwardian aesthetic, but adds magic, faeries, dragons, vampires, etc. Now, Steampunk leans more Sci-fi, while Gaslamp Fantasy is more well.... Fantasy, so Gaslamp Fantasy does tend to lose some of the technological aspects of Steampunk, but it can also overlap with Magitech, a subgenre where machinery is powered and propelled by magical energy. So, you can very well have a Steampunk Gaslamp Fantasy where all of the steam and gears and machinery is powered by magic. It’ still Steampunk, so long as that train is powered by shoveling magic energy crystals into the furnace, instead of coal. Howl’s Moving Castle is a good example of how the two can coexist. There are normal trains as we see in Sophie’s town, but we also see Howl’s castle which can move because of Calcipher, a fire demon that needs to constantly eat a fuel source of one kind or another. The world is full of witches, magic, and curses, but there’s also muskets, trains, airplanes, zeppelins, and a castle that spews steam and smoke as it wanders the countryside.  

Paranormal Romance: Especially common with Vampires, but the fallout of Twilight and Alpha/Beta/Omegas in pop culture has also led to a rising interest in Werewolf stories, and a recent trend has also swept Faeries into the pop culture spotlight as well. All three offer stories where one or both of your characters is an immortal (or very long-lived) individual. Perhaps their world is homophobic now, but when they met and fell in love, it was perfectly acceptable. Perhaps being alive for 800 years piqued the main character’s curiosity and they decided to give it a try. The long history of homosexuals being demonized has led to a large percentage of queer people identifying with the monsters and villains of media, causing them to see themselves in the hated monsters, demons, and vampires that threaten the heterosexual heroes of old.

Historical Fantasy: For everything else that’s not within that Victorian-Edwardian window, Historical Fantasy has you covered. From Cyclopes and Sirens in Ancient Greece to Dragons and Goblins in Medieval France, or a mermaid ending up in an Americana freak show, this pretty much covers ever kind of fantasy romance in a historical setting that’s not covered by Paranormal Romance or Gaslamp Fantasy.

Renaissance Punk: It’s like Steampunk, but the world’s technology resembles the contraptions of Leonardo Da Vinci, as opposed to the clockwork, gears, and steam aesthetic plastered onto the turn of the 20th century that Steampunk offers. Also called Da Vinci Punk.

Space Punk: If you’re wanting to lean more Sci-fi, you can do Space Punk. Think Treasure Planet, though I could also call that Sail Punk. It has a very Victorian clothing and technological aesthetic, but then space is full of a breathable Ethereum, and even Doctor Doppler’s “space suit” looks closer to an old-timey diver’s suit. But the ship has solar sails, the mast charges up with a power source that propels the ship into space, lockets project holograms of still photographs, cybernetic prosthetics are technologically advanced, and aliens are a common sight, even for the poorest commoner.

Same-Sex Courting for Escapist Romance

I touched on this in my Writing Romance: Courting post, but I’ll cover it again because it’s especially applicable here. The rules of courting in the 1800s relied heavily on gender roles. So, how does one make sense of courting rules when the couple are the same sex? The basic rule of thumb is that whoever is higher in status is the one to be chased, while the one of lower class does the chasing. If a Duke is looking for a husband, does the Duke chase Viscounts or do Viscounts chase the Duke? Always, the Viscounts chase the Duke. A Duke is a valuable husband, a prize catch those Viscounts would want to have. What if the romance is between two men of equal class? Two Dukes falling in love? The one who would take the more passive role is likely to be whichever is higher in the line of succession. During the courting phase, an elligible queer bachelor is likely to recieve many gentlemen callers. They would come to the bachelor’s house where his family could keep an eye on him, and judge his prospects. They would bring gifts and trinkets, and sit in the tea room, sewing room, drawing room, or whatever room is used to entertain guests. Gentlemen callers would then talk with the bachelor, recite poetry, play the piano, or whatever else they could to impress the bachelor and his family. Again, as I said before, the one being visited by gentlemen callers is whoever is higher up in the chain of nobility. The Duke’s family is going to scrutinize every gentleman who calls on their son, while the Baron’s family is going to urge him to call on every queer man who outranks him. The other thing to keep in mind is inheritance. The first-born son inherits everything, so a second-born son or third-born son will get nothing from his father, or best case scenario, he will get a small fraction of the family fortune from his father or older brother. In order for these younger sons to stay in the lifestyle they were raised in, they will have to marry someone who is coming into his fortune. In a setting where women can inherit her father’s entire estate, a lesbian would function the exact same as a gay man. Ergo, any queer romantic lead who is not inheriting his father’s full estate must seek a first-born son who will inherit his father’s estate. Meanwhile, if your protagonist is a first-born son, he is far more likely to be chased by the younger sons of distinguished families. Finally, when it comes to the social season and courting at dances, queer nobles would likely wear something to distinguish themselves from the heterosexual nobles at the party. Something to let the other guests know their preference in dance partner. That way, gentlemen know not to ask the Baroness of Agincourt to dance, but that the Duke of Orleans is all too eager to receive male attention.

Lavender Marriages in Realist Romances

A lavender marriage is when a queer person marries someone of the opposite sex to disguise their homosexual dalliances, such as Renly Baratheon marrying Margaery Tyrell, or Laenor Valyrian marrying Rhaenyra Targaryen. In these instances, the woman knew her husband was queer and was willing to work with him to keep the secret. However, sometimes the wife wouldn’t know, and the husband was keeping his sexuality a secret from everybody. However, it was usually hard for a noble to keep his dalliances completely hidden from the court, as in both of these cases, both Renly and Laenor were well-known around court to be fanciful of male attention. Everyone typically knows the wedding is a sham, but tend to turn a blind eye to it regardless. I know I’ve been using male examples this whole post, but this does also work with lesbian romances. I believe the term is still lavender marriage with a lesbian, but I could be mistaken.

Actual Homosexuality in Historical Time Periods

Scholars debate the exact nature of their relationship, but in Arthurian Myth, King Galehaut is conquering his way across Arthur’s Kingdom when he challenges Arthur to a duel for the throne of Camelot. However, upon seeing Sir Lancelot, Galehaut offers to concede to Arthur if he’ll introduce him to Lancelot. From then on, Galehaut and Lancelot became Very Close Special Guy Friends, and it’s suspected that the pair might be lovers, or at least that Galehaut is in love with Lancelot.

Leonardo Da Vinci was involved with one of his male models, Pietri Bandielli, who Da Vinci used as a model for Jesus. Which also means, If you pray to the white version of Jesus with the little beard and long brown hair, congratulations! You’re worshiping a gay Italian male model that used to have sex with Leonardo Da Vinci.

Hans Christian Andersen fell in love with the son of his financier, Edvard Collins. But, when Collins became engaged and later married to Henriette Tybjerg, a heartbroken Andersen wrote the story of The Little Mermaid as an allegory for his unrequited love. Collins was the handsome prince who didn’t return the mermaid’s feelings, Henriette was the Temple Girl who stole the mermaid’s love, and Andersen himself was the mermaid, unable to verbalize her true feelings, and suffering great pain just to be near the one she loves.

It’s mostly speculation, but it’s believed that Richard I of England had a clandestine homosexual relationship with Phillip II of France. The majority of evidence comes from one particular courtier’s writings who described them as eating from the same dish and not being separated by their beds at night. However, it’s hard to say if this is evidence of a homosexual relationship, or just the flowery prose writing of the time describing a very close bromance.

Edward II of England had little interest in war. Hoping to toughen up his son, Edward’s father assigned a squire to Edward that excelled in tournaments, Piers Gaveston. However, this backfired spectacularly, as Edward fell in love with Piers. Gaveston flaunted his sway over the king, being so bold as to wear royal purple and the queen’s jewelry during Edward’s coronation. Gaveston was hunted down and beheaded by a group of barons, and Edward himself was killed with a red-hot poker shoved up his backside.

King James I of England was a well-known bisexual, even having a secret passageway linking his bedchambers with that of George Villiers. James’ male lovers experienced royal favoritism and protection, as James absolved one male lover for poisoning a political rival, and twice protecting Villiers from impeachment for incompetency. Following James’ death, Villiers was struck through by a sword.

Anne Lister was a noblewoman who often dressed in masculine clothing and kept a coded diary which recounted her many and varied lesbian affairs over her lifetime. Lister even earned the nickname Gentleman Jack, and is often regarded as the First Modern Lesbian.

Pirate ships were one of the few places where gay marriage was legitimate. Pirate captains could perform marriage ceremonies, and marriages between male crewmates was not uncommon, even having rules about sharing property and distrubution of goods among crew members with a married couple on-board. As well as the distribution of property following the death of a same-sex spouse.

While we know that brothels and prostitution has existed since Ancient Greece, in the 1700s, it was possible to find a Molly House. A house which featured male prostitutes who catered to male clients.

Women were not believed to have sex drives, so when two women loved each other, they were often called “bosom buddies”, and two women living together without a man in the house was called a Boston Marriage.

In the medieval era, it was believed that a woman’s womb was naturally cold and had to be kept warm with regular activity. If the woman was unmarried, the womb was to be kept warm by hand. But since using her own hands would be sinful, it often fell to the woman’s female servants to do the deed.

Men and women often existed in entirely disconnected social spheres. For a man, he would go to work where he would only work with men, after work he would go to a local bar or club that was exclusively for gentlemen, and following dinner, he would often retire to a private room in his home or another man’s home to sit, smoke, and talk with his male colleagues. Even within a single house, men would retire to the gentlemen’s lounge to smoke, while women would depart to the sewing room, tea room, or drawing room to have afternoon tea with the other ladies. As men would spend their entire days solely in the company of men, and the same for women, many men and women only spent time together in public spaces, during meals, and when going to bed. Even then, it was not uncommon to see households where the man and woman had separate bedchambers, and the woman would only sleep in the man’s bedroom when he desired sexual congress. Even the Palace of Versailles had separate chambers for the king and queen. This gave queer couples plenty of time to sneak around without anyone being the wiser.

This to Keep in Mind

One of the biggest issues behind the AIDS epidemic was the promiscuous nature of gay lovers in the 1970s. Because gay men had to be discreet, they would often have anonymous relations in public spaces like bathhouses and bars. This combination of unsafe sex practices and anonymous lovers caused STDs to run rampant through the community, and allowed the AIDS epidemic to have a devastating impact on the queer community.

In Victorian great houses, the footmen were effectively the “face” of the manor’s servants, so height and attractiveness was favored when hiring them. As such, footmen make for excellent romantic interests in a historical time period, since they’re required to be attractive to be hired.

The mafia has a long history of working with and supporting the LGBT community. In the 1920s, nightclubs in the black districts of Harlem would host drag balls, these events being known as Harlem Nights. The mafia helped these groups to meet without police interference for a kickback fee. Even the Stonewall Inn had Mafia protection. In a world where homosexuality is still seen as a sin, think about what groups are willing to turn a blind eye in the interest of profit.

Homosexuals were among those rounded up the Nazi Party during the Holocaust. Just as Jews were forced to wear the Star of David on their clothes, so too were homosexuals marked with a pink triangle. The Nazi Party also destroyed research on gender and sexuality, which destroyed a lot of evidence that had been gathered of queer existence up to that point in time. Today, the Pink Triangle is among the reclaimed symbols used by the queer community.

Queer people found ways to signal to one another. At different points in time, the visual cues have included wearing green ties, having a red carnation in their lapels, and in the 1970s, a bandana in the back pocket was a common way of indicating someone was a homosexual, and the color would even further indicate what they were looking for. Many modern slang words even started out as gay code words so that gay people could talk in public without drawing attention to themselves. Codes like “buns” for butt are still in use today, but got their start as codewords to keep gay conversations undercover.

While we often remember the Red Scare of the 1950s, we often don’t mention that there was also a Lavender Scare at the same time, which hunted down homosexuals just as the Red Scare hunted for communists. It was the belief that homosexuals would be more likely to undermine American policies or spread information to enemy nations, and thus had to be kept down.

Rich men often kept “actresses”, paying for apartments for them, paying for their food, drink, fun, costumes, and whatever else. If they really were an actress or otherwise a struggling entertainer, it was not unheard of for the wealthy benefactor to pay to get the actress roles, pay for tutors and lessons, or even buying them an entire theater. It’s not so hard to believe that a wealthy gentleman could keep a male model, actor, or artist in good stead, especially because artists in particular flourished in periods where rich people would sponsor and commission artists to paint for them. And this can work for either type of story, as a husband or wife would be equally annoyed to learn that the Duke of Orleans is keeping a young actor on the south side.

Gif Sourcing:

1. Bridgerton (2020 - present) 2. Game of Thrones (2011-2019) 3. Mary, Queen of Scots (2018) 4. Downton Abbey (2010-2015) 5. Victoria (2016) 6. Cloud Atlas (2012) 7. A Place to Call Home (2013-2018) 8. Mary Shelley (2017) 9. Brokeback Mountain (2005)

[shinobi-illuminator]

Cursed Child redo

Just started over from scratch since our new bad guys are from the Lovecraftian school Miskatonic in the US. Plus, give us some Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff rep!

James Sirius Potter: Eldest son of Harry and Ginny. A braggart who is proud of the legacy he holds and wants to be the best-- especially in Quidditch! As a result he assumes the other houses are not the best and he picks on others like Albus and Scorpius. As a result of this bullying, Albus lashed out and cursed off his eye. Harry was furious, but Albus narrowly escaped getting expelled and was punished through alternative means. James was beside himself, he wasn't always like this. A combination of pressure to be perfect and his closeted homosexuality were something that was weighing heavily on him. Then his father went on a mission to the US to uncover the secrets to a strange school called Miskatonic University where allegedly students of a wizard or muggle background were enlisted together. But something wasn't right, students and aurors alike were going missing.... and Harry Potter hasn't returned either. James enlisted himself under Ilvermorny's exchange program in hopes of finding his father. However the cocky Gryiffindor was going to be in for something much bigger than mere kidnappings.

Albus Severus Potter: Middle child of the Potter family. Albus was worried about what house he'd be sorted into. Gryffindor or Slytherin. But the hat noticed how much the young boy would over think about everything and spat him out in Ravenclaw. Albus was stunned and felt unsure, nothing was going to plan and he worried if something was wrong. Feeling lost too he befriended Scorpius Malfoy. Despite their families complicated history he found Scorpius to be a good emotional rock in his life while they both related to things not going to plan. Eventually they embraced their house despite the earfuls they got from their families. One day Albus had heard about a portrait that was left empty. That portrait was of Severus Snape, dubbed hero of Hogwarts much like Dumbledore and immortalized. His painting was supposed to be a sign of good luck now that the curse on Defense Against the Dark Arts class was lifted. Feeling the need to meet one of his namesakes he tested fate and introduced himself to the painting hoping Snape would appear. At first he was disappointed and was about to leave when suddenly a voice told him to stay put. Snape finally came into his frame. He was amused that Harry had named one of his sons after him, even with a middle name. Albus would confide in Snape's portrait and share his thoughts and troubles to him. In time he saw Snape more like a father than Harry. He was easier to talk to and relate to. He battled with worries that he wasn't living up to his father's expectations. Snape softened up around him and would give him words of encouragement, especially after he accidentally cursed off Jame's eye. As soon as his father went missing-- followed by his brother, Albus felt the need to rescue them both to prove himself. But he would not be going alone.

Lily Luna Potter (Lily-lu for short): The youngest of the Potter family. Taking after her granny, Lily loves to make friends and saw the good in just about everyone she meets. Her best friend being the demi-giant Hibiscus Hagrid. At home she acts as the peacemaker to try and sooth the heavy arguments James and Ablus get into. The results are mixed, given that she's the youngest and seldom anyone listens to the youngest of the family. That is until she plays her wizard lute. She quickly found she had a talent for music and this would make everyone in the room feel better. She can't stand conflict and feels music helps a lot. With her brothers going abroad to find their father she and her friends are now faced with the equally scary task of uncovering students from the US trying to body snatch hogwarts students.

Teddy Lupin: So of the late Remus Lupin and Tonks. Godson to the potters. In his youth he'd frequent between his grandma's domain and the Potters. Until his grandma's untimely death, Harry and Ginny took Teddy as their own. He became a sort of foster big brother to James, Albus, and Lily. He was chill and liked making others laugh, but he knew how to settle conflicts over a nice batch of chocolate. He graduated from Hogwarts and is now the head of Hufflepuff house acting as a TA for the new Professor in Defense Against the Dark Arts, Trocar the vampire. During his time at Hogwarts he fell in love with Victoire and upon graduation they're now engaged to be married soon.

Hibiscus Hagrid: Daughter of Rubeus Hagrid and Olympe Maxine. The two half giants were on and off again until after the conflict of the wizarding war blew over and they got married. Hibiscus was one of the only half giant students going to Hogwarts. Her mother would fly back to France for her school and Hagrid would still tend to the beasts on the castle grounds. Hibiscus like her papa loved animals. When trying to find a familiar she couldn't pick one and ended up with 5. 2 cats, 2 owls and a toad. Seeing as Hagrid's house is close by she'd always trade out her critter between classes. That way no one feels left out. She'd always make time to have tea with her papa and soon Lily-- or Lily-lu she'd nickname her would come along. One day she discovered a dragon's egg in a poacher's camp and it hatched. Unsure of what to do she kept the little dragon in her pocket, seeing as it was the size of a salamander at the time. She'd feed it marshmallows to help keep her belly full for classes. She named the dragon Willow.... and Willow was getting bigger. She dreaded the day she'd have to turn the little orphan dragon loose.

Rose Weasley: Daughter of Hermione and Ron. Being the daughter of the minister of magic, she expected nothing else than to be in the exact house her parents were in. To her horror she ended up in Slytherin. She about had a fit, but the hat dubbed her worthy as one and she was ushered into her house. Rose thought this was the worst thing ever and worried how her parents would react that their witty girl didn't get into Gryffinfdor. But as it turned out she found some of her cousins there too. She became friends with Erin who helped her adjust and see things from a different point of view. Slytherin house was very different from what is was in the past. Where as she heard stories about pure blood extremists she found very clever and insightful people. Perhaps not all Slytherins were bad.... But her prejudice flared up when she saw her cousin befriending a Malfoy. She'd shout and tell Scorpius to back off thinking he was going to send Albus down a dark path, but slowly found that wasn't the case. Once again Rose began to contemplate that in her fears of finding bullies she ended up being one. She eased up on her temper and found a healthy spot to be in over time. But as soon as her uncle Harry went missing she turned to her father. Ron was once the Watson to Harry's Sherlock, they were a great team until Ron got into an accident and a dark wizard got away. He stepped down to recover and would work with his brother at Zonko's Joke shop. Once his leg healed Ron felt like he had the fight taken out of him. Was he just slowing everyone down? Should he just be a stay at home dad and watch the kids? The man was in a state of doubt and it sparked some tension in his and Hermione's marriage. Rose worried if she screwed up it would make her parents get divorced. It wasn't true, but it worried her to death. Something her little brother didn't seem to catch. Still she got word about Harry going missing and told her father she, James, Albus, and Scorpius had to go and find him. Ron was hesitant to get his daughter and nephews involved, but he vowed he'd watch over them and bring back Harry Potter. He could finally prove himself he wasn't an old fart who lost his spark.

Hugo Weasley: Son of Hermione and Ron. The scruffy joker of a boy became fast friends with his cousin James. He'd act as his hype man at every turn. But when he wasn't in James's shadow he was tending to his house elf friend, Yo-yo. After his mother freed the house elves from bondage, there had been a new generation of house elves who were born free and wore clothes like the wizards and goblins. Yo-yo couldn't get a wand-- didn't need one really, but he wanted to go to Hogwarts like all the other wizards. So Hugo had him hide in his book bag so he could see what wizard life was like. Hugo despite being a touch naive himself felt the need to protect Yo-yo. This would get them into danger sometimes.

Scorpius Malfoy: Son of Draco and Astoria. Scorpius was the first Malfoy in generations to end up anyway else but Slytherin. Given his family's reputation Scporius is used to having people assume the worst in him. But seeing as he got sorted into Ravenclaw he was hoping to prove everyone wrong. And to kick it all off he befriended Albus. The two got into Astronomy and would spend hours at night trying to spot the constellations in their dorm. Scorpius was cool headed and clever and as soon as Harry went missing he jumped at the chance to help his best friend. He has a crush on Rose, but it's gonna take some time before she'll like him back.

Griselda Trelawney: Daughter of Sybill Trelawney and Omar Amid. Her father died when she was little and her mother supposedly saw visions of something dreadful befalling Griselda. From her two colored eyes, the star birthmarks on her back, even her beauty mark. All of these were supposed to be signs for different outcomes. As a result it left her with a lot of depression. No one could tell if her mom was telling the truth or was just old and senile. She confided in her partner Dominique who could somehow pull her out of her funk and be happy for once.

Hilda Longbottom: Daughter of Neville Longbottom and Hannah Abbot. Being the daughter of the current Herbology teacher and the Land lady of the Leaky Cauldron, Hilda became a feisty Gryffindor. She was aware of folks poking fun at her softy of a dad-- despite him slaying Nagini-- and would sick her cane toad familiar at students she felt needed to be taught a lesson. She didn't care if she got detention, she had 0 tolerance for bullying. Hugo has a huge crush on her.

Lysander and Lorcan Scamander: Sons of Luna Lovegood and Rolf Scamander. Arguably the new Weasley twins in spirit. Despite being sorted in different houses the twins act in sync almost like stoners. Being related to the famous Newt Scamander they both gravitate to the care for magical beasts. They want to be wizard vets when they graduate.

Molly and Lucy Weasley: Daughters of Percy and Audrey. Also fellow Weasley's who got sorted into Slytherin. Molly is their current prefect and head girl, she sets strict rules and expects everyone to follow them. Her twin Lucy, being a fellow prefect is more lax about the rules and even encourages them to be broken. This results in massive heated debates between the two sisters.

Erin Chang Campbell: Daughter of Cho Chang and a Muggle, Mr. Campbell. Erin was a quiet girl who was gifted with potions. She helped befriend Rose while she got situated at Slytherin and showed her Slytherin wasn't so bad to be in.

Victoire, Dominique, and Louis Weasley: Victoire is a Ravenclaw graduate and fiance to Teddy Lupin. She acts as an assistant for Minerva McGonagall. She's an animagus who can turn into a swan. Her siblings and cousins would joke she's the swan princess from Swan Lake. Dominique is a Gryffindor senior and is transitioning from girl to boy. Currently dating Griselda. And Louis is a werewolf. He accidentally got bitten by his father but tries to not let that hold him back. Best friends with Jahnu.

Freddie and Roxanne Weasley: Son and Daughter of George and Angelina. Two cunning pranksters who are trying to bring some fun back into Gryffindor. They befriended Peeves and are on the lookout for their uncle's ghost who apparently haunts around the clock tower. They hope to find him so their father can have some closer.

Harbeth and Apus Finnegan: Sons of Seamus Finnegan and Lily Moon. Both are of Irish and Korean decent. Apus loves food and wants to work at Honeydukes when he graduates. Biggest of all he wants to add more flavors from Korea to his confections to make brand new wizard candy. However his confections still have a lot of progress to go. When they're food, they're really good-- when they're bad things tend to go BOOM. Harbeth is his designated taste tester, often accident prone but willing to try-try again. Both are on the Hufflepuff Quidditch team. Both have a tendency to raid the Hogwarts kitchens while no on is looking.

Freya Onai Wood: Daughter of Oliver Wood and best keeper in Ravenclaw's Quidditch team.

Jahnu Thomas: Son of Dean Thomas and Parvati Patel, best quiddich player for Slytherin house and rival to James.

[ineffable-rohese]

Good Omens, or the Disruption of Gay = Death

CW: historical homophobic violence and death

@queerfables recently wrote an excellent meta on slash fiction and the concept of "Taking Away the Glass". I had some thoughts, which I was going to add as a reblog, but this seems to spiraled away from the original post, so I'm posting this on its own, but I'm referencing their ideas and references, so maybe go read that first.

This is especially for those of you who are, say, under 25 (which is apparently most of Tumblr), and who haven't had much opportunity to learn queer history. Let me say, I'm not a queer historian. I am a queer who has lived through recent history and can reasonably clearly remember the last at least 35 years of it, and I was fortunate to have had schooling that did include some earlier queer history and didn't shy away from queer topics. (I recognize now what a revolutionary bit of teaching that was.)

I also want to acknowledge that I'm writing from a place of relative privilege, as a white cis woman living in a progressive part of North America, and that some of what is history for me is still life for others. I am speaking from my own personal experiences here -they are by no means universal. But I think it's important for us to share our stories, so this is part of mine.

When You're Dying in America, at the End of the Millenium

Fables quotes a video by thingswithwings as saying "Homosexuality, or just loving touch between two people of the same gender, is equivalent to death in this media narrative." In the 1980s and 1990s, when Good Omens was written and first published, that wasn't a metaphor. When I was a baby proto-queer, what I heard about being gay was that it killed you.

My formative memories of what it meant to be gay weren't pride parades or even riots. It was gay men dying by the thousands and governments and religious leaders ignoring them at best, and welcoming their deaths at worst. To be gay, and a gay man in particular, was to be marked for death. It wasn't until a straight white boy who got it from a blood transfusion died that AIDS became something that "normal" people had any empathy for and governments really started to act.

The gay representation I rember in the media as a moderately sheltered child from the 80s and 90s with left-of-center middle class white parents was news about AIDS, Philadelphia (death from AIDS), Ellen (cancelled after she came out), and eventually RENT (desperately trying not to die of AIDS or capitalism). I knew a very small handful of out gay adults, and no trans adults at all.

My first time being in a large group of queer people was a vigil for Matthew Sheppard, who had been beaten and left to die tied to a fence. I remember being terrified. I wasn't out yet. I knew people who hated us might be there, this group of mostly young queer people gathering with candles to cry over a boy we'd never met, and over the many others who had died just for being what we were. I'd never even kissed a girl yet. I only knew my queerness in relation to death.

In the last decade or so of the 20th century, being queer was about grasping any bit of joy you could from a world that very clearly would prefer you were dead. It was defiance and anger and fear every time you held your love's hand, or kissed them in public. My second date with the person who would become my spouse was interrupted by some dude in a truck shouting slurs at us was we walked down a quiet street. We laughed it off - no one had thrown anything, or beaten us, so it wasn't a big deal. It should have been a big deal, but we couldn't let it be. When you're marked for misery and death, you can't let the little things get to you. You just hold each other's hands as tightly as you can and defiantly keep walking.

An Angel and a Demon and Immortality

Good Omens was written during some of the darkest days of the AIDS epidemic (which is still ongoing, by the way), before there were effective treatments, when gay = death. It is a mainstream, mass-market book. It wouldn't be shelved in the "Gay and Lesbian" section at the book store, it would be shelved with humour, or possibly fantasy.

And yet, here we have these two beings. An angel and a demon, with an unlikely friendship, and who are very clearly written as gay. Or, at least, as percieved as gay by outside observers. Aziraphale in particular is (in one of my favorite lines) "gayer than a tree full of monkeys on nitrous oxide," and "THE southern pansy" (self-proclaimed). Together, they are "consenting bicycle repairmen" (Neil Gaiman's explanation for context) who Anathema was safe with the whole time.

Whether you caught the subtextual shippyness of their relationship (and to be honest, I only did a little when I first read it), they were very obviously written as precieved-gay characters, in a story where their precieved gay-ness wasn't the cause of their downfall. Yes, an 11 year old calls Aziraphale a faggot. But he doesn't get arrested or beaten of killed - he just gets covered in cake. And he loves cake! The attempted insult just rolls off him like water off a duck's back, because he has no pressure not to be visibly gay.

Becuase, see, unlike us humans, unlike his gay contemporaries, he is not marked for death. He's an angel. He's immortal. Even more, he was made by God, exactly how God wanted, presumably, and that is intelligent, English, and so very gay.

Niel and Terry are saying so much here. You can be gay and loved. You can be gay and have a deep relationship. You can be gay because that's how God made you. You can be gay forever, through all time, with someone beside you, finding joy in your life.

You can be gay and not die. You can be gay and live.

[hesbianspock]

“The (Dublin Castle Scandal of 1884) took on overtones of English immorality versus Irish morality. … Hyde argues that the scandal, and belief that homosexuality was rampant in official circles in Ireland, did much to discredit the British government of the day. Irish Nationalists, especially conservative Catholics, would have been left with the image of British officials, regarded as imperialist occupiers of their island, as immoral and dissolute perverts, sexually preying on young men in Dublin” (Aldrich, Colonialism and Homosexuality).

so, upon reading this, my first thought was obviously fucking outlander.

outlander simultaneously utilizes the traditional homophobic trope of the homosexually-inclined predator and the politically useful historical impression of homosexuality as a symptom of the immoral and dissolute presence of colonizing english perverts while also plainly taking pleasure from this homosexual imperialism, from the opportunity to be voyeur to this predation and physical abuse of Virtuous Celtic Boys while denying them the chance to explore their own sexuality in the wake of such trauma at the price of an englishwoman’s temporary sexual dissatisfaction — an opportunity well-afforded to englishmen enduring the sort of homoerotic abuse and discipline rampant in the english army that undoubtedly contributed to randall’s unseen development into the character known to us.

the audience is intended not only to take voyeuristic sexual pleasure from jamie’s repeated sexual harassment and assault — gabaldon has said as much herself — but also to believe that such sexually charged punishment as jamie takes throughout his life (and metes out, once, to claire) is necessary and justifiable. jamie’s descriptions of his repeated childhood beatings at the hands of his older male relatives are not criticized nor are they even questioned by claire, who laughs at her husband’s humorous descriptions of the abuse that, when meted upon her own english body, she threatens to kill him over. randall reaches orgasmic pleasure at the lash ripping jamie’s primitive and colonized skin, claire laughs at stories of a switch bruising his virtuous body, and the audience is to thrill at the thought of both.

upon learning that randall propositioned jamie prior to these floggings, claire’s expressed horror is not at the fact that randall is a sadistic rapist — in fairness to her, she has been made well aware of that fact already — but that randall is engages in homosexual behavior. she gives no comment on jamie’s apparently relaxed attitude to homosexuality in general (“i considered it” “my father wouldn’t have given the sodomy a care”), but this can hardly be described as the result of an enlightened attitude. she describes frank — a character immediately queered by his profession as historian/antiquarian, a field traditionally viewed as the realm of the homosexual — as having “hands white and hairless as a girl’s,” an unfavorable and gay-coded comparison with jamie’s undeniable traditional masculinity. her reaction to jamie’s repeated torture and rape is one of selfishness — she is concerned for him, but her concern primarily expresses itself in relation to his resulting inability or unwillingness to re-engage her in their marriage bed. out of this desire to have him retake this traditional heterosexual role, to bend to her will as his english wife, claire deliberately triggers him with details of his rape he had confided to her. his role as the virtuous scottish youth preyed upon by the deviant english homosexual is to provide for claire, the englishwoman’s, voyeuristic and maternal pleasure — when his lasting trauma from being the subject of imperial violence interferes with her sexual desires, she chooses to revictimize him in pursuit of her own pleasure. both she and randall utilize the colony of scotland as a frontier within which to enact sexual desires considered deviant and forbidden in england on the bodies of a subjugated populace.

in conclusion outlander is not self aware about any of this and is just breathtakingly imperialist, anti-scottish, AND homophobic all at once.

[wen-kexing-apologist]

Bengiyo's Queer Cinema Syllabus

Had a busy couple weeks, but here I am, returning to @bengiyo’s queer cinema syllabus. I am currently working my way through Unit 4: Heartbreak Alley, the totally light-hearted, definitely not agonizing section of the syllabus where I get to watch countless acts of violence be committed against queer people. Thank fuck I have Lesbians waiting for me at the end of this unit. The films in Unit 4 are: Bent (1997), Strange Fruit (2004), Boys Don’t Cry (1999), Brokeback Mountain (2005), Parting Glances (1986), Philadelphia (1993), The Living End (1992), Holding the Man (2015), Jeffery (1995), and Boys on the Side (1995).

Today I will be writing about

Strange Fruit (2004) dir. Kyle Schickner

[Run Time: 88 min, Available: had to purchase a DVD, Language: English]

Content Warning: lynching, racism, homophobia, rape, violence/gore

Summary: A New York attorney must return home to Louisiana to investigate the death of a childhood friend who, like Boyals himself, was both black and gay. 

Cast: 

Kyle Faulcon as William Boyals

Berlinda Tolbert as Emma Ayers

__

Well.

First of all, I guess, a thank you to @bengiyo is in order for discovering that Strange Fruit was available on DVD so that I was actually able to watch it. This has joined the likes of Mysterious Skin on my ‘definitely something I needed to watch, but can probably never watch again” list. 

I want to warn anyone that is considering finding this film and watching it that it starts with a lynching. I…. I’m not sure I have the words. Not to get too real on main, but I have some pretty major trauma related to hangings, and I am just desperately glad that I did not watch this last week, as that was the anniversary and I am not confident I would have been able to finish this film. As it is I have been sitting in complete and utter silence since finishing the movie because a) holy shit b) the rope burns on his neck c) holy shit. 

How do you watch a film like this knowing that lynchings still happen all the time? How do you watch a film where a gay Black man in a small, rural country town is brutally beaten, raped with a branch, and hung from a tree on screen while knowing that just last week a Black man was found hanging from a tree in a small, rural country town? For a movie that was filmed on a budget of only $250,000 (according to Wikipedia, the director was offered 6 million if he didn’t make the lead character both Black and gay and he turned it down) it is absolutely packed with very important, nuanced social commentary around queerness, around race, around homophobia in general and homophobia within the Black community specifically, around how the police uphold power, around the relationship between intellectualism and the South, and around how the queer community survives. 

(sorry for the abysmal photo quality, there are no photos of this film and I watched it on my TV so I was not able to take screen shots)

For as cheaply as it was made it packs a motherfucking punch let me tell you, watching Kelvin scream for help, call for his mother, was just gut wrenching. Watching William desperately plead with the Black men who were lynching him not to do so because they were perpetuating the cycle of violence done by white men to black men not that long ago. How some Black men were fine with that because Kelvin, because William were faggots. How others killed themselves when the dust settled, understanding the realities of what they had done. The speech at the grocery story between Mrs. Ayers and Mrs. Boyals about how desperately Mrs. Ayers had wanted to disown Kelvin for being gay and how grateful she was that she hadn’t because she lost Kelvin too young. 

The way small town loyalties and small town fears intersect, Matthew being so grateful that William protected him all the way back in fifth grade that he went against the orders of the other cops to tell William everything he knew, and how he was so afraid to be considered a homosexual if he stood up for a queer man. The way Sheriff Jensey was a racist, homophobic piece of flaming dog shit who still was doing everything he could to prevent people from knowing his nephew was gay. How he was reduced to ground meat for it. (Though, he can die, I have no remorse for him whatsoever). The way Mrs. Ayers calls out the fact that William can pass as straight but Kelvin couldn’t. The way that the queer community was silent in the wake of Kelvin’s death because that was the only way to guarantee the survival of community pillars. The fact that there was no new coverage of Kelvin’s death that we could see, but when the white man was lynched, there were news trucks all over the place because someone in power was affected. 

And perhaps my favorite example, Duane, who refuses to step foot in a gay bar for fear of looking gay when he first starts investigating his brother’s murder with William who is ready to throw hands at Sheriff Jensey’s nephew when he makes a homophobic comment, putting his parole at risk, who ends the film driving around in William’s rental car which has the word Faggot spray painted on the back. The way he was angry at William for the stupid, elitist shit he was saying, about how everyone in Louisiana had an IQ below 80, how he refused to call this place his home anymore. Duance handled those moments so beautifully. There are so many important scenes in this film, I don’t think I can count this one as my favorite, but I do need to acknowledge how happy I was that Strange Fruit let a Black man cry on screen. Like, so much of Kelvin’s murder, and William’s attempted murder was incredibly upsetting, but I felt very deep in my soul the pain, the grief, the nausea that Duane must have been feeling looking at the memorial to his brother at his murder site. 

I know because (again to get too real) for every day for months after my hanging related trauma I had to walk past a memorial for the person who passed, and let me tell you that shit was fucking brutal. 

There is so much more that could be said about this movie, but genuinely, I cannot find the words. The production team knew what they were doing when they didn’t put a backing track on the end credits, opting for a silence that was interrupted by only the chirping of crickets. Because that is what this movie is, that is what this movie does. I am not exaggerating when I say that the only thing I could do for thirty minutes after the screen went to black, was just sit on my couch, frozen, and feel the weight of the silence around me. 

Favorite Moment 

I talked about this a bit above but my favorite moment in Strange Fruit is when Mrs. Ayers and Mrs. Boyals run in to each other in the supermarket and Mrs. Ayers gives a very passive aggressively polite talking to to Mrs. Boyals about her homophobia, trying to get her to go back on her decision to disown William after finding out he was gay. I do think it is vitally important that we get a scene where a mother of a queer son, who just lost her child because of it, is able to admit that she struggled with his sexuality, that she desperately wanted to be rid of Kelvin, that she desperately wanted to forget he even existed. The way she was spared from having a major regret in her life because she ultimately did not do that. She lost Kelvin when he was too young, she understands at a cellular level the precious nature of time, and how easily it can be squandered and she is trying to spare Mrs. Boyals from that pain. I appreciate it strikes enough of a chord with Mrs. Boyals that she attempts to visit William at the hospital, even if ultimately she is not able to make it through the doorway to his room. 

Favorite Quote

“See that’s the thing about the bayou, no matter how much you try to push it back ‘ventually it’s gonna claim what belong to it. This is where you from man. This is where home is. Don’t matter how many degrees you got, you country.”

As a Southerner who did flee North, Duane’s words are still ring true. Even when my home state wants to dispose of people like me, even when states I have called home express their hatred of people like me, there is still a part of me that feels the emptiness of being away from home. I miss the mangroves, I miss the mountains, I miss the food, I miss the people I love who love me. It feels impossible to have the type of community I had back home up where I am now, and I am trying as hard as I can to cultivate it. I just love this line so much because I think it is important to remember where you came from, especially because William just before this was insulting the intelligence of people in the South, his people, from his home. I’m really glad he apologized for that. 

Score

8.5/10

If this was a grade based on just emotional manipulation, the film would get a 10 cause...fuck. But structurally I think it's probably like a 7 or an 8 so I am gonna give it an 8.5.

[astralfandoms]

GIVE ME THE HCS I WANNA HEAR EVERYTHANGG

okay so

*cracks open google doc*

i'll just go through the areas because my brain formats better talking about the different cogs like that

also i'm not going to include the factory managers, the satellite investors, C.O.O, or Chairman because i have yet to develop their full mental image in my brain (but it will eventually happen asdfiopj)

also this is going to be long as hell so warning you

Toontown Central

Derrick Man (William Boar)

30

Transmasc Bisexual (He/Oil/Drum)

Autistic

Grew up in a family that was extremely focused on how they looked to the public, and was "match-made" with Misty at an early age, but they ended up just seeing each other as annoying siblings. Both sees Misty as an annoyance and as a friend, but doesn't like to admit that second part, especially to Misty herself.

Is crushing hard on both Alton and Rain and is being tsundere about it

Duck Shuffler (Buck Ruffler, Card Shark, Blackjack)

29

Transmasc Demiromantic Homosexual (He/They/Quack/Slot/Luck/Seven/7/🦆/🎰/⚙️/🍒 [Buck], They/It [Card Shark], It/Its [Blackjack])

Bipolar, DID (Buck [Host], Card Shark [Emotion Dampener], Blackjack [Nonverbal Trauma Holder])

Grew up in Toontown Central surrounded by Toons and later moved into Suitopia as an adult, working as a day trader and gambling on the weekends to help relax. At a casino night, Chris spotted him and offered him a position at C.O.G.S under him. And Buck accepted mostly because he realized he had nothing to lose if he applied.

Dating Dave and has a crush on Brian as well as Eerie Descent

Prethinker (Brian Wiseman)

35

He/It/Study/Thought/Brain/King/♟️/🧠/📖/💭

Trans Gay

Paranoid Personality Disorder, Avoidant Personality Disorder

Grew up in a family where his parents were usually not home a lot of time and thought that if he got to the top of his class and graduated with honors, then his parents would actually acknowledge him. But that...never happened. So, after college, he drifted around, not knowing what to do before he applied to C.O.G.S in desperation, so ended up overcompensating to make sure that his place in the company was secured leading to...a lot of mess ups. Also transitioned after entering college, renaming himself, but doesn't like mentioning his last name because he's embarrassed that he picked that for himself.

Is dating Benjamin and is crushing heavily on Mac and Buck

Barnacle Boatyard

Land Acquisition Architect (Alton S. Crow)

40

Cis Bisexual (He/They/Hazard)

Anxiety, Paranoid Personality Disorder

Country boys make do. That's like. Pretty much it. Grew up in a large family, had to start working at a young age to help support the family, and now has trouble knowing when to stop working.

Crushing on William real bad due to them being hired around the same time

Deep Diver (Mary Anna)

32

Intersex Bigender Bisexual

He/She/Ocean/Wave/Dive/Sea/Marine/🌊/🪸/🤿/🛟/⚓/🪝

Autistic

Grew up with two moms who encouraged his love of marine life, to the point of her deciding that was going to be oceans career. Immediately was rivals with Holly due to both of them thinking they knew more about the others' specialty.

Dating Misty and keeps denying waves crush on Holly

Rainmaker (Misty Monsoon)

30

Trans Lesbian (She/Rain/Cloud/Storm/Fog/☔/☁️/🌧️/⛈️/🌦️)

Depression, Anxiety, Autism

Similarly to William, grew up in a family focused on how they look in the public eye, and became hyper attached to William because he was the first person who ever treated her nicely and was the one who she first told that she was trans and a lesbian to. Is hurt about the fact that he won't really talk to her anymore but thinks that it's because they're working in opposing departments.

Is dating Mary and Holly and wishes that the two would just get admit that they like each other already

Ye Ol' Toontown Time

Public Relations Representative (Winston Byrd)

98

Genderfluid Biromantic Homosexual (All Pronouns)

Anxiety, Autism, PTSD, Depression, Paranoid Personality Disorder

Was a close friend of Tawney's before everything went down. Was eventually snuck out of the dungeons by a blue and white cat toon before getting smuggled to Daffodil Gardens where he got restored to his previous state.

Currently isn't seeing anyone but is yearning to have a partner again

Gatekeeper (Holly Grayelle)

35

Holypaladin (Xenogender) Bisexual Lesbian (She/Holy/Gold/Knight/Shield)

Autism, ADHD

Grew up being told that she was extremely good at being a leader and so holy has it engrained in gold that knight can’t be any position other than a leadership one and so tends to clash with anyone who challenges that view. And/or fall in love with them. Luck of the draw.

Dating Misty and keeps denying knights crush on Mary. Used to have a crush on Prester until shield found out that he was gay.

Witch Hunter (Prester Virgil)

35

Transmasc Gay (He/Him)

Depression, PTSD

Grew up in an extremely strict, religious house with a doormat of a father and extremely religious mother, which caused him to have a lot of internalized homophobia, even after he transitioned, and takes it out on people who are extremely secure in their sexualities (ex. Diane, Holly). Also has both a fear and affinity for fire due to being shamed growing up as draconic-descended cog.

Dating Cosmo and sorta kinda dating the Satellite Investors. Also Diane's cousin.

Daffodil Gardens

Vice President (Allan Bravecog)

65

Cis Polyamorous Bisexual (He/Bulb/Radio/Static)

Narcissistic Personality Disorder, PTSD

Grew up having people constantly trying to befriend him because he was extremely good at making connections, so tends to have people who he doesn't trust at arms length but pretends that they're closer. Married his college sweetheart Norman Bravecog (OC) and had Cathal around when they founded C.O.G.S along the other Chief Officers after they graduated college. Dotes on Cathal heavily because Cathal was the only child of theirs that survived through infancy.

Married to Norman and has an on-and-off-again thing with both Craig and Chris.

Bellringer (Benjamin Biggs)

38

Transmasc Salmacian Bisexual Gay (He/Ring/Bell/🔔/🛎️)

Narcissistic Personality Disorder, Autism

Grew up being praised for his healing ability but shamed for rings need to feed on oil, so has an energy of “I am perfect and if anyone argues that I am going to kill them and then myself”. Oh yeah, Benjamin is a vampire (sorta kinda) due to having vague leech-based programing and needing more oil than the average cog to allow for bells healing ability (has two oil tanks for that very reason).

Dating Brian and is a bit jealous of Mac and Winn (also is low-key crushing on them but shh).

Multislacker (Cathal Ray Toby Bravecog)

32

Genderapathetic Aroflux Cassexual (He/They/Tech/TV/📺)

Narcissistic Personality Disorder, Autism, ADHD

Grew up extremely coddled by his father for reasons mentioned above and quickly realized that it didn’t matter how hard they worked because everyone would assume that techs work was just tvs fathers, so became very tired and just decided to roll with it.

Has a friends with benefits relationship with High Roller and ends up developing feelings for Chip and Graham.

Mezzo Merryland

Chief Financial Officer (Chris P. Dollair)

66

Trans Bisexual Man (He/It/Cash/Coin/Bank/💸/💵/💰/🪙)

Paranoid Personality Disorder, OCD

Grew up extremely poor so has a lot of trust issues and money insecurity (will swing from penny pinching to splurging).

Is heavily crushing on Allan and Craig, while hooking up with Craig sometimes.

Mouthpiece (Belle Dama)

85

Transfemme Bisexual (She/Chatter)

Autistic

Has had a relatively boring life and works to help her husband, who is too disabled to work, and keep them afloat with help from their children. Visits her husband on the weekend but lives in Mezzo Merryland during the weeks. Is confused by her son's taste in men but is very supportive.

Has a husband named Peter and two kids: Tartarus (huh i wonder who that could be /sillly) and Emily (OC), as well as several grandchildren, with her favourite being Cassidy “Cassie” Dama, one of Emily’s children.

Major Player (Dave Brubot)

27

Melodyboy (Xenogender) Pan (He/Melody/Hymn)

ADHD, Autism

Grew up in a very large, musically inclined family so naturally drifted towards music as his main aspiration. Extremely extroverted and is the one who usually gets his friends to socialize.

Is dating Buck and is trying to encourage Buck to talk with Brian and Eerie.

The Brrgh

Chief Legal Officer (Diane Morsecode)

34

Cis Bi Lesbian (She/Legal/Law)

ADHD, Autism

Grew up similarly to Prester, but was the "star" child, but because of that, whenever she fails to do something, it hits extremely hard. Is both extremely annoyed at and extremely worried about Prester.

Is currently single, but isn't looking for anyone. As mentioned, is Prester's cousin.

Firestarter (Flint Bonpyre)

He/Fire/Flame/🔥/🧯

27

Transmasc Gay (He/Fire/Flame/🔥/🧯)

Anxiety, Depression, Scoliosis

Had a pretty normal childhood, growing from a weird girl into a weird boy. Met Graham first in high school and dated pre-transition and then met again in sophmore year in college post-transition and started dating (had a nice laugh about the fact that fate kept bringing them together).

Is dating Graham and used to date Chip in college (but still has lingering feelings about him)

Plutocrat (Cosmo Kuiper)

68

Cis Bisexual (He/Star/Constellation/Meteor/Planet/🌟/⭐/🌠/✨/💫/🪐)

ADHD, Narcissistic Personality Disorder

Grew up in a mob family and would have stayed only attached to it if C.O.G.S didn’t take over the town that he was the head of, leading to star reluctantly joining C.O.G.S. Took one look at Prester and went "oh i NEED to date that man".

Dating Prester and constellations investors, often showering them in gifts to let them know that meteor loves them.

Acorn Acres

Chief Executive Officer (Craig Edgar Oilcan)

69

Transmasc Genderfaun (He/It/They [Collective], He/Oil/One/Fore [Craig], It/Its [Justice], Edgar [He/They/Golf])

Narcissistic Personality Disorder, DID (Host: N/A, Headmates: Craig [Persecutor, Protector], Justice [Emotional Funnel], Edgar [Guilt Holder, Trauma Holder])

Grew up in an extremely cut throat family where it was essentially "succeed or get scrapped" which caused his system to form at an extremely young age. Applies that motto to a lot of its life, which is why they turned a blind eye to everything involving Chip.

Is deep in denial about the fact that he cares about Allan and Chris (doesn't want to admit that he's attached) and "rationalizes" it by hooking up with Chris and having a good business relationship with Allan.

Treekiller (Spruce Campbell)

46

Cis Gay Man (He/Wood/Gnaw/Log/Chop)

ADHD

Grew up in a large, relaxed family who were the types to encourage friends stay for dinner before they headed back home (especially when it came to Chip and his family). Is so worried about Chip, especially with how little he tells him about work nowadays.

Is single.

Chainsaw Consultant (Chip Revvington)

54

Boyflux (Chip) Agender (Override) Demi Bisexual Gay (Chip) Pan (Override) (He/Rev/Chainsaw/Saw [Chip], It/Its [Override])

Autism, DID (Headmates: Chip [Host], Override [Protector, Persecutor, Prosecutor, Emotional Funnel])

As mentioned in this post, grew up in a very oppressive, strict household that punished him for any sort of autistic behavior, leading towards Override to form to help mask revs autistic traits.

Chip is still not over Flint while Override is head over heels for Cathal, with their difference in romance causing a bit of a struggle in the system.

Drowsy Dreamland

Featherbedder (Tawney C. Esta)

98

Cis Gay (He/Sleep/Snore/Nap/Rest/Bed/Dream/💭/💤/🛏️)

Cis Gay

Insomnia, Depression

Grew up pretty ordinarily, but got depressed after his husband passed, but is now slowly healing from that.

Had a husband, and has grandchildren as well. Also has a bit of a “are they dating or just good friends” thing going on with Doppel (OC)

Pacesetter (Graham Ness Payser)

27

Transmasc Genderfast (Xenogender) Gay (He/Speed/Fast)

Transmasc Genderfast Gay

ADHD, Narcissistic Personality Disorder

Literally does not remember his childhood other than the fact that he had dated Flint in highschool. Only remembers his life post-transition, which is pretty ordinary and standard.

Is dating Flint and has a rivalry/crush thing going on with Multislacker.

So there you go!! That took. way too long but I hope you like!! Also if you have any questions please ask 'em!! This is a lot of fun to do :3

[crystal-moon-101]

Name: Rook Rilla Nickname: Rill, Rilly, Medic!, Rook Age: 17 Gender: Female Birthday: October 3rd Sexual Orientation: Homosexual Ethnicity/Species: Revonnahgander Personality: Stern, Blunt, Tired, Alert, Stubborn, Pessimistic, Harsh, Patient, Wise, Hard Working, Independent, Logical.     Hobbies: Harvesting/Farm Work, Has a lottttt of house plants, She quite enjoys going to the spa and does a lot of yoga, Knows how to play a Revonnahgander string based instrument, Like to take solely long hikes.

Family:

Rook Blonko - (Father/She was inspired by her father to become a Plumber, even if not to be a soldier or front line fighter. Rook takes a lot of time to make sure his daughter can take care of herself, and often respects her judgement. Though admittedly, him and Rayona can be a bit coddling, and Rilla has always been an independent person since a young age. But they’re a healthy family that know how to communicate, so it’s often just minor bumps that they quickly deal with.)

Rayona - (Mother/Similar to Rook, she was inspired by her mother, who is a nurse at a Plumber’s hospital. In a way she combined her parents two jobs to learn how to be a field medic. She’s one of the few who enjoys her mum’s strange sense of humor. )

Young One & Little One - (Younger Twin Brothers/She often calls them little rats, as the twins are loud and rambunctious, often getting on her nerves on purpose. But she does love them, and often teaches them valuable lessons, being there for them when they don’t go to their parents. If only they understood the concept of space.)

Rook Da - (Grandfather/The two have a fairly complicated relationship, mostly because Rilla caught on at a young age that while her grandpa meant well, he had a habit of speaking his opinion on things that don’t concern him, mostly targeted towards Rook, even if they’ve sorted out most problems by now. And since Rilla is one to speak her mind, she’s not above telling her own grandpa to zip it and leave her or her family alone. But she has learnt a lot from him, and knows he is family, taking the good advice from him to heart.)

Rook Bralla - (Grandmother/Funnily enough she respects her grandma more than her grandpa, probably because she was just happy to finally have grandkids and just wanted to be a happy family. While she does say Rilla should understand that her grandfather came from a different time, she is amused at how out there Rilla is with her thoughts, and has many funny stories of when Rilla was younger and being babysat by her.)

Rook Shar - (Aunt/Shar is very much considered the cool aunt in the family’s eyes, having never settled down and sticks to her Plumber work. She often pops by during Rilla’s trainer to give some tips or watch her growth, cheering her on from the side. While it can be embarrassing, she is someone that Rilla feels comfortable to be around, perhaps something that can relate to her.)

Rook Shim - (Aunt/Since her Aunt Shim has been recently starting her own family, Rilla tends to come around to help her with the new kids, as despite how she comes across, Rilla is actually pretty good with kids. Though this does mean that her Aunt does have a habit of calling her up for free babysitting at the most random of times.)

Rook Shi - (Aunt/Her other Aunt mostly has been focusing on the family farm for the time being, so Rilla, when visiting, has spent long days out in the field with her, learning some framing tricks from her auntie.)

Rook Ben - (Uncle/She does find her uncle to be quite similar to her brothers, a little too loud for her tastes. But he helps remind her to lighten up a bit, and gets her to actually experience the festivals and celebrations they have back home, since when she was little she use to not wanna go.)

Friends:

Jay Tennyson - (Friend/Teammate/She grew up a lot around Jay due to their fathers having a close friendship, so she can be sisterly towards the young boy. She does nudge him around, telling him to toughen up a bit, but more so to prepare him for some of the things they might face in the future. He’s one of the few people she can trust a secret with, and the two enjoy quiet times together.)

Thea Levin - (Friend/Teammate/The two that admittedly but the most heads in the team, often because their personalities clash. It’s hardly out right yelling, just blunt comments here and there. But they do get along, even if Thea likes to tease her alongside Malax.)

Malax Shard - (Friend/Teammate/Similar to Thea, Malax loves to tease her, knowing it can rile her up. But there’s a respect between the two, trusting each other’s judgement when things get dangerous. Frankly they’re the most mature members of the team, even if they have their moments.)

Becky Armstrong - (Friend/Love Interest/Neither of them are really sure when they started catching feelings, since they have been aware of each other for a few years, but given Rilla often helps with Becky’s injuries after training, it’s safe to say that the two obviously like each other. If it weren’t for being caught up in the current business with Eldrigma, then they would be dating by now. But as it is, they’re patient with each other, and come to vent to each other about their teams when things aren’t going well.)

Aurora Mann - (Friend/Given her bubbly nature, Aurora can come across as a bit much for her, often thinking Aurora lacks in the wisdom department in regards to jumping into things she shouldn’t, including the romance section of her life. But she can see that the energy she brings to the team is needed, and is impressed by her hybrid skillset.)

Cyra Albright - (Friend/Like Jay, she keeps an eye out for Cyra, wanting to make sure the young member of the Nova Squad is being looked after. She knows how over stimulating things can be for kids training under the Plumbers. Plus, they both come from farming families, so they enjoy talking about relatable things only they would understand.)

Channer Daniels - (Friend/She tries not to let Channer out of her sight, never trusting them as she knows the kind of chaos they bring. When the two groups are working together, she’s often the one that’ll notice when things go too quiet, and looks to find Channer in the middle of doing something. But when it comes down to it, she can trust Channer to do the right thing.)

Enemies:

Eldrigma - (Enemies/She has been unsettled by Eldrigma since day one, as even someone like her is able to sense the raw power that comes from him, along with seeing the unsteady emotions behind his hardened expression. She’s aware there’s more to his story, but frankly doesn’t care given all he has done to them, knowing there is no justification.)

Vesper - (Enemies/Given Vesper’s condition, Rilla has a lot of deep feelings regarding the broken anodites. As a medic, it’s never pleasant to come across people suffering from physical problems she can’t help with, and it angers her that Vesper’s out family and people would just dump her, even if she can understand the fear behind what inflicts the woman. It never sits right with her, and while she keeps herself firm in the position that Vesper also needs to be stopped, it does hurt that she can’t help.)

Alate - (Enemies/Frankly, she would rather jump into the sun than stand around this freak. Given her medical knowledge, the things he does to people often hits her in a different way to the others, piecing together the kind of pain and suffering he’s brought, knowledge she doesn’t like to share with the others. The of the many reasons why she want’s Jay nowhere near him, given Alate’s obsessions.)

Sciros - (Enemies/She thinks he’s a pathetic man, given he uses kids to do dirty work for him. But she also knows he is smart, and knows how to play many games with people. He’s a petty crook, willing to give away anything to win, something that doesn’t please her.)

Representing Song: There Beneath - The Oh Hellos

Skills: First-Aid Training/Medical Knowledge. Extreme Leap/Ability. Hand-To-Hand Combat Training. Marksmanship Training. Multilingualism. Weakness/Flaws/Fears: Like many of her kind, the heat can bother her quite a bit due to her having fur. Compared to the rest of the team, she is the easiest to deal with in combat on her own, given she is the team’s field medic (one of the many reasons she carries a gun). Her stubborn and blunt personality can often make bad first impressions on people.

[olympic-paris]

THIS DAY IN GAY HISTORY

based on: The White Crane Institute's 'Gay Wisdom', Gay Birthdays, Gay For Today, Famous GLBT, glbt-Gay Encylopedia, Today in Gay History, Wikipedia, and more …

September 8

1157 – Richard The Lion Heart, or Cœur de Lion, King of England, born (d.1199); Known to most from Sir Walter Scott's "Ivanhoe," as a young man Richard fell in love with the king of France, Philip II. Richard was an educated man who composed poetry, writing in French and Limousin. He was said to be very attractive; his hair was between red and blond, and he was light-eyed with a pale complexion. He was apparently of above average height, but as his remains have been lost since at least the French Revolution, his exact height is unknown.

Boswell's translation of King Henry II's journal records that Richard (then the Duke of Aquitaine) "remained with Philip, the king of France, who so honored him for so long that they ate every day at the same table and from the same dish, and at night their beds did not separate them. And the king of France loved him as his own soul; and they loved each other so much that the king of England was absolutely astonished at the passionate love between them and marveled at it."

Before 1948, no historian appears to have clearly affirmed that Richard was homosexual. Historian Jean Flori, however, has analysed the work of contemporary historians, and reported that they quite generally accepted that Richard was homosexual. However, not all historians agree regarding Richard's sexuality; but Flori analyzed the available contemporaneous evidence in great detail, and concluded that Richard's two public confessions and penitences (in 1191 and 1195) must have referred to the "sin of sodomy". There are contemporaneous accounts of Richard's relations with women, and Richard acknowledged one illegitimate son, Philip of Cognac. Flori thus concludes that Richard was probably bisexual, but he does agree that the contemporaneous accounts do not support the allegation that Richard had a homosexual relation with King Philip II of France.

The historian John Gillingham has suggested that theories that Richard was homosexual probably stemmed from an official record announcing that, as a symbol of unity between the two countries, the kings of France and England had slept overnight in the same bed. He expressed the view that this was "an accepted political act, nothing sexual about it; ... a bit like a modern-day photo opportunity."

Richard did later marry somewhat unenthusiastically. Upon death his widow had to sue the pope for recognition as widow, as Richard hadn't bothered to make his marriage official.

1504 – Michelangelo's David is unveiled in Florence.

1621 – Louis II De Bourbon, Prince De Condé, French General, born; Known as "the Great Condé," this greatest of French generals was an intimate of Moliere, Racine, Boileau, and La Bruyère. He also had the misfortune to be acquainted with "Madame"—the gossipy wife of Philip, duc d'Orleans—who spread the word about Conde's amours with his own sex.

Condé, a clever gent, went to great pains to establish a reputation as a great womanizer, but between the sharp tonge of Madame and the word of the well-known courtesan, Ninon de Lenclos, who was in a position to know, Condé fooled no one with his boasts.

1873 – Alfred Jarry (d.1907) was a French writer born in Laval, Mayenne, France, not far from the border of Brittany; he was of Breton descent on his mother's side. Best known for his play Ubu Roi (1896), which is often cited as a forerunner to the theatre of the absurd, Jarry wrote in a variety of genres and styles. He wrote plays, novels, poetry, essays and speculative journalism. His texts present some pioneering work in the field of absurdist literature.

A precociously brilliant student, Jarry enthralled his classmates with a gift for pranks and troublemaking. At the lycée in Rennes when he was 15, he led of a group of boys who devoted much time and energy to poking fun at their well-meaning, obese and incompetent physics teacher, a man named Hébert. Jarry and a classmate wrote a play they called Les Polonais and performed it with marionettes in the home of one of their friends. The main character, Père Heb, was a blunderer with a huge belly; three teeth (one of stone, one of iron, and one of wood); a single, retractable ear; and a misshapen body. In Jarry's later work Ubu Roi, Père Heb would develop into Ubu, one of the most monstrous and astonishing characters in French literature.

At 17 Jarry passed his baccalauréat and moved to Paris to prepare for admission to the École Normale Supérieure. Though he was not admitted, he soon gained attention for his original poems and prose-poems. A collection of his work, Les minutes de sable mémorial, was published in 1893. That same year, both his parents died, leaving him a small inheritance which he quickly spent.

Jarry had meantime discovered the pleasures of alcohol, which he called 'my sacred herb' or, when referring to absinthe, the 'green goddess'. A story is told that he once painted his face green and rode through town on his bicycle in its honour (and possibly under its influence).

Drafted into the army in 1894, his gift for turning notions upside down defeated attempts to instill military discipline. The sight of the small man in a uniform much too large for his less than 5-foot frame—the army did not issue uniforms small enough—was so disruptively funny that he was excused from parades and marching drills. Eventually the army discharged him for medical reasons. His military experience eventually inspired the novel, Days and Nights.

Jarry returned to Paris and applied himself to drinking, writing, and the company of friends who appreciated his witty, sweet-tempered, and unpredictable conversation. This period is marked by his intense involvement with Remy de Gourmont in the publication of L'Ymagier, a luxuriously produced 'art' magazine devoted to the symbolic analysis of medieval and popular prints. Symbolism as an art movement was in full swing at this time and L'Ymagier provided a nexus for many of its key contributors.

The spring of 1896 saw the publication, in Paul Fort's review Le Livre d'art, of Jarry's 5-act play Ubu Roi — the rewritten and expanded Les Polonais of his school days. Ubu Roi's savage humour and monstrous absurdity, unlike anything thus far performed in French theatre, seemed unlikely to ever actually be performed on stage. However, impetuous theater director Aurélien-Marie Lugné-Poe took the risk, producing the play at his Théâtre de l'Oeuvre.

On opening night (December 10, 1896), with traditionalists and the avant-garde in the audience, King Ubu stepped forward and intoned the opening word, 'Merdre!' (Shit!!!). A quarter of an hour of pandemonium ensued: outraged cries, booing, and whistling by the offended parties, countered by cheers and applause by the more forward-thinking contingent. Such interruptions continued through the evening. At the time, only the dress rehearsal and opening night performance were held, and the play was not revived until 1907.

The play brought fame to the 23-year-old Jarry, and he immersed himself in the fiction he had created. From then on, Jarry would always speak in Ubu's style. He adopted Ubu's ridiculous and pedantic figures of speech; for example, he referred to himself using the royal we, and called the wind 'that which blows' and the bicycle he rode everywhere 'that which rolls'.

Living in worsening poverty, neglecting his health, and drinking excessively, Jarry went on to write what is often cited as the first cyborg sex novel, The Supermale.

Unpublished until after his death, his fiction Exploits and Opinions of Dr Faustroll, pataphysician (Gestes et opinions du docteur Faustroll, pataphysicien) describes the exploits and teachings of a sort of antiphilosopher who, born at age 63, travels through a hallucinatory Paris in a sieve and subscribes to the tenets of 'pataphysics'. In 'pataphysics', every event in the universe is accepted as an extraordinary event.

In his final years, he was a legendary and heroic figure to some of the young writers and artists in Paris. After his death, Pablo Picasso, fascinated with Jarry, acquired his pistol and wore it on his nocturnal expeditions in Paris, and later bought many of his manuscripts as well as executing a fine drawing of him.

Jarry lived in his 'pataphysical' world until his death in Paris on November 1, 1907 of tuberculosis, aggravated by drug and alcohol use. It is recorded that his last request was for a toothpick.

1886 – Siegfried Sassoon CBE MC (d.1967) was an English poet, author and soldier. Decorated for bravery on the Western Front, he became one of the leading poets of the First World War. His poetry both described the horrors of the trenches, and satirised the patriotic pretensions of those who, in Sassoon's view, were responsible for a pointless war. He later won acclaim for his prose work, notably his three-volume fictionalised autobiography, collectively known as the "Sherston Trilogy".

Siegfried Sassoon was born and grew up in a neo-gothic mansion in Kent, to a Jewish father and an Anglo-Catholic mother. There was no German ancestry in Siegfried's family; his mother named him Siegfried because of her love of Wagner's operas. His father died when he Sassoon was 9 years old.

Sassoon was attended Clare College, Cambridge, where from 1905 to 1907 he read history. He went down from Cambridge without a degree and spent the next few years hunting, playing cricket and writing verse: some he published privately. Since his father had been disinherited from the Sassoon fortune for marrying a non-Jew, Siegfried had only a small private fortune that allowed him to live modestly without having to earn a living.

Motivated by patriotism, Sassoon joined the British Army at the threat of World War I , and was in service with the Sussex Yeomanry on the day the United Kingdom declared war (4 August 1914). He was commissioned into 3rd Battalion (Special Reserve), Royal Welch Fusiliers as a second lieutenant on 1915, and in November was sent to the 1st Battalion in France. During the French campaign, he met Robert Graves and they became close friends. The intensity of their early relationship is demonstrated in Graves's collection Fairies and Fusiliers (1917), which contains many poems celebrating their friendship. Sassoon himself remarked upon a "heavy sexual element" within it.

United by their poetic vocation, they often read and discussed one another's work. Though this did not have much perceptible influence on Graves's poetry, Sassoon's views on what may be called 'gritty realism' profoundly affected Sassoon's concept of what constituted poetry. He soon became horrified by the realities of war, and the tone of his writing changed completely: where his early poems exhibit a Romantic, dilettantish sweetness, his war poetry moves to an increasingly discordant music, intended to convey the ugly truths of the trenches to an audience hitherto lulled by patriotic propaganda. Details such as rotting corpses, mangled limbs, filth, cowardice and suicide are all trademarks of his work at this time, and this philosophy of 'no truth unfitting' had a significant effect on the movement towards Modernist poetry.

Sassoon's periods of duty on the Western Front were marked by exceptionally brave actions, including the single-handed, but vainglorious, capture of a German trench in the Hindenburg Line. Armed with grenades he scattered 60 German soldiers. Sassoon's bravery was inspiring to the extent that soldiers of his company said that they felt confident only when they were accompanied by him. He often went out on night-raids and bombing patrols and demonstrated ruthless efficiency as a company commander. Deepening depression at the horror and misery the soldiers were forced to endure produced in Sassoon a paradoxically manic courage, and he was nicknamed "Mad Jack" by his men for his near-suicidal exploits. On 27 July 1916 he was awarded the Military Cross.

Despite his decoration and reputation, he decided in 1917 to make a stand against the conduct of the war. One of the reasons for his violent anti-war feeling was the death of his friend, David Cuthbert Thomas. He would spend years trying to overcome his grief. At the end of a spell of convalescent leave, Sassoon declined to return to duty; instead, encouraged by pacifist friends such as Bertrand Russell, he sent a letter to his commanding officer, titled Finished with the War: A Soldier's Declaration. Forwarded to the press and read out in Parliament by a sympathetic MP, the letter was seen by some as treasonous ("I am making this statement as an act of wilful defiance of military authority") or at best condemnatory of the war government's motives ("I believe that the war upon which I entered as a war of defence and liberation has now become a war of aggression and conquest"). Rather than court-martial Sassoon, the Under-Secretary of State for War, Ian Macpherson decided that he was unfit for service and had him sent to Craiglockhart War Hospital near Edinburgh, where he was officially treated for neurasthenia ("shell shock"). Before declining to return to active service he had thrown the ribbon from his Military Cross into the river Mersey.

At Craiglockhart, Sassoon met Wilfred Owen, a fellow poet who would eventually exceed him in fame. It was thanks to Sassoon that Owen persevered in his ambition to write better poetry. A manuscript copy of Owen's Anthem for Doomed Youth containing Sassoon's handwritten amendments survives as testimony to the extent of his influence and is currently on display at London's Imperial War Museum. To all intents and purposes, Sassoon became to Owen "Keats and Christ and Elijah"; surviving documents demonstrate clearly the depth of Owen's love and admiration for him. Both men returned to active service in France, but Owen was killed in 1918.

The war had brought Sassoon into contact with men from less advantaged backgrounds, and he had developed socialist sympathies. Having lived for a period at Oxford, where he spent more time visiting literary friends than studying, he dabbled briefly in the politics of the Labour movement, and in 1919 took up a post as literary editor of the socialist Daily Herald. Sassoon later embarked on a lecture tour of the USA, as well as travelling in Europe and throughout Britain.

Meanwhile, he was beginning to express his homosexuality more openly, embarking on an affair with artist Gabriel Atkin, to whom he had been introduced by mutual friends. During his US tour, he met a young actor who treated him callously. Nevertheless, he was adored by female audiences.

Sassoon, having matured greatly as a result of his military service, continued to seek emotional fulfilment, initially in a succession of love affairs with men, including the actor Ivor Novello; Novello's former lover, the actor Glen Byam Shaw; German aristocrat Prince Philipp of Hesse; the writer Beverley Nichols; and an effete aristocrat, the Hon. Stephen Tennant. Only the last of these made a permanent impression, though Shaw remained his close friend throughout his life.

In September 1931, Sassoon rented and began to live at Fitz House, Teffont Magna, Wiltshire. In December 1933, to many people's surprise, he married Hester Gatty, who was many years his junior; this led to the birth of a child, something which he had long craved. This child, their only child, George (1936-2006) was adored by Siegfried, who wrote several poems addressed to him.

However, the marriage broke down after World War II, Sassoon apparently unable to find a compromise between the solitude he enjoyed and the companionship he craved.

Separated from his wife in 1945, Sassoon lived in seclusion at Heytesbury in Wiltshire, although he maintained contact with a circle which included E. M. Forster and J. R. Ackerley. One of his closest friends was the young cricketer Dennis Silk. Seigfried Sassoon died one week before his 81st birthday in 1967 of stomach cancer.

1975 – Gays In The Military: U.S. Air Force Tech Sergeant Leonard Matlovich, a decorated veteran of the Vietnam War, appears in his Air Force uniform on the cover of Time Magazine with the headline (printed in bold letters) "I Am A Homosexual." He is later given a general discharge. Matlovich, who received a purple heart and a bronze star, for bravery, was one of the first high profile members of the U.S. military to come out of the closet and challenge the ban on Gays serving. Matlovich is also famous for his statement, which is also the epitaph on his gravestone in Washington, DC's Congressional Cemetery, "When I was in the military they gave me a medal for killing two men and a discharge for loving one."

[theprismyyy]

Laura Lee + SuperPowers

Laura Lee:

Okay, now it's the turn of our dear and sweet homosexual Laura Lee.

I was really hoping to post about Shauna or Lottie first, but while I was eating something, an imaginary light bulb went off in my head and I had to write about it :))

Totally inspired by Laura Lee's aesthetic, as well as her faith and personality, I can't help but think that this girl would be Light, literally and metaphorically speaking, just look at her and I know you won't be able to tell otherwise. That said, I have two characters based as inspiration for her and her powers, they are these characters: Starlight- Annie January (The Boys) and Karolina Dean- Lucy in the Sky (Marvel, Runaways)

For those who have watched both series or at least one of them, you probably understand what I mean; all three characters are in some way, to some extent in their respective stories, linked to religion. Annie was raised as the little star of her church, encouraged by her mother to embrace her powers as a little gift from God, while Karolina, even without knowing she had powers, was also raised within a church by her mother, who used a social project to welcome vulnerable young people to choose the victims/offerings for her secret cult. Both characters have powers related to light.

With all this information laid out on the table, let's move on to Laura. Just like Annie, I see her being raised within the church as a little star prodigy, being encouraged by her parents to embrace her youthful powers as a gift, a gift, a miracle from God, thus enchanting many of those who already attended the church, as well as drawing the attention of new attendees; she was always very integrated within the religious community, playing in choirs and participating in plays from a very young age.

About his backstory within this universe:

If we're talking about the MCU, I can easily see a story that's just a little bit similar to Annie's in The Boys. She would probably have been given by her parents, while still a baby, for testing in a government project dedicated to creating super-powered people, people who would be capable of being the new symbols of America, like Captain America was, like the Avengers were; she grew up with a relatively normal life, having been raised by her parents with the idea that she was born with powers and that she came into the world with a greater purpose, despite this, I don't see Laura as someone who would let it go to her head, in fact she would try to be the best version of herself, help everyone she could like she thinks Jesus would do 😭😭 she would also have regular training since despite everything the plan would be for her to become a superhero one day

Now, talking about her within the X-man universe, I see her with a similar story, actually, the difference is that in this case she was actually born with the powers and her parents don't use the excuse of "divine miracle" just because it's convenient for them, no, in fact they REALLY believe that she and her powers are a miracle, just as they believe that other mutants are a gift from God... I believe that Laura's birth was probably somewhat difficult, a premature birth and perhaps some complications, but that in the end everything worked out and her parents saw it as a "divine test" that was implanted in their lives by God. Anyway, she was still a child raised in the church and despite all the hatred for mutants, she was very cared for and loved by her religious community and began attending the X-Mansion when she was still young, becoming intrigued by the community of students and young mutants and being very well liked by everyone.

Same Energy (talking about appearances and not personality itself):

Now, a little about what powers I think she would have and a brief description of them, with a small note that all the information was taken from the Internet, with some modifications, of course, to make everything consistent with the character.

Light Absorption: Laura can absorb light from present sources such as streetlights, lamps, etc. or from attacks by other people who also control light.

Solar Energy Absorption: She can also absorb the sun's energy to increase her powers and this makes her spend a lot of time outside in the open air, so that she can store her energy and keep it with her.

Bioluminescence: Can emit light from her own body. (Ps: I think it would be super funny to have the other girls ask Laura Lee to act as a human flashlight during scary story time at sleepovers)

Light Beam Emission: She can perform powerful blasts of light against her opponents or hit specific targets.

Invisibility: She has the ability to manipulate light to prevent her image from being reflected, making her invisible.

Heat Manipulation: If the light she controls is hot enough, she can use this ability to burn her opponents.

Blindness Inducement: Users of this ability can emit an extremely bright light, temporarily blinding their opponents.

@jellyb3annn

(If you readers are interested in being tagged in future posts just let me know)

© 2024 theprismyyy — please do not copy, translate or republish any of my work without my permission.

[nieves-de-sugui]

The Yaoi Ronso and Akiko Mizoguchi

here the original post this one stems from. I advice reading that one first if you haven't. Please note I am no expert on this, and this is a post to give an overview of the different topics treated. There might be some inaccuracies.

The Yaoi Debates - 1992

In 1992, a “confrontation between women yaoi fans and gay men about the relation between the representation of homosexual love and society’s prejudice against gay men in real life” that happened in the japanese feminist magazine Bessatsu CHOISIR. 

The Yaoi Ronso (or Yaoi Debates) were a series of letters published in the magazine between Masaki Sato (a gay activist), who criticized the genre, and the female readers, who defended it. Masaki Sato criticized yaoi for showing examples of homosexual life that could negatively impact young gay men who read them. Meanwhile female readers argued back that shonen ai/yaoi was not meant to depict reality, or real men. This exchange of letters ended with Masaki Sato and some of the female readers agreeing in some points, and Sato suggesting that instead of escaping from reality these stories should make reality easier to live in. 

Up to that point, in most of the 20 years of academic studies regarding the subject, it has been argued that the men depicted in these stories chould be thought as a third gender free of societal expectations, object of love in a pure form. A means for female sexual liberation and exploration, made possible thanks to its detachement to reality. Lots of theories at the time said that women used these “boys” to avoid having to become “women”, and the expectations that came with the title. Maintaing the “boyhood” from childhood that is lost as they become women. 

After the Debates, female academics started evaluating the power of the symbol of male homosexual love fantasies. And so started a discussion about the difference between reality and fantasy, getting to question topics such as depictions of rape being easily allowed. All of this as part of gender studies and manga studies.

One of the more discussed things in academic studies regarding shoujo and BL is its heterosexual female public. The shonen-ai/yaoi/BL has served as a medium for homosexuals to find each other but also for heterosexual women to flee society’s heteronormative and gender pressures, heavily associated with fantasy. One example of this is the magazine Barazoku (meaning Rose tribe, bara is a term highly associated with gay content). Which featured a column where letters of female readers would be published. At first these letters expressed the desires of these women to marry gay men, or become gay men themselves to enjoy a freedom they believed gay men enjoyed (they would usually be referred to as okoge or fag hags). Despite its problematic nature, the chief editor of the magazine went against advice and requests to stop publishing such letters. From there on started to appear letters from lesbian women (which ended up being the only kind of letters that woul d be featured) who, interested in depictions of homosexual love would realize their own desire for the same sex. This column was then changed to the name Yurizoku (the Lily Tribe, yuri is a term highly associated with lesbian content). 

The 1990s were also when there was a “gay boom” in japan (lgbt movie festivals and other things started happening). Many of the manga magazines that published BL would feature articles that introduced the japanese gay lifestyle to its women readers. Like, gay bars, Shinjuku Ni-Choume (the gay district of Tokyo), or art popular among gays or even foreign gay communities. Gay men and women has been learned from each other in this way for a number of years now. 

Academics noticed the impact of the Yaoi Ronso on BL as they started to observe gay characters who reached a happy ending emerging. The Yaoi Ronso had a definite impact on the evolution of the gerne as it started to take into account that (having meant to or not) they had a power of influence that affected real people. 

sources Kayo Takeuchi James Welker Wim Lunsing

However, Wim Lunsing brings an important point to the table:

“Gay manga are not essentially different from BLB manga.”

It is true that BL is the most popular form in which we find gay stories in Japan. However, gay comics had existed for almost the same amount of time as yaoi. 

Short introduction to Male Love (ML)

ML, Gei Komi and Bara are the terms with which gay content made by and for gay men are refered to. Gengoroh Tagame is one of the most prominent figures of it. Before he started publishing his very sexual BDSM comics, the beauty ideal that was pursued was the bishonen aesthetic. However, Tagame’s characters where big, muscle-y, fat, hairy men, with a clear influence by Tom of Finland, and its popularity changed the tastes of japanese gay men.

Gengoroh Tagame also started writing slice of life manga in an effort to educate japanese society about gay life and LGBT issues. He is the author of the manga My Brother’s Husband (which was later turned into a 4 episode series).

Another notable manga is Until I Met my Husband, based on an autobiographic essay by Ryousuke Nanansaki.

Akiko Mizoguchi, the Rape Fantasy Expert - An Extra

Akiko Mizoguchi is a notable researcher of BL studies. She is the expert in regards to the analysis of depictions of rape, however she writes mostly in japanese, and my comprehesion of it is very limited for academic readings. 

She has wrote an extensive book: Theorizing BL As a Transformative Genre: Male-Male Fictions by and for Women - which is currently being translated to english.

Summary:

Identifying Mari Mori's 1961 short novel as the origin of the genre and the 1970's-1980's "Beautiful Boy" manga within the girls' (shojo) manga as the precursor, Dr. Akiko Mizoguchi discusses how the commercial BL genre has transformed into an unprecedented genre with feminist and queer activist potential. Recent commercial BL genre has produced stories that portray strong female characters and gay-identified characters who come out and engage in other realistic negotations. Mizoguchi argues that while BL represents beautiful male characters at the center, for veteran women fans and authors, it functions as a female sexualized discursive space in which they exchange pleasure to the extent that these women can be called "virtual gay men" and "virtual lesbians."

source

Mizoguchi is a lesbian woman trying to bring a new type of analysis of BL taking lesbianism into account. 

Other academic authors with a lot on yaoi manga/BL are Mark McLelland and Thomas Baudinette. 

Conclusion (of sorts)

Even though The Yaoi Debates ended, it is still being had up to these days. Both in academics and within the BL fandom. If we change the exhange of letters in magazines for the internet, we find ourselves in a similar situation. I hope that through this post the Debates have become clearer and easier to understand for those who didn’t know about it. 

I close with this quote from one of the text I read for this post:

“The implication that gay sex is objectified for the purpose of the sexual liberation of women surely is a queer use of male homosexuality par excellence.”

Together with a longer version of the previous quote:

“It rather seems that gay men like Satō have difficulty with the idea that women may look at them as sex objects. Gay manga are not essentially different from BLB manga.”

Make with it what you will, but it is indeed food for thought.

Closing Remarks

For those curious ones, wanting to look into how the gay community of Japan was in the 70′s, check out Funeral Parade of Roses. And if anyone is interested in male prostitution in Japan, check out Boys for Sale (if you can, if not here’s an interview).

If you’ve made it to this point, I hope you found this post interesting or helpful in whichever way it may be needed. I have mainly summarized what little I know on the topic but if anybody is curious about the big details in an academic way, here is the best article on it I have been able to find: The Yaoi Ronso (by Wim Lunsing).

Edit: this post has been updated to correct some mistakes. If you happen to see any more please do point them out