#their power lesbian producer

[yuttikkele]

I am so sorry to announce it to the crowd, but Veneer being bisexual is WAYYYY more likely than Velvet being anything but a bright and shining lesbian. She wouldn’t touch a man with a ten foot pole. I don’t think Veneer is bi either; I’m just saying he’s more likely to be bi than his flaming sister.

[weebsinstash]

the brand new Angel Dust song that just came out has me thinking how absolutely fucked a Reader who is a dancer/musician/singer/producer would be with a yandere Valentino because it really does seem like, coming off of just the general materials and vibes I'm getting, that Valentino also turns his pornstars into sort of miniature celebrities, dare I say, idols even, which would maybe inherently fit the theme of Hazbin Hotel being a musical sort of show at heart. People break out into song, Asmodeus runs a club where music is performed, Angel sings as he strips, Alastor just... as is like just his entire aesthetic and musical number was 🤌, sing about being horny, sing about being addicted, sing about being sad, I dunno there's just an inherent love of music in all of it

I've never really posted about it in detail but I've thought of the ever so elusive MALE READER x Valentino (or transdude/intersex Reader because like, I guess i would, have to, accurately research what having a dick would feel like for smut of that and, I don't know, it's my turn on the gender power fantasy and I say--)

Male Reader who just keeps to himself and waits on Val's table "because you're too stiff, you'll scare off other customers" and one night the Overlord just catches you seemingly alone sweeping floors/cleaning while dancing/singing something, that whole trope where you just don't see him or have your eyes closed and practically do a full musical number until you notice him, just like seating himself in a chair, smoking a cigar, looking at you all smug and horny and thinking of all the different things he could use you (and your holes) for

Absolutely does he exploit weakness and if you don't have a prior addiction, he'll get you one. He'll shotgun something straight into your mouth, mix something into your weed, put a pill in your drink, nudge you towards that alcohol you're trying to stay away from, he'll do it all. He'll get you so fucked up your entire body is buzzing and you're stumbling and you can barely even move and that's when he pounces on you, doing whatever he wants, looking at whatever he wants, touching wherever he wants, and you might not even remember it afterwards and you'll only find out when he shoves his phone full of pictures in your face to mock you

You can't stay closeted/hiding an interest for men around this creep because he'd be secretly feeding you like ecstacy or something that loosens your lips and has you blabbing all your secrets and feelings to him in a horny fucked up haze. The blackmail potential with this dude is IMMENSE. He'd get you fucked up and delirious and film a cell phone shot of you taking his dick and threaten to show it to everyone he wants to unless you do whatever he says (and he's already showing it to people behind your back anyways, but, it's to be gross and coo over how cute and sexy you look taking his loads, stuff like that)

Valentino would take that passion and talent for music that you have and do something gross with it. Oh you're an actor, huh? Good, good, so your reaction will be experienced and authentic when he asks you to bring him a coffee on set and suddenly you're being literally dog-piled on by like 5 ripped hung hellhounds while cameras are rolling :) he thinks he might have an interest in your body, oh, suddenly there's a mandatory employee calendar photoshoot where you he to wear a thong or something skimpy and he can see everything but your genitals (and can tell whatever the situation down there is if you were trying to hide it. Fat ass? Exposed. Secretly a grower/hung? Exposed.)

At the end of the day you're his bottom bitch no matter how big or tough or maybe not even gay you are, because he even has lesbians cuddle up to him for Hot Girl Clout and that shit was on his Instagram. Everything's about him having pretty trophies and nice things and pampering himself while treating others like shit. Yeah, you'll be his little caged pet he obsesses over, but you'll be a very decorated, very well-fed, very financially spoiled little caged pet. If you're gonna get regularly railed by some nasty huge egotistical demon, it might as well come with some sweet perks like a deep bank account and all the luxuries his self-absorbed ass can afford, right?

[aangarchy]

My younger cousin (16) watched tlok season 3 for the first time. Here's her opinion of the characters

Korra: "is it bad that she got more attractive to me when she was suffering?" Me: "idk, maybe?" Her: "... i'll talk abt it in therapy don't worry"

Asami: "i'm so confused is there something between her and Korra???" Me: "you know i'm not gonna tell you" Her: "yeah i hate it when you do that."

Mako: "alright he got more tolerable this season i'll give you that"

Bolin: "and he got worse. So sorry" Me: "but the lavabending?" Her: oh yeah that was cool. He still sucks tho"

Tenzin: "now THAT is Aang's son right there. That shit was bad-fucking-ass."

Bumi: "again, now THAT is Aang's son. THOSE are his children. Not the shitty adults we saw last season"

Kya: "a lesbian?" Me: "doesn't get confirmed til the comics" Her: "oh for FUCKS SAKE"

Jinora: "i love her i cherish her she's the smartest and most powerful character in this show she beats everyone else"

Kai: "he reminds me too much of my brother and i don't like that"

Ikki & meelo: "they're still annoying i'm so sorry"

Lin Beifong: "she needs therapy"

Suyin Beifong: "of all the characters i expected, i didn't think Toph would get the messiest. Like not one but TWO baby daddies? Man. Suyin is cool as hell tho but she does give awkward soccer mom vibes"

Opal: "does she have more personality other than 'sweet cute girl for bolin to bang?'"

Zaheer: "best villain this universe ever produced only for him te become absolutely pathetic in the end bc bolin pushed a sock into his mouth. They should have kept him stoic and scary. He was so cool until that exact moment and they HAD to have a dumb bolin one liner. I'm so mad about this if you couldn't tell"

P'li: "sparky sparky boom WOMAN. A win for feminism."

Ming Hua: "i still think young Katara would beat her in a fight and i'd pay good money to see it."

Ghazan: "i have a rlly good joke about him" Me: "ok shoot" Her: "he's mista Lava Lava" *burts out laughing*

Lord Zuko: "ngl i screamed when i saw him on screen maybe i do like his character"

Varrick & Zhu Li: "HOW MANY CHARACTERS ARE IN THIS SEASON JESUS" Me: "and we haven't even gone over the president yet" Her: "oh my GOD"

[gorgxoxus]

Ranking the Bridgerton books:

1. The Viscount Who Loved Me - 4 ⭐️. Kate and Anthony’s book is number 1 because the characters were true to themselves throughout the book, I understood their motives and that made them amazing characters to follow as they fall in love with each other. It’s a great rivals to lovers, and seeing their love grow is beautiful. It made me giddy with happiness, kick my feet, cringe and made me almost cry. The angsty first time sex scene was everything I needed it to be. Season 2 was amazing, and the book is almost better!!

2. ⁠When He Was Wicked - 4⭐️. Side note before I get into it: I loved Micheal’s familial relationships in this book, as he grew up with his mother and Johns mother as parental figures, and I consider those two lesbian icons.

I loved reading Francesca and Micheal’s story. When you meet them before their story begins in earnest you see their friendship, and they immediately jumped out of the page as two people who have a fun and interesting connection as friends and ‘cousins/ family’ (they’re not actually cousins, Micheal is John’s cousin). When you meet them four years after John’s death, they have to work to become friends again. In the midst of that you see that Micheal respects Francesca as the countess of Kilmartin as he left her in charge as he left England for four years. Because Michael and Francesca are technically family (Micheal becomes the new Earl of Kilmartin when John dies) and share some residencies the lack of propriety is expected so they are alone together. It brings them together and it lets them do wicked and sexy acts to each other, especially when the story moves to Scotland and they are alone together in the Scottish country-side ( and Francesca’s been married, the power dynamics in the bedroom were 🥵🥵❤️❤️). It was beautiful to see Francesca experience love and desire after loss, and after expecting to get married again just to produce a child (and also keep the Kilmartin name and estates she’s run for years, and her connection with Micheal and John).

3. ⁠ It’s in His Kiss - 4⭐️. Hyacinth and Gareth are the most well matched characters in the series. Hyacinth is such a riot and never shuts up and Gareth is her match. The banter between them is amazing. Hyacinth and Gareth have a shared goal in the book which makes it interesting and gets them into all kinds of trouble. As Hyacinth is a person who knows who she is, that also translated to the best first kiss and first time, as she was taking as much control as she could. There is some dodgy lines of consent in this series, and I appreciated the full and out loud consent Hyacinth gave at all steps. They’re great characters to read about, and Lady Danbury plays a prominent role which is so much fun.

4. ⁠Romancing Mr Bridgerton - 4⭐️. Colin and Penelope’s story ranks fourth because Colin is one of the worst men in this series, with his anger and resentment and hurt he causes Penelope both emotionally and physically were hard to read. I love Penelope in the book, 28 year old her is quietly confident and has some of the best lines of the whole series. This book also highlighted friendship, between Pen and Lady Danbury, Pen and the Bridgertons especially Eloise and Hyacinth and Pen and Colin. I also appreciate this book as the Lady Whistledown plot running parallel to the love story gave it intrigue and drama, and made up for the fact that the romance was very middle of the road.

5. ⁠To Sir Phillip, With Love - 3⭐️. I was nervous about reading Eloise and Phillip’s love story because I had heard bad things about it, but it was fine. Phillip is a bad man, but all the men are in this series. I appreciated that Phillip knew he was bad and wanted to change himself and started to make changes in the small amount of time we had with him in the book, I respected his growth. Eloise is great, of course, speaks her mind, is talkative and interesting. I don’t think they are the most well matched couple but I had an enjoyable time reading the book and I think when they did communicate it did work. Phillips kids from his first marriage are a riot and very well written as children in my opinion. I do read Eloise as queer in the books, she literally runs away from home to a guy she’s never met because Penelope, her bestie she was planning to grow old together as a spinster, got married.

Side note: Penelope, Eloise and Francesca (to Micheal) get married in the same year and month in the books, poor Violet.

6. ⁠On the Way to the Wedding - 3⭐️. Gregory and Lucy had an interesting story (there was action, twists and turns, guns, blackmail, a gay character), but I don’t think they are well matched. Gregory believes so much about true love after watching the rest of his family marry for love, and Lucy values looking after her family and order. They didn’t convince me they were meant to be, they clearly loved each other but was it enough? I was definitely getting jaded near the end of reading the series. And I kept thinking that Lucy is like 17 (she’s the youngest of all the wives by a few years) and Gregory is 26, their age gap really took me out of the story.

7. ⁠The Duke and I - 2.5⭐️. Just watch season 1, the book is almost the same with a little less characterisation and less exciting and beautiful sets and costumes. I respected Simon’s hold on his values, but it definitely conflicted with Daphne’s. I wanted to smash their heads together to communicate. As with the show, the best part is when they are fake courting.

8. ⁠An Offer from a Gentleman - 1.5⭐️

Benedict and Sophie’s story ended up being my least favourite. I actually think Benedict and Sophie are well matched, but some of the things in this book really annoyed me. Benedict is the worst Bridgerton man/ sibling because of inexcusable actions he made in this book. I respected and enjoyed Sophie until she did something totally and completely out of character and then I stopped respecting her. My favourite part was when they met, my least favourite part was almost everything else.

[familyabolisher]

you mentioned something about knights when you were talking about Joan of arc and i was wondering if you could expand on it? or link something that shared your perspective?

a lot of what people are drawing on when they talk about eg. "butch knights" or otherwise use knights as an articulation of a particular (generally non-normative) mode of gender is located within the chivalric imaginary. broadly speaking, chivalry as a european cultural phenomenon emerged in the literature of the late crusading era, largely fermented in the chrysalis of nostalgia for christian conquest and rule of the so-termed 'holy land' in west asia; crusading, in turn, was of course a bloodthirsty practice of christian conquest leading to the slaughter of vast swathes of muslim and jewish populations—cf. for example, the rhinelands pogroms or the aftermath of the siege of jerusalem in 1099, or the siege of maarat in 1098. chivalry as a cultural construct was significantly steeped in a desire to reconcile the military practices of knights with the guidance of the church, and the paradigmatic 'chivalric knight' was one whose military prowess or whatever could be matched by his piety. we see this effort to reconcile the 'worldly' with the spiritual as a galvanising force in much of the key works of chivalric lit; chrétien de troyes' perceval being a key example, or the narrative tensions around lancelot and galahad throughout the arthurian canon. the point is: chivalry is a phenomenon loyal to medieval european christianity, and deference to a medieval imaginary is most often reactionary. (cf., for example, the weight held by nostalgia for the 'chivalric era' in the ruling class of the antebellum american south.)

in chivalry and violence in medieval europe, richard kaeuper writes against the impetus to take the romantic image of the chivalric knight (as we may find in, say, chrétien de troyes) at face value, and urges us as historians to understand instead that many of our sources on the chivalric imaginary were produced as part of a reform effort promoting this idealised cultural construct. the natural follow-on here, of course, is that a reform effort must have a particular political tempering, and—imo—a meaningful queer politic of gender should be capable of understanding and reckoning with that political tempering which continues to hold currency in the present day rather than borrowing what we like and discarding what we don't.

like…knights are a state militia, chivalry is a social relation constructed around that fact, steeped in the presumed supremacy of the church, and loyal to the primary governing power. these very vague ideas around deference to 'ladies' (drawing on a romanticisation of the ruling class, ofc) can't really be separated from their broader social setting and the relations of power that chivalry sought to articulate and affirm. in short: it's very very white and it's very very goyish.

this isn't to say that like, everyone who does this has to Stop Immediately or else they're directly endorsing the ideological thorniness that chivalry invokes, but i do think it's worth spending some time with what it is that makes these cultural histories a) hold currency in the present discourse and b) appeal specifically to a lesbian/butch/transmasc/etc. imaginary. what are we trying to integrate ourselves into and what ideological hegemons are we trying to resist, and are we succeeding? can we be more imaginative?

[also—this was a very broad overview off the top of my largely unqualified head. would recommend going away and reading more about the history of chivalry + chivalric lit + the crusades if you're interested; the kaeuper text is a good starting-point.]

[sugar-grigri]

How to carry out a successful attack?

I'm going to give a quick review, as this is a transitional chapter intended to lead into the action of the next chapter, but it's still packed with juicy information.

The first few pages give quite a lot of information about the weapons…

Their relationship with death is interesting: one sees it as a divine consecration, the other finds it not bad, and Miri is the only one to face up to his own condition in this respect.

Not being afraid of death means not having too much trouble giving it…

Miri convinces himself it's a heavenly intervention, not because he finds the idea of being superhuman interesting, but because it relieves him of responsibility for the massacre he's about to commit.

For this massacre was inevitably destined to be extremely cruel, amputating people and leaving them screaming in agony to attract Chainsaw Man.

Miri convinces himself to stare at the clock and not look down at the child crying in front of him.

As for the weapons of the whip and spear, they pay no attention to their surroundings, one hiding behind her sunglasses, the other focusing on his cigarette.

This case shows the paradox surrounding Miri: as I've already detailed, he's not at all free, he's self-convincing in a kind of denial, but he's well and truly instrumentalized by the church.

He has no desire to spread suffering, yet he carries out the order assigned to him.

Non-observance of his environment is what made them lose in reality, believing that their intervention was celestial indicates that they were no longer paying attention to the concrete, loving to verge on overpowering and despising humans to the point of deciding what will make them suffer the most.

Quanxi used the opposite strategy: like a predator carefully examining her prey, she didn't put herself forward and focused on her mission. (Yes, if Quanxi imitates the feline by growling, it's not just to make lesbians scream, although it does have its effect…)

If she waited 5:00PM piles, it's because the public hunters wanted to make it look as if the attack had indeed been carried out by the church, in order to disengage public opinion and support them.

The paradox here is that Quanxi has indeed neutralized the threat, having killed the 3 weapons, even though a unit of hunters will be dispatched.

The 3 weapons were associated with specific demons: whip, spear and sword, none of which could produce the sound of gunfire.

My hypothesis is that the unit sent in simulated the attack by firing into the void to provoke general panic.

It's for this reason that the newspaper doesn't know the number of victims, and we also see a lot of hesitation on the part of the presenter: he only has one source of information (the State), and it's deliberately fragmentary.

We also see information on the workings of the church: the real leaders of the church are the ones who centralize information, while Haruka is just an empty shell (as we suspected) who is only there to recruit young people.

The attack wasn't even communicated to the guru, nor to this man who knows all about weapons. What's more, he uses the ambiguous term "weapons", but does he know what they actually are ?

Fujimoto is looking to develop the relationship between Asa and Denji, so what better way than to set up a rival - a rival who alone would be up to the task of countering Quanxi's power?

Ladies and gentlemen, nb hoes… her return has been announced…

[imakatperson22]

I’m back with more thoughts:

(It’s long but I put a lot of effort into it so please read!):

I’m seeing a lot of concern for buddie’s canon potential from a network/business standpoint. People are worried it will be too much of a gamble for the network to go all in on buddie. Let’s break that gamble down:

(This is considering the sole factor of network strategy and not whether the actors are willing to do it or if the writer’s choose to go down that road. For the sake of argument, let’s say everyone is on board except network execs.)

Let’s start by looking at the environment of the television industry. Back in ye olden days, at the dawn of modern fandom, queer ships were not ever expected to be canon. Those who shipped them had this understanding and shipping largely remained a thought experiment or creative inspiration. It was always JUST FOR FUN because there were no meaningful consequences to it. In this era, it probably would’ve been a bad bet to introduce a queer love story because we hadn’t reached a place in society where it was not only tolerated but rooted for by a meaningful amount of a show’s audience.

Today is an entirely different ball game. Today queer people have gained enough power in society and proven they will consume media involving queer romance enough to make it profitable to include these plots. Today, we as a community have enough allies who also have a desire to see our stories told. Coupled with internet fanfiction and social media platforms, we now have the opportunity to engage in a pseudo dialogue with those who produce content. Now, shipping and fandoms have reached a point where our voices and our opinions do actually have weight to them. Now, we have the opportunity to affect change to a piece of media. We have somewhat of a say. There are now consequences to our actions.

It’s a risk, yes, to get the two (until recently, presumably heterosexual) main macho male leads together because of homophobia. But this show already has a lesbian couple. The viewers who will leave if buddie gets together because “the writer’s turned them gay” are probably not the same fans who are tuning in every week without fail to watch their favorite characters. They’re more likely casual viewers. They come and go, drifting in and out because it’s something to put on in the background or because the rescues are interesting. So yes, it’s quite possible viewers abandon the show due to buddie canon, but these fans were likely not a solid, dependable group in the first place.

On the other hand, it IS also a gamble to NOT make Buddie canon. This is the (flag)ship (flagship ship?) of the show. Not every loyal viewer ships them, but probably most do, and they do so strongly. If they shut the door on Buddie becoming canon, this will absolutely alienate a hefty chunk of the shows viewers as well. If they don’t walk the line close enough on the “will they, won’t they”, these fans will get frustrated with the lack of payoff and leave. Gone are the days where fandoms stay satisfied if the show tosses them a crumb, a wink in their direction, for their ship because now the option for more is on the table. We know the network knows what we want. We know they see us asking for it. Ignoring it in and of itself is a decision. Competition is stiff and if you decide not to capitalize on fans’ desire for queer romance, they have other options. If they choose to not make buddie canon, many of these viewers will also abandon the show. The difference is this group is the one who’s coming back every week for their love of the characters. This group is the one generating the hype on social media and flooding the internet with fan edits. This group also attracts viewers.

So. Here we are. Two decisions. Both will cost fans. How many fans? Who knows. But only one will also attract them. And that’s the thing. Keeping the status quo isn’t going to generate hype around the show. Only one decision will bring new viewers in. How many people have we seen online say “I’ve never watched this show before, but now that I’ve heard about it, I’m curious.” How many of you reading this came to this show for that reason? We’ve already seen this happen with the bisexual Buck storyline. The ratings for that episode are the highest in the season. The internet is abuzz about it.

Another unique position the show finds itself in is that all the groundwork for a Buddie storyline has already been laid. They could easily avoid falling into the trap of shameless bad fan service because the ball is already tee’d up. They just need to knock it out of the park.

I firmly believe that making buddie canon, if the story is told with skill and care, is the right bet. I believe that not making buddie canon is a greater risk to the show’s revenue. From a business standpoint, buddie canon is the better choice. Whether or not the network execs choose to do so remains to be seen, but I have hope.

If you’re still here, thank you for reading. Here’s a cookie as your reward 🍪.

[seireitonin]

Some Jane hcs?

🖤Yes :3 luv her 🖤 (will be going off Jane R, the canon one not Jane A. I love the lesbian representation Jane R is! :) Also some of these are gonna be canon)

Jane was a woman with a normal life

The two suburban parents, normal school life, normal love life

Just normal and happy

Her and Mary met in high school

Mary was a cheerleader and Jane being her best friend at the time watched and supported her

Jane didn’t realize she was a lesbian till she saw Mary with a boyfriend in high school and got extremely jealous and didn’t understand why

And Jane never liked a boy before but she knew she felt something for Mary

When Mary and her boyfriend broke up Jane and her cuddled as Jane comforted her and they shared their first kiss

They stayed together ever since then

Even though it was the 90s/ 2000s when they started dating most people accepted them

Jane’s parents included

They got married as soon as they were able to

Jane’s normal life continued with Mary until her parents were killed by an at the time 19 year old Jeff

Jane was absolutely devastated and wracked with grief

She stayed in bed not moving for months

Some days she just cried and screamed and nothing else

She also got paranoid

What if he tried to hurt Mary next?

How could Jane let that happen?

She couldn’t

So she did research on Jeff like crazy

It was really unhealthy

Also took self defense classes and made Mary take some too

But with all Jane read about this guy, she knew that still wouldn’t be enough

She wanted to avenge her parents, the police were useless in helping

She wanted to protect Mary, Jane can’t bare to loose the love of her life

So what’s the answer to those problems?

Take a risky government observed and produced experimental drug called Liquid Hate of course!

She went into the facility blank faced, telling them they could experiment on her

Inject her with as much as they needed

Make her stronger and she would do anything for them

She was willing to throw away her old life completely for revenge

Jane didn’t care. In her mind any chance she had at a “normal life” died with her parents

She would be too afraid, too full of grief and pain and paranoia to live a normal life and move on

So she would become a weapon to protect the one person that matters to her. Mary.

It’s all she could do

And that’s exactly what happened

Her transformation was slow and painful

Pre transition she had dark hazel eyes and really dark brown hair

Now she has all black eyes and lips, pale skin and black hair

When she was injected with it it’s like all her anger came out full force for 2 minutes and she lost all control of herself

She destroyed everything in the room, lashed out at the scientists, injuring a lot of them

They had to sedate her and strap her down

When she came to, she apologized and is more or less acts like her normal self

She looked in the mirror

Her old life was truly gone

They told Jane all about her new powers which include

Enhanced strength and speed, vocal mimicking, shape shifting, healing, regeneration and regeneration of limbs, drug and alcohol tolerance and almost infinite stamina (this is canon btw)

Jane was now an assassin for the CIA and FBIs Justice Department (also canon)

And she didn’t even tell Mary

Jane went home and Mary screamed until Jane calmed her down

“Mary, it’s me! I-“

“What the fuck did you do?!”

“What I had to do to keep you safe.”

“And that is?!”

Jane explained everything

“What…how…you…”

“I know it’s jarring okay? But it’s still…me. I understand if you can’t love me because I look like this. I understand if you want to go. But just know I truly did do this for you and for myself. I have to protect you and avenge my parents.”

“You are so impulsive and stupid! But you’re still as beautiful as ever. You know I’m never going anywhere.”

They shared a kiss in the kitchen

Jane was so lucky to have Mary

Jane takes out any criminal asked of her and ones not asked of her too

Rapists, serial killers, p3d0s, abusers

Anyone that society doesn’t need

But her ultimate goal is to kill the man that killed her parents

Jeff the killer

She won’t stop until that happens

Jane doesn’t kill or hurt innocent people

She wouldn’t dream of it

Why be like the man she hates?

Jane’s actually really nice despite everything

She can be very sarcastic and snarky too though but can you blame her?

She’s still violent towards criminals though

Like extremely violent

They remind her of Jeff and she calls it “practice” for when she finally gets her hands on him

His death will be slow and painful

Jane has a sister and other surviving family members that she hasn’t seen in a while (how could she even begin to explain her life now)

Jane is 38 years old

Born September 1st 1985

Jane is Wasian (white and Asian, Japanese specifically) but looks more Japanese

She kinda looks like a type of vengeful Japanese spirit called the Onryō and has come to like it

people think she is one sometimes

Especially when she makes weird ass noises to freak out her victims/ mess with them

Jane really relates to Onryō due to the stuff that happened in her life

Her mother would often tell her stories about the Onryō especially around Halloween

Jane finds it ironic that she kinda looks like one with her pale skin, tall stature and long black hair

Especially when she wears white since Onryō are often depicted in white burial kimonos

She especially feels like one when she comes out of the darkness, quietly and slowly as if she’s floating her black eyes looking at her victim through the dark

She specifically relates to some parts of the story of Lady Owia. A man ruining Jane’s life, “killing” her old self and the life she knew, making her a vengeful person and leaving her “disfigured” and looking like an Onryō

Sometimes she still gets upset and will scream and cry at night in the middle of nowhere, making her look and sound like a spirit in pain

Despite the fact she’s still alive she sometimes feels like she died with her parents

Maybe she is just an Onryō in a humans body

She can speak fluent Japanese thanks to her mom

Jane understands Kagekao fully

Both of them being gay Japanese people who have pale skin and are good fighters is really coincidental

Kagekao thought Jane was a spirit or something supernatural due to the grief and vengeance coming off her

But to his disappointment she’s just a cool looking human

Jane really doesn’t like him

He’s a serial killer who kills people for shits and giggles like Jeff and she can’t stand that

Jane knows he’s a demon because he told her and Kagekao thought Jane wouldn’t understand him

They both also have voice mimicking powers and they use it against each other all the time

Jane is jealous of his parkour skills though, she wants to get better at it

When Jane is in a violent mood or in a fight black veins will appear all over her body, but it’s most noticeable oh her face and especially on her temples and forehead leading into her eyes as the veins pump and bulge with blood. Very unsettling to look at.

Jane is usually 5’10 but if she wants to look more intimidating in a fight she will make herself taller like 6’3-6’5

Jane is romantic/ trad goth and listens to the music since she was born in the 80s and grew up in the 90s it’s nostalgic for her

Jane wears black everyday because she thinks all other colors look bad on her

She wears white to sleep though

Jane’s eyes are pitch black so you have no idea where she’s looking or what she’s looking at

It’s kinda scary when she looks at you especially if it’s dark

But she’s pretty so it’s okay

Loves Japanese comfort foods and will cook them a lot like really good ramen, mochi ice cream, udon, kastu curry, tempura and hot pot

It reminds her of her mom

Jane’s kinda happy that she has long shiny black hair like her mom now

If you were ever gonna run into a Creepypasta and live, Jane’s definitely your best bet

Likes to shapeshift to look normal to take Mary on dates

Wears black dresses when she’s not fighting but when she is, jeans and a sweater all black of course

Sounds like Amy Lee from Evanescence when she sings

A smooth soothing voice when she talks

Lived with Mary in their home till she got roped in with all the other pastas (but that’s a completely different hc list completely)

Since Jane works for the government she’s rich. Like really rich

So she’s always clean and put together

Can walk in heels like a pro

Jane’s a queen and I love her

This isn’t proofread I made this at 3 am sorry lol

[cantotallyeven]

So I've found that a lot of science fiction and fantasy is really boring when it comes to exploring prejudice. Like they are all either "what if like us but worse" or "what if none?" and like, that may well have been considered pushing the envelope during the TOS era but now it's just, whatever you know? I want to see media that does "better but not perfect" or "better about X but worse about Y" or "totally different" and like, that's really hard to find. DS9 did a few different things here and there, with Cardassians having gender roles that aren't really like humans or the opposite of humans but they get overshadowed by Ferengi. Anyways, I'm gonna use this post to plug a piece o fmedia that does it really well:

Motherland Fort Salem

First and foremost: Christians are a minority in this world, especially in the part of it the main characters we watch are part of. Racism seems to not exist. Native Americans were given a significant chunk of US land and are a semi major power in the world. The roles of men and women are more or less flipped from ours, in that they are ostensibly equal but somehow nearly all of the major positions of power are held by women. Women are the primary combat force, with men mostsly relegated to Rosie the Riveter style support roles, though some men to enter the combat roles. Polygamy (with one woman and multiple husbands) is commonplace among some subcultures but not others. But where it gets really interesting is sexuality and gender. Now it seems like most witches are pretty sexually open to all genders. The main character is a lesbian, and is open about her relationship in the military. This is fine. However with a dwindling population, all military witches are expected to produce offspring before going off on extended deployment. She is not expected to break up with her girlfriend, but she is still expected to produce offspring. The delve into gender discrimination is even more interesting. There is a nonbinary character. They are consistently gendered correctly throughout the show. But with there being effectively only two branches of the military after graduating from basic training, with one heavily associated with men and the other women (though again not exclusively) they are still expected to choose one of the two. This allows us to delve into the character themselves and is more interesting both from a watsonian and a doylist perspective than just "oh yeah we have a nonbinary corp" would be.

It's also handles hatred of supers far more interestingly than X-Men does.

Anyways, anyone have any suggestions of shows that do interesting things like that?

[honestlyallthatgayshit]

WARNING! SPOILERS

As someone who has only seen the new london revival of starlight express, I really don’t see what people’s problem with it could be. I know that with a lot of people, as with anything else, don’t particularly like when things may change, but if you look at what the director and producer and things say, it’s a play that’s designed to change with the times.

The first major change that I’ve seen people have a slight issue with seems to be the change in songs. The thing is though, I’d been told beforehand that the show tends to cut old songs and add new songs with every new production. The songs felt modern, engaging and fun in a way that dragged me, a young adult, into the atmosphere, and did the same with people of all ages around me. I understand that people seem to have some favourite songs that have been cut (my personal favourite that I’d listened to before the show was “A Lotta Locomotion”, but that had been cut) but it seems like the reaction is slightly bigger than that.

Obviously, one of the other major changes is the reworking of a large number of the roles, with the racers, freight, electra’s components and two of the coaches being changed from existing characters to new characters. I understand the issue there may be that people had their characters that they get attached to, but a lot of the characters weren’t fully new characters, having the personality and plot/lines of the previous characters. The characters such as the racers have been stated to have been changed as the concept of the new production is more intergalactic than international, as they are running more with the idea of the stars and space.

The change in the concept and ideas can also be seen in the costumes of all of the characters. By the concept being slightly bigger than earth, the space-like, futuristic vibe of the costumes worked well with the other parts of the play. If the costume designer had been anyone other than Slade, would be less likely to draw the connections between Six’s costumes and StEx 2024’s costumes, with the link being that they’re both highly stylised modern/futuristic costumes, so it’s not surprising that Slade created designs that people believe are similar.

For obvious reasons, I’m going to address the changes to the main characters of Greaseball, Electra and Momma/Poppa. Momma/Poppa is the change I’ve seen the least amount of issues with, mainly because there’s less of a change than can be seen with the other two in my opinion. Electra’s change was from a previously male, Bowie inspired train to a much more androgynous, sleek train, going from male to non-binary. This androgynous, sleek version of Electra worked really well in my opinion, characterizing the idea that Electra is the newer, modern, almost Robotic train that’s powered through electricity. Greaseball, last of all, has the most backlash out of the three changes. Personally, as someone who has never seen a previous production of StEx, I loved Al Knott’s punkier, lesbian Greaseball. From what my family have said, Greaseball’s personality hasn’t changed much at all - the main thing that’s changed in reality is the range of notes and the way that Greaseball sings.

Overall, the fact of it all is that this is a play about a child playing with their trains and dreaming this fantastical race, a point put across perfectly by the addition of Control as a character that interacts and causes certain moments in the play. I think that as someone who had no expectations of the play (except that it would be good), there was not a single thing that I came out of the Troubadour thinking that wasn’t good about the new shows.

[olympic-paris]

THIS DAY IN GAY HISTORY

based on: The White Crane Institute's 'Gay Wisdom', Gay Birthdays, Gay For Today, Famous GLBT, glbt-Gay Encylopedia, Today in Gay History, Wikipedia, and more …

September 18

53 AD – Trajan, Roman emperor, born (d.117 AD); The first non-Italian Roman emperor. His accomplishments were both martial and civic, including construction of the aqueducts, the restoration of the Appian Way and the building of the massive Forum of Trajan. According to Spartianus, he was a proud possessor of a paedogogium, a harem of boys he took along with him on campaign, apparently for his and his officers' pleasure.

Dio Cassius, sometimes known as Cassius Dio, reports that Trajan drank heavily and loved boys. "I know, of course, that he was devoted to boys and to wine, but if he had ever committed or endured any base or wicked deed as the result of this, he would have incurred censure; as it was, however, he drank all the wine he wanted, yet remained sober, and in his relation with boys he harmed no one."

This sensibility was one that influenced even his governing, leading him to favor the king of Edessa out of appreciation for his handsome son: "On this occasion, however, Abgarus, induced partly by the persuasions of his son Arbandes, who was handsome and in the pride of youth and therefore in favor with Trajan, and partly by his fear of the latter's presence, he met him on the road, made his apologies and obtained pardon, for he had a powerful intercessor in the boy."

His sexuality was never in question, only the stories used to illustrate his preferences. The monumental erection, the Column of Trajan, was Rome's highly appropriate tribute to this emperor, considered to have been one of the "good emperors."

1883 – Gerald Tyrwhitt-Wilson, 14th Baron Berners born (d.1950), also known as Gerald Tyrwhitt, a British composer of classical music, novelist, painter, & aesthete. Berners was notorious for his "eccentricity," e.g. dyeing pigeons at his house in Faringdon in vibrant colors and at one point having a giraffe as a pet and tea companion.

Berners' musical works included Trois morceaux, Fantasie espagnole (1919), Fugue in C minor (1924), and several ballets, including The Triumph of Neptune (1926) (based on a story by Sacheverell Sitwell) and Luna Park (1930). In later years he composed several songs and film scores, notably for the 1946 film of Nicholas Nickleby.

His friends included the composers Constant Lambert and William Walton and he worked with Frederick Ashton; Walton dedicated��Belshazzar's Feast to Berners.

He bequeathed his estate to his companion Robert ('Boy') Heber Percy, who lived at Faringdon until his own death in 1987.

Berners obtained some notoriety for his roman-à-clef The Girls of Radcliff Hall, (punning on the name of the famous lesbian writer), in which he depicts himself and his circle of friends, such as Cecil Beaton and Oliver Messel, as members of a girls school. This frivolous satire, which was published and distributed privately, had a modish success in the 1930s. The original edition is rare; rumor has it that Beaton was responsible for gathering most of the already scarce copies of the book and destroying them. However, the book was reprinted in 2000.

1905 – Greta Garbo (d.1990) was regarded as one of the greatest and most inscrutable movie stars ever produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and the Hollywood studio system. Garbo received a 1955 Honorary Oscar "for her unforgettable screen performances" and was ranked as the fifth greatest female star of all time by the American Film Institute. Garbo's biographer Barry Paris notes that she was "technically bisexual, predominantly lesbian, and increasingly asexual as the years went by."

Garbo began life in poverty as Greta Lovisa Gustafsson, the daughter of a janitor in Stockholm, Sweden. When her father died in 1919 of tuberculosis, Greta had to quit school at the age of fourteen and go to work. Her good looks helped her get jobs in a couple of advertising films before she was discovered in 1922 by unabashedly homosexual Swedish filmmaker Mauritz Stiller. He cast her as the female lead in Gosta Berling's Saga (1924) and got her a role in a German film, The Joyless Street (1925). Stiller took control of the actress's career, changing her last name to Garbo. When he went to the United States to work for Louis Mayer at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Stiller took his protégée along. Mauritz Stiller did not succeed in Hollywood, but Greta Garbo was destined to become a star. She made fourteen silent films, among them The Torment (1926) and Flesh and the Devil (1927), where she tended to play the beautiful femme fatale, luring men into passion. Garbo made the rocky transition from silent films to talkies flawlessly. Her husky, accented voice fitted intriguingly with her ethereal beauty, enabling her to create more complex characters than she ever had in silents.

In Anna Christie (1930), Anna Karenina (1935), Camille (1936), and others, she played a tragic heroine, passionate, but doomed. In the delightful 1939 comedy Ninotchka, she mocks this gloomy sensuality with charming self-deprecation, causing MGM to tout the film with the single headline, "Garbo Laughs!" In 1941, prompted perhaps by the failure of Two-Faced Woman, her comedy follow-up to Ninotchka, Garbo took a break from filmmaking. Although she reportedly considered several projects for a comeback, the title roles in Hamlet and The Portrait of Dorian Gray, among them, her break turned into permanent retirement.

It has been suggested that Garbo struggled greatly with her sexuality, only becoming involved with other women in affairs that she could control. Some also suggest that Garbo remained single in the United States because of an unrequited love for her drama school sweetheart, the Swedish actress Mimi Pollak. Garbo's personal letters recently released to the public indicate that she remained in love with Pollak for the rest of her life. When Pollak announced she was pregnant, Garbo wrote: "We cannot help our nature, as God has created it. But I have always thought you and I belonged together."

Famously connected to Mercedes de Acosta, one of the more Sapphic companions of the day, de Acosta wrote of their affair in her book Here Lies the Heart. Upon her death in 1990, Garbo left her entire, substantial estate to her niece, Gray Reisfeld, and nothing to Claire, the elderly female companion with whom she lived for many years.

Rose (C), son "Luis" (L) and Sam Steward

1909 – Francis Cyril Rose (d.1979), also Sir Francis, 4th Baronet of the Montreal Roses, was an English painter vigorously championed by Gertrude Stein. His wife Frederica, Lady Rose (1910-2002) became a well known travel writer, notably on Corsica, under the name of Dorothy Carrington.

Rose was born at Moor Park (Hertfordshire), England. He took up residence as an expatriate in Paris between 1929 and 1936, where he trained under Francis Picabia and José Maria Sert. Francis Rose got his beginning as a set painter for Diaghilev's Ballets Russes. He occasionally collaborated in his work with another English painter, and his sometime lover, Christopher Wood. In the 1930s he traveled with his future wife, Dorothy Carrington, in France, Italy, and North Africa.

In France, Rose became an intimate acquaintance of Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas, the former helping to launch his painting career by commissioning several of his works (most notably a portrait of herself) for her own notable art collection. Her memorable utterance, "Rose is a rose is a rose is a rose" dates from 1913, however, long before her acquaintance with the artist. Rose would go on to have exhibits in Paris, London, and New York. He also worked as an illustrator for a cookbook by Toklas, The Alice B. Toklas Cookbook.

The English artist was the last, and probably the most infamous, though least known, of Gertrude Stein's many protégés. Several of Francis Rose's drunken escapades are wonderfully recollected in Samuel M. Steward's Dear Sammy. One story, peculiarly or not-so-peculiarly omitted from the artist's autobiography, Saving Life. (1961), is about Luis, his valet de chambre. In 1952 Alice B. Toklas wrote Sam Steward to tell him that Francis Rose "was in a good deal of trouble with Luis his 'valet de chambre" boyfriend."A casual encounter between the artist and a Spanish gypsy boy in front of a bistro in Paris had resulted in not only an evening pickup, but in the young man being hired for the entire summer, as both valet and bedmate. As Sam Steward tells it, "It was only after Luis got into some trouble with the gendarmérie over a stolen bicycle that Francis — after he called to help him out of his difficulty — examined his papers and discovered that the boy was his illegitimate son. This episode titillated both France and England for some time. It certainly titillated Alice B. 'Francis,' she wrote, 'is saying that he is going to recognize Luis so he will inherit his title!! As yet this tale has not been confided to any English friends — who would put him straight about bastards inheriting titles…' "

Rose married the writer Dorothy Carrington in 1942. Alice Toklas for one was greatly enthusiastic about Rose's marriage to "Frederica" (Carrington), noting that the marriage had done Rose "a world of good." But Rose was a noted homosexual and the marriage eventually foundered. They divorced in 1966. Rose spent his final years in penury, helped along by certain friends, among them Cecil Beaton. Some of his paintings today form part of the Yale University Art Gallery (Stein-Toklas collection) and the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.

In 1961 Rose published a memoir, Saving Life.

He made a brief appearance as "Lord Chaos" in Kenneth Anger's film Lucifer Rising (1972).

1928 – Jack Robinson (d.1997) was an American photographer famous for 1960s celebrity and fashion photography and documenting the New Orleans of the 1950s. Jack Uther Robinson, Jr. was born in Meridian, Mississippi. He grew up in Clarksdale, Mississippi, in the heart of the Mississippi Delta, an area famous for racial injustice, the Blues, and social and religious conservatism. His father was a mechanic and auto parts dealer.

Robinson attended Clarksdale High School, from which he graduated in 1945. He then enrolled at Tulane University in New Orleans, where he completed five semesters before dropping out in 1948. In 1951, he began his professional career in photography, working as a graphic artist for an advertising agency in New Orleans. He took numerous photographs of the city and his friends, many of them artists and photographers. His early work captured the charm of the French Quarter and documented New Orleans night life. It also preserved valuable glimpses into the New Orleans gay subculture of the 1950s.

Among Robinson's most fascinating images are photographs of the Mardi Gras festivities in the years between 1952 and 1955. Some of these document the celebrations in the gay area of Bourbon Street, especially around Dixie's Bar of Music, then one of the most prominent gay bars in the country.

In addition to architectural photographs, society portraits, and Mardi Gras pictures, Robinson also took a number of photographs of young gay couples, romantically posed. These photographs are striking because of their rarity, and touching because of their sincerity. At a time when there were few precedents for posing gay couples, Robinson conveyed homoerotic attraction in a number of ways, including having the young men stare deeply into each other's eyes and touch tentatively. The very awkwardness of these embraces conveys a profound sense of commitment.

During the New Orleans period, Robinson fell in love with a young man named Gabriel, whom he photographed incessantly, often in the nude. The Gabriel photographs are especially distinguished by their play of light and shadow and by their sensuality.

In 1954, Robinson and Gabriel travelled to Mexico. There the artist captured Mexican scenes in large and medium format photographs.

In 1955 Robinson and Gabriel moved to New York where he quickly became noted for his fashion photography. He was sought out by many of the top designers and others in the fashion industry. By 1959, one of his photographs graced the cover of Life magazine, signalling his arrival as a top commercial photographer.

Vogue's legendary editor-in-chief Diana Vreeland recognised Robinson's particular gift for portraiture. In addition to commissioning fashion photography from him, she also commissioned portraits of celebrities, especially the rising stars of music, film, television, and literature. Robinson's work appeared in Vogue over 500 times between 1965 and 1972.

By 1970, Robinson had established himself as one of the leading commercial photographers in the world. He travelled to Europe to record the fashion innovations of the great design houses. His work was regularly featured in the most prestigious fashion and celebrity magazines of the day.

But even as Robinson succeeded professionally, his personal life became increasingly problematic. His relationship with Gabriel failed. He suffered from the stigma associated with homosexuality. He increasingly turned to drugs and alcohol for solace. Frequently in the company of Andy Warhol and his entourage, he became part of New York's frenetic club scene.

Such fast living soon affected Robinson's work. His daybooks and list of commissions reflect the deterioration of his life. As jobs dwindled, he was forced to move from his fashionable studio at 11 East 10th Street. Finally, in December of 1972, he retreated to Memphis, where his parents and older brother lived.

Broken and addicted to alcohol, Robinson sought help from a long-time friend, who sponsored his membership in Alcoholics Anonymous and helped him recover his emotional health.

In Memphis, Robinson abandoned his career as a commercial photographer. He began painting and soon took a job as assistant to noted artist Dorothy Sturm, who designed stained glass windows for churches at Laukauff Studio, one of the largest stained glass studios in the country. Although he was undoubtedly lonely, and in the words of a friend 'full of anger and angst,' he seemed to enjoy his anonymity and seldom revealed that he had once been a leading photographer in New York City. In 1976, Robinson left Laukauff Studio to work at another glass studio, Rainbow Studio, where he was to remain for the rest of his career.

Robinson fell ill in November 1997 and was soon diagnosed with cancer. He died on December 15, 1997.

Robinson left his estate to his employer, Dan Oppenheimer, owner of Rainbow Studio. Oppenheimer was surprised to discover in Robinson's small and spartan apartment over 140,000 negatives. In 2002, Oppenheimer opened the Jack Robinson Gallery and Archive in Memphis. It is dedicated to preserving and promoting Robinson's legacy.

Although Robinson soon slipped into obscurity, his work has recently been rediscovered, thanks to the efforts of the Robinson Gallery and Archive and to several recent exhibitions in Memphis, London, and New Orleans.

1961 – Dag Hammarskjöld (b.1905), U.N. Secretary-General, dies in a plane crash while attempting to negotiate peace in the war-torn Katanga region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Despite holding a position of public prominence as Secretary-General of the United Nations from 1953 until his death in 1961, he managed to withhold even the most minor details of his personal life from the world. Even his posthumously published journal, Markings, shies away from any mention of his private life. Possibly asexual, probably homosexual, Hammarskjöld was unable to accept his sexuality and lived an unhappy, frustrated life of sexual abstinence, suffering slurs from political figures and the international media. But though he couldn't resolve his own internal conflicts, he was masterful at settling external conflicts as he worked to solve disputes in Palestine, Vietnam, Egypt, and the Congo, demonstrating one of the classic, same-sex archetypes of the mediator.

1978 – Openly gay Billy Eichner is an American comedian, actor, writer, and television personality. He is the star, executive producer and creator of Funny Or Die's Billy on the Street, a comedy game show that airs on Fuse TV. Eichner was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award for "Outstanding Game Show Host" in 2013. He is also known for playing Craig Middlebrooks on the sitcom Parks and Recreation.Eichner gained attention as the host and writer of Creation Nation: A Live Talk Show, a critically acclaimed stage show in New York. He also appeared on Conan as a special correspondent in original video shorts and as himself on Bravo's Watch What Happens: Live with Andy Cohen, Last Call with Carson Daly, The Wendy Williams Show, and Fashion Police with Joan Rivers, among others.

On August 5, 2013, it was revealed that Eichner would guest star in the sixth season of Parks and Recreation. Eichner's first episode aired on October 10, 2013. He stars as Donna's Eagleton counterpart, Craig Middlebrooks, who joins the Pawnee Parks and Recreation Department when Pawnee absorbs Eagleton. He became a series regular in episode four of the seventh season of the show.

Eichner starred in a Hulu original series titled Difficult People with Julie Klausner, and executive produced by Amy Poehler.

In July 2020, Eichner announced that he and Tom McNulty were developing a film biography of fellow Northwestern University alum Paul Lynde called Man in the Box, with Eichner portraying Lynde.In March 2021, Eichner announced that he is currently writing and starring in the film Bros, which tells the story of two gay men with commitment issues who decide to settle down with each other. Being produced by Universal Pictures, it is set to be the first adult-oriented LGBT movie ever produced by a mainstream film studio. In August of that same year, Amazon Studios announced that they had bought the rights to develop the film Ex-Husbands, starring Eichner and co-written by him and Paul Rudnick.

2011 – Died: Jamey Rodemeyer (March 21, 1997 - September 18, 2011) was an openly bisexual teenager, known for his activism against homophobia and his videos on YouTube to help victims of homophobic bullying. He committed suicide as a result of constant bullying.[

Jamey T. Rodemeyer lived with his parents and his sister in their home near Buffalo, New York. He was open about his sexuality, and faced severe bullying as a result of it. Rodemeyer's inspiration to help others came from Lady Gaga, whom he admired most. He often referred to her in his videos, and quoted her lyrics to provide guidance to others. He also made a video for the "It Gets Better" project, a website dedicated to preventing teen suicide.

Rodemeyer was found dead by his sister on the morning of September 18, 2011, in an apparent suicide by hanging. Before his death, he posted a final update on Twitter directed to Lady Gaga. The tweet read, "¡ladygaga bye mother monster, thank you for all you have done, paws up forever".

In an interview with Ann Curry on The Today Show Jamey's parents said that their son was still being bullied, even after his suicide. When his sister attended a school homecoming dance, Jamey's friends began chanting his name in support when a Lady Gaga song began playing. As a result, bullies at the dance began chanting that they were glad he was dead.

Lady Gaga later met with President Barack Obama to discuss what his administration would do to prevent bullying in schools. Also in response to his death, reigning Miss New York Kaitlin Monte founded an online petition to bring the issue of cyberbullying (known as "Jamey's Law") to New York legislators. Shortly after, State Senator Jeffrey Klein proposed new cyberbullying legislation. The two joined to launch the New York Cyberbully Census.

In October 2011 actor Zachary Quinto noted Rodemeyer's death as the genesis of his decision to come out publicly as gay, saying on his website "...but in light of Jamey's death - it became clear to me in an instant that living a gay life without publicly acknowledging it - is simply not enough to make any significant contribution to the immense work that lies ahead on the road to complete equality". In response to Quinto's coming out (and in reaction to gay suicides caused by bullying), Dan Kloeffler of ABC News Now also came out.

2012 – Berkeley, California becomes what is thought to be the first city in the U.S. to officially proclaim a day recognizing bisexuals. The Berkeley City Council unanimously and without discussion declared Sept. 23 as Bisexual Pride and Bi Visibility Day.

[jbaileyfansite]

Interview with The Telegraph (2023)

We all know what is meant by McCarthyism. It ­popularly refers to the first half of the 1950s, when Senator Joseph R McCarthy led a ruthless ­campaign to hound suspected communists out of the US government. What’s less well-remembered than the Red Menace is the Lavender Scare: by an executive order from President Eisenhower, McCarthyism also targeted gays and lesbians. “If you want to be against McCarthy, boys,” the senator once told the press, “you’ve got to be either a Communist or a c--ksucker.”

Thus gay men and women, living closeted lives as they worked for the state, were targeted by sinister-sounding bodies: the FBI’s Sex ­Deviance Investigations Unit, ­Washington DC police’s Sex ­Perversion Elimination Program and the Department of State’s M Unit. All sought to identify ­government employees deemed to be security risks vulnerable to blackmail.

Popular culture lost sight of the Lavender Scare until it was brought into the light in the US by Thomas Mallon’s 2007 novel Fellow ­Travelers. Set mostly in the early 1950s, it told of a tangled romance between two men; Hawkins “Hawk” Fuller, a handsome war veteran and political fixer who steers clear of emotional attachment until he meets Tim Laughlin, a sweet young Catholic newcomer to DC whom he nicknames Skippy and sets up in the office of a Republican senator.

The novel was not published in the UK. But now it has been adapted for television, and one piece of ­casting in particular feels ­calculated to get the attention of audiences beyond the US: Laughlin is played by British actor Jonathan Bailey, best known as the Regency heartthrob Anthony, 9th Viscount Bridgerton.

His co-star is the American Matt Bomer, who, like Bailey, professes ignorance of what the New York Times, in its review of the novel, referred to as “the Lavender Hill mob”. “It’s a chapter of LGBTQIA history that I was completely ­unaware of,” he says.

This is not the first time the novel has been adapted – it was staged as an opera in Cincinnati in 2016. By then it had already caught the attention of Ron Nyswaner, who laboured over bringing the book to the screen for the best part of a ­decade. Best known for his script for Philadelphia, the 1993 Aids courtroom drama which earned Tom Hanks his first Oscar, it was his stint as a producer of Homeland that persuaded Showtime to fund an expensive eight-part decades-spanning drama. “I’m still in ­disbelief that we were able to tell this story on the scale that we were able to tell it,” says Bomer, who is also an executive producer on the drama.

The scale is considerable. The period detail of 1950s Washington, in both corridors of power and gay demimonde, is lavishly recreated. And as the story progresses it parts company with the novel, which opens with Hawk looking back at the closure of his career as a ­diplomat in Tallinn in 1991. Nyswaner’s script expands to take in other pivots in modern US ­history: the Civil Rights movement, the Vietnam War, and the spread of Aids in the 1980s, when the now-married Hawk and the dying Laughlin meet for a final reckoning.

I met the drama’s two stars in London earlier in the summer, before the actors’ strike in ­Hollywood put a stop to such encounters. It was the first time they’d seen each other since the end of the shoot. Bomer, though just off the plane and heavily jet-lagged, exudes a chiselled, blue-eyed intensity. Bailey fizzes with puppyish energy. Both are themselves gay and Bailey in particular sees their casting as a sign of ­progress. “We would not be playing these parts five or 10 years ago,” he says. The highlights of his CV are mix and match. He has played mainly straight characters on ­television in the likes of Broadchurch, Crashing and W1A, and gay characters on stage in the Sondheim musical Company and Mike Bartlett’s play C--k in the West End. 

The career of Bomer, 10 years his senior, looks a little more linear. His most high-profile film role is as an object of ladies’ lust in male-strippers drama Magic Mike and its sequel. But in 2014 he won a Golden Globe playing a closeted journalist in HBO’s adaptation of Larry ­Kramer’s play The Normal Heart. In 2018, he made his Broadway debut as part of an exclusively gay cast reviving The Boys in the Band, a ­portrait of gay life in 1960s New York. 

Earlier on the day we met, ­Stanley Tucci had said on Desert Island Discs that he doesn’t see why straight actors shouldn’t play gay characters. “I think it’s incredibly complicated and nuanced,” says Bailey with a sigh. “You just want to make sure that everyone feels there’s enough space at the table. Everyone who is panicking that they’re never going to be able to play outside their own experience is wasting their energy.”

Bomer counters that it ought to cut both ways, that gay actors should be allowed to play straight. He speaks darkly of movie ­producers who “wouldn’t hire me because of who I was”, of gay actors who “weren’t even given a shot. A lot of it boils down to opportunity. Was ­everyone given the opportunity for the role? There is something about seeing the most authentic version of who you are represented on screen. It gives you hope.”

In Fellow Travelers that ­authenticity is portrayed most unswervingly in the bedroom, which the plot requires Hawk and Laughlin to visit often. “I haven’t necessarily really seen gay intimacy in a way that I would want to,” says Bailey. I gently remind him of Linus Roache, who plays a senator in ­Fellow Travelers but, back in 1994, starred in Jimmy McGovern’s Priest as a Catholic priest struggling with his sexuality – graphically so in a central scene with Robert Carlyle. “Oh yeah, that’s true,” he says. “I looked to that a lot.” 

As is on trend for male actors ­nowadays, both leads look ­impeccable with their shirts off in low honeyed lighting. “Hawk is ex-military and he also wants to appeal to people in bathroom stalls,” ­reasons Bomer, who did period-appropriate Royal Canadian Air Force drills and looks no less ­pneumatic than he did in Magic Mike.

Bailey concedes that Laughlin, who orders milk the first time we meet him, boasts the body of a Greek god for the simple reason that the shoot overlapped with Bridgerton (yes, he confirms, the newly married Anthony is back for the third season). “There’s no way Tim would have had a Bridgerton body, but what can you do if you’re commuting? I was like, I really want to lose weight to tell Tim’s story, but I lost fat and just got really ripped.”

How resonant is the history ­portrayed in Fellow Travelers to today? It’s easy to play six degrees of separation between now and then. For instance, McCarthy’s ­closeted sidekick Roy Cohn is a lead character (played here by Will Brill). A ferocious prosecutor of both communists and gays, he would go on to be Donald Trump’s lawyer, before dying of complications from Aids. It was Trump’s three appointees to the Supreme Court who this summer enabled a 6-3 ruling releasing businesses and organisations from the obligation to treat same-sex couples equally. The landmark ruling occurred just days before I met the actors, and has been widely interpreted as a ­profound attack on LGBT rights.

“There is an entire generation of men and women who suffered and struggled and loved under a ­government that felt that its morals were more important than their personal freedoms,” says Bomer. “And that’s exactly what we see happening today. Whether it’s McCarthy or the current Supreme Court justices, are morals more important than freedoms?”

Source

[rontra]

i think the supergirl comic people should hire you. i don't even go here but i also love her brick-like proportions

god yes it's so vivid to me. dc comics pulls me on to do power girl. i produce maybe 1 or 2 drawings a month because i don't work well under pressure. they put up with it though because they don't know what else to do with the character at this point so they might as well try to market her at tumblr lesbians. also i'm a helena wayne diehard so im basically a diversity hire. their one stipulation is that if i speak a single word about the magician i will be fired on the spot

[blackcharactertournament]

Submitted explanations:

Marina

firstly and obviously, she's black. secondly, shes awesome and shes super cute and adorable and shes a great singer and shes super smart!!! she was one of the most brilliant weapons engineers during her time in the octarian army and she also produces all of her songs. she also hacks into kamabo co. and helps agent 8 escape the deep sea metro and she also made the bombs you use to destroy the nils statue. so basically shes pretty fucking cool. shes a dj and shes also in lesbians with her girlfriend pearl and theyre on honeymoon rn touring all over the world. in conclusion i like her so much. her va Alice Peralta is japanese-guamanian and she is so fucking awesome dude i just wanted to include that part because i love alice. ok thats it 🫶 -@mango-fizz

Youngblood

Well he's canonically black for a start, and he's a black elf/fey which like. How many of those do you see in fantasy amiright? Hes also like the most character ever, which is not necessarily related to being black but yknow. Imagine a guy with *so much* guilt over past actions, a guy who has almost no close relationships with anyone and was forced to cut off the ones he did have due to Circumstances, he's been alone for so long but he doesn't actually want to be no matter what he says, he has more magical power than he knows what to do with. He's like the serious/ruthless character except that's not actually who he is he's just on the run and has suffered so much, he's really a goof with a heart of gold. He met a himbo who could misplace his own feet and immediately bonded with him. He has a sick ass sword which can turn into this whip-like thing. I'm obsessed with him do you understand me. - @pulchrasilva

[best-underrated-anime]

Best Underrated Anime Group G Round 4: Birdie Wing: Golf Girls’ Story vs Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!

#G1: Birdie Wing: Golf Girls’ Story

Golf made interesting by the power of anime antics and yuri

#G4: Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken! (Eizouken ni wa Te wo Dasu na!)

Three girls decide to open an animation club

Details and poll under the cut!

IF YOU VOTED FOR THIS POLL BEFORE, PLEASE VOTE AGAIN.

There was an error in the original poll post. I forgot to change the poll deadline to 1 week, so the first post only had a 1-day poll. Since I can’t edit poll blocks once the post is published, I had to redo the entire post.

Tagging those who liked/reblogged the first post so that you can see this and vote again: @play-read-write @verirothestar @captain-harkness-lives @inariedwards and @elirodri (thank you for bringing the error to my attention!)

#G1: Birdie Wing: Golf Girls’ Story

Summary:

Infamous among those who gamble on golf games, Eve uses her exceptional skill in the sport to earn a living—by betting and winning against various opponents. Known as the "Rainbow Bullet," she vows to beat her foes and conquer the world of underground golf using only three clubs. However, the universe where Eve knows no defeat is shaken after she plays a clean game with Aoi Amawashi, a golfing prodigy that came to the country of Nafrece to enter a golf tournament. Armed with talent and born into the perfect environment for golf, Aoi the "Innocent Tyrant" calmly crushes her enemies with a bright smile on her face.

After their game-changing match, Eve and Aoi become intrigued with each other and promise to battle again someday. As Eve's aggressive and risk-taking approach challenges the elite and steady playstyle of Aoi, the two geniuses may just manage to bring golf to unexpected heights.

Propaganda:

Birdie Wing is one of the most absurd, hilarious, and entertaining anime that I’ve ever seen!! Mafia that solves infighting by betting on highly illegal golf matches, golf eugenics, a high school golf tournament feeling like a more high-stakes event than the ACTUAL GODDAMN MAFIA… It’s incredibly campy in the best way possible, and the creators embrace the wild premise of the show with open arms. It’s masterful in suspension of disbelief, as by the end of the series I was nodding my head, thinking that truly, everything is possible with the power of golf. The series also has heavy yuri overtones, which, while not quite pulling through in the end, are definitely a big part of the appeal, and Aoi is my favorite lesbian daughter <3

Trigger Warnings: Guns, Child Abuse. Mother is manipulative to her daughter, and she is used as a tool. Father arranges an unwanted marriage for his daughter.

#G4: Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken! (Eizouken ni wa Te wo Dasu na!)

Summary:

Midori Asakusa draws detailed landscapes and backgrounds of both the world around her and the one within her boundless imagination. Even the simple act of doodling on a wall evolves into an emergency repair on the outer hull of her spaceship. She is only brought back to reality by her best friend Sayaka Kanamori. The two are stark opposites, with Asakusa’s childlike wonder contrasted by Kanamori’s calculated approach to life.

After a chance encounter where the two “save” the young model Tsubame Misuzaki from her overprotective bodyguard, a connection instantly sparks between Asakusa and Misuzaki, as both share an intense passion for art and animation. Whereas Asakusa is interested in backgrounds and settings, Misuzaki loves drawing the human form. Sensing a money-making opportunity, Kanamori suggests that they start an animation club. Thus begins the trio’s journey of producing animation that will awe the world.

Propaganda:

It’s playing with animation in a really cool way, AND it is just gorgeous. The backgrounds are done in a beautiful painterly style, and each environment is detailed and evokes wonder.

Each of the three girls is a unique and fleshed-out character, and their interactions and blossoming friendship are super fun and wholesome to watch. The dialogue is also very realistic—it really feels like what three high school nerdy girl friends would talk about. Each has her own strengths, in animation, organization and craft, such that they really come together as a team and manage to make something beautiful.

The show is fun, heartwarming and doesn’t take itself too seriously, but at the same time it is so so sincere. Quiet and serious moments can be quiet and serious without needless bathos, and fun sequences (like a chase through the school) are given extra effort to be zany and funny, and fully animated in both senses of the word. Above all, you feel a strong love for animation and deep wonder of the world permeating the series.

Trigger Warnings: Flashing lights in the opening theme

When reblogging and adding your own propaganda, please tag me @best-underrated-anime so that I’ll be sure to see it.

If you want to criticize one of the shows above to give the one you’re rooting for an advantage, then do so constructively. I do not tolerate groundless hate or slander on this blog. If I catch you doing such a thing in the notes, be it in the tags or reblogs, I will block you.

Know one of the shows above and not satisfied with how it’s presented in this tournament? Just fill up this form with your revisions, and I’ll consider adapting those changes.

New: Starting round 5, screenshots will be included in the poll post. You can submit screenshots through the form linked above, or through here, via ask or dm.

Guidelines in submitting screenshots:

No NSFW or spoilery images.

Pick some good images please. Don’t send any blurry or pixelated ones.

You may send up to 9 screenshots, but not all may be used.

[aleespace]

Finished watching the new season! 

I'm not that good at writing reviews but I just want to express my thoughts (spoilers ahead)

Well that was fun! I'm sad that we only got 10 episodes but hey! at least we're getting 6th season! (Upd: woah, I missed 11th episode, also there's Halloween special!)

Alien family arc was good, I really enjoyed the honeymoon episode and What if device episode (which I think is my favorite?) Also that episode where Korvo tried to beat the dad but it was in the style of old cartoons with physical gags and instrumental background music. No dialogues, just animation and funny moments😄 I hope animators had fun with this episode

Also Tervo this season!! Mgmgm I love these nasty husbands, they had their own moments and I'm looking forward to some more the next season! Especially considering the latest interview with producers, where they said this about Tervo

God yes, I'm glad they understand that they can make something interesting with them without this cheap drama about them breaking up or divorcing. I love that they want to keep this sincerity in their relationship.

But I was kinda disappointed by the lack of interaction between Korvo and Terry and replicants, where is my promised Korvo & Jesse episode!? Yeah, replicants this season weren't really fun for me sadly and the episode about Jesse's boyfriends is my least favorite :( (no wait, silvercops episode is my least favorite but we'll get to that later)

The Wall (now The Backyard I guess) arc was also enjoyable! Thank them for giving us canon lesbian pair (that was unexpected :0) and more interesting stories about tiny people. Nothing has changed much there, they're still fighting for power and resources, this time the good old Western style! The only thing I didn't like was Cherie's change of motives at the end?? Idk it just didn't feel right, I really liked her and now she's going to become the villain of the next season? And my guess is Dyke (oh god he's alive) will now become a good guy. Well, we'll see how it is next summer.

Now to Silvercops... I don't really have much to say about this arc. It was mid... What even was the point of all these events, it doesn't seem to be leading anywhere expect for showing us that silvercops are assholes which we already knew. The mlp parody was also meh.. just like this whole episode. Turning this guy into a dog didn't help at all, he's still unenjoyable protag tbh and right now it just feels like this arc simply takes time away from things I do like to watch. I hope they'll do something about it in the next season.

Well, I guess that's it! Please share your own thoughts on this season, I'd like to read them! 💚💙