#homophobia has existed in most cultures i'm aware of AND queer people have lived & loved & fucked & felt in most cultures i'm aware of

[aeide-thea]

saw a post that was like

'i'm so floored by the fact that this mid-20th century author of historical fiction wrote about queerness as though it was natural and important!'

and it's like. the author in question was queer! queer people have been writing work in which queerness was natural and important since much earlier than the 50s—forster wrote maurice in the 1910s! whitman was writing poetry that celebrated queerness in the mid-19th century! i'm sure that if i did any actual research into the history of queer fiction instead of just whipping out the things that spring immediately to mind for me, many more examples would present themselves!

anyway i just think like. that sort of reflexive naive modern chauvinism is a real mistake (especially considering how things have been going in america lately…), and for anyone who is, or wants to be, a serious student of the past, worth scrutinizing and uprooting in oneself. queerness is present and positively depicted in some of the oldest literature we have; and when we encounter matter-of-fact, even celebratory, representations of it from eras we reflexively conceptualize as more conservative than ours, i think we need to be aware that any startlement we feel at that is an artifact of the repressive, erasive, homophobic thinking inculcated in us by our own particular milieu(x), and not in fact a neutral or historically informed reaction?

[jajanvm-imbi]

I love how people keep saying that Belos/Phillip would be devastated to find out that women can vote and gay people can get married in the human realm and I just keep thinking:

The Boiling Isles is MILES ahead of the human realm. Women have been in respectable positions of power for centuries. Raine Whispers, a non binary person, was made Head Bard. Homophobia, transphobia, racism, sexism, etc... don't really exist on the Boiling Isles.

It must have been a huge culture shock for the Wittebros when they first arrived, (POC weren't discriminated against, women had rights, and there were openly queer people all in the same place. The Wittebros were 17th century white Puritans lmao) but after 400 years, I'm sure Belos is used to it by now.

I feel like all that might be the least shocking thing to Belos/Phillip if anything. Even with modern culture, the Boiling Isles has its own version of cell phones and social media. I'm sure he's aware of memes and internet culture, at least, a version of it.

Would Belos think is this all apart of the "evil" that resides on the Boiling Isles? Maybe. But he realizes the human realm must have changed significantly after 400 years, and having lived in such a progressive place for so long, I feel like it wouldn't come as such a big shock.

What WOULD be a huge shock to Belos I feel like would be like, modern politics and just how much the human race fucked up America lmao. Like imagine Belos comes back to America and, boom, the electoral collage. The nation he nation he grew up in and witnessed in its earliest stages can't decide whether public health is a concern or not. He lived with "evil" witches for 400 years and saw how for the most part they were a thriving harmonious society (before he decided to fuck it up obviously) while humans are on the brink of fighting over water.

He'd be embarrassed that the "evil" witches are more advanced than human race lmfao.

[the-gayest-tree-you-ever-did-see]

literally ✨samantha✨

also unrelated but a long time ago she posted her dog with like a rainbow scarf on pride with a a lgbt supportive caption :))

I know!! i remember when i was younger thinking that i was the only queer indian person like??? bitch you’re not that special lmao..

i get what you mean about home, coming out means essentially losing a connection to your culture and heritage. it’s scary to think of how much i would be losing in order to be authentically me and honestly idk if i could ever come out. i’m rlly glad that you exist as an online person like i cannot put into words how grateful i am to have found you (insert sappy tears) cause it’s like reassurance that i can still be connected to my culture and be queer :’)

(also idk if any Indian actress was my gay awakening or if i has one.. maybe like kristen stewart lol)

awe discourse:

you bring up so many valid points! i hate to think that it made it worse for so many people instead of raising awareness like it wanted to do. also the lesbianism is in my blood made me giggle. can’t say that there are any lesbians in my bloodline personally but i did come out of the womb a raging homosexual

mWAh 💐 <3 (what can i say, i move fast 😉)

also i did bring u flowers

- indi

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mwah! (totally got you with a surprise kiss)

soooo true, like idk if youve seen ashta chamma but when the girls at the beginning are losing their minds over mahesh babu getting married? that was me when samantha got married like ma'am 😭 im right here!

bestie where??? i spent half on hour scouring for it, she posts so many pics of her dogs im 😤 miss ma'am i get it but please

lmao i did that too! i actually have a diary entry of me cerca like age 10 if i'm the only telugu gay girl, then i can never go to india again like yeah i was devastated but. in hindsight that was hilarious (to be fair i was reading a lot of ya novels at the time so i thought i was The Only Special One

its the exact same for me! like i know when i get older and come out and live as myself, i'll still cook telugu food and watch telugu movies and maybe even perform telugu poojas for the heck of it, but it still feels like i'll be losing something. like i'll never have a wedding with my grandparents yelling at people for the food and decor.... my uncles and cousins will never help me get ready before.... i'll never be rubbed in turmeric by my cousins and no one will do my gorintaku and feed me tirupati ladoos.... i know in the long run i wont miss it, but i still feel a bit sad that even if i get married in a hindu, telugu fashion as the groom, i wont be able to get married with my humungous entended family watching. 😔

but i do know that i will find other queer indian people, and maybe even more queer telugu people, and i'll have a family i made myself, and people by my side that i chose, and that will be more than enough.

(babe every time i watched an indian movie with an item song id be like i am looking respectfully...... wait why am i looking? so pretty much every actress i saw in my formative years was their own awakening) (i think an american gay awakening would be anne hathaway? shes amazing)

im glad you think im funny lol. i like thinking about my bloodline (ironically since im the one whos gonna end it) bc like... i cannot be the only queer person in my family. like i cant. so queerness is in my blood somewhere, and that makes me feel a little better about myself. its actually what helped me smack away my internalized homophobia (for the most part) bc what can i do about it if the gay gene is floating inside me? 😌

💐 wow these flowers are so beautiful! ill keep them in a vase right here 🍶 to remind me of you <3

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🥰😚 ah you got me! i love you indi 💖