#ALLISON WHY LGBT

[dr-cameron]

folks, is it gay to check out ur boss while doing a house search of ur patient without their permission?

[saucy-mesothelioma]

I've recently found this comic strip that I'm now binge-reading called Dykes to Watch Out For, and I highly suggest it to anyone who's interested. It ran from 1983 to 2008 and is actually one of the earliest ongoing representations of lesbians in popular culture.

[stopthisshitplease]

What I would chance about the last season of The Umbrella Academy because the last season was a disgrace for the humanity and lost of all our hopes. (#1)

SPOILERS OBVIOUSLY

- Luther's jobs were in a bar for so long so it doesnt really made sense on why he was a pole dancer. I feel like after looking less hairy and buffy he would try to socialize more. Maybe hes that one barista who is overly talkative but so done with people. We could see some Karens absulutely wailing at him. And Sloaine. Shes with him. BECAUSE WHERE IS SHE???? But Luther begin a 'dancer' was really funny af sooo

- Diego wouldnt become a mailman thing. He was trying to be a police in the first season and tried to save Kennedy in the second. He would try to be a police again. Yk the Police Academy and all that. The CIA thing was good but if he cant get in the legal way he is getting in another way. You cannot stop him as he was a literal vigilante.

- Allison, Claire and Raymond lives together now! She wouldnt overwork herself, She is finally with her daughter and her husband now. She would work a small but stable job so she can provide and have time for her family. (Keep in mind that Raymond isnt from this timeline so hes still learning about the future) And yes Klaus does visit her time to time so he can babysit Claire, even thought its more like Claire babysitting Klaus.

- Klaus is eighter a psychiatrist or has a 9-5 job while is studying in community Collage. Eighter way he is helping drug addicts, homeless people, LGBT+ people, angsty teenagers in his own way. People know him as a friendly weirdo but they all like him! Hes not doing well financially tho. Güven that he doesnt have a stable job experiance.

-Five working in CIA doesnt make a lot of sense. For all the means he probably swore wouldnt work anything like that at all. He lives in the countryside now. And is a farmer! He tells the other people who lives close to him that he inherited the place by his dead father (haha) and the others learned the hard way to not pity him.. The boy maybe cant travel now but he is sure manically dangerous!

- Ben... Agh Ben. Not sure about him. He is obviously an asshole. But in the season he was more open. He was getting better. He doesnt have a lot relationship with the other siblings so I dont think he wants to hang out with them at all. But I dont think he would be a criminal (minus minor law breakings but who is counting?) Maybe he teaches martial arts? But a really competitive teacher and his students always go to home with bruises. He swears its a part of training. The parents are not amused. His yelp revievs sure is something!

- Victor wouldnt have a thing with every woman come on.. He loves Sissy too much for that. And his relationships never ended good. Him having his own place is nice but he strictly never dates. He adapted to the powerless life better that the others given that he didnt have them for a long time. But he still felt like the little kid who was locked up again time to time. Would be kinda cool if he and Allison bonded over it. (Allison couldnt talk for a year remember?)

- Lila wouldnt be a stay at home mom. She would still be on the 'book club' but her, a stay at home mom??? She has insane abilities in physical power, she would maybe be a coach. And for her AND Diego having three kids bespite begin scared to have one?? Nope those babies are poof! Gone!AND NO SHE DID NOT CHEAT.

[trashcankitty12]

Allison's (Blaze) scenes with her mother really hit a nerve for me today. One I thought I had healed.

I almost started sobbing because of it. I feel like a part of my diary from high school was stolen and used.

Under cut because I may have went on a tangent:

I was Allison, replacing Catholicism with being Baptist and minus the singing career (which if her mom has always been involved, why didn't she say anything about Linc?!).

Straight A's. Seldom in trouble at school. My only "rebellions" being my refusal to play sports and my undiscussed first Tumblr account. (I wasn't good and I didn't like the others in that crowd, and as for tumblr, they didn't know it was a social media site and thought it was mostly funny pics and animals).

I was a tomboy, sure, but its the South and kind of expected since my family has a farm and we all participate. But to be a LESBIAN? No fucking way.

Then my freshman year happened and I was outed....

Surprisingly I had support from my dad and grandparents who raised me (though it was considered a phase).

But others? My mom?

I felt like i had to justify my existence. My choices. My life.

"You're just confused." "Were you abused?" "Is this about your 'mommy issues'?" "How can you like girls?! You're supposed to like boys." "My coworkers have a son your age, I'll introduce you."

"How could you do this to me? I wanted grandkids and to see you in a dress and be blessed in a church wedding." (Ironic since my parents' church wedding sure as hell wasn't blessed. And I don't want kids. Never have since I found out they weren't a requirement for life.)

Constantly being sent Bible verses and "studies" about being lgbt+ and made to feel disgusting and small.

I hated it. I hated it so much.

It did eventually get better. I did eventually gain my mother's support (therapy and lots of back and forth talks). Others learned to keep their mouths shut after i started realizing i could fight back.

I share this because this particular storyline so far is really hitting me. And I desperately hope that it's not shown as a magic fix. That work is put into that relationship if Blaze wants it to work. This was.... Big.

[tertiaryunit]

If they don't like your hcs that's a them issue. Please continue infodumping & sharing your fan work, it's great.

Megan getting the token cishet is incredibly accurate. Hard agree. OH ALSO does the DNA theft lore bother you as much as it bothers me??? Like after they have the initial seq, they can just synthesize it forever, you don't need consistent access to Jensen for samples unless (I wrote a needless explanation post a while ago... ofc...) you want his CELLS. Which would need harvested from blood or csf,,,

I'm curious what you think of Vaclav Koller, Jim Miller and Duncan Macready (queer hcs and/or also just general thoughts). Mac is fun to me bc he canonically has 3 ex wives. Personally I've taken that as he's aromantic and it took him a while to figure out what he wanted/didn't want. Societal pressure/toxic masculinity meaning he thought it was totally normal to hate being in romantic relationships. and also he's just rly bad at being nice to people. -Helix

Oh dw I don't intend to stop :D I have fun writing and drawing my work and hope that for whoever unfollows more people know that this is a LGBT+ friendly space (couldn't be otherwise 'cause I'm in the community too lmao)

I have to think that they had much more nefarious purposes for Adam *OR* they wanted the original around just in case something happened to the original sequence which made them lost it or something? I am leaning in them being interested in actual human testing considering the Adam clones in the Versalife vault 😬 (Also I'm sorry to Megan fans, I hate her so much lmao) (adding here no explanation is ever needless :D I think I actually saw it)

Vaclav nonbinary pan nation rise up I headcanon him having some sort of addiction to light stimulants (aka: coffee). I think he'd be good friends with Shadowchild Miller is one of the characters I will never let die in any run. I am sorry for Allison (since this game decided you can't save both like in the Missing Link DLC for HR) but Jimmy lives xd I am biased on this because for once we have a canonically gay character with a family (even if he's divorced) and I don't want him to die. (He fixes the problems he had in his marriage in my hc and gets back with his husband) I'm gonna be honest Mac gives me the toxic cishet vibes hhh but as you said, that can be for the societal pressure or bad masculinity ideals. (I see Adam commenting "I start to understand why you divorced 3 times"😭 ) Extra character info cause I love them: Alex Vega and Elias Chikane remind me how much this game was cut in half for a sequel that never came out 💀 Ivan Berk too, you probably remember the collective gaslighting the trailers did on the fandom adafsfdsdg

[midnight-bluestars]

If you are genuinely asking why they're shipped, it's because of the chemistry between the characters. There is a lot of good banter and trust in the relationship. Coupled with the fact that for 2 seasons, they were the only single main characters in a clearly LGBT friendly show. Now, after season 2, it goes downhill really quickly with the amount of time the two spend screen time together, but by 3B, derek is only there to help stiles. It is beautiful in both a romantic or platonic sense.

The looks, the trust, the trauma Stiles and Derek get to share is just a little bit separate from the main storyline and that subplot is the latch point. I like them together, and 'friends' is something the show does poorly. It's aged in a way that doesn't help either. But that's Why.

Age doesn't matter when you don't conceptualize it, and age matters less in fiction. It's scripted Derek is 19 season 1 and that's 2 years older than 17 year old Stiles. (16 year olds can't drive unsupervised in the state of California and he is canonically a year older than everyone else because of failing a grade. Same with Allison). The story Derek gets changes alot and is very inconsistent, but the shipping started in 2011 and was centered around a bunch of teenagers being really bad at getting through Situations.

I’ve been informed by my mom that people ship Derek Hale and Stiles Stilinski and???

Like I respect people’s ships and all, but WHY??

Derek is an ADULT??

Also they’re more like brothers tbh

Same with Isaac and Scott, LET PEOPLE BE JUST FRIENDS P L E A S E

(No disrespect to the people that do ship these ofc, I just don’t get it)

[onebluebookworm]

Ranking Books I Read In 2022 - 60-56

It’s time once again to rank the books I read this year! Enjoy!

Spoiler warnings for all books from here on out. I’ll provide trigger warnings where I think they’re needed.

60. Rubyfruit Jungle - Rita Mae Brown

What I liked: If we’re being honest, nothing. Which infuriates me because this is a pillar of LGBT literature, and I really wanted to like it. What I didn’t like: Molly is insufferable. The writing is juvenile, which is fine when your protagonist is a child, but as they grow, the writing should really grow with them, and this stays painfully childish. I had to read the words “incest doesn’t seem much like trauma to me” with my own two eyes, and far be it from me to go purity police on anybody, but fuck that. Also parenthesis happen in dialogue which just...no. Final thoughts: This book was gross, I hated it terribly, and that makes me more mad than any stupid brain fart Rita Mae Brown put to paper in this book. TW for incest.

59. Dagon - Fred Chappell

What I Liked: Strong start, with some absolutely gorgeous language that really conjures up a feeling of being sweaty, hot, and dirty. What I Didn’t Like: Another victim of what I now call the Daphne Byrne effect - builds so much atmosphere (which is good) but then doesn’t do anything with it (which is bad and irritating and makes the book feel like it’s moving at a snail’s pace. Final thoughts: Could have been really good, but it gets so caught up in setting this unsettling, eerie mood that it forgets to do anything with it until it just kind of fizzles out at the end. There’s nothing sadder than wasted potential.

58. Adulthood Is A Myth - Sarah Anderson

What I Liked: Some of the strips did manage to get a giggle out of me. What I Didn’t Like: Had too many nlog vibes for me to really connect with. Basically told the same joke over and over again. Final thoughts: I understand why these are so popular, but I just don’t really care for them the older I get. You can only make so many comics about being a weirdo, just switching out the quirky nouns and verbs for other quirky nouns and verbs before it gets stale. Definitely doesn’t make me want to read the other books.

57. Stuff White People Like - Christian Lander

What I Liked: Again, managed to get a giggle out of me every now and then. What I Didn’t Like: Got really stale after the first several entries. Final thoughts: Much like Adulthood is a Myth, the joke just gets stale after the first several times you hear it, but at the opposite end of the spectrum. We get it, white liberals think they’re special because they aren’t like other girls. You didn’t need to write a 200-ish page listicle to tell us that.

56. The Women Who Hate Me - Dorothy Allison

What I Liked: Um...I’ll get back to you... What I Didn’t Like: Honestly, I’m hard pressed to recall any of the poems in this book. I didn’t write down anything about it, and can’t recall a single one from memory. Final thoughts: Definitely the least impressive poetry collection I read, but not really annoying enough to go higher in the list. Just unmemorable.

[bi-diego-hargreeves]

if anyone has any complaints...i don’t wanna hear them

[imhidingonceagain]

Things that might potentially happen in the Teen wolf movie and scare the shit out of me:

(of course this is just my opinion)

1. Allison actually coming back as a real person: I mean... If she's a ghost, a vengeful spirit or if we see her in flashbacks that's cool, but if they revive her somehow I think that's bullshit.

2. The new girl being Kira's replacement: It's almost a fact that she's her replacement but if they make her 100% like Kira I think I might actually throw up.

3. Them making the new girl and Liam a couple (Related to the previous point): I am a big Thiam shipper and therefore this is one of the things that scare me the most. J. Davis recycled Allison and Scott's story with Liam and Hayden so... Also Dylan Sprayberry and the new actress have been suspiciously together but I really really hope I'm wrong.

If you're not gonna give us Thiam at least don't crush our spirits like that. Let Liam's love life ALONE please.

4. Them ignoring Theo's existence: This one is also related to the previous one. Theo was alive and was considered an ally to the pack. He had a redemption arc and was very important for the development of the last two seasons. Also... We have seen that they're going to somehow mention the Dread Doctors (based ok Khylin Rambo's Ig Stories) and Theo was essential for that storyline so if they ignore his existence or just blatantly kill him out of screen I'm gonna riot.

I don't think Jeff imagined how popular Theo Raeken would become. If you want proof go to Teen wolf's Twitter account and see how many people mentioned Theo when they knew about the movie.

5. The possibility that Eli Hale is Stiles replacement: Listen... NO ONE will ever be capable of replacing someone as iconic as Stiles. But I wouldn't be surprised if they try to somehow replicate his personality making Eli Hale a Stiles 2.0 instead of giving him his own personality.

6. Making Kate Argent Eli's mom: Teen wolf's timelines have ALWAYS been messy. But I'm still trying to figure out how Derek Hale has a 15 year old son. Derek would be in his 30's in this movie but for him to have a 15 year old son he would have to have him incredibly young. And we know what a fucking creep Kate Argent was.

I was hoping he would be his and Braeden's child but I obviously don't think that's the case given Eli's physical appearance.

7. Breaking up Stydia: I was watching The teen wolf wiki guy's video and the dude (he's a weirdo by the way but sometimes he brings useful info) and he said that we shouldn't expect to see "teenage relationships" lasting and that ships are not even important in a supernatural/fantasy series. I couldn't disagree more. Teen wolf's writing was messy most of the time and many of us stayed for the characters and their relationships. So why building something so loved by the fandom (or at least many people in the fandom) like Stydia and then destroy it out of camera? People are already pissed that they were cowards who didn't dare to give us Thiam endgame so... If they erase Stydia... Well they might as well sleep with an eye open.

10. Makings Lydia and Jackson super close: I know that people started to like Jackson in S6 but to me... He never actually did something that actually gave him a redemption. And it honestly boils my blood that they acted as if he never was abusive towards Lydia. Listen Jeff... MAKING SOMEONE GAY DOESN'T AUTOMATICALLY MAKE HIM A GOOD PERSON.

11. Them pairing Mason and Jackson: Okay hear me out. I know this is probably a stretch but J. Davis has made the weirdest relationships before and since Aiden and Corey are nowhere to be seen, I wouldn't be surprised if they pair Mason with Jackson just because they're both LGBT.

I don't know dude... I hope I'm wrong.

Ps: English is not my first language so I apologize if my grammar sounds off.

[xslytherclawx-writes]

The Charm Offensive & plagiarism

I've been mulling this over for a while, and while I did make a brief post about this initially, I'd like to name names because, frankly, I don't see any reason why not

Allison Cochrun, the author of The Charm Offensive, a widely-praised LGBT romance novel, seems to have based her novel on a Harry Potter fanfiction I published between 2018-2019.

I never gave consent for publishing my work or using my work as a base to edit for publication.

The main plot of my fanfiction is the same as the novel - though the novel also "borrows" many minor details to a point that it is impossible to believe that it is simply coincidence. My fanfiction predates the actual novel by over a year. In the fanfiction, a Harry Potter character goes on the Bachelorette and falls in love with one of the crew members - and then announces it on the televised finale.

Sound familiar?

Details below.

The fanfiction was the result of an inside joke with a friend, and I only posted it on AO3 (rather than keeping it in my google drive, in which case I can just about assure you: there would be no Charm Offensive) because I thought a handful of people familiar with some of my original characters might be interested in reading what is doubtlessly one of the silliest things I've ever written.

I wrote the fanfiction over the course of a few weeks in October 2018, while I was between jobs and looking for something to occupy my time waiting for HR to process my upcoming job offer.

At the time I found The Charm Offensive on Barnes and Noble's website, the fanfiction had around 700 hits. It isn't widely read, and, frankly, this isn't the first time that someone has ripped off my fanfiction, but this is the first time I've seen it monetized and acclaimed.

It is, quite honestly, an infuriating position to be in. I write fanfiction as a hobby; this is not my career, but why should that mean that I should sit idly by while someone else gets praise for my idea?

I found The Charm Offensive while looking for books to add to my cart so I could buy another romance novel without feeling guilty about paying for shipping. I saw the description and thought it sounded uncomfortably familiar, so I managed to get my hands on a copy without giving the person who ripped me off money. Because I needed to see if it was, perhaps, a strange coincidence.

It was not.

That became even more evident the more I read it.

The changes made are the sort of deliberate changes that are apparent when one reads other fanfiction that has been turned into published novels - but the key difference here is that Cochrun did not write the fanfiction, I am not her, and I did not consent to this.

And like, to be clear, this is a non-exhaustive list of the similarities between this novel and my fanfiction that was published between October 2018-January 2019 - so also before Cochrun says in the acknowledgments that the novel was actually written:

- bachelor-style setting - relationship is a participant on the show/a member of the crew (the “bachelor”/his handler vs a contestant/make up artist) - character A is a minority and specifically one often seen as a Model Minority (Indian vs Jewish in the fanfic) - character B is white & culturally christian and grew up with super homophobic parents - character A, however, grew up with super loving and supportive and slightly hippie parents who sought diagnoses and treatment for his neurodivergency and mental illness from a young age - all main cast in mid-late 20s (almost exactly the same age; they're 28 in the fanfiction and I believe 27 in the novel?) - character B went to a top university (Stanford vs Columbia) - character B (appears to? in the novel) speak German - special reassurance scene at a home visit with character B and someone who isn’t character A - character B has severe anxiety including panic attacks and thinks he’s unloveable (which isn’t unique but come on) - character B’s best friend is a woman who takes no shit and is also LGBT in some way (Pansexual vs lesbian) - character B is super into science fiction and exercise - character B is drop dead gorgeous and muscular with grey eyes - character B is sexually inexperienced - character A is very tall and skinny and often wears shorts (to a point where other characters use it as a defining thing) - character A is a hopeless romantic who desperately wants to find true love but can’t seem to find it - character A is sexually experienced (especially compared to character B) - character B / character B’s brother leaves home at 15/16 to get away from abusive, homophobic parents (LITERALLY. WHAT. THE. FUCK.) - subplot of the producers / show runner trying to make an extremely chill bisexual contestant’s sexuality into drama fodder - the entire plot about editing the footage after the fact to include scenes with characters A & B together because… - character B comes out on television, and says the words “I didn’t expect to find love here” (or similar) and then details that he did fall in love with one of the crew - also one of the women is a bisexual medical student (novel) / doctor (fanfiction) which is just. a lot. It’s a lot of little things that all seem to add up to more than coincidence, and given the way I've seen the author react to claims about the Desi rep in the book (it's not good, and I can tell you that much as someone who has just had Desi friends since she was 9), I doubt anything will come of this, but I thought I'd say it outright and make it clear that this is not anything I signed off on or was aware of prior to publication.

But hey! Don't just take my word for it. I've kept the fanfiction up with a disclaimer, so you can read it here! (Edit: originally linked the wrong fanfiction; the link has been fixed!)

[frederickthegreat]

my thoughts on TUA season 2

(spoilers, obviously)

- opened with Klaus and Ben, my kings. Klaus’s hair looks so weird straightened while short 

- AWESOME opening soundtrack 

- seeing all their powers so controlled makes me wonder how they leveled up to that skill in the alternate timeline. like the only time we saw Klaus use the powers of other ghosts in the correct timeline was when two of them caught him falling out of the sky. however Diego did end up controlling bullets and Allison used her voice to technically kill one of the Swedes

- the homeless man screaming Allison’s name alongside Luther... funny shit

- big teddy bear Hazel

- Elliot was fucking awesome i think he was a great addition as a side character. rip tho :(

- honestly i don’t understand why Diego would WANT to save JFK. like it’s not that big of a deal. does he not understand what messing with the timeline can do??

- Lila... impeccable

- Sissy and Vanya... impeccable <3

- yeah and fuck u Carl

- ugh, Klaus’s beard. disgusting <3

- Ben and Klaus definitely act like they should be, given that they’ve been stuck with each other for over a decade. i’ve seen some people calling Klaus an asshole for not telling his siblings about Ben, which is completely understandable (cause he was an asshole), but I’m guessing it was because he was afraid? that sharing Ben with his siblings would mean that he would lose him to them, or his siblings would find him selfish, or they would ask something of him that he couldn’t give. if that makes sense

- that ghost bitch comment was funny tho 

- to the guy who called Klaus pretty boy at the bar: sir you don’t know what you’re getting into

- Raymond!! he’s such a sweetheart, i really liked him in the show. i’m really happy that Allison has found a bit of normalcy (as normal as the 1960s Civil Rights movement could be). it shows how passionate she is about what she believes in: even though she knows the movement is far from over, even back in 2019, she’s not gonna abandon it

- Allison staring at the moon every night: either thinking about Luther or how the moon blows them all up. maybe both

- of course Luther would be working for Jack Ruby

- awesome cinematography during the mental asylum escape 

- yeah it makes sense that the Handler would still be alive. she was a cool villain. although it would’ve been awesome to see how evil a fish could be

- Diego’s plan was pretty stupid. that’s my boy

- honestly they revealed how Klaus started a cult really well by having one of his followers find him at jail. Klaus, ever the musical aficionado, of course writes his scripture based off of pop songs

- Raymond and Klaus meeting!! that was cool to see how their paths connected

- Lila painting Elliot’s toenails green. ugh i love that crazy bitch

- i LOVE how they incorporated the umbrella man!! tbh i’ve always believed he was the one behind the assassination. Lee Harvey Oswald was framed 

- honestly a bit understandable that Luther was planning on killing Vanya? cause he had no idea who she is now, but them reuniting was actually really sweet. he’s grown up so much

- the Swedes and their cats.

- the Umbrella company building with the nuclear family mannequins... creepy, awesome shit

- baby pogo baby pogo baby pogo baby pogo

- shanked diego shanked diego shanked diego shanked diego

- did anyone else get vibes from Klaus’s episode opening that he was an escort to the old woman? like how he was being shown off at her arm or something and getting out of jail from a call from the governor. idk maybe the lady was just very taken with him, as anyone would be

- Elliot, our helpful king

- Allison and Klaus’s reunion was so sweet!! i’m so glad they got to interact so much more in this season 

- Ben getting Raymond out through a haunting... hilarious

- sweet intimate moment between Lila and Diego

- Ray meeting Luther was hilarious, but i do feel for the poor guy. i mean i’m not in love with my adoptive sister but still

- the sit-in was really well done and beautiful while terrible. the ‘riot’ that ensued was very appropriate for today’s setting 

- D-Dave

- honestly i was scared that Klaus was gonna be overly attracted to him or whatever, which would be weird cause he’s years younger than Klaus, but honestly, at the core he just wanted to save Dave’s life. even if it means never meeting him in a different timeline. he truly loved Dave. and that ptsd flashback was done so well

- i knew Lila wasn’t trustworthy but i didn’t REALLY expect that! 

- Vanya and Luther talking with each other, Luther admitting the apocalypse wasn’t all her fault. beautiful

- the Majestic 12 reminds me of the conspiracy theory that only a few families control basically everything in the world. the Majestic 12 may be based off of that, idk

- idk about everyone else but Klaus’s scorpion and the frog story made total sense to me! frogs ARE bitches

- the diner scene.... ugh. it really shows that the two of them did fall in love and they did stupid in love things, like talking about their family, about why Dave wanted to join, favorite colors, favorite foods, etc. however that’s seen later on when Dave visits the compound

- yes it’s very disheartening when Klaus is attacked, but honestly i think it had to happen, just like the riot had to happen. the 60s weren’t a fun time for lgbt people and poc. it was only going to be a matter of time before the show HAD to acknowledge the consequences of Klaus’s ‘flamboyancy’ in 1963 Texas. it doesn’t make it right or easy to see, but it’s realistic. 

- it also makes sense that Klaus fell off the wagon after experiencing something like that. yes we all would’ve liked him to stay sober, but sobriety and recovery aren’t linear. 

- Allison is so happy with Ray can we please drop this pseudo-incest plotline let’s MOVE ON 

- Texas Grace ! who is not actually Grace rip (i think? i was a bit confused lol)

- the scene with Harlan running off was really upsetting but we got to see those weird light particles that we saw in the first season

- Pogo Pogo Pogo Pogo

- Klaus being a dick to Ben again, as brothers do. i do feel bad for Ben though it must be sooo frustrating. that scene with him and Allison was really sweet and funny tho

- i just have to say that Luther and Diego are so fucking funny this season it’s awesome. like there are a LOT of good lines overall by everyone but they’re hilarious. “At least he didn’t shank my ass” “no bro, he shanked your heart”“Dads part of a sinister CABAL that’s plotting on killing the president.” “a caBAL?”“You two still a thing? *leans in* do we need to talk?” “No, she’s married.” “Woah dude... that’s rough.” and countless others

- the sibling reunion!! 

- Klaus really does get left out of everything tbh

- Ben :(

- sisters and Klaus!! that was so awesome to see. and Klaus’s hairpins, Vanya saying she’s gonna tell Sissy she loves her, their dance sequence, Klaus calling Allison out on that incest. beautiful

- the fucking Swedish cover of Hello was PERFECT i mean i was sad for the Swedes but it was hilarious. there were a couple beautiful shots of the boat on fire though

- god it must’ve been so traumatizing for Allison to be thrust into such a hostile place with no voice and no way to contact her family

-  idk about you guys but long live Team Zero

- calling Ben that he was becoming their father was a bit uncalled for 

- the fact that Klaus didn’t help Dave’s chances, and in fact escalated Dave’s own timeline.. his trembling hands... robert sheehan is an amazing actor

- the Black president bit lmaoo loved it

- the way Reginald spoke to Diego.. i’m gonna throw hands with an old man

- Klaus LITERALLY looked like he was having a seizure and they all just... played it off?? 

- poor, poor Carl. nah fuck him lol

- that bloody opening scene was awesome! and thank god Five got to say fuck. the fact that it was about a candy bar makes too much sense

- Robert Sheehan acting as Ben: amazing showstopping spectacular he’s so talented

- the whole multiple Fives and Luther bit was honestly really funny, and i immensely respect smaller Five over bigger Five. 

- yes Klaus, you survived a family of seven. you got this

- not sad about Carl dying one bit!

- Ben... that was such a beautiful scene. not just the content of the scene, but the cinematography. Ben fading away... Vanya hugging him... ugh. the main takeaway i had from that scene is that at the core of it all, Ben and Klaus love each other immensely. they have a weird, dysfunctional, fucked up relationship, where Klaus is an asshole and Ben definitely shouldn’t of possessed him without his consent, but they’re still brothers, and Ben forgives him. 

- oof Ben’s funeral was hard. also was it just me or did Klaus’s kid actor sound weird? like it sounded like Robert was dubbing his lines 

- all the siblings back together again!!!! Klaus going with Vanya to save Harlan!! Vanya telling him Ben forgives him and that it wasn’t Klaus’s fault Ben got stuck with him!! everyone in the car!!! be still my beating heart

- yeah didn’t see Lila having powers coming tbh. i really feel bad for her she’s had such a rough and traumatic life, especially with the Handler as her only parental figure

- the Swede brother and Five putting down their weapons: “enough.” the Swede wanted revenge for his brothers - an eye for an eye, but there was a mutual understanding between the two of them: they would do anything for their family. if the Swede hurts one of the Hargreeves, Five would never stop coming after him. i thought it was very beautiful 

- mmm Reggie’s foreshadowing coming into play. proud of u Five

- the ending was so beautiful. everyone got closure in some type of way. except now Klaus is alone with nothing but his dog tags :(

- EMO BEN HAHAHA WTFFF?? is Lila in the sparrow academy? why was Ben’s portrait over the mantle piece? did Five disappear?? is the sparrow academy just older versions of the siblings who stuck around?? so many questions

FINAL THOUGHTS

- Ellen Page’s acting consistently blows me away. she is amazing 

- beautiful cinematography, funny writing, pretty good acting. i didn’t like the soundtrack as much as i did the first season’s, but some of it wasn’t bad.

- i’m glad ben got peace, but i’m also glad justin min isn’t gone for good. his social media presence is too vital for us

- i swear to god if they keep treating klaus as a joke and don’t let him get any actual development like everyone else had (he barely got closure with Dave, he reconciled with Ben through a second party) next season, i’m gonna riot. PLEASE i want to learn more about his powers now that Ben is gone. what happened to seeing tons of ghosts when he’s sober??

- Luther and Diego were probably my favorite duo of the season, I’m so happy that they’ve reconciled and are bonding more. 

- just seeing Vanya grow and be happy was amazing 

all in all, really wonderful season. i probably liked it better than the first one. now it’s time to consume fanfiction and maybe finish my own (check out “god doesn’t want him and neither does the devil” on ao3!)

[liliaeth]

Fix it’s for Teen Wolf

I can think of a few things that would have made Teen Wolf better.

1.  I wanted more focus on Scott’s emotional response to what happened to him.  I don’t mind that Scott isn’t the type who complains about getting hurt. The problem for me was that the show rarely dealt with the consequences of Scott’s pain, and thus to the casual viewer often made it look like he simply didn’t mind, that being hurt didn’t bother him at all. Or worse, that nothing all that bad had happened in the first place.

 Doing this undermined many of the hallucination scenes.  For example, in Season 2’s Party Guessed, we get hallucinations for Stiles, Jackson, and Allison which give us a view into psychology, letting us know their issues without spelling them out.  For Scott, we got Allison making out with kanima Jackson.   Compared to the others, it felt shallow and confusing.  The writers couldn’t even bother to give us dialog.  He received the same treatment in Season 5, when they read the book designed to trigger their memories about the Dread Doctors. Stiles gets yet another scene about his dead mother who has been crucial to his story since Season 1.  Lydia sees her grandmother and her connection to both Lydia’s powers and Eichen House, as well as foreshadowing her treatment at the hands of Valack.   Malia about her Mom and sister’s death at the hands of the Desert Wolf, which is her entire arc.  And Scott?  He gets a nightmare about a dog that was never mentioned before and would not be mentioned after.

 2. I wanted more focus on Scott’s trauma in general. In Season 1, Scott was repeatedly mentally and physically violated by Peter, terrorized and abused by Derek, and hunted by the Argents, and it was taken as a given.   Even the recaps at the beginning episodes in other seasons barely show any of that.  For example, Gerard attacking Scott in clear view at the hospital, stabbing him, and threatening his mother, never appeared in any of the recaps, even in episodes where it would have been important to remind the viewers about it.

While the show had no issue showing us over and over again how Stiles or Derek or Isaac or Allison or any white character really was hurt, they did not focus on the pain Scott was put through, and thus let the viewers conclude that those events didn’t matter.

The show literally had Scott try and kill himself, twice in less than two days, first in Frayed, by refusing to let himself heal, and then again in Motel California, yet neither of those suicide attempts are mentioned even once afterwards. And this while it would have been a good call back in s5b, when Scott is once again not letting himself heal after Theo killed him. and yet again, no mention whatsoever.

 3. I wanted more consequences for certain characters.   I liked that Scott and to a lesser extent Derek were confronted with the consequences of their actions. When they screwed up, they got called out on it. When they did something wrong, it wasn’t excused.  Then they made up for it.

In contrast, certain characters, especially Stiles, got to do whatever they wanted and it was either dismissed as funny or used to make them look sympathetic.  Stiles got to be mean and cruel, and the narrative still treated him as if he were the best friend ever.  He got to assault people, hurt them, and it was treated as if somehow he was the victim. 

For example, I would have liked Stiles a lot better, if when he tortured Scott with lacrosse balls, punishing him for who-knows-what, if someone else had called him out on it or if Scott had got to defend himself, instead of just taking it because Stiles was angry.  Scott allowing Stiles to hurt him to maintain their friendship was a pattern between them, just as much as Scott taking responsibility for things that aren’t his fault.  He keeps on doing it over the course of the show, but it would have been nice if the show at the very least had made it clear that that didn’t make Stiles behavior acceptable.

Just like I wish that Peter had actually faced consequences for his actions – and/or shown some kind of true remorse for his misdeeds--instead of the others just letting him hang around after all the horrible things he’d done or reduce it pettiness.

 4. I would have liked more time spent on Melissa and the McCall family in general, especially on Melissa’s initial reaction to Scott being a werewolf. In the show, they barely spent two minutes total on Melissa’s reaction to finding out her son has been turned into a werewolf.  By the end of s6b, she was barely even behaving like a mother anymore. Even to the point where we don’t even get a conversation between her and Chris about his attacks on her son before the two of them start dating.  Now don’t get me wrong, I liked Chris and Melissa in a relationship, but it was missed opportunity to humanize both her and Scott that they didn’t bother to show her finding out about that and her reaction to it.

Instead we got the whole horror reaction, of her being horrified at seeing her son’s other face, the reaction that any LGBT kid fears when they come out to their parent. Which could have been a great metaphor, especially if they had then made it clear that Scott was bisexual.

 5. I would have liked more focus on Boyd.   The production time spent on Isaac and Erica, while Boyd’s arc was treated as almost an afterthought. We barely even got any hint on his past, in the episode before they killed him off.    They started out with Boyd as the one who wanted to be like Scott, and then never explained it.  Why not focus more on that, and their relationship?

(similar complaints go about Mason, and how little we knew about Mason, outside of him being Liam’s friend. Like... what was his relationship like with his parents? What is Mason interested in, what does he want to do with his life... how did he deal with the after effects of the Beast...

 6. I would have liked more focus on Alan Deaton. The show had such huge potential with this character’s backstory, not just with the Hales but as an emissary in general.  There was this whole mythology about druids that they barely even delved into.

To not even start on how little we knew about his personal life? Why did he and his sister have different last names? What was their relationship like?

Does he have any romantic relationships? Friendships, relationships in general?

Or how about more time spent on his role as a father figure to Scott, we got so few crumbs of their relationship when we should have gotten so much more

 7. I would have liked more focus on Scott and Theo’s interaction in Season 6.   I get that in 6a, they had Scott primarily focused on getting Stiles back, but I’ll never understand why they then didn’t use 6b, to deal with the fact that Theo had tried to murder Scott and was trying to make it up to him and the pack for what he’d done to Scott and the others.

I don’t mind Theo interacting with Liam.  Those scenes were great, but they should have at least one scene with Scott and Theo dealing with the issues between them.  For Theo’s sake, as much as Scott’s.

 8. I would have liked a complete rework of Season 6A in its entirety.  If you’re going to focus a season on an actor who isn’t available, then you have to make it about his impact on the others. Show us what difference this character made, by showing us the effects of his absence, rather than just try and make it about a romantic ship. (I’ve written a post about this already in greater detail, so limiting it to that, but seriously, that season was such a huge wasted opportunity.)

 9.  Actual character growth for Stiles. For a character who had as much screentime as Stiles did, it’s shocking just how little character growth Stiles had over the course of the entire show. This contrasts in a really bad way, when you look at how much every single other character grew and changed over the course of the show.

Just look at the last four episodes of 5b, to give an example. After almost an entire season of watching Stiles at his worst, focusing on emotional scene after emotional scene with him, he suddenly got relegated to comic relief. Why? Because they didn’t want Stiles to grow, because unless he grew, there was no way for him to go but down. If Stiles had taken responsibility for his actions, then they’d have had to admit that he did wrong in the first place. And they couldn’t have that happen.

 10. And last but not least. More moments of the kids being kids. Even if it’s just proms and beach parties. Moments where we see the characters spend time together, when they aren’t trying to stop some bad guy. Where we can see them be friends, hang out with kids their own age. Even just to remind the audience just how young these children are. And where the viewers along with the characters can rest in between the horror, because doing so makes the horror hit far more strongly in contrast to the light.

 11. Also, a better lighting budget, pretty please Davies, were a few more light bulbs that much to ask for?

[thehollowprince]

Sterek, Thiam, & Queerbaiting, Oh My!

(Or how racism and homophobia suppressed the actual representation of gay men in the show that fandom so desperately claimed they wanted.)

So, I'm just going to come out and say it right off the bat: neither of these ships were actually queerbaiting. As a matter of fact, I'd say that those ships just by themselves (and the fandoms that rose around them) were low-key homophobic. The reason I say this isn't just because of the large number of women in this fandom that fetishize mlm sexuality, nor is it about those who attack anyone who has any critique of those ships, its just about the ships themselves.

Now, one could argue that those ships arose from the fandom, and that is true, forever linking canon and fanon in the worst possible way, but this is more to do with the fact that the production of this show cowtowed to the vocal fans on Twitter and put moments in there that, while not explicitly canon, was a not-so-subtle nod to those "fans" that harassed people over crack ships.

Of course, I've been over this before, the pedophilic nature of Sterek and the outright abusive elements to Thiam, but those very real complaints (from an actual gay man like myself) always fall on deaf ears or is usually met with the whole "fiction doesn't affect reality" spiel. And this is incredibly frustrating (or even downright infuriating) to those of us who have had to live with these stereotypes because of our sexuality. To this day there are people out there who equate gay men with pedophiles. That's one of the major talking points for these anti-LGBT religious groups and there's an entire group of people on the internet who are dedicated to promoting a predatory style relationship (Sterek).

What makes the popularity of Sterek so infuriating, is the fact that we had Danny right there. Danny was present in the second episode of the series. We were introduced to him before there was any kind of interaction between Stiles and Derek, and yet he is continually slept on by the fandom, and then by the production as a result of the fandom, which eventually led to Danny just disappearing from the show entirely. To add insult to injury, Danny was practically everything Fandom was crying for when it came to gay representation. He was handsome with a nice body, smart and funny, and everyone liked him, and yet there's usually cricket chirps whenever he's mentioned. Something similar happened to Scott - a character that who stuck fast to his morals and was just an all around good person, and yet so many people violently hated him. Now what could Danny and Scott have in common that made so many people look past them? Gee, I wonder?

Moving forward, once Sterek was no longer a possibility, rather than focus on, I don't know, Mason, a character that was tailor-made for the fandom, they once again make up a crack ship to flock around (Thiam) rather than focus on the actual, consensual relationship that was made up of actual gay characters.

But you may be saying to yourself, "at least these two (Theo and Liam) were around the same age", and you would be right in that regards. But what makes this ship bad, is that it's rooted entirely in first deceit and then later in physical violence. I remember very vividly seeing someone say that Liam and Theo punching each other was how they expressed their affection and I was horrified by that. How many times a day on this app do we see posts floating around that domestic violence is wrong? And then how many times do you see a ship (usually a crack ship) that a fandom loves rooted in physical violence? The disconnect is terrifying.

All of this while Mason and Corey were right there, being cute and in love and everything that fandom claims they want when it comes to representation, yet they're totally ignored in favor of the two straight characters beating the shit out of one another. This is why so many franchises revolving around these "macho men" are able to thrive, even though so many people (mostly women) in fandom claim they want softer men. And yet, whenever a softer man is presented, particularly if they're a man of color, they're brushed aside.

And that's just mlm representation! You hear almost nothing when it comes to wlw representation, unless its to get the women "out of the way".

This all comes down to the racism that permeates every level of fandom. I'm not saying this is intentional, because we've all done it. Hell, I did it. When I joined the Teen Wolf fandom, I followed pro-Sterek blogs and reblogged Sterek posts, because I wanted to be accepted in the fandom, and I bought into the propaganda that was fanon!Sterek. I read the metas and the fics and decided to believe in those instead of what I saw on the screen with my own two eyes. Thankfully, I snapped out of it, but that's why Sterek (and later Thiam) dominated fandom spaces, even making their way to polls for "Best Couple" on many websites.

And then, when these ships don't become canon, fandom screams QUEERBAITING!!! Even though those ships were something made up entirely by the fandom and never something that production considered being canon.

Another big part of how the situation gets as bad as it does is that fandom misunderstands (either accidentally or deliberately) what racism actually means. It's not just the throwing of slurs, it's the preference of the white character over the character of color, even though the latter has everything they said they wanted. Racism is reducing characters of color to stereotypes, such as a brown or brown person being violent (Tamora and Kali) or the sexually obsessed Latino (Scott) or the untrustworthy negro (Deaton and Morrell). Hell, even Boyd was thrust into the silent negro stereotype for some reason.

Now this part, this is as much the production's fault as it is the fandoms, because while the former introduced those concepts (or even if fandom thinks they introduced those concepts) fandom then takes them and blows them out of proportion. How many times have I gotten an ask from that one anon telling me that Scott was "obsessed" with Allison? How many times have I seen metas about how Deaton was "untrustworthy" because he didn't share his every waking thought? How many times did we see particular blogs slut-shame Braeden because she engaged in a consensual relationship with Derek?

And the thing about those is, yes, the original idea was introduced in the show, such as Scott's relationship with Allison or Deaton only offering advice when asked or Derek and Braeden flirting, but fandom took them and cranked them up to eleven in an effort to make these characters look horrible. This is something we don't see at all when it comes to their white counterparts. Stiles is never described as "obsessed" by the fandom despite his fixation on Lydia. Peter is almost never described as "untrustworthy" by the fans despite lying and decieving people all the time. Neither Lydia or Malia are called sluts for being sexually active despite not being in relationships.

When Derek repeatedly assaults Stiles (or Scott, not that fandom cared), it's seen as quirky or romantic (same with Thiam), but when Scott hits Isaac or Jackson, in scenes that were very specifically shown to be comedic, its seen as abusive and violent. Stiles asking Danny if he's "attractive to gay guys" or pausing after Caitlin asked him if he liked guys is deemed proof that he's bisexual, but Scott's interactions with Isaac and Danny (or even Stiles himself), where had they been a guy and a girl, it would have clearly been an intimate moment, is still considered absolutely straight by fandom.

So what's the difference?

It's the racism.

The real kicker at the end of the day here is that fans cry queerbaiting, all the while they're actively sleeping on the actual gay representation that's there. It doesn't fit their aesthetic, so they ignore it, and then wonder why mlm relationships are going down in television. I'm not saying we shouldn't want or demand more representation in media, but people can't be so ignorant as to outright ignore the representation they're given and then wonder why they're not getting more.

Well, this got way longer than I originally intended and I hope I'm not just screaming into the void, but this is an issue that's still relevant, all these years after Teen Wolf ended.

[banghwa]

hi! I too wanted to ask if you would be willing to explain where the word cunty came from and I want to know more! links please? and if you have any favourite articles or resources about ballroom in general id love to read those too!

hello ! ofc, i can't pretend im an expert on ballroom culture, but i can give a few articles and sources that a) mention the use of "cunty"/"cunt" etc. in the drag scene or b) just talk about drag and ballroom in general:

the paris is burning documentary is also a great place to start as an introduction (i stream my movies off soap2day, it should be on there as well! just use an adblocker tho)

imagining transgender by david valentine has a chapter on drag terminology and the role that gender plays in ballroom categories. i haven't read the whole book yet but i heard good things about it, it talks about the diversity of the history of the label "transgender" from an anthropolgical perspective

these two articles (the second one, who's cunt? more so than the first) from the village voice published in 96 talks about the drag scene, specifically the music, but also of the meaning of "cunt"

this piece by john paul brammer on the appropriation of ballroom culture (good jist of why i hate kpoppies throwing around "cunty" and "category is etc etc" thinking they know what they mean just because they watch drag race)

disidentification by jose esteban muñoz, not specifically about the ballroom scene but one of my favourite texts on drag as a political tool AND as an identifier. i only have the introduction unfortunately but i can try!! to find the whole book if you want!!

gender/racial realness by marlon bailey, a good rundown on the drag categories/gender system + the importance of the intersections of race and class in ballroom

the choreography of gender by allison yamanashi leib and robert bulman, explored the complexities of gender in the ballroom scene, and how they are progressive and transgressive despite being built on rigid gender roles

contructing home and family by emily arnold and marlon bailey, talks about the importance of drag for black lgbt youth and in aids/hiv awareness

[thesevenumbrellas]

Do you have any head-canons for the siblings going to pride together or separately?

EDIT: Sorry for the way this is formatted, Tumblr won’t let me change it even though I’ve tried. 

I've been thinking of something like this! In this AU all siblings are LGBT+ but I won't be specific because people deserve to use their own headcanons and see themselves in whatever character they want. I also bold the names so you can read which character part you want.

The Pride AU

Aka Klaus Brings His Siblings to Pride

Klaus starts going to pride at 16. He'd sneak out of the house the day before and stay with a friend/ girlfriend/ boyfriend/ anyone Reggie didn't know about. He'd get dressed up, wear glitter, the whole thing. He never misses it.

It's a few years after they've all moved out and he's 22. He's barely spoken to any of his siblings other than Diego. Not that that's on purpose. He's pretty sure Diegos stalking him. He just wants to forget his "family." He wants to drink and smoke and snort and inject himself into a world where ghosts and superpowers and abuse don't exist... He's in a bad place of his life.

That's when he runs into Vanya. It's totally on accident. He sees a small woman waving a flag from the other side of the parade and thinks "huh that looks like my sister." Then she meets his eyes and he realizes "THAT'S MY SISTER!"

He doesn't know what possesses him but he gestures for her to wait. He doesn't know why but she nods. He waits for a break in the parade and shoots over, ignoring the cries of his "friends" he's with. (They're not his friends. He can barely remember their names. He doesn't think they know his either.)

The day that Vanya and Klaus have together would take up so much room to write I might as well type up a whole other post. But pretty much they don't actually talk much about sexuality/ gender. Sure it starts off as a few awkward questions about it but Vanya sees the far away look in Klaus' eyes same as he sees it in hers. For the first time they have a conversation not about their dad or superpowers. They just talk about everything else. What they're doing, how they're doing, their interests, their lives.... By the end of it Vanya offers to take Klaus back to her place. He says no. He can't bring himself to accept her help. Not yet. But they agree to meet up next year for Pride. He never has to put up with nameless strangers friends again. He always goes with her.

He never goes with Ben when he's alive and Klaus is disssapointed about that. But the first pride they go to together... It opens Ben's eyes to a whole new world. He always knew other LGBT+ people existed of course, but anyone outside his family felt so far removed from Ben's reality... But this is real. There are so so so many people. Thousands? Tens of thousands? It feels like a million people are around them laughing and cheering. They're all proud of their sexualities and genders and they're all so happy. He wishes he could've been part of it... When he was alive...

Diego is definitely not stalking Klaus. It's not his fault he has to check out every police call about a junkie. He could never forgive himself if Klaus-- well... He's just being a good brother!

It's the day before Pride when Diego finds Klaus is a gross motel room. There had been 3 calls complaining about the noise amongst other things, but by the time the police arrived everyone had scattered. Well... Mostly everyone.

Diego wouldn't have even usually gone. He was a vigilante, what was he going to do? Stab their speakers because they had bad music taste? But it had been a slow night. And something about the call had made his stomach turn. It was just a feeling.

There were three people left in (or around) the room. All passed out. And of course one of them was Klaus. Luckily Diego managed to sneak him out after a few words with Eudora and a promise to bring coffee next time he crashed a crime scene.

He took Klaus to their usual diner and fed him whatever he wanted and offered him a place to stay. It was the usual song a dance. Fifty fifty Klaus would take him up on the offer, although his brother would always disappear after a night or two. But this time Klaus shook his head and said “I’m meeting Vanya in a few hours anyway.”

Wait what? Since when did those two hangout??

This was before Vanya wrote her book so he had nothing against Vanya but he’d also never imagined her and Klaus... hanging out.

Diego was curious enough that he tagged along. To... whatever the heck this was.

“This” was Pride.

His response was similar to Ben’s. He’d never really thought that something like this could exist. Sure, he’d seen it on the news and such but he’d never thought to join in.

It takes him a few hours to get over the crowds and heat because obviously it’s Diego but once he starts to relax... he starts to enjoy himself. He starts to really love it. This was where he belonged. This was the “lgbt community.” Right here in front of him. And he was part of it.

He joins Vanya and Klaus (and Ben) every year.

It’s after the apocalypse when the others join. Klaus mentions it to Luther first because... okay he feels bad for the big guy. He just looks so sorry for himself all the time and Klaus takes pity on him. Luther mentions it to Allison and asks her to come along because he’s nervous to go with the others. And then of course Allison invites Five because they are NOT leaving him by himself he’d either finish off all the alcohol or commit a crime or both.

And thus all the Hargreeves go to pride.

Luther instantly loves it as soon as he gets a few drinks down him. And at pride that’s pretty easy to do. (God bless people selling Jell-O shots and water on the street.) He’s been needing a feeling of belonging, a purpose... and this is it. He talks to everyone and makes new friends quicker than even Klaus does.

Allison is recognized because of course she is. At first she’s kind of slightly annoyed but then she notices the looks in her fans eyes because they’re not amazed she’s Allison Hargreeves, she’s amazed that she’s HERE AT PRIDE! And you can imagine their extra amazement when she tells them she’s not here as an ally, she’s LGBT+! She ends up taking pictures and signing things all morning and gets invited to speak at loads of meetings even after Pride is done. And in the end she goes to all of them.

And then there’s Five. Five had given as much thought to his “labels” as he did to his name. He was who he was and he didn’t need to define it. There were always more important things to do like survive and save the world.... but sometimes he forgets exactly what he’s saving. And he realizes... this is it. THESE are the people he worked so hard to save.

And they still need saving.

Later he won’t say it “all started there” but... in a way it did. Because of course he needs a mission, a goal. And helping the LGBT+ community becomes that goal.

There is always a world to save after all.

[chirhos]

Hi, i was raised catholic, but I've been struggling with my faith for years. I am a part of the lgbt community, so that's the main reason why. Where i live the Catholic Church is very strong but i must say that i simply cannot agree with many of it's teachings. I cannot imagine that Jesus would.

I would love to have a closer relationship with God and I've decided to study the Bible. Do you know how can I start? As a historian I want to study it from historical perspective also. Are there any books that you'd recommend?

Thank you for your answer!

Hi! Yes, absolutely, and thank you for the ask!

I would recommend starting with the New Testament! Read the four Gospels and the Book of Acts before starting through the Old Testament. For me, this helps put everything in perspective in terms of Jesus.

I do have some recommendations! My favorite Bible translation is the NIV, so I really like this archaeological study Bible. (A warning: this Bible clearly and repeatedly condemns homosexuality in the text notes. I found it a very helpful and interesting reference, but you should be aware of this before you read it if you decide to.) I'm also a huge fan of the NIV "Adventure Bible" - this is what my church gave out to kids, and while a little simplistic it is really informative. You say you were raised Catholic, though, so that might be a little too simplistic/basic. It's a great reference for anyone's first Bible though, I still have mine and refer to it regularly!

There is one biblical commentary I read last year that was fantastic and really helpful from a historical perspective, but unfortunately I'm studying abroad at the moment and don't have access to it in order to remember what it's called. I'll try to get ahold of my dad to ask him (most of the biblical reference books I've used are his) and add that to the post once I do!

A few other general recommendations: if you, like me, struggle with Christianity's history of extreme misogyny, The Making of Biblical Womanhood by Beth Allison Barr is excellent. And I'm sure you've had this recommended before, but CS Lewis's Mere Christianity is always a good read.

As for your complaints against the Catholic Church - I was raised Protestant, so I don't fully know what you're going through, but I can imagine. It's so important for you to know that there is space in Christianity for you - whether you decide to leave the Catholic faith or remain, the Christian Church as a whole is made better by your presence with us!

Please feel free to ask any other questions you might have! Even if I don't know the answers, I can try to point you in the right direction!