#lgbtq love story

[lunarrlust]

The beginning

She came to pick me up from my hotel for our first hang out... We had met online prior to and had a couple video calls but I remember still feeling nervous to see her... It was starting to feel real. We decided to see a fun movie together for our first meetup and I could feel the excitement in my belly grow when i got the text, "I'm here". I gave myself little pep talks to just be myself as I walked out the gate.

She came out of her car and hugged me, I was just in awe of her beauty and hugged her again like as if one hug wasn't enough. So here I am in this car with becoming flustered and being super conscious of this woman whom I connected with on social media.

It's my first time in Lagos in a very long time so the drive was filled with lots of emotions like being a little shy then getting hit with a bit of nostalgia.

We started off at a bar close to the movie theatre. I got my usual Heineken. She got a milkshake. She honestly looked like a kid drinking a milkshake lol, it was adorable. We talked for a bit I honestly don't remember what we talked about but I remember feeling she could get it 😄 Before heading out to the movies, I gave her a present I brought with me: Ice wine from Niagara AND I gave her a Christmas card that said "I can't wait to unwrap you come Christmas eve".

I was feeling a little audacious and I remember feeling safe enough to give her the card I watched her face tear a smile. I blushed as now my intentions were out in the open…

[sagaelle]

Everything was ready.

Crowley was a demon, but after centuries spent with humans, he had learned to appreciate certain small pleasures such as a walk in a park, watching ducks on a lake or listening to music. He also loved watching his favorite angel discover new dishes, new flavors.

A few months ago, Crowley had Aziraphale test spicy sauces with pieces of chicken. The angel ended up swallowing more water than he thought possible and almost insulted Crowley as he laughed very loudly in the restaurant. He liked to tease his cherub. But what he loved above all was to make him happy, to make him smile, to see the joy in his eyes when he discovered the little attentions of the demon. Crowley loved when the angel's eyes only looked at him, when he was the reason for her smile. He would do anything for his angel, absolutely anything.

Aziraphale has been very busy lately, he was going to host the merchants meeting and he wanted everything to be perfect. Convincing the merchants was not an easy thing but nothing is impossible for the angel that he is! Crowley followed him everywhere, but said nothing, he watched him, looked at him amused when the angel had to speak different languages, but a little less amused when he had to give up one of his books to convince a recalcitrant shopkeeper. Crowley knew how much Aziraphale loved and treasured his precious works.

Already several days that Aziraphale was busy with this meeting and he and the demon had not been able to spend much time together, as they used to do. Not a day went by that the two of them didn't have a moment together, even an hour, and for Crowley, that little hour every day was indispensable, vital! He needed to be with him. The bookstore was the only place Crowley could take off his glasses and be himself. Aziraphale was the only person he could be totally himself with. An angel and a demon but they were one. For the residents and merchants of the district, they were inseparable. Many thought they were a couple, despite both denying it. It was rare if not almost impossible to see one without seeing the other. The perfect, inseparable duo.

Crowley was tired of not having enough time with his little angel. He was missing him and wanted to spend an evening with him, just his angel and him. So he decided to prepare this evening for them. Aziraphale was still very busy for this meeting, even though it was only in 2 days. He had taken advantage of these few hours alone to tidy up the library, he had moved the furniture to free up space in the center of the room. A large rug had been laid out on the floor with several cushions and a few large blankets. They both liked comfort. He had prepared several types of food, including the French crepes that Aziraphale loved so much. He hadn't actually cooked this food, he had just been around his friend's favorite restaurants. A few fairy lights and a few candles. Aziraphale was particularly in love with the scented candles from a shop a few blocks from his bookstore. Of course, Crowley had bought a box of them and even if he didn't say so, he also liked the scented candles. He liked many things that Aziraphale liked but never told him. He had also planned a few bottles of French wine and above all, a few books that Aziraphale had been looking for for a long time and that Crowley had found thanks to a few “friends”. He had piled them up and wrapped them in a blue ribbon. His favorite colour.

Everything was ready. Several days of preparation for this moment, to see the joy in his eyes.

Hours passed and Aziraphale had still not returned. The demon was beginning to worry, the neighborhood wasn't huge, and Aziraphale had already canvassed a lot of traders. He had been waiting for 4 hours in the bookstore. It was too much, he was going to go find him. He couldn't be far. He passed through all the shops, all the streets but no one knew where the angel had gone after passing through their shop. This game of cat and mouse was starting to annoy him. Aziraphale told him he wouldn't be long and he's still not here and he's gone!

Yet Crowley manages to sense that the angel is still around. Maybe he is back to his shop? It would spoil Crowley's surprise but at least he would be safe. The demon went up the street of this district of Soho at a rapid pace to arrive as quickly as possible at Aziraphale's bookstore. A few more steps and there he was:

“Angel! Hold on !”

The little blond head turned abruptly, recognizing that voice calling him :

“Crowley! What are you doing here ? I thought you were waiting for me inside.”

Crowley noticed the loaded arms of the cherub. Cardboard boxes probably containing food, bottle of wine,...

“Chocolates ? Why all of this ?”

“I... Oh it's just... A few purchases like that, nothing special.” replied the angel with an unconvincing, unconvinced smile.

“But you're not answering my question of why you're here in front of the bookstore.”

Crowley was a little irritated but mostly relieved that his...friend was okay.

“I was looking for you ! You took more than 4 hours to go around the few traders but I understand now that you made a few stops along the way. Let's go home, we have things to do.”

He opened the door of this old building and let the cherub enter first. Barely had he taken 2 steps when he stopped abruptly:

“Crowley what is that?”

“We haven't been spending much time together lately and I wanted to spend some time with you, alone.”

Aziraphale turned all smiles towards his demon, he put everything he had in his arms on the nearest table before jumping on Crowley's neck.

“Is that a date you're offering me, demon?”

“Sounds like it. And in view of your purchases you had planned the same thing.”

“Indeed, I missed our time together, I'm sorry to have put you aside for the past few days.”

“It's okay, now we're here. But I have a small question.”

Aziraphale, still with his arms around Crowley's neck, smiled tenderly at him.

“What ?”

“Don't you think it's time we made it official, in everyone's eyes?”

“I think it is a good idea.” the angel accompanied this sentence with a tender kiss.

“But first we have things to taste!”

A beautiful evening that was just beginning.

[flynnyfan]

The wonderfully designed official poster for "Dubs" (2019) from dollhousepics.

Thomas Flynn plays not one but two main characters in this brilliant Sci-Fi short film! You can watch it on YouTube or over on @watchdust which has lots more thought-provoking Sci-Fi short films.

[lezkissgifs]

American Horror Story: Delcate S12E08 (2024)

[daily-spooky]

[xiaq]

No, but lets talk about this. I dug out my grad school notes and everything.

So my grandmother is acting a fool on FB (what else is new).

And I can't respond to her because I might actually give her a heart attack if I shared some of the images included below. But I wanted to rant to someone so here we are. First, yes, the drag bit at the Olympics was inspired by The Feast of the Gods, by Dutch artist Jan van Bijlert in the 1630's, not The Last Supper mural by Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci, in the 1490's. And yes, pearl-clutching Christians need to touch grass and tone down the victimization because it's getting embarrassing. I think we've established this now from multiple reputable sources.

But like. Even if the Olympics DID make a drag parody of the The Last Supper, it's SO funny that Christians are holding up that painting as some sort of ideal heterosexual conservative icon when plenty of historians (including my Renaissance art prof in grad school) are certain da Vinci was gay. The man had no documented female lovers but was arrested for sodomy with a male prostitute (though charges were later dropped). He had extremely close relationships with his secretary Salaì and pupil/friend Francesco Melzi who both traveled the world and lived with him for most of their lives and through the end of his. When he died, Melzi wrote in a letter that there was "a burning and passionate love" between them. And Salaì modeled for da Vinci all the time--let me tell you, there are some hella erotic drawings of him. Exibit A:

But maybe heterosexuals draw their bros erect all the time and label the drawings "Angel Incarnate." Maybe.

Also if Christians really want to clutch their peals, this drawing might look familiar because da Vinci created his well known John the Baptist painting based on this and other sketches of Salaì.

Well, hello. Also worth noting: there are lots of fun doodles in da Vinci's sketch books, including things like the below--two dicks with legs poking at a butthole labeled Salaì.

Do you REALLY think that this (likely queer) man would care if someone based a drag show off one of his paintings?

[aprikkaa]

I LOVE GREGORY RAAHHHH

+ bonus greg and evan!

[queer-africa]

Hello friends, first we appreciate your support for lgbtiqa refugees in Kenya. This is to keep you posted about how life is increasingly hard for queer people in Kenya( Kakuma camp)

We got attacked yesterday and three of our friends got injured on the head and others got minor injuries. We are seeking financial support so that our friends can get proper treatment. In the picture is a lesbian whose head was beaten with a stone and we need to help her urgently. We need to take her to an x-ray scan and findout whether she is ok.

The hospital requires us to pay $250 and so we please need you to help witj any amount you can. We slwo have other frienfs that got attavked but not as bad as this.

See gofundme below

See picture below

[redysetdare]

I think queer stories would be better if people stopped assuming that queer representation hinges on if two characters are romantically involved at all. Like the moment you accept characters as being queer without needing romance to prove said queerness then i think we'd find ourselves with a lot more unique, nuanced, and interesting queer stories. but by limiting queerness to only romance you are stifling queer stories.

[lukedifferent]

It's wonderful to be someone's weakness - Luke -

[amysilvas]

silvacre. <3

[galina]

Anyone's Ghost, August Thompson – enjoyed this advance review copy way more than I expected, it broke through my cynical shell and turned me into a soft wobbly mess. An angsty cheesy beautiful queer love story that will be a perfect crying-on-holiday read, comes out in July.

[earthmoonz]

future! maxlena when they finally get their shit together!

[dresshistorynerd]

Roughly 10 Cool Historical Queer Figures More People Should Know About

Part 1 - From Ancient Era to Early Modern Era

In spirit of Pride Month here's some snippets of queer history I think are interesting.

I've been working on a series of deep dives into interesting historical queer figures, but I haven't had the time to continue my list after the first entry about Julie d'Aubigny. I do want to continue with it, but I came to the realization that I will never have to time to do all the cool and interesting figures in depth, since there's too many, so I decided to do a list with brief descriptions about some of my favorite figures who are not that well known. Some of them are more well-known than others but I think they all deserve more acknowledgement.

I was able to trim down the number of figures to (roughly) 20, which was still too many for one post, so it's two posts now. They are in chronological order, so this part is set mostly before Victorian Era and the second part will be from Victorian Era onward.

This list is centered around western history (but not exclusively) because that's the history I'm most familiar with, though it's definitely not all white, since western history is not all white. I will be avoiding using modern labels, since they are rarely exactly applicable to history, rather I will present whatever we know about these figures' gender, sexuality and relationships. If there's information about what language they used about themselves, I will use that. Often we don't know their own thoughts, so I will need to do some educated guess work, but I will lean towards ambiguity whenever evidence is particularly unclear. If you are the type of person who gets angry with the mere suggestion there's a possibility that a historical gnc person might not have been cis, I encourage you to read my answers to related asks (here and here) first before sending me another identical ask. Try to at least bring some new arguments if you decide to waste my time with your trans erasure.

1. Khnumhotep and Niankhkhnum (latter half of 2400 BCE)

Khnumhotep and Niankhkhnum were ancient Egyptian royal servants, and possibly the first recorded gay couple in history known by name. They shared the title of Overseer of the Manicurists in the Palace of King Nyuserre Ini. They both had a wife and children, but they (along with their families) were buried together in a tomb. The tomb decorations show them similarly as other afterlife couples.

2. Marinos the Monk (c. 5th-8th century)

Marinos the Monk was born as Marina somewhere in eastern parts of Byzantine Empire, likely in the Levant. He was from a wealthy Christian family, possibly Coptic. Assigned female at birth his widowed father planned to marry him off and go to a monastery himself, but he convinced his father to take him with him dressed as a boy named Marinos. His father agreed and they were accepted as monks. After his father died many years later, he continued his life as a male presenting monk. Later he was accused of fathering an illegitimate child with a daughter of an innkeeper, which was not possible, but he didn't revoke the accusations, instead he begged for the abbot's forgiveness for "his sins". Marinos was banished from the monastery and became a beggar. For 10 years he raised his alleged illegitimate child as a father, until he was allowed to return to the monastery and do penance. Only after his death the abbot and the monks discovered his genitals and his inability to father children and were distraught for punishing an innocent man for 10 long years. The real father was discovered and along with the innkeeper and his daughter they all came to honor Marinos' grave and ask his forgiveness. He was canonized as a saint for his sacrificial selflessness, modesty and humility and honored across the Mediterranean from Ethiopia to France.

3. Mubārak and Muẓaffar al-Saqlabi (c. 10th - 11th century)

Mubārak and Muẓaffar were co-rulers of Taifa of Valencia in Muslim Spain. Al-Saqlabi means literally "of the Slavs", which in Al-Andalus was a general term for enslaved northern Europeans, as the two had been enslaved as children. They were in the service of another al-Saqlabi, a chief of police, and they worked they way up as civil servants till a local military coup in 1010, which resulted in them becoming the emirs of Taifa of Valencia. English language sources often describe them as "brothers" and "eunuchs", which gives the "historical gal pals" trope a concerning twist, but contemporary Muslim sources wrote fawningly about their passionate love, trust based on equality and mutual devotion. There was a popular genre of homoerotic poetry in the Islamic world at the time and poems in that genre were written about celebrating Mubārak and Muẓaffar's relationship. In 1018 Mubārak was killed in a riding accident and Muẓaffar shortly after in an uprising.

4. Eleno de Céspedes (1545 – died after 1589)

CW: genital inspection

Eleno was born in Andalusia, Spain, to an enslaved black Muslim woman and to a free Castillian peasant. He was assigned female at birth, given name Elena, and branded as a mulatto born to a slave. She was freed as a child and married to a stonemason at 15-16 years old. When pregnant, her husband left her and died a while later. Later Eleno testified that his intersex condition became externally visible, while he gave birth, and he became a man. He left his son to be raised by a friend and traveled around Spain. After he stabbed a pimp and ended up in jail, he started presenting as a man and openly courting women. Eventually he taught himself to be a surgeon with the help of a surgeon friend.

When he married María del Caño, his maleness was questioned and he was subjected to genital inspection multiple times and it was agreed by doctors that he had definitely male genitals, possibly also female genitals. After a year of marriage the couple was accused of sodomy. Eleno was tried by the Spanish Inquisition and subjected to more genital inspections, during which no penis was found. He claimed that his penis had been amputated after an injury. He defended himself in the trial by arguing that his intersex condition was natural and he had become a man after his pregnancy, so his marriage was legal. He was sentenced only for bigamy, since he had not confirmed that his husband was dead and punished as a male bigamist with 200 lashes and 10 years of public service to care for the poor in a public hospital. His fame attracted a lot of people wanting to be healed by him, which which was very embarrasing for the hospital so he was sent away and eventually exonerated from his charges.

7. Chevaliére d'Éon (1728-1810)

Charles d'Éon de Beaumont was born to a poor French noble family. In their 20s they became a government official and at 28 they joined the secret spy network of the king, Secret du Roi. They became a diplomat first in Russia and later in Britain while they used their position to spy for the king. Rumors circulated in London that they were secretly a woman. While in London they had a falling out with the French ambassador, accused him of attempted murder and published secret diplomatic correspondence. They were instead accused of libel and went into hiding. After the death of Louis XV in 1774 and the abolishment of Secret du Roi, d'Éon negotiated with the French government of the end of their exile in exchange for the rest of the secret documents he possessed. D'Éon took the name Charlotte, claimed she was in fact a cis woman - she had pretended to be man since a child so she could get the inheritance - and demanded the government to recognize her as such. When the king agreed and included funds for women's wardrobe, she agreed and returned to France in 1777. After that she helped rebels in the American War of Indepence - was not allowed to ]go and fight too, ghostwrote her not super reliable memoir, offered to lead a division of female soldiers against the Hasburgs in 1792 - was for some reason denied, attended fencing tournaments till 65 years old and settled down for the rest of her years with a widow, Mrs. Cole. After her death a surgeon reported that she had male primary sex characteristics, but fairly feminine secondary sex characteristics, like round breasts, which might suggest she had hormonal difference/was intersex in some way.

8. Public Universal Friend (1752-1819)

Public Universal Friend, or The Friend or PUF, was born as Jemima Wilkinson to Quaker parents in Rhodes Island, USA. Jemima contracted a disease in 1776, gained intense fever and almost died. The Friend claimed that she did die and God sent the Friend to occupy her body. The Friend didn't identify as man or a woman, and when asked about the Friend's gender, the Friend said "I am that I am". The Friend didn't want any gendered pronouns or gendered language to be used about the Friend. The Friend's pronouns, according to the writings of the Friend's followers, were "the Friend", "PUF" and possibly he. First recorded neo-pronouns perhaps? The Friend also dressed in androgynous/masculine manner.

The Friend started a bit cultish religious society disavowed by mainstream Quakers, The Society of Universal Friends, which I can only describe as chaotic good. The Friend first predicted a Day of Judgement would come in 1780 and when 1780 came and went, the Friend decided it was New England's Dark Day in 1780 and they had survived survived the Judgement Day so all was good then. The Friend preached for gender equality, free will, universal salvation (Jesus saved everyone and no one will go to hell) and abolition of slavery. The Friend persuaded any followers to free their slaves, which is probably the most chaotic good thing a potential cult leader can do with their influence over their followers, and several freed black people followed the Friend too. The Friend advocated for celibacy and was unfavorable towards marriage, but didn't think celibacy or rejection of marriage were necessary for everyone else, so it feels more like a personal preference. Many young unmarried women followed the Friend and some of them formed Faithful Sisterhood and took leadership positions among the Society.

The Society of Universal Friends tried to form a town for themselves around mid-1780s, till in 1799 the Friend was accused of blasphemy. The Friend successfully escaped the law two times. First the Friend, a skilled rider (what's a gender neutral version of horse girl?), escaped with a horse, then after an officer and an assistant tried to arrest the Friend at home, women of the house drove the men away. Third time 30 men surrounded the Friend's home at night, but a doctor convinced them that the Friend was in too poor health to move but would agree to appear at court. The Friend was cleared for all charges and even allowed to preach at the court.

9. Mary Jones (early 1800s–1853)

Mary Jones' origin is unknown, but she was an adult in 1836 in New York, USA. She was a free Black person, who preferred to present as a woman. She was sex worker by trade and used a prosthetic vagina. As a side hustle she would steel her customer's wallets, and usually they wouldn't tell anyone because it was 1830s and inter-racial sex and prostitution were illegal and everyone was repressed. Smart. Get your coin, girl. However after one of her more shameless customers discovered his wallet with 99 dollars inside had been replaced with a different man's empty wallet and contacted the police, she was arrested. The police discovered she had male genitals and when they searched her room they found several more stolen wallets. She appeared in court in her female presentation and when asked about her dress, she said that prostitutes she had worked with encouraged her to dress in women's clothing and said she looked better in them. They were right and she had since presented as a woman in her evening profession and among other Black people. She was convicted for grand larceny and sentenced to 5 years in prison. Later she continued to present as a woman and practice sex work, for which she was arrested for two more times.

10. George Sand (1804-1876)

George Sand was pen name of Amantine Lucile Aurore Dupin de Francueil, a French Romantic writer. Amantine was high-born with a countess as a grandmother. George wrote about themself with alternating masculine and feminine language, using feminine language when talking about his childhood, but masculine language often other times. Their friends also used both masculine and feminine terms about them. Victor Hugo for example said about them: "George Sand cannot determine whether she is male or female. I entertain a high regard for all my colleagues, but it is not my place to decide whether she is my sister or my brother." George preferred men's clothing in public, which was illegal for those seen as women without a permit, but they didn't ask for permissions. They alternated between masculine and feminine presentations. They were outspoken feminist, critic of the institution of marriage, committed republican and supporter of worker's rights. They were married at age 18, had two children and left their husband in 1831, but legally separated from him in 1835. They had many affairs with men and some with women, at least with actress Marie Dorval. Their most notable relationship was with Frédéric Chopin, but they fell out before Chopin's death.

[warevol]

late-night chats w my love.

[topazadine]

Maybe perhaps you will consider reading this

Uileac Korviridi has three goals: honoring his late parents, protecting his little sister Cerie, and serving his country. Fellow student Orrinir Relickim has a chip on his shoulder the size of a mountain range; his fierce demeanor hides an unrelentingly tender heart. Both boys only seek martial prowess. Destiny has other plans. Over the course of their education, Uileac and Orrinir gain instruction in something much different: the agonizing glory of young love. Explore their coming-of-age romance, twined with poetry, mythology, and war.

What people are saying:

"Amazing Characters and a Great Universe" "This is a lovely coming of age story that is set in a fantasy land that is still so relatable!" "I love the way Sidhe captures the emotions of her characters."