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fandomshatelgbtqpeople · 4 years

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mod a’s lgbt musicals

Hi there! I’m a big theatre kid so I thought for pride month I’d put together a list of LGBTQ musicals. Despite its association with queer people, musical theatre is not known for its amazing representation. I’ve put together a list here of musicals I know of with queer characters. I’ve tried to avoid those where the queer characters are incredibly minor roles or those where the representation is just not good enough to be salvageable (*side eyes Legally Blonde*) I know there are many musicals I will have missed out but these are the ones I am most aware of. Feel free to add more! So without further ado, here it is.

Fun Home

The big Tony winner of 2015! Based on Alison Bechdel, a butch lesbian cartoonist. At the age of 43, she looks for new material by trying to explore her past and her relationship with her closeted gay dad. Looks back at a version of herself when she was 10 and a “tomboy” and at 19 when she came out and got her first girlfriend. Has very cute lighthearted moments as well as very sad moments. Has a beautiful song where small Alison sees a butch deliverywoman. Problems in that since the original broadway cast, Alison’s costume has got less butch. Content warning for suicide.

Here’s their Tony performance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMAuesRJm1E

The Color Purple

Based on Alice Walker’s novel about black women in the 1930s. Follows Celie who has been abused by men her whole life who discovers she is a lesbian but also makes a journey of self discovery and learns to love herself. Her love interest is a bisexual woman. Won best revival at the Tonys in 2016. Content warning for discussion/implied sexual abuse.

Here’s their Tony performance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3k2xzQyT2bk

Everybody’s Talking About Jamie

A teenage gay boy in Sheffield wants to be a drag queen and go to prom in a dress.Also a nice touch that is does not focus on him having a relationship (since he is sixteen) and him having to come out as he is already out. Focuses on his close relationship with his supportive mother. Has a diverse cast. Jamie is currently played by a black actor and his best friend wears a hijab and has a very diverse ensemble as well. Unfortunately has a part where Jamie responds to a homophobic bully by calling him a bunch of ableist and classist slurs.

Here’s a clip of the most popular song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7C3FuFWDdw

The Prom

Emma is a lesbian teenager in Indiana whose prom is cancelled by the PTA after she requests to bring her girlfriend to it. A group of Broadway actors come down to help her campaign to be allowed to attend prom, as well as styling her, helping her work on her confidence and educating the town’s people. What ensues is basically a two hour musical episode of Queer Eye. Cheesy and fun with so many musical theatre references crammed in. My one issue is that the show is rather harsh on people who are closeted since Emma has conflicted with her girlfriend Alyssa because she is not ready to come out.

Here’s a clip of their Tony performance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGcG_r5xv3E

Rent

Probably the most well known on this list. Artists in New York during the AIDS crisis. Two of the main couples featured are queer: Maureen is bisexual and in a relationship with Joanne who is a lesbian, and Angel is a transgender woman of color in a relationship with Collins, a presumably bisexual man. However, she tends to be played bi cis men and there are instances of her being misgendered by the main characters uncritically. In Rent Live (2019), all instances of her being misgendered were removed and her gender identity was confirmed. She was played in this by Valentina, an nb drag queen and has also been played by Pose’s MJ Rodriguez, a trans woman. Very diverse with Jewish characters and people of colour and in the live show, only 1 of the 8 main characters was white. Has been criticised over the years, mainly for its biphobic portrayal of Maureen who is promiscuous and implied to cheat, but in the 90s did a lot for the LGBTQ community and is more progressive than a lot of media even now.

Here’s a clip of Maureen and Joanne from Rent Live: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06oCfKYYPTY

And here’s some Angel and Collins: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hl-M94o_x8

Falsettos

Marvin comes out as gay in the late 70s but decides to move his ex wife and son in with his boyfriend. Addresses AIDS crisis in Act 2. Has “lesbians from next door” in act 2. F Revived on Broadway in 2016. All of the characters are Jewish. Unfortunately, in revival casts, very few actors tend to be Jewish.

Here’s the trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjnAHOdMQVk

Come From Away

In the aftermath of 9/11, 38 planes are diverted to a small town in Canada called Gander. Shows people of different races and nationalities bonding in a scary time. Addresses Islamophobia. Has one song called Prayer where prayers from different religions overlap. Has an interracial gay couple called Kevin and Kevin. They break up in the end but are very important characters. Won best direction of a musical in 2017. The Broadway production starred Jenn Colella who has referred to herself as ‘mostly gay’.

Here’s a clip of Jenn Colella singing a song from the musical: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8ukgH6U-d0

Head Over Heels

Honestly I don’t quite know what this musical is about, even by reading the plot summary and listening to the soundtrack. I know it’s set in a Tudor fantasy world and that there are wlw couples as well as an explicitly non binary character, played by Peppermint, a trans woman, and that there are interracial couples and plus sized actors. It is a jukebox musical using songs by the Go-Gos and yes the wlw anthem that is Heaven is a Place on Earth is one of them. The soundtrack is fantastic even if you can’t follow what is going on.

Here are some show clips: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wx2qQ7QAPm0

Spring Awakening

German school kids in the 19th century discovering their sexuality. Two of the schoolboy supporting characters, Ernst and Hänschen, have a romance when they have a reprise of an earlier song in Act 2. A BIG content warning as it has graphic discussions of rape and songs about it and a sex scene with very dubious consent. However there was a very wonderful 2016 revival using deaf actors and sign language.

This is another one you can very easily find the full show of on YouTube which I won’t link. However here’s the Tony performance for the revival: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSagsMcak4Q

If/Then

A woman named Elizabeth (originally played by Idina Menzel) moves to New York after a divorce and contemplated how different her life would be if she took two different paths. Four supporting queer characters. Her ex-boyfriend is bisexual and played by Anthony Rapp (who is bisexual in real life) and he gets a boyfriend in one timeline. Another of her friends is a lesbian called Kate who marries her girlfriend in the musical. Problems occur as in both timelines, cheating goes on in the lesbian relationship although they stay together in one. Elizabeth also says she doesn’t believe in bisexuals, a view no one ever challenges her on, however Lucas is very clearly bisexual which is some proof for the audience that she is wrong.

I’m not going to link it here but there are many very high quality bootlegs on it on YouTube if you want to watch,

Ghost Quartet

A bit of a weird one. This is more of a concept album. There are four performers who each play instruments and they tell the stories of many interconnected timelines. It is very hard to explain but there are souls travelling through time who keep being reincarnated as different people with different relationships to each other which usually end with one woman killing the other. In the song Soldier & Rose, the ghosts Rose and Pearl are lovers as Rose seduces the soldier for her honey. In the song Four Friends, for one chorus the men sing “I like to put my hand on a pretty girls’s knee” and the women sing “pretty boy’s knee” and then they switch for the next chorus so they’re all bisexual. In general, a lot of fun if you like weird musicals and I mean really weird.

The full show is online: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJSaEJm8pCE

Mean Girls

Yes there’s a musical of it. I was not looking forward to it when it was announced but have actually grown to quite like it. It’s hardly lyrical genius but the songs are fun and a lot of the problematic aspects of the film have been fixed. Damian is more explicitly gay in the musical and sings about an ex boyfriend in one song. Janis is heavily implied to be a lesbian (confirmed by actress offstage) and she doesn’t end up with Kevin Gnapoor. She is played by a queer actress in the tour cast. Both queer characters are much bigger roles than in the movie and get several songs each. I’d consider the musical to be quite white feminist but it does address issues such as the sexualisation of teenage girls and the notion that to be ‘sexy’ is ‘empowering’.

Here’s a clip of one of Damian’s songs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-zM6QKkxEQ

& Juliet

An English jukebox musical about what might have happened to Juliet in Romeo and Juliet if she had not died at the end. I haven’t seen it but I’ve listened to the soundtrack and it is mainly comprised of 21st century songs by women. One of Juliet’s best friends is non binary although is played by a cis man as far as we know. Also I went to the same school as one of the actors which is a bonus for me. Very diverse cast.

Here’s a trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dm2k9nS3o20

In Transit

A capella musical about several people’s adventures on New York public transport. Two of the main characters in this ensemble cast are an interracial gay couple where both are pocs. They are engaged but one of them is having trouble coming out to his mother. I found it refreshing in that his fiance for the most part was not upset with him at his struggles in coming out and they were both able to live fulfilling lives despite this. I am always astonished by the talent of a cappella singers.

Here’s a trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhvik6qoass Another one where the bootleg can be found very easily on YouTube

Firebringer

Remember A Very Potter Musical? Well, the company that did that are still putting out new pieces of theatre on their YouTube channel. In 2016, they put out their ridiculous comedy musical Firebringer, about a group of bisexual cavewomen. I won’t spoil the ending but trust me, it’s great. You may know it from the viral clip of one of the main characters singing ‘I don’t really wanna do the work today.’

You can watch the full musical here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmVuNlu0LCk

Special Mentions

Company

Musical by Stephen Sondheim about a man unable to commit to a relationship, surrounded by his friends who are all in couples. However, the award-winning 2018 West End revival chose to change the genders of some of the characters. The main character Robert became ‘Bobbie’ (although all of her love interests were gender-swapped as well). One of the originally M/F couples became an M/M couple. It opened on Broadway for about a week before the Covid outbreak so that will be one to look out for.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtDK03y4gT0

In the Heights

A musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda about the Latin American community living in Washington Heights in New York. The original theatre production has no explicitly queer characters. However, in the upcoming movie version (that was meant to be released this summer but has been pushed back to next summer) it has been confirmed that the characters of Daniela and Carla (Daphne Rubin-Vega and Stephanie Beatriz) will be explicitly a couple.

I absolutely love this musical and the trailer for the movie looks beautiful check it out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0CL-ZSuCrQ

#mod a #musicals #theatre #lgbtq rep

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serenagaywaterford · 4 years

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I am reading up on Phyllis Schlafly, really infuriating stuff. Definitely seeing a lot of her in Serena (on the show only), right down to even her looks... so I can see why people hate her so much. I don’t know without Yvonne’s nuanced performance, I would’ve had much sympathy and empathy. Or maybe I am just a slut for Yvonne. Oh well... Btw, any interest in Mrs America? It’s got a great cast, although for some reason, I get a sense you aren’t a big Cate fan? Or I got it all wrong?

Well, Schlafly was one of the prominent anti-feminists Atwood based Serena Joy off of so it’s only natural to see the similarities! (The other was Tammy Fay Baker. Amongst, I’m sure, many other women of that ilk during the time period Atwood was writing.) They did strip basically the entire Tammy Fay aspect of Serena out of the TV!Serena. (Which is a shame in some ways, but sort of understandable in others. Book!Serena was a lot to translate, and yet strangely less developed somehow than the show version. Or am I crazy?) I have read some of these women’s essays and such, originally not voluntarily lol but part of a feminism course at uni and the prof thought it was absolutely necessary to read the other wide’s views in order to understand the entire scope of the issues.

I think it’s pretty much majority opinion that without Yvonne’s specific acting choices and skill (and I suppose–let’s admit the director’s get some credit too lol) for bringing Serena to the screen, most of us wouldn’t find the character so fascinating. And I am not going to pretend to even lie, her looks help too. ;)

Of course I’m interested in Mrs. America. The content of this series is exactly up my alley. I love shit like this. And I have a gross little fascination with cults/terrible social movements and terrible conservative women and why they are so fucking awful lol. (Which leads into my slight preoccupation about how to change their minds so they can be feminists too. So many of them are intelligent, driven women who… my God. If they just could break that patriarchal bullshit mindset… Although admittedly, some seem to be just plain horrible to their bones. And I’ll admit it’s more appealing in fiction, than reality cos in real life people don’t change as easily or dramatically.)

I’ll tell everyone here a little secret:

I know I probably give off a different vibe lol, but I don’t choose TV shows to watch based on who the actors are. (Subjective opinion time: If I did, I probably wouldn’t have watched THT cos I don’t like Fiennes, Bledel, or Moss all that much. Well, Moss as an actor has grown on me in time, lbr. Fiennes has always bothered me, so he’s perfect for Fred then lol but I still don’t think he’s an excellent actor, and Bledel is such a one-note actor imo. I know, sacrilege. Throw me to the lions, or whatever. Which is why I was pleasantly surprised by some of her scenes in THT, and not shocked when she didn’t deliver in other ones. And, I will fully admit, I didn’t care who the fuck Yvonne Strahovski was prior to her becoming Serena. I’d seen her in Dexter and she never really left an impression. So, based on casting alone, THT would not have been something I particularly cared about. Ann Dowd is about the only actor in THT that I had positive thoughts about cos she is stellar and always is, but she is hardly a main character in THT lol.)

So, disliking an actor isn’t really an issue unless I particularly loathe one and know I wouldn’t be able to stand watching them under any circumstances. (This is rare.) Yes, sometimes I’ll give something a shot I otherwise wouldn’t cos I love a specific actor in it, but that doesn’t mean I will stick with it even if it sucks or say it’s great when it’s clearly not. I’m not one of those completists that must watch everything a certain person has been in. (Not anymore, anyway lol. When I had time and money in my youth, that was a different story. You bet I watched everything I could that had Natalie Portman, Laura Linney, Olivia Wilde, or Amy Adams in it lol.)

About Cate Blanchett. Um. I don’t dislike her? I actually enjoy her work as an actor… mostly, from what I’ve seen. (I very much disliked Carol, which is perhaps where you’re getting my dislike of her from? I thought it was a slow, boring, underwhelming movie. And I hated the age gap. But that’s not Cate’s fault. I also dislike Rooney Mara…so, yeah.)

I’ve watched quite a few other films with Blanchett. Some were great, some sucked. As most actors have in their filmography. I adamantly don’t follow the tumblr/twitter lesbian trend of mooning over Cate because I am firmly and obstinately opposed to stanning straight people as “lesbian icons uwu” or “honorary lesbians” (See also: Hozier, Taylor Swift, Rachel Weisz, Harry Styles, etc etc.). I hate it (esp when it’s straight MEN) and I will not join in, even if they are outspoken activists for gay rights. Which none of them are. That just makes them a decent person, not a gay icon/honorary gay.

“Rather, I mention it as a reminder to myself, and to you, of an unfortunate yet undeniable fact: Heterosexuality is an overwhelmingly common trait for our so-called gay icons.

Celebrity fandom is really just a bizarro reflection of ourselves: who we are, what we value, who we want to be, and, sometimes, who we want to fuck. Our faves are us, basically, just in that creepy sexy lady Snapchat filter. And as fans, we invest in the celebrities we love. We help their interview clips go viral; we see their movies in theaters then stream them at home; we loudly cheer their awards season campaigns on social media. The celebrities we choose to uplift reap our time and our attention and our clicks and our money. They accumulate both our cultural and literal capital; they gain buzz and caché and glossy magazine profiles; they get bigger roles and bigger paychecks.” [this article is a basic explanation, but doesn’t get nearly as nasty as I would if I wrote it, lol.]

That doesn’t mean I don’t like Blanchett. It just means I don’t have the energy to waste on gushing over her cos she wears suits really well, goes to a drag brunch, and has played a lesbian once (that I know of, like, I’ll admit I don’t follow her career lol). She’s good. She’s done good roles. She’s not gay and shouldn’t be a lesbian icon, nor is she my fav ever. So, meh. She’s fine. I do appreciate her… energy? If that’s a thing. It’s a very self-assured, self-sufficient female energy that she emanates in her acting, and offscreen I would argue. It’s refreshing. I love confidence without arrogance or egoism. (Altho, lbr, all famous actors are egoists. It’s basically a pre-req. Some are just excellent at not letting it show.) But if I want to talk about an otherworldly tall lanky blonde actress, I’d prolly lean towards Tilda Swinton lol.

I’m looking forward to her in Stateless and Mrs America. I think she has potential to do both roles quite well. Although… I will say her American accent often leaves a lot to be desired lol. But it’s getting better. If I’m going to gush over any “lesbian icon” in Mrs. America, it’ll be Sarah Paulson.

#(but lbr i don't really gush over lesbian icons anyway lol)#i just wanted to give a shout out to sarah paulson lmao #OOPS THIS GOT LONG AND I STARTED TALKING ABOUT THINGS ANON DIDN'T ASK AT ALL YIKES #oh well #it has been A Day #Anonymous

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moistwithgender · 6 years

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Curry watched anime: Summer 2018 edition

I guess I’m doing this now! I only really stuck to my Crunchyroll account, as I don’t have a HIDIVE or Amazon Prime sub, and Netflix doesn’t simulcast (I’ve been learning a lot of new terms over the last few months). I didn’t watch everything that was available to me either because I’m tired and etc you know me by now.

What’s that? You say I was supposed to be reading through old Marvel comics? You’re right, I fucked up. I’m juggling a lot of interests and I’m not the best at it.

I think the only show I watched that was on a non-first season was HeroAca and I’m not even done with it yet (and they immediately announced a 4th season, damn). Still, I’m 12 episodes in and it’s pretty good. Haven’t hit the absurd emotional highs of the first two seasons yet, but there’s time.

I watched the 12 available episodes of Angels of Death, and it looks like they’re gonna do an OVA for the last four episodes. I got in on this late due to low energy but I was intrigued because it’s an adaptation of those RPGMaker horror indie titles that Youtubers get famous off of. That’s almost deliberately aiming for my attention. This show is kinda dumb. Not because it’s edgy, I actually kind of enjoy that somewhat immature aspect, but because every time it decides to delve into western religion (which is a big theme, and all the characters are implied to be either American or English) it gets a bit confusing. I’m not sure if it’s subs being written with limited information (which it shouldn’t be, the game is out in multiple languages), or if the author just has a misinformed idea of how people talk about their faith. Rachel, a fourteen-year-old, talks constantly about her relationship with God, but specifically only in the context of what form of suicide is Breaking The Rules. It’s...interesting, but oddly so, and the episodes that revolve around a villainous priest and a witch trial are so vague and nebulously defined that I had no clue what any of the characters were talking about at any time. It’s also very clear they are staying true to the structure of the game, because there are many segments that feel like they lose their tension (or maybe their logic) when taken out of an interactive context. Anyway, I want to watch those last four episodes so I can form a full perspective, but I suspect that any upcoming twist won’t save what’s been established.

Cells at Work is really fun and I enjoyed the full 13 episodes, though I still find its overwhelming popularity surprising. There are shades of narrative, and plenty of implied worldbuilding (which is often my favorite kind), but this is mostly a series of notebook scribbles of someone’s OCs based entirely on making a comedic metaphor. It makes sure to stay this way, and all drama ultimately can’t last in the face of the the theme of “biology is funny.” On Reddit somewhere, a medical student was going through the show and pointing out all the surprisingly subtle details, like the Red Blood Cell with no sense of direction having a cowlick that represents sickle cells which have more trouble getting through the blood stream. Very clever stuff.

Asobi Asobase and Chio’s School Road are both hilarious and great comedic timing, but I still haven’t finished the latter. The former is about shitty schoolgirls who want an excuse to goof off, and the latter is about...mostly the same concept, but the main girl is a hardcore PC gamer who tries to solve IRL problems with her l33t skills. You have to take both with a grain of salt at times, especially if you’re LGBT. Asobase has some sketchy commentary on trans people, School Road’s lesbian is a pervert, and the shows overall swing with reckless abandon into lewd territory (imo said lewdness is often hilarious but ymmv). I think the main difference for me is that while I find both really entertaining, I’m actually growing fond of the characters in School Road? Meanwhile Asobase is an “Always Sunny” style comedy in that the characters are terrible and you should not imitate them (and also like Sunny you are occasionally made to wonder how self-aware the writers are).

Hanebado is about the most traumatic sport in the world: badminton. Or so you’d think, considering that this show turned the drama faucet on full-blast and then cracked the dial off at the start of the season. It’s extremely good sports drama, and really nicely animated, but there’s a subplot of Extremely Bad Parenting that did not reach an appropriate resolution, or at least wasn’t communicated properly to the viewer, and I saw a lot of people reasonably pissed off about it.

Planet With was probably the show of the season for me, and was even the reason I got a Crunchy premium account. A (kigurumi) mecha show with shades of Gurren Lagann that hits every shonen trope you can expect (well, except for a tournament arc) and subverts it with nuanced maturity, which is what I came to expect from Satoshi Mizukami’s writing. After reading Spirit Circle, I’m convinced everything he writes is gold. Not enough people watched this show, and it’s a shame, because the nuanced take on the difference between justice and compassion is pretty relevant today. I’m currently rewatching this with my sister and hoping I’ll pick up more than I did the first time through. I expect to watch it a third time in the future.

Show of the Season: Planet With Runner up: Probably Hanebado

Shows I also watched that weren’t from this season: - Ushio & Tora (wasn’t really worth the dedication, unfortunately) - KADO: The Right Answer (Fantastic until the last couple episodes collapsed in on themselves) - Digimon Tri movies 1 & 2 (this is gonna be rough)

Shows I dropped: - Angolmois (it’s not a bad show but I didn’t have the energy)

Shows I missed but still wanna watch: - Overlord S3 (haven’t started this show) - Banana Fish (wanna read this first (also no Prime ;_;)) - FLCL S3? (haven’t watched any of the new stuff yet) - High Score Girl (COME ON NETFLIX) - Revue Starlight (it’s on HIDIVE) - Kakuriyo: Bed & Breakfast for Spirits

Shows I missed and don’t know what to think about: - Grand Blue - Happy Sugar Life - Island - Harukana Receive

#curry watches anime #long post

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juuls · 7 years

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Why canon ships suck

So! You like a ship, right?

You want that ship to become canon, but it hasn’t yet, or never will.

So what do you do?

You read fanfiction, of course!

In many people’s opinions, fanfiction can often be better than canon. It allows us to explore ships, characters, alternate universes… and sometimes we encounter authors who do it way better than the canon writers do. It’s pretty spectacular, to be honest.

Fanfiction and fandom allows us to explore the what-ifs. The ‘what would happen if this event didn’t happen, or this character didn’t die, or these two characters met who never did in canon’. It provides us an avenue to ‘fix’ what canon screwed up – well, in some people’s minds. In an age where we are only just starting to get LGBT+ representation on the screen, or in books (but only really just now, in any fair way), fanfiction gives slash/femslash/polyamory shippers a place to explore the ships that they wish were on screen – but aren’t yet, unfortunately. I know that fandom is a bastion for me in that regard.

But… have you ever stopped to wonder what would happen if your ship became canon?

In my opinion…

…and in the minds of a few people whom I have spoken to at length on this topic… canon makes the ships less fun.

They’re together. The people we shipped, the people we wrote fics about… they’re together. What more is there to write or read about? Yeah sure, you could still write some fics, especially legacy and alternate universes. But there will be far less interest in it after the fact. Fanfiction is more often than not a place to explore the ‘getting together’ part of a relationship, and once they’re together, besides wrapping up the plot… what fun is there?

Not much, honestly.

Yeah, there’s the whole fandom attitude of ‘winning’ over another ship. And maybe the canon ship breaks up and ends with someone else. That is entirely possible. But I’m talking about those ships that become canon and end the series/movies/books that way. Yep, we can be gleeful that we ‘won’. We can dance and say nananabooboo! and be all happy and whatnot. ‘Winning’ a ship war can be fun.

But do you know what those shippers have that we don’t, after everything is said and done?

… they get to keep writing/reading fanfic, and it’s interesting for them, exciting, and they can ignore the scene/episode/movie/book/epilogue (I’m looking at you, J.K. Rowling) at their leisure. When we get our canon ship… it sort of, I dunno, ends there for a lot of people.

It kinda sucks.

Actually, it really sucks.

So, you know what? I don’t want my ships to become canon. Or, at the very least, I would love evidence that they’re moving in that direction, at the end of whatever it is, TV/movie/book, that I’m watching or reading. That way I’ve got this pretty strong feeling that they’re going to end up together… but, like… they aren’t actually together.

So then I can write whatever I want, whatever I see as possible for them getting together.

I just don’t want to be spoon-fed.

So… I’m looking at you, Johnlock. I’m looking at you, Hannigram. I’m looking at you, Reylo. I’m looking at you, SSHG. I’m looking at you, Stucky/Stony.

Basically what I’m trying to say is… that I really enjoy it when my ship becomes canon… but then I lose the fandom love for it. Then it just becomes another aspect of the show/movie/book, and not a way of life, in a way. Because fandom/fanfiction… shipping… it thrives on the unknown. Thrives on the fix-its. Thrives on the getting-together.

Once we have all that. Once we have the known, the fixes, the getting together, the wrapping up… it’s not fun anymore.

But I’m not saying I don’t enjoy when things are pointing in my ship’s favor. :)

So, let’s take a look at a few stats.

I’m not diving deep here, because there are a lot of facts that don’t get taken into account with the numbers. You have to have been part of the fandom to understand the ins and outs, when a fandom was popular, and what effect the decade it was popular in had on a ship or fandom, or the decline of a ship over a certain amount of time, or after it becomes canon (because a ship can still be at the top of the charts, but its fic contributions rapidly declined after it became canon), or if a fandom moved to another website, or was/is more prevalent on another site or whatever, etc. But the numbers are still interesting.

So yeah, this isn’t thoroughly researched empirical data, but… it’s a start.

Red = non-canon, blue = canon (I’m not outlining all of them, just a couple here and there.)

(Edit 9/10/17: Since some people have insinuated some rude things about me, I would like to clarify my stance. I went into it briefly above, but obviously I should have delved more.

Because writers of books/tv/movies these days are still less likely to write in an LGBT+ romance, the statement that canon ships suck still holds true. As a bisexual and polyamorous woman, I know that it’s very unlikely that I will see the latter, and that it is not something common to see the former, either.

So fanfiction has become something of a safe haven for myself and others in that regard.

HOWEVER, I would be beyond ecstatic if there was a poly relationship, for example, but as long as it was done with respect. I would be beyond ecstatic for a gay or lesbian relationship, that was treated well and respectfully and not fetishized. Not there for shock value. Which is starting to happen more, I’m pleased to note (the ships happening, not the fetishizing).

Take one of my favorite ships: Hannigram. I love it. I ship it on and off screen. On the show and in fanfiction. I mean it practically is canon. I would very likely still read fanfiction even if/when they continue the series and it becomes a reality. Because I’m pretty damn sure that they would show the good and the bad of the relationship and keep it interesting.

And oh my goodness I would be beyond ecstatic if Marvel would follow through on Stucky. I think we all would be. Gah!

And like… if Star Wars would finally give me a polyamorous relationship as part of its main, or near-to, characters… it would warm my soul to feel a part of me recognized in mainstream culture. And you’d be damn sure I’d still be shipping it.

(Game of Thrones had a really good opportunity to make Rhaegar and Elia and Lyanna married, all three of them, but instead they stomped all over poor Elia and her children… my heart!)

As some people have pointed out, a lot of writers don’t know how to write a relationship after they’ve gotten together. This feels true to me. Good examples of the opposite, though, are Bones and Castle and Outlander, and even Shadowhunters with Malec, and Buffy. Usually, though, writers don’t quite know what to do with characters once they’ve gotten them to this point.

This is what I am referencing when I say I have bad experience liking ships after they become canon.

But I am SO here for writers getting better at it. Especially as they start to explore LGBT+ and minority representation.

(And maybe part of why I don’t like canon ships… is because I am also bored with the het white ships that keep popping up… just a thought that came to me reading comments and reblogs. It’s worth considering.)

I don’t check out if the ship becomes canon. Not at all. I cheer alongside the rest of people.

All I am referencing is that the fanfiction about these canon relationships (something I typically love more than canon) seems to suffer and peter out afterwards.

And here is my response ^ that will now be viewed as “the lady doth protest too much”. But whatever.

Enjoy. xoxo)

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sassyhazelowl · 6 years

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Lists:

LGBT+ Fiction LGBT+ Anime Yuri Manga LGBT+ Film & Comics

Part 2 of LGBT+ Fiction because I’ve had some free time to finish a few more books. Under the cut for length, and for this batch, it is mostly bi or lesbian fiction. Enjoy.

Titles/Author: Tides/ Betsy Cornwall Genre: YA, [urban] fantasy, romance Relationship(s): f/f The Good: likable characters, solid plot, quick and easy read The Bad: villain was a bit wimpy Extra Notes: selkies! how can you go wrong with that? also grandma lesbians. Warning: eating disorder mention. Personal Rating: 8/10 Recommend: Yes

Titles/Author: Summer Prince/ Alaya Dawn Johnson Genre: YA, romance, dystopian Relationship(s): m/m/f, m/m The Good: lively and fast moving plot, interesting world building, good characters and motivations, character development, writing style is easy and pleasant to read The Bad: unnecessary sex scenes, tension falls flat, okay ending, world building holes Extra Notes: unlike coda I feel this one is enjoyable regardless of whether you like the genre or not but I’d be hesitant to recommend to readers under 16 due to inappropriateness. also, it is based on brazilian culture (I believe), which could be problematic, but I don’t know enough about it to know myself. A reviewer said it was “so tumblr” and I have to agree it has that vibe to it in some ways. Personal Rating: 8.5/10 Recommend: Maybe, see notes

Titles/Author: Serpentine/ Cindy Lo Genre: YA, romance, fantasy Relationship(s): f/f The Good: easy read, fast paced, solid plot, emphasis on sister-sister bond as the main relationship The Bad: not necessarily bad but the book felt mediocre for the genre in pretty much all aspects, not a huge fan of the male lead Extra Notes: the sequel sounds more exciting tbh Personal Rating: 7/10 Recommend: Yes

Titles/Author: Santa Olivia/ Jacqueline Carey Genre: adult fiction, dystopian, paranormal Relationship(s): f/f The Good: unique writing style, diverse support cast, likable protagonist, subversion of genre tropes, romance had conflict The Bad: beginning dragged and threw off the pacing, ending was good enough to be satisfactory but could’ve been better with a tenser climax Extra Notes: liked the book a lot but have no interest in reading the sequel Personal Rating: 8/10 Recommend: Yes

Titles/Author: Fingersmith/ Sarah Waters Genre: historical fiction, crime, psychological thriller Relationship(s): f/f The Good: fairly true to the setting and time period, characters are very realistic and a bit gritty, plot and narrative have a unique twist, ending was satisfactory The Bad: big drag in the beginning of part two where it basically is a re-telling of the end of part one, gruesome and graphic in places, hard to get into at the beginning even though the set-up is extremely important to the plot, language is a bit difficult until you get the hang of it Extra Notes: I watched the movie The Handmaiden first, so I had a good idea what was coming at me. Fortunately, it is not as gruesome and disturbing as the movie is, but unfortunately it is still full of potential triggers and uncomfortable topics. It is also an extremely long book (600 pages). Sex scenes, allusions of rape, mentions of torture, etc. I enjoyed it and rammed through it in two days but I just can’t imagine the general populace wants to read this book without an interest in the dark and macabre. Personal Rating: 8/10 Recommend: No

Titles/Author: Iron & Velvet/ Alexis Hall Genre: paranormal, detective Relationship(s): f/f, background m/m The Good: fits genre expectations, quick read, lots of action and excitement The Bad: it is a little over the top with some of the supernatural stuff, side characters aren’t that great Extra Notes: This book was gaudy as all get out but a ton of fun and lots of witty lines. I don’t really think it is the kind anyone will re-read but it is a fun book for entertainment value alone. Sex scenes, lots of casual mentions of sex and wanting to have sex. It reminded me of fanfiction circa 2010. Personal Rating: 7.5/10 Recommend: No, unless you like the genre or fanfiction circa 2010

Titles/Author: Star-Crossed/ Barbara Dee Genre: YA romance Relationship(s): f/f The Good: completely age appropriate, addresses real life topics frankly, super cute, likable characters The Bad: predictable (for an adult or well-read children would probably be fine for most kids), Shakespeare is overused and that seemed to make it more cliche than it actually was Extra Notes: This is one I was looking forward to and it didn’t disappoint. It’s really rare to find a young adult written for younger teens and this was written perfectly to suit the age group. It is super cute and very positive without washing things over with rainbows and sunshine. Real-life problems are addressed, acknowledge and dealt with, which I always appreciate in a story. Personal Rating: 9/10 Recommend: Yes, if you’re 12-14 or a parent or a childrens’ librarian or just want a cute read

Titles/Author: River of Teeth/ Sarah Gailey Genre: alternative history; bio sci fi Relationship(s): hard to qualify but there is a gender fluid, gender binary and 2 bi characters along with bi x nb relationship vibes The Good: Interesting premise, fast paced, distinctive characters, lots of tension, subtle but not non-existent romance The Bad: It’s a novella, so it’s short. Some of the action at the end, while well-written, was still confusing to visualize mentally. A few editorial bloopers. The characters aren’t as fleshed out as I’d like but it is a novella, so yeah, expected. Extra Notes: I read this while waiting for my stupid computer to update. It is a novella not a novel, so it is short. But it is extremely well paced and the balance between action and dialogue is well done. There is death and there is knife play and people having unfortunately accidents with hippos. There is a sequel, which was also good, but for completely different reasons (much heavier on the romance). Personal Rating: 9/10 Recommend: Yes, unless you are afraid of hippos

Titles/Author: A Place to Rest/ Erin Dutton Genre: romance Relationship(s): f/f, background m/m The Good: A light, quick read with a realistic flavor that doesn’t get too heavy. Very cute premise and heavily character-centric with nice arcs. Obligatory hot cocoa scene. The Bad: The pacing dragged a bit, the side characters were pretty stock. There were some repetitive elements that came off clunky in execution. Nothing terrible just seemed like the author is a bit inexperienced in a few areas. Extra Notes: This, to me, read like a slow burn coffee shop AU fanfiction, so if you like that sort of thing, you’ll really enjoy this book. I, personally, enjoyed the fact that there was family-centric tension that wasn’t omg you’re gay! and instead focused on normal sibling problems. Also, I liked that the protag was in her 30s because a good chunk of recommended reads for queer books are YA and at some point its nice not to read about teenagers. Sex scenes. Personal Rating: 8/10 Recommend: Yes

Titles/Author: Letters Never Sent/ Sandra Moran Genre: romance, historical fiction Relationship(s): f/f The Good: Well constructed and interesting plot, realistic premise, suitable twists, lots of pertinent and salient issues, queer history in the US midwest The Bad: Not a lot. There are 2 main characters, a mother and daughter, so it does waffle between the past and present time, which isn’t balanced perfectly and could have stagnant spots. Extra Notes: Honestly, I’d like to find a lot more adult books like this one. It hit my radar as a Must Read, and I don’t always care of Must Reads, they tend to be hyped from a small pool of mediocre. This one was worth it but... on to the warnings: sex scenes, homophobia, internalized homophobia, rape, abortion and murder. Nothing was gritty, in fact, the story itself is serious but not overly important about it. Personal Rating: 9.5/10 Recommend: Yes

#queer fiction #lesbian fiction #reading recommendations #mine #queery the media

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cookinguptales · 7 years

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update: lmao I am so fucking doped up right now. sorry to the world that I got behind on shimamatsu translations, but have you ever tried to translate while on muscle relaxants? it’s a bad scene. god, I’m in a lot of pain rn.

gonna talk about some of the movies from the film festival below the cut. doped up af but I’ve seen like 14 movies so far, hella. tomorrow I probably have to skip bc I just took two cyclos and that is gonna fuck me the hell up.

movies I’d recommend:

thelma a norwegian film which is basically a coming-of-age story for a fundie christian girl who goes to college and realizes she’s a lesbian. oh, and that she has insane supernatural powers. (it’s kind of carrie-ish but with canon f/f, but imo a lot better than carrie.) the love story is really interesting, if incredibly dark. like if you’re in the mood for dark, kind of mindfuck-y f/f, this is your film. despite the very long upcoming list of potential triggers, it’s not as scary or brutal as it sounds. lmao. highly recommended, probably the film I’ve enjoyed most so far. (tw: violence, nudity, drug use, death, [spoilers] child abuse, possible mind control, child death)

custody a french film based on a short film that I saw a few years ago, and it’s fantastic and gut-wrenching. the short film was about a woman running away from her abusive husband with her children; this feature-length film is about what happens when a stupid judge ignores what both the wife and children have to say and gives him joint custody. (spoilers: it doesn’t end well.) interestingly, it has all the same cast as the original short film, though the kids are markedly older. idk if it’s meant to be a straight sequel or if one just inspired the other. really well done, tho, I was fuckin white-knuckling it in the theater. people were like. yelling. the climax of that film is INTENSE. probably the best quality film we’ve seen so far, though I think the plot could’ve been tightened up a little. (tw: very explicit depictions of physical and emotional abuse, very terrifying moments. [spoilers] but no child death.)

I, Tonya tonya harding biopic. I’m not really a big one for biopics, but this was a good one. it tried to explain how harding’s life led her to where she got, but didn’t necessarily paint her as some innocent victim. it was sympathetic where it needed to be, empathetic where it needed to be, but rarely let her get away with bullshit. lot of good performances here, but Margot Robbie (even though she looked way too old for the part) did a great job. (tw: explicit child/spousal abuse)

the villainess Korean lady-gets-revenge-on-shitty-men bloody action flick. not really my genre, admittedly, but I feel like anyone who likes this kind of movie would really enjoy this one. very Kill Bill-esque. it’s the story of this girl who basically gets passed around between illicit assassination organizations, in-fighting, revenge on all those who wronged her, etc. it is Very Bloody and many people die. the action scenes are HQ if you are into that kind of thing. I was mostly invested in the huge amounts of f/f potential. like at one point she joins an assassin organization where all the operatives are female and that whole part of the movie!! was very gay!! the actual canon relationships are het, but there is a strong potential for dark f/f murderwives here. (tw: haha oh boy if it’s a problem it’s probably here. implied CSA, child abuse, creepy relationships, violence, gore, nudity, child death, everyone else death, non-con facial surgery...like it’s bloody af okay...)

love means zero this is a documentary about nick bollettieri, who’s this super famous tennis coach. (apparently.) I knew next to nothing about the world of professional tennis going into this documentary, but I still enjoyed it bc wtf this guy is a piece of work. it’s basically all about how he fucked over a ton of people (especially kids) when he was trying to make tennis champions. and how he succeeded! by fucking over a ton of people! the interviews with him are honestly kind of wild bc he’s just such a crazy narcissist. this was especially weird for me to watch bc I grew up in the sarasota/bradenton area and never even knew all this shit was going on there. it was weird seeing my hometown on the screen like that, but also interesting. (tw: child abuse, just generally being a fuckboi)

MOVIES THAT WERE OKAY but like I had Issues

brimstone and glory I feel like I really recommend going out to see this one if you can see it on the big screen. it’s a documentary about a fireworks festival in Mexico and honestly the cinematography is stunning. it’s just so, so, so cool. but the actual documentary part is kind of boring sometimes, and you gotta have a strong stomach bc it also shows some of the injuries people get at this insane festival. like I don’t think showing that is a bad thing; I think it’s the only responsible way to make a documentary about this festival. like it’s amazing, it’s so cool, but also these people are like. going blind, losing hands, dying. and taking their kids!! like if you cannot handle watching kids in dangerous situations, don’t go!! dad was freaking out, lmao. (tw: graphic depiction of real-life injuries)

radiance a Japanese film about a woman who writes audio description for blind movie-goers. the same director made An (Sweet Bean Paste) a couple years ago, which was notable for its depiction of what Japan does to its citizens who have Hansen’s Disease. (leprosy.) it was weird to me when that movie came out that none of the reviewers really talked about that aspect of the movie; they were all like “UGH IT WAS SO POINTLESS AND CLOYING” and I’m like “did you miss the point of the movie?? which was critiquing the social ostracization of these people in Japanese society??? did that completely go over your heads????” anyway, I appreciated the depiction of PWD in Japan bc having lived there while disabled, I know that shit isn’t easy. that’s why I went to go see radiance. it was...okay? I think the most interesting part was when they let the blind characters talk. the movie was otherwise pretty pretentious and self-indulgent. lmao. like... it’s a rent, don’t buy situation.

marlina the murderer in four acts this movie was not bad! it’s an indonesian film about a woman whose home is invaded and she kills all the invaders. it’s definitely a film that critiques misogyny in indonesian culture, but I feel like it undercut its own message by showing such incredibly graphic rapes. like honestly, I don’t really ever recommend movies that have very graphic rape scenes, but I guess she does end up killing her rapists during the rape scenes. I just. I feel like it could have been done in a way that won’t get people all sexually excited while watching a violent rape. : / y’know? other than that, though, I really liked the female characters in the movie and sympathized with marlina’s journey trying to get society to help her and realizing she had to just go it alone with her female friends. bc like. she’s attacked by men, but she’s also revictimized by shitty ordinary men all the time she’s trying to get to town, report the attack, etc. and so are the other female cahracters. so they just. have to be vigilantes. (tw: GRAPHIC rape, violence, mild gore, spousal abuse)

newton Indian film about a guy going out to the jungle to get votes in the main election. but like. none of the people out there even know who the candidates are, there’s a lot of anti-government violene, the villagers are caught between anarchists and the police, it’s just a mess. and I do think the movie was good at showing the futility of it all and showing how the people who really end up getting fucked over are the poor people in rural areas, but at the same time like. pacing was uneven, tone was ???, and I found the protagonist irritating. and there was what appeared to be some pasted on het which made no sense. (like honestly I cannot figure out why she ever wanted to talk to his dumb ass again.)

blade of the immortal it’s takashi miike making blade of the immortal. I mean. I feel like if you are familiar with those names, you already know if you want to see it or not. if you aren’t, idk how much you’d like it anyway. after already having watched miike’s ace attorney adaptation, I sense a pattern. the guy just looks at a HUGE corpus (like a VG with 5 cases, or a manga with 40 volumes) and is like “welll....then I guess we better make things fast.” so you have Big Bads being introduced in the same breath that they get killed, 30-second backstories, just a frenetic pace and a huge amount of information, and it’s confusing and overwhelming if you don’t already know it. and honestly, I haven’t read BotI so I can’t say how faithful this was. but if you already love the characters and just want miike’s trademark bloody action flick style, then I mean. fair enough. this here’s a bloodbath. I had a hard time getting emotionally invested as a fresh viewer, tho. highlight of the evening: an old man walking out grumbling about how he only likes classy martial arts movies, and apparently this did not qualify. having seen a lot of classics of the martial arts genre, still unsure what a “classy” martial arts film looks like. (tw: offscreen rape, death, blood, gore, just an unreasonable amount of killing honestly like it was funny by the end, attempted CSA)

gemini this is a “neo-noir” thriller. so essentially a murder mystery. unfortunately, the title of the movie basically gives away the entire story lmao. so while the build-up wasn’t bad, the entire last 15-20 minutes of the movie are a total letdown. it was nice to see canon f/f, I guess, but I feel like the movie never went in hard enough on that. like were they trying to make a point about how hard it is for celebrities to have same-sex relationships? I’m not sure!! I can think of a lot of things that would make this plot more interesting, but they just didn’t do them. acting was fine, I guess. John Cho was in it, even if his character was pointless. Zoe Kravitz is always fun. (tw: I mean it’s a murder mystery. so...murder.)

DID NOT ENJOY

scaffolding (israeli film, boring af)

the workshop (french film, kind of boring, makes questionable points about neo-nazis)

#haha I'm dying squirtle #if anyone wants a full review on any of these I'd be happy to #these are just some hot takes #i tonya #thelma #custody #the villainess #love means zero #brimstone and glory #radiance #marlina the murderer in four acts #newton #blade of the immortal #gemini #scaffolding #the workshop

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violetemerald · 7 years

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Asexuality, Shame, and the Importance of Ace Pride

This post was written for the March 2017 Carnival of Aces, which is themed around Ace Pride. Check out the call for submissions here - and I'll edit this page so that it contains a link to the round up post containing all of the submitted entries once such a post is up. If you want to submit a slightly late entry, ask the host. ;)

We'll get to Ace Pride by the end of this post. First, I need to talk about Ace Shame.

[Content note: Heavy discussion of anti-ace sentiments, invalidation, shame, negative emotions, etc. Some NSFW text. Unhappy ace/allo sexual relationship dynamics also touched upon. It's a bit of a rambling mess too.]

shame: n. A painful emotion caused by the belief that one is, or is perceived by others to be, inferior or unworthy of affection or respect because of one's actions, thoughts, circumstances, or experiences.

What is there to be proud of? Isn't asexuality nothing?

pride: n. a feeling of honour and self-respect; a sense of personal worth

"Are you sure you're not repressed? because you grew up Catholic?"

"Everyone masturbates - and the few who say they don't? are lying."

What do you fantasize about though?

Everyone is turned on by some type of person.

"Maybe you should talk to a doctor about your hormone levels."

"WAIT -- you're 22 and you've never been kissed??"

The 40 Year Old Virgin is a great movie, made me cry. I'm so happy that he finally lost his virginity at the end.

"It's natural and healthy to have sexual thoughts and desires".

You're betraying feminists if you fight Flibanserin (Addyi) being on the market.

"Who do you have a crush on?"

"You should watch this tv show, if for no other reason than the eye candy, you know what I mean? ;) "

"Philosophical or psychological hypothesis: What if all human desires are, deep down, influenced by sex because it's instinctual that we need to want sex in order for our species to survive? I mean it's probably true, it just makes sense."

My mom: "You don't have to get Confirmed Catholic if you really don't want to however... You might want to belong to a church for when you get married?"

"A soulmate is your other half, the person who completes you, everyone is waiting to find theirs unless they are so lucky to have already found them."

lust can be such a powerful feeling that it motivates people to cheat with a stranger they just met

"without 'passion' in that marriage can you blame that miserable spouse for cheating?"

OK Cupid question: "How many dates will you want to go on before you're ready for sex? One? Three? 12?" (See the 100 words prose poem thing I wrote, which I just last night posted about this topic.)

Check a box: "Which of the three fits you best: straight, gay, or bi?"

"Have you tried having sex with both men and women and didn't like it? Only men? You probably just didn't give being lesbian enough of a chance."

"Ok interesting. But. Are you absolutely sure you haven't just not met the right person yet? You don't want to close yourself off to that possibility too young" (said to me when I'm 24.)

Me before I accepted I'm ace: "I... this first kiss to you feels just as lackluster as the other time I tried kissing a different person last year. I need to admit something... I'm starting to worry I might be asexual, unfortunately. I like you a lot as a person already, so maybe I'll turn out to be demisexual? Over time? (If we... fall in love or something?)"

It's the standard narrative. Boy meets girl. One is too traumatized or just mistrustful of the world. Let's say it's the girl this time. The guy loves her hard enough, for long enough... that she learns to love him back with time. Or she suddenly has a revelation that the love of her life has been there all along. He might be suddenly attractive to her too. Like Lois and Clark in versions of their story where you see them before they get together. And wow. They feel all the feelings. They have a magical kiss or even the best sex ever by the end of the story. Happily ever after. It wouldn't be a happy ending without getting together romantically.

"Are you sure you're not aroused right now?" - when I tried sex with my boyfriend.

"I've never met anyone who's asexual before. (That can't be real.)"

"Oh, that explains a lot about our conversations these past years. I always just thought maybe you were a bit prudish."

Isn't the idea of being proud to be ace arrogant, elitist, and saying you're better than people who have sexual desires, shaming them for that, and that's not cool?

"You're lucky you're ace. I wish I was ace. You have it so easy."

Sorry I decided to write such a downer of a post for such a seemingly happy theme. I kind of went a pretty... different direction than the other entries. At first I wondered if I was completely going off topic but now I realize... My post is basically a long answer to @purrplelace‘s final bullet point in the suggested topics:

How do displays of pride (in whatever forms you choose to show it) help you deal with any negative aspects of being ace? How do they help you love/accept yourself and your asexuality more?

Read more on WordPress: https://luvtheheaven.wordpress.com/2017/04/01/asexuality-shame-and-the-importance-of-ace-pride/#more-4625

#Actually Asexual #Asexuality #Ace Pride #Ace #carnival of aces #asexual #idk what I should've been tagging this post...

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nervousllikeme · 4 years

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more dumb meta feelings about tlou2′s reception. no actual spoilers but vague

i feel bad for being alright with tlou2′s story! Like....yeah....I spent $80 (i WAS gonna get the ellie edition but then I had an epiphany like.....i don’t have anywhere to put that shit. it doesn’t make me any more or less a fan to own a small statue. at the end of the day i just wanted the artbook. I have part of her tattoo for god’s sake). Whenever you spend money on an entertainment venture it’s gonna be a gamble on whether or not you enjoy it! That’s just it babe! You spend money to see a movie, buy a game, go to a concert, you don’t know you’re gonna like it but you buy access to it anyway. But then people feel jipped and I get that. at least $60 is no small amount. And unfortunately that’s the standard new game price. devs gotta eat. gotta cover costs. make a profit. blah blah.

And yeah this is something people have been excited about for YEARS and feel disappointed by. I get that. I literally bought a ps4 the day after the e3 2018 footage to play this game. Maybe i feel more muted on it because it isn’t a shock, because i spoiled myself with the leaks months ago. I’ve had time to digest. Even if the plot points in those leaks weren’t 100% right. I don’t know. I’m not the type of person to get really reactionary in a negative or positive way with ANYTHING. Which also might be because I AM the type of person that reads the summaries of things before i watch/read/play them! I’m sorry! I usually like to sit and chew on it and live with it, think about it, think about the underlying messages. And i feel at odds with people decrying it as terrible. I don’t think that it is as far as I can tell from where I am/what I’ve read. Like....it’s about grey areas. So’s the first game. no one is all good or all bad. Everyone is deeply flawed and has their own reasons for doing what they do whether we agree with them, empathize with them, or think they’re evil and wrong.

It does remind me of life is strange. my very last straw was the ending of farewell, which i thought was really phoned in. really contrived, misery porn i guess. and I’ve seen people call tlou2 misery porn. and I wonder what I’ll think when I experience it. LIS was, at that point in time to me, in the wrong because the devs across the board all seemed to want to torture this lesbian who I connected to very much. And I wonder how I’ll feel about what’ll happen to Ellie, who is a lesbian I connect to very much. I’m not sure that it’s a similar thing. the basic thing being that Chloe lived a normal world and her death was seen as the morally right choice. Ellie lives in a violent, starving world where...well, it’s morally bankrupt. but as a lesbian who lives in the normal world now, i’m interested to see what’ll happen. what reflection does this have to real life. will the lesbian be punished, essentially. I don’t think that thats where the game’s gonna go.

but where was i. I cooled down, didn’t interact with life is strange for a while. very upset. but that didn’t change how i felt about the characters. Like...you can make good characters and a not so good story. So in going through that experience of realizing that hmmm....life is strange/before the storm isn’t actually that good plot wise and that the characters were what I really liked and connected to I feel like I’m more prepared to deal with tlou2 if the story does end up disappointing me. even though i spoiled myself and already know how it ends. you can read a map but not know what it’s like until you gget there, you know? I’m just not much of a fan of extreme negativity being voiced for a thing I still like. Or saying it’s ruined or whatever. Like...it’s not. I dunno. I’ve never really studied concepts of author ownership or whatever but in my eyes and how I come at art as an artist, this is what was made. nothing fans can do or say can change that. no matter if it’s bad or good or anything. just gotta deal with it. of course you can critique things and say what you didn’t like about it but your dissatisfaction isn’t going to change it and that’s the tone I get from people. like alright, you regret your purchase and you wish that you didn’t play it or it wasn’t made. I am sorry. may you find some good revisionist fanfic and hope to have some satisfaction from that, or may you take time to chill and find a story you do jive with. but the tone of “this game fucking sucks you ruined ellie and joel fuck naughty dog I trusted them i’m gonna post spoilers because i hate it” etc. etc. while is valid as a vent, isn’t gonna change anything about the game or how you feel about it. the only ones who can change it are the artists. and given the finality of a game like this on a development level, i don’t think there’s gonna be an update to change the ending.

like I can’t change human nature. There’s more shit going on in the world more important than how people feel about a video game. so silly to spend time feeling bad that I like something that others are disappointed by. I just wish people wouldn’t run themselves ragged and get themselves worked up over a story. And like, I’ve done that too! I get it! I guess I’ve learned from past experiences of getting worked up that i can just walk away from it, selectively enjoy aspects of it. take time, digest it, note what i liked and didn’t like. and if i didn’t like a lot/most of it, okay! that’s fine. I can find other things I will like. if it’s something that was sentimental to me, got me through a rough time, what happens in a sequel doesn’t change what the first game did. like if a band has this really good album that got me through bad times and their next album isn’t so good and i don’t listen to them as much anymore....that’s okay! that doesn’t change my feelings on the first album! I don’t know. I have too many thoughts on things that don’t matter.

#this does have lis spoilers though lol #sory #who cares though #i'm dumb #but i just wanted to place my thoughts somewhere

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captslammerjammer-blog · 6 years

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An American barber on freedom of speech, prison tattoos, and his love of Putin

original text: https://daily.afisha.ru/cities/8241-amerikanskiy-barber-o-svobode-slova-tyuremnyh-tatuirovkah-i-lyubvi-k-putinu/

At the beginning of this year, barber Teddyboy Greg moved from California to Moscow to open his own barbershop and instill in Moscow men the American culture of self-care. “Afisha Daily” spoke with immigrants to better understand what attracts Americans to Russia.

Russia is not the most obvious place for foreigners to open their businesses. When and how did you first learn about our country?

I travel a lot, I study haircuts and get tattoos in every corner of the world. Four years ago, I came to Moscow as a result. In America everyone always says “Russia is a poor, dangerous country and the people there are mean”, but I didn’t believe that. In Moscow I came to understand that Russian people like me more than Americans. I feel comfortable here.

Yes, a large number of American films and shows depict Russians as villains…

Exactly in the same way that Russians watch American films and think: “Oh, America is a wonderful place”. But they don’t really understand how truly structured life in America is. Yes, maybe it’s interesting to go visit for a while, but not to move there.

What made you move?

I finally feel free here, there’s a sense of freedom of speech.

You don’t feel like there is freedom of speech in The US?

America is a very politically correct and liberal society. This is what I like about Russian people – you’re not offended by anything. That’s another reason for my move – in Russia I can freely express what I think. In the States, if you say something bad about someone, they can complain about you and try to destroy your business if they don’t like your political opinions, your ideas. That’s why you have to be very careful about everything you say.

Many Russian citizens would tell you that there is no freedom of Speech in Russia.

It’s a little bit different. If the average Russian were to go to the states, he’d be completely surprised. There, you have to be careful about everything you say and you can’t even use whatever slang you want. Frankly speaking, what you can say in Russia, you can’t in America and vice versa.

But there must be at least one way in which you prefer America to Russia?

I came from Los Angeles, and the only thing that’s better there is the weather. But I grew up in New Jersey. Of course, it wasn’t as cold there as it is now in Moscow, but I was prepared for the chilly weather.

You started growing your business here pretty quickly - how did that go?

I was planning the business for about two years, and all that time dealing with paperwork. In those two years, I came to Russia about 20 times and searched for a location. I needed a place where people would be able to see my barbershop from the street. All the reasonably priced locations I found downtown were either basement-level, or on the second floor, and that didn’t suit me. Unfortunately, all the locations with a street entrance in the city center are ridiculously expensive. When you’re starting a business, it’s not very smart to spend so much money on rent. That’s how I found this place – almost downtown but much cheaper. I like that people can get here easily from the metro. Moscow traffic is another problem I’m facing. I’ve never seen this kind of traffic anywhere I’ve ever been. I think it’s like this because the city was built during Soviet times, and no one planned for such a large amount of cars. On the other hand, your Metro is lovely, you have the most beautiful stations of anywhere I’ve ever seen. Unfortunately, when I’m by myself, I usually take taxis, as it’s hard for me to orient myself underground.

Is it hard for you without language skills? Do you plan on learning Russian?

In the States I studied Russian for a year and a half with a woman named Olga, who I met on the internet. She’s from Moscow. We studied three times a week, but I didn’t use my Russian, really just to watch movies. I know the alphabet, I can read everything, but I don’t understand it. I understand about half of what I hear, and I can say even less. I think that if you want to move to another country, you should know their language, even on just a minimal level. Of course, I want to learn Russian, but it’s a very difficult language for me. Conjugating verbs is especially hard, we don’t have to do that in English. “I work, You work, He works” (Я работаю, ты работаешь, он работает) – I don’t get it. When I speak, I often leave that part out. I also don’t understand why you have so many different translations of the word “cat” – кот (tomcat) and кошка (cat).

The majority of Russians are pretty conservative, which you seem to like. But their conservatism affects questions of appearance. To some people a face covered in tattoos can seem as strange as a man in a dress might seem to you. Is this something you’ve dealt with, and how have you handled it?

Of course, when I go out into public I understand that I attract a lot of attention, because in Moscow not many people have tattoos all over their faces – I can only think of the Soviet punk Max Chirik. Older people look at me with reproach, because in Soviet times, people with tattoos were either criminals or people who had been to prison. All my tattoos were done professionally, there’s no criminal aspect, but of course people who understand - they don’t see it. In the same way, in America the older generation doesn’t understand tattoos, because they were never part of their culture. My grandmother once told me “What are you doing to your face? You look stupid.”

Older people are very conservative, which I understand. I’m that way myself, in a time when everyone in my country has become very liberal. I like that about Russia – you have family values and traditions. We also had these in my country, but we’ve lost them. In fact, there are men in dresses everywhere in America, and if one comes up to you in a store, you’re supposed to serve him like a woman, otherwise you might be taken to court. Like many Russians, I don’t think that people should go around like that.

But among that same conservative crowd is the opinion that a real man should be clean-shaven. There’s no talk of hairstyles, and there is a strong joking stereotype that barbershops are for metrosexuals.

This point of view is a holdover from Soviet times, and it’s changing. There were barbershops in Russia before the Revolution, you had a culture of male clubs. After the Revolution, barbershops fell out of fashion and have reappeared only the 2000’s. That’s why barbershop culture in Russia has died out. In America we’ve always had barbershops, we grow up with this idea. Fathers take their sons to their first barbershop – it’s part of a tradition. Boys go to a barbershop, girls to a salon. Of course, a haircut in a barbershop is more expensive, but the quality of work and the overall experience you get there are much different: in a typical salon you won’t get a shave with a warm, wet towel. It’s true, you can get a haircut for 300 - 400 rubles at a hairdresser’s home studio, and with us it would be 1000 – 2000 rubles, but it will be a completely different cut, and the form will hold for longer.

For some reason it’s been accepted that barbershops are places for hipsters. Of course, we’re happy to welcome hipsters, but in America everyone goes to barbershops, from little kids to old men. In fact, it’s a place that’s more for the working class. A place where men can go after work to get a haircut, shoot the shit, drink- just not go straight home to the wife and kids. When a man finds himself in a space shared with women, he has to monitor his words. In a barbershop, a man can let loose and talk like a man. Just like women can chat about lady-things in a beauty parlor.

Many barbershops don’t accept woman as clients or as barbers.

I don’t do women’s cuts, but in America I had female clients who wanted male cuts. In America a lot of lesbians want short, masculine hairstyles. As long as they pay me I don’t care, I’ll do it. Yeah, even if a dog comes into my shop and asks for a trim, I’ll do it. I can cut just about anyone.

I don’t hire women as barbers, it just seems to me that they’re not very good at this. Not all of them, of course, but in my barbershop I only want male barbers. If a man goes to a woman for a haircut just because she’s hot and has big bobs, well that’s probably not the best way to choose the person who cuts your hair.

All the same, barbershops in Moscow are not exactly rare, what makes yours stand out?

In my barbershop there’s no administrator – they’re relics from salons. In American shops there are only barbers, clients, and someone to deal with the money. My clients can grab a soda, whiskey, or beer themselves – there’s the fridge.

My barbershop will be open round the clock. In the day we’ll have 5 barbers and at night only 2. Moscow is a 24/7 city. In America, bars close at 2 a.m. but here there’s a 24-hour restaurant always right around the corner. As such, it’s reasonable to think that everyone who also works round the clock might need a haircut late at night or early in the morning.

It’s only my first shop, but within the year I want to open another in Tyumen. There are many chain-barbershops in Russian, but I don’t want to sell a franchise. It has quite a large influence on the quality and reputation of a chain, I want to do everything myself. I also want to start a barber-school, it seems like Russia could use some help with that. In America you need to study for a year to become a barber, but in Moscow I’ve seen courses which promise to make a barber out of you in a month or two.

Why Tyumen and not St. Petersburg, for example?

Of course, I plan to open barbershops in several Russian cities, but I have many friends in Tyumen, plus I’ve already been there for workshops. It’s a small city in comparison to Moscow, it’ll be cheaper to open a business there, but people are still rich.

I’ve already flown around Russia and given master-classes. I’ve been to Volgograd, Kyrsk, and Krasnodar. My second passion aside from barbering is WWII history. I went to Volgograd, which is, of course, a significant place for the war. I like that, no matter where I go in Russia, I always find many historical artifacts.

…

Why aren’t you asking me about Trump?

Do you want to talk about him?

Yes, I voted for Trump and was very happy that he was elected. I like everything he’s said, from the very beginning. Even before the election, I came to Moscow with a giant sign of Putin and Trump and the subtitle “Donald Trump for Russian-American friendship”. I walked around all of Moscow with this sign- even in Red Square. The police stopped me because of the sign, obviously, but they didn’t arrest me and told me they agreed. Everything terrible that’s happening between Russia and The US, it’s not happening because of Trump.

In the American government, there are people who hate Russia, who say that Russian hackers rigged the outcome of the election, but it’s not true. Trump won because there are more conservatives like me and we like his ideas. We have a lot of illegal immigrants in our country, and we really want this wall to be built. Trump can and wants to establish relations with Russia, but his hands are tied. I believe that sooner or later, he’ll be able to accomplish this. The rest of the people in our government still hold views left over from Soviet times. They’re afraid of the Russians. Even John McCain, though that’s not important of course, because he has cancer and he’ll die soon, but all the same. Russia and the States have never actually been friends, yes they were allies during WWII, but even that relationship was a little dubious. And since the Cold War, the government has seen Russia as a bad, dangerous country.

Plus, if the government supports Trump it will upset the feminists or the gays. There’s so much dirty stuff going on in our country. You’ve seen the #MeToo movement – that kind of nonsense. That’s why I feel more comfortable in Russia – I don’t see all of that here. Yes, maybe you also have a lot of feminists, but I don’t see them in the news every day. Of course there are also gay people in Russia, but they’re not out kissing in public, imposing their habits on kids. I’m not bothered by gays, as long as their doing all their gay stuff in their own homes, and not in front of my face. I had a regular client, a gay guy, and I told him that as long as he’s here in my shop, no one will call him a f*g. He even told his friends to come too. In general, gays get haircuts more often, so they bring in more money. But in America, if you say that you don’t want to see gays kissing in your barbershop, you get labeled a homophobe and it’s a huge blow to your business. There, if a person doesn’t like something you say, he writes about it on the internet or even sues you. In Russia, if someone doesn’t like something I say, we just beat the crap out of each other in the courtyard and then go drink some beer.

Before I started understanding some Russian, I was in Petersburg two years ago. A guy in a bar overheard that I was American and dragged me into a fight. I couldn’t really communicate, and he couldn’t understand that I hate the American government just as much as him, if not more. I think the West is poisoning Eastern European countries. Ukraine is a good example. The West would do well to form stronger ties with Russia. I like how Kim Jong Un comports himself.

I’ll become a Russian citizen in five years because I opened my business here and I’ve already started process, but I’d really like to become famous for being given citizenship as a public figure. I also want to become a political persona here. I don’t like the political relationship the US has with Russia, I would place sanctions against the States. When I share my complaints about America, it’s not the standard Russian “In America everything sucks, America is shit”. I myself have had more life experiences in the States. In general, I like many people who are under US sanctions – that guy from “Night Wolves”, Dugin – I’d like to meet him, we think the same way. Or whoever it was that opened that store with the sign “No F*gs Allowed” – he can come get a haircut from me.

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