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this young monster by charlie fox

incredible incredible book about horror and monsters and our bodies and why we’re so fascinated with the monstrous form and how monsters are inherently queer. literally my sacred text.

@ztbentz

Jan 29, 2024

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OKOK sexuality of CAnnibalism rant

fuckin uhhhh,, wrote this at like 4 am for a powerpoint night,,, examining cannibalism thru litcrit,,,, no promises about that part 2 but i do have Thoughts title: eating you (out): the inherent sexuality of cannibalism So much of our sexual language contains also that of hunger. Conversely, cannibalism contains within it the hunger of sexuality – the hunger for another’s body. “I’m starved for touch” “Oh I could just eat you up”  “they were eating each others’ faces”  “Eat my pussy” The knowledge of cannibalism as erotic — and eroticism as cannibalistic — is carried through our language of sexuality hunger from tender to sensual to pornographic. Cannibalism is the ultimate act of a possessive, starving sexuality. It is the ultimate knowledge of the other, from whence there can be no return. Once you have partaken of another’s flesh, you are something different. You’re full. The King James Bible often translates sexual acts as "knowing"; thus knowing someone, in the biblical sense, is a carnal knowledge. And what knowledge is more intimate, more totalizing, than the knowledge of another’s taste? Cannibalism is a carnal knowledge, but it also exemplifies the horrors of being known intimately, the fears associated with sex. Will I become absorbed by this person, this other? What does their knowledge of me mean for my selfhood? How much of me can they Know before I cease to exist entirely? Thus, cultural depictions of cannibalism are overwhelmingly stories where love and horror coexist. In the ancient greek myths, we can see these inklings of a cannibalism borne out of love. When Saturn, or Cronos, hears the prophecy of his destruction at the hands of his children, he knows he must kill them. But rather than merely dispatching them in some sterile, unphysical way, he retakes into his body that which came from it. He cannot allow his children to live, and yet he cannot live without them; they must become a part of him. This presents a painful physicality of love that could only be expressed as cannibalism. This is the erotic complexity of cannibalism – possession, love, knowledge, sex, fear, consumption.  Modern tv and movies have heightened awareness of the sexual nature of cannibalism to a degree that cannot be ignored. [slide w/ NBC Hannibal and Twilight posters] Both these depictions are deeply possessive, and certainly toxic – I need you so much that I must bend your body to my will and consume you totally — yet hold space for tenderness, intimacy, friendship, and marriage. In NBC’s 2012 horror/comedy masterpiece Hannibal, we see the ways in which cannibalism can present both this deep possessiveness and hunger (literally and figuratively), but also the ways in which cooking and eating someone is an act of intimacy. Hannibal spends hours making people into gourmet meals, familiarizing himself with their bodies before taking them into his own. Imagine the caress of spices before the heat of the gas stove flame. He remembers each of his meals like one might remember an old lover. We might say that the relationship between pleasure and pain is central to the cannibalism’s sexuality — the pleasure and the pain of being known, the dichotomy of possessiveness and tenderness.  Cannibalism is kinky, it’s sadomasochistic.  In Twilight, Edward's vampirism, the capital-b Bite, is a clear metaphor for sex. Metatexually, the story needs this metaphorical distancing because of Meyer’s Mormonism, but the choice of vampirism, of cannibalism, as the sexual metaphor exposes the already existing cultural linkages between the two. Bella’s erotic fascination with the Bite, and Edward’s shame at his bloody desires, entwine the cannibalistic act of vampirism with sex and sexuality. Let us not forget that Twilight spawned the massive softcore kink book/movie franchise Fifty Shades of Grey. Reading these texts together, we can see clearly how the vampiristic, cannibalistic hunger of Twilight IS the kinky, sadomasochistic sex of Fifty Shades. These authors are writing the same thing.  An interesting dynamic that arises with regard to the sexuality of cannibalism is the aspect of penetration. There is a double penetration occuring – that of the carving knife, and that of the flesh. In the first instance, the cannibal as the power-holder is doing the penetrating; this is to be expected in a cisheteronormative culture. But the second penetration is that of the cannibalized into the cannibal — the cannibal is allowing someone else’s flesh into them, is allowing their body to be changed by someone else’s. Here, although the cannibal is still (obviously) in a dominant role, they experience vulnerability and penetration at the hands of their partner. This is queer as fuck!!  Cannibalism is not just sexual, it embodies a queer sadomasochistic sexuality. Bones and All (2022) highlights this perfectly -- the eroticism of satiating a hunger that has been condemned and relegated to psychiatric institutions and subversive subcultures.  We as a culture have accepted --- and even adore --- the sexual nature of cannibalism in our media. But how has the sexual cannibal presented throughout history? What institutions does it support, and is the sexuality of cannibalism something that must be destroyed? Stay tuned for part 2 for a historical materialist analysis of sexy cannibalism :) 

@solitarytea

Feb 21, 2025

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THEMES OF REPRESSED DESIRE / SHAME

I've noticed this has been the main through line connecting a lot of my favorite media in the past few years! My favorite movie is Bones & All, one of my favorite shows recently has been Interview with the Vampire, I love Car Seat Headrest's music, and my favorite book is The Goldfinch. All of those have been really impactful to me as a queer person especially. A lot of media with this theme seems to lean supernatural as well, since vampirism & other freaky inhuman conditions work well as allegories about repressing your desires or identity.

@gforce2001

Dec 4, 2024

Top Recs from @theeyah

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birdwatching

i don't think anyone ever intends to become a recreational ornithologist. but i've noticed that it definitely creeps up on you slowly in your mid-twenties. it starts with noticing how funny pigeons are, then learning pigeon lore, and suddenly you're feeding your neighbourhood birds every morning and buying books on birds. as a child i idolised the pigeon lady in home alone 2, and i woke up this morning and realised — i AM the pigeon lady 🐦

@theeyah

Mar 6, 2025

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Reading for 60-90mins a day

reading is a habit of building and developing your empathy and critical thinking skills. you’re forced to sit with an idea for however long you are reading it and forced to contextualise it and comprehend it within your own life and perspective. You can’t just scroll away or pause or put it on 2x speed. you have to sit with it. it’s super underrated, but genuinely I’ve made this a habit for the last year and feel like a totally different person. also you come out of it having learned something new or seeing the world in a slightly new way. I literally do not see any downsides to reading. make reading cool again! also you don’t have to do it in one big block, you can space it out — 15 mins here, 45 there — whatever works for you!

@theeyah

Dec 9, 2024

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not trying to be cool

our cultural obsession with being perceived as cool is a disease. its peak capitalistic/consumerist propaganda. fuck being cool. like what you like and who cares if it's cool or not. it's tiresome and we need to leave it in 2024. literally nothing gives me the ick more than people who betray themselves in an attempt to be perceived as cool by the masses. be yourself — even if it means you're 'uncool'.

@theeyah

Jan 3, 2025