I'm Meowry, a Brazilian queer software engineer, focused mostly in #FrontEnd development.
Out of work my interests include #makeup, #goth and #cyber subculture, heavy music -- mostly #metal and its subgenres but also eletronic music and #jrock (can you guess what my handle is referencing btw? hehe).
I'm a sociologist at heart and almost got a degree on that field but that's a long story. I'm passionate about academic studies about #gender and #queer#sexuality.
I am #nonmonogamous for more than a decade now and you'll definitely see me talking about it here. I love and support many #erotica and #nsfw art and eventually I'll boost them -- always with CW and image sensitivity filter on by default!
There's a lot more to talk about so feel free to follow! I'll toot mostly in Portuguese-BR but also English.
A canvasser knocked on the door today (I live in an apartment inside a secure building, you need a key to get in), scaring my dogs and me as you don't expect anyone to actually come to your door here.
I answer the door, I open the door only barely a fraction of a crack really. I see a middle-aged white male and I hear him say he's collecting signatures.
He said "We want to recall the education minister for allowing pornographic images in schools" and as someone who perpetually watches the #news like a hawk, and a member of the #LGBTQ community, I knew exactly what he was talking about. Essentially people like this are concerned about books that reference #SOGI -- Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity -- in the school.
I was in shock, just disbelief. You see this shit on the internet but you never expect these assholes to show up at your door.
While he was talking, I was reading through the crack in the door (both of my dogs stuck their noses out to investigate, neither were impressed), the pamphlet he was holding, which read: "Will we let SOGI ruin our kids lives?"
I read it out loud slowly, I guess he couldn't hear me (too busy spouting his own propaganda to listen), so I repeated it again, "Will we let SOGI ruin our kids lives?" to which I responded I was fucking non-binary, I was LGBTQ, and to get away from my home.
I slammed the door in his face, and he told me to fuck off through the door.
Honestly, I'm just vibrating, and if I wasn't in my pajamas I would have gone out there with my phone, taken his picture, and said this is a secure building and you have no right to be here I'm calling the cops (I wouldn't, but I would have threatened him to make him feel uncomfortable, like he made me feel in my own home)
A few minutes later I got brave, put on coat over pajamas and went out looking for this dude to try to escort him out of the building because fuck, I don't want anyone else to have to deal with this. I checked 1st and 2nd floor, nowhere to be seen, like he disappeared into the mist, which is extra creepy because I would have rather known where he was than think he could be anywhere. Maybe he went up to the third floor but I wasn't gonna push my luck. I hoped he just fled out the door and left.
I have no idea what this person's real intentions were, or what he might be capable of particularly if he is confronted with beliefs that are not his own from a member of the group he's campaigning against. Because these people who have absorbed so much anti-LGBTQ propaganda can be unpredictable and dangerous.
This is a massive invasion of privacy and a huge security issue for LGBTQ individuals. I'm also a bit worried that this dude knows I am LGBTQ and knows where I live.
From snake-like creatures with claws to jealous virgin ghosts, female monsters have long been a part of women’s lore. Such figures were Intimately tied to childbirth, sexuality and child mortality....
I’ve not done one of these here yet. Hi! I’m Kayla, PhD candidate in #Ireland looking at suicide methods, locations of suicide and pro-suicide content online/digital communities
I’ve worked in suicide prevention/intervention/postvention for over 7 years and am founder of a non-profit in this area
"What would it take to respond to harm without punishment, incarceration, abandonment? What are the possibilities for building a collective praxis of care with accountability, love with justice? How can we grow #abolition and #feminism through transformative justice?" Conversation with Ann Russo, author of Feminist Accountability: Disrupting Violence, Transforming Power."
Part of #Gender & #Sexuality Studies speaker series on Black Feminist Praxis.
As someone who studies data privacy, very little in surveillance capitalism & exploitation of users by corporations surprises me.
BUT THIS: Kia, Nissan & others privacy policies state collecting and using information on your "sexual activity" & "sex life." Given cars are computers on wheels!!!
#CallForPapers (#online presentations welcome): Arcastar Lerinosse: A Multi-Disciplinary Approach to Arda: #Tolkien Workshop at the University of Freiburg
Whether the metaphorical mountain is close, far away, deliberately omitted, or right underneath one’s feet, the possibilities for authors, fans, and academics to engage with Tolkien’s Legendarium are nigh on limitless.
I mostly play jrpgs, but after 100 hours of Unicorn Overlord, I needed a break. I have some games for Playstation in my backlog and I don’t normally collect for the console unless I find something at a good price or an exclusive. I bought two more Vanillaware games, Odin Sphere and Dragon’s Crown, which I intend to play later. However, I still had a copy of Cyberpunk 2077 laying around and never got to it after picking it up some months ago. I have a faint idea that the game had serious problems when it came out. If it had, it doesn’t anymore, just the occasional crash here and there. The most annoying one happened on a mission with Claire to participate on a street race. I suck at driving but, for some reason, I ride her pickup truck – aptly called Beast – fairly well. So I was in the middle of the first race and the game crashed. Then, I finished the race and won, and the game crashed. Then, I finished it in second place and the game didn’t crash. Well then, second place it is. I never experienced those crashes anymore and won the subsequent races. After we finished she asked if I’d help her kill her husband’s murderer during the last race. I obliged because I’m not in Night City to be a good person. I kill whomever I want, when I want, how I want and go to bed with everyone I fancy and pay for sex without a second thought.
In jrpgs we have to save the world to get the girl we like in the end. It’s real work and dedication. The character development is also so extensive that by the time we reach the end we have spent a while choosing the right things to say, advancing through a support level system, giving gifts, doing things together, a bit like in real life. In Night City, and also a bit like in real life, we can pay and have someone fake their interest in us. It’s the perspective from the other side. Since I’ve never paid for sex in real life, I might as well try it in a simulated environment and the experience was acceptable. I went to bed with a character after getting an sms to meet and it felt completely random because I didn’t know what was going to happen. It was that unlikeable Corpo executive woman right at the start of the game, when I was still getting my bearings. After the mission where she offered me money to retrieve a Militech drone, I didn’t accept it because I didn’t trust her intentions, and chose the less likeable dialogue options. So, by the time I got her sms, I chose the option «Shame. Was starting to like you…» not because I did but because I was being sarcastic. And then, bang, I ended up in bed with her. I enjoyed Night City.
Not long after, I was in another district ready to meet Evelyn and there were some folks on the street. A guy asked me something and I was so overwhelmed checking the menus and trying to learn the game that I said yes and paid a small fee. I honestly thought it was a mission of some kind. I went to bed with him, or I’d rather say, he went to be with me and that was it. So, I learned how it worked and approached a woman standing on the other side of the street and this time, armed with knowledge, I asked if she wanted to go with me and I paid the fee. I think I went to bed with more people but now, after some hours of gameplay, I don’t remember. In real life I have a preference for women, or I’d rather say, for people who identify as women, despite the body they were born with. One day I was talking about trans issues with my wife and I asked if she would consider staying with me if I transitioned from female to male. The question was relevant at the time because it came from a period where I had to figure myself out. She said yes, she would stay with me. She earned herself rank S++ with me without even knowing it. To those who are curious, I’m still very much a cisgender woman, however that realization didn’t come without some soul searching.
In Cyberpunk, people perform their gender freely and have all types of sexual preferences and fantasies. They also have agency, wants and needs. I met Panam and I was on a spree getting into bed with everyone in my way, or killing everyone in my way, depending on the mission. We were paying for a hotel room and she insisted on getting a room with separate beds. I still made an advance but she said no. Later down the line, another opportunity arose. I had to test the game. I made my advance and she said no again. Ok, a second no is much more awkward than the first one and by then I was just being creepy. I felt ashamed, but at the same time it’s only natural that not everyone is into us, contrary to jrpgs or L-word. Panam likes our V (it’s the name of our character) and that’s what matters. I see her as an annoying friend that’s always getting into trouble and calls me screaming for help and the help always involves me failing at stealth and killing everyone on my path and then getting scolded for it. I like Panam.
In jrpgs our character is usually a young boy. A clueless, naive boy for whom all the female characters fall for no matter what he does. Everyone says yes and the agency is on him to choose his partner. His love interest is by default in love with him. The only thing we have to do as a player is to rise in the ranks until the option to romance is prompted. In games like Persona 3 Portable we can romance several people (I’m not sure if we have to, to get max social link, but I think so – they changed that in Reload) and in Fire Emblem Three Houses we can only give our ring to one person. If the person is female she’ll always be interested in our character if we’re playing as male, as long as we get the A-support rank. In case we play as a female Byleth the same-sex romance options are more limited. If we play as a male Byleth and happen to be gay or curious, there’s only one romance option. This sends a message, doesn’t it? Or am I reading too much into things? All in all, thank the goddess that Rhea is bissexual. It was the only thing I wanted to know, since I refuse playing as a guy in jrpgs if I have the other option.
Back to Cyberpunk, no really means no, much like the no I had to give River Wards when we were having the conversation. I had no intention whatsoever in landing on a relationship with him, but the way they structured the conversation left a tightness in my chest. Still, I had to be true to myself. River is not my type. The last mission of his storyline was great and it had a good dose of creepy moments. The way his parents died when he was young was gruesome and like out of a home invasion horror movie. The mission went well, as much as things can go well in Night City, which is not much, just enough to get by. Then I jumped into another set of quests and I was hunting Cyberpsychos across the city as instructed by Regina.
By this time I’d already driven on my motorcycle collecting tarot cards. They have beautiful designs and I recommend getting all of them. However, the first cyberpsycho came before the tarot card hunt and I thought I had to kill him. After a while Regina started getting a bit passive-aggressive with me because I was killing what she saw as test subjects and it was most desirable to make a tiny bit of effort to keep them alive in order to save them. Well, I didn’t know about that! The last half of cyberpsychos were handled with care and in stealth mode or using my blades to defend from bullets, parrying melee attacks and doing counterattacks, or using quickhacks. Using defensive combat was as effective as using stealth. I had to take a break from my killing spree but the reward was nice in the end – probably could be nicer if I hadn’t killed the first half of them – a Playstation trophy popped and it’s always good when it does.
I still have the police side activities and some minor requests to do before progressing the main story but I don’t know if I’ll finish them. Before I make some progress, I have Judy’s quest to complete. I want to see where the main story goes but I also can’t get enough of Night City and its many secrets. It’s a nice game and much less buggy than Starfield which I also played for hours on end.
"In 2017, Viktor Orbán, the fascist prime minister of Hungary, banished Central European Uni from the country, forcing it to relocate to Austria. Becker and others have noted that DeSantis’ educational takeover mirrors Orbán’s."
I was impressed by what my child was taught at primary school. It was about boundaries, staying safe, understanding the body & respect & acceptance. The kids had insights about gender & sexuality that my generation didn't have at that age.
Again Tories stoking gender & culture wars.
A ban is ridiculous.
‘Transgressing into poetry’: Nationality, Gender & Sexuality in SONNETS FROM SCOTLAND by Edwin Morgan & THE PRICE OF STONE by Richard Murphy
by Prof Tara Stubbs
Both #Scottish poet Edwin Morgan & (Anglo-) #Irish poet Richard Murphy transgressed poetic norms: contradicting ‘nationalist’ poets of their respective traditions, making playful use of language, & treating #gender & #sexuality in daring ways
Woman’s Lore: 4,000 Years of Sirens, Serpents and Succubi - Sarah Clegg (theconversation.com)
From snake-like creatures with claws to jealous virgin ghosts, female monsters have long been a part of women’s lore. Such figures were Intimately tied to childbirth, sexuality and child mortality....