#and it's weird to me because. the danger in being called cis when you are cis seems minimal...

[uncanny-tranny]

You know, sometimes I see those cis people who are genuinely angry that they aren't "just" men or women, and part of me wants to go, "oh, I empathize with that impulse. I find that many people seem to remind me of my transness in order to both put me in my place, but also almost as a comforting way to pretend like a trans person could never have anything in common with 'normal' people. I find the distinction between trans and cis seems to primarily help cis people, so I can understand why you'd only want to be under the 'man' umbrella."

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for snapping and scaring a kid?

Okay first, some background, I (F20) am a sorta bnf in a fandom I write and draw for and I am a group of roughly 10 other kinda bnfs who do the same and are all 20+.

We all reblog from each other and support each other, and one unique thing we also do is block minors who are open about being minors that we see anywhere and/or that interact with us.

We DM each other their usernames to weed them out of circle even though all of accounts are PG and do not have and dnis or warnings that minors will be blocked. We don't let anyone know we do this, make no posts about it, no warnings, they just get blocked without any exchange.

There's a few reasons why we do this:

to encourage kids to not let their age be publicly know.

to make sure kids are not getting normalized to interacting with strange adults online

kids, to put it kindly, are fucking lame once you become a certain age through no fault of their own. There's nothing in common after a while. They don't understand adult life and can't relate in the same way another adult can, and this is just no good reason for an unrelated strange adult online to let a kid interact with them that's sketchy and weird as shit

I grew up lurking and with strict internet safety lessons. Nowadays, kids seem to not know how to lurk and basic internet safety anymore. I've tried to make post upon post warning them of the dangers of putting personal information, especially their age, online, but it's done nothing to make the minors interacting to act more safely.

But me and my friend group have found that the only way to get kids to lurk and not put their age online like they should is if they get loose access the things they want because of their age is public.

So many of the kids who follow me have been blocked and they realized why they're getting blocked and came back on a much safer lurker account. I know I'm not the asshole for doing this and encouraging others to do this because ultimately it keeps the kid safer.

What I do think I may be the asshole is when one kid in particular, I'll call him X, spent months testing me to figure out and confirm that I was blocking minors who are open about their age and then spent weeks after that threatening to call me out and accused me of being agist, a pedophile because why am I so scared to interact with kids, and lying about being cis-queer because queers wouldn't discriminate like this.

At first he was was just the usual kiddo with his age in his bio, so I blocked him, and while I didn't notice it at first, he kept making more accounts with his age in the bio and following me. I caught on when I was curious about why do many 14 years olds were following me in a row because normally is varied from around 10 to 17, and I noticed similarities across the account and realized it was one kid desperately trying to following me.

I figured I just keep blocking until he figured out how to keep his age offline, and it seemed to work when I got followed by an identical account with the age missing from any posts and the bio. I let him keep following, not interacting because he's 14 and that'd be fucking weird, but then a week into following me on this new ageless account I got a DM.

It was full of screenshots of me blocking him on he openly a minor accounts and then him just accusing of what I said above. I blocked, not caring to respond to a 14 year old, but he keep making burners to DM more and more accusation.

I just kept blocking without responding, not wanting to waste my time, but then he treatened to call me out for being all those things. I've seen first hand how life ruining those accusation and false callouts can be, how people see those accusations and do no research and let their instinctual disgust and fear of those people drive the accused to going offline or even committing suicide.

I did not want this, and the fact that this may become a possibility due to a kid who just couldn't accept not everyone wants known minors following them, made me super pissed off.

And so to "scare him straight" and to prevent him from making this callout post, I photoshopped screenshots of both a police and cyperbulling report being submitted and police thanking me for reporting this and how they'll check it out.

At the time, still being super angry, it was very satisfying to see him come apologizing, saying he'll stop stalking me, and asking for me to tell the police and cyberbulling that it was a fake report and that it's been handled.

I didn't bother responding and just blocked him, and this time, he didn't make another burner. In fact, he deleted all his accounts.

A few months have past, and now that my anger has melted into annoyance, and that annoyance into realization I may have went too far.

X, while annoying, and could have really hurt me with a fake callout, is at the end of the day, 14, still a little kid.

X probably just didn't know better and I could have just tried to talk to him and reason rather then scaring him. I feel especially bad because if he was a POC and/or an abuse victim still living with his abusers he may have and possibility still be fearing for his life. Also it made me look like a bootlicker and I would kill myself before I ever support a cop

So I'm wondering now if I may have been the asshole here for snapping and scaring a kid

What are these acronyms?

[talisidekick]

Thanks for being so compassionate! As someone who's had to defend himself from assault pre transition and assault and attempted trafficking during transition which has contributed to some agoraphobia centered on thoughts like "damn, wasn't safe off T not safe on it", it's been rlly scary seeing ppl shrug off how transmascs are endangered in real life in service of discrediting transandro discourse. Cool seeing who's really real I guess????? anyways hope you're well and warm. Srry about my run on sentence lmao

There is absolutely nothing to apologize for. We only get to see one side publically, and that's pretty much just trans women issues. Media likes to cover just us. I rarely see news stories about just trans men. We don't see the stories about trans men getting stalked or followed around in stores by total strangers, getting attacked in public, rarely a mention if a trans man gets killed. It's happening but you don't see it. You don't see a flood of forum posts about the constant dismissal of, unique brand of hatred around, or the types of dangers faced by trans men.

My introduction to questioning my gender was actually FROM transandrophobia. The reason for this is I've had more of a curvy figure since ... well forever, even though my body was producing T on it's own. I got A LOT of compliments on it by pretty much all my friends (which were mostly girls, and yes that probably should have been a sign but I'm a bit thick sometimes, okay?) because I was "unconventionally sexy" because of it. I'm now remembering I do have a shirtless picture somewhere from before I was on HRT ... I'll work up the nerve to show that at some point to prove that point. Anywho, because of this, a random ass stranger had been following me as I went to grab a few things from a walmart after my shift. It was weird as fuck. Uncomfortably close, constantly looking at me but not what they were pretending to, and I kind of knew this dick was waiting until there was no one in the aisle before pulling something. I'd been mugged before at 14 and 15 so at 24 I was kind of like "I'm not getting stabbed in a damn Walmart" and just made sure to be quick. I got out of the store and met up with some old work friends and just let them know someone was following me and I wanted to wait them out. Props to my friends at the time, they bullseyed the dude (to be fair he wasn't being stealthy) and called him out. And he yelled back "You'll never be a real man" to me. My friends laughed at him because as far as we all knew, I was cis. But this would happen two more times in the same week. A lady would tell me I shouldn't be doing "this" to myself with a full body gesture, and that god "loves" me; and a college colleague flat out dismissed my concerns on something because "only a real man would need to worry about that". It got me wondering if this was a new fad, to hate on someones manliness, and upon looking that up I learned about what exactly transgender meant, the experiences of trans men and women (just a bit on women, my concern was on trans men at the time), and thought it was kind of cool there were people who'd know two sides to the gender spectrum. But it must SUCK to have to go through the bullshit I did and actually be affected by it. Like, no one has any right to tell another man they're less of one.

This whole situation would actually come back to help me 2 years later in finding myself. I'd only really looked up trans men and curiosity mid covid lock down would lead me to look up non-binary and then trans women. However, transandrophobia is how I, a trans woman, got her start. So it boils my blood when I see people talk about T being toxic or trans men having it easier. It shows a complete lack of understanding and a lack of acceptance and willingness to empathize. Trans men and trans mascs have different issues, that doesn't make them lesser, and while those issues may not affect me, it doesn't make it less of my problem to help deal with where I can. I know certain issues I'll have no experience on, no idea how to help, but that doesn't mean I can't still offer to be support. Everyone should be doing the same, and shame on those who aren't.

You deserve equal treatment and support in your fight for it, not dismissal. Those that dismiss the issues of trans men aren't allies, they're transphobes. And fuck transphobes.

[the-delta-quadrant]

"stop treating x group like the enemy" is such a weird way to derail conversations about privilege.

saying that binary trans people have privilege over nonbinary people, or that allo queers have privilege over ace and aro people, or that mono queers have privilege over bi+ people isn't "making people out to be the enemy". that's some bullshit to immediately shut down any real conversation.

but the problem is you all don't even hear us out most of the time when we talk about our specific experiences to know that we don't paint anyone as the enemy.

if you want to talk about "making people out to be the enemy", why don't we talk about binary trans people acting like nonbinary people are the reason why people don't take trans people seriously? or about allo queers creating an entire harassment campaign just to push aces and aros away from the queer community? or about how bi+ women are demonised for being involved with men by lesbian separatists? how bi+ lesbians are framed as dangerous by mono lesbians right now? or how transmascs and transmasculinised people are continuously painted as patriarchal, misogynistic and inherently violent, even by other trans people? or how perisex queers were threatening and harassing intersex people after the intersex progress flag was created? or how queer people consistently try to push out "the weird ones"? but you all don't want to talk about that, because in most of these cases, it means acknowledging you have privilege in some way.

you all are so fragile that you think "you have privilege over me" means "i hate you, you're my enemy and you're responsible for all the oppression i experience", when no one fucking said that. but it's all or nothing, black and white, binary thinking.

it's vital for people to acknowledge the privilege they hold even within their communities because that way we can more effectively work on dismantling the systems that oppress all of us. but by refusing to acknowledge your privilege, you uphold it, and by that you do contribute to further oppression.

i mean fuck. i don't even think nonqueer people are "the enemy". will i complain about the shit i get from nonqueers and others who have privilege over me? absolutely yes. does that mean i think they are the enemy? absolutely not. dismantling the gender binary helps binary trans & cis people. dismantling allosexism helps allos. dismantling monosexism helps monos. dismantling the patriarchy helps cis men.

we have so many allies that i hold dear to my heart, INCLUDING allo queer allies to aces and aros, mono queer allies to bi+ folk, binary trans allies to nonbinary folk. never have i considered them enemies. that's a fucking myth to silence conversations about intracommunity privilege.

i shouldn't have to say "not all binary trans/not all allos/not all monos" for you all to understand that a) yes, ALL of you do have privilege, and b) i'm not talking about you if you're not being allosexist, exorsexist or monosexist.

the enemy is allosexists, exorsexists and monosexists, no matter which identity they hold. heck, some of them are literally ace/aro/nonbinary/bi+ themselves and i'll be the first to call that shit out if you actually looked and weren't too busy being defensive. the enemy is exorsexism, monosexism, heterosexism, cissexism, allosexism, intersexism, misogyny.

no one's said otherwise except fucking radfems. so STOP acting like nonbinary/ace/aro/bi+ people are some new version of radfems for talking about privilege and our unique oppression.

i'll be a fucking nonbinary bi-asexual killjoy. fight me.

[genderkoolaid]

It’s weird because I love my non-binary and genderfucked siblings, I have two friends who have “weird” “cringe” genders and I love them and I think they do gender so well. But I’m scared that by “demolishing” the gender binary, I won’t get to be a binary man anymore. What does that mean? I want people to see me on the street and think “he/him”, I want people to think of me as heterosexual when I show affection to my girlfriend. I want to be a binary man, and I don’t know how to do that in non-binary world

Playing with gender and fucking with it is good and I fully support people doing that. But I do not want to be seen as anything other than Pure 100% man, I have been constantly called “they” as a way to undermine my masculinity and refusal to gender me properly by people who know my pronouns. I don’t want to be seen as anything other than a Man. I want to be associated fully with masculinity, I don’t want to seen as a lesbian, I don’t want to be seen as anything other than a heterosexual man. Not even that I don’t want to be seen as a lesbian, I don’t want to be associated with lesbians. I’m a trans man, I’m a MAN and my attraction to women is heterosexual, and I cannot accept ideas that tell me otherwise because that would cause me to misgender myself, and I’m tired of being seen like that When I say I’m a man I don’t mean “butch boy girl lesbian” etc etc, if someone wants to be that and fuck up everything, I appreciate it, but I feel uncomfortable with them saying they’re a trans man because when I say I’m a trans man I mean a MAN as in binary man

I think its very good that you started this by acknowledging that this is a product of fear and anxiety. Its important to understand that that is where this is coming from.

You are insecure about your manhood. That is not an insult. Its entirely understandable to feel that way, especially as a trans man. There was a post a little while ago where I talked about how trans men can fall into toxic masculinity, not because its a product of being a man, but because trans men more than cis men (solely in terms of gender) have their manhood scrutinized and devalued. Manhood is a rat race & trans men are fucked over from the start, so we have to try 10x harder to be seen as Proper Men. That leads to a constant pressure to perform "proper" masculinity to the fullest extent possible to try and avoid having your manhood discredited, which can be not only emotionally damaging but legitimately dangerous.

But you need to understand, and I say this with love: this is a you problem. It is not other people's responsibility to change how they identify to soothe your insecurity about your manhood. Other people's identity, in fact, means nothing about your own. Someone else using a label you use to represent a different experience does not mean you must also share that experience, or that you cannot use that label to describe your own.

You are, understandably, fearful that your manhood (which is already constantly being scrutinized and attacked), will be further devalued if "trans man" can also mean "lesbian". You share a community and a label with those men and as a result, their genderweirdness feels dangerous. They feel like a threat to your being. This is not dissimilar to how cishet men react to visibly queer men in their communities and families: "how will people think of me, as a man, if they associate me with a man like that? I need to stop him from being a man or make him be a man right in order to protect my own manhood." This is how the patriarchy functions; make every man constantly compete with each other, under the threat of violence if they fail. Its not your fault you feel this way- you are made to feel this way on purpose because of the patriachal panopticon that makes us self-regulate- but it is your responsibility to work on yourself and resist the urge to view other men as a threat to your manhood.

"Bi lesbians" existing does not mean that people will/should assume every lesbian is bisexual, and for men to use bi lesbians as an excuse to harass lesbians is lesbophobic but not the fault of bi lesbians. In the same way, "lesbian trans men" existing does not mean that people will/should assume every trans man is a lesbian, and people using lesbian trans men (or nonbinary people for that matter) as an excuse to misgender straight trans men is transphobic but not the fault of lesbian men. In both cases, lesbians who have felt pressured to be attracted to men and trans men who have felt pressured to be lesbians see this new fusion identity as a threat to their own as a traumatic response. That fear is valid, but we need to understand that its our own fear. Its not their fault that bigots tried to pressure you to be a certain way, and their identity does not mean that those bigots were justified in any way. Other queer people are not the enemy.

If you care about your genderweird friends- and I don't doubt that you do- its important that you recognize where this fear is coming from and take steps to confront & cope with it. I don't like when people use "fragile masculinity" as an insult; fragile masculinity is part of what keeps the patriarchy running, and men with fragile masculinity need the compassion that the patriarchy will not give them. So please know that when I say you are insecure about your masculinity, I'm not saying you are doing a Bad Thing. You have been made to have a fragile masculinity as a way of controlling you, and now you need to work on healing that in order to have productive and healthy relationships with other queer people (and people in general). You can't support other queer people while also viewing them as a threat to your own manhood, even unconsciously. It requires a process of strengthening your identity as a man and not letting anyone or anything make you feel like it can be taken away because you (or someone you are associated with) Did Manhood Wrong.

You might want to check out @gay-otlc. He's a straight trans man who's talked about the issues straight trans men face, while also being supportive of lesbian trans men, and his blog might help you out with dealing with these issues. In general when it comes to identity issues, I think its very important to see and interact with other people of your identity, especially those who are confident and able to confront/cope with bigotry in healthier ways. I wish you the best, anon.

[ancientgreecehistorynerd]

so sorry that this took so long for me to get to! a lot happened in the past few days lol.

So i’m going to start with but daddy I love him. This is a Will song but more of Solangelo through his lens! the overall idea i think of is how will is like the perfect kind healer. most of camp who doesn’t exactly know him just views him as a kinda normal guy when he’s really a lot more complex then that. (and the fact that he’s a nerd lol) “Dutiful daughter, all my plans were laid. Tendrils tucked into a woven braid””There's a lot of people in town that I

Bestow upon my fakest smiles”I think that these lines show off the expectations that will faces at camp as the so called sunshiny doctor. Now onto the main idea of the song as people viewing different people as a stain that will dirty the people they’ve viewed as perfect. and i think that this is what would have happened with nico and will after they revealed they were together (i don’t accept the tsats confession scene and i belive they were secretly together for around a month until then) everyone still thought of nico as that weird dangerous hades kid (and just when they were friends in general.) some people depict it as nico arriving and staying and everyone just automatically loves him when it would take a few months for people to see how good of a person he is, especially with how quiet he is and how “odd” he is (this is because of his autism but that’s for another day.) I feel like some people may have tried to stop will from seeing nico, such as distracting him with tasks or other things because they disapproved of nico “they slammed the door on my whole world” for example. “screaming but daddy i love him!” is a funny example of things will would actually say when defending nico (as he should) people wouldn’t listen to him for a while. also the “i’m having his baby” line is while will can’t have kids (in my hcs he’s cis)(nico isn’t tho 😈) but the principle of it is others thinking a relationship is moving too fast. and with how hopelessly in love nico and will are they would probably think that they’re moving way too quickly when really they just love each other (they said i love you the minute they confessed okay…) “i know he’s crazy but he’s the one i want” will can accept that his boyfriend is a little gremlin sometimes and is proud of it‼️ and “he was chaos he was revelry” personally i don’t think nico is all that chaotic most of the time but i guess the whole secret relationship and how he’s just different from others could be portrayed through that. and how will had only really reacted with the “basic” campers at chb who had personalities sure but they weren’t as much of a mystery as nico was. “Soon enough the elders had convened Down at the city hall "Stay away from her" The saboteurs protested too much

Lord knows the words we never heard Just screeching tires and true love” people were telling them left and right to break up probably 😭 (not nico just will cause they’re scared of nico) but will didn’t listen to them like so many other people who know nico have. letting others opinions shape their opinion of him take percy for example hates his guts but then actually gets to know him and he’s very nice. “I'll tell you something right now I'd rather burn my whole life down Than listen to one more second of all this bitching and moaning” will being pissed over insulting his boyfriend is so real! also instead of listening and breaking up with nico he would rather throw his reputation away and how people think of him to be with nico. “I'll tell you something about my good name It's mine alone to disgrace I don't cater to all these vipers dressed in empath's clothing” people kinda treated will in that era of his life as he couldn’t make his own choices. like he was just being with nico to try and fix him or he was being forced or something lol. when he’s a very smart person who can make choices for himself. “Thinking it can change the beat Of my heart when he touches me And counteract the chemistry And undo the destiny” i just think this line for them is cute hehe “You ain't gotta pray for me” you know. gods. praying. yes. “Me and my wild boy

And all this wild joy If all you want is gray for me Then it's just white noise And it's just my choice” AGAIN WITH PEOPLE NOT REALIZING WILL IS A TEENAGER AND ABLE TO MAKE HIS OWN CHOICES AND HE IS NOT JUST THE CAMPS SUNSHINE ANYMORE AND HAS FREE WILL (haha) “I'm his lady, and oh my God you should see your faces.) very cute way to show how will shoved it in people’s faces when they realized that nico is such a polite and wonderful boyfriend. (especially when they see how nico courted will when they first got together lol) I think this is all i have at the moment so sorry it’s so unorganized i am not good at putting my thoughts into writing! but think of will the next time you listen! :)

[manicpixiedckgirl]

lowkey, one of the hardest parts of transitioning is that i *do* pass a lot of the time. and that's very lonely.

because I pass most of the time, I don't feel like I get to talk about the harder parts of being trans (harassment, discrimination violence, etc.) bc it happens so much less often to me than my sisters. but it still happens - and when it does it's as creepy, as scary and as dangerous as any time some freak decides your existence is a problem.

and i can't talk about my dysphoria - how i think im too big, or weirdly shaped or that my face is too masculine - bc i have girls in my dms calling me their transition goals, and any expression of insecurity or discomfort is met with "well, i WISH i looked like you". and cis women telling me they wish they were as skinny as me when im this way because of a fucking eating disorder!!! and when i bring that up they roll their eyes and tell me that's being a woman, or worse, say they wish they had the "discipline" to also starve themselves.

and i can't talk about the problems i have at work. for the most part my work is very supportive of me, and my coworkers have done their best to 'get it'. in two years I think ive maybe been accidentally misgendered once, and never out of spite or bigotry. but they aren't always good, they have cis ppl blindspots and bigotry, the insurance sucks for trans people, the 'dress code' always seems to have some problem with my outfits, but when it comes up it's just "oh, well you're lucky to work in a 9-5 at all as a trans woman".

and I can't talk about the problems I have with my family either, because I'm free of them, and so many trans people have to constantly deal with unsupportive or actively hostile family environments. but ive been no contact and independent from my family for so long, people forget that i moved across an ocean to get away from them. im lucky to have good people in my life to back me up when things get hard, but I have the most delicate of support structures that could disappear at any time. i don't have any relatives that would help me, even if they could. i don't get to go home for christmas or thanksgiving, i will never taste my mother's cooking again or listen to my uncle's drunkenly sing. ill probably never hug my siblings and cousins again, who are themselves trying to survive being queer in a family that would rather forget them than accept them.

idk. there's a weird middle ground you exist in as a trans woman, both because you are trans and because you are a woman. when you play the part everyone demands of you, you are almost a person - not quite, but nearly. and you are supposed to be grateful for that much. heaven help you if you complain - and no one can, or will, help you if you're not willing to change everything to be who they want you to be.

[a-faggot-with-opinions]

do you realize you can talk about that stuff without being actually transmisogynistic in the process? like calling trans women "those people" (phrasing often used for othering and used demeaningly), mocking being called transmisogynistic, acting like trans men have no axis of power above trans women (because yes, everyone is oppressed, but they are just generally in more danger by default. trans women are always the strawmen conservatives fearmonger about), and generally turning it into a thing of trans men vs trans women.... like you are talking about this in a very fucking weird way and i dont know if its just cuz ur angry or what. but like also are you not able to tell when people are clearly venting on their blog to themselves and their friends about something and are not directly talking about you? turning this into "trans women want to rape me" is actually vile behavior. you ARE in fact being transmisogynistic here. was what they said nice, necessarily? no. but it is not a genuine threat, nor was it actually meant for you. they were clearly joking to their trans masc friends. sometimes you stumble upon people joking in a way that does not mesh with you. that does not mean you need to take it as a personal attack. also you and that other person did the exact same thing you claimed they did (saying trans men will become terfs, etc) by saying theyre all evil racist 4channers etc like... god! just be fucking normal! i thought you hated cis people not other trans people!

I'm about to go to sleep so I won't respond to this anon fully but saying that me getting mad at someone for making a "joke" about raping me and making excuses after that is transmisogynistic is actually really misogynistic. The people involved weren't even trans women, it was transmascs.

It's not your place to tell someone who's been sexually harassed by this guy's followers all day how I should feel about this guy and the other vile shit the people on that thread said about me. This has nothing to do with trans women and you know it. I never said all trans women are racist either. Me getting angry because TRANS MASCS "joked" about raping me has LITERALLY NOTHING TO DO WITH TRANS WOMEN!

[des8pudels8kern]

i'm an international student in germany and i'm really scared for the future of germany. people are getting more and more racist, homophobic, transphobic, islamophobic, everything bad!!! i'm hoping that i can finish my study as soon as possible, and after that i will leave this country

We unfortunately live in interesting times, Nonnie. I think people in Germany are not getting worse, per se, but more polarized. Where ten, twenty years ago, many people would simply not care much one way or the other, these days they do. And, while many have become more open-minded and more educated when it comes to diversity and not just tolerating, but respecting those who are not like them, the ones that are hateful and intolerant are weigh heavier on society. If I am Other in a group of one hundred people that are too indifferent to care one way or another, I might not feel welcome, but I am safe. If I am Other in a group of one hundred people, forty of them indifferent, forty willing to use words to defend me in civil conversations, nineteen muttering to each other how wrong people like me are, and one screaming slurs and hate and threats at me, then that one person will drown out everything else and I won't feel safe.

We've seen that same development in the US, first with the Tea Party, then with MAGA, with Trump. I hope things won't get so dire over here. I hope, as grandchildren and great-grandchildren of the most famous, well-documented fascist regime in history, even the discontent mutterers know better than to let it get that far.

But I don't know. I don't think any of us truly know how we'll react and if we'll have the strength to stand up for what is right and to protect others, if it means putting ourselves in danger.

Growing up aroace in a time pre-internet, when I had no idea that this is a sexual orientation like any other, albeit a small one, rather than something being broken and wrong inside of me, has left its marks. Still, I'm white, cis, and not visibly different. The worst I've been called was weird and a prude. The absence of something is easy for people to overlook and I can "pass" well enough. See above: I might not feel welcome, but am safe enough. Not everybody has that privilege, and these interesting, polarised times are the most threatening and dangerous for those who are clearly, visibly Other. I don't blame anyone for feeling uncomfortable and unsafe. One in a hundred, one in a thousand people openly standing by their hate is enough to feel unsafe.

And, looking at the AfD poll numbers, right-wing protests, and hate comment on the internet, right now, there are a lot more than one in a hundred right now.

Take care of yourself, Nonnie. For now, you are a member of our society, and I welcome you. Make the most with the educational opportunities you have here. Do your best to surround yourself with a community of safe people, one way or the other. And, while I'd love for you to stay (demographic change, skilled worker shortage, and tbh I think the best, safest, healthiest society is a diverse society, because only when there is no one default there will also not be an Other) - you do you. Do what you have to to give yourself the best future possible, wherever that may lead you.

[shutupeiffel]

4, 8, 12 for the bookworm asks?

Thank you for these prompts!

4 - Favourite sci-fi books: This is going to be a very abbreviated list because otherwise i could go on for days but some of my favourites are:

The Wayfarers series by Becky Chambers - hopeful and character driven sci fi that weaves some amazing anthropological world building in and also convinced me after a reading slump that actually I didn't hate books, I just needed to read the right ones

The Locked Tomb series by Tamsyn Muir - there's nothing I can say about these books that hasn't been said by twenty thousand other people. They're amazing, they're the perfect blend of sci-fi/fantasy, go read all three and then suffer with the rest of us in anticipation for book 4

Dreadnought by April Daniels - Trans girl inherits the powers of a superhero, including giving her the perfect body - aka transition speedrun, aka my personal dream. A really interesting look at superheroes and what it would actually be like to be thrust into that world - if you want to know more, The Hidden Bookcase did a great episode on it!

8 - Favourite Queer Fiction Books: Again, too many to count, but here are some highlights

The London Calling series by Alexis Hall - The gay rom com we all deserve. Starts off with fake dating, ends with a book dedicated to the complicated relationship queer people have with marriage and the experience of reaching that weird age where all your friends are getting married and you don't know what to do with yourself. Will make you laugh, sob, then laugh and sob simultaneously

Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters - don't let the title put you off like it nearly did me, this book is not weird TERF stuff. Instead it's an incredibly powerful look at trans experiences, motherhood, loneliness and, yes, detransition. Every character is messy and flawed in a way that trans people - especially trans women - are very rarely allowed to be, and honestly its so refreshing. 10/10, would not recommend to cis people unless they're really chill with trans people.

Infamous by Lex Croucher - Found this in a bookshop for £2.50, took a chance on it since I recognised Croucher from their YouTube days, instantly fell in love. Croucher has an absolute gift for writing complicated female protagonists, deconstructing the 'not like other girls' mindset from within and exploring the dangers of being caught up in that idea of yourself and the kind of superiority complex you get. Also it's Regency and it's lesbians, which are two things almost guaranteed to get me into a book.

12 - Favourite Horror Books:

How To Sell A Haunted House by Grady Hendrix - Absolutely gripping horror - I spent the entire book trying to work out if I was enjoying myself or genuinely terrified, but my god did I finish it. All the best horror is secretly a metaphor for something else, and this one is no difference. There's some amazing explorations of generational trauma and the impact of keeping secrets, even when you don't even know you're keeping said secrets because you've just repressed the memories so incredibly hard. Also - terrifying murder puppets.

A House With Good Bones by T Kingfisher - Apparently I love a creepy house/tale of generational trauma? I found T Kingfisher through her fantasy book Nettle & Bone, so was apprehensive about horror, but this book was amazing. Also has some great Suburban America Horror and a really solid mystery running through, which is absolutely essential for me with horror - I am, at heart, a murder mystery boy who happens to also vibe with ghosts, especially rose based ones

[prettybambifemme]

you realise alot of bi lesbians and mspec lesbians are advocating for lesbians dating and being intimate with men right?

their whose shtick is "well action doesnt mean attraction and back in the 60s bisexual women were called lesbians too and back in the 60s lesbians and gay men used to be intimate with each other all the time so if a lesbian wants to sleep with a man who cares? go for it! do what you want forever!!! even if it means being with a man cos thats sooo queer and different"

you realise how dangerous that is to lesbians, right? not to mention alot of them are weird about trans women, transfems and trans lesbians too

I mean yes, I am fully aware that some mspec lesbians advocate for intimacy with men. I don't agree with that at all, and I'm only okay with the mspec lesbians who don't. Such a generalizing statement could be made about a lot of identities - like how some lesbians advocate for the eradication of transgender people and their rights. I don't agree with those lesbians at all.

I suppose that I am what could be considered an "mspec lesbian" but I really don't feel comfortable defining myself that way, as I feel it's just not really for me. Especially not with the giant stigma around that identity.

I'm attracted to solely women, woman-aligned people, nonbinary/genderqueer people, and multigender people. i.e omnigender, genderfluid, pangender, etc.

I don't experience even slight attraction to men. That's why I feel just lesbian is enough to describe me. I often see people argue that multigender includes men, and while I understand where they're coming from, multigender also encompasses female and/or nonbinary identities. To me it just comes off as you only seeing their male part and nothing else, therefore just invalidating their gender identity as a whole. To some multigender people who don't experience each gender equally, maybe their female, nonbinary or other gender experience outweighs their male identity. The male gender is still there, but their other gender identity or identities are just more prominent.

What I mean when I say I don't support lesbians who date men, I mean cis and trans men. Male-aligned is okay to me, because male-aligned doesn't mean explicitly male. Example, transmasc people or demi boys. They're usually nonbinary identities that only partially fall into the binary of male or female; not wholly.

Hoping this makes sense! <3

[feralattentionwhore]

Get to know the blog:

So apparently my horny posts are something worth following for so I guess I'll do a bio and about me thing that definitely won't turn into a random ADHD ramble about shit

About me

I'm Feral, 19 and I never learnt how to read ✌️

^^ I'm leaving this up because I think it's hilarious but I'm 20 now

Living in the UK but not white

demisexual as fuck, preference for women but honestly I'm more interested in how we vibe than any gender. I tend to identify most with lesbian/sapphic labels because I feel most comfortable in this community.

fuck knows my gender either, I mostly present femme atm but I just identify as *all* I'd say I'm more nb/w or nb/nb & t4t but just in love with queer people in general. I am a girl but I'm also a boy, I'm not cis. You aren't straight if you're attracted to me

Owned, completely and utterly in love, technically poly. I'd rather start off as friends and see how it goes (benefits available if we vibe)

-Dni and more under than the cut-

DNI:

I'm saying this now, I love y'all but minors please get off my page *respectfully*. This includes blank blogs without your age/ age range

Cis men-Age regressors-People who fetishise trans people, s*ssies and cross dressers-Gender/sexuality correction-terfs/homophobes etc-

Oh and PSA this fucking includes people who gatekeep LGBT labels, including but not limited to hating on butch lesbians who transition, nb&he/him lesbians. Just honestly if you aren't accepting of the ✨ENTIRE✨ LGBT+ community and how people choose to identify please leave. No buts no ifs no maybes

How to give attention:

Asks are completely okay, if you want to talk through anon regularly pick an emote and I'll be sure to tag it so they're easy to find. Flirt with me or ask questions, just keep it within my limits please.

Requests are also totally okay along with reblogs of any of my posts. They're always appreciated!

Unless we've interacted before please don't randomly DM me. Mutuals are obviously always welcome to chat, for non moots I prefer asks as I get a lot of anxiety

I tend to check out profiles that reblog/follow so if you want to be moots then that's the way to go

I can't believe I have to say this, but if you're only messaging me to sext or roleplay or whatever you call it you can leave. It makes me uncomfortable, and will most likely make me feel weird about talking to you again in the future. I'm happy to flirt but unless we've talked about it nothing more.

Safe words and talks about boundaries and limits are non negotiable in kink. If you're not respectful of that you're not a dom, if you don't have complete understanding of how this works and expect to engage in anything sexual with someone without doing proper preparation you're practicing unsafe and frankly dangerous kink. Kink is something serious and you need to know what you're doing

I'm demisexual, with a partner and require actual communication before I engage in anything other than flirting. If you're literally only talking to me bc I'm hot or for sex n stuff you're going to be disappointed

I also have a shit tonne of anxiety, so I will disappear if something makes me feel unsafe. If I don't reply, don't make it worse by getting upset. I'm sorry but I really just don't have the energy to deal with things, especially when we don't really vibe.

About ✨whore✨me:

I'm a sub mostly, total bottom and complete mess irl. thought I was ace until this year and basically innocent af (I mean significantly less as of v recently but still fairly shy). Also kinda a hermit so I'm very touch starved.

Short long summary of my kinks.. To be continued..

- Praise and nicknames, specifically cute ones that start with "my"

- Exhibitionism Mostly being uh, fucked in front of people and stuff

- hands and fingersJust god, everything to do with them. In my mouth? Yes, Pulling my hair? Yesss, choking me?? Yesssssssss, hurting tf out of me?? Please

- being manhandled, strength, just be stronger than me and throw me around pls&ty

- being a simp for me and letting me get away with pretty much anything?? Yes

- being controlled and posessiveness Like a lot, like probably more than a healthy amount

- being teased, constantly

- marks.. Just fucking marks feeling owned and having proof of it with collars and stuff

- and also pain, pain and more pain all the hard kinks

- voices, dirty talk, the way they beg, and moan, and call me a good girl, the way their voice drops when they tease me. Everything about voices

- corruption.. 👀 😤

- being free use, letting friends fuuck me, being a whore for everyone. Them sharing my nudes with their friends, them letting their friends fuck me? Yes please

- affectionate domination / soft doms but rough sex

- most of this is just the long way of saying I have a massive kink for my pretty ass girlfriend though.. Just everything about them.. Mostly their hands, and their voice and uh.. Yeah just them

Limits:

-degradation, any way shape or form,I'll most definitely cry. Acting like you don't like me, hurt me because you love me not because you think I'm worthless

- pet play, Ddlg and that kind of vibe aren't for me

- I don't quite know how to explain it but the strict af, black suit and tie, academy / high protocol/training style/straight people bdsm. It's just way too nonpersonal for me and not fun. I prefer messing around and stuff plus my gf looks way better in a skirt

- discipline, punishments and other things that make me think you hate me (see: I'm a big ass baby and sensitive af)

- refering to my uhh *anatomy* just uh it gives me dysphoria like a lot so please don't

- body fluid shit, incest, feet, tickling, hypnosis

- other things that I'm not perticularly comfortable talking about here, you don't need to know unless we're talking

Tags I use:

Yes I'm insanely bad at tagging things, yes I'm trying, no it's not working. If I forget to, just get mad at me in asks or something. I'm sorry ADHD just kind of does that

#feral asks - all asks that I've answered

#feral music - music recommendations because I have a god complex about music

#feral in love - direct posts about my gf/wife/partner/Dom/love of my life

#feral tmi - random personal shit about myself and figuring out my body

#feral reblogs - stuff I reblog, I have a separate account where I keep most of my reblogs but sometimes I can't help it

#needy feral - me begging for attention on Tumblr

#feral exposed - photos of me

#tw feral - depressing shit, mute the tag if you don't want to see that shit

#dark feral - hard kink shit, mute if you'd rather not see it

#feral complaints - shit that bothers me

#feral blogs - thoughts, updates and questions for you all about the blog

[zozoubbb]

okay, some of you guys really need to stop equating legality to justice, specially when talking about queer and trans rights. i mean this in the most light heart way possible, but your country having a president that isnt openly queerphobic doesnt mean you do not have to criticize him and hold him accountable for our issues.

im talking about the situation with my country rn, Brazil, we finally elected a better president after 4 years of that jerk, Jair Bolsonaro. he was an awful president, and extremely lgbtqphobic, the saddest thing is how his extreme right views have perpetued into our culture and there are still a lot of people who genuinely believe he was a great president. because of that, i was genuinely happy when our current president, Lula, got elected, he is somewhat left wing, he isnt a openly queerphobic person, so yay, a win for us.

majority of queer folks have voted for him and are still very positive about him, no problem with being positive, the problem is with doing so and not holding him accountable for our rights, specially trans rights. often times i notice cis queer people are way too comfortable to talk about those issues, this isnt good! and when i talk about his issues, i mean a few laws that have been passed by him and his lack of position on favour of queer people. he has passed a law on ID cards that is quite awful for trans people, and can even put then in dangerous situations, now IDs need to have the sex of a person and not only that but a social name, so, now a trans person has to ressort to putting a social name on their ID and their deadname will still be there. this is not helpful. he also passed a law against the use of gender neutral pronouns in schools, against teaching them, which is weird af. teaching those things can actually be so helpful for students to learn diversity, and it does no harm but to teach, thats why we have portuguese class.

i dont think lula has made the country better for queer people, not yet, for now we really need to hold him accountable. it is awesome to not have a extreme right president who clearly wanted us to go back to 64, but lula isnt perfect and has a lot of issues. ive been thinking a lot about that specially since a video i saw from a trans content creator i follow, It wasnt specifically about this issues but they were answearing a commentary from a cis follower. the person was talking about how he was upset that a trans woman that he knows didnt vote for either lula or bolsonaro, they tried to convice her but she didnt listen and they basically said they were sad that she as a trans women didnt vote to preserve their democracy. then, the content creator i follow -he is pretty cool i will name him here later for any person who speaks portuguese and may be interested: @mathvidalrosa on insta- said something that made me reflect on my views also, he talked about this so called democracy, and how it doesnt feel that way for many trans folks because their identities are marginalized and the legal system doesnt truly cares for them, their lives are at risk and this democracy doesnt care for them. really puts a question about privilege and which issues you plan on talking about, yes homophobia and transphobia is a recurring issue in our culture, but will we rely on the legal system or actually protest against those things?

[the-delta-quadrant]

with privilege comes power, even if it's not much. if you have privilege over people, you automatically have at least some power over them.

binary trans people have binary privilege over nonbinary people (yes, over nonbinary trans men and women too). binary trans people have power because they still dominate trans communities. they regularly use their power to deem us not trans enough and to exclude us from trans community. trans community is one of the most important resources for trans people. so, binary trans people have the power to keep some resources away from nonbinary people. binary trans people have the privilege of being taken seriously more by cis people and other binary trans people, so they have the power to shape the narrative around nonbinary people and either help nonbinary people or throw us under the bus. lots of cis people kinda wanna be allies but not enough to listen to nonbinary people, so they listen to binary trans people and take them at their word because "a good ally listens to the people affected". if the binary trans person is an ally to nonbinary people they will give cis people accurate information. if they're not, they'll either promote the idea that we're binary-lite to cis people or ignore us entirely. thid is especially true if binary trans people have a large platform and a lot of binary trans and cis people listening to them. "follow trans people", but a lot of cis people are really fucking uncomfortable with nonbinary people, so they end up following people like buck angel who do big exorsexisms all the time. cis people are more likely to listen to binary trans people, especially when they say "nonbinary people make us look bad". also, being binary trans (or cis, for that matter) means you have the privilege of not experiencing exorsexism, which in turn means you're more ignorant to exorsexism unless you decide to learn about exorsexism and unlearn your own. you have the power to choose whether to learn about exorsexism and be an ally to nonbinary people or not. nonbinary people don't have the choice to learn about exorsexism. we just live it. binary trans people have some power in contributing to nonbinary oppression. in trans communities, binary trans people also have the power to call other binary trans people in or out about exorsexism because let's be real, if nonbinary people do it, we usually get harassed into oblivion. though lots of binary trans people don't do it. binary trans people have the power to to make trans communities welcoming or unsafe to us, and in a world where nonbinary people have nowhere else to go and these communities are our only refuge, this stuff matters.

and no, this isn't saying that binary trans people have the same power and privilege as cis people. of course they fucking don't.

but i'm tired of people acting like binary trans people aren't a little higher in the gender hierarchy. i just keep seeing people basically saying that there's no privilege or power within the trans community because "we're all oppressed by the patriarchy". yes, we are. so are cis women. none of this undoes the gender hierarchy within the patriarchy though.

cis women are oppressed by the patriarchy too, but none of the people who deny the idea of binary privilege use the same logic for cis women. cis women don't have the same power as cis men, but they still have power over trans people and consistently use it to, for example, exclude trans people from conversations around reproductive justice, but so much more too. can't list every single way cis women abuse their power over trans people. and cis women are more likely to listen to cis women than any trans person, especially when they go "trans people are a danger to me".

it's just weird to see people so happily talk about the privilege of cis women and the power that comes with it but refuse to do it with binary trans people, even if it happens on a much, much smaller scale. it's still significant enough to nonbinary people. you know, the people no one wants to listen to, lol.

yes, it all originates from the patriarchy. but if you have anyone below you in the patriarchy, you have gendered privilege and at least a little bit of power over them. saying "it all only goes back to cis people" doesn't really cut it when a lot of binary trans people are happy to uphold and play into exorsexism. it's a bit oversimplified, like some people claiming it all goes back to cis men when cis women love to be transmisic.

blaming it on the patriarchy as some separate entity feels like just another way to absolve people from the responsibility that comes with privilege and ignores the fact that people who are oppressed by the patriarchy are very much able to uphold it or parts of it, like some binary trans people upholding the gender binary part of the patriarchy.

nonbinary people are allowed to call out binary trans people's oppressive behaviour without being called divisive. don't use the same logic on us that cis feminists use on you when you call them out on transmisia.

[probablynotsamantha]

ngl i hate that most of the responses to things like "you can't have trans women in the women's [insert place where nudity occurs] because a woman might see a penis" is something about how trans women are very private with their changing while being perfectly happy to accept (and indeed often reasserting) that having a dick in a space like that is a transgression that must be skirted around and avoided acknowledging as much as possible.

We don't make cis women do that, and I kinda despise that if/when i would be brave enough to use a women's changing room/locker room/whatever I'd still be subject to additional constraints that don't fall upon cis women. The pool I went to when I was very little had women changing everywhere, women naked in the showers, no dividers between the showers, and by some miracle nothing terrible happened when toddler me was there, not to mention nobody batted an eyelash about that.

I should be allowed to just shower naked without worrying about "oh but someone might see a penis". Big fucking deal. It's a body part. Some women have them. Another common refrain is "Just wait until bottom surgery." Somehow I don't think you'd be any more comfortable with me existing after that, since I'd still have my dick. Having one group being forced to undergo an expensive medical procedure they may not want and comes with an extensive recovery time before gaining "equal" status maybe doesn't seem terribly ethical.

It's frustrating to see the general consensus on this issue being that you absolutely cannot change in the presence of cis women, not because they might react poorly (though this is my main reason for not doing so) but because it would be unconscionable for a cis woman to have to see a dick and anyone "making" her do so would clearly be in the wrong (and i've even heard some people say that it should be considered a sex crime). It doesn't make remote sense to me that someone is responsible for someone else, in a space where nudity is expected, looking at them naked and being offended.

It makes it hard for me to truly accept someone as a trans ally when they say or believe or accept stuff like this. They're the type who are all for trans people, until it's slightly inconvenient. That's not allyship, that's posturing. If this whole mess of a post made you uncomfortable (on the off chance that anyone but a few mutuals read this), think about why that is. I'm genuinely curious why people think this, because it's never been a view i've held, but I can't come up with any worth holding onto (all i've got is thinking trans women are dangerous because of the risk of sexual assault, some puritanical bs about genitals and nudity being inherently sexual, some weird attachment to the gender binary, or "think of the children", which as mentioned above, doesn't make any sense because kids routinely go into locker rooms that don't correspond to their gender).

What's even more frustrating are the trans people who think I'm ruining things for them because I'm the scary type of trans people that they're nothing like. I had the gall to ask on r/MtF a couple years ago about locker room etiquette and someone told me I shouldn't even think about locker rooms until after I've had bottom surgery. It's a surprisingly common attitude that we shouldn't talk about this sort of thing because it plays into the narrative of trans women as predators, and instead of treating that assertion as the ridiculous argument it is, we're supposed to carefully tiptoe around everywhere to avoid doing anything that could conceivably be misconstrued as predatory, and guess what? We're still being called predators anyway. Almost like it wasn't a legitimate concern and just a scare tactic.

[nellie-elizabeth]

Grey's Anatomy: Shadow of Your Love/Mama Who Bore Me (19x14/15)

Lots to talk about, in these two episodes!

Cons:

So, I'm going to keep a close eye on how this story goes with Jo and Link and Luna. The thing is, so far technically speaking nothing about it makes me angry. It is totally fair and reasonable that a mother would have a hard time processing a big and scary change for her young daughter. And Grey's is usually good about this kind of thing, so... I just hope they have an actual Deaf consultant come on to coach about this story-line? I hope they go into the controversies and dangers around a CI if that becomes something Jo considers for her kid? I hope we get an awesome story of Jo and Luna and Link and Scout learning ASL so they can all communicate better. I just... don't want this to turn into an abject tragedy where Luna losing her hearing is the same as if she'd gotten cancer or something. There's a lot to celebrate from becoming Deaf, and it would be cool if the show could explore that aspect of things! We'll see how it goes. (Also, repeating my constant critique that Jo and Link bore and annoy me as a potential couple, I just really wish we'd never gone that route at all.)

Amelia and Kai... I don't know. Does this just feel a little lazy, a little proscribed, to anybody else? Amelia correctly identifies that she tends to lash out and behave poorly when she feels she's being abandoned, then she learns Kai is leaving to go to London, and she immediately starts behaving poorly. I was on Kai's side in the sense that they pointed out that Amelia hadn't even stopped to congratulate them on this big job opportunity. That's some bullshit. But also, this episode reminded us why this relationship was always going to be doomed... Amelia has a kid. Amelia is a mother. Kai wants nothing to do with that. What sort of future were they supposed to have if Amelia is literally supposed to be splitting her time between her partner and her child? It's ridiculous.

And to round out the relationship trouble segment, there's Maggie and Winston. So here's where we leave them: Maggie going to Chicago, Winston staying in Seattle. Both of them acknowledging their love for one another, but that they need to stay where they are for the benefit of their career. It's just... ugh. Last week I was rolling my eyes at the forced metaphor between Maggie and the bull-riding girl. Here we get it with a high-powered lawyer just starting off on her career, who learns that she has breast cancer. Maggie is all "you being passionate about your job is a good and beautiful thing, don't let anybody tell you different" and it's just like... yeah, okay, we get it. But the whole message here that Maggie isn't like Ellis, because on top of her ambition she also has kindness and love... it just felt very told to me, instead of shown to me. Maggie acts like leaving to go to Chicago is the only way to pursue her ambitious career, and that to do anything different would be to stifle her own sense of self. That dichotomy feels super forced to me. It's not like she couldn't find career advancement in Seattle if she wanted to.

Oh, and a couple other relationship things to throw into the mix: Teddy and Owen did a weird flirty routine this week and while it's more palatable than watching them fight, I'm still not on board with their nonsense in general. And then there's Simone, who is trying to convince herself (and Jules) that getting married is the right choice, while she and Lucas are still obviously smitten with each other. It's kind of tedious at this point, and I think part of it is that Trey, Simone's fiancé, isn't even around so we can understand how that dynamic is supposed to go.

Pros:

Bailey this week is having to deal with increasing harassment from pro-life assholes who not only keep calling her phone, but also send a picture of Tuck at his school. It's this specific threat that has Bailey changing her phone number and moving the family into a rental for a while, hoping that things will cool down. I wonder where this story is going to lead! It's super tense.

It also gives us a chance to hang out with Pru, who Bailey keeps with her at the hospital out of precaution, and then pawns off on Lucas when she has a surgery. That's one adorable kid, all the stuff with Pru really made me smile. And while Lucas and Simone's romance stuff is tedious, seeing him care for that little girl really did a lot to endear me to his character!

Simone, too, got a moment that made me emotional. When she breaks the news to a patient that she has breast cancer, the patient freaks out and says: "I don't know what to do" and Simone simply says "I do." That was really touching to me, it felt very much in line with my own personality. If something bad happened to me and a kind stranger could tell me they'd handle it... what a gift!

Yasuda and Kwan got into the beginnings of a feud when Kwan swooped in on a surgery, taking advantage of the fact that Mika overslept. I like this, because it feels like the kind of ruthless behavior we would have gotten from our original cast of intern characters. Yasuda is going to need to figure out a work/life balance that allows her to make money and also stay on her feet at work. And Kwan may realize at some point that he needs allies and he hasn't done such a good job of making them.

Schmitt had another lovely plot thread this week where he's wondering what he should specialize in, is chastised by Richard for being behind, but then ends up spending the episode connecting with a Jewish patient and helping to give him and his great-grandfather a bar mitzvah in the hospital. Richard, who was in a bad mood earlier because of Maggie leaving, encourages Schmitt to maybe consider working with kids. I loved this little moment, and seeing the double bar mitzvah really warmed my heart.

Speaking of Richard: while I am ultimately still frustrated and underwhelmed with Maggie's exit from the show, the moment at the end with Richard was really, really sweet. He gives her a mini bench that works as a business card holder, but that's also a miniature of the bench where he first found out he had a daughter. He says his life forever changed at that moment. I legitimately cried. And then Maggie gets into the elevator, and we see her two moms: biological and adoptive, both there with her, ready to see her into her future. As frustrating as the build to this moment was, I thought the actual execution moment was done so beautifully. Why is it that Maggie's exit from the show was more grand and sentimental than Meredith's? Sigh.

I think it's encouraging that most of the "pros" section is newer characters, like Schmitt and our five new interns. And now that Maggie is gone, which I am ultimately sad about, maybe Winston will have interesting story-lines too. There are still a lot of enjoyable elements to this show, and reasons to keep checking back in.

7/10