#Larys may be queer as well

[patheticblorbloscholar]

Oh the parellels of these two characters. No wonder I like them so much.

[kazz-brekker]

hotd episode 6 thoughts

boy oh boy this episode was so full of many delicious character moments, i feel very well fed

aemond really was in his best goth villain era tonight, honestly good for him!

i have never seen tyland lannister look more uncomfortable than he did with aemond looming over him lmao

i enjoyed the scene where aemond is firing alicent from the council while also simultaneously holding her hand in place so she'll keep touching his face…tasty tasty family issues

loved that song that the dragonkeepers were singing while summoning seasmoke, it was a very cool detail

also, it was really fun seeing seasmoke again, especially since he's grown bigger since we last saw laenor riding him

man, aegon and rhaenyra really need to put out an ad in the paper for new members of the kingsguard and the queensguard, those guys are dropping like flies

ever since daemon's visions at harrenhal started i really hoped that we would get to see viserys since so many of daemon's issues stem from being cast aside as heir by his brother so i'm SO pleased we got those scenes, it was a present Just For Me

daemon bro stop threatening simon strong he's a nice old man who's done literally nothing bad to you

greatly enjoying this dynamic of daemon and his new bestie the weird witch who may or may not be psychologically tormenting him with visions of his past mistakes and issues

genuinely alys is my favorite new character this season, she's so fun and i just adore her scenes

madam sylvi, dyana, and ulf getting together to bitch about the food shortages…the greens better look out the smallfolk are unionizing

i am getting the sense that aemond and madame sylvi had a…less than amicable end to their working relationship

aemond tormenting aegon in his sickbed really made me go c'mon dude haven't you made him suffer enough, leave him ALONE!

from rhaena's scenes in the vale it appears that they've cut the character of nettles and give rhaena her storyline instead. not sure how i feel about this…i'm all for rhaena getting more to do but nettles is also an interesting character in her own right

knowing alyn and addam's parentage going into the show i suspected that alyn shaves his head because he inherited the velaryon white hair and i was pleased to see i was right

baby stormcloud is so cute! but holy shit my the pit of my stomach really dropped when jeyne arryn mentioned the ship the gay abandon. my fellow book readers, i am full of dread!

i really liked the scene between gwayne and alicent, since he wasn't in the first season it's interesting to see how their relationship with each other and otto has been affected by that huge distance

i kind of miss otto, i hope he comes back by the end of the season

daeron mention! facts about daeron! a personality! never thought i'd see the day!

one of my favorite hobbies is being emo about scenes of alicent physically putting herself between her children and physical harm so i liked her and helaena fleeing from the riot together

that scene with larys and aegon was sooooooo interesting, there's definitely some manipulation/attempts to curry favor coming from larys, but i also hadn't considered that he might now feel some genuine solidarity with aegon after his injuries and can speak frankly about his disability and offer advice

i have been waiting since daemon got to harrenhal and began being tormented for him to have a breakdown and start crying so i was quite pleased when that happened :)

knowing that seasmoke is chasing after addam because he wants him to be his rider made that whole sequence really funny to me

i have often blogged about how daemon and rhaenyra each have what the other one wants (freedom and patriarchal status vs. viserys's love and position as his heir) so it was super fun for me to hear rhaenyra actually verbalize that

i have been super into queer readings of this show since the beginning and all season whenever rhaenyra and mysaria interact i've been like "hmm…are they flirting…" but i truly did not expect them to actually kiss. rhaenyra targaryen canonically queer! on my tv screen! never thought i would see the day!

crazy to think that we only have 2 episodes of this season left after this, can't wait to see what unhinged drama still awaits us

[b-rainlet]

how do you think Alicent, Otto and Criston would react to the mess that is helaegond? imo, Otto would support it, Criston would internally cringe but otherwise pretend it doesn’t exist and Alicent would be kept in the dark bc Criston would pull every string to hide it from her. I have this theory that Alicent is actually against incest despite her insistence on marrying her daughter to her son. She did it because strategically speaking, it was the best option (to keep Helaena safe and keep the dragons within the family) but it disgusted her in a moral sense. Criston knows this so, as her most devout protector, he shields her from this knowledge the best he can.

I feel like if Helaegond would be happening in the show with the character's acting as close to canon as possible, nobody would support it.

I think both Criston and Alicent would see it as morally wrong because not only is it Incest (which they may overlook because Targaryens are Targaryens and what kinda hypocrisy would it be to tell one brother to love his sister but the other that it's wrong) but it would also make Helaena a cheater and as we all know, a man may be allowed to sleep out of wedlock but a woman? Not a chance.

Like, even if it was crystal clear that Aegon is in the know and encourages the relationship between Aemond and Helaena/is a participant, it would still somehow be read as a moral failing on Helaena's part.

Also all her children would be seen as potential bastards and unlike Rhaenyra, she doesn't have a father who would care about her well-being and who would cover for her.

Additionally, Aemond and Aegon having a relationship? In Grrm's world? Where gay people cannot exist? Since they can't produce heirs, they can't marry, if they aren't married, it's still infidelity, even worse because it's queer.

Like, even if you put a woman inbetween, I don't think queer relationships are that well perceived within Westeros. Probably not even within the Targaryen dynasty and they do the nasty with their siblings.

If Aegon were King, maybe he could bend the law to take Aemond as a second wife but even then, Aemond and Helaena would both still have to be dutiful to their husband, so no sex between the two of them.

So in my opinion, the three of them would be playing a very dangerous game and nobody could ever know (so of course somebody like Larys knows and goats it over the Queen's head simply because he can, while Alicent tries her best not to see what's right in front of her).

I don't know what Otto would think of it personally, but it's a good way to ensure Aemond does everything necessary to keep his family safe - especially if some of Helaegon's kids are his.

[autisticburnham]

Thoughts on Picard?

Idk if you mean the show or the character, so I'll just do both

The Character:

He's a strong and interesting character for the most part, though I do really wish the show had addressed the trauma that would have been caused by The Inner Light and Chain of Command. Hopefully Picard Trek will make up for where tng lacked. He's at his best when he's just being a nerd about archeology. It's great that he tends to be open to suggestions and listens to his crew, though I think he could have benefited from being more social with them before All Good Things.

Unfortunately, his reaction to Deanna's assault in Nemesis infuriates me to the point where he typically rates at the bottom of my favorite captains, and it's a feat to rank lower than Archer. And the new show hasn't, imo, done enough to make up for that. Spoilers for Star Trek Picard, but I didn't care at all when he died. In fact, I was excited to see where the show went without him, since I have developed a fondness for the other characters. I legitimately yelled "Oh, come on!" at my tv when I realized they were bringing him back.

Also, I don't like how he made light of Soji's trauma and I think it was really stupid of him to tear down that "Romulans only" or "no humans" sign, whatever it said. Like, I know the writers were clearly going for some sort of anti prejudiced message, but there's a pretty huge difference between members of the majority excluding minority members and a minority refugee population who were screwed over by a- let's face it, Trek has big colonial undertones- colonialist power wanting a space where they don't have to interact with members of that power, especially not their public face, which Picard was. At the very least, he could have owned up to his mistake and fought back way harder against Elnor's decision to murder that dude.

The show

SEVEN OF NINE GAY

I love Raffi and Soji

I think Jurati has the potential to be a good character, I just wish they'd stop shoving her into relationships with no chemistry and would also address how fucked up the relationship with Maddox was

SEVEN/RAFFI CANON

Rios also has potential as a character, but it felt like too much of the season was focused on making him dark and mysterious rather than actually letting us get to know him

I do love Rios' holograms

But, speaking of them, I really wish the show had delved more into the AI Rights storyline from tng and voy. Obviously, the synthetic ban is part of that, but how are sentient holograms affected? Was the Federation really cool with using synths the way they were? I mean, I do think it's consistent, especially considering the way EMH mach I's were used, and I think it would be a very natural path for people to push against or resist the idea of AI being fully sentient and deserving of rights, like Maddox, Pulaski, and Janeway were. I just wish we saw more of what Pulaski and Janeway went through where they realize they're wrong

SEVEN OF NINE CANONICALLY QUEER

I dislike how graphic the violence can get. Even within the first episode, I did Not need to see Dahj's charred skull as she was exploding. My issues with the Romulan senator explained above are only compounded by how graphic his death was. And like, I get it, Manu's a bastard, but what the fuck, I did NOT need to see that happening to Icheb

Speaking of the Romulan senator, as much as Elnor is baby and I like the Way of Absolute Candor, I can't bring myself to like him because of how he killed him

I don't like the gender undertones in the series. It's bad enough that Romulans have the same gender binary as us and have a gender exclusionary practice with the warrior nuns, but the fertility clinic that Raffi's son was at being decorated entirely with pink and blue? The 90s shows may have an excuse for this bs, but Pcd doesn't

Altan Soong's paradise having such a large amount of white androids was, suspect

I don't like the idea that artificial and organic life will always destroy one another. And like, Picard obviously fights back on this idea, but I don't like that the super advanced AI feel like that in the first place

I think Sutra's gold sexy android vibe is ridiculous, but I think it would be cool for her to return and have a Data-Lore vibe with Soji

Hate Narek, Narissa, and Narek/Narissa

I wish there had been more exploration of what actually happened with the Romulan refugee crisis. And considering the fact that it's clearly supposed to parallel the real life refugee crisis, I really hate the "Romulan sneaks into the Federation government to bring their downfall" thing

Laris and Zhaban are great, but I wish we had seen more of them and also had their roles in Picard's life explained. Are they genuinely just like his servants? Bc yikes

SEVEN OF NINE GAY

I do like that we got implications of there being a Picard-Seven-Hugh exBorg support group and that they're all friends

I wish we had humanized the xBs more

Hate Maddox. Hate Soong trying to make Jurati feel guilty for killing that creep

Literally the "Jurati is working with the Zhat Vash" didn't occur to me until she started talking about what she knows. I just thought the murder was bc he was such a fucking creep and I was down with it

8 fucks!

Vaping?

Wish Seven/Bjayzl and Raffi/that one Starfleet chick she called were more apparent. I mean, I definitely picked up on it, but I doubt viewers who aren't already looking for gay subtext did

That said, SEVEN/RAFFI

I really loved Kestra. She's a great character and her being into a Klingon band actually ties back to Voyager. She's great all around

I liked seeing Troi and Riker, but I do wish Captain Troi were canon

I don't think the addiction storyline with Raffi was very well handled

SEVEN OF NINE AND RAFFI MUSIKER CANONICALLY QUEER!

[ylizam]

[picard through 1.6: my disjointed feelings vs. my disjointed thoughts]

I guess the tl;dr is that I love (most of) the characters, and I do not trust the writing? which, fine, par for the course, especially as a Voyager person, but still. I’m enjoying it! I don’t think it’s actually good! I keep having feelings! I am really confused about what they’re doing in re Picard the Character! anyway!

the positive (give or take):

LARIS <3 <3 <3 my Picard’s my Romulan wife! traumatized and her whole world is gone and ex-Tal Shiar (!) and Irish and sweater-wearing and honestly Star Trek: Laris is the show I want in the world. 

I’m this.close to changing my user icon thingy to Laris. I mean I love Caroline and her wine but what if. (the main reason I haven’t yet is because what if they kill her off for more Picard manpain and I’m too angry about it, etc. like I said: I do not trust the writing/writers/whatever, especially with Duff on the staff.)

honestly, there are so many stories one could tell about Laris and Zhaban and home and rebuilding and loss and spies and family and you know what, I don’t trust the writers at this point, so maybe I’m the tiniest bit relieved they’re not telling it (but, oh, for writers who COULD)

Romulan secret names? sure, I can accept that. plenty of cultures have family versus public names, etc. Romulan secret names they only tell their lovers? eh, no, that’s a myth they sent out to the universe for a laugh / to see who believes it / because they could.

Romulan Warrior Nuns. the entire concept. all of them. absolute candor. swords. give me more. 

give me Laris formerly of the Tal Zhiar and members of the Qowat Milat having an awkward meal together I am just saying.

relatedly, Elnor needs a cat. 

Seven. Of. Nine. with pockets. 

continuing trauma because of course! (and look I love Janeway but I do cringe at the way “humanity” was thrust upon Seven in a very limited and forced way and that can’t have been great for her longterm and give me more Seven learning that she is “human” enough there’s no one definition but also she’s fucked up and that’s okay too except where it’s self-destructive and not okay and) 

although seriously they tiptoed riiiiiight up to the line of confirmed queerness and then swayed a bit and hope that was enough and it’s not? (I wonder if they were so paranoid about Kill Your Gays-itis and what it would mean for Seven to kill an ex that they didn’t want to skirt that fallout, but come on.) (I also wonder if, when Seven comes back, they actually go there or if this is as far as it will go.) 

Raffi. Michelle Hurd as Raffi. Raffi.

Raffi deserves better. Better writing, better writing, better writing.

so that was her ex-girlfriend Picard bribed her with wine to contact, right? 

Hugh. That hug. Hugh. 

the negative (give or take):

the casual racism problem. 

stop killing characters of color! if you colorblind cast and then only/largely people of color die that’s not good! not to mention Indiana Picard (see next point) and the Romulans of color all swarming around him and yeah. stop it.

don’t dress Picard up like a colonialist unless you actually mean it—like, if you want to get into the issues with the Federation and colonialism rah rah flags and all that, do it, but I just feel like they’re not actually going there (too much emphasis on conspiracies and people infiltrating the Federation rather than, oh, maybe the Federation itself is an issue?). 

this is where my trust of the writing really comes into play because I just don’t know that they know what they’re doing. 

the writing can be pretty clunky. why did they make someone with basically no tv experience the showrunner again? (it turns out that maybe television and novels are different media! with different rules and etceteras!)

no really why is this show being made in 2020 so straight (and so 1990s coy about any hints of queerness)

I don’t care about Narek. At all. He bores me. 

this is obviously a personal thing, as I’ve definitely seen people out there who enjoy him. but yeah. he does nothing for me personally.

and his sister is just. cartoon villainry.

if you’re going to keep intercutting to scenes with the bad guy and his sister sexually choking him and all either actually explain the reason they’re doing all the bad stuff and actual justifications, etc. (we don’t need it to be a surprise to be interesting, yo! why do you care about the android homeworld or whatever it is you’re searching for? have you shared your secret lover names with each other yet or naw?) or just don’t. the baddies should be their own heroes! 

I would definitely prefer the story about how the Federation and Starfleet aren’t what their PR says they are and digging into how flawed they are and colonialism and all that to the one about the conspiracy and infiltrations into the Federation and Starfleet that sort of just skim over the parts where whatever the conspiracy managed to do depended on the flaws in the Federation and Starfleet. 

look, maybe we’ll get it? but, again, trust issues with the writing.

I really, really, really wish they hadn’t gone the addict route with Raffi

it feels a little lazy? very plug-and-play characterization? idk! I think she’d be more interesting without it! 

(also to be fair I have my own issues with addiction stuff in general so even if I trusted it to be done well and all that it still wouldn’t be my favorite.)

is there any trauma care in the future utopia times (the Borg Reclamation Project seems to suggest that there may be at least, on some level, an attempt at it)? has Picard received any mental health care at all post-living-on-a-ship with Troi who sometimes tried but also maybe was too much of a friend to be an effective therapist for him no really what is the status of mental healthcare in the future utopia times I want to know.

(I mean the PTSD stuff makes sense, I’m not denying that and that’s not the stuff I find myself disliking in the character. but it does lead me to wonder about the state of mental healthcare and the like, not because I think he should be “cured” or anything like that, but because I wonder.) 

Is Picard meant to be an asshole I no longer like? 

is the bit with the doctor who is not Beverly telling him about his brain whatever issue meant to be a hint that he’s going senile or something? is that why the worst parts of his nature keep being thrust front and center?

do the writers know how unlikeable he can be in this? is that the point? is there a point to it? do they have any idea at all what they’re doing? (giving alcohol to the addict so she’ll do what you want, Picard? really?)

in conclusion: I just don’t know what they’re trying to do in re Picard the Character on Picard the Series and I worry that the people in charge don’t know either. (also, I want to continue liking Picard the Character so.)

anyway I left out a bunch here (I largely like the crew of the La Sirena but also don’t have anything I really want to say about them) (my eh-reaction to Narek has affected how much I really care about that storyline, but I do in fact like Soji and hope for more interesting stuff for her because I was really bored with her adventures in sleeping with a bad guy) (anyway this is already very long, but yeah, hopefully the rest of the season will return some level in faith in the writings having a Plan but I’m not super confident in that oh well).

[conversationaldothraki]

BREAKING NEWS

FIGHTING A POLAR BEAR WILL LOOK GOOD ON YOUR CV Says post-operation me who has recently been convinced this is the best course of action. Following a few hours surgery today in Wellington Hospital I have emerged enlightened by the wisdom of anesthetic, and I now have a few key moments to share with you all:

1. SHOULD I FIGHT A FUCKING POLAR BEAR? YES!

AND SO SHOULD YOU!

Why, you may ask? Because according to yours truly, it will greatly benefit your CV - in fact, that's the only reason to do it! Don't fight 'em for fun or for your life or anything so trivial, no! Fight 'em to get that dream job! Put that right on your CV and you'll be instantly hired!

Hey, you still worried about not quite making the mark? Well do I have a solution for you! Fight' em right in your to-be bosses office! What's better than a little fear to snag that special spot! Nothing! So go get 'em! Pack your bags and go fight a polar bear to really boost your CV! Dopey Lari believes in you! ❤

2. ALWAYS JUDGE THE CURTAINS. ALWAYS.

I mean honestly when have you ever gone into a hospital and gone "oh yes that shade of puke and depression would go brilliantly in the lounge!" Because if you have then what the absolute fuck. They're awful, we all know it, but we don't really say anything - y'know.. hospital and all. But lemme tell ya, I had a hit of heavy painkillers and a Lot of judgment. So, long story short, I started insulting the curtains in recovery because they look like sea and vomit (they do, fight me - or a polar bear.. or both) I mean?? Surely they could come up with something less queasy, those colourings make them look like they have been thrown up on.. how appealing and sanitary. So judge them. Judge them on your goddamn death bed. I want those to be the last words from your mouths people!

3: WELLINGTON HOSPITAL HAS CEILING NIPPLES. WHY? FUCK KNOWS.

Perhaps, aesthetic?

Goddamn maybe but what the fuck. My best guess is they're trying to cover up old cameras or something, but ended up with nipples. Listen, I don't know if I'm just queer or they'd stuck some teats up there but that's what it looked like ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

ANYWAYS,

That's the end of that, sorry for such the long post but...

Blessed Be The Anesthetic Wisdom!! 💖

(Heres a screenshot for the more out of it rambling)

[kyokosasagawa]

New Pinned Post 07-06

Happy summer, everyone. With a new season comes a new pinned post because I don’t think the old one really applies to me much anymore.

Hi everyone, my name is Lari and I’m a queer 24 years old as of writing. I have been in fandom for well over 10 years and some people may vaguely remember me if they’ve been in the KHR fandom for just as long, but otherwise, I deleted accounts so often I’m not surprised if you don’t.

I have been struggling with mental health issues for many years. It’s something I’m open about, but I try not to bring it on tumblr unless in the form of simple life updates for anyone curious. But recently it’s been tough, so I haven’t been as active on tumblr as I used to.

Fandom-wise...I mostly draw fanart. I sometimes write fanfics. I ship a little bit of everything and I am open to hearing any rambling about romantic ships, queerplatonic ships, platonic friendships, etc etc. I like enemies-to-lovers, and I like AUs where those enemies-to-lovers are actually bffsies. Really, I like a little bit of everything.

I sometimes do art requests! It’s mainly for the KHR fandom, so please be avoid sending me requests unless I specifically state it’s for other fandoms.

I would like to get better at art. It’s my favorite thing in the world, and even though I struggle with mental health, that’s the one passion I have. I want to get better at art and I hope I can make people happy sometimes with the things I draw. But if not, it makes me happy so that’s what matters most.

[chisimage]

Unresolved Veterans’ Nostalgia — Anti-communist Martyrs of the Korean War

Author / Chi Chu

Due to the influence of Albert Camus, Jean-Paul Sartre, Pierre Bourdieu, David Der-Wei Wang, there has been an attempt to understand how the traumatic experiences of the turmoil of war in China. The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945), the Chinese Civil War (1945–1950) and the Korean War (1950–1953) were the most turbulent and chaotic in Chinese history. They caused large-scale family relocation, abandonment of homes, unexpected sacrifices and trauma for many people. On 23 January 1954, more than 14,000 prisoners of war (POWs), who were members of the Chinese People’s Volunteer Army and had engaged in the Korean War, decided to be repatriated to Taiwan (ROC) instead of China (PROC) and were subsequently called ‘anti-communist martyrs’ after the war. They were marked with various ‘anti-communist’ tattoos on their bodies (Picture 1) and KMT emblems as part of swearing allegiance to the Republic of China (ROC) and their determination to pursue freedom (Huang 2016). In order to ensure the identity of POWs, their lives have been dominated by political propaganda and post-traumatic stress. Therefore, this essay will discuss, firstly, how the bodies of POWs from the Korean War became a boundary of home. Secondly, the essay will evaluate how trauma has affected their behaviour by using several individual cases and the Hebei Taipei documentary.

Due to the changes in modern war patterns, famine, and changes in the social structure, wars continue to migrate, and there never seems to be an end. Bourdieu (1993) in The Weight of the World: Social Suffering in Contemporary Society uses the term’ social suffering’ to understand the situation in natural and human-made disasters. This means that people have suffered damage to the social structure and experienced ‘La Misère du monde’. Lary (2010) in Chinese People at War: Human Suffering and Social Transformation finds that for many Chinese people the wars meant separation because family members fled and young men joined the army or fought as guerrillas. Accordingly, this kind of separation is abrupt and has no signs to follow, no deadlines, no plans, and it happens naturally. The anti-communist martyrs, who are called the ‘Exiled People’s Volunteer Army in Taiwan’ by China, have lived in the shadow of the war and the trauma of their country’ s/family’s ruin. Their collective memory may be enforced to fix in official history. However, there are some differences (Huang 2016: 148). Their destiny was the product and tool of international political relations during the unset political period. They were between the Kuomintang (KMT) and the Communist Party. Identity only obeys and loses human rights. It means that the state apparatus manipulated their identities. Moreover, their tattoos are examples of the domestication and discipline of the identity of the nation-state.

A well-known photograph printed by Life magazine depicts the arrival of the anti-communist martyrs in Taiwan after the Korean War on 23 January 1954 (Picture 1). Compared to the life experiences of anti-communist martyrs as POWs or tools of propaganda, the image is particularly ironic. In that period, due to the political situation between China (PROC) and Taiwan (ROC), people were taught to obey the nation-state, and bring down all communists (Chang 2018). In an era in which ‘homogeneity’ was emphasised, in order to consolidate the centripetal force of the country, the government established the ideology of ‘the enemies are not incompatible’ in people’s thoughts. Consequently, discipline created a tamed and trained body, and people became ‘submissive’. Sartre (1934) in Being and Nothingness describes three types of being for the human being. One is being-for-others, which means that people notice others observe and judge the beings of self. It means that people pretend and lose themselves in order to live in groups. Therefore, the oral content of the prisoners of war may be not authentic due to an attempt to hide their traumatic experiences. Nevertheless, memories of home can still be found in their words. The deceased anti-communist martyr Zhang (2014) always verbally stated that ‘Taiwanese are Chinese. Chinese are Taiwanese.’ His talking is a significant presence in unrooted identity. A documentary about anti-communist martyrs, Hebei Taipei, presents the resigned life experience and reluctance of anti-communist martyrs. The protagonist of this documentary, Li, said, ‘It was fate who chose me.’ The documentary shows that this is a typical feeling for anti-communist martyrs.

As Hartman (2008:2) states, the archive is a ‘death sentence, a tomb, a display of the violated body, an inventory of property, a medical treatise on gonorrhoea, a few lines about a whore’s life, an asterisk in the grand narrative of history’. Therefore, in the official historical narrative, it is necessary to think repeatedly about the complex text of the anti-communist martyrs of the Korean War. There are several records and books relating to the narratives of the anti-communist martyrs, such as Chou (2005) History of the Korean War and Anti-communist Martyrs, Halberstam (2008) The Coldest Winter: America and the Korean War, Li (2015) Hebei Taipei. After the end of the Korean War, some of the Chinese POWs, who used to be KMT troops, were later forced to join the People’s Liberation Army and others became loyal to the Communist Party. After the POWs arrived in Taiwan, most of them became involved in the army and built cross-roads as workers in Taiwan. Even though they are the anti-communist symbols, they are not trusted by the government and are closely monitored due to their sensitive political status. Their strong local accents and individual military identity made it difficult for them to integrate into Taiwanese society, and their hometowns were isolated on the opposite side of Taiwan’s ideology. This history is influenced by political ideology, causing individual anti-communist martyrs to feel isolated, and as a consequence, they start to seek identity to rely on. At the junction of death and separation, scars and imprints are not only imprinted on the body but also inscribed in the mentality. It means that the imprint inscribed on the body expresses another symbol of social culture via the medium of memory, presenting the experiences and reaction of oneself inside and outside. Since 1988, anti-communist martyrs have been allowed to visit relatives in China. However, these anti-communist martyrs, which symbolise the ‘anti-communist’, seem to be incompatible with visiting China because of the intangible opposite political positions. Some martyrs are concerned that the tattoos may attract political persecution from the CCP regime. Therefore, before returning to their hometowns, they must cover tattoos or undergo skin suture operations, especially to hide those words that are abusive and critical of the CCP, as well as the national flag of the ROC, which must be hidden. Hence, by the times, the dichotomy ideologies of ‘the enemies are incompatible’ seems to end. The political signs profound in the body, whether with consent or not, must also be changed, from faded to clear vague, like their embarrassing identity as ‘anti-communist martyrs’ (Chang 2018).

As mentioned above, the uncertain status of home and unrooted emotions dominate the thoughts and behaviours of anti-communist martyrs. In the documentary Hebei Taipei, Li repeated the same story, one about the changes and ruin of his family and individual life because of the wars. The documentary reveals the truth behind the official historical discourse, which is based on the concept of narratives -‘Who am I? Where am I?’. Through this kind of documentary, it is able to present the individual experiences and memories. As Hartman (2008:12) states, ‘it is a history of an unrecoverable past, a narrative of what might have been or could have been, and a history written with and against the archive’. The protagonist, Li, talks about death: the death of his parents and his death. Li says, ‘If you do not like yourself, who will like you?’(Huang, X. 2016) Hence, he liked himself when playing with toys and has a particular habit (dressing up as a woman). It is a kind of healing process for Li to cover the deep wounds from wars and life experiences. In addition, Li cursed all the time to release his stress. His daily hobbies are to drink and watch pornography. The lonely man needs inflatable dolls to sleep with and has posters of naked women on the wall next to his bed. He dresses as a woman, which seems to be his happiest time, and even builds tombs with his first and last names written squarely with red paint because he bears too much misery in his life and hopes to have a stable place after death.

About Li’s dressing behaviour, the director of Hebei Taipei, Li Nyssa (2016; Cited in TFF), has personally states that Li lives in an era of shortage of supplies. Therefore, Li feels wasteful about a lot of beautiful things, and he must pick it up. Moreover, Li seemed to be ageing about himself and was not very satisfied with his appearance. Also, his tattoos are related to anti-communism and symbolise the consciousness of a nation-state. Hence, as mentioned above, perhaps, when Li puts on these glamorous costumes, he can forget the memories symbolised by the tattoos and escape from the distressing impression he has. Accordingly, he is no longer a homeless veteran but a happy and’ beautiful child. This behaviour as a resistance attempts to reverse or cover the cruel factual and individual experience. It tends to link to the concept of queerness. Tinsley (2008:199) states, ‘queerness is not apparently a gay or same-sex loving identity, however, as a tangible of resistance. Queer apparently make disturbance to the violence of normative order potently’. Also, Bahng (2018:6) states, ‘speculative fiction allows us to think against the grain of normativity, to challenge the naturalisation of certain orientations and ways of being.’ It means that queerness attempts to generate a reflection and resistance about ‘normal’. Hence, Li always wears women’s clothing and laughs because he has temporarily got rid of his homesickness and cut off the mark and ideology of national consciousness. Furthermore, the cross-dressing becomes a resistance against political patriarchy and reflect the masculinity of soldiers.

Overall, through the cases mentioned above, official historical discourses cover individual life experiences and traumas. Those anti-communist martyrs have been dominated, manipulated and colonised by the state apparatus. As Fanon (1967: 128) stated in A Dying Colonialism, ‘all this gnawing at the existence of the colonised tends to make of life something resembling an incomplete death’. It means that anti-communist martyrs have no sovereignty itself, not to mention ‘to define life as the deployment and manifestation of power’ (Mbembe 2005, cited in Beriant 2007: 755) because their individual identity, ideology and behaviours are dominated by a nation-state. The diversity of social forms of migrations thus gave way to a progressive homogenization. Diversity either disappeared or transformed itself. The anti-communist martyrs have started to heal themselves through particular behaviours such as Li’s. ‘Often people who are dominated resisted and reconstructed itself.’ (Bouteldja 2017). Furthermore, individual remembrance is more real than history because history is more like a fabrication (Le Goff 2010:2). It means that remembrance depends on the processing of memory, and history is an arrangement of the past. History is the past, the present, the enemy of truth, and the product of conscious political manipulation. Consequently, like the anti-communist martyrs’ case, ‘People first tell stories to testify, leave traces, and give a form of life to survive‘ (Stewart 1996: 58). Reflections are necessary to reframe normative society through individual life experiences.

Picture 1 anti-communist Martyrs with tattoos (CommonWealth Magazine 2018).

Picture 2 The welcoming scene for anti-communist Martyrs of Korean War on Jan. 23 in 1954 in Taiwan. Photo by :Joseph Scherschel (1954 ; Cited in Zhang 2014)

Reference

Bahng, A. (2018). Migrant Futures: Decolonizing Speculation in Financial Times. Durham: Duke University Press.

Berlant. L. (2007). Slow Death (Sovereignty, Obesity, Lateral Agency). Critical Inquiry, 33(4), 754–780.

Bourdieu, P. (1993), La misère du monde. Paris: Editions de seuil; Translated by P. Ferguson (1999), The Weight of the world: Social Suffering in Contemporary Society. Palo Alto CA: Stanford University Press.

Bouteldja, H. (2017). We, Indigenous Women. E-Flux, 84. <https://www.e-flux.com/journal/84/151312/we-indigenous-women/>

Chang, M.-L. The Tattoos Resurrecting Taiwan’s Forgotten War Kout [In Chinese].< https://www.twreporter.org/a/photo-go-photo-communication-2>.

Chou, H-H, ed. (2005). History of the Korean War and Anti-communist Martyrs (I) [In Chinese]. Taiwan: Academia Historia Office.

CommonWealth Magazine (2018). anti-communist Martyrs with tattoos [In Chinese]. <https://www.facebook.com/cwgroup/photos/a.162499326929/10155436321821930/?type=3&theater>.

Fanon, F. (1967). A Dying Colonialism. NY: Grove Press.

Halberstam, D. (2008). The Coldest Winter: America and the Korean War. US: Hachette Books.

Hartman, S. (2008). Venus in two acts. Small Axe 26, 2–14.

Huang, C-F. (2016). War, Existence, and Generational Spirit: A Study of the Writing of the Situation of Taiwan Modernist Novels [In Chinese]. Taipei: Showwe.

Huang, X. Unsolved Veterans’ Nostalgia- Hebei Taipei [In Chinese]. Funscreen, 581. <http://www.funscreen.com.tw/review.asp?RV_id=2072>.

Lary, D. (2010). Chinese People at War: Human Suffering and Social Transformation. UK: Cambridge University Press.

Le Goff, J. (2010). History and Memory. In R.-J., Fang & F.-S., Ni (trans.). Beijing: Renmin University of China.

Li, N. (2015). Hebei Taipei. < https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4842868/>.

TFF (2016). 20160709 Hebei Taipei — Screen Discussion [In Chinese]. <http://taipeiff2016.pixnet.net/blog/post/151497971-20160709taipei>

Tinsley, O. N. (2008). BLACK ATLANTIC, QUEER ATLANTIC: Queer Imaginings of the Middle Passage. GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies, 14 (2–3), 191–215.

Zhang, Z.-S. (2014). The welcoming scene for anti-communist Martyrs of Korean War on Jan. 23 in 1954 in Taiwan [In Chinese]. <https://www.facebook.com/ZhangZheSheng/photos/a.10151511331044531/10151965572689531/?type=3&theater>.

[coralshort]

Last January I did a workshop a performance at Fresh Festival in San Francisco as a part of Ponderosa On the Road curated by Adi Brief. Thank you to all my brave workshop participants and performers who did the somatic release of Choir of Emotions. We unfortunately don’t have a lot of documentation of this but here is some documentation I found on line of the project which I also did in Athens Greece at the wonderful festival Sound Acts. I’m so glad they documented this project so well!

I took over Betonest for the last incarnation of my artist residency program there. Caitlin Fisher was my steady collaborator and many waves of artists came throughout the month including our largest residency called THAW. I hope to create residences in Germany again COVID healing allowing, but next time I will be doing them at a smaller space called Quecke. This location is located near a forest and a beautiful Creek. I have collaborated with these hard working queer feminists before and their space is gorgeous.

Here are some photos of this residency time period April 2019. I don’t think I have worked so hard in my entire life, but giving time and space to the artists was worth it. To carve that space and time for conversation, collaboration and pure creation is so valuable.  I just wish there was more resources given to what I do. My gardening actually funds these residencies! Canada Council for the Arts has told me that there is no funding for running residencies. If you have any ideas around this let me know. It’s been four years now of running successful incredible international artist residencies with no funding.

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Also my dear friend E Hearte helped me apply to be a Media Artist, A Visual Artist and a Curator on the new Canada Council for the Arts portal. The curator bit was the most exciting for me to be acknowledged by Canada Council as a curator after over ten years of radical curations at all sorts of venues all over North America and Europe. Most queer artists have heard of me or I have curated them, so it was nice to finally get some professional recognition. Now I just need to get a grant! In all these years of art making Canada Council has yet to offer me one, so if you are a proofreader let me know.

A beloved curator to many of us Mary Macdonald from Eastern Edge created these pins ART = WORK which I wore for many years until it eventually fell off. But now her foundation has now created these toques! Buy one here and support artists in Newfoundland and Labrador. She was a shining human full of support and love to all who knew her. I am sad she has left this world.

Last April I was in this curation by my longtime friend Kimura Byol.

This is the work that was screened. I filmed it in my kitchen holding a black sheet and my sweet ex boyfriend Logan Curley is the model.

While I was in silent retreat my partner and my distributor gave permission for my film Arrangement to be screened in Korea a country that I lived in and love dearly.

FLORAL SLEEP grows and grows!

 2 radio shows, 2 WORKSHOPS and 2 SHOWS last year!

Last July Ryan Backer and I performed our project Floral Sleep at my work’s 10 year Anniversary party in July. And then we performed in October for True North Insight’s Birthday party for our founders Daryl Lynn Ross and Pascal Auclair. And then I gave a workshop for adults with Winnie Superhova and one for kids with Lari Jalbert. Thank you Studio XX for paying us well and giving us an ample budget for supplies. Goddess bless that feminist organization! And a huge thank you to my dear friend Lucas Crawford for writing about my work.  Thanks also to xx files for interviewing us about the work which you can listen to here.

WELLNESS is the Watchword

“This word appears everywhere as the reason for us to slow down, most often attached to a product that promises to save you hours of time via speed. Paradoxically, if today’s wellness discourse were a slogan, it might be: hurry up and slow down!

Coral Short’s new project engages ASMR (Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response), in which exposure to everyday stimuli (usually noises, eg. nails tapping; eating sounds; whispering) induces tingling sensations and euphoria. ASMR seems built for speed, given its extreme popularity on Youtube. But where high-tech folks seek the latest watch to capture their running speed, Short’s technology of wellness here is like good BBQ cookery: “low and slow.” They move plant boughs around a circle of laying participants, stimulating them gently with plant sounds.

Corporations market WELLNESS as a series of inward-looking products. But Short’s work redefines wellness as the connective, outward-looking potential of queer pleasure. The tingling of Short’s plant-based ASMR isn’t about a romanticized notion of stopping to smell the roses – even if it is about listening to the breeze of leaves. The tingling is literal; ASMR is often described as arousing, and Short describes this project as “eco- sexual.”

We buy cutting-edge quick-fixes. Short’s project is slower and more direct: it provokes bodies to feel better on the smallest scale. This is wellness redefined as feeling good, undertaken at the level of the goose bump.

Coral Short has long thought about wellness in exciting ways. Where foodie blogs luxuriate in the slow self-care of “stress baking,” Short tuned up queer rhythms via an experimental band, Women With Kitchen Appliances. WWKA didn’t take up the ‘time- saving’ kitchen tools of gendered domestic labour as escape, but instead as slow public experiment.

Where fitness media often dangle a fat-phobic wellness carrot – the self-pride that supposedly follows when we can wear the new (smaller) shirt or new (sexier) boots – Short has again flipped the game in advance. They have sculpted and wore “Butter Boots,” aptly named. Similarly, at a Vancouver arts show, Short and their team of servers moved through the crowd, offering the show-goers fudge: “How would you like your fudge packed?”

Whether laughing or crying – witness “Crying Machine,” in which attendees sit next to Short while they chop onions – connection and wellness happen queerly in Short’s work.”

Lucas Crawford

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Coral Short (Montreal) makes art with landscape, performance, film, costume, and bodies.

Lucas Crawford (Fredericton) is a trans/fat/queer academic and poet.

Here are some photos of Floral Sleep.

During the pandemic my much anticipated spring residency BELTANE at Ponderosa has been canceled much to the dismay of myself and the 20 artists who had bought plane tickets to come. Looks like we may have to skip a fall residency with COVID and return hopefully in a year for our next residency.

During the pandemic Winnie and I created an online performance experimentation curation from the visual arts and dance communities we are a part of internationally. There was no audience just creators creating for each other – trying to process what is happening in visual and movement based practices.

You Do You

Zoom Screencap by Kimura Byol

Alexis O’Hara (Montréal) Cait Fisher (Berlin) Cindy Baker (Lethbridge) Coral Short (Montréal) Eddy Levin (Berlin) Eshan Rafi (Toronto) Eva Wǒ (Philadelphia) Holly Oakley (Chicago) J’ean Park (Berlin) Joachim Magdalena & Gambletron (L.A.) Kimura Byol (Montréal) Lailye Weidman (Turner Falls, MA) Londs Reuter (NYC) Magdalena Hutter (Berlin) Rebecca Ladida (Eastern Townships, Québec) Sarra Bouars & Kristianne Salcines (Berlin) Winnie SuperHova (Montréal) Andrew Tay (Montréal) Lara Oundjian (Montréal) Sasha Kleinplatz (Montréal) Justin de Luna (Montréal) Nien Tzu Weng (Montréal) Lenore Claire (Montréal) Zi Ro Buch (London) Thea Patterson & Jeremy Gordaneer-Paintings/Sculptures (Edmonton) Anouk Thériault (Montréal) Aisha Sasha John (Toronto) Kinga Mi (Montréal) Pam Tzeng (Calgary) Maxine Segalowitz (Montréa) Moe Clark (Montréal) Ralph Escamillan (Vancouver) Nate Yaffe (Montréal) Benoît Lachambre (Montrèal) Victoria Hunt (Australia) River Halen Guri (Montrèal)

              A year in the life Last January I did a workshop a performance at Fresh Festival in San Francisco as a part of…