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dollypopup · 1 year

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penelope, intentions, privacy, and the infantalization of innocence

or: a call to see Penelope as the complicated character she actually is

there has been, for some good time now, a sense in the general fandom space that hinges on Penelope being a perfect angel who did everything she did out of altruism, or a feeling of separating or minimizing her actions through Whistledown, divorcing her from her decisions (in the classic 'she had no choice' or 'no one listened to her as Pen' fabrications). and i am here to, once again, beg for a nuanced look at her, and in particular those who cared for her whom she hurt deeply

let's dig in

Lady Whistledown is Penelope's coping mechanism, and it is clear from the first article she wrote. Penelope is posturing, putting on a front. This first article is the root of her intentions, the core of what she hopes for, and the mold for which she wishes to be. Just read some of these lines

I know people better than they know themselves. I can see what is happening behind closed doors better than those behind them.

This is an act, a falsity. Penelope *doesn't* know more about people than they know about themselves. How could she? She is largely ignored by the general populace. She wrote this article before she was even out in society. She had little access to balls or information, her sisters debuted with her, and her mother and father weren't particularly popular members of the community. What Penelope knew of others, she knew from external observations.

This is where the falsification first begins: she can't possibly see what is happening behind closed doors, but she wants to. Penelope is an outsider wanting to look in, wanting to look in so deeply that she understands and knows others in intimate ways without putting in the hard work of gaining their trust. LW being published before Penelope is out in the general society is proof of Penelope's powerlessness in the general scheme of Mayfair: and she has a right to feel that way. She is not particularly cared for in her own family, nor is she listened to by them. She is angry. Her friendship with Eloise is one in which two girls who are both frustrated with their circumstances come to meet.

The fact that such a thing could be printed with, essentially, her allowance, is also proof that she is disregarded as she is. No one notices when she is gone, she is, by and large, invisible. As such, she doubles down on the power fantasy of Lady Whistledown.

Do not try to close your doors tighter to protect your privacy as I may already be inside. And thus I will slowly get inside each and everyone's head.

I don't know about you, but reading that is chilling. Though of course I am taking it with the modern perspective of living in an age where privacy continues to be stripped, there's something particularly cruel about insisting that you are inescapable. It's written in a way that is intended as a threat, followed by

No need to panic, I will be fair, gentle reader

and this is where Penelope's intentions come in. Do I believe she genuinely and truly wanted to be fair? Yes. Do I believe Penelope has a well developed sense of what fairness entails? ABSOLUTELY NOT. And she's not SUPPOSED to. Because Penelope also perpetuates her own invisibility, even in the midst of her pride in writing Whistledown. Penelope punches down repeatedly, but she does not think she is doing so. For Penelope the person, she is 'exposing the truth' in a general sense of hard hitting journalism, but Lady Whistledown, her persona, cultivated a power others don't have. When she wrote of the unnamed Modiste unfavorably, she ran her out of business: because LW has the power and privilege of being heard, the power and privilege to ruin lives and reputations, to sequester people to bad opinions and derision.

And one of the first people she does this to is her mum and her family, including herself. In the very first LW article, she mentions only the Featheringtons and the Bridgertons, along with one other lady, Miss Boltenston, who Penelope writes would be best for a suitor who prefers bedtime conversation as opposed to other activities.

Three misses. Foisted upon the marriage market like sorrowful sows by their tasteless, tactless dear mama-- the luckless souls.

Then, when discussing the Bridgertons, the only people who have been seen as being genuinely nice to her, she writes that they're perfect, full of refinement, "four perfectly handsome sons and four perfectly beautiful daughters. Yes. Perfect, indeed"

but this isn't meant to be a compliment. In particular when we go back and listen to Eloise's hunt for LW and her conversation with Penelope at her door.

"Whistledown is someone free and unencumbered by society, she is a single woman of means, better yet she is a widow who would be invited to all the events but not paid any attention, so while you are at the ball-"

"Eloise I do not care! People have real problems, mature problems, problems that have nothing to do with the secret identity of some silly writer. " "And you are so mature now?" "I am of age, I am out in society, therefor I have more important mature things to worry about." "Like what?" "Like marriage." "You do not care about marriage." "What if I do!? I do not expect you to understand. Not everyone can be a pretty Bridgerton."

There's a resentment that Penelope has for the Bridgertons. She loves them, absolutely, but we can't sit here and deny that Penelope isn't jealous and doesn't discuss it or dig deeper into those feelings to unwrap or unlearn them. There are reasons for it, of course, but this is a facet of her character that often gets overlooked. And it keeps her from opening up. To Colin and to Eloise.

I exhaust of the perfect Miss Penelope Featherington, always the victim of other people's harms, always doing everything she does because she's such a #good person. It leaves the door shut to her growth. Penelope has good INTENTIONS with bad outcomes. She hopes that she will, herself, not be corrupted by the power she so criticizes others for misusing, but she falls into the same pitfalls and that is compelling as hell to explore.

My intention is not to shed any blood but to shed some light on the true events in our society. My words, though might be hurtful, are not meant to be mean. They are meant to be fair . .be prepared to hear the truth about yourself and your kin.

I'm glad she acknowledged that her words would be hurtful, though she hides behind what she intends as opposed to the outcome. Because she absolutely did shed blood, she genuinely could have killed Marina with what she published. And after she does so, she comes back from it still owning that bloodshed, for she writes things such as 'sharpening my knives for you' and hailing her pen as a weapon. There's no indication she wrote to her cousin or offered any support or condolences. She has to ask Colin how Marina is doing, as though she does not know on her own.

Penelope wants to be a good person who does good things. But goodness is not black and white and Penelope falls deeper and deeper into her LW persona internally whilst pretending she is unchanged on the exterior.

There's a line in the book, when she says 'Maybe I grew up' and that's what I need from her in S3. This is, largely, a very long essay more so in response to a fandom version of Penelope than the real Penelope, because the show does show her actions as being wrong. Penelope cries and agonizes over her choices because she knows they aren't good, but she does them anyway because her idea of what should happen matters more than other people's agency in their decisions.

People talk about how Eloise was a bad friend to Penelope, how she didn't listen to her, but in reality, Penelope did not actually talk to her, save to tell her she has different life goals than Eloise does. So many moments in which Penelope could confide in her that she does not take.

In particularly, I think about after Penelope's father passes, and Eloise visits her. This comes at the heels of Penelope exposing Marina's pregnancy to the ton and publicly destroying Colin's engagement to her, as well as Eloise saving her from being caught by the Queen.

"The ones we love have the power to inflict the greatest scars. For what thing is more fragile than the human heart?"

And then Eloise comforting her. Telling her

"I am here, Pen, to help you to find a reason every day to enjoy in the absence of your dear Papa. I know you shall miss him."

to which Penelope replies with

"Share something good. What happened with Whistledown? Did you save Mdm. Delecroix?"

No discussion of how she actually feels, only a deflection, even as Eloise assures her she has a friend. But Penelope already knows what Eloise will tell her with this response, and also knows that she has the wrong idea of who Whistledown is, but she would rather have a conversation she knows the outcome to than spill open to her closest friend. That's lonely as hell. Penelope forces herself to be apart, as well. It's a behavior she needs to unlearn.

Penelope keeps her own secrets but cannot allow others to do so. She spirals in what she perceives to be her own powerlessness whilst her actions have the most impact, good and bad, upon near everyone in her vicinity.

Eloise tells her: "You are my friend, and I do not wish for secrets to set us apart" and though Penelope agrees, she does not confide in her. Even when it comes to Eloise's relationship to Theo and her burgeoning romantic feelings for him, something she confesses to Penelope, asking if she can relate, Penelope does not offer the same vulnerability. Instead, she insists that people already know about her relationship with Theo, and Eloise trusts her, though it's untrue. No one else was talking about Eloise and Theo, and yes, Penelope writing about her as LW was wrong and awful, but a more intimate pain she inflicted was that Penelope was encouraging Eloise away from him and away from her own feelings.

Eloise even tells Theo: "People are already talking about us" when they almost kiss as a reason for them to stop seeing each other. But no one is. This is a lie Penelope tells Eloise.

and this takes me to the final act of it all: People DO listen to Penelope. The people who MATTER listen to her and encourage her. There are constant discussions of how Eloise does not listen or how Colin didn't listen, but looking back at those conversations and interactions: Eloise and Colin listen to Penelope very closely, in fact.

Eloise repeats things Penelope says to her, trusts what she says. Yes, she is often talking to Penelope and 'using her as a sounding board' because that is what friends do. Balance comes when both parties do so. Penelope does not do the same back. She does not discuss, she does not say what she means, what she feels, what she believes.

And she does the same to Colin. Colin who wrote her letters for months. Colin who recognizes her intentions. Colin who talks to her about his hopes and plans, an action she does not reciprocate up until S2 when they talk after the botched wedding. Even when Colin asks how she's been after they meet for the first time that season, she lies and says it's all fine. This comes from an assumption from her that he doesn't care about her because he doesn't love her romantically, but Colin obviously cares a lot for Pen. Even in S1 he cares about her deeply and earnestly. I don't understand the narrative of him not listening to her, because I think he listens to and hears her more than almost anyone else does.

Even in this conversation

"I believe you deserve to know" "Is there something on my face? Has it been there all evening? It has hasn't it? Sorry, go on." "I have wanted to talk to you since the engagement was announced but we have always been in company" "So this is something about Marina?" "Her heart belongs to another." "What?" "His name is Sir George Crane, he is a first son, a soldier, they rent the neighboring properties in the country, I am sorry Colin, but I have seen their love letters. I thought you should know before it is too late." "You really are very good, you know that? Do you think that I would care she had fond feelings for another before we met? It would be rather rich of me considering I've flirted with half the girls in London at one point or another." "No, you misunderstand, this was no mere flirtation, Marina loves this man, she loves him still." "And yet she is marrying me."

This conversation is often cited as proof that Colin doesn't listen to her, but reading it: he is listening very clearly. She told him Marina loved someone else before, he replied that it doesn't matter (can we take a moment to applaud him for this, also? that's a really mature response from him) and then when she tries to clarify, she does so by telling him that she loves someone else. But that's not what she actually wants to say.

What she's saying is to dissolve the engagement and she believes Colin the kind of person who would cut ties with someone who loved someone else before, but he isn't. It's not that he isn't listening to her, it's that he IS and he isn't responding in the way she wants. This scene is ALSO Colin asking Penelope to understand him, to understand his choices, to support him as well. He ends this conversation with a plea: Trust me, Pen, do not fret. Asking for her to take him seriously. Instead of trusting him, trusting him to his decisions, trusting him with the truth, she instead takes matters back into her own hands.

Because what she publishes is

"As if the Featheringtons did not have enough to be dealing with, Miss Marina Thompson is with child. And she has been from the very first day she arrived in our fair city."

That is HEAPS different from what she talked to Colin about, but it solidifies her innocence to him, because at the core of it, she wants PARTS of what Whistledown is, but not all of it. She WANTS Colin to see her as good and she wants to have a soft love story with him, all at the cost of who she actually is. She sanitizes herself for Colin because she does not understand or cannot face that he already has affection for her as she already is, that she can trust him for who HE is. He isn't in love with her (yet) because she hasn't shown him who she is in her entirety, but he DOES love her, regardless.

(Which I think is so beautiful. Here is a person who refuses time and time again to be open and vulnerable (because of her own trauma and complications, no shade, we've all been there) and yet he sees that she's special and keeps opening the door for her to talk to him. Let it never be said that Colin doesn't have a special place for her in his heart, regardless of a SINGULAR comment of his that she heard out of context)

Colin and Eloise are constantly asking how she's doing, constantly leaning in to see what she says, and the brief moments in when she confides in them, they obviously keep it close and recognize those moments as being special. It's Penelope who has to contest with the mortifying ordeal of being known: and that is her character arc. Her character arc is not that she did nothing wrong because no one else would listen, they do, but even when they don't (and Marina doesn't HAVE to listen to her about dissolving the engagement. Marina had to look out for her own wellbeing and the wellbeing of her future family and she had every right to considering everyone proved to her that no one else will) Penelope has Eloise and Penelope has Colin, two people who care deeply for her. Who she has written about and betrayed trust in. Who she needs to apologize to and make amends. And no, an apology is not 'I'm sorry, but I did it because X', Eloise didn't want excuses from Pen, she wanted accountability, and she was right to demand it.

Because the beautiful thing is that we have ALL hurt our friends, we have all been the bad friend, and we have all fucked up immensely, and such things make us human and capable of change, something Penelope is continuously denied as a character in the uwu perfect baby narrative that gets cultivated.

I think this quote sums up her dissonance very well

"Perhaps I will come forward one day, though you must know dear reader, that decision should be left entirely up to me."

at the end of it, this is a conversation about trust and agency. Penelope upholds her own privacy, her own right to secrecy, and denies everyone else the same, including people who adore her. Colin and Eloise and Marina all become villains in this light as opposed to what they actually are: People with their own wants and dreams who also deserve their own right to privacy. And my personal hope is that with who LW is in the show, Penelope recognizes that she doesn't need that persona as a coping mechanism. Not in her friendship with Eloise and not in her romance with Colin. She does not need LW to be heard because she *is* heard. She only needs to say what she really means.

In her very first article, Penelope writes

"Hiding behind this paper is a brave person who can protect herself with a pen."

but when Eloise tells her she is "Sequestered here in this very room, writing your secret little scandal sheet, tarnishing everyone in town, all because you are too scared to stand up for yourself in reality" she takes that to heart and gets defensive and furious because at the core of things, it's TRUE. it hurt her *because* it was true. Penelope does NOT stand nor speak up for herself in the light, only in her writing. and it doesn't have to be that way.

her character arc is growing to the point where she can do so. where she no longer needs LW to speak on her opinions or how she feels, where she doesn't rely on it. her character arc IS to become brave. people ALREADY like her. they already see her insight as valuable. LW is a coping mechanism Penelope used because she thought no one else listened, but they prove her wrong and she has to grapple with that. she is loved and she needs to learn to accept it. she is loved and she did bad things. she can make mistakes and still be loved. she can own what she's done and know she is surrounded by people who care for her to the point of accountability.

and isn't that just so much more satisfying?

#penelope featherington #colin bridgerton #eloise bridgerton #polin #peneloise #bridgerton #idk i have a lot of thoughts about this and i keep seeing the 'penelope did nothing wrong and everyone else is awful to her' narrative #and i had thoughts #long post is long #many quotes are dropped #and if anyone has access to more of the LW papers i would love to see them! let's go deep baybay #when you write stuff like 'if your consciousness is clear then you have nothing to fear' there's some STUFF to unpack

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amethystroselily · 2 years

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Ok, I actually did start reading the beast manga, and I think the sad thing about it is how much it makes sense for those two to have switched organizations.

Like, I think Atsushi connected better with the mafia than canon Akutagawa, and Beast Akutagawa connected with the ADA more than canon Atsushi. And like yeah. Atsushi can follow direction well and he’s used to strong authority figures in his life, of course he’s doing better in an intensely hierarchical organization like the Port mafia than the guy who grew up with no parental figures whatsoever and simply cannot follow an order correctly on the first try. Atsushi latched onto Dazai and Kyouka and he seems content with that. Whereas canon Akutagawa is just way to focused on proving himself to be content.

And like, Akutagawa obviously does better in an environment where everyone is patient with him and lets him fuck up a little bit without serious punishment. But also his personality works weirdly well with everyone else in the ADA. He’s eccentric in a way that blends in pretty well with them. He’s their weird little murderous guy, yknow? They can fix him. It’s like a group project. Like a pet.

And canon Atsushi does fine with the ADA, obviously it’s a lot better for his mental health than the mafia could ever be, but I do think it’s hilarious how some of them seem to actually like Akutagawa more. They simply just vibe with him whereas it took a while for any to really form a connection with Atsushi (except Kunikida and maybe Kenji but Kenji and Atsushi’s dynamic just doesn’t hit near as hard as Akutagawa and Kenji’s dynamic). I do blame this entirely on Dazai tbh, he has this subtle yet very present sense of control over every aspect of Atsushi’s life in canon. Which I think effects his relationships with others. But that doesn’t mean the ADA doesn’t care about him.

Anyways this, combined with the possibility that Oda might be the only one who can defeat Fukuchi, leads me to believe that BEAST may actually be the optimal timeline. Like some sacrifices had to be made, but in the long run maybe this really was what was best? (Not for the mafia tho, they’re fucked after Dazai killed himself)

But also it makes sense purely from Dazai’s own wants. Maybe after all the timelines, he just simply cannot bring himself to deal with Akutagawa. He knows he doesn’t have the patience with him that he requires and he probably does want what’s best for Akutagawa to some extent, and the ADA is best for him. He knows Oda and Kunikida could train him right. He doesn’t need Atsushi to be his sheath as much if the agency’s already mellowing him out. Whereas he genuinely likes being around Atsushi. If he needs one of them in the pm with him might as well pick the one he enjoys talking to. His relationship with Atsushi kind of feels like it’s about Dazai’s own ego anyways sometimes, Atsushi makes him feel a little bit better about himself I think, because he’s just so grateful. So maybe it is worth it to prolong Atsushi’s suffering a bit since plans to let him live a better life at the end of this all anyways. It all balances out to a positive in the end.

#beast Atsushi is actually good at his job unlike canon Akutagawa…#this could be better if I wasn’t so fucking tired but if I don’t finish a post in one day I probably won’t ever finish it #and I had thoughts #bsd #bungou stray dogs #bsd beast spoilers #bsd beast #bsd akutagawa ryunosuke #bsd dazai osamu #bsd nakajima atsushi #beast akutagawa #beast atsushi

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kurokoros · 22 days

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no but the way the older teens in ST apologize is just so different. Steve says "I messed up" or "I'm sorry" and takes steps to fix what he did. Jonathan says "I was wrong". Nancy says "I didn't mean it" and "I was drunk. I don't remember any of that."

#it's so fascinating to me how nancy offers non-apologies that shift the blame away from here #'i didn't mean what i said' but not 'i'm sorry I said it'#steve and jonathan give actual apologies #but nancy's feel more like 'i'm sorry you feel that way'#i just got to the scene where nancy and jonathan 'apologize' to each other after their argument in S3 #and i had THOUGHTS #strangerthoughts

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marzipanandminutiae · 1 year

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GNC Lucille is one of those things that shows up in the fandom every so often and reminds me that Kink Tomato can apply to headcanons and characterization, too

The character does crossdress once, and though I don’t interpret that as anything relating to her personal gender presentation, there’s nothing in the story that precludes the idea definitively

On the other hand, I always have to remind myself of that, because like. I love some goth (probably queer) femme rep in period dramas. so I have a bit of a knee-jerk negative reaction to this whole idea. But I have to stop myself, because someone else’s interpretation of a character takes absolutely nothing away from mine

(and to be honest, just as it makes me feel happy and Seen to imagine the character as a dark Victorian femme sapphist since that’s sort of my own Thing, I’m sure other people get something personal out of imagining her differently. in the same “see aspects of myself in this character I like“ fashion)

Your interpretation of this character’s relationship to gender presentation and aesthetic is not mine, and that’s also OK

#crimson peak #lucille sharpe #fandom ramblings #new gnc Lucille fic just dropped and I read it because Femslash #and I had thoughts

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foxevxid · 5 months

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i was telling one of my closest friends the other day, that if she had died, i don’t think i would cry

i said that i don’t really feel all that sad when something or someone i care about dies

and then i thought about my great grandmother’s death and how my first love had told me that i wasn’t grieving, but i denied it

thinking about it now, she had been right, and so am i.

i don’t take the time to grieve properly and i don’t feel sad when something or someone dies.

i feel angry. i get so full of rage that there’s no room to feel anything else. and that rage, it festers, slowly, for as long as i am alive without them.

i cry over them, but i’m not sad. they’re tears of anger and frustration. they’re tears that stain my cheeks while i sit in silence and think.

think about what i could’ve done that could’ve saved them, about how my father had promised he wouldn’t shoot her and how i’ll never be able to truly forgive him, even if i told him i did. how we had made so many plans but we didn’t have enough time, how unfair that is. how we could’ve fulfilled those plans, had i put them before everything else.

i sit there and i think like that for the rest of my days.

i don’t grieve and i’m not sad. i am simply a girl so full of rage, that the only thing i have left to do is be silent.

#my bad yall #i got high #and i had thoughts #rant #rant post #personal rant #poetry #grief

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nevert-the-guy · 7 months

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Having Minecraft thoughts from last night.

Now that you can't actually pause anymore, the End stands out as one of the only places where you can put the controller down and just... leave.

In the Overworld, you run the risk of spawning Phantoms, or if your lighting's not too great you could have Creepers waiting right outside your door.

In the Nether, all it takes is one poorly-timed Ghast fireball to completely screw you over.

But the End? Once you kill the Ender Dragon you can just, point your viewpoint to the ground and just go. Even if someone else brings it back, you could just go to the Far End, just making sure you're not too close to an End City.

It's weird. The final dimension of the game, the one thing this endless game calls an End, is, in it's own strange way, the most peaceful part of it. Yet it's home to some of the game's most dangerous mobs too, if you aren't careful. Was this peace the thing you were fighting for? This strange, nearly empty peace?

It's something to think about.

#minecraft #i just beat the ender dragon in my newest survival world yesterday #and i had Thoughts #especially since i don't have as much time to play video games anymore #coding. calculus. discrete math.#it throws a lot on my plate each week #it's stressful and this weekend was the first time in a while that i turned on my switch again #i'd say i'm just not giving myself the time #but with how much even calc alone expects from me #i think that's just me trying to put myself down further #...this started out about the funny block game...

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attroxx · 5 months

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during koda's idol days in the group ' matchst1ck ' he was the lead rapper. which usually threw new fans off but he quickly became one of the more popular members of the group, often depicted as a badass in music videos but . . . outside of those he was quite the opposite. that has spilled into his acting career, often being cast in villain roles despite his kind and sweet demeanor.

#more hc's no one wanted #i was listening to stray kids #cause their my fav group #and i had thoughts #guess who my bias is.#〈 koda headcanons. ★ 〉

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jewishbarbies · 1 year

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tiktok people who INSIST on engaging with native things like w*os and s*w* when told not to are mind boggling. they’ll say “oh well I’m not saying the REAL name for this thing so I’m not invoking it and not being disrespectful” as if….they’re not taking about it…..and drawing it…..and making jokes about it…..and acting like it’s a random mythology creature that gen z decided was cool like mothman. it doesn’t matter if you’re saying the real name - you have NO reason to be engaging with these things unless and until native people give you permission. it’s INSANELY disrespectful to throw the english words around so carelessly, laughing like “lol my dog made a funny face so now I’m calling him this thing bc funny” get a fucking grip.

stop poaching myths/legends/folklore/etc from other cultures just bc you can read about it on google, you fucking shitheads.

#g talks #I saw another white person talking about ‘hearing a (creature)’#and I had thoughts #because it’s just like the bitches that stole lilith #and normalize her being something she isn’t #they memeify people’s actual fucking cultures #when told EXPLICITLY not to #and it’s so ducking frustrating #*fucking #IF ANY INDIGENOUS PEOPLE WANNA ADD/DELETE THIS LEMME KNOW #preferably off anon bc i have some asshole anons that WILL try to lie #mine #/mobile #/okay to reblog #racism

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sun-marie · 10 months

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I've been thinking a lot about my last reblog and I thought I'd make a separate post so I don't derail the other one by making it About Me, but like... yeah.

I never want to say that I, as a white person, suffer an equal amount as Native people from American Colonization (or black people, who under American slavery also had their original cultures stolen from them unfairly), because as the last post mentioned it did give me privilege that they don't have, and that shouldn't be ignored. But at the same time, I do feel that gaping hole inside me as a result of my ancestors' thoughtless desire for domination that left nothing in its wake, for the people they were subjugating, but also for their own people.

My great-grandfather is Swedish, as in his parents were from Sweden and immigrated to America before he was born. Yet they wanted him to "fit in" with the white American people in the rest of their new rural Texas town, and so they refused to teach him anything about his culture, didn't even teach him any Swedish words. So when he became an adult had kids of his own, there was nothing left to pass on, and by the time it got down to me, with my great-grandfather's parents having long since passed away, any link I might have had to my ancestors and their culture has been successfully and wholly severed. So when I met a girl last semester who was also generationally Swedish, I had nothing in common with her.

I don't want it to get confused that it's the same thing as what native people have and continue to go through, because it's not. But when I hear many of them speak about how they feel disconnected from the culture of their ancestors, it resonates with me. I have Swedish, British, Irish, Scottish, and German blood in my veins, and none of their traditions, or their food, or their cultural practices. When I learn information about these cultures, it's wholly unfamiliar to me.

I have no traditions, save for my "American" cultural holiday of Thanksgiving (which is tarnished by it's loaded history and it's relation to the cornerstone of White American "culture", colonialism) and my religious holidays of Christmas and Easter, which every year sinks deeper and deeper into the pit of American consumerism, the other cornerstone of American "culture".

Idk, it's just.... feels bad, man. I feel like I have no culture and due to that, no community. Thanks so much for that, ancestors mine. Really love your gift of "American Individualism", doesn't feel lonely or empty at all 👍🏻/sarcasm

#don//t reblo//g #word vomit #personal #I really hope what I'm saying makes sense #and that it's clear that I'm not trying to like co-op the struggles of people of color who were violently forced to assimilate #I can only speak to my own experience and no one else's #but when that last post mentioned how we are all victims of this ridiculous system of white supremacy #in some form or another and to varying degrees #idk I felt seen #and I had thoughts #the world would be better if we did away with it #for the void #might delete later

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onefey · 22 days

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you're going about your normal day when, suddenly, surprise! you've been pokémon mystery dungeon'd!

unfortunately, due to budget cuts, the pokémon assigning quiz has been canceled. instead, you must spin THE WHEEL, assigning you a random, unevolved, non-legendary and non-mythical pokémon. you must now go on some sort of world-saving adventure as this pokémon. good luck!

tell me in the tags what you rolled, and how you feel about it - for bonus points, you can spin the wheel again for (or just take your pick of) a pokémon to be your partner.

bonus rules:

you're not shiny unless the wheel tells you you're shiny

take your pick of regional forms and evolutions (for example, if you roll vulpix, it's up to you whether that means normal or alolan vulpix)

apply whatever logic you like with regards to gender

have fun and be yourself!

#pokemon #pkmn #pokemon mystery dungeon #pmd #tag games #someone might've done this concept already but i had a worm in my brain you know.#i thought itd be fun to list all the unevolved pokemon... now i know there's only around 400 evolution lines total!#.. not counting mythicals legendaries ultra beasts or paradoxes #by the way! alongside the shiny result there are two other bonus results: an obligatory pikachu and... a surprise!!!#finally feel free to let me know if i misspelled something or accidentally included an evolved mon (other than pikachu)#sorry long tags ha 😅 i'm done now

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endusviolence · 2 months

Note

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.