#dimayuga legacy

[cricksims]

Evergreen Harbor

Ahhh... Evergreen Harbor. A wonderful place full of such, er, beautiful scenery! Sure, the town isn't "maintained" or "up to the city's safety codes" but it's where the Dimayugas call home. Clementine and Ezra don't mind it, but Sonia dreams of getting her children out of here. Or at least out of the family's 2 bedroom apartment.

[beebeesiims]

i haven't seen skepticism and side-eyes like this since griffin was a baby.

[biofunmy]

The Joy of Queer Parties: ‘We Breathe, We Dip, We Flex’

On a recent night on the dance floor at Elsewhere Bar in Brooklyn, the air was heavy with sweat, joy and sorrow. I’d seen someone bury their face in their hands, shoulders shaking with silent sobs, and then, in what felt like seconds later, drop to the floor, behind bouncing, hands blurry with the tight micro-choreography of vogue.

In moments like this I think about the last line of the artist Sable Elyse Smith’s 2016 essay titled “Ecstatic Resilience.” It reads: “by taking a breath … by breathing … the club is a sanctuary for queer liberation.”

For many, in big cities and beyond, the club can exist as a rare space where we feel free from the responsibility of representation and the pressures of monetization. In 2019, the optics of gay liberation are paradoxical. Rainbow logos are everywhere: store windows, shopping bags, TV commercials, ride share applications, social media ads and Instagram hashtags.

The onslaught is relentless. Queerness has never been more visible, more trending and more in demand and yet, our lives and our livelihood feel extremely tenuous and fragile. Many queer communities are still struggling for basic rights and recognition.

The party itself is a breath, an essential timeout from the hyper-vigilance and chaos of being black and brown queer bodies who exist beyond the scope of majoritarian and normative expectations. Gay clubs and safe spaces have always offered a place for experiences and road-testing new looks, identity expressions, desires and orientations. And even though landmark and legacy gay bars and clubs are slowly disappearing all over America, the club lives on, in parties, on apps, and through spontaneous encounters.

Right now, there is an abundance of gay parties in New York City — Papi Juice, Yalla, Hot Rabbit, THEMbot, Bubble T, Homotown, Teaze, Femmepremacy, Truuu Party, Hot ’N Spicy and Set it Off — serving every intersection and identity expression. A friend calls it “getting a rinse.” Rinsing off the tragedy and drenching ourselves in a new, invigorating sensation or perspective.

This year is the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall uprising, a landmark moment in the gay civil rights movement, and that lends a heightened lens on all that has changed for L.G.B.T.Q.A.I.+. in this country and all that has not.

On June 10, after an exuberant weekend of Pride parties and celebrations across the boroughs, people gathered in the rain to demonstrate for an investigation into the death of Layleen Polanco Xtravaganza, a 27-year-old woman found dead in her cell on Rikers Island earlier this month. She belonged to one of the most iconic communities in the black drag ball scene, the House of Xtravaganza. And tragically, heartbreakingly, her death was not singular. According to Human Rights Campaign, a leading L.G.B.T.Q.I.A. advocacy group, three black trans women have been killed in the United States, this month alone

In “We Are Everywhere: Protest Power and Pride in the History of Queer Liberation,” a new book of gay history, the authors Matthew Reimer and Leighton Brown write that in New York, at least, L.G.B.T.Q.A.I.+. bars have always functioned as “the central institution of queer life, serving as a social center and a crucible for politics” as far back as they can tell.

After the end of Prohibition in the 1930s, that legacy was cemented, as gay bars, social clubs and nightclubs emerged where queer people led gay renaissances around the boroughs.

But those newly forming spaces were, and many of the ones that still exist are, dominated by white-bodied cisgender men and cater to their experiences and comfort levels. Discriminatory dress codes and practices of so-called double carding — asking for two forms of identification — were rampant, as was charging people of color more for entry than white-bodied people in an effort to discourage them.

And if they made it inside, intimidation, harassment and threat of police raids loomed large. Bartenders could refuse service to gay customers, and anyone inside accused of “disorderly” or “immoral” conduct, like same-gender flirting, kissing or dancing, could be arrested. It was illegal for two men to dance together in New York until 1971.

The first season of “Pose,” a show about the ballroom scene — and so much more — set in the late 1980s, included a window into this experience in a heartbreaking scene in which Blanca, played exquisitely by MJ Rodriguez, endures transmisogynistic harassment for trying to integrate a downtown gay bar. That scene was filmed at Julius, a real bar in New York and one of the older sites of gay activism and patronage in the city.

The contemporary black ballroom scene has its origins in white exclusion. In Out Magazine, Mikelle Street traced it back to a camp beauty pageant in 1967, when Crystal Labeija, one of the scene’s most popular drag queens, placed third runner-up.

As she left the stage, she delivered a searing speech about racial discrimination in ballroom scene, an address so iconic that it has reverberated through time, and was recently referred to on an episode of “RuPaul’s Drag Race.” After that, Ms. Labeija and a friend began throwing black-only balls, creating an inheritance that is treasured and celebrated to this day.

Gerard H. Gaskin, a Trinidadian photographer who documented the contemporary ballroom scene, captured intimate images of gay gatherings that breathe and perspire on the page.

In an interview with AfroPunk, Mr. Gaskin said these gatherings are not limited to New York. “This happens at night in small halls in cities all over the country,” he said. “These photographs show us different views of these spaces as they are reflected in the eyes of house and ball members who perform what they wish these cities could be.”

At the Lesbian Herstory Archives in the Park Slope neighborhood of Brooklyn, a hand-drawn map shows where black lesbians met in Harlem, defunct places with promising names like Zambezie Bar, the Zodiac Club, Mahogany and Tubby’s.

Several names are on the map, too, suggesting homes were nexuses for gatherings. Shawn Smith-Cruz, an archivist at Lesbian Herstory Archives, told me that in those days “the very act of attending and being in the space was the penultimate goal.”

The club is not bound to a specific place. It can’t be. Time, gentrification and predatory business practices have kept the club on the move, and not bound to a single venue or neighborhood. Spaces are queered by the bodies that congregate there and the politics that they bring en masse.

The Bklyn Boihood collective hosts events and gatherings that center queer and trans people of color. Despite the popularity and demand for Boihood parties, the ability to erect the club is extremely vulnerable and tenuous: organizers burn out, or a neighborhood gentrifies and spaces are forced to close. The parties that existed 10, five, even a few months ago in New York aren’t happening anymore, according to Ryann Holmes, one of Boihood’s founders.

That is what happened a few years ago with the Starlite Lounge in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn, the oldest black-owned gay bar in New York.

Mx. Holmes is also one of the organizers of a monthly summer party called Joy, which they started three years ago with a good friend, Maria Garcia, a D.J. who goes by Rimarkable, as both a memorial and a wake for the people killed at the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, Fla.

The event was intended to be a one-off. The organizers named the gathering Joy for what they hoped it would provide for people in mourning. They estimated 50 or so people would come. More than 200 showed up.

“People had gone through so much. The energy was through the roof,” Rimarkable recalled. She also felt it was important to hold daytime events, in a nod to the afternoon parties, called tea dances, that have been a staple of gay culture for several decades. And the parties are often intergenerational, with queer youth and elders alike sharing space.

But Joy faces the same threat as its forebears, as the number of black-owned spaces dwindles, and the venues that remain aren’t always eager to host large gatherings of black people on a regular basis. Mx. Holmes is working toward buying a venue to liberate themselves from that problem.

The club can also be a site for shaping cultural change within communities. “We can’t just say this is a safe space,” Mx. Holmes said. “We have to actually make it safe for people to come and enjoy themselves.”

That includes educating security staff on how to interact with nonbinary bodies and what to do when a person’s name may not match what is on government-issued identification. The parties center nonwhite bodies, as the desire for proximity to queerness and blackness has intensified over the last few years, and they both honor the need and desire to protect the sanctimony of spaces. Some party organizers offer cab fare to partygoers who may feel safer avoiding public transportation late at night.

The club also functions as a living archive, from the music that is played to the people who show up to celebrate each other and be celebrated. I saw a recent set by Rimarkable that only included house tracks and classic disco songs — an ode to the black origins of house music, born on the South Side of Chicago, and techno, with roots in Detroit. “This music is also our legacy,” Rimarkable said.

The gay bars that existed when I was a younger adult in New York didn’t feel welcoming to me, and when I went, I was often one of few people of color, and never felt desire or desired. Angela Dimayuga, a chef and rising star on the New York food scene, felt the same way.

“I’ve been here 13 years, and I’ve never gone to gay bars,” Ms. Dimayuga said. “They all felt divey and not for me.”

When Ms. Dimayuga was hired by the Standard Group as its creative director of food and culture in May, she took over the event coordination and hired Candace Williams to work alongside her as the programming and night life director.

The two of them wanted to create a feeling for a space that they felt was lacking in downtown Manhattan, and they transformed the bar in the bottom of the East Village Standard into a gay bar named No Bar.

Most spaces accommodate queer people but aren’t designated that way. They are made queer by the bodies that congregate within them, en masse. With No Bar, Ms. Dimayuga was determined to put her queer community first.

The tension between activism and capitalism has inspired the creation of a Queer March, by a coalition determined to reclaim pride in the spirit of Stonewall with a march that exists beyond the scope of commercial floats and heavy police presence that define the traditional NYC Pride March.

“With more of a presence in society comes more of a need to exert our sociopolitical power,” Raquel Willis, the executive editor of Out magazine, wrote in a recent article. No matter what commercial trends tell us, being out and open is still a privilege and a luxury. And we will always need safe spaces.

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[cricksims]

Charades and Bad Decisions - Dimayuga Legacy, Gen I

The party starts to die down the drunker the teens get. They're either leaving to mess around with one another or laying on the ground sicker than a dog.

"You want to ditch this place, Alex? Go on a quick trip to Strangerville? We could look for some clues."

To her surprise, Alexander looks unsure. He always wants to look for his mom!

"What is it, Alex?" Clementine asks.

"I don't know. I mean, do you only hang out with me because of my mom? Like, once we find her, are you done with me?"

Clementine gasps. "No! What kind of friend would I be? You're not getting rid of me that easily, bud."

Alexander just smiles. "Then let's get out of here."

Meanwhile, Ezra is outside, smoking a cigaratte that was offered to him. It'a his first one, but he thinks he's a fan. Little too much of one, honestly.

He spots Romeo doing a keg stand. He's had more than a few drinks at this point, and feels bold enough to walk to his crush once he's alone.

Romeo grins at him drunkily.

"Hey! Ezra, right?" He asks.

Ezra just stares at him for a moment. Then he does something he would never dream of doing sober. He plants a kiss right on his mouth, and with the privacy of behind the barn, they don't stop kissing for awhile.

[cricksims]

Dimayuga Legacy

With her kids out of the house, Sonia takes a rare treat for herself to go to the bar. The place makes her think of the twins' father.

Ahh, she needed that drink. Sonia has no clue what to do about Ezra. She can tell he's depressed, but she doesn't know how to help.

And the young girl staring at her isn't helping. At least the bartender's cute.

Should she introduce herself? Hell, she hasn't been on a date since her husband passed. And Sonia doesn't think Ezra will take too kindly to her bringing a man home. She'll just have to keep visiting.

[cricksims]

The Oasis Springs Crash

Before Alexander and Clementine leave to start Phase One of Operation: Save Bella Goth (named so eloquently by Clementine), she wants to ask the alien man at the crash site a few questions.

"Give me a second, Alex, I'm gonna interrogate this guy."

"Why?" He asks. "He's got nothing to do with the investigation."

"I know. But he seems like a nice fellow, I just need to figure out a few things. Watch and learn, nerd."

Alexander rolls his eyes as Clem walks up to alien guy. He hopes this is worth it.

Clem strolls right up to the alien and says, "What's your name? I'm Clementine."

The alien looks at her, confused, and responds with, "Umm... it's Johnny. Johnny Smith."

"Cool name, mister." Clementine smiles. "I have to do this research paper for school and was wondering if you could answer a questions?"

Johnny shrugs. "I mean, sure. I have time."

"Great! So, you know anything about this place? Do you know who crashed here?"

He shakes his head. "No, can't say I do. My dad knows more about alien current events than me, though. He says whoever was driving it didn't know what they were doing. It was probably some guy who had a little too much juice."

This gets Clementine thinking. "Well, thanks for your time. See ya!"

She runs back to Alexander, leaving Johnny in the dust confused.

Sorry this one's so short and choppy, super sick right now. Here's a cute pic of Clem and Alex at Ophelia Villa to make up for it!

[cricksims]

The Disappearance of Bella Goth

With his "mom" staring at a painting and his dad out, Alexander sneaks Clementine in his room easy.

"So?" Clem asks, "Show me what you have."

Alexander pulls out a large box out from under his bed. The box is padlocked, and the boy brings out a key tucked away in his pocket. He unlocks the box, revealing a myriad of photos and notes.

"Wow." Clem says, "You're really serious about this, huh?"

Alexander looks offended. "Of course I am! That's my mom! I'll show you what I know so far."

They go through the evidence piece by piece.

"So, this all started when my mom went to somebody's house last summer. She came back totally different. I'm not talking about a little- it was like I didn't know her. She became almost... comatose?"

Clem raises an eyebrow, "What does that even mean?"

"Like a robot or something. My mom used to always be in the moment. Now it's like she's always thinking of something. She doesn't like to hang out with me anymore."

"Are you sure this means she's an alien?"

"I'm getting there!" Alexander retorts. "It's not just that, she's been really interested in my dad's work lately. Really interested. This wasn't normal for her at all, she never cared for science. Then one night I snuck downstairs for a snack to see her copying down his plans for a Life Elixer. Why?"

Clem is confused once again. "What makes this potion so important?"

"Eternal life! Not only that, these two young woman have been really interested in my Dad. Like, really interested. And my mom's too busy staring off into space to see that their trying to mooch off our fortune."

"What do they have to do with this? Sounds like those are just a couple ladies looking for a quick buck."

"I thought they were unrelated, too," Alex says. "But something didn't feel right. The day after my mom changed they showed up. So I did some digging at City Hall. They're aliens! Well, part alien. I think it was their grandfather or something."

"This still doesn't seem like enough evidence that your mom's been replaced," Clementine says skeptically.

"Fine. Then let me take you to the biggest piece of evidence I have."

Wow, Clementine thinks, this place is awesome! Clementine's never seen a real life UFO before! The visitors are mainly tourists, excitedly taking pictures of the spacecraft. However, Clementine sees not only an alien, but a robot!!! Excited, she runs in with Alex close behind.

"What is this place??"

"A UFO that crashed last year," the boy states. "The day before my mom changed. The Landgraabs were quick to turn it into a tourist attraction. But before they did, I found this."

He takes out a piece of fabric from the same pocket his key came out of. It's red silk. Looks expensive, Clem thinks.

"What is that?" She asks.

"My piece of my mom's red dress. She's out there, I know she is. Please, Clem, I know it sounds crazy. I know it's not solid evidence. But I need your help. I need someone crafty and tough like you. I can be the brains, you can be the brawn!"

Clementine thinks for a moment. She's still not sure if she's over Alexander flaking out on her. Even so, he's her friend. She can't let his nerdy butt do it alone!

"Okay, okay," Clem says, raising her hands. "I'll help. But what's our first mission?"

Alexander grins. "I know the address of the house my mom went to that night and the mooching sisters' house. We should start there."

[cricksims]

Exciting things coming to the Dimayuga save!

What's Alexander's secret?

Who's involved?

How weird are things about to get?

[cricksims]

Ezra goes to the cemetary and waits.

And to his surprise, Alexander doesn't flake on him!

"Hey..." the boy trails off.

"Don't hey me, you were rude to my sister! She really liked you!"

Alexander looks taken aback.

"I'm- I'm sorry. I was just scared, I guess. It's a pretty big secret and I need help."

"Help with what??" Ezra asks angrily.

"I wanted to tell Clementine, not you." Alexander says haughtily.

"Whatever. But Clem's gone, she won't be back until the summer if you wanna tell her. If she'll speak to you again."

"Why is she gone?" He has the nerve to look sad!

"She got accepted into this elite theater school. Full-ride. You missed out on some big talent."

"Well, will you at least tell her I would like to talk to her when she gets back? Please? She's my only friend."

This surprises Ezra. Alexander is part of the most affluent families in Willow Creek and he still can't make friends? What does that mean for Ezra? And how does Clementine help lonely kids so much?

Knowing how it feels to be alone, Ezra says:

"Okay. Okay. I'll write her. I'll even try to convince her. But you owe me big time!"

[cricksims]

With all her hard work, Clementine got into prep school! She's ready to hone her skills until summer break!

Her mom and brother send her off, Sonia crying in the process. Her little girl's gonna be gone for so long!

Ezra is super happy for Clementine, though.

Really, really happy.

Soooo happy.

Okay, he's happy for Clem, but he's really gonna miss her! They just became close again!

At least Ezra still has Jayden. He won't be completely alone at school anymore.

[cricksims]

Well. Clementine was stood up.

She makes her way to where Alexander said to meet, which is this weird graveyard place. Fitting, Clementine thinks. And she waits.

And waits.

And waits.

Until she just calls her brother, upset and angry. How dare that mean boy! Making her go to some weirdo place and not even bothering to show up! And what was that secret he wanted to tell Clementine??

"Why does this even bother you that much?" Ezra asks.

"Because I thought I was gonna find out a cool secret. Now I'll never know!"

Ezra just laughs.

"What's so funny?" She says suspiciously.

"You totally like him."

Clementine gasps. "Gross!"

There's a silence between them.

"Even if I did- and I don't! - that kid's too rich. And too smart. Did you know he can do calculus? I don't even know what that is!"

Ezra just looks at her sadly. He knows what it's like to feel forgotten. This must be Clem's first time feeling that way. He doesn't rub it in her face, though. They just became friends again.

"I'm sorry he didn't show up." Is all Ezra can think to say.

Clementine just hugs her brother.

"That's okay. At least you did."

[cricksims]

Secret Lab - Dimayuga Legacy

Clementine and Alexander continue their work as usual, as if that night at the party never happened. Why mention it?

Clementine gets word from the local conspiracy theorist to explore the abandoned lab in Strangerville. Eager to find his mother, Alexander is excited to go.

---

The lab is dusty and old, but surprisingly not guarded. Clementine can not tell if this is a good thing or a bad thing. She hopes to find secrets here.

While not knowing if it has anything to do with Bella Goth, Clementine takes note of the weird plants in the area. They seem fruit-like, but the tendrils gross Clementine out.

She's gotta get pictures of this!

Once inside the lab, Clementine and Alexander get to work exploring.

A huge locked door... books on strange alien plants... what is going on here??

[cricksims]

Going Through Changes - Dimayuga Legacy, Gen I

Clementine is with Alexander outside of the Strangerville pub. Before Clementine can leave to go scout for clues, Alex stops her.

"You're very beautiful in this lighting."

Clementine is shocked to hear those words come out of his mouth. Alexander never once said anything like that to her before.

But she looks closer at him. He's drunk, drunker than her. It feels wrong to reciprocate.

"Thanks, man. You're not too bad yourself."

And before she does something she regrets, she pulls away, going to talk to the local conspiracy therorist down the corner.

It's better to wait until they're both sound of mind. Plus, this guy's got some interesting things to say.

-------

Ezra can't believe he just did that. He's home now and the adrenaline is still running. Did he just hook up with the most popular guy at school? The most popular guy at school was gay? It felt like a dream.

Then a nightmare as his mother came upstairs to his room

"Are you seriously smoking a cigarette? Ezra, this is getting out of hand!" Sonia yells. "And are you drunk? Where is your sister!?"

Wayyy too many questions for Ezra. It's all too much, the party, the alcohol, the nicotine, the questions.

After just staring at her, Sonia gets up from his couch and slams his door when she exits.

And Ezra leaves out the window immedietely. He's got to call Clementine. Where the hell did she go anyways?

[cricksims]

Fright Night - Dimayuga Legacy, Gen 1

Oh boy, a costume party! Clementine drags her twin to the event, Clem dressed as a fairy and Ezra as a pirate.

There's quite a few people at the party, some familar and some not so much.

Clementine, working on her disgusting piss beer, runs into Alexander. She's taken aback, Alex definitely isn't the partying type.

"What the hell are you doing here?" The girl exclaims.

Alexander laughs. "Geez, don't get too excited to see me. I heard you were coming. Can't let my best friend have all the fun to herself."

Clementine grins ear to ear. Best friend, he said! Maybe it's the alcohol, but Alexander's words make her heart flutter. Doesn't help he's super cute without his glasses.

"You wanna dance?" Clementine bursts out.

Alexander looks unsure. "Around all these people?"

"Oh c'mon, it'll be fun! Who cares about the crowd? They're all too many keg stands in to make fun of us."

Now it's Alexander's turn to grin. "Okay, but don't laugh."

Clementine doesn't. It's nice, dancing with Alexander. Even though they're in a room full of people, the moment feels so intimate.

She hopes she doesn't fall too deep.

[cricksims]

Hijinks and Parties - Dimayuga Legacy

With Fright Night right around the corner, Clementine's getting excited. She loves the holiday, and she found out about a sick party going on in an abandoned barn! Clem shows her brother excitedly before class.

"Why would I want to go to that?" Ezra asks.

Clem huffs. "Because it'll be fun! Give it a chance, there will be tons of people there so you can just hide in the crowd."

"And I have to dress up?" He raises an eyebrow.

She glares at him. "Of course! It's Fright Night, you can come up with something."

Clementine finally convinces her brother to join her. She can't wait for the fun! She just hopes Ezra will enjoy too.

When the bell rings, Ezra manages to find himself a seat. Next to Romeo. Oh god. Act natural.

Maybe there's a reason Clem's the actor of the family.

Ezra just wishes he could be like his sister. Outgoing, creative, fun, if only he had those traits Romeo would glance his way. But who is he kidding? Romeo's one of the most popular people in school, and Ezra's just about the opposite.

Feeling hopeless, Ezra excuses himself to the bathroom and cries. Who cares if there's a janitor?

At least Clementine is having fun.

[cricksims]

Something's Fishy... - Dimayuga Legacy

Now that Clementine is a teenager, Alexander isn't far behind her! While they are older, their scheming hasn't changed. Alexander still desperately wants to find his mother, his real mother, before it's too late!

"I think Strangerville is a dead end, Clem." Alexander says to the girl.

"What?? Why!? There's so much weird stuff going on there, it's definitely a place we need to check out." Clemenetine says with confidence.

"But what does Strangerville have to do with aliens? All we know is there's weird plants. What if we're wasting precious time that could be used to go to space?"

Clementine sighs. "Listen, those plants are other-worldly. They make people go nuts! And the fact it started happening after that UFO crash? I seriously think your mom may be stuck in Strangerville."

Alexander is still unsure. But ultimately, he gives in. They're best friends, Alexander can't take the lead all the time. He just hopes they find Bella.

"We'll go back to Strangerville. But we got to do a stakeout near the Caliente house beforehand. I wanna see what they're up to. I know they're involved." Alexander insists.

"We'll go, we'll go, don't get your panties in a wad." Clementine says.