#ideally it also has a trans flag in there somewhere

[mashiee]

blyke hcs?

RIGT OK SO

blyke is THE definition of catboy. im sorry if you dont want to hear it but he literally is. he is THE catboy

afab trans man demiboy

he/they pronouns or he/him depending on what i want him to use that day

bisexual

also has fangs, but unlike johns, his are more the kind that are meant to actually tear, rather than puncture. so basically, if he and john had a fight with solely their teeth for some reason, blyke would win

usually very scuffed up and has bandages or something of the sort on him because he gets in the middle of any fight he sees to try and stop it. even outside of school. doc doesnt hate him nearly as much as john but hes not that far

lots of freckles across his nose, shoulders, and ears

blushes super easily even the tips of his ears

his face just gets super red easily in general. when embarrassed, cold, angry, etc

he has braces!!! his teeth are really fucked

along with his fangs, he also has snaggleteeth. his fangs are behind those. like either on the other side of them to the back, or the snaggleteeth are literally growing on top/above of the fangs. not sure which i prefer

he also has two decently sized gaps (about the size of maybe like a toothpick and a 1/2?) between his snaggleteeth and the teeth next to them towards the front

and he has wider/longer than usual front teeth. i believe theres a name for it but i dont remember what its called and iirc it might have been used as an insult so im just not gonna look it up anyway

hes also insecure about his braces, dont bring them up to him. if he brings them up first its fine, but u cant do it first

peanut allergy

height is anywhere from 5'5 to 5'8 to me depending on the day

somewhere between masculine and androgynous for his personal image and the way he presents

wants top surgery, unsure about bottom surgery

currently wears binders (and sports bras for anything active)

anger issues

or maybe ied instead? (cus isnt rlly the same as "anger issues" because it's uncontrollable)

doesnt have a dad

his mom had him at 19 on her own, she told the dad who she had been dating at the time but he left her

her name is Meinya. sometimes her friends call her nya-nya

blyke was born as a twin

wow that sounds like the twin is dead, they are not

his twin's name is Blythe

shes also trans and its kind of funny bc they were originally born with eachothers names but then decided to swap them and take eachothers when they came out

btw this hc came about bc of this image

p much everyone in that image you can put a name to, except for the red haired girl sitting in front of remi

so. i decided she was blyke's sister

claustrophobic maybe?

definitely afraid of not living up to expectations

or being enough

afraid his friends will lose interest in him and leave him

very loyal

maybe hes like percy jackson and thats his fatal flaw

basketball shorts and basketball jerseys as daily wear

his red flag is that he's literally red /j

rbf

obviously muscular and has abs

TERRIBLE liar

and also just hates lying in general

it makes him feel icky

hes almost always honest and hates lying AND liars

so uh. yikes for isen. not that i think isen is trying to lie to blyke but sometimes he just Does it. hes so used to it

dyslexic

doesnt like reading for that reason

would play soccer, basketball, and/or baseball, also maybe volleyball

def nd but not officially diagnosed w anything

high pain tolerance

he honestly has very little sense of self and isnt really sure what kind of person he is

and also has immense trouble forming his own opinions or ideals, esp without being influenced by others

on that note hes also influenced very easily, esp by ppl he cares about

desperately wants validation from authority figures (and sometimes peers)

love love loves anime and manga and manwhas etc etc etc

prefers sub over dub solely bc its less likely to have translation errors

reads fanfiction and also writes it

fav genre is hurt/comfort

has two goku figurines that he saved up money for. currently saving up for a hatsune miku one.

entire room is FULL of anime posters. all walls, ceiling. door. everything

wants to go to a con some day

attracted to idiots and idiots EXCLUSIVELY

which is why being friends with BOTH remi and isen is a STRUGGLE

arlo has been the direct cause of both blykes phone screen cracking and his computer legit fucking snapping in half, and arlo felt bad both times so he fucking bought blyke a new phone and computer both of excellent quality

therefore blyke once called arlo his sugar daddy as a joke and arlo just about fucking collapsed and died right there

"arlo, grabbing blyke aggressively by the shoulders, practically frothing at the mouth: do not Ever. Call me That. Again"

"blyke, about to bust a lung: aye aye captain"

when he laughs he sounds like a squirt bottle

LOVESSS SPICY FOOD

listens to vocaloid music and plays rhythm games unironically

has a tumblr for his fandom stuff

[religiononhellsite]

Potentially Problematic Genealogy of #cottage core (Entry 03)

Where can religion, queerness, feminism, purity culture, and other fandoms lead on Tumblr?

My research so far causes me to feel like I need a conspiracy board to explain. This is because if you start somewhere innocuous, such as exploring queerness and seeking resources or community for one’s queer identity, as many youth come to Tumblr to do (McCracken 156), you will likely start with relevant tags such as #queer, #LGBTQ+, #gay, #lesbian, and #transgender. As was already explored with the intersections between transgender related tags and TERFs, the #lesbian tag will also quickly lead to TERFism, especially with the anti-trans appropriation of the labyrs symbol/flag, as seen in the two posts below where #lesbian and #radfem are directly correlated.

Searching for most LGBTQ+ content will also lead to the aesthetics of such, be it pride flags, educational blogs, or art; but for the purposes of this research the connection to the #cottage core aesthetic is the most noteworthy because #cottage core is a nexus of intersections with religion, queerness, feminism, and purity culture. “Cottage core” is characterized as pastel colors and an idealized European-esque rural/country life.

The first branch of #cottage core will lead to the 1950s aesthetic, then #trad wives and traditional gender roles, then Christianity and biblical womanhood; then you have returned to the very purity culture someone may have been trying to get away from. Refer to the following four posts.

The Christian purity culture side is often accompanied by posts containing anti-Satanic rhetoric or general sentiments against other religions, anti-queerness, and support for chastity and repressed sexuality. Unfortunately, due to the nature of Tumblr, finding posts can sometimes be difficult with certain topics and this is one of them. The particular intersection between Christian traditional life posts and anti-Satanism and disdain for non-Christians is documented by STRANGE ÆONS and has also been anecdotally observed by myself.

The connection #cottage core has with traditional gender roles can lead back to feminist discourses resisting those traditional views and purity culture, but can also lead to the anti-feminist and Women Against Feminism sides of Tumblr which will be evaluated in several instances later. Moving from traditional gender roles you will see posts contrasting the “liberated feminist” (negative) with the “traditional wife” (positive), then to the Trad Girl memes and Men Going Their Own Way, both of which will intersect with Nazism/white supremacy as the Trad Girl meme has racist connotations and Men Going Their Own Way view white women as “corrupted” by feminism thusly requiring them to exclusively seek out non-white women for sexual/romantic conquest, then these tags will move to Christian nationalism, and back once again to purity culture. This genealogy is documented in the eight posts below.

Additionally, #cottage core breaks off to become radical anti-capitalist escapism, then queer discourses mostly centered on subverting Christian influence; that leads to neopagan/witchcraft and/or Satanism. Both of these will loop back around to Christian purity culture and biblical womanhood through those fandoms’ anti-Satanist/non-Christian perspectives. This pipeline is witnessed in the next seven posts below.

However, as much as the previous pipeline through queerness to neopaganism/witchcraft seems to be a more liberative pipeline someone can stumble into to get away from oppression and find queer solidarity, there is a noteworthy divergence. Neopagan/witchcraft can branch off to the #goblincore aesthetic which will return through queerness, anti-capitalist escapism, and back to #cottage core; but the other branch will lead to the Nazi/white supremacist sides of neopaganism, then back to Men Going Their Own Way, which can then become Christian Nationalism, traditional gender roles, and once more back to purity culture and biblical womanhood. Fortunately Tumblr’s current content moderation policies seem to have made it difficult to show explicitly Nazi/white supremacist connections to neopaganism, but here is an article from the University of Alberta discussing this, and here is one from The Atlantic. Moreover, the Asatru Folk Assembly (often abbreviated on Tumblr as AFA) is a notorious Nazi/white supremacist religious organization based out of California; this is similar to the Odinic Rite though their home location is unknown. Both groups use the Nine Noble Virtues, the “Black Sun” sigil, and reference Asatru as dog whistles and to provide subtle covers for their ingrained bigotry and origins in the German Nazi Party. Other Nazi/white supremacist neopagans/witches unaffiliated with Asatru Folk Assembly or Odinic Rite will also use the Black Sun, Nine Noble Virtues, and/or Asatru as ways to signal each other both in-person and online. Below is an example of a post/blog that is clearly aligned with neopagan/witchy Nazi/white supremacist ideologies and below that is a call-out post/meme attempting to educate others about the Black Sun and connections to Asatru. The latter post serves as a great example of additional important discourse also being added in the tags.

The last genealogy for now is #cottage core, to the #coquette aesthetic. #coquette is characterized by hyper femme, young/teen girlish aesthetics, and often contains overtly Christian imagery with crosses, crucifixes, angels, and commentary rejecting the religion (usually found in the tags). Interestingly, #coquette tends to lead in two different directions which both return to Christian purity culture. The first pipeline – shared in-part in the three posts below but which I will not be completing for obvious reasons – goes from #coquette, to #loli and related kink tags like #dd/lg (Daddy Dom, Little Girl), which then lead to pedophile/Minor Attracted Person (MAP) discourses, those then intersect with both Men Going Their Own Way and traditional womanhood/gender roles as pedos/MAPs want girls before they are “corrupted” by feminism, then you have practically returned to Christian purity culture.

The second pipeline, seen in the next two posts, starts at the intersection of #coquette with #divine femininity, then that can either lead back to the queer and neopagan/witchcraft pipeline; or back to the #lesbian, to #RadFem/#gender critical/#TERF, then to those groups’ supposedly resisting conservative gender roles but actually creating their own “anti-trans purity culture of ‘womanhood.’” Considering gender criticals and “gender ideology” originates with anti-feminist right-right Christians and was heavily disseminated by the Catholic Church who claimed gender egalitarianism, sexual liberation, and LGBTQ+ issues were all an attack on family values (Pearce 681), are these TERFs and trans-exclusionary lesbians actually as far removed from Christian purity culture as some of their posts would indicate?

Being able to perfectly screen capture the full genealogies of Tumblr posts centering on queerness, feminism, religion, and purity culture (or any topic) is not always possible due to the mysterious nature of the platform’s algorithm. Sometimes there are posts with no tags which clearly state something related to the tags for which you searched, posts can get removed by the creators or content moderation, and the posts under popular tags like #lgbtq, #Christian, or #cottage core will substantially change every day. Since factors like follower count, verified accounts for celebrities/public figures, or artificially boosted posts are not part of the algorithm none of them are directly related to how popular a post becomes, resulting in anyone suddenly gaining unforeseen engagement for a random post they made recently or in the past. However, the amount of interaction you want on Tumblr can often be finely tweaked using tags to increase or decrease one’s chances of being noticed. Additionally, the built in privacy and anonymity of the platform, combined with these other factors, results in Tumblr being referred to as a black hole, considering you can never be certain what or whom you will find and causing it to be different to navigate (though many sources will claim “difficult”) (Cavalcante 1715-1716; Keller 8). Considering all these factors, Tumblr genealogies are best discovered organically as one routinely engages on the platform over long periods of time, thereby making it hard to perfectly record the numerous interactions retroactively or quickly.  

Due to this black hole nature of Tumblr, queer youth seeking to find support can seemingly end up in problematic fandoms or back to the very purity culture and religious oppression they came to the site to escape. But is this really a problem of Tumblr’s? As discussed in Entry 01, the transgender technology of Tumblr enables forms of expression no other social media site can, which is absolutely necessary for communal grassroots discourses, solidarity, and activism for queer, BIPOC, disabled, and feminist perspectives. This “meaningful diversity” is powerful and appealing to much of the existing userbase and to the marginalized youth and young adults who continue to come to Tumblr for that very diversity while figuring themselves out (McCracken 158-159). Thusly, I suspect that demanding or somehow legally requiring the platform make changes reducing the pipelines to problematic fandoms cannot be done without impacting the “transness” and meaningful diversity of Tumblr. Plus, unintentionally encountering or being sucked into harmful communities in the real world and on other social media sites are already risks. What then can be done to mitigate people falling too far down the wrong side of this black hole or help people avoid and resist oppression in other aspects of life?

Works Cited:

Cavalcante, Andre. “Tumbling Into Queer Utopias and Vortexes: Experiences of LGBTQ Social Media Users on Tumblr.” Journal of Homosexuality 66, no. 12 (2019): 1715–1735.

Keller, Jessalynn. “‘Oh, She’s a Tumblr Feminist’: Exploring the Platform Vernacular of Girls’ Social Media Feminisms.” Social media + Society 5, no. 3 (2019): 60-77

McCracken, Allison. “Tumblr Youth Subcultures and Media Engagement.” Cinema Journal 57, no. 1 (2017): 151-161.

Pearce, Ruth, Sonja Erikainen, and Ben Vincent. “TERF Wars: An Introduction.” The Sociological Review (Keele) 68, no. 4 (2020): 677-698.

STRANGE ÆONS, “Learning How To Be A Traditional Wife | Tumblr Deep Dive” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7OjkudXSe0&t=4s).

[kaleidoscope-ize]

1. Name: On here I go by Kalei, Kal, or Ize :)

2. Pronouns and Gender: They/Them! I’m nonbinary, with my ideal gender expression being somewhere between a femboy and a tomboy lol

3. Sexuality: Pan I think? I tend to prefer more femme-presenting people but anyone of any gender can fit that bill.

4. Country: USA (and the worst part of it too)

5. Fandoms: Narrowing it down to just a few: I’m fucking rabid about My Chemical Romance, the DC Animated Universe (B:TAS, JLU, etc.), Disco Elysium, Dragon Age, Our Flag Means Death, and Barry. I love a lot of things but I’m not involved in a lot of fandoms.

6. Most forbidden snack: idk why but every time I see marbles I want to put them in my mouth. Idk if that counts.

7. Would you pet a bug: if I was certain i would not smoosh it.

8. Weird fact/Story: my ears can’t pop! So any time we go from a hot season to a cold one, or vice versa, there is a chance that my eardrum will rupture from the pressure change 🙃

9. What does the color blue taste like: blue raspberry! Close second is blueberry waffles.

10. What is the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen: two answers because I’m a pretentious weirdo: the ocean— every time I get to go to the beach I’m in love; and film in general— I can’t narrow it down to one movie because there are so many times a film has broken my brain with its cinematography 💜💜💜

11: Dumbest thing I’ve ever done: gotten engaged

12: dumbest thing I’ve seen someone else do: When I was a senior in high school, another senior was trying to date (manipulate) a freshman girl who didn’t know any better. This girl had a boyfriend (also a freshman). The senior challenged the freshman to a fight (💀). Day of the fight, senior brings an airsoft gun with the whole thing painted jet black. This was a week before graduation and he was supposed to go into the military right after. Neither of those things happened for him.

13: Hyperfixation song: toss up between “Foundations of Decay” by MCR and “Gravity’s Union” by Coheed & Cambria. Both songs completely unskippable

14: meaning between pfp and name: pfp is a picture I made while establishing my gender identity; name is a reference to both Panic! At the Disco and The Strokes, plus I just like the sound of it

15: Dream career as a child: a rockstar, an actor, and a farmer who raised giant chickens

16: dream career as an adult: film director

17: thoughts on cilantro: good in small amounts but very easy to overdo

18: Ever been banned from a location: nope! I’m a good noodle, and when I’m not, I’m sneaky

19: cursed food combo: When I get high I put mild Taco Bell sauce on my pizza. Does that count?

20: Trans rights: Of course! Also trans lefts! (I’m left-handed)

Y’all’s turn!

@rottingelysium @rmaram19 @socialdoki @lnradford @kira-serialfaggot @viola-canadensis @ahamkaracature

“I just came from r/196” ask game

Saw another post. I think I should invite y'all to one of our longstanding traditions. Answer the questions then tag 10 (or more) people. I'll go first.

Name? Frankie

Pronouns and gender? he/they/it, transmasc

Sexuality? Lesbian

Country? USA

Top 5 fandoms? Bungou Stray Dogs, Cosmere, All for the Game, Fundiesnark (not a series but I'm too deep in it to not consider it a fandom), .....the tornado fandom? (they're my special interest)

What is your Most forbidden snack? The preserved bones at the Atlanta Bodies Exhibition. They looked so crunchy...

Would you pet a bug? If it's big enough, it is pettable.

Share a weird fact/story about yourself with the class. I like to drive around rural areas and photograph old, sometimes abandoned locations in the dead of night. I have been literally chased out of towns by foot and by car on two separate occasions. The second time this happened, "See You Again" by Miley Cyrus came up on shuffle and that's the soundtrack my friend and I tore out of town to. Also every "guy" I've dated except for my most recent ex (who has big egg energy) is a lesbian now.

What does the color blue taste like? Creme brulee

What is the most beautiful thing you've ever seen? The appalachian mountains of Tennessee in the middle of summer. There's kudzu everywhere. On the backroads, there were several old, dilapidated Baptist churches barely hanging to the side of the mountain. I wonder how many of them were still in use.

What is the stupidest thing you've ever done? Short version: my friend's house almost got broken into by this dude who'd been stalking us for months while we were home alone. Instead of calling the cops, we decided to confront him with a bow and arrow (me), a hatchet, and a baseball bat (him). The plan was that if it went badly, we would simply throw his corpse into one of the many lakes in the neighborhood and let the alligators eat his remains (this was Florida). Why? Because we were afraid of having our home-alone privileges revoked. Luckily for us all, the guy fucked off and we never saw him again.

Stupidest thing you've seen/heard someone else do/say? My ex thought that Jackalopes were real. Also, a nurse I was doing rotations with apparently thought that "Witness Protection" was for Jehovah's Witnesses.

Hyperfixation song? Young Enough + Bleach by Charly Bliss

Is there any meaning behind your profile picture and/or username? Profile pic; I'm transmasc and I'm currently obsessed with TriStamp. Username; It was my fake internet name when I was like 13. I won't change it because I want my mutuals to recognize me, and because I do have a viral post associated with this name.

Dream career as a child? Doctor (funnily enough I'm now in nursing school)

Dream career as an adult? Professional Jester. Not a comedian. I just want to be some weird little guy who dresses silly and you can hire me to roast your boss at work parties.

Thoughts on cilantro? Delicious

Have you ever been banned from a location and if so, why? I honestly can't remember? Probably... but in recent memory I've mainly banned people from places.

What is your cursed food combination? Pineapple on a hotdog with grilled onions. It Slaps.

Trans rights? TRANS RIGHTS

Tagging: @rocket-mankoi @mostlymarco @atleast8courics @jazzlike39 @gemsweater72 @limbobilbo @ameliaaltare @redcrane112 @theoneofwhomisblue @twinkenjoyer @theultimatecarp and anyone else who wants to jump on

[dbphantom]

picture of yamato that says ‘this machine kills fascists’

[darthkvznblogs]

Saw the new chapter, nice! BTW, how would the various characters celebrate Pride Month?

Apologies, I've been busy with last chapter's reviews!

Wowza, that's a huge ask - I've made a conscious effort to normalize LGBTQIA+ identities in my stories, so there's a lot of ground to cover here! There's also a minor issue in that most of the current stories are set in 2012, which is quite a different landscape in regards to the acceptance of the LGBTQIA+ community compared to nowadays.

With that in mind, I'll try to go for the "ideal" celebration (and I'll throw in the characters' gender identities and sexual preferences, since I've already got those in my ongoing character database). Obviously, this only applies to the characters as portrayed in the Kryptonverse!

(This is a long one, so I'll add a "read more" thingy for the sake of those who aren't interested.)

- I think Luz would take Pride Month as an opportunity to more overtly explore her gender noncomformity; much like was showcased in the Grom episode, she might try on different outfit combinations, different pronouns - whatever makes her feel closer to her ideal self. I think her stint in the Boiling Isles would only make it that much clearer how truly silly it is for other people to try and dictate what she should look or behave like. Luz currently identifies as a bisexual, cisgender woman, but she has found comfort in identifying as nonbinary in the past, and there's really no telling how she might feel in the future.

- Kryptonian society had a great many issues, but a resistance towards gender variance and non-heterosexual preferences wasn't one of them - as long as you followed the strict life path set up for you by the Empire, of course. Kara is still confused about the human attitudes towards this subject, and angry that they affected Alex and Lena negatively in their youth. I think she'd celebrate Pride Month by pushing the Avengers to champion causes that protect the LGBTQIA+ community - not that they need much convincing. Think parades, lobbying for legislation, impassioned speeches, and million-dollar donations to worthy charities - whatever it takes to make sure people know where their heroes stand on this issue. Kara is a pansexual cisgender woman, Alex and Lena are lesbian cisgender women, Tony is a pansexual cisgender man, Steve is a (closeted) bisexual cisgender man, Natasha is an aromantic, bisexual, cisgender woman, Clint is a biromantic, heterosexual, cisgender man, and Rhodey and Bruce are both heterosexual, cisgender men (the Hulk himself is pansexual though).

- Not that Ben was against it before, of course, but I think gaining the ability to swap bodies (and genders, depending on the transformation) at will would give him a much greater appreciation for people who suffer from dysmorphia or otherwise don't gel with the body they were born with. I think he'd champion trans causes specifically during Pride Month - much to the anger of his parents, both conservative politicians. Ben is a bisexual, cisgender man, Julie is a bisexual, cisgender woman, Kevin is a heterosexual, cisgender man, and Gwen is a (currently questioning) bisexual, cisgender woman.

- It's kind of a spoiler to talk at length about Chloé's relationship with her own preferences. Suffice it to say, she would be very much opposed to Pride celebrations initially, but may or may not radically change her attitude as her journey goes on. Chloé is a lesbian, cisgender woman. Adrien is a bisexual, cisgender man (with GNC tendencies as he grows up), and Marinette is a bisexual, cisgender woman.

- Nico obviously didn't grow up in an environment conducive to the acceptance of his being gay. I think there's still a lot of internal self-loathing there, even as his boyfriend and his friends have greatly helped to coax him away from it, and that might manifest as his reluctance to participate in Pride celebrations. I think once he's convinced to attend a Pride parade once, though, it would make a world of difference going forward! Nico is a gay, cisgender man.

- Ellie has never given much thought to her own identity or preferences. She's felt attracted to all kinds of people, but never enough to want to act on it. It's possible that she's aro/ace, or somewhere on that spectrum, but even that feels like an ill-fitting piece of clothing. She is fiercely protective of Danny, though; poking fun or attacking him for being trans is a surefire way to make her go all out against you. She'll happily celebrate Pride with Danny and friends, too. Ellie doesn't currently subscribe to any romantic or sexual preference, but does identify as a cisgender woman. Valerie is a bisexual, cisgender woman. Danny is a heterosexual, transgender man.

- Pidge used to comfortably identify as a straight, cis woman, but her stint as Pidge Gunderson and the subsequent massive expansion of her knowledge of gender identities and sexual preferences due to her travels as a Paladin of Voltron have let her more solidly (ironically) identify as genderfluid and pansexual. She'd have a blast teaching Allura and Coran all about Earth Pride celebrations, and I'm sure she's eager to teach the people of Earth just how little they know about what's out there. Pidge is a genderfluid, pansexual individual (identified as female during Close Encounters, but don't let that fool you!).

- Saiyans have a weird relationship with gender and sexual preference. The average Saiyan is mostly free to do and be whatever the f*ck they want in this regard, but there is definitely a culture of male superiority, and a stigma towards trans Saiyan men, specifically - it's seen by traditionalists as "women trying to rise above their station", much in the same way as marrying between Saiyan classes is scorned. Caulifla and Kale don't have that kind of baggage, though, growing up on Xandar - their dithering about being with each other is just your classic awkward teenage romance, nothing to do with their both being women. Caulifla and Kale both identify as lesbian, cisgender women.

- Dipper may be a straight man, but he's the best damned ally you could hope for - fiercely protective of his pansexual twin and bisexual girlfriend. He's got every opposing argument memorized, and a counterargument ready to go - you do not want to debate him, and he will track your ass down if he catches you trolling/hating online. Mabel becomes even more of a living vortex of glitter and gloss during Pride - sweeping away the more muted Tulip, who'll happily settle for a little bisexual flag pin or sticker on her computer. Hard not to find Mabel's enthusiasm infectious, though! Dipper is a heterosexual, cisgender man, Mabel is a pansexual, cisgender woman, and Tulip is a bisexual, cisgender woman.

That was a lot! I hope it was an enjoyable read, though! @the-literary-lord

[yomiel]

Think fast! *shoots you with special interest laser set to "Supermental"*

OH SHIT FUCK MY SPECIAL INTEREST okay this ended up WAYYYYYY longer than expected so look under the cut for me rambling about these fellas.

so basically it’s a planned video game about a pair of young thieves who according to the cancelled kickstarter unknowingly steal the very perception of reality. it stars victor “smack” alifraizer, a respected psychic pugilist who can stretch and contort his body as he pleases, and his best friend jackson “pent” pent, a gambling boomerang slinging young man with a fondness for alcohol and video games.

it takes place on the fictional island of nickville square that we don’t know very much about besides that everyone goes by nicknames and it has several interesting features like a volcano, a beach, and a huge building for an unknown “itg corp” but it’s likely these things have no real bearing on the plot

speaking of the plot, aside from the previously stated ‘stealing the perception of reality thing’ we don’t know very much. we Do know a little about the titular artifact, the supermental, an object from another world. it’s said that when completed that to put it simply, it takes thoughts from the user’s mind and makes them into tangible things. though you can’t choose what happens, it just does.

we also know the main antagonist: a mysterious man known as deja. he’s mostly a mystery thus far, all we know is he’s a kind of madman “can’t comprehend his own motive”, “committing to wild actions of his own volition”, and can speak french. the latest promo seemingly shows him killing smack and saying he did so because his “pride demands it”, whatever that means.

we first learned of this whole project when it started to slowly be incorporated into the creator, connor lavery’s, notable youtube series khonjin house. it began with the introduction of pent being split from the titular khonjin, alone in a dark void angrily yelling out to an unseen smack. his appearances are infrequent in the following seasons, popping up a couple times to ask the characters gino and gay spaghetti chef about a mystery person named shelby uavou. at the end of a seemingly normal episode, it’s revealed smack is indeed somewhere in hiding. he doesn’t make himself known except for a letter left to gino, saying that if he wants to be ruled by someone he hates rather than someone who hates him he should give the enclosed supermental piece to khonjin. this all comes to a head in episode 50, where khonjin touches the piece after being tricked by gino. thrust back into the void, the two other main characters of khonjin house are confronted by pent, who disappears gay spaghetti chef and punches gino, who calls for smack to do whatever it is he had planned. then the two thieves confront eachother. pent attempts to use his reality bending powers as he is the one who created the world of khonjin house but to no avail, as now khonjin has the piece. after a brief hostile exchange, pent insisting shelby isn’t dead and that his and smack’s reality doesn’t need him, pent lunges at smack and is promptly frozen by khonjin. he tells smack to leave and he does, taking the still froze pent with him, being the last we see or hear of them or supermental in the lighthearted series

it has since been revealed that pent IS shelby, a deeply closeted trans woman. during the events of khonjin house her very identity was erased from her only leaving a husk of a person who has only very fragmented memories and no sense of self besides what he’s told he’s like

however, in 2018 during a massive overhaul of the channel to remove jokes that would get the channel flagged or just simply didn’t meet the creator’s standards, all of these events were removed without a trace. it’s a little iffy as to why afaik but people have archived the original videos. you can still find little references though like pent’s theme used in the credits for the 10k subscriber special!

there was also an arg/riddle in the final episode of the series (at least final before it started again) given by pent leading to a locked tumblr, uavoulock, but alas it was never solved and most of the clues/references were wiped as the creator was unhappy with how it was going. however, the tumblr was unlocked and was simply an image of an unknown character with a striking similarity to pent, presumably her post transition or her ideal self.

as of right now, supermental is planned to be released in short animated “highlight clips” rather than full episodes or traditional trailers. there are three from around the time of the kickstarter and one from the beginning of this month, with more already storyboarded! anyways wow that took forever sorry about that, if you made it this far ty and good job!

[ianv-s]

Okay I saw something and it really made me smile. I found comfort in their words :)

So, I'm here to share it in case it can help anyone. It is a quote from a Quora post about what it means to be nb for you. Lim Shu Ning is the author of the following text.

"One of my greatest difficulties when exploring my gender identity has been trying to wrap my head around what gender even is. Many of these things are nebulous and difficult to articulate because language is imperfect, and I have been feeling my way through them the past two years.

I think that gender is a cluster of things that resists simplification. It is very tempting to declare that "all gender is just X", where X could be: biology, power, socialisation, performance, chromosomes, whether you like dolls or trucks, dysphoria etc etc, just to avoid having to think about this mess.

When people say things like “only two genders penis and vagene!!11!” I hear their discomfort with complexity and desire for simplification. This is understandable, but such statements are simply not true. People use the word "gender" to mean different things in different contexts, and it is impossible to say anything useful about gender that is absolutely true all the time, except the most frustrating simplification of all: "a woman is someone who identifies as a woman".

So if gender is a cluster of things and not just one thing, so is being a certain gender. Just as every woman would have many different responses to what it means to be a woman, I have many responses to what being nonbinary means to me personally.

Colour is an analogy that has been very useful for me. If we think of the two binary genders as blue and red for example, I see my gender as green: a third gender, not derivative of or related to the two existing one, that is just its own thing. In this analogy, non-binary people who see themselves as somewhere on the spectrum in between male and female would be a shade of purple, and agender people who simply do not have an internal sense of gender would be white. Incidentally, the genderqueer pride flag colours are lavender, white and green, by similar reasoning.

It has been quite clear to me for a while that I am indeed genderqueer, even though I am even now still figuring out what that means. To extend the colour analogy, I think it’s like being a toddler and knowing what my favourite colour is even though I cannot explain what colour or vision even is, or WHY.

Here are how I personally relate to a small selection of the aspects of gender, which I see as facets of being non-binary/icing on the gender cake:

I feel affirmed when people refer to me using they/them pronouns, or when strangers alternate pronouns randomly. It is quite upsetting when friends who should know better forget or don’t try hard enough

I like to be referred to in gender neutral terms, occasionally feminine terms by certain people, sometimes masculine terms in certain contexts

I relate to the political struggle of womanhood, trans people, and gender minorities. I experience misogyny, and am policed for being gender nonconforming. I’m a queer trans feminist and fight the cisheteropatriarchy (the system of power in society which privileges cis straight men)

I experience discomfort with the gendered attributes of my body sometimes

I prefer to be in mixed gender groups, and feel uncomfortable in large groups with too many men (cis men may not know what I mean; I think it’s a common feeling among people who aren’t cis men)

I enjoy genderfuckery and messing with people’s expectations and assumptions

It is very important to me to be out to most of my friends and family and for them to understand that I am not a man or a woman

Ideally I would like strangers to read me as genderqueer, but failing which I would like them to be confused about my birth sex. In practice I am actually generally read as either a masculine woman or a man, and I’m not sure which I prefer, I feel quite ambivalent currently

Before I started really thinking about gender and taking good long hard looks at my feelings, I didn’t feel strongly about any of these things. I took for granted that because I was assigned a certain gender at birth, I would (have to) be referred to and live and present myself as such. Only when I started to explore my options and break apart all these things did I start to become more aware of my actual preferences and internal sense of gender.

I still don’t completely know what gender is, nor can anyone. But these days when I sit quietly by myself and introspect, I “feel” genderqueer, and sometimes a bit like a woman. What does that mean??! Well, it's all the above listed things, but also a bit more than that. It is an innate internal sense that I've developed/become more aware of through questioning and experimentation. Gender identity, I think, is greater than the sum of its parts. Some of it is ineffable, and we can only try.

Side note: Lots of people, cis and trans, are born with a strong sense of gender and know by age five. But some cis and “cis-by-default” people who don’t experience distinct easily identifiable discomfort with or have any other reason to question their assigned genders, simply don’t. They are hence assumed cis and live as such, possibly forever, or until such time as they do have a think about it. "

[elanor-n-evermind]

Pride Flags of the Oddly Shaped Empty A/B/O Universe

The following is (mostly) fan art for @jemariel’s fic Oddly Shaped Empty, a story about coming to terms with and embracing a genderqueer identity. If you have yet to read it, you can find it here. (Enabling frog thinks you should. 🐸)

Beta Pride Flag:

The beta flag appears at a pivotal moment in the story. Jem designed it hirself with the following symbolism:

The triangles represent the third gender of this a/b/o world that’s somewhat rare and often overlooked and misunderstood. Its colors are a nod to the genderqueer flag: lavender stands for androgyny, (turquoise + gold =) green for non-binary, and white for agender pride.

While s/he was writing that scene, we brainstormed other pride flags that would exist in a world with secondary genders. Fast forward six months, and we are now in the process of getting setting OSE to print. While turning the beta flag into a vector image to smooth out pixelation, it was too tempting not to dream up the other flags.

Much like in real life, I imagine that certain colors would come to be associated with each gender and feature prominently in flag designs. In assigning secondary gender colors, I took my cues from the beta flag (and tried my darndest not to duplicate real world pride color combos).

Alphas Loving Alphas Pride Flag:

Alpha gold was the most obvious. The background circular gradient is meant to evoke the idea of an eye. In OSE, Cas’s eyes flash golden while he’s in rut. The orange and red of the paired alpha letters is a nod to other fics where eyes in rut blaze a little more crimson.

Omegas Loving Omegas Pride Flag:

Turquoise fits the ideal of a stereotypical omega in the a/b/o trope; it symbolizes serenity and a nurturing personality. (It also just so happens to be a favorite color of jemariel’s and mine.) Jem originally envisioned entwined omega symbols against a background of pinks (like the lesbian flag), but as not all omegas in this universe are female, I kept the idea of stripes but made them shades of bluish green. (Jem is on board with the color switch, so look for chapter 16 to be updated soon.)

Trans-secondary Pride Flag:

The trans-sec flag is modeled after the pastel stripes of the real world transgender flag. Omega and alpha colors replace those of masculine and feminine. The white and lavender represent those who are transitioning, intersex, agender, nonbinary, or beta somewhere along their journey.

Bi-secondary Pride Flag:

Dean recognizes the bi-sec pride flag as multiple sets of blue, purple, and pink stripes. As those are the colors of the bi-primary, I chose to take the idea of the traditional banded bisexual flag and insert the alpha and omega colors. As pink and blue mix to make purple, alpha yellow and omega turquoise overlap to form a green stripe down the middle. I am a nerd and got special joy out of the terms  Bi-sec and bisect sounding similar, so I upended the flag; the green stripe seems more cutting when vertical.

Pan-secondary Pride Flag:

The pan-sec flag has vertical stripes like the bi-sec flag, with blocks of color for beta, omega, and alpha. The areas between represent those who fit outside of those norms on the secondary spectrum.

That concludes this session of fun with pride flags. Much love to you, Jem!

(My favorite a/b/o stories are those that use the construct to comment on gender issues in the real world. I welcome suggestions for secondary pride flags of marginalized groups of other Destiel stories. My inbox is open.)

[briannafrostgirl]

1-25 cause i'm an asshole girlfriend XOX

Love you baby ❤️

1. what is your gender? Can I say Amazon?

2. what are your pronouns? she/her/hers

3. what is your gender presentation like? Hmm... IDK. I think I’m more of a femme, but my dress style is a little butch

4. what is your Gender Euphoria Outfit? Cute crop top and short shorts

5. what makes you feel validated? Being complimented on my hair, clothes, makeup, ect. Tbh, it doesn’t happen nearly enough and it really helps.

6. top five favorite parts of your body (n why you love them)? Hmm... my legs - I’ve always kind of liked the shape of them. My hair - it’s a mess a lot of the time, but it’s a beautiful mess. My lips - they’re probably my most feminine feature and I’m very fond of them. My eyes - don’t know why, just like em. Can I say my breasts? They’re really cute, lol

7. favorite trans meme/bit of trans humor? A few good options I can’t quite remember, but probably this:  https://samael.tumblr.com/post/146212141815/khatoblepas-there-they-are-the-two-genders

8. how did you pick your name? To be honest, i got it from a Lonely Hearts Club doll and then it became the name of my first Wizard101 character. Yes, I was that girl growing up. Then it was an account name/gamer tag. By the time it was time to pick a name, I kind of had always known what it should be.

9. what does your name mean? It’s celtic (like me lol) and it means strong. 

10. do you have any trans pride merch? A trans flag sports bra, a trans flag hat, and a trans flag shirt that I designed myself. I love them all very much

11. recent happy trans moment? This is pretty depressing, but I’m struggling to remember something very recent. I can remember a time a while ago where I was taking pictures of myself naked and I felt very feminine, so maybe that

12. favorite trans headcanon? Black Widow

13. favorite canon trans character? (alt: 2nd favorite trans headcanon?) Going with a 2nd headcannon because I keep not watching the few shows with good trans rep in favor of watching the same cis-centric shows and movies again and again, because I hate starting new shows.

I’ve been headcannoning Ryder from Mass Effect Andromeda as a trans woman for a while now, but lately I said fuck it and now Shepard’s trans too. Whoops ;)

14. favorite trans blog(s)/trans blogger(s)? Oh no! There’s so many!! Aaagh! I follow a lot of really amazing trans bloggers, so no shade at all to anyone not on this list. You’re all amazing and I value you all. 

Now, onto the list. I mean, obviously @sagaofsarahrose  ❤️ She’s incredible and if you’re not following her, you should be. @skylightsofmylife @latex-tiddettes @thefiresontheheight @casey-is-a-jazzpunk and @themaddahlia are all super cool folx who do lots of funny/inspiring/really fucking neat stuff. And like, a million other cool trans people I follow here and on Instagram (less than subtle instagram plug)

15. favorite trans celebrity? I have a soft spot for Teddy Geiger, cause a) my girlfriend loves her and b) I feel like I don’t see enough trans wlw rep in the little mainstream rep we do have, so it warms my heart to see her and her fiance so happy together. Also I just found out she co-wrote one of my favorite One Direction songs, so...

16. song that gives you Big Trans Feels? Can’t Trust the News and Lived a Life by Enter The Haggis 

17. something you wish you could tell your younger self? That being a girl is something you can just do. You don’t have to keep living like this just cause no one ever told you there’s another way. Like hell, that fucked me up so bad growing up. Cause I wanted to be a girl, but I didn’t think there was any way I could. Fuck...

18. what would your Ideal Fashion Look be? Somewhere between lesbian Irish farmhand and lesbian cowgirl. Lesbian

19. (how) does your gender relate to your sexuality? Hmm... kind of a hard one to answer TBH. I think I knew (subconsciously) that I was a lesbian before I knew that I was a woman. But, because at the time I thought I was a straight man, I didn’t feel great about how much I was interested in lesbians. Even now, as a lesbian myself, I still grapple with some guilt and shame when seeking out wlw content (something terfs do not help with in the slightest)

So I guess, I would say they’re intertwined. I don’t know what it would be like to have one without the other and I’m glad I don’t have to (no disrespect to cis lesbians or straight trans people, y’all are valid as fuck. I just personally am very happy with how my gender and sexuality intersect) 

20. do you have a comfort item? I have an emotional support mermaid. Does that count? Her name is Helena

21. what makes you feel euphoric? When my girlfriend says I’m beautiful ❤️/ any time I’m out w/ my mom or sister and some one says “you ladies”

22. what genre of media would you love to see more trans characters in? Superhero movies, video games, Disney princess movies, and Star Trek. Specifically as protagonists and love interests in all of those. Basically just all the things I enjoy (which are all coincidentally absurdly slow with any kind of LGBTQ rep)

23. claim something as trans culture. Someone else has probably done this, but D&D. D&D was one of my favorite things to do growing up, but I’ve only allowed myself to come back to it as a woman and sorta... reclaim it, I guess. So yeah, D&D is now a trans thing (tm) and everyone else has to ask our permission to play (but like, just don’t be a transphobic, queerphobic, homophbic, racist, ableist, sexist, exclusionist dick and we’ll probably let you in)

24. give some love to your trans friends/mutuals (alt: give some love to the trans community in general) Hmm.. I’m not entirely sure what this one means. But if you’re trans (offer not valid for transmeds cause why you gate-keeping? The cis (tm) don’t need our help babe) I love you  ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️

25. what's your favorite part of being trans? Getting to be me

[enbycarp]

I’ve been kind of doing this 30 day trans character challenge, except I don’t like all the prompts and also I have been posting things out of order.   But I meant to share it with folks.

a nonbinary character (agender, demi, genderfluid, non-binary)

a trans male character!

a trans female character!

a genderfluid character

a character experiencing dysphoria.

a friend validates them/they validate themselves and it lessens their dysphoria. show us them/the situation!

a character after physical transition! (or if they've already transitioned, then before)

a character with the transgender pride flag somewhere in the picture!

has this character got a love interest? lets see them together!

a character in a snazzy outfit that they feel comfortable in!

a character in a binder (NOT bandages) if they're dfab/in a padded bra if theyre dmab

the character you like to headcanon as trans the most! (or more than one if you have them)

a characters friends/significant other supporting them after they come out

shopping for clothes!

new hairdo/haircut!

and show them off in style! they look amazing!

a character taking pride in being themselves

attending a pride/club!

how did they choose their new name? (if they changed it) if they didn't change their name, why not?

a character's ideal self

how a character figured out they were trans/realised they were unhappy being labelled something like 'boy' or 'girl'

a character wearing makeup! to look more feminine or more masculine, whatever they desire.

a character being forced to be what they're not

recovering from that

a trans couple!

in their desired wedding wear/getting married

standing up against bullies

exercising! (make sure they're careful if they're wearing a binder.)

a character making art

EXTRA PALETTE CHALLENGE: draw a trans character using only the colors of the transgender flag! (and black if you need to)

(the challenge was created by @zachariiee )

[aloofcoolkid]

Recent Changes and My Thoughts

Yo what up, it's ya boi, back after years of inactivity and lurking just in time to watch the end of an age as the very definition of what this site is or what is considered "acceptable self-expression" is about to be forever altered, and I'd argue for the worse. I get it, child pornography is a serious issue and an absolutely horrid thing that shouldn't be tolerated anywhere, and it's pretty hard to curate, especially on a site like this. But in the name of fairness and preserving individual freedom and liberty and expression, I think that the only correct thing to do is continue to fight that fight and only punish wrongdoers, not an overkill mass ban on anything that could be potentially harmful, regardless of whether or not it is, removing the burden of curation from the staff at the expense of all of the innocents who've done nothing wrong. I can't help but think of all of the NSFW artists who got as far as they did simply by harmlessly exploring their fascination with sex acts and depicting them that will now be completely shut down and erased. All of the blogs that have gone inactive will have their work erased with no backup or archive available. I can't help but think of all of the sex workers who will have their livelihoods affected by this change. I can't help but think of all of the completely innocent people who have their posts automatically and incorrectly and unjustly censored because of the overkill censorship devices being trained to ban first and fine-tune later. I can't help but think of all of the people that we've ALREADY seen affected by the pre-staging for this change, with informational and helpful and even safety-centric content and even entire tags such as surgery tags for trans folks getting incorrectly getting hit by the filter. I'm absolutely mortified by the precedent that this change sets, that the burden of proof should be on the individual to fight and struggle to prove that their post is innocent rather than it needing to be proved their post is in violation before being censored. Even worse, the precedent that sex acts and adult content are utterly vile and shouldn't be allowed, without taking into account that sex can also be a tender and intimate and healthy thing that is completely natural and has nothing wrong about it, or that exploring it can be entirely innocent, or that it can be a genuine expression of love, not just a lewd and vile topic. It sets a precedent that sex is to be painted in a negative light, rather than a positive one. It sets the precedent that even in cases of people drawing sex acts as a form of self-expression or exploring the topic, or people demonstrating sex acts for safety purposes, or people showing sex acts in a healthy way, that it's not okay. Given that before this whole issue with the app store and sudden pressure by Apple, Tumblr was okay with making adult content 18+ and leaving it at that, punishing unacceptable content on a case by case basis, I'd argue it sets the precedent that eventually, if wrongdoers cause you enough struggle, it's perfectly acceptable to sacrifice your ideals and the liberties of the innocents to ease your own personal burden of fighting them and their heinous actions, which is essentially giving them a massive victory in my eyes, if easing your personal burdens is as pyrrhic a victory as that. And last but certainly not least, by Tumblr changing as radically as this as soon as Apple applied the pressure by removing the app from the app store, this change sets the precedent that it's perfectly acceptable to compromise yourself and change and bow to the will of those stronger than you simply because of their might alone, no matter what you're sacrificing. Tumblr says that they've been thinking about these changes and removing adult content for a long time, but let's be realistic, that's just corporate-speak to save face. No corporation would readily outright admit they're doing something because they feel forced to. The fact that they've been content to keep adult content restricted behind 18+ filters while fighting child porn and the like, as well as the fact that they felt the need to address child pornography in their statement and that this change comes right on the heels of their removal from the app store is all the proof I and I believe anyone should need to see that they're simply lampshading and trying to preserve their image. If simply being removed from the iOS app store, even though their site can still be accessed on Android, computer, and even iPhones that still have the app installed (such as I am doing presently), is all it takes for them to compromise their ideals and sacrifice our ability to express ourselves, explore topics and share information as we please without being harmful, make certain non-harmful professions completely unviable, forcibly define our perception of a completely healthy and natural subject, place the burden of struggle on us, and even go so far as to demonstrate that powerful people can get what they want by bullying other people and applying pressure and that standing up for yourself and the people that trust you and place their faith in you isn't worth it, then I don't believe Tumblr is a platform that deserves the patronage of anyone. Out of respect for oneself, the other members of the community, and a basic set of values and beliefs such as the freedom to act in whatever way one sees fit provided it isn't harmful, I don't believe Tumblr nor the staff that manage it deserve our patronage or support. I do sympathize with their plight. I know it must be difficult to go up against a foe as large as Apple and to ensure that only wrongdoers are punished on such a large scale, but I don't believe compromising yourself and caving to pressure and refusing to fight for what's right is the correct response. To that end, as a form of protest, I can only think of two viable options. One would be to preserve and archive as much of the content that's to be removed as possible, to upload as much content that could get potentially flagged as possible, whether fairly or unfairly flagged, and contest every single claim to drain their resources, and to reupload flagged content but altered and transformed to circumvent the algorithm. The other, which I'm personally going to exercise and would strongly urge everyone else to as well, would be to completely abandon this site. I know, I should probably suggest an alternative place, but with the wide variety of reasons people use Tumblr I don't think one site would fit all. But by abandoning the site due to these changes, it would send a message that this kind of behavior isn't acceptable. If they're so concerned about potentially losing users from their removal from the iOS app store that they'd radically change their site, it shows that maintaining a large userbase is important to them. Let's demonstrate that losing a potential amount of userbase growth and accessibility isn't worth spitting all over the existing and loyal userbase they already have that has placed their trust and faith in them to represent their interests and protect and fight for the community that has formed along with basic fundamental ideals and decency. So with that being said, I don't really have much more to say. I suppose I'll take my leave now. I hope to see things change for the better, but if not, I hope to see you all again somewhere else. Somewhere better. Farewell.

[crimsxnflxwerz]

Where I Belong

Rating: Not Rated [Rating May Change]

Summary: Nineteen years ago, a mage lost their child to thieves, a man found himself somewhere far from home, and a woman adopted an unusual orphan.

Today, Corrin fights to right the wrongs that have been done to their family, but they also fight the battle within themself to stay. To stay here, where they were raised, though their heart desperately longs for answers. What is this marking on the back of their neck? Why do they feel like they've never truly belonged here? Is there somewhere that they do belong?

Who is this man Chrom and what does he have to do with all this?

Pairing(s): Chrom/Robin, Other Minor Ships

Characters: Corrin, Robin, Chrom, Felicia, Lissa, Frederick, Other(s).

Tags: Nonbinary!Corrin, Trans!Robin, Trans Male Robin, Corrin & Robin & Chrom - family, Corrin is Robin & Chrom’s third child, That’s the wild headcanon.

Notes: This is meant to take place during the Fates DLC where Corrin and Felicia kill some ghosty soldiers that escape through a portal into Awakening’s world. If I mess up pronouns, please let me know. Even tho (they/them) are MY pronouns, I still get it messed up in writing sometimes! Anyways, thanks for reading!

“That's a forest.” Corrin said, peering through the small sliver of light. The area around the portal warped slightly, behaving more like a tear in fabric than the stable portals they’d seen before. Felicia clutched her skirt nervously, looking in over Corrin’s shoulder.

“It is, my Lord.” she agreed. “Not one I've ever seen before. Must be someplace far away.”

“Or,” Corrin backed away slightly. “Another world.”

The young Lord sighed, pinching the bridge of their nose. The castle behind them was silent, besides the occasional bird chirp from a critter that had accidentally flown inside. Corrin looked down the marble hallway they stood in, listened to the absence of noise, considering what they could do next. Felicia watched Corrin silently, before placing a hand on their shoulder.

“My Lord, we have enough time to spare. Those people in that realm, they might be in danger.” She said firmly. “The palace can survive a moment without you.”

Corrin took a slow breath in, their hand travelling to the back of their neck. Under their hand a mark burned ever so slightly. The brand has been with them since they were an infant, at least according to a letter from their mother. No one could ever figure out what the mark meant. They just assumed it had something to do with their transformations. No one had ever seen a person transform Into a dragon quite like that. Of course, there have been legends, and maybe it was only a matter of time with the families bloodlines.

But for Corrin it was just another thing to separate them from everyone else. They didn't belong in either kingdom, they didn't belong in this world.

Corrin looked towards the portal once more. Every time they stepped into foreign land, a weight lifted off their shoulders. As if something deep inside of them was pulling them away from their own world. Corrin wasn't hesitant about killing those beasts, they weren't cautious of entering this foreign soil.

They were afraid that they would find someplace better. Someplace where they belonged. And something inside them would just refuse to leave.

“Okay,” they said. “Let's go.”

The two of them stepped through the portal and into a forest. A few feet ahead of them the tree line broke, revealing a beautiful valley, divided down the middle by a sparkling river.

“How pretty,” Felicia idly commented. Corrin couldn't agree more. The air was heavy with the sweet smell of spring. Trees bloomed thousands of tiny, white flowers amongst their new leaves. A gorgeous assortment of plants filled the valley. Down near the river were some of the tallest cattails they’d ever seen.

Suddenly, a scream was heard to their left. They easily spotted a cleared path through the trees and hurried along it. When they emerged from the forest into a smaller clearing, they witnessed the partially visible soldiers that had escaped through the portal earlier. The creatures had cornered a maiden. She donned an elegant yellow dress, her blonde locks in high, wavy pigtails. She clutched a staff for dear life, likely confused by her faceless attackers. Corrin broke into a sprint, cutting down several soldiers in their way, Felicia following close behind.

One of the mage creatures raised a tome to strike the girl, when a large man on a horse broke through the trees and struck the mage through the chest with a lance. Corrin stopped in their tracks, watching the man with a lance carefully. He was built, riding a horse with an unrecognizable flag on it's flank, holding a long lance. The girl hopped up onto the horse, wrapping one arm around the man's waist and the other bracing the staff at her side.

Corrin was broken from their trance when Felicia knocked them back to avoid a mage attack. All four of them flew back into battle against the phantom soldiers, determined to clear the area.

Corrin stuck to using their sword for the time being. Especially considering the fact that they had no idea about the natives opinion of dragon blooded individuals. They didn't want to startle them either, throwing them off could be deadly in the heat of battle.

Then suddenly, a phantom soldier struck Felicia away with the broadside of it's axe. In an instant, Corrin was isolated, surrounded by soldiers, preparing their weapons for the kill. That's when they heard the sound of heavy footsteps coming up on them. Expecting a phantom knight, Corrin braced for the worst.

“Out of my way!”

A figure jumped over Corrin and brought his sword down heavy on the axe wielder who struck Felicia. The man's flowing white cape partially obstructed Corrin’s view, but from what they could see, he was taking out enemy after enemy in quick succession.

Corrin was shell shocked for a moment, before jumping back onto their feet and fighting back to back with the man that rescued them.

Eventually, all the soldiers were cleared out, leaving the ragtag group panting. Felicia was sitting on the ground, hand firmly grasping a wound on her arm. Upon seeing this, Corrin dashed over despite their weariness.

“Felicia! You're wounded!” They panicked. Their heart pounded in their chest. “Is it just your arm? Show me!”

Felicia shook her head. “My Lord, it's fine.”

“No, don't be like this,” Corrin clenched their teeth. They opened their mouth to say more, but was interrupted by a tap on their shoulder.

“I can help,” the blonde girl from earlier stood behind them, pigtails dancing as she bounced excitedly. “It won't be any trouble. Just let me see.”

Corrin looked to Felicia for approval. When she nodded, they backed off and let the girl do her thing.

“My name is Lissa, by the way.” She said, kneeling down to check out Felicia's wound. “Thank you for helping us.”

Corrin fell into a heavy blush as the gesture. They wanted to argue that they were the reason everyone had been in danger in the first place, but instead kept their mouth shut, unsure of what to say.

The man on the horse dismounted and approached them cautiously.

“I agree, you could have run off, but instead chose to fight, I compliment the mentality.” The man said. “My name is Frederick, by the way.”

Then the last one of the group clapped a hand down on Corrin’s shoulder and grinned.

“And I’m Chrom, Lissa’s older brother. It's a pleasure to meet the two of you.” He said. Then, awkwardly, “even though the circumstances aren't ideal.”

Corrin blushed again. They cleared their throat. “My name is Corrin, that woman with me is Felicia.”

Felicia waved at Frederick and Chrom. Corrin smiled fondly at her, before returning his gaze to Chrom.

The man felt oddly… familiar. He was a little taller than average, with royal blue hair, short and relatively kept. He had vibrant blue eyes, and a generous smile. Even though it looked as if he were trying to blend in with his somewhat tattered clothes, it was obvious by his sword that he was royalty. The sword was magnificent. A large, silver blade with gold accents and a decorated hilt.

“Your sword, it's gorgeous.” Corrin commented, waving towards it. “Are you royalty?”

Now, it was Chrom's turn to blush.

“Is it really that obvious?” He said, scratching absently behind his ear.

“Well, I've never known a common man to have such an elegant weapon.” Corrin explained. Frederick looked on warily.

“And you, your friend there called you 'Lord’. You must be royalty as well,” Frederick pointed out. “From where do you hail?”

Corrin blushed heavily again. It was very apparent on their pale skin. They glanced back at Felicia.

“Someplace far from here. I doubt you have heard of it.” They said. Frederick raised an eyebrow skeptically.

“Enough of that, would you care to join us for lunch? We were just making our rounds. I would be honored to have you.” Chrom said. “Just one meal and you may be off.”

Corrin bit their lip. Lissa just finished up with Felicia. The pink haired servant approached Corrin and placed a hand on their arm, nodding softly when they looked over to her. Corrin mentally scrambled for the proper words to display their gratitude.

“O-of course.” They stuttered. “I am quite hungry actually, and I would love to get to know you better.”

“Perfect!” Chrom said cheerily. “Onward then! We haven't got much daylight left!”

Chrom turned around to walk on, and as he did so, Corrin got a good look at his shoulder. On his exposed shoulder was a mark that resembled the mark on the back of their neck. No, not just resembled, an exact replica. Felicia felt Corrin freeze up, and she looked forward to try and recognize what had her Lord acting like this. She noticed the mark as well and raised her eyebrows, but stayed silent.

After a moment, Lissa nudged Felicia. She snapped out of her little trance and looked over to her.

“You comin?” she asked, motioning towards where Chrom was walking. Felicia nodded slightly, and pulled Corrin along as they began walking. Lissa hopped up on the back of Frederick’s horse, and the group caught up with their retreating prince.

As they passed beautiful scenery, Corrin waged an inner war with themself. Do they talk to Chrom? Do they pry into Chrom’s life? Why does he have that mark? Does Lissa bear the same one? Their head was so filled with questions, that they didn’t even hear the person trying to talk to them.

They felt a small shove that snapped them out of their own mind space. They frantically looked around and saw that Felicia stood next to them looking a little annoyed. She gestured to Corrin’s other side, and when they looked, Chrom was walking alongside Corrin looking a little awkward.

“Oh Gods,” they gaped, blushing hard at their own incompetence. “Were you trying to talk to me? I do apologize, I can get quite lost in my own head sometimes.”

Chrom simply laughed at that, and shook his head. “Oh, no worries! My older sister is actually quite like that sometimes, so I’m used to it.”

“Your older sister?” Corrin asked, taking their chance to learn more about the prince.

“Ah, yes, her name is Emmeryn. She is the Exalt of Ylisse.” he said, although then he made a soft noise and included, “ah, my apologies, you do not hail from here. Exalt is the title of the head of the royal family. Our parents passed ages ago, leaving a mess behind for us to fix. My sister, she is very strong, stronger than me I would say. She has been leading the way towards peace ever since she rose to power.”

“That’s good to hear. I come from a similar situation, actually.” Corrin said. “In my land, there are two warring families that just don’t see eye to eye. They knew peace once before, and I am striving to bring that peace back. It’s always been hard, since I empathize with both sides.”

“That must be quite a burden on your shoulders.” Chrom said. Corrin barely caught it, but there was a glimpse of a far away look in the prince’s eye. “It’s hard when you want to save everyone. That’s just not how it works in times of war, unfortunately.”

“Yes, I can agree with that.” Corrin said solemnly. Unwilling to let the conversation die, they finally mustered up the courage to ask. “I don’t wish to pry, but I was curious about the brand on your shoulder. What is it?”

“Oh, that?” Chrom asked, glancing down at his own shoulder. The mark was specifically exposed for people to witness. It must be important. “That is my--”

“Chrom! There’s someone over there in the grass,” Lissa shouted from atop Frederick’s horse, effectively interrupting what Chrom was about to say. “They’re laying down, I think they might be injured!”

“Show me.” Chrom demanded, and Lissa pointed towards a lone tree in a valley they had been traversing the cusp of. The prince started to move in that direction, waving Corrin on to come with him. “Let’s go!”

Chrom and Corrin dashed through the grass, the rest of the part following close behind. They eventually came to the tree that Lissa had pointed out, and found a sleeping figure. They looked like a young adult, probably male. In fact, they somewhat resembled Corrin, with their white hair and pale skin. It wasn’t often that Corrin saw other youths with such pure white hair. Corrin crouched down next to the sleeping man and leaned over him. He was dressed in layers, his outermost layer being a cloak that reminded them of a mage. Laying near them was a powerful looking tome.

“He doesn’t look injured, thank the Gods,” Chrom said finally. When Corrin looked back at the prince, they could see the hint of a blush on Chrom’s cheeks. That definitely wasn’t from the running. Once Lissa, Frederick, and Felicia caught up, they also cautiously observed the situation.

“Don’t get so close, my Lord,” Felicia said. She looked apprehensive, but the man looked like he was simply taking a nap. There was something in Corrin that drew them to him. They ignored Felicia’s worry and reached out, gently brushing the back of their fingers along the man’s cheek. Corrin heard someone gasp behind them, likely out of how bold the gesture had been. However, Corrin was more concerned with how the man stirred, slowly blinking his eyes open.

“He’s waking up,” Corrin said, backing off once the man was fully awake. Chrom and Lissa came forward to lean over him.

“Hello there,” Lissa said with a welcoming smile. Chrom also looked on warmly at the stranger.

“There’s better places to sleep than the ground, you know.” he said. Then he reached out his hand. “Here, take my hand.”

The man grabbed the tome lying near him almost instinctively before reaching for Chrom’s hand. When the prince pulled him up, he only stepped back slightly, so that the two nearly came nose to nose. The two blushed and looked away from each other quickly, Chrom laughing and scratching behind his ear.

“Uh- um, what’s your name?” Chrom asked, once Lissa and Felicia had stopped chuckling at the interaction. The mage rubbed his hand delicately, and Corrin noticed a strange mark there. It was kind of unsettling, three pairs of eyes watching from the man’s hand.

“My name is, uh,” he seemed to falter for a moment, before brightening up again. “R-Robin. My name is Robin. And you’re Chrom?”

“Y-You know who I am?” Chrom stuttered. “How’s that?”

“I dunno, it just came to me suddenly…” Robin flinched. “My head aches.”

Robin looked around where they were curiously. There was absolutely no recognition on his face. He looked rather lost, actually. Corrin blinked their red eyes at him. Robin turned his head and made eye contact with the young Lord.

“Do- do I know you from somewhere?” Corrin asked then, hesitantly. Robin’s eyes widened slightly, as if he were remembering something. He cleared his throat, holding his tome to his chest.

“Uh, uh, I don’t know,” he stuttered. “I don’t remember much of anything, actually. Other than my name, and even that is kind of foggy.”

“You don’t remember anything?” Chrom interrupted. The group fell silent. It was then that Frederick chimed in.

“Your robes, they resemble that of the Plegian people.” he said darkly. “Would you happen to be on their side, young mage?”

“I-I’m not sure what you mean. Who are the Plegians?” Robin asked, looking genuinely confused. Frederick was about to open his mouth to say more, when Corrin rounded on him with a fierce stare.

“Can’t you see he’s confused? We must get him some food and water, he might be famished,” Corrin said hurriedly. Everyone stared, shock apparent on their faces. “He has no memory, what of it? We aren’t helpless babes, if he is a spy we will find out soon enough. For now he is our ally.”

After Corrin’s outburst, everyone seemed to snap to attention. Chrom turned away and moved to speak with Frederick about something, and Lissa and Felicia came over to inspect Robin’s condition. Corrin stayed close to Robin. They were curious, but also wanted to help Robin out. Feeling lost and alone wasn’t fun, Corrin knew that personally.

When Corrin approached Robin, the man smiled kindly at them.

“Thank you for that, I’m feeling really disoriented.” he said softly with a chuckle. “It’s not fun to be drilled when you first wake up, especially if you have amnesia.”

“Oh yeah, amnesia, that’s what it’s called!” Lissa said. “I wonder if there’s some kind of potion or remedy to correct it…”

Robin chuckled again at the concept. “Maybe. I wouldn’t know, unfortunately.” Corrin laughed a little at that, too.

“It’s no problem, Robin. I know what it’s like to be the odd one out. In fact, my friend and I are just passing through.” they said. “Oh, we haven’t been properly introduced. My apologies, my name is Corrin, these two are Felicia and Lissa.”

Robin nodded at the information. “Just passing through? Where are you from?”

“Someplace far away, I’m afraid,” Corrin said, hesitant to reveal the location to even this man with no memories. “We found ourselves here after tracking down a few dangerous men. I felt it was my responsibility to make sure they didn’t harm anyone. That’s how we ran into Chrom.”

“Well, I’m glad that you’re here.” Robin said, almost shyly. “How much longer will you stick around?”

Corrin glanced over at Felicia, who was speaking softly with Lissa. She looked happy. Corrin turned back towards Robin and simply took him in for a moment. Something in their chest was screaming for them to stay, as if this was truly where they belonged. Maybe it was all coming together. The brand on Chrom’s shoulder, this fair-haired stranger. The rolling hills and serene fields filled with flora and fauna.

There was a darkness here, too. A darkness hovering over everything. It was like the moments before a bad thunderstorm when the hair on your arms stood straight up. In truth, Corrin knew they had to leave sooner than later, but when was sooner?

“I’m not sure yet.” They said. Robin gave them the sweetest smile, a hand gently squeezing their shoulder.

“Well, I hope that you enjoy the time you spend here, with this company,” Robin said. “And once you depart, I hope that we meet again.”

Corrin was a little speechless for a moment, before they shook themself out of it.

“Yeah.”

[fashiontrendin-blog]

This tattoo artist reveals exactly why your tattoo doesn't need to have meaning

http://fashion-trendin.com/this-tattoo-artist-reveals-exactly-why-your-tattoo-doesnt-need-to-have-meaning/

This tattoo artist reveals exactly why your tattoo doesn't need to have meaning

Whenever people see my tattoos, they immediately ask what they mean. For the designs on my body that serve no specific purpose or have no other “meaning” besides I think that they look cool (like the skeleton on my ankle), I feel pressure to attach something sentimental to them. But it’s not necessary for tattoos to have a specific interpretation or symbolism in order to be significant to you. And even if it is insignificant to you, all that matters is that you chose to get it because you liked it and wanted it on your body.

After spending time with tattooer Mars Hobrecker in his studio nestled in the back of The Living Gallery, an event space and art gallery in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, I now feel more open to getting a tattoo that I didn’t spend months or years planning out, like the deer on the back of my arm that pays homage to a trip I took to Japan with my dad or the hand holding flowers on my inner arm that is a tribute to the women in my family.

Most of Hobrecker’s appointments are based on predrawn designs, which are known as “flash” in the tattoo community. His clients pick from the latest designs he’s drawn that are taped onto the pages of a photography magazine. Flipping through it, I noticed drawings of objects including everyday objects, like chairs and toothbrushes, and medical equipment, like a speculum, as well as people, both clothed and naked. At first, I was closed off to most of them, mostly because I was trying to connect something sentimental to each of them. The lady sitting in the chair didn’t have a vague resemblance to my grandma and the man hoisting a woman in the air didn’t resemble my ideal relationship.

Brooklyn Beckham is being shamed for his tattoos and we’re not here for it

Hobrecker was incredibly patient as I looked through the magazine-turned-flash-book dozens of time trying to pick something for him to ink onto my skin. He tells me what freaks him out the most is when people open the book and almost immediately point to a design they’d like. “I just feel like I could never be that decisive,” Hoebrecker tells me as I spot a Cruella de Vil-like a woman walking a gaggle of Dalmatians, a package of birth control pills, and a circus-performing couple. I find myself gravitating toward the nude sketches of people covered in colorful flowers, or “garden people,” as Hobrecker calls them.

Each design in the flash book demonstrates a striking between Hobrecker’s style and the many delicate flowers and tiny tattoos that flood Instagram feeds, and unlike the slim pin-up girls of traditional tattoo designs, Hobrecker has a refreshing take on representation in his work.

“People have lots of different types of bodies, so I should be drawing lots of different types of bodies,” he states matter-of-factly. “There’s such a huge range of bodies that come through the door to get tattooed, so I feel like my work should reflect that. I don’t want somebody to flip through and think none of these people look like me.”

Like me, most of Hobrecker’s clients take their time selecting what designs they want permanently etched into their bodies. They’ll flag a couple pages and discuss their top three picks with the tattooer, and some even settle on one completely at random. “I feel like that’s actually a great method because even if you pick the one you like less, you immediately know you like the other one more,” he says. “If you have that sink in your stomach, like, ‘Oh I was hoping for the other one,’ then you know that’s the real choice.”

I find way more meaning in taking a moment to sit with my body and think about my relationship with it.

If you ask Hobrecker, determining whether or not the image “means” something to you should be secondary. Instead, he believes a tattoo’s significance could be found in the tattooing process itself. “I find way more meaning in taking a moment to sit with my body, think about my relationship with it, and have that hour or two where you’re really forced to think about yourself and have this very physical sensation associated with that,” he explains. “For me, that holds way more meaning than a rose that you get for your mom.”

Becoming a tattooer

Although Hobrecker set up shop in The Living Gallery in December 2016, he’s unsure of when he officially became a tattooer, mostly because it wasn’t a career goal of his. (Note: Hobrecker never refers to himself as a “tattoo artist,” which stems from feeling like tattooing isn’t an art practice.)

About three years ago, 25-year-old Hobrecker graduated from school for photography but realized he didn’t want to take photos anymore. Selling his camera equipment and buying a tattoo machine became his next option. At the age of 16, giving “horrible” stick and pokes with sewing needles to his friends and friends of friends became one of his regular extracurricular activities. From this, tattooing became less about the art of it to him, but more about helping people assert control over their bodies. As a trans man, this discovery was crucial to Hobrecker.

“When I was younger, I was always very involved in queer and trans communities,” he says. “The people I was surrounding myself with, myself included, didn’t feel super at home in our bodies.”

My first tattoo was a very permanent reminder of the ownership I had over my own body.

“I can’t speak my mind because I’m a black transgender woman,” says Munroe Bergdorf in her most candid interview ever

In Hobrecker’s case, he didn’t feel like he had control over his body when he was younger either, having attended an all-girls Catholic school where he was required to wear a uniform and barred from dyeing his hair. In this controlled environment, all Hobrecker could do was get a tattoo in secret when he was 18. “That was something that couldn’t be taken away from me,” he says. “That was a very permanent reminder for me of the ownership I had over my own body.”

With his background in stick and pokes, Hobrecker figured a machine would be a faster way to tattoo. Once he had one, he taught himself how to tattoo via the Internet, learning about different machines and needles. Typically, this kind of information is accessed through traditional apprenticeships in tattoo shops. Hobrecker mostly circumvented this by tapping Instagram’s “weird” tattoo community, which he declares is “entirely noncompetitive.” In fact, most of Hobrecker’s tattoos, which add up to about 50, are trades from other tattooers.

Hobrecker explains that, oftentimes, tattoo artists share information with each other, too. “It feels really supportive, and I think that’s because a lot us did come into tattooing through nontraditional means,” he explains. “Tattooing has had a lot of gatekeeping in the ways that people are allowed to learn and access to information, but now there’s a wonderful community of people who snuck in through the back door and are really supportive of one another because we all kind of went about it the same way.”

The tattoo community feels really supportive, and I think that’s because a lot of us came into it through nontraditional means.

These delicate finger tattoo designs are perfect for first-timers

Because he doesn’t consider himself an illustrator and doesn’t draw unless it’s for a tattoo design, Hobrecker’s distinct style developed as he learned to tattoo, too. He read that you needed separate needles for lines and shading, and this influx of information was so confusing to him that he decided to skip shading altogether and focus on lines. “That’s why I draw like this,” he says. “It was really an entirely practical decision.”

Sourcing his designs

Somewhere on Pinterest, Hobrecker keeps a board filled with more 200 photos he plans to use as references for drawings. As the earlier mentions of medical paraphernalia might suggest, he gravitates towards medical imagery. “Even the [designs] that don’t look like they were from old medical texts are,” he says. This comes as a surprise when he later tells me he’s had a largely negative experience with medicine, due to “going through transgender help and as someone who has really severe chronic pain — both things that doctors don’t really like to believe people have because they’re not necessarily visual.”

He also draws inspiration extensively from sideshow and circus history. When he sees these pictures from the past, “I look at them and think this looks like me and my friends,” he says. “It was a lot of trans people and a lot of disabled people with nontraditional bodies, so I feel like I relate.” However, he’s very careful about which images he pulls from because of the controversial history of sideshows and circuses. “I don’t need to profit off of someone’s images who has already been used in that way for centuries,” he says.

Due to time restrictions, I wasn’t able to add one of Hobrecker’s flash designs to my tattoo collection. I browsed the book so much while talking to him that I basically memorized it, but once an image of a sitting garden woman called out to me, our interview was coming to an end. (I now know I truly wanted her because I saw on Hobrecker’s Instagram that someone else recently picked her out, and a pang of jealousy hit me.) Talking to Hoebreker nevertheless offered a different type of permanent change for me, though.

Next time I visit Hobrecker’s studio, I’m more likely to select something randomly than when I first went there. This specific part of our conversation will pop in my head when I thumb through his flash book once again: “I think that the image can just be something that’s fun, something that you vibe with. The meaning can be much more in making a commitment to a permanent change to yourself.”

Want more inspiration? Here are our favourite tattoo ideas from Instagram:

[ccinthecity]

Living in the Illusion: Queer expression and relationships between fiction and physical spaces and representation

My portfolio (and effective final) for HUM4938: Media, Power, and Sexuality. In abstraction, an analysis of the role of media in portrayal and/or realization of queer characters and spaces, and its relation to the constructed fictionalization/stigmatization of queer people in real life.

Introduction

On June 24th, I landed in London. It was my first time outside of the United States, and an opportunity to study and learn a new city, a new culture outside of my own, and of course, explore my own relationship to that. But I was a student, first and foremost. I spend my week studying, going from class to class, to excursions and museums and parts of town I couldn’t even dream of finding on my own. As the days went on, so more did I see new prismic projections down the streets and up the escalators of the underground, peering through at tube stations and in coffee shops and in the alleys of Leicester square. The west end soon became a flurry of rainbows—the city, although already diverse and buzzing, was more and more colourful as it anticipated the arrival of the celebration of freedom of expression of love.

Although I’d been somewhat involved in LGBTQ+ groups and discourse in my time in high school, and certainly had gone through moments of questioning my personal identity, I’d never been to a Pride parade, or any queer community event for that matter, before. I wasn’t sure if I was meant to go; at the time, and still currently, I identify somewhere between asexual and bisexual—a demi-bisexual. Since there’s some ambiguity among the members of the LGBTQ+ community about ace and bi individuals as to where they belong in representation, activism, and portrayal, it seemed a little difficult to throw myself in the mix. In any case, my preferences have never been evocative of any particular direction or affect, and I’d been hesitant to label myself, either in fear of being wrong, or perhaps in fear of being misunderstood, judged. Quite simply, I was never really sure if I was really queer enough, so I never came out.

And so, out of pure curiosity, and perhaps with a little sense of hopeful belonging, I went the second Saturday of my trip to London Pride—it was a special event, as it was the fiftieth anniversary of the partial decriminalization of Homosexuality: a civil rights benchmark that was so significant to the progress and acceptance of so many individuals in modern society. It was a colourful event, filled to the brim with unbelievable spectacles of love, joy, happiness, exuberance, glitter, rainbows, and what seemed to be absolute magic performed by drag queens and shown by endless seas of flowing rainbow-coloured fabric, flags flying down Oxford street, highlighted by a rugby player’s proposal to his boyfriend, furthered by the unending positivity between all those who attended. I felt an innate sense of grounding in camaraderie with the people surrounding me, in the crowd and on the parade route, that I never felt before, regarding sexuality and identity, really.

But it so too felt almost unreal—not only in the way that I was four thousand some miles away from home, but too because my understanding of LGBTQ+ history was that of struggle; up to this day. The presence of protest groups in the pride parade made a stark contrast to the parties surrounding—while the parade remained a spectacle, and celebration of what had been achieved, groups like stonewall and others were reminiscent of the original intent of pride; to make it clear that queer individuals existed, and should be treated as any other human being, through breaking that spectacle, and agitating others as to make sure they are heard, and change takes place (as Oscar Wilde noted, “That is why agitators are so absolutely necessary,”). The perfect, rainbow-coloured parade was manufactured by the many corporations that sponsored the event, and that “pink-washed” (and furthermore was a part of the depoliticisation of) what was once a political protest and communal event for demanding solidarity and equal representation. It was dismal to think, even at the back of my mind, that something so beautiful was at its foundation, (like many things) corrupt.

The day after pride, our class took an excursion to the new music biannual conference—or festival, I’m not too sure—it was the final performance of the series, a piece composed by avant-garde contemporary composer Philip Venables, featuring the London Sinfonietta and queer performance artist David Hoyle: Illusions (read more about this excursion here). It wasn’t exactly a speech pattern composition, but an orchestral interaction between parts of the text that elicited rhythm and meaning.

Although it is the title statement, one phrase did manage to stick out to me, after pride, and even continuing into further exploration of queer culture in London—Hoyle mentions of democracy in the current age (2015 was the original release of the piece, but Venables, in an interview between the performances, still noted its relevance two years later) “you know and I know it’s an illusion,”. The piece was addressed mostly to the new conservative government—but too was shown to those in attendance, ranging from any given socioeconomic class (but most likely, those who could afford a ticket were of middle or higher status) and sexuality or gender identity. So, which population experiences that illusion? Perhaps it is all those there at the moment.

This idea (moreso a conundrum) remained in my mind until now—and I thought I should explore the idea of illusion when it comes to the portrayal and understanding, as well as the identification of homosexuality and queerness in media.

Illusion (n.) - 1. a misleading image presented to the eye 2. the state or fact of being led to accept as true something unreal or imagined 3. a mistaken idea

The Illusion

So often queerness is treated as if it is illegitimate; perverse; a figment or fancy of the imagination. Homosexuality, although partially decriminalised in England and Wales in 1967 under the Sexual Offences Act, was only decategorized from major psychological association’s published texts as a mental disorder in the 1970’s—trans* folk were even more outspoken in the medical community, with gender identity disorder only leaving the volumes of the DSM-V in 2012. Being queer was to be mentally ill, and was to live in illusion, to the understanding of society.

But who truly lived in that illusion? To queer folk, their experiences were all but as real as any other. The fictionalisation, or rather, assignment to obscurity of homosexuality and queerness too fictionalised those individuals accounts and agency when it came to social action: it was (and still, to a certain extent is) harder for LGBTQ+ individuals to assert certain self-evident rights in many situations. That fictionalisation too worked against them, when they were victims of continued cultural persecution, legal prosecution, and violence from various outlets. The stigmatisation of the community and of homosexuals in media, and the cultural paradigm that had existed prior to legal decriminalisation created a heavy ideal that, still today, continues to threaten even the basic levels of hierarchical need of queer individuals, forcing them to live “in the closet”, diminishing personal mental health and relationships, fostering subversive and possibly dangerous ways of life (queer individuals more prone to homelessness, drug use, contracting STIs, prone to domestic and direct violence), taking away access, or not deeming necessary, social resources, all caused by accepting queerness as fictional, and denying the existence of quite a large portion of the population, dismissing them as unreal.

It’s no wonder, then, that queer individuals have become so accustomed to their lives being called fiction—as they have produced some of the most intricately creative pieces of artwork, literature, and music, that exist in the realm on the edge of stark, political, reality and sensual, blissful, scary, manic dream matter.

The Theatre

There is no secrecy in that the Theatre is a queer space. Not really that all people who work and live in the theatre scene are gay (as somehow, that’s become another stereotype in this weird world of ours)—but its one of the safest spaces for creatives who have different identities, historically. Among those dancers, writers, actors, and more, Vaslav Nijinsky (as discussed in the V&A Tour, post coming soon), Stephen Sondheim, on and on and on, furthermore, the material that comes out of the theatre is usually intersectional in its inclusion of different demographics, from race to identity to sexuality, and there are so many queer cult classics from the theatre world: RENT, Fun Home, Belle Reprieve, etc. etc. etc. If I had to list all of the queer creators and significant creations in the performance world, I would probably not be able to write this piece.

The Theatre is also a place where illusion itself lives. The entire concept of the theatre is a space in which one experiences a suspense of disbelief: a temporary adoption of ideas or mindsets, settings and events that aren’t necessarily true. Whether through costume, set design, make up, technical design and lighting or the sheer action and verbiage of the script, plays, musicals, reveries, cabarets, and skits involve the audience and actors in a whole mirage of make-believe. This is important.

In London especially, theatre has played an active role in queer representation and activism, if not simply by being the space for those individuals, then by creating attention. Both Stuart Feather and Jill Dolan remark in their books about the involvement of Street Theatre in the movement for decriminalisation of homosexuality, and collaboration with the Gay Liberation Front in the 1970’s.  The culture surrounding the theatre here, in the west end, as well as on Broadway, is one of avid acceptance of queer art.

A indication of that culture was alive and well in the Cafe de Paris—a nightclub and performance venue in Leicester Square, which our class visited later in the week. The performance that night was the Seven Sins Cabaret—a cabaret, of course, reminiscent of the red-light district, raunchy, and alcoholic gatherings of parisian businessmen in underground bars and performance venues, and the later production between Bob Fosse and Fred Ebb, which focused on sexuality and subversive performance culture in Nazi Berlin in the Kit Kat Klub. It certainly surpassed expectations (link to post coming soon) and was a pinnacle of scintillating, slightly erotic? but completely empowered performance. Upon posting to instagram, the emcee and director of the show, drag performer Reuben “Ruby” Kaye, commented on my post, still just as enthusiastic about the openness and the stark portrayal of sexuality, and the intimacy of performance and the way it helps shape ideas and removes hurtful stigma about open sexuality.

Later, I also had the opportunity (on the last night, no less--link to post coming soon) to go to the west end and see Kinky Boots at the Adelphi Theatre. I’d never seen the musical before, but I knew it was one of the quintessential pieces from the United Kingdom that deserved a look—as well as a significant LGBTQ+ representative production, as it focused on the friendship between the protagonist, Charlie, and his opposite story centre, Lola, a drag queen who helps Charlie navigate a difficult time in his life, dealing with the death of his father, and learning how to define himself as a man, as the Mr. Price of his family business Price and Sons.

Its an incredibly liberating and relatable piece—perhaps people don’t come to the theatre to see Kinky Boots if they aren’t open-minded already, but certainly, the older ladies in the row in front of me had a wild time at the show. The most impressive pieces to me, regarding identity and sexuality, are that of Lola’s pieces—first, “Lola’s World”, in which the lyrics read  “Step into a dream, Where glamour is extreme, Welcome to my fantasy,” followed by the number “What a Man” in which the roles of gender are explored and reversed, and used to empower the performer. Of course, “Just Be”, too is a fantastic pride anthem, preaching for unlimited self expression. In the show, Lola is completely open about who they are and what they are, and what it means to be them, completely breaking any sense of deceit or illusion that goes along with being a performer, a person with two identities at face value.

A Stand Out: Todrick Hall

Aside from starring as Lola in the fall/winter 2016 season on Broadway, this openly gay creator has recently risen to a relatively popular stance in the performance world—both on stage (in Oz, Kinky Boots) and in television (as a recent host and choreographer on RuPaul’s Drag Race, the creator of Todrick MTV, and contestant on American Idol) by way of his YouTube channel, which he started in 2006. A decade later, Todrick has amassed over 2.5 million subscribers.

I found inspiration for this analysis in watching some of his videos, which feature his takes on pop culture classics, like Mean Girls, Disney films such as Alice in Wonderland, Beauty and the Beast, and plays (namely Chicago, as there are several cell block tangoes) and reimagines them as hollywood, gay, and black versions of the predominantly white, straight originals.

One that stood out especially, perhaps because of its magnitude as a project (it’s a feature-length video on his YouTube), is an autobiographical musical re-adaptation of the Wizard of Oz called Straight Outta Oz—the story closely following the narrative of the original, but in this version, Todrick is Dorothy, and his story is a reflection of growing up gay, growing up black, and navigating a technicolor world. These themes are directly related to the course’s parameters: it is media, and the power involved, and how sexuality comes into play.

(If you have the opportunity, skip to ���Water Guns’ near the end of the video)

Following what Ruby Kaye imparted in her comment on my instagram post of “Perform, Educate, Empower,” Todrick fully explores what it means to be the content creator, producer, director, and performer of queer art and media made for the masses. His art takes the illusion, whether it be from the suspense of disbelief in the theatre, the makeup of drag queens, the use of music, or simply, the line between what is fictional in literature and real life, and applies it to a wholly human and enthralling experience, not necessarily to enlighten, but to ground—to create a common space that feels safe, welcoming, and intriguing, if anything. The fictionalisation which was used against him and other queer individuals is reclaimed in fantasy.

Creators like Todrick, who are now more able to express themselves in openly queer artistic choices, are not only the future of artistic production, but are also leading the way for progress in the destigmatisation of queer identity, diminishing the illusions of obscure gender and sexuality and making them known.

Conclusion

In 2016, the shooting at the PULSE gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, was exactly that: a display to make us realise that we were not safe. That to a certain extent, the LGBTQ+ community (especially the L, G, B) did live in an illusion of security. That we were still so far from acceptance. It only took so much hate (that had already existed, so evidently, yet that was shrouded by progress, by the spectacle of parade and celebration) to take away the lives of so many.

The line between what is real and what is illusory has always existed for the LGBTQ+ community. But for queer individuals, the distinction of either is all too clear. They are not the ones living in an illusion, but rather the ones working to shatter it.

References & Further Reading

Venables, P. (Composer), Hoyle, D. & London Sinfonietta, (Performers), Baker, R. (Conductor). (2017, July 9). Illusions. Live performance at Southbank Centre, London, United Kingdom.

Venables, P. (2015, September 19). Illusions. Retrieved July 2017, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4hJQimj45U

Ackroyd, P. (2015). Queer City: Gay London from the Romans to the Present Day. London: Chatto & Windus.

Dolan, J. (2010). Theatre & sexuality. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

Feather, S. (2016). Blowing the Lid: Gay Liberation, Sexual Revolution, and Radical Queens. Alresford: John Hunt.

Fierstein, H., & Lauper, C. (Writers), Mitchell, J. (Director), & Oremus, S. (Conductor). (2017, July 21). Kinky Boots. Live performance in Adelphi Theatre, London.

“Illusion”. 2017. In Merriam-Webster.com. Retrieved from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/illusion

Playful Productions. (2017). Kinky Boots [Brochure]. London.

Kaye, R. (Director). (2017, July 14). Seven Sins Cabaret. Live performance in Café de Paris, London.

Milazzo, F. (2016, September 12). Review: Seven Sins, Cafe de Paris. Retrieved from http://www.thisiscabaret.com/review-seven-sins-cafe-de-paris/

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