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celluloidbroomcloset · 5 months

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I was thinking about the idea that homophobia doesn't exist in the world of Our Flag Means Death. I think it's clear that this is not the case, but it is a more complicated issue than what we think of when we discuss straightforward homophobia, and is closely aligned with how the different worlds represented in the show perceive sex, love, and desire.

(Before I get going, I want to be clear that I'm discussing the world of the show itself, not the world of the historical Caribbean in the 18th Century. Our Flag Means Death primarily uses history as a useful lens through which to filter our own time period and the things it wants to discuss, and so only uses history when it serves the show's purposes. These are all just my thoughts - I'm always happy to discuss them!)

There are two major worlds at play in the show: the English gentry that Stede comes from, and the pirate world. In neither world is homosexuality explicitly treated as illicit or unacceptable, though it is never mentioned or shown in the English world. Most of the homophobia expressed by characters lies in the perceptions of the "right" and "wrong" ways of performing gender and sexual roles. I talked about this a bit here in regards to Izzy's homophobia.

In both the English and the pirate worlds, Stede's gender presentation is openly questioned. Stede is a fop - not necessarily a sexual marker one way or the other - but he's also, in the words of the show, soft. His father labels him a "weak-hearted, soft-handed, lily-livered little rich boy" who has never done a "man's work," blanches at the sight of blood, and is only inheriting his power from better, more masculine men.

Within the world of the show, Stede occupies a role typically reserved for female characters, in which he's sold in marriage to build his family's wealth. His romantic desire to marry for love is knocked down; it doesn't matter if he loves Mary or she loves him, or if there is even any desire on either side, because the whole point is to unite their wealth and produce heirs to carry on that wealth.

In Stede's memories, the shift from getting married to having children is instantaneous. Sex is implied, but it barely exists for him - it was simply something that he had to do to fulfill his part. Again, this casts Stede in a role often reserved for female characters in fiction. The function of sex, in the English world, is procreation. Desire hardly enters into it, and love certainly doesn't. So it is likely that Stede's only sexual experiences are ones without desire and without love. They are simply to fulfill a function.

Pirate society is significantly more open when it comes to expression of sexuality, but it is still steeped in sexual roles and requirements. Stede's outward queerness marks him out, but it's his inward queerness and how that integrates his emotional core that makes him unacceptable within the masculine hierarchy represented by Izzy and Calico Jack.

I've gone into Izzy's toxic masculinity and hatred of Stede's gender presentation elsewhere, but to reiterate briefly - Izzy's biggest problem with Stede is that Stede does not occupy the correct gender role within the masculine hierarchy, nor does he occupy a properly defined sexual role. He is, in Izzy's view, supposed to be submissive to a dominant male, and he's anything but. He breaks the rules of piracy and he breaks the rules of masculinity, without seeming to be aware that there are rules to break (at least in the pirate world). Stede is "wrong" in Izzy's understanding of masculinity and homosexuality, just as he is wrong in the Badmintons'/his father's understanding.

It is Stede's breaking of those rules that attract Ed to him in the first place. He doesn't act like a pirate should. He's strange. He's off-script. He's...queer. That queerness draws Ed in - far from being repelled by it, as Izzy thinks he should be, he's fascinated by it. Stede's softness and gentleness are things that Blackbeard should either reject or attempt to dominate, and he does neither.

What comes out in Stede and Ed's interactions is that Ed himself doesn't just desire softness, but is soft himself. Beneath the masculinity he puts on, he wants to be touched with kindness, he wants to be embraced. One of Stede's first questions is if he "fancies a fine fabric." When Ed says he does, Stede doesn't laugh at him or view this as un-masculine. He shows Ed as many fine fabrics as he can, excited to finally have another man with whom to exchange this love.

Ed also wants to be submissive without being hurt. He gets Stede to stab him in a performance of sex, but the act implies even more than that - that sex and pain are closely related in the pirate world, tied to sexual roles (men who penetrated and men who are penetrated). But Stede, once more, is a gentle man who penetrates. He doesn't see the stabbing as a sexual act, nor does he get a sexual thrill from causing Ed pain. Ed submits to a man who cares that he's being hurt, and it is this softness that Ed wants and is, as yet, unable to ask for.

(It is notable that, when Ed recalls the stabbing in "Fun and Games," his main memory is of Stede's look of concern.)

The role of sex, love, and desire in the pirate world is made clearest with Calico Jack, far and away the most explicit representation of a pirate's toxic masculinity, who also highlights the reading of sex as about power and pain, not love. Calico Jack and Stede's conversation is the first time that sexual relationships between men is actually raised, in explicit and vulgar terms as Jack asks Stede if he and Ed are "buggering each other" and tells Stede "Blackie and I have had our dalliances."

Jack views Stede's response as being ashamed, but we see clearly that it's not shame but anger. Stede doesn't like who Ed is with Jack, and he doesn't like Jack's vulgarity, simplifying sex, and especially sex with Edward Teach, down to pure functions, not expressive of love or desire, just as they are in the English world. Jack's attitude that this is simply what men do to (not even with) other men when they are at sea, and he's proving his dominance by telling Stede that he's done it with Ed.

Stede is not ashamed at the assumption that he and Ed are having sex, but angry at the implication that sex between them would be "buggery" and "dalliance," not love (and, what's more, that Ed would be treated as a thing instead of a person by another man).

Stede's queerness is part of his emotional core - it is not a whim. It is not something he can discard or mask, regardless of how he dresses or behaves. It is not something that just "goes at sea," or that can be reduced to functions. It is integral to himself, and so he's been completely unable to conceal it from being perceived in either the English or the pirate world, though he has tried very hard to conceal it from himself.

Ed has also tried to conceal the emotional reality of his queerness via his performance as Blackbeard, turning it outward as violent games between men, without softer emotions. It is with Stede that his own emotional core is revealed, and the big mean pirate is shown to be a man who wants to be held and touched, to be submissive without being shamed or harmed.

They allow each other to be vulnerable, to move beyond their worlds' insistence on sex as being purely a function and to unite it with love and desire. Their romance develops out of friendship and a powerful emotional understanding that claims softness as strength.

Neither Stede nor Ed are acceptable in worlds dominated by toxic masculinity and controlled by rules of masculine hierarchy and power. But they are acceptable on the Revenge, filled with a crew of the "worst pirates in the world," all of whom openly, and increasingly, express fluid gender and sexual roles and identities that shift with relationships and feelings. Both are aligned with the queer liberation of the Revenge, itself shaped by Stede's ethos of kindness and breaking the "culture of violence" of piracy, but they have to break out of their worlds' underlying homophobia to find their way to each other.

#ofmd #ofmd season 1 #stede bonnet #edward teach #ed teach #gif #ofmd meta #our flag means death #queer liberation #rhys darby #taika waititi #my wee thoughts #long post

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one-divides-into-two · 3 months

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"If we treat the Stonewall Uprising as initiating the modern gay mass movement in 1969, the left-adventurist line was initially dominant, and fell by the wayside in the late 70s. Those who led the first wave of the LGBT movement of the 60s understood themselves (however incompletely) as participating in a revolutionary movement and process: In broad strokes, the early “left” line groups of gay liberation located the center of gay oppression in the family form itself and were explicitly in solidarity with the women’s movement as in many ways the same as their own (ideologically if not always practically). The British Gay Liberation Front’s Manifesto reads

The oppression of gay people starts in the most basic unit of society, the family...At some point nearly all gay people have found it difficult to cope with having the restricting images of man or woman pushed on them by their parents...we are expected to prove ourselves socially to our parents as members of the right sex (to bring home a boy/girl friend) and to start being a 'real' (oppressive) young man or a 'real' (oppressed) young woman

The Boston Gay Men’s Liberation group argued in their manifesto for the collectivization of childcare and housework, saying

Rearing children should be the common responsibility of the whole community. Any legal rights parents have over ‘their’ children should be dissolved and each child should be free to choose its own destiny. Free twenty-four hour child care centers should be established where faggots and lesbians can share the responsibility of child rearing

Others explicitly aligned themselves with the national liberation and anti-imperialist struggles of the time –Third World Gay Revolution went so far as to explicitly call for armed struggle towards establishing socialism. The gay struggle, to these organizations, was necessarily part of the struggle for the end of capitalism and the liberation of all oppressed and exploited peoples.

Nevertheless, these groups primarily took the left-adventurist line, and the failure of these organizations to place politics in command and take up Marxism fully (despite its influence within the movement), and the failure of the leading Marxist organizations of the time to cast aside their chauvinism, place politics in command, and embrace the LGBT movement (most notably RU/RCP, which maintained that homosexuality was “perpetuated and fostered by the decay of capitalism” and to be eliminated under socialism until 2001 and engaged in conversion therapy-style practices on their gay cadre), allowed the bourgeoisie to co-opt the movement and suppress its revolutionary strains. By the end of the 1970s the main left-adventurist groups that emerged from the movement's popular initiation via the Stonewall Uprising (GLF, STAR, TWGR, etc) had collapsed, and were replaced by the newly dominant right-opportunist trend, represented in groups like Lambda Legal (founded 1971), GLAD (1978), and the Human Rights Campaign (1980). Occasional left-adventurist ruptures emerged over the succeeding years, with ACT UP's break (rooted in part in gay and lesbian anti-imperialist solidarity work in the preceding years) from Gay Men's Health Crisis representing the most significant of these, but over the next three decades the bourgeois "marriage equality" became the central demand of the movement, with the implication that once these various reforms proposed by the right-opportunist trend were enacted, the gay movement would cease to be necessary.

In the first two decades of the 21st century these reforms were realized, and the idealist fantasies of the leading bourgeois gay organizations were not. These reforms were granted because they reaffirmed the bourgeois family form, successfully assimilating the leading upper strata of LGBT people as a method of defusing the movement as a whole. While in some ways the broad social acceptability of homosexuality, transness and gender nonconformity have increased, the reaction to these reforms has produced a vicious effort to oppress the lower strata, typically trans people.

Indeed, all empirical evidence points to the continuing existence of anti-gay and anti-trans oppression. In our younger years, parents, teachers, and other authority figures will attempt to suppress any expression of homosexuality, transness, or gender non-conformity. The passive and active social enforcement of your sex/gender role is a universal experience, but is felt particularly acutely by those most directly in contradiction with those roles. When this fails, authority figures sometimes resort to violence and sexual abuse – gay and trans children suffer higher rates of psychological, physical, and sexual abuse across the board as compared to their cis and straight peers. LGBT people as a whole make 10% less than the average worker. This is felt more acutely among trans people, particularly trans women (in line with their cis counterparts), who make just 60% of the average. What bourgeois sociological evidence does exist points to significant discrimination in housing, jobs, medical care, etc. Accessing medical care is a struggle of its own for trans people – getting the treatment needed for basic day-to-day existence is often humiliating and expensive.

For younger LGBT people, particularly trans people, this political sequence has produced significant "whiplash." We grew up in a period of a real increase in broad social "acceptance," and being told that these reforms would guarantee an end to our oppression. But the utter abdication of leadership by the rightists following the reforms (after all, "we won") and the reactionary backlash has left the movement with a vacuum of political and organizational leadership at a crucial conjuncture. In the absence of this leadership, small groups have begun to emerge, largely taking up the left-adventurist anarchist line, sometimes explicitly. In some ways, this is a positive situation for communists. The broad masses of LGBT people are crying out for leadership in their struggle against the reactionary offensive, and the failure of the bourgeois rightist line to provide its promised victory has revealed to many gay and trans people, particularly those of the lower strata, the bankruptcy of reformism.

The current assault on our self-determination by the reactionary wing of first-world politics presents us with an opportunity to smash that trend, to effect a final rupture. Gay and trans people, particularly trans people, are increasingly forced into direct confrontation with the bourgeois state (through its repressive laws) and its extra-legal shock troops (with trans events becoming one of the primary targets for street fascist attacks). Not since the AIDS crisis have we seen such direct confrontation – and with it, openness to revolutionary communist political projects.

The task before communists in the gay movement is therefore to rectify the line of the movement through theoretical and practical struggle, to offer leadership to the gay and trans masses, and transform this movement into a detachment of the world proletarian struggle for communism."

Half the Sky: Preliminary Materials for a Proletarian Feminist Politics

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flowersbian · 6 months

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i haven’t actually seen the episode in full yet but uh. something i’ve observed I suppose?

Izzy Hands. He dies yes? Yes. It makes sense narratively. I can understand being upset, but I’m telling you!! Izzy was the last attachment Ed had to being Blackbeard; the last reminder that he was this bloodthirsty pirate, the last reminder that he was unhappy. Izzy Hands was never a character for the sake of a character; he was written as a plot device, and will continue to be one if we get a season 3, I’m sure.

Just because you love him doesn’t mean him dying is illogical. It makes sense. It is Blackbeard finally being dead. It is Edward Teach finally being free. Izzy was queer, Izzy was depressed, Izzy was tortured. We saw this coming. Some people are saying “We thought DJenks would be better than this!!” but this is storytelling. Thinking about Izzy as a plot device rather than a separate character shows a lot more— he is used as a direct analogy. He represents Blackbeard. The death of Blackbeard was long time coming. Blackbeard wanted to die; Ed wanted to live. Izzy singing and becoming comfortable as himself is literally an analogy for Ed becoming comfortable as Ed.

That out of the way, here’s my thoughts about the seagull on Izzy’s grave.

One idea is that the seagull is Buttons. He is a symbol of magic this season, obviously. So, in theory, because magic is real, we could be getting Izzy back via Buttons magic.

My other theory is that Buttons being on Izzy’s grave is a reference to “to love […] requires change”

In order to love Stede the way Stede needs to be loved, Ed needed to change; Blackbeard needed to die. If this is the case, then Izzy was the remaining part holding Ed back from changing.

Anyways sorry about this but it’s so frustrating having people complaining about this. Being upset is fine, but the show writing itself is absolutely magnificent. Bury your gays does not apply to this situation because these are the “bury your gays” definitions:

Gay Guy Dies First: When the often only queer character dies early on, before straight characters.

Gayngst-Induced Suicide: When an LGBT+ character commits or attempts to commit suicide because of reasons connected to or caused by being LGBT.

Homophobic Hate Crime: When a character is attacked and often murdered by homophobic characters.

Out of the Closet, Into the Fire: After a character comes out they are quickly killed, harmed, or cosmically punished.

Tragic AIDS Story: The story involves the miseries of HIV/AIDS, often starring gay men, sometimes treated like a punishment for homosexuality.

Vasquez Always Dies: The most lesbian-coded character, or the closest thing the work has to a butch character, always seems to get killed off, or has the most violent and drawn-out death.

The closest possible one, if this were bury your gays, would be “Out of the Closet, Into the Fire”. HOWEVER!!!!!! Izzy is not killed because he’s queer. He’s not killed “after he comes out”. Plus, literally every main character in the show is queer. Every single one. I do not believe this is a bury your gays. I believe this is a purposefully heartbreaking kill; you’re SUPPOSED to like Izzy by now! Because Ed likes Ed now. He’s accepted himself. That’s what Izzy was for; showcasing Ed’s internal journey.

#ofmd #our flag means death #izzy hands #ofmd season 2

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jacksprostate · 3 months

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With every passing day I'm less convinced of the narrator's feelings about Marla being in any way romantic lol. Obvious disclaimer this is one of many interpretations that can be done of the book, if you like to interpret it that way good for you, I support all interpretations with textual evidence and there's obviously some that way — but anyway, like.

He has no joy about it lmao there is no happy delight.... You expect me to believe you are in love with her when your thought process is essentially "Tyler loves Marla which. I guess means I do? And well, I guess I don't want her to die in my bullshit. I like you enough to not want you to die because when Tyler abandoned both of us I stopped viewing you as as much of a threat to my rabid bond with Tyler"

Like. I do think he cares for Marla. Likes her. But I do not think he Likes her.

And to me it is interesting and depressing. Tyler is his power fantasy. This fantasy where he can access the power of being a man attracted to women — well, if his brain can manage to fuck women while deeply delusional, maybe he can manage it! It legitimately reads kind of like he thinks he's been cured of something. And there's so much reason for him to feel that way — most especially, we're treated to an in depth look at how deeply shameful he feels about things that in any way tie him to homosexuality. He has such a complex about AIDS, he covers a birthmark on his foot just in case seeing it would mean someone thinks he's gay and dying. Maybe it's my own experiences letting me read more into it but he is so deeply repressed it's sad man. Even your power fantasy can't escape it. But also, that in itself makes sense, too. Being attracted to women puts him on top of the hierarchy, frees him from subjugation and the deep literal closet he's in as a gay man. It's not exactly the same as being attracted to men as a woman, which, while resulting in avoiding homophobia, puts you at direct risk for misogynistic intrapersonal violence lol. So. Tyler is free, and he is not. Tyler does not have to worry about dying in people's eyes.

Anyway you have all that, you have the intense homoeroticism of fight club in general (elaborate rituals, etc), literally everything about how he talks about Tyler, and you have the fact that just like. Honestly!!!! Where is the joy!!! Obviously it is extenuating circumstances because of the whole deal but his narration distinctly sounds like someone who just like. Oh yeah that's my good friend... Marla... yeah I guess I like her. We hang out and she helped me shoot myself

I do think post canon they end up having some sort of weird sad sex thing but that shit is not working longterm. Plenty of people have said it before and better but both of them want Tyler instead. Which in itself is an interesting dynamic.

Depending on how much autonomy and personhood you allot Tyler, too, it's interesting. In the narrator's eyes, everything for Tyler ties back to Marla. The one thing he has that the narrator simply can't. In the narrator's eyes, he outright states Tyler formed to do what he couldn't (engage with her romantically). Of course you can interpret that as him being inhibited in some other way, but... idk man.

#fight club

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sonik-kun · 3 months

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Reminder that WWX did use a homophobic slur (cutsleeve) before he found out he was, in fact, a "cutsleeve" himself.

I'd also argue that him taking advantage of MXY's body and the rumours associated with him by acting as a "stereotypical gay" to get out of situations was a form of homophobia in itself.

He assumed this was how crazy, gay people act - like sexual deviants. He used that stereotype on top of the rumours about MXY just to get out of sticky situations and avoid being captured.

Whilst this isn't aggressive homophobia, nor would I consider him a raging homophobe myself, he still took advantage of the world view he was raised in, which, in modern terms, was problematic in itself.

Think the harmful, stereotypical, predatory gay trope in anime that a lot of anime fans have taken issue with. That's the stereotype WWX was trying to perpetuate and brush off as a silly joke which is bordering that harmful stereotype territory mentioned above. And yet I don't see the moral "holier than thou" crowd talking about that in their analysis on "fictional characters in an ancient Chinese setting."

(Note before I get jumped on: I don't think WWX was being cruel or malicious when he did this. Nor do I think he purposely intended to sully poor MXY's image further. And I ofc don't think that WWX is a terrible person for doing so either. The guy was desperate and needed to pull tricks to avoid capture. But that still doesn't make things right by modern standards. Even if said stereotype was used to goad a load of "homophobes." Would also like to add that even after coming out, WWX didn't really challenge the societal standard or think ill of anyone who thought like that. It's not like he toured the CW with LWJ, promoting gay rights. He'd be very extraordinary for doing that and brave, too. But he didn't. Instead, he just got up to sexy times with his husband daily and lazed about living the good life. Which is valid of him, tbh, giving the shit he went through. But my point still stands. The social norm persists.)

Also, bare in mind, WWX was heavily in denial about his own sexuality at first and struggled to come to terms with it in the beginning due to the societal norms back then, anyway.

Homophobia was the norm. Stop denying that when you know most of the characters found it bizarre.

By their standards being gay was, unfortunate as it is, unusual and to them, perhaps even immoral in its own right.

By modern standards, we know now that it is wrong. And the moral consensus is that being gay is normal and should not be vilified (even then, not all cultures today have reached that consensus and LGBT rights still have a long way to go).

With this in mind and the notion of what morality meant to people back then, you mustn't hold the characters to modern standards because that was simply the world view. What was "right" back then.

You cannot say with certainty that you wouldn't be homophobic back then, in a world where people called it strange and immoral. As much as I'd like to believe that I would be one of the few who find it wrong to treat gay people poorly, most of us probably would find homosexuality strange because that was the moral consensus of that time. As such, it is unfair to hold characters like JC, JL, and JGY to modern standards for that reason. That's the point we've all been trying to make here.

(Even then, JC and JL both watched as WWX left with his hubby into the sunset and didn't speak illy of their relationship again, nor consider them social outcasts like the Jins and Mos treated MXY. It's almost as if people can change their world views entirely (or to some extent) after things become normalised. Hmm. 🧐

Furthermore, MXTX herself said that JC wasn't a bad person. She wouldn't say that if he's the "aggressive homophobe, incapable of change" like you all seem to imply he is.)

You all make this point about historical context when us JC fans criticise WWX for his clear breach of bodily autonomy with the core transfer and his own war crimes. You should apply that logic to the period typical homophobia too. Because as I have said before, you cannot say for certain that the characters would be homophobic had this taken place in a society where being gay was the norm whilst homophobia was frowned upon. Let's use some logic and context when talking about characters from an ancient time period, shall we?

#canon jiang cheng #jiang wanyin #jiang cheng #mo dao zu shi #mdzs #so sick of this tired ass argument smh #stop holding ancient characters by modern standards #to us modern folk they're ALL problematic in their own way 😂#get over it

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doberbutts · 4 months

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I also think- having recently seen a post that said Blue Eye Samurai isn't a queer story, it just has queer elements- that sometimes it feels like fans cannot make up their minds.

Do we or do we not want stories that treat being gay as a perfectly normal, perfectly common experience the same way straight people are depicted in every story to ever exist?

In BES, no one is outright stated to be queer. That's partially because in Japan, until Japan felt the need to sanitize itself to appeal to foreigners, it wasn't unheard of at all for men to be gay. Multiple famous samurai and swordsmen and nobles were either outspokenly gay or are commonly theorized to have been gay in modern historical readings. Abijah making multiple references to swinging both ways, Kaji's offer of a male prostitute, the various scenes we have of men being together in sexual positions, they're not met with surprise because homosexuality was an acknowledged thing that happened.

Taigen's erection while he's wrestling Mizu, even though he doesn't yet know her secret, is treated awkwardly because they're supposed to dislike each other and also he's supposed to be in love with Akemi, not because "whoa bro no homo".

(This is also why I keep saying that it's difficult for me to put into English words what I think Mizu's gender is, because gender and sexuality quite frankly did not work the way my 2020s American brain wants to contextualize it, and I think it's important to consider the cultural aspects here esp in a show so heavily leaning on a racial story)

However, compared to many other shows out there even regarding the same area and country, BES is significantly more queer than the majority of them produced in the last 30 years. Is Mizu herself queer? Well... maybe, depending how you define it. Back in the day, otherwise cisgender crossdressers and male-impersonators were still grouped in with those we'd call transgender nowadays. She seems to be exclusively interested in men, but also seems to be equally receptive to considering herself sexually as both a man and a woman pairing with men, than as a man or woman pairing with women which she has adamantly refused with zero interest on multiple occasions.

Is Taigen bi? I mean, maybe! He seemed more mortified that he had an unwanted erection in front of someone he wanted to impress and play with, than that he had it over someone he considers a man, using the excuse that he misses his would-be fiance.

Abijah certainly seems to be bisexual, considering we see him having sex with both women and men, and his various sexual references talk about both men and women as well. This is ignoring whatever weird sexual tension thing he's got going with Heiji, who seems both receptive and repulsed by it.

And, not to be remiss, but there is a reason I specified that homosexuality among men was pretty known. Due to the more rigid policing of women's sexuality in this era, homosexuality among women was less commonly reported (though I have heard stories of noble women and their handmaids, or the working poor women, or among prostitutes living together in the brothels, so also not unheard of but perhaps less accepted as women were largely bought and sold in marriage and sex trafficking) - but even with all of that, Kaji and Kinuyo have something together. Whether that is a mother-daughter thing, or if they were lovers, is up to interpretation. The implication that out of everyone at the brothel that Kaji genuinely cares for, Kinuyo was special, and that wasn't a particularly uncommon arrangement historically if I'm hearing about it 400 years later in a completely different country.

So this "well it's not a queer show" and "if I was told this was a queer story I'd be disappointed" is honestly just ridiculous hooey to me. Do you want characters who are able to explore their sexualities without looking over their shoulder out of fear of homophobia, or not?

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fox-steward · 3 months

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hi, your blog is incredibly interesting- i genuinely didn't realise there was a not conservative side of the gender critical sphere. i've been on testosterone for about 7 months now, so far this has been making me feel more like myself. personally I am not thinking about 'gender' but rather what i want to look and sound like- this has been working better than the whole 'gender is a feeling' thing..which is definitely a theory! If its okay to ask, what are your thoughts on medical transition?

i think medical transition is, broadly, very harmful.

it harms the individual: disrupts natural hormone cycles, negatively impacts cardiovascular health, negatively impacts reproductive functioning, creates an artifice which the individual comes to rely on to "feel like themself," thereby severing that person from true authenticity, necessitating the person remain a lifelong medical patient to keep all effects of hormones, subjecting the person to unnecessary risk of surgery, including death. it costs a lot of money and time that you don't actually have to spend. there is no evidence it correlates with mental health improvement, and it is my opinion that by focusing on transition, people do not attend to the areas of their lives that actually need and would benefit from attention and intervention.

it harms the group: gays and lesbians are disproportionately impacted by medical transition; gender non-conformity (which homosexuality is a form of) has become pathologized; now young lesbians and gays are not only growing up in a culture dominated by heterosexuality and rife with homophobia, they also have to navigate the pervasive message that they might benefit from transition. when i was a kid i was told by adults that i was "trying to be a man," that real women are not lesbians, and eventually i agreed with them. that gender non-conformity is seen as a precursor to "trans identification" only makes this worse--it's like, you get the "what, are you trying to be a man >:( ??!!" but also, "what, are you trying to be a man <=D ??!!" messaging. and what chance do we stand against attacks from all sides?

it is harmful to all women: look around at misogyny--devaluing women's opinions as vapid or lesser, assuming women are weak and fickle, dismissing women's perspectives and ideas, preying on women and girls sexually, seeing women as one-dimensional vessels for the transformation of the men around them--of COURSE girls don't "feel like a woman" these days, who would? instead of looking at the way society treats women and the disidentification it is producing among youth as the blazing alarm that it is, trans culture has wedged itself between women and liberation with the suggestion that "maybe you're not a woman if you don't feel like one?" never minding that "feeling like one" generally means liking being objectified, belittled, seen as weak, ignored, simultaneously not being taken seriously but being blamed for things. not only does this derail the actually important conversation about misogyny, but it leaves women and girls vulnerable to the predation of medical transition, which as i mentioned above, is harmful physically, emotionally, socially, and financially.

also, i would argue there are actually no conservative "gender critical" people. conservatives tend to reject gender non-conformity and embrace traditional gender roles; ain't no way to be critical of gender while holding central traditional gender roles. conservatives may be "trans critical," but they're not actually "gender critical." trans ideology has a lot in common with conservatives when it comes to gender, actually. both reinforce traditional gender stereotypes; how different is "i'm masculine and fit in more with boys than girls, so i must really be a man" from "i'm not a man, so i can't act masculinely, i must act femininely" really? they are threads of the same rope and that rope holds us prisoner, it doesn't free us. true gender non-conformity is being female but realizing that your masculine nature doesn't change anything about you (trans ideology), nor does it need to change itself (conservative ideology).

i know you didn't ask for this part, but you're here in my inbox, so here you go: doesn't it strike you as strange that it's taking synthetic medical intervention to make you "feel like yourself?" is the route to authenticity really via the path of cosmetic surgery and synthetic hormones?

it's either intellectually dishonest or intellectually lazy to stop at you're just "thinking about...how you want to look and sound." WHY do you want to look masculinized and have a deeper voice? there is a zero-percent chance the answer to that question is entirely separate from how those traits get you treated in society. and that's the impact of misogyny. and please don't misunderstand this as me suggesting you should not be masculine--i just don't think you have to subject yourself to the harms of medical transition in order to BE masculine.

and i say this as someone who took these steps, who masculinized with a mastectomy and many years of testosterone. i get that there are certain advantages to appearing as a man in society despite being a woman, but largely these are individual advantages for ME that come at the expense of WOMEN. thinking i'm a man, men take me more seriously; this impacts women by reinforcing the idea that men deserve consideration when women's voices don't, and it means that i don't have to advocate for women to be taken seriously because I don't personally need it; it runs the risk of making me complacent to this phenomenon, convincing me that surely women are exaggerating when they share their experiences because i don't have such a hard time of things, all the men are nice to me. see how pernicious it is?

because i'm 5'10", skinny, and with a flat chest, many people think i'm a man when i'm running. this means i can run at night, with headphones in, in new places--all basically without fear. the stories other women tell me make it clear this isn't the case for them. some women i know don't run outside anymore at all because of how men treat them, sexualize them, harass them, prey on them. so i get that it is a clear advantage to appear as a man sometimes; this is one thing i'm actually really grateful for. but it is not worth the damage i did to my body, it isn't worth the sense of alienation i sometimes feel from women, a sense i also felt with men, even when i was pretending to be "one of them," it isn't worth the money and time and effort i spent trying to convincingly imitate men that i could have spent on things that would actually nurture me and my life.

"gender is a feeling" certainly is a theory, but so is "transition makes me more myself," and one is about as good as the other.

we are not alive to simply take our thoughts and feelings at face value! interrogate your feelings and your ideas! we live in a culture and none of us are immune to that. something something unexamined life.

best of luck, i'm rooting for you.

#gender critical #detransition #radfem #radical feminism #detrans #asked #answered #transgender #anonymous #anon

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lesjasmine · 7 days

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I stand with all lesbians. That includes white lesbians. Why am I making this statement? I'm honestly too lazy to specify the details that inspired me to write this post but I can share a couple reasons why. First, I noticed any interactions I have with people who dislike the term "gold star lesbian," try and detract from the conversation by treating me like I'm a white person that comes from privilege. This has manifested itself by comments including "gold star lesbians are like the KKK/nazis/aryan." Most of these extremist comments come from TRAs and troons. However, there have been problematic comments from radfems toward myself and other woc gsl. These comments include "gsl promote violence," "gsl are racist," or the famous one "gsl are misogynistic." In the case of radfems they say this expecting that they're talking to a white lesbian. I know that's the case because I've had a radfem cry about racism and when I set them straight that the person they're talking to is not white and indeed a woc, they denied denied denied. Screenshots of this incident are somewhere in my blog. This is one case I shared but I've also witnessed something similar elsewhere. Maybe this is going to be controversial but I stand by ALL actual lesbians. I'd never discredit the homophobia and misogyny they deal with just because they're white and supposedly more 'privileged.' I don't necessarily agree with that last part either. Most lesbians I've talked to come from poor to low-middle class families. Irregardless of race, many have been targets for bullies and hate because they're homosexual. Being a lesbian can be a very isolating experience and hard on our mental health. This is even harder because people love to encroach on the boundaries of actual lesbians. My point is white lesbians have a lot to lose by speaking up for actual lesbians. Don't stop because other lesbians will be here to defend you. Ofc do the same for black, asian, hispanic, etc lesbians <3

#I think this is gonna be controversial ToT #lesbian visibility week #saved in my drafts since I was scared to post this

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sighs-deeply-and-dreadfully · 1 year

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me again. sneaking. creeping. crawling. sun time. (this is totallyyyy not sammyyyy)

Wally Darling x Shy!Reader? :grins: Romantical, again, because they're wee little simps, and i am merely the vessel of their queerness.

Either properly gay together, or crushes like the last one- idm either >:) They should bake together, tho <33 Maybe Wally walked in on Y/N making treats for him and decided to help :melty:,,

God, you’re gay!!! Gay gay gay!!!! I cannot BELIEVE I have such a homosexual on my blog (hi again Sammy!! Gives you a big fat kiss! /p) !!!!! /j

Surprise Visit with a side of, ah, Flour.

Wally Darling x GN!Shy!Reader

Drabble format, established romantic relationship!

Flour.

Flour was everywhere.

Heaving a weary sigh, you’d idly pat your hands off on your pants— a half-baked (haha!) thought as the powder smeared onto those, too. But your hands were clean, that’s all you cared about as you overlooked the mess with a sigh.

Youuu.. had been trying to bake some goodies, as a gift for a certain someone! But goodness, you did not expect the flour bag to be as heavy as it was. Or for the bag itself to be so slippery and.. ohhh dear.. Pursing you lips as you looked over the mess, you’d soon give a sneeze— before wiping your nose. Dreadful, dreadful flour.. With a sigh, you’d turn to go and grab your broom— before nearly jumping out of your skin.

Wally. Your beloved partner. Standing there. Silent. How long had he been there?? What??? How did he get in? Why does he keep doing this???

Upon your startled squeak, his expression would soften into slight concern— before he gave his soft, recognizable laugh.

“Are.. you okay, over there, sweet..heart? You look a bit.. uhm..” He’d click his tongue. “.. floured. Ha ha ha!”

Heaving a few breathes to calm yourself, you’d soon sputter out a laugh— brushing at the flour coating your face, and your chest, and your legs.. Your cheeks quickly warmed up, partially due to just.. embarrassment. How much of that had he seen?? Ohh, goodness.. Instead, though, at your lack of proper reply, he’d gently grab one of your flour covered hands between his own. He’d blow on it— both to.. get rid of some of the flour, and to make a small joke out of it, before planting a small kiss to your palm.

“Do.. you want.. help.. cleaning this.. up?”

You wanted to say no, but— aaagh,.. the mess was a bit overwhelming, but— ah!! Regardless, he seemed to catch on. Gently pulling you down by your shoulder, he’d pepper a small kiss to your flour-covered-cheek.. before giving a small sneeze. It made you give a soft laugh, and his eyes seemed to grow a bit larger. Even though your cheeks burned in embarrassment, he just couldn’t help but find it cute.

“Go.. change clothes.. I can.. start down here..”

You’d simply just nod, scampering off to go do as such. And, once you had, you’d return—.. only to learn Wally wasn’t very good with flour, either. You walked in to him on his knees, gently brushing puffs of it into a dustpan— which.. wasn’t very effective, as it only fluffed up into the air. But he looked so focused, eyes squinted a bit as he kept trying. You couldn’t help the small laugh that slipped out of you, causing him to slowly look up and tilt his head.

“.. What’s funny?”

“You are!” You spoke softly, laughing even softer as a hand lifted to cover your mouth. “That.. that isn’t- how you clean flour.. at least not that much..”

“Oh!”

With that, he’d fall silent, seeming to look down at the flour.. intently. In the next moment, just as you blinked, you saw a whole tuft of the flour disappear— followed by.. a scrunched up expression on Wally’s face.

Did he..?-

“Don’t— don’t eat it??” You laughed again, softly, soon beginning to shuffle up beside him. He just smiled at you, despite still having that scrunched up expression— the expression of a man with a mouthful (or.. eyeful..?) of flour. “Here, just..”

From there, you gently took the dustpan and took care of cleaning up the rest— not trying to chip away at it like a flour avalanche, unlike someone. Wally, meanwhile, simply was crouched beside you, watching your movements with cat-like eyes. To him, you were just nice to watch. He liked how your hands moved— and he also really liked your hands, too.. Maybe that was just the artist in him— you had lovely hands, hands he’d love to draw! And hold!.. But, to be fair, he did also just like you. His gaze gradually shifted from your hands to just.. your face, just admiring you. You felt like you shrank under his gaze— cheeks growing hot, again. It wasn’t uncommon for him to stare, but by goodness— did you suddenly feel on display whenever you did. Not that you minded, especially from him..

Soon, with all the flour cleaned, you’d put away the cleaning supplies as Wally, instead, shuffled up to your counter. He had to cling to the edge of it to look at it, but that’s fine.

“What.. were you.. making?”

He stared at the scattered ingredients, trying to crank his brain together. Chocolate chips, flour,.. he thought he had seen Poppy use those before.. but what for?.. Ahh, baking was not his strong suite..

“Oh— uhm, cookies!” As you spoke, you’d huff a nervous laugh, soon slipping up beside him by the counter.

“Can I help?”

“.. Depends..—“ Rolling your eyes playfully, your hands would slip away from one another— having been fidgeting— to instead be placed on Wally’s shoulders. Your touch was light, hesitant, but he idly curled into it. “—Are- are you- going to keep eating the chocolate chips? Because that isn’t help..”

Watching as his eyes widened, he’d slowly crane his head up to look at you— eyes blown wide.

.. he was puppy dog eyeing you.

“Perhaps..”

You gave a soft laugh at his response, and he smiled. He liked making you laugh. It was a very pleasant sound, one he’d gladly ramble about to anyone who’d listen.

“Okay, well, don’t— please..” Humming softly, not angry, you’d sloooowly push the bowl of chocolate chips out of his sight. Not before he blinked and ate one last extra one. For this, you shot him a playful glare.

"What? I did.. nothing.." "Mm, sure.."

Smiling, you soon began to grab the flour again— far more wary this time. Wally simply kept you company, smiling to himself as he.. watched (you).

What a pleasant visit. ♡

SLAMS DOWN THIS PILE OF DOMESTIC BLISS. EAT UP.

I found it a bit hard to fully incorporate the reader being shy beyond just mannerisms with a pre-established relationship, apologies!! I hope it was satisfactory either way, though :]

God I love fluff ggnrrrnrenregg……….

#sighsdeeplyanddreadfully #wally darling x reader #wally darling #welcome home #welcome home wally darling #domestic bliss my beloved #x reader #reader insert

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laundryandtaxes · 1 year

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When the whole thing is said and done, I hope that what comes out of the medical scandal of pediatric transition is an understanding not just of the fact that it's important not to let ideology guide practice such that real physicians tell outright lies, ideological abstractions, and/or functionally religious beliefs (that one may have been born in the wrong body, or that one may have the wrong variety of brain in their body, or that one could possibly be "harmed" by going through one's natural puberty in and of itself, etc) to patients who are literally too young to distinguish between lies and truth, but also an understanding that what happened here on the whole with the medical approach to gender dysphoria was a total abdication of duty to provide least invasive practices first, total refusal to provide justification for the practice of selling extreme body modification to people who are at least often obsessively convinced that something is wrong with their body when medicine doesn't do this regularly for any other patients with body distress, total failure of safeguarding practices in a patient group very likely to contain vulnerable and otherwise emotionally distressed patients, and most of all a refusal to even try to address the mental health concerns of a group of people that these physicians just decided on no basis (there are no large studies comparing overall outcomes with transition treated as an actual variable, wherein some people are given one treatment, others none, others another treatment, underlying this practice) were too ill to respond to all of the practices we have already accepted as approaches to psychological distress.

This is at the heart of why ROGD has so many people freaked out- sure, those people who show signs of extreme gender nonconformity in childhood, who grow more distressed than normal at the onset of puberty because it means a loss of the androgyny that protects so much of child gender nonconformity, who are likely to grow into crossdressing homosexual or bisexual adults, who are more likely than other people to struggle with obsessive and compulsive tendencies, who are more likely to struggle to connect with other people socially, I'm sure they require surgical and hormonal body modification in order to live happy and healthy lives, but I am quite sure that no such treatment is right for my sweet, outgoing, heterosexual daughter who until 6 months ago was never very gender nonconforming. People like her deserve extra safeguarding so that the only treatment medicine ever even attempted at scale for this psychological problem is reserved for the people who truly cannot be integrated into society any other way. It is really quite deeply offensive that, because very gender nonconforming people are less valued, we got none of the normal safeguarding or study or approach to treatment that people who approach doctors with broken bones or other physical problems receive. Of course there is always some very real chance that we just happened upon the "right" treatment, but for one thing we don't know that because we simply never tried anything less invasive the way one normally does in medicine (let alone actual comparative studies different potential treatment options) and for another it's currently being sold to people using ideological abstractions or functionally religious concepts that have no basis in reality like the concept of being born in the wrong body. Those are both problems no matter how long medicine is allowed to continue ignoring them, which by the way will not be forever. If medicine cannot reign itself in, if it cannot police itself, then the only actors left to reign it in are all much more susceptible to their own forms of ideological capture than medicine was, such as state legislatures, which is bad for everyone in the same way that state intervention in doctor/patient decisions is almost always bad for everyone.

#done #once i realized the majority of patients are still dysphoric when they are #which of course the goalposts always move for us because the problem isn't actually any of our body parts #but that when done we are on the whole not just still a little dysphoric but able to ignore it but still extremely obsessed #i was like okay so what the fuck are they selling us and on what basis are they selling it #and i looked really hard for that basis but mostly it seems nobody even believes they need to justify what theyre selling #it is astounding

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celluloidbroomcloset · 3 months

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Since this was being discussed, I think it worthwhile to take a quick look at Calico Jack's character and the way in which he represents a facet of the toxic masculinity and internalized homophobia of piracy.

I've written before about Izzy's internalized homophobia and investment in the masculine hierarchy that despises men like Stede and Lucius, both of whom reject gender conformity and more naturally embrace the feminine aspects of their personalities. That Jack is Izzy's immediate choice to get Ed away from Stede speaks both volumes about Izzy and his assumptions about Ed, and about Jack himself.

When we first meet Jack, his entire persona is of a frat boy, an old friend of Ed's who wants to shoot, drink, fight, and fuck. In their first introduction, he refers to Stede as "the big gal"— a comment on Stede's perceived effeminacy, and highlighting Jack's inherent misogyny. Ed immediately laughs, dismissing it as a joke, though Stede is accustomed to being treated this way by other men like Jack (similar to Nigel's jokes about his "plumpness" and effeminacy). Already, Jack is indeed being typed as homophobic, with a contempt for "lesser," more effeminate men whom he can control and dominate.

The major indication of Jack's homosexuality is his statement about his dalliances with Ed, which he frames in the context of directly asking Stede if he and Ed are "buggering each other or what." It's the show's first explicit verbal reference to sex between men, but here it is framed as an act that men do to each other, disconnected from love, attraction, or even desire, because "anything goes at sea." The anything goes comment is what further highlights the undercurrents of Jack's homophobia—that sex between men is simply what happens at sea, often on ships with no women present. Once more, it is disconnected from any elements of desire or love, and while there's no indication that Jack would consider sex with anyone in romantic terms, he certainly doesn't consider sex with men to be romantic.

Izzy clearly understands homosexuality as an acceptable, normal part of piracy, but his initial horror at Stede and Ed having sex is rooted in the hierarchy of men, who penetrates whom (Stede, an effeminate man, penetrating Ed, a hypermasculine one, is unacceptable and has to be rectified via murder), and the relationship between sexuality and violence. Jack's role is an offshoot of this—he explicitly addresses homosexuality and Stede and Ed's relationship, but it remains formed in terms of what they are physically doing to each other, ignoring any facets of emotional or romantic connection. He further highlights Ed's own arrested development in his understanding of sexuality as violent games between men, with the insistence on playing whippies mirroring Ed's desire for Stede to stab him. Sexual contact is always violent, and it is always about who does what to whom. The only place for men like Stede is in being subdued, or in not participating at all.

Jack's homophobia is not rooted in the act of gay sex, but the meaning behind it, and the importance of who does what to whom. As I've mentioned here, sexual roles are about places in the masculine hierarchy, and sex itself is about power, not love or attraction. He dominates Ed in the whippies game, and he attempts to dominate Stede via a discussion of sex. The wedge which he tries to drive between Stede and Ed is based in his having had "dalliances" with Ed, with the implication that he is the more masculine man and therefore has a right to penetrate Ed.

Stede, once again, rejects the masculine hierarchy. He doesn't form his relationship to Ed on the basis of power dynamics, and openly states that he respects Ed's past as being Ed's business. Whether Ed has had sex with Jack is, to Stede, immaterial; just as he does not see stabbing as a sexual act, he does not see Ed's past with Jack as having bearing on their present. It is Ed's shame that makes the relationship with Jack important later on, not Stede's.

So Jack's internalized homophobia is a reflection of piracy's attitudes towards gay sex in general, and Ed's own shame about his desires and feelings. Jack was intended to bring Ed back into the fold of piracy, rejecting the more fluid gender and sexuality of Stede and the Revenge in favor of hypermasculinity and rigid sexual roles. The plan backfires, however, as Ed successfully embraces his softer feelings for a gentle man with no interest in exerting power over him.

#ofmd #our flag means death #stede bonnet #calico jack #edward teach #gif #ofmd meta

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navnae · 1 year

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Bad Influence (18+)

Paring: Steve Harrington x Eddie Munson

Warnings: Dom Eddie Munson , Dom/sub, Anal S3x, Anal Fingering, Established Relationship, Established Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Steve Harrington Has Bad Parents, Rough S3x, Rough Kissing, Daddy Kink, Praise Kink, Steve Harrington Has a Praise Kink, Eddie Munson Hates Steve’s Dad, Watching

Summary: Eddie knows that Steve’s dad doesn’t like him and he goes out of his way to show it. Eddie needed to show him that he was here to stay and there was nothing he could do about it. If he believed Eddie was a bad influence then he was going to do a damn good job at it.

Eddie found a way to piss off Steve’s dad.

A/N: this is definitely not everyone’s cup of tea so if you dint like it please leave! You have been warned :)

After announcing that they were in a relationship, Steve and Eddie made it their duty to spend the entire summer together. That also meant Eddie had to spend his time with Steve’s family and the day would drag on for too long. He tried to be as present as possible to make a good impression but Steve’s father pushed his buttons every chance gets. Ever since he met the man he’s been disrespectful and made sure that Eddie heard all the slick comments that he could think of. Eddie thought it was because he couldn’t accept the fact that Steve liked men or he wasn’t as clean cut like everyone else in the small town. Steve informed him that it was because he smoked which Eddie took as a cover up for something else, none of it was adding up. Gradually Eddie stopped trying to be on his best behavior and spat back at Steve’s dad which always caught him off guard.

Steve scolded him about it several times and told him that he shouldn’t disrespect his father. Which Eddie had no problem with until one night when he slept over at Steve’s house he overheard an argument downstairs. Steve’s dad went on about how Eddie brought out the worst in Steve and he was the one who filled Steve’s head with homosexual tendencies. Hearing those words come out of his mouth pissed Eddie off that entire night and Steve didn’t know that he heard their conversation. Eddie’s dislike towards the older man grew every single day whenever he saw him around the house, Steve’s games, family video basically anywhere that involved Steve. He even showed at Eddie’s trailer once knowing that his company was very unwanted but that didn’t stop him because being the asshole he is, he wanted Eddie to know that he would never approve or respect anything that he did.

The thing that most people tend to forget is that Eddie rarely bites his tongue and he’ll never let anyone feel like they can treat him like shit. So when Steve’s dad least expected it Eddie was going to get him back in the most twisted and malicious way that he wouldn’t see it coming. The opportunity presented itself when Steve invited Eddie over and he emphasized that they would be by themselves. Eddie arrived at Steve’s place with all kinds of thoughts running through head as he came up with different scenarios that would make Steve’s dad blood boil. His thoughts were interrupted by the front door opening and Steve greeted him with a bright smile. Eddie let out a small gasp when Steve pulled him inside the house and started to kiss him. They made out near the door while their hands roamed over each other’s bodies.

“That’s an interesting way of saying hello.” Eddie joked after he pulled away from Steve. He wrapped his arms around Steve’s waist and pulled him close enough so their foreheads could touch.

“I really wanted to see you and since we’re alone I thought we could,” Steve trailed off mid sentence while sliding his finger down Eddie’s clothed chest and bit his lip when he met Eddie’s gaze. “Have some fun.”

“Oh really?” Eddie asked as he raised a brow. Steve usually gave subtle hints when he was in the mood to have sex but today was very different. He looked at Eddie hungrily and eagerness could be seen all over his face.

“Mhm.” Steve hummed while pulling Eddie back into another kiss. This time Steve made it tougher than before and Eddie followed his lead. Eddie licked Steve’s bottoms lip for permission then slipped his tongue inside of his mouth earning a tiny whimper from Steve as his tongue licked deeply inside of his mouth. He pulled away leaving a string of spit that connected to both of their mouths and broke because of the distance they created.

“We should take this upstairs.” Eddie said lowly into Steve’s ear. Steve didn’t even hesitate to grab Eddie’s wrist and drag him upstairs. He was guiding him towards Steve’s bedroom like they always did but Eddie had something else in mind when he saw that Steve’s parents bedroom door was wide open. Eddie stopped in his tracks making Steve stop as well. “You’re parents are at work, right?”

“Yeah why?” Steve asked confused by what his boyfriend was up to. Eddie smirked as he pulled Steve into the empty room and started to kiss him. Steve felt his back lay against his parents mattress as Eddie pushed them closer to the bed while they kissed. They adjusted themselves on the bed and Eddie got in between Steve’s legs then leaned down to kiss him softly along his jaw. Steve let out small moans as Eddie continued to kiss further down and his hands slipped underneath Steve’s shirt to remove it. With a soft push against Eddie’s chest Steve shook his head quickly. “Eddie not here… it’s disrespectful to my parents.”

“Come on baby you know I would never disrespect them. I just thought it would be kind of fun, you know? You could be mom and I could be dad.” Eddie spoke softly. As much as he hated the man who laid his head here if Steve thought it was disrespectful then he wouldn’t push it. Before Eddie could move he was already being pulled by his shirt and met with Steve’s lips that were so desperate every time they kissed.

“I want you to be my daddy.” Steve breathed in between kisses and that’s when Eddie completely lost it. He pushed Steve onto his back then took off his shirt swiftly. Eddie threw his shirt somewhere on the floor hoping that it left a mess wherever it was. He leaned up to unbutton Steve’s pants and as he did the feeling of his erection was under Eddie’s hands. Eddie palmed the area making Steve buck his hips then another moan followed after. “Please… Eddie, I want you so badly.”

“I know baby but you have to be a good boy for me. From now on when you ask for something you’ll refer to me as what?” Eddie asked as he stopped moving completely. Steve whined at the loss of friction that Eddie gave him temporarily. He looked up at Eddie with soft eyes and blush creeping onto his face.

“Daddy.”

“There’s my good boy. Being such a good listener just for me, I’m so proud of you.” Eddie said before giving Steve a very much needed kiss for being good like always. He went back to taking care of Steve’s pants and finally took them off along with his. Both of them were hard in their boxers feeling the material press against their throbbing cocks. Eddie could see a wet patch on Steve’s boxers since they were light colored and he place his finger over the spot teasingly. Steve cried as he felt his tip leak with precum because of Eddie rubbing his finger over the sensitive area.

“Please.” Steve begged pathetically. His cock twitched just from a little bit of Eddie’s touch and he craved it for so long. Eddie wanted Steve to get comfortable with calling him daddy not only because it sounded extremely hot coming from him but it also added a few points to his score board against Steve’s dad. He wondered what would happen if he saw Steve laid out on his bed like this and Eddie had his way with him without anybody stopping him. Eddie thought this would be the perfect moment to get back at the man, little did he know that he spoke a little too soon.

“Please what?” Eddie said sternly. Steve visibly shivered at the sound of Eddie’s voice deepening and the way he showed his dominance over him. Eddie knew that he would get a reaction out of Steve because he loved being underneath his control.

“Please daddy fuck me.” Steve covered his face as the words came out of his mouth. It was truly embarrassing how turned in he was by the name calling and Eddie couldn’t stop smiling from ear to ear. Eddie felt like he was unstoppable at the moment and he enjoyed every second of it. Steve gave in easily letting the name escape his lips as if Eddie was the only person he knew that went by it. In the back of his mind he thought it was pretty weird since Eddie never requested to be called that but he wasn’t complaining in the slightest.

“Your wish is my command.” Eddie took his hands pulled down Steve’s boxers revealing his stiffened cock that was underneath. Steve whimpered as the cool air of the room hit his tip that still had precum coming out of the slit. Eddie rubbed his thumb over the head letting the sticky substance coat the surface of his thumb and Steve tried not to cum from only Eddie’s hands. “God, you’re so fucking wet. Are you that eager for me baby?”

“Y-yes I want you to fuck me until I can’t feel anything. Daddy… please.” Steve cried out helplessly all he wanted was to feel Eddie deep inside of him and take every inch of him even if he was too big it didn’t matter to Steve. Eddie couldn’t take seeing Steve vulnerable and giving himself to him like nothing else in the world was important. An idea popped into his head as he looked down at a desperate Steve waiting for him to make his next move.

“Get on all fours.” Eddie demanded. Steve didn’t waste anytime to get onto his hands and knees making himself exposed to Eddie. His hole wasn’t tight like Eddie thought it would be meaning Steve already did half the preparing himself. Without any warning Eddie slapped Steve’s ass cheek earning a sharp high pitched cry and he buried his face into the sheets. “Stretching yourself without me? I thought you were a good boy.”

“I p-promise I am. I just wanted to save you the trouble.” Steve rambled but the didn’t stop Eddie from pulling his back and slapping Steve again. Eddie left a big red mark on Steve’s skin and the stinging sensation that came with it made it impossible for Steve to keep his cries to a minimum. Light sobs started to come from the boy that tried to muffle his sounds into the sheets. Eddie pulled Steve towards him softly making him look in his direction and placed a gentle kiss on Steve’s tear stained cheek.

“It’s okay baby I’m not going to hit again but I had to punish you for doing things without me. Do you understand me?” Eddie asked softly. Steve nodded his head and Eddie pulled him into a kiss before getting back to their original position. Even though Steve was already stretched Eddie took it upon himself to stick his fingers inside of Steve’s hole. Eddie curled the two digits that pressed up against the soft spot that was inside of Steve. A loud moan filled the room as Eddie began to move his fingers in and out of his entrance, with every thrust of of Eddie’s fingers Steve clenched around them desperately wanting to get filled up by them. Steve pushed himself backwards and was met with an intense pain that came from Eddie’s fingers hitting the sensitive area.

“Daddy ah-“ Steve’s mind went blank when Eddie thrusted his fingers deeper inside making Steve whine as the pain turned into pleasure over and over again. Eddie made sure to push Steve limits every time they got to this point and the result would always be Steve being a complete wreck but loving how dirty they can get. With one last thrust of his fingers Eddie pulled out his fingers leaving Steve empty and clenching around nothing. Eddie aligned himself with Steve’s entrance and before he started to enter the faint sound of a car made him look out the window. Luckily the bed was close enough for him to see clearly outside. Eddie saw Steve’s dad car in the driveway and he stepped out of it angrily as if he had a bad day. He figured that Steve’s timing was a little off about how long his parents were going to be at work but Eddie didn’t mind because this worked perfectly in his favor.

“Since you’ve been such a good boy for me, I want you to be as loud as you possibly can. I want to hear those beautiful noises come from you. Do you think you can do that for me baby?” Eddie let a mischievous smirk onto his face when he saw Steve nod his head. He aligned himself with Steve’s entrance and slowly started push past the tight muscles. Eddie loved every moan that came from Steve being that he was loud enough for anyone to hear. He started to create a rhythm with his thrusts letting his cock disappear inside of Steve then roughly pulling it out with precum getting on the base. The sound of skin slapping filled the room and it only got louder within seconds as both of them lost themselves completely.

“H-harder Eddie, fuck.” Steve said in between moans and he gripped onto the bed sheets as Eddie slammed harder into his entrance shamelessly. Steve cried out when Eddie pushed him further down onto the bed forcing his back to arch. That made it easier for Eddie to continue to hit the same spot without a single stop. Steve felt his legs shake from trying to keep himself up and the way Eddie fucked him harder than ever it became all too much. Eddie held Steve in place when he started to become weak from the fast pace that he was going and that made him bury his face back into the sheets. While Steve was so far gone he didn’t notice that they had an audience and Eddie was glad that they did.

Standing at a good distance but visible through the doorway was Steve’s dad watching the scene in front of with utter disgust and anger. Eddie made eye contact with him every time he thrusted into Steve. He knew that he was beyond pissed and Eddie thought he might not make it out of this alive but it damn sure felt good to see the look on that bastards face as he saw his son getting destroyed by his boyfriend that he hated. Eddie didn’t want this victory to end and coincidentally Steve helped him out with that without realizing it.

“I need you to go harder… please.” Steve begged. Eddie pulled Steve by his hair earning a cry from him and he made Steve get on his knees. Pushing him down roughly onto his cock as both of them were now up right on the bed. Smoothly Eddie covered Steve’s eyes and licked the side of his neck then biting it in the process. Eddie looked directly at Steve’s dad who was completely frozen in one spot anxiously trying to decide if he should run or continue to watch even though it was pretty odd.

“What was that?” Eddie asked with playfulness in his tone. He thrusted upwards into Steve and he could barely keep himself up as his muscles tightened around Eddie. He laid on Eddie’s chest trying to catch his breath from what they were doing previously. Eddie pulled on Steve’s hair to remind him what he asked and breathlessly Steve responded.

“Fuck me harder daddy.” Steve mumbled and earned another hard tug from Eddie.

“I can’t hear you.”

“Fuck me harder daddy!” Steve screamed those words and he definitely didn’t hold back. Eddie watched as Steve’s dad eyes widen at what just heard the look of fear on his face made Eddie’s heart jump with joy. He kissed the side of Steve’s cheek and smiled against his skin.

“Good boy.” Eddie whispered. Steve was released from Eddie’s grasp and fell forward onto the bed. His body couldn’t keep with the Eddie’s movements as they became slightly rougher. Eddie continued to thrust into Steve feeling his body build up with deep inside him that needed to be released. He looked away from Steve to se that no one was standing in the doorway anymore and Eddie knew that he had officially won. Focusing on the task at hand Eddie went on to thrust a few more times before Steve came on the sheets and Eddie came inside of Steve, some of it dripped down Steve’s trembling legs that immediately gave out when Eddie pulled out of his entrance. He laid there trying to steady his breathing and ignore the soreness he felt throughout his body. Eddie kissed Steve’s backside then kissed his shoulders and placed a sweet kiss onto his lips that could barely open from him being exhausted. “I’m going to get you some water, okay?”

After Eddie heard Steve hum in response he quickly put on his boxers and ran downstairs. His heart was pounding from the adrenaline that he felt and he made his way towards the kitchen. Steve’s dad stood in the kitchen facing the opposite way with his hands over his face and he was mumbling things under his breath. Eddie didn’t try to hide his presence in fact he wanted Steve’s dad to him that’s why got a glass from the cabinet and loudly placed it on the counter. The older man turned around with a scared look on his face at first but then it turned it to anger. He stormed over to Eddie and got in his face very vein popping out of his head. Eddie held back a laugh as the man tried to talk to him but he couldn’t even look Eddie in the eye. The man stopped himself completely and walked away from where Eddie was standing.

“Did you enjoy the show Mr. Harrington?” Eddie asked slyly. He was playing a very dangerous game and he knew the consequences behind it but he couldn’t control himself. Steve’s dad turned around in disbelief.

“You’re a sick individual. Having my son participate in those sinful acts and doing it with eyes on you makes it even worse.” He spat at Eddie.

“Correction sir, your son asked me to participate in those ‘sinful’ acts first-“

“I don’t believe anything that comes out of your disgusting mouth. My son would never suggest to do something that sinister and once he realizes that you’re leading him down the wrong path I’ll be right here to guide him back home.” Steve’s dad was convinced that Eddie was the actual devil on earth and anything Steve did was never his decision.

“It’s about time you stepped to be a good dad for once.” Eddie was met with strong hands around his neck and a glare that could kill him. Steve’s dad tightened his grip making Eddie struggle to breath as he tried to get his hands from around his neck.

“Watch your mouth boy. I’ve been nothing but a good dad to him and I won’t let some punk like you tell me otherwise.” Steve’s dad said through gritted teeth. Eddie let out a bitter laugh.

“It seems like I took the spot in that department don’t it, Mr. Harrington?” Eddie smirked when Steve’s dad realized what he meant and he loosened his grip on Eddie’s neck. With a shocked expressing he stood in the kitchen running his hands through his thinning hair. Eddie took the glass that was on the counter and turned on the sink filling the cup up to a good amount. Before Eddie left the kitchen he turned to face Steve’s dad. “Now if you don’t mind I’m going to tend to my ‘fatherly’ duties.”

Eddie didn’t see his reaction but the faint gasp that heard as he started walking up stairs was enough for him to be satisfied.

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museofthepyre · 3 months

Text

Did a fun Q&A thing on insta about my ocs, here are the highlights, lore and shit! For context I am writing this into a horror-ish book as we speak. Brewing my dastardly schemes (gay tragedy).

Q: Is Eden also a cannibal?

A: Eden isn't a cannibal in the way Harlow is. I mean he eats people but only because Harlow's cooking is too good to turn down /hj. Eden's thing is... kinda the opposite.

He's slowly being consumed by the rot that's festering within him, a manifestation of hatred and shame. To him love is consumption, and he is inedible. Insert vulture metaphor here w Harlow. For every rotting corpse there is a very greatful vulture who will look past the decay, and see your worth. Eden is ultimately finished off by something that loves him, a consumptive love, unconditional and indiscriminate.

Q: ABOUT THE ROT, HOW DOES IT WORK? HOW IS IT AFFECTING HIM??

A: This rot is really the only story element that isn't totally grounded in reality. It's an illness that's a manifestation of his self hatred/ repression/ internalized shame- not an actual condition.

It appears at first like it just affects his chest- but it’s been slowly burrowing deep into his body. Its spreading like roots/ mycillium through his flesh and will finish him off in one foul swoop once it's finished spreading.

In the meantime, it manifests like a chronic illness- his muscles are all atrophied and he feels constantly drained of life. It's taking small pieces of flesh to sustain itself while it spreads (the chest cavity is the result of that-though the REAL damage is invisible. It's the ticking time bomb roots beneath the seemingly unaffected surface). It functions like a slow acting Chronic Wasting Disease (aka zombie deer disease, humans can't get it in reality, but it was the inspiration)

Q: What happened when Harlow discovered Eden was a guy

A: Eden is trans, and closeted in his life. Harlow is the first person he ever discusses his truth with.

At first, Harlow was just kinda... confused? Transness is not a concept he was familiar with. At ALL. The idea alone was completely unheard of to him. Again this is the Bible Belt in the 8os, the area so rarely encountered visible transness- trans people existed of course, but so many stayed hidden to survive. The roaring tre of bigotry did not have much tuel in that regard... no trans people to propagandize against. It was not on the public's vitriolic radar. In that way, Harlow hadn't developed the knee-jerk reaction of hatred... he was more fascinated than anything, but it did challenge him to understand at first.

Unlike his journey with accepting homosexuality this was not so much a task of unlearning as it was just... learning.

Also Eden's whole rotting thing adds another layer to this Harlow is stupid and takes everything VERY literally- he thought Eden's condition must be divinely brought.

Harlow saw a gift from God, a rare flower planted in inhospitable soil, wilting before it ever got the chance to bloom. Like the angels sent to Sodom and Gamorrah in human disguises, to test the townspeople's virtue. To present them with something foreign yet beautiful, to judge their inherent goodness based on how they treat it. Like in the biblical story, the townspeople were so vile and inhospitable that it endangered the angels and forced them to leave, burning down the town behind them. Harlow saw this as prophecy. He was eager to get to the “burning down the town” part.

Part of my motivation for incorporating that specific biblical story is SPITE btw since so many people use it to justify homophobia. Reverse uno idiots. I'm putting you in my GAY BOOK as a metaphor for hateful queerphobic societies.HA!

Q: Describe the rot in Eden's chest in sensory detail (texture smell “cause" etc) I want rot details!!

A: I used CWD and necrotizing fasciitis as building blocks for this thing... starts in the brain, spreads like roots through the body, eating away at muscle and skin as it does. Once it's fully spread, it'd rapidly worsten and bring death within a matter of hours.

In the meantime it sustains itself off of non-fatal bits of flesh (his chest here, since it's a manifestation of self hatred and all, and dysphoria is a bitch). It is an open wound so it'd feel scabby and it is perpetually weeping... which is how Harlow finds out about it so quickly (seeps through white nightgown after being left unbandaged for a few nights). He would also have to take care to hide the smell of decay

It advances throughout the story and by the end there's barely any soft tissue left on his chest, nothing alive anyways. The final overtake begins, and his organs enter the early stages of consumption (which happens very rapidly in one foul swoop). That's when they decide it's time for boy dinner!

Q: How smart are they

A: GREAT QUESTION! HARLOW IS FUCKING STUPID. LIKE not only does he lack emotional intelligence entirely, but he's also very impulsive and reckless. The ONLY reason he's getting away with his murders is because the society around him has shot itself in the foot with its homophobia. Noooobody is suspicious of him for the string of missing attractive dudes. They're looking for a "vengeful woman" profile, or possibly a "debt collector with many social connections" or something. Not some solitary redneck who barely shows his face in town and is very polite and quiet when he does. He appears, in all respects, like a normal guy in public.

Once they have mutual blackmail (and also start caring about each other)... Eden realizes that if Harlow gets caught, he's fucked too. So partially for the sake of self-preservation, and... partially out of pity for this stupid stupid man... Eden starts to help him cover up.

Harlow is pretty disillusioned as to how society functions as a whole, since he grew up pretty far from it. Eden is the opposite, he was suffocated by it and learned how to be sneaky as a result. Eden is very good at getting people to trust him, he's good at lying, he's good at acting. Thing is, he's overly trusting to his own detriment. He's desperate for genuine connection and easily deceived himself. He's bad at reading people.

Q: What happened to Harlow's mom?

A: Harlow's mother died due to complications during childbirth. He never had a maternal figure in his life, he was raised as an only child by his father, who had become calloused and would never remarry. Harlow dropped out of high school and kept to himself at his house/ in nature after that very isolated from society. Considering all this... he not only lacked a maternal figure, but any female influence... at all. Which manifested as this warped and idolized understanding of women as a whole

He thought of women in a very high and almost mystified regard- like how a child would imagine a mythical creature. One massive blank filled in by a clueless imagination. He respected them greatly, he feared them like gods, and he felt a need to repent to them as such. He never properly processed the guilt he felt over his mothers death-largely thanks to his father's handling of it. This guilt left him feeling indebted, like he owed the world for what he “took", like if he ever so much as inconvenienced another woman it would be an irredeemable sin.

This all sounds like it comes from a good place, but it's really all just deluded naivety this is not a positive trait of Harlow's. It contributed a lot to his toxic masculinity, the pressure he put on himself to "be a man", etc.

He's not a white knight, he's a cowardly dog.

This is why he didn't just kill Eden on the spot after being caught, he needed to make sure...)

MORE TO COME IM SURE I LOVE GETTING QUESTIONS ABOUT THESE FREAKS IF ANYONE HERE HAS ANY

#Rot of the Eucharist #my ocs #ocs #original characters #original writing #horror writing #horror author #queer author #queer fiction #long post

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religion-is-a-mental-illness · 6 months

Text

By: Tim Black

Published: Oct 19, 2023

Over the past two weeks, the same phrase has been uttered by countless politicians: ‘Hamas does not represent the Palestinian people.’ US president Joe Biden has said it. British PM Rishi Sunak has said it. Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, which rules over the West Bank, has said it (before his speech was redacted).

But something far stronger needs to be said. It’s not that Hamas does not represent the Palestinian people. It’s that Hamas is against the Palestinian people. It’s the enemy of the Palestinian people. Its interests as an Islamist terrorist movement, dedicated to the destruction of Israel and the creation of an Islamic state in its place, stand in direct opposition to the interests and lives of the Palestinian people.

Make no mistake: Hamas has always treated the Palestinians like dirt. Since it seized power in Gaza in 2007, it has ruled as one would expect it to – as a brutal, oppressive, theocratic regime. It has tortured and killed those who deviate from its strict ‘laws’, and who dissent from its quasi-fascist ideology. Homosexuals have been regularly persecuted, tortured and killed. And political opponents have frequently been murdered, sometimes under the cover of its intermittent battles with the Israel Defence Forces (IDF).

Perhaps most despicable of all, Hamas has constantly sacrificed Gazans in its multiple conflicts with Israel, deliberately placing them in harm’s way. It has stored rockets in schools, mortar shells in hospitals and munitions in mosques. And, with incredible callousness, people have been ordered to remain in their homes during Israeli attacks, even when being told by the IDF to evacuate. This is still happening now. The IDF is telling those living in the north of Gaza to evacuate, while Hamas is ordering them to stay put.

Despite Western sympathisers’ attempts to downplay this horrific ‘tactic’, or to dismiss it as Israeli propaganda, Hamas has always been open about it. As one of its leaders boasted in 2008: ‘For the Palestinian people, death has become an industry… The elderly excel at this, and so do… the children. This is why they have formed human shields of the women and children.’ During the 2014 conflict with Israel, another senior spokesman told Palestinian station al-Aqsa TV that wilfully sacrificing Gazans ‘attests to the character of our noble, jihad-loving people, who defend their rights and their homes with their bare chests and their blood’.

Hamas uses the phrase ‘human shields’, but this unjustly dignifies this tactic’s depravity. For Hamas, Gazans’ bodies are not shields – they are media fodder. Their lives are worth less to Hamas than their deaths – the images and videos of which offer valuable propaganda material to be circulated around the world as proof of Hamas’s victimisation at the hands of evil Israel. Again, this is what Hamas is doing right now. As the Israeli military readies itself for a ground invasion, Hamas is happy to turn hundreds of thousands of Gazans into bloody war propaganda.

Every dead Palestinian is useful for Hamas. Just consider the explosion at the al-Alhi Arab hospital earlier this week. This was immediately held up by Hamas spokespeople as proof of Israeli war crimes. They claimed that 500 innocent people had died in the blast. Yet it now seems likely that Palestinian Islamic Jihad, another Islamist terror group, was responsible. All too often, rockets fired at Israel fall short of their targets and end up killing Gazans instead. But this is of no concern to Hamas, which can exploit and weaponise these deaths to its own abhorrent ends.

There is no question that Gazans have suffered greatly over the past two decades. But their oppression and exploitation has only benefitted Hamas’s leaders. They have happily reaped the rewards of their reign of terror, growing rich on their control of the Gazan black market, the largesse of their regional backers and no doubt some of the billions of dollars Gaza receives in international aid. Long-time Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh pledged to live on ‘olive oil and dried herbs’ after he led Hamas to victory at the 2006 Palestinian elections. In 2019, he shook off his asceticism and left Gaza to go on what Hamas announced was a ‘foreign tour’. He has never returned. The multibillionaire now lives in luxury in Qatar. As does some-time chairman of Hamas, Khaled Meshal. Meshal and his family, estimated to be worth something in the region of $2.5 billion, own a Doha real-estate firm, four residential towers and a 20-story mall. And all the while, the vast majority of Gazans live in extreme poverty.

Hamas is clearly corrupt, brutal and nasty. Yet we rarely hear much about just how vicious a regime Hamas runs, because Hamas also arrests, tortures and detains journalists. It is eager for the local and international press to carry stories and images of Gazans’ deaths at the hands of an Israeli missile. But less keen for the media to carry stories and images of its own treatment of Gazans.

That Hamas can treat Gazans so callously and brutally should not surprise us. Formed by the Muslim Brotherhood in 1987, Hamas does not share the interests of the Palestinian people. It is not concerned with establishing some form of Palestinian statehood, or securing rights and freedoms. No, its goals are near-enough apocalyptic – and genocidal.

Like the larger Islamist movement of which it is part, Hamas wants to wage war – perhaps the final war – against the Jews. It wants to destroy Israel, to cleanse the land of Jews ‘From the river to the sea’, as the slogan goes. ‘Our struggle against the Jews is very great and very serious’, reads one of the opening lines of Hamas’s 1988 founding charter. Hamas, it says, ‘is but one squadron that should be supported by more and more squadrons from this vast Arab and Islamic world, until the enemy [Israel] is vanquished and Allah’s victory is realised’.

This genocidal anti-Semitism doesn’t just pose a danger to Jews in Israel – it also makes any sort of political resolution of the Palestinian question near impossible. After all, how can Israelis be expected to make accommodations with a group that openly calls for their extinction? Meanwhile, the lives of the Palestinians are treated as mere fodder in this obscene, racist campaign.

And yet there are still many Western leftists proudly celebrating Hamas right now. There are many ‘radical’ academics cheering on Hamas’s pogrom of Jewish civilians as an act of resistance. And there are many poseurs flooding social media with Hamas-style anti-Zionism. These are not friends of the Gazans. They are friends of Hamas. And that makes them the enemies of the Palestinian people.

Free Palestine... from Hamas. I've said it before and I'll say it again: the biggest victims of Islam are Muslims. Hamas needs to be hunted down and exterminated so that Palestinians can find peace with Israel. It's impossible with fundamentalist terrorists in charge, because they're conducting a divine holy war.

The same way Boko Haram, Al Qaeda, ISIS and the Taliban need to be wiped out, and the Iranian regime torn down.

Also, defund Gender Studies.

#Palestine #free palestine #Hamas #islam #Israel #Gaza #Gaza Strip #islamic terrorism #Palestinian Islamic Jihad #down with hamas #islamism #islamists #antisemitism #useful idiots #religion #jihad #defund gender studies #exterminate hamas #religion is a mental illness

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olderthannetfic · 5 months

Note

https://olderthannetfic.tumblr.com/post/735066906548191232/calling-mf-relationships-straight-anon-i-would#notes

You know it would have been 100% more helpful if you'd just added the link, because like this I had to use tumblrs dreadful search function to figure out which parts you were specifically refering/answering to. /post/734652801973616640/what-word-should-i-use-biphobic-heteronormative#notes Now I'm gonna write unreasonably long response, so skip if you don't wanna read, bc I'm currently running on energy drinks and bad decisions.

1 It might surprise you but I can and do both. I in fact tell a lot of people not to assume a couple is heterosexual or homosexual just because of how they "appear." I can do both lol.

2 If they can get married or not has absolutely nothing to do with my issue as such. I'm really confused why you even bring this up since my focus was on how M/F relationships are treated in queer spaces, and how people always default to straight or gay, instead of just not doing that since queer is more than just "straight" or "gay". Maybe it was because I mentioned not liking the way straight passing/straight passing privilege is used? But that still is a different layer of the issue I have with the term itself and how it's applied in queer spaces to treat non-homo queer identities. I do think the term has its valid uses, but there's a difference between "you can't be queer if you're in a M/F relationship, because even though you're queer that privilege means you shouldn't enter queer (safe) spaces" and "SPP is when you don't need to fear from the Government or bigots for being out with your opposite gender partner." Though that doesn't take into consideration what happens if a M/F couple might not fit the typical cis normative and heteronormative gender roles. A feminine man, and/or a masc woman in a relationship can still experience open queerphobia. A lot of people do not acknowledge that even straight passing privilege isn't as cut and dry and "M/F", but comes also with the need to uphold a certain type of gender conforming role in society. Anyway, I'm objecting to the use specifically of "straight" as a way to other bisexual, and other non-straight relationships and how it's actively used to push M/F couples or M/F presenting relationships out of queer spaces, even when one or both people are queer. This includes relationships with trans, enbies, and other queer identities. Because it happens and it's not rare that even the queer community has tried to erase or push out bisexuals, and other non-monosexual queer identities. 3 My question more along the lines: Why the need to "gender" a relationship to begin with? As in why do you need to label a relationship as straight or gay just by looking at someone? Especially by queer people. Why is it ok to use that "binary" in queer spaces to exclude queer people because they're on the "wrong" side of the binary? A binary, hetero or homo, they don't even belong to? How often do you actually need to label someone else's relationship? We know the gender binary is bullshit, but people in queer spaces still decide to uphold certain binaries in so many aspects, and then judge you based on the binary they uphold, instead of you actual identity. It always seems to be much more acceptable to other and mess around with the identities of bisexuals and pansexuals, or other identities that fall outside the monosexual binary of homo and hetero, or the even the gender binary of male and female presenting.

Add-on: I also see bisexual relationships be labelled gay and it becoming a big thing in queer fandoms to erase their bisexuality, or of course pansexual character, even when one or both characters are bi, and then they get claimed under just the homosexual label, aka "Lesbians" or "Gay." This happened with Korrasami, Bubbline, and recently Lumity, even though each of these relationships has at least 1 bisexual character. I still see fandom wank about these relationships and how people are "erasing" lesbians when they state that the bisexual character is in fact bisexual, or how people label them under the lesbian identity for both. This happens with males as well, but it's more visible with female presenting relationships and characters. And obviously on the other end, when queer characters get labelled as straight, and then suddenly their actual queer sexuality doesn't count and they get treated as bad rep, or as not-valid because they aren't performing queerness on the right side of the monosexual binary. An example from recent times was Owl Houses HunterxWillow, where even though Hunter is bi and Willow is said to be pan, people disregarded their queerness because it was an implied M/F relationship sp people started wank about it being a "straight relationship" and doesn't count. Obviously there are more instances, but Owl house is more recent in my memory and this is long enough.

Ps: I don't care what you label your own relationship. I'm speaking in general terms, and I do not decide or speak for each individual bisexual, or pansexual or w/e. I'm speaking on my observations on how the label "straight" has been used to treat bisexuals and pansexuals as less valid or even completely erase their identity the moment they enter a M/F presenting relationship.

Pps: The first post was just a tired vent, and more of a throwaway thing. Not sure what this is, but I'll try avoid the energy drinks for now.

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