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I support the "fiction isn't real so nothing matters" mindset but tbf at a certain point it can tip over into "the curtains are just blue" territory

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flash and timber going as achilles and patroclus for halloween

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i just don't think that people should have to disclose their deepest and most life-ruining traumas as a requirement to write about sensitive topics

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every person ive ever suggested to that going through your partners phone not only invades their privacy but also the privacy of all the people who have possibly texted very personal things to them have acted like they genuinely never thought of that before

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timber asking for a single check after dinner, confident the waiter will put it in front of him, just for them to put it in front of flash

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shit ton of people are repeating the thing about hayao miyazaki saying AI art is an "insult to life itself" and just as a reminder he was talking about the zombies that team made that were intended to be scary in how much they shook, but instead reminded him of his disabled friend. the insult to life itself was referring to the team trying to make scary real symptoms that people live with.

it was a quote about ableism. if he has said other things about AI type stuff, that is a different thing. but that specific quote was about ableism.

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timber being all talk no action and scared that it would put people off and yet that's one of the reasons why flash likes him so much send post

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Yeah

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Drawing fat characters will make you a better artist, btw. Unironically, once you know how, you will not want to go back

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See you Friday, Rainbooms...

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Reminder that TERF rhetoric doesn't start with "we have a raging and irrational hatred for half the human population based on biochemical characteristics, just like literal fascists," it starts with more rational sounding statements that place you in the role of victimhood and gain your sympathy.

"Testosterone causes dominance and aggression."

"Not all men, but we can't tell which men so we must assume all men are predators."

"Even men you know could secretly be predators."

"We don't want men in women's restrooms."

"It's unfair for AMAB people to compete in women's sports, they have a physical advantage."

These are all relatively accepted points among central and even liberal circles of women. They sound like they are logically sound and only concerned with protecting women from harm.

Until...

Testosterone does not cause aggression. That's bioessentialism, which is bad science.

Fear mongering works to separate you and "others" into groups; us vs them, you're put on the defensive. Assumptions about gender essentialism are shown to widen the gap in so-called gender-based behaviors. Not only that, they actively increase hostility towards trans individuals.

Men are not slaves to their biochemistry or gender identities. Studies show that young boys given education on relationships and consent don't go on to be perpetrators of DV and sexual assault.

Additionally, intimate partner violence is reciprocal far more often than reported due to the fact that men are unlikely to report abuse. DV is not a problem of gender--it is a learned behavior.

Arguments about "men" in women's spaces is not about cis men--it is a dogwhistle for transphobia.

Trans feminine individuals on HRT experience a decrease in Hgb/HCT levels to equal that of cisgender women, as well as lose muscle mass, which steadily declines beyond 3 years on HRT. They also show no difference in V02 peak to cis women.

Additionally, there is no rationale behind using trans people as a whipping dog in discussions of gender.

"Almost half of all transgender people have been discriminated against in hiring or firing decisions and more than 40 percent have experienced workplace harassment because they are transgender." This is comparable to rates of sexism that cis women experience in the workplace.

Trans women were paid 60 cents for every $1 earned by the average American worker, compared to the 84 cents earned by cis women.

Trans people face significant barriers to accessing sexual, reproductive, and general healthcare.

Trans people face 4x the rate of violent crime as cis people (including cis women).

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Made a little something on slur reclamation.

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i hate this weird trend in fandom where subtext is seen as a Bad Thing and is only done if the creators are too cowardly to commit to showing something. i hate to break it to you but nuance and layers are what make stories interesting, if you have no subtext then you have a very flat story

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Merry Christmas, this took longer than I wanted to

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Solstice thinking that he was a vampire is pretty queercoded (his father hating that he's in theater, Solstice feeling like a monster, the younger generation understanding magic more/having the word demon, blood-sucker being a derogatory term).

Vampires, monsters, and magic all have a really long history of being queercoded, and characters don't have to be LGBT+ to be queercoded.

If you don’t agree with any of this, it's completely fine. I just think that it's cool either way (a straight character with a lot of queercoding, or Solstice potentially being LGBT+).

I'm so, so happy that someone finally pointed this out and you win the prize: you're the first person I've seen say it!!!

There's a rich history of vampirism in fiction as a metaphor for queerness. Creatures of the night that need to suck on people's necks to "turn" them. With Solstice associating that with magic, you can see the connection between what magic represents in this world

Solstice is absolutely queer-coded, for all the reasons you've said and more. He's very dramatic - and was even more so in his teenage years where he had a huge love of theater and the stage.

I also love that you caught onto the fact that Solstice is thrilled with the younger generation of queer folk/magic-users. He sees them as more accepting, a more open community. He never had that, but he admires them for it so much. And YES! The fact that they've developed language for it is particularly important! Imagine living your life not knowing what it was to be trans or ace or bi for several decades, then finding out the generation below you accepts it so much they have a word for your experience.

And yeah, "blood-sucker" as a derogatory term was a fun joke for exactly the reason you pointed out.

To confirm what he is: Solstice is actually bisexual! He's our bi-con! Or, one of them, anyway.

I really don't remember when he mentions this - it might be in something that hasn't been released yet, but he had a boyfriend in college. That relationship didn't end well, but he never saw it as a phase.

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adults: oh silly children with no responsibilities no real trauma no life experience no worries and yet oh so dramatic about nothing

also adults: oh thank fucking GOD i am not in school anymore, i had another nightmare i was THERE again, i woke up in a cold sweat bc i didn't study for my TEST-there's nothing not anything like the sweet relief of realizing that you actually don't have one and you won't have one in a very very long time, i still remember what the hallways smell like, i graduated years ago but i don't feel safe yet

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if u feel the first cramp and think "i dont need a painkiller yet, itll pass" ? that the devil speaking, take that painkiller immediately