#i worked all month on this shit

[valiantvillain]

It's here. It's done. Chapter 2 of Duty, Diligence, Devotion.

The truth came stalking into Miraz’s tent the very next evening. 

Her suspicions about Astarion’s likely tenuous relationship to life had ascended to their peak. The pale elf had made no mention of the night before, gave no inclination that he had heard a paladin’s poor excuse for stealth creeping out of her tent. Nothing but let himself be caught watching her movements a breath too long, always providing the perfect opportunity to smile at her with more than friendly fascination. Indeed, his attentions seemed to have only grown bolder: taking his time brushing past her, touches lingering upon her arm and shoulder even when she had donned her armor and could scarcely feel his touch through the chainmail, sidling up next to her a little too casually. All too intimately. With every sarcastic retort she issued, the more readily she could expect another instance of flirtation,a thread of strain in his smile and his movements marred by the undercurrent of a sudden nervous energy that had not been there the previous day. 

Then there had been the boar. Or rather the exsanguinated corpse of one. Against Astarion’s dismissive protest, Miraz had knelt to investigate. It had borne no obvious injury, not even a trickle of blood staining the ground. As though death had come to the beast on the wings of natural causes. Perhaps a disease that had worn away the defenses of a young and healthy boar, its bristly coat shining with the luster of youth still. But the edges of bloodless flesh and the two needle-like puncture in its throat told a different story. An icy finger of dread trailed down her spine as she fought the urge to cut an accusing glare towards the elf peering over her shoulder. 

Had he been perturbed, had his voice wavered with the alarm of yet another danger to prey upon them in the night, she might have granted him some benefit of the doubt, however meager. Might have allowed herself yet another shred of it, despite all the misgivings. Instead, his words dripped with annoyance, knowledgeable as though reciting words he had memorized from a well-read book. It was too easy, too nonchalant, too practiced. As if he had rehearsed the lines a thousand times before in preparation for this very moment. Yet all Miraz could see when she got to her feet was the jagged edges of an old wound that bore too many similarities to those of the boar peeking out from beneath the lace of his collar. Instinct and reflexes tightened her grip on her hammer as his airy assurances that he would keep watch from vampires sailed past her ears, his chill touch light as feathers as he reached to place a hand on her shoulder. Practically protective. 

If Astarion had detected anything unusual about her, any stiffening of her limbs, any particular flintiness in her gaze when they returned to camp that evening, he gave no indication. But maybe that too was part of the charade. The pretense of unsuspecting normalcy. 

If she had wanted to play mind games she would have stayed in Baldur’s Gate. Stayed her grandfather’s pet bastard and submitted herself to his endless tests. Years of practice had made them practically second nature, instilled in her an inherent paranoia that saw fit to underscore every interaction, analyzing every word and expression for a whiff of intrigue or insult. It had made her clever, as grandfather had so loved to remind her, made it easy for her to sniff out a lie like a dead body beneath the floorboards. The powers of a paladin had only honed the keenness of her nose to that of a hunting hound. It was exhausting, to always be alert, always rigid and detecting, unable to cease pricking her ears for the merest hint of deception. Only ever able to relax in the presence of her friends, a handful of children once left on the steps of Baldur’s Gate’s temples. 

Astarion, she noted, had elected to seat himself beside her with an air of familiarity. All cheeky grins and fluid flattery as he all but reclined against her side. The smell of rosemary and brandy that came with the elf being too close eked its way past the woodsmoke of the fire and the spices of a potato soup. For all the good the meal did Astarion, for his eyes gleamed hungrier than ever. 

There she lay then in her tent, struggling to succumb to sleep on her bedroll yet again. Victim to a fitful mind and a sense of grim expectation. She lay still, willing her eyes to remain closed, her hands to remain idle and wrapped around her pillow instead of her weapon. Yet behind her eyelids, a sliver of pale light sliced through the shadows, the flutter of canvas sounding in her ears. 

Then the footsteps. Light and cautious with the barest rasp of shifting gravel. Drawing nearer and nearer. Right towards her. Her heart quickened, pounded in her ears as every muscle in her body tensed, bracing for an attack. A moment to strike. Even as she tried not to let on that she was indeed awake. Awake and very much aware of the eyes raking the length of her body like a voyeur’s salacious stare, could feel them like a wandering hand. Revulsion threatened to twist her mouth into a scowl and give her away.

Go away and I won’t have to hurt you, she silently warned, hoping the intruder did not notice her fingers cautiously stir beneath the blankets. Her unwelcome visitor knelt beside her, its breath fanning across her face while a cool hand swept her hair away from her neck. Her eye twitched. She heard a swallow, a deep shuddering breath. The hand wove gracefully through the tangles in her hair to plant itself beside her head. Then it bore down upon her. 

Rosemary and bergamot swarmed her flared nostrils. 

Miraz had known it. She had been right all along. 

[endusviolence]

Rowling isn't denying holocaust. She just pointed out that burning of transgender health books is a lie as that form of cosmetic surgery didn't exist. But of course you knew that already, didn't you?

I was thinking I'd probably see one of you! You're wrong :) Let's review the history a bit, shall we?

In this case, what we're talking about is the Institut für Sexualwissenschaft, or in English, The Institute of Sexology. This Institute was founded and headed by a gay Jewish sexologist named Magnus Hirschfeld. It was founded in July of 1919 as the first sexology research clinic in the world, and was run as a private, non-profit clinic. Hirschfeld and the researchers who worked there would give out consultations, medical advice, and even treatments for free to their poorer clientele, as well as give thousands of lectures and build a unique library full of books on gender, sexuality, and eroticism. Of course, being a gay man, Hirschfeld focused a lot on the gay community and proving that homosexuality was natural and could not be "cured".

Hirschfeld was unique in his time because he believed that nobody's gender was either one or the other. Rather, he contended that everyone is a mixture of both male and female, with every individual having their own unique mix of traits.

This leads into the Institute's work with transgender patients. Hirschfeld was actually the one to coin the term "transsexual" in 1923, though this word didn't become popular phrasing until 30 years later when Harry Benjamin began expanding his research (I'll just be shortening it to trans for this brief overview.) For the Institute, their revolutionary work with gay men eventually began to attract other members of the LGBTA+, including of course trans people.

Contrary to what Anon says, sex reassignment surgery was first tested in 1912. It'd already being used on humans throughout Europe during the 1920's by the time a doctor at the Institute named Ludwig Levy-Lenz began performing it on patients in 1931. Hirschfeld was at first opposed, but he came around quickly because it lowered the rate of suicide among their trans patients. Not only was reassignment performed at the Institute, but both facial feminization and facial masculization surgery were also done.

The Institute employed some of these patients, gave them therapy to help with other issues, even gave some of the mentioned surgeries for free to this who could not afford it! They spoke out on their behalf to the public, even getting Berlin police to help them create "transvestite passes" to allow people to dress however they wanted without the threat of being arrested. They worked together to fight the law, including trying to strike down Paragraph 175, which made it illegal to be homosexual. The picture below is from their holiday party, Magnus Hirschfeld being the gentleman on the right with the fabulous mustache. Many of the other people in this photo are transgender.

[Image ID: A black and white photo of a group of people. Some are smiling at the camera, others have serious expressions. Either way, they all seem to be happy. On the right side, an older gentleman in glasses- Magnus Hirschfeld- is sitting. He has short hair and a bushy mustache. He is resting one hand on the shoulder of the person in front of him. His other hand is being held by a person to his left. Another person to his right is holding his shoulder.]

There was always push back against the Institute, especially from conservatives who saw all of this as a bad thing. But conservatism can't stop progress without destroying it. They weren't willing to go that far for a good while. It all ended in March of 1933, when a new Chancellor was elected. The Nazis did not like homosexuals for several reasons. Chief among them, we break the boundaries of "normal" society. Shortly after the election, on May 6th, the book burnings began. The Jewish, gay, and obviously liberal Magnus Hirschfeld and his library of boundary-breaking literature was one of the very first targets. Thankfully, Hirschfeld was spared by virtue of being in Paris at the time (he would die in 1935, before the Nazis were able to invade France). His library wasn't so lucky.

This famous picture of the book burnings was taken after the Institute of Sexology had been raided. That's their books. Literature on so much about sexuality, eroticism, and gender, yes including their new work on trans people. This is the trans community's Alexandria. We're incredibly lucky that enough of it survived for Harry Benjamin and everyone who came after him was able to build on the Institute's work.

[Image ID: A black and white photo of the May Nazi book burning of the Institute of Sexology's library. A soldier, back facing the camera, is throwing a stack of books into the fire. In the background of the right side, a crowd is watching.]

As the Holocaust went on, the homosexuals of Germany became a targeted group. This did include transgender people, no matter what you say. To deny this reality is Holocaust denial. JK Rowling and everyone else who tries to pretend like this isn't reality is participating in that evil. You're agreeing with the Nazis.

But of course, you knew that already, didn't you?

Edit: Added image IDs. I apologize to those using screen readers for forgetting them. Please reblog this version instead.

[choccy-milky]

modern AU seb and clora's first interaction 📘📗 (and by modern AU i actually mean super trope-filled high school romance set in the 80's/90's LOL)

[mroddmod]

the party visits Hawkins for the holidays, circa December 1991.

i was lucky enough to get to participate in a secret santa gift exchange along with my friends, some of the most talented people in the stranger things fandom! my recipient was @halosketches, one of the coolest people i know. it was a pleasure to be able to work on this and i'm happy to able to share it now! happy holidays, boys 🫶

[kurikorso]

oh shit look who it is!!

please click him for better quality

[naamahdarling]

You know what? You know what I think?

I think that if we lived as we were meant to, in larger intimate ("extended family") groups and with more shared labor and time to do it (UBI NOW) people like me would not feel so useless and burdensome because there would be people around to help and to do what neurodivergent people can't while making valuable space for the neurodivergent to do what they ARE good at.

The way we live right now, all right, the way we live right now forces units of two adults to be able to do EVERYTHING or PAY to have someone come do it for them. I have to do the housework. I have to do it! But I am having to do a million different things and most of them I am not good at. I suck at them.

I wouldn't feel like shit, okay, if I had more than one other person around who was not a child and who could do the things I can't, like do the yard and cook and do repairs and basic maintenance; and someone else to split everything else that I like but is too much for me. It would free me to do what I am good at and enjoy. Cleaning, as in the sink and toilet, the windows, the blinds. Taking out trash. Folding, hanging, and sorting laundry.

But because all the shit I can do often relies on other shit being done first, and I can't do or have trouble doing those things, the shit I can do often can't be done. And even the shit I can do, I can't do ALL of it. So I can't keep up, and things get very bad.

We aren't meant to live like this. We are not meant to live like this.

That thought hurts so much because being able to flee the birth family is integral to survival for so many people. I'm so afraid that living in larger family groups would create more opportunities for, say, queer kids to be isolated, rejected, bullied, and abused. But if we gave people enough money to survive, and stopped considering children the property of their parents with no system in place to help them escape bad situations except a system that is often just as bad, just different.

I'm aware that communes and collectives aren't all that successful and are kind of a joke. I don't mean that. I mean a fundamental shift to multigenerational families where taking in "strays" (which my family did) is also normalized so people escaping abuse into existing households was accepted, with these families centered in maybe a couple of different larger residences so not everyone has to buy and maintain their own fucking washing machine and vacuum cleaner, and so people can benefit from large group meals that yield leftovers, and so child and elder care can also be centralized.

Then disabled people and the neurodivergent and sick and injured people, and pregnant people, and grieving people, would not have to either labor through all those stressors or consign themselves to living off an unlivable pittance or being put under legal guardianship.

I'm not saying anything new. People live like this in other parts of the world and maybe it sucks and I am wrong. But I'm just really mad right now because I can either do laundry or clean the sink but not both, and I really think we could improve society somewhat by making it so I did not have to choose one without sacrificing the other.

[raiiny-bay]

some WIPs from the 80s AU i never finished

[foxprints]

Happy Pride Month 💛🏳️‍🌈

Featuring Murderbot, ART-Drone, and Amena. Can you identify all the flags featured? There are 13 total!

[territorial-utopia]

Huzzah! It's birthday time! I'm slowly accumulating more and more things I like (latest additions this vest I made and a travel typewriter! Still need to fix the latter one though)

Sure has been a year.

[xxplastic-cubexx]

liking your art and opening your blog to see that you also made my other 90000 favorite pieces of charles and erik. oh my god you are out here in the mines and you are creating PURE GOLD BRO? OLD MAN YAOI FOREVER THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE

HEHE always at the scene of the crime.... thank you so much my friend !!!!!!! i'm so glad to be the creator of some works you enjoy and i look forward to creating more in the future for you to love !!

if i may .... provide a small preview of what i have prepared for later today as a thank you...

i hope you enjoy it once it's finished :]]] !!

[heartorbit]

a mob of emus for an artstyle game on twt! ^_^

[captainmaxatx]

Omega! Logan who was born in the 1800s when secondary gender roles were very prevalent but it actually really suited him and he wanted to be a home maker and have a bunch of pups but he was always too big and hairy and and not seen as a good Omega. Alphas would sleep with him but never treat him the way they would a “proper” omega and they didn’t ever want anything serious because it’s like almost shameful to have a big hairy omega.

Then times change and Omegas start breaking out of the cookie cutter roles and they go into the work force and what not (feminism but it’s omegas) and Logan is very happy for them he thinks they all deserve the right to choose, but still no one wants him. And everyone expects him being an omega with the way he looks to be at the forefront of the movement to want the change for himself, but he doesn’t.

And over the years he toughened up and stops looking to start a family and put his dreams on the back burner to become what everyone expected of him.

And then everything happens and all the sudden Logan finds himself in a universe without secondary genders, where he isn’t a too big and hairy omega, he’s just some guy.

And unintentionally he finds his way into the role he’s always craved, where he takes care of the home and the dog while Wade makes the money, and it’s the closest he’s ever been to the life he wanted. He mostly retires from fighting and heroing, but now he’s ready for a new challenge. And being near Laura has only served to dig up that old desire and instinct he tried to bury so long ago

And I mean, even if the mutant hate wasn’t as bad as it is in Logan’s old world there was still a time here not to long ago when mutants were ran out and scattered around the world. And now with the people at Xavier’s working on getting the Mutants back into the city trying to re group with their still dwindling numbers. I mean Logan and Wade should help with the mutant re population efforts, who better to do that then two very eager immortals who can heal from anything and with a whole gang of friends around them for free child care.

[drawnfamiliarfaces]

;3

[choccy-milky]

the place me and my roommate were supposed to move into today was so disgusting and uninhabitable we just took our stuff and left and now we're gonna be staying at airbnbs and hotels until further notice/until we can find a new place hopefully quickly...........im in my homeless drifter era y'all!!!😍😍so if im not as active then thats why LMFAO

1 like = 1 prayer

[kirayamidemon]

i fucking hate this mfotherucker

[kelocitta]

There is currently a rather large discussion ongoing about the RW fandom behavior, drama, etc. I am not going to talk about the specifics of whats happened for a number of reasons. But what I do want to say is that if at any point you've harassed people over it, whether that be through anon asks or public posts- you did nothing but damage the ability for people to correctly process what is happening. You contributed nothing but harm to an already delicate situation. It does not matter what "side" you were on and I will not tolerate further interaction with me or my work if I found out you did such. If you let your personal hate for anyone boil over into threats, wishes for long term harm and petty comments meant to contribute nothing but slander or mental distress for the individuals involved who were already distressed (or acting irrationally) you did nothing but make it harder for people to process their emotions, thoughts and behaviors constructively. Regardless of who you think was in the right, who fucked up, whatever. It doesn't matter if they deserved it, or earned it, or if its an eye for an eye. Its difficult enough as it is to think clearly when presented with any kind of stressful situation and heckling people does nothing but make it worse and harder for them to explain themself in any capacity. I don't want you anywhere near me if you think that is an acceptable way to act.