#or maybe my opinion is so harsh because right before this book i'd read just kids

[depoteka]

saw a picture of kim gordon and realized i haven't listened to sonic youth much since reading her memoir back in....2017

[wave2tyun]

Hi, Alex! I wanted to let out something because none of my friends can hear about this, and I feel like I can trust you since you're so far away from my real life. Also, I feel like you can definitely offer me some advice or comfort. So here goes: I have two friends: Friend A and Friend B. Friend A is my four-year friend and she's very close to me. I've had occasions where I've wondered whether I like her or not in a romantic way. Friend B is newer, it's almost one year with him. He's also close, but not as much. We still call each other bestie.

Alex, what can I do when I say I saw this coming a mile away? I didn't expect Friend B to text me and ask me if he should ask her out after the exams. I had my suspicions about him liking her, it seemed like something like this would happen. Even before I introduced them to each other in September or November. I had once even told him that I had a hunch that he and Friend A would get along if they knew each other. And today, hours ago, I got a text from him asking for my opinion.

And I saw it, too. I saw how affectionate he was with her. And perhaps it was the pressure of being a good friend or something that took over me so that I offered to find out how Friend A felt about this. And I asked her subtly, without letting her know anything. And she said she was fine with him asking her out. I let Friend B know about this and now he's planning on asking her out after our exams which end on the 13th over text. And then something ran cold in my gut.

So now what? A part of my brain is cheering for them, elated that they're getting together so that now both of them have someone to love and cherish. Another part of me, one I hope dies soon, is lamenting in the dark corner.

What do I do, Alex? Why am I feeling so? I don't like either of them, I am sure. So why now? Any word from you, I believe, could soothe this irritation, whatever it may be. Thank you if you read all this. I hope you've been taking care of yourself and feeling okay, at the very least. If not, I hope things get better for you. You are a lovely individual, truly! Love you so much!

hello dear anon!!<3 i hope i'm not too late for this, i'm sorry it took me a bit to reply :(((((

hmmmm, honestly, as i was reading this i first thought that maybe you do have some feelings for friend A, but after getting to your last paragraph where you said you're sure you don't have feelings for either of them, my second thought was: maybe a part of you is a bit afraid of what is going to happen to your friendships with them if this date does lead to something more? :0

sometimes unwanted feelings come and tend to linger. i would say not to be too harsh on yourself for feeling this way right now :((((( maybe it's something subconscious, that you don't really understand, maybe it's something that will just go away after a day or two, or after a bit more time once you see how things go between them. those thoughts and feelings don't define you- the simple fact that you said you hope the part of yourself that is lamenting in the dark corner "dies soon" is proof of that. i've read once in a book to "enjoy the freedom of your own thoughts"- and that has personally helped me a little. you can let those thoughts simply exist, if you can't make them disappear easily, but you still have the power to choose what you actually want to pour your belief into!! does that make sense??????? i don't know if i explained that well akdhjdns

i'm glad that you came to me and that you trusted me about it, i really hope i was able to bring you some relief, even if just a little bit :(((((💕💖💞💘💞 my life has had its ups and downs lately (perhaps a bit more downs than ups asbdsjah), but i'm doing the best i can to hang in there!!! sending much much love your way!!!<333 please don't hesitate to come back to me with a reply, or an update about this, i'd love to hear from you again!!🫂🫂🩷

[myeyebaggsaredesigner]

MAGNUS IS NOT PERCY HE'S HIS OWN CHARACTER WITH HIS OWN PERSONALITY AND QUIRKS. I'M SO TIRED OF EVRY CHARACTER RICK WRITES TO ALWAYS BE COMPARED TO PERCY. PERCY ISN'T SOME GOLDEN STANDARD HE'S A CHARACTER WITH HIS OWN FLAWS AND DISLIKE ABLE TRAITS.

Of course Magnus is cynical and bitter at times, his mother was murdered before his own eyes, he had to run from the authorities in fear of being hunted down by the killers or falsely convicted for her murder. He spend 2 years on the streets homeless pick pocketing or living on trash when his rich uncle who lives in a fucking mansion who knew all allong could have easily taken him in. Then he has to fight to what him is Satan and gets his insides molten by a lava ball and drowns dying in agony ( just when he found out his cousin and other uncle hadn't abandoned him on purpose) only to wake up in some unfamiliar place for them to tell him Yo you gotta stay here and die evryday until the end of the world now. Like he has evry right to be cynical and bitter. There's no way he could be a happy go lucky character with that backstory. If you want protagonists that are all smiles and rainbows go watch care bears.

Not to mention Magnus will continue to die evryday until he'll one day be forced to to fight a war in which he will watch evryone he cares about - no ALL LIFE IN ALL 9 REALMS- die. And he knows this. He lives evryday knowing this. How much more Angst do you want??? And you also expect this poor child to be the optimistic and happy go lucky protagonist??? I think you dislike MCGA because it's not what you're used to from the genre. No all white, cis, attractive main cast of 17 year olds to go on an adventure with relationship drama and the like.

The humor--I'm going to stop you right there. Excuse me this is YA fantasy book. Not to mention the sarcasm and jokes in these books were golden in my opinion. Evryone has a different sense of humor and that's okay but trashing a book for having humor in it in the first place? That's not. Like I don't know about you but I certainly would have thrown the book away if all the humor had been taken out of it. Not to mention Pjo and Hoo have similar humor? But you praise those books and trash talk this one? I feel like it's not the humor that has you writting such a hateful review. if you want nothing but angst I'd recommend not reading Rick Riordan's books or fantasy books that are targeted towards a teenaged audience in general !? Stick to Angst fic's and emo teen shows my dude.

Was I too harsh? Maybe, but Frey be dammed, that is my favourite book of all time and I will defend it ANYTIME. MCGA IS FUCKING BRILLIANT and that's a hill I'll die on. Meet me on a Walmart parking lot at 2 am, bring your best pen you're going down.

[unclearcircumstances]

I hate to play devil's advocate. But.

- Because it's not morally right does not make it a bad book (I've never read it by the way, but you can't just straight up tell people that it's bad, it's your own opinion). A lot of books present controversial subjects, which unfortunately does not grant them a lot of appreciation, but it does not mean that they are bad. An author does not always speak their mind in a book: let's say I write a novel about a society which rapes men on a daily basis, or one that shoots children for fun every fourth Saturday of the month. Am I saying that we should do that? No. Came out of my imagination. Mental.

- Such a situation is completely possible, from a logical and objective point of view. It wouldn't be the first time someone's lied about being someone else to get someone in their bed or to do anything else really (See any movie about that, read any book about that, there are plenty).

- She might identify as a lesbian, at first, sure. But I do believe that sexual orientation and gender are very fluid, and that they can change over time. Though I've identified as only gay for some time, I've been dating women for quite some time now, too, but it's not something that I decide every day when I wake up, I don't choose to be attracted to someone, it usually depends on the person. Don't overlook that possibility, especially if you're trying do defend your point of view on gender and such. It is true that you can imagine a lover as something else completely: it's happened to me with a girlfriend, when I did fantasize a bit about how nice it would be if she were a "real boy". Because she acted much like a boy, and dressed like one, and looked like one. Turns out that now "she" is one, because hey, these sorts of things happen.

- If I read that right, and you might not like it : Ariel Schrag came out first as bisexual, then as a lesbian. So yeah, there's that, she might have reflected upon things a bit, before writing the novel.

-Maybe the girl thought "oh well, it's not so bad, after all" after her experience with the protagonist, which led her to trying again with a cis man that would be a bit less of a piece of shit. Because in my opinion, the protagonist is one, absolutely. But because he lied, and I absolutely hate liars, above all else.

- I might get yelled at for this but : she consented to having sexual relations with him. Plus, the fact that she says she knew what the truth was implies that she might have already known at that precise time. If that's the case, it's not really rape.

- I think you shouldn't be that harsh with the fact that most or all trans men identify as lesbians in the book. For all I care, you could decide to identify as a houseplant, and I'd be cool with it. The thing is, it's not up to you to decide in the first place. And maybe the author wanted to include something like this, but did not know the subject well enough not to make this type of "mistake", if that really must be one for you.

- Conversion therapy? Nah. A new experience which opened her up to new ones? More so. See, maybe she dated other girls, and will date other girls in the future. Because why not?

TL;DR:

- What you write does not define where you stand.

- Because it's morally wrong OR because you don't agree with it does not make anything bad, it remains your own opinion.

- Gender and sexual orientation can change over a lifetime, it can be triggered, or not, by several things. Let people like what they like.

Oh. One last tiny little thing. Is it absolutely, completely wrong, to be a cis man? I'm afraid I am, so I'd like to know.

Can you even accept that the full spectrum also comprises heterosexuals, cis men and women? And the fact that you actually can go full circle with that? It's not a one way ticket, dear.

Now, a word of advice not from the human part of me, but from the literature teacher: try to contrast your opinions. Nothing is all black or white, and I fear you don't currently have the literary tools to post such a thing on the internet, sweetie. I've gone through a lot of your posts, and nothing suggests that you are either more than 15, that you have the qualifications, or that you know anything about literature as a communication device.

Real last thing. I really did go through most of your blog. I'm not saying this lightly at all: fuck you, and the hatred you spread over there. Stay in your little circle of "trans friends" if you really have any.

But grow up. Please. Or delete your account.

Do not support Adam (2018)

I recently heard the news that Adam by Ariel Schrag will be getting a movie. I read the book myself about a year and a half ago and I cannot stress enough just how problematic it is.

Adam is a book about a cis boy pretending to be a trans man in order to trick a lesbian into dating him.

Adam goes to New York to stay with his lesbian sister for the summer, and while he’s there he meets trans men who consider themselves lesbians. At a party he meets a lesbian he thinks is pretty and in order to get into a relationship with her he lies and tells her he’s a pre transition trans man. Let’s make a list of some of the highlights from the book, shall we?

At the very beginning of the book his sister and her girlfriend visit home and Adam and his friend spies on them having sex.

Almost all the trans men in the book identify as lesbians, implying that they are still women because they haven’t transitioned yet.

Adam, a cis straight boy, tells a lesbian that he is a trans man to trick her into dating him.

Incidentally Adam is 17 I believe, pretending to be 21. His girlfriend is in the 23 range, I don’t recall exactly.

There are explicit sex scenes, the first of which involved Adam using an ace bandage to hold his erection down and using a strapon to have sex with her.

In the second one he claims to be using a strapon but is, in reality, using his actual penis.

Which is fucking rape.

The book doesn’t try to justify this, it somehow manages to do something worse.

This second scene is one of the last in the book. After he pulls out he lays down next to her and confesses that he’s not trans. She responds “I know.”

She says after they first had sex she started fantasizing about him as a “real guy” (yes quote) and that the image stuck in her mind and she started subconsciously imagining him with a penis.

And it gets worse.

So he goes back to ohio and she sleeps with other girls (because for some reason she decides not to break up with this cis 17 year old who lied about his identity literally raped her) and one night he gets drunk and calls her a bitch and a fucking whore and whatever, and THAT’S apparently the point she thinks that maybe they should break up.

And one day they message eachother to catch up i think maybe he graduated at this point idk but hes planning on visiting his sister in new york and they wanna meet up and

She tells him about her new boyfriend.

Get ready for it

Cis. Man.

So. We have

An underage cishet boy lying about being an adult trans man in order to trick a lesbian into dating him!

A scene in which he actually rapes her!

The lesbian in question becomes attracted to cis men making Adam, essentially, conversion therapy!

Do NOT support Adam (2018)