#not going to include into the list those that don't have/not yet known both their first and last name but look into the comments if

[fishareglorious]

Most of r1999 characters go by aliases or their first/last names, and so far I think there’s only been a few who've had their full names revealed. From what i can remember:

Shamane - Pushya Shamar

Ms. Moissan - Hannah Geier

Blonney - Jennifer Woods

Druvis III - Druvis Weyerhauser III

Rabies - Adam Miłosz

John Titor - I think you already know this one.

Edit for the other ones:

Baby Blue - Rebecca Jones

Tennant - Ada Tennant

Melania - Melania Ramirez

Do you know any more with their full names? I’m just curious to know how many people have those stated.

[ratasum]

Asura and Gender

I've talked about this in the past but it rattles around in my head every now and then so I wanted to elaborate on my hcs regarding asura, the concept of gender, and gender as it plays into their overall society.

Basically, to start: in the native asuran language, I do not think there are gendered pronouns. It's simply not important to them as far as how you speak to someone (though there are times when that identification is important). There are multiple other pronouns for various identifiers, but the words for "can have children" and "can't have children" are largely the biggest ones that exist, and those are typically used in the process of contracting and how individuals are listed on contracts in regards to partnerships, children, and how a relationship will progress/how long it'll last. But this also includes "may want to have children," "currently not having children," and a variety of other breakdowns. And even someone who is capable of having children can be listed as "can't have children" be it medically or by their choice.

Not to say one's identification doesn't matter. It matters a great deal, in LEGAL matters. Contracts and legal identification, things like that.

And in this way, they're both far more complicated and far more simple than how gender is traditionally viewed by, say... humans on the surface.

Once arriving on the surface, asura were exposed to far different gender rules than they were used to. But instead of changing their identifiers, they instead folded the new ones into their existing system. If you hear an asura talking in native asuran, you may hear "he" or "she" get dropped in common, and sometimes even "they." Now they have even more ways to sort and apply things.

The biggest ramification for coming out as a different gender id for asura is largely paperwork. It's not seen as something bad or weird, there's no real pomp or unease regarding changing one's gender, they're honestly very chill with it; updating how you identify is like changing your hairstyle. Their culture is far more fluid. But you should probably expect to go down to the Office of Identification to sign 37 forms, print them out in triplicate, get forms to your dean or krewe chief (make sure to have copies), also to the RA of your dorm if you're still in college, get a new ID holo taken if you go into any classified areas, and don't forget to fill out this notice to be sent to all your known acquaintances and family to alert them to your knew ID, name, and identifiers.

Or have your parents/legal guardians do it if you're not in college yet!

If an asura can make things needlessly complicated, they will. But as there are no gender roles in their society - instead being a meritocracy based on what you're capable of as an individual intellectually (not even physically) - this always seemed to make more sense to me.

[eri-pl]

Re: Gandalf and Melkor

(idea: Gandalf was originally a Maia of Melkor. But now with more canon)

So from what I understand, initially the Ainur didn't have a hierarchy. The Maiar and Valar became a thing after Ea was made, which is after the Music, which is after Melkor's initial problematic behavior (I won't say "evil" yet, as this is arguable).

The beings that were Melkor's Maiar from the start are the Balrogs (and maybe possibly some other evil beings?). Already fallen.

And Olorin (the guy known as Gandalf) is not.

So, what is he?

I think that initially, even before the Music, the Ainur had certain resonances. Some just match some others better. And later, when some of them descended into Ea, this had an impact on which Maiar served which Valar.

Impact, but not 100% correlation. They have free will, after all. And they can serve more than one Vala, I assume it means one at a time, but they can change whom they serve.

And we know the case of Arien. She was a spirit of fire, like Balrogs were, but she chose to serve Varda instead of Melkor. And I don't want to believe that it was because she naturally resonated with Melkor less than the others.

They have free will.

She chose to not be evil. They did not. Not because they were made like this. They choose.

So, if Arien could not go with her just natural choice, because this choice was Melkor, why not other Maiar?

Olorin has qualities (mostly mentioned in linked post) that are similar to Melkor: likes to play with fire, likes to meddle, likes to show off his intelligence and be sarcastic, word puns, natural affinity to humans, too smart for his own good (mellon)...

(Melkor: rules over fire, likes to meddle, prideful and with insane language skills even for a Vala (that's canon), had an insanely steering emotional reaction to humans (hates them), too smart for his own good.)

I know Olorin's name is linked to Irmo (it means "dream / fantasy" more or less) but he took a name when language was already a thing, so of course it's like that, he served Irmo at that time I guess.

So the Maiar I see as naturally Melkor-vibed:

Arien (as said before)

Olorin (as said before)

Melian: she is weird. So odd that she must be reasonant with Melkor. Nobody remotely normal would marry an elf. Yes, that's opposite of what Melkor would do, but... He is the opposite of what he should be. So it makes sense. Just... she's just this exact "this idea hasn't existed before and warps the reality, let's do it!!" kind of weird. Also, see: Melkor's reaction to Luthien. Both in the sense of "he feels the resonance" and "Melkor and Melian were the only Ainur in the canon who wanted to marry an incarnate"

Curumo: proud, craftsy, proud, didn't seem to need much work to be corrupted TBH

"Not particularly Melkor-vibed, even though you might they are" think include:

Sauron (lawful, needed much effort to be corrupted, I don't see him as fire-aspected before the Ring, ymmv)

Radagast (not all Istari have to be in the list, and he has no reason to be on it)

Probably Osse too? I think he just has temper issues.

Other thoughts:

As I said in one earlier post, many elves and at least a few humans also have a discernable resonance to a particular Vala (Eol and Feanor to Melkor (maybe mixed with Aule), Maglor and Tour to Ulmo, Maedhros also to Melkor, Celegorm to Orome) but with Maiar it's more visible.

Also, for a non-Melkorian example of a mixed resonance, I would say that Tilion (or how do you spell the moon guy) is not only Varda, but also Irmo-vibed.

I'm not sure if this basic resonance is a thing that can change, but I doubt it. Olorin after countless years of serving the good Valar is still recognizable as odd.

It's like instruments.

When you play a trumpet with the violins a lot, the player and the audience get accustomed to it and hear it as more natural combo, but it's still a brass.

Maybe when Sauron got Numenored, and/ or when he forged the Ring. Those were big events.

Also, the Valar aren't a linearly independent base. Nienna and aule are closer to Melkor than, say, Varda or Ulmo. Still, this says nothing about their morality.

He chose to be evil. They did not.

[kimyoonmiauthor]

Short Note on Diversity in novels...

During a certain writing event that starts with N, I often tried to research and find ways to write more diversity.

So there were ten rounds of people on both sides saying, "Don't include it for clout" and "don't do it to be token."

For me, these days, I add diversity because it's my lived experience and often it solves plot issues. No, really. Sometimes the character just shows up and I'm thinking, you're not acting how I thought, you're not acting NT. Could you be ND? If so, what type are you?

And then doing to research to lean into it rather than spending time taking it out is a lot more helpful to the story because how they act is rooted into the basis of the story.

People tend to think that adding diversity "adds more problems". But I kinda think adding historical accuracy or race diversity to NYC or off-hand mentioning that Rromani exist in a Europe setting solves issues like "Hey, here is an entire group that is dedicated to trading! You no longer have to question how Silk got to Europe." might give a richness and feel more accurate?

The fact that people couldn't figure out during that event that PoCs have relatives was wild to me. lol "I couldn't possibly write more than one Black person." Wha—where do you think Black people come from? Also Queer people would attract Queer people too? NDs attract NDs? So the idea of the lone gay (usually Black if they are going Intersectional) dude being the ONLY one in the entire world, is wild to me. You don't think the Black dude has a Black friends and maybe other PoC friends, because ya know, Black people have to hang around only white people and never know other Black people? You don't think the lone gay dude might want to do more than "fashion", "hair", "crafts" and actually date another gay guy? Just asking.

So usually, for me, it helps solve dilemmas. Like hey, if this group of people have known what it is like to handle horses for thousands of years, maybe they can help solve this plot dilemma with a horse. Let's research their group and how they handle horses because my characters don't come from a nomadic horse tribe.

This character doesn't seem to want to date anyone. Why? Could they be... ace aro? If so, what kind? If they aren't, why haven't they? or are they really aro/ace but haven't faced it yet and thus are being unintentionally destructive (BTW, this was me at one point when I didn't understand I was aro/ace and yeah, not my finest hour...)

It doesn't have to be a big deal, the big deal is to make sure to back it up with research even if you belong to that label.

For me, being NB, I had to research trans (binary) people better. Also wrap my head around the European version of trans rep, which I still don't always understand fully. The whole, you must when transitioning a character, make it painful? Why??? Like isn't there Queer and trans joy in transitioning and not all of it is surgery? Yeah. But understanding other perspectives than your own can help shake loose your story to give different flavor to your characters so they aren't "Token" and you can rep various PoVs, even if they aren't center stage. (Some of the you musts also didn't make sense to me... but I've posted those.)

But yeah, sometimes adding diversity helps save you having to rewrite the whole thing. And it solves plot issues—like having the Harfoots kinda like Rromani/traveling Jews solves how to get Gandalf safely from Point A to Point B. Having the elves being various skin colors solves why the spawning place for elves is roughly 30 degrees north which, BTW, lines up with the races on Earth at that latitude. Sometimes making the person Jewish explains why they are so good at inane arguments. lol (Saying this as a Jew... I can list the inane arguments my family has had). So yes, sometimes adding diversity helps rather than hinders and gives you more events you can add.

Your characters are meeting their grandmother coming from India while in Regency England! Well, you've just opened discussions on imperialism, food, language issues, generational wealth, clothing and questions about immigration and heritage. Plot bunnies galore. Are you stuck still? (BTW, this is accurate too).

[ofliterarynature]

SEPTEMBER 2024 WRAP UP

[loved liked ok nope dnf reread* (book club)]

Bryony & Roses • The Paragon Hotel • The Invisible Library • (The Magic Fish) • The Gathering • Paladin of Souls • Mislaid in Parts Half-Known • Red White & Royal Blue* • North Woods • The Empty Grave* • Barda • Lost in the Moment & Found • The Creeping Shadow* • The Spellshop • Lalani of the Distant Sea

* * * * *

Lockwood & Co - not much to say, but it was fun revisiting an old favorite! It's becoming clearer with age and rereads that there are things about this series that I don't like, but the things I like definitely outweigh them - the way it does ghosts and uses a casebook structure among them! Would highly recommend if you're looking for something a bit spooky and mysterious.

Lost in the Moment and Found - this book was very hard to get into, because as it warns you, the opening involves a child experiencing grooming and gaslighting from an adult, and it is tense. Oof. But that said, between this and Mislaid in Parts Half-Known, I think Antsy's story and the Shop Where the Lost Things Go might be my favorite place and narrative arc we've seen yet.

Barda - I was obsessed with Ngozi's Check Please! for a number of years, and I think she's a very funny person in general! I read this on the strength of that alone despite no previous knowledge of the DC characters involved. I do honestly think this needed to be twice as long to get the depth of story necessary for an outsider, but dang did she pack the emotions in! I can fully see why she's obsessed with these characters, even if I don't feel like I have enough info to get into it myself.

North Woods - honest to god I'm so glad I picked up a copy of this at the library book sale, because I don't know if OR when I might have gotten to it otherwise. I don't really have the words, but it's one of those slow, literary, speculative, books that you have to work to put together that I love to listen to on audiobook and just marinate in for a few days. I would highly recommend to fans of Emily St John Mandel.

Red White & Royal Blue - I'll be honest, I somehow found myself on a FirstPrince fanfic binge and eventually hit a point where I thought to myself, you know, I've only read the book once, maybe I should go check that out again. It was fun! Remarkably similar in tone to the fanfic, so keep up the good work yall ;D

Paladin of Souls - Y'all. I'm so mad it took me this long to get to this after Curse of Chalion. I've seen this recommended so many times independent of the first book and they were so right, I loved it. Character-driven fantasy, great world building, a middle-aged female character who's on a journey of self-discovery and also so done with everyone's shit (including the gods, lol).

The Gathering - a murder investigation in Alaska with vampires *sounds* cool, but... the vampires are people, they're sentient, they have a culture, but they're also deeply hated and treated like predatory animals and are designated a protected species? It's trying to say something, but I'm not sure it works. Definitely taught me that I don't like crime novels or thrillers, but some bonus points for being unexpectedly queer.

The Magic Fish - I've see this around, but tumblr finally convinced me that I needed to read it and I got it onto the book club list. It was completely not what I was expecting, it was so much better! The description really led me to think it would be a lot more YA-ish and be about the son, but his mom is just as important to the story! It's got fairy tales, it's got complexity, the art was incredibly beautiful, ah!!! I'll be needing to get my own copy so I can read it again and think about it some more.

The Invisible Library - tumblr apparently finds this book very divisive, and both times I've asked about it there's been a 50/50 split on whether people liked or hated it lol. SO I went in with very low expectations, and I thought it was fun! It's not a great work of fantasy, I will give you that, but I do enjoy a tropey alt/historical fantasy adventure on occasion, and this filled that niche pretty well. It also didn't lean into a romance plot like I was afraid it would, and as long as it continues to do so (or at least handles it well), I think I could have fun with the rest of this series.

The Paragon Hotel - this is somehow my third Lydsay Faye, and while I don't think I've particularly loved any of them, she can really write a very solid book! A good read, with queer identities playing an unexpectedly major part in the plot!

Bryony & Roses - I have so far epically failed in my goal this year to read more of T Kingfisher's fantasy backlist, but I saw this on hoopla and thought I could fit it in. A very good time as always!

DNF

The Spellshop (16%) - I've read the author's YA in the past and (mostly) liked it at the time, and have been meaning to read her previous adult book for ages. Unfortunately, I've been having terrible luck with anything recent being marketed as cozy fantasy. I put 2 hours into this on audiobook and my initial impression of the story was earnestly quirky, charming, and anxious. Perhaps better than L&L, but I wasn't feeling much more than a vague interest and decided to cut my losses before my feelings entirely soured.

Lalani of the Distant Sea (10%) - this book sounds really cool (yes I did love Moana), the mythology and worldbuilding in the bit I read was interesting, but it is very much written for a younger reader. If I had any in my life currently I would be happy to give this to them! Just not the right pick for me right now.

[digital-chance]

writeblr intro

hey i'm chance! i've done a writeblr intro recently but i didn't like it, so this is take 2. here's the old one.

─── about me -⋆⋅☆

name : chance

pronouns : they/he

likes : cyberpunk, romance, anime, kpop, music, history, design

age : 20

i tend to swear both on here and in my writing, so if you're sensitive to that, i don't think my blog or work is for you. i also use the word 'queer' a lot since i self-identify as such, when i do choose to self-identify.

i'm interested in so much, which would be impossible to fully state. there are so many new things out there and i love learning about them all!! this blog is mainly for writing but i'm not strict on that.

i also am pretty sure i'm neurodivergent (no diagnosis or anything yet) and tend to delve into hyper-fixations for weeks at a time. if i haven't posted for a while, it's probably because of one of my other hyper-fixations or school.

i'm going to college for my bachelor's in graphic design, which might make my responses during the school year delayed.

i'm always open to ask or tag games!! it might take me a few to respond but i'll respond.

─── writing -⋆⋅☆

you'll find a lot of diverse characters, the found/chosen family trope, romance or rom-com, angst, and references to actual history or historical events within my work. sometimes i throw in a little art fact since i'm an art student. in nearly every one of my works you can find a prominent lgbtq+ character, too.

i write for original works and fanfiction alike. i often alternate what project i'm writing on and tend to leave wips unfinished. there's no one specific fandom that i'm in since i tend to dabble in everything.

i enjoy reading all sorts of stories, but some of the tropes and genres that have a special place in my heart include:

[ genres : romance . action . sci-fi . dystopian . heists . cyberpunk . horror . comedy . mystery ] [ tropes : friends to lovers , enemies to lovers , fake/pretend relationship , college au , coffee shop au , domestic , fluff , angst ]

─── ��� looking for ⋆⋅☆

more writers to follow!

good vibes & friends

writing advice & critique buddies (will help critique ur work too)

─── works in progress -⋆⋅☆

nova futurum | original work | #wip: nova futurum

─── ⋆ status : brainstorming

a lgbtq+ mafia cyberpunk story with the working title "Nova Futurum." i've got the general information down and i'm currently working on fleshing out my main characters. for now it's in the very basic stages, but feel free to ask me about it or give any tips!

you still would've been mine | fanfiction | #wip: yswbm

─── ⋆ status : outlining, research, & writing draft 1

Steven "Steve" Rogers wakes up in the 21st century after crashing into the ice in 1942, leaving behind his life as the mascot of the USA along with his childhood in Brooklyn NYC. The Winter Soldier, a man left behind in the war recovers his memories as the man known as James "Bucky" Buchanan Barnes after meeting Steve in the modern time. Steve and Bucky recall their childhood and their experience in the war as they recover.

matchbreakers | original work | #wip: match

─── ⋆ status : brainstorming

xavier works at match breakers. instead of setting people up on blind dates, he goes to dates and breaks up the couple. all sorts of people hire him, disapproving parents, jealous ex's, and those scared to see their ex's angry side. what he doesn't expect is falling in love with one of his own clients.

scars of duty | original work | #wip: sod

─── ⋆ status : plotting

Lucian is a hero who protects the city of Haines and the other members of his hero's league. They're a small-name hero just trying to make do with what they've got. A villain new to the city shows up and shakes Lucian’s perception of their own superpowers and the world.

< tag lists: if you'd like to be added for any project, let me know. i'm not the greatest at remembering the tag list but i will try! >

─── ⋆ more of my socials & my design portfolio

[thatstheproblemwithnapkinman]

i want to preface this with a few things

dick grayson is my favourite character. i am not here to slander him or talk bad about those who like him

fanon is what got me into dc. i have grown since and now have a substantial comic collection (at least for the few months i've been collecting). i still enjoy fanon but i am a canon person

with all of that said...

a pointless rant about dick grayson in fanon

sources listed at the bottom

this discourse surrounding dc, the batfam in particular, has really been irking my lately. i don't know why, it just has. i see so much around these characters and the way fans interact with each other here on hellsite and on tiktok (i avoid twitter like middle-aged cis white british dads avoid talking about their feelings) and i just wanna scream about it

the erasure of dick grayson's character

dick grayson isn't a himbo

this is particularly common in fanfictions given that the barrier of entry is non-existent but the idea that dick is a silly, ditzy, idiot that can't cook is arguably the complete opposite of his character

i have a feeling this idea stems from the nature of dick as nightwing, the cracking jokes whilst fighting, the appearance of not taking things seriously (when he in fact does, just not as outwardly as the likes of batman). this in and of itself is ridiculous given that a similar character, peter parker aka spider-man, also crack jokes and honestly is very similar to dick in the way he is as a hero, and yet, for the most part, is still taken seriously and isn't diminished to the same level that dick is

which could come down to public knowledge of the character

let's be honest, the majority of the public could tell you who peter parker is, have probably seen at least one live action iteration of the character, if not all 3 iconic versions (maguire, garfield, holland) most (and please forgive me for using generations) millenials and gen z can define their teen years based on which spider-man was coming out. which they went to the cinema to see. all live-action appearances are:

the amazing spider-man ('77-'79) played by nicholas hammond

spider-man (also japanese spider-man) ('78-'79) played by Shinji Tōdō

spider-man (1, 2, 3)('02, '04, '07) played by tobey maguire

the amazing spider-man (1, 2)('12, '14) played by andrew garfield

spider-man (homecoming, far from home, no way home)('17, '19, '21) played by tom holland

given that dick has just as many live action appearances, stretching back to before spider-man had even debuted in the comics:

the batman serial ('43) played by douglas croft

the batman and robin serial ('49) played by jonny duncan

batman ('66-'68) played by burt ward

batman forever ('95) and Batman & Robin ('97) played by chris o'donnell

titans ('18-'23) played by brenton thwaites

EDIT: in my excitement i never included the first comic appearances of either character. dick debuted on the 6th march 1940 in detective comics #38, peter debuted on 5th june 1962 in amazing fantasy #15

(i am not talking about animated appearances as for both peter and dick they are much less known to the general public than live action)

i'd say i was surprised to see the same number of appearances, but by comparing when the show/movie came out, you can see a clear difference

every live action spider-man project listed has occurred within the past 50 years, with the movies being in relatively consistent from 2002 onwards. dick grayson is more sporadic, 2 appearances in the 40s, again in the 60s, again in the 90s, and finally in the late 10s. no wonder he's less well known when you have to go back to the 90s for a movie version and even then it isn't really dick grayson (in terms of characterisation)

most people can tell you there's batman and robin, and maybe just maybe they can tell you robin is dick grayson, but that's about it. mention nightwing and they blank. and don't even try to tell someone that there's been more that one robin, it won't end well

i can hear people yelling "but dick is a sidekick and peter isn't"

yes, that is true, but dick hasn't been a sidekick since the early 80s, after he'd been around for over 4 decades. that's a pretty old sidekick. but yes, this does hold some merit but given that dick is a lot older it's interesting. and with the most recent live action appearance being titans, a show that spends the first 2 seasons exploring dick's journey from sidekick to standalone hero, it does pose some questions

that was a long tangent to basically say that an equivalent character in personality isn't erased so much in fanfiction because they have more recent and bigger exposure (probably)

also, random, but in my research i came across this list of best teen heroes and look

fig 1. image showing spider-man and dick grayson in positions 1 and 2 relatively in a fan voted list of best teen heroes, spider-man having 3446 votes and dick grayson having 3191 votes

anyway, back to the rant

a wayne family adventures (WFA) tangent

i see people blaming WFA for this but i really don't think that is the case. he may not be the same as his comic counterpart but he is not out of character. everything he does is still very much him. examples include:

comforting duke after ana broke up with him (ep. 10)

helping damian make a friend (ep. 24)

being torn between his brothers (ep. 27-28)

teasing bruce after zatanna made him superman (ep. 54)

teasing helena into swapping weapons (ep. 63) i just like this one

organising everyone back to the manor when he realised alfred was left on his own during thanksgiving (ep. 68)

picking the rainbow suit for bruce (ep. 77)

talking to a little girl who just lost her parents (ep. 80-81)

annoying wally (ep. 84) birdflash time

helping duke with the kidnapping threat (ep. 99) also like this one

competing with jason over lian and roy (ep. 108)

making tim do all the work in his apartment (ep. 111) + haley

comforting and helping damian when he doubts himself (ep. 113) arguably my favourite episode

ok that was most of them BUT seriously WFA is not the problem here

there's no "fix" for this, i just wanted to tell people to stop blaming WFA for everything wrong with new comic fans; you can enjoy WFA and enjoy the comics, the aren't mutually exclusive

WFA doesn't erase him, they just choose what to show in the limited time you get with him. the only thing i remember being "wrong" is that dick can't cook (ep. 17 - top chef)

and yeah, WFA does play into the golden retriever vibes fanon dick has... in one episode, specifically the haley episode (ep. 111) see below. if it takes 111 episodes to fall on a fanon trope, i think that is fine. if you want to include ep. 17, that's 2 episodes out of 116! that's pretty good going. even the comics have more ooc moments (see the current nightwing run)

fig. 2 screenshot from wayne family adventures showing dick grayson smiling and saying "thank you" whilst a tail wags in the background

fanfiction

unsurprisingly, fanfiction is probably to blame but don't think i'm blaming authors (i kinda am but stick with me here)

i don't think writing a comic canon charatcer should be required, but i do think writers should disclose when they haven't read the comics. from experience, i get not annoyed, but have a "ugh" moment when i read a fic and the character is ooc, but if the author has stated in the notes that they haven't read a comic and the character is probably ooc, i am still going to read the fic

ooc or not, if a fic has a decent plot, at least 6th grade (UK year 7) level writing, and not "want to punch them in the face" characters, i'll enjoy it. throw in a popular trope and it'll be a favourite

and if you tell people "hey, this is probably ooc from the comic canon" they can't get mad or blame authors... just saying

i mean the whole reason this is "the problem" is that people get mad over ooc in fan works. like i'm sorry, have you read gotham war?!?!? the current nightwing run?!?!? lots of ooc in the comics themselves

tl;dr

fanfiction is the root of all evil

no, but seriously, dick's, mis-characterisation is a product of his prevalence in media, the material people have, and a lack of disclaiming ooc in fanfics. the last point could be a solution, but honestly expecting fanfic authors to do that is ridiculous

this rant was for nothing, hope you enjoyed wasting your time

i did tell you it was pointless

(i should've called this section a conclusion bc the word count is 1559 and that is insane. it's literally longer than the essay i have due in next week that i'm only half way through)

(also, this was supposed to be the first part of a longer post about how dick is over-sexualised but at that word count i'm splitting it up)

sources

list of live action dick grayson

list of live action spider-man actors

used for dates of spider-man films in the correct order

wayne family adventures

[gorey]

@anicemyth you're about to make us soooo autistic about this you don't even know bless you

so group theory: this is a very rudimentary explanation but in mathematics a group describes all the ways a structure can be symmetric aka every operation or transformation that can be done on a structure while still it remains unchanged. for example a symmetry of an equilateral triangle would be mirror flipping it on its axis or rotating it 120 or 240 degrees. the untransformed state of the structure (e.g. rotating said triangle by 0 or 360 degrees) is also counted as one of the total symmetries within the group. There's a lot of detail in the defining of this regarding the arithmetical and algebraic behavior of groups that the resources I'm going to add at the end will surely do a better job of than I could.

A group of these symmetries can be broken up into "building blocks" similarly to how an integer can be broken down into its prime factors. These building blocks of groups are known as simple groups. putting aside the fact that there are infinite simple groups bc let's not even go there - the monster group is one of the finite simple groups.

through an incredible mathematical undertaking it has been proven that we have discovered all the possible finite simple groups that can exist. they fall into categories based on their properties and this categorization is depicted in something that looks a lot like a periodic table of elements:

in the colored columns are the 18 assorted categories of group - cyclic, alternating, etc, but at the bottom the 2 rows in light green show the sporadic groups which are 26 groups that do not fall in any of the above categories. at the bottom right is the monster group.

the reason why this is crazy - the numbers listed at the bottom of each box there are the total number of symmetries contained within the group. for an equilateral triangle like I mentioned above you get 6 symmetries including both rotational and reflectional symmetries and including the baseline state of the triangle without any transformation having been done on it.

The monster group? Contains about. 8 x 10^53 symmetries. That is

808,017,424,794,512,875,886,459,904,961,710,757,005,754,368,000,000,000

symmetries. what the fuck. both massive and specific. if that triangle with 6 symmetries is 2 dimensional - with this many symmetries how big must this monstrous object be?

196,883 dimensions.

in addition to that the monster group actually contains (including itself) 20 of those 26 sporadic groups. (Fun fact those groups contained within the monster have been dubbed the Happy Family with the 6 outliers being named the Pariahs lmao). it's notable also bc it is very difficult to represent it concisely compared to other finite simple groups including the rest of the sporadics.

so it's just this.... thing. that is out there. we know what it is, we know its incredibly specific parameters, but of course we don't know WHY it's there or WHY those are the numbers you arrive at (if thats even a reasonable question to ask), it looks very arbitrary but it is ultimately a fundamental mathematical entity regardless of how inelegant it may seem, the universe is an interesting place

this weird abstract yet very specific structure has connections to other fields of mathematics - it has a connection to modular functions as described by the monstrous moonshine conjecture. yes it's actually called that and it is waaay above my paygrade but this somehow connects to a 24-dimensional variant of string theory (note I absolutely hate string theory for unrelated reasons but the mathematics of it is very interesting) in some way.

in short there exists an incredibly high dimensional object with an obscene number of symmetries that can can be used in tandem with something from a seemingly totally unrelated area of mathematics (the modular j-function) to describe a physics theory. ?????????? they called it moonshine bc they thought it was an absolutely batshit thing to even consider but apparently it works

that is my best attempt at explaining this so here are some resources I really recommend:

additionally I'd like to just plug John Conway as a whole here he's in the first video linked talking about his work regarding the monster group and the moonshine conjecture. you can find him on the channel speaking on other topics including the game of life which is an unrelated but very interesting cellular automaton that is available free online to be played with. his group theory work is what stands out to me though, he sadly passed of covid a few years back at an old age but he is one of my favorite mathematicians of all time not only because of his work but also because he just seems like a chill fucking guy

my fanciful conclusion is like. this Thing evokes in my mind images of angels or eldritch horrors or what have you. vast and incomprehensible it dwells in a space so complex it defies any human understanding beyond the mathematics used to describe it. it is beautiful and unthinkable and perhaps i want to kiss it. the end

(If anyone with a better mathematical background than us which is not at all a high bar to set wishes to add to this please do!)

[bardkin]

being a ridden dragon & not yet knowing what that entails

inspired by @who-is-page's post here! i decided fuck it !! i wanna write (more) about the draconic aspects of myself, timidness be damned.

as a quick preface, i am a psychological 'kin! i hold loose beliefs in multiverse & a form of reincarnation, but i don't know for sure if / don't think those things apply to me specifically.

o()xxx[{:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::>

i've known i'm a dragon for a while, now. i go somewhat in-depth about it here in this entry about adopting/trying out the term folcintera for myself, but i didn't really touch on one of the newer revelations i had about it:

i'm the dragon in a rider-dragon pair.

as for how i know this, it just feels Correct. (far as i'm aware,) i don't have any past or concurrent life memories, or know who/what my rider is or was. this is a noema that i cannot explain further, as of yet. I Just Know this aspect is fact.

i mentioned [in my linked entry] that my first up close exposure to dragons was the Eragon series, which is what cemented my idea of what "dragon" was to me. ever since that series, i've been aggressively hyperfixated on dragon-rider stories; the kind of hyperfixation that waxes and wanes, but when it hits, it Hits like a Truck.

i don't think i'm from any one specific source, such as How to Train Your Dragon, Dragonriders of Pern, or Eragon. none of those really feel like places i've lived or belonged in. my specific brand of dragonity is wildly different from any dragons you'd see in the listed settings/stories, so i am not any dragon you'll see in those stories — but i also am.

moreso, i feel a connection to the dynamic between rider and dragon; the trappings don't truly matter, in the end. i am the archetypal dragon-with-a-rider, and see myself in almost any dragon-rider setting. i am a Ridden Dragon, and that will mean something different to everyone who interacts with dragon-rider lore — including myself. i am both folcinteric and an archetrope, in this regard.

before i awakened, and thought about dragon-rider stories, i thought i was simply wanting to live in a world where i could share a bond like that & go on adventures... and while that's still true, since i'm an escapist storyteller, there's a key difference between then and now.

i thought i had to relate to and imagine myself as the rider — and that never felt completely right.

now that i'm aware of and better exploring my draconic side, this aspect has come to light. and i have No idea what it could mean for me.

as stated, i don't know who my rider was/is or could be. i don't know what our dynamic was like, if our bond is of magical origin or through mutual trust. though, that might have something to do with me being archetypal, here. my rider could be anyone; our bond origin could be of any type, so long as it serves the purpose of the archetype.

dragon riding means different things to different people. sometimes it's about taming a wild beast, akin to horseback riding. other times it's a magical bond. and other times still, it's about trust and friendship.

i still don't know what my personal mythos is, or if i have one at all. maybe it is just that dynamic, nebulous and without a tether. or maybe it's just not uncovered quite yet.

i don't know how common being a ridden dragon is, be it in fictherian/fictionkin dragon spaces, or more general dragonkind spaces, because i haven't seen it talked about much. possibly because i'm just not looking in the right places, but, *shrug*!

i have no idea if this post will inspire any other dragons with riders (or maybe even dragon riders!) to write about their experiences. but, never know unless i post, so ;]

thanks for reading!

[popculturebuffet]

Averyfest Special: Top 12 Uncle Phil Moments (Comission by WeirdKev27)

Hello all you happy pillow mounds of mashed pot-a-toes. Today kicks off Averyfest. For those like me who didn't know about this treasured event, Averyfest is a now yearly event held in Sufolk, Virginia, home of the one the only James Avery, a celebration of black culture in honor of this fine actor.

And since both Kev who comissioned this and myself happen to be big fans of avery, we decided to honor him with a little celebration of our own. THE TOP 12 UNCLE PHIL MOMENTS. While Avery had a long storied career in tv we can come back to next year, including being the first animated shredder, guesting on night court, being to my suprise the first actor to play Jim Rhodes overall in the 90's iron man cartoon, leading his own sitcom Sparks and more we'll probably find as we dig. The man is talented as hell and IS more than uncle phil.. but it's also hard to define his legacy without his best roll.

Over 6 seasons Avery gave us one of if not the best sitcom dad ever: Uncle Phil worked in a lot of contexts and played off everyone in the cast uniquely: he was respectful yet stubborn with his wife vivian, often livid at Will's antics but more than there to support his adopted son in all but paper when he needs it most, alternating between having a close bond with carlotn and being another straight man to the increasingly cartoony dweeb, grappling with ashely growing up and serving as easily hillary's best foil, exasperated at his daughters vapidity. Ther'es also of course Geoffry, his butler who hasn't met a joke he won't make about his boss and is too good at his job and too loyal, and has frankly put up with too much crap at times, for Phil to complain. Over the series Avery got to show his strong dramatic chops with the more grounded moments of character and his immense comedic chops. Avery was a wonderful man, a wonderful talent and he's dearly missed and this is entirely in his honor, showing off every inch of his performance with my 12 faviorite momnets from the show.

12) And I"m Telling You (The Script Formerly Known As.. 6-5)

This is an episode I honestly barely remember, i've watched the series casually on and off. But this is a moment i've rewatched a few times on it's own.

Now i'ts so low on this list because the moment's more Will Smiths, an actor I respect as a performer, who fucked up royally at the oscars (As did Chris Rock), an incident I was going to get into but frankly.. this isn't about Will Smith. I'll still give him credit where he's do, but this isnt the place to unpack that whole incident, plenty of people have, and I'm only adressing it because it's hard not to.

Anyways this was more Will's moment, giving a hilaroiusly over the top lipsinc to phil after Will Smith Shenanigan #129. But while Smith's capering would be fucking brilliant on it's own what sells it and lands it here is Avery's facial acting. Giving the most baffled and bug eyed performance, Uncle Phil is left somewhere between confused and pissed off before ultimately giving up and it's glorious. This moment would be good anyway but it's doubly good thanks to his reactoin to the madness before him.

11) Soullllll Train (Soul Train, 5-8)

The Soul Train ep is a fun one for Uncle Phil.. and for all involved as the banks as a whole get invited on SOULLLL TRAINNN after Phil had a great showing years ago. Phil's self concious, but goes anyway and gets a great moment dancing with his wife and showing age dosen't matter, how you feel is. We also get him dancing with a guy for funk practice, something that will never not be hilarous.

10) Hell Toupee (Geoffery Cleans Up, 2-16) I honestly forgot this was in the same episode as Geoffery Dates a Rich Lady, a plot that's nice if forgetable. This on the other hand is pure comic gold. I don't know who in the writers room shouted "let's just put james avery in a goofy toupe and riff on that" but bless them. Trying to make his dad look younger, Carlton puts him in this monstrosity while Phil is fully against the whole idea, feeling self concious. I do like how Phil's Self Conciousness is a big part of his character, that he dreads not being seen as the upstanding rich lawyer he's become. Sometims it holds him back like the Soul Train ep above or an episode coming up on the list. Other times like this.. you get it. He's fine being bald, looks honestly damn good with a bald head and beard, and dosen't really need it, Carlton just got in his head. Will's scream at seeing his second hairpiece is also worth it.

9) Pillowy Mounds of Mashed Potatoes (4-10)

Look this meme had to get here. This wasn't an episdoe I watched a lot as I didn't want to watch Avery have a heart attack, Doubly so since Avery died of problems during heart surgery. But i'll be dammend if his weird worshipful description of how much he loves potatoes dosen't get in here. He's on a diet, he misses mashed potatoes, you don't need much.

8) Judge Phillip Banks (Season 3 Arc)

This one is lower because it's not really ONE moment but the only arc I can see Phil got to himself all series and it's a great one. After finding out his mentor Judge Robertson is both an asshole and refusing to leave despite being not fit for the job, Phillipi runs. And thus shenanigans insues as he doeas with constant set backs, robertson shooting low and anything will does, or in one case Jazz using Will's car, not helping. Ironically it is Will who wins it.. by calling Robertson, a truly hilarious villian and great guest sport, out then accidently killing the man. It's a solid arc that moves Phill forward in his career while looping in everyone else for at least one bit.

7) Beauty (The Big Four-Oh, 2-7)

This is a moment i'd forgot about. The Big Four Oh is rightly remembered as Janet Hubert's best run as Aunt Viv, dancin gup a storm as she persues an old dream to see if she still has it, insecure at turning 40. Something I can relate to as turning 30 was stressful enough. 40.. 40 scares me.

But this small moment is so wonderful it made it here: Phil telling his wife just how he feels, how he gets lost in her eyes like a thousand thoughts turned to dust, her beautiful skin and just how much he admires her. It's powerful acting from avery and a reminder that while the two argue like any couple, there's real true love there. And always would be.

6) Break Out Lucille( Bank's Shot, 1-22)

One of the best moments of the whole show and another one of those little moments that reminds you while Phil is a stuff shirt now he wasn't always and is eternally not to be fucked with. I honestly don't remember most of this episode: will did a gambling, lost a lot of money, so Phil has to bail him out. Phil does so however by showing that while Will got hustled, Phil was a hustler, making his money on pool, suckering the man who suckered will into ab ad bet.. then having Geoffery break out lucille. This alone is a nice detail I didn't really examine before writing this; normally Phil tries to keep his past at arm's length, our next entry gets into that more. He's not ashamed of the lengths he had to go to get where he is, but dosen't like to dwell on it. Yet when it comes to Pool.. he clearly still enjoys it. It's something that still has a touch of class to it and he can enjoy, something that's both his past having to hustle to pay for school and something he still keeps up. So while this is to tecah will and some assholes a lesson, Phil is clearly just letting his lack of hair down and enjoying himself with this one.

5) Zeke (Not Without My Pig You Don't, 1-4)

Not Without My Pig You Don't is one of my faviorite episodes of the show and one of the most important. As I mentioned, Phil likes to keep his past at arms length. It walks that line in that while he's not ashamed of having worked hard, done everything he can or protested, he's left most of that behind and adapted to the largely white subrban world he's in now.

The series dosen't let him get away from it for long as only 4 episodes in we meet Phil's parents and his past: Turns out Phil was a farm boy, first black president of his 4h club, desgreated a local bathroom (albeit because he had to pee real bad), and had a pig. It's all pretty charming stuff: while I grew up in suburbia my dad grew up on a farm with my grandma I visited frequently and while not having pigs, just cows, it was charming to meet Will's grandma a kindly, lively woman.

What makes this a moment for Phil is how he grapples with it. He's mildly embarassed at his past when Hattie brings it up to his kids.. but he's absolutely furious when will, in a truly kind moment finding out a newpaper inteview Phillip did is going to be cut as the reporter finds it boring, tells the stories. What makes this so good is that Will isn't pulling some prank or trying to get under Phil's skin: he saw the story was going to be cut and while he laughed at Phil's antics as "Zeke", he's clearly proud of what the man acomplished even back then. It's already clear that while Will will razz phil constantly, he loves his uncle even this early.

Phil however dosen't want to be known as a "hog handling hick from yamacraw" so blinded by who he is NOW that he hates who he was despite again being from the farm being nothing to be ashamed of. He had two loving parents who worked hard to support them.. and Hattie hearing this is furious and calls him out. This being a sitcom Phil does manage to patch things up with a warm speech, but it feels more earned here, wtih Phil accepting his past and himself and how hard his parents worked to get him where he is today. Just because being a farm boy dosen't fit iwth who he is now dosen't mean it didn't get him there.

4) Goodbye (I, Done 6-24)

I, Done is a solid series finale, giving all the banks their happy endings: Geoffery to London to connect with his son, Ashely and Hiliary to New York for school and her show, Carlton to Princeton and the rest of the Banks somewhere east. That leaves will in Calfironia, still in school and wondering if he'd gained anything at all and hidning the fact he didn't have some grand plan. When confronted he feels like a looser.. and instead.. Phil sets him straight

You have no idea what my first memory of you is. I remember... a kid loaded with all the potential in the world. Now I see a person on the verge of realizing that potential.

While Phil always had issues with Will it';s clear from the pilot, which we'll get to he loved the boy as his own and confirms it at the end, saying Will's his son end of story. It's a powerful goodbye..a nd yet not one as he gets will to promise to call him every sunday. While we never saw it... I never doubt the two met again. And still call every sunday.

3) I Heard the Brother Speak (The Fresh Prince Project, 1-1)

This to me is Phillip Banks defining moment. It's an important one as we're only on the first episdoe and Phil spends most of it being what you'd expect from the series premise: a stuff shirt who Phill seemingly needs to get to loosened up. And that isn't untrue: there are time Will gets Phil out of his own bubble and to accept the wider black experince. But what makes the show works so well is that it's nuanced: it was a goal from the start to show there's not one kind of blackness. And that just becaue Phil is a rich man now dosen't mean he forgot his roots.

He keeps a bulk at arms length.. but there are parts that won't leave him. When Phil tries to counter part of his rebellion is simply Phillip being so bougise, claming he's forgot himself, he's not entirely wrong, as the previous episode shows just two episodes after this, but he's not right either: Phil makes it clear will DOES NOT know the full measure of him and that while rich, Phil was old enough to have been on the front lines, at the marches, encountering racists, probably getting hosed, and to have "heard the brother speak". While there's no doubt Will encountered racisim and the series never darts around that, we'll get to THE episode tackling that soon enough, it's still enough of a gap to give will pause and feels like the moment Will stops seeing phil as just this adult to rail against, but his eventual new dad. It's also a good moral for a sitcom, one not done enough: that sometimes you can' tjudge a person just by what little you know but by their ful character and past. That there's always layers beneath. And this was the first time we saw Uncle Phils.

2) BULL! (Papa's Got a Brand New Excuse 4-24)

I already put this episode at the top of my top 12 fresh prince episodes, so this isn't remotely suprising. Will's dad returned, claimed to take him on a trip then prepared to flee again. Phil spent the whole episode PISSED Lou was back. Vivian wasn't happy either, but both tried to give Will their blessing and space. But when Lou planed to abandon will AND have Phil tell him, Phil fucking explodes. he has before, lots of angry rants at Phil and Carlton most of which they deserved. But this is Phil at his most pissed off with only our #1 coming close: he tears the man apart, refusing to let Lou leave when he tries to brush him off, making the man sit and shouting BULL when Lou tries to say he'll still take the trip and tearing into him. It's one of the best reason you suck speechs i've ever witnessed tearing Down how Lou thinks he can just duck in and out of his sons life, what he's done and how yes Lou was scared, young and it's understandable.. but so was Uncle Phil who as seen by flashbacks got his fortune young but also still struggled at first, and who didn't remotely run from his responsiblities. He then forces Lou to break things to will himself before hugging the poor boy in one of the best moments of film history after WIll's epic speech and very real tears.

1) Your Grandchildren Will Need Lawyers (Mistaken Identity 1-6) This speech above is easily my faviorite fresh prince moment and one that's only gotten better with age as sadly shit like this still happens. Mistaken Identity shows the series tackle race up front and early, with Carlton and Will getting pulled over by a racist cop and accused of car theft. The two get great stuff as Carlton tries to play it normally for him while Will gets this is being caught driving while black and is used to it but still scared. The two get thrown in jail, have to fake a confession to get out, as Uncle Phil is busy at the party they were headed to in Phil's boss' car.

Vivan and Phil's response to this bullshit.. is great. Vivian is 5 seconds from beating the piss out of every last racist cop in the prisinct. Phil tries to keep it calm.. but when the racist cop at the front desk both refuses to talk to him and then is disrepsctful to vivian Phil explodes "WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE TALKING TO?" it's a perfect rage, and one clearly built from having to deal with this shit FAR too often and the realization that no, his kids aren't safe and never have been. No matter how rich he'es gotten, no matter how far he's come, they'll never see him as nothing but another black man to sneer at and throw away and he'll be fucking DAMMNED if they mistreat his sons.

Granted there is some white backup from Firth, the partner whose car it was, but it's realistic: this fucker was not taking Phil seroiusly and was bein ga royal unhelpful ass. While Phil defintely would've ripped this man to shred it's all to ssatisfying to see this fucking tool have the color drain out as he realizes how BADLY he fucked up and that he happend to pull over two innocent black men this time who happened to have backup. One dope as hell speech pointing out EVERY fucking thing Phil can sue him for later the kids are freed.

The ending is also part of this: Will rails a bit, understandably pissed if used to it... but more pissed Carlton won't accept reality: Carlton claims the system worked, that htey got out... but it's very clear had they not had a rich powerful father figure and even more if said father figure didn't have someone to coberate his story, they may of been stuck there for a crime they didn't commit. The cop didnt pull them over because carlton made a mistake: he was pulled over because a cop saw him in a fancy car and assumed it'd be an easy arrest. And it's phil's reactoin that's heartbreaking: not only is he pissed this still happens.. but he simply.. can't agree with carlton. He tells carlton he asked the same thing the first time he was stopped leaving his son stunned as he goes to bed, clearly sad that history repeats and might again.. and as present day shows it just.. keeps happening. Thanks for reading and rest in power james avery

[turquoizxe]

𝐃𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐃𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬

Welcome to all! If you are new, I go by turquoizxe, an online content creator, writer, and artist. Welcome to my Tumblr Blog, where I am a poc multifandom writer, aiming to be a safe space for all readers alike! If you'd like to learn more about me or my work, my intro/masterlist is pinned on my blog. I also plan to involve my writing more into my other content!

I would like to describe this month-long shenanigan known as my December Delights. I often wrote fanfiction as a hobby, especially in high school. I personally owe my humble beginnings to Wattpad before they went to shit. I transitioned to Tumblr in 2023 after my prolonged hiatus due to growing up and losing the motivation to write after one of the works I was working on for years was taken down after reaching +100,000 reads. Both of my accounts are Wattpad are now archived, yet viewable lol. I only have one official work that remains to this day, which I created in 2017 if you'd like to glimpse where I started el oh el.

All that just to say, my passion for the arts and writing exceeds this lifetime. And I'm glad that even after my hiatus since August of 2023, so many of you hung on and were excited to see what I still had to bring. As we enter a new year, I have made many plans to take my content creation more seriously, starting here. I will be creating an AO3 account, while it will be prioritized for my longer series that exceed +20,000 words, I will also begin posting some other content there as well, mainly from my webtoon that I am producing, and will be constantly updating my blog to make my other works accessible as well.

I want you all to know that I appreciate your support beyond words can describe, and I can't wait to continue my writing journey which such an awesome fanbase <3

Alright, moving onto the actual festivities...

Welcome to "December Delights"! A full month where I release the completed drafts from my hiatus will be released to my wonderful audience

Due to my mental health, as well as the college life kicking my ass, I took an unprompted hiatus in August of 2023 until I posted my Sevika fic this November of 2024.

December Delights is to clear out my drafts and finish the series I intended to finish months ago. I'm glad you all were so patient, and I can't wait for you all to read my final installations of 2024 before we proceed into a new chapter of life :))

Down below, you will find the tentative schedule for the release dates of each of the works pending for their release. This also includes when my Request Box opens for the entirety of December for FAQ, Q&A, and Requests. Here are some rules below:

Please tag what you are requesting in the Request Box: Fanfic Requests are tagged as #FicPrompts, less than 100 words please. Questions reserved for Q&A are tagged as such (#Q&A), and the same goes for FAQ (#FAQ)

Please keep in mind that I have the right to decline prompts, look into my rules if you don't know what I do/don't write.

If you request a prompt that includes a fandom that is not on my list, keep in mind that chances of me writing said prompt are slim, it's okay to also message and ask me beforehand if I know a fandom that's not on my list.

If you'd like to be added to the tag list for this series, please comment so I can take note and respond to those who request it! (ex. #DDTaglist)

That's all folks! Marvel at the list below!

December Delights | Tentative Schedule

Early Release (November 25th 12AM, 4 Page Letter (2/2) - Fontaine)

First Release (December 2nd 12AM, Just For You (4/5) - Hobie Brown)

New Year Q&A, FAQ, Request Box Opens (December 2, 12AM)

Second Release (December 9th 12AM, Just For You (5/5) - Hobie Brown

Third Release (December 16th 12AM, Addictive - Fontaine)

Fourth Release (December 23rd 12AM, Wasted Eyes - Mizu)

Final Release (December 31st 12AM, Take Your Time - Kento Nanami)

New Year Q&A, FAQ, Request Box Closes (January 1st, 12PM)

New Year Q&A, FAQ Release (January 10, 12AM)

...Request Box Schedule coming soon

― turquoizxe

[gemsofgreece]

hi! is there any attraction/place in Athens that you would highly recommend visiting? Maybe, hidden gems, or underrated places that are awesome? :') i apologize if this is a popular question that you get haha

Hello @dandelionesa ! You would be surprised at how little I know about Athens. I have been few times in my life there, despite being a native Greek living in the country all my life. I mean, I have lived there for a month once but I didn't explore at all beyond the neighborhood. So, I can tell you all the significant places not to miss but I lack the personal insight in little known gems.

Another thing about the blog is that if you visit from the browser, I have an option called "The Regions" which is essentially a travel guide about all main locations in Greece. It is not complete yet but the Athens one is. You can find it in: The Regions > Sterea Hellas > Attica for feature references. But, here, I am gonna screenshot the sightseeing recs mentioned there.

These are about Attica, the region that encompasses Athens. Most attractions are naturally inside Athens but there are some important ones like the Vouliagmeni Lake and the Temple of Poseidon that include driving / travelling outside the city.

The list is concise so I don't explain what each of these places is but they are worth visiting if you have the time. Of course, to do a proper journey of Athens, where Athens is going to be your focus, that takes time. It is a large place. Most people stay in Athens for two days before going to the main part of their vacation, usually some islands. You can't say you did Athens in two days though. Whoever says that to you, don't believe them. You can do Acropolis and like two-three museums at most in this time.

Apart from the ones above I also found some recs from other websites about hidden gems:

Philopappos Hill (that's not a hidden gem, I just forgot it in my own list lol)

Hellenic Motor Museum

Pnyx

Museum of the Basil & Elise Goulandris Foundation

Museum of Greek Folk Musical Instruments

Ilias Lalaounis Jewellery Museum

Benakis Museum of Islamic Art (NOTE: this is a different museum than the main Benakis one which I mention in the list above, if you can do both great, but if you can only do one, then the main must absolutely not be missed)

First Cemetery of Athens (yep, it's a valid rec)

National Observatory of Athens

Watch open air cinema in Thiseion. Or in the rooftop of Cine Paris.

The Greek National Opera (Ethnikí Lyrikí Skiní)

The Nautical Museum on the cruiser Averof

The Benakis (another Benakis) Toy Museum

I don't know what's wrong with me and I forgot to mention above:

Kapnikarea Church

The Metropolitan Cathedral of Athens

The UNESCO Monastery of Daphne

The New National Library (Stavros Niarchos Foundation). The one I mention in the first list is the Old National Library. Both are worth a visit for different reasons.

Go to Glyfada and along the Vouliagmeni coast for swimming (Vouliagmeni is a lake right next to the sea beach)

The Orthodox Church of Saint Dionysius of Areopagus

The Catholic Church of Saint Dionysius of Areopagus!

I was sleeping on the fact that there were two churches of those!

As you see I also added some recs for experiences i.e cinemas, theatres and so on. These are if you take your time in Athens, explore or stay for a while. Note that some might be less available in the summer, for example in summer the National Opera operates in open air performances like in the ancient Odeon of Herodes Atticus. If you stay and explore, check for concerts in theatres and stadiums. Concerts in Greece are real nice and vibey.

In retrospect, thanks for sending this ask because I realised I have a shitload of editing to do in my original list.

EDIT!!! The Byzantine and Christian Museum of Athens!!!! Srsly what's wrong with me lol

EDIT 2!!! Kotsaná Museum of Ancient Greek Technology!!! :@@@

[scarlet--wiccan]

Do you have any thoughts on Wanda and Hank (McCoy’s) relationship? They seem like decent friends when they’re on the avengers together (and they both kinda dated wonder man), but idk where they stand (and have stood) post m-day.

Things are obviously even more complicated with beast being a fully blown supervillain now, but they also all-but-declared evil x-force villain Hank a different character than avengers Hank. I know it was a throw away gag, but I so wonder about that email from him to her in strange academy. What were his intentions there?

I'm going to be completely honest, Hank is one of those characters I just don't think about very often. I'd have to re-read a lot, and I mean a lot, of comics to make any kind informed statement about his relationship to Wanda prior to M-Day, so I'm not gonna do that.

I will say, though, that out of all the original X-Men, he definitely has the closest relationship to Wanda by virtue of proximity. He's certainly known her longer than most people, and we can definitely infer that they had a friendship just based on how well Wanda usually gets along with her teammates, and of course, their mutual affection for Simon. In fact, I'd say they have the potential to be great friends-- they're both people who are very good at overlooking differences, and at one point time, they were both written as very outgoing, charming individuals. She probably responds really well to his overly-genteel manner-- when Hank addressed her as "Dearest Wanda" in that email, I was like, "oh, of course this is how they talk to each other."

After the Decimation, Hank threw himself into researching the cause and trying to develop a cure. This was a big turning point in his life, as he ended up working with Dark Beast and crossing a lot of moral boundaries. His search actually led him to finding Wanda when she was living as an amnesiac in Transia, although it's not clear whether that was actually her or the Doombot. Although he certainly holds Wanda accountable for M-Day, he didn't betray her location to the X-Men, and later, during Children's Crusade, he was actually sympathetic to Wanda's circumstances and wanted to help her use the Life Force to undo the Decimation. Compared to most of the other Avengers and X-Men, I'd say he was one of her very few allies, and he's on the short list of mutants that I would expect to advocate for her, if only because he believed she'd be part of the solution, not just the problem.

Avengers: Children's Crusade #15

The thing with Hank's psychic backups is really weird, but it gestures at some of the more philosophical questions that Krakoan resurrection poses-- or at least, the questions it would pose if the writers would actually commit. If the "self" is a replicable, modifiable computer file, then the idea personhood begins to lose coherence. One of the things I find frustrating about the Krakoan era is that they don't often follow through on the bigger implications of their world-building, and this is one of those subjects where they'd clearly rather divert into cape-comic genre beats then get into the speculative philosophy. It's probably for the best.

Anyways, Beast. In Wolverine #31, we learn that Hank has built his own little clone lab and taken charge of his own resurrections. To that end, he basically stole his backup files from the Cerebro system, but, weirdly enough, he left the records of his time with the Avengers untouched. It's not clear whether or not the backups Hank is using to clone himself include that period, but we do know that if the Five wanted to resurrect him at this point, they'd be bringing back a version from before Krakoa-- which is to say, a version which hasn't yet taken the same moral downfall. If I had to guess, I'd say this is the loophole that they'll use to bring the character back without having to worry about "redeeming" him or reconciling his actions. This is a staple move for supherhero comics-- come up with an excuse to for the character to say "that wasn't really me"-- but I don't think we've seen it played straight with Krakoan resurrection yet.

Oh, and as for the e-mail-- I wrote a bit about it here, but I genuinely think he was just trying to test out whether the gates would recognize her. It came across as very sinister at the time, since this was before Trial and Wanda was still basically an enemy of the state, so inviting her to the island definitely felt like a trap. At the time, I said that this page was probably non-canon, but then the exchange between Wanda and Magneto ended up being a lot more prescient than I could have anticipated, so I guess we should take it seriously.

[birder-of-remnant]

Here is my list of the top 12 obscure RWBY villains (part 1 of 2). While RWBY is an expansive series complete with complex characters and numerous mainline villains, there are also a surprising number of rabbit holes and side series that introduce a range of lesser-known Ne'er-Do-Wells! This is just my take on some of the more interesting scumbags in the RWBY universe outside of the main narrative, starting with some of my least favorites and working my way up. How I rank them is pretty arbitrary to be honest. Spoilers Ahoy! Naturally, this list also contains several spoilers for the various RWBY comics, manga, games, and splinter video series. Continue at your own peril!

12. Starro - Lowest on my list is Starro… the evil starfish… from outer space. Seriously, this is a RWBY villain, no joke. Anyone out there who is a fan of the DC universe may recognize this character as one of the original villains for the Justice League. For those who are not (like me), this came as a bit of a… surprise. Starro serves as the primary villain in the first RWBY x Justice League comic book where he starts the first several years of his time on Remnant hypnotizing fish. Eventually, he gets bored of exerting his domain over fish and other sea life, and decides to conquer the world by building an army of starfish-fanatical minions, including Phyrra and the other members of JNPR, who must all bear his starfish emblem to strike the fear of starfish into their foes. In the end, the Justice League manages to overthrow this oversized echinoderm (with a little help from Team RWBY). Honestly, I don't know whether to laugh or cry looking at Starro. I will give them credit for… uniqueness. I do not think that there will ever be another starfish supervillain. Still, as cringy as Starro is, it is still far less cringy than seeing Ruby flirting with superman IN THE FIRST 5 PAGES OF THE BOOK (shiver). But that is just my personal feeling, no worries if there is anyone out there who likes Red Cap or Starro, I promise that I do not cast judgement.

11. Vermillion - Honestly, I cannot say much about Vermillion at this point since I have yet to watch season 2 of the Grimm Campaign (mostly because I do not want to buy a Rooster Teeth subscription). So I cannot place him any higher than number 11 on this list, but I would recommend watching the Grimm Campaign. The Grimm Campaign is a D&D style RWBY adventure played by Sherry Shawcross and company as they explore a conspiracy in the Mistral city of Kuchinashi. This semi-canon RWBY side-series follows Team SAFR as they investigate reports of bizarre Grimm and unusual criminal activity. Vermillion is only foreshadowed in season 1 but serves as the main antagonist in the second season.

10. Edward Caspian - Okay, he may not technically be a villain. But this character from 'RWBY: After The Fall' still makes some pretty questionable choices that bring pain and misery in roughly equal proportions. Being kind by nature, he may mean well but he still makes Qrow's bad luck semblance seem like mild indigestion (yes, I know, but it is still his decision for them to be there).

9. Deery & Perry - The only two antagonists on this list from the main series. Both are members of the White Fang that kept popping up during the good ol' Beacon Days. Perry is perhaps the more recognizable of the two due to wearing glasses. Both first appeared during the White Fang recruitment rally in season 2 and played minor roles during the Mt Glenn incident. While Perry's fate following that literal train wreck is not known, Deery apparently escaped and could often be seen next to Adam in season 3, even participating in the Fall of Beacon. As with many other villains, they probably believed that their extremist actions were just. Honorable mentions go to Floyd the Geist from the Chibi universe for this spot.

8. Hei Xiong - A minor villain in the book 'Roman Holiday' alongside Neopolitan's father, Xiong was the biggest and scariest crime lord in Vale until Roman came along and showed him the door. In terms of personality, he is kind of your standard mafia boss-type persona. Although not as brazen as Lil Miss Malachite, he ruled with a subtle hand and a keen wit, unlike his son Junior from the main series. Although the book is excellent, Xiong himself is somewhat of a plain-vanilla type of character and so I placed him down here at number 8.

7. Bram Thornmane - Okay, perhaps not as obscure as some of the other villains on this list but still not one of the show's staple boogeymen. Bram is an antagonist from the game 'RWBY: Arrowfell.' He wraps himself in a cloak of false nobility and lies to manipulate others into doing his dirty work. Unstable and egotistical, he seeks only vengeance over a petty grudge. Some people just can't handle rejection. Overall, I found his character somewhat forgettable but at least he puts up a good fight.

This ends Part 1! Thank you to anyone crazy enough to actually read this. Sorry for any spoilers! Though I promise you are not missing much with Starro. I will be posting Part 2 in a while.

[south-sea]

Ooh, how about "X" for your black arms crew?

i'm including Neutral End in this too yahooo (from this!)

X. What's their biggest fear?

aruna he's been through so much these past 13+ years that he's swung pretty hard into "desensitized" territory. to most, he would seem eerily unfazed and always collected. the exception might be disorientation in relation to waking from particularly nasty nightmares, but those rarely happen, and tend to happen only under specific circumstances, so i'm not counting it.

it's less that he's afraid of traditional tangible things at this point, and more about concepts. the thought of forgetting fills him with so much dread it's hard for him to process. when he starts to get into it, there comes a point where he has to force himself to stop thinking about it or he'll drive himself mad trying to recall what's no longer there, or the sinking feeling that there's something he's already missing.

nearly his entire self-proclaimed purpose in life now, other than to live for himself, is to remember. memories are all he has left to keep his people alive. so for him to forget even the smallest detail is to essentially be a failure who's lost his purpose for living in place of... literally everyone else. the survivor's guilt is real, and it is heavy. it doesn't manifest with sadness. it's simply this.

he likes to think he remembers everything perfectly. time and trauma have seen to it that he does not. he claims his people didn't have songs. he's forgotten black moth knew and sang the last of their kind.

black moth it's a little odd for a "moth", maybe, but bright lights instill an almost primal sense of dread in him. he can't pinpoint any rhyme or reason for it. in most other situations, he'd have the "fight" reaction when adrenaline kicks in, but when it comes to this, he just freezes.

and by bright lights i don't mean just any. it's not as if he's going to freak out if you turn on overhead fluorescent lights or something, even if he's not a fan of those in general. it's if he's already in a dark room and you shine a single beam on him from overhead, or things like extremely bright, large spotlights in the distance.

he assumes it's fear, anyway. maybe it would be more accurate to say it's awe. the last traces of some long-buried memory.

black moth remembers the songs. black doom remembers the illuminated rings their planet had. they've both forgotten pieces of their history they once held dear, and all that's left in those empty places is dread. but maybe it's better to fear this empty unknown than to mourn it.

alt doom defeat or mistakes he can't come back from. he has been beaten and pushed into a corner countless times, but he always comes out on top in some way, or knows when to employ a strategic retreat. this guy is ruthless and thorough in a much more strategic way, or at least the little mishap with gerald taught him to be.

if he knew what aruna had been through to end up with his entire species eradicated, he'd be a) dumbfounded by aruna's "stupidity", and b) horrified by the outcome. alt doom cannot fathom a reason or a route where he himself would get desperate enough for it to end like that. the possibility of losing that badly, and that much, is almost beyond his ability to comprehend.

he's lucky that arrogance hasn't been his undoing. if he were still in existential peril these days, maybe it would be.

neutral end doom he's kind of just aruna give or take some steps, and that's intentional, but by the end he's different enough to have a place on this list. especially since his fear is different: time. he's genuinely just afraid of running out of time, despite staring that fact in the face constantly. past a certain point in his hive, his kind dying and fizzling out is just a known inevitability.

he knows that, and yet he refuses to let it consume him. so he claims. that broken hourglass hangs heavy from his chains.

neutral end shadow honorary black arms. the running trend here is loss. he is keenly aware now-his-kind are going to die. he's seen countless black arms be cut down or wither away. he doesn't want to lose anyone else, least of all black doom or black moth.

it's inevitable, he knows. he's seen the hourglass too. but he'll be thankful for the time they have left until there's no one left to be thankful for.

[gayfranzkafka]

The Atlantic fucking published what is essentially a pro-conversion-therapy argument in their "Up For Debate" column today. I just wrote a letter to the editor, but if anyone wants to join me in that, that would be great. I'm copy + pasting the full text of the article below the cut because it's behind a paywall/that way we don't give it more views. I'd read it for yourself before writing in--the context is that this guy choses one topic a week & then publishes a variety of reader responses without commentary. But I think it's a) reprehensible to choose the "transgender issue" as a topic of debate and b) to include the "question" from James that is essentially a pro-conversion-therapy argument. Obviously CW for transphobia below. You can write a letter either by emailing letters@theatlantic.com or by going to this page & selecting "Letter to the Editor" from the dropdown menu at the bottom of the page.

"What Readers Really Think About Gender"

Welcome to Up for Debate. Each week, Conor Friedersdorf rounds up timely conversations and solicits reader responses to one thought-provoking question. Later, he publishes some thoughtful replies.

I recently asked readers for their thoughts and questions on transgender issues. What follows is a first batch of responses; more are to come.

Kate favors trans rights but has two concerns:

Any American should agree with your quotation “Trans people have rights to liberty, the pursuit of happiness, and equality under the law, same as anyone else, and ought to be treated with respect and dignity.” And despite social-media storms, most of them do.

I do.

My only problems with the current push, if you will, are twofold. First, as an older woman who has lived both sides of before and after Title IX, to have biological men competing in women’s sports is the very definition of unfair. Second, I am concerned that a female child who is a “tomboy” is perhaps being told by activists (in schools or online) that she is probably a boy. I am concerned that a boy who enjoys ballet might be told, in the same way, that he is probably a girl. Will we lose the Mikhail Baryshnikovs of the world? Will we lose the Billie Jean Kings of the world? The list of such people could go on and on. It’s okay to be a boyish kind of girl or a girlish kind of boy. But with the very loud voices that the activists of today’s world have, my biggest concern is that we are not letting men and women, boys and girls, just BE, just be who they are. It’s all okay. It’s okay to just be who you are; you probably are not born the wrong gender.

That is very rare.

Sally describes her experiences in early-childhood education:

I work with young children at a preschool that works very hard at being inclusive of all genders. I’m a nascent senior. I’m often known to use the term guys in mixed-gender settings, and I think that guys (in the plural sense only) is morphing into something useful and inclusive. I’m working on switching to using folks as a sign of solidarity, though.

Sometimes our gender-sensitivity training does make me want to roll my eyes. Explaining to a toddler working at toileting that some boys have vaginas and some girls have penises is not something they are focused on––learning how to manage one’s own plumbing to avoid making a mess is challenging enough. The struggles of a transgender boy to access the appropriate bathroom don’t yet resonate for those who are still sitting side by side in an all-gender bathroom. That said, the parents who are using they/them pronouns for their young child might be giving them a respite from conforming to gender rules. And having kind and attentive teachers who aren’t cis gives them additional positive role models to look up to. All toddlers I’ve been privileged to teach have loved sequins, sparkles, tutus, and firefighter hats, and all those young humans ought to be able to explore every aspect of themselves without judgment.

. . .Can humans learn to value the diversity that is probably our greatest strength as a social species before we create our own demise? I hope so!

Lois is confused:

If gender is only true if it is self-defined, and societal norms are constraining, why should anyone aspire to transition from one undefinable and nonexistent gender category to a different one? How do they know the identity they are wanting to take on is real? Doesn’t transitioning simply affirm the male-female binary from the other direction?

Dave asks that you believe his account of his child:

I figured it was just a matter of time before this topic came up, so I have kept my trans dad hat ready. I am the father of a 10-year-old transgender son. He has identified as a boy since he was 4 or 5. In many ways, he’s the prototypical example of a gender-incongruent kid. To quote from some in the medical community, he has been “persistent, insistent, and consistent” in this identification. Before he even knew what the word transgender was, he would describe himself in one way or another as having “a boy brain and girl body.” In no time in the past five to six years has this wavered in even the slightest.

I think there is a feeling in some circles that parents of trans kids see their biologically female child play with a truck three times and rush to change pronouns, throw away dresses, and cover all pink paint with blue. For us, this was not even remotely the case. As our son’s identity began to express itself, we were confused, uncertain, and, to be perfectly honest, a little frightened. Our son began refusing anything remotely “girly” about the time he was 4-and-a-half. He began demanding short haircuts, boyish clothes, and mostly boyish toys.

Of course, my wife and I rushed to change his name and pronouns, began wearing we’re proud of our trans boy! T-shirts, secured spots for him on Pride parade floats, and booked his medical-intervention appointments––at least that’s what many people in America seem to think, as if we’re all quick to fast-track our gender-curious kids to trans identities. How do people who believe such things operate in the world being so divorced from reality? We had no idea what to do. Somewhat guiltily, I will admit that we didn’t fully accept (or maybe want to accept) the reality of our son. We weren’t cruel or entirely unsupportive. But we clung to the idea that it was merely a phase. That he was just playing with roles.

In pre-K, he was starting to ask for male pronouns. We nodded and brushed it off. In parent-teacher conferences during the autumn of kindergarten, his teachers again told us this, as well as about him asking to use the boys’ restroom. We replied that we were fine with that in school if that’s what he preferred but we still used she/her at home and planned to continue doing so. “We just want to see where it goes,” we said.

At the request for short haircuts, we avoided “boy” cuts, trying first a bob, and then a shorter bob. Our son would come home from those appointments sullen and sometimes angry, because he had been pretty clear on his desire (a short, boy-style cut) and we had opted for a short, girl-style cut. We were hoping it might be enough, and frankly hoping he would get over it and everything would go back to “normal.” We did roughly the same thing with clothes. He’d want to shop in the boys’ section at Target; we would keep trying to steer him to the girls’. Books too; we were always sneaking in empowered-girl books, thinking maybe he just had developed some weird, bad impressions of women and girls. He would dutifully put them on his shelf and never take them out.

We persisted in using female pronouns at home and referring to him as our daughter and our other son’s sister … even when he was referring to himself as a brother. In short, we did loads of non-gender-affirming things. If you would have asked us then if we thought it was a phase and that he’d “change back,” we would have dutifully done what liberals in a progressive city do: assured you that wasn’t true and that we loved and supported our child. And we would have been lying; while we of course loved and supported our child, we hoped this whole “I’m a boy in a girl’s body” thing would fade away.

We feared telling our families and potentially facing their rejection and judgment, their possible assumptions that our time in “liberal Madison” had something to do with our child being transgender. We feared we would cause harm by labeling our child too soon. We let our fears hinder us from being the parents our child needed. We were wrong.

I share this to underscore how complex this process is. Because there does seem to be the idea that parents of trans kids aren’t making an effort to “make” their kid conform their gender to their biological sex, that we are just rushing headlong into embracing our child’s trans identity. That there aren’t transgender kids, just over-indulgent progressive parents using their child as a political totem. Or, from the other political extreme, that if we have any doubts or fears or missteps, that we are anti-trans bigots pushing our children toward certain suicide. None of those ideas are true. That this is a deeply difficult thing to process doesn’t seem to occur to some people.

My wife and I finally came to terms with our son's gender identity three years ago when he was seven-and-a-half. Our son was getting increasingly sullen, angry, and defiant. He was unhappy in general, but also angry with us. Even through that winter, we still danced around his gender identity as the cause, as we didn’t want to accept that it was true. We still wanted to believe we had a daughter, not another son. To let go of that idea felt like the equivalent of losing a child. But by that spring it was simply impossible to ignore. We had a conversation and made an appointment with his pediatrician, telling her all we had seen and heard. She confirmed what we had tried to avoid accepting: Our son exhibited all the signs of being transgender.

That was the day we changed our perspective. We went home and told him we were going to start using his preferred pronouns. We compromised on a nickname. He had been named after my wife’s grandmother, and we explained that it was important to carry that on in some capacity, and he accepted a shortened, gender-neutral (and pretty coolly unique) name to go by that used his birth name as a jumping off point. His brother struggled a little with the change, but quickly adapted. And what happened? The sullenness, defiance, and anger disappeared. Our beautiful, buoyant, zany child sprang back out, bigger and better than ever. He switched from Girl to Boy Scouts and thrived.

In the three years since, he has given us not even a tiny glimpse of any of this not being utterly and totally true. He has thrived at his public school—kids are incredibly accepting of things when allowed to be—and at home. His extended family has embraced his identity (some more easily than others). He is as great a kid as anyone could ask for.

I know that there will be people who, were they to read this, would say or think Yeah, sure … he’s only that way because you indulged it and his teachers and school indoctrinated him. To which I’d reply, it could possibly look that way from the outside, if all the evidence you have is one dad’s personal account. But what the people who say those sorts of things don’t see is the daily, lived experience of my kid. A lived experience that reaffirms constantly the truth of who he is. My son is a boy with a girl’s body. I don't understand how that happened, I don’t know how that works, but I know it’s true.

This acceptance doesn’t make the coming years any easier or less terrifying. We can see puberty on the horizon, getting closer every day. We know the huge, terrifying decisions that are coming. We are terrified of making the wrong decision, of doing something that might irreversibly alter or hurt our child. We know that the science, while not as in doubt as opponents want people to believe, has areas of uncertainty. But we need the ability to make the best choices for our kid based on the best medical understanding that exists. And to have the ability to do that suddenly cast into doubt, alongside the possibility of being accused of abuse on top of things, is terrifying and infuriating.

The idea of medical intervention is frightening. But it’s not simply thrown around, at least not in our case. We’ve already had a preliminary meeting with a pediatrician specializing in gender care. Did we leave with a bag of puberty blockers and testosterone vials? Of course not. There is a process we will have to go through to get our insurance company to even cover puberty blockers. As for hormones, that can’t happen until he’s at least 15. And it’s important to remember something else: None of these interventions are required. Many trans kids and adults opt for a range of options, from no medical interventions at all to a full package of interventions. Some start, then stop. It’s all a choice, one parents and kids and doctors need to have the freedom to make.

You may have noticed that earlier I referred to my son as gender incongruent rather than gender dysphoric. That’s not just me being cute with language. I didn’t refer to him as dysphoric, because he isn’t. He’s a super-happy, well-adjusted kid. Why? Because of the support he receives from his family, his friends, and others in his life. There is no dissonance for him because he’s allowed to be who he is. But dysphoria is always lurking out there, whether in the creeping specter of puberty or just the often-unaccepting outside world, and with it the potential for crippling anxiety, depression, and even suicide.

Are there risks to medical interventions? Of course. But the health risks of dysphoria are real too. Given that, it’s still in our best interests as parents to trust the opinions of major medical organizations like the World Professional Association for Transgender Health, the AMA, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the various doctors and therapists our child has seen. We don’t have the luxury of latching on to individual critical voices. The stakes for us are just too high. That doesn’t mean research shouldn’t continue and that critical voices shouldn’t provide a dose of healthy skepticism; that is a critical part of the scientific process. But until it becomes clear that the consensus on gender-affirming care has changed, we will trust the current consensus.

A lot of people struggle with accepting that being transgender is real. It’s counterintuitive. I really do get that. As I said, I don’t understand why my son is who he is. But it’s true. Be skeptical and ask questions. But also know that this is not a fantasy. It is not something made up. Not a phase. It’s real, and the kids and adults experiencing it are real too. They are not making it up. They are not deluded. They are not freaks.

They are human beings. And so are their families.

James has a question:

If there is a recognized incongruity between what a trans person’s brain feels and what sex their body is, there would seem to be at least two logical responses: Either modify the person’s brain to accept the body that they have or modify the body to conform to what the person’s brain thinks they are. Why, then, is there opposition to any suggestion that you can treat the brain to “correct” gender dysphoria?

A reader with the initials P.S. worries that educators will become gender enforcers, and wishes that schools would focus on collective rather than individual identity:

Creating new gender categories, with divergent lists of characteristics and atomized response requirements, is onerous. I don’t think schools should be enforcing strict gender stereotypes or that they should be guiding kids to identify with new categories, and certainly not secretly or against the desires of the parents. Especially at the lower grades, kids need to be learning about what makes us a collective and the rules that make us a cohesive and functioning society. Focusing on gender conformity/expression elevates and centralizes it—it reinforces “me” over “us,” prioritizes adopting an identity group over belonging to a society, and suggests forcing society to conform to individual preferences over conforming one’s behavior to societal mores.