#I think like. For instance this can be pretty gendered and also those sports are a particular subset of exercise

[mornyavie]

I don't think that this post about our society lacking "exercise as play" is wrong per se so I'm making my own, but if you have a public park nearby there is a very strong chance that you can go to one on a weekend afternoon and find a lot of people playing sports for fun and exercise, so I encourage you to look for that kind of opportunity if this resonates with you!

My city has free adult recreation leagues for soccer, cricket, kickball, ultimate frisbee, tag football... etc, and low-cost (like 15$ for a season) leagues for teams that need developed spaces like basketball and tennis.

And that's just the officially organized leagues, not counting people who just do it on their own.

Of course availability and level of formality will vary based on your location, and on how much you enjoy the particular sports on offer, but for some people "exercise as play" is already the norm, it's worth looking into!

[wickwrites]

Wonder Egg Priority Episode 4: Boys’ and Girls’ Suicides Do Mean Different Things (But Not in the Way the Mannequins Want You to Think!)

So, let’s talk about this for a second. After I got over my initial knee-jerk reaction, I realized I wasn’t sure how to make sense of exactly what the mannequins were arguing for here. So let me rephrase their statements to make the argumentative structure more explicit: Because men are goal-oriented and women are not, because women are emotion-oriented and men are not, and because women are impulsive and easily influenced by others’ voices and men are not, boys’ and girls’ suicides mean different things – girls are more easily “tempted” by death, and therefore, more likely to require saving when they inevitably regret their suicide. While Wonder Egg Priority, so far, seems to agree with the vague version of the mannequins’ conclusion, namely that boys’ and girl’s suicides mean different things, it refutes the gender-essentialist logic through which that conclusion was derived.

The mannequins choose a decidedly gender essentialist approach in explaining the difference between girls’ and boy’s suicides; they argue that the suicides are different because of some immutable characteristic of their mental hard wiring (in this case, impulsivity, emotionality, and influenceability). Obviously, this is a load of bull, and Wonder Egg Priority knows it. The mannequins are not exactly characters we’re supposed to trust, seeing that they’re running a business that is literally based on letting these kids put themselves in mortal danger. As faceless adult men, they parrot and possibly represent the systems that force these girls to continue to be subjected to physical and emotional trauma (it’s probably more complicated than this, but four episodes in, it’s hard to say more). So, we’re probably supposed to take what they say with great skepticism. Also, the director, Shin Wakabayashi, has recently said that in response to these lines, Neiru was originally going to object, “When it comes to their brains, boys and girls are also the same,” (which unfortunately is not exactly true and is somewhat of an oversimplification, but the sentiment is there). While that line ultimately did not make it in, Neiru does reply with a confused and somewhat indignant, “What?!”, a reaction that gets the message across.  Neiru is not a fan of gender essentialism, and as a (more) sympathetic character, we’re supposed to agree with her.

That is, the differences between boys and girls is not something inherent to their biology or character, but something constructed by culture and experience. This rejection of gender-essentialism is apparent in Wonder Egg Priority’s narrative, which takes a more sociocultural perspective on the difference between boys’ and girls’ suicides. It says, well of course boys’ and and girl’s suicides don’t mean the same thing, that’s the whole reason why we’re delving into the experiences specific to being a girl (cis or trans) or AFAB in this world – to show you how girls’ suicides are influenced by systems of oppression perpetuated by those in power (ie. the adult, in this specific anime).

And all the suicides we’ve seen up until now tie into that somehow. For instance, Koito is bullied by her female classmates who think that Sawaki is giving her special treatment. This is a narrative that comes up over and over again, in real life as well: that if a young girl is being given attention from an older man, then it’s her fault – that she must want it, or at least enjoy it somehow, and that it signifies a virtue (eg. maturity or beauty) on her part. And if Koito is actually being given such treatment by Sawaki, an adult man in a position of power over her, that is incredibly predatory. 

And we all know that child sexual abuse is something that overwhelmingly affects girls, with one out of nine experiencing it before the age of 18, as opposed to one out of 53 boys (Finkelhor et al., 2014). Regardless of whether Sawaki was actually abusing Koito or if the students only thought that he was, Koito’s trauma is ultimately the result of this romanticized “love between a young girl and adult man, but not because the man is predatory, but because the girl has some enviable virtue that makes her desirable” narrative. Similarly, in episode 2, Minami’s suicide is driven by ideas related to discipline and body image in sports, which while not necessarily specific to female and AFAB athletes, is framed in an AFAB-specific way. For instance, take the pressure on Minami to “maintain her figure”. Certainly, male athletes also face a similar pressure, but we know that AFAB and (cis and trans) female bodies are subject to closer scrutiny and criticism. We know that young girls are more likely to suffer from eating disorders. And Wonder Egg Priority situates Minami’s experience as decidedly “about” AFAB experience when her coach accuses her change of figure due to her period as a character failing on her part.

 Likewise, episode 3 delves into suicides related to “stan” culture, this fervent dedication to celebrities that is overwhelmingly associated to teenage girls. And Miwa’s story, in episode 4, explicitly shows how society responds to sexual assault. When Miwa does have the courage to speak up about her assault, she’s instantly reprimanded by basically everyone around her. Her father is fired because her abuser was an executive of his company. Her mother asks her why she couldn’t just bear with it, telling her that her abuser chose her because she was cute, as if that’s supposed to make her feel better about it. Wonder Egg Priority shows that this sort of abuse is a systemic problem, a set of rules and norms deeply engrained in a society and upheld by all adults, regardless of gender, social status, or closeness (to the victim). Wonder Egg Priority says that, yes, girls’ and boys’ suicides have different meanings, but it’s not due to some inherent difference between the two, but the hostile environment in which these girls grow up. Girls are not more easily “tempted” by death, they just have more societal bullshit to deal with.

But Wonder Egg Priority goes further than just showcasing how girls’ (and AFAB) experiences are shaped by sociocultural factors. The story also disproves the supposedly dichotomous characteristics that the mannequins use to differentiate girls and boys (i.e. influenceability/independence, impulsivity/deliberation, emotion-orientation/goal-orientation). If the mannequins are indeed correct, and that girls are just influenceable, impulsive, and emotional, you’d expect the girls in the story to be to be like such too. Except, they aren’t. Rather, they’re a mix of both/all characteristics. This show says that, certainly, girls can be suggestible, but they’re also capable of thinking for themselves. For instance, when Momoe asserts her own identity as a girl at the end of episode four, she rejects the words of those around her who insisted that she isn’t a girl. If she were as suggestible as the mannequins believe her to be, that would never have happened – she would have just continued believing that she wasn’t girl “enough”. But, she doesn’t because she is equally capable of making her own judgements. Likewise, Wonder Egg Priority shows that girls can be impulsive, but they can also be deliberate and pre-mediating. When Miwa tricks her Wonder Killer into groping her to create an opening for Momoe to defeat it, she’s not doing it out of impulse – it’s a pre-mediated and deliberate choice unto a goal. And Wonder Egg Priority continues, girls can be equally emotion oriented and goal oriented. Sure, the main girls are fighting because they have the goal of bringing their loved ones back to life, but those goals are motivated by a large range of emotions, from guilt to anger, grief, compassion, and love. 

Being emotion-driven doesn’t mean you’re not goal-driven, and vice versa. In fact, in this case, being emotional drives these girls toward their goals. In other words, none of these traits that the mannequins listed are either “girl traits” or “boy traits”. Being one does not mean you can’t be the other, even if they seem dichotomous at first. Wonder Egg Priority’s diverse cast of multi-dimensional female characters allows it to undermine the mannequins’ conceptualization of gendered roles, refuting the idea that these (or any) character traits should be consider gendered at all.

As an underdeveloped side thought, I think Wonder Egg Priority’s blurring of gendered roles is also well-reflected in its style. There’s been a lot of talk about whether Wonder Egg Priority constitutes a magical girl series, and I think that’s an interesting question deserving of its own essay. Certainly, it does follow the basic formula of the magical girl story: a teenage heroine ensemble wielding magical weapons saves the day. But it also throws out a lot of the conventions you’d expect of a magical girl story – both aesthetically and narratively. Aesthetically, it’s probably missing the component that most would consider the thing that makes an anime a magical girl anime: the full body transformation sequence, complete with the sparkles and the costume and all that. Narratively, the girls are also not really magical girl protagonist material – they’ve got a fair share of flaws, have done some pretty awful things (looking at Kawai in particular; I still love you though), and aren’t exactly the endlessly self-sacrificing heroines you’d expect from a typical magical girl story. On the other hand, the anime also borrows a lot from shonen battle anime. We get these dynamic, well choreographed action sequences full of horror and gore, the focus on the importance of camaraderie between allies (or “nakama”, as shonen anime would call it) exemplified through all the bonding between the main girls during their downtime, and in the necessary co-operation to bring down the Wonder Killers. That said, this anime is not a shonen; the characters, types of conflicts, and themes are quite different from those that you’d find in a typical shonen. The bleeding together of the shonen genre and the magical girl genre, at the very least (and I say this because I think it does way more than just that), reflects Wonder Egg Priority’s interest in rebelling against conventional narratives about girlhood and gender.

[apricotbuncakes]

🏳️‍⚧️ Luigi is Trans Masc 🏳️‍⚧️

Long Post!!!

Now that I have your attention, here are some reasons that I headcanon Luigi as trans, based off of my own experience as a trans masc person.

1) He ghosts hunts even when he has the option to say no.

Could this be a ‘I have to save my loved ones from danger’ or a ‘this is the right thing to do even though I’m scared’ situation? Yeah! But I’m trans and grasping for straws, so let me have this.

I put this as a reason for him being trans, because I believe he’s doing it because he’s a man and he’s ‘not supposed to be afraid’.

Luigi is assumed to be 24, and his character was first introduced in the 1980s, specifically 1983. Assuming he was 24 when the first game released, he would have been born in 1959 (feel free to check my math on that).

Although his character was introduced in the 80s where men tended to be more feminine and flamboyant, he was probably raised with the idea that men should be tough and strong, and should lead. Even if we throw release date and age aside, even if he was born in my generation, those stereotypes of men still exist and are taught within society. Even as those norms are being broken day after day, he would have still been exposed to the toxic masculinity.

Luigi, from what we’ve seen of his adventures, tends to be more scared and less ‘tough’ than what was expected of a man. From what we know of Luigi, we can safely assume that (if he was trans) he would be doing this not only for his family and friends, but to prove he was tough and strong, and that he was manly.

2) He dresses like his brother.

Yes, he is a plumber by trade, but he also ghosts hunts, and makes bank off of that. You think he would wear a different outfit when he ghost hunts simply because denim Isn’t meant for physical activity. Anyone who’s run in jeans knows that it isn’t exactly meant to be stretchy. It’s (supposed to be) designed to withstand the test of time. So why doesn’t Luigi change from plumbing cloths (specifically his denim overalls) to something more suited for the running he has to do in various places for ghost hunting? Because Mario wears overalls and a t-shirt.

From what I’ve seen on social media, other trans people follow the lead of those around them who match their gender identity/their presentation. I would do the same was well. I would look at what my dad wore, what my brother would wear, and what guys at school wore. I developed my style after what I had seen, so I could pass.

While you don’t have to pass to be trans (or even have the desire to), it’s a common theme amongst trans people to try and blend in with cis society. This can be for safety reasons, or just because they want to fit in with their peers.

Luigi clearly looks up to his brother, crying tears of joy whenever Mario is saved from King Boo. He congratulates him when he wins events. He supports him, because he looks up to him. They’re brothers after all!

It makes sense that Luigi would mirror Mario, since they are so close. Since Mario is most often seen wearing his overalls, Luigi follows suit, because it’s what he believes guys do. He’s following the example that Mario set for him.

3) Luigi’s view on gender expression.

Luigi has had a couple of instances where he is known to ignore typical gender stereotypes, specifically with dresses.

In the game super Mario Odyssey, Mario can be seen wear a wedding gown with a veil, and Luigi is only concerned that Mario didn’t tell him about the wedding. There was no wedding, and Luigi didn’t mock Mario when informed that his brother was wearing the gown for fun.

The second major instance is from the New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe website. The website tells us that only Toadette can use the Super crown. The last part of the Super Crown’s description says “Sorry Luigi- Only Toadette can use this item!”

While this could point to Luigi being trans fem instead of trans masc, I would like to point out that recently, it has become more accepted that men can dress feminine. Since this game was released in 2019, it’s completely possible that Luigi has caught onto this, and is becoming more accepted and accepting of his femininity as a man. This would also be plenty of time to unlearn harmful stereotypes from when he was younger, about what men can and can’t do. Although he still sticks with old habits, he’s learning more about how the world around him works, and how it’s changing day by day.

I believe that Luigi has a better understanding of gender and gender expression because he is trans. He’s learning to accept that he doesn’t have to be hyper masculine to be a valid guy.

4) How he got his mustache and flat chest (and… other stuff).

This section will be discussing the effects of hormones, surgeries, and genitalia. Please keep this in mind as you read.

This is more of an explanation for how certain things happened.

How did he grow a mustache? Testosterone. It was likely after helping his brother with his career, and winning sporting events he had a good amount of income to start Testosterone. Another option? Minoxidil. Minoxidil was tested to see if it could cure ulcers in the 50s. Through testing, The Upjohn Company discovered it opened blood vessels and allowed for blood to flow more smoothly. In the late 70s, it was FDA approved for patients to use if they suffer from high blood pressure. Through this, they discovered that minoxidil also has the side effect of hair growth. The FDA approved the product to be sold, and it was called Rogaine. Meaning Luigi would have had access to something to grow facial hair, even if testosterone wasn’t an option.

What about his flat chest?

Binding or Top surgery. Both were an option by the time Luigi was old enough. Laurence Michael Dillon was a trans person who was born in 1915 and died in 1962. While I do recommend you look at more of his story, what I want to focus on is the fact he had top surgery. While the surgery was still fairly early in it’s development, it was possible. Luigi, who wasn’t born until 1959 (as previously discussed) would have the option to get top surgery when he became an adult.

Another option would be binding, though I think this is less likely because of how binding restricts physical activity. Binding in any way makes it difficult to run or exert yourself in general. We see Luigi run a LOT in various games, and for decent amounts of time too. It’s less likely that he’s binding.

The last thing is his penis.

There was a huge joke going around about the bulge we saw in a promotion for Mario Tennis Aces. People were discussing how large it was, and Even Mattpat on Game Theory discussed the measurements to determine how large it was.

Why was it so noticeable? Well bottom surgery was also an option for him pretty early on. Surgeons (from what I’ve been told be social media) will ask how you’d like to look like. Even if he decided to not get bottom surgery, he could be wearing a packer.

A packer is anything you use to give the feeling and or appearance of a penis, specifically used by trans masc people who were not born with a penis. There are many different types of packers (including clean rolled up socks) that people may use. What’s most important to note though, is they have a high chance of moving around.

Even with harnesses or underwear specifically designed to keep a packer in place, they can still shift around in your pants, especially when you’re doing a lot of moving. From my experience, my packers tent to move forward rather than back. Wearing athletic shorts will also make that area more pronounced as the fabric is looser, so if Luigi was wearing a packer, we’d know.

5) He’s trans cause I say so.

Like I said in the beginning, it’s a head canon. I say he’s trans because it’s a cool idea. A Nintendo character that is trans, and isn’t being hidden, explained away, or made fun of (like Vivian from Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door). I like the idea that Luigi is a proud trans guy, and we don’t know because it doesn’t matter. He’s a guy because he’s a guy. He doesn’t just ‘become’ a guy because he goes through surgeries or goes in hormones. He’s trans, and t doesn’t matter if we know or not, because his trans identity isn’t important to the story we’re playing, or our knowledge to know. We aren’t entitled to it.

He’s a guy who happens to be trans, and that’s that.

If there is any misinformation above, please let me know so I can correct it. This was meant to be a fun post about my head canon, but I did use real world examples t explain it, and if I got something wrong, I’d like to know. Thanks!

[antiterf]

I started thinking about how I'm more and more okay with talking about things like menstruation, abortion, and things specific to my reproductive system as an inherent part of my trans manhood. (Yes, that it what I'm going to call it).

And I thought to myself how I didn't see myself or any other trans men as inherently less as men for it. Even though it's something we definitely do not have in common with cis men, and whenever the topics are talked about it's hugely if not entirely focused around (cis) womanhood. Cis in parathenses because people like to act like cis womanhood is universal womanhood and default womanhood.

Part of me thinking about it was related back to the whole transandrophobia debate (seeing someone comparing it to white womanhood along with being compared to terfs, I'll get to the terf one later). It also relates back to how difficult it is to talk about how society will inherently treat trans men as a group like how they treat women, seen as harmless, confused, tricked, pitiful, or not seen at all. That obviously doesn't mean that trans men are women, it means that larger society still basis stereotypes on us related to our birth sex. How we are treated does not define who we are, even if we take those experiences and incorporate them into our identity and being.

With being compared to terfs, I could see where the person was coming from- hold on and hear me out. Ever since the transandrophobia thing started gaining, I immediately thought of terfs saying "oh? So you realize that you are A Woman? That the trans community doesn't actually care about you?" And general talking points that are ultimately there to make you feel like trans people don't care about you. People talking about transandrophobia typically bring up how trans men and trans mascs bringing up their experiences of oppression and trying to describe them is what makes people pissed off.

Basically, terfs will take transandrophobia being talked about as "proof" that the "tifs" are "peaking" and shit. We have a thing where "if the terf agrees with you, you're wrong" but can still agree that we delete terf posts after finding out they're a terf because that means the post now has a different meaning. It should be understood that just because a terf agrees with something, it doesn't mean they're perceiving it the same way the op is. So I understand, I fucking saw it coming for crying out loud, but I still don't think they're comparable. The ones speaking about these issues are trans men who see the issues as an inherent part of being a trans man, not as part of being a woman.

I thought how trans men are trans men, before I remembered one feminist saying "trans women are trans women" when asked if they were women and felt the immediate need to clarify with myself. Trans men are still men, but we have our own experiences to manhood that are explicitly different from cis men. The same way being a disabled man makes me experience manhood pretty differently than abled men. My lack of enjoying sports and being unable to do more physical chores relates to how disability impacts how my manhood is seen for instance. The lack of power, trouble with money and jobs, the inherent fact that I will need help all interferes with what my manhood "should" be.

That doesn't make me less of a man though. Just because I do not fit into the majority does not mean I don't fit into the general term "man" or "men." Feeling shame for not being able to shovel the driveway as the only man in my house isn't expected in the majority of men. Neither is feeling incredibly nervous about going to a gynecologist because of how I'll possibly be treated. My experience of my gender being different doesn't take away from it. Being a trans man matters in that way, not in a way where I'm "not really a man."

[your-bigender-big-brother]

Ello big bro! I'm really glad to have found your blog, its AWESOME! Anyways, I'm 15 years old (nearly 16), born a girl. I've wondered before what gender I am, but until now nothing seemed fitting. I just knew that I'm probably not cis gender. Cuz there are low key signs already in my childhood: I was around 10 when puberty started, and I remember feeling terrible. All I wanted to do was cut of my breast, it just felt so wrong. I desperately tried to bind, I literally tried to make my chest flat by using lots n lots of tape. Obviously, that didnt work. Also, sometimes it felt so wrong when I was perceived as a girl, for instance when my sports teacher said to me "girls are ofyen naturally more flexible than boys :)", when I nearly could do the splits. Anyways, I escaped more and more into the dream world in my head. There, I always had two main characters. They're twins. They look exactly alike (like me), have the very same interests and sexuality (which is bi cuz I am bisexual). One is a girl though, and one a boy. I always thought I just wished to have a brother, and that's why there was a boy as well. But I already have a character who's just like the brother I'd like to have. The twin boy is actually not who I'd like to have as a brother, but hes how I'd like to be. So I've been thinking, what if both the girl and boy in my head represent my gender? I've also imagined people calling me he/him as an addition to the pronouns I go by at the moment (she/her) sometimes, and I got really euphoric about it? And yesterday I watched a movie and suddenly I wished to look like one of the men in it? But not always? So, do you think I could be bigender? What makes me a lil unsure is that I've only discovered bigender like three days ago. Isnt that a bit fast to be sure of your gender??

Hello, anon! Thank you for such a detailed recount of your experience!

Let's start with my own personal experience: I'm a whopping 31 years of age right now. I discovered I was bigender just two months ago. For a few years before that, I was sure I'm demigender (a demiboy, specifically.) My gender realization happened quite fast, but I've never been more sure of anything in my life.

Sometimes, those self-realizations can hit you fast. And that's okay. Everyone explores themselves at a different pace, and how someone got to where they are now won't invalidate their identity. You could very well be bigender, but that part is entirely up to you and what you feel comfortable with. If you can see yourself as having two genders, then you can say that you have two genders. You get this feeling of euphoria when imagining yourself as both, or when someone uses he or she pronouns for you. That's a pretty clear indicator that you're bigender. There aren't any hidden requirements or specific checklist items you have to conform to first, so you don't have to worry about "doing it right" or anything like that.

I hope that you keep exploring this for yourself and experimenting with what feels the most comfortable for you!

- 💙💚

[winnipegpatty]

hockey is still not for everyone

putting this under a cut cus it’s going to be long.

the latest news from the HDA, basically confirming what we already knew, that the NHL will not be signing their pledge that they asked them to back in, i think, June. the HDA will continue to work separately from the NHL.

so, this really fucking sucks, honestly. it’s not surprising in the least bit, but i’m still not ready to just give up.

first off. here’ a reminder of the HDA’s Pledge, and here’s where you can buy their merch (they now have Ally merch as well which is cool), and here’s where you can make direct donations if you’d like. 

that being said, i’d like to take a moment to look at the NHL’s own initiative “hockey is for everyone” so here’s what hockey is for everyone is SUPPOSED to do:

“Across the league throughout the year, the NHL and NHLPA work to provide the sport in a positive environment for players, families and fans of every race, colour, religion, national origin, gender, age, sexual orientation, socio-economic status and for those with disabilities.”

Each NHL team has a hockey is for everyone ambassador who “All have pledged to be leaders in the locker room and in the community” Well, I think it’s pretty clear most, if not all of these ambassadors aren’t doing shit. So who are they? It’s probably important we know, at least I think it is. These are the guys in EACH team who have specifically said they’re going to set a standard, so they should be held accountable for that standard.

Anaheim Ducks - John Gibson

Arizona Coyotes - Oliver Ekman Larsson (may likely be traded)

Boston Bruins - Brad Marchand

Buffalo Sabres - Brandon Montour

Calgary Flames - Austin Czarnik

Carolina Hurricanes - Trevor van Riemsdyk

Chicago Blackhawks - Connor Murphy

Colorado Avalanche - Colin Wilson (this guy is barely even on the team)

Columbus Blue Jackets - Seth Jones

Dallas Stars - John Klingberg

Detroit Red Wings - Justin Abdelkader

Edmonton Oilers - Jujhar Khaira

Florida Panthers - Frank Vatrano

Los Angeles Kings - Tyler Toffoli

Minnesota Wild - Currently no one

Montreal Canadiens - Max Domi (welp, not anymore lol)

Nashville Predators - Currently no one

New Jersey Devils - Currently no one

NY Islanders - Matt Martin

NY Rangers - Mika Zibanejad

Ottawa Senators - Mark Borowiecki

Philadelphia Flyers - Scott Laughton/Travis Konecny (unclear who is current)

Pittsburgh Penguins - Matt Murray (rip, not anymore) 

San Jose Sharks - Evander Kane

St. Louis Blues - Ryan O'Reilly

Tampa Bay Lightning - Mathieu Joseph 

Toronto Maple Leafs - Zach Hyman

Vancouver Canucks - Alex Edler

Vegas Golden Knights - Brayden McNabb

Washington Capitals - Braden Holtby

Winnipeg Jets - Nikolaj Ehlers

Let’s note a couple things:

1. 5 of 31 teams don’t even have a representative (two because of trades, but three didn’t have one during last season)

2. Some of these guys (Seth Jones and Max Domi and Brad Marchand for instance) are terrible humans that clearly don’t uphold this standard anywhere, much less in the locker room or on the ice

3. Evander Kane, while a cofound of HDA himself, is also a terrible human who have harassed women and actively hate women of color. 

4. Many of these guys were inside of the bubble, yet still had to be prompted by people like Ryan Reeves to act to strike games for two days. 

What’s the point of pointing all this out? Really, just to show you how much of a joke this “hockey is for everyone” initiative is. It’s clearly not something the NHL takes seriously, or something most of these guys take seriously. Pride nights are cool, and support of pride or of POC players is all fine and dandy if they’re actually backed up with actions, and as we clearly see both through their empty performative allyship within the bubble and in their lack of support of the HDA pledge, there are no actions to back up this initiative. None that are going to radically change the racism that is built within this sport at least. 

Unfortunately, I was unable to find a way to directly contact local teams (like through email or something) so if you know of a way to do so, please let me know. Ultimately the only way the NHL is going to change anything is by hearing it from the fans. We are a minority of people here on hockeyblr that want to see a difference happen, and it’s sad but it’s true. The only way we’re going to see change is if we’re heard. 

While I DO NOT advocate you going and harassing the above players, I linked their twitter profiles (if available AND if they are active) so that you could KINDLY express support of the HDA Pledge and ask that, as the Hockey Is For Everyone Ambassador of their team, they’d begin to put pressure on the NHL to accept and implement this pledge. It’s really the only way I see something change, is if players within the league start pressing for it to happen. ESPECIALLY if you are a white player, PLEASE reach out. If you have a local team, try and call them or email them, or reach out via social medias of the team as well. 

MAKE. THEM. HEAR. YOU.

[secretgamergirl]

A Little Horrifying Primer on Transphobes

Some time ago, I put together a Little Fact Checking Primer on Trans People, as a basic resource for disabusing people of some of the many completely ridiculous yet absurdly widespread beliefs about trans people that simply have no basis whatsoever in reality. And wouldn’t you know it, every single lie exposed in that primer is not only still widely believed, but is presently being used as a basis to sign some absolutely horrific human rights abuses into law. So it’s high time I follow that up, in this case focused more on who keeps actively spreading these lies and why. I’m going to try and keep things as light as I can here, but we’re going to be looking at the most monstrous side of human nature, so apologies in advance if this is a dark read.

First, let me just note that there are two things I don’t plan to do in this piece. I’m not going to waste time debunking the arguments of the people I’m highlighting (much of this is already covered in my earlier primer, others have done the work in cases where I haven’t, and frankly these people’s claims should be self-evidently utter nonsense to begin with). I am also going to be very selective in what I link to, or even share related images of, as I would frankly not like to fill a post on a blog I generally try to keep safe for all audiences with media directly dealing with, for instance, child sexual assault, and much of the relevant information also involves stochastic terrorism against innocent people, and I would prefer not to throw more fuel onto such fires.

Transphobes lie constantly, about everything.

To some degree this is obvious. We’re talking about people who scaremonger about the possibilities of trans women dominating competitive sports and assaulting people in restrooms, despite the status quo already reflecting the conditions they insist would make these inevitibilities for decades and centuries respectively, and their grim visions never once having come to pass, and also constantly insisting that the woman in the photo below is actually a man, going further to say this is evident to anyone giving her the merest glance.

It goes beyond that though. There’s at least a little plausible deniablity in claims like this, or that “science is on their side” if they were simply uninformed about the world they live in, never actually looking into what laws exist, what science actually says, and never actually meeting a trans person or even seeing a picture of one of us. I’m talking really bold lies here. Like wholecloth fabricating a story that a convicted murder was trans, including anecdotes about wigs dresses and a planned name change, in a major newspaper. Or to cite an old favorite of mine, the time a pack of bigots walked up to a crowd of people peacefully picketing a transphobic legal proposal, started roughing them up and taking closeup photos of members of the crowd to stalk online when they got home, got sufficiently riled up for one to straight up assault an innocent person half her size, filmed the whole thing, uploaded it to youtube, and used stills of that assault as acomanying photos when they went home to write articles about the assailant being a “grandmother” attacked by rowdy trans women. And yes, they did monkey’s paw my wish to see that specific image on newspapers. Interesting side note, when it came to real public light that J.K. Rowling endorsed this sort of hatred, it was because she accidentally pasted some profanity laden rambling about how the imagined moral character of the other party in that incident, years after the fact, into a post praising a child’s fan art of her work.

To be a little less niche, transphobes can’t get enough of spreading the lie that the young fellow in this photo is a girl. Specifically a trans girl, providing proof that all their scaremongering about the dastardly threat of trans girls in competitive sports has finally come to pass.

To be fully clear, that’s a man (or a boy if you want to split hairs about him being 17 in that photo). Mack Beggs. A rather insidious choice for this sort of story, considering the actual context for that photo. See, Beggs attended high school in Texas, during a (still ongoing as I write this) period wherein that particular state had caved to this exact sort of propaganda, and in order to head off a wholly imagined wave of trans girls competing on girls’ sports teams, and enacted a law mandating that in all such competitions must compete under whatever gender is stated on their birth certificates. And as it happens, the first, and to my knowledge ONLY time this has come up was with Beggs here, who again, is a man, as no one with a grip on reality could argue against, has “female” on his birth certificate. Which is another way of saying he is a trans man. The guys in the same boat as trans women who we talk about a whole hell of a lot less because their existence is extremely inconvenient to the majority of transphobic propaganda. Case in point. And this is all information it is really impossible to come across if you’re coming across this photo in any sort of respectable source. Take this story, which is as unambiguous about this as you can get. And yet, in the very comments section of that story, there they are. Carrying on like this story about a trans guy, forced by a transphobic law to compete as a girl, which he absolutely did not want, and received horrific threats over, using phrases like “female to male” and bringing up that he was assigned female at birth and is on testosterone-based HRT, is about a trans woman cheating the system. Or to quote word for word, “Now also transgender female want to be male also compete in female sport. biological born“ That’s not “being confused,” that’s standing next to you in a white desert and complaining about being adrift in a black ocean, bald-faced, not even trying to be convincing just make a power play, lying through one’s teeth.

I could spend this whole article on just this point. Lying about who they are, various people’s falsified credentials, whole websites full of “anonymous parents of children who think they’re trans” turning out to be one single woman documenting the abuse of her very much trans son, or of course the people behind the whole “bathroom bill” panic candidly admitting it was all based on utter fiction. I do have other points to cover though.

Transphobes are firmly entrenched in the media.

It is extremely difficult to find oneself in a position of having to explain to people that a particular group of people is effectively in control of press outlets, as that is rather classically a claim conspiracy theorists absolutely love to toss around at various marginalized groups (including trans people hilariously enough, but of course the most common and lingering version of this is the antisemitic variant). I really can’t get around it here though. Specifically in the U.K., you honestly can say that transphobes control the media. I already touched on this with the assault case I mentioned above and the fabricated story about the murderer, but this is a pretty well-documented situation. I mean, even The Guardian calls out The Guardian on this, and that’s the outlet that gets the most attention because it’s the one with the most otherwise respected name, but every paper in the country has been running transphobic propaganda pieces on a weekly if not daily basis for years now, and while they do get reprimanded by watchdog groups and have mass walk-outs over the worst of it, it’s not like there’s some governing body with the authority to step in about it. Meanwhile the BBC is constantly inviting diehard zealots like Graham Linehan to news programs where he compares being trans to being a nazi, and hosting debates where someone just sits down and repeatedly chants the word “penis” at a trans woman.

Things are better in the rest of the world, but we still have right-wing creeps like Jesse Singal both writing horrific propaganda pieces (we’ll get back to that one) and blackballing trans writers out of covering trans issues ourselves (and personally stalking the hell out of those of us who try). We’ve got our Joe Rogans and Tucker Carlsons out there (no way in hell I’m linking videos here, have a real information link and a still).

The line between diehard transphobes and straight-up nazis basically does not exist.

What even is there to say here? You can easily poke around havens for nazi activity for yourself and compare the particular unique vocabulary used there to the primary bastion of anti-trans hate speech on the internet (the “feminism” section of what was originally a site for parenting tips before violent fascists took the forums over) or just peruse the follows of the thousands of people I’ve blocked on social media and see if you can sort out a clear division in the networks of channers with frog avatars and the accounts with names like GoodieXXrealwoman, or you can read up on Gab and Spinster, the two twitter alternatives that are just different portals to the same server, set up by the same guy. Maybe do some research into “the LGB Alliance,” or WoLF but any way you slice it the only real difference to be found is the general purpose nazis take a little time off now and then to watch borderline pedophilic anime and the really dedicated transphobes think to use language that sounds vaguely well-educated and left-leaning. I mean, this came from the “feminist” side of the fence:

And not to belabor the point here, but the ones claiming to be a bunch of “feminist mums” sure do let the mask slip any time they’re confronted with the fact that “women” includes black women, and oh just have a whole thread about all the weird conspiratory theories these people have about how trans people’s whole existence is some sort of Jewish plot for world domination. I swear a few months ago they were all passing around a story about some bank having an above average number of trans employees and they were all just “and we all know who controls the banks, right?” about it.

Transphobes endorse an awful lot of people who are openly pro-pedophila.

This is the part where I am really loath to link the many many specific examples I have on hand. Or to talk about this at all for reasons of good taste. Or, for that matter, to talk about this in a tumblr post when there’s an ongoing problem of people with backgrounds strongly tied to this site making baseless accusations of pedophilia against every queer person they can find, so let me be very clear just what I’m talking about while avoiding anything too graphic.

That’s James Cantor. Transphobes love him for being one of the closest things they have to a scientist on their side. And I am featuring him in a screenshot here showing that he is followed by current queen of the transphobes J.K. Rowling, while speaking to both another big name in transphobic circles, Debra Soh, and based on their names, what I’m guessing is at least one straight-up nazi. And in case you think “the P” he’s talking about adding to LGBT (or “GLBT” as weird anti-queer bigots who also have issues with women often write it) might stand for “poly” or “pan” he’s all too happy to clarify that.

This is the entire thrust of Cantor’s work and life. He is the world’s biggest pedophile rights advocate. He wants it declassified as a mental disorder, all stigma on it removed, and tirelessly pushes forward the idea that the majority of.. people who feel compelled to sexually assault children are good people who present no potential harm to anyone and should in fact be lauded.

I am not generally one to claim that someone with a PhD is spewing out questionable garbage with regard to their field, but the reason I am aware of Cantor at all is that other transphobes keep trying to hold up a particular post on his blog as "a study” (which it is not) that offers “proof” (in the form of a blurry jpeg of basically some random numbers) of some ridiculous quackery about how trans kids will “grow out of it” if exposed to conversion therapy (another way of saying torture), which Cantor himself seems to be pushing, so I am somewhat skeptical of his academic chops. And I am, of course, REALLY suspicious that all these other bigots gravitate to him purely because they’re that desperate to find anyone with a PhD in anything that backs them up against literally every scientist in a relative field, to the point that they merely forgive his particular advocacy they are plainly all aware of, particularly when such a common fig leaf used by transphobes is “keeping children safe from sexual deviants.”

And of course, Cantor is most often invoked when coming to the defense of Kenneth Zucker. This Kenneth Zucker.

Those are separate papers. Zucker isn’t controversial though for organizing panels to discuss how attractive people agree small children are (at least not exclusively). Mostly, he’s known for running a conversion therapy center which subjected gay and trans children to various sorts of torture in an effort to “fix” them, which at least for those trans "patients” I have spoken with involved a fair amount of having them strip completely naked and talking a lot about their genitals.

Zucker is something of a controversial figure with the transphobic scene, as they are extremely on board with his sexual torture of queer children, but he does actual work (for some value of the term) involving trans people and thus is not able to commit as fully as they would prefer to making life horrible for trans people, due to a professional obligation to acknowledge reality now and then. As an aside, the similarly positioned Ray Blanchard, while not to my knowledge particularly interested in the attractiveness of children, lives in a similar purgatory of trying to reconcile his career, bigotry, and sexual hangups, yielding compromises like this:

Of course, that’s just looking at the straws transphobes grasp at when looking for scientific credibility. Real leaders of the movement include Germaine Greer, author of The Beautiful Boy, which is about what you are afraid it might be, and features a very young child in a cover feature he did not consent to posing for. Or Julie Bindel, who among other things is rather infamous for writing whole articles on subjects like whether a teenage girl she came across maybe has a huge penis you can totally see if you really squint at her skirt. Again, I will not share a link to go along with that one.

Transphobes terrorize and attempt to defund charities and other unambiguously good organizations.

Graham Linehan, previously best known for cowriting some sitcoms and possibly spending a year angling to get into my pants so awkwardly I didn’t pick up on it is now best known for trying to pull the plug on a children’s charity, in a story that somehow also involves Donkey Kong. Well, and the interview about nazis. And possibly the other interview about “defending me from nazis” until it got into his head that I might not be as young and hot as he imagined. Rather not link to a far right extremist youtube channel though.

There’s also a current effort to replace Stonewall (an organization named after the location where a pair of trans women kicked off a riot which is generally agreed to be the start of the LGBT+ rights movement) as the UK’s primary LGBT+ rights organization with the “LGB Alliance.” The hate group mentioned above, with the skull face and the rifle. Closest I can find to an article on that effort on short notice that isn’t propaganda.

Transphobes paper areas in truly disgusting propaganda.

I don’t want to directly link to grown adults skulking around children’s playgrounds and bathrooms plastering surfaces with mass printed stickers of crudely drawn penises, but would encourage you to read this very long post, being sure to load all the images, to really understand how deeply strange this behavior gets.

Finally, I cannot stress this enough, this really extreme behavior I’m citing, and the specific people involved in the examples I’m giving, these aren’t random cranks on the fringe of things. The people going on televised panel discussions, writing up news stories, and testifying before lawmakers in efforts to pass horrifically discriminatory if not literally life-endangering laws (there is a major ongoing effort to legally end all medical care for trans people, and I don’t just mean care directly relating to being trans) are literally the same people involved in the sexualization of children, nazi collaborations, and roving gangs assaulting people in the street. At a bare minimum I urge people, when booking guests and handing out writing contracts, to do background checks and see if they’re platforming actual terrorists. If we could actually bring legal consequences to bear against the worst of this, that would be great too. As things stand though, the whole world is just consistently citing a bunch of racist, woman-hating, serial liars with no real credentials, and questionable attitudes towards the sexual abuse of children, as “trusted experts” and refusing to seat actual trans people or people who have legitimately committed lifetimes to academic and practical work with trans people any seats at the table.

[cruisingthedemimonde]

America’s Gay Men in WW2

World War Two was a “National Coming Out” for queer Americans.

I don’t think any other event in history changed the lives of so many of us since Rome became Christian. 

For European queers the war brought tragedy.

The queer movement began in Germany in the 1860s when trans activist Karl Ulrichs spoke before the courts to repeal Anti-Sodomy laws. From his first act of bravery the movement grew and by the 1920s Berlin had more gay bars than Manhattan did in the 1980s. Magnus Hirschfeld’s “Scientific Humanitarian Committee” fought valiantly in politics for LGBT rights and performed the first gender affirmation surgeries. They were a century ahead of the rest of the world.

The Nazis made Hirschfeld - Socialist, Homosexual and Jew - public enemy number one.

The famous image of the Nazis burning books? Those were the books of the Scientific Humanitarian Committee. Case studies of the first openly queer Europeans, histories, diaries - the first treasure trove of our history was destroyed that day.

100,000 of us were charged with felonies. As many as 15,000 were sent to the camps, about 60% were murdered.

But in America the war brought liberation.

In a country where most people never even heard the word “homosexual” , historian John D’emilio wrote the war was “conducive both to the articulation of  a homosexual identity and to the more rapid evolution of a gay subculture. (24)” The war years were “a Watershed (Eaklor 68)”

Now before we begin I need to give a caveat. The focus of this first post is not lesbians, transfolk or others in our community. Those stories have additional complexity the story of cisgender homosexual men does not. Starting with gay men lets me begin in the simplest way I can, in subsequent posts I’ll look at the rest of our community.

Twilight Aristocracy: Being Queer Before the War

I want us to go back in time and imagine the life of the typical queer American before the war. Odds are you lived on a farm and simply accepted the basic fact that you would marry and raise children as surely as you were born or would die. You would have never seen someone Out or Proud. If you did see your sexuality or gender in contrary ways you had no words to express it, odds are even your doctor had never heard the term “Homosexual. In your mind it was just a quirk, without a name or possible expression.

In the city the “Twilight Aristocracy” lived hidden, on the margins and exposed their queerness only in the most coded ways. Gay men “Dropping pins” with a handkerchief in a specific pocket. Butch women with key chains heavy enough to show she didn’t need a man to carry anything for her. A secret language of “Jockers” and “Nances” “Playing Checkers” during a night out. There is a really good article on the queer vernacular here

And these were “Lovers in a Dangerous Time.”

In public one must act as straight as possible. Two people of the same gender dancing could be prosecuted. Cross dressing, even with something as trivial as a woman wearing pants, would run afoul of obscenity laws.

The only spaces we had for ourselves were dive bars, run by organized crime. But even then one must be sure to be circumspect, and act straight. Anyone could be an undercover cop. If a gaze was held to long, or lovers kissed in a corner the bar would be raided. Police saw us as worthy candidates for abuse so beatings were common and the judge would do all he could to humiliate you.

Now Michael Foucault, the big swinging french dick of queer theory, laid out this whole theory about how the real policing in a society happens inside our heads. Ideas about sin, shame, normalcy, mental illness can all be made to control people, and the Twilight Aristocracy was no different.

While cruising a park at night, or settled on the sofa with a lifelong lover, the thoughts of Priests and Doctors haunted them. “Am I living in Sin? Am I someone God could love?” “Is this healthy? Have I gone mad? Is this a true love or a medical condition which requires cure?”

There was no voice in America yet healing our self doubt, or demanding the world accept us as we are. And that voice, the socialist Harry Hay, did not come during the war, but it would come shortly after directly because of it.

Johnny Get Your Gun… And are you now or ever been a Homosexual?

For the first time in their lives millions of young men crossed thousands of miles from their home to the front.

But before they made that brave journey they had another, unexpected and often torturous journey. The one across the doctor’s office at a recruiting station.

In the nineteenth century queerness moved from an act, “Forgive me Father I have sinned, I kissed another man” to something you are, “The homosexual subspecies can be identified by certain physical and psychological signs.” 

These were the glory days of patriarchy and white supremacy, those who transgressed the line between masculine and feminine called the whole culture into question. So doctors obsessed themselves with queerness, its origins, its signs, its so called catastrophic racial consequences and its cure.

“Are you a homosexual?” doctors asked stunned recruits. 

If you were closeted but patriotic, you would of course deny the accusation. But the doctor would continue his examination by checking if you were a “Real Man.”

“Do you have a girlfriend? Did you like playing sports as a kid?”

If you passed that, the doctor would often try and trip you up by asking about your culture.

“Do you ever go basketeering?” he would ask, remembering to check if there was any lisp or effeminacy in your voice.

Finally if the doctor felt like it he could examine your body to see if you were a member of the homosexual subspecies. 

Your gag reflex would be tested with a tongue depressor. Another hole could be carefully examined as well.

Humiliating enough for a straight man. But for a gay recruit the consequences could be life threatening.

Medical authorities knew homosexuals were weak, criminal and mad. To place them among the troops would weaken unit cohesion at the very least, result in treachery at the worst. In civilian life doctors had much the same thing to say. 

The recruit needed a cure. And a doctor was always ready. With talk therapy, hypnosis, drugs, electroshock and forced surgeries of the worst kinds there was always a cure ready at hand.

Thankfully the doctors were not successful in their task, one doctor wrote “for every homosexual who was referred or came to the Medical Department, there  were five or ten who never were detected. (d’Emilio 25)”

Here’s the irony though, by asking such pointed and direct questions to people closeted to themselves it forced them to confront their sexuality for the first time. 

Hegarty writes, “As a result of the screening policies, homosexuality became part of wartime discourse. Questions about homosexual desire and behavior ensured that every man inducted into the armed forces had to confront the possibility of homosexual feelings or experiences. This was a kind of massive public education about homosexuality. Despite—and be-cause of—the attempts to eliminate homosexuals from the military, men with same-sex desires learned that there were many people like themselves (Hegarty 180)”

And then it gave them a golden opportunity to have fun.

The 101st Airborn - Homosocial and Homosexual

“Homosocial” refers to a gender segregated space. And they were often havens for gay men. The YMCA for example really was a place for young gay men to meet.

Now the government was already aware of the kind of scandalous sexual behaviour young men can get up to when left to themselves. Two major government programs before the war, the Federal Transient Program and the Civilian Conservation Corps focused on unattached young men, but over time these spaces became highly suspect and the focus shifted to helping family men so as to avoid giving government aid to ‘sexual perversion’ in these homosocial spaces.

But with the war on there was no choice but to put hundreds of thousands of young men in their own world. All male boot camps, all male bases, all male front lines. 

The emotional intensity broke down the barriers between men and the strict enforcement of gendered norms.

On the front the men had no girlfriend, wife or mother to confide in. The soldier’s body was strong and heroic but also fragile. Straight men held each other in foxholes and shared their emotional vulnerability to each other. Gender lines began to blur as straight men danced together in bars an action that would result in arrest in many American cities.

Bronski writes, “Men were now more able to be emotional, express their feelings, and even cry. The stereotypical “strong, silent type,” quintessentially heterosexual, that had characterized the American Man had been replaced with a new, sensitive man who had many of the qualities of the homosexual male. (Bronski 152)”

Homosexual men discovered in this environment new freedoms to get close to one another without arousing suspicion.

“Though the military  officially maintained an anti-homosexual stance, wartime conditions nonetheless offered a protective covering that facilitated interaction  among gay men (d’Emilio 26)”

Bob Ruffing, a chief petty officer in the Navy described this freedom as follows, ‘When I first got into the navy—in the recreation hall, for instance— there’d be  eye contact, and pretty soon you’d get to know one or two people and kept branching out. All of a sudden you had a vast network of friends, usually through  this eye contact thing, some through outright cruising. They could get away with  it in that atmosphere. (d’Emilio 26) ”

Another wrote about their experience serving in the navy in San Diego, “‘Oh, these are more my kind of people.’ We became very chummy, quite close, very fraternal, very protective of each other. (Hegarty 180)”

Some spaces within the army became queer as well. The USO put on shows for soldiers, and since they could not find women to play parts, the men often dressed in drag. “impersonation. For actors and audiences, these performances were a needed relief from the stress of war. For men who identified as homosexual, these shows were a place where they could, in coded terms, express their sexual desires, be visible, and build a community. (Bronski 148)”

“Here you see three lovely “girls”

 With their plastic shapes and curls.

 Isn’t it campy? Isn’t it campy?

 We’ve got glamour and that’s no lie;

 Can’t you tell when we swish by?

 Isn’t it campy? Isn’t it campy?”

The words camp and swish being used in the gay subculture and connected to effeminate gay men.

I would have to assume, more than a few transwomen gravitated to these spaces as well.

Even the battlefield itself provided opportunities for gay fraternization. A beach in Guam for example became a secret just for the gay troops, they called it Purple Beach Number 2, after a perfume brand.

This homoerotic space was not confined to the military, but spilled out into civilian life as well.

Donald Vining was a pacifist who stated bluntly his homosexuality to the recruitment board as his mother needed his work earnings, and if you wanted be a conscientious objector you had to apply to go to an objector’s camp. He became something of a soldier chaser, working in the local YMCA and volunteering at the soldier’s canteen in New York he hooked up with soldiers still closeted for a night of passion but many more who were open about who they were. 

After the war he was left with a network of gay friends and a strong sense of belonging to a community. It was dangerous tho, he was victim of robberies he could not report because they happened during hook ups, but police were always ready to raid gay bars when they were bored. “It was obvious that [the police] just had to make a few arrests to look busy,” he protested in his diary.  “It was a travesty of justice and the workings of the police department (d’Emilio 30).״

Now it might seem odd he was able to plug into a community like that, but over the war underground gay bars appeared across the country for their new clientele. Even the isolated Worcester Mass got a gay bar.

African American men, barred from combat on the front lines, were not entirely barred from the gay subculture in the cities. For example in Harlem the jazz bar Lucky Rendevous was reported in Ebony as whites and blacks “steeped in the swish jargon of its many lavender costumers. (Bronski 149)”

The Other War: Facing Homophobia

“For homosexual soldiers, induction into the military forced a sudden confrontation with their sexuality that highlighted the stigma attached to it and kept  it  a  matter  of special  concern (d’Emilio 25)”

“They were fighting two wars: one for America, democracy, and freedom; the other for their own survival as homosexuals within the military organization. (Eaklor 68)”

Once they were in, they fell under Article 125 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice: “Any person subject to this chapter who engages in unnatural carnal copulation with another person of the same or opposite sex or with an animal is guilty of sodomy. Penetration, however slight, is sufficient to complete the offense.”

Penalties could include five years hard labour, forced institutionalization or fall under the dreaded Section 8 discharge, a stamp of mental instability that would prevent you from finding meaningful employment in civilian life.

Even if one wanted nothing to do with fulfilling their desires it was still essential to become hyper aware of your presentation and behaviour in order to avoid suspicion.

Coming Home to Gay Ghettos

“The veterans of World War II were the first generation of gay men and women to experience such rapid, dramatic, and widespread changes in their lives as homosexuals. Bronski 154”

After the war many queer servicemen went on to live conventionally heterosexual lives. But many more returned to a much queerer life stateside.

Bob Ruffing would settle down in San Francisco. The city has always been a safe harbour for queer Americans, made more so as ex servicemen gravitated to its liberated atmosphere. The port cities of New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles became the prime destinations to settle. Vining’s partner joined him in New York, where they both immersed themselves in the gay culture.

Other soldiers moved to specific neighborhoods known for having small gay communities. San Francisco’s North Beach, the west side of Boston’s Beacon Hill, or New York’s Greenwich Village. Following the war the gay populations of these cities increased dramatically.

The cities offered parks, coffee houses and bars which became queer spaces. And drag performance, music and comedy became features of this culture.

These veterans also founded organizations just for the queer soldiers. In Los Angeles the Knights of the Clock provided a space for same sex inter racial couples. In New York the Veterans Benevolent Association would often see 400-500 homosexuals appear at its events.

A number of books bluntly explored homosexuality following the war, such as The Invisible Glass which tells the story of an inter racial couple in Italy, 

“With a slight moan Chick rolled onto his left side, toward the Lieutenant. His finger sought those of the officer’s as they entwined their legs. Their faces met. The breaths, smelling sweet from wine, came in heavy drawn sighs. La Cava grasped the soldier by his waist and drew him tightly to his body. His mouth pressed down until he felt Chick’s lips part. For a moment they lay quietly, holding one another with strained arms.”

Others like Gore Vidal’s The City and the Pillar (1948), Fritz Peters’s The World Next Door (1949), and James Barr’s Quatrefoil (1950) explored similar themes.

In 1948 the Kinsey Report would create a public firestorm by arguing that homosexuality is shockingly common. In 1950 The Mattachine Society, a secretive group of homosexual Stalinists launched America’s LGBT movement.

References:

Michael Bronski “A Queer History of the United States”

John D’emilio “Coming Out Under Fire”

Vivki L Eaklor “Queer America: A GLBT History of America”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Lesbians

In 1947 General Eisenhower told a purple heart winning Sargeant Johhnie Phelps, “It's come to my attention that there are lesbians in the WACs, we need to ferret them out”.

Phelps replied, “"If the General pleases, sir, I'll be happy to do that, but the first name on the list will be mine."

Eisenhower’s secretary added “"If the General pleases, sir, my name will be first and hers will be second."

Join me again May 17 to hear the story of America’s Lesbians during the war.

[real-talk-time2004]

I promised I would talk about Masking so here it is

Masking- “cover (the face) with a mask” or “conceal something from view”

The type of masking I’m talking about is not the literal definition, it’s more of a metaphor that is to be taken literally.

At first I was really confused about masking, and it is possible one of the hardest things I’ve had to learn about when researching autism, but the more I read the more I seemed to relate to people who were masking.

Masking in context of what I’m talking about is more of a figurative way of saying someone is hiding from something.

(Oh lord I’m really bad at explaining things)

Ok here’s an example cause these always help: imagine you realize you’re part of the lgbt+ community (anything works), and you realize this. You know that you are different from the majority of society. Now you really wanna come out, and you know that many people will be fine with you coming out, but some will not. Say you’re transgender and you’ve been bullied for liking things that society thinks are not meant to be liked by people of your gender, or you’re lesbian or gay and people make fun of you for calling people of your same gender ‘beautiful’ or ‘pretty cute’. To save yourself from this embarrassment you start to act like how people want you to act. You can see how people act and know that it is acceptable to society for someone to act that way, so you start copying it. You copy your parents, siblings, friends and the things that they do that are deemed socially acceptable. This saves you from getting bullied, but it is not who you are nor who you want to be. Soon you get so used to acting like how people want you to act that you forget you’re doing it, and now you’ve become a different person entirely. That is what masking is.

And I wanna talk about how much I hate it

I don’t hate it because of people who do it or why people do it. I hate it because of what it stands for and what it truly means.

With masking, especially at a very young age, it becomes normalized and most times the masker does not even know that they’re masking.

As a kid I was bullied for being weird, for talking too much, for not sitting still. So I changed it, and i basically changed myself. I wanted to fit in with societies standards so much because I did not want to be bullied or feel weird or feel like I was different.

And what sucks even more is that most autistics use masking as a form of protection. Meaning they mask in order to protect themselves from childhood trauma.

See why this is not okay?

I didn’t even know I was masking until recently, and even now I still do it because I’ve been doing it for so long it feel normal, and I know this is a bad thing.

Masking is the main reason why most autistics don’t get diagnosed until later in life, especially girls.

There is not enough information on autism in girls because many studies done are centered around autism in boys, so it was hard to gain information on masking in the first place. There just aren’t enough studies done on autism in girls and most of it goes unnoticed. Many girls with autism go undiagnosed for an entire lifetime and they never even knew because girls are a lot better at masking then boys are.

I wanna explain a bit more:

Autistics do not understand societal norms, it’s something that takes a while or just doesn’t click in our brains. Same thing with tone. We may say something that society deems as rude or inappropriate, but we don’t think we said something that was rude or inappropriate.

However we can see what people do and we see that it is socially acceptable, so we copy it. This is usually done at a very very young age, we know that what we are doing is weird in the eyes of the people we want to impress. We desperately want to fit in with society so we copy them, eventually we do this so much that we forget we’re somebody else. We make up intricate lies to make ourselves fit in. For instance I used to say that I was good at sports like baseball because in my mind being good at sports meant that you were a normal child and you weren’t different in any way.

I always knew I was different, but I had seen autism in a specific way at my school that I never knew it could come in different forms. Which is why I never knew I was masking.

It’s also really fucking exhausting

I’m not even joking. Masking is hard, and it’s easier for others. Imagine that everyday you have to change your entire personality and everything that you do to fit in with everybody. For me personally I don’t have just one mask; I act different around certain people and groups and I never even realized I was doing it.

For me, learning about masking changed my life. I related to the symptoms of autism but I had seen people with autism every day at my school and I wasn’t like them. It was then I learned about masking, and how autistics can come of as neurotypical. In a way I felt better about myself, but the more I thought about it the more I realized how awful it was.

For anyone else who masks; I’m not telling you to stop. In fact I know that many autistics can’t stop whether it be for safety or just because masking does help you fit in. I know, and I understand. I’ve been slowly letting down my mask a bit further each time around other people.

My table group really helps me with this, and they don’t even know why I’m doing this. I’m starting to show more of myself around my best friend who is also nd and she understands me (even though she still thinks I’m nt).

So for you people who are struggling with letting down your mask; find those people who you trust (this is easier on the internet). Don’t completely take it off if it makes you uncomfortable. Instead just slowing let down your mask over time with people you trust and who can understand you.

I know that not all autistics can mask, I know that masking is a privilege, and I especially know that not everyone can let down their mask in front of others. I see you, I feel you, I understand you.

No matter how much I talk about how masking has ruined my life; I still do it too, because it is a safety mechanism for myself.

I hope one day no one has to mask. I hope one day everyone can be free to be who they truly are without having to fit in with societies standards. There is so much more I want to say and so much more I want to do.

And I’ll do it, one step at a time.

Stay safe

-Kay

[mrs-nate-humphrey]

no-sleep 1x09rewatch ramble-essay (all content warnings for the episode apply here)

i was just like. oh i’ll watch a feel-good episode of gossip girl! s1 thanksgiving ep is great isn’t it! blairenate family feels!!! ruflyson love triangle drama!!! vdw siblings AND humphrey siblings hanging out!!! dan’s “see you later waldorf” *salutes & closes the cab door* !!!

& like. yes i DID remember serena’s whole not being sober on thanksgiving thing, and yes i DID remember blair’s ED relapse - which is heavy, but eating disorder content isn’t particularly triggering for me personally (i find it kind of cathartic, if we’re being honest) BUT . i somehow forgot. that THIS was the episode which has howard’s suicide attempt?? and now i have some of the most painful nate feels in the world. 

blah blah blah, leight’s acting brought me to tears, which probably doesn’t sound like a very big deal but sort of is, for a variety of reasons (watching things doesn’t usually make me cry, it’s happened maybe a single-digit number of times before + also just my blair feels in general --> she’s a really interesting character but i don’t find her AS relatable as i do dan, or nate, or vanessa, or maybe even serena at times --> so i usually do have a bit of a disconnect re: watching her, which i really do not have for like. dan, for instance.) 

i just cannot divorce that very cute outfit blair wears with her ED relapse - which brings me to the next point, which is that blair is maybe THE only character ever for whom her clothing choices and her plotlines are so interwoven in my head (lemon yellow shirt and funky little hat is her mean bridesmaids competitive game day, yellow-&-orange dress is her choose chuck over dan moment, genderqueer plaid skirt and grey shirt is her “dan loves me for me” moment, white shirt with the pink flowers is her get owned by nelly yuki moment, etc etc)... the only other time i noticed outfits is derena cotillion, but that’s just because i LOVE derena cotillion, and date matching shirts, but that’s because i am tuned into all things date and couldn’t possibly tell you what those outfits actually symbolise, with the exception of dan’s pink flannel shirt from when he’s holding milo. or any of the outfits from 2x06 because that is my episode hands down. oh hey would you look at that, i do actually form associations. but you gotta believe me on this, blair’s the one it happens most naturally for, which is very strange. i think it’s because her outfits are always Statements in a way that the other characters never do, except for jenny, who is a fashion designer, so it’s Different for her. what am i trying to say. 

oh yeah another iconic outfit is serena’s golden jacket and bright blue pants to the morgue to identify what might be chuck’s corpse. she literally dressed like she was going clubbing and i respect her so much for that. 

anyway. gosh. nate just - getting gaslit by his mom, getting reprimanded by his dad for telling his mom to stop being rude/petty... howard was like “don’t fight my fights for me” but nate wasn’t even doing that?? he was just asking his mom Not to be rude, and the fact that nate got told off at the end of that interaction... uh. it shows a lot about the archibald family unit in general and just. how nate is sort of treated as ... i don’t have the right word, but my brain is like “second class citizen”... which is absolutely NOT the right concept for nate but like. he is treated like he is Less a part of the family than his parents are....... RIGHT until one of them (or both of them!) fuck up in a big way and it’s down to nate to fix their mess. i haven’t read “adult children of emotionally immature parents” but from whatever i’ve heard about it, i think nate could do with reading it. or not. maybe it’d just make him sadder.

and fuck - nate’s whole talk with his dad and his dad telling nate that he doesn’t know how he can go on, etc etc... idk what to say or where to draw the line but i have really complicated howard & nate feelings. i really truly think anne was the worse parent (not like it’s a competition of course) and i sometimes seriously wonder if maybe howard archibald had a more supportive life partner, maybe he wouldn’t have ended up being ~like that~ to nate (doesn’t justify anything of course). anyway nate’s sitting by the hospital bed and his dad is denying his suicide attempt at first and nate’s just like, no, stop. this is also making me think now of nate sitting by serena’s hospital bed after tripp, and nate possibly sitting by blair’s hospital bed some point pre-series (eating disorders are serious and i really do think, esp with eleanor being eleanor, that it must’ve gotten pretty bad for blair before she got help - which. sorry. i know, it’s sad but i’m just putting together pre-existing implications.) all i’m saying is some point in the future i wouldn’t be surprised if nate’s just. uncomfortable in hospitals and unable to piece together why. oh yikes i just remembered blair’s miscarriage. at which point do hospitals become overly suffocating for natie, remind him of his own helplessness, etc... because i really think they would. anyway. 

anne archibald chills me because she is such an accurate representation of a very specific kind of mother and. i hate it for nate obviously but i struggle to remember a time i’ve seen a tv mom who i can 100% relate to so hard. as in. fuck. worded that wrong. whose SON i can relate to so hard. ouch. this may be a moot point because i don’t watch much tv, but honestly anne & nate is just. a Lot. in a way that is significant to Me, specifically. this is part of my pet peeve (not enough to fight with anybody don’t worry) when people make edits about mothers & daughters, as if what was happening between nate & anne, somehow didn’t have the same complications - i honestly think there’s some solid eleanor & blair/ anne & nate parallels to be drawn. and we’ve been over this somewhere else, but lily & serena / rufus & dan / rufus & jenny definitely have a lot of the same specific issues (parent projecting on child, etc.) again - everyone engages w the show differently, im ready to admit that like... maybe 65% of my problems with the ‘mothers & daughters’ reading probably stem from gender dysphoria, lol. but whatever.

i have feelings about dan & alison, too... i really do think dan was closer to his mom than to his dad for majority of his childhood, and this ep really cements it. anyway. i don’t have any more words and i’m tired. and i might just watch derena cotillion episode because . derena cotillion episode my beloved... 

wait wait before i forget. venn diagram of humphrey family & van der bilt family & playing american football. i know this has come up before but like. here we go i;m thinking about it again. both dan and nate have been competitively thrown in the grass by a family member in the name of sports. no wonder nate chose dan over chuck in 2x06 (i would put a tone indicator but even i can’t tell if this is /gen or /j) 

[kaoru-takaida]

MHA Collab Fanfic

CHAPTER 1. U.A.

What does it take to be a Hero? What does a hero mean to you? And if everyone around us are heroes, what makes them so special anymore?

In a world where 80% of the population have some kind of special ability called Quirks, life has become a superhuman society. Heroes exist to keep villains in check. And to create top class Heroes is the prestigious U.A. high. Where our story begins…

Just before our summer vacation started, the students of class 1A and 1B took their midterms. The Hero course was slated to spend vacation at a training camp, run by the Wild Wild Pussycats. But after the incident at the Kiyashi Ward Shopping Mall with Shigaraki Tomura, something even weirder happened.

Class 1A is where our story starts. But first, the totally expositional Roll Call of Class 1A...

Yuga Aoyama: Can't Stop Twinkling

Quirk: Naval Laser

Mina Ashido: Pinky

Quirk: Acid

Tsuyu Asui: Froppy

Quirk: Frog

Tenya Iida: Ingenium

Quirk: Engine

Ochaco Uraraka: Uravity

Quirk: Zero Gravity

Mashirao Ojiro: Tailman

Quirk: Tail

Denki Kaminari: Chargebolt

Quirk: Electrification

Eijiro Kirishima: Red Riot

Quirk: Hardening

Koji Koda: Anima

Quirk: Anivoice

Rikido Sato: Sugarman

Quirk: Sugar Rush

Mezo Shoji: Tentacole

Quirk: Dupliarms

Kyoka Jiro: Earphone Jack

Quirk: Earphone Jack

Hanta Sero: Cellophane

Quirk: Tape

Fumikage Tokoyami: Tsukuyomi

Quirk: Dark Shadow

Shoto Todoroki: Shoto

Quirk: Half-Cold, Half-Hot

Toru Hagakure: Invisible Girl

Quirk Invisibility

Katsuki Bakugou: (Hero name still "undecided")

Quirk: Explosion

Izuku Midoriya: Deku

Quirk: Super Power

Minoru Mineta: Grape Juice

Quirk: Pop-Off

Momo Yaoyorozu: Creati

Quirk: Creation

Midoriya blinks once, with surprise on his face. "A new student? Before Summer break?" Iida nods.

"Yes. That is what I had heard." He replies. "Apparently they got in via recommendation." Iida puts out a straightened hand of reasoning. "They passed a special test and mock battle to gauge their ability. Supposedly their skills are on par with that of our very own Todoroki."

Todoroki's eyebrows raise slightly. "Are they a transfer student?"

Iida shrugs. "I haven't been told much to be honest. Probably because introductions will be made." Iida looks at the clock on the wall. He turns. "All right, class. Time to get seated before the bell rings." He begins to direct. He walks away, making Midoriya smile. Todoroki walks away to get seated. Midoriya puts a hand to his chin.

"I wonder who the new student is." He wonders.

"Hopefully some hottie." Mineta comments. "But it is strange for us to get a new student right before camp."

Is the need for more heroes arising? Midoriya thinks to himself. The bell rings and everyone is seated in their seats.

The door opens and Aizawa is there. Mr. Aizawa saunters in like he usually does. "Everyone better be seated." He says, without looking. An awkward silence wades through as all the students are already seated. He sighs and drops his folder to the podium in front of the class. "I know that Summer is almost here, but it seems we have an unexpected transfer student." He turns as all the students exchange glances. Some excited, some confused. "Come on in." He says. Someone enters through the doorway, sliding the door gently shut behind them.

The first things anyone will notice are the brown fox ears and fox tail. As the person walks to the front of the class, it's also seen that they have fox paws where human feet should be, and pink red tipped horns on the top of their head. Mineta gasps in bliss. "Jackpot! We have a fox girl!!!!"

It was a girl, with a wavy brown bob and bright red eyes, and one mole on each cheek.

They give an awkward and polite bow. They straighten up. "You forgot to introduce yourself." Aizawa tells them.

"Ah!" They begin nervously. "Um...I'm from America. My name is Kaoru Takaida." They say. They bow again, clearly embarrassed. "My pronouns are they and them. But in a hurry female forms are okay. I can't wait to get to know y'all…" They stop as an awkward silence sweeps through again. They clear their throat. "You all." They correct, a bit more politely. They grimace and fidget with their sleeves. The silence is rudely broken by a little Grape haired boy behind Deku.

"What's with the pronoun mumbo jumbo?" Mineta asks. "You're a girl, right? I mean you have boobs."

Takaida blushes and looks almost offended. Yaoyorozu smacks the back of Mineta's head with her folder. "Mineta! That's just mean!" She snaps. Yaoyorozu looks up at them. "I apologize for his stupidity."

Takaida shakes their head. "N-No. It's fine." Kaoru looks at Mineta. "In America, gender is a bit more…" They consider the word. "'Flexible'?" Takaida looks at Aizawa to see if the word was correct. He nods once and they give a nervous smile. "Because of this, I don't really have a preferred gender." Takaida places a hand on their chest. "If it's not too much trouble, please refer to me with 'they, them, and their' forms?" Mineta sighs and headbutts his desk.

Aizawa turns to the class now. "Please be kind to them. Since Takaida got here just in time, they will be attending the Summer camp with the rest of you." He looks at Takaida. "Until we can get you a desk, please pull up a chair and study with Bakugou. He'll also be responsible for showing you around campus. Think of him as your guide to U.A." The class grows silent again for a moment.

Bakugou, seated in front of Midoriya, jolts up, slamming his hands on the desk, little explosions from his Quirk triggering. "HANH?! WHY ME?!" He shouts, making Takaida's ears flinch back at the sudden loudness.

Aizawa's eyes narrow at the explosive student. "Because you have good grades." He points to Bakugou." And maybe, just maybe, a little responsibility on your end will teach you to be more patient." Bakugou chokes, growling a throaty growl under his breath. But he reluctantly sits back down, sliding into his seat a little with his arms crossed, sulking. Aizawa turns to them. "Go ahead and take your seat."

Takaida picks up their books, notebook, and pencil case. They stride over to Bakugou's desk. Midoriya meets eyes with them. And for an instance, something clicked. Midoriya could feel a strange connection when their eyes met. Huh? Midoriya wonders to himself. This strange familiar feeling… What is this?

Takaida keeps a curious, yet cautious expression on their face. They give him a slight bow. He stands up. "H-Hi. My name is Izuku Midoriya." He tells them. He puts out a hand and smiles. "Welcome to our class."

They look at his hand, and smile. "Nice to meet you." They say, taking his hand and shaking it. Takaida sits down.

"I feel like Takaida is a mouthful." Ashido says aloud. "I know! Let's call them 'RuRu'!" Takaida blushes at the nickname. Ashido begins to chant it over and over.

"Um, just call me Kaoru if it's too long." They say, almost sweating at the embarrassment, waving their hands at Ashido.

"Aw, but RuRu is cuter!"

Midoriya laughs at the scene.

"So tell me!" Hagakure says, jumping up and down. "What's your Quirk?" Kaoru's ears perk up at Hagakure. "I bet it's a cool one!" Study period was about to begin, and the students were waiting for the next teacher to arrive.

Kaoru smiles. "I'll admit it's a pretty cool one. But I was told not to show it off till PE this afternoon." Hagakure slumps over clinging to Kaoru's uniform shirt.

"Aaaaaw." She whines. "That's not fair. I'm guessing you already know all of ours by now."

Kaoru nods. "I watched all of you during the Sports Festival." This makes Bakugou look over, catching his attention partially, closing his notebook. "I was still in America but my uncle let me watch because I was thinking of going to U.A. My uncle graduated from U.A. too, so he was more than happy to watch it with me." They look at Midoriya. "You were super cool in your match against Todoroki, Midoriya." Kaoru tells him. He laughs nervously. "And all of you did so great. You guys are all so strong." Everyone in the class exchanged smiles and proud grins. Kaoru then turns to Bakugou. "But Bakugou, you were by far my favorite!" Bakugou chokes looking at how Kaoru's eyes light up at him. "Your Quirk is so strong! You were so cool! And the way you were able to dominate the battlefield! It was like I was watching All Might in action! With how he grabs the attention of anyone who watches!"

The class goes awkwardly silent at this. Bakugou only stares at the fox girl, unsure how to respond, a wide eyed almost blushing look on his face. "They did say Bakugou, right?" Sero asks.

Bakugou scoffs, glaring at Sero. "Shut up!" He snaps. He closes his eyes, looking down at his desk. "At least somebody knows how strong I am." Midoriya can't help but smile.

They're going to get along just fine, I think. Midoriya thinks to himself. I have a feeling Kaoru knows Kacchan already and will be a good friend to him.

Lunch rolls around, and Kaoru looks over to Bakugou. They fidget with their hair. "So, um, Bakugou?"

"Huh?"

"Can we have lunch together?" Kaoru asks. Midoriya overhears this as he waits in his seat for Todoroki and Iida. "I'm still not confident enough to ask anyone else. And you see…" Kaoru frowns. "I'm horrible with directions and forgot where the cafeteria is…"

Midoriya smiles at Bakugou. "Come on, Kacchan. They wanna have lunch with you."

Bakugou glares daggers at him. "Shut your face, Deku!"

Kaoru's head tilts to the side. "'Ka… -cchan'? 'Deku'?" They question.

Midoriya laughs. "Oh, they're nicknames from our childhood." He rubs the back of his neck. "We used to call him that because the 'Katsu-' in his name stands for 'Victory'. So as kids we shortened it to 'Kacchan'."

Kaoru gasps, smiling. "That's so cute! I love those!" Kaoru puts both hands on the desk, looking at Bakugou. "I'm gonna call you Kacchan, too!"

Bakugou scowls. "Don't you dare! I'll kill you!"

Kaoru looks at Midoriya. "Can I call you Deku, too?" Midoriya smiles.

"Sure."

Kaoru turns. "Okay! Let's go to the cafeteria, Kacchan!" Bakugou stands up, following them, hands in his pockets with a salty expression on his face.

"Don't tell me what to do!" He shouts. "And stop calling me that!" Midoriya can't help but to smile even more. It seems I was right. One more friend for Kacchan.

The young heroes all gather at Training Ground Beta, adorned in their Hero costumes. "Soooo, like, we leave for Summer camp the day after tomorrow. So why are we here at the training ground?" Mina asks.

Aizawa turns to look at the class. "For today, we have a bit of a special case." He motions to the entrance of the training ground. Kaoru walks up, in their PE clothes. "Their Hero costume is still being made with improvements they'd requested from their prototype. So for now, they'll use their PE clothes. In order to get a feel of how the physical training in class is, Takaida has been challenged with a few sparring matches in mind." Everyone's eyes light up. Kaoru smiles now, stretching their arms.

"You mean, we get to fight them?" Kirishima asks, sounding a little excited.

Aizawa nods. "However to keep them from getting too hurt the sparring will end once I deem someone has lost the fight." He faces Bakugou and Midoriya. An icy glare is flung their way. "I will stop the match as soon as things get out of hand."

Why is he looking at us like that?! Midoriya thinks in a panic.

"So?" Kaoru begins. "Who's first?" They ball up a fist and clap it into their other hand. "Trust me, you'll want to see this." They say, smiling a smile not unlike the one people usually see Bakugou wearing.

One of confidence. And an almost insatiable hunger for victory. It was almost like they were another person. Aizawa turns back to the class now. "So who would like to go first?"

Kirishima's hand shoots up almost instantly. "Give me a shot, Mr. Aizawa." Aizawa glances at him.

"Very well." He says. Kirishima fist pumps. "The first match will be Kirishima." He puts his hands up, signaling the class to back away. "Now let's give them a bit of space."

Kirishima stretches now too. Kaoru does a little hop, seeming to warm up. "Let's have a good match." Kirishima says, a bright smile on his face, showing off his pointed teeth.

"No hard feelings to whoever wins right?" Kaoru asks, smirking. Kirishima crosses his arms.

"You seem confident." He says. "That might cost ya if you're not careful enough."

Aizawa lifts a hand. "Ready?" They both nod. He drops his hand. "Begin!"

The instant he says this, Kaoru darts forward with impeccable speed. It surprises half the class. Kirishima quickly hardens his skin all over his body. Kaoru changes direction at the last second and bounces up onto the wall of the building they're next to. They then bounce from the ground, to the wall of the other building next to them. Pretty soon, the fox girl is simply jumping up and down off of the walls and ground at random and with uncanny speed.

Kaoru's almost as fast as Gran Torino! Is that their Quirk? A speed type like him and Iida? Midoriya wonders.

Kirishima scowls. I can barely see where they're going. Let alone predict where they'll end up. Kaoru then, for an extra measure, bounces from one of the walls, then bounces off of Kirishima's hardened back. He exclaims in frustration, hardening his back into more of a spiked layer.

It's certainly a good Quirk. But up against Kirishima, they'll lose if he can get in one big decisive blow. Midoriya thinks. He looks at Kirishima.

He seems to be trying to track the fox girl's movements. As soon as they get close, I can jab them. Then without warning, Kaoru bolts right at Kirishima, a fist pulled back ready to punch. They're attacking?! Kirishima raises his hardened arms to block. A smile creeps onto their face.

"STOP!" Aizawa shouts. Kaoru skids a bit, stopping in their tracks.

"HUH?!" The class shouts in unison. Kirishima drops his arms as the two of them look at the teacher. "Mr. Aizawa, why'd you stop the match?" Kirishima asks, almost sounding annoyed.

Bakugou scoffs now, crossing his arms. "Are you blind, or just dumb? Didn't you notice?"

The class gives Bakugou a surprised look. Aizawa looks at Kaoru and points. "That punch you were about to use." He points at the building almost a block away. "Use it on that building." Kaoru nods. They sprint over to it, fist pulled back again.

"Haaaaah!" They snap their fist forward and as soon as their fist is about to meet the concrete, an explosion of fire bursts from their fist. The building wall explodes, concrete and debris taking the open air. The impact is enough to make a popping boom, startling everyone in the class. Kirishima chokes in surprise. They turn around to smile at the class, debris and pieces of building falling behind them.

As it is revealed a huge crater is now where the wall of the building once was, bits of fire lingering there. "Unfortunately, the blast would have been the same magnitude as the one that knocked you out in your match against Bakugou during the Sports Festival, Kirishima." Aizawa says. "So I'm sorry, but I had to stop them." The rest of the class is in awe. Jaws dropped. Bakugou scowls, growling a bit.

That damned Quirk… He thinks to himself. "Hey, Teach." He cracks his knuckles. "I want a shot at this idiot myself." Bakugou says.

Midoriya looks over at him. Kacchan… He looks at Kaoru. At first, the way they moved so fast, I could have sworn that would have been their Quirk. Did Kacchan notice something we all missed? Midoriya glances at the building. And speaking of Kacchan… that explosion just now looked super similar to his as well. Do they have the power to make explosions like Kacchan does? Midoriya raises his hand. "Mr. Aizawa, can I fight Kaoru with Kacchan?"

"HUNH?!" Bakugou snaps. "As if you, damn nerd!"

Kaoru fist pumps. "Yes!!! Can we?" They ask, bouncing up and down in excitement. "Please?"

"What the hell? You're on board with it too? You idiot!" Bakugou argues.

They nod eagerly. "Mmhmm!" They say, eyes lit.

Aizawa sighs. "Of course it's you two." Aizawa shrugs. "If Takaida is okay with two versus one, I'll allow it."

Bakugou scoffs, glaring at Midoriya. "Just stay outta my way, Deku." He growls. He slouches a bit into his fighting stance.

Midoriya nods and raises his fists up. His power begins to course through him. One for all, Full Cowling.

He looks at Kaoru.

"Let's have fun!" They say, getting into a sprinter's perch as Aizawa raises a hand.

"Begin!"

[rattusrattus3]

any tips on surviving shark week? (for a gender non-conforming pal)

hey friend! ah yes! im sorry to hear, but these are things that have gotten me through those times (I am bad at slang but i think shark week is menstruation and thats what im going to go on to answer this)

hot water bottle on your stomach or back, if you dont have a hot water bottle, you can get a towel wet, and put it in the microwave for 15 seconds till its warm enough, or in the oven at 300 degrees celcius for 15 minutes and then wrap it in a cloth and use it as a hot pack, you can also diy one with rice 

cold wash cloth on forehead can be nice 

take warm baths if you have access to a bath, with epsom salt also helps relive pain

i reccomend diva cups / moon cups / whatever brand of reusable menstrual cup as they are eco friendly, cheaper than pads/tampons, and you can usually keep them in for up to 12 hours. If youre not comfortable with diva cups, theres re usable pads, or you can DIY them, but just use whatever you are most comfortable with and dont be hard on yourself for what you need to use !

i think using a period tracking app is really helpful. especially to track feelings and what makes it worse/better, for instance, coffee makes it really bad for me, salt makes it worse for me too

drinking lots and lots of water

sleeping lots

cozy clothes, doesnt matter hwat u look like just b comf. u deserve it

if you know when its coming, try to prep before hand and make sure you have enough supplies on hand enough before, like pads/tampons/cup, advil/ibuprofen, snacks you like but that dont make you feel worse (for me, i like apple suace, bananas, fruit generaly, sometimes i prep soup before hand and put it in freezer)

lots of self love and self compassion, knowing you feel bad but it wont last forever, that you are entitled to your feelings and desevre to give yourself the care you need!!!!

yarrow tea is gross but will help, theres other teas you can get that might help if you wanna go the natural route, chamomle and peppermint might help too, generally herbal teas!

i pretty much only wear black underwear and therefor dont have to worry that much about stains, i reccomend investing in some dark underwear for these times,

my chest gets sore during that time n it sucks, but i find wearing a slightly tight (not uncomfortable! and not tight around the band, just compression wise) sports bra can help

light stretching helps. One that feels great for me is “childs pose” (like, bow down position), you can hang out in it for a couple minutes and it can help 

, or you can find youtube videos of little short sequences (like this one), in the video, the person stretches with a heat pack on, which is a great idea imo!

back massages with a tennis ball can be sooooo fucking good if u get back aches, you can find videos of how to do it 

lying on your side with a pillow between your knees can feel really good, also lying on your back with a towel rolled under it can feel amazing (under ur knees too if u want as well, or lie with your knees splayed open with your back supported on a towel l(sorry I don't know how else to say it)

find things you like that are distracting to you! it doesnt matter if its not “productive” u can watch netflix, or youtube videos, or read. if u wanna be creative u can sit in bed and do ur makeup or draw or knit or crochet or do a little puzzle like! just be nice to yourself and give yourself a break, it helps everything go a lot smoother imo 

sorry for the late reply! i hope this helps, sending u a lot of love!!!!!!! 

[bokunowritingacademia]

Original Character Corner: Lilith, Samael + Dad

@humanransome-note: Okay so I actually made a little OC family, and I’m not all that active in BNHA at the moment but I still love them. Five whole pages

-

First there’s the dad. Dishonorably discharged and court martialed, former US Army officer. He’s 36, and was SUPER OP when he was younger. His quirk was basically alchemy from FMA mixed with the fluidity of bending from ATLA. Contact with whatever he was moving was how it worked, but he figured out how to transfer his quirk through /atoms in the air/ so he was just hoping around bending the physical world to his will. (Like I said, super op.)

He can’t do much of that anymore though, because after the army used him, and a few others, to test out a long term low dose quirk enhancement drug, that he was told were vitamins, he accidentally OD on them. 

He wasn’t taking them everyday, and he thought “whatever their vitamins” he never thought it was weird that they’d get their pills counted out every month. But, ya know, hindsight. 

So when he realized inspection was coming around and he had too many pills, he just popped them all, expecting an upset stomach at worst. 

He nearly leveled the equivalent of about 10 city blocks, he was giggly, a bit high on power, and suffering from delirium caused by heat sickness. One side effect of overusing his quirk was his body overheating because (something something, physics, something something transfer of energy produces heat)

It took getting smacked by a live power line to put him down. He’s got a chunk of flesh missing from his left shoulder, and some gnarly Lindinburg figures projecting out from it. His left hand is considerably weaker and he’s blind in his left eye. 

He came to, in a public hospital. Some paperwork issue or something prevented him from being transferred back to base. 

(He doesn’t know this, but one of docs’ quirks was being able to tell the chemical composition of anything he tasted, a bit of a biohazard, but useful in a pinch. He threw up after getting just a small lick of blood, so they ran some tests, and found an unidentified chemical cocktail. They intentionally stalled to get the results and to see if he knew what he was taking)

After finding out that he was being used as a guinea pig for something that messed with his quirk (he tries not to see a person’s quirk as a judgement of their value, but a huge portion of his self esteem rested on his own quirk) he threw a fit, demanded to see his CO and promptly punched said commanding officer as hard as he could in the nads.

On paper, he was court martialed for assaulting a commanding officer, but in truth it was an excuse to discredit him so anything he said would be met with skepticism. 

That didn’t entirely work though, the amount of damage done to himself and the areas around him after having a squeaky clean record made a bunch of people think something was up. 

They were right. 

So that left him with two options:

keep fighting tooth and nail to blow the whistle on this thing, ruin his life, publicly and financially, and probably not have anything happen. Because something this dangerous and unethical had to be approved from pretty high up the food chain. 

Sign an indefinite NDA, get secretly subsidized by the US government and live out the rest of his life wherever he can find himself in relative peace. -also work as an on call black coat operative, his quirk may be jacked but he can still get some damage in from close range, and he’s pretty handy with a handgun-

He spends the first few months or so, just losing himself in drugs and alcohol. They had left him alone with his morphine drip, he got addicted and switched to opioids but quit when he found out he was pregnant. (Did I mention? My mans is trans!)

He didn’t want kids, but he couldn’t get a procedure in his current state, (both the actual state and coming down from a probably days long bender) and by the time he’d cleaned up he was ready to pop. 

So he had the kids. Yep, twins. A girl and a blob. Literally, the one he’d start calling his son when the little goo ball got a concept of gender was born with his quirk. Shapeshifting, down to the cellular level (with enough practice) unfortunately little dude had to know what he wanted to change it and having no experience besides swimming in embryonic fluid, and wiggle to irritate sister he was just kinda there. 

That was fun, 13 hours of labor, followed by the panic of a room full of doctors freaking out because they realized that thing was not the afterbirth but in fact another child. 

The doctors freaking out made him realize he’d do anything for those kids, so that’s when he decided to keep them.

The first few months were a lot. He spent more time in the hospital than at home, they had to put the kid in what was basically a sensory deprivation tank that was set up to be a pseudo womb. 

He couldn’t name them yet. The little girl got a name, Lilith, but he was scared that if he’d name them, something would happen, and they’d be filling out a death certificate immediately after the birth. He knew it wasn’t rational, but it made him feel better. 

Speaking of Lilith, either she was born with her quirk as well, or it came in a few months after being born. 

He was curled up with her, against the tank, when suddenly alarms started going off. 

He looked inside and saw her, and for a fleeting, terrifying, exhausting moment he thought he had a teleporting infant on his hands. But she was still in his arms. 

Puppeteer is what he called her quirk after things settled and some more testing could be done. Controlling people via contact through skin, (or conductive material, apparently)

And since all she knew how to do was be herself, she’d inadvertently made her brother a clone. 

It took a lot of talking with specialists and pediatric Quirk scientists to approve, under intense supervision, that Lilith use her quirk on her brother and hopefully teach him to inadvertently stay human shaped and functional.  

Almost their first birthday to the day was the first time that he stayed human shaped, on his own, for a whole day!

Baby blob’s first birthday present was a name, Samael (Sam or Sammy for short), and going home for the first time.

(are these OC’s named after biblical figures, both of which said fuck this, gave god the finger, and did their own shit? Yes, I’ve got a personal philosophy about names and that showed up here)

The first roughly three years, he’d been on call for some super shady shit before he realized that a lot of the places he was called to were pretty far from East Asia.

So with minimal planning, a favor, and a phone call to a friend they made working black coat, they had passports, plane tickets, and a decent apartment in the Mufastsu prefecture of Japan.

Elementary school was okay, Lilith (no you don’t get to call her Lily, you don’t have the friend privileges) and Sam (just Sam, maybe Sammy if he likes you) had the novelty of being from America to outweigh any bullying that may have been thrown at them because of their Quirks.

That would come later.

Middle school was bad, kids saw the two of them as scapegoats because of their “villainous Quirks” 

“It wasn’t me! Sam did it while looking like me!”

“Lilith made me do it!”

Samael turned inward and started getting into tech, robotics, and support equipment, theoretically, you need permits for that.

Lilith got violent, only in instances of defense, but still violent. The two of them went to a different middle school for every year of it. Their second to last year they actually went to the same school as Midoriya and Bakugo.

Sam had a bit of a crush on Midoriya, and Lilith was ready to throw down with Bakugo the second she got the opportunity, this isn’t some tsundere thing, she just wants to see him eat dirt. 

Their last year of middle school was pretty okay, considering the first two, and Lilith redirected her anger into helping Sam with his tech. Herself finding an interest in it as well.

They both applied for UA’s support course, (“You just wanna go cause Midoriya wanted to.” “I do not-”)

Lilith got in by the skin of her teeth, her record of fighting put her on a six month probation and prevented her from participating in the sports festival that year. She was devastated when she learned she lost an opportunity to make Bakugo do the chicken dance.

[toonstarterz]

BECAUSE I’M NOT POPULAR, I’LL READ WATAMOTE: CHAPTER #167

Hey, I’m not dead!

Yeah, sorry that took a while. Had a lot of real-life shit to work through, honestly. In any case, I finally sat my butt down to really crack down on yet another fun-tastical chapter. Tomoko’s actually doing what a lot of quasi-incel degenerates are afraid to do in high school and is taking an actual stab at self-improvement. Will karma rear its ugly head, or is the series now beyond that point?

Chapter 167: Because I’m Not Popular, I’ll Spend My Time Wisely unlike me

This is a really pretty shot and...that’s about it. Real pretty. 

Oh dear! The friendship disease has disrupted Tomoko’s gremlin-like body clock and has her waking up early like a healthy human being!

Reminds of that one Gintama episode. You know, that one with Kagura and the sick kid and you don’t care, do you?

I know Japan prides itself on its cheap, quality goods, but Tomoko is a real penny-pincher, eh? Well, she’s a Gen Zer, so I can’t complain.

Not sure if this makes me sound like a perv or whatever, but hot damn, the detail on this model is stupidly good. I mean, just look at the patterning on that bra. You can really tell when Ikko’s really getting into the art.

They’re really milking the armpit fetish, aren’t they?

Tomoko...sweetie...my girl...

You don’t even have a dick. I mean, sure, you could find it fascinating from a purely educational, not-applicable-to-you perspective. And yeah, I suppose it could be useful if you were to start a sexual relationship with a noncanonical male. But to be honest, I can’t help but take it as more signs of your gender dysphoria here. 

I mean, hey, whatever floats your boat.  

Well, they say kids learn more about practical knowledge out in the real world than in school, don’t they? 

Then again, coughgoogleitcough.

I always thought Tomoko was just having some kind of psychosomatic experience when she talks about being de-energized from a lack of sexual stimulation. 

Now I’m inches from calling that shit an actual, physiological withdrawal.

Ah, the good ol’ days. Back when future prospects felt like a lifetime away and you could spend days on end dicking around, lamenting the need to get serious, and disregarding your resolve right after because you secretly didn’t really care.

...I gotta stop projecting.

Despite Tomoko proving time and again that she can be a crass-hole with a negative outlook on life, it’s when she does childish things like laying your head on your arm when studying and cuddling her plushies that her innocent side pops up and you realize that Tomoko’s a legitimate cutie. 

Fake-smoking? Tomoko, stop! If you keep this up, you’ll turn from a deconstruction of a cute, moe girl to becoming an actual cute, moe girl.

I only just noticed that Tomoko’s wearing a “happy” shirt. Remember when she was sporting the “alone” shirt back in year one? Even her clothes get character development.

Oh, shit. Your girl Yuu-chan talking this whole cram school thing seriously even though she’s at a disadvantage. You see, this is why Yuu is literally the best. Despite being at the “top” of the school clique food chain, she has not once ever felt like “bottomfeeders” like Tomoko and Komi were below her in any way. Sure, she knows they’re weirdos, but she makes those acknowledgments without judgement, and all while putting herself on the same leveling field. She doesn’t love them ironically–she loves them sincerely, and that’s why Yuu is awesome. 

Sorry if this turned into a ramble, but Yuu only gets like, one panel of dialogue nowadays and I wanted to make the most of it. 

Tomoko be raising that “phone-call” flag like a motherfucking chad. 

...

...

...

Oh, sorry. I saw Yuri with her hair down and lost track of time.

...

...

...

Damn, Yuri’s pretty.

Black leggings at home? That’s exactly the kind of conservative attire Yuri would wear and only Yuri could look amazing in. Seriously, If Ikko hadn’t become a manga artist, she would have made a damn fine fashion designer.

And Tomoko be crushing that “home-visit” flag like a motherfucking chode.

I could make a pretty tasteless joke about how “haha, Yuri will never look at you like you’re trash like she does at Tomoko,” but, 

a. it’s just the angle of the smartphone like Yuri said, and

b. you’d probably prefer to get denied like that, wouldn’t you?

I can’t help but wonder if Tomoko realizes just how homoerotic she sounds. Like, does she have any inclination that her borderline-sexual harassment jokes could easily be misconstrued as flirting? Sure, she might be using the old excuse that “we’re both girls, so it’s fine right?”, but given that Tomoko at least knows about LGBTQ+, you’d think it would have at least crossed her mind.

Or maybe, on a sadder note, Tomoko doesn’t see it as flirting because she really does have zero faith in her own attractiveness...  

There is no heterosexual reason for this exchange whatsoever.

Alright, so I’m a dude, so...hell do I know. But do girls typically not wear bras when just lounging around the house? I know Tomoko is the kind to just wear tank tops if she can help it, but I always thought that was a characterization unique to her, and that other girls wear bras for the comfort and support like any other undergarment. I mean, sure, Yuri’s kind of reserved, but I wouldn’t think wearing a bra at home would be considered an oddity, yeah? I ask this out of genuine curiosity, but I’ll stop before it gets too creepy.

Side note, you can officially tell when Yuri gets pissed by her nose crinkles.

I could give a long, analytical spiel about why Yuri didn’t give Tomoko a straight answer and speculate on what she was doing, but I eventually realized the answer was actually really simple:

It didn’t fucking matter to the story.

The last time Tomoko had one of these “I know!” moments, she ended up trimming her pubes on a class trip. But surely Tomoko’s character growth wouldn’t allow something like that to happen again, would it not?  ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Adorbs.

Can’t fight awkward with awkward, can you?

Tomoko, what are you playing at? You just said that video chatting was erotic and tried to get Yuri to lewd herself for you. And now you were planning to appear on-screen totally naked and you somehow don’t see any sexual implications for this at all? Finding it funny would be an elementary schooler’s mentality. If you seriously have no confidence in your sexuality, then sweetheart, you need some help. 

You ever notice that Tomoko can lie through her teeth when trying to screw with people, but when lying to be nice, it sounds so phony? I think that says a lot about the kind of person she is.

Ya’ll knew I was gonna add this panel, didn’t you?

I was never one to go crazy about blushing anime girls ‘cause to me, it always felt like it stemmed from some sadistic desire to see girls look uncomfortable. So while I can’t get behind it for reasons like that, I can admit that Yuri’s blush is fucking precious and I think that’s because I love seeing her so emotionally transparent for once. It feels rare, raw and well-earned after all this time, so yeah. A++ 

Oh, Tomoko, if only you knew that skill often has nothing to do with it. Yuri’s not embarrassed because she sucks at humming, but because you saw a side of her that she only lets out in private. Trying to reassure her is a good move, but putting the girl on blast like that is not going to end well.  

I felt like the vibration alone would’ve left a huge-ass crack on Yuri’s phone screen. This whole moment is like eleven tiers of funny because even though Tomoko is probably miles away, the impact of Yuri’s punch still jostles her. It also helps that we can visibly see Yuri’s fist come down mere millimeters from Tomoko’s mug. 

There is no escaping her wrath, Tomoko.

I feel you, girl. For me, nothing beats a good ol’ burger and fries after a hard day of studying.

Careful there, Tomoko. If there’s one thing that studying has taught me (other than I hate it), it’s that you could get serious burn out if you go all-out on the first day, especially if you’re typically not a regular studier. Always make sure to get dem breaks in. 

That sounds like the kind of line you’d see in a mainstream shounen action manga like [ ]. I don’t even have a direct reference here, so feel free to fill in the blank.

Hey, with Tomoko’s luck, I was expecting karma to hit her harder than Truck-kun in an isekai anime, so I consider this a small loss. 

Man, remember when we were young and had ambitions as high as the sky, and we all wanted to change the world by being firefighters, astronauts, idols, and presidents?

Kind of sucks that “financial stability” has become our goal in life as we enter adulthood. Perhaps that’s just the mindset creative-types like Tomoko have towards the STEM industry when it’s hard to see what makes that world so personally fulfilling. 

Oops, my opinions are starting to seep in, so let's move on.

Nooo, don’t do it, Nico Tanigawa Tomoko! Don’t sell out your passions for financial security even though it’s a totally viable career decision! How else are we going to validate the pursuit of our artistic dreams?  

How in the hell is Tomoko balancing that drink? I’m willing to let it pass for rule of cute, but I don’t care how secure that cup is. One wrong move and those practice sheets are done for. 

Jesus Christ, Nemo is on some otherworldly dimension of cute right here.

I don’t even think Tomoko is trying to one-up her or anything. This is already the most effort she’s given to study in a single instance, so I think she genuinely just wants to share this personal accomplishment.

You know, while it’s already been established that Tomoko and Nemo have different tastes in anime, that doesn’t necessarily mean they wouldn’t watch the same show, right? Just for different reasons. While Nemo would watch her cute slice-of-life series earnestly, Tomoko would probably watch them ironically MST3K-style. In any case, it’s a good way for them to find some common ground.

Bruh, Nemo must be over the fucking moon for this opportunity. Think about it: when was the last time she’s had someone to watch anime with her? After concealing her power level for so long, this could be the first time Nemo has had a fellow anime fan to geek out over a series with. And not just discussing it afterward, but actually reacting to a live episode together.  

Nemo may give Tomoko all kinds of shit, but this is actually what she wanted all along, wasn’t it?

Boy, Tomoko sure gets pretty demanding when she’s sleep-deprived, huh? I’d hate to see how loose her inhibitions get when she’s stark-raving drunk.  

Is this referencing the Quintessential Quintuplets anime? I don’t know anything about it other than that’s a kickass title.

Hey now, Tomoko, beggars can’t be choosers. Let Nemo give you the play-by-play at her own pace. She’s even acknowledging that you hate the source magazine without a hint of judgment. She’s gonna go places.

At first, I thought all this recent armpit content was just an incidental joke. Then I thought it was the mangaka slyly inserting their fetish into the series. Then I realized the series turned the joke on its head and made it a meta-reference about their very thing their readers were accusing them of. 

Well played.  

You ain’t slick with that leg service, Nino Tanigawa. Just sayin’.

Seriously though, I love the dynamic going on in this conversation. Tomoko and Nemo are approaching the discussion from different outlooks, the former looking at it from a degenerate’s perspective and the latter looking at it more optimistically. But even so, they’re not trying to “get the upper hand” like they might've done before. They’re simply having a totally organic talk about what they do and don’t like about the series, while still recognizing each other’s personal preferences. For once, it’s completely devoid of passive aggressiveness and it really shows how earnest their friendship has become.

At some point, I think Tomoko’s consumed so much near-pornographic content that pretty much all anime, manga, VNs, etc. looks like the same hentai to her.  

Every fiber of my being says that this is a reference to Komi-san Can’t Communicate, but it could just as well be the mangaka shooting themselves in the foot for a good joke. In any case, I do like how they point out shy, socially awkward girls is a rising trend that borders on romanticizing communication problems. 

Does that make Watamote a hipster manga since it did the whole “social anxiety girl” shtick before it was cool? 

I wanted to make a pretentious joke about how basic that anime sounds and how I’m so above a show that panders to the masses, but even I like junk food, so I’ll spare you the hypocritical humor.

If Ucchi caught a glimpse of this, she’d probably explode right on the spot.

I spent a good five minutes trying to decipher how Tomoko’s sleeping expression could be seen as “happy”, and I realized that it’s not that she looks happy. It’s that she doesn’t look unhappy. I’d imagine that those plagued by anxiety and stress have it evident on their face when they sleep, so the fact that Tomoko fell asleep in relative bliss must mean she’s had a pretty satisfying day. To top it all off, this is one of the few times someone–and Nemo of all people–has seen Tomoko in all her vulnerability. 

And you know what? Nothing bad happened. No punchline undermining the moment, no sarcastic quip, no embarrassment. Just genuine sweetness and it really speaks to the series’ faith in its heartwarming moments.

As a final note, I just wanted to thank everyone again for their patience. I’ve been trying to put a fresh spin on this, making it a little more comedic since its honestly getting harder to “analyze” without constantly repeating myself. It’s a lot of fun, and I hope you guys enjoy it for what it is.

[hellzyeahwebwielingessays]

The Not-So-Amazing Mary Jane Part 21: MJ is more vulnerable than Spider-Man

Previous Part

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Master Post

Last time I dissected notable times where MJ had to defend her self and others. That dissection defined the limitations in MJ’s abilities to fend off assailants. This time we are going to take a brief tangent and hold Spider-Man himself to similar scrutiny.

At first glance, a counter to part 20’s conclusions are that a double standard is in play between MJ and Spider-Man

How many times has luck saved him?

How many times has arming himself or exploiting a resource meant the difference between life and death?

How many times has he  gone up against superior numbers or needed help to save the day? Heck, sometimes it’s MJ herself who helped save Peter’s life.

The problem though is that this comparison is kinda…disingenuous..

The key reason lies in the difference between Mary Jane and Peter’s comparative skills, abilities and experiences.

Spider-Man possesses…

natural abilities

reliable access to equipment and resources

years of experience

…that give him natural advantages over any non-powered civilian in dangerous situations.

He is physically more powerful than any normal human being. 

It’s not even that he can just do anything a normal human could theoretically do but better. That is to say, it’s not just that he can lift more, sprint faster, perform better acrobatics and heal faster than a normal human being. 

His powers simply transcend the capabilities of the normal human body. No normal human being can adhere to walls. No normal human being has a precognitive sense of almost any and all kinds of danger, whether it’s a holstered  gun or some spoiled food.

Additionally the vast majority of human beings lack Peter’s scientific acumen (which does  play into combat conditions a lot of the time) as well as his (relatively) unique web-shooters. He is also witty and adept at strategic thinking, most famously employing humour to throw opponents off opening up exploitable opportunities in battle.

Peter’s skills, abilities and equipment have been further enhanced through over ten years of on-the-job experience. This has given him athletic levels of muscle memory in combat and even developed his body to the point where he is incredibly fit even when his powers are removed, as witnessed in ASM #341.

All this taken collectively means that Spider-Man is incredibly formidable fighter for almost any individual or group, be they super powered or otherwise.**

Nine times out of ten he has the options of:

Tricking/outthinking his opponents

Wearing them out

Surviving many attacks lethal to normal people, enabling him to either find an opening later or save civilians

Simply physically subduing them with his body or webbing

Rendering them unconscious (or technically even killing) them with his strength***

Using his scientific acumen to outright invent a solution to a dangerous problem. This can include modified versions of his webbing tailored to an opponent’s weakness

Turning groups against one another

Disarming them

Intimidating them

Getting inside their head

Spidey cannot simply pick any one of these options against any opponent. But the number of options available to him means that he has a high probability of at least one of them working.

It also means he has a pretty good chance of success against a wide variety of opponents, even if they have an edge over him in one or more capacities.

Using his resourcefulness and scientific intellect, he has defeated Morlun multiple times despite him having vastly superior strength and durability than Spider-Man himself.

His fighting skills are such that he can hold his own against Captain America who’s generally more experienced than Spider-Man and a superior hand-to-hand fighter and strategist.

He’s defeated a whole group of the X-Men, whose experience, teamwork, raw power and diverse abilities make them incredibly formidable.

His fighting prowess is such that he was unable to be defeated by a similarly diverse group of heroes known as the New Warriors. Whilst the New Warriors are not the measure of the X-Men what made this impressive was that (due to mind control) Spider-Man was actively trying to let them win.

Even so, there are people very much out of Spider-Man’s league. For example, Spider-Man does not usually pick fights with Magneto, Mephisto, Ultron or Galactus. He rationally understands that he would have no hope of defeating such people and leaves them to better suited heroes like the X-Men, Doctor Strange, the Fantastic Four and the Avengers.

Spider-Man is not stupid, arrogant nor self-destructive. Like MJ, he is aware of his limitations; although he does at times underestimate himself. If he regards a threat as out of his league, even one more directly connected to himself, he knows to seek help. This is exemplified in ASM #361 after he has proven incapable of defeating Carnage on his own. He tries to call the Avengers or F4 for help but they are unavailable, forcing Spidey to team up with Venom.

Hmm, up against dangerous overwhelmingly odds and calling for help? Could this perhaps be something Mary Jane should consider in AMJ?

Only when he has no other options does Spidey chosen to fight people he doesn’t believe he has much (if any) chance of beating.

A classic example of this is ASM #269 when Firelord tried to kill him. 

For context Firelord is a former Herald of Galactus, putting him relatively close to the power level of cosmically empowered beings like the Silver Surfer and Thor.

Peter tried to find the Fantastic Four, who had experience dealing with Galactus and his Heralds. 

En route he even mentioned how the Avengers were better suited to handling guys like Firelord compared to himself. 

Unfortunately the F4 were completely unavailable. 

Peter considers going to the Avengers but realises with Firelord speed he’d be unable to reach them in time. Briefly, Peter considers simply changing into Peter Parker and avoiding Firelord altogether. However, his sense of responsibility compels him to fight in case Firelord hurts someone in his search for Spidey.

Thus Peter resolves to defeat someone who seems to outmatch him. 

But now let’s compare all this to Mary Jane.

MJ is certainly smart and resourceful. This then means she can outthink her opponents and get inside their heads as Spider-Man does at times.

But like I said above, Spidey has many more options than just those ones.

MJ lacks Peter’s specific scientific acumen, which limits her abilities to draw upon that to mitigate dangers. She cannot for instance invent a gadget or chemical tailored to a specific problem. There might even be viable solutions to a problem in the heat of the moment she is unaware of because you’d need a college degree in bio-chem to realise them.

Regardless of sex or gender, as a normal human Mary Jane is simply less capable of surviving physical attacks compared to Spider-Man.

She cannot move nearly as fast as him, nor even as fast as normal yet trained heroes.

Her strength level is average for someone of her height and build.

She usually doesn’t have access to unique weapons like web-shooters, nor even regular firearms (not that these are usually effective against super villains). Even if she were to have a set in her possession her ability to use them would be limited because she doesn’t know how to create or maintain them. Were they to be damaged, lost or run out of web-fluid she would need to turn to a third party to get them working again. In contrast Peter could create web-shooters from scratch with fairly limited resources.

And were MJ to have web-shooters she cannot optimise their use because she doesn’t have Peter’s other powers. She cannot combine strength, agility, wall-crawling and spider sense to bounce around a room, swing across a rooftop or even fire off rapid and highly accurate shots at opponents.

She doesn’t even have a mere precognitive danger sense, the single most useful power when dealing with Mysterio.

And her muscle memory, her battle instinct if you will, are pretty impressive but nowhere near to the levels of Spider-Man’s or most super heroes. MJ’s action amidst danger is not even half as regular as Peter’s. Peter has dealt with at least small-scale criminals for the vast majority of his adult life. It’s the difference between someone who plays a sport on every weekend for five years vs. someone who has played that sport practically every day for 10 years. The latter’s instincts and reactions are simply going to be better than the former’s.

Basically, unless there are very specific extenuating circumstances, Peter Parker enters into any situation objectively  safer than Mary Jane.

He has objectively  greater chances of surviving and ensuring the survival of others than she does. That would hold true even if Mary Jane is armed with a gun and is mentally prepared for what was to come.

In most dangerous situations Peter is highly likely  to be ‘punching down’ whilst MJ would be ‘punching up’.

This doesn’t mean he’s guaranteed of victory at all, but when it comes to dealing with criminals or super villains his chances are reliably  high  whilst MJ’s are far less reliable.

And those chances, that reliability? It’s mostly internal, a hardwired aspect of his very being .

Outside of exceptional circumstances his powers, experience and intelligence can’t be taken away from him. He will always be armed with that stuff no matter where he is. Even his web-shooters are tools he invented from (expensive yet) easily obtained resources and they are not strictly essential to his combat abilities. Were he to find himself without them amidst most dangerous situations, his chances for protecting himself and others wouldn’t be close to nil by any means and he could simply recreate them with time.

These skills mean he’s only intermittently reliant upon others in combat situations. Usually he could get himself or others to safety or diffuse most threats that crop up. Similarly his need of luck is greatly reduced. Of course luck has often saved his bacon but it hasn’t been a near systemic requirement. Even in his early career neither luck nor assistance played much (if any) role in his initial victories over the Vulture, Doctor Octopus, the Scorpion and many other opponents.

Mary Jane in contrast lacks  these internal skills. She has other  internal skills that can aid her and prove invaluable, but they don’t amount to reliably giving her a chance in the majority of combat situations. Not without external factors (luck, assistance, etc.) aiding her. As we discussed in the prior instalment, that’s actually how she has endured the majority of hazardous encounters in her time.

To use the sports analogy again, Peter would be a professional NBA player who is at least proficient in all positions on the court and Mary Jane would be an amateur player who practices on the weekend but only in one or two positions. Peter could go up against at least a large number of other players and stand a reasonable chance and possibly carry the team over all.

But for Mary Jane to stand a fair chance she’d need a lot more things to go her way. The right opponent(s), the right opportunities presenting themselves, the right amount of support from her team mates etc. The fact that she’s played a few games and held her own, even won some outright, is a testament to her inner talent. But as a basketball player she’s just not on the same level as Peter, or Black Widow or She-Hulk or Wonder Woman.

With all that context dispensed with let’s move onto a bigger question.

Given MJ’s abilities and combat history is she capable of preventing Mysterio and his cronies from harming her self and others?

*In fact Spider-Man has tended to fight more effectively against groups of opponents as his speed enables him to move between them and use his opponents against one another.

This is partially due to the fact that Spider-Man’s skills in tandem give him an incredibly unique fighting style that no one without his powers can possibly replicate.

**It should be noted that Spider-Man typically restrains his strength on a conscious and unconscious level. He knowingly adjusts the amount of force he applies depending upon his opponents but he also restrains himself without realizing it. The result is that the depth of Spider-Man’s  strength level is often surprising for him and his enemies. This is exemplified in ASM #700, when Doctor Octopus in Spider-Man’s body accidentally punches off the jaw of the Scorpion, someone who was designed to have superior strength to Spider-Man. Doc Ock himself is shocked to realize just how much Spider-Man held back.

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Some more useful facts about France for your fiction to feel “more French” by a Baguette

Metropolitan France is small compared with the U.S. but it doesn’t mean all French people speak the exact same variety of French! And I’m not even talking about the Overseas regions! It’s mostly accents, idioms and a couple of words (some heathens from Southern France say chocolatine for pain au chocolat, a sort viennoiserie sweet roll with chocolate in its centre) but it’s definitely there!

Strikes are a national sport. Demonstrations as well, my first demonstration was when I was like 15, I think?

For a country that is “secular” and that “doesn’t see colours”, it sure is Islamophobic, antisemitic and racist! Not necessarily in a straightforward way, but it’s definitely there, lots of sterile debates about headscarves and ham and “oddly” enough, only white people are invited to discuss that. Even antiracist organisations such as S.O.S. Racisme are overwhelmingly white. Spaces to discuss what it means for people to be biracial or second, third generation immigrants are rare in the mainstream sphere. Intersectional feminism is often demonised.

When you think about suburbs, do you think about a nice house with a lawn? In France, it’s not really that. Sure, those exist, but for the most part, or at least suburbs of big city (banlieues) we’re talking big apartment buildings, often rent-controlled. Some have been built in the late 1950s, some later on, often with materials that aren’t meant to last this long. So there are all the basic things you need to live, the rent is rather cheap but it’s not a great time living there. You guessed it, mostly lower middle-class / lower class people end up there. And because France is a very classist country, living there (even though you can’t afford anywhere else) is not very well seen. More people live in the banlieues around Paris than in Paris itself, unsurprisingly.

Living in the city, and in especially the city centre, on the other hand, is very well seen. It’s where the desk and services jobs are, and the historical buildings and so on. The rent is more expensive of course, but outside of Paris, I guess that means you can get anywhere interesting in a matter of minutes, by foot. Our cities really aren’t that big, and skyscrapers aren’t really a thing.

Trains! We really like those. The main (and until very recently only) railway company in France is state-owned (SNCF). And we don’t use the same trains depending on how long the trip is meant to last (and how much you can afford). TGVs (bullet trains) are more expensive but really fast, TERs (“regular” trains if you will) are cheaper, slower, and often used for shorter distance trips.

Alcohol! You have to be 18 or older to purchase alcohol on your own. De facto nobody cares. Once again, you’ll find your regular cheap vodka-apple juice (ugh) in middle school house parties (as long as the parents don’t know). Though the idea that it’s not a real meal without a bottle of red wine is not as predominant as it once was, it’s still there. Champagne isn’t just any sparkling white (or rosé) wine, but the sparkling wine from the vineyards of Champagne (the region). Doesn’t taste the same as Crémant, for instance. And it’s also a lot more expensive.

Weed! In France, the only people who haven’t smoked weed once in their lives are either over 50 or liars. Almost everybody has smoked tobacco, at least in middle school, and that’s the same for weed. It’s still not legal but that’ll probably change in the next 10 years. The police mostly turns a blind eye when it’s white kids.

Anti-americanism! It’s a complicated story but to oversimplify, the French Communist Party (PCF) was a pretty big deal after WW2 and lots of French intellectuals (even Sartre of all people) joined its ranks. It was pretty close to the USSR, hence that anti-American feeling. Which still remains partly, though it has evolved and the PCF is in a sorry state now.

Did you know? France is not just Paris! (Even though most of the important museums and places of power are located there, hyper-centralisation, blah, blah). Lots of different cities with different moods. Rennes is really nice for university students! Strasbourg is cozy! Marseilles is sunny! (“smaller” cities are depressing as hell and only older people and people who grew up there want to spend their lives there, but there are fewer and fewer commerces and more and more malls, so these basically)

The French coastline: it’s is not just the Mediterranean! Brittany exists too (the Manche is awfully cold but the waves are bigger and crêpes and Kouign Amann are a delight) and Southwest France too for that matter (the Atlantic Ocean is still cold but not as cold, alas, fewer crêpes), and the landscapes are different! Once again, I’m not even talking about la Martinique or Mayotte or so many other Overseas regions.

Not being cishet: not as hard as before but still far from perfect! Sure, mariage for all has been legal since 2013. But “ordinary” homophobia is still everywhere, homophobic and transphobic slurs are still commonplace and barely frowned upon. Only cis straight couples may benefit from Assisted Reproductive Technology. The French government’s anti-homophobia campaigns have been very clumsy, to put it politely. As a wlw, I still don’t feel safe holding hands with my girlfriend in the street, especially at night. In general, mainstream wlw representation is mostly done with a male audience in mind (Blue is the Warmest Colour, anyone? It sure ain’t Portrait of a Lady on Fire). What about mlm representation? Rare and often played as a joke (though both wlw and mlm rep are improving, just not quickly enough and well enough). The very concept of gender is still controversial among the older generations. Institutional transphobia is very much real. Until 2016, trans people had to be sterilised when they had gender-affirming therapy and surgery. Lots of transphobic doctors and psychiatrists. Though t*rfism isn’t nearly as bad as it is in the UK it’s slowly getting there. There is no singular “they” in French so NB, agender and other genderqueer folks had to make their own pronouns that are not widely admitted.

Subbed>Dubbed! More and more people watch their films/series in their original languages with French subtitles, cinemas offer such screenings, foreign TV programs also have that option made available. French people are fond of foreign cinema, and not just ‘Murican stuff. More than 1,7 million people went to see Parasite!!