#and the pushback on that was VERY telling

[a-witches-riddle]

I really love how y’all have just kinda accepted that I’m your Captain now. Like it just sorta happened, and I’m not complaining, honestly. I’m truly blessed and honored to take upon the responsibility of being y’alls Captain! And I am honored to have you all as my crew…. Here’s to sailing a very gay and very merry voyage together my fellow trans sailors!!! 💙🏴‍☠️

even though a lot of you are cute submissive girlies that’ll let an older women tell you to do anything, so i guess there was no pushback on me being captain cx

[the-owl-tree]

every time i see a younger fan wish they were part of the earlier fandom i think about how horribly homophobic and transphobic early 2010s fandom was and how insanely misogynistic the 2015-2018 era got. it's always sucked, but it's also improved. fandom is like ouroboros.

[stuffyflowers]

Ok final airing of grievances (maybe.)

Alphys and ceroba haters also r both obsessed with the idea that neither of them were punished enough for their mistakes/were forgiven too quickly and it drives me crazy. Haven’t they suffered enough. What would be gained from having a scene where their closest friends berate them for being stupid idiots or whatever you’re imagining. Genuinely.

[yuridovewing]

thinking…

[cuntwrap--supreme]

What is it about me that makes old white men think I'm a conservative? I need to know so I can change that.

[butch-errant]

"biologically female-brained" "biological women are naturally more literate"

Introduction to sociolinguistics is already off to a great start

[knightotoc]

Did a big art favor for a local group and now the guy is sending me confusing messages about AI art. Nightmare scenario. Never do favors for anyone

[redladydeath]

I recently came to the realization that a lot of the "you need to make a snap decision about this person/topic/thing NOW or else you're a bad person" sentiment pervades certain corners of the internet is pretty con artist-y. Raising the emotional stakes unnecessarily high, telling you that doubt/questioning things is a personal failing– they're tactics to get you to do what they want. Online, it tends to be for pretty low-stakes things like attention or validation or clout, and I'm sure most people who do it don't intend to be manipulative, but it's a dangerous and toxic way of thinking, and I think a lot of us have become easier to manipulate because we've gotten so used to it.

[football-in-tuxedos]

What's distressing, but also important to understand, about JK Rowling hitting the "Denying trans people were targeted in the Holocaust" point is that it's kind of the last stop before she just goes full alt-right weirdo.

Joanne is denying the Holocaust (if a group was targeted, denying they were targeted is Holocaust denial) and that's going to lead to pushback from historians and experts. But Joanne is too deep in to believe what anyone who disagrees with her says, so she's just going to dismiss what those historians and experts tell her. And once she's disbelieving them about that one thing, well it's just a tiny step to start disbelieving them about other things.

This isn't by accident either, transphobic circles are swarming with far right agitators, ready to use hatred of trans people as an in to recruit people into their causes. They have handbooks for this sort of thing and they are, unfortunately, good at it. I suspect Joanne will be spouting coded versions of Great Replacement stuff by the end of the summer.

This is not a plea to try and pull Joanne out. She's too deep in, and even if she wasn't, she's already demonstrated an inability to examine her own prejudices, an unwillingness to hear criticism and a weakness to flattery. She is perfect recruitment bait for people who know what they're doing, and my impression is she's surrounded herself with people like that.

No, this is to understand two things: First is to use her as an example, to understand how a well meaning liberal can chase their own prejudices down a very dark rabbit hole. We are none of us immune to propaganda and even if we can't change what's happened to her, we can at least use it to protect ourselves.

And second is to understand that one of the main reasons you can't pull Joanne out of the transphobic pipeline is cause she is the pipeline now. She is the transphobic banner bearer now, she is funneling money and attention to these groups, she is their most famous celebrity and she is helping recruit people. Being able to show people how far she's gone, how deep into the right wing rabbit hole she's going, is important to help other people who still think she just "Had some concerns" know where her path leads.

[audristarzz]

KOSA PASSES SENATE 7/30/24

Kosa has unfortunately passed the Senate on a 91-3 vote. I want this to be clear, It’s not going into effect, it still has to get to the House but I believe there will be a break for the month of August which gives us A WHOLE MONTH!! to call your HOUSE representatives and tell them to vote NO on Kosa. It’s not over yet so many people told their senators and representatives that they didn’t want KOSA. We can do it again, PLEASE do not panic and give up!! I know it’s scary I’m very scared right now myself but if we go silent that’s how it’s going to pass the House and get signed to the president. Let’s try to stop that from happening!!!

Call your house representatives!!!!there is more opposition in the House, we can stop it. BLOW UP THEIR PHONES!! edit: hi everyone!! I’ve made a change to the way I worded this post, I would like to apologize about the confusion I may have caused. When I had meant by “barley passed the Senate” i meant it as a way of saying how so many people voiced their concerns for so long (I first ever found out about Kosa on 7/19/23) which lead it just now getting to the Senate floor for a vote due to the pushback and feedback they had gotten. I apologize if 1. I had confused anyone and 2. If I did not word this right lmao :,) keep calling you’re all doing great!! - audri⭐️

[sammydem0n64]

I theoretically could add Acly and Bluri's parents since I found flavors for them. But do I REALLY need to?

[fairuzfan]

The thing that's never made sense to me is the "Holocaust inversion" talking point and the idea that we are "moralizing" the Holocaust as something you're supposed to learn from which like aside from the fact that israel's entire pr is that it needs to exist because of the Holocaust, I really don't understand how feeling empathy based on past experiences is like... a moralizing action?

Even those who don't feel empathy, they still like... have the universal idea that you shouldn't do bad things onto other people. When you consider that yeah, when you live in the world, you experience terrible things and you relate those terrible things to other terrible things happening in the world. That's just what everyone does. Whenever I hear things happening to indigenous Turtle Islanders I always relate it back to Palestine. When I hear about violence happening to Black people, I think "Ah it must be terrifying" and I think back to my own family members and friends who were killed by Israel. When i think of antiBlackness in arab spaces, i relate it back to the occupation and compare myself to the occupation on whether or not im inflicting the same pain i and my family endure onto others. It's just how you experience the world. No one is asking you to "learn" from the Holocaust, people are just asking you to apply empathy.

A universal example is that you don't really understand the grief of losing a loved one until you yourself lose a loved one. And when you encounter a person who lost a loved one as well, you relate to them in a unique way that you wouldn't have without having that experience of grief before. It's not a moralizing experience, it's just... an experience. An awful one but you don't *learn* anything from it.

So it always confounds me that there's such vehement pushback against the idea that what Palestinians are going through is similar to the Holocaust because it's not like we're making light of the Holocaust? It's that we are asking you, a zionist (in this case one who is Jewish specifically), to acknowledge that there are similarities between the way Palestinians are treated and the ways Jews, Roma, and multiple other people were treated during the Holocaust. It's that we're relegated to second class status, we are considered lesser, we are confined to ghettos, we have our livelihoods stolen from us, we have weapons tested on us, we're survielled like we are dangerous monsters and we experience systematic segregation. And now we are experiencing mass slaughter campaigns within our concentration camps. But what's the issue? Are you offended that Palestinians can even remotely understand the terrible violence that Jews experienced in the Holocaust? Or are you denying that Palestinians are experiencing those things??

People always bring up like "Oh you don't understand what exactly happened during the Holocaust, you're just using it as a stand in for "a very bad thing"" and that's like... never made sense either because what does that mean? I'm not... using the Holocaust out of nowhere, I'm using it because Israel tells US, PALESTINIANS, that we need to be kicked out and raped and tortured *because* of the Holocaust. When us, Palestinians, ask you to feel empathy for us based on what you experienced during the Holocaust, we aren't just pulling it out of thin air, we are using a zionist talking point and pointing out the flaws. "Does experiencing a Holocaust allow you to conduct massacres and unbelievable violence onto other people?" and "Why are we paying for the terrible crimes of Europeans? Why is this our fault that we must suffer for it, as you, a zionist, insist we must?"

It's just so confusing how people would take offense at feeling empathy for Palestinians. We aren't denying the awful, awful genocide of the Holocaust, nor are we "making light of it..." but if you believe that comparing what Palestinians go through is making light of the Holocaust, then you must think that what we are going through is not bad at all.

[karlachian]

come here. no come close to me. do you honestly and fully believe. wyll ravengard the blade of frontiers. has any qualms or fears about fighting things he deems necessary to be fought. i feel like i’m crazy sometimes “wyll wouldn’t do violence he’d give everyone a very stern talking to though” but it’s about fucking goblins or devils and not the tiefling children like WYLL??? STRONG FAST AND RIGHTEOUS WYLL????? what do you think he was doing in those frontiers for 7 years. frolicking????? he loves righteous violence he thinks it’s a display of tenacity and determination or whatever. hero stuff. and like tangential but. see when i say wyll is fighting literal devils inside his head i do mean literal devils. wyll isn’t ever shimmying around mizora groveling for mercy he like tells her to fuck off all the time even AFTER SHE DRAGS HIM THROUGH THE NINE HELLS. that freak of a white woman could make him a lemure whenever she wants wyll does not give a fuck he hates her ass. there’s something wrong with him in his brain for sure but lack of truly insane levels of confidence when it comes to Morally Justified Violence and Pushback is not a problem he is facing. okay post over go home

[jonathanrogersartist]

How 'The Acolyte' Disappointed Me, and Why the Themes of 'Star Wars' Matter

Someone recently commented on my 'On the Dark Side, the Jedi and the Moral Decay of Star Wars' essay with these words: 

"A lot of words for saying 'I don't like the newer media, but I won't get into specifics as to why.'"

Okay! I shall then finally clarify those specifics....

That first essay has, so far, been my biggest success on this blog, and it's attracted a number of interesting responses. Full disclosure: I wrote that fresh off the heels of feeling depressed over how the Acolyte ended, and after reading/listening to several of Leslye Headland's interviews, where she went into great detail about her ideas behind the show's choices, the themes she's trying to get across, and what personal baggage she brings to Star Wars. 

Why was I depressed?

Because the show's finale ended with the deeply problematic implication that Osha, by killing Sol and joining Qimir, has achieved true self-actualization. As Leslye herself put it, it's a 'positive corruption arc.' Interesting way to phrase it. 

Furthermore, Vernestra's actions that frame Sol for several murders, all to protect her own reputation, and to avoid oversight by the Senate, confirmed one of the things that I was really worried this show would do as soon as we began learning plot details, which is that it's leaning into this very persistent edgelord take that the Jedi are actually big ol' bastards not worth seeing as heroes. 

It's the Dave Filoni gospel of the Jedi Order as a morally broken and fundamentally hypocritical institution, a decaying monument to religious hubris, who brought about their own destruction with their arrogance and so-called rejection of emotion making them lack empathy. 

This is, as many of my followers know already, a giant misreading of George's storyline in the prequels, and what he was actually telling us about the Jedi's philosophy and code. And in my experience, it gets us some vicious pushback when we try to inform fans of it, even if we back it up with proof of George's words. 

George really did intend the Jedi to be the ultimate example of what a brave, wise, and all-loving hero should be, and are very specifically inspired by Buddhist monks. They do not 'repress emotions': they learn to regulate their emotions, so as to not let the negative ones feed the Dark Side, and they have the moral fortitude to focus on their spiritual duty. They're professionals that have dedicated themselves to a higher calling, and who still feel and display the same emotions we all feel, unless I watched very different movies from everyone else. We see that Jedi characters can still crack jokes, cry when they are sad, become scared or anxious, feel strong love and loyalty to their peers, and can even be righteously angry in some situations BUT always knowing when to pull back.

The Jedi of the prequels were victims of manipulation by Palpatine, and were caught in between a rock-and-a-hard-place with the Clone War, and they were ultimately destroyed not by their own actions, but by the treachery of Anakin Skywalker, who failed to overcome his own flaws because he refused to really follow the Jedi teachings, and was gaslit by Palpatine for decades on top of that. 

Leslye's take on Star Wars, based on how she wrote the story of the Acolyte, is that "yup, the Jedi were doomed to destroy themselves by being hypocritical and tone-deaf space cops," and she also outright compared them to the Catholic Church (this reeks of Western bias and misunderstanding of Eastern religions). The one that really stunned me, was when she said she designed Qimir to be her own mouthpiece for the experience of being queer and suppressed, who isn't allowed to just be her authentic self in a restrictive world. Which, to me, implies that Leslye wanted to depict the Dark Side as actually a misunderstood path to self-actualization that the Jedi, in keeping with their dogma of repressing emotions, only smear as 'evil.' 

Let me remind you all: Qimir is officially referred to as a Sith Lord, by Manny Jacinto, by Leslye, etc. And what are the Sith, exactly? 

Space fascists. Intergalactic superpowered terrorists. Dark wizard Nazi-coded wannabe dictators, whose ideology is of might-makes-right, survival of the fittest, and the pursuit of power for power's sake. To depict followers of this creed as an analogy for marginalized people who have literally been targeted and murdered throughout history BY the real-life inspirations for the Sith.... I find revolting and tone-deaf by Leslye. 

SO.... seeing how that show ended, and reading up on how Leslye intended it to be interpreted (Osha's 'triumph' over the 'toxic paternalism' of Sol/the Jedi in general), really put me in a funk, because deep down, I could just sense that this was not at all compatible with the ethos of Star Wars. It made me go on a deep-dive into the BTS of the writing of the prequels and George's ideas about the Jedi, and it's how I discovered the truth that Dave Filoni has been pretty egregiously misrepresenting George's themes for several years now, usurping George's words with his own personal fanfic about the motivations of characters like Anakin, or Qui-Gon, or the Jedi Council, etc. 

His influence on the franchise has caused this completely baseless take on the Jedi to become so widespread as to rewrite history for modern fans. Who are utterly convinced now that this anti-Jedi messaging WAS George's vision all along, and they get real mad at you if you show them actual proof of that being a lie. 

And the Acolyte is perpetuating this twisting of the very core of Star Wars. This is what I meant by the 'moral decay of Star Wars.' 

The Star Wars saga was made by George Lucas in 1977 to accomplish these specific tasks: 

To remind people of what it really means to be good.

What evil actually looks like, and how it comes from our fears and greed.

To teach kids how to grow up and choose the right path that will make them loving, brave, honest people that stand up to tyrants.

To give the world a story that returns to classic mythological motifs and is fundamentally idealistic, to defy the uptick in cynical and nihilistic storytelling after the scandals of Vietnam and Watergate broke Americans' belief in there being such a thing as actual heroes anymore. 

THAT is the soul of Star Wars. That is what George meant for this remarkably creative universe to say with its storytelling. But I sincerely think that what the Acolyte told, was that morality is relative, the heroes of this saga are actually bastards, the fascist death-cult is misunderstood, and a young woman being gaslit into joining said death-cult is a triumphant girlboss moment. When it actually comes across as the tragedy of a broken person choosing the wrong path that will only make her miserable, full of hatred and powerlust, and hurt innocent people along the way. 

The Acolyte betrayed one of George's most critical lessons: that the Dark Side ruins people, and if you want to truly become your best self, you must choose the path of Light, and the Jedi are the ones who have best mastered that path. So if the future of Star Wars is to continue framing the Jedi and their teachings as some corrupt and immoral system that is making the galaxy worse, then I would rather stick to rewatching the classic scripture of Episode 1-6. George wrote a complete and satisfying story, that is thematically consistent, and in my opinion should have been allowed to rest. 

I will not hate on new fans that love the new material, but I will pity them if they really think any of this is actually faithful to George's vision (they may very well simply not care, either, which troubles me too), and I am afraid of a show like Acolyte teaching young people to see the Jedi's philosophy as wrong, and the Sith as having a point. 

(P.S. I have a moral duty to clarify this, given the discourse around the show: No, this is not a problem with 'wokeness,' or diversity, or representation; that side of the fandom is very sick in the head and not to be taken seriously. 

It's a problem with Leslye's themes and tastes as a storyteller, being fundamentally against the ethos of Star Wars and how it soured the entire show in hindsight for me... a show that I was actually really liking, before the finale dropped its thematic nuke.)

[greyhoundone]

Some things I found interesting from Rachel Talalay's live commentary of Heaven Sent at Chicago TARDIS:

- The story was originally set in a haunted house with weeping angels.

- Sometimes a single line would be shot across a mix of three locations: two actual castles and a set.

- The script was clear that the castle should have no interior lighting except for the fireplace where The Doctor dries their clothes. Rachel got some pushback from the crew on a shaft of light coming at an angle from outside, asking where the light came from. Her response was, "It doesn't have to come from anywhere. It comes from 'It looks good.'"

- Rachel worked to give more of a horror vibe to certain scenes. She did things like add a spooky wind, have Peter play the tone more for horror, and even consult with Murray Gold to keep the tone consistent. She also pushed for a “creepy garden” as opposed to the formal garden Moffat had scripted.

- Jenna wasn’t available for most of the shots where Clara is writing on the TARDIS chalkboards. They originally used a double, but the double was too obviously not Jenna. It was actually the person who did the colour grading who found other usable shots of Jenna from behind and put them in the final episode.

- Everyone was very worried about Peter hurting his hand punching the wall, especially since he had hurt his hand punching the TARDIS console in "Death in Heaven." They were going to have Peter just fake the punch and get a stunt person for close-ups, but Peter insisted on doing the punches himself because of the importance of the moment for his character. Rachel agreed on the condition that, "If you hurt yourself, you're the one who tells your wife." (He did not hurt himself again.)

- When the Doctor burns themselves and their hand dissolves away to nothing, the hand was sculpted out of Lush bath bombs. Rachel had the idea and suggested it as a cost-effective solution. So they just sculpted Peter's hand out of bath bombs and poured some water on it.

- When the Doctor breaks through the wall and the Veil collapses, the collapse was achieved by filling the Veil costume with helium balloons and then popping them.

[trapastrology]

Astro Observations W/ Aris

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

7H Uranus in a solar return chart doesn't always mean that a romantic relationship will end. It can be a close friendship/best friend, business partner,etc.

1H Venus in solar return-putting more effort into your looks. This is considered to be a "glow up" year. This is the year where you find your signature style, makeup, scent, etc. I'd consider this to be the best dressed year. Could also change hair color or style. Cosmetic procedures happen here as well.

North Node in Pisces tend to benefit more from having an assistant or help in general. Pisces South Nodes tend to want/get too much help when they need to be more self-sufficient.

11H Liliths are HEAVLY prone to having ppl around them who hate them (esp friends) and don't realize. These are the ppl we see who usually get set up by their "friends" or someone close to them. Look to your lilith sign as well. If your Lilith is in an air sign, watch out for envy in air signs.

For my ppl with majority of their placements in the 2H & 3H tend to be "blind" to themselves. Whether it's their faults or great things about themselves, they can't seem to see it until someone else points it out and then they finally realize it.

2H Pluto/Scorpio 2H- shouldn't verbalize to anyone who much they make. Don't say whether you're doing bad or good financially either. A lot of jealousy and envy will arise from telling the wrong person which will affect your money and stability terribly.

3H Nessus- Usually experience intense trauma or bullying in elementary, with siblings and thru words. They usually write or speak about their pain that usually ends up helping other ppl tremendously. These are the type of ppl who make music or write poetry that helps other ppl get thru hard times. However, due to a lot of bullying and being spoken down to, communication ends up being one of their biggest issues and this can manifest in many different ways

When you get criticism or pushback from doing North Node things, that's how you know you're going into the right direction sometimes. For instance, a 4H NN may get told that they need to focus on their career path instead of creating a family. (Full post on this coming very soon!)

Use your moon on a bad day to help regulate your emotions. Look towards positive aspects

5H Aries Moon- make a creative art project alone.

Sextile 3H Chiron-write about what's bothering me.

Make a playlist with artists who have your NN sign as their dom personal placements & those whose plmts fall into the same house as ur NN. This will evoke that North Node energy out of you. (Something I've been doing for me and my clients for years)

The end! Look at my pinned post for info on my upcoming Patreon. Message me to book a reading! Most readings are only $25 until July 31st.