#what is humanity coming to when inclusion is banned

[gramarobin]

Breaks my heart these children's books are considered banned 🥺💔

[coldalbion]

"And in many ways, that complaint has only gotten louder over the decades. Stop talking to each other and start buying things. Stop providing content for free and start paying us for the privilege. Stop shining sunlight on horrors and start advocating for more of them. Stop making communities and start weaponizing misinformation to benefit your betters.

It’s the same. It’s always been the same. Stop benefitting from the internet, it’s not for you to enjoy, it’s for us to use to extract money from you. Stop finding beauty and connection in the world, loneliness is more profitable and easier to control.

Stop being human. A mindless bot who makes regular purchases is all that’s really needed.

Over and over again since that prodigal moment of shame and hurt and confusion, I’ve joined online communities, found so much to love there, made friends and created unique spaces that truly felt special, felt like places worth protecting. And they’ve all, eventually, died. For the same reasons and through the same means, though machinations came from a parade of different bad actors. It never really mattered who exactly killed and ate these little worlds. The details. It’s all the same cycle, the same beasts, the same dark hungers. [...] And while Twitter hurts, I’m not sure anything will ever hurt as much as Livejournal did. It feels like no one even remembers anymore what happened to lovely, flawed, dog-eared, wacky old LJ in the twilight of the aughts and the dawn of the tens. Even though in this year of our lord 2022, when there are some pretty fucking good reasons to remember it, and learn its lessons...

So when Livejournal was sold, not to Viacom or Google, but to SixApart, a company no one had ever heard of, it was confusing. As was its refusal to develop anything like a usable mobile app. When fanfic communities started getting banned for gay content in the name of “protecting the children,” it was alarming and confusing. When it started going down regularly due to constant DDoS attacks, the new owner accused the community of trying to blackmail and destroy him for questioning what the hell was going to happen to all of us, when the Russian Prime Minister was commenting on fucking Livejournal, and when Russian users started put posts in English to let others know what was going on…we all just felt so helpless. It was sold to SUPMedia, a Russian company, and by 2016, had moved its servers to Russia and changed the entire site to conform with that good old very free and inclusive Russian law, but by that time, the community had long fled. Which was the point. Make it unusable and unreliable, bleed off the Westerners and the eye of Western media, and use the database to find and shut down dissenters.

And as hard as it was for us to lose that space where so many of us found family and work and connection, I cannot begin to imagine what those brave dissidents lost. What Russia lost. What they are still losing.

It was a small piece of what was to come. Like Gamergate and the Puppies, an experiment to practice taking apart a minor but culturally influential community and develop techniques to do it again, more efficiently, more quickly, with less attention. To lay out a reliable pathway to commit harm and lie about it for so long and in so many ways that by the time the truth is available, it doesn’t matter, because the harm is a foundational part of the system we’re living in. The harm is the new status quo.

Lather, rinse, repeat."

As someone who's been online nearly 30 years (I'm 18ish months younger than the author) who cut his teeth on dialup BBSses, Fidonet et al rather than Prodigy, I cosign this and beg you to read the whole thing.

[multiplicity-positivity]

Just saw you're post about the some people on the pro endo comunity being agressive. And I've actually have had the opposite expirience.

The anti endos in my life irl and online are kind of really mean?

I want to have a pro endo account but I'm scared of being harassed, fakeclaimed, etc. A lot (not everyone) of the people who are anti endo are so aggressive, and I'm not in a state where I can really receive that.

Any words of encouragement or tips?

Thank you, have a nice day!

gah, memory issues so we can’t recall what post exactly you’re referring to, sorry.

here are our tips for running a pro-endo account, or some sort of account where all system origins are accepted. it got kind of long and heavy, so we’re putting it under a cut.

1) when you first set up the blog, before you’ve made any post at all, go through some of the anti-endo tags and block those users from your new side blog. some tags to trawl/search through are “#anti endo,” “#endos fuck off,” “#endos aren’t real” and “#endos are trash.” just a heads up, you may see some violent, harmful, or potentially triggering posts in those tags. if you have the energy and capabilities for it, preemptively blocking a lot of users may save you some pain and difficulties down the line.

2) you may very well be harassed or fakeclaimed by running this account. we have been fakeclaimed by others on this blog, and have had users block evade, follow us to our personal accounts, and try to purposefully trigger us. it’s been rough, but this is one of the risks of running an inclusive blog online. some things to keep in mind:

- you can block any user who sends you anonymous asks. just hit the three dots at the top right of the ask page and hit “block anonymous.”

- having anonymous asks turned off entirely could greatly reduce the potential for you to receive hate and unkind messages. personally we like to leave anons on since lots of folks prefer to send asks anonymously, but if you’re worried or nervous, you can definitely turn them off.

- delete any negative comments on your posts as soon as you notice them, and block the users who make them from your side blog. we do this to help keep our posts positive.

- if any asker threatens to dox you, sends you gore or purposefully triggering content, won’t leave you alone, or is block evading, report them to tumblr. we have had to do this before, and tumblr’s been pretty good about banning genuinely harmful or dangerous users.

3) don’t pick fights, don’t cross post into anti-endo tags, and leave anti-endos alone. we only use anti-endo tags if we are tagging a post that mentions them for filtering purposes. if you refrain from engaging with those who you don’t want interacting with you, you’re much less likely to face harassment, in our experience.

4) try to remember that everyone posting on tumblr, regardless of whether or not they are pro-endo, is a person or human being. when someone fakeclaims you or sends you hate, it is probably coming from a place of insecurity and low self-esteem. they may be lashing out as a trauma response, or they may be having difficulties regulating their emotions. none of these things are an excuse or good reason to be an asshole to others, but it is something worth keeping in mind.

when we are fakeclaimed, it is more a poor reflection on the fakeclaimers than it is on who we are as a person or system. you know yourself and your system more than anyone else online, so when you are fakeclaimed, try to just chuckle with your headmates about it, let it roll off your shoulders, and block the user.

we hope this helps. if any of our followers run pro-endo blogs and have some advice for this anon, please share it by all means. and when you do make the blog, anon, feel free to drop the @ here so we can follow and boost your new account. best of luck to you with your future endeavors - running an inclusive blog is not always easy, but for us, it has been an incredibly rewarding and beneficial experience :)

[agentnico]

Master and Margarita (2024) review

Oh when in Soviet Russia…

Plot: Based on Mikhail Bulgakov's novel "Master and Margarita". 1930's, Moscow. A famous writer is censored by the Soviet state: his novel is banned, and the theatrical premier of his new play about Pontius Pilate - canceled. In just a few days he becomes an outcast. Inspired by these misfortunes the writer conceives a new novel in which the devil, named Woland, satirically revenges all those responsible for the writer's downfall. He knows this novel can never be published in the USSR, but Margarita - his muse pushes him to write it no matter what.

I truly believe Master and Margarita is one of the most powerful pieces of literature to come out from Russia. Yes I am aware War & Peace is more talked about, but look, I read all of its 1000+ pages and though it is an epic in every sense of the word, it does drag quite about. As for Master and Margarita, Soviet writer Mikhail Bulgakov created a satirical, quasi-biblical allegory that represents themes that are crucial to the human experience, such as struggle between good and evil, corruption in government and high society, human fragility, religion and prophecy, and the endurance of love over all. It’s a masterfully written piece of work, and one that is truly hard to adapt to screen, due to how much happens through its pages. However I’m all for directors giving it a go, with Michael Lockshin taking the challenge with a motion picture that was originally a co-production between Russian studios and Universal Pictures, though the latter pulled out following the Russo-Ukrainian War, even though most of the filming was already complete. Nevertheless after multiple delays the final product is here, so let’s digest.

Let’s talk through the positives first. It’s nice to see a Russian production of such grand scale, that even gives Hollywood a run for its money. There are some truly spectacular set pieces, and also interesting visuals, especially of a futuristic post-modern take of the Soviet Union, that reminded me a little of the recent Atomic Heart video game. Also the inclusion of August Diehl who plays the central Satanic figure Voland. This casting choice was a truly inspired one, as Diehl both looks and feels as if he came out straight from the pages of Bulgakov’s novel. There’s just this presence to him, as you can tell the power behind his eyes, yet he can also be really charming and witty. Whenever he was on-screen, the movie fully came to life, as he managed to perfectly balance the damning mocking tone with a deep inner understanding of things beyond the human mind. Look, there’s a great reason why they casted an actor outside of Russia for this part, as Diehl honestly was incredible. Funny how this is the same guy who got his testicles shot off in that WW2 Tarantino flick. Evgeniy Tsyganov as the titular Master too felt perfectly apt for the role, in some ways personifying Mikhail Bulgakov himself. The Master is a character that can so easily come off as dull, as he’s generally very stoic and constantly deep in his own thoughts, so it was a nice interpretation with Tsyganov breathing more life into him.

Unfortunately this is where the positives end. Look, I think it is truly impressive for the entire novel to be transferred into a 2hr 30min film, and of course I expected certain parts to be rushed. However the movie shoots itself in the foot by trying to approach the source material in a different way. Messing with various realities and reorganising the events of the novel in a completely different order, the result is messy and all over the place. I can say with full certainty that if I haven’t read the book before that I’d be so confused as to what the hell was going on in this movie. From the way it jumps from one place to the other in non linear fashion made it so difficult to be engaged and feel connected with the characters. There was a lot of extra narrative elements added to an already overstuffed plot (with a lot of creative choices being outright baffling) as such causing the movie to need to rush even more certain other key plot points that again, it was really disorganised and jarring.

Also, I know that ever since Batman it’s now cool to go dark with everything, but The Master and Margarita is a novel that doesn’t shy away from raising a few eyebrows. In fact it goes out of its way to be as weird and ridiculous as possible, with the inherent horror and tragedy that befalls each of its characters being felt only later, after the laughs have died down. The humour in the book, especially the dark stuff - that’s sort of famously the Russian novelists’ coping mechanism against, uh, being a Russian novelist. Yet this new 2024 film hardly allows a single joke, and instead tries to cover everything with a dark dramatic tone, and I feel that really takes away from the charm of Master and Margarita. Heck there are even sequences in the film that are supposed to be played for laughs, like the Behemoth cat’s shootout with the KGB cops that screams for physical comedy potential, yet the movie kind of glosses over it in a very monotonous way.

Aside from August Diehl and Evgeniy Tsyganov, the casting left a lot to be desired. Yulia Snigir made for a really bland Margarita. Voland’s entourage of demons, who in the book are a cause for some truly entertaining if silly shenanigans, here are completely wasted, and in fact are borderline annoying. Yuri Kolokolnikov as Korovev, the main member of his entourage, was actually horrendous. In the source material Korovev is a trickster, yet there was still wiseness within his madness. Here however Kolokolnikov plays him as if he were some kind of deranged clown, screaming every single line and maniacally laughing for absolutely no reason. The talking cat, who is one of the book’s best characters, in here is just a CGI cat who says maybe only two lines of dialogue in the whole film, and even then it’s a lazy mumble courtesy of actor Yura Borisov. Claes Bang as Pontius Pilate looked bored out of his mind. To be fair, the whole biblical side plot of Pilot and Jesus suffers the most here by being downgraded to maybe 5 minutes, which at this rate I feel like they should have cut the whole thing out entirely as the 5 minutes added nothing to the overall film. But yes, Claes Bang was evidently there to collect a pay check, and part of me wishes that instead we just had James McAvoy reprise his comedic take of Pilate from The Book of Clarence that came out earlier in the year.

It was never going to be an easy feat adapting Bulgakov’s epic into a movie. The narrative lends itself so much better to a TV series format, and in fact there is a wonderful 2005 limited series adaptation from Vladimir Bortko, and now that right there is how you make Master and Margarita work! That series featured great music, amazing performances, and plenty of breathing room to give every nook and cranny detail of the book its proper time. 2024’s Master and Margarita doesn’t come anywhere close to it, and though I do admire Lockshin’s ambitions, in the end it all falls flat on its face. August Diehl however is truly phenomenal in this, and honestly I really need to watch more of his acting work. I hear A Hidden Life with him is supposed to be good. Adding that to my watchlist as we speak.

Overall score: 4/10

[sorcerous-caress]

Oh, to talk about Gith culture and socialization, I shall gladly run my mouth.

Okay theory time.

Since Githyanki are militaristic and the majority of their current culture is just catered towards a lich queen's need for strong souls. They probably don't touch that much, and it makes so much sense.

Vlaakith most likely views interpersonal relationships as road blocks for her conveyor belt of souls, things that weaken her feast and taint possible strong individuals with weakness. So, touch outside of combat is discouraged if not outright banned.

However, there are some roles in githyanki culture that have permission due to the nature of the station; Varshs and Ghustils

Varshs have to have contact to ensure that all hatchlings are healthy and intact. I'm sure being born in an egg causes gith to emerge slightly more advanced than a human newborn, but a baby is still a baby.

Varshs are the first set of gentle hands a gith will feel in life, and the last, right before a gith enters their basic training.

Gith may not know what Mommy/Daddy issues are, but they definitely know what Varsh issues are.

Ghustil are slightly different, but the same sentiment still stands. They are set of hands roaming your body to assess damage, rub salves into your bruises, and most likely the only time a gith gets one on one time alone with someone.

So, of course their gonna memorize every detail down to a t.

Savor every firm hand that holds you down as they set your bones in place, squirm at every praise for staying still for an examination, and view every steady sitch as a kiss.

Medical kink is probably everywhere in gith culture, much to some Ghustils dismay.

So every time Lae'zel calls a Tav/Durge Ghustil or Khal'ian calls Jaheira Varsh, it means very different things to them besides roles/titles.

They also have a truce not to tell others those meanings

I love this

Especially varsh issues instead of mommy/daddy issues. Because sure, funny meme haha, but also, it removes the need misogyny subtext of it! It's just one parent now who is called "caretaker," making them both equal and the same instead of enforcing gender roles on them.

Like all varsh hug and protect their young regardless of gender, all varsh are given the same creditablity and respect. Githyanki are really miles ahead of humanity in these things, how refreshingly inclusive and non narrow minded they can be when it comes to this.

There are no gender roles, and there are no divide or job biases. Everyone can be a capable soldier, everyone can be a medic, and everyone can be a varsh.

Lae'zel and Khal'ian must feel confused when people in faerun treat them differently based on their gender or assume different things on them.

Or how when Lae'zel brings up ghustil around non-gith, they assume it's a man. Khal'ian bringing up his varsh and people immediately assuming it's a woman, even when the gith creche we encounter had a male varsh.

They'd also be confused by the gender separation in clothed, all gith wore the same armour, all gith had the same clothes. Why are these ones okay for one gender but not the other? How can you even gender clothes.

I think this came to be in their culture because mindflayers don't have genders, and githyanki got so used to dealing with them that they completely abolished all gender roles they might have ever had.

-

But anyway yeah back to the kink part.

The only other time where they get touched besides at the medic bay and caretaker is during training.

They'd probably have a teacher kink too ngl- they way they feel their teaches eyes on them, sizing them up, manhandling them into the correct position, whispering orders in their ears.

Slipping up during training and having their teacher bark at them to go to the medical bay. Knowing another set of hands will be touching them on the examination bed.

Soft curious touches that suddenly turn rough to feel up any bruises, the cold feeling of rubber gloves sending goosebumps on their skin, the disinterested look of the ghustil as they tell them to strip to their underwear and stay still while reading a healing salve they'll be rubbing into them.

By the time they're done and they get left neglected on the table afterwards, a varsh enters the room with a baby in their arms. Telling the ghustil about suspecting a fever as they gently cradle them.

It's not their old varsh, this one is only a decade or so older than them but fuck seeing someone preforming the same role makes them feel an unexplainable feeling.

The varsh's eyes meet them, and a wave of nostalgia and comfort suddenly hits them. They want to be hugged and held, comforted, and cared for like before, but they know they can't be weak.

But then the stranger varsh steps in front of their laying form, putting a hand on their forehead and checking on them. Murmuring about how they're burning up, maybe a fever is going around the creche.

And it's the most tender touch they have ever felt before it too is gone.

[sterekposevents]

Hello everyone and welcome to Sterek Positivity Events, or SterekPosEvents for short.

We are on a mission to host fun, positive, and inclusive themed events that primarily focuses on the relationship between Stiles Stilinski and Derek Hale.

SPE invites and encourages side characters and pairings that support or enhance the relationship between Stiles and Derek, as we understand that these characters need the support, encouragement, and even the challenge that may come from their friends and family.

We are committed to providing a fun, positive, and safe environment for all Sterek fans to enjoy a multitude of works from other creative souls, regardless of personal preferences or character opinions. We want everyone to feel welcome and encouraged to create works that all Sterek fans can consume and enjoy, as we believe, wholeheartedly, in the inclusiveness of all Teen Wolf fans and fan interests.

SPE values the differences we hold as human beings, and we want to showcase those differences throughout the various Sterek events we plan to host. This is why we allow side characters and side pairings at SPE, and why will not ban any character from appearing in any SPE participants stories or artwork.

We want to see what you, the Sterek fans, can create when given the opportunity to do so, and we are excited to see how we can be a part of it and encourage new works in being created through new themed challenges and events.

Thanks for checking us out. (:

[tessa-quayle]

I just wanted to say I love the positivity around the discussion of age gap fics and fics that don’t have age gaps because both sides have a mutual respect for one another and I think for me personally it all comes down to a preference on what I like (which is what makes fan-fiction so unique because there’s something out there for everyone) and I’m learning more about my own writing and how I am naturally trying to write more non age gap fics not because I don’t like them but just cause I want to make sure all of my readers feel included.

I think positive discussions such as this are so enriched and healthy for the fandom and I hope more of these can take place!

Anyway, enough of my rambling! I hope you have a wonderful rest of your Sunday honey bun 🩷

-Gi

Hello Gi!

Thanks for your lovely message - I am on the periphery of the fandom so I am glad to hear the discussion has been mostly positive and not too contentious.

But I also want to note that disagreement and discomfort are ok? We have our preferences with regard to what we want to consume or create, it’s human.

I see variations of these fandom (not unique to Pedro characters) tensions play out many times in other spheres, and what I hope for is that when people are confronted with reasons why some might find their work problematic (whether we’re debating canon compliant or divergent characterization, issues with age gap, or how some fics may have a colonizer gaze on Javi P, use of Spanish language, etc) or when -isms or issues with representation and inclusivity are pointed out, maybe we just sit with that discomfort (if the criticism is delivered respectfully, constructively) and just consider why it provokes that reaction even if we end up all doing our own thing and/or disagreeing.

(I mean - I write an OFC, everyone clowns on OFCs, I’m basking in my unpopularity knowing I am not entitled to an audience 🤣).

Disagreement or different preferences don’t mean hate, policing, banning, etc. from the beginning I’ve been a broken record framing these resources and fic rec lists as a “yes and” issue, you do you, this is not a zero sum game, let’s resist the scarcity mindset.

To put it in crass economic terms, it’s supply and demand. There’s a demand for a diverse array of fics, and there will be a supply that will attempt to meet it. Not everyone’s gonna buy what you’re selling (you being the collective you, not you personally 😜), and if you’re confident in your product and especially if you enjoy a healthy popularity (think profit) margin, and something else comes on the market? Keep doing you. It shouldn’t be a threat. Cause are we building community or wanting a monopoly?

Sorry for my rambling answer. Thanks for the ask and keep writing all your wonderful stories xo

- D

[beardedmrbean]

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services and the University of Southern California's school of social work have taken steps to ban the word "field" on official documents, citing racist implications.

In a Monday memo, the University of Southern California's Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work informed students, faculty, and staff that it would no longer use the word "field" or "field work" from its curriculum and would now use the term "practicum" instead because the word "field" was linked to slavery.

SIX TEXAS MEDICAL SCHOOLS HIT WITH LAWSUIT FOR ANTI-WHITE AND ANTI-ASIAN ADMISSIONS

“This change supports anti-racist social work practice by replacing language that would be considered anti-Black or anti-immigrant in favor of inclusive language,” the letter said. “Language can be powerful, and phrases such as ‘going into the field’ or ‘field work’ may have connotations for descendants of slavery and immigrant workers that are not benign.”

In a statement to the Washington Examiner, Cherise Trump, the executive director of the free speech organization Speech First, blasted the university's policing of language, noting that "the absurdity of 'approved speech' coming from our universities often stops people from understanding the significance of just how bad it has actually become for students on these campuses."

Trump, who is not related to the former president, added: "Administrators are employing despotic tactics not only to suppress students’ voices, but to also teach students that because anything can be 'offensive,' students should let universities be the arbiter of what is right and wrong. It is imperative that these desires to censor and compel speech on campuses are taken seriously. Board members, faculty, state, and federal lawmakers need to act when they see their universities putting speech codes in place, no matter how ridiculous."

The censorship of the word "field" was not limited to USC. A similar story unfolded in Michigan, where officials at the state's Department of Health and Human Services issued a memorandum on Jan. 4, which said the department would no longer use the terms "field work" or "field worker" due to its supposed racial connotation," the Washington Free Beacon reported.

"Recently, staff and stakeholders have raised concerns about the use of the term 'field worker' and its implications for descendants of enslaved Black and Brown individuals," the memo says. "While the widespread use of this term is not intended to be harmful, we cannot ignore the impact its use has on our employees."

The department said staff should use the terms "community/local office" and "community/local staff."

"This action is a small step towards creating a culture that values the contributions and voice of all employees," the memo read.

[blanketorghost]

Hello! Me again! I've come to announce that I have organized your Yuu into my timeline and would like to check with you for approval of the new backstory. Here goes:

There are a total of three universes that are relevant to the Yuusonas:

Pokemon: Yurie Hinoki! A pokemon trainer with a special book that allows her to summon any pokemon she's ever seen/caught (up to 6 at a time).

JJBA: Yuuya Malasartes! A nipo-japanese son of a Brazilian crime lord. Struck by the stand arrow, Coisinha do Pai takes the form of a small humming bird capable of growing flowers from blood by injecting nectar into it.

Faith: This is where your Yuu is from.

In short, this Earth is actually a bunch of earths from different timelines coexisting as one Earth. Each timeline corresponds to a different religion, making all gods and mythologies real. Because of the complex nature of the timelines, a diety is only able to interfere when they have an anchor aka a follower. A god's strength is dictated by 3 things: what they're the god of, how long have they been worshiped, and how many followers they currently have. One special type of follower is a Necessary Evil: priests exempt from the sin of murder in order to kill demons + evil humans involved with said demons. NEs are granted boons from their respective deities and are given more leeway so they can find happiness to cope with the trauma (ex: catholic priests can marry, Buddhists aren't entirely banned from earthly pleasures, etc).

Backstory time: Yuu is a half-kitsune. His father was a Necessary Evil working as a shinto priest for the god Inari. He suffered an injury that disabled him, making him retire and takeover the family kabuki business. Yuu's mother is a kitsune who worked in the same temple. At 15, Yuu is transported to TWST and manages to hide his otherworldliness. As a half kitsune, he does have magic and manages to adapt the spells he's taught to match his own magic. It took a year, but through several intense dances and offerings, Yuu finally contacts Inari. Inari asks a favor from the Christian God and opens a portal so that Yuu can get home and back as he pleases (note: Inari's domain doesn't include space & dimensions, so they turn to the Christian God since he actually does have control over that and there's Christians in Japan). Choosing to stick around, Yuu does several offerings and dances to keep the portal open while still exploring NRC as a "background character".

Sidenote: for Yuu's kitsune magic, please look to Kusuriuri from Mononoke as a reference.

Cut to year 3: In comes Yurie, Yuuya, and Grim. Noticing these youngsters are like him, Yuu takes pity and kinda guides them during the prologue. Yuu contacts a hindu NE (another oc of mine) to see if they can have Vishnu or Brahma use their cosmic powers to track down their homes. They do but find that whenever Yuuya and Yurie try to leave permanently, they both instantly get teleported back to TWST. However, so long as they come back, they can freely travel between dimensions (good for grocery shopping and making sure the parents don't loose their minds). So they enchant a mirror to serve as an interdimensional gateway. By this point Yuu is attached and by the beginning of Book 1 he's already transferred from Octavinelle to Ramshackle as the new official dorm head.

Bonus scenario: Azul having a "love at first sight" moment with Yuu when he comes across one of their dance offerings to Inari.

Hmmm, I think the best way to give my feedback is to do a bullet list so lemme organize my thoughts.

I am ok with the inclusion of Inari and shintoist traditions! Yuu's family worships both Inari and Ame No Uzume (goddess of dance and entertainment amongst others). The Fujisaki clan also has traces of kitsune blood from a Kitsune ancestor that married into the family centuries ago (hence the relation to Inari) so to keep that canon compliant, I'd switch Yuu's parent's species.

It is important to note that Yuu has an inherited bad luck curse due to another century-long transgression against the shichi fukujin. The juzu bracelet he uses constantly in his left hand is a ward to protect him.

Due to this Juzu bracelet being a gift from a buddhist monk and exorcist that helped the family, I'd rather be more comfortable with the inclussion of a buddhist god instead of the christian god. (Though true christianism exists un japan, its far less common than either buddhism and shintoism)

Now, onto the most important thing: Ataru (Yuu's dad) would never ever willingly take over the family's Kabuki troupe. He ran away from home when he was 17 due to the borderline abusive training he had to go through in order to be elegible to become the clan head. The only reason why Yuu is in contact with his dad's side of the family is because Ataru got laid off before Yuu was born and Hana couldn't find any work (Japan has very misoginistic views) so they couldn't support another child without help of Yuu's wealthy grandpa, who is the current family head. Due to this, Ataru is no longer in line to be head. It is Yuu's grandpa (Nagisa) > Yuu's uncle (Kamui)> Yuu > Yuu's cousin (Nagihiko). The only reason why Yuu is even considered in the first place was because Yuu's uncle was unmarried at the time and Ataru is the first-born, so in all technicality Yuu was the sole heir at that point. Yuu's family feud and generational trauma is a core part of his character and needs to be included in every iteration.

I think you capture what I imagine Yuu's magic would be :^) Yuu in my canon is magicless, but the earth he comes feom does have magic and a magic system I created myself based on the 6 elements :^) if given the hypothetical of what magic would Yuu have if he was a witch (name for magic user in my canon) He would be an air aligned witch and his artifact would be a fan, which fit with what I've seen to be Kuzuriuri's abilities

I think that's all for now! Though I would also like to point out as an extra fun fact that if Yuu ever got sorted into a dorm, he'd be sorted into Pomefiore, but later transfer into Octavinelle :^)

[hotshotblackburn]

Three Artifacts in the Museum of Injustice

The Sun’s Prince and the Moon’s Daughter: A Romance in Four Seasons An extended series of twelve related illustrated tales, published in the now-banned Viric Fairy Book (despite evoking their work, there appears no authorial connection to Andrew or Leonora Lang). Describes the courtship and growing romance between the human youngest son of the Sun and the crescent-winged, sickle-headed eldest daughter of the Moon over the span of a year, from their first meeting in “Sun’s Prince and Moon’s Daughter” to their final elopement in “The Liberation of Night”. Notable for its mixture of classical motifs and contemporary political themes: “The Spider and the Starry Ball''s inclusion of an impossible task (listing all the noble families of the stars), supernatural helper (the nebula-weaver) and loss of an identifying object (the ring which keeps the prince from being burnt by his family) will be familiar to any child who has heard Cinderella, but they will likely be less familiar with the commentary on the relationship between subject and ruler noted by the daughter in “The Silver Farmers’ Moon-Song”. The series ends with a drastic departure from older tales, when the prince chooses defiance against his father and abdication of the throne to be with his beloved; the engraved illustration of her flying him away from the Sun’s castle is considered to be one of the standout artworks of the book as a whole.   

The Peasant’s Tapestry A deliberately unfinished mixed-materials embroidery (despite the name, it is not a tapestry), multiple anonymous creators, currently hanging in the Museum of Injustice’s Aeons Collection. Oral documentation indicates a long and fragmented history, with multiple contributors adding on to the piece over time: the current version measures at least eighty meters long with individual contributions ranging from years to millenia old. Despite the patchwork nature of the fabric, age, and artwork, the tapestry is unified in its subject: generations upon generations of working laborers and serfs, at once struggling and yet still supporting the future generations to come. Figures gathering reeds and laying bricks prepare tables of beer and sweet-fungus in one embroidery for people farming maize and tanning hides in the next, who in turn come to lay out bandages and herbs for the horse-groomers and personal servants of newer additions. The tapestry - according to the Museum’s curator - represents a side of Neath history not acknowledged by those that have ruled and rule it: a class solidarity that has survived across both centuries and Cities. 

The New Farmer’s Almanac Book copy found in the possession of an American immigrant to London, originally surrendered to the Ministry of Public Decency but recovered prior to burning. No authorship is attributed, but colophon indicates publisher as the Pennsylvania Carillon (possibly fictitious: no official records of such a company have been found). Both the appearance and contents of the book appear to be heavily derivative of the popular North American Old Farmer’s Almanac, with content mainly revolving around weather predictions, the positions and movements of the stars, planting and gardening advice, and animal husbandry tips. There are, however, a number of unusual additions: notes on the trends of recent developments in chess-match strategies, charts for observing and predicting degrees of darkness, and times of year when certain caves will be flooded or dry are just a few. Some of the advice given for farming and gardening are similarly strange, in some cases bordering on the superstitious: how to identify sick animals by the patterns of firefly movements, which crops to only grow by the light of the moon, and notes on what to do if Sirius begins to glow brighter than normal.  

(catching up with @fl-revs-appreciation's prompts for days 2, 3, and 4! Moonlight, Melancholy/Comfort, and Stars [with a hint of Chess] respectively)

[gramarobin]

[nettlewildfairy]

the trouble with gender segregation of events and spaces (as a nonbinary trans person) is that when they learned nonbinary people existed that didn't change their mind that things should be split up by gender so people started constructing elaborate fairy riddles about gender to try and explain which people are banned from a space but none of them survive contact with actual human being gender diversity.

fem-aligned people do not interact

this is for women and gender nonconforming nonmen

AFAB and lgbtq people but no cis men

no man of woman born can kill you, etc, etc, etc

all these kinds of statements reveal the underlying intent and problem, where even if they did genienly want to be inclusive it's functionally uselses when you are a trans person because all the statements come down to "what gender does the person who wrote this, and the person who's working as gatekeeper/bouncer here Think I am."

and that's never worth sorting through the muck to find out. which makes all these spaces inherently hostile to basically anyone that's not cis with a strictly defined gender.

[coochiequeens]

Stonewall UK is backing a guy suing to be included in women’s sports even though he “maintained a personal blog for a number of years, where he has written about having had a cross-dressing fetish since he was a child, and that this fetish was something that impacted his ability to retain jobs and marriages alike.” This is what I mean when I say the TQ+ community is dragging themselves down by backing these freaking instead of distancing themselves.

A trans-identified male who goes by the Julie-Anne Curtiss is suing England’s Rugby Football Union (RFU) over their decision to ban males from playing in the female category. Curtiss claims that RFU’s policy breaches the Equality Act of 2010 and his human rights.

Last week, the CEO of Stonewall UK, Nancy Kelley, publicly promoted a crowdfunder for Curtiss’ legal fight against the RFU and said, “If you can, support [Curtiss] in her fight for an inclusive rugby game #MakeSportEveryonesGame.” 

In the description on his fundraiser, Curtiss shared that he began his “transition” in 2016 and is perceived “as female” by his “female friends, colleagues, loved ones and most relevantly, by [his] female rugby team mates.”

Curtiss writes that: “Trans women come in all shapes, sizes and ability levels, just like cisgender women,” in an apparent effort to compare larger-bodied females to men. He continues, “The new RFU policy has no nuance and instead has decided all trans women to be excluded. It is difficult to see how this broad-brush approach can be ‘necessary.’”

RFU’s policy to exclude males from female sport is described as an “injustice” and Curtiss asks readers for assistance with legal fees and “expert evidence.”

As of the writing of this article, €6,550 (approx. $7,000 USD) of a €20,000 (approx. $21,500 USD) goal has been raised. 

Curtiss has maintained a personal blog for a number of years, where he has written about having had a cross-dressing fetish since he was a child, and that this fetish was something that impacted his ability to retain jobs and marriages alike. 

In one post, he says that his desire to become a girl could partly be explained by the fact that “the girls’ side of [his] school seemed to me to be more ‘peaceful’ and certainly less overtly aggressive.” 

He added that at eight years old he would dress in his sisters’ clothes and “loved the softness and it made me feel something deeply emotional inside.” 

In another post, Curtiss says: “I never wanted to have homosexual sex, but strongly desired to have sex with a man, as a woman.”

Curtiss admitted that into his young adulthood, his cross-dressing compulsion was so bad that he would steal his step-mother’s clothing. His step-mother “tried to deal with this by locking her dressing room, which [he] got around by stealing and copying a key.”

Curtiss said “Despite the seeming normality of my life…I just could never shake or get beyond this yearning to be a girl. I was so jealous of the way girls were able to dress. I loved the idea of being able to wear make-up, mini-skirts and long hair. It drove me crazy… I didn’t want to be a man in girl’s clothes… I wanted to BE a girl.”

He continued to share that as an adult when he lived by himself he was pleased to dress however we wanted at home, “…but no matter how hard I tried, I was always consumed by the fact that I was a man-in-drag, not a woman.” 

He mentions his exposure to pornography, “Unfortunately all I was exposed to was the weird world of transsexuals through porno magazines and I didn’t identify with that either. It seemed to me that even if I could re-assign my gender, I would forever be on the periphery of society, not able to lead a normal life and still not be considered a real woman.”

In May of 2016, Curtiss started his public display of his “womanhood,” writing on his blog that he “didn’t look particularly convincing, but “… internally I finally felt whole. Since then, rather than being asked to leave my job I’ve been extended 6 times!”

In August of 2022, Curtiss compared trans-identified males not being allowed to play in women’s sport with racist South Africa, writing: “Many have been surprised by my connecting this issue to Apartheid South Africa. Here’s a little history lesson. The Apartheid regime premised their ideology on the ‘fact,’ as they saw it, that people of colour (POC) were sub-human and therefore needed to be treated differently.”

Cutiss quietly deleted the multi-post thread after receiving backlash.

Earlier this year, Curtiss was interviewed by ESPN UK, where he announced his legal challenge to RFU’s ban on male players in the female category. 

In a video that has since been widely shared, Curtiss can be seen towering over much younger female athletes. He stated that critics who oppose male players in sports for women and girls “need to be dragged, kicking and screaming if necessary,” until policies favoring gender identity over biological sex are accepted.

It was in July of 2022 that the RFU shared their decision to revise their “gender participation policy” and exclude anyone “recorded male at birth” from participating in female contact rugby.

The organization shared that their extensive review and consultation process of the policy concluded, with peer reviewed research, that the physical differences between men and women are too stark to ignore. 

Male “advantages in strength, stamina and physique brought about by testosterone and male puberty are significant and retained even after testosterone suppression,” meant that the RFU could not justify allowing men to compete against women in safety and fairness. 

Anticipating controversy, their decision was paired with ample statements regarding the thoroughness of the “research” that went into their ultimate revision of the gender policy.

“The RFU recognises this was a complex and difficult decision and the policy change was not taken lightly or without thorough and full research and consultation.” 

Jeff Blackett, RFU President, even released a personal statement with the decision: “I would like to thank everyone for the passion, time and effort that has been put in to consulting with us and informing this policy review. Inclusion is at the heart of rugby values and we will continue to work with everyone to keep listening, learning and finding ways to demonstrate there is a place for everyone in our game. We know that many will be disappointed by this decision however, it has been based on all the scientific evidence available. Our game can be strengthened by everyone who is involved; be it in coaching, refereeing, administration or supporting and playing non-contact forms of the game.”

Curtiss has shared that his solicitors sent a pre-action letter to the RFU “asking it to explain why it thinks its new policy is lawful,” and confirmed that the RFU responded and “seems intent on defending its policy.” The RFU’s response letter wasn’t shared to the public by Curtiss due to confidentiality. 

While Curtiss admits that his legal battle against the RFU “has to specifically focus on how the policy has impacted [him] personally,” he hopes that this will “influence the RFU’s approach more generally” for “every trans woman and girl who wants to play contact rugby [with women].” 

Earlier this year, World Athletics, the international governing body for the sport of athletics, followed the RFU’s decision to ban males from competing against women. World Athletics’ previous guidelines allowed men to compete in the female division if they had suppressed their testosterone levels below a certain threshold – a standard which critics pointed out was set to as much as five times higher than the average amount of the hormone found in females.

World Athletics since announced that male competitors who have gone through male puberty are not permitted to compete in the female categories of international competitions.

FINA, the international swimming world’s governing body, also voted to ban trans-identified males from elite female competitions if they had undergone male puberty.

Earlier this year, the Scottish Rugby Union also banned trans-identified males from competing in women’s contact rugby, citing the safety of female players.

By Yuliah Alma

Yuliah is a junior researcher and journalist at Reduxx. She is a passionate advocate for women's rights and child safeguarding. Yuliah lives on the American east coast, and is an avid reader and book collector.

[mariacallous]

The Guardian's This Week in Patriarchy from Arwa Mahdawi

What are God’s preferred pronouns?

The woke agenda spares no one, not even God. The revelation that the Church of England is considering gender-neutral ways to refer to God has caused quite a ruckus this week; very predictably all the usual suspects have been foaming at the mouth about wokeness gone mad. Nigel Farage (AKA Mr Brexit), for example, even suggested that you might as well shut down the Church of England if they’re going to go all trendy and politically correct.

Steady on, Nigel! God isn’t coming out as non-binary anytime soon. The Church of England is considering moving away from referring to God as “He”. What does that mean? It means they’re going to launch a commission investigating the matter and, if they did decide to make changes, those changes would have to be approved by synod, the Church’s decision-making body. Maybe, once all that’s done, they might develop “more inclusive language” but, as of yet, there are no specifics as to what that language might be. Not all that sensational when you dive into the details, is it? But people like Farage don’t tend to be too fond of details.

While the idea that God might stop being described as “He” has generated a lot of headlines there’s plenty of precedent for gender-neutral religious language. “As truly as God is our Father, so just as truly is He our Mother,” Julian of Norwich said in the 14th century. As a spokesperson for the Church of England said: “This is nothing new. Christians have recognized since ancient times that God is neither male nor female, yet the variety of ways of addressing and describing God found in scripture has not always been reflected in our worship.”

As an atheist I don’t have particularly strong opinions about God’s preferred pronouns. However, I do have strong opinions about how language shapes the way we see our world. And the conversation that the Church of England has sparked reveals a lot about how gendered language reinforces stereotypes. “Given that people of faith think of God as another way of talking about ultimate reality, the gendered nature of God language could easily be a way of projecting male superiority in the very nature of things,” Giles Fraser muses in UnHerd. Yah think?

You can see that superiority complex in comments by the Rev Dr Ian Paul, who thinks God should remain a He. “The fact that God is called ‘Father’ can’t be substituted by ‘Mother’ without changing meaning, nor can it be gender-neutralized to ‘Parent’ without loss of meaning,” Paul told the Telegraph. “Fathers and mothers are not interchangeable but relate to their offspring in different ways.”

There’s a lot to be unpicked in that last sentence. Do mums and dads really relate to their kids in different ways? It’s hard to say definitively because there isn’t actually a lot of research on non-maternal caregivers. Until the 1970s hardly anyone even bothered to study the role of fathers in children’s development – it was just assumed that dads made the money, and mums did the nurturing. Emerging evidence, however, suggests that parenting roles are flexible. When dads are the primary caregivers, their brains adjust and show similar patterns to those seen in mothers, one study shows. Fathers and mothers are a lot more interchangeable than some people might think. And yet Paul seems to be suggesting that God could simply never be a “mother”. Why is that, I wonder?

Anyway, I think there’s an easy way to settle this thing. God can tell us about Their pronouns themselves. I hear They are quite powerful after all.

Idaho wants to criminalize ‘trafficking of minors’ to receive abortions

Consider this scenario: your 17-year-old niece desperately wants you to drive her out of Idaho (where abortion is banned) to get a legal abortion. She doesn’t want her extremely anti-abortion parents to know. If you help your niece then some lawmakers want to throw you in jail and call you a human trafficker. A new bill, introduced by Republican Barbara Ehardt, would add the act of transporting, recruiting or harboring minors to seek an abortion to Idaho’s criminal human trafficking law. Just another day in the increasingly dystopian US!

Rightwing media are freaking out about new AP Stylebook guidance on abortion

The Associated Press suggests not using the incendiary and pseudoscience-drenched terms the right has invented (eg “partial-birth abortion”) and the right are very annoyed indeed.

The unacceptable look on Madonna’s face

If you’re going to read one thing about the furore around Madonna’s new look (and about 10m things have been published) then make it this Washington Post piece by Monica Hesse. “Madonna’s face forced her uneasy audience to think about the factors and decisions behind it: ageism, sexism, self-doubt, beauty myths, cultural relevance, hopeful reinvention, work, work, work, work … One of the most famous women on the planet and still the anti-aging industrial complex got under her skin.”

Is computer-generated intimacy the future of film?

In Netflix romcom You People the two leads smooch at the end but it turns out that smooch is computer-generated. “Is the future of intimacy in Hollywood going to be deepfaked sex scenes?” Stuart Heritage asks in the Guardian. “Will actors need to seek out specific contractual clauses promising them that they won’t be turned into a horny avatar in post production?”

Toxic masculinity fuels dangerous driving like drink, French advert says

In France, 78% of those killed in road accidents in 2022 were men – a number that goes up to 88% when you look at drivers aged 18–24. Eighty-four per cent of people suspected of causing road accidents were men; 93% of drunk drivers involved in an accident were men. A new ad campaign warns that macho stereotypes may be to blame and asks men to examine how they drive.

The week in Pete-riarchy

Turns out Pete Davidson isn’t just a stellar rebound boyfriend, he’s also a talented taco salesman. The comedian recently starred in an ad for Taco Bell and, in a recent call with investors and analysts, the fast-food chain credited Davidson for helping their breakfast sales jump by 9%. Pete: if you’d like to help me sell my book, you know where to find me!

[toa-kirhan]

First time watching ToH S1E9 (Something Ventured, Someone Framed). Thoughts below:

Detailed thoughts:

Three episodes later and we get the Gus episode I was wondering about! Also, the return of Hexside!

This episode did have another liar revealed plot. Fortunately, in both episodes, the characters own up to their actions and understand each other’s motivations for lying, cutting the melodrama of the reveal almost as soon as its brought up.

I respect Gus’ reason for not wanting to give up leadership of the HAS. Gus wants the HAS to be an inclusive space, making sure that everyone feels valued and included. That theme of identity, self-worth, and inclusion has been at the center of the series so far.

Gus, Willow, Luz, Amity, and King have all expressed or hinted at the idea that they struggle w/ how they see themselves and how others see them. Gus struggles w/ being overlooked due to his age, Willow is demeaned as ‘half-a-witch’, Luz feels like a nobody, Amity’s siblings don’t love her, and King is treated more like a pet than a person. We don’t know if Eda has similar issues that she needs to work through, but she certainly isn’t as self-assured and confident as she seems to be most of the time.

Speaking of Eda, this episode really highlights how much Eda cares about Luz. The show has made it clear how much Eda hates Hexside, Covens, and what they stand for, but Eda also understands that most of her issues w/ Hexside stem from her personal experiences w/ the public education system and its strictures coming into conflict w/ her free-spirited nature.

For the sake of Luz’s happiness, Eda is willing confront her biases and go back to Hexside to negotiate for Luz’s admission. Even when Principal Bump tries to get her to quit by making her clean up after her past misbehavior, she still pulls through for Luz because she knows Hexside can provide the sort of education that Luz wants but Eda can’t provide herself.

At the same time, Luz has also been a positive influence on Eda, getting her to reconsider her some of her more hardline views and see things from a more innocent outsider’s perspective. While attending magic school, going to Coventions, and hosting Moonlight Conjurings aren’t her thing, through Luz and her friends, Eda is able to understand their appeal.

With that said, Eda still stands by her strongest convictions, namely that magic should be wild and free and that the Coven system only exists to constrain the talents and abilities of witches.

General thoughts:

The Human Appreciation Society! Just as clueless as Eda :)

“No roleplaying as humans.”

I know it’ll probably be gone by next episode, but I hope they keep Luz’s banned poster on the wall. For memory’s sake if nothing else.

“Fight fight fight!”

Bad girl coven! With t-shirts!

Hooty c:

Gus belongs in the bad boy coven for lying and breaking the rules like a bad boy. B)

Screamy bitey alarm.

Eda’s found herself in an interesting moral dilemma. As Eda sees it, Hexside as an institution is designed crush individuality, but as an individual, shouldn’t Luz be given the choice to judge it for herself?

Hooty ^^ Also, Eda raised Hooty?

It’s a bit concerning that the school w/ an advanced magical lockdown system has also decided to employ off-brand Dementors as school security.

Eda still has nightmares about school, as do we all.

Most bones? Is that an achievement? Can you conjure more bones for yourself? Where are they hiding the bone magic?!

Bump’s just willing to meet w/ Eda? Even though she’s a wanted criminal?

Eda’s list of school misdemeanors grows: picking fights and stealing, necrotic experiments, graffiti, scams, cheating, Ms Jenkinmyre’s teeth(?), releasing ghosts in the girl’s changing room, starting an abomination food fight, hexing the school bells to sing “Since U Been Conned”, finding two giant bug-things, and letting out the school griffin and making it vomit from spicy snacks.

Eda’s last name is Clawthorne? Lilith and Edalyn Clawthorne?

If sports were more like grudgby then maybe I’d like more of them.

Oh no Ed and Em are here too. Also, they’re part of the illusion track? I thought their powers were telekinesis. Also illusions are actually physical?

Luz is banned from Hexside w/ budget Dementors roaming the school grounds, and you’re just leaving the door open while you announce that she’s there?!

Is Mattholomule going to be the new Amity in taking up the school bully role?

Given that Eda was a “whiny rebel teen” at Hexside, did she give up on joining the EC by then?

Bump just left all the lockers that Eda graffitied all those years ago? Also ‘hoot’? Was Eda into owls then too? The graffiti called her mother??? ;_;

Cyclops girl is cute ^^

Gus definitely belongs in the bad boy coven now.

WHAT THE HELL? No wonder why Eda hates Hexside! Willow was okay with getting sent to detention just to protect Luz?!

AND THEY BRAINWASH THEIR STUDENTS? Eda was right about this place!

“I’m a principal not a stooge.” Well, that’s comforting then?

Luz is enrolling next semester? I haven’t thought about it before, but time in the Boiling Isles must be different from the human world considering Luz is supposed to be at summer camp while Willow and Gus still have classes. Either that or the Boiling Isles have a different academic schedule from the human world.

“Impressive, still alive.” Do students die in detention?

Ending song!

Eda had orange hair?

Good to know that Eda watched out for her sister when they went to Hexside.

Very important reveal about Eda: :3

[rayroa]

Allison Russell Q&A

Canadian songwriter, and Nashville resident, Allison Russell is coming to Tampa on May 11, 2024. Here's our Q&A, unedited mostly, as a reference for anyone who wanted to read beyond the story I did for Creative Loafing Tampa Bay.

I listened again to the record last night. I went for a midnight run for an hour and it was just hitting—it was wild. I live in Florida. One of my favorite things about the way you talk about activism is how often you always come back to just trying to change laws. Thinking about Nashville, the city that's given a lot to you, and obviously you've given so much back to Nashville in regards to your activism. And I was wondering how much do you have in your tank for other places? Can we get a "Florida Rise?" Because domestic legislative terrorism—it lives here, you know?

I know it's everywhere. I think I would love it if Florida artists adopted "Tennessee Rise" to "Florida Rise" and used it, I would be thrilled. We've been talking about the "Love Rising" benefit that we did here to push back against all of the horrific, unconstitutional laws targeting demonizing and criminalizing our LGBTQ+ community which I'm a part of—it's really our trans siblings who are just being assaulted left, right and center, you know, the most vulnerable among us—so we did this big benefit concert called Love Rising, that Hozier supported actually, and so did Hayley Williams and Brittany Howard and Sheryl Crow and Yola, and just all kinds of awesome people, Maren Morris. We raised, like, close to $600,000 for these wonderful organizations on the ground, sort of doing the work year round: Tennessee Equality Project, Inclusion Tennessee, Out Memphis, and the Tennessee Pride Chamber. What it really was, we did a ton of voter registration at that concert, that part of it was really successful as well.

The other part was that people saw each other—progressive and moderate folks who believe in equal human rights found each other in Tennessee. And once you see each other and realize—so much of it people despair, they think that there's no way to change anything. Everything feels sort of impossible or something, but the reality is that in Tennessee, it's just gotten this bad because only 32% of registered voters are showing up at the polls, so it's completely skewed. It's not a super-majority. It's a super-minority government. If 80% of the population had shown up and voted to say this is what the majority of people here want—but that's not the case. And I suspect it's very similar in Florida. I don't know if your voter turnout is dismal as ours. 

Turnout is bad. I'm afraid that the registration numbers are getting harder, harder to overcome for the Democrats. I think they're almost at a million disadvantage as far as active registered voters—I looked this morning. We had Joe Biden in town to talk about Roe v. Wade and our six-week ban. Speaking to change the things I wanted to ask you kind of a silly question. Tokenism and this false narrative of scarcity and people being interchangeable—the divide and conquer kind of manipulation—all that's kind of quickly fading away. You mentioned all those people that came to love rising benefit. And it's cool that you don't even have to try to change the system so much anymore, because you're creating your own ecosystem that works for you. But then thinking about diversity and representation and those moments where you can look around and there's like this really uplifting makeup of people on stage, but I think you worked out of Henson recording studio. I was wondering about Kermit the Frog. I saw him play Newport with Jim James, when is it your turn to have a Kermit collaboration?

Oh my god. You don't know how much I want to collaborate with Kermit. Kermit is the reason I play banjo, before I knew anything about  the banjo being America's African instrument, brought over by the diaspora. Let me tell you, if “Sesame Street” ever comes calling, me and Kermit have a date.

Someone needs to reach out to Chris Funk at Newport Folk Festival and make that happen.

Help me out. Bring Kermit back.

Let me ask you about Hozier. I love the videos of you singing "Work Song." Sometimes, reading about you and the way you talk about Fred Hampton and the Young Lords and how he brought them together with the Young Patriots—how powerful Fred Hampton was in his ability to create that coalition. You have the Rainbow Coalition, your band. You have a body of fans. I was wondering how close do you think you get to Fred Hampton's vision of collaboration across really, really diverse sets of people? When you look out at your crowd, and you look at your fans, like, do you see maybe what Fred Hampton was building...

Yes, absolutely. Particularly, Hozier's audience. It’s so diverse. It's so gender diverse. Last night I think there were more queer young Black women in the audience than I've ever played to in my life. And it was so joyful. When we sang "Eve Was Black," there was a group of women right at the front, holding up these signs saying "Eve was Black, and so are we." I was crying because it was so beautiful. There really is. I feel like Gen Z gives me a lot of hope. They just seem to not have a lot of the same biases that have plagued previous generations, and they seem to have deep wells of empathy and compassion and care. And it just gives me a lot of hope. These shows have been—I mean, we were only two in—they've just been so joyful. Such diverse, big crowds, and very young—his audience is very young. It's been really, really putting a lot of fuel back in the tank, really giving me a lot of hope. I do see that rainbow coalition out. Really the Rainbow Coalition is everybody that believes in the basic principle of human equality of our one human family and the fact that like, we have a shared destiny on this one life bearing planet that we know of in the universe. We gotta show up for each other in better ways. 

I was watching your Instagram story and I did notice that there were a lot of young POC folks. "Eve Was Black" is one of those songs.  I'm a Filipino guy. I listened to "Eve Was Black" and in a lot of ways I can't relate in any way—but it's still so powerful. As somebody who's not in that demographic or category. I can't imagine how...

But except you kind of are because—first of all mitochondrial Eve, look it up—we're one human species. We originated on the continent of Africa and then we migrated and we adapted to different environmental stressors. When we try and put some kind of supremacy on pale skin because some people went north where there wasn't a lot of sun and they had to maximize their vitamin D, it's absolutely nuts when you think of it that way. That anyone was ever like, "This means we're superior. It's so absurd. [Elenna Canlas] in our band is Filipinx as well. She's been teaching us a little Tagalog and she's been just talking about the revolutionary movements within the Philippines as well, and how it inspired Black revolutionaries—this was all sort of concurrently happening. I think any people that has ever been oppressed can relate to any other people that have been oppressed. You know what I mean? Because it's the same toxic hierarchies trying to divide and conquer in order to extract and hoard resources, basically. It's just the same story over and over and over again. People you know, we just have to stop falling for the divide and conquer.

You are so good at making people feel seen and welcome. So thank you for saying that because last night when it was really hitting I was like, "I can't, you know, like the imagery of swinging from the tree and all that stuff." It was so tough. Then like the critic mind me, it was like "It's like 'Strange Fruit,'" And I was like, "God, how stupid does that sound?" You know, like to try and say that from my standpoint—like what do I know about it. Yeah, I guess you just flipped that on its head a little bit. So thanks. 

I think you make art for survival. And you've talked about that a lot. But I think like refuge is a theme that's kind of baked into your music in a way. I don't know if we talk about it enough, but you grew up in Montreal. And you've talked about the things that helped you kind of escape even in the cold months, those student lounges, the chess matches, Persophone’s home and I think you had an apartment that you paid like $150 for and did telemarketing.

You've done a deep dive. How do you know all this?

I  want to ask you stuff that you've been asked before.

You've done your research. Yes, that's all true. You know what's wild. One of my dear childhood friends now works in Taylor Swift's camp. He worked on the "Fortnight" video with them doing art direction and stuff. Whenever I see these huge things he's doing I think about all of us little raggle, taggle misfits hanging out at that apartment, dreaming of being working artists one day. We're all doing it. It's so wild.

That is awesome. And none of it's like guaranteed but at least you guys had each other.

That's the thing—chosen family is everything to me.

So the pandemic, horrifying as it was on a global level, allowed you to pause like the substantive touring habit that you were in. You were on the edge of burnout. The pause let you find a great home for your record. And I know this run just started, but how do you take refuge these days in your own life?

It's really through community. I feel a sense of refuge in surrounding myself with a loving community and surrounding my daughter with that. And honestly playing and playing shows with my friends—I always think about Willie Nelson, "On the road again / The life I love is makin' music with my friends”—basically it's what I've always loved the most. We're able to do that, and my daughter is going to come out on parts of this run and that is just so joyful to me. And building these kinds of growing, loving circles bit by bit, thereby reducing harm in this world—that's what makes me feel happy and good and safe. I take comfort in growing circles of safety and understanding and connection. That makes me feel like I'm doing my small part to reduce harm in the world and leave it slightly better than I found it, and that gives me a lot of comfort.

Let me ask you about Ida since you brought her up. My wife and I were together for 16 years and also did not plan to have a child. You talked about your very joyful pregnancy, birth and the joyful, accidental nature of it all. And I know you've talked about your fears of motherhood. I mean, it's kind of baked into "Tennessee Rise," and breaking cycles, but I'm curious what has Ida taught you about life that you didn't already know?

Oh, my gosh, I feel like so much. Ida is remarkably fearless—not fearless, I shouldn't say that—a brave person. She's very aware of when she's afraid of something, and she'll do it anyway if it's something she really feels she needs to do. She'll joyfully try new things. She doesn't tell herself she can't do them. She is so loving with her friends and also doesn't take rejection badly. She handles rejection incredibly well—and actually, like, she tries again.

Like being told she can't have a cookie? That kind of rejection?

No, no. So Ida spent the first kind of five years of her life on the road with her dad and I. We were in a band called Birds of Chicago, so we were just in the van constantly, and on the road constantly, and so every day there would be  a new park in her life. A new group of kids. She would just joyfully go up to news circles of strangers and she would sometimes get rebuffed and rejected, and he wouldn't be daunted for very long—and often she would try again. She's made so many friends like where other people might just see or feel like they couldn't try again or take it to heart that they've been rejected. She has an endless curiosity about other people. She feels things really deeply. She can't understand why there's anyone that doesn't have a home in this world. She's like, "What is wrong? Why aren't we all doing something about this right now?" She just really motivates me to be more proactive in trying to change the things we can no longer stand.

Yeah, I do appreciate your stance on neutrality and options that we have, and things like that. Real quick. I want to ask you, how is dual citizenship going? Will you be able to vote here soon?

I hope so. I'm in the process of getting my American citizenship. Everything is so backed up, so we'll see. I don't know if I'll be able to vote this election cycle, but I'm certainly going to be able to by the next one. And I'm going to continue using my sphere of influence to encourage and plead with others to show up at the polls and remember that it's for the many. When people that have the privilege to vote, it's for every person who's underage. It's for every new immigrant for me who has a green card, but doesn't have citizenship yet. You're voting for your whole community.

There's this notion of being abused by ideology as a kid. You've talked a lot about ideological abuse and how it affects people, and the chain of abuse, but how far have you come in your understanding of true forgiveness?

I feel like I'm still working on it. And I think it's the most important thing we can learn how to do as human beings. It's in short shrift these days. There's a kind of an unfortunate kind of addiction to outrage that's that I see happening online. Definitely. I think it is really damaging and really harmful to our culture‚ the lack of forgiveness. Excommunicating anybody is really dangerous. To have a lack of forgiveness condemns us to an endless cycle of vengeance and violence and discord. I think that for me, one of the things that I have been working up my courage to do is to go see my abuser who is now an elderly ailing man. I'm gonna be in Toronto in June to open for Sarah McLachlan. And I'm going to try and go see him and just say, "I forgive you, go in peace," kind of thing. We'll see if I'm able to do it. I've been thinking about it so much. Especially in the context of—as we look at what's happening in the Middle East, what's happening in Sudan or Congo, or East Timor—I think about these cycles of unbelievable harm. People that have endured and meted out harm far greater than anything I've ever had to endure. And we're asking them as a global community to stop the violence, and we're asking them as a global community to change, to break the cycles. If I can't practice forgiveness in my own life, how can I be asking anybody else to do it right?

As a parting question, do you have anything you want Florida to understand as you make your way down here to the land where woke goes to die?

I want Florida to understand that we can't erase history by banning books. We can't break cycles of harm by pretending harm never happened. And that the only way out is through. And the only way through is together. We have to stop treating each other as enemies and the other—we are one human family on this precious beleaguered, under full-on assault by our worst practices, planet. We can change things together. We can grow circles of goodness together. We're so looking forward to playing and finding the Rainbow Coalition and finding each other.