phoenixtawnyflower
Reflections of a Queer Artist
Phoenix Tawnyflower, jack of all art-related trades. I write about trans people speaking Spanish, and consequently my blog is a mashup of queer stuff, language/linguistics stuff, writing advice, story ideas, commentary on other writing I like, and actual personal updates. They/them pronouns. Actual adult.
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Anastasia Trusova Born (1989). Russia
“Bedtime stories”. Acrylic canvas 40 x 50
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it's true of other art too.
Salvation by Marc Pachon.
Photo quality not that good bc I took it with my phone and it's a reflective surface. but god the concept of salvation via sapphic love took me out at the knees. and mother didn't see it at all.
If the only valid queer rep is explicit queer rep, that's a huge problem. There are lots of old books that simply could not include explicit rep. There are lots of new books that it wouldn't make sense for the rep to be explicit. There are a lots of settings where they're not going to take a moment and go "by the way, I'm bi, not gay."
There has to be room for subtextual and interpretative queerness, even when discussing a canon where queerness is never acknowledged as existing.
There also has to be room for people to disagree with those interpretations, and of course some interpretations will be more supportable, canonically, than others, and sometimes we simply won't be able to say "this character is that rep (as opposed to some other rep)" conclusively.
There has to be space in our readings of books to be comfortable with this ambiguity, and there has to be a minimum good-faith acceptance that if someone says "that book was queer to me," even if the book isn't explicit queer and doesn't read queer to someone else... that doesn't change the nature of the queerness.
Some of y'all really need to accept that there's not only one way to read a book, and there never will be, and that's okay.
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oh my god this is advice for budgeting in the society we actually live in, that obviously doesn't apply if it's impossible to follow. not endorsement of capitalism as a concept.
"Rent should be no more than 30% of household income" is a really funny and roundabout way to say "property owners as a class are entitled to 30% of gross wages"
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#of course this is the kind of stuff people complain about these days #calling it plot holes when no it actually makes sense for the character #because literacy is in the toilet
a) yes exactly, this is how you do the thing
b) unfortunately, as PG says above, you will still get people complaining about it and just have to learn to let the impulse to shake them and explain everything in agonizing detail fade away
Writing tip of the day: whenever you can, plug a plot hole with a character flaw!
Every time you realise that it makes no sense that the characters didn't do some super logical thing in the first place, figure out which character could have prevented it by simply the way they are as a person. You're not only solving the problem of the plot hole, but also the issue of writing flaws into your characters in a way that doesn't feel gratituous and contrived.
Why did the characters not use this weapon they had access to the whole time? - The character who could have told them about it wants to have control over people and had personally decided they shouldn't have it.
Why didn't that one genius character just tell everyone how to dismantle the robots? - They meant to, but being an absent-minded genius, they literally just forgot.
How did nobody notice that this little girl has been hanging out with an actual demon for seven years? - The demon made her pinky-promise not to tell anyone about it, and being naive and overly trusting, she didn't find that sketchy at all.
Why didn't the characters go to The Big Cool Guys for help in the first place? - The character who is stubborn and overly proud wanted to choose death before dishonour and didn't want to ask for help.
Every time there was a perfectly reasonable solution accessible to the characters all along, that could've resolved the whole plot in minutes, always try to find an angle where someone prevented it just by who they are as a person.
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thank you lesbians that make strange & unmarketable art
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(greeting someone u would die for) well well well… look who crawled out of the primordial FILTH
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"School districts that don’t respect transgender and nonbinary students’ pronouns or force them to use restrooms that don’t align with their gender identity could be committing federal civil rights violations beginning this fall.
Today, the U.S. Department of Education announced the issuance of a final rule under Title IX to protect people in public schools from sex-based discrimination and harassment. The announcement marks a significant update in federal efforts to combat sex discrimination in federally funded educational institutions. During a call with reporters, Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona emphasized the administration’s dedication to ensuring that Title IX effectively serves all students by providing safe, welcoming, and rights-respecting educational environments."
Read the full piece here
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'passion', robert wun | spring 2024
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The administration of President Joe Biden acted last month to mostly rescind a Trump-era Denial of Care Rule that invited health care workers to deny medical treatment and services to patients because of personal religious or moral beliefs.
Americans United applauded the move.
“We applaud the Biden administration for taking positive steps toward protecting both religious freedom and patients’ health by rescinding the Trump-era Denial of Care Rule,” said Rachel Laser, AU’s president and CEO. “No one should be denied the health care they need because of someone else’s religious beliefs.
“The Denial of Care Rule was a dangerous policy that weaponized religious freedom and put the health and lives of women, LGBTQ+ people, religious minorities and so many others in jeopardy,” Laser continued. “Today’s rule seeks to protect patients from harm and upholds the fundamental principle of church-state separation.”
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gotta say, I'm delighted to learn that @the-seelie-court-official is 4'11", very cute, and weaponizing the actual definition of the Punisher to ruin this man's whole day.
I don't know much about the seelie court but this strikes me as very fae behavior.
one time i told a guy with a huge punisher decal on his car that i loved the punisher but that i'm too scared to have any of his merch because in the current political climate i wouldn't want people to think i support killing police and the man had. no response whatsoever. he was smiling and completely frozen in place. i'd never seen anyone bluescreen that hard
do with this information what you will
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A scorpion, not knowing how to swim, asked a frog to carry it across the river. “Do I look like a fool?” said the frog. “You’d sting me if I let you on my back!”
“Be logical,” said the scorpion. “If I stung you I’d certainly drown myself.”
“That’s true,” the frog acknowledged. “Climb aboard, then!” But no sooner than they were halfway across the river, the scorpion stung the frog, and they both began to thrash and drown. “Why on earth did you do that?” the frog said morosely. “Now we’re both going to die.”
“I can’t help it,” said the scorpion. “It’s my nature.”
___
…But no sooner than they were halfway across the river, the frog felt a subtle motion on its back, and in a panic dived deep beneath the rushing waters, leaving the scorpion to drown.
“It was going to sting me anyway,” muttered the frog, emerging on the other side of the river. “It was inevitable. You all knew it. Everyone knows what those scorpions are like. It was self-defense.”
___
…But no sooner had they cast off from the bank, the frog felt the tip of a stinger pressed lightly against the back of its neck. “What do you think you’re doing?” said the frog.
“Just a precaution,” said the scorpion. “I cannot sting you without drowning. And now, you cannot drown me without being stung. Fair’s fair, isn’t it?”
They swam in silence to the other end of the river, where the scorpion climbed off, leaving the frog fuming.
“After the kindness I showed you!” said the frog. “And you threatened to kill me in return?”
“Kindness?” said the scorpion. “To only invite me on your back after you knew I was defenseless, unable to use my tail without killing myself? My dear frog, I only treated you as I was treated. Your kindness was as poisoned as a scorpion’s sting.”
___
…“Just a precaution,” said the scorpion. “I cannot sting you without drowning. And now, you cannot drown me without being stung. Fair’s fair, isn’t it?”
“You have a point,” the frog acknowledged. “But once we get to dry land, couldn’t you sting me then without repercussion?”
“All I want is to cross the river safely,” said the scorpion. “Once I’m on the other side I would gladly let you be.”
“But I would have to trust you on that,” said the frog. “While you’re pressing a stinger to my neck. By ferrying you to land I’d be be giving up the one deterrent I hold over you.”
“But by the same logic, I can’t possibly withdraw my stinger while we’re still over water,” the scorpion protested.
The frog paused in the middle of the river, treading water. “So, I suppose we’re at an impasse.”
The river rushed around them. The scorpion’s stinger twitched against the frog’s unbroken skin. “I suppose so,” the scorpion said.
___
A scorpion, not knowing how to swim, asked a frog to carry it across the river. “Absolutely not!” said the frog, and dived beneath the waters, and so none of them learned anything.
___
A scorpion, being unable to swim, asked a turtle (as in the original Persian version of the fable) to carry it across the river. The turtle readily agreed, and allowed the scorpion aboard its shell. Halfway across, the scorpion gave in to its nature and stung, but failed to penetrate the turtle’s thick shell. The turtle, swimming placidly, failed to notice.
They reached the other side of the river, and parted ways as friends.
___
…Halfway across, the scorpion gave in to its nature and stung, but failed to penetrate the turtle’s thick shell.
The turtle, hearing the tap of the scorpion’s sting, was offended at the scorpion’s ungratefulness. Thankfully, having been granted the powers to both defend itself and to punish evil, the turtle sank beneath the waters and drowned the scorpion out of principle.
___
A scorpion, not knowing how to swim, asked a frog to carry it across the river. “Do I look like a fool?” sneered the frog. “You’d sting me if I let you on my back.”
The scorpion pleaded earnestly. “Do you think so little of me? Please, I must cross the river. What would I gain from stinging you? I would only end up drowning myself!”
“That’s true,” the frog acknowledged. “Even a scorpion knows to look out for its own skin. Climb aboard, then!”
But as they forged through the rushing waters, the scorpion grew worried. This frog thinks me a ruthless killer, it thought. Would it not be justified in throwing me off now and ridding the world of me? Why else would it agree to this? Every jostle made the scorpion more and more anxious, until the frog surged forward with a particularly large splash, and in panic the scorpion lashed out with its stinger.
“I knew it,” snarled the frog, as they both thrashed and drowned. “A scorpion cannot change its nature.”
___
A scorpion, not knowing how to swim, asked a frog to carry it across the river. The frog agreed, but no sooner than they were halfway across the scorpion stung the frog, and they both began to thrash and drown.
“I’ve only myself to blame,” sighed the frog, as they both sank beneath the waters. “You, you’re a scorpion, I couldn’t have expected anything better. But I knew better, and yet I went against my judgement! And now I’ve doomed us both!”
“You couldn’t help it,” said the scorpion mildly. “It’s your nature.”
___
…“Why on earth did you do that?” the frog said morosely. “Now we’re both going to die.”
“Alas, I was of two natures,” said the scorpion. “One said to gratefully ride your back across the river, and the other said to sting you where you stood. And so both fought, and neither won.” It smiled wistfully. “Ah, it would be nice to be just one thing, wouldn’t it? Unadulterated in nature. Without the capacity for conflict or regret.”
___
“By the way,” said the frog, as they swam, “I’ve been meaning to ask: What’s on the other side of the river?”
“It’s the journey,” said the scorpion. “Not the destination.”
___
…“What’s on the other side of anything?” said the scorpion. “A new beginning.”
___
…”Another scorpion to mate with,” said the scorpion. “And more prey to kill, and more living bodies to poison, and a forthcoming lineage of cruelties that you will be culpable in.”
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…”Nothing we will live to see, I fear,” said the scorpion. “Already the currents are growing stronger, and the river seems like it shall swallow us both. We surge forward, and the shoreline recedes. But does that mean our striving was in vain?”
___
“I love you,” said the scorpion.
The frog glanced upward. “Do you?”
“Absolutely. Can you imagine the fear of drowning? Of course not. You’re a frog. Might as well be scared of breathing air. And yet here I am, clinging to your back, as the waters rage around us. Isn’t that love? Isn’t that trust? Isn’t that necessity? I could not kill you without killing myself. Are we not inseparable in this?”
The frog swam on, the both of them silent.
___
“I’m so tired,” murmured the frog eventually. “How much further to the other side? I don’t know how long we’ve been swimming. I’ve been treading water. And it’s getting so very dark.”
“Shh,” the scorpion said. “Don’t be afraid.”
The frog’s legs kicked out weakly. “How long has it been? We’re lost. We’re lost! We’re doomed to be cast about the waters forever. There is no land. There’s nothing on the other side, don’t you see!”
“Shh, shh,” said the scorpion. “My venom is a hallucinogenic. Beneath its surface, the river is endlessly deep, its currents carrying many things.”
“You - You’ve killed us both,” said the frog, and began to laugh deliriously. “Is this - is this what it’s like to drown?”
“We’ve killed each other,” said the scorpion soothingly. “My venom in my glands now pulsing through your veins, the waters of your birthing pool suffusing my lungs. We are engulfing each other now, drowning in each other. I am breathless. Do you feel it? Do you feel my sting pierced through your heart?”
“What a foolish thing to do,” murmured the frog. “No logic. No logic to it at all.”
“We couldn’t help it,” whispered the scorpion. “It’s our natures. Why else does anything in the world happen? Because we were made for this from birth, darling, every moment inexplicable and inevitable. What a crazy thing it is to fall in love, and yet - It’s all our fault! We are both blameless. We’re together now, darling. It couldn’t have happened any other way.”
___
“It’s funny,” said the frog. “I can’t say that I trust you, really. Or that I even think very much of you and that nasty little stinger of yours to begin with. But I’m doing this for you regardless. It’s strange, isn’t it? It’s strange. Why would I do this? I want to help you, want to go out of my way to help you. I let you climb right onto my back! Now, whyever would I go and do a foolish thing like that?”
___
A scorpion, not knowing how to swim, asked a frog to carry it across the river. “Do I look like a fool?” said the frog. “You’d sting me if I let you on my back!”
“Be logical,” said the scorpion. “If I stung you I’d certainly drown myself.”
“That’s true,” the frog acknowledged. “Come aboard, then!” But no sooner had the scorpion mounted the frog’s back than it began to sting, repeatedly, while still safely on the river’s bank.
The frog groaned, thrashing weakly as the venom coursed through its veins, beginning to liquefy its flesh. “Ah,” it muttered. “For some reason I never considered this possibility.”
“Because you were never scared of me,” the scorpion whispered in its ear. “You were never scared of dying. In a past life you wore a shell and sat in judgement. And then you were reborn: soft-skinned, swift, unburdened, as new and vulnerable as a child, moving anew through a world of children. How could anyone ever be cruel, you thought, seeing the precariousness of it all?” The scorpion bowed its head and drank. “How could anyone kill you without killing themselves?”
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If you have Firefox (and possibly other browsers, I don't keep tabs) (tabs lol) install the Wayback Machine add-on, and you can check to see if the page has been crawled before!
girl typing a very specific question into google search bar, scrunching her face as she takes time to make sure she hasn't made any spelling errors, hitting enter, shaking her head as google only presents her with unhelpful websites that don't answer her query at all, moving her cursor back to the search bar and clicking on it so she can carefully write 'reddit' at the end, hitting enter again, sighing with relief as she finds a link to a reddit post asking the exact question she needed answered posted in a subreddit for a very niche topic, finally moving her cursor to click on the link, wondering why she didn't go straight to the subreddit earlier, only to be met with a deleted comment with a reply from the OP stating 'that was very helpful, thanks', sighing with frustration as she moves her cursor back to the search bar so she can copy the link and paste it into the wayback machine,
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“lieutenant commander jadzia dax is a trill, a humanoid species that attains its fullest realization in symbiotic connection with a species of large, long-lived slugs called symbionts. a trill is also a musical articulation created, with an instrument, by the rapid alternation of two tones, either a whole or a half tone apart, or, with a voice, by the rapid vibration of one speech organ against another. a trill, then, is a singular musical motif created by the contiguous motion of two distinct notes or organs. it is simultaneously mobile and arrested, present and absent, ‘a sound locked in movement.’ likewise the trill are, in their fullest realization, a plural species, two distinct organs creating a unique and fluid singularity. the constant transformation between the two voices/organisms constitutes the fragile yet durable continuity of the t/Trill.”
— kathy e. ferguson, “this species which is not one: identity practices in star trek: deep space nine”
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yoooo guys these wings my dad made look INSANE i can’t wait to try them tomorrow
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@cryptotheism If you do end up writing material on alchemy you're then asked to trash, send it on to me, that's exactly what I'm working on.
Speaking of which, how does one find people to publish a book about magic or alchemy? I've been told you should find a publisher for nonfiction before you start writing the thing, but I've never tried publishing nonfiction and I don't know where to start. My best sources are published by people you can't just walk up to and pitch an idea at.
hhhhhhh man the Arabic alchemical writers are fascinating but I feel like I'm getting too in the weeds on them. I really like the symmetry of dedicating a page to each of the Big Five, but it's a book about magic, not alchemy. I can hear my editor telling me to only include alchemical doctrine such that it effected western conceptions of magic.
I also think I'm focusing way too much on the influence of neoplatonism on islamicate esoterica. I think that's a result of my relative ignorance though. I know a ton about neoplatonism but relatively little about Islam, especially 9th century Islam. I need to sit down with an islamist scholar and pick their brain for a few hours.
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