#dangerous homophobic cable

[consult-sherlockholmes]

What's a male-to-male cord???

A dangerous configuration of an extension cord that will most likely cause electrocution and cause fires. It's also lovingly called 'the su*c*de cord' for that reason because of how dangerous it is if not handled by a professional. Called 'male-to-male' due to the fact that somehow someone thought that each time you have a piece that you stick into something else you have to call it 'male' and the other receiving part 'female'...what a moron who created that name, nothing else on their mind. So don't play around with male-male cords.

[imbecominggayer]

Part 1 Writing Advice: Sexual Trauma As Justice And As A Lesson

Tw: This post is specifically dedicated to SA(sexual assault). This is a highly sensitive topic that I will do my best to present accurately and thoroughly.

This is a somber occasion where I will do my utmost to treat this serious and highly personalized experience with the best grace I can muster. I apologize but this is a serious topic that deserves to be talked about in a "everyday way" and not in a stuffy "fake sad" way because sexual trauma happens everyday.

For important hotlines relating to this issue, check out: https://rainn.org/resources

This is a very sensitive topic which personally relates to my family so I obviously need to be the most detailed I can be.

Again, to reiterate, this post will cover highly serious topics involving sexual violence, the threat of sexual violence, and prison rape in both media and in the real world. Don't pressure yourself to read this. Your mental health is more important then some person's thoughts.

So, let's get started!

Why Did You Need This?

Before we continue, I need to ask for your reasoning when including representation of victims/survivors of sexual abuse/trauma.

If it's something that can be "not included" and won't change your plot at all then I highly implore you to not include it.

You won't believe how many "rom-coms" or romance-based media decides to include an assault scene for the sake of a dramatic rescue. It's not fun. It's not romantic. And it's not necessary!

The reason that sexual trauma is treated with more "delicate sensibilities" is not because physical trauma and emotional trauma are not serious or deserving of respect. It's because sexual trauma is often not treated with the respect that physical abuse and mental abuse is.

If you are planning to use sexual trauma/harrassment/rape/prison rape/anything involving assault into:

A comedic punchline which will never be brought up

A highly inspirational hypersexualized revenge flick about a hot badass woman being badass

Another "don't drop the fucking soap" joke

An insult for a character's masculinity/desirability

A transphobic/racist/homophobic example of danger

A meaningless drivel with vague messages about "forgiveness for others"

I will throw you out of my minecraft server! And account! But, if you are sure that you need sexual trauma to be in your stories, let's continue.

2. Sexual Trauma Is Not Justice

What do all of these movies/shows have in common?

Iron Man 2(2010)

The Powerpuff Girls(2000)

Wedding Crashers(2005)

Cop Out(2010)

Without A Trace(2006)

Buffy The Vampire Slayer(1998)

Deadpool 2 (2018)

They all utilize rape as a form of karmic punishment from Tony Stark's "don't drop the soap" line which is meant to allude to prison rape to Deadpool 2's usage of an electrical cable on Juggernaut to sexually assault them.

Of course, most of these movies/shows "only" use punchlines about anal rape although in the case of Wedding Crashers there is a huge reliance on rape so be aware!

A common uniting theme behind these instances of sexual violence is the fact that the audience is meant to react to these scenes with a satisfied snicker about how the bad guy is suffering.

Let me reiterate, these "jokes" and "funny sexual assault" scenes are said by "funny", "sympathetic" women and men who are threatening sexual violence against "unsympathetic" bad people.

There are multiple problems with this so let's start!

Rape is never okay.

When these scenes have "loveable" characters either threatening/utilizing/physically raping "undesirables" you have just recreated a system where rape is acceptable when it's done to bad people. Sometimes these bad people are too sexually positive, too chauvinistic, or just too bad.

And it's this belief of "punishing sinners" which allows the systematic use of prison rape as a way of controlling prisoners to flourish.

There is no such thing as "justifiable rape"

This Isn't Justice

This is revenge. Rape and the threat of it can nevver be used as a form of justice. The goal of justice is ultimately redemption.

Sexual violence, as a form of revenge, could never be used to positively benefit society.

Prison Rape Is Not Inevitable

Prison Rape can be prevented. It's the powers that control the prison system that consciously allow prison rape to happen.

This is because prison rape is a widely sanctioned way to punish "undesirable" prisoners such as transgender and mentally disabled prisoners.

Again, it's that mention of "undesirable" which demonstrates how promoting the positive usage of sexual violence in Media effects the real world

There are solutions to the prison rape epidemic such as mass deincarceration through actual justice-orientated redemption,

Conclusion: I desperately wanted to talk about how sexual violence and the threat of sexual violence is highly influencial in mass media and how this representation impacts the world that you and I inhabit.

Every single repetition of "sexual assault as a justice-orientated lesson" tortures the hundreds of thoudsands of people in justice system who are brutalized by rape and who never recover.

[soul-dwelling-not]

Someone on cable television--Donny Deutsch on MSNBC--just now referred to that orange Republican nominee for president--that convicted felon, that adjudicated rapist--as "funny--my friend thinks he's funny."

First, that's probably Deutsch's own opinion: "I have a friend who thinks he's funny--I don't mean me, I mean my friend." You laughed your ass off to when he was on with Scarborough and Brzezinski, Deutsch, you piece of shit? Either Deutsch believes this (the "girlfriend in Canada" approach), or he has a pretty shitty friend--so what does that say about Deutsch's own taste in politicians and how he will vote?

Second, no, he fucking isn't funny.

Third, I try not to do "I told you so," but I remember complaining about this shit _back in 2015 and 2016_, that there were reporters and commentators (go fuck yourself, Josh Barro) saying, "He's funny, he's charismatic, he's entertaining--"

No, he fucking isn't, he fucking wasn't. What the fuck is funny about remarks he made suggesting Mexicans are rapists, "grab them by the pussy," that he could shoot someone and get away with it, saying someone was too ugly to rape, that there were "fine" Nazis in Charlottesville, that protesters should be beaten up, and now his threats to defund public education and vaccination, ban reproductive health, and campaign against immigrants and LGBTQ people? And that's not even getting into his dangerous policies: banning Muslims, denying reproductive rights and bodily autonomy, clearing out protesters so he could hold a Bible and pretend he gives a shit about any religious faith, conjecturing about carpet-bombing and nuking countries and guillotining American citizens, knowing the dangers of COVID and letting it spread and kill, leading a goddamn insurrectionist where his followers wanted to hang his own running mate. What person listens to all of that and says he is "funny"--without that person being just as bad as this sexist, racist, homophobic, transphobic, rapey motherfucker?!

Cable TV, repeating the same mistakes as 2016--and not one of those idiots has been fired.

(Register to vote, vote for Democrats, campaign for Democrats.)

[morganneedssomehelp]

My piece for HARRINGROVEWEEK @harringroveweek

I love this 80s song so I chose this instead of the prompts. Please listen along to the song while reading.

Warnings: homophobic language for time period, contains light smut, mentions of abuse and emotional abuse, hurtcomfort.

Please let me know to add more warnings if forgotten

Rebel Yell

Date: June 1st 1985

Billy played with the cables and amps on the stage to the underground metal bar, his band mates working on their instruments. Eddie gave him a look as he bit his lip. Billy tutted, taking a drag from the cigarette between his fingers that was getting dangerously close to the filter, almost singing the tips of his fingers.

The bar was setting up and he was nervous, he had invited a certain brunette who recently plagued his thoughts. Now, to many people in his small town, the two hated each other, billy breaking his pretty face back in November of 84’. However what many didn’t know were the secret kisses the two shared, the secret meet-ups at skull rock, and Billy causing that perfect look of ecstasy on Steve’s face just before he came. The way the brunette king looked after him in his bed those months ago after the fight, and the way steve stood up for himself against billy which caused the male to take in a shaky breath.

Before Billy even knew what was going on, Eddie was poking him in the shoulder, people flooding into the bar, the sound of music playing as they set up and got everything perfect for the live performance. Billy’s blue eyes flit between people looking for that perfect head of hair. Billy chuckled dryly as he looked at the boy, he stood out so much. His preppy look caused many looks from the metal heads that filled the bar. Steve's salmon pink polo made the boy look like he was on the menu.

“Hey man, isn’t that Steve ‘the hair’ Harrington?” Eddie scoffed, dumbfounded that the jock was even here. Sitting by his lonesome at the bar, grabbing a beer before looking up at Billy with a soft blush. The blonde bit at his tongue before winking at Steve, his head tilting towards Munson.

“It seems so, why don’t we give the boy a show?” Billy cackledmanically before shucking off his leather jacket, leaving himself completely shirtless. Uncovering the scratches from Steve the night before.

Billy was wearing a pair of tight leather pants that clung to every curve he had, even his crotch. Girls whistled and hollered at the blonde. Billy’s boots stamped against the stage as he finished his cigarette, getting everyone’s attention. His pendant swang along with his perfect curls as Billy grabbed the mic.

“This is to you princess,” Billy muttered into the mic, people screaming, girls hoping it was aimed at them, and men already starting to flick their hair around getting ready to headbang.

The boys around him started to play, Eddie giving him a nod, his fingers dancing along the strings. The drums behind him made the floor shake, Billy grinned a cat-like smile as he gripped the mic.

Last night a little dancer came dancin’ to my door

Date: November 28th 1984

Billy spat down at the floor of the foliage scattered across the ground, billy laid across the bonnet of his Camero as he stared up at the sky, he looked at his hands, stretching them slightly, still feeling the slight twinge of pain from breaking his knuckles and Harringtons nose a few weeks before. He grabbed at a beer chugging it down slightly before his ears perked up the sound of a car coming towards him. Billy’s brow furrowed, this was loners' lookout, it was classed as redundant since Steve, king fucking Steve introduced skull rock to the masses. Billy rolled his eyes as he lay there. He thought back to the night, the night he got beaten by his father. A lone tear slid down his cheek as Billy downed his beer. The car finally pulled up next to him. Not that the boy cared to look who it was until he spotted a similar head of hair coming to look over him. Billy’s legs were spread as he finally went to look over the boy in front of him. Steve himself seemed sad, and nervous as he smiled. Billy went to get up to smack the boy's pretty smug look off his face before Steve offered him a beer. Billy said Nothing , going to look at his own six-pack, now empty. The boy snorted a laugh, grabbing at the bottle. Steve said nothing as he lay next to the boy on the bonnet of the Camaro. Billy went to light a cigarette, offering it to the brunette beside him, Steve’s gentle hand taking the cigarette and taking a long drag. The two looked up at the stars in silence and a truce.

Billy started to sweat now, his body dancing around as he sang his heart out to the people in the bar. People head banging, girls swinging their bras to the band and the sound of the Amps causes the place to shake. Billy side-eyed Steve at the bar, Billy’s curls covered parts of his face as he sang into the mic, his spit flying everywhere as the boy used every ounce of his feelings into the song as he tried to show the boy at the bar what he truly felt. The chorus was coming up and Billy took a breath as he swung his head up.

With a rebel yell, she cried more, more, more!

Date: March 6th 1985

Billy grabbed at Steve’s legs, pinning him against the wall of the deserted showers in Hawkins high. Their mouths mashing together in a hungry kiss. Billy’s hands almost burned into Steve’s soft skin, the soft gasps and moans the boy let out as Billy touched him. Billy’s eyes burned into Steve’s as the boy tried to steady his breathing. Steve’s hair was limp and wet but that didn’t stop Billy from working his hands through it. Making the other lean into his touch. Billy couldn’t ask for more as his hands discovered more and more of Steve’s body. Billy’s big soapy calloused hands washed over the hair on Steve’s chest. The hair that made Billy so envious, hair that a tall, lanky pale boy could grow more chest hair than he could. He was bigger than Steve in almost every way, one arm could easily pin the boy against the shower wall, the two slipping slightly and Billy chuckling, his tan skin glowed under the lights. The steam surrounding them did not make it any easier for the two to try to breathe. Billy’s hand dragged down the brunette's chest slowly and achingly so, before finally reaching the sweet spot and Steve said something that made Billy go wild.

“More, Billy, more”

Billy huffed as he ran over to his bandmate, Eddie grinned a wild smile with Billy as the two sang together. Billy licked his lips, his tongue wagging at the crowd as the two simultaneously stuck their tongues out, Billy revealing a tongue piercing to the crowd which caused a scream. Billy cackled down the mic as he slapped Eddie's chest, proud of his friend.

She don’t like slavery, she won’t sit and beg

But when I’m tired and lonely she sleeps in bed

Date: February 28th 1985

“God billy, what’s wrong with you!” Steve shouted at the boy, slamming his hands against the boy's chest and pushing him away from him. Billy huffed, chewing on his lip. His hands pulled at his curls, as he fumed to himself. He felt like Neil was in his head as tears brimmed in his eyes. He couldn’t help it. Everyone hated him, even his mother, that’s why she left. Billy couldn’t hold onto it anymore as he let the tears fall.

“You know what’s wrong with me Harrington?! You really wanna know? I’m a fucking fairy! A queer, I like cock, do you get it now? I’m disgusting,” Billy shouted, it felt good getting it out. Hot tears fell down his cheeks. As the boy took in heavy breaths. His hands went back to pulling at his hair as he sobbed. He hadn’t cried in years, since that day his mother left back in California but here he was crying to the boy who actually cared about him telling him his darkest secret. His head was in his hands before The boy had finally realized the severity of his comment before looking up at a frozen steve.

He ran to his car starting it, his whole body shaking as he pressed his foot on the gas, leaving Steve at loner's lookout.

Billy sobbed to himself as he sat on his bed. The posters of half-naked women across his room made him laugh dryly to himself as he undressed. His eyes go to a yellow jumper on his laundry hamper. The tears started again as he held the jumper close to his chest, he swallowed as he heard a tap on the glass of his window. Billy jumped, seeing Harrington stand there with his usual smug grin. The boy miming for Billy to open the window. Billy sighed as he smiled, his tears continuing to fall but he didn’t care. He unlatched his window as Steve let himself in, falling to the floor with a thud. Billy thanked God his father was out of town and it was only Max in the other room. Steve said nothing, just like that night looking at the stars except Steve hugged him as he stood, and held him close to his chest as Billy sobbed.

The boys fell to the bed as Steve held Billy, his hands playing with the boy's curls. Steve said nothing and looked down into Billy’s blue eyes. Then without warning, Steve kissed him.

Billy sang the chorus again, enjoying himself, the song was almost finished but that wouldn’t stop the keen blonde from showing off.

Just as long, just as long it don't mess up his hair

Billy chuckled at that moment as Steve went to fix his hair, Eddie ripping into his guitar solo. Billy jumped as he screamed into the mic, he felt his voice go hoarse but he couldn’t stop. He had to show Steve. This was the only way he could show Steve.

I’d give you all, and have none, babe

Date: May 31st 1985

“I love you Billy,” Steve uttered into the kiss after the two had just had sex. Billy froze as the brunette with doe eyes went to kiss him again. Billy got up from the bed, Steve’s room was much neater than his own, probably with help of having Nancy as an ex. Billy’s mouth opened and closed as he tried to say it back, unable to. Billy really wasn’t one for emotion. More of a fuck it out kinda guy. Steve realized what he said as he got up trying to make light of the situation. Billy huffed, why was this shit so difficult? Billy didn’t know what to do so instead he grabbed his stuff and he left. Left Steve high and dry once again.

Billy cursed to himself on his bed, he had drove straight home after leaving Steve. he had ruined everything, and he knew what he felt in his heart. Steve was right and Billy felt it too, but he was unable to formulate the sentence. He went to the phone, as he dialed Steve’s house number. His eyes landed on the calendar. Tomorrow was his gig. Billy grinned as he slammed his fist against the wall. The dialing tone rang before a beep. Straight to answerphone. He took in a shaky breath.

“Hey, uh baby, I know you don’t wanna talk to me right now, but come to my gig tomorrow, please…” Billy almost begged. Before the beep ended Billy stood there.

As Billy finished the crowd screamed Billy’s name, Eddie patting Billy on the back. Billy only stared at Steve on the barstool. He could see the tears in his eyes. Billy’s mic went back up to his mouth. His voice was hoarse and sore but he needed to say it.

“I love you, princess,” Billy grinned.

[theantarwitch]

Major Arcana Human Identifier Part 2

Part 1

The Justice:

Profession: Card of legal matters, so can represent lawyers, judges, jury, politics, cops, military or the boss of a company.

Gender & Age: Justice is blind, so can represent someone agender, and between 35 and 45 years old.

Medical: The covered eyes indicate problem with the eyes. The sword indicates wounds and skin problems. The scale indicates unbalanced diet and overconsumption of certain kind of foods or vices.

The Hanged Man:

Profession: The card is always tied to something, so can represent jobs related to ropes, strings and wires like electrical engineer, software engineer, programmer, cable technician, electrician, bungee jumping instructor, sailor, tailor, clothing designer. Also toxic members of the family, past friends, ex partners (people tied to our lives).

Gender & Age: Young male, usually cisgender, between 15 and 30 years old.

Medical: The ropes can represent tendons and nerves, but also stress, emotional and mental tension, cramps, physical pain and gastrointestinal issues.

The Death:

Profession: The Death carry a scythe, so can represent jobs related to sharp things and plants (harvest side of the card), like chef, butcher, greengrocer, blacksmith, heavy metal singers, gardener, carpenter, florist.

Gender & Age: The transformation aspect can correlate to transgenders. Age, the oldest (almost dead) over 75 years old.

Medical: Absolutely bones related, teeth, joints and any hard part of the body, including kidneys stones and gallstones.

The Temperance:

Profession: Portrayed with water, so can indicate jobs with that element like underwater welding, scuba diving, firemen, sailors, fisher, fish shop, laundry, water and wastewater plant engineer, hydrologist, plumber, lifeguard, power washing cleaner.

Gender & Age: Balance waters can represent the balance and mix of genders, so can be someone non-binary, genderfluid, polygender or similar. Someone young, between 15 and 20 years old.

Medical: All related to liquids like blood issues, utis, bladder issues, dehydration, kidney stones, menstruation.

The Devil:

Profession: The worst jobs ever (bad payed, dangerous and with shitty people around who behave as the devil itself) such as food server, roofer, welder, water transportation worker, brickmason, automobile mechanic, truck driver, construction laborer, longshoremen, chef, painter, pest control worker, McDonald employee, retail, taxi driver.

Gender & Age: A homophobic cis boomer over 60 years old (nothing more evil than that).

Medical: Very on tune with the real meanings of the card, such as addiction, depression, mental health issues, harmful behaviors, alcoholism or compulsive eating, anxiety, panic attacks, silent illness like high blood pressure.

The Tower:

Profession: The main object of the card is a tower, so can represent jobs related to construction, such as architect, electrician, building inspector, construction laborers, carpenter, equipment operator, construction manager, ironworker, civil engineer.

Gender & Age: Someone who recently changed their gender (their tower fall, they are building their gender again). In the middle of their life, around 25 and 40 years old.

Medical: In tune with the meaning of the card, sudden illness, mental health problems, stress, substance abuse, but also issues with the spine, back pain, headaches, bone fracture.

The Star:

Profession: Is a creative artistic card, so can represent artistic jobs like curator, art therapist, photographer, tattoo artist, art teacher, illustrator, conservator, fashion designers, plush maker, baker, web designer, architect, interior designer, computer animator, stylist.

Gender & Age: Genderqueer or omnigender. Around 10 and 20 years old.

Medical: Issues related to the visible and superficial part of the body such as the skin, hair, eyes, nose, mouth and anything visible at naked eye.

The Moon:

Profession: Is a night card, so it implies night jobs, night watchman and anyone with night shifts.

Gender & Age: Still questioning their gender but tend to be feminine. The age of uncertain and fears, between 10 and 20 years old.

Medical: Illnesses related to cyclical states like the menstrual cycle and hormonal imbalances, seasonal allergies, flu or winter depression.

The Sun:

Profession: The sun is also the big coin of luck, so can represent jobs of high class or using huge amounts of money like bank employee, CEO, business manager, jeweler, surgeon, medical specialist, judge, airline pilot, economists, lawyer.

Gender & Age: Male, cisgender or anyone who identify mostly as male or with masculine traits. Adult between 25 and 40 years old.

Medical: Digestive organs like the stomach, intestines, liver, pancreas.

The Judgement:

Profession: Judgement demand knowledge, so the jobs can be based in high amount of information such like programmer, lawyer, judge, office worker, newspaper, news worker, psychologist, psychiatrist, researcher, scientist, university student.

Gender & Age: Someone known for have a non-conventional gender (the black sheep of the group). Between 10 and 20 years old.

Medical: Anger issues, illnesses with the liver, gallbladder, stomach ulcers, reflux, the illnesses of angry people.

The World: 

Profession: Being a success fulfilment card, can represent jobs considered “happy”, with artistic skills or without bossy boss, like florist, freelance jobs, crafts, artisans, jewelers, ceramic makers.

Gender & Age: Non cisgender. Non adult, between 10 and 18 years old.

Medical: Issues related to mental health, AHDH, autism, OCD, and any illness related to don’t be aware of the reality.

 -

List of the decks used as examples (with links and warnings):

The Fool - Druid Craft Tarot Deck by Philip Carr-Gomm (Some couple cards have mild nudes)

https://www.amazon.com/Druid-Craft-Tarot-Deck/dp/1859062733

 The Magician / The High Priestess – Witches Tarot by Ellen Dugan (Some couple cards have mild nudes)

https://www.tarot.nl/es/witches-tarot/?v=5b61a1b298a0

 The Empress- The Witches' Wisdom Tarot by Phyllis Curott (Some couple cards have mild nudes)

https://www.amazon.com/Phyllis-Curott/dp/178817321X

 The Emperor / The Death - Mystical Manga Tarot by Barbara Moore (Some couple cards have mild nudes)

https://llewellyn.com/product.php?ean=9780738753539

 The Hierophant - Tales of the tarot: Chapter 5 by Kaylee Pinecone (Not a deck per se)

http://ocherumber.com/

 The Chariot - Modern Witch Tarot by Lisa Sterle (Some couple cards have mild nudes)

https://www.lisasterle.com/mwt

 The Strength / The Temperance - AstroMatrix Tarot Deck by Mark Lily (SEEMS safe)

https://astromatrix.org/Home/GetAstroMatrixTarotDeck

 The Hermit - Keymaster Tarot by Lorenzo Gaggiotti (SEEMS safe)

https://darkmagicplayingcards.com/products/keymaster-tarot-gb-edition-lorenzo-gaggiotti-stockholm-17

 The Wheel of Fortune - Linestrider Tarot Deck by Siolo Thompson (Some couple cards have mild nudes)

https://siolothompson.com/linestrider-tarot

 The Justice - by Denouu (Not a deck)

https://www.deviantart.com/denouu/art/Justice-tarot-card-683647865

 The Hanged Man - Mermaid Tarot Series by Faith Schaffer (Some couple cards have mild nudes)

https://www.inprnt.com/gallery/faithschaffer/

 The Devil - By Ben Mcleod (Not a deck)

https://society6.com/product/tarot-card-the-devil-xv_print

 The Tower - By Fyodor Pavlov’s (A lot of pretty explicit nudes)

https://www.fyodorpavlov.com/tarot

 The Star - She Wolfe Tarot by Devany Wolfe (A lot of pretty explicit nudes)

https://serpentfireshop.ca/collections/all/products/she-wolfe-tarot

 The Moon - Killstar Tarot Deck by Killstar (Safe, only skeletons)

https://us.killstar.com/products/killstar-tarot-cards?utm_medium=redirec

 The Sun - The Marigold Tarot by Amrit Brar (Safe, only skeletons)

https://www.amritbrarillustration.com/

 The Judgment - By Karla Ortiz (Not a deck)

https://karlaortizart.blogspot.com/2009/01/

 The World - Light Seer's Tarot by Chris-Anne (SEEMS safe)

https://chris-anne.myshopify.com/products/light-seers-tarot-a-78-card-deck-guidebook

[elizabethsharmon]

So. Poland has chosen its "president" yesterday - if we can even talk about real choice here when he won by approximately 422k votes. When he won in 6 out of 16 regions, all of them with significantly lower number of eligible voters. When there are huge discrepancies between the results displayed in each polling district and the ones published on the website of the National Electoral Commission. When there were recurring instances of some voting cards not having the necessary stamps which automatically classified the vote as invalid. When some people went to vote and it turned out they're not registered in their designated district because of system error. When people abroad didn't get their voting cards on time. When his party sent over 150 buses to villages in Eastern Poland to take older, conservative people to voting stations. When this is how the results map looks like - and somehow the blue wins with orange.

In the last five years, Du*a and his party PiS (literally lAw AnD jUsTiCe but believe me, they're none of these things) have completely ruined the country and regressed it to Middle Ages.The democracy practically doesn't exist anymore, not since they have the majority to rule (the opposition won the senate back in the parliamentary elections so it's a small win but it's still not enough). They started with the judicial system, appointing conservative judges who are always ruling in their favour. The courts are not independent anymore. The Constitution is being broken over and over and over again. People have been marching and protesting for years now but to no avail. 

The national television, TVP, is practically owned by the ruling party. The propaganda, fake news, hatred on the opposition and minorities is getting stronger each day. What you need to know is that this is literally the first channel on every TV set in the country. No matter where you live, no matter if you have cable or satellite, you turn on TV and TVP is what you get. Their reach is so much higher than other TV stations from the big four (TVP1&TVP2, TVN, Polsat). Poland has fallen to 62nd out of 180 countries in the World Press Freedom Index compiled annually by Reporters Without Borders. Before PiS took over in 2015 we were 18th. For du*a's presidential campaign now they gave TVP 2 billion PLN in order to strengthen the propaganda. There was a project to give those money to hospital oncology wards but PiS said no. TVP has only been showing him during the campaign. The other candidates have either been showed in a bad light or haven't been showed at all. Voters for whom TVP is the only source of information haven't seen other candidates nor their campaigns.

During the second round of the campaign, when another tv station, TVN, with two major Polish online media, Onet and WP, invited him and his opponent, Rafał Trzaskowski, for a debate. Du*a declined because he said he won't participate in a debate which isn't available for everyone and he asked them to reach an agreement with TVP to host the debate together. In the end there were two debates. Du*a on his own in TVP, answering predetermined questions from journalists reporting to his party and people in the studio that were paid to be there. Trzaskowski on his own in TVN and live on his Facebook channel, answering questions from the journalists from 16 independent offline and online media teams.

At the beginning of his and PiS first term of destroying the country, they started their crusade against women, because as we all know middle aged men are the most eligible people to make choices for women and their bodies. Abortion is Poland is (was? honestly who knows now) only allowed in three cases: if the woman's life was in danger, if the prenatal testing indicates severe damage of the fetus, if the pregnancy was the outcome of rape. With their pro life and anti women initiative, PiS was determined to ban abortion completely and punish it by prison. The bill was so flimsy that in some cases even miscarriage could be turned against woman. Even if the baby would've been born sick or severely disabled, even if the pregnancy could be fatal for the mother, even if it was caused by rape. We went on the streets. All dressed in black, with umbrellas in hand. Hundreds of thousands of women and allies marching and protesting together against the government. And they got scared. The bill proposal was dropped but the fight wasn't over and it still isn't. They tried to bring it back now during the pandemic just because they knew we wouldn't go out protesting. But we did, we blocked the streets with our cars.

The day after pill can only be bought on prescription. But if you end up going to the conservative ob/gyn they can invoke conscientious objection to abortion and they won't prescribe it for you. They want to ban sex ed from schools. In their opinion sex ed “demoralizes children and teaches them masturbation.” They want young people to be uneducated and have sex and get pregnant and give birth. They want to make kids have kids just so they would depend on the government and social wage programme 500+ which gives 500PLN (approximately 125€) each month to families with 2 or more children for each of their children. Right now you can be a woman raising your three or four kids and you will get the equivalent of minimum wage just for that. This program made people vote for them in 2015. First Du*a used it in his presidential campaign, then PiS was blackmailing the voters saying the program will only happen if both president and the government will be on board aka they have to get in so Du*a will sign the bill and people will get the money. People still believe only they can ensure the stability of the program even though almost all the other candidates said it will not go away.

In the last couple of weeks of presidential campaign, it became more clear than ever how Du*a is planning to win the elections - by trying to reach to the mindsets of elderly and conservative voters by attacking the LGBT community. He called us “ideological hurricane”. He said we are worse than communists. His party members have been saying we're not humans. He was saying over and over again how he doesn't care what people do in bed as long as they're not obnoxious on street and in real life about it. How sexuality is a private thing and we shouldn't be proud of it. How there's no place in Poland for “LGBT propaganda that wants to demoralize our children”. How there's no space here for unions for same-sex couples, not even mentioning marriage or adoption. How he'll do everything in his power to protect the “traditional Polish values and family model” (whatever that means). The most conservative parts of the eastern Poland has claimed their towns and villages as “anti-LGBT zone”. It's been going on since last year. After Dua's words now the hate crime is stronger than it ever was. When LGBT activists asked him to apologize for his spiteful words, showed him proofs that suicide rate among LGBT teenagers is higher than it was since his party is ruling, showed him the photographs and shared the stories of the people we lost because of the bashing they encourage and support, he said he won't apologize because he stands by his words and there's a freedom of speech in the country. Not for everyone I guess.

The journalists have been interviewing many people in different parts of Poland after it. What stuck with me were the words of some old man from the countryside who has said that “LGBT should be exterminated in Majdanek”. It's one of the places where the death camp was during World War 2. I don't think I have to tell anyone what words like this mean, how much they hurt, and how much worse it is when they’re said in the country that’s lost so so many lives during WW2. In a country that fought so hard for so many years to reclaim its freedom from the nazis and then from the soviets. In the meantime of this bashing, Du*a has pardoned a pedophile so he could return to his family (and the victim he abused). So that would be it for protecting family values.

The exit polls results yesterday were so close that they gave us so much hope that we would wake up in a new reality today but the hope died quickly. Now we're stuck again with a man who said in the middle of the global pandemic that he's anti-vaccination and he doesn't think vaccine for covid-19 should be obligatory. With a man who thinks climate change and global warming isn't real. With a man whose actions are constantly destabilitizing economy because he only acts like there is today and doesn’t look forward in the future and doesn’t know the way he and his party ruin the country will have terrible consequences in a few years. With a man who is homophobic, racist, misogynistic, xenophobic, and many, many, many other things. With a man who is a "president” of Polish people but only if you're a straight catholic man voting for his party.

Now our fear is that with him being “elected” as the “president” again, his party will try to meddle with the Constitution and try to change it so they could either extend his term for more years or extend the number of terms a president can have. And even if the change can’t happen so easily, what’s sure is that they will try to take away basic human rights from women and LGBT community. They made it perfectly clear in the last five years and during the campaign now.

So if you’re asking yourself now what can you do about it the answer is simple: spread the word. Read about it. Educate yourself. Make a buzz in the social media. We need as much help as we can get. We need foreign media to pick up the topic, we need them to talk about it and to make the noise. We need the foreign governments to know about it. European Union has already declared that if the bashing on LGBT continues, they will take away the development aid from the self-proclaimed “anti-LGBT zones”. Our country has suffered so much and somehow we’re still standing but I don’t know for how much long we will last. So please. Don’t leave us alone.

[cazimagines]

Niki Lauda x M!racer

Request from anon: Could you do a Niki x male reader where the reader is Niki and hunts competition and Niki struggles with his feelings toward the reader because they are supposed to be each other’s competition and the reader thinks the same thing but eventually they get over it start dating then they just bully hunt

- The news lapped up all the drama between the free of you. Every race was exciting to see who would win this time, would it be Niki? Or perhaps James Hunt? Or even y/n? Tensions ran high between all of you. You were all rivals and annoyed each other to know end when each other stole the victory

- James was the heartthrob, winning people over with his charisma and his good looks whereas Niki was often disliked for his bluntness and snide appearance. You were the middle ground between them, you had your fair share of fans, mainly girls fawning over you (not that you cared about any of them) and you could be charismatic when you want to be but you weren't afraid to speak your mind either, and that happened more often than not when coming face to face with Niki

- You and Niki would often butt heads on issues, anything you would suggest at the meetings he would argue against. It was starting to feel personal to you about how much he tried to disagree with you and get in arguments with you.

- After one such meeting, you chase after him as he heads back to the garage, determined to question him as to why he always disagreed with you, more than Hunt. 'What the hell Niki, I was completely justified in what I was suggesting. Why were you arguing against it?' you call out, 'It was idiotic he replies in that Austrian accent of his, not even bothering to turn around and face you. 'It's common decency to look at someone when speaking to them' you shout out, grasping his shoulder to turn him around. He grabs your hand and shoves it off him, glaring angrily at you. 'Don't fucking touch me again' he spits before storming off

- Things were not made better when you won that race. As you looked over to him he stuck his middle finger up at you, one which you gladly returned. Later that night you were just dressed in a white shirt and shorts which clung to you as you worked on your car. You felt the feeling of being watched so you pull yourself out from under the car to see Niki leaning on the wall beside you, observing you. He quickly looks away as if he was embarrassed at being caught staring.

- 'What do you want' you growl grabbing a towel to rub the oil off your hands, 'I came over to see if you were cheating, adding things you weren't supposed to on the car' you scoff at him 'Want to catch me out like you did with Hunt' 'If it means I win the races then yes', 'See that's why you don't have any friends Niki. F1 is more than just racing, yet you don't see that' you watched as Niki frowned at your comments, as if he was bothered by the fact that you pointed out his lack of friends. 'You're wrong y/n, f1 is all about racing and your so call friends wouldn't hesitate to throw you under the bus for a win'. 'Careful Niki, your starting to sound as if you care for what happens to me' Niki smirks, finally leaning off the wall and walking away, 'We can't have that now can we'

- The next session it was raining heavily and while Niki didn't want to race in it, saying it was too dangerous James wanted to and was swaying everyone to race in it. For once though you could see where Niki was coming from, that rain was too dangerous, the wheels would not be able to grip the track correctly. 'Niki's right, if we race there now there will certainly be a crash, likely a death' you address the rest of them. All eyes turn on you, including Niki's, shocked you would ever agree with him. 'Thank you y/n" he finally says, nodding at you.

- The race was called off though as you managed to sway the other racers much to James annoyance. And after then Niki started agreeing on issues with you at the meetings, especially if they went against what James wanted. The news was quick to pick up on this, running the stories of how a friendship was forming between two rivals to combat the other rival. And they weren't wrong, you and Niki started spending more time together outside. One particular happy memory of yours was when it was raining as you two walked back to garages, you were teasing him on his hair, quickly raising your hand to mess up the curls on his head. He quickly pushed your hand off, telling you to fuck off. And you couldn't tell if it was from embarrassment or the rain but his cheeks appeared redder than usual.

- And James had to face double the sarcastic comments as you and Niki started teaming up to insult him and annoy him. Every time you'd see James storm off in annoyance you would look over at Niki and you two would start laughing at James reaction

- When you went to Austria for the next F1 race Niki actually offered to show you around. He knew the place like the back of his hand and took you to all the places he thought you would like. And he was right you loved walking around with him. One time you two were walking down a street when these men approached you two. They didn't seem to recognise who you and Niki were but that didn't matter as they started shouting homophobic comments at you and Niki and pushing you two.

- There had certainly been progress for LGBT+ in recent years, with things like the stonewall riots but things were far from perfect. You were comfortable with your sexuality however you were not able to tell anyone about it. If you did you were sure to be kicked off the team. So when those men started shouting at you, calling you homophobic slander you were surprised that Niki instantly was defending you two. Telling the men if they wanted to pick a fight then he's will happily punch them in the face.

- That is what leads you to help carry Niki back to the apartment he was staying in as he tried to prevent the blood from flowing from his nose. You and Niki had put up a good fight but unfortunately, there were more men than you and Niki could cope with. It made your heart warm though at the thought of him defending you and LGBT+ and it made you wonder. But you couldn't risk it, not even for a second could you risk it.

- Niki asked you to stay over in his room, his excuse was that it would be your fault if he choked on his own blood as he slept. But you left. You knew what would happen if you stayed and you couldn't go through that. Not risk your and Niki's positions on your teams.

- Things grew slightly distant between the two of you again after that. Things went back to the way they were before, with neither of you mentioning that night. But the looks of longing were clear. The way you would try to sneak looks over at Niki during conferences just to find him already staring at you.

- At the end of the year Niki managed to win the championship, and though you expected to be upset and losing out, you couldn't find it within you to be sad because you were happy for Niki. His team swarmed him, celebrating his victory and you hardly able to get a word of congratulations in. So instead you return back to your empty garage to work on your car

- You hear a knock though and look up to see Niki standing there, the wrath of flowers over his neck and his trophy cup under his arm. 'Perhaps next time you will win' he says as he walks over to you, his usual cocky attitude seemingly disappearing. 'Perhaps, but now it's your victory and you should be out celebrating rather than spending it here' you tell him as you hold out your hand to shake. He grasps your hand, shaking it but not letting go, 'There is no one else I'd want to spend it with, rather than you' he mutters. 'Niki...' you start but he cuts you off, 'I don't want us to become enemies again y/n. You're not an idiot, you know how I feel about you. If you don't want that then let go of my hand now and I'll know. But if by a chance you like me back hold on. Don't let go of me'

- You hold onto his hand. You don't let go. Swallowing his eyes flicker from your eyes to your lips and you lean forward brushing your lips up against his, finally expressing the feelings you've had him for a long time, and he finally was able to show all the feelings he had for you back.

TAGS: @shrekboobies @arianalilyblack @zemosimp420 @lieutenantn @neoarchipelago @cable-kenobi @edencherries @faustlyaccused @julyvegan @prestigious-tea

If you want to to be tagged in future things, please fill out this form here

[queersatanic]

Bisexuality & Discrimination By Lani Kaahumanu

Source: Bi women: the newsletter of the Boston Bisexual Women's Network, Vol. 3, No. 6 (Dec. 1985-Jan. 1986)

Full text:

One of the biggest “jokes" of the Lesbian/Gay parade every year was observing the bisexual contingent. As far as I was concerned they were a bunch of closet cases, not deserving of serious consideration. As a lesbian, I felt superior in some ways and was embarrassed for them. How naive to take the bisexual “stage” seriously. I was sure their confusion would clear up and they would “come out” when they let go of the very real heterosexual privilege they were obviously clinging to. Why else would anyone say they were bisexual?

This deep rooted contempt and ignorance of bisexuality is common in the Lesbian/Gay community. It is these attitudes that kept me closeted. The few times I was sexual with a man, it was understood that l was a Lesbian who still had some issues to “work out” with men. I didn't even consider bisexuality; it wasn't a legitimate possibility. Furthermore, I would be ostracized from the supportive women’s community and run the risk of [losing] all my friends.

When I first claimed my bisexuality the panic and feelings of isolation were overwhelming, but I knew that trusting myself was the only way to live life no matter what the outside circumstances. I realized that my biphobic attitudes were in direct proportion to my own suppressed bisexual feelings. My new found awareness had nothing to do with privilege, or an inability on my part to make a choice. These feelings had everything to do with being a bisexual in a world that denies our existence.

Since enforced heterosexuality affects us in ways we are still discovering/recovering from, I want to discuss the validity of the idea of stages, and the fact that for my sexuality, Lesbianism was a stage. Now this could be taken as a rather shocking, politically incorrect and unsisterly statement. lt is not meant as such. I am not denying Lesbian existence by expressing my sexual attraction for certain women and men. It doesn't make me wishy-washy, confused, untrustworthy, or more sexually liberated. It makes me a bisexual.

The polarized heterosexist “norm” and, to a lesser degree, the homosexist “norm” sees bisexuality exclusively as a “phase” from one to the other and perhaps back again, invalidating it as a way to be, a chosen sexuality per se. However, if we take a closer look, we see that in our lives we have exploratory periods. Many Lesbians and Gay men had heterosexual and/or bisexual stages before they clarified their homosexual feelings. It is in this way that exclusive heterosexuality and homosexuality are often transitional for bisexuals. So what's important here, is that no matter where your sexual preference ends up, it is the use of the word “stage” of “phase” as a oneup attitude that hurts every one of us.

Bisexuals have been part of the heterosexual communities since the beginning of time. We are an “invisible” minority within both categories. No matter which community a bisexual “belongs to,” hiding feels the same, in that it perpetuates the experience of isolation, fear of discovery/loss, alienation, self doubt—the list goes on and is all too to those closeted. But because AIDS is a menacing presence, there is a false sense of “security” one gets from staying in, or returning to the closet. It is important for me as a lesbian identified bisexual woman, who is politically dedicated to and active in the feminist movement, to discuss bisexuality, as a valid lifestyle, to challenge the prejudices and encourage people to come out.

Regardless of how I want to label or not label my behavior, it must be discussed when I am getting to know someone. I feel a sense of responsibility about being honest with who I am and what my sexual behavior is—whether or not I call myself a bisexual, a lesbian, a lesbian identified bisexual, or even a lesbian who sleeps with men on occasion. It is the behavior that is important. Whatever same/cross sexuality combination there might be, labels and behavior are not mutually exclusive. When some people are made invisible, and others more politically/socially correct it forms new or maintains the old hierarchies. There is no politically/socially correct sexual preference. There is sexual behavior that is on a spectrum of many possibilities.

Since we live in a society that is based and thrives on dichotomous, either/or assumptions, the decision to come out as a bisexual makes the issues surrounding personal behavior and labels confusing, to say the least. When I was coming out I understood that I would be seen as a traitor, weakening lesbian pride and unity. The self doubt and isolation I felt were very real. There is a grain of truth that coming out undermines the lesbian gay movement because bisexuality gives credence to the homophobic/heterosexist belief that there is no such thing as a homosexual. But it is also true that in the long run not coming out as a bisexual undercuts not only the personal liberation of bisexual people, but it perpetuates the equally dangerous belief that there is no such thing as a bisexual.

I recognize that homophobia is at the root of biphobia. I came to lesbianism long before my sexuality was clear to me. I lived an open lesbian lifestyle for four years. I cannot deny the importance of this experience, nor do I want to. For me lesbian identity is more than, and/or in addition to sexuality; it is a political awareness which bisexuality doesn't [alter] or detract from. 10 years ago when I left my husband and full-time role of motherhood, it didn’t make me less conscious of what being a mother means. In fact, it gave me a deeper understanding. I am still a mother. That experience cannot be taken away from me. In much the same way, my lesbian awareness isn't lost now that I claim my bisexuality. When I realized my woman-loving-woman feelings, and came out as a lesbian, I had no heterosexual privilege; yet there were important males in my life, including a son. I am a bisexual because it’s real for me, not in order to acquire or flaunt the privilege that is inherent in being with men. My political consciousness is lesbian but my lifestyle is bisexual. If I keep myself quiet for another's sense of pride and liberation, it is at the cost of my own which isn't healthy—emotionally, politically or medically. Not only is it unhealthy, it’s ineffective.

Since I have come out I have triggered many lesbians to blurt in whispered confidence—“I have a man in the closet. You're brave to be so open. What am I going to do?” These are not easy times. AIDS has given biphobia free reign in the lesbian community (and admittedly with much less destructive effect than how AIDS is fueling homophobia in society at large). It is all right to trash bisexuals, not to trust us for fear of AIDS. Bisexuals are untouchables to some lesbians.

We have to deal with oppression in a constructive way or we will be factionalized forever. Time is running out. We have to see the whole and the part we play in it. Forming family communities with people who share your sexual identity is important, but trashing is nonproductive. The sexual choices we make are equally valid for our individual experiences. AIDS is not a gay disease; it is a human tragedy, a plague that doesn't recognize boundaries. I urge bisexuals to take a political stand, and to become a visible, viable energy force. It is important and timely to open this dialogue in each of our communities. Nobody belongs in the closet. The only way to get a sense of “our” community is for us to begin to speak out and identify ourselves. When we verify the connections and the networks of our oppression, we build a unity that avoids the, "I'm more oppressed than you" syndrome.”

---

Reprinted from the 1985 Gay Pride March magazine, San Francisco.

---

Lani Kaahumanu is a feminist writer, actor, political activist and mother of 2 living in San Francisco. She has B.A’s in Women Studies and Psychology from San Francisco State University, and is currently working on a book on bisexuality and the feminist movement. She co-coordinated the BI-POL contingent in the 1984 Lesbian Gay Freedom Day Parade which won the Cable Car Award for The Most Outrageous Contingent.

[mattzerella-sticks]

“is scamming gay rights?” - Dean & Jack, DeanCas, Bi!Dean (ao3)

Jack tries teaching Dean about his latest obsession, TikTok, except a breakdown in communication teaches Dean that, sometimes, acronyms can mean more than one thing.

           Dean didn’t understand exactly what Jack rambled on about, but he passed the point of no return a few minutes back and couldn’t interrupt without revealing he had no clue what the younger boy prattled on and on about. As it was Jack currently kept pushing his phone in Dean’s face, gesturing at it and shaking it every ten seconds or so. Dean glanced between Jack and it; each time he did there was a new video on screen and by the time he shifted his focus back to his son the lecture had moved elsewhere along a road he had trouble following. By then, he let himself sink into the comfortable numbing cadence of Jack’s speech, sipping at his beer, surfacing only when he recognized a word before diving back under.

           His ears perked in familiarity as Jack used an acronym Dean recently learned, and so he tuned back in. Jack drew the phone closer to his side of the kitchen table, tapping on it. “There was this big problem with mlms actually, and even though I filtered my home page to avoid profiles like that, they kept popping up,” he said, “Luckily TikTok went ahead and basically blacklisted and deleted all mlm content. Now, I rarely see any of those kinds of content.”

           Dean’s features shuddered, mouth dropping slightly in fright. His ears echoed with the awful drumming of his heart, and a painful wheeze tickled his throat, demanding freedom. He released it on a sigh, slightly curling in on himself. “W-what?” he asked, “You… you didn’t like it?”

           Jack shrugged, “I mean, it was kind of annoying, but I learned to ignore them. When I learned how harmful the content was, however, I was very glad to hear that TikTok went ahead and took some sort of action – Hey!”

           On autopilot, Dean snatched the phone out of Jack’s hands. He slammed it, hard, on the table between them. Dean pointed a harsh finger towards Jack, snarling his next few words. “I don’t want to ever hear you talk like that again.”

           “What?”

           “Or!” he added, fist hammering Jack’s phone further into the wood, “use this, this damned app – if this is what it turns you into!” He huffed, hands retreating to steeple at his chin. “You think you’re raising a kid right… raising a kid to be accepting despite being so close to the Bible Belt… and one dumb app undoes all that hard work.”

           Jack, frozen in his seat, stared at Dean with concern shining in his comically wide eyes. “What are you talking about, Dean?”

           “Look,” Dean said instead, his finger extending once more to point at the younger boy. It was a less accusatory gesture, softened by the gentle tone Dean adopted. “I know I haven’t been the best role model with… with that kind of stuff. Hell of a lot better than my dad was, though… still not the best. But I’ve been getting better, especially after I…” His words bottlenecked on his tongue, and through great effort did Dean spit them out. “After I admitted my own attraction to… to men, especially one man in particular…” Dean’s head felt like it might erupt, magma-like blood swelling his brain to dangerous sizes. “Cas.”

           “Yes, Dean,” Jack nodded, “I know that. I’m… I’m confused what any of that has to do with this?”

           “What it has to do with…? Jack…” Dean pinched his brow, tense shoulders collapsing as the strain became too much, muscles snapping like bridge cables. “I might not be the most… the most out, or the most proud, okay? But I’m trying. Remember that bi flag pin I wore during that hunt one time? That was me… trying. And I’ll keep trying, because this isn’t something I’m ashamed of.” He reached for Jack, ensnaring his wrist to make sure his message was well received. “So you see, being gay isn’t – it’s not annoying. It shouldn’t be hidden, or… banned and it certainly isn’t harmful despite what some repressed shitheads might think.” Emboldened, Dean levelled a disappointing glare at Jack. His lower lip jutted out in fatherly disapproval. “And I’d rather be staked on some piece of rusty rebar than let a stupid app make you homophobic. No more… Ticking-tock. Period.”

           While Jack might not appreciate Dean’s ultimatum now, he will later on in his life. Dean imagined a future where he and Jack, much older than they were in this moment, sat on a porch swing talking about how good a job Dean did raising him to be a decent human being, as Jack’s partner, whose features he couldn’t distinguish from such a distance in their front yard, played with their son, named for the man who set Jack on the right path, obviously. He was knocked out of this fantasy, unfortunately, by the lumbering footsteps of his oafish brother.

           Sam entered the kitchen, Cas at his side with a tome held open in his hands. Their conversation withered as they took in the scene they walked in on. “Hey,” Sam said, shuffling his way to them, “what’s going on?”

           Dean opened his mouth, about to explain that he was dishing some serious parental law and wisdom. Except Jack hurriedly interrupted, rushing to speak first. “I have no idea,” he told them, “I was explaining TikTok to Dean, and suddenly he starts ranting about how it’s a homophobic platform?”

           “Because it is!” Dean argued. He grabbed Jack’s phone, waving it at the others. “Jack told me that they’ve gone full Russia – banning mlms and… and it was brainwashing him, making him hate gay people!”

           “Dean! I don’t hate gay people –“

           “Because I acted before any of the damage actually managed to take root,” he said, “If you used this any longer you would’ve had more harsh things to say about mlms than they’re annoying.”

           Jack groaned, scrubbing his face with twitching fingers. “They are annoying!”

           Dean gestured at Jack, asking with exaggerated brows and frown lines, what they should do about Jack’s denigration. Sam, for his part, seemed unbothered by Jack’s callous attitude. “I mean,” he shrugged, “Jack’s not wrong. Mlms are… pretty annoying.”

           Betrayed, Dean staggered to his feet. He faltered visibly, enough that Cas rushed over, dropping the yellowed book he held, and offered a hand. Dean accepted it, leaning on his boyfriend’s shoulder. The touch on the small of his back renewed his strength. “Sam,” he muttered, voice cracking, “how could you say that?”

           Sam mirrored the confusion noticeably present in Jack’s features. “Dean, why are you taking this so personally?”

           “Because, apparently,” Dean shouted at him, “you find me annoying!”

           “No more than I usually do,” Sam told Dean, “But that’s never bothered you before?”

           “Well, it’s pretty hard staying fucking unbothered when you think my sexuality is annoying.”

           “What?” Suddenly, something flashed behind Sam’s eyes, and the fog of bewilderment dissipated as pure rays of understanding shone from his smug expression and annoyingly struck Dean in the face. “Dean,” Sam sighed, “you… we’re not talking about gay people.”

           Dean snorted, “Of course you are. I’m not stupid.” Sam’s bitchy expression disagreed. “I’m hip, Sam. I know the lingo – better than you would, anyway… ‘ally’. Mlm… men loving men… What else could it be?”

           “Mlm is an acronym for multi-level marketing, Dean,” Sam explained, “that’s the kind of mlm we’ve been talking about this entire time.”

           “What?” Dean’s gaze bounced around the room, from Sam to Jack, then Cas, finally returning to Sam. “No, but I… the Internet, mlm is… it stands for…”

           “Things can have more than one meaning,” Cas supplied, appearing pained as he spoke, “especially acronyms.” He pressed a consolatory kiss upon Dean’s cheek, touch sparking a flame on his already burning skin. “It was nice to see how outspoken you’ve become, though.”

           “Yeah,” Sam agreed, “Like a modern-day Harvey Milk.”

           Dean refused to comment on Sam’s teasing, sinking into his seat again while his mind processed this new information. Cas joined him, continually rubbing soothing circles into his back. Sam sat next to Jack, across from them. Jack, sullenly tracing the cracks Dean made in his phone screen, asked, “Does this mean I’m not banned from TikTok?”

           “I just don’t get it,” Dean said, ignoring Jack’s question, “why would something that sounds boring like multi-level marketing even deserve its own acronym, let alone be banned from a whole app.”

           “Because it’s bad, Dean,” Sam explained, “multi-level marketing is, like, an evolved pyramid scheme, made more prevalent because of how easily social media disseminates misinformation and reaches impressionable people. Companies like TikTok are doing what they can to try and curb all these kinds of scams because, well… they’re annoying.”

           Adamant, Dean scowled and shook his head. “Mlm meaning that is what’s annoying.”

           “Too bad, Dean,” Sam said, “that’s probably the universally accepted meaning for it.”

           “No!” Dean said, “No, mlm is about gay people. It doesn’t have anything to do with scams.”

           Cas scoffed at Dean’s side, mumbling, “But what if scamming people is gay rights?”

           It was ridiculous, made in jest, and held no actual weight in a discussion, but Dean latched onto the throwaway line like it were the last life preserver on the Titanic. “You know what, Cas, you’re right!” he crowed, “Scamming is gay rights.”

           “It is?”

           “It should be,” Dean said, “I mean, do you know the number of times in my life I’ve scammed bigoted jerks for all they had? Scamming definitely feels like something that’s for gays only.”

           Sam rubbed his temples, battling an incoming migraine. “I don’t know why, but that take feels homophobic.”

           “Hush, Sam,” Cas told the other man, “I want to see where Dean goes with this.”

           Jack nodded, camera eclipsing his features. “Just let me hit record first, Dean. This could go viral.”

           Dean waited for the signal from Jack, a small thumbs up, and then he cleared his throat. “Okay, so here’s why scamming is a right for the gays and the gays alone…”

[unnounblr]

what are the political views of the major characters of the dragon ball franchise

Pretty much every character in Dragon Ball is a terrible person. To an extent, that's actually the central joke. Like, the Universe of Power, and the Universe 7 vs. 6 tournament before it actually have that as a central point and gimmick. The Dragon Ball universe is strong, but not actually very moral. In fact, Universe 6, which is a mirror universe of the one Goku and company are from, seems to be very similar except the Planet Earth was destroyed, and overall it's basically the same as Goku's universe except better in terms of morality. It's kinda cynical as hell, with the implication that life on Earth actively makes the Universe more evil.

...Also, the Earth in Dragon Ball is ruled by one world government under a World King. The World King is an anthropomorphic dog. There seem to be a bunch of different districts and sub-kingdoms that answer to the World King, and those might be governed differently, you might elect a mayor or governor, but overall, democracy doesn't really, seem to be much of a thing?

Goku would assume politics are something you eat, Vegeta and Chi-Chi are monarchists, Bulma is a capitalist. Chi-Chi's probably pretty outwardly conservative, and Bulma probably seems liberal except she wants all the tax breaks. She was kinda homophobic about General Blue that one time, but she was 16 in the 1980s, and in general she's a lot more chill and less judgmental about basically everything as an adult, even if she's still every bit as egotistical and self-centered. Capsule Corp. would probably be one of those companies with Pride Flags, if only just to make money.

Videl and Krillin are both Cops, although they do also seem pretty Liberal. Android 17 and 18 are former anarchists, (maybe less former in 17's case because he still lives off the grid) but mostly it was in the rebellious teen sense.

Despite his original outfit Oolong is ironically not a Maoist, although he might technically be a communist in the sense of wanting to live in a commune, with a bunch of brides. He's probably an MRA or Pickup Artist, and should be shot. He'd vote for Trump entirely because of the Access Hollywood tape.

Roshi evades taxes. So does Goku, but probably not consciously or deliberately, he might not know what taxes even are. Roshi does it on purpose. Roshi probably also steals cable, tbh. Goku may-or-may-not be benefiting from the Ox-King's money, and the taxes might be getting paid that way, without Goku's knowledge. Or understanding.

Tao-Pai-Pai, Crane, and Baba all seem pretty Capitalist, what with getting rich off of unethical services for money, although they probably all want assassination and/or prize fights to be legal? Baba's also pretty dang chummy with King Yenma, and frequently fucks off to the Otherworld to save her own skin when the world's in danger.

Puar and Yamcha seem like Liberals. Tien and Chiaotzu used to evade taxes, now they run a school in the mountains somewhere. They might be liberals, or they might literally not know what politics are, because they were trained to be Assassins.

Mr. Satan might be conservative, but that might just be his stage persona, and he actually donates equally to a lot of different parties and causes. He might be socially liberal though, which is in practice just a different flavor of conservative but whatever. He wants his tax breaks for being rich.

Piccolo/his dad used to be an anarchist monarchist, now he just seems to not, like, care. He's probably used to when his other half was God so now he just takes a non-interventionist stance on. Everything.

Frieza's a real-estate tycoon mafia boss, which is to say he's basically literally space!Donald Trump except polite. You said major characters, you didn't specify protagonists. Except, he might actually be better and less evil than that, because weirdly, the health care for Frieza's forces actually seems pretty damned good?? Like, yeah, not if he kills you obviously, but if you get any kind of injury not directly and deliberately caused by Frieza himself, even if you're acting against orders and on his shitlist (Vegeta on Earth) you'll still get full medical treatment. Vegeta's probably in favor of universal health care just because that's what he's used to, tbh.

The Pilaf gang are monarchists and aspiring dictators, although now that they're kids again they actually seem to have leftist tendencies and aspirations sometimes? If so, they might be a good influence on Goten and Trunks in that regard, although given that they're mooching off of Trunks and therefore Bulma, they might censor themselves out of self-interest.

Trunks, Goten, Marron, Pan and Bra are all Children, but Trunks and Bra are spoiled rich kids. Marron's dad's a cop. Goten's actually smarter than either of his parents, and seems to show more concern for the wellbeing of others, but that doesn't say much

Gohan might or might not be a leftist just because he's a college professor, but he probably doesn't talk about it and does no activism.

Shin/Supreme Kai is possibly the most liberal god there has ever been. Peak liberal.

Beerus seems like he'd be pretty keen on a theocracy starring himself, especially if it got him food.

[mimelord1]

Bill Maher Says Americans are Now So Tribal Weve Lost Our Ability to Mingle

Bill Maher Says Americans are Now So Tribal We’ve Lost Our Ability to Mingle https://ift.tt/JzwCVmu Bill Maher cut to the chase Friday night … calling out intolerance Americans now have for those with whom they disagree … intolerance that has led us to stop mingling with anyone who is not like-minded. The “Real Time” host said what’s simply true … lots of Americans will only f**k with people whose views align with theirs, and they just can’t believe any right-thinking person could embrace opinions contrary to theirs. Bill goes down the road with an example — Arizona’s Republican Secretary of State candidate Mark Finchem, who not only believes Trump won the 2020 election, he “can’t find anyone who voted for Joe Biden.” In other words, dude’s living in a Trump bubble, and does not associate with anyone outside of it. He literally knows no one who voted for Biden. Of course, Maher then swings to the left, and says the same is true there. His example is hilarious, so we’ll spoil it. He invited someone to a party at his house and that person declined the invite because another guest supported Trump, saying he/she wouldn’t “breathe the same air” with a Trumper. Bill said there’s a word for such people — ASSHOLES!!! The point being … we have become so tribal … both sides have fundamentally different realities, and that paves the way for hatred and contempt. As he said earlier in the show, even watching the news — especially cable news — has become downright dangerous … the “realities” portrayed on both sides are so skewed, it’s impossible for viewers to believe any sane person can have an opposing belief. That is not to say people can’t draw a line — cutting out racists, homophobes, xenophobes from their lives, but contrarians often automatically get lumped into those buckets. The post Bill Maher Says Americans are Now So Tribal We’ve Lost Our Ability to Mingle first appeared on Suave Media. Tags and categories: Uncategorized via WordPress https://ift.tt/2jmDVzA October 08, 2022 at 02:14PM

[luckysevenn]

Media and Information Literacy (A26)

My favorite media is social media, Facebook and YouTube because, for me, Facebook is the most impactful social media. After all, Facebook is an all-around media where you can message your friends, and meet new friends, it has entertainment like live streams, reels, and content-creation, and it has news and news channels like ABS-CBN and GMA where you can get your news. YouTube is impactful for me too because that’s where all my entertainment is and is pretty important for me. After all, I simply can’t live without it. I spend about 3-4 hours on Facebook and spend around 5-6 a day on YouTube, I personally don’t think I spend a lot of time on the 2 apps because other people spend a lot more time than me. I have been using Facebook for around 6 years now and YouTube for 9 years.

I am going to describe Instagram first, why I chose Instagram first because for me Instagram is the least powerful. It’s just entertainment and photos of other people in beautiful places and food. I’m going to choose Twitter second, Twitter for me is pretty good for information, personally, that’s where I found out the Queen has died, but for all I know it could’ve been true or fake, that’s the flaw of Twitter for me. I could never know if things on Twitter are real or fake because anyone can tweet something at like 3 am or something like that and there are a lot of rude, homophobic, and racist people on Twitter. Third is YouTube, for me, YouTube is pretty powerful because it’s not only entertainment you can also watch tutorial videos, e.g., videos on how to cook, clean, science, etc., and videos about how to be better at school, math, etc. Last but not least Facebook, for me, Facebook is the most powerful because I already said it but I’m going to say it again it’s an all-around media where u can get entertainment, message, and get news.

I’d say media is such an impactful thing for our lives because our generation right now probably gets all our entertainment with media and we wouldn’t want to get our news by reading a newspaper or watch the news, so we appreciate the convenience of media but obviously there are advantages and disadvantages of media for example a person can probably destroy their life if they are too addicted to media and media like Instagram can make people get addicted to the likes and fame and the elephant in the room the most disadvantageous thing about media is the fact that fake news can be spread so easily and that is what makes media so dangerous around a child because they believe everything they see but the advantages of media is the convenience of news and messaging and entertainment on the tips of your finger.

I’ll describe the various media in our country as television, cable, social media, and radio because the older generations will probably watch television and cable for their news, while the younger generations will just probably get their news from social media and I’d say many people still listen to radio probably more older generations.

Philippines and United States media is pretty much the same, there will always be news and fake news in either country’s media.

Based on what I’ve learned in the discussion, media and information literacy are important because we need media and information to keep us updated about the current news. My expectation in this class is going to be pretty good because we will learn about the importance of media and learn how to avoid fake news. I have no questions regarding this class.

[aikainkauna]

Movie meeeehm

Thanks to @nitrateglow for these!

1: A movie you enjoyed as a kid that you don't now

-Probs some comedy I'd find awfully sexist/racist/homophobic etc. now. But of course, I can't recall a specific one, probs because the experience is so deeply squicky and traumatic. Oh, wait, I know. I adored The Great Mouse Detective as a kid, but have heard so many "bleh" comments about it later that I don't want to ruin it by rewatching it as an adult. Why take a happy, cherished, pure and joyous memory away, especially as there are so few of those in my life anyway in proportion to the bad memories?

2: A movie you disliked as a kid that you like/love now

-Not a movie, but I was literally too fucking terrified to watch Doctor Who as a kid on cable, because the Tom Baker repeats they were showing terrified me with the title sequence alone. That empty stare and howling, diddly-duming music were enough to give me nightmares. So I only got into Who in my late teens!

3: Your favorite movie as a kid

-Define "kid." I went through several. I loved the Disney Robin Hood, of course, and at puberty, Wayne's World (yes) and The Princess Bride were my own cult movies, before I had anyone to fangirl them with. Ah, the pre-Internet era.

4: An actor/actress it took you time to warm up to

I remember being weirdly terrified and disturbed by Jeremy Brett as a kid, but then I felt the same about Bowie, and... well. Clearly it was my baby self not knowing WTF to do with all this stirring, restless energy that later turned out to be my skinnyandrogynousbisexualguy orientation thingy. And while I'd first seen Caligari and Casablanca as a teen in the early 90s, I wasn't ready for Connie until he pounced me in 2012. I would not have "got" him the same way and as hard until I was a grown-up, with a wide variety of experiences from many areas of life and a boatload of books/learning behind me. Just... no way.

5: A director it took you time to warm up to

-If anything, I've cooled off various directors I was impressed by when younger. So much of the auteur stuff gets wanky and self-imposing, in this Arrogant Artist Guy "look at my GENIUS big VISION and also insecurity about my penis size" kind of way. I like directors who can be warm and have fun and who show some real humanity (not wanky anvilly/kitchen sink-y sort of "humanity" either). Maybe Branagh? I found him a bit annoying as a kid, but now fap all over his stuff because now I'm old enough to Get It. He is the best kind of fanboy director; his geekiness is catching. Listening to his Thor commentary was a real eye-opener into my realising just how massive a nerd he is, and in a good, "one of us" kind of way.

6: Top five favorite soundtracks of your favorite movie composer

-There isn't just one! But Clint Mansell and Debbie Wiseman turn to gold everything they touch. Debbie especially is hugely unknown still, but she has this most amazing, swellingly Romantic music full of sweeping emotion that I just can't rec her enough. Do check her out; she'll give you goosebumps.

7: Three movies that defined your teen/childhood years

-I think I mentioned those already! But as a teenager, Bram Stoker's Dracula, La Reine Margot and Heavenly Creatures were formative. There were others I obsessed about way more than those, but they weren't as influential--it's more like they were massaging buttons I already had.

8: Sci-fi or westerns?

-Blake's 7! AKA "The Dirty Dozen in Space."

9: Are there any movies you own more than one copy of?

-Ahhahaha. AAAHHAHAHAHA! Of The Thief of Bagdad, I own: The Criterion clusterfuck with the awful clumsy cover someone had their 5-year-old draw, the Nordic DVD, the German Blu-Ray because I live on the edge (what with those Veidt Eye Closeups in HD being a hazard to any uterus) and at least three different digital copies. Because I'm me. I also own two digital copies and one DVD of Casablanca, three digital and one DVD of A Woman's Face and don't get me started on the British telefantasy I have on both DVD and VHS. I have spare copies of both the Caligari Masters of Cinema release and the ITV DVD of The Spy In Black, so I guess I should throw them at somebody.

10: Physical media or streaming?

-Neither. Video files firmly saved onto and run from my hard drive. Fuck streaming with its choppiness (ruins the viewing experience for me) and physical media are usually beyond my budget (unless I save up for a Connie DVD). Besides, I rip my favourite movie discs onto my HD anyway. I want to be able to gif that shit, dammit!

11: Are there any movies you watch on special occasions every year (Christmas, Halloween, birthdays, your mother's aunt's wedding anniversary, etc.)

-Used to do Nightmare Before Christmas on Halloween, but not any more. I still attempt ToB every Christmas. And I used to do All Through The Night with wine on my birthday, but as I can't tolerate alcohol anymore, the experience of Watching ATTN Drunk is no more. Someone start a Halloween tradition with me where we watch either The Student of Prague or Eerie Tales (or both) every year?

12: What movie do you most associate with your best friend(s)?

-Gosh, so few have stayed, so it's more like "movie that reminds you of a broken friendship," yay...?! I've learned to try and not associate movies with people that way any more, because it's more painful than it's worth. Connie is my best friend. He's like Krishna that way.

13: Name a movie adaptation you thought was better than or equal to its source material.

-LOTR put in more facial features and characterisation than Tolkien ever did, and did the tales far less fucking tediously. Imagine if you'd had to sit and watch hobbits walking through the countryside for 6 hours with barely anything happening?! Yeah...

14: What genres do your favorite movies tend to be?

-Historical, fantasy, Gothic Romantic, just Romantic stuff on the whole. More old than new movies these days. Why watch shitty modern chick flicks when I have far better characterisation and far less narrowly defined female lives in old-timey "women's pictures?" And guys who actually fucking shaved, dressed in clothes that were tailored for them instead of rented and saggy, whose bodily expressions weren't frozen for fear of "fagginess," and who weren't pumped full of 'roids.

15: Are you a fan of period dramas and if so, what era do you enjoy best?

-Yes. I love me some costume dramas, but I am seriously picky about them--most post-90s ones have been fucking awful and tend to feature shitty costumes and unkempt hair that would've sent real historical people to Bedlam, wobblycam from hell, vomit-inducingly excessive modernisation to be "edgy", and that one painfully skeletal bint they shove into every period drama ever these days, so it's... slim pickings for a history nerd, these days. There aren't many good ones set in the 17th century/Baroque era, which I love the most: the two Baroque dramas I wholeheartedly love are both series. (The Devil's Whore and By The Sword Divided.) The Angeliques and Musketeer adaptations are riddled with flaws, but there are some glowing bits within. As for The Golden Age of Islam... bloody hell, there really aren't that many good ones out there, are there?! ToB and Jodhaa Akbar and Disney's Aladdin, obviously. La Reine Margot isn't "my" period but it's great, as is Dangerous Liaisons (also not my period)--those are so fucking perfect. And the Connie period dramas, well... I think of them as primarily "silent movies" or "old movies," actually. Of those, The Student of Prague, ToB and The Wandering Jew are the best "costume" ones, IMHO. (I'd probs enjoy Lucrezia Borgia and Carlos and Elisabeth way more, were the copies we have not so smudgy.)

16: Name a movie you love that you would recommend to just about everyone.

-Ah, but we know there are always cynical cunts out there who'd give even Casablanca two stars, so what's the point? I'd still recommend it, though. And The Lion King, I guess.

17: Name a movie you love that you consider an acquired taste.

-Honestly, I'm thinking of telly rather than movies again. You will pry my cherished copy of The Time Monster from my cold, dead hands. Does The Devil of Winterborne count as a movie or TV? That's how far back my love for Mark Gatiss goes. Um... Don't Be A Menace To South Central While Drinking Your Juice In The Hood makes me fucking cry with laughter (the comedic timing is what does it. *beat* "Ain't dat some shit!"). Of Connie's oeuvre, yes, I know Bella Donna is rubbish, but Connie and Mary are SIZZLING and horny and juicy and it's Valid as a BDSM porn movie. And the novel is actually good.

18: Name a film you like directed by/starring a filmmaker/actor you normally don't care for.

-Not so much actor/director, but I did *not* expect to love Thor as much as I did, because I expected a dumb popcorn movie but got great adventure cinema with a touch of Shakespeare instead. I really am not the right audience for regular Marvel features at all, before or after. Fuck Marvel up its dumb macho Republican ass. But Thor is fucking beautiful and operatic and poetic and majestic and Pagan and shit. Branagh knows what I like.

19: Name a movie that blew your mind.

-A Woman's Face (1941). Because. Holy. Fuck. How can I keep on finding yet more details in it six years after first watching it, having watched it countless times by now?! And obvs all the other stuff, like the shockingly good female POV, amazing and complex woman protagonist, amazing writing, amazing ensemble cast, amazing direction, amazing lighting, amazing evil Torsten Slinkypussy Barring and The. Goddamn. Attic. Scene.

20: What genre mash-up would you most love to see that either hasn't been done yet or hasn't been done enough?

-Feminist-savvy historical romance with fantasy elements and hot explicit sex that's not shit. Basically, like the stuff you see in my fics, but better paced and woven into coherent adventure movies.

21: The coolest movie you've ever seen

-Too, too many. But Bogie was the coolest. And Claude Rains had the best acting skills. And Conrad Veidt was Conrad motherfucking Veidt. So what with those three mountains of coolness all converging under the Moroccan sky, I'm sure it's safe to say "Casablanca."

[acsversace-news]

The season began with a murder and ends with a funeral. After diving deep into the troubled life of one Andrew Cunanan (Darren Criss), the final episode of The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story returns us to Miami and the aftermath of the designer’s death. As the FBI organize one of the biggest manhunts to date to try and find the young serial killer, we get to see how the frayed relationship between Donatella and Antonio (Penelope Cruz and Ricky Martin) won’t be mended after all, how Lee Miglin’s widow (Judith Light) has coped with the death of her husband, and how even Andrew’s father has turned his son’s murder spree into an entrepreneurial endeavor.

More importantly, it gave Dascha Polanco’s Detective Lori Wieder even more screen time. A non-nonsense Miami cop who understood just how dangerous Cunanan was (even before he had killed Versace), Detective Wieder emerged over her brief appearances as the kind of law enforcement agent who wasn’t about to let cultural prejudices about gay men get in the way of serving justice. In this episode, when she and her partner go back to interrogate Ronnie (Max Greenfield), she gets to hear Cunanan’s former friend talk at length about why he believes the police and the FBI took so long to even care about his serial killings: “Oh, you were looking for him, weren’t you?” he asks her. “The only lass on the force. But other cops weren’t searching so hard, were they? Why is that? Because he killed a bunch of nobody gays.” It wasn’t Versace’s death made headlines that Wieder’s co-workers began papering the streets with the very signs she’d urged the FBI to print and distribute all around South Beach weeks earlier.

One of the joys of watching American Crime Story this season has been witnessing Latino actors the likes of Edgar Ramirez (as Gianni Versace) and Ricky Martin (as his lover, Antonio) getting plum roles in one of cable TV’s hottest show. But right alongside them we should add Polanco. Whether playing Jennifer Lawrence’s best friend in Joy (alongside Ramirez) or showing up in a bit part in the Adam Sandler comedy The Cobbler, Polanco is proving there’s more to her than the once-mousy-turned-hardened inmate Daya in Netflix’s hit series Orange is the New Black. Moreover, it’s always nice to see a stellar Latina actress get a chance to shine in roles that play to their strengths and refuse to merely box them into playing what they’ve played before.

Sadly, even as Wieder and her colleagues try to find a peaceful resolution to the Cunanan ordeal, the explosive final moments of the season finale show how we all know the story ended: with the serial killer shooting himself in the head after being cornered in a house boat by police and FBI alike. “Andrew is not hiding,” Ronnie tells Wieder, when he explains the flashy murders of the young man he still doesn’t feel comfortable calling a friend, “He’s trying to be seen.” His death, which like Versace’s, could’ve been prevented if the homophobic bias of Wieder’s fellow cops wasn’t so pervasive, becomes a final ode to the kind of infamous fame Cunanan sought. It’s a fitting end (which whisks us off to Italy where Gianni’s star-studded funeral took place) to this sun-kissed drenched exposé on 90s homophobia, which brimmed with explorations on the closet, self-hatred, self-delusions, and plenty of Darren Criss’ rocking bod. But before we bid the show goodbye, we wanted to tally up some of our favorite recurring motifs we kept looking forward to week after week. Enjoy!

The Final Counts:

– Times We Saw Ricky Martin in a Speedo (and out of one): 👙🍑

– Times Dascha Polanco Side-Eyed Her Co-Workers: 👀 👀 👀 👀

– Times Penelope Cruz Exhaled in Exasperation: 😤 😤 😤 😤 😤 😤

– Times Edgar Ramirez Stares at a Design On A Mirror: 👗 👗 👗

– Times Cruz and Martin Had a Melodramatic Quarrel: 😡 😡 😡 😡

[queermediastudies]

(In)Visibility and Visual Representation: Bisexual Identity in Lost Girl and Moonlight

Aimee Andrews & Ellie Borgione

 The lack of visibility for bisexual characters in film and television, and the representational tropes that code these identities, continues to be problematic in queer and mainstream visual culture. This is partly due to the inherent power of these mediums to reproduce and reinforce oppressive cultural norms and stereotypes, but also because visual identification with popular culture functions for bisexual and other queer people as “...a way to validate our lived experiences and see our own interactions with oppression reflected back at us” (Leiva, 2017). This discussion critically engages with a series of media examples from one film and one television show, to explore the ways in which bisexuality is visually represented and marginalized by both hetero- and homosexual communities and audiences through the problematic use of these visual character tropes. This project presents visual examples from the film Moonlight, and the Canadian cable television show Lost Girl. This project considers the underlying complexity this lack of bisexual visibility and representation presents, and an examination of bisexual tropes reveal homo- heteronormative cultural biases.

LOVE TRIANGLE

The protagonist, Bo, is an openly bisexual woman. This supernatural drama follows the crime fighting succubus through her journey of self-discovery, including her characters sexuality development. While her bisexuality is blatantly shown (both ambiguously and explicitly), her indecisiveness between a male character (Dyson) and a female character (Lauren) and her sexual promiscuity are clear tropes throughout the entire series.

The omission and/or the invisibility of bisexual characters and experiences within visual culture, including the lack of bisexual representation within the narratives of popular film and television is problematic. Because these media reproduce and reinforce cultural constructs, and also function as sites of identity making, the invisibility of bisexual identity is dangerous, as it functions to marginalize and dismiss this group that exists outside of the hetero/homo binary. Additionally, the lack of bisexual representation in film and television, and the common visual tropes or archetypes represented when bisexual identities are present, reveal a heteronormative and homonormative bias and lack of consideration, that functions to both exclude bisexuality (and its visual representation) from both groups and communities. When bisexual identities are represented in popular film and television, they require representational assimilation, and exist primarily through hetero- and homonormative character tropes that are often stereotypical archetypes: villainization, criminalization, ambiguity, promiscuity, hyper-sexualization, and indecisive/flip-flopping.

Lost Girl, 2010-2016

The female protagonist Bo in the sci-fi fantasy television show Lost Girl is a bisexual succubus. At the beginning of the series Bo spends most of her time as a badass detective while on the hunt for her true “Fae” identity through her unknown family history. Being a succubus, Bo must feed off people’s sexual Chi (sexual energy) to survive and can kill them if she doesn’t control herself. This creates a paradoxical image of her being a “good guy” and the “dreaded predatory queer” simultaneously (Lady Geek Girl, 2015). While she is the hero of the show, she is hyper-sexualized and portrayed as indecisive/flip-flopping between a male (Dyson) and female (Lauren) love interest. Also, many of her sexual encounters are shown through the male gaze. Besides Bo, the show incorporates three other bisexual characters (Vex, Tamsin, and Mark) which is remarkable for mainstream media. Overall, Lost Girl is a “breakout text” for bisexuality and queerness with more accurate portrayals of sexual fluidity than most television shows involving queer characters (Cavalcante, 2017).

Bo is feeding on Dyson’s chi. While he is voluntarily giving her his chi in this scene, there are many times she takes it using her powers of control and manipulation. This can be seen as a villainizing attribute and it creates an idea of deception and manipulation of queer sex.

Throughout the season Bo struggles with monogamy, something she desperately wants but is told is impossible. Because of her succubus identity, she must feed on more than one person’s chi to sustain herself. All her attempts at monogamy fail, which plays into the polyamorous and promiscuous stereotypes bisexuals often experience. The love triangle issue between Bo, Dyson, and Lauren further illustrates issues with bisexual’s representation being focused around indecisiveness and issues with monogamy. The lack of discussion over her bisexual/fluid identity and her character’s built-in oversexualized nature have a paradoxical effect. On one hand, this mystical fae world seems to be a queer utopia that doesn’t involve homophobia/biphobia, is all accepting, and her sexuality was portrayed as the norm (Riese, 2013). On the other hand, this can cause issues with erasing identities and ignoring real problems queer people face with naming/identifying.

Bo attempts a monogamous relationship with Lauren multiple times. Every experience she has with Lauren involves a level of deception, drama, and manipulation. This represents the stereotypes of same sex relationships between females as “tedious, passionless and high on emotional processing” (Reise, 2013). The multiple failures between the two of them also reinforce these stereotypes, while also emphasizing the belief that all bisexuals are polyamorous, indecisive, and sex crazed.

Heteronormativity and the male gaze do affect the show regardless of the female creator, M. A. Lovretta. One of the first explicit lesbian sex scenes between Bo and Lauren involves lies and deception. Lauren’s “owner”/boss forces her to have sex with Bo to create a distraction. The second time they have sex, Bo discovers that Lauren has a girlfriend. This is problematic regardless of their mutual attraction and feelings for each other, because most of their intimate moments involve some level of deceit. On the contrary, most of her sexual experiences with men involve mutual respect, honesty, and (with Dyson) love. She has a threesome with a married fae couple, but only to make her male love interest Dyson jealous and get back at him for not committing to her. Later, she dates a man named Ryan who makes a mistake and gives her a woman as an apology gift. She begins to kiss the woman while Ryan excitedly watches then invites him to join them. Both examples downgrade sexual experiences between two women as something that is done for a man or for a man’s pleasure (Sparky, 2012).

Bo and her “gift” from Ryan. Here she is calling him over to join them in a threesome after she had been kissing this woman for his entertainment, promoting the male gaze in this scene. There was very little introduction or conversation before the sexual activity began, further reinforcing the hyper-sexualization and promiscuity stereotypes of bisexuals.

While there are some issues with stereotypes, the male gaze, and oversexualization, Lost Girl is one of the few television shows with multiple bisexual/queer characters that are either the “good guys” or villains turned good. (Spoiler alert) In the last season Mark and Vex end up together, proving that bisexuals can have a monogamous relationship without “choosing a side” (heterosexuality/homosexuality). Bo discovers that she is “chosen one” with the power to either end or save the world, which is a major step in the right direction for the queer community. Her nonchalance toward her sexuality can be seen as empowering and a good way to normalize queerness in television. Lastly, her refusal to choose between the light and dark parallels the pressures bisexuals face with choosing between heterosexuality and homosexuality (Riese, 2013).

Moonlight, 2016

The character of Kevin (seen top left, and below right) is an important character to the narrative of Moonlight, despite the ambiguous representation of his bisexuality. Ironically, he is cast as both the villain and the protagonist’s love interest. Ambiguity and villainization are common tropes used to represent bisexual identities in film and TV.  Here we see the teenage characters in the film’s only sexual scene (above), and their embrace symbolically mirrored in the finale scene, wherein the adult men find each other again.

 The character of Kevin in the film Moonlight illustrates the character tropes of villainization and ambiguity in bisexual representation. While Kevin is featured prominently throughout the three-part biographical narrative as both the love interest and villain, and even though he initiates the only sexual act and scene in the film, his sexual identity as a supporting character is often ambiguous. In the last act of Moonlight, the adult Kevin talks about his background, and reveals he is a father. While Kevin is never explicitly labeled as bisexual, this identity is implied through his relationships with men and women, but ultimately Kevin’s sexuality is ambiguous in representation.

As a teenager in private moments, such as the scene on the beach, Kevin is far more comfortable in his own skin than Chiron, and appears to embody his sexuality with ease. Yet in public, Kevin is represented as able to immediately assimilate into a heteronormative (closeted) identity, and this representation is homophobic and violent. After the sexual intimacy they share the night at the beach, in the school-yard scene, Kevin is specifically chosen and peer-pressured by a homophobic class bully to punch Chiron. This scene is painful to watch, as it is clear that Kevin is being bullied into bullying Chiron; there is a flicker of hesitation in Kevin’s eyes, but without skipping a beat he complies, and as Chiron falls to the ground, the camera turns to focus on Kevin’s troubled expression instead. As Chiron quickly gets up, Kevin is ordered to hit him again, and he does, this time almost annoyed, he starts begging Chiron to “stay down!” Chiron gets up and steadily walks toward Kevin, his face bloodied, while Kevin pushes him back forcefully and looks around confused. Kevin is then shoved out of the way himself by the group of bullies, so that they may finish beating up Chiron properly. The sound fades out to music, then silence, the students run away, a teacher helps pick Chiron up from his fetal position on the ground.

Here in the film, the ambiguous ways in which Kevin is represented, leaves the audience to question and interpret whether Kevin is a victim or villain of homophobic culture. That is, is Kevin’s character meant to be representative of an intersectional and/or bisexual identity (we have not focused on constructs of race, class, and gender in this discussion, but they are certainly significant factors), or is he simply an experimental chameleon passing between social adolescent groups? In the last act, we hear how Kevin’s life has progressed, what he has overcome, and how he has changed, and while this provides a rich character back story, the film is still relying on representational tropes of ambiguity and villainization for the character and narrative to function.

This ambiguity and invisibility is problematic, because it makes bisexual identification, and what Cavalcante calls “queer identity work” in audience reception theory, less accessible. Cavalcante positions queer “breakout texts” such as Moonlight, as facilitators or sites of queer identity work, and describes this as a “collective labor of crafting, articulating, and performing LGBT identities,’” that produces a “self-clarifying,” experience through audience identification. While Moonlight functions as a site of this queer identity work in many other ways successfully, the bisexual ambiguity in the representation of Kevin’s character is problematically less so. Herukhuti from the Center for Culture Sexuality and Spirituality has also noted that there is justification for embracing Kevin as bisexual, and argues that “Kevin’s evolution as a character is in a powerful way more apparent than that of Little/Chiron/Black....Kevin’s sexual fluidity not only contributes to his ability to evolve but also his capacity to act as the healing waters that wash over Little/Chiron/Black.” Furthermore, Herukhuti argues that while this reading of bisexual representation in Moonlight “may challenge the satisfaction” of what he identifies as the “gaywashing” of Kevin’s character, a form of homonormativity, it contributes to a larger discourse of understanding sexual diversity. Indeed, it is interesting to consider the ways in which the very invisibility of and fluidity of Kevin’s identity provides the agency for evolution and growth.

Kevin in the second (top) and third act (below) of Moonlight.

Herukhuti identifies the sexual fluidity of the character, and notes: “few critics and general conversations engage Kevin as a Black bisexual male. This silenced discourse is troubling and a missed opportunity given the complexities of the character including his strategic negotiation of gender policing from childhood, difficulties in managing his friendship with Little/Chiron/Black, and ease with same-sex intimacy.”

 Additionally, Kevin is arguably represented as a villain in the film (or one of them), a complicated identity as the character simultaneously functions as the protagonist’s (Chiron) life-long romantic interest. This villainization is visually represented in the school-yard scene where Kevin is himself peer-pressured/bullied into bullying Chiron. Kevin is represented as the aggressor and villain, and the violence of homophobia is complicated with internalization and masculinity, that intersects sexuality and race, evidenced as Hutchinson notes, in this school-yard bullying scene. Hutchinson argues that “Moonlight succeeds in foregrounding how black queer youth are often criminalized when they attempt to express themselves and/or defend against bullying and harassment,” and this argument applies to the ways in which both Kevin and Chiron are represented.

In private moments, Kevin’s character is represented as more experienced and comfortable in his body and sexuality than Chiron. This is illustrated by the beach scene shown above, that depicts a significant moment of physical and emotional intimacy. However, Kevin is representationally assimilated back into a heteronormative culture, in the school-yard scene that follows.

 In conclusion, these media examples reveal both the hetero-normative and homo-normative constructs that govern bisexual representation in visual media. Susan Stryker defines homonormativity as a “back-formation from the ubiquitous heteronormative” (p.146-147). Homonormativity was a critique first articulated by the transgender community, of “homosexual community norms” that discriminated against and marginalized “other kinds of sex/gender/sexuality difference” (Stryker, p.146-147.) Stryker describes homonormativity as a way of naming the ways in which “homosexuality, as a sexual orientation category based on constructions of gender it shared with the dominant culture, sometimes had more in common with the straight world than it did with us” (p. 146-147). Homonormativity is dangerous because it “upholds, sustains, and seeks inclusion within” heterosexist “institutions and values” instead of challenging them, and as Stryker argues, limits the potentiality of resisting oppression, overall (p.145, p.147). Heteronormativity too is prevalent in most mainstream media television shows and films. The subtle nudges from the writers for characters to fall into “normal” heterosexual relationships can change the tone for queer viewers. Kevin having a child with a woman and Bo having issues only with her relationships with women that aren’t seen with men are both clear examples of this. Both Moonlight and Lost Girl conceptually draw attention to the queer umbrella and bisexuality naming identity. Omission of any naming or acknowledgement of identities creates issues with recognizing representation. Lost Girl and Moonlight do however, represent astonishing breakout texts for bisexual representation in ways mainstream audiences have not experienced before.

 Bibliography

Cavalcante, A. (2017). Breaking Into Transgender Life: TransgenderAudiences’ Experiences With “First of ItsKind” Visibility in Popular Media. Communication, Culture & Critique ISSN 1753-9129

Herukhuti (2017). Believing Is Seeing: Moonlight, Asexuality, and Bisexuality. https://sacredsexualities.org/2017/03/01/believing-is-seeing-moonlight-asexuality-and-bisexuality/

Hutchinson, S. (2017). Moonlight, Black Boy and Teachable Moments.  http://www.thefeministwire.com/2017/03/moonlight-black-boy-teachable-moments/

Lady Geek Girl (2015). Sexualized Saturdays: Bisexuality in Lost Girl.  https://ladygeekgirl.wordpress.com/2015/12/19/sexualized-saturdays-bisexuality-in-lost-girl/

Leiva, L. (2017). TV Is Getting More Progressive, But It's Still Failing Queer People Of Color. https://www.bustle.com/p/tv-is-getting-more-progressive-but-its-still-failing-queer-people-of-color-64520

Riese (2013). I Just Now Saw: Lost Girl. https://www.autostraddle.com/i-just-now-saw-lost-girl-174429/

Sparky (2012). Lost Girl: not as Gay Friendly as it Seems.  http://www.fangsforthefantasy.com/2012/02/lost-girl-not-as-gay-friendly-as-it.html

Stryker S. (2008). “Transgender History, Homonormativity, and Disciplinarity,” Radical History Review 100, p. 145-147.

��7絴���

[witch-apologist]

Deadpool is confirmed pansexual by his actor the director multiple script writers the comic writers, his own comics. His flirting methods with men are pretty much exactly the same as with Vanessa to the point where he even boomboxes Collusus the same way he promised he'd do Vanessa. Cable literally says multiple times that deadpool reminds him of his wife, he even sacrificed being able to see his family EVER AGAIN to save Wade. The only reason his flirting with men is played off for "laughs" is because homophobic dudebros refuse to acknowledge that his flirting with women is framed exactly the same way. I'm so sorry you think a lgbt+ character has to look directly into the screen and scream "I'm pansexual" at the same time as being hate crimed for it to count as "representation"

Yukio and negasonic despite not being a big part of the main story are literally brought in over and over and over again to remind you they exist unlike /some/ movies (cough cough avengers) who will almost entirely forget that their other characters exist except for a one liner rather than showing them on screen multiple times along with perfectly good reasoning as to why they arent a part of the big battle (one of the biggest fucking themes of the movie is deadpool risking it all to save a kid you really think the best way for him to do that is to put two OTHER kids in danger constantly the whole time?) And yet still shows them right there and center as a couple without either one having to be hurt injured maines tortured or killed like you guys complain about happening to on screen lesbian couples ALL. THE. TIME.

Vanessa even though she is dead is still a main character in the movie and isn't off screen for the "man pain uwuwuwuwu" And despite being the center of the main tragedy of the movie is still shown as a fully capable and important character who literally drives the plot of the whole film and refuses to let the person she loves just "give up" to be with her and forces him to move on and find new family because just dying and going to her or fixing the past /right away/ does not give him the growth or support system he needs.

Wade Wilson is also severely disfigured and its pretty ableist for you to act like he isn't a part of the movies diversity.

Sure theres the gag about x force dying but they were never meant to be the focus of the movie and considering they changed domino from a laithe pale as fuck Bob cut to A black woman with a skin condition that is almost NEVER represented in media and is treated so horribly that it causes severe distress to those who have it (You ever wonder why Michael Jackson bleached his skin? Yeah that's why) And she is literally one of the main characters of the story.

Russell could have been some little Ryan Reynolds or Vanessa look a like for the feels uwuwuwuw like most movies that have a plot like this do but instead they made him entirely his own character and once again a diverse character that isn't some cookie cutter right out of a stereotype manual.

And on top of ALL OF THIS (and I didn't even touch on all of the representation in the movie so jot THAT the fuck down) The villains of the movie are LITERALLY a metaphor for conversion therapy.

So you can really cut it with you elitist crap I'm so sorry your fucking deadpool movie wasn't fucking Carol and instead was a fucking roller coaster ride of actual diversity and great humor.

But sure this is totally the same as taking a movie with an entirely white human cast and making one animal.character gay for "representation"

Deadpool 2: a pansexual lead, a mixed race lgbt couple, a plus-sized main character and a female superhero with vitiligo

Me: