#even if i wouldn't consider this anti but

[eagna-eilis]

Depending on how S2 shakes out, if IWTV gets a Season 3, and I really hope it does, the writers are going to have such a difficult task squaring the circle with Lestat. Especially with casual non-book fans, and the understandable contingent of nonwhite fans who are delighted to have a supernatural show with protagonists of colour.

The writers can't just have a white guy flounce in and "well ACTUALLY" Louis and Armand as things stand now after S2E3. Even if the book girlies are all pretty convinced that Armand is a big lying liar in his telling of 1700s shenanigans, they're going to need to earn any correction of the record which Lestat might issue. Otherwise, it will alienate a part of the fandom that was brought on board by the fantastic changes made for the show if they don't handle it right. I don't think that introducing moral complexity and narrative duplicity to Black and Brown characters should automatically be considered a negative, surely everybody deserves to occupy every character archetype (including emotionally complex anti heroes), but it is going to need to be handled gracefully and thoughtfully.

They definitely have space to do this. Judging by the names on some of the Talamasca files on Daniel's laptop, Armand's extremely tragic backstory is in play. Assad plays Armand with incredible pathos, and infuses the character with something that is on the page in the books but which I never personally felt until seeing him onscreen. This will hopefully help in making sure the show isn't seen to be, or indeed actually, demonising its characters of colour in favour of Anne Rice's specialest blonde boy.

There's a traumatised desperation in many of these characters as they exist in the books. Lestat has a void in him that even the love of thousands seemingly cannot fill until towards the "wish-fulfilment AU" style ending of Blood Communion. Armand has extremely intense abandonment and control issues and a heartbreaking relationship with his own compulsive cruelty - he doesn't want to be awful, but he lashes out in his desperation. Louis in the books is the least developed of the three in this regard, and his traumas are very much the creation of the show so we shall see.

The show is going to have to maintain the pathos and sympathetic elements of all three men, to explore why they hurt one another and lie about one another. I think Lestat is going to have to go on a major redemption arc, too, though. Getting his POV isn't going to be enough, I don't think, even if we establish the extent to which Louis and Armand present him with false negativity.

In a different media landscape, perhaps one more comfortable with ambiguity and existing in a less fraught moment for social politics, this wouldn't be such a challenge. As it stands, though, a challenge it will be.

#iwtv #iwtv s2 #iwtv spoilers

[spop-romanticizes-abuse]

Do you have any idea what features it would be worth adding to Adora to show that she is a First One?

i feel like the princesses were already unnatural enough that colored hair or eyes won't cut it. maybe they could have given adora something subtle that you wouldn't notice until she was revealed to be a first one.

maybe irises that are fully black, or limbs that are just slightly longer than normal, or eyes that close vertically (kinda like double trouble's). i'm a sucker for features that are generally considered uncanny or off-putting, and i feel like it would be interesting to give a feature like that to the heroes rather than the villains.

#it's so strange that all the other characters have these interesting character designs and look so special #meanwhile adora is just white girl™ #like„ is that what all first ones looked like? #i wouldn't mind if she was a human being or an etherian #but considering how she's literally an alien they could have given her a better design #girly doesnt even get a proper outfit change #spop critical #spop salt #spop criticism #spop discourse #spop #she ra #anti spop

[emblazons]

I still can’t believe there are people who think that Will “I’m not gonna fall in love, just kidding I am in love already but I think I’ve been rejected so let’s rip off the bandaid” Byers isn’t going to get what he wants…in a show whose whole premise started with his abduction and is, by it’s creators own repeated admission, both going to focus on him the final season + about championing the underdog and the outcast.

It really is that simple, because once you know what the Duffers value...even if you haven’t dug that far into the show, it’s obvious where the “it started with Will, it will end with Will” is taking us based on tropes alone, if you listen to anything The Duffers say about their themes and narrative goals.

You don't even need color coding or parallels to other media to sort through it, because outside of any "but it was the 80s" commentary or "they would never break up the flagship couple" talk...Byler is literally just the logical thematic conclusion for Will's arc as the full embodiment of the outcasted, childlike AND the underdog, even if you don't like what they did to get our characters there.

Like? Will is literally the boy who represents the duffers love of being a “child at heart” and taking things you adored from your youth into being a grown up (see: their entire mf show being based on DnD and the media they loved as kids) on top of being a queer, poor, and regularly disrepected character.

He is the textbook representation of the outcast and underdog energy The Duffers love, to the point where you could hardly fit more "marginalized and imperfect" checkboxes into him without making him poc...and yet people actually believe he is going to be rejected not because there is no setup, or because there is no precedence for the storyline but solely because his love interest (who also has a non-conformity storyline and who is already making heart eyes at him) is currently dating a girl...and it would be "realistic" for him to get rejected? ☠️

Not to mention...I haven't even touched on how byler resolves Mike's own thematic issues and it already makes the most sense? Like?

How do you miss the most obvious plot twist setup in history not because its not blatantly set up, but because you’re homophobic? It really does have to be the blindness of heteronormativity thats driving most of this, because if you were a media literate homophobe, you would be screaming at the Duffers for doing it, not denying it’s happening at all. But ☕️

#byler #anti mlvn #duffer brothers #i am simply not blind enough for the foolishness of taking homophobes seriously tbh #their complaints are rooted in nonsense half the time #and yes this is kind of an offshoot of the 'bad writing' commentary of the tutor but #I swear on my LIFE knowing what good writing and a clear setup looks like makes byler so obvious its laughable #there's just no other thing they could be setting up with the choices they've made. everything else rings hollow #AND PEOPLE KNOW IT?!?! #mlvns saying things like 'it makes sense that mike and el have a less prominent role together in S5 but they won't break them up' #BABES LISTEN TO YOURSELF?!?! #the biggest season of the show and you think they're gonna let the 'flagship couple' be MID?! #Matt 'if its bad writing I'm not doing that shit' Duffer wouldn't even consider it. and its time you accepted that too 🤣 #ANYWAY #my st commentary #stranger things

[constantvariations]

My scavenge for screenshots that I might use in an upcoming video essay led me to Lilith Fairen’s blog where, lo and behold, she apparently saw this post of mine and decided she had to talk about it

That’s an interesting way to say “the blog has me blocked, so I can’t reblog the OG post.” Fairen, you know what a block means, right? It means I don’t consent to you being on my damn blog. So either you don’t understand what boundaries are or you think it’s okay to ignore them so long as it’s the right kind of person you’re invading. Neither of which reflect well on you

#rwde #lilith fairen #while i could go through her post and tear it apart point by point #i got shit to do. my essay aint gonna write itself #and itd be redundant since my essay is in part abt how people willfully misinterpret adam for their hate wanks #maybe i will anyway since i have her whole post but this is the thing thats pissing me off. dont fucking lie that rwde hates disagreements #i enjoy talking to people w different perspectives. an anti rwder and i once had a v pleasant talk despite a v rocky start #we even reached a conclusion with mutual understanding of each others positions and reasonings #but lilith doesnt want to talk. she doesnt want to look at how flawed rwby is unless its in a way that can be used to bash others #and it'd be pointless considering she's never going to change her mind no matter what any of us say #if she was here for honest. good faith discussion abt a cartoon she wouldn't be blocked by the entire damn tag #so lilith kindly take the planet sized hint and leave people the fuck alone #you wanna bitch and moan abt dex stalking or bullying or whatever to you but then you turn around and do shit like this #treat others how you want to be treated. when you act like an invasive asshole guess what people are going to start reflecting back at you

[radical-thots]

We live in a world where a brown woman is threatened with death threats, is doxed and constantly harassed by the trans/lgtbq community because she dared to speak up against the white ‘non-binary’ child groomer on Tiktok. This isn’t okay, considering yall are threatening her kids as well! People literally have her kid’s private information - their address, their school etc. The fact that the lgtbq community is not even talking about this??? In fact, yall participated in harassing her and were so quick to call her ‘transphobic’ just because she said Jeffery Marsh’s obsession with kids was creepy. Jeffery Marsh still has a platform, still has thousands of fans supporting them and attacking the women or anyone else who speaks up. How is this not oppression and hate? How is silencing someone who speaks up not oppression? The lgtbq community does this then talks about being oppressed and how they’re not grooming kids? Please make it make sense. I’m disgusted asf rn. I’m all for living your life the way you want and protecting your rights, but in no world is doxing a woman and harassing her and her kids ‘protecting your rights’. This isn’t the first time I’ve seen the community being intolerant or creepy - numerous instances of people yelling on streets, a drag queen showing her naked ass to a kid and people cheering her on, a little girl intimating a stripper and collecting money and being cheered, a school that preached gender fluidity attacking a mother and refusing to show her the school’s syllabus, Jeffery Marsh preaching the isolation of kids and telling them to pay to ‘talk to him privately’ without anyone knowing. This is borderline creepy and grooming behavior and all the time that I’ve been in this community, no one ever mentions this. No one talks about the creepy aspect and people in this community. Yall love calling the conservatives oppressive and names but honestly yall are no better. Protecting a groomer and calling anyone who speaks against them ‘transphobic’. Yall may never realize this but you people are just as oppressive, just as intolerant because you can’t handle people calling u out and because you do not allow them to speak up. At the end of the day, a lot of the ideologies and behaviors of the lgtbq community are rooted so deep in colonization and patriarchy that we do not talk enough about it. 

#this is so long #i'm literally crying and shaking right now bcs of how disturbed I am #feel so weird bcs I was literally supporting and considering yall my people but then yall start excusing and justifying opressing people #smh #Ik I'm gonna get attacked and even harassed for this because some many people wouldn't get my points and think I'm j being 'transphobic' #because yall are so used to calling anyone who calls u out that #Literally still love yall but god why is no one talking about this #trans community #lgtbqa #non binary #Jeffery Marsh #anti Jeffery Marsh #grooming #muslims #remind me if I used the wrong pronouns anywhere pls #ik I sound rude but god am i angry and just majorly disturbed #don't attack me pls this took a lot of courage to say #god so scared to post this bcs I j know I'm gonna get attacked #\

[weirdnerdygoat]

one thing I liked more about reddit is how I wasn't scared of voicing my opinions. On reddit, (or youtube comment sections XD), I could voice my opinions and discuss them with folkel I disagreed with. I just did, and never had a thought of being judged. Plus, it was great for expanding my world view, teaching me arguing writing skills and learning how to empathise with others. Any trolls got bored of me pretty quickly.

Tumblr however, is more... social. I'm afraid of being judged by my moots if I voice any discoursey opinions- especially since I have moots from different sides of various arguments.

So yeah, that's annoying XD Do any of yous feel similarily?

#reddit refugees #kind of an old tag but ehh oh well #idk how to tag it #but yeah I'm very careful to not make my opinions on things like radqueer or anti/proship clear #I'm literally a 14 yo goat I don't want drama :3 #even though I probably wouldn't get any but still #I'm considering making a separate anonymous discourse account though because I have the aching need to discuss my opinions

[alteredphoenix]

Got my first dracthyr evoker ready to be made on Wowhead.

This is Kazomere a’la Kaz. He’s technically an Infinite dragon who broke away from Murozond but holds onto the belief that changing the present now is more beneficial than going back and altering the past to achieve the best results for the future. To avoid being detected by the Valdrakken Accord, the Dragonscale Expedition, and the returning dragonflights led by their former Aspects and the last three black dragons, Kazomere dons the guise of an unassuming blue dragon scholar who has carved himself a home in the marbled towers in the lush hills of the Azure Span for the group of like-minded drakes - who are also disguised Infinites - that he calls family to take rest and perform academic studies in relative peace and solitude.

#warcraft #i actually have a very rough sketch of kaz on a notecard #that i did like either right before or right after DF got announced i can't remember #and since DF gear isn't available yet to throw on him this is as close as i can get him to look based off the notecard #so half-nakkie dragon is going to have to do for now lol #also a confession: he's really made for the sequel to the ZM Fic that loosely adapts DF #where his backstory is pretty much the same #as is his well-intentioned extremism but he and the rest of his fellow followers are cast as more tragic anti-villains #i wouldn't even consider kaz and the other infinites with him evil - i would say they're more misguided #and sadly susceptible to if not old god whispers than the fear of the unknown a'la things not working out #on a lighter note he is a very scholarly dragon who is rather paternally tender & even a bit silly to boot #but ppl like him can only keep secrets at bay for so long before it becomes clear that something about the future has to be done #realistically he has a better chance blending in w/ the horde so he can keep his cover intact #but i can see him infiltrating the alliance too but he'd have to play up the blue dragon aesthetics in visage form #i hope i got the infinite tints down right :V

[maddy-ferguson]

People really need to read up more on surrogacy, I'm pretty sure those in favor of it just think "Well if the woman wants to do it why not" but there is so much more to it :/ It's extremely exploitative in most cases, not to mention that wombs and babies shouldn't be seen as products to be bought.

exactly thank you...so many different angles to choose from too like commodification of the human body commodification of women's bodied specifically exploitation of poorer women...like TO ME it's liberalism on an insane level

#like any one of these can be developed enough to argue against it #altruistic surrogacy is like well personally i still think that's crazy (but that's probably because i don't wanna be pregnant ever lmao) #but without the money it's different #even though obviously you can say money makes it better but like. idk does it. but like i don't care as much ig #all of this applies to other topics that are like debated in the same way (where you can argue commodification of the human body+of #women's bodies+exploitation of poorer women amongst other things and they can say it's their choice so you shouldn't be against it) #and on other topics even though at the end of the day i feel the same way i've gone back and #forth on it more than i have for surrogacy. like none of the arguments sound convincing to me like at all #and i don't see myself changing my mind anytime soon? like i Have tried i've thought about it but this is where i always end up #in french law it's prohibited because of the first thing you can't sell your organs so you can't rent them for nine months either and #like idk sounds sensible to me! i studied law for three years maybe it's my law student baggage (it's not) #people are debating it again rn and a leftist politician basically said what i said commodification of women's bodies + exploitation of #poorer women and some of the qrts of the video were like wow i don't like [his party] they're so behind on lgbt issues...excuse me what #like we're literally talking about women straight couples gay couples irdgaf i'm against it for everyone and some people are trying so hard #to make it sound like anyone that's anti-surrogacy is homophobic when like yeah obviously to the far-right (and others) it's an excuse to #be homophobic but there's another part of the population you're not considering it's literally been a feminist debate for a long time💀 #the law for it in ukraine is very liberal and when russia invaded people were like nooo i have a woman who needs to give birth to my baby #there like oh my god. the exploitation of women from other countries too like it's crazy. (also applies to regular adoption in foreign #countries obviously which is why some countries were like stop. for both adoption and surrogacy for foreigners) #and i say this but it could all be like women with the same kind of money hiring each other and i would still feel the same way because #it's like the principle like i feel strongly enough about the first two. but also there's never gonna be a world where it's just that #(i'm sure tons of couples hire women that wouldn't be like on the street without surrogacy) because it's also a class thing. including the #women in other countries in that #ask

[troonwolf]

funnily enough even the people close to me were unaware I’m a cult survivor because it is simply not fun to talk about. it doesn’t trigger me to speak about it anymore because it was like 10+ yrs ago, but it’s not something I ever felt the need to reference or mention until I joined this conversation and everyone kept jumping on me to justify why I’m talking about cults

like I hate to say it but when the endo side references the anti-side demanding people’s trauma information, uuuhhh they’re kind of right about that one :| I’m not even endo and y’all were in my inbox and etc demanding my trauma info

and I know the response to this would be “we’re not making you explain your trauma, we’re just telling you not to talk about cults if you don’t have it :)”

which funnily enough reminds me of some stupid trash TV I watch

hopefully this makes sense out of context:

“I’m not forcing you to do anything hahah, but if you want to swim this is how you have to do it. but I’m not FORCING you to swim, you could just not swim. :) I know you WANT to swim, but if you can’t do it the way I want you to, then you can’t! that’s not me FORCING you to do anything :)”

I’m sorry that’s literally just gaslighting lol

#and tho I use the anti endo tag cause it's categorically relevant to my posts #I wouldn't call myself part of that community anymore #I am anti-cult and being anti-endo is basically just one of the many cults I'm against #because people who actually just consider themselves anti-endos are basically just posting and hating on cringe posts #a lot of them even say themselves they're not actually against individuals being endo and they're just against the ''misinfo'' #but a lot of the time the '''''''''''misinfo''''''''''' is just cringe #like the whole thing is just a dumb tumblr slapfight at this point

[anothermonikan]

Okay but If I started a Selfship blog. What then

#This is my way of saying I may do it #Amsjsnsn #I was being a silly goober last night... And made an Avalon DNI banner even though I have feeling about their usefulness #I don't think they're that useful because bigots aren't gonna listen to a sign that tells them to go away #I feel it might be useful for like. Ultra specific stuff. Like I put Homura-antis and MatPat Fans on the one I did #But yeha I did that and then I was like. What would I even use this for #And like. There are a certain group of people that are way too prevelant in the selfship community #Im not gonna say it because I don't wanna get mixed up in their tags but if you've been in the selfship tag you probably know what I'm on #And I was like. Oh if I started a Selfship blog I could use it on that! Asjdjsj #Because I wouldn't consider these people bigots. Usually not very good people but not usually bigots #Idk I'm rambling now #So yeha maybe. Ajsjsjsj #Android.txt

[akajustmerry]

the Wednesday series is so silly goofy for even IMPLYING that gomez and morticia wouldn't know how to cover up a murder properly, let alone that Wednesday would be unironically scandalised by learning her parents had killed someone. like...do the clowns writing this show actually understand the premise/ethos of The Addams Family? why does this show constantly have them allying with/grovelling at the feet of institutions?? why bother making a show about Wednesday and by extension the Addams family if you're not going to honour their competent oddness and satirical anti-establishment roots? and that's before we even get into the weird ass colourblind racism all throughout this show. I cannot believe there's a scene in this show where morticia addams, a white woman, tells a Black man he has "no idea what it's like not to be believed." I can't believe that the ringleader of the bullies who is bigotedly abusing the "outcasts" is a young Black boy. The antiblackness is insane. like, really? it's so obvious there are next to no poc in significant creative roles on this show which is so fucked considering they not only made Wednesday Latine, but made her ancestory an integral part of the series. I feel like a broken record at this point, but surface level diversity in casting means absolutely nothing so long as the people holding creative control are white. It's just elaborate puppetry, and too many of you fall for it everytime. All this show does is use actors or colour to pay lip-service to the "whitewashing" of history, while the show itself is written and directed almost exclusively by white people. As far as I can tell there is one director of colour, Gandja Monteiro, who directs 2 mid season eps. Every single other person in creative decision making roles is white. It's an absolute JOKE.

#wednesday series #Wednesday #the way this show does Gomez and morticia is so rancid honestly #the addams family #/

[kaijutegu]

So. Now that she's home and safe and gonna be ok, I can talk about this.

I almost lost Kaiju. Christmas Day. I was woken up by a phone call from Allison, who will be referred to a LOT in this story. Allison runs the pet store where I board Kaiju. She called to tell me that Kaiju had lost a LOT of blood. (As it turns out, half her blood volume. Humans die when we lose 40%, just so you know. She lost 50%.)

There were no visible injuries, and she had passed a bloody stool. Or rather, a blood clot with some poop in it. She continued to pass only blood when they put her in the bathtub to clean her up. If I'd taken her anywhere else, that... would have been it, probably.

But Allison is an actual miracle worker and knew an emergency vet who was open- on Christmas Day- and could see reptiles. As soon as she called me, she took her to the e vet, where they gave her fluids and oxygen and got her stable. They did some x rays and found... nothing.

In fact, the e vet actually complimented me on her bone density and how nice her toe joints look. Whatever this mysterious haemorrhage was, it was in the soft tissue.

The immediate thoughts were:

Impaction

Cancer invading an artery

Aneurism

Reproductive issues

However, the emergency vet couldn't figure it out, and my vet was out of the country. The e vet consulted with a lot of vets and it was decided she'd go into Chicago Exotics for care the next day- they were willing to see her on immediate notice. Allison drove her over and they did an ultrasound... and couldn't differentiate the mass they found.

So, exploratory surgery it was.

But... she didn't have enough blood for that. She wouldn't have survived... if Allison hadn't found blood for her. Tegu donors were found, the transfusion happened, and was completely successful.

And what the surgery found was completely unexpected. No cancer. No repro issues. No typical impaction.

Instead? Weird white things in her muscles and a partial impaction that seems to be related to a reduction in her ability to properly digest. There are two possible diagnoses at this point. One is visceral gout. This is very strange because in reptiles, articular gout basically always happens first, and her kidneys are fine.

The other option? Weird, potentially cross species parasite she picked up when she was in the Everglades. Something she's likely had all her life, something that was dormant until recently.

I'll know when the pathology report comes back in a week or so.

Anyways! She is doing very well. She is alert and interested in things. She has an incredible appetite, even though she can't have solid food yet. She's on three meds, including one I have to inject. At her three week recheck, we will add a fourth- either the correct anti-parasitic or a medication to improve kidney function, depending on the diagnosis. Currently she's in a hospital cage and she hates it- she can't have any substrate because of the stitches.

The vet says it should take about three months until she makes her full blood volume. Her pack cell count should be at 35%. It was at 7% on the 26th. But by the 28th, it was at 10%. She's gonna be ok. She's tough. My little girl is a fighter, always has been. You have to be scrappy to survive in the wild.

And throughout this entire experience, everybody has told me how lovely her personality is. Through the injections and cloacal probing and everything, she never bit or even tried to. The vet didn't think she even wanted to bite. Like it wasn't a question of wanting to bite and not being strong enough- it's just not something in her behavioural repertoire. She doesn't bite because she doesn't want to. Because even at her most scared, at her most painful, she's still Kaiju, the best tegu to ever live. Love is stored in the tegu, and it continues to be stored in the tegu. We have a long road ahead of us, but she's out of the woods and is going to be ok. We both are.

Also, consider this a MAJOR plug for Curious Creatures in Chicago. I'm never going to board my animals anywhere else.

#reptile #lizard #tegu #kaiju #reptiblr

[fairuzfan]

Sorry one more thing I wasn't going to talk about but if you had asked me about the binational state/land thing maybe... in 2016, I might have given a somewhat positive answer but I think that since then, Israeli society has become exponentially more racist and anti-Palestinian. Since then we had the Abraham Accords, Sheikh Jarrah, Massafir Yatta, the highest child martyr count in years, and now finally a full blown genocide. Many Palestinians who previously advocated for equality in a single state look at all this, especially in recent months and think "how can I live side by side with these people?"

The vast majority of Israeli society is not against war for the sake of the Palestinians, they're against war for their own safety. They say as much. Hell, look at standing together. The founder guy says "our security is tied in with the Palestinians'". So if it wasn't tied with the Palestinians', you wouldn't care? And I get sometimes you need to introduce people to ideas gently, but their entire organization language emphasizes "shared pain" when there is an oppressor/oppressed dynamic they aren't even hinting at. How can anyone achieve safety if you won't even admit you have power over your Palestinian org members?

Even Brothers in Arms claims to want to "strengthen democracy" but they completely ignore Palestinians have never experienced democracy in "Israel". So what's the point strengthening your own standing when the most disadvantaged still are at rock bottom?? Plus your whole group represents the IOF reservists/members, you have no intention of helping Palestinians when you are the primary oppressors. And this is not an insignificant group in israel!

Not many Israelis are willing to put themselves on the line to protect or even advocate for Palestinians. I mean 7+ months into a genocide and what did israeli society do other than protest *netanyahu*? Hold up flour bags during the flour massacre??? The people serving in the idf are your friends and family and community. Tel Aviv is an hour away from Gaza. Surely you can do *something* physical!! They had people at their Gaza borders starving Palestinians on purpose and people just... watched it happen. Not to mention the IOF, which many Israelis are a part of, participates in the genocide and has been lauded for their "heroism". I look at that and I think "how can I expect you to seriously consider my rights as a person? How do I know you won't miss your old status and reclaim it?"

We've seen Israelis *celebrate* and *ridicule* our martyrs and people. So like where us the good faith in all this? Where can we work with some of these people and think "Yeah I believe they'll respect my inherent dignity as a person"?

Which binationalism relies on this. You need to have good faith between communities for this to actually happen. But when one community won't even acknowledge it's status as an oppressor at the height of oppression? Then what?

Israel as a country has never faced any retribution for its actions for 75 years. No one is holding them accountable. The country teaches propaganda in its schools about the Nakba. There is not serious consideration for Palestinian rights in Israeli society. Why would they suddenly decide to participate in a project that puts Palestinians as equal to Israelis when they learned all their lives that Palestinians are ruthless, unreasonable people who can't be reasoned with, and Israelis are logical, poor victims who are actually the ones who need protection from the Palestinians!

It just is mind boggling because I see people constantly complain about the way they hear things from Palestinians these days like "all Israelis need to leave". And they go on to say "why would you be so hateful/why would you say that" and don't think for a minute they're experiencing a televised genocide of their people (which they could have ended up in their shoes! People forget that Gaza has multiple refugee camps! Any one of us could have lived there!) And conversely are looking to Israeli society for them to do anything and they see nothing. At least think for a moment why they would say these things given the context of the situation. There's a genocide going on! And you're worried about what the people who are experiencing their people's genocide are saying because you're worried for the society conducting said genocide?? Let's deal with the matter at hand first!!!!!!

#palestine #palestine discussion

[genderkoolaid]

Examples of transandrophobia: i've seen sections of Leslie Feinberg's piece "Sisterhood: Make it Real" passed around this site for literally years, and TODAY was the first time that I saw the whole thing and learned that ze called out cisfeminists in it for getting rid of trans men the second they started transitioning. Like I always thought it was a good piece but I had literally NO IDEA that it talked about trans men because that part was never included in posts about it, even when those posts were calling out cisfeminism for being transphobic. I'm just gobsmacked tbh

This is a great point!

Honestly more people need to read that full chapter. There's a lot of really good points.

Amongst other things, Leslie talks about how "women good men bad" is poor feminism:

Of course, as a result of the oppression women face growing up in such a violently anti-woman environment, some women draw a line between women as allies and men as enemies. While it’s understandable that an individual might do so out of fear, this approach fails as theory. It lumps John Brown and John D. Rockefeller together as enemies and Sojourner Truth and Margaret Thatcher together as allies. This view of who to trust and who to dread will not keep women safe or keep the movement on course.

How feminine men are victims of gender oppression:

The oppression of feminine men is an important one to me, since I consider drag queens to be my sisters. I’ve heard women criticize drag queens for “mocking women’s oppression” by imitating femininity to an extreme, just as I’ve been told that I am imitating men. Feminists are justifiably angry at women’s oppression - so am I! I believe, however, that those who denounce drag queens aim their criticism at the wrong people. This misunderstanding doesn’t take gender oppression into account. For instance, to criticize male-to-female drag performers, but leave out a discussion of gender oppression, lumps drag queen RuPaul together with men like actor John Wayne! RuPaul is a victim of gender oppression, as well as of racism.

How masculine women are assumed to know less about gender oppression:

But I grew up very masculine, so the complex and powerful set of skills that feminine girls developed to walk safely through the world were useless to me. I had to learn a very different set of skills, many of them martial. While we both grew up as girls, our experiences were dissimilar because our gender expressions were very different. Masculine girls and women face terrible condemnation and brutality including sexual violence - for crossing the boundary of what is “acceptable” female expression. But masculine women are not assumed to have a very high consciousness about fighting women’s oppression, since we are thought to be imitating men.

And as you said, how trans men deserve access to women's and lesbian's spaces without having their transmasculinity ignored or seen as being butch-in-denial:

And our female-to-male transsexual brothers have a right to feel welcome at women’s movement events or lesbian bars. However, that shouldn’t feed into to misconception that all female-to-male transsexuals were butches who just couldn’t deal with their oppression as lesbians. If that were true, then why does a large percentage of post-transition transsexual men identify as gay and bisexual, which may have placed them in a heterosexual or bisexual status before their transition? There are transsexual men who did help build the women’s and lesbian communities, and still have a large base of friends there. They should enjoy the support of women on their journey. Doesn’t everyone want their friends around them at a time of great change? And women could learn a great deal about what it means to be a man or a woman from sharing the lessons of transition.

Not that "trans women belong in feminism" wouldn't be a good point on its own, but people's selectivity with which parts of that chapter they share definitely warrant scrutiny.

#m. #ask box

[spacedace]

Damian doesn't know who Santa Claus is and Danny tries to gaslight him into believing in Santa

Okay but, like, wouldn't even be gaslighting! Santa canonically does exist in the DC universe, I think I remember reading something about him fighting through an army in hell to give Darkseid a single piece of coal once?

So like, Danny doesn't have to gaslight Damian into believing Santa's real, he just has to pull out the proof (Danny has a binder of everything he knows about the Spirit of Christmas for the purpose of when he eventually goes to war with him, Danny hates Christmas so fucking much haha) and show him evidence that Santa is real.

Probably ranting the entire time about how much he hates the guy & Christmas and it's obvious that this is Danny's arch nemesis. His one true villain above all others. Pariah Dark? A nuisance. Dark Dan? Just a tuesday. Santa? That motherfucker is the bane of Danny's existence and he will pay for what he's done (spread Christmas cheer).

And Danny's the newest member to the family. Damian's been encouraged to get to know his new brother and try and bond with him a bit, make him feel like part of the family. So, obviously, the best way to do that is to help Danny in his quest for vengeance.

And of course Tim & Jason end of getting roped in on this. Damian's grown since he's first came to live with his father. He still is a little brat to his older brothers - he's the baby of the family it's his right - but he doesn't actively hate them anymore and can admit when their particular skills would be useful. Tim is the best at strategizing, and Jason is a combat master with access to all sorts of weapons. With all of them working together Santa has no chance, they will destroy him.

Which all just makes me think of something like this happening lol:

“What…uh, what are they doing?” Duke glanced between the chaos unfolding in the family room to where Dick was calmly seated in his favorite chair, sipping idly at a cup of coffee.

“Sibling bonding.” Dick said. There was that specific aura of calm around him that said that he’d already gone through several crisis and all the stages of grief at least twice. Considering the calamity and chaos the eldest batkid had seen over the years - and especially the last few months since Bruce officially adopted Danny and brought him into the fold - it was a bad sign that he’d reached this particular state of Done (TM) before noon. The earliest Dick even woke up was two in the afternoon.

Duke contemplated turning around right then and there - the particular combination of people all excitedly feeding off each other’s feral energy on the other side of the room was a catastrophe in the making he didn’t want to be anywhere near when it finally breached containment and spilled out into the wider world - but unfortunately he was cursed with the curiosity that afflicted all members of the bat clan.

“It looks like they’re plotting to try and kill Santa Claus.”

Dick turned to look at Duke fully for the first time since he’d entered the room. He had the eyes of one that was deeply haunted by the horrors they had witnessed. On the other side of the room Tim was ranting about anti-magic tech while Danny, Damian and Jason argued over what weapons would be most effective against a demi god. There were schematics of what looked worryingly like a rocket launcher looking device that - if the scribbles on the whiteboard someone had drug into the room where to be believed - was going to be rigged to shoot ecto-grenades.

“Danny hates Christmas.” Dick said, and Duke noticed for the first time that his hands around the coffee cup were faintly trembling. “He’s declared Santa is his arch nemesis.”

Duke blinked, glancing over to the others long enough to see Danny start frantically scribbling the words Christmas Nuke on the whiteboard. No one else was trying to erase it. Tim looked worriedly contemplative. Damian and Jason where both nodding in agreement.

He was going to regret this. “But Santa isn’t real?”

Dick’s eyes gained a faintly manic glean, and Duke could faintly hear the sound of porcelain creaking warningly beneath the desperate hold he had on his coffee cup. “That’s what I thought!” Dick said, with enough cheer to make Duke flinch back instinctively. “But apparently he is.” A distinct crack appeared in the cup, coffee dripping down into Dick’s lap. “And apparently they’re going to war with him!”

Well, Duke considered, at least that explained why he caught the four of them burning down the giant Christmas tree in the city center last night.

#spaced asks and ace answers #dc x dp prompt #dpxdc #dc x dp #dp x dc #danny phantom #danny fenton #batman #damian wayne #tim drake #jason todd #duke thomas #dick grayson #batpham #batfam #danny hates christmas so fucking much #you know he's on the naughty list just for his various assasination attempts on santa's life #Bruce didn't know this kid was a half ghost god-king of an entire infinite dimension of death he just saw a sad kid in a bad situation #it wouldn't have changed anything if he'd known Danny had adoption bait written all over him #but he at least would have been able to better prepare for the kind of supernatural shenanigans that would pop up #Duke took one look at 4 of his brothers standing around a burning christmas tree at 3 in the morning holding gas cans & lighters & thought: #not my circus not my monkeys #he was the day shift vigilante he didn't get paid to deal with his family's shit in the middle of the night #he didn't get paid *period* he wasn't going to do volunteer chaos gremlin wrangling #Dick just wanted *one* day of relative quiet #he should have known that wasn't going to happen

[kimabutch]

Things are getting increasingly shitty in Canada for trans people and, not gonna lie, it's really stressful! Within the last month:

The Conservative Party of Canada, which is the official opposition party (AKA the party with the second most votes) and has a solid chance of forming the government in the next election, held a convention where they voted overwhelmingly in favour of creating policies to stop gender-affirming medical care for minors (link)

They also officially voted to define "woman" as "female person" and try to stop trans women from being in women's prisons, shelters, locker rooms, and washrooms

Multiple provincial governments are either enacting policies that would require parents' approval in order for trans kids to change their names or pronouns at school, or have officially said that they support forcibly outing kids (link)

A nonbinary teacher in Quebec received threats of violence for using pronoun "Mx" and other Quebec provincial parties complained about "wokeism" and said they wouldn't use the title (link)

And this doesn't include the homophobic & transphobic protests outside pride events throughout the summer or the "Save Our Children" convoy that's being planned for later this month (link), or the tons of shitty things that have happened all through this year, like tons of Ontario trans people (including me!) losing healthcare.

I'm trying to stay as optimistic as possible, knowing just how many trans people and allies there are, but sometimes! It's hard!

Anyways, if you're Canadian, please consider:

Getting involved in local, municipal politics, especially on school boards, to speak out about the need for gender-affirming policies, especially for youth

Showing up (with an organized, prepared group) to counter-protest anti-trans protesters

Keeping track of any anti- or pro-trans bills going around and contacting your MPs & MPPs to let them know what you think of them

Supporting 2SLGBTQ+ charities

Literally never ever voting conservative

And even if you're not Canadian, if you have friends who are Canadian & trans, maybe check in on them? Most Canadian trans people are pretty freaked out right now I think.

#lgbtqthings #my stuff #tbh I wrote this mostly to vent #I feel like no cis people I know irl are as freaked out about this as I am #canadian politics