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love-little-lotte · 2 years

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Thoughts on West Side Story (2021)

I've just finished watching the new film adaptation West Side Story for the fourth time. Yes, I know, I have a problem. But what can I say? It's that good. While rewatching it today, I decided to write down my thoughts and comments about the film. If you haven't watched it yet, fair warning: I will be discussing a lot of spoilers, and I'd hate to ruin the film for you.

Anyway, here are my thoughts on West Side Story (2021):

David Alvarez deserves more attention for his portrayal of Bernardo. I love his entrance in the film, and I appreciate he got a backstory now. Since Alvarez played Billy Elliot in the Broadway musical (and also won a Tony for it!), it makes me laugh that he's into boxing in WSS. Now, he dances and boxes!

I love how the film emphasized Tony and Riff's friendship. "Womb to tomb; sperm to worm." It gave more meaning to their relationship, making it more believable and realistic.

The portrayal of Anybodys is much improved now. There's plenty of discussion regarding gender in the movie, and I love how it highlighted Anybodys' identity. He's not a tomboy, as the previous film implied — he's a trans man.

Yes, Ans*l Elg*rt is a piece of shit, but I admit he wasn't a bad Tony. Or, at the very least, he gave a better performance than the lackluster Richard Beymer in the 1961 film. Still, compared to the rest of his co-stars, Elg*rt is the weakest actor (and singer) in the film. I like that Tony has a whole backstory now, though, but it wasn't enough to make Tony an interesting character. When will we ever get a good Tony representation in a WSS film? Maybe in the 2081 remake or something.

Chino and Bernado's relationship in this film is sooo sweet. You can definitely tell how Bernardo cares for Chino and how proud he is that Chino is building a good life for himself by going to school. You can compare it to Tony and Riff's friendship. Where Riff wants Tony to go back to the Jets, Bernardo doesn't want Chino anywhere near the Sharks — you can see it in his expression when Chino appeared in the Rumble.

The Anita and Bernardo dancing scenes are so compelling to watch. Alvarez and Ariana DeBose are such a power couple, and I totally love their relationship.

Maria and Tony having their "meet cute" moment during the dance is a complete technical marvel. I remember watching the 1961 film and rolling my eyes at how the movie blurred out the rest of the people when Maria and Tony first saw each other. In this version, however, they weren't blurred out. Instead, everyone else was in motion and dancing, while Maria and Tony were still, unaware of the commotion around them and entranced by each other. And when they went under the bleachers? And the colors were red and romantic? Amazing.

The entire "Maria" sequence is so beautiful. As someone whose first name is Maria, I've always loved that song. It's a shame we have to see that guy there, though.

"Tonight" will always be THAT romantic duet song. I got chills the moment Rachel Zegler sings "Only you, you're the only thing I'll see forever." I also love the direction in this scene.

I love that scene when Maria wakes up the next morning. Zegler has the most screentime in the movie, but I really want to see more carefree scenes of Maria!

Rita Moreno's version of America in the 1961 film will always be iconic, so I understand how Steven Spielberg wanted something new for this film. Instead of singing it on the rooftop at night, DeBose performed America all over the streets of New York in broad daylight - and the choreography is sooo amazing. I also love how we can hear the ruffles of their dresses when they are dancing.

The scene where Tony learns Spanish for Maria was actually pretty sweet and thoughtful.

Maria and Tony's date to the Cloisters was a nice touch. It makes their romance feel authentic, instead of just having them "fall in love at first sight."

"One Hand, One Heart," which was sung live, was beautifully performed. I love how the colors of the stained glass reflected Maria and Tony.

The "Gee, Officer Krupke" sequence is so entertaining. It makes me laugh how all the cops chased Anybodys and left the juvenile gangsters alone in the precinct. Like, nobody thought of leaving one cop to check on them? Okay, cool. Patrick Higgins as Baby John is a standout. It's also nice to see Ben Cook who I recognize from Newsies!

The Jets playing with the gun really showed how they were just kids. Tony singing "Cool" to Riff also made sense — with Riff finishing the song — and oh, the choreography during that scene was just insane.

No matter how many times I've watched the Rumble, it still breaks my heart, even though I already know what's going to happen. Alvarez and most especially Mike Faist were superb. I love that in the middle of their fight, both actually looked terrified as if they never expected things to escalate that fast. I mean, just look at Faist's scared, nervous expression in this:

Again, I just want to reiterate my love for Chino and Bernardo's friendship. When Chino tried to stop Bernardo from continuing the fight... When Chino held Bernardo after he got stabbed... Hold up, I'm crying again.

I LOVED they placed "I Feel Pretty" after the Rumble, just like in the stage musical. It's a breather after the intense fight, but also sad because Maria is blissfully unaware of how her life has changed at that moment.

That scene where Anita identified Bernardo's body has forever scarred me. Please give DeBose the Oscar for that scene alone.

Okay, now we get to the change that irked me a lot. In the stage musical, "Somewhere" is sung by somebody else, while Maria and Tony enter a dream sequence. In the 1961 film, "Somewhere" is sung as a duet by Maria and Tony, which is probably the best way to handle that song. The song encapsulates their "star-crossed lovers" relationship perfectly. It shows how they want to live in a place where they can love freely ("We'll find a new way of living") and how Maria forgives Tony ("We'll find there's a way of forgiving.") In the 2021 version, "Somewhere" is sung by Doc's widow, Valentina, as portrayed by Moreno. To me, it does not make sense for her to sing that song. I understand that Valentina finds her relationship with Doc in Maria and Tony, but I think the song in her point of view lost its impact on the story. I also think that "Somewhere" serves as the justification for Maria sleeping with Tony. In the 2021 film, however, Maria sleeping with Tony was a confusing transition; it simply came out of nowhere.

Anyway, to my favorite part: "A Boy Like That / I Have A Love." Everything about this scene was incredible - plus DeBose and Zegler had to sing this live!!! I love that they did so, especially because it's such an emotional song, and it wouldn't be as effective if they had to lip-sync it. I made a different post about this but Zegler's "Oh no Anita no! You should have known better" is perfectly executed. And the way they finished the song in Anita and Bernardo's bedroom? And Anita breaking down when she realized Maria loves Tony the same way she does with Bernardo? Beautiful and heartbreaking.

(In addition to the "A Boy Like That" scene, I'm reminded that DeBose starred in A Bronx Tale musical, where she fell in love with a white boy, despite racial tensions. Please listen to "Out Of Your Head" - it's one of my favorites!)

Anita's scene in the drugstore was just as terrifying as the 1961 film. When Valentina stopped the Jets from assaulting her, I just can't imagine what Moreno felt going back to that traumatizing scene.

I can't get over how Maria was smiling when she was going to Tony just mere seconds before Chino shoots him. Also, I was thinking that they would finally let Maria sing "Somewhere" to Tony, like in the 1961 film and the stage musical, but they went with "Tonight." It's okay, but again, "Somewhere" is the better song for this scene.

Well, that's it. Sorry for the long post, I just had a lot of thoughts about the movie. There's actually more of these, but eh, these are the ones that are worth mentioning. Despite its flaws and the actor in the male lead, West Side Story (2021) is a great film. You can't tell this is Spielberg's first movie musical - it's as if he's been doing it for years. I really enjoyed watching this one, and will surely watch it again.

#west side story #west side story 2021 #movie musical #rachel zegler #ariana debose #david alvarez #mike faist #steven spielberg #rita moreno #rambles about films #musical theatre

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gatheringbones · 2 years

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[“I want you to know I love the grey in your beard and how your slim wrists turn into hairy arms and your honey-over-gravel voice and your belt and suspenders. I’m sorry so many of our siblings don’t or can’t or won’t see our shared history. But I remember. You are our secret weapon, our double agent, our man on the inside. We are all so much more than the outside of ourselves, and I know that you know this more than most of us ever could. I know we both carry the ghosts of what we lived through with us still, I know we can’t forget what they called us, and what we have discarded, what we won and have lost, and what it cost us. I know that the difference between coming out in 1979 and 1989 cannot just be called ten years. I know I’m standing on so many older shoulders even now as I write this.

My work these days is taking everything I know about masculinity and turning it over, and then over again, and deciding what to keep and what must be discarded now, to check myself and change myself so I am not standing even accidentally in the way of all women and girls moving into their rightful power and place in this world. I believe the balance and future of this planet depends on this. This does not mean I don’t want you with me, or that you are not needed. I imagine you there right beside me when we dismantle it all. All of us will be necessary, and none of us are disposable.

I remember meeting a trans woman in Edmonton. It was thirteen years ago, and she was in her seventies, I think. She told a whole room of queer youth that if they were trans, they should go on hormones and get surgery as soon as they legally could. She said the only way to survive as a trans person was to try to pass as your (her words) target gender as much as was possible, that living in between the binary was simply too hard, and very few could do it. At the time I could not comprehend how she could say those things, especially with in-between me standing right next to her, about to speak to the very same youth right after her. I didn’t understand her thirteen years ago, but today I can sit here and see her a little better. She had been a schoolteacher, fired from her job for transitioning in Edmonton in the eighties, way before any hormones or surgery were covered by health care. I’m starting to see that it is not my place to ponder what she felt her options were back then, or what decisions she might have made thirty or forty years into this future. I think my opinion on her means of survival back then is beyond irrelevant now. I know that my real job is to listen and believe, and honour and remember, and continue to fight and to write. Write it all down.”]

Ivan coyote, care of: letters, connections and cures, 2021

#ivan coyote #trans literature #wasteland radio

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lilallama · 3 years

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Valentines Day

TW: Obsessive behaviour, mentioning of stealing and slight homophobia, proceed with caution!

"Taehyung sweetie, wake up.~"

I groan and turn in my sheets, slowly regaining consciousness. "I've prepared you breakfast. Get dressed and come downstairs." The clacking of my mother's heels echoed through the hall as she went away. Groggily I sit up and stretch. I push my bangs out of my eyes I stare towards the window to my left. The sun shines through the thin curtains casting an orange light on my bedroom wall. I yawn and stand up, pulling the curtains aside and flooding the room with light. I take a moment to look outside, admiring our beautiful garden before remembering what day it is. Today is Valentines day! My God/Goddess asked me to meet up with them. Oh, spending Valentines with my saviour is the best thing to have ever happened to me!

I rush to pick out a white dress shirt, a khaki sweater vest with a black pair of slacks. After also brushing through my hair to untangle any knots I opened my secret Y/n shrine. The picture of their smiling face makes my heart pound so fast. They are otherworldly, absolutely ethereal! I take out a shirt of theirs which I borrowed a while ago. If I close my eyes it still smells like them, it's addictive.

Just to make sure that no items were robbed from their place I go through all items once again. Five chewed on pencils, a small box of empty wrappers, my 20 most favourite photos of them, the candle they accidentally bit into because they thought it was edible, the borrowed shirt, a pair of their underwear, a bunch of pins and hair ties they touched, the bundle of 36 hair strands I managed to collect (I only collect the hairs that have fallen out, I would never dare to cut or rip out my God's/Goddess' hair) and my water bottle which they drank out of (I had to buy a new one to keep this in my shrine but it was so worth it). All my items were there.

Suddenly I hear clacking and a small thud. I turn around in confusion, what just happened? But then I hear Yeontan's bark from the other side of the door. He ran against the door again. I can't help but laugh as I go to open the door for him. He jumps up a bit so I kneel down to pet him. "I'm meeting up with Y/n today, isn't that exciting!" Yeontan immediately started yapping, he loved my God/Goddess almost as much as I do. It's really incredible what an effect Y/n has on everyone, they all seem to love them. Well, then again that is expected to be the case considering Y/n is such a godly being.

"Taehyung!" "I'm coming!" My mother called me again. "Come on, boy." I hurry downstairs with Yeontan following me. "Good morning, Ma. Good morning, Pa." My father nodded at me while my mother beckoned me to sit down and eat. While I finish my breakfast my mother was talking about a lot of stuff. "Have you heard, they're trying to make gay marriage legal here. That is complete nonsense! God created a man and a woman for a reason." I have no clue what my mother was raging about. I concluded that she's probably just misinformed, Y/n said that being part of the lgbtq community is completely natural and alright. I know they know better than anyone else. "What's so bad about it, Ma?" My mother looked at me with horror. "They can't help who they're attracted to. It's all natural, isn't it?" My mother shook her head. "No!" She exclaimed, "Being gay or trans or something is inherently selfish! Gays are selfish! Men and women were created by God to conceive a child and stop the human kind from getting extinct. Trans are selfish! God gave you a body and you chose to change it in it's entirety! Such behaviour is unacceptable." "But I thought God loves everyo-" "Where have you even gotten that idea? Maybe you should go back to homeschooling. Clearly these other kids are having a bad influence on you." I look over to my father who just continues reading the newspaper. I respect my mother but she clearly isn't ready yet for the wisdom Y/n has bestowed upon me. Not everyone is as lucky as I am. "Look at the time we'll have to go now." Right, it was Sunday which means we're going to church. I always like going there, the windows astound me everytime. And the pastor is always so welcoming and friendly. I vividly remember asking him about the lgbtq community after Y/n had told me about them. He said that God loves everyone regardless of their sexuality or gender identity. He truly is a wise man.

As soon as we returned my father got a call from a business partner. They said they'd have to go now and want me to take Yeontan with me to my meet up. While I was a bit saddened that I couldn't be alone with my God/Goddess I decided it wouldn't be a problem.

Yeontan excitedly trots besides me as I make my way to the place where my saviour and I would meet up. I debated getting them a bouquet of red roses for Valentines day, but figured that the 20 letters, 12 stuffed animals and 18 bouquets I gave them during the past week would be enough, for now. As I make my way there I couldn't conceal the excitement I felt. Getting the chance to spend time with my Master/Mistress was something I believed I'd only ever dream about. The euphoria I feel from the mere thought of getting to see them today is dizzying.

Suddenly Yeontan starts barking and storms off. He never leaves my side, that's why he's not kept on a leash. To see him run away from me like that was surprising at best. But then I notice the reason for his behaviour. The puppy ran towards Y/n who was waiting for me a few metres away. How could I have just ignored my saviour like that! What I did was unacceptable. I would punish myself, but it would likely ruin Y/n's day, I can't let that happen. So I run after Yeontan, towards my God/Goddess.

"Good morning, Y/n! I'm sorry about him." I look down at Yeontan who's still getting pet by Y/n. He better cherish that they're even looking at him. It's bad enough that he practically demanded pats from them. So disrespectful. "No worries. He's so adorable!" At least Y/n seemed to enjoy his behaviour. I doubt it would work if I behaved that way towards them, but that's for another day to find out. "I dearly hope you didn't have to wait too long." They smile up at me. Oh, their smile is to die for. So incredibly perfect! I feel my knees getting weak. "Don't worry about it. I just arrived too." Yeontan started barking again and was noe excitedly jumping around, making Y/n laugh. "Awe! Yeontan is so adorable. I didn't know you'd take him with you." "It was unexpected for me as well." They stand up and take my hand. My heart is beating so fast, I feel as if I'm about to explode. It's getting harder to breathe. "Let's go now!" We start walking along the path with Yeontan rushing after us.

We sat outside a small café and each ordered our desired dessert. "Have you ever been on a date?" That question caught me off guard. "Oh, no. I haven't." I believe that much was quite obvious, but perhaps I was mistaken. They look surprised, shocked almost. "Really? How come? Aren't you getting asked out left and right?" "I suppose I just never had interest in anyone. I barely know those who ask me out. They're all so shallow to confess without knowing anything about me." Just then the waiter returned with our desserts. We thank him before we start eating.

Both of us watch as Yeontan is running around and playing in the snow. I look over to see Y/n smile at him, leading me to also smile. I adore their smile. Everything about them is so perfect. I could stare at them for hours and never get bored. Each detail is something new, something beautiful to discover. Unable to take y eyes off them I-

"Excuse me." Who dares interrupt my special time with my God/Goddess?! Two girls stood next our table. One almost cowering behind the other and mumbling something along the lines of, "Oh my god, no. Jess, don't." But I really couldn't care less. "My friend thinks you're really cute and was wondering if you'd like to go on a date with her." So annoying. I eye them down and make one thing clear. "I'm not interested." The girl cowering behind the other looked disappointed, perhaps ashamed. Good. She should be. After they interrupted my date with the Y/n they can go burn for all I care. "Have a good day." After the girls back away with the other girl exclaiming, "What a jerk!" I turn my attention back to Y/n. "Uhm, wasn't that a bit harsh?" They looked unsure. "Was it? I thought it was reasonable. Better to tell the truth than lead them on, am I correct?" They took another bite of their dessert. "I guess you're right."

We had a grand time strolling through the park, even having a snowball fight. They won. Obviously I could not compete with my God/Goddess, no one could ever. Yeontan was also very entertained as he kept trying to catch the snowballs as they flew over his head. Soon the sun began setting. It was incredible how fast the time flew by. Both our clothes were slightly damp due to the snow. I didn't think much about it untill Y/n began shivering. No no no no! My saviour could get sick, or die! I couldn't let that happen. I take off my jacket and gently place it over their shoulders. "But, won't you be cold?" I give them a reassured smile. "Don't worry about me, my God/Goddess. If I may, I'd love to accompany on your way home." They let out a bashful chuckle, making me melt. I feel my entire body heating up from that gorgeous chuckle. Their power over me is simply astounding.

All the way home I keep my arm atound them in hopes of providing some form of warmth for them. I cannot bear knowing that they're freezing. Never would I be able to forgive myself if they'd catch a cold. Yeontan was also slowly getting tired, which was by bo means a surprise considering how he played and jumped around all day. "Thank you for bring me home, Taehyung." Hearing them say my name makes my entire body tingle and flutter. "You do not have to thank me, Y/n. It was an honour!" Whatever I expected, it was not feeling their lips against mine. My mind went blank and I could barely stand. I felt dizzy, yet so so good! They gave me my jacket back after the short peck and laughed. "Goodnight!" Then they went inside and closed the door. I stood there for a moment, shocked at what had happened yet freling absolute bliss. After a minute or so I manage to finally pull myself together. I put on my jacket, it smells like them! And then I picked Yeontan up and walked home.

Oh, this day was the best I've ever had!

If you liked my work please reblog! 💌

#yandere bts #cooking club #yandere taehyung #yandere v #valentine week

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passionate-reply · 3 years

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This week on Great Albums: most 80s enthusiasts are well aware of the Buggles’ “Video Killed the Radio Star,” famous for being the first music video ever played on MTV. But when’s the last time you actually listened to the whole song? Chances are, it’s better than you remember. And the rest of this album is a masterpiece, too. FInd out more by watching the video, or reading the transcript, below the break:

Welcome to Passionate Reply, and welcome to Great Albums! Today, I’ll be looking at the 1979 debut album of the Buggles, The Age of Plastic. If you know anything about the pop landscape of the 1980s, you’ll know that MTV played a key role, codifying the “music video” format and aestheticizing the music industry like never before, not to mention introducing a plethora of British electronic acts to American audiences for the first (and sometimes only) time. The Buggles were one of the many synth-pop bands that scored a crossover hit chiefly from the exposure that heavy rotation on MTV won for them, but at the same time, their legacy is intertwined with MTV’s much more deeply. The Buggles’ clip for their single “Video Killed the Radio Star” has the distinction of being the very first ever played on MTV, during its 1981 launch.

Music: “Video Killed the Radio Star”

I’ve done my fair share of videos where I talk about artists who are brushed into the “one hit wonder” bin in America, and I usually find myself saying that their big hit isn’t that outstanding compared to the rest of their work, or the album it appears on. But in the case of “Video Killed the Radio Star,” I have to say, I think this track is a veritable masterpiece. It’s a shame that it’s become so inextricably linked with MTV, and its place in history overshadows its ability to stand on its own as a great work of art. It’s a song that feels very familiar, because it’s used so often as a sort of jingle for this era of music history, but every time I go back and listen to it in full, it blows me away. The song was, of course, not written with the intent of being about MTV--it’s about how the advent of television doomed radio dramas back in the 1950s, and was chosen by MTV in a bit of amusing irony.

But “Video Killed the Radio Star” is so much more than that post facto smug joke. It’s delicately wistful and nostalgic, with the crisp, soprano backing vocals of Linda Jardim providing a nod to 50s pop, but also very firm and powerful, once you add in that despondent piano. It’s the part that’s usually cut in the “jingle-ificiation” of the song for B-roll, but also the piece that really makes the composition tick--it’s the contrast between the brash and childlike optimism represented by Jardim, and the rest of the melody coming in to remind us of how those hopes are dashed as we come to adulthood, and we grow to see the world we lived in as children collapse upon itself. This all comes together to make the song utterly compelling to listen to in full, despite how pithy and trivial its oft-repeated hook has become.

While “Video Killed the Radio Star” was the single that managed the most mainstream success, the rest of the album features tracks that resemble it, in their sense of cinematic narrative and fascination with nostalgic retro-futurism. It’s not quite a concept album, but it still has an impressive amount of thematic consistency, and its tracks’ resonance only seems to increase when considered alongside one another.

Music: “Johnny on the Monorail”

Stark and plaintive, “Johnny on the Monorail” closes out the album on a moody, introspective note. Those bright backing vocals return, this time adding in some scatting, in a more overt reference to 50s doo-wop. Its high-tech mass transit theme calls to mind Kraftwerk’s seminal “Trans-Europe Express” from a few years earlier--but where they had used heavy, hyper-physical percussion to portray the workings of the machine itself, the Buggles’ hymn to the train focuses on the internality of its human occupants. The train is a socially-charged space here, but one filled with awkwardness and tepid, partial connections to other people. It’s a perfect microcosm of a sterilized future world that separates man from physical actions, like walking, as well as from his fellow man. This emphasis on the human, emotional toll of high technology is a constant throughout the album, even on its lone “love song.”

Music: “I Love You, Miss Robot”

In “I Love You, Miss Robot,” the age-old myth of romance between human and machine serves the role it always does: satirizing the transactional or objectifying nature of “modern” relationships, and the perversity of our attempts to fill our needs for companionship with things instead of people. The composition is, fittingly, quite hollow and languid, centered around a simple bass guitar riff while electronically-distorted vocals flit around like ghosts. Despite Trevor Horn’s reputation for orchestral, baroque pop, there’s actually a surprising amount of driving, rock guitar on this album too. It’s most prominent on the track “Clean, Clean!”, which is certainly a major sonic contrast with “I Love You, Miss Robot”! “Clean, Clean!” actually directly follows it in the tracklisting, albeit broken up by the flip to side two, if you’re listening on vinyl.

Music: “Clean, Clean!”

Despite its rough-edged aesthetics and driving rhythm, “Clean, Clean!” maintains the sense of high-concept narrative that pervades The Age of Plastic, showing us a glimpse into a brutal war. But, set against the haunting sense of distance and sterility embodied by tracks like “Johnny on the Monorail,” “Clean, Clean!” ultimately feels quite different thematically as well, with its soldiers inhaling diesel fumes and struggling to “keep the fighting clean.” Both sonically and lyrically, its feel is a bit less atompunk, and more dieselpunk--and, for once, the linguistic allusion to “punk music” is also relevant here!

The cover of The Age of Plastic features a headshot of Buggles frontman Trevor Horn, rendered in lurid primary colours. Combined with the tight horizontal lines of the background, and the digital-looking typeface used to render the name of the band, it seems to be an image culled from some futuristic display screen, fitting the album’s aforementioned science fiction themes. Looking back on it now, of course, there’s a certain retro feel to these now-outdated ideas about computer displays. It’s a reminder that for as much as this album was, in its own time, looking backward to Midcentury ideas about the future, and embracing a certain retro-futurism, it’s now aged into being “retro” itself, in a world where much of contemporary culture looks back at the 1980s with hope and wonder.

The title, “The Age of Plastic,” calls to mind not only a world of futuristic super-materials, but also the negative connotations of plastic: fakeness, disposability, and malleability to the point of having no fixed identity. In that sense, Horn’s technicolour visage can be read as the image of that plastic-age hominid, formed anew by evolving technology and an increasingly cold and alienating culture.

If you’re familiar with Western pop, the odds that you’ve already heard a lot of other work by Trevor Horn is extremely high. For as much as “Video Killed the Radio Star” has gone down in history as a gimmicky number, Horn’s fingerprints run all throughout popular music, from a stint as the frontman of progressive rock outfit Yes, to producing hit songs for artists like ABC, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, the Pet Shop Boys, and Seal. My personal favourite project of his, though, is probably his sample-heavy, avant-garde work as a member of the Art of Noise. A lot of people don’t know that there was actually also a second Buggles album, 1981’s Adventures in Modern Recording. I’ve met few people who would argue that it’s quite as good as The Age of Plastic, but if you’re interested in more of this sound, you might as well give it a shot! Lead single “I Am a Camera” even managed to chart minorly in several markets.

Music: “I Am a Camera”

My favourite track on The Age of Plastic is its opener, the pseudo-title track, “Living in the Plastic Age.” Moreso than any of the other tracks, it really draws its strength from its narrative, with clever lyricism that really rewards a close listen. It captures a day in the life of a businessman in a soulless, corporatized future, going through the motions despite a nagging notion that the corporate grind is no path to true fulfillment. The song’s frantic pacing portrays that ceaseless, hectic sense of stress, and its soaring refrain is one of the album’s highest points of drama. I can’t think of a better summation of the album’s overarching themes. That’s all for today, thanks for listening!

Music: “Living in the Plastic Age”

#music #album review #album reviews #buggles #the buggles #trevor horn #mtv

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alexlabhont · 3 years

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I didn’t mean to fall in love with you

Chapter ten

Book: Queen B - Choices (Universe)

Pairing: Poppy Min-Sinclair x Trans!Male MC (Beck Hughes)

Genre: Canon re-write (Because I can)

Rating: Anyone can read it, really

Tags: @dopeyouth @theymakemegayer @save-me-the-last-dance @poppysmc (If anyone want to be tagged in or removed, just tell me)

This is me trying to write by and for the Trans community, specially FTM community, meaning, trans guys, but I actually took the liberty to use They/them pronouns for everyone out there who´s interested (Also, the name Beck was the most neutral one I could find, trying to use the cannon Bea Hughes)

If you have any comment, PLEASE BE RESPECTFULL and patient with me. This is also my first english fanfic and english is not my mother language, so… i’m sorry fo the grammar errors. I also installed recently Grammary, so… hope its worth it.

CHAPTERS

Chapter nine

ONE-SHOTS

Just a dance (Zoey x MC)

——————————————————————

Poppy:

See you then, tushi face 😉

She wrote on her phone, knowing very well what It meant: She succeeded. Again.

That was the very first time Beck had actually asked her out, which was a sign that every single move worked just right; nothing to be surprised though, she was pretty damn fabulous and she wouldn't pretend otherwise.

"It took you a while, actually." Veronica said later that day when Poppy reached out to their friends at the fraternity house. "Nor even Carter gave you so much trouble."

"Carter is just an immature boy who thought a pretty girl plus a gigantic football player were just meant to be." The blonde responded with a snap. "Beck's slightly different, they didn't care for a face. The trick is to be yourself, but not too much. It took me a while to figure that out, but now that I get it, that one is mine to be borrowed." A strange feeling of satisfaction filled her, making her smile at that thought.

"But... have you guys fuck?" Chloe asked suddenly with a confused gaze, Poppy couldn't help but roll her eyes as hard as she could while she felt how both of her friends were watching her, gosh, even Veronica left the phone aside just for that question.

"What the hell, Chloe? Not everything's about sex, you whore."

"Are you serious?" She heard her brunette friend said, intrigued. Poppy could smell the problems that what she just said was about to bring. There it was one simple rule: If Poppy wants it, Poppy has it, and it has been like this since ever. So yeah, that matter was definitely weird. "Why? Don't you tell me you're too afraid to do it."

"Of course not!" She said angrily. "I did my research, and fucking Beck’s no different from any other experience I've had. I think it is them who's not ready..." A tiny hint of concern showed up in Poppy's voice without helping it. Of course she noticed it! The relief coming from their eyes when Zoey walked into both of them, as if they were scared, and being caught in the middle was a much better option than to actually do it. She was so offended by it that she told them she had something to do and disappeared from there.

"I think it might have something to do with their life back at Farmsville. I don't know what it is, but if I get to sleep with them, I know I'd have won. That's the next step." Poppy said, taking a ballpen from her desk to write down her new goal, she was that kind of girl who loved to put her ideas on paper to think them through.

"So… You're counting on gain their trust enough to fuck them to finally control them?" Veronica pointed out, looking at Poppy as if she was a mad.

"Exactly… And all I need is tomorrow morning. It needs to be perfect and I have just the thing for it." a smirk showed off on her face, the determination of winning was written down on every single muscle of her body.

“Don’t you think you’re putting a lot more effort into it than it’s needed?” Chloe asked again.

“Mind your own business and let me do the planning, Chloe. After all, we know you forgot to pay your brain bill.”

The bitch-y mode was on. She hated when she was being questioned about her actions especially when Poppy knew that everything she has been doing was necessary to achieve a goal; her enemy was powerful, she just had to see the rankings to realize it, Beck climbed as easy as the wind, doing things in this short time than a lot of people couldn’t do in years being here and they didn’t seem as trying. She needed to have them next to her for control.

Or at least, that's what she was telling herself. Something deep down her core murmured something else, something that might be too scary to admit, so she won’t. Never. However, that went down to the trash when she saw Beck the next day. It wasn’t their looks at all, actually, it was on point as always even though it was casual; the problem was her. Poppy could feel her heart becoming warm to the sight of that stupid lamb look of theirs with that sexy yet cute fucking smile they gave her. A little red alarm sounded in her head, but it wasn’t that big of a deal, so she shoved it down.

"Hey" Beck greeted her. "You made it."

"Of course I did, I have a driver for my needs. What are we doing here?"

Beck asked her to meet them at Whitehall street at nine sharp, but they didn't tell her what to expect, so Poppy was rather curious. Beck put his hands in his pockets, raising an eyebrow playfully.

"Yeah, sure… You have money and stuff, but… have you ever seen the Statue of Liberty from a helicopter?" Poppy's eyes went wide open, she was frankly surprised, how did they manage to get that? Wasn't Beck poor? It had to do with their YouTube account?

"No." She managed to say, trying not to sound so amazed; that was a pretty impressive idea, not going to lie.

"Well— Today is not the day you'd get to do it, because we're taking the ferry." Gosh, she should have seen this coming.

"You're such an idiot." She pointed, irritated by having been fooled like that. "Wait, what ferry are we taking?"

"That one." The strawberry blond could have sworn a mischievous spark lighted up Beck's eyes as they pointed at an awful orange ship coming to shore, that ferry looked so old that maybe it saw her grandmother born and grow.

"What?! There is no way in hell I'll be onto that thing."

"Oh, come on, Popps. Don't talk about it like that. The Staten Island Ferry is full of a butch of history on its own. It's the door to new experiences!"

"Like death?"

"It's totally safe." Beck replied chuckling. "And free."

"Whatever you say, I'm going home." She tried to go, but Beck's hand took her by the arm with a delicate touch.

"Give us a chance, just one chance —well, maybe two actually— but I promise you won't regret it."

Poppy turned to see them, still not sure about any of it. She had never been on that ferry, and she didn't care too much about it anyway when the destination was Staten Island. She didn't know what was their motivation to go to the most boring part of all New York, but that fucking face of theirs! Sometimes she wished they weren't that good-looking.

"I swear to God, Beck if something happens to me or my outfit I'll kill you and your entire music career."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say, Cruella."

They waited for a few minutes to get on the ferry, but once both were there, Poppy couldn't help but cling herself to Beck's arm. Truth be told, she hated boats. A lot. Once when she was a kid she fell from one of those little keels into the lake, and when she tried to come out, Poppy discovered that the boat was right above her head. She literally had nightmares about that day, especially on rainy days. With the time Poppy got to overcome that fear and now she loved to be invited to yacht parties —with the rightful security system, clearly—, but that ferry was ancient for god knows how many decades, and it being free was a bad forerunner to her, how many drowned people were behind all its story?

She jumped when the ferry started to move into the waters, the surprise was so much that her nails dug their way into Beck's clothes, reaching for the skin.

"Ouch! That fucking hurts!"

"Good."

Beck didn't say a thing after that, they were more focused on the shore as if they were waiting for something to happen back there. Then, after a while they smiled.

"Now that's a view." They said with a wide grin on their face. "Turn around." Poppy, who was too busy looking at the Upper Bay and thinking how awful would be to fall from there, suddenly found herself being turned over by Beck to the other side of the ship.

And what she saw was spectacular.

Maybe it wasn't from a helicopter at all, but getting to see that part of the Statue of Liberty going far and far away from them both was incredible, a breathtaking picture that she had never appreciated until that day. Unexpectedly that made her think about how much she was missing even after living in New York a while now: The smell of the ocean, the sea breeze hitting softly in her face, the sun illuminated the statue and the clouds behind it. It was like a painting coming out alive.

"It's beautiful…" she whispered without her noticing it until it was outside her mouth.

"Definitely it is…" Poppy heard Beck mumbled, so she looked at them almost immediately. Maybe it was one of those moments in movies where Beck would talk about her and not exactly the panorama, but no. Beck's eyes were glued to the sculpture. For a moment she felt disappointed, but then she caught a glimpse of blush into their cheeks and tension in their lips proving her that she wasn't wrong. Yes, definitely they were talking about her.

"I know it doesn't look as fancy as the other ferries, but… this is why it's worth the while. And I have to admit that watching it with you was so much better than doing it alone, so... thank you."

“Why?"

"For trusting in me." They said. Poppy stopped a little, thinking through those words.

"I guess I like you more than I thought." She then replied. The weird thing? The blonde actually meant what she said. But that didn’t mean anything, Beck was not as lame as she thought, no big deal, right?

Both spent a while like that, quiet but freely relaxed, looking at what the ocean had to offer. She didn't recall the exact moment when she started to do it, but at one point she laid down her head, resting it on Beck's shoulder while they hugged by the waist, it was as if in that exact moment nothing else mattered; she didn’t have to think about her obligations, about popularity, about pretending . The ride was about twenty-five minutes long but for some reason, they went very fast. She almost was disappointed when it came to an end until she remembered there was only one way back.

“So now what? We wait for the next ferry?”

Beck raised an eyebrow.

"Do you really think we came all the way here because of one ride?"

"Beck, is Staten Island. What else could you do?"

"Damn, Poppy. I'm starting to think you're too boring on your own." Beck teased

" What if you stop saying bullshit and tell me what do you have planned from now on instead?" Beck smiled as if they were waiting for that question.

"Come with and find out." That cursed smirk of theirs came as a challenge, while Beck started to walk towards the bus stop.

God, this was going to be terrible.

________

#poppy min sinclair #queen b choices #poppy x mc #choices stories you play #choices #choices poppy #bea hughes #mc x poppy #beck hughes #choices queen b mc #trans #ftm

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bts-trans · 4 years

Text

200518 Weverse Translations

J-Hope's Moment ⭐️ [photo in link]

💚힘내자구용💚 https://www.weverse.io/bts/moments/9/posts/1627886719155454

JH: 💚Let's hang in there💚

Trans cr; Faith @ bts-trans © TAKE OUT WITH FULL CREDITS

J-Hope's Comment 💬 on ARMY's Post ❇️

💜: 아따 안자구마잉

JH: 자야죠 이제 ㅎㅎ,,😉 https://www.weverse.io/bts/feed/1627886780236918

💜: Ah, looks like you're not sleeping (T/N: OP used Jeolla dialect.)

JH: I should sleep now he he ,, 😉

Trans cr; Faith @ bts-trans © TAKE OUT WITH FULL CREDITS

J-Hope's Comment 💬 on ARMY's Post ❇️

💜: 호비 왜 아직까지 안자구 있어?

JH: 아미 생각좀 해봤어요 🤭 https://www.weverse.io/bts/feed/1627886780027701

💜: Hobi why are you still not sleeping?

JH: I was thinking a little about ARMYs 🤭

Trans cr; Faith @ bts-trans © TAKE OUT WITH FULL CREDITS

J-Hope's Comment 💬 on ARMY's Post ❇️

💜: hobi💚💚💚💚💚💚

JH: 👋 💚💚 https://www.weverse.io/bts/feed/1627886779989717

J-Hope's Comment 💬 on ARMY's Post ❇️ [photo in link]

💜: 호석오빠 귀찌인가여?? 너무 이뻐요!! 오늘 하루도 화이팅💚💚

JH: 넴 저러다 뚫리는거 아니야??🤔 https://www.weverse.io/bts/feed/1627886779693034

💜: Hoseok oppa are those clip-on earrings? (They're) so pretty!! All the best for today as well💚💚

JH: Yep at that rate aren't (my ears) going to end up getting pierced??🤔

Trans cr; Faith @ bts-trans © TAKE OUT WITH FULL CREDITS

J-Hope's Comment 💬 on ARMY's Post ❇️

💜: 아미 얼마나 사랑해요???💜💜

JH: 아미가 우리를 좋아하는 만큼 😚 https://www.weverse.io/bts/feed/1627886904250856

💜: How much do you love ARMY?

JH: As much as ARMY loves us 😚

Trans cr; Faith @ bts-trans © TAKE OUT WITH FULL CREDITS

J-Hope's Comment 💬 on ARMY's Post ❇️

💜: 오빠 딸기농장 사진 ㅜㅠ 올려주실수있으신가요 ㅠㅠ???

JH: 내 핸드폰 배경화면인데 !!! 나만 볼래😝😝 https://www.weverse.io/bts/feed/1627887112451891

💜: Oppa the strawberry farm picture ㅜㅠ Are you going to upload itㅠㅠ???

JH: It's my cellphone background picture though !!! I want to be the only one to see it😝😝

Trans cr; Faith @ bts-trans © TAKE OUT WITH FULL CREDITS

J-Hope's Comment 💬 on ARMY's Post ❇️ [photo in link]

💜: 우리 호비 고향...광주🙏🏻 #Memorial광주 #Memorial518 #518민주화운동

JH: 🙏https://www.weverse.io/bts/feed/1627887233620882

💜: Our Hobi's hometown...Gwangju🙏🏻 #MemorialGwangju #Memorial518 #518Democratic Movement

JH: 🙏

Pic Translation: 5.18 Democratic Movement 40th Anniversary Gwangju

(T/N: The May 18th Gwangju Democratic Uprising is largely heralded as a pivotal moment in Korea's struggle for democracy. Citizens took up arms and rebelled in protest against the martial law government that then in power.)

Trans cr; Faith @ bts-trans © TAKE OUT WITH FULL CREDITS

J-Hope's Comment 💬 on ARMY's Post ❇️ [photo in link]

💜: 오빠! 제가 그린 그림 어때요?

JH: 🤔🤟😉 https://www.weverse.io/bts/feed/1627887233493937

💜: Oppa! How is the picture I drew?

JH: 🤔🤟😉

Trans cr; Faith @ bts-trans © TAKE OUT WITH FULL CREDITS

J-Hope's Comment 💬 on ARMY's Post ❇️

💜: 설마 칠성사이다라서 💚💚이거 쓰는거예요? ㅋㄹㅋㄱㅋㄱㅋㄱㅋㄱㅋㄱㅋㄱㅋ귀여워여

JH: 완전 사이다💚 https://www.weverse.io/bts/feed/1627887233488809

💜: Could it be because of Chilsung Cider that you're using 💚💚these?

JH: Totally refreshing💚

(T/N: 'Cider/사이다' is a lemon-lime carbonated drink, similar to Sprite. It is also often used to mean ""refreshing"" because of the feeling one gets when they drink it.)

Trans cr; Faith @ bts-trans © TAKE OUT WITH FULL CREDITS

RM's Post ❇️ with J-Hope & Jin's Comments 💬 [photo in link]

RM: 사진첩에 이거 있다

J: 따라하지마라 저작권료내라 백만원 JH: 오 rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrM

https://www.weverse.io/bts/artist/1627887655607500

RM: This was in my photo album

J: Don't copy me pay me the copyright fees 1,000,000 won JH: oh rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrM

Trans cr; Faith @ bts-trans © TAKE OUT WITH FULL CREDITS

J-Hope & Jin's Comment 💬 on ARMY's Post ❇️

💜: 호바 보고싶어서 너무힘드러ㅠㅠ JH: ㅠㅠㅠ😔 J: 죄홉..울지마

https://www.weverse.io/bts/feed/1627887596092725

💜: Hob-ah I'm struggling so much because I miss you

JH: ㅠㅠㅠ😔 J: Jwei-hope..don't cry

(T/N: Jin purposely misspelled J-Hope's name as Jwei-hope/죄홉, Jwei/죄 also means 'sin'. This seems to be a running joke among the members.)

Trans cr; Faith @ bts-trans © TAKE OUT WITH FULL CREDITS

J-Hope's Comment 💬 on Jin's Post ❇️

J: 태형아 대기중!

JH: 찐 https://www.weverse.io/bts/artist/1627876623227265

J: Taehyung-ah I'm waiting!

JH: Jjin

Trans cr; Faith @ bts-trans © TAKE OUT WITH FULL CREDITS

J-Hope's Post ❇️ with Jin, J-Hope & RM's Comments 💬

JH: 왜 안자냐 너희들🤔

J: 죄홉! J: 여기야 여기! JH: ㅋㅋㅋ 뭐해요 안자고 ㅋㅋ J: 죄홉 오늘 한잔하기로했잖아 RM: 죄홉 오늘 한잔하기로했잖아 JH: 뮤슨 ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ 엇능 자요 ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ JH: 아침 조 달릴 깅 할거면 자야지 ㅋㅋㅋ 조깅한다면서요 ㅋㅋ요즘 https://www.weverse.io/bts/artist/1627887861129365

JH: Why aren't you guys sleeping🤔

J: Jwei-hope! J: Over here, here! (T/N: A reference to the opening VCR of 4th Muster: Happily Ever After, where Jin says these lines in the narration.) JH: Hahaha what are you doing not sleeping haha J: Jwei-hope didn't we say we'd get a drink today RM: Jwa a a a hope JH: What hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha hurry up and sleep hahahahahahahahaha JH: If you're going to go jog-run-ging in the morning you've gotta sleep hahaha Didn't you say you're going to go jogging haha these days

Trans cr; Faith @ bts-trans © TAKE OUT WITH FULL CREDITS

Jin's Post ❇️ with RM & Jin's Comments 💬 [photo in link]

J: 사진첩에 이거 있다

RM: 옛다 💸💸 J: 고맙다 진짜 좋은데에 쓸게 진짜 고맙다 https://www.weverse.io/bts/artist/1627876379759937

J: This was in my photo album

RM: Take it 💸💸 J: Thank you really I'll use it for something good really thank you

Trans cr; Faith @ bts-trans © TAKE OUT WITH FULL CREDITS

#200518 #jin #seokjin #rm #namjoon #j-hope #jhope #hoseok #weverse #moment #post #comment

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nctinfo · 4 years

Text

[TRANS] Jeno’s interview with Grazia March 2020 issue!

It was your first photoshoot without the NCT DREAM members. I was really surprised when I first heard about it. Usually, when we're doing a shoot, even if we're not all together, at least a few of us will be there. So I was a bit worried about doing the shoot all alone. When I'm together with the other members, I'm able to be a bit freer and do more various poses. I was half-anticipating and half-worried because I had to do a well without making it seems like there was an empty space

It became a hot topic when you won NCT DREAM the gold medal by shooting a 10 pointer in the archery finals at ISAC that aired last year. It must have been a nerve-wracking but thrilling moment when there was only one arrow left, how did you feel? Since it was a tie until the end, my legs were trembling. I remember I had to shoot while I was very nervous. Also, I never mentioned this before, but it was a situation where my bow wasn't adjusted well so I couldn't aim right. That made me even more nervous, but luckily I scored 10 points. It was a very exciting moment for me and the members.

It seems like you've become the hero among the members since the contest, how is it (laughs)? Usually, Chenle isn't the type to be good at giving compliments. He would jokingly say you aren't doing well on purpose and there was something he told me that day after the game was over. He said, "you did kinda good today?". I felt strange that he acknowledged me for that day (laughs).

Are you the type of person who has always been athletic? I'm not born with it, but I do like to exercise and I'm very competitive. I participated with the mindset "let's win the gold medal since we're gonna be competing anyways". I think I was able to look forward to it, not because I was confident, but because I didn't know how well the other players would do.

I heard you achieved great results with the release of your first mini-album <The Dream> in Japan last month. NCT DREAM was the first group to top the Oricon Weekly Chart before their official debut. Actually, I was really worried when I heard that we would be releasing an album in Japan. We didn't have any Japanese songs nor did we have a Japanese version of existing songs. But still, our Japanese fans, Czennies, showed us so much love which I'm so grateful for.

It means that they waited as much as that for NCT DREAM The album received so much love even though it didn't contain a Japanese song. Thanks to that, I gained a lot of confidence for the promotions in Japan. In the meantime, every time we have an event or a concert in Japan, I'm able to have so much fun thanks to the support of the fans.

NCT DREAM is currently touring around Asia with their 'The Dream Show'. This kind of stage experience will help you to grow more, right? After being a trainee and debuting, I think my skills have gotten better and have improved through the concerts. So much that I cherish a concert or a big stage. Not only do we not have many chances to meet fans from all over the world, but it's also a rare experience to meet so many fans in one place. So much that every single moment is very precious to me.

Compared to when you just debuted, what made you feel like "nonetheless, I've grown"? First of all, my appearance has changed (laughs). It seems like the freshness we had during our debut days has disappeared. I feel more mature now that I've lost a lot of baby fat, and as we've continuously done promotions I've definitely improved on stage and live performance.

There are many unexpected things that can happen during a concert. Is there something that left a memorable scene? Usually, when you hear the thoughts from the sunbaes of their performance after the concert, you will feel touched or it will make you feel like crying. But for me, it was like that from the start of the concert. During the opening, I had shivers all over and I was overwhelmed with emotion. I was so moved that thousands of fans gathered just to see us. Even now, when I think about it, I still get goosebumps.

What is your role on stage? Power. I'm mainly responsible for using my body during a performance, so I focus on that powerful feeling.

What do you consider to be the most important thing when you are on stage? When I dance, I think expressing the texture of the song is very important. When I sing live, I try to make the scene more dramatic.

What kind of type are you on stage? I wonder if you're the type to do what was practiced or to improvise to match the mood of the day. I'm the type to improvise during rehearsals, and if it turns out okay, I will do it on the stage. When there's no reaction, I will just improvise on the spot. And rather, when things are set, I tend to forget them when I'm on stage. I think it will turn out better if I just follow my body.

All the members have seen each other grown-up together. I think you might be sharing a more special bond than just colleagues, when do you feel that? I feel that when we say "you've worked hard. thank you" after a show to each other. It's kinda embarrassing to say but those words have meaning to them. It had this fresh feeling when Haechan said "thank you everyone, you've done well" after a concert in Japan.

If you could have one of the many talents the members have, what would you most like to have? I would want the eyes of the members with good eyesight (laughs). Due to my poor vision, it's been kinda inconvenient these days. When we're on stage, I'm envious of those members that can wear color or circle lenses to match the concept.

So what is something of Jeno, that you would never want to lose? My eye-smile (laughs)? I don't want to lose my eye-smile.

What is NCT DREAM to Jeno? Even though we're colleagues, we're now past that and it feels like they are my neighborhood best friends. Because we've known each other since we were young, we know a lot about each other and we have a lot of things in common. So it's really fun to be with the members. Actually, during the shoot today I was thinking about the members too. It was great to have a solo shoot, but at the same time, it felt empty because I was alone.

How do you spend your time when there's no schedule? I really like movies and dramas, so I watch the ones I wasn't able to see yet. On the other hand, I like to exercise and ride a bicycle.

Is there anything new that has caught your interest recently? One of my goals for this year is to read more. Actually, I didn't feel the importance of reading until recently, but when I turned 21, I thought I should read more. I thought I need to read rather than starting at my phone while we're on the road, but even though it's almost March, I haven't started reading yet (laughs).

What would you want to show if you had the chance to take a vlog of Jeno's daily life? This is something I've wanted to do before, but when I get a driver's license, I want to film a vlog of me driving to the sea. I think it would look great in the autumn when there is a sunset.

So all you have to do is getting your driver's license first. You picked getting your license as an item on your bucket list this year, how are you progressing? It's not possible at the moment (laughs). Even if I get my driver's license, I'm worried I won't have many chances to drive. I want to get a license but it would be hard to find the time to drive, so I don't think it's something I should be doing soon.

Where does your happiness come from? Have you thought about it? Whenever I receive support and cheer from my fans I would think, 'am I worthy of being cheered for like this?'. At the same time, I feel like I'm in a really good place. I think I have to work harder to be deserving of the support I receive. When I do something and get a sense of accomplishment, I tend to feel a lot of joy. That's what this job is for me. I really like what I'm doing now because I can achieve as much as I tried for it.

It's already been two months since this new year started. How do you plan to spend the rest of 2020? I think this year will pass by really fast since these two months passed really quickly too. Personally, I hope this year marks the end of my growth. I want to make it a time to show a teenager turning into a fully grown adult.

Translation: Esmee @ FY! NCT (NCTINFO) | Source: Grazia Scan — Do not repost or take out without our permission!

#NCT #jeno #t:trans #t:interview #Grazia #Grazia: March 2020

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southeastasianists · 4 years

Link

From the iconic films of drag legend Divine to the campy classics The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, and To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar; the essential documentary Paris Is Burning to the groundbreaking TV series Pose; and, of course, the popular herstory-making franchise of RuPaul’s Drag Race. There’s a plethora of content from drag culture that can comfort the weary during these confusing times.

Drag, in its basic sense, is about transformation. It’s a reaction to society’s standards and expectations. However, albeit entertaining at first glance, drag, like any other art form, has always been political. From half a century ago’s queens of Stonewall riots to today’s digital queens, drag has always fought for the downtrodden – all the while wearing seven-inch rhinestone-studded heels.

In celebration of Pride Month, INQUIRER.net talked to six of the country’s fiercest queens about the importance of drag in this period of turmoil.

The art of drag

I always knew I like creating things, whether it’s dressing up our Christmas tree or dressing up for Halloween. When I first transformed in drag, it was like an epiphany. I knew this is something I would do for a long time. It was love at first drag…

As much as the pandemic has taken away the physical interaction that we used to enjoy during our parties, it also opened up more opportunities for the art of drag to be seen and appreciated. In the past, local drag queens and performers can only be seen inside nightclubs and LGBTQ establishments, and a lot of enthusiasts and artists don’t have access to such places, especially minors and those living in the provinces.

Nowadays, I still get to do drag, but more on hosting and co-producing online shows and parties. In doing so, I’m able to gather people and provide platforms for other drag artists to be seen and perform. So far, the reception has been good, especially since online e-numan is slowly becoming the new normal for our patrons in the clubs…

Drag is dynamic, evolving, and very diverse. Here in the Philippines, most people are familiar with drag through impersonators and our trans sisters donned in impeccable gowns. But there are also drag artists with occult or alternative aesthetics, or unpolished makeup skills, or garbage as part of their brand, and those who tell stories onstage that some may not like.

I, for one, am a storyteller. What I do is I incorporate current events or matters of public interest in the songs I perform. By carefully listening to the lyrics of a song, I weave its meaning to my stand on social issues. People may say it’s a political agenda, or that I’m biased or off-putting, but that’s what art does. It’s meant to provoke and challenge ideologies…

Human rights should never be a collateral damage. It is not the law itself that puts the people at risk. It’s the integrity and morality of those enforcing it that predisposes people to danger and makes them fear for their lives. Why would we trust such absolute power to this government?

-- Eva Le Queen

Mascots of the LGBT community

I started doing drag as an escape from reality. Just like any other art form, it’s a vehicle for the expression of my alter ego. My drag persona is an extension of who I am as a person.

I see it more as a hobby than work. I tell myself that I will stop doing drag once it starts to feel like work. During this pandemic, it’s so heartwarming to see all these queens, young and old, come together during these hard times…

There’s a Chicago drag queen named TRex who said, “As drag queens, we are the mascots of the LGBT community.” That resonated with me because we have a responsibility to amplify the voices of our community. Just because we’re entertainers doesn’t mean we don’t have a say on political issues.

In this country, those who criticize the government get silenced. That’s why as part of a community of outcasts in a society that conforms deeply to tradition, we make it a point to speak out without fear or reservations. Because at the end of the day, we have to be echoes that will remind our countrymen that we are the generation that never forgets…

It’s crazy. “I am the law.” That’s what’s happening in our country right now. It’s no longer about the law of the state. That’s why the Terror Bill is wrong. If the government can abuse the law against journalists who are only doing their job, they can surely do it to anyone.

The problem is, supporters of politicians act like fandoms. It shouldn’t be that way. They hold their positions because the people put them there. But, really, what can we expect from this government? You elect a clown, expect a circus.

-- ØV CÜNT

Disturbing the comfortable

Drag is a matter of creating your own reality, and in creating your identity, you get to choose the traits that you want to embody. I believe that it’s a melting pot of everything I’ve learned in life, especially from theater and the arts.

As drag queens, we get to break the social norms, and we do it with more power and confidence than we ever thought we had.

Drag is art, and art in general is meant to comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable. It’s a fun way of looking at what’s happening in our society and of doing checks and balances. Drag queens have always been integral in the LGBT movement, and removing politics from a drag queen is the same as removing that person’s identity…

Ever since the lockdown, more newbies have joined the scene, and they even get to perform with the more veteran queens. People aren’t that busy so we get to interact with each other. Queens from different clubs and cities finally get the chance to collaborate. Everyone gets a level playing field.

At the same time, it’s also challenging because it’s still a live show, so you still have to put in the effort. There’s no assurance of a talent fee, and the attention span of netizens is so short, especially with so many things competing for their attention online. It’s a different stage, too. We’re constricted to the screens of other people’s devices…

I always try to make my drag fun, but it depends on the mood, the sound, and the message. Same with crafting any other performance, there has to be a story. You should get the audience hooked and there has to be an escalation and climax. Whether you make it subtle or literal, the message always has to come across.

For me, the message is often about coming together as so-called deviants and telling people who we are and demanding what is ours, or telling people that we are not a sin and that being ourselves is good enough.

-- Mrs. Tan

Drag is unbreakable

I did drag for the first time by joining Drag Cartel back in November 2017. It’s a competition for aspiring drag queens. Category for the night was “Disney On Ice,” so I came as Prince Charming in drag. That night, I won, and from there, my love for drag just bloomed.

I do it because it makes me do things that I’d normally just fantasize about. It’s a realization of the things that give me inspiration. The look, the makeup, the attitude. Even though it takes a lot of time, effort, and money, and even though my face breaks out and I get physically hurt while performing, living that fantasy is still the best feeling…

“Keep drag alive” is what we always say, and that goes for togetherness. For drag queens, drag enthusiasts, and drag lovers to maximize the power of social media and uplift queer artists to keep pushing, and to show that this pandemic is not a reason to stop doing what you love…

Drag is a middle finger to all forms of hatred, homophobia, discrimination, social injustice, and stigma…

What’s going on in our country is so overwhelming that I’m often left speechless. Every day I scroll through my feed and I see one issue after another, and it makes me feel sick. I’m disgusted by the people responsible for all this mess.

I just hope people will take note of those in power who haven’t done anything good for this country. I hope that come election season, the people will remember what’s going on now and who’s responsible. I hope they vote for the right people. That’s all we can do as Filipinos.

—PRINCE

An image of hope

I started doing drag April of 2019 when I met a few drag queens (now my drag sisters and best friends) who helped me build my drag persona. I have always been very flamboyant and effeminate growing up, and drag opened up the possibilities for me to express those traits even further. Before, I was just doing it for self-discovery, but now, it’s for the community as well.

Drag is about finding the courage to create an image of hope and fulfilment for yourself that could later on affect other people’s lives…

The local scene has been very resilient when it comes to this pandemic. This is a living proof that drag is possible even without clubs and big venues. Just like wild grass, it’s bound to find a way to grow on its own no matter what…

Drag has always been political, and expressing my thoughts on socio-political issues through performances, public posts, online protests, and family and peer conversations is a way for me to maximize my drag as a political medium.

With everything that we’re facing right now, I think a lot of people are scared for their own safety more than ever. Aside from the unresolved coronavirus crisis, it’s really frightening to witness the recent displays of abuse of power and the questionable decisions of this government.

As a member of a community that has long been experiencing inequality, discrimination, and unlawful acts, I am deeply saddened with how all of this misconduct diminishes my hopes for a country free from oppression.

—Marina Summers

On the right side of history

Drag is my art, my craft, and my passion. Without it, I’m incomplete. It’s an alternative persona but it’s also part of my identity. It is the Juliet to my Romeo.

My interest in drag started after I saw the film To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar. The glitz and glamour was so fascinating, and I immediately wanted to be part of that world.

People may see us as glamorous toads with a million rhinestones in 7-inch heels but, girl, it’s not as easy as it looks. Drag is not just crossdressing. It’s a transformation.

Drag queens are probably the most resilient and most creative people I know. Drag is thriving even on lockdown. There are a lot of online shows for all to see. We figured out a new way of showcasing our chops. We will survive this…

Drag is political. It was, it is, and it always will be. Periodt. I am a full-grown adult man dressed up to the nines, looking like Joan Crawford after losing the Oscars. It’s a big middle-finger to toxic masculinity and misogyny.

I like to think I have a considerable amount of following, which means I have a platform. I always have a choice, just like everybody else. One can choose to stay quiet, which effectively means choosing the side of the oppressors. Or I, a drag queen, can choose to be part of a positive change and help inspire a new generation of people who are not afraid to express themselves, political or otherwise.

I want to end on the right side of history. As a drag queen, I believe I can do that.

—Dee Dee Holliday

#drag #drag queens #lgbtq #philippines #art #culture #resistance

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keplercryptids · 4 years

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nonfiction LGBTQ+ books i read this year

i read a lot this year, and a good chunk of it was LGBTQ+ nonfiction. so i thought it might be nice to list what i read. as a note, many of these books deal with LGBTQ history in the United States. too often, mainstream US-centric LGBTQ texts focus on white middle-class cisgender folks, though I’ve done my best to balance that as much as possible with other perspectives. (that being said, if you got ‘em, i would LOVE book recommendations that tackle worldwide/non-white LGBTQ issues!)

Accessibility notes: Given the nature of the genre, there’s a lot of intense discussion re: homophobia and transphobia. Basically every book listed covers those things to some extent, and I’ve specified where there’s additional potentially triggering content. (If you have specific questions about triggers, please let me know!) also, some of these books are on the academic side. I’ve done my best to note when a book was very academic or when I found it to be more readable. (full disclosure on that note: I’m a college grad and voracious reader without any reading-specific learning disabilities, so my opinion may be different than yours!) as a final note, I was able to access most of these as e-books/audiobooks through my local library. I live in a major metropolitan area, if that gives you any idea of how easy it’ll be for you to find these books. I’ve noted when a book was more difficult to get my hands on.

History

Gay New York: Gender, Urban Culture, and the Making of the Gay Male World 1890-1940 by George Chauncey. As the title suggests, this book focuses on gay male communities in NYC pre-World War 2. Even with that limited scope, this is an important read to better understand gay male history in the early 20th century. Gay communities thrived in the early 1900s and this snapshot of that is really wonderful. This is definitely more of an academic read, but I highly recommend it. while it definitely focuses on white middle-class gay men, there was more discussion of poor and/or gay men of color than i had actually expected, so that’s nice. (CW for rape and sexual assault, homophobic violence and medicalization of homosexuality.)

Queering the Color Line: Race and the Invention of Homosexuality in American Culture by Siobhan B. Somerville. Finally, a book about queer history that actually talks about black people! I was expecting more of a history book, whereas this was more of a critique of specific novels, plays and movies of the early 1900s and was way more focused than i was expecting. don’t get me wrong, I majored in English lit so i’m super into that kind of analysis as well, it just wasn’t as far-reaching as I would have liked. Also, it’s very academic. (Only the print version was available at my library.) (CW for racism, mentions of slavery.)

Transgender History by Susan Striker. This book describes itself as an “approachable introductory text” to transgender history in the US, which I agree with. It’s a pretty short read given the enormity of the topic, so it doesn’t go into much detail about specific groups or events, but imo it’s a good introduction. Especially interesting to me was the information about where and when TERF ideology began. Academic but on the easier-to-read side. (CW for transphobia, gross TERF rhetoric, brief mentions of the AIDS crisis, police violence.)

Gay Revolution by Lillian Faderman. okay so, I gave this 1 star. it’s probably a good book if you know absolutely nothing about US LGBTQ history and want an intro, but a review on goodreads said that it should be called Gay Assimilation instead and i completely agree. Faderman focuses on white middle-to-upper class gay and lesbian assimilationists, often at the expense of radical queer and trans people of color. The latter is hardly mentioned at all, which is ridiculous given trans folks’ contributions to the LGBTQ movement. When radical people ARE mentioned, it’s often in a disparaging way, or in a way that positions the radicals as too extreme. Faderman constantly repeats the refrain that the fight for LGBT rights was “just like what black people did for their rights” without any addendum about why that is...not a good take. There’s no meaningful discussion of race, class or intersectionality. She lauds Obama as a hero for the gays and there’s a ton (I mean a TON) of content about how military acceptance + gay marriage = we won, or whatever. anyway, i wasn’t a fan, although many of the events and organizations discussed in this book are important to know just from a factual basis. (CW for all the stuff I mentioned, plus police violence, medicalization of homosexuality. it’s also fucking LONG so i recommend the audiobook, lol.)

Queer (In)Justice: The Criminalization of LGBT People in the United States by Joey L. Mogul, Andrea J. Ritchie, and Kay Whitlock. This is “a searing examination of queer experiences--as ‘suspects,’ defendants, prisoners, and survivors of crime.” A frequently upsetting but super important read about how LGBTQ identities have been policed in the past, and currently are policed today. i wish there was more focus on trans folks, but other than that it’s a solid read. (CW for all the things you’d expect a book about policing and imprisoning LGBTQ folks to include: police and institutionalized violence, sexual assault, transphobia, homophobia.)

Stonewall by Martin Duberman. This book follows the lives and activism of six LGBTQ folks before, during and after the Stonewall riots. Note: Stonewall itself is only discussed in one chapter about 2/3 of the way through, the rest of the book dedicated to the six individuals’ lives and activism up to and after that point. It’s a history book with a strong narrative focus that I found to be a fairly accessible read. (CW for minors engaging in sex work and sexual predation by adults, sexual and domestic violence, police violence, drug and alcohol abuse, mentions of suicide.)

And the Band Played On: Politics, People, and the AIDS Epidemic by Randy Shilts. This is a HEAVY but really important read about the AIDS epidemic in the US, tracking the disease and the political/cultural response from about 1980-1985. It’s journalistic nonfiction, so although it’s a very long book I found it easier to read than more academic-y books. the only thing i really disliked was how the book demonized “Patient Zero” in quite unfair ways, but it was originally published in ‘87 so that explains part of it. I want to stress again that it’s heavy, as you’d expect a book about thousands of deaths to be. (CW: oh boy where to start. Graphic descriptions of disease/death, graphic descriptions of sex, medical neglect, republican nonsense.)

Memoirs, essays, etc

Persistence: All Ways Butch and Femme edited by Ivan E. Coyote. i felt mixed about this one! i appreciated the different perspectives regarding gender and desire, especially since this anthology contains a lot of essays by people who came of age in the 60s-80s (so there’s a historical bent too). but some of the essays feel dated, at best, and offensive at worst. there was more than one instance of TERF-y ideology thrown in. probably 1/4 of the essays were really really great, and i’d still recommend reading it in order to form your own opinions--also, imo it’s useful to see where TERF ideology comes from. this book was harder to find, and i had to order a print version through interlibrary loan. (CW for a few TERFy essays. i read this earlier in the year so it’s possible i’m forgetting some other triggers, sorry!)

Gender Outlaws: The Next Generation by (editors) Kate Bornstein and S. Bear Bergman. Serving as a follow-up of sorts to Bornstein’s Gender Outlaw, this is a collection of narratives by transgender and gender-nonconforming folks. While not “history” in a technical sense, many of the writers are 30+ and give a wide array of LGBTQ+ experiences, past and present, that are important. I didn’t agree with every single viewpoint, of course, duh! But some of the essays were really powerful and overall it’s a good read. (CW for one essay about eating disorders, some outdated language/reclaimed slurs as to be expected--language is one of the main themes of the collection actually so the “outdatedness” is important.)

S/He by Minnie Bruce Pratt. A memoir published in 1995, focusing on Minnie’s life, marriage, gender identity, eventual coming out and relationship with Leslie Feinberg. i really enjoyed this one. it was beautifully written. there are many erotic elements to this memoir so keep that in mind. also was a little harder to get, and i had to order a print version via interlibrary loan. (i read this awhile ago and can’t remember specific triggers, sorry! if anyone knows of some, please let me know.)

I’m Afraid of Men by Vivek Shraya. A memoir by a trans woman ruminating on masculinity. it’s beautiful and very short (truly more of a longform essay), so it’s a good one if you don’t have the attention span/time for longer books. (CW for sexism, harassment, transphobia.)

Zami: A New Spelling of My Name by Audre Lorde. god, this memoir is gorgeous and is one of my favorite books of the year. it chronicles Audre’s childhood in Harlem and her coming-of-age in the 1950s as a lesbian. ultimately, this is a book about love and that resonates throughout every page. idk can you tell i loved this book so much??? (CW for child abuse, sexual assault, a friend’s suicide, racism.)

We Have Always Been Here: A Queer Muslim Memoir by Samra Habib. suuuuch a good book! Samra writes about her life as she and her family arrive in Canada as refugees from Pakistan in her early childhood, onto her life today as a queer Muslim woman of color, photographer and activist. beautifully written and just such an important perspective. Only the print version was available at my library. (CW for child sexual assault, a suicide attempt and suicidal ideation, non-graphic mentions of domestic violence, racism and sexism.)

Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kababe. this is a beautifully illustrated graphic novel memoir about the author’s journey of discovering eir identity as queer. i related to a lot of it, which was great on a personal level, but i also think it could be a great educational tool for those wanting to know more about gender queerness (especially for those who prefer graphic novels!) (CW for gender dysphoria, descriptions of gynecological exams, imagery of blood and a couple pages depicting being impaled, some nudity, vomit.)

#lgbtq history #lgbtq #book recs #lgbtq books #lgbtq nonfiction #booktalk #queer history #queer

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fymoonbyul · 4 years

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[ARTICLE] Moonbyul - Allure Korea Magazine Interview

ALLURE: I learned how to make you laugh today. You laugh when you're complimented. Like you can't stand it. MOONBYUL: Haha. Because I don't usually get complimented (meaning during photoshoots). Normally, the mood for our shoots are always quiet, but today's friendly atmosphere is unfamiliar.

ALLURE: It's quiet? I recall an energetic appearance when I think of MAMAMOO. MOONBYUL: If you actually see us, we're not. The members are severely shy. We become active once we open up. Also, there are a lot of times where we're quiet because everyone's tired.

ALLURE: If you were to rank MAMAMOO members based on shyness, where do you stand? MOONBYUL: I think I'm last. Because I'm the one that's least shy.

ALLURE: We're meeting during a chaotic situation. I heard your scheduled solo concert was also cancelled? MOONBYUL: It was the time when I was going to properly start preparing for my concert after my album activities were over, but it was postponed. Since we don't know when things will get better.

ALLURE: You just completed your second solo activities. Was it satisfying? MOONBYUL: I really really liked it. At first, I didn't think about the results. It's also a song that isn't popular to the masses. I can do this kind of genre. My goal was to show that I can that, so I liked just being able to promote it. They were satisfying promotions because people bought a lot more albums that expected.

ALLURE: Compared to your first solo, what's different? MOONBYUL: I didn't promote my first solo on broadcast. If I had expressed, 'I want to live doing music I like', 'Love myself some more', for this album, it was, `Let me do something that I love'. I think the message was, 'I can do something like this, too, because I love myself'.

ALLURE: MAMAMOO's Moonbyul's music and solo artist Moonbyul's music is different. What do you think is the most different thing? MOONBYUL: I think it's dancing and music genre. As a soloist, I want to show myself attempting various genres. I think that's the biggest difference. When it comes to dancing, I'm not good at girls hip-hop, but like urban [dancing]. I wanted to show there's someone in MAMAMOO that dances like that, and that there's a girl that does this kind of dance. I like the basics of urban dance, and form that's created in it. It's a dance that shows both being relaxed and power at the same time.

ALLURE: You named your album 'Dark Side of the Moon' as a metaphor to a solar eclipse4 probably also has the meaning of the side that isn't shown much to people. MOONBYUL: Inner side. I thought that was a good meaning. My name is Moon Byulie. My surname is Moon and my name is Byul[ie]. I've always said I wanted to do music with my name as well. I think I was able to show the music that's within me. There are also the lyrics, 'when the moon becomes dark, I'll become a star and shine on you'. I love myself. It's like showing self-love.

ALLURE: It's not the title song, but the lyrics for 'ILJIDO' were quite nice. MOONBYUL: That song is a story about me. I thought I didn't have worries, but I must have actually had a lot of worries. It's a song about the time where everything was going well, but I still couldn't sleep. My current appearance is probably what ardently dreamed of as a trainee in the past, so the worries I have now are probably unnecessary. It's about going back to beginner mindset.

ALLURE: Your daily life was depicted as lyrics. Dating just in dramas, and every day where you have a hundred complaints. MOONBYUL: You learn love through dramas. (laugh) After debuting, I think work always came first. Our company also doesn't prohibit dating, but to just do things well on your own. But, even though I, as a person, am lonely, I don't think I wanted to solve that with dating. Because I always have a dream. Since before, I didn't want to create a past, so I didn't take photos except for my graduation photos. I think that's when I started preparing for my dream for the future.

ALLURE: Looking back, do you regret it? MOONBYUL: But, that wasn't bad. There's a lot that I need to continue drawing, I felt having this occupation was a start for me. Debuting was a turning point for me.

ALLURE: Not everyone has that discipline. MOONBYUL: Instead, I'm afraid of attempting things. I think I'm slowly learning how to attempt things with this occupation. Today's photoshoot was also new for me. It's unfamiliar for me to look at myself. While taking photos, I've never showed so much skin like I did today. I always had my own frame, but, I think I disliked it myself, and wanted someone to break it for me. I tried doing my makeup or styling in a familiar way for 7 years, but I broke myself a little today.

ALLURE: MAMAMOO is known as a group that doesn't do a lot of photoshoots. But I heard you told your company that you wanted to do this first? MOONBYUL: That's right. I told them that I wanted to show various things with this solo. I think it's really fun! Like, I know what the appeal of photoshoots are. I did a photoshoot with MAMAMOO members early in our debut, and it was really hard. Even now, our fans talk about that photoshoot a lot. (laughs)

ALLURE: It's been a little while, but MAMAMOO won on <Queendom>. What kind of program was it left as for you? MOONBYUL: It was really tiring during it. But, thinking about it now, I think it created memories that couldn't happen again. I also learned a lot like, 'so this is how other groups prepare', and, `this is how they solve things'. It was tiring, but we were able to have valuable experiences. I [we] cried a lot during the final because it was so happy and sad. I think various emotions exploded at that time.

ALLURE: Seeing the way you respected each other left an impression. Are you keeping in touch with the other groups that appeared with you? MOONBYUL: Honestly, everyone was so good that I'm not sure why we had to compete. I think I became an Inssa' (insider/extrovert) through <Queendom>. Though, the members didn't. (laughs) The thing left over for me through <Queendom> is an increase in my social skills. We became close through missions, and we made plans to meet each other in light of becoming close. Bring your members out!

ALLURE: You're skilled at ad-libs. Do you normally watch a variety of content MOONBYUL: There's just a lot that I want to do. I want to do this and do that. While having idea meetings, I think I catch what's thrown at me, and evolve it. There are things that also catch on by thinking from the perspective of the viewer.

ALLURE: [MAMAMOO's] film awards stage is an awards show legend. It's like the answer sheet [for award show stages]. MOONBYUL: The actors really reacted so well. Honestly, those atmospheres are created together. Because we approached them like that, they reacted nicely, so we were really proud. We were really nervous doing that performance.

ALLURE: It's a time to realize how precious your daily life is. How have you been spending it? MOONBYUL: I'm an active person, so I'm getting stressed a lot. I can't go work out, and I can't meet anyone. So I go visit my members homes. (laughs)

ALLURE: You all live separately? What is your house like? MOONBYUL: I don't have any interest in interior [decorating]. (laughs) I have the same furniture my mom bought me when I first started living alone. Still, I think of my bed and comforter importantly. I like bedding and pajamas. I change them often as well. I recently bought lots of pajamas, too. I think collecting pajamas is like a hobby.

ALLURE: If you couldn't come out of your house for one month, what would you do? MOONBYUL: I'll probably eat delivery food almost every day... I think I'll game, and I also watch lots of YouTube. I come out in Solar unnie's YouTube [channel] a lot. I just look for the scenes that I'm in, but there were so many ads that I paid for it. (laughs) I recently got the feeling that my ears were purified after hearing a song. After hearing it, I felt that it was really, good. I got to hearing APRIL's 'April Story', and I got this refreshing feeling like my ears were on a mountain. Like OH MY GIRL's 'Secret Garden'.

ALLURE: Who would you want to work with next? MOONBYUL: Taeyeon sunbaenim! I liked TVXQ and SNSD a lot during my trainee days. Taeyeon sunbaenim was my phone background before, too. If I was to [work] together with Taeyeon sunbaenim, I think I would feel like I was on top of the world. (laughs)

ALLURE: What are you thinking about next? MOONBYUL: I'll work hard on MAMAMOO's activities, and, if I get some resting time, I'll prepare my solo. I don't like resting. Even if they give me a break, I use that to work on my solo. Because, if I rest, I get lots of thoughts and can't sleep.

trans by ch0sshi

#mamamoo #moonbyul #t:trans #t:article #era:dsotm #200322

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grouchythefish · 4 years

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okay, so uh, gonna admit I was expecting like, 15 people max to take that quiz and it’s now at nearly 1000. Sooo I made an faq to address some of the stuff ppl are leaving in the textbox:

Why did you make this?

I will do anything if one (1) person encourages me:

Apparently I was wrong about the untakable thing.

Are you a horse girl?

this is one of the things where the more someone denies it the more ppl think it’s true so idk what I can even say here. I’m not a girl firstly. Also I don’t even really like horses and never have? I just grew up on a horse farm so I have a lot of funny stories. I didn’t like, choose this and as I’ve said in other posts it actually makes me deeply uncomfortable when people make this assumption because it is both inaccurate and misgendering so I would really prefer you didn’t.

will this turn me into a horse girl?

I do not have that kind of power. Only you can make you a horse girl.

Where can I find those overly specific spotify playlists?

here’s my spotify profile

That tma question caught me off guard because I'm in the middle of binging it right now/thinking about starting it:

that’s no coincidence, that’s the web at work, babe

Who the fuck is One One?

It’s a tongue twister/riddle from my childhood and goes like this:

One One was a racehorse Two Two was one too For every race that One One won Two Two won one too

yes, I took those 4 lines and extrapolated an entire personality type, die mad about it. (tbh much more thought went into the descriptions of the results than the actual results, half of them are from media I haven’t even read/seen)

[personal story/ fun fact/ joke/ meaningful confession]

I obviously can’t reply to all these individually for lots of reasons but if you put something like this in the box or the tags I did read it and it made me feel warm and fuzzy, thank you for sharing, I love you.

A HORSE BIT YOUR DADS NOSE OFF??

yeah, and another horse bit my mom’s finger off. Both were successfully reattached and you can barely tell tbh. If you really want the nitty gritty you can dm me but I’m not putting it here lmao.

Inquiries about Smooth Rapidash:

The “Smooth” is there for 2 reasons:

1 - To race a horse it has to be registered and it’s name needs to be unique within that registry

2 - When breeding horses it’s traditional to keep part of the name of the horse they were bred from in their name. tbh I don’t remember all the details of how that works but one of Smooth Rapidash’s parents would have had “Smooth” in their name.

If you want proof Smooth Rapidash existed you can google “Smooth Rapidash Standardbred” and find some records he is mentioned in.

You seem very similar to your parents

An internet quiz made as a joke is a poor way to make that assessment.

I’m trans do you have any name suggestions?

Personally I like these names: Ansel, Beau, Raelyn, Ashe, Kalen

but I bet you have something in the back of your mind you’re secretly hoping I’ll say. Go with that one.

This quiz is bad/stupid and I hate you/why is it all about you?

I think I made it very clear the kind of quiz this was going to be both in the description and the tumblr post. If you are feeling upset because the questions are exactly what I said they were going to be I don’t know what to tell you.

???????????

Today I learned all emojis show up as question marks on uquiz. Sorry I can’t see what you tried to send, I hope it was nice.

Tell Odin I love him:

Done

Can we be friends?

probably idk

----

feel free to shoot me an ask if u wanna know more or have comments or whatever. These are just the qs that came up multiple times.

#uquiz

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route22ny · 4 years

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“The moral crisis of poverty amid vast wealth is inseparable from the injustice of systemic racism, ecological devastation, and our militarized war economy.” by Rev. Dr. William Barber II, March 30, 2020. (complete text below)

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The United States is the wealthiest nation in the history of the world, yet millions of American families have had to set up crowdfunding sites to try to raise money for their loved ones’ medical bills. Millions more can buy unleaded gasoline for their car, but they can’t get unleaded water in their homes. Almost half of America’s workers—whether in Appalachia or Alabama, California or Carolina—work for less than a living wage. And as school buildings in poor communities crumble for lack of investment, America’s billionaires are paying a lower tax rate than the poorest half of households.

This moral crisis is coming to a head as the coronavirus pandemic lays bare America’s deep injustices. While the virus itself does not discriminate, it is the poor and disenfranchised who will experience the most suffering and death. They’re the ones who are least likely to have health care or paid sick leave, and the most likely to lose work hours. And though children appear less vulnerable to the virus than adults, America’s nearly forty million poor and low-income children are at serious risk of losing access to food, shelter, education, and housing in the economic fallout from the pandemic.

The underlying disease, in other words, is poverty, which was killing nearly 700 of us every day in the world’s wealthiest country, long before anyone had heard of COVID-19.

The moral crisis of poverty amid vast wealth is inseparable from the injustice of systemic racism, ecological devastation, and our militarized war economy. It is only a minority rule sustained by voter suppression and gerrymandering that subverts the will of the people. To redeem the soul of America—and survive a pandemic—we must have a moral fusion movement that cuts across race, gender, class, and cultural divides.

The United States has always been a nation at odds with its professed aspirations of equality and justice for all—from the genocide of original inhabitants to slavery to military aggression abroad. But there have been periods in our history when courageous social movements have made significant advances. We must learn from those who’ve gone before us as we strive to build a movement that can tackle today’s injustices—and help all of us survive.

In the aftermath of the Civil War, African Americans who had just escaped slavery joined with white allies to form coalitions that won control of nearly every southern legislature. These Reconstruction-era political alliances enacted new constitutions that advanced moral agendas, including, for the first time, the right to public education.

During the Great Depression, farmers, workers, veterans, and others rose up to demand bold government action to ease the pain of the economic crisis on ordinary Americans. This led to New Deal policies, programs, and public works projects that we still benefit from today, such as Social Security and basic labor protections.

Pushed by these movements, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt even called in 1944 for an economic bill of rights, declaring: “We cannot be content, no matter how high that general standard of living may be, if some fraction of our people—whether it be one-third or one-fifth or one-tenth—is ill-fed, ill-clothed, ill-housed, and insecure.”

During what I like to call the “Second Reconstruction” over the following decades, a coalition of blacks and progressive whites began dismantling the racist Jim Crow laws and won key legislative victories, including the Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act, and the Fair Housing Act.

With each period of advancement has come a formidable backlash. This is how we find ourselves today, in the year 2020, with levels of economic inequality as severe as during the original Gilded Age a century ago. Since the Supreme Court’s 2013 Shelby decision, Americans have had fewer voting rights protections than we did fifty-five years ago, while thanks to the earlier Citizens United ruling, corporations can invest unlimited sums of money to influence elections.

In response to fair tax reforms, the wealthy have used their economic clout to slash their IRS bills, cutting the top marginal income tax rate from more than 90 percent in the 1950s to 37 percent today. In response to the hard-fought wins of the labor movement, corporate lobbyists have rammed through one anti-worker law after another, slashing the share of U.S. workers protected by unions nearly in half, from 20.1 percent in 1983 to just 10.5 percent in 2018.

Decades after Depression-era reforms, Wall Street fought successfully to deregulate the financial system, paving the way for the 2008 financial crash that caused millions to lose their homes and livelihoods. And the ultra-rich and big corporations have also managed to dominate our campaign finance system, making it easier for them to buy off politicians who commit to rigging the rules against the poor and the environment, and to suppress voting rights, making it harder for the poor to fight back.

Our military budgets continue to rise, now grabbing more than fifty-three cents of every discretionary federal dollar to pay for wars abroad and pushing our ability to pay for health care for all, for a Green New Deal, for jobs and education, and infrastructure, further and further away.

In short, the official measure of poverty doesn’t begin to touch the depth and breadth of economic hardship in the world’s wealthiest nation, where 40 percent of us can’t afford a $400 emergency.

The wars that those military budgets fund continue to escalate. They don’t make us safer, and they’ve led to the deaths of thousands of poor people in Afghanistan, Syria, Somalia, and beyond, as well as the displacement of millions of refugees, the destruction of water sources, and the contamination of the environments of whole countries.

The only ones who benefit are the millionaire CEOs of military companies, who are getting richer every year on the more than $350 billion—half the military budget—that goes directly to their corporations. In the meantime 23,000 low-ranking troops earn so little that they and their families qualify for food stamps.

Key to these rollbacks: controlling the narrative about who is poor in America and the world. It is in the interest of the greedy and the powerful to perpetuate myths of deservedness—that they deserve their wealth and power because they are smarter and work harder, while the poor deserve to be poor because they are lazy and intellectually inferior.

It’s also in their interest to perpetuate the myth that the poverty problem has largely been solved and so we needn’t worry about the rich getting richer—even while our real social safety net is full of gaping holes. This myth has been reinforced by our deeply flawed official measurements of poverty and economic hardship.

The way the U.S. government counts who is poor and who is not, frankly, is a sixty-year-old mess that doesn’t tell us what we need to know. It’s an inflation-adjusted measure of the cost of a basket of food in 1955 relative to household income, adjusted for family size—and it’s still the way we measure poverty today.

But this measure doesn’t account for the costs of housing, child care, or health care, much less twenty-first-century needs like internet access or cell phone service. It doesn’t even track the impacts of anti- poverty programs like Medicaid or the earned income tax credit, obscuring the role they play in reducing poverty.

In a report with the Institute for Policy Studies, the Poor People’s Campaign found that nearly 140 million Americans were poor or low-income—including more than a third of white people, 40 percent of Asian people, approximately 60 percent each of indigenous people and black people, and 64 percent of Latinx people. LGBTQ people are also disproportionately affected.

Further, the very condition of being poor in the United States has been criminalized through a system of racial profiling, cash bail, the myth of the Reagan-era “Welfare Queen,” arrests for things such as laying one’s head on a park bench, passing out food to unsheltered people, and extraordinary fines and fees for misdemeanors such as failing to use a turn signal, and simply walking while black or trans.

We are a nation crying out for security, equity, and justice. We need racial equity. We need good jobs. We need quality public education. We need a strong social safety net. We need health care to be understood as a human right for all of us. We need security for people living with disabilities. We need to be a nation that opens our hearts and neighborhoods to immigrants. We need safe and healthy environments where our children can thrive instead of struggling to survive.

With the coronavirus pandemic bringing our country’s equally urgent poverty crisis into stark relief, we cannot simply wait for change. It must come now.

America is an imperfect nation, but we have made important advancements against interconnected injustices in the past.

We can do it again, and we know how. Now is the time to fight for the heart and soul of this democracy.

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Rev. Dr. William Barber II is a co-chair of the Poor People’s Campaign: A Call for Moral Revival.