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a-queer-seminarian · 10 months

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A Queer Look at Hagar's Story

A short reflection on this Sunday's lectionary text, Genesis 21:8-21

Name changes occur throughout scripture, but there is only one instance in which a human being directly names God!

That person is Hagar — the woman enslaved and then cast off by God’s own chosen people, yet who recognizes God's solidarity with her in a way that resonates with many marginalized folk, including queer & trans people of faith.

Back in Genesis 16, Hagar is forced to conceive a child with Abraham — her bodily autonomy denied — and then suffers abuse at Sarah's hand so painful that she prefers almost-certain death in the wilderness. While waiting to die, God comes to her, nourishes her, encourages her with the promise of a better future. For a time, Hagar must return to her oppressors.

This is a hard message, but It may resonate with queer and trans people who make the hard choice to find what safety they can while in the closet, or who choose to remain in relationship with family or faith communities that have caused them harm.

It also isn't the end of Hagar’s story: when the time is right, God leads her out — as told in this week’s text in Genesis 21.

Sarah continues to abuse Hagar, with Abraham as a passive bystander and enabler. In a society where only one of Abraham's sons can inherit his wealth and blessing, Sarah sees Hagar's son Ishmael as a threat to her son Isaac, simply by existing! In our own day and age, this myth of scarcity persists, causing us to hoard resources and compete needlessly.

Sarah cannot stand to see Hagar's child playing with her own son — as if they were equals! As if a slave boy should be having a moment of fun! She reads something sinister into the play — not unlike how some people today read sinister things into queer play, into drag queens and gender expansive youth.

Having convinced herself that Hagar and her son are a threat, Sarah gets Abraham to cast them out.

But again, God is with the outcast; God comes again to Hagar, who in Genesis 16 had given God the name El Roi — "God sees me.” This God is the god of her oppressors, yet Hagar recognizes that this god is her God as well! This god is a God who sees the suffering of the lowest of society, and responds.

God sees queer and trans people, too. God is our God, too — those who hate us do not have a monopoly on the Divine!

And God walks with us through every struggle, fueling us to fight the good fight and promising blessings to come.

___

Questions for reflection:

When have you witnessed God coming to the Hagars in our midst?

When has your community behaved like Abraham & Sarah, hoarding God's love as if there were not blessing enough to go around?

Can you imagine a world in which Sarah, Abraham, and Hagar meet again? What would Hagar need to feel safe to meet with her former abusers? What would Sarah & Abraham need to do to make things right?

___

Further Reading

Queer-specific resources:

Article: Out in Scripture's commentary for Proper 7 of year A, "Claiming God's Promise in the Midst of Exile" — connecting Hagar to supportive parents of LGBT children

Podcast episode: "Hagar and the Caravan" — connecting Hagar's story to that of Latin American trans women se"eking asylum

Essay: "Intersex Foremother and Forefather" — ancient texts suggesting that Abraham and Sarah were intersex

Other resources:

Sermon: "No Good Patriarchs: Solidarity with Hagar" — Exploring the messiness of how one person can embody both oppressor & oppressed, and how "good" people buy into unjust systems

Article: "Jesus and Hagar: the Form of a Slave" — Wil Gafney's connection between Hagar and Mary the mother of Jesus, through a womanist lens

Affirmation of Faith: "God of Hagar, Ishmael, Sarah, Abraham — God of oppressor and oppressed"

Essay: "Hagar and Sarah: Was Reconciliation Ever a Possibility?" — Exploring various writers' visions of what a meeting between these two women could look like

Video: Teaching children the story of Hagar, with an interfaith focus

Essay: connecting Hagar and Ishamel to the Genesis 22 story of Abraham nearly sacrificing Isaac

#queer lectionary #queer bible #hagar #genesis 16 #genesis 21 #log #summer 2023

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lapsed-lys · 2 months

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March 1st 2024 - 20h14

Entry #002

Serenity

I came back to Catholicism when I visited a local basilica.

I live in Montréal (the New York of Québec if you will), so, at every corner, I see a religious building. I see 5 churches within my own standing point. But one of them attracted me.

An Irish Basilica.

My biological family (it's complicated) descends from the Irish immigrants who came to Québec during the Great Famine. We've lost this heritage with the death of my great-grand-mother and it always hurt me a bit, like a needle through the heart.

That day, when I visited the basilica for the first time, I was completely depressed. I was feeling like life's disappointment. I'm trans and I commited the horrible sin of loving myself differently than my birth doctors dictated. I had an impulsive need to talk to someone about it... and I felt I could ask an Irish pastor, the epitome of who should be looking down upon my sinning Irish-descent Lapsed Catholic self.

I attended a mass devoted to Our Blessed Mother. I cried during it, as much due to a trauma response (for being in a church after 11 years of running away from it) as feeling an overwhelming serenity. The Virgin Mary saw me, somehow. I felt Her love, despite my perpetually sinning body.

Or so I thought!

At the end of the mass, the priest talked to me. He was intrigued to see such a young man on a Tuesday in here. I explained it all.

"We're all His children. I'm glad you came here despite your worries."

He explained that the basilica welcomes queer people since forever, and that as a trans man I have my place there.

This is Catholic love.

#journal du lys #catholic #catholicism #christianity #basilica #Virgin Mary #Holy Mother #québec #quebec #french canadian

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swampy-sayin-it · 10 months

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Slapping God in The Face Part 1

The Children Suffer

We know that the law is good, provided that one uses it as law, with the understanding that law is meant not for a righteous person but for the lawless and unruly, the godless and sinful, the unholy and profane, those who kill their fathers or mothers, murderers, the unchaste, sodomites, kidnapers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is opposed to sound teaching, according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, with which I have been entrusted. 1 Timothy 1:8-11

As our country spins ever so faster down the toilet bowl of time we are somehow getting gaslighted into thinking that all this queer crap is just a normal way of expressing one's self in a more theatrical way. So, let us look at this gender questioning ideology nonsense. Why is it so important for people to be conformed to something that they consciously oppose? I believe I have the answer here.

The First Sin When it all boils down to is this. All this queerness, gender confusion is all about questioning God and His creation. This is the original sin in the Garden of Eden when the snake asked Eve," Did God really say that….?"

Gender confusion is that same as telling God He does not know what He was doing when He created us. Those that propagate this garbage are telling people, mainly children, that they are born wrong and need to change.

Picking On The Children Why pick on the children? For one, Jesus loves children and the Satan would love nothing more than to kill, maim, destroy children before they can grow up and think for themselves. Since the demoniacs have taken over the country the "woke joke" is cramming as much of this gay crap into everything we do, consume, and watch on the tube.

The whole is insidious idea is to raise a generation of eunuchs that have their bodies mutilated and their minds warped beyond recognition. This is what they are do to your kids.

Killing the Children If the Satanists in govt and other places cannot kill the child in the womb then there is an all out effort to "kill" them in other ways. If we send our children to the public indoctrination camps called public schools then we as parents are failing our kids.

The demonic overlords are looking to steal away the innocence of childhood from your kids by any means necessary. Let that marinate in your mind some. If they cannot steal your kids gender they will fill his/her heads with other means to steal their innocence. A child's mind is susceptible to non-stop gaslighting of being told that their self worth being useless, and if a certain skin color a victim, or racist oppressor.

In fact, these child molesters we call teachers teach these kids for years that there is no future for them and that they can take all they want, destroy all they want, and murder if they want. After all, you are born in the wrong body, wrong skin color, and in the worst country in the modern world.

Fighting Back Sometimes, we Christians get into this rut of "will pray on it" routine. That is good that you "pray on it", but now what you going to do about it? Are you subscribed to Disney Channel? Are you trading your money for good sold at places that endorse this behavior? The question becomes why?

I have a few ideas that we can do to start making differences.

Run for the local school board and oversee what sort of things are being taught in your school district.

If you can seek alternative education including homeschooling.

Get a hold of your state and federal congressmen and get some answers. If they have nothing more than empty promises and platitudes then work to primary them out. They will do you no good otherwise.

Church support is critical here. Get the church involved in this and yes it is Biblical to support Christian ideas in the public square.

Conclusion This is just a small part of the problems out there that we can control and take over. The only thing stopping us from doing that is not doing anything, or letting someone else do it for you. Think of it this way, those crowns given out by God at the end of time are given for the good things you do in the here and now. I do not know about you, but I want one more for my head. How about you?

“If God is for us, who can be against us?” Romans 8:31.

#christianity #church #anti woke

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xtrablak674 · 1 year

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Your Application For Former Brother Has Been Expedited!

I secede, Patricia Jackson has won! Her four decades of indoctrination can’t compete with my decade of support loyalty love and guidance. I’m not sure what I was thinking, I have never had any of my siblings choose me, it was silly of me to think this instance would be any different.

I think the game was rigged, the absence of the parental units made it much easier to discard and neglect me my queerness just gave them justification. It was presumptuous of me to think that blood was thicker than water, blood is just that stuff that moves through my veins and can be easily spilled without nary a thought or worry from anyone. Family is just a quaint notion or an ideal not something tangible and real.

There will be no one to mourn me when it’s time for me to go home, I have struggled to be seen and failed greatly for all of my efforts to take the higher road to lead by example played to an empty theater. No one cares, so why should I?

Who exactly was I trying to be my best self for? The answer echoes in my head, my mom. I wanted to keep her dream alive, the dream of her children never being severed from each other and to be involved in one another’s lives. I tried mom, repeatedly but was met with animosity, distrust and guilt, I never deserved. I was just a child when we all lost our mother I hadn’t even entered puberty when I found her dead corpse, how am I at fault for all the wrongs in their lives when I didn’t parent them or even have agency over my own life?

My dad was very family-oriented and made sure to bring me around to meet everyone even if I was too young to remember who all these folks were, it was important to him that they knew his son and when his second born arrived he applied the same values to that relationship also. He embraced family and that was part of his legacy.

He welcomed the daughter of the mother of his second child and the twins that proceeded him who didn’t make it. I have the photographic evidence dually recorded by my father’s mother so imagine my shock and surprise when meeting the girl who I thought of as sister saying she didn’t know me.

My father was raised in an upper middle class household, I’m not sure why he felt he didn’t deserve better from his romantic partners, and I mean no disrespect to the mothers of his children, but he was raised to be better than them, but he didn’t believe in his own value and his mental demons did nothing but encourage his low sense of self worth.

Ms. Jackson has had untreated bi-polar disorder her entire life and an unhealthy sense of paranoia that lead her to isolate Raymond’s second son from his family, this was repeated with another generation. The now grandmother alienated the children of her son from their mothers family, telling her grandchildren that I’m your mother now! I’m not special, the disdain and hostility I felt since I was a child I now witnessed play out against new players with no apparent awareness or consideration of how this may affect the children, thus the cycle continues. Who was I to think that room could be made for me in such a toxic environment? Silly of me to want oxygen when there was none to be had.

The eldest daughter of Moses Goodwine nicknamed named Chancesome because she was the first baby to survive after several miscarriages, didn’t have her full litter. This term always amused me when I heard the stories that were told about what ancestors long dead had to say about the wife of Solomon. Her siblings had four each in various configurations but she had two, one blessedly brilliant and the other intellectually challenged, two boys who complexions only topically illustrated the differences between the two brothers who were incredible close.

Her blessed boy came back from Vietnam a skeleton of the person who had left his body riddled with Agent Orange and his mind and spirit shattered, following in his father’s footsteps had only two himself, boys just like his mom, whose complexions matched but whose destinies couldn’t be more different.

[Photo by Brown Estate, Edit by Author]

#bipolar disorder #mental health #family struggles #miscarriage #estranged #queer #inheritance cycle #family #dysfunctional relationship #blended family #death

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adverbian · 2 years

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Izzy Hands and "Crazy Rich Asians"

Whenever I think about Izzy Hands in Our Flag Means Death, I think about Michelle Yeoh's character in Crazy Rich Asians. (Sorry, this gets long.)

If you aren't familiar with Crazy Rich Asians, it's a rom-com where the main relationship is between Rachel Chu (played by Constance Wu) and Nick Young (played by Harry Golding). Michelle Yeoh plays Eleanor Sung-Young, Nick's mother. It's an adaptation of a novel, but I'm going to talk about the movie here.

Nick comes from an extremely wealthy family in Singapore, and they do not approve of his relationship with Rachel. His mother Eleanor especially does not approve. Rachel is not from their social class. She's American-born Chinese, the daughter of a single immigrant mother, raised in very modest circumstances. At one point, Eleanor tells Rachel "You will never be enough."

Here's what's interesting. In the original script, Eleanor was originally written as a one-note antagonist -- just the domineering, evil, snobby mother. Michelle Yeoh almost turned the part down because of that. She insisted that Eleanor be more complicated than that. She insisted that we needed to understand why Eleanor was like that.

So the movie actually begins with a flashback to Eleanor's younger years. She is traveling with two small children, arrives at a fancy hotel, and is disrespected by a racist white hotel clerk and manager. They refuse to recognize her hotel reservation and tell her to try going to Chinatown. She goes out in the rain to a pay phone and makes a call. She comes back inside. The hotel manager threatens to call the police. Then the hotel owner comes in and welcomes her -- that was who she called. It turns out he had just sold the hotel to her husband.

Later in the movie, Eleanor is talking to Rachel, and tells her that her husband's family did not think she, Eleanor, was good enough. She explains that she had to fight her way up in this society. For a moment, Rachel thinks Eleanor is finally warming up to her. But instead, she tells Rachel "You will never be good enough." She does not believe Rachel has the same strength, ability to sacrifice, fight, and succeed in this harsh social world of wealthy families and racist white people. And she believes that therefore, marrying Rachel will cause her son to fail in this society and lose all of the success he enjoys. Above all else, she wants to protect her son. She doesn't believe Rachel can do that.

In the climactic scene of the film, Rachel plays mahjong with Eleanor, while explaining to her that she has decided to break up with Nick and let him find someone of his own social class, because she loves him so much that she does not want to cause problems in his life. Every move in this mahjong game is symbolic. I didn't know mahjong at all, but I read a great article explaining it. Rachel ends by deliberately losing the game to Eleanor. As she does so, she tells Eleanor that when Nick finds the perfect match in the future, she wants Eleanor to remember that it only happened because she -- poor, raised by a single mother, "low-class immigrant nobody" -- made it possible. Then Rachel reveals her hand to show that she would have won, and then she walks away.

And this move finally defeats Eleanor. She gives her blessing to Nick and he proposes to Rachel with their family ring. Eleanor sees that Rachel does have the strength to fight, sacrifice herself, and succeed at protecting Nick in this cutthroat high society, after all.

izzy Hands is kind of like that. This great Tumblr post by fuckyeahisawthat totally nails it: Izzy is "a queer-coded character from some 1940s or 50s popcorn flick dropped into a pride parade in a floating gayborhood & he flat out has no idea how to deal with it." He's closeted because, in the genre he comes from, not being closeted means death. Showing any weakness means death. Add to that the weird, twisted, toxic sex thing he seems to have about Blackbeard. Suddenly he's surrounded by all these people acting like it's okay not to constantly enforce and defend status through fear and violence -- and, importantly, acting like it's okay to be queer -- and he's like "What the fuck, that was an option?!" He's terrified, furious, envious -- and jealous. And he is going to hurt as many people as necessary to enforce the rules he knows, because that's the only way he knows to be safe.

I've seen some people who think that Ed ultimately has to kill Izzy to be free of the toxic masculinity he represents. I've seen others who think that Izzy will have a face turn, a redemption arc, maybe even sacrificing himself for Ed.

But me, I think the resolution to Izzy's antagonism is probably going to look more like the resolution to Eleanor's antagonism. Stede is going to earn Izzy's grudging respect by the rules of Izzy's society, his genre. That's how they'll get Izzy out of the way of their romance.

I don't know exactly what that will look like. Probably Stede bests someone else in combat while Izzy is watching. Maybe Stede and izzy have to fight alongside one another, and Stede kills someone else, without hesitation, to save Izzy's life. I don't know. But it will be something that proves to Izzy that Stede's kindness is not weakness after all, but strength.

Now, I also think Ed's character will evolve more than Nick's does in Crazy Rich Asians. That's because of the differences in the themes of the two things. The importance of parents/family in Chinese culture isn't wrong and doesn't need to be challenged (especially not by a white American film industry), and that wasn't what Crazy Rich Asians was doing. But the importance of fear and violence to concepts of masculinity and strength does need to be challenged, and that very much is what OFMD is doing. So Ed's relationship with Izzy will change as well, as he re-evaluates the roles of fear and violence in his own life.

And I think Izzy's relationship with Ed will change, too. Maybe Izzy will realize that he himself is tough enough to be a pirate captain, without having to hide behind the shield of being Blackbeard's first mate. I don't know. I have even less idea what that will look like. But it will be really interesting to watch.

#izzy hands #our flag means death #ofmd #ofmd meta #crazy rich asians #michelle yeoh

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mirrorofliterature · 2 years

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sirius & percy vibing: or, the friendship literally no one asked for

A.k.a a snippet of observations relating to Sirius & Percy’s relationship from my fic a study of cracked gold. Also slight penance for killing off Sirius yesterday; here he is thriving instead! Bless him.

Percy is currently telling Ginny of a simply scathing speech Sirius gave yesterday to the Wizengamot before promptly rejecting his hereditary seat.

“It was fantastic,” Percy says, eyes alight with passion, and Ginny will never stop thinking it strange that Sirius, renowned wild spirit, is bosom buddies with Percy of all people. “He used Remus as a case study. Well,” Percy says, brows furrowing, “with his consent, obviously.” ... Percy’s smile fades. “Yes, it rather was. But it’s going to take more than one, passionate wronged man along with his equally wronged, supportive and intelligent husband to change a broken system, Ginny.”

With Remus and Sirius (mainly Sirius, but Remus was always along for the ride) riling up their mother’s feathers by being obnoxiously in love in front of Harry, who she could not bear to appear badly in front of, of course, they are blatantly trying to clear the path for her queer children (at least three out of seven, if not more).

(Percy and Oliver worked with them during the war. Of course they know, Oliver being the sap he is combined with Percy and Sirius’ strangely close camaraderie.)

“I will stop there, before I get into her treatment of Sirius when living in his home and a million other things she did wrong and we wile this night needlessly away to childhood trauma… but no, I don’t think I can ever forgive her, unless something radically changes.”

She chuckles, abruptly. “I think Sirius pissed them off in 1996 once by suggesting that maybe Arthur had something to do with your estrangement from the family, that you weren’t the one solely to blame. That you were so young, still.”

At this, Percy smiles. “Glad to know Sirius has got my back from the beginning,” he says, “and I hope, that outside our little family unit, you have found adults who unequivocally had yours, too.”

#sirius black #percy weasley #writing snippet #asocg #hp

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samwontshare · 2 years

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Hawkeye finale!

Where do I start???? I was NOT expecting Hawkeye to be the best MCU show and here we are. The writing was tighter on Hawkeye than any other show because they told a neat, character driven story. Love it.

-Maya. Oh my heart. I love her so much. I’m so happy she’s getting her own show. Her tragic battle with Kazi, who betrayed her but obviously loved her. She just wanted to run away together. Maya taking down Kingpin, what an icon. Now it’s not confirmed he’s dead so I think that’s a real set up for her own show. Her hair down, be still my queer heart. I wish she had more screen time and with Kate in particular.

-Some people expressed confusion about this plot point so to clarify: Hawkeye as Ronin did kill Maya’s father, but Hawkeye received the information from “an informant” of the Kingpin’s. Kazi is implied to be the one who sold out Maya’s dad to Ronin/Hawkeye, which is why he wasn’t there that night, but it was all under the Kingpin’s orders. Maya stopped blaming Hawkeye because he was only the weapon - the hit would have been ordered even if Hawkeye wasn’t there.

-Kate is just delightful. I love her spirit and her heart. And wow, that last guilt trip by her mother? Hahaha that felt so real. I like that her mom was evil but also genuinely cares about Kate and was willing to get out of the game to protect her (or rather protect her secret from Kate at least). Her relationship with Kate always felt genuine even if her motivations were darker.

-Hawkeye called them partners. 🥺

-Yelena my love. Y’all Aside from Florence Pugh being the new Kristen Stewart (the wlw know what I mean), I just adore Yelena as a character. Her scenes with Kate were so iconic. They’re the new Sam and Bucky. We haven’t seen a female friendship like this in the MCU. The only other women who were allowed to play off each other like this have been sisters (or were separated decades before current canon). I want so so so much more of them together. Kate brings out Yelena’s compassion and playfulness. Yelena never wanted to hurt Kate. Even when Kate interferes with her mission, Yelena never puts her in harm’s way.

-Even as Yelena is hell bent on killing Clint, she wanted the truth. She just needed closure. Her tearful declaration that she could have saved Nat broke my heart into a thousand pieces. This show, more than Black Widow and more than Endgame, has been the love letter to Nat that we as fans all needed. It doesn’t change what they did, but the love that was shown to Nat by Clint and Yelena felt like audience proxies. Our favorite snatched away too soon, blame that it should have been Clint, and anger that no one remembers Nat when they honor Tony. All of Yelena’s grief felt like our grief. It was so well done. It isn’t fair but we have to live with it. The implication that Nat died in order to bring back Yelena and leave no other children abandoned is crushing.

-The Track Suit mafia all in red and green. Excellent.

-All the trick arrows!!!! Kate ruining the Christmas tree! Does anyone ever pay damages??

-I assume Bobbi took up the mantle of Agent 19 after Clint’s wife left. I’m guessing she left before the kids were born or during her first pregnancy.

-The LARPers hahaha bless them they got to live their fantasy!

-Shout out to Jack for being a rich nerd with a heart of gold. Big foppish pirate vibes. What a chaotic character, I love it. I hope he funds the LARPers lifestyles.

-The musical was a funny way to end because it really subverted expectations. But what a missed opportunity to have some Avengers watching aghast.

-They wore their matching costumes :)

-The owl. I died. And the shrunken truck! The little voices! Dusvwbs do you think they survived and are trying to figure out how to get big again??? 😂😂😂

#hawkeye series #hawkeye spoilers #yelena belova #kate Bishop #Maya Lopez

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renee-writer · 4 years

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Just a Bit of Whisky Chapter 16 Firsts

Those first few hours are filled with first. After the afterbirth is delivered and Claire and Sinclair are cleaned up, she places him to her breasts. With a few adjustments from the lactation nurse, he is soon latched on. What a strange feeling that was! He knows just what to do, his hands fisted against her breasts as he hungrily suckled. Jamie sits beside her and watches with equal fascination as their son takes his first meal.

“Does it hurt?” he asks when he sees her wince.

“No, not at my boob. But lower. Causes fairly strong cramps.”

“Yes, breastfeeding helps to shrink the uterus back to it’s normal size. A pain now but it will get you back to pre-pregnancy size faster. It also has the immediate affect of helping to prevent post-partum complications. Beautifully designed.” The lactation nurse explains.

“Brilliant.” Jamie says as his hand comes out to stroke the softness of his son's head.

“Yes but bloody painful.” Claire adds.

“Yes. But gets better. It is only the first few days it is this way. Would you like to try switching sides?”

“I am up for it if Sinclair is.”

“Let me show you.” She shows her how to break the suction with her finger. The baby fusses at this intrusion into his meal.

“It is okay little man. We are just giving you a taste from the other side.” Claire sooths. He is soon latched on again.

After his first meal and his daddy’s first time burping him. “He may not need to. Breastfed babies take in less air.” But it is so sweet to have him up against his chest, the rest of his family is invited in to see hom.

“Ogha dhomh.” Ellen coos as Jamie carefully places him in his mam's arms. “Tha agam ort Sinclair.” Brian wipes tears out of his eyes as he watches his wife hold their first grandchild.

She gently transfers him over after a few minutes. “ “Mo fhuil.” He whispers. “You are my first son's first son Sinclair. A miracle.”

Henry takes him next. Looking into the eyes of his daughter's son is the most amazing feeling. “Hi Sinclair. I am your Grampy Henry. Your mummy’s daddy. I will love you as long as I draw breath just as I promised your mummy when I held her the first time.” His voice breaks at the end. Jenny comes up and takes him.

“Grampy is a bit emotional. We all are. You see Sinclair, we never expected you but now that you are here, we can’t see you not being. I am your Aunt Jenny, your daddy's sister. This means I've all the dirt on him. Anything you need to know about him, I can tell you. It also means I will always be here for you. That mine and your Uncle Ian's children will be your cousins. You want to meet Uncle Ian?”

“Jenny, I am not sure. He is so wee.” Her husband protests.

“Wee?” Claire replies with a laugh from the bed.

“You got this Ian. Just support his head and bum.” She carefully places him in his arms.

“Oh boy. Well hey buddy. Wow you are a beauty. I am your Uncle Ian. Married to your Aunt Jenny. You were at our wedding. Inside your mam. I am also a good mate to your daddy. Lord to refer to Jamie thus. See I have known him since he was just a wean. To see him a daddy, is a bit queer. I will see you safe Sinclair. You come to me if you are bothered by bullies or if a lass breaks your heart. Okay.” He is tearing up too so Julia comes and takes him.

“Big family, eh? A grand thing. As I told you earlier, your mummy was an only child. To see her child so surrounded by family is a blessing.” He grunts and fills his nappy. She grins and hands him to his daddy. “Jamie, time to learn one of the duties of fatherhood.

Another first, Jamie changes his first nappy, shocked by the strange tar like substance that his son produces. His mam and mother-in-law remind him and Claire that the first stools are supposed to look like that as his da and Henry offer advise on the mechanics of the change itself.

“Keep his wee cock covered. They tend to pee when it is exposed to air.” His da offers.

“A warm washcloth may work better then the wipes for the first few times.” Henry says offers as he hands him one.

He gets him changed then carefully re-swaddles him. He then hands him back to Claire as he is rooting around on his fist. She gets him latched on by herself.

The Ghaildhig

My grandson

I love you

My blood

#my writing #outlander fanfic #jamie and claire #cannon divergence #modern au #just a bit a whisky #firsts

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desbianherstory · 4 years

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youtube

Kattumaram (2018), dir. Swarnavel Eswaran

The topic of lesbian relationships is a relatively new one for South Indian films and Anusha Prabhu, who plays the role of lesbian partner Kavita in the film, was trolled because of the role, confirms Swarnavel. “Otherwise she would have come to the festival. We got blunt and homophobic hate attacks while making the film,” says Swarnavel. “We were harassed through right wing sophisticated reviews, blogs etc and that is why I think people who understand cinema should write more extensively.”

The director transports you to a small village in Tamil Nadu, where 47-year-old Singaram, played brilliantly by veteran actor Mysskin, struggles to provide for his orphaned niece Anandhi (Preeti Karan) and nephew, ten-year-old Mani, his sister’s children. The movie shows the social and economic turmoil people have to live with after Tsunami disrupted the lives of thousands in 2004. He is patient as he deals with his 27-year-old niece, Anandi, a teacher, who rejects the men he brings in or suggests she gets married to. However, as pressures to get her married off increase from fellow villagers, in an impulse, he proposes to his niece and leaves her totally shocked.

Meanwhile, Anandi’s life takes a new turn, when she finds love and companionship in her relationship with her colleague Kavita. As a hypocritical neighbour, Kumar finds out about Anandi’s relationship, he turns violent towards the family, ostracising them. The intolerance and hatred towards LGBTQ issues in a conservative society is brought to the forefront, but is not over-dramatised in the film. The patriarchal Singaram’s ego is deflated, and he empathises with the plight of the village barber, the transwoman Alankaram.

“Even small fishing villages have a homosocial environment. People know such relationships exist, that such things are not impossible. It always remains in a hidden layer deep down. We need to give a voice to it and represent it on screen. There is a space for our utopian desire where we have to go in the future, and that was important for me,” says Swarnavel.

What makes an unexpected ending is Singaram’s approach, as he decides to leave his beloved village with his nephew after he approves of his niece’s relationship and gives her blessings to start her life with her partner in the city.

“For me it was important that he (Singaram) accepts, because that is the way we have to go. Rather than show that it’s impossible and have a tragic ending,” says Swarnavel.

The film was conceived from a real-life story of a young girl driven by sports, who was not allowed to travel out of the city to join a sports academy when her parents found out that she was in a relationship with another girl. “She was an extremely intelligent girl, and was living in a government-run orphanage for a long time. I could see, and she told me, how running gave her that release from the trauma, the turmoil she went through with pressures from her uncle. I fictionalised the story,” says Swarnavel.

This film was born from a documentary Nagapattinam: Waves from the Deep (2018), where more than 6000 people died during the 30-minute Tsunami in 2004. Swarnavel started working on the project in 2005, and Kattumaram was born out of narratives that he gathered during his decade-long work there. This film is also doing the rounds of film festivals.

“The film looks at the resilience of the fishermen, but the lingering and unimaginable trauma when the sea which they worship as the mother takes an entire family away in a matter of minutes. I was thinking of how to represent these stories. Initially I wanted to document the film and be with them. As I would do it, women told me stories of living in a patriarchal society and that also remained in my heart. Out of those events, I created a fiction and when I got my sabbatical from teaching, I wanted to do this film. It was a one and a half year project and I had to go through discussions and revised the script several times to bring it to its present form. Many pre-defined notions were dropped. Kavita refused to cut her hair, stating that it’s passe for lesbians to have short hair. I learnt a lot working with queer theatre and it’s an absolutely collaborative venture between the artists, actors, crew,” confirms Swarnavel.

#Kattumaram #lesbian films #indian lesbians #tamil lesbians #preeti karan #anusha prabhu #Swarnavel Eswaran

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idanit · 4 years

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Yuletide 2019 recs

Yuletide 2020 is upon us, so what better way to get into the spirit than to finally finish that rec post I started compiling months and months ago? For those of you who don’t know what I’m talking about, Yuletide is an annual exchange centred around small fandoms and I love it fiercely. If you have canons you love, but which don’t have much of a fandom, there’s no better way to get some content for them than to participate.

Yuletide 2019 was the first edition I took part in and I read around 60 stories from the collection. These are my favourites, loosely grouped by canons or themes. There’s some experimental stuff, some crack treated seriously, some fluff, some character studies, and lots of excellent writing and cool concepts inside. The fics are mostly very short and most of them are inspired by book canons because I’m me.

Girls from past centuries, now older

A niveous vignette, or a snow story Anne of Green Gables | T (F/F) | 1K Cozy winter fluff you can wrap around yourself like a blanket. Anne and Diana live together and Rachel Lynde makes sure the rest of Avonlea doesn’t whisper a single bad word about it.

A teacher’s work is never done Anne of Green Gables | G (F/F) | 0.3K ...and this is what Anne’s teaching life could be like if she lived with Diana. I loved this little glimpse into how an older queer person might support a stray younger one.

Altogether Too Queenly Anne of Green Gables | T (F/F) | 2K Katherine Brooke longs for Anne Shirley despite herself. It was a really nice character study and Katherine is sometimes altogether too relatable.

Discipulae A Little Princess | G (F&F) | 6K Sara uses her fortune to learn new things and encourages Becky, who remains faithfully at her side, to also acquire new skills. They make sure that those who might be less fortunate have good lives, as they always did. It was a lovely and a wholly believable extension of the canon.

Secrets You Keep Alice in Wonderland | G | 0.1K And, at last, a little 100-word snack. Alice from Wonderland, grown up. I love the first sentence.

Children

Stretched Too Thin His Dark Materials | G | 1K This was a fic with some of my favourite things from this canon: Lyra’s Oxford years, rulebreaking, rooftopping, shapeshifting, and a focus on the relationship between her and Pan. Very nice.

Free To The People. A Series of Unfortunate Events | G | 1K An excellent Snicket voice. The Baudelaires in a library.

Iconic male duos of classic literature

Ubi sunt gaudia Raffles | G (M/M) | 5K Raffles and Bunny and Christmas in the countryside, quite atmospheric.

Relics Frankenstein | G (M/M) | 5K Written like the novel is written—serious, heavy, slow and so good. Victor is dead, but Robert can’t move on just yet. The necessary conclusion of this one made something in me want to protest, which just goes to show that the fic made me feel things.

The Vast Unknown Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea | G | 3K Aronnax doesn’t leave and things have to change. It reads like Verne, in a very good way, and contains some linguistic tidbits I really enjoyed.

beautiful meanings in ugly things The Strange Case of Mr. Hyde (Comics), The Picture of Dorian Gray | T (M/M) | 5K What delightful writing and characters. The investigation runs parallel to the romance, one complementing the other.

Full House 221B Baker Towers | NR | 9K A casefic made all the more interesting by the setting and the characterizations of John and Sherlock. I wish there was more of this to read.

beneath closed eyelids I do not cease to guard this A Study in Emerald | T (M/M) | 2K A character study of Watson. I really liked the loving, desperate arms this fic extends towards the canon, once-removed (the Arthur Conan Doyle’s one) at the end.

Ancient times

New Under Heaven Akkadian Empire RPF | G | 0.3K Enheduanna was the first poet we know the name of. This is an intriguing triple drabble, a glimpse into what she might have been like.

Easy to Love Tanakh | G (M/F, M/M) | 1K This one has an extremely unusual narrative voice for a fic—one of an experienced, loud, oral, old-timey storyteller. It’s short, it’s chilling, it has an interesting idea, it reminds me of what fanfic can do as a piece of transformative writing.

Aliens, magic, ghosts and sentient vehicles

Strange Fandom Strange Planet | T | 0.1K A bite-sized explanation of what fics are, Strange Planet-style.

Ain Humans Are Space Orcs (meme) | G | 1K Blessed be confusion! Two species meet on a planet that has been saved from a supernova blast. A fascinating glimpse into what feels like a rich world.

The Bargain 19th Century CE German Literature RPF | G | 4K There’s music and magic and deals made with folk creatures. I really enjoyed the main character—rational, but still a child with a childlike imagination—and the place art has in this world.

Rotten Heart Behind You (webcomic) | T | 5K This one has a very fun protagonist for a ghost story and some enjoyable trope subversions. I called it a student gothic, the giftee called it an academic thriller.

12foot4 11Foot8 Bridge (anthropomorphic) | G | 2K An adorable story (very nicely) written for a cracky prompt. Cars and bridges are sentient and surprisingly relatable.

The Author of the Acacia Seeds

An Orchid Keeps Its Secrets G | 1K Art can sometimes transcend species. Orchids write fanfiction. I loved this so much—a worthy fic to a great canon.

Mother Bonesplitter's Children G | 2K This one is just as worthy. It’s a fictional academic paper related to a paradigm-shifting fictional conference about some fascinating ideas and hyenas.

4′33″

Portable 4′33″ G | 0K For starters: the experience of the piece, presented as an app/game for our modern sensibilities.

273 Moments of Silence. G (F/F, F/M) | 2K Sentences full of silence that IMO could work as guided meditation.

John Cage Collaborates with the Archive's Terms of Service G | 0K Socratic dialogue. Is 4'33" music? Is this a fanfic?

The Sound Of A Yuletide Fic Not Being Written. G | 1K And a fun meta thing to finish it off. If you’ve ever struggled with your Yuletide assignment, you will probably relate.

#idanit reads #yuletide #yuletide2019 #fic rec #yuletide fic rec #i wish yuletide was more popular in my fannish circles #but what can i do when i mostly camp out in huge fandoms like sherlock or good omens

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saelwen · 4 years

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Dracarys

Chapter Two

Lachril Targaryen x Caranthir

Game of Thrones/ Middle-Earth Crossover

Masterlist

Summary: The sequel to The Last Dragon. Follow along with the adventures of Lachril and Idhrendir as they discover new cultures and races of Middle-Earth, seeing them learning from the Valar and the Elders. (Sorry I’m bad at summaries)

Warnings: Angst, fluff

Words: 1,500

An anxious feeling spread through Lachril’s body as she made her way to the Fëanor’s middle son. It’s true that the Targaryen girl was a free spirit and didn’t cower back from other Lords and braves Knights, always letting them know that she was in the same room but Caranthir made all that vanish in thin air, leaving the silver-haired girl with sweaty hands and breathless.

Lachril didn’t know why she felt that way but she wasn’t let that stop her to invite the young Lord for a ride.

Taking a deep breath, she went to Fëanor’s table, where all his house was taking breakfast. The first noticing her was Nerdanel, who gave the young princess a beautiful smile.

“Princess Lachril! What’s brings you here to our table?” the elleth’s voice was soft and cheerful, making Lachril smile gently to the older woman.

“Good morning, My Lords and My Lady!... I’ve come here to ask if Lord Caranthir would like to come for a ride?” Lachril asked politely, her violet eyes fixed on the blushing black-haired elf in the corner of the table.

The Fëanor’s sons begin cheering and teasing their little brother. The loudest was Celegorn, who didn’t stop saying that soon will be a new feanorian in the family. Lachril rolled her violet indigo eyes and smirk as she sees that Maedhros is still rubbing the fake beard off. “Do you need any help, Nelya?” the young princess asked with a smug face, gaining a glare from the red-haired elf.

“I think that’s a pleasant idea, Princess Lachril. Caranthir would love to go with you, isn’t that right ion nin?” Fëanor said with a small smile on his lips, looking from the corner of his grey eyes his blushing son, who nods shyly.

Smiling proudly, Lachril told Caranthir to follow her as she bends her goodbyes to the Lords and Lady. The walk to the dragon's stables was quiet, only talking about how beautiful was the day today or laughing of Maedhro's mad face when he barges into the room with his face painted.

“Tell me, My Lord... Why don’t you talk so much? I’ve never seen you participate in the activities with your brothers, only seeing you in some corner reading a book or watching from afar.” To Lachril surprise, her voice came out calm and soft, almost like she was afraid to spook the elf away.

In the corner of her eyes, she notices a frown appearing on Caranthir's handsome face. His beautiful grey eyes become dull and darkness spread through them. His muscular body went tense and Lachril could feel a strange aura radiating from him. “I’m sorry... You don’t have to answer that if you want,” she said after his silence, seeing that her question has brought some bad memories for him.

“It’s okay!... I don’t talk much because was my loud mouth that led me to my death... I don’t go hunting or patrol with my brothers because it was my boldness and impulsiveness that made a blade pierce through my throat, leaving me to drown on my own blood.” there was a long silence when he finished.

Lachril knew that he and his family had died on the first age. Hell, almost all the elves she knows in the Kingdom had died even her own father...but she didn’t know why or how. She stops and grabs Caranthir’s hand, squeezing gently as she looks to his cold grey eyes.

“My Lord...I’m sorry. I didn’t know-” her words were cut off with his timid smile on his lips.

“Don’t worry, Princess Lachril. It’s not your fault for being curious...and please, call me Caranthir!” he said with a gentle voice.

“Okay...Caranthir. Only if you call me by my name too!” Lachril said with a timid smirk as she begins walking towards her dragon stables.

When they arrive at where most of the people call “Dragonpit”, Lachril walks to the massive black dragon resting on a large rock, bathing on the warm sun. At the sound of his rider walking towards him, Daenerion lifts his gigantic head. The young princess stroke gently the warm snout of the dragon and smile happily.

“Galu, Mellon nin! (Hello, my friend)” she whispers softly to the massive black dragon before her. The creature begins purring at the sound of his rider soft voice, pushing his snout into her small hand which made the silver-haired girl giggle.

Turning back, Lachril laughs at the sight of Caranthir’s pale face. He had his hands behind his back and he was balancing on his feet in nervous.

“I thought that we would ride on horses... not in dragons.” his voice came out a little trembled which he covers with a cough.

Giggling, Lachril climbs Daenerion’s back, sitting comfortably on his scaly back. “Don’t tell me that a feanorian is afraid of heights. Come on! It will be fun!” she said with a smirk, seeing the light blush forming on his pale cheeks.

Grumbling under his breath, Caranthir climbs slowly to the dragon’s back, careful not to hurt the massive creature. When the black-haired elf was comfortable sitting behind Lachril, he looks around to try to see where he was supposed to hold on.

“Wrap your arms around my waist! If you want to live,” she said while commanding Daenerion to jump into the blue skies, laughing at the curses that Caranthir was yelling.

----

“It such a wonderful day, melleth nin!” Tunniel’s voice made a soft smile spread on Idhrendir’s face.

The young couple was strolling through the lovely garden on the castle, watching the beautiful flowers blooming to the warm sun. Idhrendir and Tunniel had been courting for some time, the two of them were always together when they were children. Spending the warm afternoon reading under a cool shade of a tree or catching a butterfly in the gardens. Everyone in the palace said that the two of them were made for each other... true soulmates.

“Yes, it is, my love! What are your plans for your day?” he said while putting a piece of her blond hair behind her pointy ear.

Grinning widely, she turns to him, her ice-blue eyes shining with happiness. “I’m helping my nana choose her wedding dress! I still can’t believe that she and Lord Maglor are getting married,” she said with dreamy eyes, glad that her mother had finally found a good elf that will love her as she deserves.

Maglor and Istril had announced their marriage on the last feast that Glorfindel and his children make every single year on the day that the savior of Middle-Earth had died, Daenys Targaryen. They said that was the perfect day to announce since it was the Dragon Queen how had introduced the two of them.

“Yeah, it’s really great that they are happy!...I’m sure that nana would be happy for them.” Idhrendir’s voice came out sorrowful. His father told him and to his twin sister tales of their mother, how courageous she was and how good and merciful she was to the people of Middle-Earth. Even if he didn’t memories of his mother, he still missed her every day. Wishing that she was there to guide him and teach him the history of his ancestors of the House Targaryen.

“Yes, she would love to see them together and happy like they are now... You know, you are just like her... good and smart. I remember the day I met her, how her beautiful silver hair shined with the light of the sun, making her almost like one of the Valar. How she had shown me her dragons and took me and my nana under her wing since my ada didn’t want us.” the last words came out full of venom, a frown forms on Tunniel’s face as she remembers the awful life that her father had made her and her mother pass.

Wrapping his strong arm around her small waist, Idhrendir pulls her into his chest, kissing gently Tunniel’s soft lips but it was interrupted by the loud roar.

Pulling back, Idhrendir looks up and saw Daenerion flying by with Lachril giggling and Caranthir shouting curses, on his back. A laugh escapes Tunniel’s lips as she sees the humorous sight before her. “Poor Caranthir!” she said while giggling.

Idhrendir rolls his violet eyes but a small smile forms on his lips. He leans down and captor Tunniel’s lips again, kissing her gently.

Everyone in the Kingdom I Lúg Post was having a wonderful life, happy to have such good King and Prince and Princess. Saying that the Kingdom could be compared to Valinor, the blessed lands... but not for long.

Hey Guys!!! Here a new chapter! So, what do you think so far? i think Lachril and Caranthir would be a cute couple, don't know 😂😂 I hope you like it and feel free to comment and tell me what you think!!

XOXO

Taglist is open- HERE

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itshardtoactnormal-blog · 5 years

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Beautiful LGBTQ Proposal Stories

1. Patrick + Matthew

“Patrick and I started dating in July 2016. By September, we had told each other, 'I love you.' Day after that, I bought the ring. He is the most special person I have ever met, and loving him is the best thing I’ll ever do with my life. I proposed on his birthday, Jan. 19. He made me promise not to propose at Disneyland ― Disney’s super special to us. So I didn’t propose at Disneyland. I proposed at Disney California Adventure ― thank God for loopholes! We were married this past August. It was everything; HE’S everything. So thankful for our happily ever after.” ― Matthew Markulis

2. Allie + Sam

"We actually had two proposals! I popped the question back in July, and it was a total shock to Sam. We'd been together 3.5 years and I told her I'd never propose..."

"... Anyways, I've been waiting for a ring ever since. In November, she told me we were going to scope out a wedding venue at our favorite park, so we took our dog Lily and met our wedding planner there. Little did I know, they'd set up a beautiful arbor and candles, and Sam got down on one knee and proposed. To top it all off, she took me out to dinner, and I was stunned that all of my friends were there! It was so exciting to celebrate with everyone! When we got home, our Christmas tree was decorated with photos of us from over the years, and I had so many sweet gifts to unwrap. I can't wait to marry this sweet girl!" ― Allie

3. Jennie + Joanna

"As cliché as it may sound, Joanna was one in a million, and I knew it from the moment I met her. She was genuine and kind. She came into my life when I wasn't even expecting it. I never thought I would ever date someone with children because I didn't even think I would want children. However, these three little hearts opened mine to a world I never knew: true unconditional love. The way she loved them made me fall in love with her even more. I asked the two oldest boys for their permission to marry their mother. It was important to me they were part of the decision, as they were the men of the house. Without hesitation, they did. We planned the whole thing together! They were the only ones who knew that our family 'Easter' photos were actually a surprise engagement photo shoot. I was extremely nervous, but Tara, a good friend [and the photographer], made everything easier. She captured one of the best moments of my life: my now-wife saying yes to marrying me!" ― Jennie Romano

4. Kayla + Loren

"The photographer Albert and I came up with the idea for me to propose on the Hogwarts Express [at Universal Studios]. My fiancée Loren (who uses they/them pronouns), ever the planner, was furious that we were skipping all the attractions on the itinerary we spent hours planning just to ride the train. They didn’t speak to me the entire time in line! Finally, we sat on the train, and Albert motions for me to sit next to him across from my fiancée. As he is setting up this very obvious and huge camera (Loren still hasn’t caught on!) he sneakily texts me, 'Now.' I lean in slightly and Loren is shaking their head saying that I was in the way of Albert taking his tourist pictures! I couldn’t help but laugh because they didn’t even know the half of it. I finally get down on one knee with the ring in the chocolate frog box and start my proposal with, 'Are you still mad at me?' Loren puts it all together, starts to tear up, and we’ve been happily engaged ever since!" ― Kayla S.

5. Jan-Kristòf + Kellan

"Kellan planned to invite a group of our friends up to Rainbow Mountain Lodge in Pennsylvania to propose to me in front of everyone. However, he changed his mind, thinking that I would probably be upset if I knew that our friends were coming to stay with us during our anniversary weekend. The day after we got there, we hiked up Resort Point Overlook, where Kellan planned to propose at the top of the mountain with the sunset in the background ― except that he forgot the ring! Moments like this honestly remind me how much I love our lives; we just truly keep each other entertained. We went back to the hotel room, where he presented me with this box of photographs, which were a collection of the most memorable places we have been in the last 10 years, and notes, which he had written our story on. He then got on his knees and popped the question with the ring in hand. The picture of him kneeling was for the engagement pictures taken in Central Park in New York." ― Jan-Kristòf Louis-Mansano

6. Quinn + Evelyn

“June 18, 2018, is the day that will forever be my best. It’s the day that Evelyn sat next to me with a wine glass of lemonade and a mouth full of turkey sandwich while I nervously watched in anticipation of asking the most important question I’ve ever asked in my entire life. My heart was beating 1,000 times a minute and Evelyn was finishing her lunch ― I was way too nervous to eat anything. I finally got on one knee while pulling out my handmade sign and the ring and asked Evelyn, 'Will you marry me?' With a very surprised look and tears coming to both our eyes, Evelyn spoke the most important word that I have longed to hear for so long: 'YES!'" ― Quinn S.

7. Cameron + Maggie

"When Cameron and I met, we had no idea we would end up here. We went from strangers to best friends, roommates to more than friends, and two short months later, we became engaged. He gave me a puppy who was wearing a tag that said, 'Will you marry me?' After a moment, he asked, 'Well?!' So I said, 'If I say no, do I get to keep the puppy?' He said no, I said yes, and when he’s rotten, I tell everyone he tricked me into this marriage with a puppy. 😂..."

8. Jeroen + Amar

"Straight from the start, I knew Amar was the one that I would spend my life with. Amar is an architect and loves special sustainable projects like the High Line in New York City. So I prepared our trip in detail, including a paparazzi photographer to take pictures of the moment that I would propose. On the High Line, I fell to my knees and asked him to become my husband. Even though I knew he would say yes, I still was somewhat nervous. But he did, indeed, say yes, and suddenly a group of people who surrounded us started to applaud. We revisited that specific spot three times that week. It will be always our romantic spot in New York." ― Jeroen W.

9. Jackie + Beth

"Beth and I had both decided that we wanted to propose to each other, but we had no idea that we’d be proposing within 24 hours of each other. I’d been planning for months to propose to her on our anniversary in Tower Grove Park [in St. Louis], where we’d gone for several of our first dates. I planned every detail to be as personal and sentimental as possible – I coordinated a group of her closest friends and family, flew in her best friends from out of town, gathered branches from the park to have turned into a wooden engagement ring for her. And when the date rolled around, I hung string lights from our go-to hammocking trees and rolled out our favorite vintage rug from my grandma. I told Beth I wanted to have an anniversary picnic in the park (which, bless her heart, she agreed to, even though it had been cold and rainy all day). As soon as we turned the corner and Beth saw the string lights, she started crying. She said yes, and all of our friends came out from behind the bushes to surprise Beth (again) and celebrate with us.” ― Jackie P.

“What Jackie didn’t know was that I was planning on proposing to her the very next morning at our favorite farmers market, in the same park where she had proposed to me. I went to the market early, talked to all our favorite vendors, and set up a scavenger hunt through the market for her. I left notes, pictures and our favorite market foods at each booth. My last note asked her to meet me at the stone ruins in the park, just outside the market. As soon as I saw her walking towards me with tears in her eyes and arms full of herbs and veggies, I completely forgot everything I had planned to say — it became the happiest blur that ended with a ring on Jackie’s finger and a celebratory breakfast with friends, featuring all the food Jackie had gathered on her scavenger hunt. It was as close to a perfect weekend as I could imagine. We each got to show the other how deeply known and loved we are, and we celebrated that love surrounded by our friends, family and queer community.” ― Beth W.

10. Amber + Courtney

"Our driver dropped us off on the wrong block so we had to navigate our way through the rainy streets of New York. All the while, I was trying not to give away where we were going. We were lost, jaywalking streets, getting caught in traffic in the rain, until we finally found our way. We rode the elevator to the top of the building, where a gentleman walked us up to a door. Courtney didn't know what was behind it until it opened. Immediately, we were met with candles lit, lining the rooftop floor, leading us out to a terrace that overlooked a beaming Empire State Building. The rain had stopped. As I turned to grab Courtney’s hand and lead her out, she immediately melted into a million happy tears and knew this was the moment we had both been waiting for. I walked her out to the middle of the terrace and made a promise of family, love and happiness. I said, 'My mom used to tell me when I was kid, as we said our prayers at night, to thank God every night for the things you don’t want to wake up tomorrow without. It never made complete sense what that meant until I met you.'" ― Amber P.

11. Alli + Chris

"I proposed to Christiane on our four-year anniversary. We drove up to this great little trail in northwestern Connecticut and hiked up to a quiet vantage point to watch the sunrise. This was a pretty typical way for us to enjoy a day together or celebrate something like a birthday or anniversary. She noticed me fumbling around with a bunch of cameras but I was able to come up with an excuse about wanting to photograph the sunrise. As the sun started to come up over the horizon, I gave Chris her anniversary present: a children’s book I had written that told our story. It all led up to the last page, which read, 'Will you marry me?' She said yes, and we got to watch a beautiful sunrise!..."

"... Later, Chris proposed to me and surprised me with a ring when we were taking some engagement photos with Steph Grant in Yosemite National Park. They planned the whole thing without me knowing, so I got a sunrise proposal too." ― Alli L.

#lgbt pride #pride month #LGBTQ #lgbtg proposals

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lunapaper · 4 years

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Album Review: ‘Temple’ - Thao and the Get Down Stay Down

Thao Nguyen has, in her own words, ‘divided myself into many selves,’ among them artist, the daughter of Vietnamese refugees, and queer woman living in modern day America.

Calling it the ‘most complete representation’ of her to date, the Get Down Stay Down’s latest album, Temple, finally brings all of Nguyen’s selves together to form one powerful whole, finding great strength in vulnerability while exploring wider sonic horizons.

The title track digs deep into Nguyen’s roots, building its Western-style guitar riff around ‘psychedelic rock from Saigon in the ‘60s’ as she retraces her family’s escape from Vietnam in the aftermath of war (‘I lost my city in the light of day/Thick smoke, helicopter blades/Why would I bother to remember when/Our people baby die and live again’). It’s among the record’s most intense piece of storytelling, the singer using her mother’s voice while ‘celebrating her life before, during, and after war, and—most importantly—blessing my pursuit of my own happiness and freedom in this life that is a gift.’

‘How Could I,’ as well,’ explores family and culture in depth, a poignant post-rock elegy beautifully layered with a Buddhist chant in the breakdown, which was recited by Nguyen’s family around her grandmother’s deathbed.

On ‘Phenom,’ she warns ‘Careful I'm an animal,’ a spiritual successor to the erratic ‘Meticulous Bird’ from 2016’s A Man Alive that sees Nguyen finally come into her own in a spidery haze. ‘Lion On The Hunt’ slinks like its namesake through a skittering groove. ‘Daughters of marauders are just so hard to please’ is among some of Nguyen’s best wordplay. On ‘Pure Cinema,’ she wonders if life on the road is worth it, finding herself restless and floating atop a mellow sprawl as she implores listeners to: ‘Find your family/Let them anchor you/In the open sea.’

‘Disclaim,’ meanwhile, provides one of the album’s darker moments, a sweeping jazz interrogation written in the wake of #MeToo as Nguyen takes aim at a once ‘honourable man’ wrapped in myth and legend, who only has himself to blame for his downfall.

Both ‘Rational Animal’ and ‘I’ve Got Something’ also acknowledge Nguyen’s commitment to LBGT+ and civil rights, the former offering hazy ruminations on the singer’s path to self-acceptance, along with some other eerily-timed observations as the world descends into chaos (‘Make it messy/Make it messy by the millions/They get so goddamn uncivil with civilians’). The latter, however, sees the singer prepare for sacrifice with a sombre lullaby, a sacrifice that many children of immigrants within the LGBT+ community still make today (From Apple Music: ‘At a certain point, I had to prepare to be apart from the family I grew up in because of being queer and being publicly queer. It was just this sort of exchange of 'I have to be ready to live my own life' and 'I have to be up for sacrificing connections,' if they inhibit my own life. So it's sort of like, 'Yes, you can't imagine how much love I have, but you also won't imagine it. Why would you deny me this?’).

Temple is the sound of unabashed truth. But its minimalist approach doesn’t always work to full effect, especially in the record’s second half, lacking momentum unlike its kinetic predecessor. Yet it does offer a lot more variety while retaining the band’s trademark cavernous feel.

Most rewarding, however, is Nguyen’s immense growth, evident in her stark, vivid lyrical turns. Finding great strength in vulnerability, Temple is a bittersweet effort that reaches no easy conclusions, but you’re able to feel the weight begin to somewhat lift from Nguyen’s shoulders. Or as she puts it on the title track: ’Bury the burden, baby, make us proud.’

- Bianca B.

#music #thao and the get down stay down #temple #new #reviews #Bianca B

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authorpocketcow · 5 years

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Can you explain what’s happening with the Canadian church? I’m trying to follow from here (Australia) but confused. Wonderful about the new Primate, what happened re same sex marriages? It’s a terrifying/wonderful time to be Anglican (I’m already bracing myself for lambeth next year)

derHello my darling fellow Rainbow Christian. A fabulous sister in Christ, as I like to say. I’m sorry that it’s taken a little bit to answer this question because I wanted to be as certain as I could about what the answer was before I said and explained it. As it happens, I just had a conversation with my Diocese’s congregational development officer (a wonderful spiritual man, a Reverend with a PhD, by the name of Jay) and I asked him as much as I could before he had to take a conference call, so I have more information and more clarification for myself and for you and for anyone else who wants to read this. Being part of the Communion, you may already understand most of the terms I’m going to use but I will explain them anyways for not only your sake but for others.

To begin with, in the Canon (the “ ‘sacred’rules of the church”; very similar to a story canon, as in “this is how it is and this is how it happens and this is how it goes”), the Sacrament of marriage is not *necessarily* defined as between a man and a woman, but those words are used in discussing the couple at hand when putting forth the rules and conditions and procedures to follow. There has been discussion for years in the Anglican Church of Canada about allowing same-sex couples to be married in a church, by a priest, as a Holy Sacrament, just in the same way opposite-sex couples are. In 2016, a motion was brought forward for them to straight up change the wording of the Canon to say “parties of marriage” or something similar, so that it may be gender-neutral and inclusive, and that it may encompass all who wish to be married regardless of sex or sexuality. They also, for the sake of those who are not ready and who are on the fence about it, proposed an addition to it which lets a priest say no to performing any marriage without being required to disclose a reason; however, that law is basically already in place. They were still going to specifically add it for those who cannot “morally” perform same-sex marriages, in asking them to direct the couple to someone who would perform it. It’s called the Conscience Clause. Read more about the initial resolution here.I know that there’s a priest in my city who would most likely not perform a same-sex marriage; he would NEVER turn someone away from the church and has never (and would never) treated me any differently because of my sexuality (I’m openly bisexual at my church, with my friends and with my family, and 90% of them are good with it). However, I know that he would say to a same-sex couple “I can’t perform this wedding in good conscience, however here’s the name and contact info for [insert basically any other Anglican priest in my city, including my own rector] who would be more than happy to meet with you.” He is still a wonderful man, a very loving priest, and an incredible man of God. He simply struggles with the morality because of his own interpretation of certain passages in the Bible. And I don’t fault him for that. I love him, I love his wife, I love their church.

Because this was a proposed change directly to the Canon, it had to be put to a vote by Order. This means that the entire meeting would be separated (not physically, but just by vote) into three sections; Bishops, Clergy (the pastors/ministers/priests who are ordained but not Bishops), and Laity (a “lay” person is someone who is not ordained; people at this level are simply delegates or representatives of their congregation, be it a youth representative or just a random delegate from that Diocese). The vote to change a canon would need to pass by a 2/3 majority in EACH order, which is 66%. In 2016, it nearly didn’t pass - one man who was supposed to be counted as clergy was counted as laity by accident with the electronic clickers. We nearly lost by one vote in the order of clergy, but it did pass by one vote.

Because this is a change to the Canon, it needs to have two readings; it needed to also be put into vote at the 2019 General Synod, which is happening right now. This one was defeated. The House of Bishops voted in at 62.2% in favour, which is down from their 71% in 2016. Both the orders of Laity and Clergy went far higher than their 2016 numbers, but unfortunately that doesn’t make a difference in the outcome.

Watching the results come live was devastating. Even Archbishop Fred Hiltz, our Primate (head of the whole Canadian Anglican church), looked upset. It was deafening silence as we waited, and as the results came up and people processed them... you could hear crying. Wailing. The youth especially were devastated; there were several self-proclaimed queer youth there. A report from the Anglican Journal says that one youth ran out in tears. My heart is with them.

There are two or three Bishops that were unable to attend the vote for health reasons, and they all were on the side of favouring the change. One of them posted a comment on one of the Facebook threads and she says that she feels horrible that her absence has changed the course of the Anglican Church in this Synod. It’s not her fault, and I feel so awful that her guilt is so high. One cannot help getting invasive tests with a recurring illness.

However, this is not the end. To start with, some people have brought forth new motions or a proposal to re-vote. I am not fully certain which of those two things will be done; the sessions resume tonight at 3:15pm PDT which is 6:15pm my time. So, in three hours.

On another note, it has been pointed out by our Chancellor himself that the current Canon XXI does not specifically exclude same-sex couples. It allows for marriage by the church of any recognized as legal by the state, technically. On that basis, most people have been leaving it up to the discretion of each Diocesan Bishop to decide whether or not the priests in his or her charge can perform same-sex marriages or blessings. Read more about that, and about the self-determination of Indigenous Peoples to deal with the proposed changes in their own way with their own cultural approach, here in a document presented to 2019 General Synod a few days ago.

In a blessing, a couple would go to a Justice of the Peace at city hall or whatever and get them to perform the marriage, but then come get their marriage blessed by a priest to make it official and holy. The further differences between marriage and a blessing are unclear to me, and in fact are far deeper than just a simple answer as I was told by Rev Dr Jay. I’m going to have another conversation with him about it at another time.

As it stands right now, the church has voted against specifically putting forth a canon that is all-inclusive and accepting of same-sex marriages.

If there is a NEW motion brought forward, with Totally Legal Slightly-Different-Wording, it must follow the same path that this motion did with two readings and a 2/3 majority vote by Order. It could not pass until at least 2022, even if they did a reading before 2019 General Synod is over, because there would still need to be a second reading of the amendment.

If there is a motion brought forth to do a RE-VOTE, that must first pass as a majority vote. The majority of the General Synod Members -- not by Order, just as a whole -- must vote in favour of allowing them to revisit the proposed amendment. If that goes through, then it will be re-voted on... I am nearly certain that it would fall back to being by Order again, but I heard from someone else that a re-vote doesn’t have to be by Order. I do not know if that is true or not, or if I simply misunderstood them. If this is the procedure that will be followed, I think it is supposed happen before 2019 General Synod is over.

As far as what the results of the new motions brought forward to reconsider this, I think we’ll hear more about that after they come back from Vancouver parish visits, Sunday morning Eucharist, and lunch.

I hope and pray that if it is called back to a re-vote that there will be people who change their mind from Opposed to In Favour, that they see how heartbroken they have made countless people, especially the youth - who are the future of the church. There’s a very good Twitter thread by a Queer Christian Youth by the name of Noah that points out the cruel irony and hypocrisy of turning away the very demographic that they want to draw in - read it here.

There was an Indigenous Bishop who got up and spoke right after the vote results came through, and he simply said, “What have we done? What have You done? Our children are crying. You have made our children cry. Is this what you wanted? Is this the future of our Church?” And his emotional state was heart-wrenching, but he spoke nothing but the truth. You could see and hear the sorrow in not only the Youth but others as well. I was told by his mother that the youth delegate from my Diocese was really upset at the results. She was glad that he was there with someone he knew because apparently he got quite emotional. I don’t know his sexuality and it’s not really my business since I’m not close with him (I’m better friends with his sister), but I know he is a supporter and I know he’s a very sensitive and empathetic kid.

There are two queer youth, from the Dioceses of Toronto and Huron, who have stood their ground about this, and have told the House of Bishops that they will not take the Eucharist for the rest of General Synod. One of them said, “If you say I am not worthy to receive one sacrament then I’m not worthy to receive any of them.” That’s very, very bold, and I would like to think that if I had been the Delegate from my Diocese that I would have stood with them on that. I don’t know if there are more that stand with them on that, but I read about that on the twitter of one of the priests who are there with them.

TL;DR The change did not go through, but that doesn’t mean it won’t happen. And to be honest, there’s nothing really stopping queer marriages from happening now. But we are fighting for it. Love is Love, and God is Love, and there will be NO hatred in my Faith.

@queerlychristian if any of your followers want to know about this or know any more about it than I do, feel free to share this!

#christianity #anglican church of canada #gs2019 #general synod 2019 #queer #same sex marriage #my post #answer #queer christian #lgbt christian #queerlychristian #julianofnorbitch

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vethyourhalflingmother · 5 years

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tary & keeping in touch maybe?

Little Elf Girl,

How are you? How are the children? How’s Percival— still handsome and suave as ever, I hope.

I just received your last letter, even though it was dated three months ago. I swear, the postal service gets worse every year. The state of the government is getting shakier and shakier, if you want my honest opinion. Of course, I’m not saying anything treasonous, you know I would never— I quite like the Empire, for the most part, though they could do to focus more on mail and less on pissing off the Xhorhasians.

Enough of that dower talk, though. The hostel is doing well, and Maryanne’s finally starting to enjoy the work. Only took her a decade. The funny thing, Vex’ahlia, is that it seems like my sister’s as queer as I am. She’s taken a hell of a shine to one of the ladies who volunteers to teach the children that pass through. I asked her once, during an argument, if she would like it if I told her she had to marry a man, and she hit me over the head with a dishrag— rightfully so, I’m pretty sure I crossed a line. Even though she tried to get me to marry a woman once.

But, our squabbling aside, I wonder if that’s common for siblings? You’re bisexual, right? And Vax was, too? Your little sister’s seventeen or eighteen now, isn’t she? Ask her what she thinks of women. It’s for science. Ask Percival about his family, too, he never writes me back as quickly as you do. (It’d take me a year to get his answer at the postal service’s speed! But I’m not complaining anymore, I promise!)

Speaking of people’s romantic inclinations, I’m happy to report that it didn’t work out with that guy I was telling you about in my last letter. Why am I happy to report that? He was an absolute tool! Sure, he had a pretty face… a winning smile… great hair… abs I could’ve cut myself on… but his personality? Terrible. Absolutely abhorrent. I tried being shallow, I really did, but it was too much for me, if you can believe it. I’ve said it before, but it’s worth saying again: you’re lucky to have Percy. Obviously, he’s even luckier to have you, but as far as men go, he sets the bar high.

Oh, shit— I hate to cut this letter short, Vex, but I want to get it mailed out quickly so that it gets to you before Winter’s Crest, and my mother needs my help in the kitchen right now, so I’m afraid you’re going to have to want for my usual pages and pages of updates. I don’t know how you’ll ever survive, but you’re the strongest woman I know, so I have faith you’ll manage somehow.

Love you lots,

Taryon Darrington

Tary,

My husband’s as fine as ever, don’t you worry! My children and I are also quite well— it was kind of you to remember to include us in your pleasantries this time!

I’m sorry the postal service is so slow, darling. Percy and Keyleth are combining their expertise to create a quicker messaging system for those of us who are not as gifted in the arcane or the divine arts— and don’t you dare mention Pelor, Taryon, you know my blessing doesn’t include Sending. Anyway, they’re working on something, but with Keyleth leading her people and Percy raising five children? It’s going to take them a few years to finish, I’m afraid. Until then, we’re just going to have to settle with snail mail. We may get a good five, six letters sent between us before they’re done.

I’m glad to hear the path you’ve set for you family is doing well. I remember Maryanne’s protests. But she’s fallen for a teacher, eh? Just like her older brother? Maybe there is something running in the family there.

You remember Vax and I correctly, we both go rogue and ranger, as Scanlan would say. I once joked with Scanlan, I told him that’s why I’d started adding my brother’s rogue skills to my repertoire, and his dirty little eyes almost popped out of his head. Not the best joke I‘ve ever made, retrospectively. Poor phrasing. But it sure made him excited.

Interestingly enough, I’m almost certain that Velora is inclined toward women. When I’ve tried to discuss such matters with her, she’s been vague and cagey… but the way she looks at Cassandra, I think she may have a crush. It’s odd that she won’t talk to me about it, given that I can totally relate to swooning over a de Rolo (it’s a common phenomenon, is it not, Tary? perhaps you should come over and try to relate to her, hmm?), but I’m not about to force the point.

Percy says that all of his siblings were quote “flaming.” He didn’t elaborate much, but he did mention that his older brother used to get in trouble for sleeping around with the stable boys under their parents’ employ. Where have I heard a story like that before?

He also says to tell you that he and his two younger brothers are right-handed. I’m not sure what that means, and I’m not sure I want to, but he said you would understand it.

I’m sorry your date didn’t work out, but it’s good of you to look past all those positively tempting feature and tell yourself that you deserve better. Because you do deserve the absolute best, Taryon. (Also, you can do better than my husband— don’t tell him I said that, you’re right about us being lucky in love and all— but seriously, find a man that doesn’t deal with smoke demons— yes, this is me complaining about how smoke still rises off him when he gets too excited— it’s been fifteen fucking years, Tary, I swear to Pelor—)

I have to go parent now, I’m afraid, but I’ve attached a story that my oldest wrote for you. He’s becoming quite the little musician and storyteller, you’ll have to come over and see him at work sometime. Remember our door’s always open if you get an opportunity to travel across the pond! Please send more letters as soon as you can, I’d like to know how Doty and the Darrington Brigade are, and you know I always want to hear about you.

Love you lots,

Little Elf Girl, Vex’ahlia de Rolo

#i wrote this ages ago and never posted it #it's very weird for me i don't usually write in first person #but here's a small snippet of vex & tary keeping in touch #everyone is queer you can't change my mind #vex #vex'ahlia #taryon darrington #percy de rolo #percival frederickstein von musel klossowski de rolo iii #critical role #cr1 #fanfic #my fanfic #post-campaign #maryanne darrington #the de rolo quarter elves

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