#is so important to changing their identity

[libraford]

A local organization here has released a list of books that they feel are imperative to have in the time ahead. The list was not easily shareable, so I copy-pasted it here.

There is no need to read all of these, but one thing you can do that takes little effort is call your library and see if they have them in stock.

If you are moneyed, you can buy some copies and put them in little free libraries.

EDUCATING FOR ADVOCACY BOOK LIST

All books are written by authors from that culture

BOOKS FOR ADULTS

(2024) Be a Revolution: How Everyday People are Fighting Oppression and Changing the World - and How You Can, Too by Ijeoma Oluo

Each chapter discusses how someone is advocating for oppressed populations

and has examples of how others can do the same or similar.

(2024) The Message by Ta-Nehisi Coates

The author travels to Senegal, South Carolina and Palestine and grapples with deep questions and emotions.

(2023) Better Living Through Birding: Notes From a Black Man in the Natural World by Christian Cooper

A memoir of a Black man learning to claim space for himself and others like him.

(2022) Myth America: Historians Take On the Biggest Legends and Lies about Our Past Edited by Kevin M. Kruse and Julian E. Zelizer

The title explains it so well.

(2022) South to America: A Journey Below the Mason Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation by Imani Perry

History, rituals, and landscapes of the American South and why they must be understand it in order to understand America.

(2022) Memphis by Tara M. Stringfellow

Tells the story of 3 generations of a Southern Black family in Memphis.

(2021) How the Word is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America by Clint Smith

An exploration of important monuments and landmarks in the USA that show

how slavery has been foundational in the development and history of our country.

(2021) The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together by Heather McGhee

The title explains it.

(2021) The Seed Keeper by Diane Wilson

Historical fiction telling the story of several generations of a Dakota family

(2020) The Good Immigrant: 26 Writers Reflect on America edited by Nikesh Shukla and Chimene Suleyman

26 authors share their stories of living in the USA.

(2020) Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson

Examines the unspoken caste system that has shaped America and shows how we continue to be defined in this way..

(2020) This Is What America Looks Like: My Journey from Refugee to Congresswoman

by Ilhan Omar

This title explains it.

(2019) The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story by Nikole Hannah Jones (among others)

Reframes our understanding of American history by placing slavery and its continuing legacy at the center of our national narrative.

(2019) Things are Good Now by Djamila Ibrahim

Stories of how migrants sort out their lives in foreign lands.

(2018) So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo

An examination of race in America.

(2018) I’m Still Here by Austin Channing Brown

A memoir telling her journey of learning to love her blackness while navigating America's racial divide.

(2018) If They Come for Us by Fatimah Asghar

Poetry that captures the experience of being a Pakistani Muslim woman in contemporary America, while exploring identity, violence, and healing.

(2016) Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of History of Racist Ideas in America by Ibram X. Kendi

Traces the history of Black America.

(2015) Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates

A memoir, in the form of a letter to his young son, telling his personal experiences with racism and violence in the United States.

(2015) My Seneca Village by Marilyn Nelson

Poetry and information about Seneca Village – a multi-racial, multi-ethnic neighborhood in the center of Manhattan (Central Park ) that thrived in the mid-19th century.

(2014) An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz

Tells the 400+ years of US history, from the perspective of Indigenous peoples

(2013) Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom Scientific Knowledge, and the Teaching of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer

Explores the place of plants and botany in both Indigenous and Western life.

(2010) The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration by Isabel Wilkerson

Follows the stories of three Black Americans’ migration journeys from Mississippi, Florida and Louisiana.

(2010) The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness

By Michelle Alexander

Explains how we haven’t ended, but have redesigned, the caste system in the U.S.

(1972) Lame Deer, Seeker of Visions by John (Fire) Lame Deer and Richard Erdoes

Told by Lame Deer, a Lakota medicine man, this memoir teaches the history of Indigenous people in the USA.

BOOKS FOR GRADES K-12

GRADES 7 - 12

(2021) Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley

The novel's main character is a young woman with a French mother and an Ojibwe father, who often feels torn between cultures.

(2021) The 1619 Project: Born on the Water by Nikole Hannah-Jones and Renée Watson

Illustrated by Nikkolas Smith

Tells the story and consequences of American slavery in verse.

(2020) Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi

Shorter and appropriate for middle and high schoolers.

(2020) All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson

Series of personal essays about the author’s life growing up as a gay, black man.

(2020) Dictionary for a Better World: Poems, Quotes, and Anecdotes from A to Z by Irene Latham and Charles Waters Illustrated by Mehrdokt Amini

Explained in title.

(2020) Woke: A Young Poet’s Call to Justice by Mahogany L. Browne with Elizabeth Acevedo and Olivia Gatewood Illustrated by Theodore Taylor III

Poetry about fighting for racial justice through joy and passion.

(2020) Be Amazing: A History of Pride by Desmond Is Amazing Illustrated by Dylan Glynn

The history of Pride, with bold illustrations, focusing on the importance of embracing one’s own uniqueness and tuning out the haters.

(2020) Dear Justyce (Dear Martin #2) by Nic Stone

Continues the story of Justyce from Dear Martin in a series of flashbacks and letters.

(2020) Punching the Air by Ibi Zoboi and Yusef Salaam

A novel in verse about a boy who is wrongfully incarcerated.

(2019) Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobab

The author tells the story of life as a nonbinary person in graphic novel form.

(2019) An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States for Young People original book by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz adapted by Debbie Rees and Jean Mendoza

Shorter and appropriate for middle and high schoolers

(2017) Sea Prayer by Khalad Hosseini Illustrated by Dan Williams

Written as a poetic letter, from father to son, this is a story of the journey of refugees.

(2017) Dear Martin (Dear Martin #1) by Nic Stone

A story of the realities of a Black teen living in America.

(2015) All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely

From the perspective of two teenage boys, one Black and one White, a story is told with the realization that racism and prejudice are still alive and well.

(2015) Beyond Magenta: Transgender and Nonbinary Teens Speak Out by Susan Kuklin

The author interviewed six transgender for gender-neutral young adults and lets

them tell their story.

(2011) Heart and Soul: The Story of America and African Americans written and illustrated by Kadir Nelson

The title explains it well

GRADES 4 - 6

(2023) An American Story by Kwame Alexander illustrated by Dare Coulter

Tells the story, poetically and honestly, about American slavery

(2023) Step by Step!: How the Lincoln School Marchers Blazed a Trail to Justice

by Debbie Rigaud and Carlotta Penn illustrated by Nysha Pierce

Tells the story of a group of Black mothers and children and their two-year march to integrate an Ohio elementary school.

(2022) Say Their Names by Caroline Brewer illustrated by Adrian Brandon

A young Black girl leads a #BlackLivesMatter protest march.

(2021) Stamped (For Kids): Racism, Antiracism, and You by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi.

Shorter, more kid friendly version of Stamped from the Beginning.

(2021) Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre by Carole Boston Weatherford illustrated by Floyd Cooper

Traces the history of this African-American ‘Wall Street District’ and its destruction by White supremacists.

(2016). I Dissent: Ruth Bader Ginsburg Makes Her Mark by Debbie Levy illustrated by Elizabeth Baddeley

The life and work of RBG told in picture book form.

(2008) Silent Music: A Story of Baghdad written and illustrated by James Rumford

Ancient and recent history of Baghdad from the perspective of a young boy.

(2005) Show Way by Jacqueline Woodson illustrated by Hudson Talbott

Traces the history of the ‘show way’ quilt from slavery through freedom.

(2005) My Name is Bilal by Asma Mobin-Uddin illustrated by Barbara Kiwak

Muslim-American student experiencing religious prejudice.

(2005). Amelia to Zora: Twenty-Six Women Who Changed the World by Cynthia Chin-Lee Ilustrated by Megan Halsey and Sean Addy

An alphabet book that teaches about the extraordinary lives of 26 women.

(1978). The Other Way to Listen by Byrd Baylor and Peter Parnall

Helps children learn about indigenous cultures.

GRADES PRE-K - 3

(2023) These Olive Trees: A Palestinian Family’s Story written and illustrated by Aya Ghanameh

A story of a young girl and her family in Nablus, Palestine, 1967

(2020). Antiracist Baby by Ibram X. Kendi illustrated by Ashley Lukashvsky

Teaches young children how to be an antiracist.

(2016). When We Were Alone by David A. Robertson and Julie Flett

A young, indigenous girl learns about her grandmother’s experience in a

residential school.

(2013). A is for Activist by Innosanto Nagara (board book)

An ABC book that teaches children about being an activist.

[dio-icarticaae]

Being an active participant in democracy is not something you do every 4 years when there's a presidential election - and that attitude is a significant factor in how we ended up here. The Republican party made an effort to get its voter base to turn out and vote straight R for Every. Single. Election. for about 40 years - we need to do the same.

Also: voting is in no way the be-all end all of democracy. It's merely choosing, out of the options you have, who will get you closer to your goals. Democracy requires participation, you have to show up. Look into what your city council and local officials are doing, and when meetings are - and show up! Make noise at school board meetings against book banners. Support your local library board! Contact your local officials and tell them what you think about what they're doing!

And that last part is especially important - it can be easy sometimes to think that because elected officials have power they're the "boss" but it's the exact opposite. We The People hired them for the job by voting, and We The People can fire them by voting them out. THEY work for YOU. They are where there are to represent YOU. So make noise! If you like what they're doing, tell them that! It gives them the courage to keep doing so. If you don't like what they're doing, DEFINITELY tell them that - politicians get nervous when their constituents are angry at them. Make them nervous!! (but do be polite to the staffer taking the call, they don't necessarily agree with your elected official). This is helpful even with the most stubborn legislators - pressure works, and even if it doesn't flip their vote that time, it helps for the future.

If you're overwhelmed by this, I get it - it's hard and I've been doing this for a little under a decade and I still get tongue tied sometimes. I recommend having a script for you to follow - it doesn't need to be long, just an introduction of you as a constituent and a couple of sentences on what you're calling about and why, before finishing up. I also recommend connecting with activist groups for issues you're invested in - they often have lists of legislation they're supporting or opposing and are happy to send you an email when one of those bills comes up with a script and who to contact. It's best to change the script a little so that your legislator doesn't get a bunch of identical calls/emails, but it's a very good basis for your script AND you'll be advocating precisely and relevantly on that issue for specific legislation.

Anyway, back to the topic of elections and showing up for them; there are quite a few in 2025 and they are important:

I highly recommend Bolts Magazine for election reporting, especially on local elections and how they related to criminal justice reform - each year they have a breakdown of local elections and what the implications are. Bolts hasn't made their 2025 elections page yet, but they do have a list of prosecutor and sheriff elections in 2025:

All of these are important for a variety of reasons, but the incredibly important ones here:

WI has a supreme court election! This is CRUCIAL - it'll determine the political makeup of the Wisconsin Supreme court for at least the next year, and whoever is elected will be on the court for 10 years. The Wisconsin Supreme Court decides a lot of things and making sure Republicans don't gain control is critically important to dismantle the extreme gerrymandering in WI as well as who decides what is and is not constitutional in Wisconsin. I don't need to tell you how crucial that is.

NJ and VA both have Governor races. In NJ, the goal is to keep the governorship to maintain a Dem trifecta - controlling the state house, senate, and governorship. In VA, the goal is to gain a Dem trifecta with a Dem governor.

Americans, I know we're going through it, but why do I keep seeing stuff like "I'm sorry world, we'll fix this in 4 years"? But like... what do you mean "4 years"?

We have midterm in 2026, yearly local elections, special elections, primaries, etc.

We have the right (dare I say responsibility) to contact our representatives and the right to organize and protest if/when they don't listen.

We need to find a meaningful way to educate people about propaganda and media literacy. We need to convince people to be willing to educate themselves. The habit of only checking in to politics on presidential election years needs broken.

I understand how defeating today feels, but we, especially those of us who could conceivably make it through these four years unscathed, need to stop this proactive surrender.

[peterm4rker]

from the rooftops || m.l

twenty seven. the date (written)

🕸🕷✮⋆˙ wc. 2.5k w. curse words, a little kissing ! ᶻ 𝗓 𐰁 .ᐟ

nothing could’ve ever prepared you for a date with mark.

you had hung out with him multiple times, of course, alone more than not. but this was different, because it was a date, and you knew he liked you just as much.

also because it was the first time you hung out after finding out about his secret identity, but that wasn’t important at the moment.

what was important was trying to get your hands to stop sweating and let you hide how incredibly nervous you were for the encounter as you stood in front of your apartment building, where days before mark had saved you from a really bad time.

you sucked in a breath as you saw his car pull up to the driveway, starting to walk towards him as he got out of the car, meeting him halfway.

“hi” he smiled, as softly as you had ever seen him while he extended a bouquet of flowers towards you.

“hi” you smiled back, doing the exact same thing with your own bouquet. 

“you got me flowers?” he asked, the tone of his voice betraying how moved he felt at the gesture.

“pretty boys deserve pretty flowers as well” you answered and swapped the flowers, holding your own close to your chest. “thank you, they’re beautiful.”

he looked at you so fondly that if you hadn’t already been convinced he liked you, that would’ve done the trick. “you’re beautiful.” he breathed out, and the color on your cheeks made itself present for the first time that day.

“let’s go before i explode,” you chuckled softly, thanking him when he opened the door for you and getting in your seat.

the drive was filled with chatter as you approached the restaurant you had agreed to eat at, just both of you enjoying each other's company like you always did.

mark made sure to open both the car door and the restaurant one, making you smile at his gentlemanly behaviour. 

“i’d fuck with pizza right now” you said once you were sitting down looking at the menu.

“me too, actually” he nodded, leading you to agree on which one you wanted and get that one.

“so, i have a question,” you commented after a couple of seconds of silence, watching him arch his brow in curiosity. “what made you want to ask me out all of the sudden?”

you knew the answer, but he didn’t know you knew, and you wanted to see what he would say. 

“well, it wasn’t really all of the sudden,” he commented, scratching the back of his neck softly. “i’ve liked you for a long time now, i even had a crush on you before we became close.” the way his cheeks dusted with pink as he confessed he liked you outloud for the first time made your heart flutter. it was funny to think about all the time you had spent yearning for him when apparently he had done the same, but you wouldn’t change a single thing about it.

“i had a crush on you before too,” you smiled, picking at your fingernails as a sign of nervousness. mark noticed and took your hand in his, avoiding that you hurt yourself and well, just because he wanted to hold your hand. the gesture made butterflies erupt on your stomach, completely endeared by it.

“really?” he asked, an incredulous look on his face as he absentmindedly caressed the skin of your hand with his thumb.

“mhm, why do you think i took the bio chem article at the beginning of the year?” you asked, a teasing smile on your face as you squeezed his hand. “

“i thought you said it was interesting!” he whined, feigning betrayal.

“i'm sure it was for people that actually understood it…” you tried to defend quickly. 

“i explained it to you,” he chuckled, amused.

“i wasn’t listening, you’re too pretty,” you smiled, looking at him with adoring eyes.

mark groaned and covered his face with his free hand, trying to hide the blush that made its way onto his face. “so i took all of that time to explain for nothing?” 

“well i wouldn’t say so, we ended up on a date almost eight months later,” you chuckled, watching him with amusement.

“true, it was worth it” he smiled once he had calmed down, squeezing your hand lightly “and right after that you were there with that one rando with the sound waves.”

oh! the one you caught within minutes?

“yeah, i remember. spiderman came in clutch though,” you smiled “he keeps saving me time on time again, he’s awesome.”

if you hadn’t been looking so intently you would’ve missed the way his expression turned proud for a moment before he cleared his throat and got a grip again.

“he’s pretty awesome” he nodded, a small smile on his face.

“the awesomest” you smiled.

…

“that was crazy,” he sighed as he leaned on the back of his chair, completely satisfied with the food you two had shared.

“insanely good, we should come here again” you nodded, causing mark to smile at the prospect of another date. he shouldn’t have been surprised considering you had confessed your undying crush to him without even knowing it, but it was a pleasant feeling to hear you say it to his face.

“we definitely should,” he agreed, “but now i really want ice cream.”

this was your opportunity.

“we could go to that ice cream parlor i told you about the other day.” you said, trying to sound as casual as you could. “the one near han river.”

you saw a flicker of doubt cross his eyes before he ultimately nodded, standing up and extending his hands towards you. “lead the way then.”

you smiled and took his hand, intertwining your fingers with his. “we still need to pay, markie.”

“nope, i paid when i went to the bathroom” he smiled smugly as he moved his arm to rest around your shoulders, holding you closer to him.

“we said i would pay half!” you whined, and he shrugged. “i’ll pay next time”

“nope, you won’t” he smiled as he ruffled your hair before beginning to walk away, leading you to do the same with his side hug.

you both thanked the workers as you headed out, deciding to walk to the ice cream parlor since it was closer than you had initially thought.

the boy didn’t let go of your hand at any point, holding you as close as he could without making you both trip on each other's feet. he still couldn’t believe that he had you with him now, that he was allowed to touch you that way and you didn’t mind it a single bit. 

“what flavour do you want?” you asked after a long discussion on who would pay for ice cream where you ultimately came out victorious. 

“uhm, i think chocolate please” he asked, and a smirk took place on your lips.

of course he wanted chocolate.

“here you go” you handed the cup to him, paying quickly for both and thanking the worker before getting back to his side.

“thank you” he smiled, taking a lick of his ice cream and letting out a small groan.

“fire?” you asked, a smug smile on your lips.

“flames” he nodded innocently. only two seconds passed before his eyes widened and his face went pale as he turned quickly to look at you.

click.

“you know” he muttered, and you felt slightly bad for making him realize. he looked so scared, terrified even.

“i do know” you nodded, voice soft as you reached a bench and took a seat on it, waiting for him to do the same.

“since when?” he asked as he sat down, his voice small.

“i’ve known for about two months,” you said, keeping your tone soft and your eyes trained on his face. “that’s why i told him, you, about you, i thought that would give me an answer about if you liked me or not.”

mark stayed silent, and fear began to arise on your body. had you fucked up? had you completely crossed a line he never wanted to cross? you shouldn’t have said anything, it was not your place to discover it.

“i’m sorry,” he spoke quickly, beating you to say the words that were about to come out of your lips.

“why are you sorry? i should be saying sorry, it wasn’t my place to pry like that” you spoke, feeling remorse harboring in your stomach.

“no, don’t be sorry,” he said, giving you a soft smile as he left his ice cream cup at his side on the bench. his hands moved tenderly to your face, which he held with so much care someone would think you were made of porcelain. “i wanted to tell you, and i was going to, i promise. it’s just not easy, it could put us both in danger.”

your eyes were fighting to keep the tears away as you looked at him. you didn’t even know why you were crying, but the loving, concerned tone in mark’s voice was too much for your poor heart to handle.

“i promise i would never say anything to anyone” you assured quickly, leaving your own cup to the side. “i would rather die than put you in danger.”

mark immediately shook his head. “you will never have to choose between those options. but if you’re ever put in that situation and i'm not there to save you, you tell whoever wants to know, okay? i don’t want to be the cause of any harm done to you.”

you couldn’t help but embrace him in your arms, hugging him tight to your body as he held you just the same.

“nothing will happen, i’m sure” you assured, your voice muffled by his chest. 

“i won’t let anything happen.” he assured, his hand caressing your hair softly.

…

“thank you for coming with me,” mark said as you stood at the entrance of your building.

“thank you for asking me” you smiled, your hand playing with his fingers softly.

you both stared at each other in silence for a couple of seconds before mark’s eyes travelled down to your lips, his tongue darting out to lick his own. he was dying to kiss you, and by the sight of how you wet your lips just then, you wanted the same thing.

“you could, uhm, come upstairs if you want” you commented, and mark had never agreed to something faster in his life.

you entered your apartment and turned on the lights, moving aside to let mark in and close the door behind him. the boy was nervous, his hands fumbling with his rings. he was familiar with the apartment, but he had never been there with you alone.

“i’m gonna put the flowers in a vase, wait for me for a second, okay?” you asked, waiting until he nodded to leave him alone in the room.

mark looked around, unsure of what to do until you came back. he didn’t have to wait long though, it didn't even take two minutes for you to be back in front of him.

the tension was high as you stood in front of him, your eyes trained on each other once again. mark’s hand moved slowly to take a strand of your hair behind your ear, his heart fluttering when you nuzzled softly against his palm. he took the chance to cup your jaw and tilt your head upwards, just until it was angled right for him to press his lips onto yours.

when he did, everything he had ever known fell apart. every fear, every worry, every girl he had ever kissed before simply disappeared as your lips began moving against his.

kissing mark was like nothing you had ever done before. his lips were soft and he knew how to move them a little too well. his hands felt just right as he held your jaw and your waist, pulling you closer to him as the kiss grew deeper.

you didn’t know if it had been seconds or minutes when you parted for air, but the dazed look in his eyes leaned you to the latter.

“you don’t understand how long i’ve been waiting to do that” he muttered, and the low tone of his voice made you shudder.

“believe me, i understand” you smiled before connecting your lips again. 

minutes passed before you broke away again, and you suddenly found yourself pressed up against a wall with his leg dangerously placed between yours.

“mark?” you asked softly as he parted from you again. he hummed as a small smile placed itself on your lips. “i want to try something,” you commented, making him look at you curiously.

“what is it?” he asked, his thumb drawing circles on the skin of your waist.

“you can stick to walls, right?” 

…

“i can’t believe you’re making me do this,” mark chuckled as you took a small step away from him.

“come on, don’t be a meanie” you encouraged, and he could never say no to the beautiful smile on your lips. he let out an exaggerated sigh and you cheered, knowing he had caved.

you watched him as he shot a spiderweb straight from his wrist and pushed himself up, making sure to hang upside down. he couldn’t help the giant smile on his lips as he watched you look at him with wonder filled eyes. “so? come on, i still get dizzy sometimes.”

you let out a small giggle before going up to him, holding his face on your hands and pressing your lips together in a kiss. it wasn't a long one, just a long peck followed by many little ones before he moved back into a standing position, shaking his head softly to get rid of the dizziness.

“happy?”

“so happy” you smiled, looking at him with loving eyes. “thank you for doing that, i know it's silly.”

“maybe, but you looked cute upside down,” he smiled. “i have a favor i want to ask you too.”

“what is it?” you asked, tilting your head in curiosity.

“would you maybe want to come with me to the new years party?” he asked, now feeling a little shy.

“of course i would” you smiled, shoving his shoulder lightly. “you think i would let another girl kiss you at twelve? i’m not that dumb.”

mark chuckled happily and hugged your waist, bringing you closer to him and leaving a peck on your forehead. “i wouldn’t want to kiss another girl anyways.”

“good” you smiled, hugging his shoulders and pecking his lips. “now, what other funny things can you do?”

“am i a clown to you, woman?”

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© peterm4rker, 2024

[sakanayasan414]

Interesting facts/possible mistranslation in Japanese translation of Sherlock Holmes

I thought people might be thinking I started my Sherlock Holmes journey by bbc or s&co and while there’s nothing wrong with that, I wanted to clarify that I’ve been Sherlokian since my mom bought me the adventure of Sherlock Holmes in 1st grade and I love the canon the most. Though I don’t really read it in Japanese anymore, I wanted to show my love for the translators and just everyone who made it possible for me to enjoy SH without having to learn English as a child.

Names Changes - The name Sherlock Holmes and John Watson once got translated/adapted to 小室泰六 (Komuro Tairoku) and 和田進一 (Wada Shinichi) because people in Japan at that time weren’t familiar with European names. I find this really fun and actually impressive because the names do fit their criteria; Komuro has that royal feel Holmes has and Shinichi is just one of the most common name in Japan like John.

First person pronouns - In Japanese there are many first person pronouns (I, my, me) to the point linguists don’t even know how many there are but main one being 俺 (ore) and 僕 (boku) for men and 私 (watashi) for women and men in formal occasions. So, deciding which first person pronouns characters use is one of the first yet important part of translation. Holmes in most translations use boku which is typical but has that upper class atmosphere when used by an adult which I think fits his personality and background. But one of the translations I read used watashi when he’s talking about his deduction and I feel like it shows how serious he takes his cases as it is almost solely used by men in professional settings. And also it sort of distances the speaker from the rest, meaning he is in his own world when deducing but he’s willing to interact with others when not in case.

Surname? First name? - in most translations, Holmes and Watson call each other by their surnames like in ACD writing but in one of the translations I’ve read put 君 (kun) after their surnames. It is used to show politeness but also affection in old times. I personally love this addition because calling each other by their surnames in Japanese don’t feel the same as it does in English. It feels too distant, not in Victorian men in way but just plain strangers feel. But then First names are too intimate so putting kun just feels right.

The speckled band - ACD played with a word band in this story but in Japanese it is straight up impossible to do so because we don’t have a word like that so what do they do? As shown below, they put extra words on top of words. (Characters on top (バンド) literally reads bando meaning band and characters below (紐 and 群) mean a string and a group so they both mean band) It is commonly done in literature to either suggest double meaning or just an indication of how to read certain Chinese characters because the characters on top are phonogram unlike Chinese characters. Having three alphabets in one language enables us to have that double meaning in other languages.

Possible misinterpretation of the situation - In “A Case of Identity”, Holmes expresses a deep angst towards Windibank by saying “But between ourselves, Windibank, it was as cruel and selfish and heartless a trick in a petty way as ever came before me.” Up until this point, Holmes called him Mr Windibank but he drops the Mr. However, for some reason some translations keep the Japanese equivalent of Mr (さん) , but then he takes out his whip after this conversation. I just don’t think it was a civil conversation that Japanese translators wanted to write as. I think Japanese translators just wanted to write Holmes as an always-calm-man but he is a passionate man when he needs to be.

Possible Mistranslation - From “A Scandal in Bohemia”, Watson talks about what the woman is to Holmes by writing “In his eyes she eclipses and predominates the whole of her sex.” In rather recently published translation, it gets translated to something like “From Holmes’ perspective, she surpasses all other women and makes their presence fade into the background.” Which i don’t think accurately expresses his view on her and women in general. But this might differ from other people’s opinions.

As time passes and many variations get published, translation gets more natural but sometimes they lose the atmosphere of the canon. So I love going back to reading all the versions I can read.

Hope you enjoyed this post! I have A LOT like this in my draft because I’m a language nerd in STEM that can’t find anyone to talk about this with. Also please let me know if you know any fun facts from your language’s translation:)

[zenbivia]

Intersectionality is a really important topic for people to learn about. None of our identities exist in a vacuum and they interact with each other a lot.

Being a black woman is different than being a white woman. And fighting for the rights of white women is not the same as fighting for the rights of all women. The suffrage movement was a very good thing but it primarily benefited white women.

There was a woman years ago who applied for a job and didn't get it because she was a black woman. This company hired black men in the factories and white women as assistants so the court argued that they weren't racist OR sexist because of this. But they didn't hire black women, they didn't want women in the factory or black people anywhere near the offices. Her case was thrown out the judge felt that it would be "unfair" if she got 2 chances to argue that she was being discriminated against. They wouldn't even consider the idea that the company could be racist AND sexist without being either one individually.

I think it is important to consider how you frame this argument to white people though. When you say that being a woman(or other minority identity) and white is easier, it feels judgemental and puts them on the defensive. But when you say that having that identity is more difficult, I believe it feels less like an accusation for them and makes them more open to new ideas and empathy.

Don't get me wrong though, you shouldn't have to change your wording and that shirt shouldn't upset people. But humans are naturally very defensive and I think more minds can be changed/informed if we make a conscious effort to not make well-meaning people feel defensive.

i dont think whites understand how being white makes literally everything easier.

it effects everything.

being trans is easier when youre white.

being gay is easier when youre white.

being disabled is easier when youre white.

being a woman is easier when youre white.

being autistic is easier when youre white.

oppression is eased when you are white, as you get extra privileges, and your whiteness is seen as a positive characteristic that in some ways counter-balances your other forms of being a minority. whiteness controls everything.

you are automatically way more innocent in your own oppression as a gay, trans, disabled person because of your whiteness.

never forget this.

[genderqueerdykes]

thank you so much for talking about the whole "i hate men except for you" thing. i'm friends with a cis girl (that i don't really want to be friends with anymore for obvious reasons) who loves saying stuff like "i hate boys" "all boys are the same and they never change" "i'm starting to hate boys more and more" "except for you of course!!" but it's not like she shows any respect towards my identity. she's the only friend of mine that uses she/her for me, says stuff like "mommy and daughter bonding 😊" when i mention i'm spending time with my mom, and deadnames me when i don't immediately respond to a text she sent me 2 seconds ago (and in that text she'll call me by the right name). i used to think that she's just doing this on accident but i've noticed that she only deadnames me and calls me a girl when i'm the only person listening. she's been messing up my pronouns around my friends more often and thankfully one of them noticed and is starting to talk to me about it but UGHHH. i already stopped liking her the second she started saying man hating stuff but the fact that i'm supposed to be the one exception yet she treats me this way... am i the exception because i'm your friend or am i the exception because you're trying to make me feel special when you don't even see me as a boy to begin with?

of course, anon, that's what i'm here for! thank you for taking the time to send in your story, it's important that you be heard

this is absolutely disgusting behavior, but you are not alone in going through this in the slightest. i have seen this behavior play out so many times. that is absolutely sickening that this girl will deadname you just to get you to respond to texts quicker. that is some seriously malicious behavior and you are 100% in the right for not wanting to be her friend anymore.

it's not flattering to be seen as a Special Man. the trans acceptance basics are not treating trans boys/men and trans girls/women like "Special" boys/men/girls/women. we for the most part do not want to be seen as "Different" from other guys. that isolation and singling us out makes us feel alienated and unwelcome everywhere.

honest to god i think the more people who stand up and go. yeah i don't want to be your friend anymore. the bigger of an impact we will have on this kind of behavior. you're not the first anon i've gotten who has wanted to/ended a friendship over this behavior. i have gotten so much feedback from people who have completely terminated friendships over this and GOOD.

people need to understand that trans men don't constantly want to be otherized, infantilized, mocked, scrutinized, deadnamed and fucking harassed for the sake of """""FITTING IN""""""". this isn't fitting in, this girl has made herself into your own personal antagonist. you are right in realizing this is not on accident. this is malicious behavior on purpose. she knows what she's doing. she sees you as a girl and wants you to know that and fuck her for doing all this.

you deserve way better. i hope you're able to get her out of your life and find friends who *actually* support you. that is utterly disgusting behavior and she deserves to lose a friend over it. you're not there to listen to her hate on your siblings and friends. nothing good ever comes of "oh well i don't mean YOU i hate all men BUT you :)" yeah that's not making you safer to be around. YOU are the dangerous person in this scenario. wise up.

take care of yourself anon you deserve so much better than that. if you need any help feel free to stop by again any time

[cripplecharacters]

I have two disabled characters who are in a relationship. One uses a wheelchair and has double LLA (one above one below knee), whike the other is generally mobile and doesnt use any aids. Theyve been in a relationship for years, but mostly online rather than in person (the story takes place in person). Should I have them have a consent and boundaries (e.g. you can lift me but only if I ask or if i'm already using you to pull myself up, you may offer to help me move over difficult terrain but what path we take is my decision, im okay with you touching my nubs if you tell me youre gonna do it and wait for confirmation beforehand) talk 'on screen' or should it have happened earlier in/at the beginning of the relationship and be referenced to?

Sorry if this is confusing. I am disabled, so I have had to have these talks before, but I dont use a wheelchair and ive never been in a largely online relationship where physical stuff isnt relevant.

Hello!

This is a similar situation/dynamic to my boyfriend and I. Though we're not in an online relationship, we are long distance and most of our day-to-day interactions take place through texting or social media. Both of us are disabled but at different "levels" (So to speak).

While we have several disabilities in common (Autism, Tourette's, ADHD, etc.), the main difference is our levels in physical disability. He is paralyzed and uses a wheelchair full time. I have an undiagnosed disability that causes me chronic pain/limited mobility and use a cane and other mobility aids.

Above all else, though, we're both two separate people. We have different histories, opinions, and experiences. Most of our discussions about boundaries have actually been about language. While I reclaim the term "cripple" for myself to a degree, he doesn't. On the other hand, he prefers to be called "somebody with autism" while I prefer the term "autistic person".

These seem like small things to worry about but they're fairly important, both to our identity and our relationship. We have a sort of compromise in our relationship. I haven't changed my language entirely and neither has he, but we've both adjusted it. He uses the language he's comfortable with for himself, I use the language I'm comfortable with for myself. We generally stick to neutral language when speaking generally.

I mentioned that this is the only real discussion we've had about boundaries. The rest of it has happened more over time, usually in the form of correcting one another or elaborating on our needs and preferences.

Like with consent, it shouldn't just be one conversation. It's constantly evolving.

In your story, it may be best to show that. If you leave it as something that happens offscreen, it may be looked over. If you have a big conversation happen onscreen, it could undercut the seriousness of their relationship or come across as clunky.

Having this discussion be an ever-evolving series of small conversations instead can make it seem more natural and also help show how somebody's needs and preferences can change over time.

If you do want a conversation/discussion to happen that's specifically relevant to their online relationship, it could involve their boundaries and preferences around things such as language (What terms to use, which ones to avoid, etc.), photos/videos (Whether they can be shared, whether they can be requested, what parts of themself will be in them, etc.), talking about them to others (How much information they can give others about their partner's disability, etc.), etc.

The big thing with boundaries is that it's not a "one size fits all" thing. Somebody's boundaries will constantly be changing and shifting depending on the situation, the day, or even just their current mood.

At least for my boyfriend and I, the biggest thing is communication. There will be times where I notice he's struggling and will ask if he wants me to push him for a bit. Sometimes he does, sometimes he doesn't. But even if he's okay being pushed by me, I would never just randomly start pushing him without his consent.

With your characters, this could look something like one character asking the other if they need help doing something (Ex: "Do you want me to grab that for you?"). It could also look like one character correcting the other on language for themself (Ex: One character says, "This is my girlfriend, she's autistic." The other says, "Actually, I prefer being called a person with autism."). The character could explain why that is (Ex: "I was called autistic a lot as an insult and don't want to use that language for myself now.") or they can just leave it as is and let their preference be known.

As with any relationship, navigating consent can be a bit awkward at the beginning -- especially if this is your characters first time meeting in person. It's normal for them to stumble a bit and for there to be misunderstandings. For example, maybe one character accepts the other's offer of help but they have two different definitions of what "help" means in that context.

Of course, the nature of the conversation will differ depending on when they're having it. If it's happening during the online part of their relationship, it likely won't focus as much on physical things (When to help them, for example) and will instead focus on some of the other points such as language and discussing their disability with other people.

The last thing to keep in mind is that the process of discussing consent and boundaries looks different for everyone. The information I'm sharing is just my perspective on the matter. You'll have a different one, as will your disabled readers.

Cheers,

~ Mod Icarus

[transgenderer]

Tikopia house names

For context, the Tikopia are a hunter gatherer group on the small island of Tikopia in Melanesia, but are Polynesian by ancestry and culture. The following excerpts are from Firth's "We, the Tikopia".

Houses in Tikopia bear names, and these are not mere casual appellations given for show, according to a rather stupid European habit, but are intimately related to the native social organization. In fact the name belongs not so much to the building itself as to the site; when one house decays and another is built in its place it bears the same name, even if several generations have elapsed in the interval. For this reason also subsidiary houses are assigned no distinct name; they are described simply as "the cook-house of —" or "the bachelor house of —".

Many house-named are ancestral, used by the family groups for many generations, perhaps since their founding. Some of them are identical with the group name. In a study of kinship the name of a house then invites comparison with that of the residents, and of the family group, know also as the "house", to which they belong.

The usual custom is for the married couple who live in a house to bear the house-named with the terms Pa and Nau preposed for husband and wife respectively. These correspond to the English usage of Mr and Mrs, though they are really kinship terms of address signifying father and mother. Once people have married they are given a house name immediately, and the general public, with the exception of their parents, brothers and sisters, ceases to use their former's names. Together they are known as sa Nea, the name of the house being used in each cases. Only in a few cases have bachelor men been assigned house-names with the usual prefix. This is decidedly exceptional, and occurs only when such a man runs his own household instead of living with married relatives

When a married pair have died, then their eldest son usually assumes the house-name if he has been living with them, or if he moves into the family dwelling, and this process is repeated with each generation. The name of the house (ingoa paito) remains; the name of the individual men (ingoa tangata) disappear, the natives say.

The device of giving permanent names to house-sites has provided the Tikopia with a most valuable mechanism for the preservation of social continuity. Houses decay, men perish, but the land goes on forever. Hence, whatever may be the vicissitudes of the human groups, the dwelling-site name furnishes always a basis of crystallization of kinship units in residential terms. Though the married pair who reside their may change their name in conformity with the needs of the political and religious organization, personal inclination, or the desire for children, the place is known as before. In European society it is the family name which tends to remain constant, whatever be the changes in the name of their house. In Tikopia the opposite obtains, a state of affairs apparently to be correlated with the small society which allows of an intimate personal knowledge of the kinship affiliations of everyone, no matter what name they bear. The permanency of dwelling names, combined with that of orchard names., tends to emphasize that feeling to which every Tikopia gives expression now and again, of the stability of land as compared with the human beings who inhabit it. It would be easy to over-emphasize the importance of this rather superficial native philosophical attitude, but it has its effect in such situations as a quarrel over lands between members of a clan.

Bonus detail: Names often come from far-away places!

All the house-names mentioned so far are regarded as being of local origin. But the Tikopia show a very catholic spirit in their personal nomenclature: voyagers to other lands are prone to bring back foreign names to bestow on themselves and their dwellings; stay-at-homes indulge their thirst for travel by taking over names which they hear from visitors or from their returned kinsfolk, and so endow themselves with at least the semblance of romance. For the desire to voyage overseas, to see strange countries, new lands, is the ambition of every youth or man in the little island, and rarely is it gratified.

Names derived from modern contact with European civilzation are Niukaso, Potiakisi, Pangisi, Melipani, Taone. The first two are expressions for Newcastle and Port Jackson, places visited by men of Tikopia when carried off on labor vessels [Note: he discusses elsewhere that this is rare, in part because Tikopia get physically sick with longing for home after away from long periods]. The third is the phonetic equivalent of Banks, the homeland of the native mission teacher Ellison Tergatok, who is known under the name of Pa Pangisi. His former dwellings of this name in Ravenga is now occupied by a relative of his wife's, Pa Teva. His own house is Taone, in other words Town, so named, probably, because he considered his residence to be the center of civilization in an uncouth land. Melipani is an adaptation of the name of the cruiser Melbourne of the Australian squarian, which visited Tikopia about 1926. The name so attracted one man that he took it for himself and his dwelling without further ado.

[liqutos]

As a fellow transgender scientist (non-US) this is absolutely terrifying to see. I remember when making my account to publish on ACS journals them asking optional questions about my gender identity and if I identified as gay or transgender. I remember mentioning how stupid that was to a couple people and they all told that it was "most likely just for inclusivity", but looking at the situation now it's all but certain that it will be used to root out queer people from academia and prevent them from publishing in established American journals. Information supposedly used for good ending up in the wrong hands.

I feel the way you do - studying chemistry and currently doing my PhD has helped me overcome the idea that "trans and queer people can never be successful", seeing and meeting other queer academics and my university has really helped me really come to terms with transitioning being the right option for me. Opening up the sciences to trans people, I feel, is also really important in that the education we receive (esp bio and Chem) allows us to educate not only ourselves but other queer and even cis people about us.

The American culture war against queer and transgender people is starting to spread to us too. One of the conservative run states in my country just banned gender affirming care for minors, stating that they will conduct a "comprehensive review" into it (obviously biased). Things like this is why queer people in science is so important. We don't have many voices in higher positions in academia or politics, so we have no one at the top willing to speak for us. By discouraging and downright discriminating against queer presence in science, they want to make sure that we never have a say. But we have to stay undeterred - the only way to change academia is to join it, and let them know we are a presence that is here to stay.

Sending hugs as a fellow PhD student <3

By now, there's lots of people have heard about the internal CDC memos for all newly prepared manuscripts (like future scientific papers waiting to be published):

There's so much to comment on, and I'm seeing it all right now. What the state of science is. What this means for the queer community. All of that.

But fuck, I think I might genuinely start crying over this. As a transgender biologist, this feels like a brutally personal blow. I slowly accepted my gender alongside my biology education. The more misinformation that was spewed about "biological sex" by mainstream media, the more my professors, colleagues, and primary sources would casually drop information that proved they have no idea what they're talking about. I'm not an expert on sex determination, gender, or transgender biology specifically by any means. But my worldview has been crafted by my studies in genetics and molecular biology.

Engaging with this research helped me demystify transition. It helped me optimize my transition. It helped me explain how HRT and other steps of trans healthcare work to other people. And it helped me overcome my own internalized transphobia, and finally start transitioning, despite knowing I wanted to since my preteen years.

Who knows how enforceable internal guidelines like this will be. But its certainly going to scare a lot of researchers away from transgender healthcare and science in the coming years, and that breaks my heart.

There's a lot I can say here, but fuck. I just needed to vent for a moment. Fuck.

[radfemfessing]

The radfem community online and especially on tumblr is largely still stuck in individualist and identity driven thinking patterns they have adopted from the liberal ideology they have been fed for years. I don't say this as an accusation, I just have two words of advice: 1) Don't ever worship or idolize people. Don't rely on a person as a "leader" or moral compass. No person in the world will always be 100% right or likeable. And more importantly: if you start to think for yourself and form opinions by yourself, you will find that you can't agree 100% on everything with a person, especially if you don't know them personally. This is important because if you expect other people to deliver you the correct opinions all the time, you are not better than TRAs and libfems, you just chose a different false idol to worship. Not idolizing people also prevents you from being disappointed and/or attaching your own moral/political alignment to sympathy. If you idolize JK Rowling and find out that she supported Johnny Depp or if you idolize Andrea Dworkin but then find out about some facts about your personal life, you might consider their words and their work worthless entirely, because that's how liberal spaces like to operate. See theory and other womens thought and opinions more as a buffet of inspiration for your own opinion. You don't have to agree with everything someone says and you don't even have to like that person to look at what they have to say and form your very own opinion around it. This doesn't mean you can't like someone or can't acknowledge the genius of some people and their work. It just means to not be blindsided, ignorant or shocked when they do or say something that doesn't align with your values or opinions. It makes you and your standpoint much less vulnerable to criticism as well. 2) "Radical feminism" is almost and sometimes outright treated as a new identity. It's an ideology you can understand, learn about and follow through actions. There are actions and ideas that are fundamentally opposed to radical feminist ideas and actions. And calling those out and talking about them is important. But arguing about "what makes you a radical feminist" so you can go through a checklist that makes you part of this new fun identity/club isn't a good way to go about it. Don't be so worried if you are allowed to call yourself a radical feminist. That's just a hollow identity thing. Rather evaluate which actions are radical feminist and which aren't. Engage with radical feminist theory through reading and conversation and draw conclusions from that for your own life and the actions you want to take on your own or with other women. For example: Wearing makeup isn't a radical feminist action, it's even opposing to radical feminist theory. Acknowledging that and taking action is much more important than "But can I have this radical feminist identity and be part of the identity club online if I wear makeup". Why is it so much more important to you to be able to call yourself something than to understand it and take material action according to what you believe in? I personally do not care if I am "allowed" to call myself a radical feminist. Why should I? It's not like I introduce myself like that anywhere. It's just something you agonize about when you want to know if you can write it into your tumblr bio. I am much more interested in finding out what exactly radical feminism is and then reflecting on that and taking material action according to that.

Think more for yourself, disagree with things because you personal thought them through and not because someone else told you to. Change your opinions if you gather new information. Engage actively with radical feminism instead of passively consuming it or passively identifying with it.

🔱

[actuallyjustabiscuit]

Kinger is Cursed With the Consequences of His Actions, and That's What's Making Him Crazy

Oh yes! The character we've all officially designated as Pomni’s new papa has got me reminiscing about another silly crackpot monarch who is actually an intelligent man in his late forties, an identity that has been buried so deep within the recesses of his altered mind that it can only emerge through special circumstances of which he has no control. But I know I'm not the only one who's made connections between him and Simon Petrikov from Adventure Time.

Btw did you know that they're also nearly the same age?

Yeah, this comparison has already been made by plenty of people. But if I may, I'd like to point out one other similarity that I've noticed; the fact that both of these men tragically lost the love of their lives, yet even in their broken minds the love they felt for them is still remembered fondly.

But, what if Kinger was also indirectly responsible for losing Queenie?

So........what exactly causes someone to abstract?

Of course, this would be an important question considering it's baked into the premise of the show itself, but I find it to be particularly relevant when dissecting Kinger's character because if we only assume that abstraction occurs when a human loses their mind, then how is someone like him still hanging around the Circus?

He’s been trapped there the longest, how long exactly is yet to be confirmed, but it’s safe to say that all those years haven't been kind to him. In the pilot he’s characterized as extremely erratic and forgetful, getting easily startled because his spatial awareness and object permanence are practically nonexistent nor can he retain previously established information for very long. On top of that, he regularly spouts nonsense that seemingly has nothing to do with the current situation. Because of this, his general demeanor tends to range between ridiculous to downright frustrating to the other characters.

So it’s no wonder that his fellow humans have more or less dismissed him as just being insane.

But I think this is a completely reductive view of this poor man because Kinger’s got that “he’s a little confused, but he’s got the spirit” energy that I love about him.

I think this is one of the more adorable aspects of Kinger's character; he's always trying to help. He tries his absolute darndest.

And what makes me sad is that, with the way that he is, he has such little control over how much he can actually help the people he clearly cares a lot about.

In Mystery of Mildenhall Manor, it's revealed that Kinger's lucidity is apparently affected by his exposure to darkness. How this works exactly is a bit inconsistent as we've had scenes of him in complete darkness and still acting pretty goofy.

However, based on my observations, I believe the change is not instantaneous. Like, he doesn't immediately become the Kinger we see in the adventure with Pomni if he is suddenly enveloped in darkness. I think what primarily plays a part is the amount of time he spends in darker settings. The segments we get with Kinger and Pomni are significantly dimmer compared to the rest of the episode, and we even get hints of Kinger progressively becoming more logical before we get to the cellar.

I’ve also noticed a small pattern in which he prefaces these brief moments of clarity with “I think…”.

This could be completely unrelated, but I find it interesting that Kinger's big advice to Pomni on how to overcome something difficult is to try "not thinking about it". I may be reading too much into this specific bit of phrasing but I feel that it's worth noting if this really is the mentality he lives by, because this is the advice he gives her when he's in two totally different states of mind.

Anyway, it turns out that when this silly man finally gets a good grasp on himself again, he’s actually extremely competent. Kinger shooting down the angel is a pretty obvious example of him being a BAMF, but I want to give these two moments a bit of focus.

I like the idea that Kinger has been in the Circus long enough to become so familiar with his weird digital body that he uses his detachable parts and disembodied hands to his advantage. It’s just a neat little detail because we get a taste of just how capable Kinger can be in this world if it wasn’t for his handicap.

And what really sucks is that the amount of time it takes for him to regain his sanity in the dark is really disproportionate to the amount of time it takes for him to lose it when back in bright environments.

Take the scene where Kinger is having a conversation with Ragatha in Candy Carrier Chaos with the bucket on his head for example, which definitely foreshadows this detail since it's the first time we hear him speaking more sensibly.

and then this happens

Notice how he taps the handle of the bucket? Like he's realizing that he does, in fact, have a bucket on his head that's obscuring his vision, before lifting it off of his face and going right back to responding in the way we've come to expect from Kinger.

It makes me wonder if Kinger has ever tried to tell the other's about this, but just couldn't. Ragatha clearly isn't aware of it despite having known him the longest out of any of the current residents of the Circus. And Kinger himself can't seem to pinpoint when exactly he shifts between sane and insane. Like a man who blacks out and feeling ashamed of his drunken actions when he sobers up again, despite having no control or awareness in the moment.

Describing Kinger's usual behavior when not in darkness as a "blackout" is pretty ironic, but I think it fits beautifully because it perfectly explains his short-term memory loss. Or I guess it would be more accurate to call it a "brownout". Either way, the point is that his memory becomes more obscured when he's in the light.

As for what initially caused this impairment, we still don't know.

I also don't want to get too clinical with Kinger's "symptoms" because I am in no way schooled enough to diagnose a fictional character who has only had a single episode focused on him.

But even just one episode proved to be very enlightening (...heh...see...see what I did there? Enlight-eh forget it) because after comforting a freshly traumatized Pomni, our girl interacts with Kinger at his most coherent long enough to learn some very crucial information.

It seems that the abstracted humans are not inherently dangerous, at least not when secluded in darkness, which Kinger was fortunate enough to witness with his own wife before they were separated (not legally, divorce doesn't exist in the Circus).

I've made this connection in another post I made, but yeah I really do think that it's the Circus' garish lights that make the abstracted so aggressive. I mean when you have that many eyes, that shit would aggravate the hell out of you.

But now comes the real question, and I'm tying it back to the one I made at the start, what made Queenie abstract in the first place?

How very convenient, Kinger. How did Jax put it, "gotta keep the mystery alive"?

Well, I'm playing detective here and I say you're the key suspect!

That's right! I'm accusing you! But unlike Baron Moldydick's crime, it twasn't homicide.

Yeah, everyone has picked up on how Mildenhall killing his wife acts as a parallel to what Kinger may or may not have done to Queenie. But I don't think it's as cut and dry as Kinger losing his mind and then somehow putting Queenie in direct danger as a result.

No, I like to think that it's definitely a bit more complicated than that.

It's not clear when exactly Kinger began losing his mind, but I certainly believe it had everything to do with losing Queenie. And it would actually be a pretty fun bit of character design if it does because in chess the King becomes most vulnerable when the Queen is taken off the board.

I know we all want to imagine that Queenie had existed alongside the other characters sometime before Pomni's arrival, but based on what we're given in canon, I'm starting to think that was highly unlikely. Because if everyone knew who Queenie was, then they would also deduce that Kinger wasn't always the way that he is now. I just don't get the impression from everyone else that they know about Kinger's dual state of mind. Otherwise, it'd be kind of awful that they wouldn't do more to help him if they were aware of this fact.

Kinger has always been crazy to them because all they know is that he's been in the Circus longer than anyone else. Which really goes to show how little they truly understand one another despite having only each other for company.

And it's not like they don't care enough (well, except maybe Jax) to want to understand and be there for each other, but it's almost like they are never given enough opportunities to really...bond.

And yeah, unfortunately, a lot of it has to do with each of these characters having their own hang-ups that keep them from doing just that. It's not just Caine constantly shoving them into his adventures to distract them.

Ragatha is dishonest with her feelings

Gangle is insecure when her mask breaks

Jax hates being vulnerable

and Zooble is never comfortable in their own skin (or at least their body's equivalent of skin)

I don't want to downplay it either, these are real issues that need consistent work. These people need help and the only one really capable of supplying that is a little broken himself.

This is why it's so fortunate that Pomni was with Kinger when he started speaking more sensibly. She has already displayed a remarkable level of emotional maturity with Gummigoo, but that's because Gummigoo was the one in need of reassurance at that moment. When exposed to problems far worse than your own, your problems in some way appear much more manageable in comparison. Pomni may be trapped, but Gummigoo doesn't even get the luxury of existing outside of what he was made for. That alone gave Pomni the confidence to live in spite of her circumstances and inspire someone else to do the same.

But it's hard to maintain that confidence when your new support system gets literally deleted right in front of you.

It's ok tho! Thanks to participating in Kaufmo's funeral, Pomni begins to open herself up to the others more, which allows her to have...some faith in her new friends. This is especially good when she gets to finally break down for a minute with Kinger because honestly, it's amazing she's held herself marginally together this whole time without crying at least once.

Pomni experiences her (so far) all-time low, and this segues to Kinger sharing his.

It's pretty terrible, losing someone. The previous episode pretty much forced that onto Pomni. How exactly do you completely move on from something like that? Well see that's the neat part, you don’t. In fact, Kinger even alludes to how you shouldn't. Even though the memory of losing Queenie is painful, it's what anchors him. He lost Queenie, but he still has everyone else, and he refuses to give up on them. So despite his mind constantly working against him, he does what he can to help his friends. In his own clumsy and confused way, he's there for them.

To me, abstracting isn't going insane. It's giving up. Giving up on yourself and giving up on others. It's easy to get to that point without the occasional necessary affirmation that you shouldn't give up.

This was the hardest lesson Kinger had to learn in the Circus. And he's doing his best to get the others to understand as well. But Kaufmo's recent abstraction proves how unsuccessful he's been.

Thankfully, Pomni takes it immediately to heart.

This is crucial, not just for Pomni's development, but for everyone else. Kinger even assures that it's more important for Pomni to remember than for him to not forget. That's why her name is more than just an ironic punchline, it's meant to represent her purpose in the story. As long as she remembers, hold on to the good, she'll get through it. Kinger is putting just as much faith in her practicing what he just preached as she is in letting him lead her through hell.

Oh no I've made more biblical allegories! The Pomni is Jesus theories are winning!!!

Ok but in all seriousness, we see just how much Kinger's words influenced Pomni's actions in Fast Food Masquerade. It's all but said that Gangle was close to abstracting towards the end of the adventure.

Yeah she’s about to turn into an eldritch horror, but c’mon we’ve all been there after a long shift.

Trying to talk things out didn't work, so Pomni then took a more practical approach to helping her.

Something as simple as allowing Gangle to get some rest and verbally reminding her that she doesn't have to handle things on her own. It's almost poetic how although Pomni can't leave the Circus, she's constantly telling others that they can leave and she's going to help them.

And Pomni doesn't save Gangle all on her own either. It was Kinger's insistence to have Zooble take his spot in the adventure that allowed them to witness Gangle's manic-depressive decline. They also had a practical way of showing support by offering to stay past their designated shift and relieve Gangle of the burden of transporting a drunk Ragatha.

Episode 3 really was all about acts of service, wasn't it.

If Zooble wasn't present for that adventure, they wouldn't have had the full context of why Gangle feels like she's not wanted.

Zooble saying "I still like talking to you" carries far more weight than if they had said, "I like talking to you". Especially when Gangle already feels insecure about how honest Ragatha is with her. Zooble got to see Gangle spiral and still accepts her. On top of that they are adamant about calling her their friend despite her doubts. That means something. Everything really.

This is what cherishing someone looks like.

I think Queenie abstracted because, at some point, Kinger began to neglect her. Perhaps he became so obsessed with finding a way out that he forgot what was most important. It's too early to really say if that's how it went down, but it'd be a poignant bullet point to the tragedy that is Kinger.

So I guess the real question is: How does one lose their wife?

Well in the wise words of Cody Martin

[lichthey-a]

𝖘. 𝖊𝖎𝖉𝖔𝖑𝖔𝖓𝖘    (    𝙷𝙾𝙽𝙺𝙰𝙸: 𝚂𝚃𝙰𝚁 𝚁𝙰𝙸𝙻    )

[asphyxiatedredherring]

The false dichotomy of either cis or trans bugs the fuck out of me because it's just a reinvention of the gender binary. It's frustrating, but queer people aren't excluded from being close-minded. The internet has brought us together as a community, but I think the surge in labels has come up with more ways to box us in. Don't get me wrong! Labels are amazing and freeing for some people... but others feel excluded because they don't feel there is one that fit them perfectly. I think it's human nature to want to label things, and people have a hard time understanding what isn't labeled with clear defined boundaries. But we have to remember that we don't have to understand others identities. Identities are complex and multidimensional and always changing. What's important is respecting people's identities.

I'm sorry to go on a rant on your post, but this makes me sad. You shouldn't have to resign yourself to an identity that doesn't fit right just because the other presented option doesn't feel right either. You also shouldn't feel you have to pick a label and identity that makes you more palatable to others. It's your life, curate your experience and describe yourself however you want.

I've recently come to terms with the fact that I don't have to have all that stuff picked out. It's ok for me to just be myself. My feelings on my gender change and most often I'd probably describe it as dyke. I struggled with thinking I must be cis because calling myself trans didn't feel right. Definition wise, nonbinary fits but it just doesn't feel right either. Reading about queer history and all the people that existed between the lines is what really made me feel like I could be free. So that's it, I don't have to describe my gender. It doesn't have to be anything. Its so much less pressure. Similarly, sometimes I describe myself as aromantic and asexual but other times I feel like the labels are suffocating or restricting me. Sometimes I feel really connected to lesbian and others I feel like my identity is distinctly nothing. And I'm ok with that now. I don't have to call myself anything to be queer. Sometimes that makes me feel left out in internet spaces, but ultimately it makes me feel more comfortable in my own skin. I hope sharing my own experience here can make someone out there feel less alone.

not to randomly seriouspost but atp ive just resigned myself to the fact that theres no word for what i am, gender wise. there's just no right answer, but "girl" is close enough, so i guess im cis

[idontmindifuforgetme]

Went from being totally lost as a teenager to finding solace in aesthetics and fitting urself into a template in my late teens and now I think I struck a healthy intermediate where I know who I am as a person generally but I’m also completely subscribed to the idea of evolving and would never deny trying something just bc it doesn’t fit the image of myself I crafted in my head

[owari--hajimari]

i don’t think rhyme’s relationship to her gender identity is particularly important to the larger picture of twewy, but i do think beat’s perception of her as a girl, as his younger sister, is very very important. cause masculinity as equal to strength is important to beat, and it explains a lot of his relationship to rhyme. rhyme protecting beat, her kindness when they were alive, succeeding at pushing him out of the way in the same way beat failed, it’s an indignity. rhyme, a young girl, his family, then his partner in the Game, like every category of ‘what a man should protect’, is stronger than beat. beat fails to protect her time and time again. and he resents that. that he’s so weak. that she had to protect him.

liiiike, what kariya says to beat after ganking rhyme, “[rhyme] isn’t gone because of us. she’s gone because of you. you failed to protect your partner. […] she protected you. gave her life for you. […] you want payback? then man up” <- thats what its all about. and ‘she’s gone because of you’ stinging twice cause he failed and that’s why she was in the Game at all. later, as a reaper, beat says to neku “you man up any yet? cause i don’t believe in hittin’ women and children” it’s cyclicalll and beat clinging to the ideal of masculinity in the face of his own powerlessness

[basilpaste]

Of Stitches In Sequence Act 6 - You won't leave them alone like this.

twohat fight sifs sprites are all actually pretty similar? their buff sprite is the same as their neutral one. but i gave isa a little smile. as a treat.

his whimsy.... the light in his eyes....... returned.