Grettski

(TW talk about Queerness and the effects of religion in gothic literature)

Monsters have always been used to represent things that humans see as taboo, or wrong. It usually ties a lot into religion and what is seen as "wrong" in that time or place. Vampires have been used to symbolize queerness, written by queer authors, with queer subtext, or just GAY. While there's been a lot of different times and religions that have their equivalent of a vampire, the modern iteration that we see as "vampire" (Nosferatu, Dracula, Lestat) stem from Carmilla (in literature; yes Dracula and vampires also come from Vlad, but that's just one part of it)(also yes in lots of different cultures and myths there are different similar things to what we see as vampire today, but were focusing on Europe rn). Carmilla was written in 1872, by Sheridan Le Fanu... son of a "STERN PROTESTANT CHURCHMAN", raised in a very religious household, in Ireland. (I'm not a genius regarding any of this stuff, so sorry if some of this is wrong) In the early 1800s, gay acts between men were illegal, and those caught would be put to death... closer to the 1850s, it was 10 years in jail, but still major punishments. For women however, lesbian, or bisexualness was not seen as on the same level as men being gay. Take that, and what the Protestants believed of gay people, and...

I'm not saying the author of Carmilla was gay, BUT all of this together shows that it was a product of its time and religion. Sins, and illegal acts, put together to create the vampire Carmilla. THAT is where vampirism stemmed from, then Dracula, written only twenty years later, by a man who many historians believe to be lgbtq. Vampires became projections of what the authors either felt or believed, tying into two of "the worst sins", lust and homosexuality. But it wasn't just vampires. Frankenstein's monster and him being something other than the “norm” and turning it into a physical manifestation… monsters are supposed to represent like hidden desires or fears or feelings... queerness, otherness, just straight up being different, and what the product of not what it looks like, but what it feels like. People hiding who they are, in fear of being ostracized like they monsters the people made them feel like just for being different.

A LOT of it ties to religion as well, obviously, considering these monsters are very specific to Europe and European religions. Outside of Europe, think, for instance, about the Kumiho in Korean mythology. A beautiful woman, who seduces you, before eating your heart... sound familiar? its cause a lot of the religious "sins" and fears carry over. You might be thinking of the Sirens, also beautiful women, who lure you with their "beauty" and their singing, telling you of everything you COULD have if you give into temptation. Temptation and women and maybe even sexuality, and the idea that greed and lust are not good for men, and Women serve as temptation... BUT HEY, THATS A POST FOR ANOTHER TIME !!

Anyway I was just yapping, thanks for bouncing off my ideas and letting me bounce of your guys ideas @imawritingzombie and @inquisitoriux !!

Ok, I’ll go first

If he is the reason, I’d go to prison gladly 🥰❤️‍🔥

Tagging: @killerqueen-ofwillowgreen @nic-214 @milkyway-ashes @dr-radiation @whitequeen-ofwillowgreen @sunsetdaydreamer @therockywhorerpictureshow @delicatelyfantasticninja and everyone 😊

my gf said i looked like a starnosed mole so i searched moles on Pinterest and this like mole cricket came up and was extremely intriguing.

i was talking about my initials being my deadname and said "I wish they were AR on there" and barked it like a sea lion and then I started talking about sea lions and balls and pulled this up