ValentineDavis21

For the last four or five years I have tried finding LGBT literature and cinema that is thought-provoking, awe-inspiring that isn't wrapped up in a rainbow-colored cliche. In my search I found a few things: Queer as Folk (the US version), Lost Girl, Hedwig and the Angry Inch; In the Company of Shadows series by Santino Hassell, the Fallocaust series by Quil Carter and Luck In the Shadows series. But other than that I haven't found anything that is really satisfying. People always tell me that times are getting better with LGBT equality. I'm only twenty-one so I don't have the experience to be able to make a comparison. Same sex marriage has been legalized nation wide (hoorah, hoorah!) and the football Sam Michaels came out of the closet and that's all fine and dandy. But I'm focusing on literature and TV. Yes, a lot of TV shows are featuring more gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender characters but it always seems to me that their side characters (with a few exceptions of course.) We have all of the super TV shows coming out like Jessica Jones and Luke Cage and Daredevil. Hey I love superheroes. Some of them are really hot like Batman (a man of few words, the strong and silent type) and the Hulk (yes I have a fetish for green men with overdeveloped muscles) but when are we going to get a gay superhero that takes center stage, that kicks ass and takes name instead of just being the side kick? It goes for the same thing with all of these book series that have come out like the Mortal Instruments and Harry Potter. The only way you knew Dumbledore was gay was because J.K. Rowling said so in an article. There was no actual proof that said he was actually gay (at least not that I could see) and I've read the Harry Potter series 6-7) times. And what we do have available as far as gay literature and cinema goes is mostly corny camp-fests and romance comedies which are often so perdictable you already know what's going to happen. I'm not trying to offend anybody. This is merely my opinion and an opinion is neither or right or wrong. I just want to see LGBT characters that have some actual depth to them instead of just cardboard cutout clones. I want to see gay heroes that are flawed, who have mental issues and fucked up things going on in their life. I'm not saying don't write about romance or put erotic content-all of my stories have those things in there. That's how you add tension to the story. What I am saying is let's trying to come up with something different, show people that gay characters have just as much of a place in the literary universe as straight characters.

I've thought about doing the whole soundtrack thing. Glad to know that I'm not the only on who thought about it. I love Anne Rice's stuff but there are certain novels for me that I really struggle getting through like The Witching Hour. I don't know why. I really like the witching hour it's just a matter of getting through it.

As a writer/artist who has inspired you? What kind of things do you like to write about? Please share. I'm working on a horror serial novel called Immortui. Horror is my favorite genre. I started watching movies like Halloween and Friday the 13 and The Blob. Since then my taste in horror movies have changed. By the time I was in the fourth grade I was devouring books by Stephen King and Anne Rice. Now I find that my favorite author is Poppy Z. Brite who writes homoerotic horror fiction. I find that Poppy Z. Brite is a highly underrated author. Movies that have inspired me: The Lords of Salem, Tom at the Farm, Donnie Darko, Silent Hill. Anything by directed David Lynch, Christopher Nolan, Richard Kelly. I love movies that fuck with your mind and that require multiple viewings, anything with atmosphere. Music even influences my writing: Korn, Marilyn Manson, Tim Skold, Undercover Slut, Gravity Kills, Nine Inch Nails, etc.

Such a powerful start! It sucks you right in. I've always loved mythology and fantasy and it was interesting to see things from the POV of a God (a thing you don't see very often). I also liked the writing, very simple but elegant. Please, keep going!