#AND SHE’S MOST DEFINITELY WHITE IN THE U.S.

[sepublic]

When discussing the benefits but also the dangers of fantasy in TOH, it makes me consider how this ties into Belos’ bigotry, religious superiority, white supremacy, etc. Because I see how in the parallels to Luz and the depictions of his witch hunts as a ‘game’ he played as a kid, the show is getting into the thought process behind white supremacy and the like; Specifically, by suggesting that it comes from the same core principle of “I was born special, I’m a hero.”

Because think of it this way; I was born inherently better than others, it’s in my blood, I have to defeat evils? These aren’t unlike what white supremacists believe about themselves. After all, TOH is coming off of Harry Potter, which is criticized for the “It’s in his blood” trope with the protagonist.

This is foiled by Luz, who wants to believe at first that she’s special and things will automatically come to her because of it, but then Eda has to explain; Sorry kid, but if you want things you have to work for and earn them, just like anyone else. Some things can be attributed to luck on Luz’s part, but it’s not as if she’s blind to this and saying it’s ‘destiny’ (unlike someone else), plus in general we all have a bit of privilege in some ways.

And again, that ties back into Christian white supremacy, particularly the Puritans, who believed their colony would be a "City upon a Hill." That it’s their goal to enlighten people, or else root out the evildoers; You can see how this evolves into evangelicalism in the U.S. and the right’s obsession with anything new as satanic, even if it’s something like Elvis Presley or Pokemon (which Dana grew up with, coincidentally), or more recently, furries.

(No really, this actually happened I kid you not. It seems like an exaggeration but I swear it genuinely happened and it truly is absurd that it did.)

Anyhow I think that’s important, because it’s not just the message that Christian white supremacy is bad, it’s why people even believe and buy into these things to begin with. A lot of alt-right 4channers and the like fall into these rabbit holes because they feel cheated out of the implicit, unconscious promises of white supremacy and feel as if they’re owed something; So obviously women and PoC, the queers, the ‘diversity hires’ and affirmative action, this is what’s cheated them.

And you can see the connection between white christian ideas and how that can translate into a lot of fantasy stories, hence “It’s in your blood” and “It’s destiny,” as well as Isekai Colonialism; The idea that what if another world and its inhabitants just existed for you. These tropes are inspired by outdated ideas that Christian white supremacy, an outdated belief, has plenty examples of and sometimes even inspired.

And this is why it’s important to engage with these things critically and question them… But at the same time, Luz is still allowed to love Azura, it’s just about maintaining a critical eye and being self-aware of what you internalize and don’t. Hence her learning to differentiate reality from fiction and not become delusional; Hence King doing the same!

By making that connection, it does explain this type of bigotry by framing it in a way that viewers can actually relate to, even if they also condemn it just as much, if not moreso after understanding. It ties even the genocide with tropes like the dragon slayer, the endless horde of monsters you don’t ever have to feel bad about or question killing, or the DnD Evil Race; Which on their own, these stories aren’t necessarily in advocacy for genocide of course, some of them are just inspired by previous ones without making that connection. And most people know not to let it affect how they see reality.

Because it’s one thing to let yourself be petty and find catharsis against a genuine, extreme example who has gone out of their way to hurt you (those definitely exist, alas); But it’s another to actively search for people to feel angry towards, amidst groups unrelated to you, and provoke them until they give you that ‘justification’. Because you’re not responding to anything, you are the aggressor; In essence, you are performing a witch hunt, in a need to feel like a hero enacting righteous judgment.

Because you’re desperate for the power of putting someone else beneath you, which is what the mundane bully does, out of the belief this conversely translates into you being above others; Again, the ‘chosen one’ beliefs, the Christian white supremacy. And suddenly you better understand why Evangelicals raged over something as innocuous as the Pokemon games that Dana grew up with, back when they first came out.

So Luz understands; She does understand, better than some people, in fact. She understood the Collector. But just because she understands, doesn't necessarily mean Luz approves or excuses; She still has every right in condemning Belos because she never let herself go that far, and this behavior would be condemned even by those trying to make up for it; It’s why they try to make up for it. And the fiction Luz wants to happen for herself (which isn’t the same as the fictions one enjoys) isn't centered around there being hidden bad actors amongst the populace to constantly root out; Luz is only going to react, not act, and consistently, predominantly sees the best in others.

In the end, Belos latched onto Caleb marrying Evelyn, and then the Grimwalkers, and finally Luz, as a way of a proving a point to himself; That wiping out witches WAS in service of humanity, it would actually help them, by showing how he 'rescued' a human from temptation. I'm sure he genuinely loved Caleb, but in an extreme form of Luz's Wing it like Witches, at some point he subsumed Caleb's input and agency to instead make him into a docile trope to make decisions for.

And when Caleb didn't go along with that story, pointed out how it didn't fit the reality of the situation; Philip killed him! His priorities shifted from doing it for Caleb's sake, for the sake of HIS fantasy; He saw an opportunity to live out the Witch Hunter story and it mattered more to him than actually helping someone, or realizing in relief he didn't have to.

Hence the Titan saying Belos "fears what he can't control" due to "his need to be the hero in his own delusion." It’s a quote applicable to real life conservatives who look for things to outlaw, because hating makes them feel like righteous saviors; Remember Pokemon? Gotta save people from themselves and any potential temptations… Belos couldn't control Caleb, and the Grimwalkers? Belos' way of re-attempting his 'side quest' to again, prove that what he's doing is for the sake of humanity, in the absence of actual humans to work with.

Not that he cares about this for fear of hurting others, but because he fears it means he isn't the special hero. Note that Belos doesn't feel guilt over any witches and demons he killed in For the Future, it's telling; As is the assumption that even if he was treated with hostility when arriving in both Gravesfield and the isles, Belos still understood that murdering the colony was wrong… Yet ignores this lesson when it comes to demons because of hypocrisy, choosing to go after the world that was canonically accepting and would be much harder to attack.

And when Luz shows up, Belos abandons Hunter (showing how much he really cared) because Luz is a real human to save, even if she's technically a queer girl of color; But if you remember how Americans kidnapped Native children and assimilated them into Christian society and culture, it actually makes perfect sense because it's another form of genocide. And it's just as racist and insincere as the murder. And just like many homophobic Christians, Belos selectively chooses what to apply from the Bible because he knows it speaks contrary to what he does and he fears that, it’s something he can’t control despite his attempts to.

[romancomicsblog]

Movie Redo: Fixing Marvel's Thunderbolts*

Marvel's Thunderbolts* recently came out with a stellar trailer, watching some of our favorite MCU anti-heroes going through the motions while uncovering a mystery and becoming a team.

While many have praised the trailer for its style, action and tone, I have had some problems with the movie from the beginning. For one, the group Thunderbolts* tends to be villains pretending to be heroes as opposed to morally gray characters.

The movie tackles the spirit of this by having several characters fill in classic roles of the MCU Avengers: Yelena as Black Widow, U.S. Agent as Captain America, etc. But this stops at about half the team.

For example, we have three different variations of Captain America. Each are not Steve Rogers, morally gray super soldiers. The main difference is their range of comedic quips.

We also have two different variations of (basically) Black Widow.

This makes the lineup a bit stale power wise, and makes most of the lineup side Black Widow and Captain America characters.

While it makes entering the film easier, this doesn't give us the same feeling of "assembling" characters from the MCU like the Avengers did. The characters should come from many different projects as opposed to 2.

Finally, the team is made up of 7/8 white people. So in so many ways, this movie is suffering from a lack of diversity.

My goal is to liven up the team with characters across the MCU, villains and antiheroes alike. I'd like this team to:

Fill roles of the classic Avengers

Have a wide range of abilities

Reward long time MCU fans for watching along

Lets get started with an obvious question:

Who Stays & Who Goes?

While this group is full of some great MCU characters, too many unfortunately are redundant.

We will be saving 4 Characters, starting with:

1. Yelena Belova - White Widow (Black Widow / Hawkeye)

One of the smartest moves made by this movie is having Yelena be the lead. I love Florence Pugh, and one thing that can differentiate this team from The Avengers is having White Widow be the leader.

She is the clear and funnest Black Widow stand-in, so I will be choosing her over Taskmaster.

2. John Walker - U.S. Agent (Falcon & The Winter Soldier)

Of the Captain America knock offs, U.S. Agent is by far the most interesting.

No hate to Red Guardian's jokes or Winter Soldier's angst, but having a sad, broken not as good Captain America who is not a good man but a perfect soldier, there's so many ways you can go with it. He can be a traitor to the group, the eventual villain or just the guy who thinks he's the leader.

He is also the character we've seen least of the 3, and deserves his time on the big screen.

3. Ava Starr - Ghost (Ant-Man & The Wasp)

One of the most underrated characters in the MCU, Ghost was a highlight for me in the Ant-Man trilogy. With a tragic backstory, skills to match the Winter Soldier and an actual interesting power, I'm really excited to see where they go with this character.

Plus I love her new suit.

4. Bob - The Sentry (Thunderbolts*)

Lewis Pullman is playing "Bob" who is most likely Robert Reynolds AKA The Sentry, a Superman like superhero who struggles with memory loss, and has the power of "a million suns".

Due to the S in the trailer and his general confusion, Sentry will likely join the team, and his archenemy The Void will may even be the main antagonist.

As a powerful longhaired hero, he fills the role of a Thor for our Avengers, which is a definite need.

The mystery behind Bob as well as the inclusion of a new Superman like character is very fun. I do think a need for every MCU movie is an addition of a new interesting character, so Bob must stay.

Now that we have our 4 stays, let's make some fun additions.

5. Agent Dex Poindexter - Bullseye (Daredevil Season 3)

Agent Poindexter fills a couple of significant roles from the Avengers and from the Thunderbolts* who we took off the list.

Like Taskmaster, Bullseye is an assassin, who worked for a puppet master who is still very much alive and around in the MCU. But unlike many of the other killers on this list, he enjoys killing. As the teams resident sociopath, he can be the devil on their shoulder, egging the team on to go further than they have before.

He also nicely fills the teams role as their Hawkeye. The both have perfect aim, have taken on new identities to commit atrocities, and started off as law men.

It also gives all viewers great homework, because everyone should watch Daredevil.

6. Aaron Davis - The Prowler (Spider-Man Homecoming / Across the Spider-Verse)

The Spider side of the MCU has very much stayed in its place due to Sony. One character who has appeared in both Sony and Marvel, portrayed by the same actor I might add, is Aaron Davis.

Aaron Davis first appeared in Spider-Man Homecoming, and if we believe him to portray the same character in Across the Spider-Verse, has evolved into his role as Prowler now.

Prowler with his tech, claws, skills, and general goofy vibe, could fill the role of a Black Panther or Spider-Man for our group, and much like Spider-Man, be the ground level criminal entering this world of Assassins and Gods.

You can also view him as more of a thief than anything else. Like Aladdin or Star-Lord, fitting him into this team but definitely bringing a different perspective as opposed to Bullseye.

I see Prowler as a secondary lead character, one who has Yelena's back over some of the others, and hopefully makes it out of this mission alive.

7. Titania (She-Hulk: Attorney at Law)

Where there are Avengers, there is need for muscle.

Titania is one the secondary villains from Marvel's She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, notably played by Good Place actress Jameela Jamil.

Titania fills the role of a Hulk / Captain Marvel to the group as our resident strong woman, but also takes up Red Guardians role as comedic relief.

As a social media influencer and fashion icon, she'll bring a very different energy than our other two heroines. She also has the tendency to back whoever to keep herself alive, meaning she may team up with the worst of our titular team if there is a coup.

Plus I'd like her to dawn her wrestler outfit.

8. Justin Hammer - MACH-1 (Iron Man 2)

With many of the Avengers roles filled, all we need is left is a billionaire genius playboy.

Since his debut in Iron Man 2, Sam Rockwell fans have been clamoring for the actor to return as Justin Hammer. While we have inklings of him in All Hail to to King & What If, having Justin as comedic relief and the teams resident tech expert can add a different flavor to the team.

While Justin Hammer doesn't have an alter ego in the comics, he could take on the role of Titanium Man like he does in the animated show, Iron Man Armored Adventures.

My only gripe is the name is a little too close to Titania, so I recommend he takes on the name Mach-1, the alter ego of the Beetle when he joined the Thunderbolts.

While he is not The Beetle, he is still a villain pretending to be a hero, and several have taken on the name of Mach-1, so I think it'll be fine.

With just a few notable changes, my MCU team is now complete.

We now have heroes and villains from across the MCU, all with unique skills, powers, tools and motivations.

And once they all suit up...

They'll make one hell of a team.

Thank you so much for reading! Please consider following, and check out my socials and other sites here! And let me know: Who do you think should be on the Thunderbolts*?

[flowerzeris]

I am Karen(no,not those kind of crazy white women).That is what I am ethnically,and it is one of the many ethnic groups in Burma.While many of us do like in Myanmar/Burma,others do live in Thailand as well,where their most likely safer anyway.

I remember seeing a video in church showing how horrible it was for them.They couldn't sleep easily for fear that they'd die the next second,especially with the Burmese government dropping bombs randomly.I couldn't be sure why they felt it was necessary to terrorize innocent people but this is indeed ethnic cleansing.This could be inaccurate but there were two ceasefires signed and yet this war is still going strong.I don't even know if calling it a war is right when the odds seem to be against us.This year marks the 75th year since and there's no end to it.

I spent most of my life in the U.S. so I'm luckier than all of them but my mother wasn't.Is she alive?Definitely,but she admitted she almost died at 16 because of this.I find it so odd how,even at times like this,they manage to put faith into God.No one would blame them,especially when they have to change locations repeatedly,if they gave up,but they manage to stand tall.

I hope,one day,we become free,even though it is unlikely.And I hope that all Palestinian folks are free too.In a lot of aspects,they are very similar but still different.More people have passed away in Palestine and they seem to face a harsher reality.Still,both deserve freedom especially when they fought so long for it.

[elumish]

There's an idea I see a lot that's basically like, it's important to humanize fascists when we write about them so people understand that regular people can be fascists and that it's not just an amorphous evil, etc.

And I always have this knee-jerk negative reaction to seeing that. And it's not because I don't want people to understand fascism or people who commit right-wing violence or whatever (literally part of my field of study), but that it always seems to sort of be prioritizing the wrong thing.

I've written about this some before on my substack, but it keeps eating at my brain and I am incapable of letting go of stuff, so here we are.

The thing about fascism and about right-wing (esp far-right) ideologies in general is that one of the core tenants of them is that there are inate hierarchies of people, and at the extremes, it's essentially that the people at the top (white cis/het Christian men, in American/European right-wing ideology) are the most human, and the people at the bottom (Black people, in a lot of American right-wing ideology) are the least human.

And we as a society have no trouble humanizing white cis/het Christian men, by whatever definition we're using of humanize. And you need to look no further than how mainstream news organizations cover politics to see that this is true--it's almost a trope at this point that they will cover the opinion of every individual Trump voter at a gas station in Ohio before they talk to anyone else. News organizations show family photos of white murderers and mugshots of Black murder victims. People care about what every sobbing white woman thinks about POC she finds scary but often don't care about getting the other side of the story.

We know that (cis/het not-disabled Christian male) white people are human, because that has basically never been in question in the history of the world (or at least the history of the U.S.), and you can write someone as human without humanizing them--because humanizing is not just about literally writing someone as human (as opposed to, say, a squid), but about showing their individuality in a way that makes them more sympathetic.

Spending your time and energy worrying about humanizing fascists is a little bit like the AP announcing recently that their style guide now says to avoid the term TERF and to focus instead on the specific objections. What you'll end up with is not objectively incorrect, but it gives the microphone to the people who least need or deserve it.

The whole goal of fascists is to dehumanize other people--so if you're so opposed to the fascist ideology, why don't you focus your attention on humanizing those people? Give us the viewpoints and intricacies and individual meaningful human lives of your Black characters, your indigenous characters, your Jewish characters, your Muslim characters, your characters of color, your queer characters, your disabled characters, your female characters.

And this isn't to say that fascists should be presented as amorphous blobs, because that's silly and meaningless. But in a story, you only have limited space and reader attention to spend on building characters out. Why do you want to spend that on the fascists?

[myemuisemo]

Suddenly, Letters from Watson dumps us in the middle of the Great American Desert (part 1 of "On the Great Alkali Plain," 2/7/24). This is not anywhere I expected to be transported from London, and the contrast makes the Mountain West feel exotic for a minute.

The Great American Desert -- stretching from about Grand Island, Nebraska to the Sierras and pretty much the entire north-south length of the U.S. -- had become a thing of legend since explorers' accounts in the 1820s. When Dad and I drove across it in 2022, we talked about how incredibly daunting it must have been for emigrants seeking their land of milk and honey on the Pacific coast.

The way we went, out I-80, Nebraska shifts from green to gray as it rises toward the Rockies. After a while, the wind picks up as you go uphill into Wyoming. There's a lot of Wyoming, and after Cheyenne and Laramie (both of which would be small towns in most states), it's very, very empty. When we finally started the descent toward Salt Lake City, and the little valleys beside the road turned green with running water, it was truly like entering paradise.

Of course, in 1847, Salt Lake City was just barely being settled, as Brigham Young led his Latter Day Saints west from Council Bluffs, and its location wasn't part of the U.S. yet.

The Mexican-American war had started the prior year, 1846, and was still going. Spring-summer of 1846 saw the Bear Flag Revolt in California, followed by the U.S. just annexing the state. Gold wouldn't be discovered at Sutter's Mill until 1849, so while emigration to California happened -- the Donner Party made their ill-fated trip in 1846-47 -- it wasn't anything like the scope of movement along the Oregon Trail.

As far as I can tell, "Sierra Blanco" is not a real place. There's a Sierra Blanca in New Mexico -- which would fit with all the specific landscape, plus White Sands National Park in New Mexico specifically has alkali flats. Last time I drove through New Mexico on I-40, in late 2018, it was delightfully desolate, so I can buy that in 1847, it seemed completely empty, with even the native peoples avoiding some stretches.

Why anyone would be crossing New Mexico is a mystery, since neither Arizona nor southern California were much settled by Americans. There was some sort of wagon route across New Mexico used by U.S. soldiers during the Mexican-American War, so if I'd expect anyone to be about, it'd be the U.S. Army.

Utah, now, is downright famous for its salt flat, but that's west of the site of Salt Lake City.

Regardless, parties screwing up their trip to the west by taking an imprudent shortcut or mistaking the route was definitely both a thing that happened and, thanks to the Donner Party, a trope. Our haggard and starving traveler sounds about right.

Then he reveals a Plucky Innocent Victorian Child.

That "pretty little girl of about five years of age" is the absolute ideal of Victorian childhood, being perfectly behaved, utterly imperturbable, determined to see the best in all things, sweet, trusting, and looking forward to being reunited with her mother in heaven.

This kind of child is why Louisa May Alcott was seen as innovative for writing Little Woman about girls who worked on their character flaws. (This is also the ideal the March girls were being aimed at. Polly in An Old-Fashioned Girl comes closer, but even Polly would have been upset about being hopelessly lost in the desert with no water.) Contrast this with the street urchins that Holmes employs in his investigation, who are good enough sorts but scrappy, resourceful, and street smart.

Ordinarily, a Victorian child who was utterly sweet and pious would be a cinnamon roll, literally too good, too pure for this world, and thus would die beautifully but tragically before long. Being lost in the desert seems ideal for this, but --

She turns to prayer, and since someone must survive in order for this scene to be relevant,

Yes, darn it, I am on the edge of my seat to know what happens. I'm also grateful that crossing the Great American Desert in 2022 was a quicker process. I've been reading Carey Williams' old-but-interesting California: The Great Exception, which has a lot to say about how 19th century isolation shaped California's economy and power structure, not always for good. But that's neither here nor there -- I don't think we're headed to California.

[paperandsong]

Protestant Horror Aesthetic

Sleepy Hollow directed by Tim Burton, 1999

Villainy wears many masks, none so dangerous as the mask of virtue.

I’ve seen a few posts presenting the case that Catholicism is inherently more compatible with the Gothic than Protestantism. That the imagery found inside a Catholic church invokes feelings of Gothic horror in ways that Protestant places of worship do not. 

And I do not disagree. But there are horror stories that are predicated on a Protestant aesthetic. Stories in which the horror is specifically Calvinist in nature. Stories in which, rather than statues of Christ crying rubies and the stigmata and sexual repression, you have empty crosses in snow white sanctuaries and self abnegation and also sexual repression. So much sexual repression. 

The Witch directed by Robert Eggers, 2015

Wouldst thou like the taste of butter . . . wouldst thou like to live deliciously?

The horror of The Witch is the Puritanism itself. This most rigid version of Calvinism is presented as so bleak, so cruel, so hopeless that it becomes perfectly logical that a good girl would trade her soul for the mere offer of deliciousness. 

The Night of the Hunter directed by Charles Laughton, 1955

What religion do you profess, preacher? The religion the Almighty and me worked out betwixt us.

In The Night of the Hunter, a serial murderer and con man takes on the mantle of itinerant preacher to worm his way into the household of an unfortunate widow. In one of the most chilling scenes, the preacher scolds his new wife for expecting sex on their wedding night. The film subverts the threat of rape with chaste shame and humiliation. The preacher uses Biblical language to manipulate, scold, and confuse. The preacher’s own repressed sexuality is as frightening as if he were a rapist. 

Carrie directed by Brian de Palma, 1976

Carrie doesn’t make this list. While her mother’s rantings are perfect pitch Baptist preacher, there is also a lot of Catholic imagery happening. Margaret’s death is staged to recall the martrydom of St. Sebastian. I’m not sure what kind of Christian she’s supposed to be. The horror is definitely religious and fundamentalist, but it’s some kind of mix between Catholic and First Southern Hills Gothic Missionary Non-Denominational. Or something. 

Feel free to add to this list. I would especially like to see some non-U.S. films or novels that utilize a Protestant Horror Aesthetic. With all the wars and murder that happened during the Reformation, there must be some. 

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

By: Ben Appel

Published: Jun 13, 2023

As a gay man, I have no pride in Pride month. Radical LGBT bullies have captured it – and threaten to 'fix' us by medicalizing and transitioning us. But gay people will NOT be erased again.

Everywhere around me, I see Pride flags. 'It's time to celebrate the LGBT community!' I'm told. But, this year, as a gay man, I'm not proud of my so-called 'community.'

In fact, I'm horrified by it.

Two decades ago, when I attended my first Pride parade, the LGBT world truly needed it. Pride is the opposite of shame. And for decades, even centuries, gay people had been told to be ashamed of ourselves, of our same-sex attraction, and our supposed inability to behave like 'normal' people.

We were harassed and oppressed. Homosexuality was criminalized. If a man was convicted of having consensual sex with another adult man, he was given two options: imprisonment or chemical castration.

Gays were forced to be something we were not. We were erased.

And that's why I am so heartbroken that 20 years later, the LGBT community supports a new practice that threatens to erase gay people.

It is benignly called 'gender-affirming care.'

Today, LGBT Pride marches arm in arm with radical ideologues who contend there is no such thing as biological sex.

Their extreme doctrine claims that men can simply decide to become women, and, most disturbingly of all, that children can actually change their sex.

Educators, policymakers and physicians are telling young boys that if they like wearing dresses or playing with dolls, they might be girls; young girls are told that if they prefer football to ballet, they might be boys; and that with some experimental pills and high-risk surgeries, they can all finally be 'normal.'

Magically transformed, forever.

But what if a young person struggling to be 'normal' is not trans, but gay? What would have happened to me?

In the course of research for my forthcoming memoir, 'Cis White Gay,' I interviewed a wide range of experts and people within the LGBT community on this troubling, evolving ideology. 

I spoke with Dr. Laura Edwards-Leeper, the founding psychologist for the first hospital-based pediatric gender clinic in the U.S. 

'There are definitely cases when I strongly suspect sexuality is the issue with young teens,' Dr. Edwards-Leeper explained of her work with gender diverse and transgender people. 'I wonder about it with children, too.' 

I told Dr. Edwards-Leeper about my own gender-nonconformity in childhood and my concern that if I were growing up today, I would have been erroneously affirmed as a transgender girl. 'I'm sure you would have,' she said.

Dr. Erica Anderson, a transgender clinical psychologist who treats children, shares the same fear.

'I'm afraid too often, [gay boys are] consuming social media that says, "If you are uncomfortable in your body when you hit puberty, if you don't quite fit with your age mates, well, maybe you're trans,"' she told me. 'I think it's a terrible message to kids, that there's no place for variance. And I think it is the foundation under which, in some circles, there is some transing of the gay.'

Can the LGBT community truly be proud of this?

I cannot overlook the devastating reality that the same pills offered to distressed adolescent boys to feminize their bodies and stave off male adulthood are the same pills, just decades ago, that were used to render gay men asexual.

I cannot turn a deaf ear to the words of former gender clinicians at a U.K. clinic, who told The Times U.K. in 2019 about a dark joke among staff, that soon 'there would be no gay people left,' that what happened in their clinic felt like 'conversion therapy for gay children,' or that 'for some families, it was easier to say, this is a medical problem, "here's my child, please fix them!"'

'Fix them'? 'Fix' children?

I also cannot ignore the testimonies of the detransitioners — adult gay men who sought escape from homophobia in a trans identity and have come to regret it. Some tell me that they were coerced to believe that their atypical femininity meant that they were trapped in the wrong bodies.

'Michael' told me, 'The reason why I felt so happy [after transition] was because I got a break from being seen as a gay guy; I was just this normal, hetero-appearing girl.'

Brian confessed that, 'With estrogen, my libido just kind of died, and it felt so great because I always viewed my sexuality as something bad, and [transgenderism] kind of appealed to me because my dad always hated gay people.'

'Steven' said, 'I felt like I'd rather be a trans woman than a gay man because that was like the lowest and most disgusting thing you could be.'

There are lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people who are horrified by what is being done.

So, we write, we talk, we tweet. We phone our friends and our relatives and neighbors. We tell them that what is being done to children is medical malpractice.

We explain that recklessly administered 'gender-affirming care' is nothing less than the experimental medicalization of homosexuality that carries significant risks. It leads to infertility and loss of sexual function, and no child can adequately consent to it.

To advocates of these practices, I ask you: Is this what you mean when you say you're on 'the right side of history?'

I cannot shrug off the feeling that in the name of the so-called 'LGBT community' a great injustice may be happening before our eyes. But when gay people speak out – we're called bigots.

Lesbians are told they're hateful if they don't want to date males, who identify as women. And gays are told they're hateful if they don't want to date females, who identify as men.

I've had the term 'cis' spat at me with the same venom that I was once called homophobic slurs on the playground, all because I am 'cisgender.'

I am a male that is exclusively attracted to other males. Is that no longer allowed?

Is this what my 'community' has become – the bullies that we once fought against?

If I am proud of anything this Pride Month, it is my new 'community' of LGBT heretics.

Those of us who stand up in the face of ridicule to say: This is not us. This is not who we are.

I am proud every time we're shouted down by authoritarian activists. I remain proud even as we're called 'evil,' 'right-wingers,' or 'transphobes.'

To that community, I say: Happy Pride.

==

Note: links added by me to preempt deniers: "LiTeRaLLy nO oNe iS sAyInG tHaT!" "tHaT nEvEr hApPeNs!"

[creature-wizard]

Bill Schnoebelen, a man who claimed to be an ex-satanist (of the global satanic conspiracy sort) and has been demonstrated time and again to be a fraud, tries to establish a link between witchcraft (of the modern neopagan sort) and Roman Catholicism in Wicca: Satan's Little White Lie:

Both teach “salvation” through ritual acts and good works.

Both have a god and a goddess (Mary) figure in their pantheon.

Both have a slain and risen god who dies and is reborn in a seasonal cycle of ritual dramas.

Both have magic or thaumaturgy (Transubstantiation in the Mass) as central elements in their theology.

Both make extensive use of incense, statues, candles and ceremonial robes in their devotions.

Both believe in a kind of second chance after death (Purgatory).4

Both believe the rituals of the living can affect the dead.

Both believe in rituals of pain and mortification for purification.5

I'm sorry, Bill, but if you think that three and four are actual problems, then you might as well just give up on Christianity altogether, or at least admit that your version of Christianity regards a good portion of the New Testament as heretical. Because you've literally just declared that both Communion and the Resurrection are unchristian.

Also, if the idea of transubstantiation makes you uncomfy, 1 Corinthians 15:35-55 should have you crawling out of your skin.

Regarding number two, Mary is revered because she's a saint and the mother of Jesus. That doesn't make her a "goddess," because Catholicism has clear distinctions between saints and deities.

Regarding number five, this is because Catholic religion makes use of worship traditions that were widespread throughout the ancient Mediterranean world. Modern neopaganism drew from these same traditions. There's nothing sinister or conspiratorial about it.

Regarding number six, Schnoebelen elaborates on this one in the footnotes:

Catholics offer prayers for the dead, to get them out of Purgatory. Witches believe in communicating with the dead, especially at Samhain; and that they can, through mediumship, help lower level spirits achieve higher areas of growth before they incarnate again.

Loads of people believe you can interact with or affect the dead in some way. This doesn't prove any special connection between modern witchcraft and Catholicism.

He elaborates on number eight with:

Although this self-mortification element has been toned down recently in U.S. Catholicism, wearing of hair shirts, barbed wire corsets and self-flagellation (whipping) were regularly practiced within Catholic monasteries and nunneries until at least the 1960’s. It may still be going on today in the U.S. and is definitely still practiced overseas. Witches believe you must be willing to “suffer in order to learn” and most practice at least ceremonial whipping of each other. Wiccan authors also brag about how they whipped each other into a magical frenzy in order to raise a large enough “cone of power” to turn back both the Spanish Armada and the forces of Hitler.

Bill. Bill, my man. You might be shocked to learn that the New Testament has a lot to say about the value of suffering. Romans 5:3-4, 2 Corinthians 1:5, Philippians 1:29 2 Corinthians 11 and 2 Corinthians 12 - Paul was kinda big on this whole suffering thing, ya know?

So basically, Schnoebelen's made up a bunch of problems where none exist, and in doing so, implied that the very religion he professes to follow is actually invalid, lol.

[foreverlogical]

U.S. military veterans in one of the most important battleground states are coming out hard against former President Donald Trump, and urging their fellow service members to support the Democratic ticket.

The Guardian reported Saturday that in the swing state of Michigan — which went for Trump in 2016 and for President Joe Biden in 2020 — Vice President Kamala Harris is getting a late surge of momentum from veterans. Men and women who served in the U.S. military are phonebanking voters across the Mitten State by both talking up Harris' bona fides as well as warning of the threat Trump presents to both democracy and the rule of law.

"This man here, that Kamala is running against, he’s like the devil and, you know, he ain’t even trying to hide it," retired Air Force electrician Josie Couch told the Guardian.

READ MORE: 'Listen to his words': Harris plays audio of Trump insulting auto workers to MI auto workers

Veteran Jerold Blunk met his wife, Dale while both of them were deployed to a base in Iceland. Jerry was in the Navy, and Dale was in the Air Force. Both of them are Michigan residents supporting Harris' campaign, with Dale Blunk saying she was particularly disgusted with Trump's disparaging of the late Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona) for being a prisoner of war in Vietnam.

"It’s about time a woman became president of the United States," Jerold Blunk told the publication. Dale interjected at that point and said that wasn't the only reason the two were voting for the Democratic ticket.

"[B]oth of us agree that Trump can’t be allowed into office again. He has no respect for anyone except himself. He has no respect for the constitution. He has no respect for veterans. He doesn’t have any respect for anyone. So he can’t go back to the White House," she said.

Earlier this week, Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg reported on conversations he had with former Trump White House chief of staff John Kelly, a retired four-star Marine general. Kelly — whose own son was killed in combat in Afghanistan — confirmed that the former president referred to American war dead as "suckers" and "losers," and recalled how Trump had no concept of sacrifice for one's country, saying: "I don't get it. What was in it for them?"

In addition to Kelly's concerns about how Trump views the military, he also told the New York Times that his former boss met the dictionary's definition of fascism. This echoes a previous comment by Mark Milley — Trump's appointed chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff — who called Trump a "fascist to the core" in an interview with journalist Bob Woodward.

Dale Blunk also called Trump a "fascist" and told the Guardian that she's particularly concerned about the havoc Trump would wreak if he wins the November election. She specifically mentioned that Supreme Court's Trump v. United States decision that granted presidents absolute broad immunity from criminal prosecution for any "official acts" carried out in office as a reason to believe the country will be "lost" if the former president returns to the White House.

"I don’t think the rule of law will prevail. The supreme court has already given him unlimited power. You give that to an egotist and a fascist, then we’ve lost our country," she said. "Literally, we’ll lose our country."

Click here to read the Guardian's full article.

[of-glass-and-ash]

Gale Amber Lindsay

Pronouns: She/Her Identity: Cisgender Woman; Pansexual Panromantic Ethnicity: White [Scottish] Species: Monster [Earth Elemental] Height: 5'10" [155 cm] 0ccupation: Trapeze Artist/Security Family: Serena Taylor Lindsay [Mother]; Vixen Knox Lindsay [Adoptive Sibling]; Amy Lindsay [Cousin]; Don Avila [Cousin]

The definition of a hot pink bitch named breakfast. She's bubbly as all get-out, and is an exceptional performer on top of it. They works at a theme park named "Devana's Carnival" with their adoptive sibling Vixen. She's known for her acts where she [after several showy aerial tricks], grows gigantic crystal pillars [typically selenite] to get down from where she is. She's currently one of the only Earth elemental performers to do this- and she's one of the most skilled at it. After the shows, the pillars are shattered by her, and the shards are sold. Her teeth are filed down in order to be "less threatening" [though, that doesn't stop her from being a little intimidating after hours].

They've gone on record to advocate for monster rights in the U.S., and being practically the face for Devana's Carnival and a decently-known performer, that means a lot. She makes constant donations to activist groups and charities that help monsters in the States.

[racefortheironthrone]

Question about religion & politics nowadays if it's within your purview. I have seen it said that Catholics are among the most liberal denominations within an expanded definition of Christian (tho opinions seem divided as to whether they, Jehovah's Witnesses & Mormons actually count as such). I remember a news show host telling a Reagan staffer that as a Catholic she wasn't part of the Religious Right. And I think you cited Steve Rogers Catholic background for his liberal politics.

Let’s be careful about this: I cited Steve Rogers’ Catholicism as an explanation for his partisan politics, which is a bit more complicated than ideological politics.

There is some important history behind this: ever since the first Irish Catholic immigrants started arriving in New York City in the 1840s, the Democratic Party became associated as the party that was open to Catholic voters, thanks largely to the efforts of Tammany Hall. This steady partisan identification could be remarkably fluid in terms of ideological content, as the Democratic Party made historic shifts on everything from the income tax to a national bank over the course of the late 19th century, and then changed even more dramatically with the advent of first Al Smith in the 1920s and the New Deal in the 1930s.

So within the context of the Catholic Church in the 1930s, a young Steve Rogers could have been exposed to a number of different ideological tendencies, from the Catholic Worker Movement on the left to pro-fascists like the blueshirts on the right. However, my strong belief - given that he was from New York City, that he was working-class, that his later politics were left-leaning, etc. - is that Steve Rogers grew up with very strong pro-New Deal politics in the home.

As to whether Catholicism is the most liberal denomination in the U.S, it really depends on when you're talking about (Catholic voting behavior started to change in the 1970s when the Church began to emphasize anti-abortion politics in the wake of Roe v. Wade, although Catholic voters still tend to be more Democratic than Republican), who you're talking about (not only do white Catholics vote differently from non-white Catholics, but there's a sharp distinction between more conservative and more liberal Catholics), and what issues you're talking about (economic issues, abortion, gay rights, etc.).

[rootedincuteness]

PSA: Some Info About Butterfly Bushes

@windpurr

I'm sorry it took me so long to get to this. Life has been crazy of late. So... I had not heard about this myself, so I decided to look it up, and apparently, there are two major issues with butterfly bushes in many states in the U.S.:

They are considered an invasive species, and as such, they tend to take over certain areas and outcompete other plants that support caterpillars and butterflies. The result is that there are fewer sources of food to support some insect species, and their populations may suffer because of that.

They are very prolific. They make a lot of seeds and can spread very quickly to fill open areas, wherever the seeds are blown.

As far as it being illegal plant them, it is in all but two states. I happen to live in one of the states that does not have a legal ban on planting or owning butterfly bushes.

A little background about the bushes in my yard... There used to be five of them, all planted by my mother when I was a young child. We had a white one, a yellow one, a dark purple one, a blurple one, and a magenta one. For whatever reason, in the last 5-7 years or so, most of them have died off. We aren't sure whether that's because of some biological issue (bacteria, fungus, nutrient deficiency, etc.) or maybe due to extreme weather (we have been getting intense and prolonged heat waves in the Summer in recent years), but we're currently down to only two bushes.

The two we have left are the blurple one...

...and the magenta one...

The magenta one is healthier and gets more flowers. The blurple one has been struggling for a while now and doesn't get as many flowers, but it's holding on so far.

Even though they aren't banned in my state, I want to thank you for letting me know that these bushes can be problematic. I always thought of them fondly, because my mother planted them. She loved butterflies, so she thought she was doing a good thing by planting bushes that would feed them. She passed away in 2017, and remembering how much she loved the bushes, I don't have the heart to rip them up. However, I will take some steps in the future to help mitigate the negative local ecological impact of my butterfly bushes:

I've learned that the spreading of the seeds is a huge part of the problem, and that this can be minimized by clipping the dead flowers before they can disperse seeds and properly disposing them. Both of my bushes have many dead flowers right now, so I will get right on that.

When and if these two bushes die, I will not replace them. Instead, I will look to plant something less invasive that will benefit local insect species.

I was going to do this anyway, since they've grown a bit spindly, but I will trim back both of my bushes and keep them to a smaller size. This will reduce the number of flowers they produce each year.

Again, thank you for bringing this to my attention, I really appreciate it! I am an environmental microbiologist and I teach environmental science, so I care very much about the environment and about lowering the negative impact I have on it. I will definitely look into what I can replace these bushes with when they die.

Have a great day! =)

[beardedmrbean]

WASHINGTON — Talia Dror grew up hearing about the blatant antisemitism her mother’s family faced in Iran before immigrating to the United States. Her grandfather was stabbed for being a Jew, she said. Her mother was regularly called a dirty Jew.

Yet, Dror never expected antisemitism would follow the family to the country they fled to for refuge.

But the Cornell University junior said she was petrified last month when the school’s Jewish students were threatened online. The posts called for the deaths of Jewish people and warned that the school’s kosher dining hall would be shot up and a “Jewish house” bombed.

A 21-year-old student was arrested on federal charges a few days later. But not before Dror sat in her locked house, pondering her mortality.

“I knew that with my roommates and I being openly Jewish community leaders, our apartment would be one of the first targets for someone looked to actualize the threats, she testified at a recent congressional hearing.

As Jewish Americans increasingly worry about their personal safety amid an alarming rise in antisemitic incidents – particularly on college campuses – since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel, they're pleading for help from the Biden administration.

Their calls for help have not been ignored. Officials have emphasized the progress made on a national strategy to counter antisemitism that was rolled out in May but has taken on new urgency. And they’ve put a particular focus on what’s happening in schools as officials have visited campuses, met with Jewish community leaders and made clear the Education Department will investigate antisemitism complaints.

Israel-Hamas protests roiled campuses. Now, the feds are investigating colleges and schools

“We understand that people are scared,” White House domestic policy adviser Neera Tanden said in a recent video briefing for the Jewish community on how the administration is implementing its antisemitism strategy.

“I do believe that we are doing everything and anything we can to protect people against the threats that they are experiencing,” Tanden said.

Jewish groups want more action on antisemitism

But some Jewish groups are looking for more.

They want beefed up resources for the Department of Education’s office that investigates discrimination complaints, and they don’t want the office to wait until the complaints come to them.

They want the administration to regulate the definition of antisemitism. And they want one person put in charge of ensuring the antisemitism strategy is fully implemented.

“That would be an enormous help,” Ted Deutch, CEO of the American Jewish Committee, said of having a point person for the strategy. “I’ve raised this with the administration.”

He emphasized, however, that success is not just up to the White House.

“We need the rest of society to step up,” he said.

Antisemitism incidents on the rise

Incidents of antisemitism had already been on the rise before Hamas attacked Israel.

Antisemitic hate crimes rose 25% from 2021 to 2022, according to the most recent FBI statistics. Although Jewish people make up only 2.4% of the U.S. population, they are the targets of more than half of all reported religion-based hate crimes.

Since Oct. 7, the Anti-Defamation League, an advocacy group that frequently speaks out against antisemitism and extremism, has tracked 832 anti-Jewish acts in the United States.

Jewish students have borne the brunt of severe antisemitic incidents across the country, according to Jonathan Greenblatt, ADL’s CEO.

“We know that college campuses are a microcosm of the trends we're seeing globally,” he told Congress. “But they've also become petri dishes where antisemitism is festering and flourishing.”

Opinion At Cornell, how did the debate on the Israel-Hamas war nearly turn violent? | Mike Kelly

Complaints filed to Education Department's Office of Civil Rights

The Biden administration has responded in multiple ways, including reissuing guidance reminding schools that antisemitism is a violation of the Civil Rights Act. The Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights also updated its discrimination complaint form to make it clear that colleges, and universities and K-12 schools receiving federal funding must act if students are being targeted because they’re perceived to be Jewish, Muslim, Arab, Sikh, or any other ethnicity or shared ancestry. If they don’t, schools can lose federal funding or be referred to the Justice Department for further action.

The Education Department announced Thursday that five complaints have been filed this month alleging antisemitic harassment and two alleging anti-Muslim harassment.

"Hate has no place in our schools, period,” Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said.

The office received nearly 19,000 discrimination complaints in 2022 – an all-time high – but very few raised allegations of antisemitism. Only five had been made as the department neared the end of the 2023 fiscal year in September, the office told Rep. Kathy Manning, D-N.C.

“What's getting in the way of students filing?” Manning asked at a recent congressional hearing about antisemitism on campuses.

Kenneth Marcus, chairman of the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, who headed the office during the Trump administration, said students may feel loyalty to their school, may not know about the complaint process or may not have confidence it will work. That’s why, he said, the office should not wait for complaints to be formally filed but should proactively start its own investigations.  

“The federal government should take action,” he said. “And there’s no reason why it cannot do so within these next 30 days.”

The ADL is likewise calling on the Education Department to proactively investigate antisemitism allegations.

Complaints expected to rise

Three students at New York University aren’t waiting for that. They’re suing the university, arguing their civil rights have been violated because of pervasive acts of antisemitic hatred, discrimination, harassment and intimidation.

The university, which has called the lawsuit a “one-sided narrative,” recently announced it’s creating a Center for the Study of Antisemitism.

“I have listened to heartbreaking stories from students, faculty, parents, and alums,” New York University President Linda G. Mills said in a statement announcing the center. “NYU unequivocally condemns antisemitism and other forms of hate, and we are committed to maintaining a campus environment where all can study and learn in an atmosphere of respect and live free from the fear of bigotry.”

Stacy Burdett, an independent consultant who works with businesses, schools and others to counter antisemitism, said the most responsive universities get that this isn’t business as usual.  They’ve increased security services, formed antisemitism task forces and repeatedly reminded students and faculty that antisemitism violates the university’s values.

But complaints to the Department of Education will rise and its Office of Civil Rights is not set equipped to handle the existing backlog, she said.

“The complaints that are going to be coming in are going to be real, they're going to be hard, and they are going to need investigative capacity,” she told a House Education subcommittee. “So, let's get busy. And let's put people in those chairs.”

'Climate of constant fear'

At Emory University, senior Morgan Ames said she “lives in a climate of constant fear.” While friends at other universities have been physically assaulted, Ames said, she feels like she’s fighting psychological warfare.

Posters put up to raise awareness of hostages taken by Hamas are defaced. Fliers circulated have compared Jews to Nazis, she said.

“These actions surpass mere vandalism. They are deliberate threats to Jewish student safety,” Ames told USA TODAY. “It’s not healthy discourse.”

Ames praised Emory’s president for condemning antisemitic phrases and slogans made at an October protest on campus. But, she said, after dozens of professors pushed back saying the protester’s chats were in support of Palestinians and not antisemitic, that “created an intimidating atmosphere and inhibits students’ ability to participate fully in the classroom.”

At Cornell, Dror said, the university’s statements condemning the threats to the Jewish community was one of the strongest she’s seen. Also, security was heightened at all Jewish facilities on campus. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul visited the kosher dining hall.

“And all of that support has gone sincerely appreciated by the Jewish community. My question is, why didn't we receive it right after the October 7 attacks?” she asked Congress. “We sincerely appreciate all of their help now, but it's too little too late.”

[horizon-verizon]

https://www.tumblr.com/horizon-verizon/734012672751828992/you-should-absolutely-read-ursula-k-le-guins

This actually got me thinking.

Every House in ASOIAF are feudalist but the one that bares the grunt of hate are the ones with dragons.

I seems that are anti Targaryen on tumblr, saying, the only good dragon is a dead dragon, comparing the Targs to Nazis (?????) Comparing the dragons to nukes, etc. And i've always been confused bc I thought the fandom agreed that is was a fantasy series???? It takes from irl history yes, BUT there are dragons and magical elements. It's a bit ironic bc I KNOW these anti Targs would LOVE to claim and ride a dragon.

I hope you read the essay, anon it's pretty insightful and explains part of U.S. anti-fantasiness, but it's also:

D&D's fault by trying to erase, vilify, or reduce every element of magic for the sake of making the show more marketable to "soccer moms" and I think watchers of football or something. In other words, 2015 GoT's two producers/main writers thought that it'd be too "complex" or otherwise unappealing to the "ordinary", non- fantasy reading masses. Some people became inspired to read the books anyways after watching the first couple of seasons (for example, me) and some preferred the books to the show...as they would because it's just better written and most love Dany as long as they are brainwashed or incels. So you also have a lot of anti Targs justify that ASoIaF is either not a fantasy story (GoT was mainly seen a political struggle thing-focus) and dragons will not be necessary for the Long Night. It's mainly no thinking and incels people arguing the last bc they hate Dany.

They hate Dany, the strongest example of a woman using what is seen as masculine powers with a masculine confidence and willingness/ambition to rule in ASoIaF bc they are misogynist, so anything that is associated with or gives her her ability to have said power is also degraded (Valyrian dragonlord heritage). Nevermind that she is literally trying to use her dragons for pure good, is the most altruistic Targ to ever live, and is freeing slaves! And while slavery in the ASoIaF world of Essos is neither chattel slavery nor the kind of racialized slavery of the U.S. and Europe, bc GoT had slaves played by PoC or darker actors, people still tend to think slavery is racially located instead of class motivates as in the books. There are many blonde, blue eyes haired slaves everywhere in Essos. One was one of Dany's attendants and Dany herself was a bridal slave with pale hair and violet eyes. Some of the hate towards Dany is xenophobic in nature: she was displaced and not born nor raised in Westeros and she'd "just bring in foreign people into Westeros" as she did in the show...again, who looked physically darker and more PoC than the white-analogous FM & Andal people of Westeros. These people (and the few who remark similar in the series) seem to forget that the Lord's of Westeros paid fealty to the Targs as if the Targs were one of them for years, how some are descended from a Targ, and their own ancestors pushed out the giants and TWStSotE (children of the forest) to take their land for themselves in actually colonial patterns. The Andals even pushed about and fought against FM when they first arrived with their religious excuse/belief of Westeros being their "promised land", similar to how Pilgrims and Puritans thought the Americas were and their descendants would develop the "Manifest Destiny" to justify their expansion into the western parts of the continent and murders/land seizures of native people.

bc the Valyrians were most definitely a slave state/colonists and imperialists as ancient Romans were, the royal Targs of Westeros are seen the same. Dragons enabled Valyrians to dominate a lot of Essos and enslave large swaths of people after the Ghiscari (another but older enslaving society/people) were defeated, so dragons are seen as inherently, unequivocally, and irreversibly evil and there is no redeeming their flaws or ability to be used for chaos. Some use their supreme ability to destroy to say they are like nuclear weapons (Hiroshima type stuff), capable and have been inflicting mass incidents of lasting emotional & physical trauma on people. However, the royal Targs were not colonizers, imperialists, nor enslavers of Westeros AND dragons go by the will of their riders for the most part. GRRM implies that it matters more how the humans are used than the dragons exiting at all, and that humans can choose to not bring suffering. Also, there is a clear link to women gaining power and autonomy through dragons or overall Targ prosperity to female Targ-and-thier-dragons' fertility and happiness, which involves political autonomy. That view also completely ignores another line of nuance where dragons in Andal-Faith dominant Westeros and maesters look at dragons as evil not for their human lives so much as bc they are seen as demonic & uncontrollable, not in other lords' usage. And we see several times Westeros lords try to ingratiate themselves with the Targs for power; only one of them truly amassed a rebellion against them years after they lost their dragons partially, but heavily, bc the Targaryen were considered the rightful kings under the feudal patriarchal customs concerning inheritance, kingship, kinship, and oathtaking. Also, dragonfire hardly causes the same kind or level of devastation of a nuclear weapon. People suffer burns and wildlife is destroyed, but neither are hardly as poisoned and uninhabitable afterwards. As far as we know and by what's evident, dragonfires still fire, not a substance that could literally fuck up ones atoms for years down the line in radiation. Wildfire is actually the closest substance to a nuclear weapon by how difficult it is to weld or even store it, how it can go into nearly uncontrollable flames in the wrong environment or exposure; it's still not as expansive as radiation but it's has a wider scope of destruction than a flying dragon and is highly reactive. Like radioactive weapons.

Targ incest being too much for some fans to handle; them hating the Targs for pushing for sibling, avuncular, AND cousin marriage for the sake of maintaining their ability to ride dragons/keep that within select families -> some see this is Targs/Valyrian dragon lords being "naturally" incestuous and evil, but this is as close to an ethnocentric argument as any -> the Andal-FM Westerosi (before any Targs even set foot in Westeros) consistently married first cousins if they didn't marry people more distantly related. The Faith does not see first cousin marriages as incest AND we see two Stark marriages be avuncular much later on and the Faith nor maester say nothing about it (probably bc the Starks' power, distance, out of reachness from having Faith consequences, a bit of Andal xenophobia [northmen are seen as more savage & strange, so "of course" they'd do that], and the silent agreement that due to northmen worshipping different gods altogether some things are just more of Faith jurisdiction...and yet we know there were Stark-sothron/southern marriages....). And every single noble house that fans admire or hate for some reason or another marry themselves and their dependents to anyone is to ensure alliances, accrue future/present resources, rise in rank, etc. And only between nobles bc they believed they only noble "blood" with good lineages were inherently worth marrying--class=personhood and "aristocracy" literally comes from the Greek word for "the best". It is uncommon for love or attraction or voluntary on the marrying persons' part. In this way, Targs and Valyrian dragon lords are not really different from Andal-FM Westerosi in terms of WHY they have incestuous marriages and you can't argue for "Targs are worse" bc again no one (or very few) is thinking about grooming or genetics in these noble marriage customs in world...the Faith doesn't consider 14 yr old girls marrying 30 yr olds gross nor morally dangerous for the sake of the girl. Marriage is typically not about attraction b/t individuals, but about economic and political gain for the house. And if there was a serious issue about genetics in ASoIaF, nevermind the Valyrians and their descendants, the Westerosi FM and Andal descendants should have had serious physical deformities or congenital conditions from the sheer frequency and consistency of various first cousin marriages made over literally 1000s of years...but if such diseases exist, they never number crazily above their depicted numbers as they would in real life. Just like FM-Andal Westerosi AND real life nobles, Valyrians performed incestuous marriages for material purposes, not bc they naturally, already and from their beginnings had an unnatural attraction towards their own family members. This argument also refuses to acknowledge that many customs are decided on; marriage is historically and still has often enough a social institution, a social construct towards power and security. Not a dream of perfect and spiritually pure happiness with no material expectations or limitations nor something that springs from human consciousness without material purpose. They are essentially trying to essentialize Valyrians while leaving FM and Andal people's customs to be more human/humanizing than Valyrians. It is also a refusal to see how class develops to create lines of exploitation without Targ intervention. You do not need to be devoted or even be okay with Targ incest or ASoIaF incest in general, but if you are not giving the same energy for FM and Andals, you're probably not arguing for what you think and/or majorly biased. Hate Targ incest, hate Andal-FM incest too, bash those people. The nonValyrian Westerosi lords are not intentionally nor unintentionally better people and would rather use Targs and exploit smallfolk for more power (Alicent and the greens). And yes, you see a lot of green stans claim that green dragonriders have the best bond with their dragon over any black rider; they have specific green rider/dragon pfo& usernames; just claim that they are morally better or more interesting; etc.

In other words, ASoIaF fans (esp the majority of vocal men) are often misogynist bad faith arguers who ate fun, imagination, and certain people having a perceived edge over their FM-Andal white English-adjacent favs. Some will say that Jon, not Dany, should be Azor Again or be the one/primary actor to save Westeros when they do talk fantasy, that Jon is the only person who makes "sense"--thematically and traditionally.

[fandom-hoarder]

Happy Birthday! What is the book that has had the most profound impact on you?

Thank you! 🥳

Ah, this is a tough choice! I have to list a few, I think. A lot from my childhood.

Charlotte's Web, the first chapter book I read by myself. Definitely shaped my little personality.

Little Women, the first unabridged classic I read. My dearly departed aunt gave it to me in 2nd or 3rd grade and I wanted to be Jo.

Afternoon of the Elves, a book about a girl who uses her imagination to get through trauma, and the girl who becomes her friend.

An autobiography I can't remember the title of because I listened to it on NPR in 6th grade. But it was about the life of a black woman and her white-passing sister in the Jim Crow era. (I've been searching for this book for decades to read again. My checkout history from then is a bust because I can't remember the attached phone number. Even tried looking up NPR broadcasts from 1994/1995. I'll know it's the right one when she talks about cleaning her teeth with soap powder.)

Fear Street books in general for being just the right amount of horror + teen hormones I needed in 7th grade.

The Raven, The Black Cat, and in general The Complete Works of Poe for speaking to my love of the macabre, the rhythm of words, and the energy in verbosity.

The Talisman, for being foundational in my love for Stephen King and his multiverse.

The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, which I read to my children and couldn't get through it without crying. It's like a leveled up Velveteen Rabbit.

The Vietnam War: An Intimate History -- does this need explanation? It's a deep dive into the history and revolution that led up to the war, the way Vietnamese independence from France was skewed for U.S. red scare propaganda, the atrocities committed, the geopolitical events and ramifications, and interviews with survivors.

His Dark Materials series, for its intricate story and themes and the social commentary on the church as an institution.

[little-qngels]

Maybe?

There’s evidence that humans have been baking bread in some form for about 30,000 years, but sliced bread has only been around since the early 20th century. The first automatically sliced commercial loaves were produced on July 6, 1928, in Chillicothe, Missouri, using the machine invented by Otto Rohwedder, an Iowa-born, Missouri-based jeweler.

Rohwedder’s quest to make sliced bread a reality was not without its challenges. A 1917 fire destroyed his prototype and blueprints, and he also faced skepticism from bakers, who thought factory-sliced loaves would quickly go stale or fall apart. Nevertheless, in 1928, Rohwedder’s rebuilt “power-driven, multi-bladed” bread slicer was put into service at his friend Frank Bench’s Chillicothe Baking Company.

Rohwedder’s newfangled contraption was greeted with an enthusiastic report in the July 6, 1928, edition of the Chillicothe Constitution-Tribune. The publication noted that while some people might find sliced bread “startling,” the typical housewife could expect “a thrill of pleasure when she first sees a loaf of this bread with each slice the exact counterpart of its fellows. So neat and precise are the slices, and so definitely better than anyone could possibly slice by hand with a bread knife that one realizes instantly that here is a refinement that will receive a hearty and permanent welcome.”

The article also recounted that “considerable research” had gone into determining the right thickness for each slice: slightly less than half an inch.

Sliced bread didn’t take long to become a hit around the United States, even as some bakers contended it was just a fad, and by 1930 it could be found in most towns across the country. By that point, the majority of Americans were eating commercially made bread—compared with just decades earlier, when most of the supply was still homemade. The factory-produced loaves were designed to be softer than those prepared at home or at small, local bakeries because the bread-buying public had come to equate “squeezable softness” with freshness, writes food historian Aaron Bobrow-Strain in his book White Bread. The timing, therefore, was right for an automatic slicing machine because, as Bobrow-Strain says, these softer, “modern loaves had become almost impossible to slice neatly at home.”

One of the first major brands to distribute sliced bread was Wonder, starting in 1930. Wonder Bread originally appeared in stores in 1921 in Indianapolis, where it was manufactured by the Taggart Baking Company. An executive there dreamed up the bread’s name after being filled with wonder while watching the International Balloon Race at the Indianapolis Speedway. After the Continental Baking Company bought Taggart in 1925, Wonder was sold nationally; the bread’s popularity soared once it was marketed in sliced form.

During World War II, factory-sliced bread, including Wonder, was briefly banned by the U.S. government in an effort to conserve resources, such as the paper used to wrap each loaf to help maintain freshness. In 2012, Wonder Bread disappeared completely from store shelves after its then-owner, Hostess Brands (which also made Twinkies and Ding Dongs, among other famous snacks), declared bankruptcy. The following year, another company stepped in and re-launched the iconic brand.