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autolenaphilia · 1 year

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I’ve recently seen some The Rocky Horror Picture Show discourse. And like people are questioning if Rocky Horror is transmisogynistic. Of course it does. Dr. Frank-N-Furter is intentionally a transmisogynistic villain. That’s the point.

It’s intended as ironic of course, as deliberate camp. The musical is intended as a parody of old sci-fi and horror movies, mixed with a camp drag aesthetic inspired by the contemporary glam rock movement. The mad scientist villains in the movies being parodied were often queer-coded, and vaguely effeminate.

So to parody that, Frank-n-Furter goes far beyond the queer-coding, and is outrageously effeminate and evil. He rapes people, kills them with an axe and serves them for dinner and force-fems them to take part in his climactic stage show. He is a Frankenstein parody, who literally makes an artificial man in order to fuck him (a joke about Frankenstein I’ve seen on tumblr). And does it all while wearing stockings, a bustier and heavy make-up. He is deliberately the ultimate evil man in a dress trope, referencing Psycho and all effeminate mad scientists in media.

That Frank-N-Furter isn’t explicitly a trans woman doesn’t matter. The musical deliberately blurs the line. The line “I’m just a sweet transvestite, from Transsexual, Transylvania” is like a perfect encapsulation of how horror movies treat transfemininity. “Men in dresses” (transvestites) trans women (transsexual) and a symbol of predatory horror movie villainy (Transylvania) are all conflated, making a pun of out how they all begin with “trans”.

Of course, it’s intended to be ironic. It’s a parody of queer-coded villainy in old horror movies by turning it up to eleven, so that you can’t take it seriously. The whole movie has this drag show camp aesthetic that it celebrates, and the supposed representatives of heteronormativity, Brad and Janet are turned in the end. Frank-N-Furter becomes a symbol of a hedonistic queer liberation “Give yourself over to absolute pleasure.. Don’t dream it, be it.”

This is the clear intent of Rocky Horror, and it’s how it became a “queer classic”. Does it work? I’ll admit that I enjoy the movie version. The glam rock aesthetic is fun, the songs are catchy, and they keep coming at a quick pace. A lot of it is admittedly that I love the old horror and sci-fi movies it’s parodying, so my cultural touchstones are similar. I’m the kind of person to get a thrill out of knowing that Frank-N-Furter at one point uses the exact same prop that Peter Cushing used in the second Hammer Frankenstein movie.

That is a different question however from how well it succeeds at subverting the transmisogynistic tropes it handles. Even in the most sympathetic possible account of the musical, it’s doing the equivalent of handling live grenades. Is it the creators tropes to subvert in the first place? Is it the fans?

Let’s talk about Rocky Horror’s creator, Richard O’Brien. He is certainly a weird and contradictory person, he identifies as a third gender and “70% male and 30% female“, and is using estrogen. So arguably he is a transfem enby and thus transmisogyny-affected. But he’s also a transmisogynist who doesn’t believe trans women are “real women”.( I would like to know what exact percentage of “female” as a transfem person turns you into a bad fake trans woman.)

Of course the important thing about O’Brien is that he is rich. He is in a vastly different class position than the majority of transfems. So while he may be taking estrogen and living as a third gender, he is simultaneously isolated by his own wealth from the effects of the transmisogyny he bolsters in the media (see Caitlyn Jenner for another example of a wealthy transfem doing the same thing).

And O’Brien is rich because Rocky Horror is a huge success. The stage show has seen tons of productions, the original ran for 7 years in the West End, and the movie is a slow but certain money maker, with probably the longest theatrical run out of any movie in history. He is swimming in residuals.

This raises the more interesting question of Rocky Horror’s position in the wider culture, and it’s status as “queer media”. It’s a movie which is just not passively watched but celebrated and performed by its fandom. People show up in cosplay to showings, “shadow casts” perform while the movie plays. And of course the original stage musical is still performed.

So we have to ask ourselves, what are people performing? And who is performing it? And I’ve already answered the former question earlier. Rocky Horror is largely an ironic performance of transmisogyny. And the fact is, the majority of people doing that performance are not the main targets of transmisogyny. They are largely TME cishet, queer and trans people. It’s “ironic” transmisogyny to be sure, I think most fans of Rocky Horror who have any understanding of what it is doing view Frank-N-Furter as the true hero of the show. But is it really their thing to be ironic about? Are transmisogyny-exempt people really the people who should reclaim with irony and camp transmisogynistic tropes in horror media? I don’t think so, and that’s why there is so much resentment about Rocky Horror from transfems. And it’s creator doesn’t help, because while he’s arguably transfem, he also spreads transmisogyny in the media.

It illustrates a lot of things, for example how imprecise “queer” is as a description of people. It’s an umbrella term, and does group together people who have much in common. But it also erases the material differences within the community. Queer people aren’t all equally oppressed.

So Rocky Horror status as queer media, as a campy celebration of queerness and parody of anti-queer tropes in genre films is kinda grating. Because it enables TME queer people to perform and celebrate Rocky Horror, because they are queer and it’s about “queerness”, when there are specifically transmisogynistic tropes parodied in the musical. It isn’t really their place to do so.

It appropriates specific transmisogynistic tropes in the media by thoughtlessly subsuming it into the general anti-queerness which it is part of.

Of course there are transfems who got to explore their gender at Rocky Horror showings. But I think the reason they did that is because mtf crossdressing is accepted as part of a camp ironic performance in such a context. It makes it feel safer to perform femininity in public, because you can backtrack and say it’s purely ironic. That’s no different from the comedy crossdressing in American Halloween parties, and I think we can all agree those are often transmisogynistic.

And of course, Rocky Horror is an example of how cis men can perform femininity, and get celebrated for it in mainstream society, while escaping the effects of transmisogyny that transfems experience, and in fact often furthering that transmisogyny. It’s often a (negative) performance of transfemininity, in which actual transfems play no part and are mocked.

Tim Curry is a very good example. He made his career from playing Frank-N-Furter, and he probably couldn’t have done that if he was actually transfem, and not just crossdressing for an ironic performance on stage and screen. Like I don’t have anything against him in particular, quite the opposite, he’s one of my favourite actors, love him in everything from Clue to Muppet Treasure Island to Gabriel Knight. My objection is to the patriarchal and transmisogynistic system that favors cishet men like him.

Speaking of crossdressing on stage, the drag culture which Rocky Horror is inspired by of course has a complex history. It’s deeply rooted in both African-American and queer culture, and transfems have played major roles in drag. But Rocky Horror is if anything even an appropriation of drag culture. It represents drag’s commercialization and recuperation into the mainstream. It took drag out of the gay bars being raided by the police and onto the more respectable West End stage, making a lot of money in the process.

Rocky Horror beyond any qualities it has as a stage and film musical, due to its popularity represents a lot of complex issues. It’s important to queer culture, but it also represents the commercialization and recuperation of queer drag into the cishet mainstream. And within the queer community, it is a shining example of how TME queers can appropriate specifically transfem struggles as their own. It shows how cis men can gain wealth and fame performing transmisogynistic caricatures (even if they are ironic and don’t mean it).

I’m not saying if you enjoy the musical that you should stop enjoying it. But maybe if you are TME, Dr Frank-N-Furter is not your “problematic queer icon” to reclaim.

#my writings #transmisogyny #the rocky horror picture show #the rocky horror show

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holly-natnicole · 8 days

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the Bats 'n' Birds in my 'D.C.' (1937) franchise Alternate Multiverse rewrite timeline:

transgender polyamorous homoromantic asexual female Leslie Maurin Thompkins (deadname Samuel Xolani Thompkins) is a(n ethnically mostly white) South African through Mary Thompkins (who has an ethnically black biological father) and Thomas Jameson, her vigilante name (which she uses extremely rarely since Leslie almost never commits vigilantism) being Doctor (often shortened to Doc);

cisgender monogamous panromantic pansexual fem Julia Irene Alice Pennyworth is an Englishwoman through Alfred Thaddeus Crane Pennyworth (who is ethnically white) and Irene Rivers (who is ethnically black), her vigilante name (which she extremely rarely uses since there aren’t many situations where Julia would need to wear a mask to protect her identity) being Agent J;

cis aromantic ace male Alfred Thaddeus Crane Pennyworth is an (ethnically white) Englishman through Alice Pennyworth née Crane and Thaddeus Jarvis Pennyworth, his vigilante name (which he somewhat rarely uses since there aren’t many situations where Alfred would need to wear a mask to protect his identity) being Agent A;

trans mono gay homosexual male Cullen Row (deadname Holly Farrell) is a(n ethnically white) Gothamite through Miranda Farrell née Row and Marcus Farrell, his vigilante names (which he somewhat rarely uses since there aren’t many situations where Cullen would need to wear a mask to protect his identity) being Duckie & Mallard;

cis poly omniromantic omnisexual male Bruce Thomas Wayne is a Gothamite who is Jewish through Martha Wayne née Kane and ethnically white through Thomas Wayne, his vigilante name being Batman;

cis mono gay fem Katherine “Kate” Rebecca Kane is a Jewish Gothamite through Gabriela “Gabi” Kane née García and Jacob Kane, her vigilante name being Batwoman;

trans mono gay fem Mary Elizabeth “Bette” Kane (deadname Matthew Gilbert "Bert" Kane) is a(n ethnically white) Englishwoman through Matthew “Matt” Kane née Benett and Jewish through Miriam Kane, her vigilante names being Batgirl & Flamebird;

cis mono biromantic demisexual fem Barbara Joan Gordon is a(n ethnically mostly white) Gothamite through Barbara Eileen Johannes (named Barbara Eileen Gordon during her marriage to Jim) and James “Jim” Gordon (whose maternal grandfather was an African American), her vigilante names being Batgirl & Oracle;

cis mono gay demi male David Zavimbe is Congolese through Laura Zavimbe née Davids and Isaac Zavimbe, his vigilante name being Batwing;

trans mono bi demi fem Araunya “Anya” Grayson (deadname Richard “Rick” John Grayson) is Romani & Welsh & French through Marie Grayson née Lloyd (who was born in Wales) and Romani & an (ethnically white) Englishwoman through John Grayson (who was born in England), her vigilante names being Robin & Renegade & Nightwing & Batman;

cis mono demiromantic omni fem Jade “Jay” Todd (also known as Jason “Jay” Todd, Jade “Jay” al Ghūl, & Jade “Jay” Head) is a(n ethnically mostly white) Gothamite through Sheila Haywood and Willis Peters (whose bio paternal grandmother was a Chinese American), her vigilante names being Robin & Red Hood;

cis mono gay ace fem Cassandra Wǔ-Sân (formerly Cassandra Cain, originally nameless) is Chinese through Shiva (at birth named Sandra Wǔ-Sân) and a(n ethnically white) Gothamite through David Cain, her vigilante names being Orphan & Batgirl & Black Bat & Batman (Cassandra Wǔ-Sân is written as 擦涩伞得拉伍莘 in Chinese);

cis mono bi fem Harper Row (formerly Harper Farrell) is a(n ethnically white) Gothamite through Miranda Farrell née Row and Marcus Farrell, her vigilante name being Bluebird;

mono bi Stephanie Brown (deadname Charles “Chuck” Brown) is a(n ethnically white) Gothamite through Crystal Brown née Lyle and Arthur Brown plus she’s a demigal, their vigilante names being Spoiler & Robin & Batgirl;

cis poly bi male Timothy “Tim” Jackson Drake is a(n ethnically white) Gothamite through Janet Drake née Lynn and Jack Drake, his vigilante names being Robin & Raptor;

agender mono bi Duke Thomas is an African American Gothamite through Eileen Thomas (whose bio mother was also a metahuman) and an African through Gnomon (who is also a metahuman), their vigilante names being Signal & Robin;

agender aro ace Damian al Ghūl (deadname Athanasia al Ghūl, used the name Tallant al Ghūl for several months at age 8 when believing ze’s male before at the end of it realising zir lack of any gender, got often called Ībn al Ḫfāfīš [إِبن الخفافيش] & Ūṭwāṭ [وطواط] by other Shadows in the League of Assassins) is Arab, Chinese, & Pakistani through Talia al Ghūl and Jewish & ethnically white through Bruce Thomas Wayne, zir vigilante names being Robin & Heretic & Redbird (Damian al Ghūl is written as داميان ال عهوول in Arabic, 㙮面腌乐乌勒 in Chinese, & ڈیمین الغول in Urdu);

cis mono pan fem Helena Alfreda Kyle is Cuban, Nigerian, Italian, and Somali through Selina Kyle (who is a Gothamite, but gave birth to & for 8 years raised her bio daughter in Metropolis) and Jewish and ethnically white through Bruce Thomas Wayne, her vigilante names being Hunter & Robin;

genderfluid mono bi ace Maxine "Max" Gibson is an African American Gothamite through Sarah Gibson née Edwards and Evan Gibson, his vigilante name being Huginn;

cis mono heteroromantic heterosexual fem Dana Tan is a Chinese American Gothamite through Daiyu Tan née Zhìhuì and Paul Tan (originally named Bao Tan), her vigilante name being Muninn (Dana Tan is written as 丹娜坛 in Chinese);

trans mono het male Terrence “Terry” McGinnis (deadname Winifred McGinnis) is a Gothamite who is a Korean American through Mary Mun (named Mary McGinnis during her marriage to Warren McGinnis) and Jewish & ethnically white through Bruce Thomas Wayne, his vigilante name being Batman (Terrence McGinnis is written as 테렌스 맥기니스 in Korean);

trans mono het fem Caroline “Carrie” Keene Kelley (deadname Jonathan “John” Keene Kelley) is a(n ethnically white) Gothamite through Lynn Keene and Frank Kelley, her vigilante names being Robin & Batwoman;

cis mono gay male Matthew “Mattie” Mun is a Gothamite who is a Korean American through Mary Mun (named Mary McGinnis during her marriage to Warren McGinnis) and Jewish & ethnically white through Bruce Thomas Wayne, his vigilante name being Robin (Matthew Mun is written as 매튜 문 in Korean).

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nationmckinleyscorset · 1 year

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My (updated) LGBTQIA+ HCs for rocky horror

You dont have to agree with me just dont argue <3 I made a tiktok a while ago but I've changed my mind for a lot of them sooo in order of appearance:

Ralph Hapschatt: a "straight" guy who would absolutely fuck a guy for money because a dollar is a dollar.

Betty Hapchatt: a bisexual in denial (I'm sorry but come on)

Brad: a homosexual who begins to question his gender towards the end of the movie

Janet: omnisexual. I feel like she'd be attracted to most genders but be very aware of their identities and maybe even feel a little guilt.

Riff raff: a nonbinary bisexual who, although unrelated, also gives off serious masochist vibes...

Magenta: a complete raging lesbian. Fight me. I don't care if she fucks her brother there is no way she's genuinely attracted to men.

Columbia: she's low-key giving trans fem vibes but idk, one thing I've always thought is that she's pansexual. I also very much so see her as polyamorous given her attraction to Eddie, Magenta and Frank.

Frank N Furter: I'm never quite sure about Frank's gender so I'm just gonna say gender void (no gender) And I'm gonna say bisexual with a strong male preference.

(OH!) Rocky: honestlyyy (please don't kill me) I think rocky is straight... like I know he was made for Frank N Furter but his attraction to women is kinda undeniable. I feel like he's the token hetero although I'm not sure that counts given that I HC him as some kind of genderqueer (idk if that word is still acceptable or not, sorry).

Eddie: ok hear me out... gynesexual (again might be outdated, means attracted to feminine people regardless of their gender) and polyamorous. He wouldn't mind sharing columbia with other people. I don't see him as cis but I can't pinpoint his gender so we'll leave it at that for now.

Dr Scott: a gay man who has made some very questionable life choices.

I don't think a single character in that movie was straight

#lgbtq #rocky horror picture show #rhps #the rocky horror picture show #rocky horror show #rocky horror #the rocky horror show #hcs

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brw · 2 years

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trans femmine Hank Pym anon here , anymore hcs for this please?

ooo okay still don't know if i have loads but here r my initial thoughts;

i like the name hannah the most, but i think dinah & odelia are also good names that are cute & would fit!

has a super strong love-hate relationship with victor mancha calling her grandma, bc on one hand, gender, on the other hand, gilf is a big title to have when you've just started transitioning.

i think for exactly one day she like straightened her hair so it would be longer & she had almost the exact same hairstyle as janet and took one incredibly blurry selfie about it and immediately took a long shower to get the curls back

greer bought her a bunch of dresses when she came out & most are like already in her style that she wears but at least one was more greer-esque n she hasn't get gotten the courage to wear it

she will not be able to emotionally handle william giving her a card for mother's day not at all

either would wear hair very curly at shoulder length or have it a bit longer but it's constantly in a bun or ponytail to practise Lab Safety.

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 <- here is all the art i could find of a fem! hank pym, i think most of these are intended as genderbends as opposed to trans hcs but they're still cute so i decided to share :)

#asks #anonymous #hank pym

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transenbyconfessions · 2 years

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Is it weird that I'm afab and like the term "transfem"? Like...it me. I'm afab. And enby. And I like presenting feminine and wearing 'girls' clothes and looking like a girl- altho I'd like it more if I were perceived as girl-adjacent, like Janet in The Good Place, rather than an actual girl. So I'm trans. And fem. But also doesn't "transfem" usually mean amab trans people who are girl/girl-adjacent? Which makes it kind of weird that I feel a sense of "oh hey it me" about that word. Except. It happens.

idfk anything

#trans #transgender #nonbinary #non binary #non-binary #nb #enby #afab #transfem

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shannonfromthebadplace · 5 years

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The Sims 4: The Good Place Legacy Challenge (6 Gen)

This is a 6-generation legacy challenge based of NBC’s comedy series called The Good Place. Generations are loosely based off the core six characters of the show. Listed below are the generations first and additional notes second. Please see all additional notes.

The Generations:

Generation 1: Jason Mendoza (start as a young adult)

Jason must have the following: Aspiration: Chief of Mischief Traits: Dance Machine, Bro, [your choice]

Backstory: Jason is determined to follow in his parents’ footsteps and pursues a career as a criminal living in Willow Creek. He must fall in love with a coworker. Jason must maximize the Mischief skill, achieve level 5 of the Video Gaming skill, and reach the top of the criminal career in the boss branch before Eleanor is a young adult. Jason and his partner must have at least one child (at least one daughter named Eleanor).

Generation 2: Eleanor Shellstrop (begins when Eleanor is a young adult)

Eleanor must have the following: Aspiration: Joke Star Traits: Goofball, Self-Assured, [your choice]

Backstory: Eleanor moves out on her own and relocates to a small San Myshuno apartment. Eleanor was raised by career criminal parents, so she must begin her young adulthood in either branch of the criminal career, reach Charisma level 5 and Programming level 5 while she’s in the criminal career, and perform at least one successful hack before changing her life path. On her way to becoming a career criminal, Eleanor meets a love interest who reshapes her ideas about the world and who she wants to be. Eleanor decides to use her strong personality for good and switches to the comedy career. She needs to reach level 10 of the comedy career before Michael is a young adult. Eleanor and her partner must have at least one child (at least one son named Michael).

Generation 3: Michael (begins when Michael is a young adult)

Michael must have the following: Aspiration: Public Enemy Traits: Evil, Ambitious, [your choice]

Backstory: Michael must reach level 10 of the Mischief and Charisma skills. Michael must marry a partner with the Good trait. Michael and his partner must have at least one child (at least one son named Chidi). Michael must reach the top of the criminal career in the oracle branch before Chidi is a young adult.

Generation 4: Chidi Anagonye (begins when Chidi is a young adult)

Chidi must have the following: Aspiration: Renaissance Sim Traits: Genius, Squeamish, [your choice]

Backstory: Chidi’s parents - one Good, one Evil - both shaped Chidi in how he understands the way the world works and why people do the things they do. As a result, Chidi is rather indecisive about what he wants because of all the possible consequences of his actions. Chidi must reach level 3 in two separate careers out of the following options: gardening (Base Game alternative: painter), business, or politics (Base Game alternative: secret agent). Chidi’s third and final career will be writing - author track. He must maximize the Writing skill and reach level 6 of the writing career before Tahani is a young adult. Chidi must marry a partner with the Hates Children trait. Chidi and his partner must have two daughters, Tahani (first born) and Kamilah (second born). Chidi and his partner’s relationship with Tahani must never increase above Friend status and must reach Acquaintance before moving onto Generation 5. Both Chidi and his partner must have Good Friends status with Kamilah. Kamilah must have the Independent trait as a toddler and the Self-Absorbed (Base Game alternative: Mean) trait later in life.

Generation 5: Tahani Al-Jamil (begins when Tahani is a child)

Tahani must have the following: Traits: Insider (Base Game alternative: Outgoing), Creative, Good Aspiration: Leader of The Pack

Backstory: As a child, Tahani was often overshadowed by her younger sister, Kamilah. With a lot of time on her own, Tahani focused her energy and emotion into the arts - Painting and Violin. Tahani must complete the Artistic Prodigy aspiration while she’s a child. As a teen, Tahani volunteers every Saturday and Sunday by herself since her parents are busy with Kamilah. She spends any extra time working on school projects and her arts. Tahani must reach level 5 of the Violin and Painting skill before reaching young adulthood. During Tahani’s young adulthood, she pursues a career (one of these: Patron of The Arts, Arts Critic [Base Game alternative: Style Influencer], or Charity Organizer) she finds fulfilling. Tahani falls in love with a partner who treats her well and must possess the Good trait. She must have at least one child (one must be a daughter named Janet) and reach the top of her career, maximize the Painting and Violin skills, and complete her aspiration before Janet is a young adult.

Generation 6: Janet (begins when Janet is a toddler

Janet must have the following: Traits: Good, Genius, Cheerful Aspiration: Friend of The World

Backstory: Janet has been shaped and inspired by her parents. She must earn the Top-Notch Toddler trait (Base Game: exempt). She has aimed to make the world a better place for most of her life. During her teenage stage, she must volunteer at least 3 times a week (either with or without family members). Janet is smart and socially conscious, so she dreams of making her own startup company so she can help develop technology for positive uses. She must complete at least two school projects per week that help her develop her Programming and/or Logic skills. Before Janet reaches young adulthood, she must reach level 4 of Logic and Charisma. Janet must also be in range to earn the Empathy, Manners, and Conflict Resolution traits (Base Game: exempt). As a young adult, Janet dives into the tech guru career and reach level 10 of the entrepreneur startup branch. Janet must reach level 10 of Logic and Charisma. She must also marry a partner with the Good trait and adopt at least one child. If the couple decides they want more children, they must adopt all additional children. Janet must also complete her aspiration.

~~~~~~~~~~

Notes:

1. Once Janet and her partner have adopted their first child and completed all skill/career/aspiration related goals, you have won the challenge.

2. Subsequent generations following Generation 1 can change last names (surnames) from the original character’s last name as needed depending on their parents’ last names.

3. Unless specified, each generation may live in whichever neighborhood you’d like.

4. No money cheats.

5. Money shall be inherited from generation to generation - struggling for money might be relevant in the first one or two generations, but this is not intended to be a Rags to Riches kind of challenge.

6. For Generation 1, your starter budget is what the game gives you with your single Sim.

7. Unless specified, events do not need to happen in a certain order (i.e. Janet can get married while at level 1 of her career if you want to do that, but Eleanor may not switch careers until she forms her romantic interest).

8. Aging must be on, but aging on only for the active household is okay.

9. Lifespan must be set to long.

10. Sims events are loosely based on the core six characters from NBC’s The Good Place. Genetics in The Sims will impact the appearances of these characters - they do not need to be clones of the characters they are representing. You’re welcome to go for general style and hair color if you like. Do not change anything given to them biologically that wouldn’t ordinarily be altered: physical build/body type, eye color, facial structure, etc. However, gender spectrum and identity affiliations are up to you and your gameplay style. (i.e. If you want to present Michael as a trans-fem Sim, you may.) In cases of gender transitioning, you may alter in cas.fulleditmode as you see fit. (***Please do not choose a storyline like this if you don’t know anything about the LGBTQ+ and especially transgender communities.***)

11. If you don’t have a relevant pack, there are Base Game alternatives listed in parentheses or brackets within parentheses. Anything labeled “exempt” you can skip because there isn’t really a viable alternative.

#sims4 #sims4legacy #sims4challenges #sims4legacychallenge #TheGoodPlace #NBCthegoodplace

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you-were-always-faster · 6 years

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Marvel Cinematic Universe Characters

Female Characters- Are usually written romantically with Fem!reader if you have a special request for male, trans, neutral or any other kind please let me know. They don’t have to be romantic either so again just let me know.

Ava Star

Ayo

Carol Danvers

Cassie Lang

Darcy Lewis

Frigga

Gamora

Hela

Hope Van Dyne

Jane Foster

Janet Van Dyne

Maggie Paxton

Mantis

Maria Hill

Michelle Jones

Nakia

Natasha Romanoff

Nebula

Okoye

Pepper Potts

Proxima Midnight

Ramonda

Shuri

Sif

Valkyrie

Wanda Maximoff

Male Characters- I usually write them in a more platonic matter if you have a special request for them to not be let me know.

Bill Foster

Bruce Banner

Bucky Barnes

The Collector

Corvus Glaive

Cull Obsidian

Dave

Drax

Ebony Maw

Eitri

Erik Selvig

Erik “Killmonger” Stevens

Everett K. Ross

Fandral

Grandmaster

Groot

Hank Pym

Happy Hogun

Heimdall

Hogun

Jim Paxton

Jimmy Woo

Korath

Korg

Kurt

Laufey

Loki

Luis

M’Baku

Ned Leeds

Nick Fury

Odin

Peter Parker

Peter Quill

Pietro Maximoff

Rhodey Rhodes

Rocket

Ronan

Sam Wilson

Scott Lang

Sonny Burch

Stephen Strange

Steve Rogers

T’Chaka

T’Challa

Thanos

Thor

Tony Stark

Ulysses Klaue

Volstagg

Vision

W’Kabi

Walter Lawson

Wong

Zuri

#marvel cinematic universe #mcu #avengers imagine

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roidespd-blog · 5 years

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Chapter Thirteen : PARIS IS BURNING

Who hasn’t seen Paris is Burning ? Apparently, a lot of people.

Presented at the Toronto Film Festival in 1990 and made available to the general public the next year, Paris is Burning is a documentary feature film which chronicles the life of African-American, Latino gay and transgender communities through their love of the ball scene subculture. Wait. What is the ball scene ? — Give me a minute, fool.

The movie was conceived and directed by Jennie Livingston, a Yale student who after studying photography and painting started getting an interest in film while living in New York City. They came across two young men in Washington Square Park voguing and… Wait. What is voguing ? — Don’t you have any patience ? IN. A. MINUTE. She then went to her first ball (wait, what is… — shut up. Just shut up and listen) and filmed what was going on for a class assignment. That’s when she met Venus Xtravaganza.

Wait. Who is Venus Xtravaganza ? Well, great question at the right time. Venus was a transgender performer whose life became of the main emotional and narrative arcs of the movie. When arriving in New York after being basically kicked out of her New Jersey family home, she joined the House of Xtravaganza — and before you start asking anymore question, a House is a collective groups of performers serving a surrogate family structure that also compete in the ball scene in order to win trophies, prestige and respect. At the time of filming, Venus was an aspiring model. She joined the scene in 1983. Unfortunately, she was murdered on christmas day 1988, while the movie was still undergoing sessions of shooting. Her killer was never found.

Venus is just one example of the incredible gallery of characters Paris is Burning offers us for 78 terrific minutes.

Angie Xtravaganza : founding member, Mother of house Xtravaganza and mentor or Venus, this extraordinary transgender performer was an active member of the ball culture. She too died just a few years after the release of the documentary, at the age of 28.

Pepper LaBeija : from House LaBeija, who took over from Crystal as the head of the house, a titled she kept for over 30 years. A drag queen and fashion designer, she won close to 250 trophies during her time in the ball scene.

Dorian Corey : Drag queen. Fashion Designer. She does most of the explanations about the cultural key expressions of the queer and ball lives. She was the founder of House of Corey. She died the same year as Angie Xtravaganza, also due tocomplications from Aids.

Octavia St. Laurent : An activist trans woman and ball performer who went on to become an Aids educator and LGBT Icon.

Willi Ninja : now known as the godfather of voguing, a gay dancer and choreographer. His moves were the principal “inspirations” of the 1990 Vogue movement of the mainstream pop music scene.

Paris Dupree : a drag performer, founding member and mother of the now legendary house of Dupree. The movie takes its name from one of Paris Dupree’s annual ball theme.

There’s also Sol Pendavis, Freddie Pendavis, Junior Labeija… So many incredible personalities and vibrant human beings immortalized on screen.

To go back to Livingston’s journey, she used the images and audio recordings she got to make a teaser/trailer for a potential movie she could film on the ball scene. That gave her enough funds to start following those people around. It took seven years to complete the movie, as the funds were coming from at least 10 separate sources, shooting in 16mm was expensive and some additional material were important to capture after the death of Venus.

At its core, the movie explores the elaborately-structured ball competitions in which contestants, adhering to a very specific category, must “walk” the non-runway. They were judged on their dance talent, quality of clothing and realness of their drag. Most of the editing alternates between footage of balls and interviews with the main “cast”. Through those interviews, we get a glimpse of the subgayculture the general public is missing : the idea of gender roles, the meaning behind every ball, the character’s personal stories that reflected the dreadfulness of their societal situations. Obviously, the film also explores delicate subjects matters such as Aids (a rarely evoked subject back then), racism, poverty, violence, homophobia and also the lives of sex workers in the mid-80s. For the first time on a big screen, people got to really talk about what it’s like to go through a sex reassignment surgery and the difference between being a drag perform, a transvestite and a transgender person.

It is incredibly touching to see those kids, most of them no more than 25, talking about their dreams of fame and fortune, desperately trying to get a glimpse of that through the ball scene, going as far as stealing clothes in store to have something to wear and compete for the honor your their families. As the queer community was still unrecognized by society — especially in the 80s when the Reagan administration were letting people die on the street — , those people were trying to earn a status they called “legendary”. At a time when they didn’t know for how long they’ll be before being taken away by the AIDS virus, their strength of spirit is heartwarming.

It is interesting to note though that the primary result of Paris is Burning’s release was not actually shading a light on those who are dying, but to give mainstream media a new obsession : Voguing.

Now, time for one of your fucking stupid question. Wait. What is Voguing ? Well, legends say that Paris Dupree, mother of the Legendary House Dupree, attended an after hours nightclub called Footsteps and there, two Gay Black men were throwing shade (shade : a backhanded compliment) at each other. Paris had a copy of Vogue magazine in her bag. She took it out and started dancing then suddenly stopped, posing to the beat of the music imitating the models’s poses. That “provocation” was returned in kind by the two Gay Black Men, which turned into a friendly competition. The word voguing was taken from the magazine that started it all. Though disputed, this theory is incredibly compelling. Less disputing is the fact that Paris Dupree was the inventor of the competition categories since it was her who introduced them in her House’s first ball in 1981.

Anyway, one of the dance’s inspirations is also the Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphs. You take pose and stretch your body into the most wonderful positions possible. Everybody knows what Voguing is, even if you are Vanessa Hudgens and you’ve just been introduced to it recently ‘I’m sooo into Voguing right now!” They are currently three distinct styles of voguing at the moment : the OLD WAY (a formation of lines, symmetry and precision in graceful, fluid-like actions. Historically performed as a duel between two rivals) the NEW WAY (more rigid movements couples with limb contortions at the joints and “arms control” such a tutting and locking. It has been described as a modified form of mime and was created to display the dancer’s dexterity) the VOGUE FEM (extreme exaggerated feminine movements influences by the old, the new and also ballet, jazz and modern dance. It can be dramatic or soft, and has 5 main subcategories — Duckwalk, Catwalk, hands, Floorwork and Spins & Dips).

The term “Vogue” and subsequent dance moves were put into the mainstream zeitghest on March 27, 1990 when Madonna released her new single, inspired by the gay underground scene. The song was created as part of the soundtrack for Warren Beatty’s Dick Tracy and went quickly to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, staying there for three consecutive weeks. Madonna was praised for bringing the subculture ball scene in the fore front of music, but don’t ever think for a second that she invented anything. At best, it’s a great song that serves as an homage. At worst, it’s a complete steal and culture appropriation that shouldn’t go unnoticed.

Ironically, Voguing was invented by people striving to look like Vogue Models while in the end, the general public (and Madonna herself) were trying to look more like them. Beautiful, if you take a second to think about it.

Upon its release, Paris is Burning received incredible reviews from critics and won several big awards, including a Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival. It was named one of 1991’s best films by The Los Angeles Times, The Washington post and Time Magazine, among others.

Unsurprisingly, the movie failed to receive an Academy Award nomination for Best Documentary Feature. The country was just getting over their Reagan-influenced ideals and the subject matter of AIDS and homosexuality would not hit the Oscars until a couple of years later, when Jonathan Demme, Tom Hanks, Denzel Washington and Bruce Springsteen teamed up to make an unforgettable oscar-worthy movie called Philadelphia.

A question you didn’t ask is : What is the legacy of Paris is Burning ? Well you see, other than an incredible movie by itself, Paris is Burning is also a tool for queer youth to explore and use when necessary. For the scholars and students of this period of time, it is an extremely rare and precise examination of race, class and gender. For queer people, it’s a way to meet their ancestors, since most of them died within a few years after production wrapped.

Paris is Burning’s legacy also lives on with Ryan Murphy’s new tv show, Pose, which debuted on FX in June 3rd, 2018. Quite revolutionary on its own merit as it employs actual transgender people to play transgender people on screen. It is the biggest LGBTQ+ ensemble cast and crew in the History of television, with Janet Mock becoming the first transgender woman of color to write and direct an television episode. Pose follows the lives of transgender women and gay men in the New York ballroom scene of 1987, as the HIV/AIDS epidemic was growing stronger and deadlier. Truth be told, employing transgender women to be transgender women is a liberating thing for the viewer, very much in the tradition of Paris is Burning. You forgive the first couple of episode where the acting is not always as good as it should be but if you’re patient, your eyes will tear up, your face will crack and your hips will move. Season 2 started this week. An essential show.

Paris is Burning gave us life, gave us pose, gave us everything. It’s a piece of work so precious it will live on until life on earth ceases to exist. And for those ballroom performers who appeared in the film, whether they’re still here with us or departed, they truly deserve the status of “legendary”.

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