#I don't even know how to tag this

[luckyladylily]

So a few months ago there was the discourse about would you rather meet a man or a bear in the woods. I didn't want to touch it while the discourse was hot and everyone dug in hard because those are not good conditions for nuance, but I waited until today, June 1st, for a specific reason.

I'm not going to take a position in the bear vs man debate because I don't think it matters. What is really being asked here is how afraid are you of men? Specifically, unexpected men who are, perhaps, strange.

People have a lot of very real fear of men that comes from a lot of very real places. Back when I was first transitioning in 2015 and 2016, I decided to start presenting as a woman in public even though I did not pass in the slightest.

I live in a red state. I knew other trans women who had been attacked by men, raped by men. I knew I was taking a risk by putting myself out there. I was the only visibly trans person in the area of campus I frequented, and people made sure I never forgot that. Most were harmless enough and the worst I got from them was curious stares. Others were more aggressive, even the occasional threat. I had to avoid public bathrooms, of course, and always be aware of my surroundings.

I know how frightening it is to be alone at night while a pair of men are following behind you and not knowing if they are just going in the same direction or if they want to start something - made all the worse for the constant low level threat I had been living under for over a year by just being visibly trans in a place where many are openly hostile to queer people. You have to remember, this was at the height of the first wave of bathroom law discussions, a lot of people were very angry about trans women in particular. My daily life was terrifying at times. I was never the subject of direct violence, but I knew trans women who had been.

I want you to keep all that in mind.

So man or bear is really the question "how afraid of men are you?", and the question that logically follows is "What if there was a strange man at night in a deserted parking lot?" or "What if you were alone in an elevator with a man?" or "What if you met a strange man in the woman's bathroom?"

My state recently passed an anti trans bathroom bill. The rhetoric they used was about protecting women and children from "strange men", aka trans women.

Conservatives hijack fear for their bigoted agenda.

When I first started presenting as a woman the campus apartment complex was designed for young families. The buildings were in a large square with playgrounds in the center, and there were often children playing. I quickly noticed that when I took my daughter out to play, often several children would immediately stop what they were doing and run back inside. It didn't take me long to confirm that the parents were so afraid of "the strange man who wears skirts" that their children were under strict instructions to literally run away as soon as they saw me.

"How afraid are you of a strange man being near your children?"

I mentioned above that I had to avoid public bathrooms. This was not because of men. It was because of women who were so afraid of random men that they might get violent or call someone like the police to be violent for them if I ever accidentally presented myself in a way that could be interpreted as threatening, when my mere presence could be seen as a threat. If I was in the library studying and I realized that it was just me and one other woman I would get up and leave because she might decide that stranger danger was happening.

Your fear is real. Your fear might even come from lived experiences. None of that prevents the fact that your fear can be violent. Women's fear of men is one of the driving forces of transmisogyny because it is so easy to hijack. And it isn't just trans women. Other trans people experience this, and other queer people too. Racial minorities, homeless people, neurodivergent people, disabled people.

When you uncritically engage with questions like man or bear, when you uncritically validate a culture of reactive fear, you are paving the way for conservatives and bigots to push their agenda. And that is why I waited until pride month. You cannot engage and contribute to the culture of reactive fear without contributing to queerphobia of all varieties. The sensationalist culture of reactive fear is a serious queer issue, and everyone just forgot that for a week as they argued over man or bear. I'm not saying that "man" is the right answer. I am saying that uncritically engaging with such obvious click bait trading on reactive fear is a problem. Everyone fucked up.

It is not a moral failing to experience fear, but it is a moral responsibility to keep a handle on that fear and know how it might harm others.

[hurtingbuck]

[bloggingboutburgers]

The personal reasons are mostly that our wedding plans with my partner are going smoothly and more quickly than we'd thought, and I don't wanna jinx it, but yeah it's definitely been dawning on me that all of this is getting more real by the minute and... Yeah just the realization that I may be moving to a whole other continent is hitting me like a ton of bricks

I don't regret these plans at all but it's definitely been occupying my thoughts because it's very big, so... Yeah I'm trying to take it one day at a time.

[deafleppard]

Bravo's newest hit show: the formula one austrian gp

[radley-writes]

Okay but

for story writing purposes

if your bloodline diverged from that of another guy seven generations back

and you fuck him

is that incest????? I need to know your opinions for story writing reasons, because my instinct is 'no, that's stupid, there are married couples in my small close-knit village who are more related than that and no one bats an eye' but I know what Booktok is like

[teaboot]

I like to listen to YouTube for ambient noise when I go to sleep, and I have autoplay turned on, so sometimes I wake up to something completely different to what I'd conked out to.

I'm bringing this up because there is no other way to explain how I managed to stumble into what is possibly the greatest ASMR channel of all time

[terrible-leviathan]

Apology so bad it's basically the avengers endgame of cc's shitting on you

[one-time-i-dreamt]

I bought some cute creatures resembling sweet puddings with tiny eyes. My little sister ate one and I scolded her angrily.

[gambitgambino]

So anyways

[i-am-become-a-name]

why would you post that big finish. why would you post that. some things are better forgotten, please.

[queercontrarian]

prince eris of the autumn court

this one's for you @secret-third-thing

[greyrain23]

The woman laid in his arms, her eyes blinded from the attacks in battle. She bled out from the sword embedded into her stomach, but it had been so long that she couldn't feel the pain anymore. He had long since ordered his soldiers to find the medic back at camp, but it was taking too long.

The light, slow, gentle snowfall had been ongoing since the night before, covering the ground in a thin layer of white that was now dyed red all around the two of them. Her sightless eyes gazed up at the snow-filled clouds, a few snowflakes landing gently on her face and melting faster than she could tell.

He promised her that he'd keep her safe.. that he'd protect her, but he couldn't make to her in time.. he was on the other side of the battlefield, but the moment he saw the enemy raise their sword against her, he shoved away the one he was fighting and ran. He ran as fast as he could but he wasn't fast enough.

Now the enemy was gone, leaving a battlefield littered with different bodies of both his team and the opposing, but they didn't even cross his mind when she was bleeding out in his arms. He couldn't even do anything besides press his already blood covered hands against her wound.

She called out his name, her voice holding a small tremor. He immediately looked over at her blood-stained face that was still so beautiful, even with the cuts and show of war..

"It's quiet.."

so was her voice.. he had to lean over to hear her better. He slowly lifted his hands away from her wound when he realized that she wouldn't make it out of this place..

"..Is the snow pretty..?"

he pressed his lips together as he held back tears.. she always loved the snow, but she couldn't even see it once more before she passed. Without even raising his gaze from her face, he spoke gently. His voice was always gentle when he spoke to her, such a difference compared to when he ordered around his other soldiers.

"..mm.. it's breathtaking.. it always is.."

She gave a small, serene smile. She knew he didn't look, and she also knew the hidden meaning behind his words.. he took her hand in his, giving a gentle squeeze, which she was too weak to return.

"I'm glad.. I've always liked the snow"

..'I know'. He let out a shaking, pained breath as he watched her let her eyes fall closed before she whispered one last time.

"I hope you see me when it snows.. I'll be there.."

As he watched her, he could only give a small nod even though she wouldn't see it. The tears finally fell from his eyes when he could no longer see the small cloud her warm breath created against the cold air. He leaned over and pressed his forehead against hers, letting out quiet sobs as he hugged her limp body against his chest.

[a-s-levynn]

I.. i just rewatched the love you want video because i needed exact reference for the sword.. and it only reached my brain that Vessel has a fucking wakizashi in it, not a katana or a tachi. He uses a fucking wakizashi you guys. That fuckin man.. arrrrggghhhh. It's infuriating -in the best way possible- how much attention to detail can be there with this collective. It's a backup weapon for close quarters and mainly beheading opponents. Which he tries to do btw with the dancers. BUT ALSO for harakiri sometimes. WHAT HE IS FORCED TO DO BEFORE THE LOOP BEGINS ANEW. HOW HAVE I MISSED THIS ALL THIS TIME.

[fixaidea]

Every now and then the Discourse flares up around certain characters: they are a fighter, they cannot look Like That! They are too strong, they must be This One body type and saying otherwise makes you stupid!!!

Guys.

I did HEMA fencing for six years. And let me tell you - our top fighters? Both men and women? They came in all shapes and sizes.

Some were absolute shit brickwalls. Some were made of bones, scrawny muscle and not much else. Of course they all favoured different techniques (strength and stamina vs speed and agility) but they were all fencers and all phenomenal at it.

Your fighter character can be shaped like a barrell or a stick, it doesn't matter, there's most likely a real life martial artist out there who looks like that.

[cookinguptales]

omg I'm crying I was looking through old newspapers from the 1800s and there's this article here about flora and fauna from south america but the illustration to go with it is just so unabashedly horny

DID THE DEVIL TREE TAKE HIS CLOTHES, TOO?

[discodiscodemon]

i got bored. brush test