#really like this one!

[bottle-of-allay]

weird fish out there

Hermit-a-day May #20 Geminitay!

[heavensdevotion]

INTERVIEW

She’d had better landings. 

Any pegasus knight worth the lance she carried knew how to recover from a fall from their mount, but Fury had never had a pegasus vanish from under her before. 

She crouched on the ground, having barely kept herself upright, blinking against the sudden flash of the noontime sun. Her lance lay in the spring grass next to her, the spearhead blindingly polished, screaming for her attention first, before she could even question the plant life under her boots. She tried to stand, but her vision blurred with dizziness, and she dropped back into her crouch to wait for it to subside. 

Slowly, her eyes sharpened into focus again as a gloved hand tightened around the shaft of her lance. The trees around her stretched nearly to the clouds, and their height alone would have made them noteworthy, but she couldn’t recall hearing of them. She attempted to stand again, using her lance to support herself. Another flash of dizziness, but she at least remained standing this time. 

It was perhaps silly of her to wonder if she was still in Jugdral. She’d heard tales, rumors of portals and other worlds before, but she dismissed the thought just as quickly as it came. No, something else must have happened. A freak storm, blowing her off course, but the sky had been clear (except the smoke behind her, of course, but that was the fire of celebration, nothing to worry about). 

Knight of Silesse pushed her way out of the trees to assess her surroundings. Keen eyes caught a castle, sitting proudly on top of a nearby hill, and almost on instinct her boots began to walk towards it. 

A castle will surely have knights inside. They can direct me back to Silesse. 

Her steps took her towards the iron gate of the castle, guarded by a lone woman with a helmet over her eyes. The woman was unarmed, save for a red-covered book at her side, held onto her thick robes by countless belts. The helmet was rather- out of place, for a mage... 

“Hello, miss!” The guard leaned out from her niche in the heavy stone wall, waving to catch her attention. “I’d put the lance away if I were you.” 

“Excuse me?” Fury paused, pointed her lance-tip downwards. “I mean no harm.” 

“I don’t think you do! But just in case. Monastery’s well guarded, you know.” 

“Monastery? So this isn’t a castle? There are no knights inside?” 

“I mean, there are knights inside, but they’re the monastery’s knights. Knights of Seiros, you know.” Fury didn’t know, but decided to press on in her questioning. 

“It doesn’t matter. I only need directions.” 

“Oh, you’re lost? I can try to help, but I’m awful at giving directions.” 

“Do you know which direction I must go to get to Silesse?” The guard paused, pushed the rim of her helmet out of her eyes to stare down at Fury.

“Never heard of the place. Sorry.” 

“How can that be? You’ve heard of the Silessian pegasus knights, have you not?” 

“No, sorry.” The guard shook her head. “We’ve got pegasus knights, and plenty of pegasi in the stables, but I don’t know where they come from. Maybe it’s Silesse.” The guard tilted her head, the helmet sliding to the side. It really was too big on her... 

“Is there... anyone you could ask? Do you think any of the knights this monastery would know?” 

“Nah, I can’t leave this spot. Someone’s got to watch the gate, and that’s what they’re paying me for. But...” Something glittered in the guard’s eyes, uneven helmet letting the sun strike her face. “You could go in and ask them yourself.” 

“Yes, that would be ideal. Please, open the gate.” 

“Not so fast!” The guard kicked her feet back and forth. “I’ve got to ask questions first. I can’t just let anybody in here. It’s a school too, you know!” Again, Fury did not know, but she refused to back down now. 

“What are the questions? How long will they take?” 

“Only a few minutes. It’s not an exam,” the guard scoffed. “There are only three questions. You have time for that?” 

“...if it will turn my path back towards Silesse, I suppose I have time.” 

“Great! Awesome.” The guard straightened up in her seat, pushed the helmet back another time. 

“Can’t they get you a better-fitting helmet?” 

“Nope. Believe me, I’ve asked. But if it’s so distracting...” She pulled it off her head, revealing reddish hair that stuck up from static. “Anyway, you ready?” 

“Yes. You may ask your questions.” 

“Question one!” The guard held up a single finger. “What has brought you to where you are today?” 

Fury paused to consider the question. How would she begin to describe the winding road that she’d followed all the way here? More importantly, how would she describe herself as from a country this guard seemed to believe didn’t exist? 

“I was born and raised in Silesse, the country I’m attempting to get to. All my life, I dreamed of joining the pegasus knights. They’re heroes in Silesse, and serve the Queen directly. I befriended the Prince, Lewyn, when I was young, and we remained friends all our lives.” It felt strange, now, to refer to him as Prince and not husband, but she hadn’t gotten that far yet. The guard, however, frowned at the name. “Sorry, have you heard of him?” 

“Doesn’t matter. Keep going, sorry.” 

“I joined the Four Heavenly Knights when I was young - a group of commanders serving my Queen, but I wasn’t there for too long before the Prince disappeared.” Her hand tightened, almost imperceptibly, around the lance. “After that, I was assigned by my Queen to go search for him.” No need to mention that she had begged for the mission in private. No more details than necessary to get home. “I went looking for him, while my elder sister, Annand, and the other two commanders remained in Silesse. I searched the entire continent for Lewyn, but I was deceived. I was told the Prince was being held captive by Lord Sigurd, when in fact he had allied with them. When I realized my mistake and allied with Lord Sigurd as well, the other two commanders betrayed us. They helped to cause a civil war to break out in Silesse. I fought alongside Lord Sigurd to bring peace back to Silesse. After the war, Lewyn and I were married.” She can’t help but pause, smile softly at the thought, but it shifts away as she returns to her task. “After Lord Sigurd was denounced as a traitor, we resolved to help him clear his name. That battle was hard fought, but successful as well. Lord Arvis invited us to a procession in which Lord Sigurd would be pardoned, but I declined to go. Lord Lewyn went for the both of us.” A grim look crossed the guard’s face, almost too quick for Fury to notice. 

“I see,” she said slowly. “Well, as far as I know, your husband is here.” 

“He is?” A step closer, a spark in her eyes. “But- he’s meant to be in Belhalla, celebrating Lord Sigurd’s return...” 

“You should ask him about it. From what I’ve heard he’s got quite a story.” 

“Allow me inside, so I may speak with him!” She hated how quickly her lips turned to pleading, but the expression on the guard’s face softened. 

“Look, you just have to finish up the questions and I can let you in.” Fury paused, loosened her grip on the lance. 

“Okay. I will answer.” 

“Thank you. Question two.” The guard held up an appropriate amount of fingers. “What are your greatest strengths and weaknesses?” 

Before Fury could pause her thinking to consider the question, memories of Lewyn, her sister, everyone she’d ever trained with telling her that she was too earnest, too trusting, not quite a fighter. Her sister in particular had commented once that she didn’t have a warrior’s face. The thought made her stomach turn. Only one of them was alive as a warrior today, after all.

“I am more than competent with a lance,” she began. Best not to lead with what made her weak - showed that it was on her mind. “I am experienced in combat in the air, and once I have a goal I will not stop pursuing it until it is complete.” A pause, like she was thinking, but she’d never been a great actor. “I have been told I show what I am thinking on my face. I do not believe this to be a weakness, but I have been told it is.” The guard nodded. 

“Okay. Last question. If a story were to be written about your life, what role would you play?” She opened her mouth to answer-

-and faltered. 

“I...” What would she be remembered as, after she was gone? A loyal knight, trailing her lord and husband? Or a girl who never quite grew up, always with her eyes full of stars and tears? “I am a knight. I would like to be remembered as such.” For a moment, the image of her, kneeling at his feet, shone in her mind, and she couldn’t stop a faint smile from crossing her face. The guard sat back against the wall, satisfied. 

“Thank you. I just need to know your name and I can open the gates.” 

“Fury,” she answered. “Fury of Silesse.” 

“It’s nice to meet you, Fury. I hope you find what you’re looking for.” And with a flick of her wrist, the gate opened.

[valtsv]

stuck between "psychological horror statement" and "objectively the funniest thing you could say to your real flesh and blood dad" in the father's day card aisle

[frenchublog]

kosovo miku

[unsung-idiot]

don't show him modern technology; it won't end well

bonus under the cut:

[carefulzombie]

gf fandom in 2016: if you so much as hint - even jokingly! - about the nature of ford and bill’s relationship being anything other than platonic (and even then you NEED to give a disclaimer that bill is manipulating him!) then you support abusive relationships

gf fandom in 2024:

[beepboopappreciation]

Is this anything

[littlelightfish]

Funny things I found out playing with language setting in Netflix while looking episode 15:

Chilchuck's scream sounds HAUNTED in brazilian portuguese. Give it a try if you can.

(You can hear it here)

In spanish dub, Senshi says: "tocó mis senos de hombre", which means "he touched my man boobs" in Spanish. And I think that's the best dub line one so far.

[starbuck]

i say i like tragedies and everyone’s all like ‘why do you like sad stories? are you depressed?’ and never ‘how was the catharsis? was the catharsis fun?’

[planefood]

rules for thee and not for me

[hinamie]

10 years later

[stargirl230]

you’re my hero!

bnha doomed yuri was not on my 2024 bingo card

(no reposts; reblogs appreciated)

[gotchibam]

Chandelure ko-fi doodle for solar!

[rachelfc-art]

Princess in Shining Armor

[endusviolence]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[wolfythewitch]

Typical of me to put us all to shame