Billy lives AU where Billy was also taken by the Russians after Starcourt.

He managed to live by the akin of his teeth. Part of his consciousness ripped off a chunk from the mindflayer, just a small bit, just enough to keep his body alive when it shouldn’t be. His injuries healed, slowly, but more interestingly (at least to the Russians) his body adapted to the chemicals the mindflayer had forced it to consume.

They try to study those effects, as well as the effects having part of a hive mind trapped inside of a foreign body. Physically Billy gained accelerated healing, an extreme tolerance for acids and most toxins, as well as a few psychic abilities that he has little to no control over.

These tests however render Billy all but feral. Billy who was already so accustomed to being abused and tormented, now with the subtle influence of the mindflayer still left (not enough to control him, just enough to constantly whisper to him, to tempt him).

He's their most difficult subject by far. He can't be approached without sedation, something they learned early on, but even sedation doesn't last long enough to be fully viable. He has caused more damage to their crew and other subjects than anything else and as a result they keep him isolated as often as possible.

When Joyce and Murray break Hop out, they find Billy too, although they don't immediately recognize him. (The physical effects of everything he's been through have changed him a little. His hands and mouth are black, with black veins visble on his neck and forearms, his head is buzzed, and not to mention the Hannibal Lector get up they keep him in. His eyes are the same though, and that's what Joyce recognizes)

Its Joyce's idea to take him with, and he's pretty well drugged up when they grab him so he doesn't fight the way he ordinarily would.

The problem is from there, once he perks up, he's viscous. He fights like his life is on the line, and he's much stronger than his half starved body would suggest he should be. He wings Murray and almost injures Joyce too, though she manages to stumble onto the one thing that jars him out of his frenzy enough to start talking him down.

She mentions Max.

Its like her name is a trigger word for him. He freezes entirely, mid swing. Joyce capitalizes on this and starts telling him anything she can think of about the girl to help calm him down. She tells him about her new skateboard, about the song she's had on repeat all summer, and even how much the girl has missed him.

That opens a huge crack in him, and he actually speaks for the first time since Starcourt. He whispers with absolutely heartbreaking disbelief, "She missed me?"

Joyce, her mom senses now throughly activated, assures him that she has, tells him that they're going back home, that they're willing to bring Billy with them if he promises not to hurt anyone. She shouldn't be promising this but all she sees is "Hurt kid who really needs some help".

He stops fighting, and agrees with a nod.

He doesn't speak for the rest of the journey, and he still can't be touched without triggering him so they're careful to avoid that. He also doesn't sleep or eat which Joyce finds incredibly worrying but can't do much about.

When they make it back, the group is waiting for them. They told Max ahead if time who they found there too, warned her that he wasn't quite the same, but she couldn’t give two shits honestly.

When he sees her, its like the light flips on in his eyes. She's so familiar to him, the one thing he'd been able to keep a hold of in his mind through all of this, that when he sees her he just breaks.

She's the only person who can touch him without triggering him and she uses that privilege to hold him while he shatters. She doesn't know what happened to him, none of them really do, but she’s determined to help him heal regardless. She feels like she wasted enough of their time before hating him for something she now knew all too well wasn't his doing.

Billy's recovery is rough and slow going. Physically he's doing far better than anyone in his position should be. They discover that he can still eat, just not....food. They tried that once and he got violently ill. The mindflayer permanently reworked his body to be able to digest toxic chemicals, and that's the only thing he can stomach. They try several before finding which ones he actually likes and which ones will feed him but he doesn’t really care for. (Draino, for instance is fine but it tastes weird, where as Pinesol? All day long.)

Mentally however he's a wreck.

He sleeps but only for an hour or two so its hard to miss. He's terrified that if he sleeps too long the mindflayer will find a foothold and take him over again. Plus he's so afraid of the nightmares. He hasn't had one, but he knows if he does, it'll be bad for every one.

He can't tolerate groups, or the smell of antiseptic, bright lights or temperatures too hot. Too cold sucks too but at least it doesn't cause him physical pain, just extra mental anguish. He's still incredibly touch averse, and will panic if restrained in any way.

Max ends up having to ask the group for help caring for him, because he's far too hurt for her to handle on her own.

Joyce has a little leeway with Billy since she kept her promise and brought him back home, back to Max. She's also a gentle motherly presence, which is something he's been starved for long before the Russians. He's still wary, but he'll let her help more often than not.

El, also becomes part of the recovery squad. She understands uniquely what its like to have been a test subject, and to have part of the upside-down living inside. She is familiar enough to him to not immediately trigger him, and small enough that she doesn't register as a threat. The mindflayer reels whenever she's around, which hurts a little but Billy hates the goddamn thing so he'll put up with the headache to torture the thing back.

She teaches him what she knows about how to use her powers, and consequently his own, teaches him how to navigate his mind to the best of her ability, and how to build up mental walls against the mindflayer. It helps IMMENSELY, and before he knows it, Billy has built a box to lock the mindflayer inside of.

It also has the unintended side effect of letting Billy explore his consciousness and address his traumas in a unique way. He's able to see his memories from the outside, see how he's been treated without bias, and come to realize how desperately unfair it was.

For a while it makes him angrier, because he can see how much all of that cost him, how badly it really hurt him, and how much of his life it ate. The year the Russians took from him is nothing compared to the 18 that Neil took.

But with time and care, especially from Max, El, and Joyce, he learns to refocus on the life he's still got left. And once he starts thinking of it that way, he lives with a vengeance.

He refuses to let any more of his time pass in pain. Yeah, things are still rough, he still doesn't like to be touched without someone notifying him that they're going to do so, and he still jumps at loud noises. He's having nightmare, but at least he sleeps enough to have them. The mindflayer is quiet, all sealed up in its box, and he's got a near constant eye on his sister, safe and sound.

Things could be better, and someday he'll make them that way. Because if nothing else, Billy Hargrove is a survivor.

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.

the fact that shakespeare was a playwright is sometimes so funny to me. just the concept of the "greatest writer of the English language" being a random 450-year-old entertainer, a 16th cent pop cultural sensation (thanks in large part to puns & dirty jokes & verbiage & a long-running appeal to commoners). and his work was made to be watched not read, but in the classroom teachers just hand us his scripts and say "that's literature"

just...imagine it's 2450 A.D. and English Lit students are regularly going into 100k debt writing postdoc theses on The Simpsons screenplays. the original animation hasn't even been preserved, it's literally just scripts and the occasional SDH subtitles.txt. they've been republished more times than the Bible

Bisan is calling for another global strike!

I saw some posts just outlining Jan 21st, and wanted to clarify that Bisan has called for a full seven days of action.

What a global strike would look like is:

calling in sick to work

purchasing bare essentials ahead of the week so you can observe the general boycott of goods / buying as little as you genuinely can

putting in a concerted effort to elevate Palestinian voices and make it clear that this strike is in support of a permanent ceasefire!

For those who will have to purchase necessary goods during this time, please observe the brands that the BDS movement is asking us to boycott!

♢♢♢

Right now is also a good time to mention some better uses for your money during this week.

Available e-sims in Gaza are running low!!

Mirna El Helbawi and her team are working round the clock to continue to connect Palestinians as Israel does its best to cut them off from the rest of the world.

You can learn how to purchase and send e-sims here, and below you’ll find a list of what is currently needed (the areas in brackets indicate what region you should select to buy e-sims in).

--

CareforGaza is an organisation that does verifiably good work, distributing supplies directly to Palestinian families.

They have a Gofundme set up at the moment, but because of Gofundme’s poor track record regarding refusing to transfer funds to Palestinians, I’d recommend continuing to donate directly to their PayPal here.

Good luck to all of you. Don't turn away from Palestine!

There’s that post that’s like ‘everyone should get into a tiny niche fandom at least once’ fully agree, that was really fun -- but I would like to add that everyone should get into a fandom where their opinions run counter to major fanon because it really teaches you about sticking to your guns and trusting your interpretation of the text without having to rely on peer validation

because WHAT are people talking about sometimes

*by live theatre i mean plays, musicals, operas, ballets, concert versions of musicals, staged readings, & things of that nature. EDIT: YES this includes amateur, local, kids, high school, & community theatre. almost every show i've seen has been local

if you want, list the names of the shows you've seen in the tags!

I have two kinds of Fontaine teams

retired 🩶

Danny: *just chilling on the couch while being very still™️ at the Wayne Manor*

Clark: *comes to visit*

Clark: hey Bruce?

Bruce: yes?

Clark: why is there a dead child in your living room?

Bruce: what 0-0

Danny: oh shit

Danny: *starts up heartbeat* better?

Clark: *even more freaked out*

when will people learn that live-action remakes will never be good as their original animated counterparts because the glory of animation is the colour, movement, and fantasy that's just untranslateable to live-action

hope that update finally lets me thank my healers PROPERLY

woke up and someone spilled vanilla extract all over my dash, so as punishment you strange little beasties are getting all the VANILLA FACTS i know:

vanilla is the 2nd most expensive spice in the world (2nd to saffron)

which is why more than 99% of what we call "vanilla extract" is actually vanillin (vanilla's dominant flavor compound) and is not extracted from real vanilla.

luckily, even professionals struggle to tell the difference when it comes to things like baked goods. but there is a distinct difference in non-heat treated products like vanilla ice cream. real vanilla has a more complex, individualized flavor profile.

why is vanilla so expensive? because it is a ridiculously delicate & demanding crop. complete primadonna.

vanilla beans come from vanilla orchids. these crazy flowers bloom for A SINGLE DAY and have to be HAND-POLLINATED in a process that is exhausting, delicate, and requires specialist knowledge passed down over generations.

then, if you're lucky, you get vanilla beans.

which then require months of further specialized treatment.

the entire process takes about a year and can go wrong at any stage

vanilla has been cultivated for over 800 years (possibly much longer). the first known cultivators are the Totonac, an indigenous people of Mexico.

the Aztecs used it as a sweetener to balance out the bitter taste of cocoa. it was popular in a drink called xocolatl--the precursor to modern hot chocolate!

it is only pollinated by a very specific orchid bee!!!

which is why no fruit could be grown outside of Mexico until the 1800s

Edmond Albius, born into slavery, invented the pollination method we still use today--launching a global industry when he was just 12 years old.

today, the majority of the world's vanilla is grown in Madagascar

if you want real vanilla, read the labels carefully--it's harder to find than you think!

in conclusion, those tiny black specks you see in fancy vanilla ice cream? those are vanilla bean seeds! itty bitty orchid seeds!!! they are delicious and also a PRISSY BITCH!

(src)

So some of y'all need to go touch some grass and learn that brotherly affection can include forhead and cheek kisses without it being gross

I like to imagine Leo is very affectionate, but when his brothers show him affection, he freezes up. Especially after the invasion, he fucking cries when his brothers show him affection wihtout him needing to "earn it" or anything like that

"oh i'm excited for titans curse so we can see nico!!" NO I'm excited for s5 the last olympian so we can see the curse of achilles, our first instance(s!) of dark percy, the nonstop battles, silenas death, percy saying pay your fuckin child support, 'family, luke. you promised.' the underwater kiss

leverage is so fucking funny. man manages to find the most mentally ill and neurodivergent group of thieves on the market + an even more mentally ill guy whose literal job description was trying to chase all of them, and forces them into a found family speed-run by trying to blow them all up. they lowkey stage a full fucking country wide coup and are like eh 🤷 just another wednesday. this might be a fun place to vacation tho i guess. sophie shows up to her own funeral twice. they're so good at convincing people of their shit that they make a guy's body start reacting to an illness he doesn't have because it isn't real. go completely out on a limb and basically hand this one guy a new password for his computer so they can get into it and he goes with it. parker and hardison have straight up just "fake it 'till you make it"d into the fbi without even attempting to cover their tracks beyond just These Two Guys. half their clients never asked to be their clients and don't know they're their clients, and the other half are random people who find them who fuckin knows how, meanwhile no government agency can track them down without selling their soul to sterling. they make a point to have a dramatic scene w a Big Bad Shadowy Government Guy who doesn't actually get caught or brought to justice or anything telling them he's going to hunt them all down, and in any other show this would probably earn at least a minor arc later on but he literally never shows up again. an entire season finale hinged on a cake and a bunch of clams. they accidentally made eliot a celebrity not once, not twice, but three times. parker blew up her foster parents' house when she was like. nine. and it's hardly a footnote. hardison is just casually an artistic prodigy but it's only ever brought up for the most background of background gags. eliot's biggest beef with parker and hardison for like two and a half seasons is that they won't stop making weird food with lasers and refuse to realize they can't make a decent beer to save their lives. sophie's immediate response to being shot is to call her shooter a wanker. there's a character who has literally killed a man with a mop and they had the audacity to only put her in one episode.