#something something latino men in media

[bonesandpoemsandflowers]

david castañeda is my little pet underdog actor man because I’m rooting for him to succeed but each time I thirst post about him I end up fighting for my life in the group chat and getting read to filth because absolutely EVERYONE immediately tells me that there’s hotter latino dudes who are better actors with more charisma that I could stan. which might even be true! like, it’s probably true. but he’s my fantasy football team because the id wants what the id wants.

[philosophicalconservatism]

What is so fascinating about the anger and venom that we see on social media in the wake of Donald Trump's victory is that it is not merely partisan political anger, which is fine and to be expected. Call Conservatives whatever you like. But what we are seeing are women denouncing all males, black women denouncing all white people and all black men, and other minorities denouncing Latino men etc. This is a rage and a hostility that is leveraged across sex lines, racial lines, ethnic lines etc. Everyone resents and blames everyone else as a group.

It is a revelation of something that I have said for years. There is no true unity on the American political Left. It is instead an uneasy and fragile coalition of groups united by a fear of a common bogeyman. And people who are not motivated by fear, bitterness, anger and resentment are increasingly disenchanted with the modern Left, which by its ideological design puts one group against another instead of unifying human individuals under a single flag.

[dicapiito]

Since Black People share zero blame about what happened in the election and why Trump won again; let’s do a master post on who’s to blame as to why Trump won again:

1. White people. They are never to be trusted to actually pay attention to shit so they will believe anything anyone tells them to. If someone is promising to get rid of anyone who’s not white; white people will vote for that candidate. White men vote for violence and white women vote in hopes to be like white men. I mean, Roe V Wade SHOULDVE been important …until I remember those stories from nurses at Planned Parenthood mentioning how obnoxious white women are about the service. White people who are actual allies are very rare and they know if they admitted to being hateful; they’d be all alone watching Fox News.

2. The mainstream media. MSNBC, CNN, Bill Maher, John Oliver, Jon Stewart ( the biggest douchefuck), Chris Hayes, Anderson Cooper, Joy Reid, among others (who I can’t name because I refuse to hate-watch their media). They spent all their fucking time bashing Biden and the Democrats. They let the lunatic leftists have a platform and they treated Trump like he’s no threat until it was way too late. They figured it’s better for their audiences to not take what Trump did in 2016-2020 seriously and just be mean towards Biden, Harris and the Democrats who actually work towards better.

Any one of these jokers could’ve taken an actual stand and report actual news about Biden but once Covid got calmer thanks to Biden and the White House became boring again because the Biden Administration was busy ACTUALLY WORKING; it just wasn’t enough for them. Once they knew leftists also found another cause they could hijack for themselves to “ stick it to the Dems” they also let these fuckers on their show to help spread more lies about the Democrats. But nope! They latched onto the “ Free Palestine” movement and sold that shit, knowing full fuckin well that it’s not America’s problem about the conflict and Biden and Harris were making sure to get a two state solution.

Their buyers remorse media is not cute and they are only doing this because they know they are a major reason why Trump won again. They’re also scared of retaliation so they’re going to act like they “ regretted it” and that Biden “ wasn’t so bad” while not ever really apologetic but their audiences will eat it up.

3. Nonblack PoC. Latino, Asian/ Pacific Islander community ( I’m not even shocked. I’m apart of this group and they love antiblackness), Arab Americans ( Rashida Tlaib is antiblack but because leftists are stupid; they couldn’t see something so obvious). The desperation to be accepted by white people and also the xenophobia in all these communities had them voting for Trump. They have the “ I’m one of the good ones” mentality and well they’re about to see that antiblackness and xenophobia has screwed themselves .

4. Social media websites letting misinformation spread, and I include tumblr since yet again this happened. I appreciate that X has a community note and people tried to fight it but it was just way too great. Too many bots were getting through. Facebook, tumblr, Twitter, TikTok, likely Instagram as well. And once the elections are over; it’s like they treat the election interference shit like it didn’t happen.

5. Leftists. As usual, since they’re bored and rich, they do this protesting “ the establishment” every four years because they don’t want to pay their fair share of taxes. They went right along with the Free Palestine bullshit because it has worked for them before. Susan Sarandon , remember her? She helped fuck over 2000 as well as 2016 and let the GOP into the White House. Since leftist includes being racist/antiblack and antisemitic; it’s a great way to get more stupid white people to not vote or “ protest vote” and help the GOP win. Now that they have; we won’t see the likes of Jill Stein or any third party candidates. They are only around to help fuck over the Democrats and yet this lesson seems to have to keep being repeated and holy fuck it’s fucking annoying.

6. Nancy Pelosi. I know I haven’t said much but she wanted Biden to step down. She wanted an open Democratic primary to get a new candidate and to go right past Kamala Harris. Her bullshit has been known for awhile, especially if you live in the Bay Area. People forgot because of Covid and because of the whack job who attacked her husband. But remember; she’s also Gavin Newsom’s aunt and well…do with that what you will. If Democrats have any chance at getting their base back; Pelosi needs to step aside and let Hakeem Jeffries be Speaker. Pelosi knew damn well if it was not Kamala Harris; Black People would not show up but she is a white woman first so of course she did what she did. And for her to act like Biden was too old when she’s in the same age group was even more moronic since he won against Trump the first fuckin time

7. antisemitism also played a huge part. Remember Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff is Jewish so if it wasn’t antiblackness; antisemitism was also at play here. Even though people won’t say it just like they won’t say their true reasons why they didn’t vote for Kamala Harris. Jewish People were the only allies along with the lgbt community who overwhelmingly voted for Kamala Harris. Every group has knuckleheads but the knuckleheads were extremely smaller than everyone else.

8. The Squad members. AOC, Rashida Tlaib, Jayapal, Cori Bush, Summer Lee and Jamaal Bowman. It’s time to get rid of these idiot DSA morons and the fact that Cori Bush and Jamaal Bowman are out is awesome. They always wanted to fuck over the Democrats because they want to appear like they’re activists while they really just sell “ someday it’ll be better” while making $176K a year. They need the GOP in charge so they can coast in the House. Too bad leftists don’t get that.

So now that we all know who’s to blame; maybe now take some fuckin responsibility and hope to fucking heaven that Trump won’t have SCOTUS overturn shit but who are we kidding? With Elon Musk around; a lot of things will be rolled back but let’s see if people learn anything from it. Oh who am I kidding ?

Oh and thinking of moving to Canada? Lmao Justin Trudeau already went “ AHT AHT”. Best believe other countries are already following suit so y’all are going to be owning up to who you voted for lol.

But ya know, Biden was “ too old” and Harris was “ too joyful”

[thefangirlfever]

I needed to make a post about this because...well, the title says everything.

First of all I would like to say that I'm feeling a bit anxious sharing my thoughts about this. I don't know if I'm the most qualified to talk about this but it has been bugging me.

I know a lot of people have already discussed the way Miguel, a POC and a latino man out of all people, has been oversexualized to a point that it feels fetishy and a bit concerning sometimes. I think we can all acknowledge this and that already gives us a lot to think about.

But what I think is really interesting is that not only is Miguel an intentional thirst-trap, he is a thirst-trap created mainly by a team of male producers/ writers. From what I read, the people in charge of his character design were men (I want to say that I am by no mean attacking anyone who worked on this movie. They did an amazing job and I am just sharing my thoughts, not saying they are bad people for this choise or anything. Thank you).

And I find this very telling. Because when I first saw this headline, I thought "Oh finally, women have been given the chance to freely thirst over a male character the same way men do." And I think it was a big mistake from me to think this way. (First of all, there are also men and non-binary simping over him). Because, let's be real for one second there, do we really want to thirst over characters the way men do? I have been an anime fan for years and let me tell you, the way a lot of men/ fanboys view female characters is simply gross (I know, I know, not all men). It's also something I noticed in comics and video games. Like, have you seen the outrage when a video game studio wants to propose female characters who do not look like what some p*rn addicts imagines women are?

My point is that Miguel has been created not with the female gaze in mind, but with the male gaze (and it hurts to say this). That's what I got from reading the part of the interview. The emphasis on his butt, the overly masculine, muscular body... Miguel was created not by following what women like in men but by what men imagine that women like in men.

This is also something we can see a lot in various medias over the last years, especially in the romance genre. The way some "desirable" men are depicted do not fit what women seek in a partner but what men imagine women want (ofc every woman has different criteria when it comes to this). I think it's very blatant when you compare medias written by and for women like Shonda Rhimes's shows, Bridgerton, Outlander... and medias written by men. So, in the end, I think that Miguel has been created with that in mind "Let's make a big, tall, dark and broody, muscular matcho man. That's what the female public wants." (ofc it's never as simple as that but you get the idea).

So... does this mean that it's bad to simp/ thirst over this character? Surprisingly I'm going to say no and I even think that it's important that the women in this fandom keep making content around Miguel! Because when we write fanfictions, draw fanarts of him... we are now picturing him with a real female gaze and that's what brings even more complexity and depth to this character.

I have seen so many interpretations of this character since I joined this fandom and a lot of them were really cool/ beautiful, showing just how much people love this character. When you think about it, it's crazy that a character who only got 15 minutes of screen time can have such a strong effect on a fandom, meaning that he is more than just a thirst trap. I genuinely think that the content created by the fans gives this character his humanity back (because, yes, being sexualized to no end deshumanizes a person. Go argue with a wall, thank you very much). I've seen so many tender, soft but also funny depictions of him making him more than just some ass shots on the big screen. And even on the NSFW corner of the fandom, some people out there are really making him more than just this "feral beast" that we have been sold by giving him back his tenderness, his sensuality...

So, yeah, take this headline with care and think what you want of it. Those were just my thoughts. Feel free to disagree, tell me if I got something wrong or just leave your thoughts under this post because I'm genuinely curious of seeing other fan's opinions. I apologize for the mess of this take.

And now I'm going back to sleep.

[leon-on-the-froggy-chair]

Just got in an argument over OG Luis and I'm pissed.

This is regarding the "ballistics" line from the original 2005 game. Proceed cautiously if talk of it is uncomfortable to view.

Obviously mfs who are mad about the removal of the line in remasters and later editions of the game are nasty creeps and the whatnot. Thats just the fact of the matter, you are creepy and misogynistic if you still think that line is acceptable.

But something I noticed is these fuckers also tend to hate on remake Luis. And I've heard the "well new Luis lOOKs like he'd [insert some sexually predatory or misogynist behavior]." Which honestly just speaks to one's racial biases and a lot of the time their perception against hispanic and latino men. As this comes from the same crowd that says similar about Carlos. And thats a whole can of worms about how as a culture, the representation of hispanic and latino men in media has perpetuated this idea that brown men are lecherous and disrespectful of boundaries and women in general, and much of these folks are unwilling to dissect and reexamine their perceptions of this group of people. And unwilling to reevaluate their sense of humor and how it may really not be that funny, and just is kind of gross. And makes them gross. Either that or they're knowingly ignorant and blatantly racist.

Onto another point.

The total eruption of anger I saw and STILL see at the removal of the "ballistics" dialogue, and other misogynistic elements of the OG game, only shows how fucking cowardly some of this fanbase is. At this point it seems like you don't want to normalize respecting women because if women are treated equally to men then that means your disgusting misogynistic behavior, thoughts, and feelings towards women will no longer be acceptable and you'll face repercussions for your actions. If you ask me it seems like some mfs are scared. Misogyny is so normalized in our culture and especially in gamer spaces. And their fear is turning to anger because the thing thats normal to them, due to their mutually misogynistic environment that enables their behavior, is being threatened. Pretty pathetic honestly. OG Luis "ballistics" line defenders, yall are pathetic.

And I know some ppl wanna pull the "oh it was a product of the time", "oh but it was funny" sure, okay. You are free to think that, however it still aint acceptable and it has no purpose is still being present in the game.

"censorship is ruining everything.", "wah wah wah the new woke era is ruining video games" if the removal of predatory behavior and misogyny from a game is ruining everything you should probably put the controller or mouse down and go outside instead of rotting in whatever gamer cesspool circles you've been roaming because its clearly eating away at whatever competence you have.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Ron Filipkowski at Medias+:

Imagine every week, somewhere in America, there is an event featuring nationally prominent Democratic elected officials, TV personalities, celebrities, artists, state and local officials, candidates, podcasters, journalists, and social media influencers. A one-day or weekend event, sponsored and hosted by different organizations, each with their own group of speakers, in different states, all year round. That is what the Republican Party has had in place for a decade to recruit, build, inspire, organize and motivate their base.  The Democrats have MSNBC. Since I have attended, watched and covered these events on the Right for years now, I am often asked why the Right has embraced these so enthusiastically while the Left has virtually nothing equivalent. My theory always was that Republicans enjoy doing things in groups and Democrats are more individualistic. But every time I would mention that while speaking to a group of activists, their response was always the same - 'I would go to something like that!

Democrats do some of this in the final few months of major election campaigns, but it is nothing like the network that the Right has created. Sure, we have all made fun of these events. Many of the speakers at right-wing conferences are nutty conspiracy theorists, christian nationalists, charlatans and grifters, and people who attend them can be fairly culty, but they are effective. While Democrats laugh at them or criticize them for what is taking place, they are doing nothing of their own to counter it. Let's say, in a few months after the mourning period is over for 2024, a major conference was announced in a major city of a swing state that featured Gavin Newsom, Gretchen Whitmer, Wes Moore, Andy Beshear, Eric Swalwell, Jared Moskowitz, Jasmine Crockett, AOC, along with a few celebrities of the entertainment industry, TV news commentators, journalists, podcasters and social media influencers. Would you go if that was in your state?

Although the formats vary, most of these conferences on the Right play out a similar way using the CPAC / Turning Point USA model pioneered by Matt Schlapp and Charlie Kirk. Early on they feature panels of 3-4 speakers discussing a specific topic for 30-60 minutes, taking questions from the audience. Then speakers begin with local officials, then podcasters/influencers, then TV hosts, then celebrities, then the headliner politicians being featured. They talk about what is on their mind, what they think people need to do, propose new ideas and vision. Panel topics for one of these conferences on the Left could be: Why Are We Losing Men under 40? Why are Latino Voters Disillusioned With Democrats? How Can We Talk About Abortion in a Way That Doesn't Alienate Christians? Democrats Need to Articulate a Border Policy, What Should It Look Like? Trans Athletes and Competitive Sports. I'm sure we each could think of many more. And the panelists could be chosen who are experts in these areas, but also have diversity of thought on them.

[...] These conferences need to be a safe space where orthodoxies and conventional wisdom can be challenged and debated. People can disagree, argue their points passionately, hash things out, and still part as friends. Those kinds of debates happen on the Right, not so much on the Left where people have great ideas, new approaches, different perspectives, but are afraid to share them for fear of being shouted down, scorned, ostracized, or tagged with a odious label.

The Right invests in these conferences and events. Spends millions of dollars on them on advertising, venues and speaker's fees. But over time they have been so well attended, with attendees buying tickets and advertisers and sponsors lining up, that they now turn a healthy profit for the people who run them. While you don't have to pay for an elected official or candidate who just wants face time with activists, speakers lower down the food chain need their travel paid for and modest fees for their time.  People don't even have to attend in person anymore. These events are all livestreamed on X, Instagram, Facebook Live, Rumble, YouTube, and get lots of coverage from Fox, Newsmax, Real America's Voice, Right Side Broadcasting and other right-wing channels. Hundreds of thousands of people on the Right watch these conferences from home and on their phones, week after week after week

In addition to providing a forum to hash out ideas and policy, these conferences also provide amazing organizing and networking opportunities. Podcasters and social media influencers gain new viewers, listeners and followers so they can continue to maintain the messaging every week long after the conference is over on their own platforms. They can meet each other, help each other, and start to coordinate their efforts. Politicians and celebrities can meet these influencers and grass roots activists in attendance, get to know them, exchange emails or phone numbers. These conferences, rallies and events are how the Right has built a powerful network of activists all over the country. They meet each other, get to know each other, coordinate, and help each other. New email and donor lists are compiled. New voters are registered or brought into the party. People are convinced to switch parties, get off the fence, or become more active. 

[...] With that said, the main point of this article is that we can't look for cable news channels to be our thought leaders or the vehicle for grass roots organizing. They don't exist for that purpose. That is not their mission. Their mission is to entertain, while hopefully also informing, while achieving ratings to bring in ad dollars. But the problem is, too many Democrats are camped out in front of MSNBC as their central organizing instrument.  We need to wake up, and we need to do it now. I am certain that we have better ideas, are more sane and rational, less narcissistic, less conspiratorial, less grifty, and care about other people more. Don't get me wrong, we have plenty of issues, characters, grifters and BlueAnon conspiracy theorists - but not nearly as many and it is more of a bug than a feature, unlike MAGA.

Ron Filipkowski wrote a solid piece in Meidas+ that the left needs to get their game together and have their versions of CPAC and TPUSA’s summits, though Netroots Nation is the closest equivalent.

See Also:

MeidasTouch News: The Right Supports a Network of Conferences, Podcasters & Rallies; the Left has MSNBC

[nealcaffery]

Skittle people, gay people, LGBTQ people, and etc…

All these names still mean cult.

Let me explain. LGTBQ has become a prominent figure in the last 8 or so years, mostly coming into the public eye in 2020. But something hasn’t set right with me about them, like, how come in a New York pride parade (Pride Month being in June) there was a chant emerging from the tongues of thousands of these “Skittles'', “We’re here, we’re queer, we’re coming for your children!” Then something just snapped inside of me and made me realize that LGTBQ is trying to indoctrinate kids. So that way when they grow up, they’ll gladly just pass laws that give LGTBQ more and more rights, despite them not needing it. And people claim LGTBQ is a minority that needs to be protected, when yes, they are minority, but they don’t need to be protected. Governments roll over and give them whatever they want, and force us, as the public, to accept them or the government politicians will face the “Punishment” of being canceled. Plus, several people in the LGTBQ community are groomers and pedophiles. Plus, in the official LGTBQ flag, they included the flag of MAP’s, (Minor Attracted Persons). So LGTBQ accepts pedophiles with open arms, so that way they can get away with it too. 

Another example of books, is they are writing books with explicit intercourse between same gendered people, and they are being read, and given to CHILDREN. This will scare the kids, as well as expose them to porn at a young age, and desensitize them to things like this. How can governments stand idly by while children are brainwashed into accepting them? But thank God for parents and their common sense. Parents have stood outside children’s libraries and blocked drag queens from entering the building to tell their children that gender is just a “Social construct” as so often said. I personally think that phrase is thrown around so much, and forced down our throats, that people have taken it upon themselves to be an LGTBQ “Sleeper agent” as I call it, whenever they hear the phrase “There are just 2 genders” they claim that gender is just a “Social construct” when there are just men and women. And no, that one where you’re born with aspects of both does NOT count as a gender, it’s a “Glitch” as I call it. Telling children that there are allegedly, 107 “Gender identities”. How can children find out who they truly are if grown adults are telling them they aren’t a boy, or a girl, and they should choose their own gender. Millions of kids will never discover who they are because of this, I just find it insane how people just don’t care. People should not stand idly by while YOUR children are told what to dress and “Identify” as by fully grown men who think they know better than science. This is not what hundreds of people died for in wars to defend their rights, it’s crazy. 

And something else insane, as of now they have made it their goal to be represented “Correctly” in the media. For example, Tony Rodriguez is one of the voice actors for the popular cartoon television show, “The Simpsons”. He voiced a gay Latino man, but as of recently, Tony could no longer voice him because Tony isn’t a part of that community. So apparently despite his amazing talent, he can no longer voice a character in a CARTOON television show because he isn’t actually gay. That’s just crazy. And now in live action films and shows, only LGBTQ actors can play LGBTQ characters. Yes, some are talented, but why does it matter so much to them? 

And LGTBQ has put their logo on everything, including children’s clothes. Like for example, in Target, they put LGTBQ logos and mottos on children’s clothing. Eg. Love is love. 

Millions boycotted the company, and caused it to lose billions of dollars. Same with Bud Light, they put a transgender person on their beer cans, and caused the company to lose $15.7 billion dollars because of the boycott. Why does a BEER COMPANY need to promote transgender ideals? Why does a several billion dollar corporation need to put a cult and their symbols and phrases on CHILDREN’s clothing? To indoctrinate, the more you see the ideals of the cult, then the more you’ll come to accept it. The brainwashing is a real thing, they put it on everything so you’re more likely to accept it. Like when politicians run for office, they put bunches of commercials so that way when you vote or think of politics, your mind goes to the most recent ad you saw of that politician. But that’s just a theory. 

Now, speaking from a religious point as a Christian. And boom, with that 1 simple phrase I’ve now made you completely disagree with my entire argument on why LGBTQ is a cult. And others will make the argument that religion is a cult, it is and it isn’t. There is freedom of religion in the West, just not in the Middle East or some other Eastern countries. But now, as I was saying. Speaking from a Christian view, I have seen countless videos of LGTBQ members mocking Jesus. They claim that Jesus was gay or trans. When being trans was absolutely unheard of back then.

And one final piece of LGBTQ corrupting God is some churches have married several gay couples, and what happened to said churches? They burned to the ground, and what wasn’t burnt? The crosses and Bibles that were in the building.

I would like to end this documentation with a Bible verse. Matthew 22:39 - “Love your neighbor as yourself”

So please, do not hate gay people individually, hate the cult, not the people. Hate the sin, not the sinner. 

FIN.

[batmanisagatewaydrug]

reading updates: september 2023

AHOY EVERYBODY!!! the end of the month has really crept up on me and lo, I have no finished as many books as I thought I would by this point! but so it goes.

also I'm fighting for my life trying to get through all of the library books I have checked out, which is a bummer because there are a bunch of creepy books I want to start reading for Spooky Month! but time is an illusion and I've already made my peace with Spooky Month extending into November, so whatever happens happens, babey! but that's the future, right now we need to talk about what I've been reading for the past month.

A View from the Bottom: Asian American Masculinity and Sexual Representation (Nguyen Tan Hoang, 2014) - Nguyen's dissertation is a really fascinating piece of queer scholarship, which gets deep (pun somewhat intended) into forms of media often overlooked by academia - gay porn, softcore art films, gay indie documentaries - in search of a new understanding of Asian masculinity and bottomhood. I really like Nguyen's thoughtful study of bottoming, effeminacy, and sexual abjection, all of which he's pretty in favor of, balanced with analyses of the factors of race, class, nationality, and citizenship that complicate how gay Asian men are perceived. it's wide-ranging, it's meticulous, it's kind of hot? I love you, queers in academia.

"You Just Need to Lose Weight" and 19 Other Myths About Fat People (Aubrey Gordon, 2023) - god, okay, listen: this book was a little dry TO ME but ONLY BECAUSE I have already spent years listening to Aubrey Gordon discuss all 19 of these myths and a bunch of other shit on her excellent podcast, Maintenance Phase. if you don't listen to Maintenance Phase either start doing that or read this book! which is extremely well-researched and great for debunking pretty much every "justification" a person might off to try and make their fatphobia sound reasonable. frankly if I could load up copies of YJNTLW into, like, a t-shirt gun to just have on standby to fire at people, I would do that.

Sorry, Bro (Taleen Voskuni, 2023) - yeah you all already know about this book, which is the one in which a 27 year old brings the narrative to a screeching halt to assure the readers that it's okay for her to hook up with a 31 year old woman because despite the so-called age gap both of their brains are fully-cooked. that's not actually the worst part of this book; the worst part is that the prose is unpolished in the extreme and the main character is kind of a dumb asshole. cannot say I recommend it, no matter how desperate you may be for bisexual Armenian representation.

Brown and Gay in LA: The Lives of Immigrant Sons (Anthony Christian Ocampo, 2022) - I really like the way Ocampo writes his nonfiction, which is very chatty and extremely accessible (if a little prone to editorializing). I love seeing sociologists writing from the community the community they live in, and these interviews come from second generation queer Latino and Filipino men frequenting the same LA clubs and coffee shops as the gay second gen Filipino author. it kills the presumed spectator that a lot of writing on marginalized communities can fall victim to; here, it's not that brown gay men need to be explained, but rather outsiders who need to make the effort to keep up with their lives. I especially appreciated Ocampo's highlighting the disparity between Latino and Filipino men's experiences in education, where very different sets of racial stereotypes impact their ability to succeed in white-dominated school systems; if you're curious about why Latino and Filipino men are categorized together at all in this study I strongly recommend Ocampo's other book, the Latinos of Asia.

The Vanishing Half (Brit Bennett, 2020) - it's always kind of astonishing when something that was extremely hyped-up and buzzy turns out to actually be as good as all that, and the Vanishing Half really was that good. the premise of two light-skinned Black twins separating so that one can "pass over" and live her life as a white woman is compelling all on its own, but Bennett is so committed to every possible angle of this premise: what does it mean to live more than one life? what other ways are people more than one person? it shows up everywhere through this novel: in losing your twin, in transing your gender, in drag performances, in actors, in people moving to new towns where no one knows them and becoming someone else. the moment it really hit me that Bennet Got It was a completely innocuous sentence that identified a Korean restaurant owner in California as a man who had attended medical school in Korea - even this background character, who we'll hardly hear from again, has been a different person in a different life! everyone has these layers and layers and different sides of themselves and it's just beautifully executed. mwah. chef's kiss.

[bonesandpoemsandflowers]

Who do your friends think are hotter latinx dudes? (If it’s Pedro pascal or oscar Isaac - they’ve got worst taste tbh)

Like 97%+ of the Latin / Latino / Latine community, I'm not a huge fan of Latinx and consider this terminology to be an example of linguistic imperialism, but i am DELIGHTED to answer this question with a subset of dudes.

To clarify, though, as much as a meme and pout about it, I do get why my taste is different than theirs. I'm not ever too impressed by just looks--there's a lot of handsome dudes out there, who cares? like honestly, so what?--but I'm very attracted to movement and stance and motion. IRL, my party trick is that I can pick martial artists or dancers out of a crowd by how they stand or move, and I do this based purely on "is the way this dude stands sexy to me or not?" as opposed to any kind of objective criteria.

Accordingly, I married a life long martial artist who went goth clubbing with me enough times to ensure I'm obsessed with him for life. He's also the most amazing poet I've ever met and an actual certified genius, because fundamentally life is unfair. But the point is: movement, movement, movement. It's so important. I have a type, but not necessarily how people usually mean it.

And in the realm of pet actor men, David Castañeda moves way, way better than average, even if you judge him against other dudes trying to be action stars. So my friends are never going to convince me, and I'm never gonna convince them, and that's fine.

So anyway

Miguel Gomez is popular. I think it's the cheekbones. I know him as Gus from the Strain and everybody else has seen him on some other show that sounds like something I'd rather die than watch.

Both the dudes from Mayans MC are popular, and I actually do not disagree with either JD Pardo or Clayton Cardenas as a pick. I resisted watching the show for literally years, but eventually I caved and yeaaaaahhhhh. yeaaaah tho.

Every so often I'm insane about JD for like, a week or so. Fantastic tough guy yet nice boy energy on Mayans. I've said some thirsty ass shit on this account about him for SURE. Unfortunately, every time he posts a Muay Thai workout he's just so sloppy it kills my boner for like. months at a time. I flashback to my own summer in Phuket and can just see how disappointed my trainer would be if this dude was in his gym.

Clayton Cardenas I used to disagree about but he's a Miami boy, so. And like, with the biker styling? Look at him. If he had a dance or martial arts background I'd be a goner.

he also looks like the Hollywood (therefore prettier) version of every single metal Latino dude I've ever met. the 305 and 561 area code versions of this man have hollered at me more times than I can count. like, it's a charming sort of nostalgia. it's That Guy! that type of guy! i know That Guy! I made out with that guy under the bleachers in high school! etc etc. what a darling. the last version of That Guy who tried for me is now happily married and lives in LA and works in a pet crematorium. Very happy for him.

where was i

oh yeah, I have one friend who is obsessed with bad bunny and I guess maybe there's a dance background there maybe but I just do NOT vibe with it at ALL. the id is mysterious. he might just be too young for me? david is on thin ice, age wise, for me. any younger and I'd be repelled.

which is an interesting point, actually. I don't know how old you are, anon, but age might be another factor here. I'm in my mid 30s and CMOOOON

Oscar Isaac doesn't do it for you at least a little????

[jynjackets]

for the ask game your fav ship ever: bix/cassian 😍

omg my otp <3

dedicated to all four of the shippers aka my biggest fans mwah 😙

before i catch strays, here’s some optional background information under the cut

tbh, I would not give a single shit about this ship if:

-their dynamic and her character wasn’t written to be extremely sexist. it’s literally so fucking sad if i have to explain that fridging a woman who had zero significance outside of ‘caring about cassian’ is sexist. like. this character is unique in that she was purely, entirely made in bad faith. have you even questioned why she is the only latina? along with the fact that his biological sister was implied to be a prostitute?

- the ‘fans’ weren’t using it as a hateship by saying a background extra was meant for cassian just to hate on jyn before the show even fucking aired. i might believe there’s like 2 genuine people out there but that’s because they genuinely like to know the history before rebelcaptain. that said…

- the binian shippers who also ship rebelcaptain weren’t pretending they’re not insane misogynists for obsessing over a fictional man’s fictional sexual history, as if it is ONLY Cassian’s relationship with them that establishes these women’s importance; as if women literally don’t create their own importance lmao. and even if that extremely fucked-up logic had any truth, even then bin STILL loses

And also like, you idiot fans, please show me where the bin hate is. like WHERE?? because i would be liking and reblogging that shit. where is the hate that ISNT grounded in defending latinos and better writing for female characters? and don’t fucking show me a post from fucking 2022 because the fans made entirely of orientalist men-obsessed bitches are acting like they’re a persecuted minority

- the ‘fans’ weren’t fucking latinophobes and literally harassing me in my anons for being a latina speaking out against their favorite anti-black show. and whose biggest shipper wasn’t a racistass homophobicass first-world white woman in her 60s like 💀 i’m side-eyeing the fuck out of any of you who are even nice about this. you want to /not/ be called a misogynist sooo bad you’ll pretend one of the worst characters ever actually means something to you. let alone to latinas. and is that not weird?? that almost every latina in this fandom doesn’t like or just doesn’t care about this bitch? like who are you trying to fool?

- if the miss morbius actress wasn’t one of the worst people alive. i am so serious.

aside from her father being a piece of shit and one of the richest men men in latin america (meaning she’s a nepo baby, and if she has ever called herself poor she is literally lying), she’s dumb as bricks bruh. not a single brain cell behind anything she says. this is my post about her sexism with some dumb shit she’s said over the years. once in a while is understandable i guess but it’s every fucking time

she’s also a zionist

so yeah. otherwise I genuinely wouldn’t give a shit. i wish we had someone like q’ira which would make it super interesting how cassian ran into criminals before. THAT would say something about cassian and his moral departures in relationships and what that meant meeting jyn who was a rebel ‘on the wrong side’ versus q’ira who also had limited choices but different priorities in needing to rebel. she moreso ‘followed orders’ with maul which would make him understand and be familiar with someone like her. being with someone too similar to him AND contrasting in his morals would be an interesting development to see them need to break it off in order for them to grow.

but alas we have this shit. it’s pretty fucking hard to be a shipper and not fall into one of these categories of shitty fans i talked about. the least worst imo being having piss poor media literacy. so maybe you’re just a dumb don’t-know-better sexist instead of an intentionally malicious sexist. same shit to me tho.

[mad-rieux]

My family is Peruvian, and my family always told me about how dangerous the Shining Path were. How they were this guerilla group that burned down factories, and killed people.

However, I began doing some research completely unrelated to Peru for Bioethics about reproductive rights in the US. It was a reading by Angela Davis talking about how sterilization has often been used as form of genocide against African Americans, Latino's, and Native Americans.

Then I came across something called 'Plan Verde,' which I never heard of until last night. Essentially it starts with a corrupt president Alan Garcia in Peru. He tanks the economy, he's politically corrupt, 'disappears' people, tries to bomb the Shining Path's news paper building, has a paramilitary group trained by North Koreans to fight in Peru for him. He's exiled though after the military and corporate elite in Peru see him losing the country too much money.

During his last years they develop Plan Verde in 89'. Fujimori dissolves the Peruvian congress in a self-coup. With the backing of the NIS (Peruvian intelligence head), Vladimiro Montesinos, and the military. They put into play Plan Verde, which has three goals: Control the economy, control mass media, and exterminate the undesirables.

These "undesirables" are the poor and indigenous people. The ones that the Shining Path tend to represent. With plan Verde, the Peruvian government created the National Population Program, that is like the US version of the Indian Health Services. Their logo is like a cartoon of a happy family. Except they perform forced sterilizations of men and women, they do this to over 300,000 people. It's described as the worst act of genocide in Peruvian history since colonization.

This National Population Program is funded by USAID (US Agency for International Development). Mentesinos is also CIA bankrolled since he is against the Shining Path and any socialist/communist groups. Guess who they based their Plan Verde ideas from? Henry Kissinger, and his idea of lowering birthrates to combat economic drains.

This continued until 2000 when Fujimori was kicked out of office.

I know the Shining Path were violent, but when this is what they were fighting, it's makes you wonder what you would do?

[pumpumdemsugah]

Sometimes leftist thinkers ( I do not mean social media people) are so desperate poo poo identity politics they say the demonstrably stupid shit

This guy was talking about trump's election and said race had nothing to do with it and Black Americans pushed him over the line. 13% of the US population who voted for trump at 6% and 11% pushed him over the line ?!? and not the ridiculous amounts of white people? As far as I know, Black Americans have some of the lowest voting percentages for republicans. What are you talking about ?? Latinos and Asian Americans literally have a higher percentage of voting for republicans and the Latino population is growing

Why make shit up about something you can look up and we have percentages for ?

Yes, trump did increase the share of Black people that vote for him but overwhelming Black people in the US do not vote for republicans, even with this increase 89% for black men and 94% for Black women not voting for republicans is more than statistically significant. This is widely known

[lewisvinga]

There was massive discourse yesterday because a guy had entered all of the f1 x reader tags bacalao demanding that woman write for m!readers and basically guilt tripping at the end. It asked asks then said it male men fell short when no one writes for them. Then, a few seconds later, he answered one of his ask and said he’s not comfortable with writing for anyone except for men and ftm which is fine. Everyone has their preference.

But we got everyone upset is the fact that he’s saying that it’s not fair that women are only writing for women when men in the fanfiction community barely get representation. And then he turns around and says he’s not comfortable writing for women. Can you see the hypocrisy?

And then, a few hours later, he decided to address women as “females” and one of his ask that he also put in all of the F1 X reader tags. And said that “females act like they’re the only ones in the world and act, like only females, read fanfiction”

First of all, referring to women, as females is kind of gross. Even if that’s what they are, it’s gross, referring to people as males and females. I don’t know why, but it feels so gross.

Second of all, someone, another m!reader writer, came out of the woodwork saying that everyone was being dramatic and he wasn’t being misogynistic or asking anyone to write for m!readers. He said that they were just complaining, and everybody in the comments decided to go tell them to write it themselves.

Everyone in the comments was telling them that women might not feel comfortable writing for anyone outside of their gender and if they really want something then they have to write it themselves because they aren’t gonna get it by complaining

Bro, it was a whole entire thing. And then the one who decided to jump in all of us sudden said that it wasn’t that serious, but he and the other guy were the ones who made it so serious 😭

I’m pretty sure all the stuff is still there if you really wanna see it. You’re probably gonna have to scroll for a bit in the tags now, but the ones I recommend using is f1 smau, I think. That or f1 x reader.

No one was being rude, everyone was just trying to tell them that, just like he doesn’t like writing for women, some women don’t like writing for men. We were also trying to tell them that when women tend to write for men, men come into their ask, and Berate them for doing so, so they want to refrain from doing that so they won’t get hate sent their way

It was a whole thing and honestly so entitled of the m!readers. Here’s the thing, you’re allowed to be upset that there’s a lack of stuff representing you and your community, but to come into the tag, where people want to write and say, “I request for some people to write for m!reader because it’s not fair, we don’t get enough representation and I can’t do it myself because I don’t want to, and I’m not good at writing”

Let me just tell you, that man has written before, and seemed absolutely fine with it. He also had the goal to say that men don’t get Much representation on social media at all. Especially the fanfiction community. Which is blatantly wrong. There is a huge community of people just for male readers on this app. On Wattpad. On archive of our own. I just don’t think he wants to look for it, or be a part of it.

The person that randomly said that he meant that he’s just sick of seeing people right for male reader, and then women come and say, “can we get that but in Female reader” that’s exactly what they’re doing to us.

I just wanted to catch you up on the all the drama if you didn’t know. It’s over now, I think. But it was wild. His post reeked of entitlement, so people rightfully called him out for it, and then somebody act like we were attacking him is basically the td;or

omg i saw that and felt SO MANY THINGS ABT IT🙃🙃

like i kinda understand where he’s coming from😕, like sometimes i wish there was more latina rep on this app, but yall don’t see me putting the blame on non latino writers ???? i write that stuff myself and don’t guilt trip others 💀

and women aren’t entitled to write for male readers just because they’re underrepresented. just like non latinos don’t have to write for latina reader etc etc.

i know that i, as a woman, don’t feel comfortable at all writing for male reader because guess what? i’m simply not a man! i don’t feel comfortable writing for male/masculine aligning reader ( but that’s just me, perhaps other women are fine w it 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️)

but it’s very hypocritical to come at women for not writing for male reader just to turn around and say you don’t feel comfortable writing for fem reader when the same applies to a lot of female writers like myself 😕😕

i already write all my fics for free because i like to write and this app lets me have a way to let my creativity go. i’m not going to spend my free time writing something i don’t feel comfortable with. 😕😕😕

i understand they’re frustrated but they can’t put the blame on other female writers, esp if they criticize the ones that do write male readers 🤷‍♀️

but so many of us are doing this for free and we’re doing it for fun, and it’s fanfiction! of course we’re gonna write about what we relate to the most! 😩 and sometimes you just have to take matters into your own hands if you wanna see more representation, 🙁 like how i’ll write latina reader bc simply i want more latina rep and i don’t mind taking matters into my own hands !

( also, men referring to women as ‘females’ is SO icky. yeah it’s the scientific name or whatvr but whenever i see a man use the term ‘females’ it’s always followed by something misogynistic so it just always feels icky and gross )

[justinspoliticalcorner]

kos at Daily Kos:

In the days after Donald Trump’s infamous Nazi rally at Madison Square Garden where a comedian called Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage,” Republicans demanded people “get over” their feelings, claiming that it was just a “joke.” Trump walked around claiming he knew nothing about the comedian, as if the controversy was about his personal Rolodex and not what people were saying in his name, at his rallies, with his implied consent.  Here’s what’s particularly funny: The racism on display at that rally didn’t just break through the cacophony of Trump scandals, but it is Republicans who helped amplify it—and made the consequences worse for Trump and the GOP. 

As a reminder, here’s what MAGA comedian Tony Hinchcliffe said to warm up the crowd of Trump faithful: “There’s a lot going on. I don’t know if you know this but there’s literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean right now. I think it’s called Puerto Rico.”  Then he kept going. “And these Latinos, they love making babies too,” Hinchcliffe said. “Just know that. They do. They do. There’s no pulling out. They don’t do that. They come inside. Just like they did to our country.” 

The “roast” comedian went on to make racist jokes about Black people, Jews, and Palestinians. Weirdly, he made zero jokes about white evangelical conservative men.  Trump and his surrogates could’ve done something crazy: apologize. The Republican presidential nominee could’ve taken the stage that same night and said, “Woah, that’s not what I stand for.” While it’s totally what he stands for, the media would’ve fallen for it because they love nothing more than giving Trump the benefit of the doubt. But he couldn’t apologize, because he believes it. He literally wanted to trade Puerto Rico for Greenland.  A couple of days later, President Joe Biden delivered a Rorschach test of a sentence in which he was saying that Hinchcliffe was garbage, but MAGA pretended he said all Trump supporters were garbage. Because they are the weirdest people in the world, they decided to walk around wearing trash bags and calling each other trash. They were still on that this weekend.

[...] By wearing trash bags and talking about garbage and riding around in garbage trucks, these Pennsylvania Latinos think Republicans are doubling down on the insult. And even if Latino voters don’t make that connection, Republicans who continue to talk about garbage are keeping the original story alive. 

The Republicans handling of the Tony Hinchcliffe’s racist set may be coming to rear its ugly head and cost them the Presidency.

[sophiesbookishthings]

June Reads 🌈

Hi! I've got a little preface before this month's list. Every June I like to try to exclusively read books with LGBTQ+ rep. I do tend to kind of do that throughout the year anyway since I'm queer (biromantic asexual and nonbinary) and that's just the type of books I naturally seek out. But in June I make a point of it and try to read books where they are specifically the main character. It's also preferable if the author is also LGBTQ+ in some way. I believe representation in the media is extremely important and I like to support that whenever I can. Anyway, buckle up, this one is gonna be long.

Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao

This book has 3(!) asian bisexual polyamorous main characters by an asian nonbinary queer author. This book was like if ancient China met Pacific Rim, then make it queer and feminist. I was not in love with the first part of this book. The main character was (understandably) out for revenge but didn't seem to really think through her plans well. She was also really mean. It did make sense for the character at the time, though and it made sense, since she really didn't think she would live long enough to have further plans or for it to matter that she was mean. It was just a bit frustrating to read. She did have character development throughout the book and did ultimately turn her anger specifically back toward the oppressive government. I loved watching each dynamic of the romance develop throughout the book. I think it was really well done, and the three characters fit really well together. It was also a great contrast to the harrowing dark nature of the rest of the plot. Then the ending! The ending was such a great payoff from the rest of the book. The twist was foreshadowed so well, and I did pick up on it a bit. I knew something was up with the "aliens." The second book is supposed to be out later this year, I believe, and I can't wait to read it.

4.75/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨️

Leather and Lark by Brynn Weaver

Okay, this one isn't lgbt. Oops. I had it preordered and had to read it immediately. I do think I liked the first book in the series a bit more, but this one was still fun. It was kinda enemies to lovers and had a marriage of convenience. The fmc basically did arts and crafts with her victims (who were typically child abusers/molesters), and the mmc was a professional crime coverer. I really liked how hard the mmc worked throughout the book to be forgiven for things that happened when the 2 mcs first met and the gradual reveal of why it was so bad for the fmc in the first place. I'm excited to read the next book because I feel like the two main characters are going to be super interesting.

4.25/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨️

Edgedancer by Brandon Sanderson

.....Okay, I did another non-lgbt one. But it's Sanderson, and it's a novella okay. I don't really have much to say about this one except that Wyndle deserves financial compensation or something. That poor spren is going through it. I'm really intrigued to see how Lift is going to deal with being a Radiant and interacting with the others in Oathbringer after this book, though. I think she's gonna add a lot more chaos, and it's gonna be fun. Oh, and I still love Szeth, and someone needs to help him. I know he's a notorious assassin, but he is the saddest, wettest, most pathetic guy, and he's having a whole existential crisis.

4.25/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨️

Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas

This one was really good. I've had it on my shelf for a while. I get why everyone was talking about it a few years ago (when I should've read it lol oops). The main character is a gay transgender Latino (same as the author) boy whose family can summon spirits and heal. Powers which are unfortunately traditionally gender based. Through the book, he tries to prove to his family that he belongs with the men of the family while also helping a spirit he kinda accidentally raised. I really loved Julian, and the eventual relationship between him and Yadriel was really sweet. I listened to this one on audio, and I have to mention that I loved Avi Roque as the narrator. They did a great job. Then there were two twists at the end, one I saw coming, and one I didn't. The one I didn't see coming was really neat and made a lot of sense considering there is supposed to be a sequel.

4/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Loveless by Alice Oseman

I tried to read this book at least twice before I finally got through the whole thing. I had to get it in audiobook cause that is my trick to getting through books that are hard for me to get through for whatever reason. And it absolutely wasn't because I didn't like it. It was the exact opposite. Alice Oseman never fails to make me cry when she writes aro/ace characters. She herself is aro/ace, I believe, and the way she writes her aro/ace characters is the closest I think I've ever read/seen in media to my own experience. This book felt too much like looking into a mirror, and that made me have A Lot of Feelings. Even trying to read it this time was tough, and it took me a while. Georgia's experience navigating through the transition between college and high school felt a lot like mine. Though, her college experience ultimately went significantly better. Her desire for connections felt a lot like mine. Though she did achieve that in a way, I very much did not. I loved the various representation in this book. Sunil was a particular favorite of mine. And i loved that they were Shakespeare theatre kids. Very much like me lol. Ultimately, I really loved the conclusion that friendships can be just as important and fulfilling as romantic or sexual relationships.

4/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

I liked this book a lot. I love a good morally gray woman who won't apologize for her questionable choices. I also love a good queer period piece. And this book is mostly set in old Hollywood which fascinates me because of the contrast of how glamorous it looks versus how much of a nightmare it actually was for anyone who wasn't a straight cis white male in a position of power. There was also a really sweet found family element in this book, and I'm always a sucker for that. It also had an interesting narrative structure, which I enjoyed, because it was framed as an interview. So this book really checked a lot of boxes for me.

4.75/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨️

The Emperor and the Endless Palace by Justinian Huang

I really liked the premise of this book. Two men meet in ancient China, fall in love, and meet over and over again throughout various lifetimes. The endless palace concept intrigued me as well. Unfortunately, the execution fell flat for me. I wanted this to be a love story, and I think it was supposed to be, but it felt like more of a lust story. And there's nothing wrong with that, but it felt weird to me when it was framed as a love story and then barely delivered. It didn't feel like the two protagonists actually got time to get to know each other and fall in love before they were declaring that they were in love, especially in the lives they live after the first. And this declaration happened later in the book as well. There was very little romantic development. It would have been more interesting to me if they had to make the effort to fall in love in each life, but it never seemed like they did. Even in the first lifetime, it seemed like their love was orchestrated. It also never explained why they were reincarnating. I think the jade thing was supposed to be the reason, but it wasn't explained well at all. And, considering the title, I thought the endless palace would come into play a bit more. It didn't. It was mentioned briefly that the palace was seemingly endless, and that was about it. Ultimately, the ending failed to pull the whole story together like I hoped it would. I basically got 0 emotional effect from this. I felt like basically nothing happened and that there were so many loose ends that were just left unexplained. And if you do choose to read this tw for sexual assault/coercion.

The First Bright Thing by J. R. Dawson

2.5/5 ⭐️⭐️✨️

When We Lost Our Heads by Heather O'Neill

This book was weird. But I kinda loved it, I think. The two girls the story centers on, Marie Antoine and Sadie Arnett, are based on Marie Antoinette and the Marquis de Sade (which is directly referenced in the book and it made me laugh). It follows them through years of both their friendship and rivalry and how Maire's privilege and Sadie's libertinism impact their relationship (both platonic and romantic). It has very heavy themes of 19th-century feminism which can seem very harsh at times when read through a lense of modern feminism, but I do think it was ultimately executed well. It also had themes of classism and the privileges that come with being in the highest upper class and how that can affect ones beliefs. It's also very queer. I was a little worried about the way it was queer at first because it seemed pretty heavy on hating men but i think that was very much due to the time period and the extreme amount of priveledge men had in the lives these women were living in. This book also had a few twists that, even though I picked up on a little early, still made me gasp when it was revealed. And every character in this book is flawed and kinda awful in some way, which was part of what made it such a fascinating book to me. Like I said, I love morally questionable women.

5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I kept seeing and almost picking this book up at the bookstore until I finally just got it on audio from the library. This book had found family and a magic circus. But it also had a pretty prevalent theme of the effects of an abusive relationship that kinda caught me off guard because that wasn't necessarily stated in the description of this book. It was actually one of the strongest elements of this book, I thought, so it seems odd to me that it wasn't one of the main points of the description. Then there is a plot point in which they try to stop WWII. I think this book could have been just as good or even better if that had been excluded because it didn't really seem to go anywhere. But also upon reflection, I believe the point of it was to show that even though terrible things may happen in the future you can't necessarily change them and have to live in and make the most of the present. And I kind of love that as a concept. I really liked the relationship between the ringmaster and her wife. They were really sweet and another one of the strongest parts of the book as well as the friendship between them and their other friend who helps them run the circus. I think I still have more thoughts about this book, but this is already long, and I'm not coherent enough to articulate them lol

3.75/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️✨️