#also olga gay

[alainas-sims]

Hairstyle Meme: Olga Cortes

I had seen this floating around and especially liked @aheathen-conceivably and @stargazingsims‘ versions, so I decided to dress a younger Olga up in lots of different hair styles and (not period accurate) outfits. I still haven’t nailed exactly how I think she would dress in the present day, but her favorite colors of blue/teal and yellow create a calming palette for her and a balance between the practical and the romantic.

What’s your favorite look?

Template here!

[adamcytryn]

Some oc drawings :3

[heavenlyyshecomes]

do you have a list of pre-90s wlw books anywhere...

my tag was mainly about gay movies but also here's a list of books from my tbr:

pre-90s

couple of the white room—ryoko yamagishi

after delores—sarah schulman

olivia—dorothy strachey

sweet days of discipline—fleur jaeggy, tim parks (tr.)

beginning with o—olga broumas

'90s-early '00s

facing the mirror: lesbian writing from india—ashwini sukthankar (ed.)

notes of a crocodile & last words from montmartre—qiu maojin

the membranes—chi ta-wei, ari lariss heinreich (tr.)

fingersmith & affinity—sarah waters

violets—shin kyung sook, anton hur (tr.)

[meguchi512]

assigning olympic sports to the prsk cast

mafuyu/shizuku archery: self explanatory

luka archery: mostly by discard but she's got the vibes

kohane artistic gymnastics: she looks like olga korbut (genius reasoning /s)

tsukasa artistic gymnastics: LOOK AT HIM

miku athletics: athletics is quite the diverse sport and she's the character that takes the most different forms both in and outside of the game

haruka basketball: self explanatory

meiko boxing: vbs meiko's arms must be strong from mixing when cooking but that's just an excuse to avoid saying that i want her to beat up someone on-screen

kaito cycling: yes i know he's got an archery card but HE'S SO MTB

airi football: she's very intense, she's just got the spirit

an football: canon I'm sega

len football: he's a 14 year old boy

kanade golf: not very intense even though it requires strength and precision, but i never said they had to be good at it

shiho handball: i think playing the bass gives her a good base (pun unintended) for more hand-based sports even though it requires some leg strength too

emu handball: she'd have so much fun idk

rin handball: len football rin handball get it? haha

akito shooting: yes i know he canonically used to play football but uh. I'm sega

nene swimming: ocean themes yippee

mizuki table tennis: she'd prefer sports that require less moving around & running methinks

saki/toya table tennis: specifically in pairs, they'd be the best duo out there (and tsukasa would cheer them on)

minori tennis: tennis is a gay sport

ena volleyball: she has the vibes idk

ichika volleyball: average girl, average sport ?

rui volleyball: he'd be good at blocking for obvious reasons

honami weightlifting: canonically muscular because of drumming. also ashakahjsjskakjsksdbglgnldsks, wdhsisjsisklsksks, etc.

[steelycunt]

hiiiii…. do you have any book recommendations? i think we have similar taste :)

hi! yeah! i definitely have some recs, although they’ll all be books i’ve talked about on here before so they probably won’t be very new for anyone who’s been following me for a while 😭 not sure what you’re after specifically but this is just everything i’ve enjoyed! anything with as asterisk is a special favourite : ^ )

books ive read this year:

(fiction)

boulder* - eva baltasar: very short read but baltasar’s prose is 2 die for! second in a trilogy but im pretty sure they can all be read as standalones. also nice to see fiction that treats lesbians as seriously as piles and piles of arty litfic treat gay men rather than the clipart cover of two women with a title like ‘Jemima Mulligan Is So Done 🤣’ that comes up when you search lesbian fiction now.

all quiet on the western front* (+ the way back/the road back) - erich maria remarque: only classic im going to mention (i could talk about james baldwin all day) but this is my favourite book i’ve read this year! and my only five star fiction read so far this year. absolutely heartbreaking!! and if you enjoy it i would say it’s worth reading the sequel, the way back.

hangman - maya binyam: read this recently and honestly think it’s quite a marmite book i think you’ll either enjoy the absurdity of it or find it deeply irritating almost straight away but. i thought it was wonderfully disorientating + not too long that the style started to grate on me + an great postcolonial work

we need to talk about kevin* - lionel shriver: such a terrifyingly good book omg. prose is a bit dense which at least i found a bit daunting at first but it’s soo intricate and absorbing and horrific.

penance* (+ boy parts) - eliza clark: was honestly a bit surprised to like this as much as i did my expectations were pretty low but i thought it was a genuinely excellent depiction of modern teenagers + the way they use social media (i have never seen it done so well) + the intricacies of the dynamics between young girls against the backdrop of ‘true’ crime. if you like it you’ll probably also enjoy boy parts so i recommend that too!

antarctica + walk the blue fields - claire keegan: keegan is imo one of the best storytellers writing today and these two short story collections by her were wonderful this year! my favourite of her work is foster but since there are multiple stories in these collections id say they’re the best place to start!

my work - olga ravn: quite experimental in terms of style there’s a lot of prose spliced with prose which i wasn’t sure would be for me (im an idiot) but i thought it was a really fascinating look at motherhood + creation + post-partum depression!

(non-fiction)

dont actually have a ton of non-fiction books 2 mention just adding this category in to recommend empire of pain* - patrick radden keefe as a book i finished recently and one of if not the best non-fiction book ive ever read. just so incredibly interesting i can’t stress enough

some quickfire books i read last year/year before!

duck feet - ely percy

juno loves legs - karl geary

archive of alternate endings* - lindsey drager

shuggie bain* + young mungo* - douglas stuart

my brilliant friend* - elena ferrante

the secret history + the goldfinch - donna tartt

mr loverman - bernadine evaristo (SAINT LUCIA MENTIONED 🇱🇨)

the marriage portrait - maggie o’farrell

the passion - jeanette winterson

[midnightbrightside]

The thing about Kristoph is... He has a bizarre sense of entitlement. He's delusional, His breakdown at the end makes me think he doesn't even understand he's in the wrong,

He think's he's in the right and he think's he's owed things, so when he thinks he's been slighted, he does shitty thing because he thinks he can get away with it, he doesn't need to, but he thinks he's right so he does it anyway

As such, I imagine Krissy actually falling for Nick at some point during their confusing 7 years

Why? Cause he like Phoenix's attention and affection (Kris is definetly a man who didn't get enough love as a kid) and he thinks he deserves his love and attention.

Who cares if he majorly screwed over Nick and got him disbarred? He likes his affection so he should have it. Nick is hot and Kristoph is Gay so he shall posses him.

But notably, I can imagine Kristoph actually being hurt by the fact that Phoenix exposed him. He's delusional and entitled, how dare Phoenix do this to him after everything.

"How dare he not get over what I did to him and make me face the conseqences of my actions?!"

You feel me?

oh my god i see it. especially bc i do also hc that he felt very betrayed and offended by phoenix exposing him! he thought he knew Phoenix better than that and he has to realise he was wrong, maybe the seven years of companionship wasnt enough to fool the turnabout terror. he either underestimated phoenix's dedication to the truth or he thought he had broken phoenix down enough that phoenix would let kristoph frame olga without question.

personally my interpretation is a bit different when it comes to kris's feelings tho- i like to hc that kristoph would never even admit to himself that hes in love with phoenix. he rationalises all his feelings away bc if he lets those butterflies in his stomach reach his heart it might just kill him.

He feels posessive of Phoenix and wants to monopolise his time, but he tells himself its because he needs to keep an eye on him, keep him in check. any time phoenix smiles warmly at him it makes his heart race but he tells himself it's just excitement that phoenix is falling into his trap nothing more.

deep down he knows he's in love, of course he does, he's a smart man. but he also knows that the greatest expression of that love would be to come clean, and he cant be doing that, that would make Phoenix leave his life, leave him. so he decides to keep phoenix close by forcing him to remain dependent on kristoph's generosity, a selfish kind of love that's borne from paranoia and desparation.

he definitely does have a sense of entitlement tho. those 7 years of him paying for trucy's school trips and maining a friendship and intimacy with phoenix held a lot of value to him, and he has a hard time reconciling that with how seemly-quickly phoenix threw it all away. because he's selfish, spoiled, entitled, and in love.

[elsalouisa]

"The four sisters were all very different. The eldest, Olga, was very intelligent and gay and had a heart of gold; but she was also rather timid, so that her sister Tatiana, who was much more sociable, was easier to get on with at first. Marie was kindness and unselfishness personified; but Anastasia was the most amusing; she was always full of mischief. "Anastasia is our family clown!” the Emperor once exclaimed, laughing, to my mother.

All four of the girls were essentially Russian, and they suffered at the very idea of marrying outside their country. Each time there was a question of marrying a member of a foreign Royal house, Olga implored her parents to give no serious thought to it as she wanted to stay in Russia. They all had an adoration for their parents, and each time I saw them I had the renewed feeling of being in a happy, friendly, very  Russian family.

Olga Woronoff "Upheaval"

[otmaaromanovas]

What was Vera Gedroitz like? I have heard that she was “mean” or have heard her been talked about in a negative way, but honestly she is someone to look up to. A openly gay nurse, like that’s someone that I would look up too. Did the girls like her? Did the little pair even get to know her because she wasn’t at their infirmary? Thanks bestie! 🤍

Hi! Thank you so much for the question - sorry for the delay! I do love talking about Vera, so here we go...

Vera's personality

Vera was known to be gruff and commanding. Unfortunately, little is written directly about Vera's personality, as much of the primary sources focusses on her "unusualness" instead: her way of dressing (always masculine clothing), speaking in a low, gruff voice gravelled by years of cigarette smoke, and her relative openness about her sexuality. However, there was a warmer, more romantic side to Vera. She wrote poetry, sought the companionship of literary circles, and turned the grief of losing her brother during childhood into a truly revolutionary medical career. She could be brusque and private, possessing a no-nonsense attitude, but also incredibly compassionate and kind. She spent the last years of her life running a pharmacy with her wife, giving medicine and medical aid to the poor completely for free.

Was she liked by OTMA?

We can infer that she was, indeed, liked by OTMA, or at least by Nicholas and Alexandra. As a doctor to the royal household (who was specifically requested by Alexandra) she would have been held in high esteem. It is believed that Vera was also an occasional doctor to the imperial children: Nicholas and Alexandra's tendency to dismiss staff which they saw as behaving immorally, or being difficult in some way (especially when it came to those caring for their children) implies that they had warm feelings towards Vera due to her continued employment.

In fact, fellow nurse Valentina Chebotareva's diaries are very revealing of this relationship: when Anna Vyrubova was struck by a train, she noted in her diary that the Tsar "spoke for a long time" with Vera, entrusting her with Anna's care. She also wrote in 1917 that "I talked to Vera Ignatievna about the past. How close the Empress had been to her at the beginning of the war", implying that their relationship did decrease as Rasputin's influence monopolised. Vera had no time for Rasputin - one quite famous anecdote describes him standing in her way and Vera physically pushing him into a corridor to be rid of him lol. Despite this strain on her relationship with the Romanovs, and her activity in revolutionary groups during her youth, Vera remained fond of the family. She had, after all, taught Alexandra, Olga, and Tatiana personally during their nursing training. When the abdication was announced, Valentina wrote that Vera "sobbed like a helpless child."

It is from Tatiana's diaries where we learn the most about the sister's relationship with Vera. Ever detail-oriented, Tatiana's diaries are a beautiful patchwork of notes and observations about her patients and fellow workers. Interestingly, in her 1914 diary, Tatiana usually refers to Vera as "The Princess", reference to her royal title, rather than by her name in line with the doctor/tutor role that she had with the Grand Duchesses. This later changes to her first name and patronymic.

Monday 8 September 1914: "...Had tea with Papa and Mama, then the princess came over."

Wednesday 24 September 1914: "...From there to the infirmary with the princess... Had a lesson. The Princess was here."

Thursday 25 September 1914: "Had a lesson in the morning. At 11 o’clock again, like yesterday, we picked up the princess and went to the infirmary."

Letter from Tatiana to Nicholas II, 19 November 1914: "They took out a tiny fragment from Gogoberidze’s leg, but it was so small that the Princess was looking for it for almost a half hour and finally found it with difficulty. It was about this big “O,” no bigger."

Letter from Tatiana to Vera Cheborateva, 14 April 1917: "And where do Rita, ... and Vera Ign. live now?"

Letter from Tatiana to Vera Cheborateva, 8 January 1917: "We heard what Vera Ignatievna has turned into, and how she is walking around. How fast people change— it is even funny!"

Letter from Tatiana to Rita Khitrovo, 23 January 1918: "[The Baron] also wrote to me and said that he saw Vera Ignatievna at the infirmary. She is [wearing] epaulets, large boots with spurs, did not even ask the Baron how he was doing. So shameful. I did not expect how fast she would change. Although lately she had been very strange."

It is interesting here that Tatiana remarks about Vera's clothing - many photographs show that Vera had always dressed in the masculine style around the infirmary (suits, long coats, even masculine medical outfits), including in the presence of the Romanov family, so this would not have been a new or unusual phenomenon for the Grand Duchesses. Vera even sent this photograph of herself to Olga in 1915 - wearing a masculine style! She was not subtle.

(That's one happy patient!) ... From these photos and documents you can clearly see that Alexandra, Olga, and Tatiana were very happy working alongside Vera who clearly more traditionally masculine clothing - I've pointed out Vera for ease of identification.

Perhaps Tatiana was pointing out this social irregularity in light of what she saw as a betrayal: I think it's very important to highlight the difference in their diaries before and after the Revolution. Vera stayed in the capital for a brief time, and could not openly support the Romanov family without compromising her work as a doctor. Eventually, she joined the 6th Siberian Rifle Regiment (which was still technically considered imperial) in order to provide surgery on the front lines which simultaneously escaping the capital. Valentina Chebatoreva's diaries make it very clear that Vera did not keep up correspondence with and/or show support for the Romanovs as it would have compromised her medical work: "Vera Ignatievna finds that it is impossible to answer each one [letter] so as not to give the impression of a "party"." I'm of the opinion that Tatiana's souring opinion towards Vera came from her mistaking Vera's self-preservation of herself and her work through not showing active support or maintaining correspondence to have been a betrayal.

Vera's whole life was medicine: she emigrated to Russia to study medicine, she became the first Russian woman doctor, she served in the Russo-Japanese War, First World War, and Revolutionary conflicts, she found her life partner Maria Dmitrievna through medicine, and even in retirement worked tirelessly to deliver healthcare and treatment to those less fortunate than her. It appears to Vera that, in order to continue to save lives, correspondence with the Romanovs was too much of a risk.

Did the little pair know her?

This is a great question! Off the top of my head, I can't recall any direct references to Vera in their diaries. Unlike Olga and Tatiana's diaries, the little pair's letters and diaries aren't available to read and search online, so I'm having to rely on my memory of reading those books unlike the ability to digitally search the big pair's for any mentions of Vera.

If we look through their albums however, we can see multiple photographs of Maria and Anastasia visiting Olga and Tatiana's infirmary and being photographed with the staff: including Vera. There are also photographs of Olga and Tatiana with Vera in the little pair's albums, implying that they took the photos. They may not have known her as well as Olga and Tatiana, but considering their visits to the big pair's hospital and Vera's visits to the palace, she was definitely an acquaintance.

To conclude: Vera definitely wasn't to everyone's taste, especially those who preferred the image of a conservative, reserved woman. She was authoritative and determined - brilliant qualities for a doctor, though not encouraged within noble women. The Romanovs, during their friendship with her, truly appear to not have cared about her sexuality of her preference for masculine fashion (there are some gender historians who would have a much more nuanced take on this) - it was only after the Revolution, and her perceived turning against them, that these qualities were problematised. Vera was different, brilliantly so. She fought for what she wanted, what she needed. And, despite the definite constraints of the time, she was free.

I hope this answered your questions! I'm always happy to talk about Vera :)

Sources:

Tatiana Romanov, Daughter of the Last Tsar : Diaries and Letters, 1913-1918 by Helen Azar and Nicholas B.A. Nicholson

Photograph of Princess V.I. Giedroyts with a gift inscription to Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna. 18 March 1915. GARF. Ф. 673. Op. 1. Д. 243. L. 1 ob

The Princess who Transformed War Medicine - BBC

Princess Vera Gedroits: military surgeon, poet, and author by J.D.C. Bennet

[mariacallous]

On November 30, the Russian Supreme Court ruled to ban the “international LGBT movement” in response to a lawsuit from the Justice Ministry. While the decision has yet to come into force, it’s already had significant effects for LGBTQ+ people in Russia. Meduza sums up the fallout from the ruling in its first five days.

On the night of December 1, Russian law enforcement officers raided multiple nightclubs that were hosting events for LGBTQ+ people in Moscow. The Telegram channel Sota reported that police showed up at three clubs in the city.

“In the middle of the party, the music stopped and [police] started coming into the rooms. There were also people from other countries at the party. At the exit, they took pictures of people’s passports without permission,” a person who was at one of the clubs told the Telegram channel Ostrorozhno, Moskva. At another club that was reportedly raided, the pop star Olga Buzova was scheduled to perform but canceled the concert at the last minute.

Raids were also reported at saunas in the city. “It all went down like a regular drug raid. No violations were found but the atmosphere was ruined,” said one eyewitness, adding that police officers made patrons lie face down.

The popular St. Petersburg gay club Central Station announced Friday that it’s closing. “Dear friends, unfortunately, the venue that we’ve been renting has refused to work with us any longer due to the law. We apologize, but we’re no longer working. Until we meet again!” read the club’s announcement on social media. The message didn’t specify which law it was referring to, but it appears to mean the Russian Supreme Court’s November 30 decision to ban the “LGBT movement.” According to the outlet Fontanka, Central Station was one of the oldest gay clubs operating in the city.

The dating app Pure has removed the option for Russian users to indicate their sexual orientation when registering. According to the Telegram channel Ostorozhno, Novosti, users from Russia can now only specify their height, weight, and language, while users from all other countries can choose from a list of sexual orientations.

The human rights project DELO, which provided legal assistance to LGBTQ+ people in Russia, announced that it’s dissolving “due to outside circumstances.” The group’s statement said that all of the ongoing cases with which it’s been assisting will be transferred to “trustworthy lawyers” and are “guaranteed to be seen through to completion.”

On the Yandex-owned movie database Kinopoisk, an 18+ symbol has appeared next to the cartoon series My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic. It’s unclear what prompted the label. The Telegram channel Sota speculated that it could be a response to the fact that the name of one of the show’s main characters is Rainbow Dash.

Lawyers from the human rights group Department One have said the Supreme Court’s “LGBT movement” ban will officially come into force on January 10, 2024.

[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 1

1868 – Baron Adolph de Meyer was a photographer famed for his elegant photographic portraits in the early 20th century, many of which depicted celebrities such as Mary Pickford, Rita Lydig, Luisa Casati, Billie Burke, Irene Castle, John Barrymore, Lillian Gish, Ruth St. Denis, King George V, and Queen Mary. He was also the first official fashion photographer for the American magazine Vogue, appointed to that position in 1913.

In 1899, he married Donna Olga Caracciolo, an Italian noblewoman; she was a goddaughter (and possible illegitimate daughter) of Edward VII. This was a lavender marriage —a marriage of convenience, as the groom was homosexual and the bride was bisexual. The couple reportedly met in 1897, at the home of a member of the Sassoon banking family, and Olga de Meyer would be the subject of many of her husband's photographs.

After the death of his wife, Baron de Meyer became romantically involved with a young German, Ernest Frohlich, whom he hired as his chauffeur and later adopted as his son. The latter went by the name Baron Ernest Frohlich de Meyer. From 1898 to 1913, de Meyer lived in fashionable Cadogan Gardens, London, and between 1903 and 1907 his work was published in Alfred Stieglitz's quarterly Camera Work. In 1912, he photographed Vaslav Nijinsky in Paris.

On the eve of World War II in 1938, de Meyer returned to the United States. Today, few of his prints survive, most having been destroyed during World War II but some 52 photographs of Olga, packed away by his adopted son Ernest, came to light in 1988 and were published in 1992.

1904 – Karl Ernst was born in Berlin (d.1934). It is hard to say for sure if he was gay, but we know that he had worked as a bouncer for a gay nightclub in Berlin in the 1920s. He later joined the SA which was run by two gay men - Ernst Rohm and Edmund Heines, and it seems very possible that they may have been brought together through gay social circles.

Ernst was an SA Gruppenführer who, in early 1933, was the SA leader in Berlin. It has been suggested that it was he who, with a small party of stormtroopers, passed through a passage from the Palace of the President of the Reichstag, and set the Reichstag building on fire on the night of February 27, 1933.

If he had homosexual relationships, which have not been confirmed, he was most likely bi-sexual. He married a young woman in Bremen in June of 1934. The young couple were on their way on honeymoon to Madeira when, on June 30th, Adolf Hitler undertook a "purge" of the SA. Ernst's wife and chauffeur were both wounded but survived while Ernst was taken back to Berlin by SS Officers. He was briefly imprisoned at the Cadet School at Lichterfelde and then shot, along with several other SA leaders, by a Liebstandarte firing squad.

1950 – The New York Attorney General issues an opinion that both partners in an act of oral sex are guilty under the state's sodomy law.

1950. On this memorable day is born your Admin jp F, presenting you this https://www.tumblr.com/olympic-paris page

1969 – On this date West Germany repealed its laws prohibiting homosexual acts between consenting adults. It's interesting to note that this change didn't affect Lesbians, as West German sex laws had never acknowledged the existence of Lesbians.

1977 – On this date the present-day Log Cabin Republicans organization is founded as the "Gay Republicans" club, a group of homosexuals within the United States' Republican Party.

1978 – The Gay Bob doll makes its debut in stores across the nation. He had a pierced ear and his packaging box was shaped like a closet.

1979 – On this date researchers at Columbia University issued a report that concluded that homosexuality is a result of nurture, not nature ("upbringing and psychological causes"). Of course they STILL argue about the whys and hows.

2003 The first paperback collection of Glen Hanson's Chelsea Boys is published.

A native of Toronto, Glen Hanson is an openly gay Canadian-born cartoonist and illustrator, best known as co-creator with Allan Neuwirth of the comic strip Chelsea Boys. He is an internationally acclaimed illustrator, art director and writer.

After studying animation at Sheridan College, Glen went on to design characters for TV's Babar, Beetlejuice and Daria cartoon shows. In 2000 he was nominated for an Annie Award for his art direction and design on MTV's internationally syndicated Spy Groove series. He has since developed shows for Nickelodeon, Film Roman, Studio B, Disney and co-wrote, designed and storyboarded a series of animated promo spots for Soap Net entitled "Crescent Hollow".

Glen's illustrations have appeared in a variety of publications around the world including British Vogue and GQ, Entertainment Weekly, Newsweek, The Wall St. Journal, Maxim, FHM and Variety. Celebrities like Carol Burnett, Rosie O'Donnell, Billy Crystal, Mary Tyler Moore and Tom Cruise all own original caricatures created by Glen.

But Glen Hanson has an alter-ego. He is also G-Man of gay erotic cartoon fame. When he moved to New York as a struggling artist, he found a ripe market for the sexy toons he had created in his teens. He says: "I came up with the name G-Man," he says, "to separate my career as Glen Hanson — who was doing work for 'Ladies Home Journal' and 'Good Housekeeping' — from the fantasy studs that I started drawing in my teen years."

"I was in the right place at the right time." he adds. "My gay work proliferated throughout gay New York, where most American advertising and editorial art directors are."

Hanson now lives in Los Angeles, where he's developing an animated version of his syndicated comic strip Chelsea Boys for possible inclusion on gay cable channel, Logo. Begun over six years ago as the carefree adventures of three kooky roomates, Chelsea Boys soon took on more serious issues like the prevalence of crystal meth, barebacking - even the war in Iraq.

2009 – Brett Josef Grubisic (b.1963) with David L. Chapman, publishes American Hulks: The Muscular Male Body in Popular Culture. Grubisic is a Canadian novelist and editor, and Sessional Lecturer of English at the University of British Columbia. He obtained degrees from University of Victoria (B.A., M.A.) and the University of British Columbia (Ph.D.)

He has edited one anthology of gay male pulp fiction, and co-edited an anthology of upcoming Canadian writers. Grubisic's debut novel, The Age of Cities, was published in 2006, and was a finalist for the City of Vancouver Book Prize. S This Location of Unknown Possibilities, Grubisic's follow-up novel, appeared in 2014. Appearing in 2009, American Hunks: The Muscular Male Body in Popular Culture, 1860-1970, a pictorial social history co-authored with David L. Chapman, charts changes in the depictions of and attitudes toward the nude and semi-nude male body in North America.

He has written about film, books, and writers for the Toronto Star, Literary Review of Canada, National Post, the Vancouver Sun, The Globe and Mail, Maclean's, and Xtra!

2016 – Tim McCaskell's book Queer Progress: From Homophobia to Homonationalism is published.

Born in 1951, Tim McCaskell has been one of Canada's most prominent gay activist since the 1970s, and one who has consistently incomporated race and class issues into his liberation outlook. He was a member of the editorial collective of The Body Politic, Canada's most important gay magazine until its demise in 1987.

In the early 1980s, he was also an important member of the Right to Privacy Committee, at the time the country's largest activist group, organised in response to police raids on gay bath-houses. For many years, McCaskell worked for the Toronto Board of Education on antiracist and other initiatives.

It wasn't until 1986, when Mr. McCaskell's blood was tested as part of a study into the epidemiology of the disease, that he learned that he was HIV-positive.

McCaskell was a founding member of AIDS Action Now! in 1988, an activist group formed to press for changes in the way that AIDS treatements were researched and disseminated, and was successful in changing goverment policy.

For years he has been partner to Richard Fung, a Trinidadian-Chinese-Canadian filmmaker sharing his interest in anti-racist initiatives.

[adini-nikolaevna]

When Queen Olga of Württemberg was going to marry her husband, there were many rumors about her husband being gay. How did his father, Tsar Nicholas I, and his older brother, Alexander II, allow this situation? Did not having children upset his family? For example, he expressed his sadness in the letter he wrote to his brother Alexander III's wife, Maria Feodorovna, because Elizabeth Feodorovna and Sergei Alexanderovich did not have children. Do you know a letter or a saying about this for Queen Olga??

Hi! I don’t know much about rumors at the time of the engagement/wedding ( @sbiizv might be able to help you there, though). Olga certainly didn’t write about it in her memoir, haha. By the time Karl of Wurttemberg came into the picture, Nicholas I was desperate to marry Olga off—she was 24 years old already and had had several potential matches that had fallen through, and she was also flirting with a man of unsuitable rank. He was also keen to have her make a dynastic marriage, as her sisters had both married fairly minor princes, and pickings were slim at this point, so he had to take what he could get, so to speak. The Romanovs were connected to the Wurttembergs, as Nicholas I’s mother was born a Duchess of Wurttemberg, and his sister, Grand Ekaterina Pavlovna, had been the second wife of Karl’s father, so I suppose it was an attractive potential marriage from that perspective as well. I don’t know how Olga or Karl’s family felt about their being childless, but I do believe it caused Olga herself some pain. Later, she and Karl formally adopted Olga’s “problem child” niece, Grand Duchess Vera Konstantinovna, and Olga loved her as her own.

[nasuversekinkmeme]

Weekly Roundups: Prompts

FGO

My request is: Mash hanging out with your favorite servant! Girlie never gets to hang out with anyone but the chaldea staff (and like, sherlock and da vinci). I want her to make friends... (artfill ok btw!)

Can I ask for some romantic gudao/gudako? Any dynamic is fine.

Cis male Gudao who exclusively goes by she/her pronouns. Not in an egg way, I want a Gudao who unlocked cis+ and decided to be funny with it.

Instead of Rin, Ereshkigal's host body is Olga Marie who literally gets jump hugged by Ritsuka and Mash as soon as they see her.

Oh no! Castoria got knocked out by (a spell/a concussion/whatever). Naturally, Ritsuka and/or Oberon decide to cuddle her and generally chill with her until she wakes up. Little do they know, the incident temporarily erased Castoria's memory post the nameless forest. Cue Castoria waking up and being VERY confused as to why these two strangers are being so loving and affectionate towards her.

age gap, power gap, Mash and Goredolf. Stuck in a room you can't leave unless you have sex. (You don't actually have to include sex if you don't want to, mostly I REALLY want to see those two grappling with the whole "I wouldn't in a million year consider you a romantic option and yet here we are.")

I reaaally want to see a fic where gudao and mash end up in a romantic relationship... because that's the natural course of action, right? A boy and a girl, as close as they are, surely it HAS to be for romance reasons, right? What they're feeling for each other MUST be romantic love, right??? (you get an extra kiss on the forehead if you make one/both of them realize they're queer along the way. Could be they're both gays. Could be that Mash is straight but Gudao realizes she's a trans girl. Could be that one of them is aro. Whatever you want!)

ANY

this is probably a lot to ask, but i wanna see something that focuses on a heroic spirit’s life before they died and went to the throne of heroes. you can write, draw, go crazy and do whatever you see fit to fill this prompt. feel free to use any heroic spirit that is a historical character.

i'd love to see a patroclus design! or anything patroclus adjacent in the context of fate, really. an already existing design is also fine, i just want to see him

The nasukinkmeme mod as a fate servant

[roga-el-rojo]

Queer Brown Voices - Quesada, Gomez, and Vidal-Ortiz

Hello friends!

My final recommendation this pride month is another compilation of activist queer history, this time focusing on queer Latines personal narratives on their activism from the 70's through the 90's, continuing the legacy of our foremothers like the stunning Sylvia Rivera (a Venezuelan-Boricua!) in bringing liberation to all the people: "Queer brown voices" edited by Uriel Quesada, Letitia Gomez, and Salvador Vidal-Ortiz.

Dr. Quesada is a Costa Rican writer and founded the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies at Loyola University in New Orleans.

Letitia Gomez has been a Latina lesbian activist since joining the Gay Chicano Caucus in Houston in 1982, founding the first national queer latine organization called LLEGÓ and others in her career.

Dr. Salvador Vidal-Ortiz is associate professor of sociology at American University in Washington, DC, producing professional and popular writing on LGBTQ issues.

"Queer Brown Voices" is a collection of fourteen essays reflecting on the diverse experiences of Latines all around the US during an incredibly important period of queer liberation struggles addressing the problem of white supremacy in queer organizations and anti-queerness in Latine ones. Coming from and having different relationships to their diasporas and origins, these writers provide lots of food for thought.

One essay I'd like to highlight is "All Identities on the Table: Power, Feminism, and LGBT Activism in Puerto Rico" by Olga Orraca Paredes.

Paredes' piece reflects on her work in defining Boricua lesbian activism since the 70's. She saw queer liberation become marginalized by the Left on the island and she fought to reclaim that space for struggle, and also had frustrations with reformist feminist elements that staved off decolonization and class analysis in lesbian organizing. While she did end up joining LLEGÓ and described challenges which do seem endemic to liberal organizations beholden to large donors, her experience is important for the Latine Left broadly.

If this essay interests you, there are a dozen others writing about stories from Texas to both coasts, so please check this collection out!

[klapollo]

I too am geriatric and crusty but I don't know what "I wanted to hug it out" references, please help

hi sorry for the late response! "hug it out" is a reference to entourage, which is an HBO show that started in 2004 and was really popular by the time trials and tribulations came out in 2007. along with "this is SPARDA" and "olga orly" it was very representative of the pop culture zeitgeist when the game came out.............but also so old that it gets missed now.

for what it's worth, some people didnt even get it at the time. i remember ppl fujoing out over it and anti-yaoi posters being like UMM ACTUALLY. it's still pretty gay it's just a gayly used pop culture reference

[kriegertops]

Did you use to be a fan of Ashlyn or did you never like her? I used to love the Ateam vibe they had going on but now I have to find a new gay powercouple to follow. Any recommendations?? Queer family’s make me so happy and I just never see them because I live in a small town :(

I was a fan of Ashlyn! I liked Ali more just because I felt like I connected with her better especially soccer wise and her journey and stuff. I supported Ashlyn though and respected her work ethic and drive and how she fought through so much adversity through all her injuries and stuff. Unfortunately now it seems like that real Ashlyn I followed years ago no longer exists.

I’m sorry you don’t see queer couples in your town :/ I had that same issue until I moved to a big city. I don’t follow many queer couples at the moment but there’s on couple that posts cute YouTube videos that I have enjoyed

YouTube link: https://youtube.com/@Kristen_McKenzie?feature=shared

Also this was a recommendation from my friend! @juststaroracle — mapi and Ingrid (post a lot) or Alexia and Olga (kinda give krashlyn circa 2018 vibes), or Irene Paredes and her partner (they have gorgeous kids too!)

[elsalouisa]

Alas that sense of uneasiness which I had first experienced on seeing Rasputin in the Crimea in 1911, and was so anxious to dispel from my mind, this year returned fourfold. The feeling against him was growing. Three years before, in 1911, the name had only been mentioned in the lowest whispers. In 1913 I found on reaching St. Petersburg a vast difference. People were pronouncing this word quite loud and criticising the Empress. I shuddered at the change in such a short time. But by 1914 nobody even tried to hide their feelings and now it seemed to me that people were yelling the hated name from every house top. One evening Prince and Princess Yousoupoff came to dine and we discussed the situation which seemed to be taking big leaps and bounds to disaster, so it was decided that the Princess should ask for an audience of the Empress and speak openly and surely. The Empress, knowing Zeneide Yousoupoff as being beyond reproach of intrigues, would listen and understand; Rasputin must go! Only the night before Mlle. Tutcheff, the little Grand Duchesses’ governness, had asked to see the Grand Duchess George and said: “I have to come and see your Imperial Highness as I do not know what to do. I cannot bear it any longer, now that awful man Rasputin comes up when the Grand Duchesses are in bed and blesses them. I feel it is not right.’ The Grand Duchess quite agreed with her, but what could she do? Shortly after this Mlle. Tutcheff was dismissed; I suppose she had shown her disapproval and that had sufficed.

The next day the Imperial family were dining at Harax and the Yousoupoffs were also invited. Before dinner the Princess telephoned to the Grand Duchess and said: “I think I had better not come and dine; I was received by the Empress to-day. As soon as I mentioned the subject of my visit the Empress rose from her chair and said: ‘I refuse to hear one word on this matter and forbid you to refer to it. It is a plot against a dear friend and nobody has the right to interfere. You can leave.’ ”

But the Grand Duchess begged her to come, saying it would look so pointed, so the poor Princess arrived looking pale and trembling—such was the effect on any subject of their Imperial Majesties. We could not understand it, as we were so free with them, but after all.the Russians had been born under this autocratic atmosphere. As usual, the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess with the Grand Ducal Household went forward to await their Majesties.

We all remained in the drawing-room; as this was a large dinner party and more etiquette was displayed. The Emperor entered with the Empress, and the Grand Duchess Olga and Grand Duchess Tatiana, both so sweet and young, followed. We all made a deep reverence, not a curtsey—that word sounds to me so out of place. The Emperor, kind and natural as ever, the Empress slightly stiffer, as if she was putting up a palisade between her family and herself against the outside world. She scarcely looked at Zeneide Yousoupoff. The dinner was not as gay as usual owing to an undercurrent of strained aloofness on the part of the Empress. She was very kind to us as we, in her eyes, had nothing to do with the plot ‘which she felt had been laid to send the Princess as spokeswoman that afternoon. She trusted no one and knew that all present agreed with what had been said. Dinner over, we adjourned to the club where musicians were awaiting us. Still the Empress had not addressed a word to the Princess who was every minute more conscious of the Empress’s marked displeasure which meant so much in those days. Should their Majesties bestow their favour on a person, the barometer of the Court went high in his favour. If the opposite happened, that person could count on no one. Of course, there were exceptions, but I mean on an average. People would criticise the Empress, but should she show herself, people would cringe only to be able to say she had looked at them, but alas that was seldom, as less and less did she ever show herself outside the immediate circle. Dancing started and how well I remember that scene—the large room filled with flowers, chairs round the room, the young Grand Duchesses in pale blue. Olga was fair, not as tall as her sister, with a sweet expression, a little less slight than Tatiana but very graceful and so happy and gay. Tatiana was darker, perhaps less Russian-looking, graver in looks, but also young, only asking for the loveliness the world can give. My daughter was there, tall and slight in white and pink, the officers of the Emperor’s yacht “Standart”, a few officers of the regiment whose duties were to protect the Emperor, Prince Christopher, etc. The Emperor also danced, gaily laughing. The Empress sitting at the end of the room on a high-back chair and supported by innumerable cushions, was in mauve. Diamonds seemed to be illuminating her and making a halo around her.

At the opposite end of the room beautiful Princess Zeneide stood holding on to a chair; she was deathly pale. I felt sorry for her as etiquette forbade her leaving before their Majesties. I suddenly spied on the ground by the side of the Empress’s chair one of the cushions which had slipped down. So I went to Zeneide and whispered: “Allez ma chére, ramasser ce coussin; offrez-le a PImpératrice; cela peut-étre rompera la glace.” But the Princess with a terrified look answered “Ma bonne amie, jamais je n’oserais.” I realised then the distance that lay between the Empress of Russia and  Princesse Yousoupoff.

That evening in the little corridor that led from the house to the large room usually called the “club” the Emperor was standing in earnest conversation with the Grand Duchess George. They stood by a large window—I see this scene now as I write, the heavy curtains drawn, the Emperor’s slight figure, the Grand Duchess in evening dress standing in front of him. I wondered what this could mean as the Emperor looked sad and troubled. Later the Grand Duchess told me. It appears that he had dreamt the night before that his greatgrandfather, the Emperor Nicholas I, appeared to him and asked him why he did not go amongst his people and speak to them and get to know them and let himselfbe personally known by his subjects, and that for Russia’s sake he must do so and break away from all this hemmed-in life he led. “It has worried me ever since,”’ he told the Grand Duchess,  “it was so realistic. I cannot shake it off.”

“Oh Nicky,” she then said, ‘‘this dream is too true. We have all been wanting to tell you this but dared not; it is terrible to think that you, with your wonderful personality and with those magnetic eyes, should not show yourself. Believe me, you would bring the whole of Russia to your feet.”

He answered: “But, my dear, I am so short and all the Emperors and all the family were and are so tall. I am so insignificant-looking!”’

It was pathetic and then I understood the drama of it all and why he walked usually on the tip of his toes. For a long time we hoped it might alter his mode of life, but nothing changed".

Agnes Stoeckl "Not all vanity"