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Chiara: Gen-Z lesbian icon we were waiting for

(This is a translation of Chiara: el referente lésbico Gen Z que estábamos esperando and some comments of mine)

Chiara Oliver Williams is one of the 16 contestants from the reality-talent show more successful of Spain: Operación Triunfo. She's 19 years old, she likes Taylor Swift, Olivia Rodrigo, Alanis Morissette, Stevie Wonder, Mariah Carey, Fleetwood Mac and Rosalía. She speaks four languages fluently, she plays the piano, the bass and the guitar, she's a composer, she's half English, half Spanish, and, without doubt, one of the most promising artists on the Spanish music industry. But we're going to focus on yet another aspect of her personality, last but no least: she's an out and proud lesbian.

"I'm Chiara, I like Christmas, girls, I'm a bit crazy and that's it." That's how she defined herself at the beginning of December (when the contest had barely started) when Ruslana, one of her housemates (bisexual wink) asked her to talk about her. And boy, was she right, because during the following weeks she has shown us that, if there's something crucial about her life and personality is, besides music and her talent, her lesbianism.

Let's start from the beginning. Chiara was one of the candidates that caught the most attention during the casting stage (in which 13 thousand contestants tried their luck) for her special voice, her artistic personality and her technical skills.

As early as the first week of the contest we know she's a raging homosexual when another one of her housemates, Violeta (also bisexual wink) asked her why several of her compositions are dedicated to boys (even though she would later explain they're not romantic songs) when she's "the most lesbian from all lesbians of Spain." However, her "official" coming out came later thanks to the LGBT talk scheduled in the show.

"Straight-passing", invisibility and lesbian pride

During that talk, Chiara spoke to talk about one of the problems femme lesbians often face: being pretty and femenine, and so, nobody expects they're lesbians.

And that's just what Chiara explained. It took her a while to understand not just to understand her lesbianism, but assume it, because how are you going to be a lesbian if you're not masculine and have grown up in a society which denies you like girls if you're pretty and femenine? Like, if boys like you and you check every box they look for, how could you not like them?

Basically, she talked abour her experience. "I've always been very feminine Society tells you lesbians are masculine, gays and affeminate, so I didn't realise until later because I told myself "I'm not masculine, so it's phisically impossible." But that's not the truth."

Chiara has what is known as straight-passing, that is, nobody thinks she's a lesbian at first glance, and nobody is going to think so if she doesn't say it. And that's a "privilege" and more so in a TV contest. But she decided not to "use" that "privilege" and she says every single day she's a lesbian. And, of course, she has "paid" the price, but we will talk about that later. All that matters is that Chiara's not only openly a lesbian, she has said it whenever possible, has coined "Go lesbians" as a personal brand alongside Bea, another housemate and a lesbian too and she says the word "lesbian" without any kind of taboo.

Lesbian is a word so charged with prejudice that a lot of lesbians refuse to use it and prefer some "euphemisms" like gay. So it is to be welcomed that a 19-year old Menorcan says it in one of the most successful TV shows in Spain (and with some repercussion in Latin America). With all its letters, with pride.

Chiara is a lesbian. And she also has all lesbian culture in her mind. She's a fan of Glee (particularly of Santana and Brittany), her favourite character from Grey's Anatomy is Arizona Robbins and she didn't like Bridgerton for being too straight. She loves Cate Blanchett, Sarah Paulson and Paula Usero. I Kissed a girl is a hymn in her life (and she sang it in the contest and finished it with a kiss with Violeta) and has covered Mujer contra mujer thousands of times.

She, self proclaimed "Spanish lesbian Olivia Rodrigo", also has various romantic songs aimed to girls and many of them composed during the contest (rumours say some of them are dedicated to one of her girl friends in the contest).

Ships

Of course people is going to ship her with her housemates. In fact, a bisexual boy, Paul, confessed his feelings for her knowing it was impossible, which he told her, and people suspect possible relationships with her mentioned before housemates Violeta and Ruslana. It's true they're all very good friends, but Violeta has a girlfriend already and Ruslana is dating another housemate. I (the translator) personally think this is not relevant but, to whoever may care, you can search Wartanera on YouTube.

Misogyny, lesbophobia and ableism

Well, obviously not everything could be rosy. This is the 21st century and Spain can be one of the most advanced countries on LGBTQ+ and women's rights, but lesbophobia still exists. Chiara started the contest as one of the favourite contestant to win, but for the lat month she has received a hate wave from a good chunk of the audience because, well, she's an easy target.

Reality shows audience look for people to hate, and nothing is easier than a lesbian girl with ADHD. Chiara faces double discrimination for her sexual orientation and for being neurodivergent. And the consequence is that she could leave the show this week.

How to save Chiara

If you have read all of this, if you like how she sings, what she means to us, please help us save her and stay in the contest, not only for Chiara, but all Chiara represents.

You can watch all of her performances on the official Operación Triunfo Channel (and clips of Chiara in general)

You can see what she has done in the Academy through Twitter and Tiktok searching for Chiara OT or the words "Kivi" and "Ruski" (her ships).

You can listen to the songs she has covered in the contest and follow her on Spotify where she will publish her own songs outside the contest

But the most important thing is to vote for free in the official Operación Triunfo App once a day until Monday 5th February. It's fast and easy. If you are from Latin America or Spain you can download the app for free. If not, you can download it from here. Follow the instructions below to vote. It's very easy. Save the lesbians, go lesbians

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And she likes blondes AND villains; she could be a potential Catradora shipper for all we know.

(I'm desperate!!! HELP!!)

Save lesbian singer Chiara Oliver 🏳️‍🌈

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Exhibition of Joker Out's outfits from the Eurovision

Here's also an article posted yesterday about the exhibition:

Exhibition with a story.

It is with great pleasure that we invite you to an exceptional exhibition where fashion and heritage meet. Our popular music group Joker Out shined on the Eurovision stage in Liverpool with outfits embellished with contemporary Idrija lace! The story that led to this incredible collaboration goes back to the heart of our friend Andraž Drobnić - Karlo Kirri. His Idrija roots led him to the idea of combining the sophistication of Idrija lace with the energetic and enthusiastic music of Joker Out. With the help of designer Tina Koder Grajzar, Karlo Kirri drew out the patterns, the Idrija lace-makers made them, and fashion designer Ponorelli then incorporated them into the outfits of the musicians who wowed the world audience at Eurovision. This unique exhibition will give you the chance to see these extraordinary outfits. You will be able to admire every detail of the contemporary Idrija lace that has been incorporated in the design of these artistic creations. This event is an opportunity to delve deeper into the story and symbolism of Idrija lace and its interaction with music. Join us, who knows, you might even meet members of the band Joker Out at the exhibition. Don't miss this extraordinary opportunity to discover the magic of "Lace at the Eurovision"! https://www.festivalidrijskecipke.si/eventer/razstava-evrovizijskih-oblek-skupine-joker-out/

Here's another picture from Idrija Lace-Makers' Association Facebook:

"Saturday morning will be remembered by many for the cute boys, members of the group Joker Out, who represented us at Eurovision this year in outfits adorned with Idrija lace. You won't be able to take pictures or chat with the boys this afternoon anymore, but you can still see their outfits today and tomorrow in the underpass of the Idrija City Library and Reading Room."

And 2 more pics from joker_out_official IG story:

-Translation by jokeroutsubs, DO NOT REPOST

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Me gusta mucho Pirates of Penzance, así que yo creo que un AU de SPOP inspirado en esa obra quedaría bien.

Frederic es el protagonista de Pirates of Penzance. Tiene un problemita con la devoción al deber y a complacer a los demás, y luego aprende que todo el mundo debe pensar un poco en sí mismo antes que en los demás.

Si extrapolamos estos rasgos a personajes de SPOP a mí se me vienen a la cabeza claramente dos personajes: Adora y Bow. Creo que Bow queda mejor porque hay cierta... tensión entre Frederic y el Pirate King en la película, y Pirate King tiene que ser POR HUEVOS Sea Hawk. No hay otra opción.

Y ya pues se puede meter a Glimmer como Mabel (con ciertas libertades creativas, claro) y tienes un triángulo amoroso interesante, por ejemplo. Micah sería muy gracioso como el mayor general.

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so can we start hunting down white liberals now or what

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I think part of the tragedy of Catra and Hordak's relationship is that Catra might've been subconsciously hoping to find a father-figure in Hordak... But Hordak never once considered anyone other than Imp wanting or needing him in that role.

Mother-Shadow Weaver had made it abundantly clear that she'd never love Catra... But there's Hordak. The Higher Authority, the Bigger Bad, the looming-yet-mostly-absent male authority-figure in Catra's life... Granting her respect and approval and the Force Captain badge she's always wanted.

But it doesn't last.

She needed a mentor, but he hides in his lab and leaves her the face the wolves and the terrifying mountain of files and paperwork ALONE!

She needs guidance and advice; he's got violence and discipline to offer.

She needs a hand up to help her grow, and Hordak is an obstacle keeping her from the top of the ladder.

.

But why WOULD Hordak act fatherly towards a random soldier, like many other soldiers in his command?

He had no hand is raising her, beyond perhaps creating and approving resources for the Horde's orphanage/military academy.

He keeps ALL his subordinates at arm's length! He expects EVERYBODY to just do their jobs, without him holding their hands through it!

He's balancing atop a house of cards, hiding weaknesses and future plans, and he knows it.

Should he attempt *bonding* with an ambitious up-and-comer that his spy-son has proven to be untrustworthy? Does he even know how to *bond,* if he wanted to?

Was he expected to train somebody to replace him? He's sidestepped Shadow Weaver's attempts at power-grabbing for years. Was he meant to make it easy for her freahly-graduated student?

.

Hordak was never going to be Catra's Dad. I suspect that if she had any self-acknowledged hopes to that effect... The hopes were killed quickly.

The tragedy is, I can understand why she might have wanted that.

The tragedy is, I can see why the matter never once occured to him.

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Unrelated, I think, but this reminds me of the time my boyfriend did a DPPt nuzlocke and named a Bidoof "Entrapta". He said that Bidoof built her own gadgets to do the HM movements.

If I’m a little scarce with my She-Ra fandom doings for a while, well, a relation gifted me with Pokemon Scarlett to go with his Pokemon Violet and while he’s over visiting, we’ve both been playing a lot.  We haven’t figured out the link up and fight and trade stuff yet, because he’s waaaaay ahead of me.  But, I’m ahead on other things.   I just figured out how the breeding works in this game last night.  I was lucky enough to get a rare female starter, so my fucking around and finding out without even using a ditto netted me a baby starter (to give to said nephew as soon as he figures out how to breed his).  Anyway… I picked the Sprigatito (she’s evolved now).  So, since I got a girl grass-kitty, I am free to play with giving her many lovers in the future if I wish to see what stats and moves I get in future breeding. I want to eventually make a grass-kitty army.   I suppose I could connect this to She-Ra somehow?  So, I have this obsession with naming my Pokemon.  When I catch them, I name them, even if I don’t plan on using them much or at all.  It’s…a Thing.  It is me saying “You are an individual” or something.  Since when I picked my Sprigatito, the nephew suggested the name “Catnip,” I’ve decided that all of her her future progeny will be named for herbs.  When he’s ready to do trades, he will be gifted with her firstborn son, “Mint.”   I’m trying to catch all the Deerling and giving them “B” names because I started with “Bambi.”   And I think, wow, if I lived on Etheria, i could name clones!   Er…yeah.  Also, so far I have a Noibat named “Imp” and a Meowth named “Catra,’ unused so far, with some plans to eventually get a Houndour / Houndoom to be my “Hordak.”  I forgot what I named “Perfuma” and I have an Eevee / future Glacion named “Frosta.”   It’s like when I play Breath of the Wild, I have decided that I will have a horse named Hordak.  I just will.   I am reluctant to be Nintendo-friends with anyone I barely know online, but if you’re desperate for someone to breed you a grass-kitty, I might be able to set you up if I can figure out the connection / trading thing and you can drop me a line.  Also, hold tight on me getting back into She-Ra.  It will happen.  My brain’s just on vacation right now. 

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The miscommunication trope is NOT a tired trope that is only ever frustrating and terrible. It's probably the most relatable trope in fanfiction and it just gets done dirty at times.

1) Miscommunication is inherently relatable and versatile.

I'm sorry to say that anyone is more likely to be engaged in some type of miscommunication than to end up falling in love with their academic rival, having to share a bed with their crush through happenstance, or be forced to fake date their enemy. You get the point. I'd posit that it's likely most people miscommunicate with someone multiple times a week. Are they all fanfic worthy? No, but we all know what it's like to be in a sticky situation where we didn't have all the information we needed.

2) People get unreasonably frustrated with realistic portrayals of communication.

We've all heard "well why didn't they just SAY x, the story would be over." I've thought it about media I've consumed multiple times. But the reality is that as an outsider engaging in a piece of media a Miscommunication seems obvious to you--it might not be obvious to the characters. Additionally, it's easier to say someone should be direct and clear--but what does that even mean? Your clarity can be someone else's muddy waters.

3) Miscommunication trope speaks to lived experience.

When done correctly, miscommunication teaches you so much about characters. How do they see the world? Do they give someone else the benefit of the doubt? Do they shy away from conflict? Do they even realize that they've miscommunicated or have received skewed information from someone? When they do how do they react? The point isn't the miscommunication itself-its how the characters react and also how they view it, which all ties into who they are.

4) Conclusion

Use of the miscommunication trope doesn't have to be one apparent miscommunication that the oblivious characters could resolve if they opened their eyes. It lives in the way that characters perceive each other's words, the experiences that color them, and the situations they find themselves in.

It might not be the best trope, but it isn't the worst either.

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I’ve cracked the code

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They are getting married and no one can convince me otherwise

This took a while to get out because I know NOTHING about making comics (or drawing bouquets) but that's not gonna stop me from making that sweet entrapdak content 😎👊

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Links

Twitter: I know it’s dying, but if it doesn’t I’m still there Instagram: This is my fandom stuff Instagram I barely use. AO3: What? I write fanfiction? Sometimes. Wattpad: There’s more Spanish content there. Inkspired: I don’t even know Anilist: Sometimes I read manga / watch anime Serializd: Sometimes I watch series Letterboxd: Sometimes I watch films. I have had Tumblr for 5 years, I think, and I don’t know how to use it yet. 

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theme 83 / preview - get the code on github

contained theme with 500px posts, custom font size & family, unnested captions and a lot of colour options

sidebar with title, image (380x480), description and two extra links

slide-out with title, image (260x360), text area and six statistics

read my terms of use. please reblog if you plan on using!

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An old and homely grandmother accidentally summons a demon. She mistakes him for her gothic-phase teenage grandson and takes care of him. The demon decides to stay at his new home.

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I have always considered myself straight, but there is one male in my entire life I have found to be sexually appealing. It is Enes Ünal. I do not like his politics, but his physical traits are sensuous and awe-inspiring.

To explore these feelings, I took to writing a series of erotic fan fiction stories depicting me and Enes Ünal. Throughout the series, I write very detailed erotic encounters. Interestingly, many depictions have a theme of food, such as the story where I slather Enes Ünal, with barbecue sauce, or the story depicting the delightful but searing pains of hot sauce, or the messy incident with the watermelon. Throughout the series, I even manage to convince him to ditch his girlfriend and he runs for the Presidency in 2024 and we are married on the Coliseum.

These erotic depictions were meant only for my private use, I did not publish them on the internet. My girlfriend however found the series on my laptop, and it has caused a huge conflict. She now believes I am gay, even though I explained to her I have never been attracted to any other male in my life. She asked me if given the opportunity, would I have sex with Enes Ünal? I said I would not do it if we were in a relationship as I do not believe in cheating, but I would do it only if we established a situation like where we each get one pass to sleep with one celebrity crush one time. Like if she banged Entrapta from She-Ra, that is okay with me, if I got to bang Enes Ünal. That went over poorly.

To my great annoyance, my girlfriend shared my series on Facebook, and now my friends and family all believe I am gay. Now look, I have zero problems with gay folk at all, it's 2021 for crying out loud, but I am NOT gay. At least, if I am only attracted to one single male ever, I must be at least 99% straight. Even 99.5. It's just that damned beekeeper, Enes Ünal. That sensual jiggly son of a bitch.

Now all of my friends are telling me to "come out" and "be myself" and I am like, "I am NOT GAY", and get this some of them are even calling me homophobic!?!?!? WHAT? Yeah I'm so homophobic I wrote a 23 part series about be banging a guy, fuck off. So I got pretty angry after like the 10th insistence to my friends and family that I'm not gay, and I may have used some profanity.

A lot of people are mad at me and basically everyone thinks I am gay even though I am 99.5% straightShould I have never written these stories? I needed to express myself and explore my feelings. But it has clearly backfired. Oh my god. What can I do to repair my relationship with girlfriend, not to mention friends/family?

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Two Bottoms Don’t Make A Right

Okay so, this is basically just some dumb shit I thought up last night at 3 am but I wanted others opinions on it so here it is.

We all know Jules is a bottom. She says that she doesn’t top and every time we see her have sex she’s with someone who is rough/dominate, even Anna takes control of the situation. She basically tells Rue to kiss her instead of just kissing Rue herself and seems to like someone who makes the first move.

Rue doesn’t seem like the type to do all of that. Yes, she kisses Jules first but then immediately backtracks. She’s locked in a bathroom stall with Jules, who just said she wanted Rue to kiss her, and doesn’t make a move. She’s never had sex with a girl and she gets awkward discussing anything about her sex life.

I was thinking about it and I realized that Rue and Jules are the only couple in season one that doesn’t have a sex scene or semi-sex scene. Nate fucks Maddy, Ethan goes down on Kat, and McKay fucks Cassie. We all know Jules is okay with having sex and probably wants to have sex with Rue, and Rue masturbates to the thought of Jules so she probably feels the same. They’re teens though, so it’s totally normal not to have sex. But I thought about it and it seems like a sex scene with them would just be hella awkward.

Can you imagine Jules being all like ‘bite me, do this, do that, etc.’ and Rue is just there like ‘...oh, um, okay’?

Now past the sexual stuff, it seems like Jules wants someone more dominant to date. She wants someone to party with and who does crazy shit. Like when she goes off for the weekend she talks about it as if it was the best thing ever, and she was just having sex and going clubbing.

This made me think about how when Rue and Jules first met the thing they bonded over was getting high together. When Jules first meets Rue, she seems like the exact type of person Jules would be attracted to. Someone who gets high a lot, goes to parties, does a bunch of fun but reckless shit. It’s all fun and games until Rue gets seriously fucked up and then Jules sees the reality of it, but they’re already bonded by then.

Rue really isn’t a party animal or anything like that. When she’s sober, she doesn’t dance at parties (we know she can dance and there’s no reason she couldn’t have just danced sober, but instead she chooses to sit on a couch on the sidelines), she watches a ton of television, and she likes sitting around in a hospital. This all kind of reminds me of the first episode when Kat/Maddy and someone else see Rue walking and invite her into their car to give her a drive. They’re not really friends, but they’re all like ‘hEy rUE wOo hOO’ like they’re inviting this super upbeat party animal to come with them, but then Rue just sits there quietly.

It’s like Jules was intrigued by the thought of Rue and having a crazy time with her, but once she found out Rue was actually pretty chill she went out to find someone else (like how she texts Nate and hooks up with Anna). There’s even that scene where they’re riding their bikes and Jules is in front, going very fast and calling back to Rue to go faster, and Rue can’t really catch up so she’s just like ‘nah’.

The thing is, Rue is actually a burden to Jules. Jules wants to do all of these things and have Rue there, but in the process she would just be dragging Rue along to something Rue doesn’t want to do and Rue would be a downer. That’s not Rue’s fault. Rue is great, but she’s not what Jules wants.

Even by the end of the season Jules only loves the idea of what she wants Rue to be. The prom episode is a great example of all of this. Jules tries to change Rue, Rue says she’s uncomfortable with it, and Jules leaves.

Jules doesn’t know Rue well enough to know that Rue is constantly wearing her dad’s clothes. Rue likes Jules so much that she dresses up how Jules wants her to even though she says it makes her feel stupid and uncomfortable. Jules pushes Rue to be something she’s not and do things she doesn’t want to do, and when it doesn’t work out she just leaves.

They both need someone different. Jules wants a clearly dominate person who takes control (a top) and takes her on a reckless adventure, and Rue needs someone (a top) who shows her how to get out of her shell and have fun without drugs, like the rollerskating. They bond and work well as friends because they’re similar (they’re both bottoms let’s be honest), but not as girlfriends.

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Alexandrite play Love like you

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