batboyblog

[batboyblog]

okay but again, your a special case, you're not in America seeking American food, if you lived in Boston or San Diego where milkshakes and fries can be found easily and pizza is made in non-insane ways would you go to McDonald's? or Pizza Hut? (didn't they go broke?)

thats what I'm talking about I see Americans in America for whom money is not an issue get this stuff and I'm like.... but why?

here's a thing that confuses me to no end

you're a full grown adult, you're not broke, you're in your own home/hometown not traveling somewhere, and you order.... mass chain fast-food.

like are there people who like McDonalds? Burger King? Wendy's? Domino's? KFC? Subway? like... why? huh? what? like I get it you're 19 in college and have no money but still got that teenage need for all the food, work okay. Or you're out of town in a little hotel with no fridge and you just want food that even if its not good you know just its gonna be and you won't feel bad about throwing it out because it wasn't expensive or good enough to care about, work, fine

but your own home? you don't have a local pizza place? like particularly pizza, you're buying the Domino's diarrhea special rather than getting some good local pizza? really? like hamburger places okay it can be harder to find are real local burger place that does take out so I kinda get it, but still McDonalds? really? sad gray meat? like come-on

but the internet tells me there's people who love shit fast-food places and its like who hurt you?

[batboyblog]

here's a thing that confuses me to no end

you're a full grown adult, you're not broke, you're in your own home/hometown not traveling somewhere, and you order.... mass chain fast-food.

like are there people who like McDonalds? Burger King? Wendy's? Domino's? KFC? Subway? like... why? huh? what? like I get it you're 19 in college and have no money but still got that teenage need for all the food, work okay. Or you're out of town in a little hotel with no fridge and you just want food that even if its not good you know just its gonna be and you won't feel bad about throwing it out because it wasn't expensive or good enough to care about, work, fine

but your own home? you don't have a local pizza place? like particularly pizza, you're buying the Domino's diarrhea special rather than getting some good local pizza? really? like hamburger places okay it can be harder to find are real local burger place that does take out so I kinda get it, but still McDonalds? really? sad gray meat? like come-on

but the internet tells me there's people who love shit fast-food places and its like who hurt you?

[batboyblog]

some character design practice w/ percy :)

[batboyblog]

hold on hold on let me get the sign

to be less pithy than Sartre here, if you're debating about if Jews are a race, ethnicity, or religion (the answer is: Yes btw) you're not talking about the racism they experience, if you're debating who or what is a "semite" and who can be antisemitic because they're Arab so also a "semite" (no.) you're not talking about the antisemitism Jews are experiencing

the antisemite is amusing themselves, playing, and through their ridiculousness discrediting the seriousness of the threat against the Jews.

every leftist acting like they don’t understand how antisemitism could be racism “because Judaism is a religion” are lying through their teeth. we spent the last 2 decades plus fully understanding Islamophobia was racist.

[batboyblog]

The study divided 54 subjects—18 to 39 year-olds from the Boston area—into three groups, and asked them to write several SAT essays using OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Google’s search engine, and nothing at all, respectively. Researchers used an EEG to record the writers’ brain activity across 32 regions, and found that of the three groups, ChatGPT users had the lowest brain engagement and “consistently underperformed at neural, linguistic, and behavioral levels.” Over the course of several months, ChatGPT users got lazier with each subsequent essay, often resorting to copy-and-paste by the end of the study.

[batboyblog]

just wanna say as a library worker, thank you for your great posts!

oh why thank you.

my grandma was a librarian, she read two books a week her whole life. Every time she bought a new book she'd tape the dust cover and put a sticker "from the library of _______".

the other day my dad was telling me that he was lending some books out to a friend and some were his mother's books and his friend when he was giving them back was like "where those really your mother's?" "yes" ".... and she read them?" "well, yes?" ".... there's a lot of harsh language in there"

at her funeral my cousin said "my grandma didn't teach me how to bake cookies, she taught me how to swear" she never had time for the idea there were words that she as a lady (or later an old lady) shouldn't say or hear or topics that books should be embarrassed to be about, you could make a good story about anything and its being well written was all that matters.

[batboyblog]

Grooming is gay men wearing clothes in public now. Cool story.

So in the latest "ban books!" controversy there's a picture book for pre-schoolers called "Grandad's Pride" the objection is that some of the illustrations of Pride involve men in leather

and I could go on and on about how yes that is in fact something you might see at Pride out in public so why would you not include it but.....

here's an unrelated image of popular children's cartoon character He-Man in a Harness (and fury underpants) if its only a problem when gay men do it, thats homophobia...

[batboyblog]

I cast transgender :p ✨✨

Here since its pride month i give you my Jaime reyes head canon

[batboyblog]

In my view the queer rights movement in America as been a series of headlong rushes forward, met by a sharp ugly backlash that tries to push us backward.

in 1969 there's the Stonewall riot, but just as important, after Stonewall, queers inspired by the civil rights movement, the anti-war movement and feminism organized off the attention Stonewall got, Gay Liberation is born. And in the early 1970s lots of states repealed their anti-gay laws and those that don't largely stop enforcing them (though any law left on the books is dangerous). Local communities start passing anti-discrimination ordinances.

enter Anita Bryant, the devil woman herself, Bryant was the public face of "Save our Children" an anti-gay effort. Now Bryant's anti-gay activism started in 1977 and it was intense, many local city ordinances banning anti-gay discrimination in housing, employment, and city hiring were repealed by citizens voting. But it all crested and crashed in California in 1978 when the "Briggs Initiative" to fire and ban all gay teachers in the state failed. Bryant was discredited, and went bankrupt (she died last year, hateful witch)

we see this over and over, the early 80s falling into AIDS, but pushing back in the early 1990s only to see Bush and the war on gay marriage as a reaction to civil unions in the late 90s, giving way to the victory of gay rights in the 2010s and the trans high-water mark

long history aside here, even at her worst Bryant couldn't recriminalize being gay, even at his worse George Bush couldn't get rid of gay marriage in Massachusetts

so they're trying to slam shut the doors, but being trans is more exposed to the general public more people know what it, there are more places to get care than there were in the 90s or the 2000s, kids have words for what they're feeling now they didn't have when I was in school.

this backlash is scary and bad, but I try to remember what it was like to be 2004 and listen to a President talk about terrorists (who just did 9/11) as a "threat to the American Homeland" before moving on to banning gay marriage as a "threat to the American Family" the not so subtext that my teenage gayness was as big a threat to America as Al-Qaeda.

There are days when the rage about whats happening in my country is overwhelming.

today its the Supreme Court choosing to hurt trans kids

and I just... hate. I hate all 6 of the conservatives on the court as bottom feeding soulless, lawless shit who get their constitutional views from Facebook memes and Fox News.

I hate Trump who appointed 3 of them, who is the worst person in my country and I hate the people who voted to make him President for their selfish stupid, evil and insane reasons

and I hate everyone who didn't do everything they could to stop him, stop this, don't tell me you give a fuck about trans kids, or trans rights ever ever if you didn't give everything you could to keep them save from a fascist monster who made victimizing trans people a core part of his campaign for President

if you weren't out there fighting for Hillary, Joe, and Kamala in 2016, 2020, and 2024, shut up forever.

[batboyblog]

2025 Battleground Virginia and New Jersey!

Okay children! there's no time to mope and feel sorry for ourselves there's elections to fight! Yes the first state wide elections since Trump returned are fast coming up. These will be the first test, can we fight back at the ballot box? is the nation turning on the gross fucker in the White House? In November we can find out but Democracy is not a spectator sport! so you better! get involved!

Virginia

The biggest test will be Virginia, right now Virginia's Governor, Lt. Governor, and Attorney General are all Republicans. They're marching in lock step with Trump and the Washington Republicans even as Musk's DOGE cuts fired thousands of Virginia workers from their federal government jobs. Well the primaries are over and there are officially Democratic candidates for all 3 jobs and they are

Governor:

Former Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger: We've known for awhile that Spanberger would be the nominee but now it's official. Spanberger flipped a Republican seat in 2018 and held onto it till retiring to run for Governor in 2024. In Congress she was common sense and hard working focusing on real world problems like bring down the number of drug overdoses and increasing Medicare spending. She's up against the current Republican Lt. Governor Winsome Earle-Sears. Earle-Sears is a radical Republican, who loves guns, hates DEI, critical race theory, and abortion, loves Trump's tariffs, and Musk's DOGE cuts even as they send Virginians to the unemployment lines. Virginia in November can pick a Governor who will stand up for Virginia's federal workers, its economy, its LGBT citizens, a woman's right to choose, and push back on Trump, or someone who will work in lock step with Trump. If you're any where in Virginia or live nearby please sign up to volunteer, where ever you live in America you can call or text or send postcards in this election!

Volunteer Donate Shop

Attorney General

Across the nation Democratic state AGs are suing the Trump administration and winning emergency orders putting a hold on Trump's horrible plans. But those holds only apply to states that sue, so states with Republican AGs get no protection, like Virginia. If Virginians want a voice in court against Trump's abuses they need to elect the Democratic candidate Jay Jones. Jones was the assistant attorney general the last time a Democrat held that role, he's also been a state Rep (2018-2021). During the Republican governorship of Youngkin Jones has represented the NAACP in court fighting against voter suppression laws. The incumbent Republican, Jason Miyares, is running for re-election. Unlike the AGs of Maryland and Washington DC Miyares hasn't sued the Trump administration over its unlawful firing of thousands of federal workers, many of whom live in Virginia so when Democrats won in court it offered no relief to Virginia workers. Miyares will keep not standing up for Virginians as Trump assaults their basic liberties. If you want someone to fight for Virginians in court and one more powerful voice fighting Trump you got to get out and vote and get others out to vote for Jones.

Volunteer Donate

Lieutenant Governor

Like the Vice-President the Virginia Lt. Governor's powers are limited. That said it's a statewide office and is one heartbeat away from the governorship so you can't drop the ball. And the Dems have a great candidate, State Senator Ghazala Hashmi. Hashmi is the first Indian-American and the first Muslim elected to the Virginia's state Senate, if elected she would be the first Muslim woman to win statewide office in America. She's also an immigrant having been born in India. With a Ph.D in English she was a college professor before turning to politics and has focused her time in the Senate on expanding education in the state. If elected she would be a powerful voice for education and against intolerance. Past Democratic Governors, Douglas Wilder, Tim Kaine, and Ralph Northam all served as Lt. Governor before being elected Governor and with Virginia's one 4 year term limit electing Hashmi would be elevating a powerful voice to reach even higher heights.

Volunteer Donate

House of Delegates

All 100 seats in the Virginia state house are up for election. Democrats are fielding a candidate in EVERY single one, while Republicans are fielding only about 70 candidates. So if you live in Virginia no matter how Red Republican your town is there is a Democrat fighting to be your state Rep who needs your help to get across the finish line. In 2017 Virginia Democrats fought and won across the state flipping seats that had been Republican for a generation, places no one believed a Democrat could win. This was the first big national sign of a push back against Trump 1.0, now here we are in Trump 2.0. A strong Democratic majority plus a Democratic Governor could make Virginia a powerful force for progress and basic human decency, but failure will see a state government that is a happy partner to Trump and the Washington Republicans.

Volunteer

finally you don't live in Virginia, or you're not able to physically do door knocking, please please PLEASE sign up to send postcards. Where ever you live you can get postcards sent to you with addresses and personalize them, there is NO! reason, let me repeat that NO reason that every single Virginia voter can't be contacted between now and November and had the stakes of the election explained to them, had where they need to go to vote, what they need to vote explained to them and turned out, we can do this.

New Jersey

Governor

The other state with a Governor's election this year is New Jersey. Because New Jersey has a Democratic Governor, the two term and term limited Phil Murphy and is generally seen as Blue State people might think this is no big deal. But Murphy is the first Democratic Governor to be re-elected in New Jersey since the 1970s and no Democrat has taken over from a two term Democrat since the election of 1961. In the 1980s and 90s Republicans dominated the Governor's office and as late as 2018 Trump's sometimes friend sometimes victim Chris Christie was the Republican governor of the state. Democrats last week nominated Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill. Sherrill flipped a tough Republican district in 2019 to enter Congress and has defended her spot every time since then. Sherrill has made fighting back against Trump's plans to cut key programs like Social Security and Medicare the center of her campaign. Meanwhile the Trump endorsed candidate, Jack Ciattarelli, won the Republican primary. Ciattarelli tries to play moderate but he's headlined a "Stop the Steal" rally, and called teaching about LGBT topics in school "teaching sodomy" in schools. If New Jersey backslides and elects a Trump Republican the consequences would be serious for every New Jerseyan. If you're in the State or close to it, please for the love of god! get out and volunteer, fight for your state! fight for your neighbors.

Volunteer Donate

General Assembly

like in Virginia all the seats in New Jersey's lower house are up for election this year, 80 of them. Democrats have a majority in the House but it can always be expanded on. A strengthened majority will send a powerful message, and also shape how progressive New Jersey will be in the years to come and as we look toward 2026 this will serve as a good dry run for flipping key Congressional seats in New Jersey. Again if you're in New Jersey gear up, get out, fight work build the muscle memory you'll need to beat the Republicans in 2026, and 2028.

Volunteer

This is your wake up call, where ever you are, if you're an American, if you want to have a Democracy in the future, get involved and fight for it, last call guys, get on or deal with dictatorship for the rest of all our lives.

[batboyblog]

SPIDERBAND !!

available as a print here!

[batboyblog]

There are days when the rage about whats happening in my country is overwhelming.

today its the Supreme Court choosing to hurt trans kids

and I just... hate. I hate all 6 of the conservatives on the court as bottom feeding soulless, lawless shit who get their constitutional views from Facebook memes and Fox News.

I hate Trump who appointed 3 of them, who is the worst person in my country and I hate the people who voted to make him President for their selfish stupid, evil and insane reasons

and I hate everyone who didn't do everything they could to stop him, stop this, don't tell me you give a fuck about trans kids, or trans rights ever ever if you didn't give everything you could to keep them save from a fascist monster who made victimizing trans people a core part of his campaign for President

if you weren't out there fighting for Hillary, Joe, and Kamala in 2016, 2020, and 2024, shut up forever.

[batboyblog]

I prefer the sketch

[batboyblog]

I had to go on a long car trip this weekend (like 10 hours in the car between Saturday and today)

because I'm that guy the audio book for the ride was a re-read of (part of) William L. Shirer's The Collapse of the Third Republic: An Inquiry into the Fall of France in 1940,

and 1. its as good as I remember, I'd recommend it and his better known, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich if you're at all interested in WWII, and particularly social history, not like battles but "why did these countries/societies do these things?"

2. its hard not to draw lines between historic disaster and rising fascism and the current moment, which I'll spare everyone half baked road tired thoughts on, but just to say.... Shirer was the leading American journalist in mainland Europe during 1939-40, finally forced out of Germany in December 1940 just ahead of being shot by the Gestapo. And I can't help but compare, do I believe that any journalist today could write something so well written and heavily researched? Help an American removed by an ocean and over 100 years feel like he has a grasp on the Paris of the years before the First World War? nope, I don't think any of the leading American journalists of our time are up for the task.

this isn't to say I agree with everything in there, just to say I can't see Jake Tapper or Anderson Cooper managing to write a 1,000 page volume covering 70 years of political, military, and cultural history of a foreign country drawing conclusions about the long term, medium and short term causes of a major event of our times.

and clearly such a book would not today be a best seller the way Rise and Fall was.

[batboyblog]

[batboyblog]

[batboyblog]

New Teen Titans Boys💖