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nellasbookplanet · 1 month

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Book recs: Queer fantasy, part 1

A note: queer here does not necessarily mean “guarantee of an f/f or m/m ship with a happy ending”, but rather simply a significant presence of queerness. Some of the books feature no romance but has a same gender attracted/trans/a-spectrum lead, or features an m/f relationship with bisexual, trans or aro/ace characters, or simply features a world-building which is heavily queer inclusive in ways that don’t always compare to our own ideas of sexuality and gender. I have however disqualified works where the only queer presence is along the lines of “gay best friend” or a blink and you’ll miss it confirmation that never comes up again.

For queer sci-fi recs, click here! For a masterpost of book rec lists, click here! For more details on the books recommended here, continue under the readmore. Titles marked with * are my personal favorites!

The Spear Cuts Through Water by Simon Jimenez*

AKA the book the killed me. Two boys travel throughout their land with the body of a god as her horrible, horrible children try to hunt them down. It’s hard to explain more than that, but trust me when I say the narrative voice and literary techniques are incredibly unique in how they blend past and present, reality and story, lead and bystander. Truly an experience. Features an m/m romance.

The Unbroken (Magic of the Lost series) by C.L. Clark*

Tourraine, who was stolen as a child and trained as a soldier for the empire that conquered her home, is recruited by Luka, the future leader of the conquering country, to root out a rebellion. A game of twisted loyalties and attraction is soon to develop as the two must decide where their priorities lie: with each other, or with their respective countries and people.

Sing the Four Quarters (Quarters series) by Tanya Huff*

Though a royal by birth, princess Annice renounced her throne to become a bard, a musician who through training can Sing elemental spirits to do their bidding. Ten years later, she goes on the run for two counts of treason, first by imperiling the succession order by becoming pregnant, second by helping her ex, and the father of her child, escape the palace dungeons and a death sentence. Bisexual lead in an f/f relationship. When I first read this book I described it as, and I quote, 'a fucking delight', and I stand by that.

The Unspoken Name (The Serpent Gates duology) by C.L. Clark*

The sort of portal fantasy you get when all the worlds connected by portals are fantasy worlds, and none of them are ours. The portals themselves become simply a part of the worldbuilding that the characters use to travel between fascinating places, and it’s all really cool. It follows Csorwe (lesbian orc assassin whom I love), who grew up in a cult, indoctrinated as a child sacrifice to a god. But on the day she was meant to die, she instead chose to follow a powerful wizard and train to become his loyal servant and sword. Aside from being an excellent fantasy, it’s also a close look at the hard path of unlearning indoctrination and the search for love and validation where you’ll never find it, and learning to live for yourself. Multiple queer leads.

The Jasmine Throne (The Burning Kingdoms series) by Tasha Suri

A princess held captive by her own brother, who wants to see her dead, tries to trick a servant into helping her escape, but with undeniable attraction growing between them and the servant having her own goals of liberation things quickly get complicated, both between them and in the country at large as rebellion and dangerous magic brews. Sapphic romance.

The Priory of the Orange Tree (The Roots of Chaos duology) by Samantha Shannon

Queen Sabran's lineage has protected the country of Inys from dragons for a thousand years, but now the safety of their land is threatened as Sabran is yet to conceive and assassins are closing in. Lady-in-waiting Ead is secretly part of a society of hidden mages, and is using her position to protect her queen. Meanwhile, on the other side of the sea, dragonrider Tané is faced with an impossible choice. The fates of all three are intertwined as they attempt to stop the rise of a great dragon. 800+ page epic fantasy. Sapphic romance.

The Raven and the Reindeer by T. Kingfisher*

Young adult, fairy tale retelling of the Snow Queen. When Gerta's friend Kai is stolen away by the evil Snow Queen, Gerta must depart on a mission to save him. On the way, she encounters, among others, a talking raven and a pretty robber girl who become her allies. Sapphic romance.

The Rise of Kyoshi (Kyoshi duology) by F.C. Yee*

Young adult. Set in the Avatar universe, but aimed at an older audience than the animated series. Though she will one day be one of the most well-known avatars of the land, for now, young Kyoshi is but a humble girl who has yet to find out her true destiny as the bender of all four elements and keeper of balance of her world. When betrayal strikes and a dear friend is lost, Kyoshi goes on the run alongside fiesty firebender Rangi to find out the truth of her destiny and power. Sapphic romance.

Legends & Lattes (Legends & Lattes series) by Travis Baldree

Viv is tired of adventures and bloodshed - now she wants a peaceful life, and decides to go after it by opening a café. But going from warrior to small business owner is easier said than done, especially when Viv's old life comes knocking. Best described as a cozy fantasy, with a largely low-stakes but heartwarming plot and a sapphic romance.

Phoenix Extravagant by Yoon Ha Lee

Gyen Jebi is an artist, but making a living is difficult. When offered a job by the Ministry of Armor to paint the magical sigils that animate their automaton soldiers, they have little choice but to accept. But as Jebi sees the dark depths of the government, especially the shocking source of their magical paint, they must find a way to resist. Perhaps by freeing the Ministry's mighty automaton dragon... Nonbinary main character.

Crier's War by Nina Varela

Young adult. Who says sci-fi has monopoly on robots? In Crier’s War, artificially created automae have defeated and subjugated humans, who live as second class citizens. Young Ayla goes undercover as a servant, meaning to assassinate automae girl and Sovereign’s daughter Crier. This would be easier if the two weren’t quick to develop feelings for each other.

Black Sun (Between Earth and Sky trilogy) by Rebecca Roanhorse

In a pre-columbian inspired world, sea captain Xiala, gifted with an unusual connection to the sea, travels with a mysterious scarred and blind passenger toward a dangerous goal as prophecy heralds the return of a god. Features among others bisexual and nonbinary leads.

The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin*

In a world regularly torn apart by natural disasters, a big one finally strikes and society as we know it falls, leaving people floundering to survive in a post apocalyptic world, its secrets and past to be slowly revealed. We follow a mother as she races through this world to find and save her daughter, stolen away by a father who just murdered their son after having discovered a terrible secret of their family. Does feature multiple queer characters and a main polyam relationship, but DO NOT read this expecting happy queer relationships as this series handles many dark subjects (you should still read it though, it's incredibly good).

In Other Lands by Sarah Rees Brennan*

Young adult. Kids who can walk between our world and a magical one get recruited into a magical school that trains them to be either fighters or diplomats. Our lead decides that fighting is stupid and that he’s going to peacefully solve every conflict ever, all while being the most delightfully obnoxious little brat possible and getting involved in the most bisexual love triangle imaginable. Very good, funny, and heart-felt coming of age story.

Our Bloody Pearl D.N. Bryn

A siren who’s been held captive by a pirate is freed, but too injured to survive on their own as their tail has become paralyzed. Another pirate captain decides to help them out and has to work to win their trust. Fairly fluffy and light on world-building and plot (though there is a bit of a revenge story in there), with a focus on character and recovery. m/nb romance with an asexual love interest.

A Master of Djinn by P. Djélí Clark

Set in an alternate 1910’s steampunk Cairo, where djinn and other creatures live alongside humans. We get to follow an investigator as she races to catch a criminal using a powerful object to control djinn and stir unrest. Fantastically creative and fresh, and also features a buddy cop dynamic between two female leads as well as a sapphic romance.

Black Water Sister by Zen Cho*

As a toddler, Jessamyn Teoh left Malaysia. Now a young adult, she’s broke, closeted, and moving back. There she’s faced with the ghost of her estranged grandmother, Ah Ma, who was a medium and avatar of the deity the Black Water Sister in life. Now she demands Jess' help in exacting revenge against a gang boss that offended her god. Meanwhile, all Jess wants is to get her life back on track.

Heaven Official's Blessing (Heaven Official's Blessing series) by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu

Once, Xie Lian was the beloved crown prince of a kingdom. Then he rose to godhood at a young age, and was expected to take a step back from his land and his people, but in his inability to do so ended up losing everything. Now, eight hundred years later, Xie Lian has ascended to godhood for a third time, forgotten by mortals and the laughing stock of Heaven. Trying to rebuild his reputation, Xie Lian sets off on a mission, and on it encounters an infamous demon king who inspires fear in all of heaven. M/M romance.

Jane, Unlimited by Kristin Cashore*

Young Adult. Jane is invited by an old acquaintance to an extravagant gala in an island mansion, stranding her among the rich and glamorous. But being surrounded by rich people is the least of Jane’s problems: the mansion is housing secrets, some of them tied to Jane’s own family. The mansion offers her five choices, all of them leading her down different paths and different answers. Jane, Unlimited is a choose-your-own adventure story of sorts, featuring five different endings in five different genres, each more off the wall bonkers than the next. It also features a bisexual main character!

Every Heart a Doorway (Wayward Children series) by Seanan McGuire*

A tumblr favorite, the Wayward Children novellas feature a school open to children who have returned from adventures in other realms and now have trouble adapting back to regular life. Some installments are set in our world, others follow children as they have their otherworldly adventures. The main characters vary between books, but are generally pretty diverse with among others asexual, trans, intersexual and sapphic leads. Both funny and dark, it takes a closer look at the trauma many endure growing up different.

The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern*

Surreal and fairy tale-esque, The Starless Sea is stories within a story, following graduate student Zachary as he finds a strange book which, in-between other tales, tells a story from his own childhood. Trying to find out how this came to be, Zachary gets involved with a pink-haired woman and a handsome man who are doing their utmost to protect a strange, otherworldly library available only through magical doors. It’s a book hard to put in words, but which I once described as “romantic without being a romance while stile having a love story at it’s core”, and which can be summed up only as “an Experience”. It’s also quite gay!

Not Even Bones by Rebecca Schaeffer*

Young adult. Nita isn’t a murderer - technically. She just dissects the bodies of supernatural beings her mother brings home and sells for parts on the black market. But when her mother brings home a still living victim, Nita has had enough and frees him. As it turns out, no good deed goes unpunished as Nita is betrayed, her own nature as a supernatural entity outed as she’s kidnapped and placed behind bars. Now she must find a way to escape before she's sold for parts. Features two aroace leads and a queerplatonic relationship, though it isn’t made textual until book 3 and briefly masquerades as a romance, which is pretty hilarious.

The Last Sun (The Tarot Sequence) by K.D. Edwards

Urban fantasy. Rune Saint John is the only survivor of the massacre against the Sun Court years prior. Now he’s been hired by Lady Judgement to find her missing son, Addam. Alongside his companion and bodyguard Brand, Rune goes on to question Addam's family and business contacts all over New Atlantis, island city and home of the Atlanteans after their original home was destroyed by ordinary humans. But the more he digs, the more Rune finds clues that Addam's absence is connected to Rune's own tragic past. M/M romance.

Gossamer Axe by Gael Baudino

Centuries ago in Ireland, Chairiste Ní Cummen was trained in the secrets of music and magic. But her pride was her downfall, trapping her and her lover in the land of the Sidh. Only Chairiste escaped, hoping to one day win her lover's freedom in musical battle with the fairy that holds her captive. Now she is Christa Cruitare, harp teacher in the modern world and all but resigned to her loss. Until she comes across a great new music: heavy metal. Taking one last chance to win her lover's freedom, Christa sets out to gather other skilled musicians and bring them with her in her final battle. Sapphic romance.

Bonus AKA I haven't read these yet but they seem really cool

Pantomime (Micah Grey trilogy) by Laura Lam

Young adult. On the surface, Gene's life is that of a noble debutante. In reality, she has secrets: she's both male and female, and has magical abilities that hasn’t been seen in an age. In the face of a betrayal from her parents, Gene runs away from home, dresses up as a boy, and joins a circus. Intersex main character.

Ghost Walk by Kay Solo

Maaya Sahni can see ghosts, and does her best to survive in her small isolated town by keeping her head down. But when an entire street full of people is spirited away by faceless specters that scares even ghosts, Maaya must find a way to stop the specters. Lesbian main character.

Swordspoint (Riverside series) by Ellen Kushner

In Riverside, duels are the way to settle disputes, and Richard St. Vier is the undisputed master of the sword - at least until a death is met not with awe but with outrage. M/M romance.

#nella talks books #I'm almost done with the fae rec list too! it should go up some time next week #after that maybe part 2 of queer sf

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justinspoliticalcorner · 6 days

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Amelia Hansford at PinkNews:

Swedish politicians voted in favour of the new set of laws during a legislative session on Thursday (18 April), passing it by 234 votes to 94, with 21 abstaining or not voting. Under one of the new bills, set to come into force in July 2025, applicants interested in changing their legal gender as part of their transition can now do so when 16 rather than waiting until they are 18.

The other bill will make the process of diagnosing gender dysphoria easier, minimising it to a short consultation with a doctor or psychologist and the approval of the National Board of Health and Welfare. The legal process will be separated from applications for gender-related surgery, which will need a longer assessment and will only be an option for those over the age of 18. Gender-reassignment surgery, often called “bottom surgery,” will remain an option only for the over-23s. Those under the age of 16 applying to change their legal gender on government documents will require the approval of a parent or guardian, and will also need to be sanctioned by a doctor and the National Board of Health and Welfare. The prime minister and leader of the liberal-conservative Moderate Party, Ulf Kristersson, said the proposal was “balanced and responsible”. Fellow Moderate Party MP Johan Hultberg said that a “great majority” of Swedes will not notice that the law has changed, but those it affects will see “a large and important difference.”

Sweden lowers the age of legal gender change to 16 without parental or guardian approval. Those under 16 seeking to make a legal gender change must do so with parental or guardian approval.

#Sweden #Scandinavia #Northern Europe #World News #LGBTQ+#Transgender Youth #Transgender #Gender Identity #Gender Marker #Gender Confirmation Surgery

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lilacsupernova · 10 months

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In recent years, I've seen the erasure of lesbian and gay activists. And all the work we did for gay liberation is credited to two people: Sylvia Rivera and Marsha P. Johnson. Even statues are planned to be elected in honor of them in New York. These two are now hailed for having organized the Stonewall Riot and the GLF [Gay Liberation Front] and even the historic gay occupation of Wernstein Hall at New York University in protest against the administration's homophobia. All of this is false. I know, because I and the women and men I worked with were there.

Sylvia Rivera and Marsha P. Johnson are today widely celebrated as transgender people of color. However, Rivera identified as a transvestite male, not transgender. Malcolm, aka Marsha Johnson, was a self-proclaimed gay man, and drag queen, up until his death in 1992. Johnson deserves to be honored with respect and integrity, not rebranded as a 'trans-woman' postmortem. Johnson was probably transgender, though there was no such terminology at the time. Toward the end of his life he was considering raising funds to go abroad for what was then called a sex change surgery.

Nobody led the Stonewall Riots. It was a spontaneous uprising. Neither Rivera nor Johnson appeared on the scene until the riots were well underway. Neither Johnson nor Rivera attended any of the early meetings of GLF in July 1969. I was one of the founders, along with five other women and 13 men. Ellen Broidy and I were among those who called for the occupation of Wernstein Hall in September 1970. Johnson and Rivera were not present. They joined in after a group of us had already entered the building, and it was after the occupation that I first noticed them at GLF meetings. They were inspired by our Wernstein Hall action to start a new group, Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (STAR).

This was important work they did and how they should be remembered. Through STAR, Rivera and Johnson labored on behalf of homeless street queens who, like themselves, often had to support themselves through prostitution, often strove to overcome drug addiction, and often found themselves in trouble with the law. They provided shelter and counseling, and visited those in prison. They were heroes in their own right. But the false legends have been widely promulgated in the international press, and give them credit for the work of hundreds of others, and never ever mention what they actually accomplished. The city of New York has not built any statues to any of us lesbians or any of the gay men who were involved in GLF. Just those two are the heroes. Stormé DeLarverie who is considered responsible for starting the first Stonewall Riot on June 28, 1969, after a crowd reacted when she was arrested by police, was a woman of color and and butch lesbian. She didn't get a statue either.

These smaller fabrications are perhaps not as dangerous as the ones that lead to war. But what is dangerous is that, by depicting one or two chosen individuals as great leaders and expunging the rest of us from public memory, they strip us all of the knowledge that we ordinary human beings have made history and can do so again.

– Martha Shelley, 'An Honest History' in Not Dead Yet: Feminism, passion and women's liberation – Renate Klein & Susan Hawthorne (eds.), (pp. 379-80).

#martha shelley #marsha p johnson #sylvia rivera #storme delarverie #lgb #pride #usa #herstory #pride month #trans

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fiercynn · 6 months

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queer short cuts week 31: free palestine

queer short cuts is a biweekly newsletter where i share queer & trans short film recommendations; each set of films is themed and comes out to no more than one hour cumulatively. content notes are included at the end of each post. you can also check out the full spreadsheet of films i've recommended.

this week, i am recommending short films created by or about queer palestinians. and i wish it were a given that i could write this week’s newsletter without first having to explain why it’s necessary to support palestinian liberation. but i’m seeing some of the worst misinformation and suppression of pro-palestinian speech, and the worst dehumanization of palestinian people, that i have seen in my entire life. if you feel unequivocal of your support for palestine, then you can skip down to the second section in the link where i talk about films, but if you are on the fence in any way, please do read the whole intro.

check out the film recs

and along with watching this week’s films, please do what you can to fight for palestinian freedom:

donate, if you have the means, to organizations working on the ground in occupied palestine, like baitulmaal, medical aid for palestine, palestine children’s relief fund, and doctors without borders

contact your local leaders to demand support for palestine – people in the u.s. can send emails and/or make calls to your legislators, and people in the u.s., u.k., and canada can use these templates created by palestinian organizers to write to politicians, universities, news outlets, businesses, and more

learn more about the fight for palestinian liberation through decolonize palestine, the palestine resource library, coverage at jadaliyya, and free e-books offered by haymarket books, and about jewish support for palestinians and opposition to zionism at jewish currents and jewish voices for peace

uplift palestinian voices and combat misinformation you’re seeing and hearing on social media or in your communities

#free palestine #queer short cuts #queer film #short film #palestinian film #id in alt text

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thestargayzingetherian · 9 months

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She-Ra is the most radical feminist thing ever... by barely engaging with feminist or radical politics at all

It's... honestly surprising how radical and feminist and progressive She-Ra is by simply... not engaging with feminist ideas at all in-universe. A lot of people love to say Catra and Glimmer are girl-bosses or how a lot of journalists like to call the show "girl power" and whatnot... when that's really not true at all. I think this is because She-Ra takes place in a constructed world fantasy setting that's so divorced from our world, where all the societal problems we deal with like homophobia, racism, transphobia and sexism, don't exist. Other fantasy and sci-fi settings do share some of this, but a lot of them have it a bit implicitly in their DNA in places due to being based on or connected to our real-world cultures or being written by liberal feminist creators who think just putting women in power is a job well done. She-Ra treats everything in its setting as normal.

Every kingdom being run by a princess/queen? Perfectly normal. The show could easily show princes and whatnot in charge, it just chooses not to. Same-sex relationships? Completely normal and so is same-sex couples having kids. Trans and enby folk? perfectly normal and no one blinks an eye or even misgenders anyone. Even fucking Hordak and Shadow Weaver don't misgender DT. And why would they? There's nothing in this world that is comparable to the things in our world that prepetuated the idealogies of a strict gender binary. There's also no racism too, which again, why would there be because there's nothing in the setting of anyone wanting to use racism or xenophobia to fuel their ideals. Hell, Horde Prime one could argue is actually above the sorts of bigots in our own real world. He sees all conflict and division as beneath him, wanting to purify the universe and even uses Catra's and Adora's love for each other to his advantage.

There's also no such thing as a unified Etherian Government and each kingdom seems more like a small community with a leader, who could honestly be anyone. The Princess Alliance is more like a communal agreement that don't really have strict harsh laws, just general agreements that they each respect. There's the fact Brightmoon doesn't have a shown dungeon either, implying a form of restorative justice.

Add all this up and you have a universe that's full of endless creativity that honestly also feels like a safe place where a queer creative or fan can truly belong. I honestly can't say that a lot about a lot of things I love which always have some unfortunate asterisk about them. She-Ra has none of that to me. It is not perfect, but damn, is it a standard I honestly find a lot of things hard to beat.

#catradora #she-ra #spop #analysis #feminism #anarchism #leftism

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a-queer-seminarian · 26 days

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Today is Easter Sunday. Today is Trans Day of Visibility. Today is day 176 of genocide.

This year the lectionary gives us Mark's account of the Resurrection, with its fearful cliffhanger ending — an empty tomb, but Jesus's body missing. And isn't that unresolved note fitting?

In the face of so much suffering across the world, it feels right to be compelled to sit — even on this most jubilant of days — with the poor and disenfranchised in their continued suffering.

Mark's account:

Just days before, the women closest to Jesus witnessed him slowly suffocate to death on a Roman cross. Now, now trudge to his tomb to anoint his corpse — and find the stone rolled away, his body gone. A strange figure inside tells them that Jesus is has risen, and will reunite with them in Galilee.

They respond not with joy, but trembling ekstasis — a sense of being beside yourself, taken out of your own mind with shock. They flee.

The women keep what they've seen and heard to themselves — because their beloved friend outliving execution is just too good to be true. When does fortune ever favor those who languish under Empire's shadow?

Love wins, yet hate still holds us captive.

I'm grateful that Mark's resurrection story is the one many of us are hearing in church this year. His version emphasizes the "already but not yet" experience of God's liberation of which theologians write: Christians believe that in Christ's incarnation — his life, death, and resurrection — all of humanity, all of Creation is already redeemed... and yet, we still experience suffering. The Kin(g)dom is already incoming, but not yet fully manifested.

Like Mark's Gospel with its Easter joy overshadowed by ongoing fear, Trans Day of Visibility is fraught with the tension of, on the one hand, needing to be seen, to be known, to move society from awareness into acceptance into celebration; and, on the other hand, grappling with the increased violence and bigotry that a larger spotlight brings.

The trans community intimately understands the intermingling of life and death, joy and pain.

When we manage to roll back the stones on our tombs of silence and shame, self-loathing and social death, and stride boldly into new, transforming and transformative life — into trans joy! — death still stalks us.

We are blessedly, audaciously free — and we are in constant danger. There are many who would shove us back into our tombs.

And of course, the trans community is by no means alone in experiencing the not-yet-ness of God's Kin(g)dom.

Empire's violence continues to overshadow God's liberation.

The women who came to tend to their beloved dead initially experienced the loss of his body as one more indignity heaped upon them by Empire. Was his torture, their terror, not enough, that even their grief must be trampled upon, his corpse stolen away from them?

The people of Gaza are undergoing such horrors now. Indignity is heaped on indignity as they are bombed, assaulted, terrorized, starved, mocked. They are not given a moment's rest to tend to their dead. They are not permitted to celebrate Easter's joy as they deserve. They are forced to break their Ramadan fasts with little more than grass.

Those of us who reside in the imperial core — as I do as a white Christian in the United States — must not look away from the violence our leaders are funding, enabling, justifying.

We must not celebrate God's all-encompassing redemption without also bearing witness to the ways that liberation is not yet experienced by so many across the world.

This Easter, I pray for a free Palestine. I pray for an end to Western Empire, the severing of all its toxic tendrils holding the whole earth in a death grip.

I pray that faith communities will commit and recommit themselves to helping roll the stones of hate and fear away — and to eroding those stones into nothing, so they cannot be used to crush us once we've stepped into new life.

I pray for joy so vibrant it washes fear away, disintegrates all hatred into awe.

In the meantime, I pray for the energy and courage to bear witness to suffering; for the wisdom for each of us to discern our part in easing pain; for God's Spirit to reveal Xirself to and among the world's despised, over and over — till God's Kin(g)dom comes in full at last.

"The Empty Tomb" by artist He Qi.

#essays #log #spring 2024 #easter #easter sunday #palestine #tdov #mark 16

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capricorn-0mnikorn · 8 months

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The bit of One Piece analysis that won me over to being a sideways fan / supporter:

The video essay is made up mostly of clips from the anime, with lots of flashing and lightning effects. So here's an edited bit from the auto-generated captions transcript, and a still image:

One Piece is all about freedom and Liberation, and having a queer person be a leader of the Revolutionary army or be a pirate is extremely on the nose. There's also the fact Luffy himself loves and cares for these queer characters. One of my favorite lines ever actually comes from Bon Clay as they see Luffy again: [Japanese Dialog, with English Subtitles from the anime on screen: Luffy: "Hey, Bon-chan! I thought you were dead ... after sacrificing yourself for us!" Bon Clay: "Gimme a Break! Queers never die!"]

Impel Down's arc was released from 2009 to 2010. So for an openly queer character to be hugged and loved by our protagonist of the series is honestly something I find amazing.

Apparently, there is a good deal of debate over whether some of the trans characters were written as a joke, or written in good faith. But considering that the author started writing the series in his early twenties, and has been writing pretty much non-stop for the last 26 years, there's certainly room for evolving attitudes and understanding.

And in any case, it makes me very happy that One Piece has a bigger readership, and has sold more copies, than the works of a certain British TERF who shall not be named.

The full video, from MelonTeee, is here.

#one piece #queer representation #character analysis #image description in alt #YouTube video recommendation

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scrollsofhumanlife · 2 years

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Elise Lydia Malary

B. March 29th 1990 in Andersonville, Chicago, Illinois

Elise was a board member at the Chicago Therapy Collective and key player of the collective's #HireTransNow initiative. She was a devoted trans liberation leader and beloved community organizer within Chicago's trans community.

Elise was reported missing on March 11th 2022, her body was found 6 days later along the shores of Lake Michigan, near Garden Park.

Evanston, Illinois

#Elise Lydia Malary #Elise Malary #Andersonville #Evanston #Chicago #Illinois #board member #Chicago Therapy Collective #HireTransNOW #community organizer #trans liberation leader #community activist #Trans advocacy #beloved sister and daughter #beloved cousin and friend #beloved aunt #Haitian #may she rest in peace #<3

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st-armand · 8 months

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Hobie Brown & Anarchism: A Discussion Pt 2 (Race)

Authors Note: This is my dissertation for the discourse about Hobie’s politics being misrepresented as your friendly community radical leftist

Warnings: Political Ideologies, mentions of violence and oppression

Hobie’s politics are intertwined deeply with his race, as previously stated in my random headcanons post I talked about Hobie being a Jamaican Brit, he has a lot of great analysis on colonization and imperialism, living in a colonized state of New London

(Again I’ve headcanoned Hobie to live in Lenapehoking **New York/Brooklyn and the surrounding areas** that was recolonized by the British Government and renamed New London, I’ll say he was raised in Camden but he relocated to New London when his family decided to leave due to many poor people being displaced to the new settlement. He still exists in the 70s for the most part but sometimes I do set it in modern times, there are some books ill add that are after Hobie’s time period)

Hobie is in touch with his Caribbean roots, a roadman, but an islander at heart, his grandparents raised him very similarly to their own upbringing in Jamaica, he’s well versed in the liberative politics of the Caribbean, keeping track of coupes, falsely installed leaders, environmental activism, labor strikes and organizations, and queer liberation movements, he knows he’s unable to support their struggle physically but as Spiderman he’s vocal about the efforts of those overseas fighting against settler colonialism.

There are often times where there a diaspora groups who have movements in the colonial lands for their homelands, and those are instances where he can be present to fight, and protect.

Hobie is a dark skinned black man, he’s spent his life navigating colorism and antiblackness, whether you headcanon him as other, he still has existed in spaces where black men and women trans and cis have faced antiblackness, misogynoir and trans-misognynoir, from his family, himself and his community.

For many years he spent time witnessing these acts from people around him (Like how many of us know what family members to trust with our identities and politics because of how lax and unaware the adults we were raised with speak), I don’t see him as the person to spew hate, but he has had to unlearn constructs around colorism and his social political understanding of the world, first through lived experience, then through learned information, and then through community action—praxis.

I’d personally headcanon him as possibly genderqueer and asexual (like myself) due to how often he’s the receiving end of unwanted sexual attention, he enjoys sex, but sees it as an intimate act with people he needs to trust. Saying this he still had to navigate being queer in homophobic and transphobic in black spaces, (This is for all my black trans friends, white trans people please don’t use this as a reason to be anti-Black, this is a intracommunity conversation.)

He was lucky to have an expanse of siblings with varying gender expressions and sexuality so his home was a safe space, but he still wasn’t immune to facing this violence.

He goes hard for dark skinned black people, and black people who aren’t conventionally attractive, he knows he has privilege with his looks and how that bends people in his favor, but regardless of that Hobie wants people to KNOW him on a deep level, and isn’t shy about deep emotional connections and emotional maturity, he knows people intimately, in ways where people expose their inner most turmoil to him and he accepts them as they are, and asks before offering advice.

Considering his feelings on treating people with respect regardless of appearance this is best shown with the way he interacts with houseless people on the street, he doesn’t shirk away from the smell or their appearance, he is knowing and emphatic to the circumstances they’ve been forced into, he isn’t deterred by their delusions, hallucinations of breakdowns, and he is an expert at deescalate them when they’re having a mental health crisis. He doesn’t openly antagonize people (for the most part) but he kinda has this aquarian way of showing his authority through his intellectual capacity and cool demeanor, he does speak down to people who are treating people in a discriminating fashion, he’s very shady.

Like lets say he’s in a group of people and their spewing colorist remarks he’ll dramatically sigh and rub his temples and say shit like,

“Ya don’t really read do you?”

“C’me off it mate”

“Someone’s new ‘ere”

And if the person or conversation continues in that direction, he’ll openly state his opinions instead of making the tension palpable with his shade.

“Y’know ‘s quite simple innit? Dark skinned black people are the lowest on colonial racial pillers, dark skinned women navigate it the hardest, having to live in the confines of racialized ideas of beauty and attraction.”

If the person is open to learning he’ll continue to teach them in a nuanced fashion, taking his time to explain and highlight the histories and how they connect with modern social standards, but if they aren’t he just continues to be annoyed and exasperated, usually before that happens his group ushers them away, their space isn’t for people who want to debate the livelihood of other people.

As a taste of the romance and platonic parts,

Hobie finds all people attractive, he sees past their physical traits, and focuses on the content of their character, their morals, their personal goals and aspirations, that is where he finds beauty in people, sexually or romantically? As I stated before he has to know you before initiating a relationship like that, but he does recognize that there are beautiful people, he prefers to get into relationships with black people or non-black people of color only if they are willing to navigate antiblackness alongside him and for the safety of other black people, and don’t expect him to stay in a relationship with someone who’s family is racists or discriminatory especially if you don’t verbally set boundaries and hold the defensive.

He does have non conventional ideas of romance, but he gives and shows love in all kinds of way that it makes it worth feeling insecure in the basis of the relationship, I don’t believe that his consistency joke was meant to be understood as jumping between person to person, or manipulating you into a relationship with no future goal in mind, he doesn’t mind spending the rest of his life alone, especially taking into consideration his role as Spiderman, but he wants to have someone who will anchor him in the chaotic inconsistent world, that the roles they play in love are adaptable, a giver, a provider, a support system, a friend, a comrade he plays all those roles effortlessly and knows which you need and when. He isn’t devastated by moving on from someone he loves, he recognizes that people are in your life for a reason for a certain period of time, short term and long term, and he doesn’t fight the change when the tides of life are moving against him.

I got all yalls request imma reply so you know I see them, will work on them in the next few weeks since application deadlines are coming up <33

#hobie brown x reader #hobie headcanons #hobie brown #hobie brown x black!reader #across the spiderverse #miguel o’hara x reader #atsv #armands sanctum

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hum--hallelujah · 9 months

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a list of Fab Four thoughts:

Jet is the oldest but Party is the most charismatic. Party is the official leader of the crew and occasionally defensive over that role but generally the two of them co-lead

Kobra calls people "babe" or "baby" or "darlin'," but ONLY under extreme stress or if the other person is distressed. it doesn't matter who it is. it just happens

(no one even realizes that he picked it up from Party, who uses terms of endearment VERY liberally)

Ghoul would absolutely set something on fire just to watch it burn. in fact he HAS

Ghoul's facial scar is his own doing (AO3)

the Trans Am was originally just Jet's. he was a Zonerunner before meeting Party and Kobra and the 'Am was his vehicle of choice

Jet lost his eye as a result of chemical burning following a car accident — he opened the hood to check the damage and took a blast of pressurized, superheated chemicals to the face. he's lucky he only lost one eye

Ghoul was Zone-born and raised in a crew that took each other as extended family. he had a sister.

Party realized he and Kobra had to get out of the city after he watched their mother die and be replaced by a BL/ind bio-bot

Kobra and Ghoul use physically fighting as a love language

one of the Four's primary talents is saving people being trafficked across the Zones. Zonerunners aren't all good, altruistic smugglers like the one who got Jet out of the City. some of them deal in bodies, but in the bad way. when Jet was a 'Runner, he had a penchant for taking those runs and freeing the captives. now all four of them do it

Kobra's motorbike is named Mirage

Ghoul is the only other person allowed to work on it

Kobra and Ghoul share a room ever since The Incident

(The Incident is only ever referred to as The Incident. this is both collectively for the bit and also because nobody actually likes to talk about those events.)

Party's first weapon after getting out of Battery City was an oversized baseball bat studded with nails. Kobra's was his feet and then, later, his fists

(he kicked Dr. D in the shins once in a fit of reckless anger. Dr. D showed him how to hold his hand, thumb outside the fist, to really hit someone and make it count.)

Ghoul watched his entire family die.

(he imprinted on Party when they first met because of this. like recognizes like. it takes one to know one. kids who have seen their parents die recognize that in each other.)

Kobra repeats himself a lot. not quite a stutter, but also not quite not. sometimes he just gets stuck.

Jet is the most openly physically affectionate. Ghoul is the most clingy. there's a difference.

when they first formed their crew, their ages were, from youngest to oldest, 13 (Ghoul), 14 and a half (Kobra), 16 (Party), and 18 (Jet).

they would all, and this is not even a question, not even a headcanon, it just makes sense as a conclusion: they would all kill or die for each other. but it depends on the day and the time and how hungry they are if they'd ever admit it.

#she speaks!#idk I just wanted to write some killjoys headcanons #like a few of these are or possibly are going to become fics but I #I just want to talk about them....#danger days #the true lives of the fabulous killjoys #danger days: the true lives of the fabulous killjoys #party poison #fun ghoul #jet star #kobra kid #she writes!#kinda #the links both go to the one fic I've got posted (I have several more in drafts skdndksn)

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anarchistfrogposting · 7 months

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Ok, this is probably quite a big question so Tell me if you want me to specify more. Currently, im a democratic socialist. Why do you consider anarchism to be a better functioning system then democratic socialism ? I don't want to pressure you to write An entire book or Something. Just a few reasons is fine.

I know, I do tend to write out some lengthy responses. Y’all’s questions are just way too good!

I also used to be a democratic socialist (the democratic socialism as a means to communism way) and a hardcore pacifist. I was largely inspired and radicalised by Jeremy Corbyn, and his election loss just radicalised me further. I am now neither a democratic socialist (obviously) nor a pacifist (and if folks want me to talk about why I’m against pacifism, let me know).

From a purely philosophical perspective, anarchism posits that democratic socialism is doomed to fail because you can’t obliterate hierarchies (and, by extension, class hierarchies) through a system which is inherently hierarchical. This is a logical product of the anarchist theory of history, which argues that hierarchical systems are self correcting systems of domination which exist to preserve themselves; that the only way to end hierarchies is to uproot and destroy them.

Democratic socialism aims to achieve socialism through representative democracy, which, it is posited by anarchists, is anti-democratic, since it can only, at best, support the will of large majorities. It is also susceptible (and currently controlled by) capitalist interests. Capitalist powers can and do use their financial and social capital to dominate media narratives and societal tendencies to their own end. Capitalists do not sit idly by whilst their interests are curtailed, particularly if you live in a financial centre like England or the United States. They shift public perspectives against those pushing change until political leaders are forced to toe the line of their formerly supportive constituents. Remember when people were celebrating AOC being elected to the House of Representatives, only for her to almost immediately start falling back to the imperialist line?

Politicians, furthermore, are forced to compromise their beliefs lest their ideas get completely blocked by opposition bodies, even with considerable party majorities. We see this time and time again with decidedly progressive policy reform getting watered down until they are almost unrecognisably different. (There’s a reason the trans community has such a lean toward the radical left.) As Kropotkin talks about in the Conquest of Bread, these politicians which are constantly blocked and curtailed are eventually forced to change their base positions until proper socialist reform is impossible. Quite literally right where the capitalists need them to be.

Liberal democracy exists by and for the capitalists. Democratic socialist reform is quite literally impossible within it.

#socialist #socialism #democratic socialism #social democrat #social democracy #anarchism #anarchist #anarchocommunism #communism #communist #leftism #leftist #politics #q n a

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drdemonprince · 7 months

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“irreversible healing” request anon here — thank you! follow up question: it’s time for me to clear up some anti transition terf bullshit i’ve harbored for the past few years. seems like you know a thing or two about that. do you have any recommendations for things to read (or watch, or whatever) to steer myself in the right direction? your pieces have been quite helpful!

Health Liberation Now and everything Ky Schevers writes! Ky used to be a leader in the detrans terf movement -- she is very vocal now about how that movement influenced journalists and public policy, doctored research to make credible seeming yet phony evidence, manipulated trans people into undergoing corrective therapy, and fear mongered about the risks of transition for ideological reasons. She is taking accountability for her role in this awful movement, and now is trans identified again and fights her former friends quite a lot. Even if you dont think its like forgivable or anything its realllly useful to read. Use archive.is to get past the wall on Medium to read their stuff. Also my article My Dalliance with Detransition -- remind me to substack migrate it

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usaigi · 7 months

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Modern Blue Lions headcanons

Dimitri

Has difficulties with fine motor skills following the car accident that killed his family and Glenn. Has to use accommodating tools like specific silverware and a laptop to take notes in class. Kids used to be jealous that he got use a laptop in class but he just wanted to be normal

Regular member of his school GSA but everyone assume he's just a straight ally because look at him. Look at his hair. He's straight. His classmates don't discover he's actually bi until a week before graduation when they see him kiss Felix

Also a regular member of the BIPOC solidarity club. Dimitri, Dorothea, Ashe and Constance are the token white allies.

(mental health spiraling) "haha puberty/hormones :) No need to discuss these new symptoms with anyone, it's just normal teenager things" (it is not normal teenage things)

Annette

banned from home ec after starting a fire while making a salad... She's was trying to make homemade croutons...

girl ADHD :)

she got a B on a chem test one and cried about it for 2 days straight

"Maybe if I get all A and get this many awards and get this many scholarships, my dad will love me :)" (girl.. :( )

Frenemies with Lysithea. They're buddies until it's time for exams. Then it's war. There can only be one valedictorian. (death note's "I'll take a potato chip and eat it" songs plays in the background)

Olivia Rodrigo stan

Sylvain

Hasn't said "okay i'm sorry that I looked at Mrs Riley and lightly grazed her left tit" but has said that exact same thing

friend with a car. "yeah we can all fit into my Audi; Annette and Ashe are tiny, just squeeze in and pretend you like each other. We can stick Felix in the trunk" "I'll kill you."

He's in Lacross AND theatre. Ice hockey AND Ice dancing and figure skating. He can do both, he's bisexual

Has to pick between a major sport game and his theatre show. His dad wants him to follow his dream and do the game but Sylvain is getting ready to tell him "no dad i'm giving up your dream." He backs out. He goes to the game.

"You got a perfect score on the college entrance exams?" "Why is it hard?" (he studied so much)

Ingrid

"Gay people are real??? They don't just exist in San Francisco and on Glee???" /gen confusion. Not in a homophobic way, she's just raised in a conservative environment and instead of going on the internet, she hangs out with her horses (Just wait till she finds out about trans people)

When her family was going through a particularly hard financial time, her friends started packing extra lunch. They all know she doesn't accept handouts but Ingrid will never say no to leftovers.

So chronically offline. Who's Billie Eilish? What's Succession? What is Rizz?? They're making another Spider-Man movie!?

Dedue

Vice-president of the BIPOC solidarity club. The school gives them club money and he uses it to make food for the members.

"..." "Go on" "Down with... gringo?" *Claude, Petra, Felix, Cyril, Hapi, Constance, Dimitri, Ashe and Dorothea all clap*

Football/Basketball/Hockey couches keep trying to recruit him. He just wants to garden.

(Tw racism and ref to violence to poc men) "I don't want to antagonist white people. As a large brown man, I'm already perceived as a threat." "That's ok! Your safety comes first. I got this," Dorothea says as she throws eggs at someone's car with a confederate flag.

Mercedes

"I'm joining the war on liberation theology on the side of liberation theology."

"Mercedes! Can you explain your tardiness?" "Forgive me, professor, I was at morning mass." (She was. But she's late because she stop to smoke a blunt.)

In her most angelic, big sister voice, "fuck TradCaths 😊"

Somehow still failing her religious studies class

(tw cults and implied anti semitic conspiracy) Raised in a religious cult where her step dad was the leader until she and her mom escaped. Because of this, did not know Jewish people were real. "I knew they were people in the bible but all I knew was [redact]" (Don't worry, she knows better now that she's not in a literal cult)

Felix

"I fucking hate my dad" "why? Is it cause he didn't accept you being queer/trans?" "No, he was cool with that. He's just fucking annoying."

"Ingrid, what the hell, I'm literally trans. You know this. We've been friends since we were in diapers." "Oh. I forgot." "YOU FORGOT!?"

Wasian. (tw sui joke) @ Dimitri and Sylvain "stop joking about killing yourself--you're appropriating my culture, assholes."

Secret Olivia Rodrigo fan. He only listens to her music on youtube + incognito mode. Only Annette knows. Annette manages to get them concert tickets were they run into Lysithea.

Ashe

Spider-Man stan on main. Somehow he convinces Dedue to be his Ned Leeds to his Peter Parker for Halloween

He knows Ingrid would like the MCU if she watched it, but she's scared of needing to watch 10000 movies

*slaps Ashe's back* You can pack so much anxiety in this guy

Started school in the middle of the year because he's a foster kid. Rumors started spread about him being a harden criminal because he went to juvie. He keeps tries to correct them and say he's never been but Caspar keeps fueling the rumors

"Caspar! Stop telling people I went to juvie! That never happened!" "...You... lied to me? :(" "You made it up!" "Oooh. Right."

#dimitri alexandre blaiddyd #annette fantine dominic #dedue molinaro #sylvain jose gautier #ingrid brandl galatea #ashe ubert #felix hugo fraldarius #mercedes von martritz #dorothea arnault #caspar von bergliez #lysithea von ordelia #fe3h #fire emblem #fire emblem three houses #fire emblem three hopes fanart #fe16 #blue lions #usaigi speaks #heacanons

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