They Should Invent A Past That Doesn't Beat Inside Me Like A Second Heart

This feels especially important to remember right now as the uk welfare system is under attack, wish I could send this to the politicians who will be the cause of fuel poverty, starvation and homelessness in the coming years. Super cathartic to read, I wish the general public was more aware they are in a state of pre-disablement , not immunity.

Stigma and illness

"We do not want to reckon with a world that is merely unfair; where some people get sick, not because they did something wrong but because the world is unjust, and insofar as it is just, it's random.

"And so, we tell ourselves we understand, which too often means creating explanations that blame the sufferer. Stigma is a way of saying 'you deserved this to happen', but implied within the stigma is also 'and I don't deserve it, and so I don't need to worry about it happening to me'.

"Stigma can become a kind of double burden for the sick. In addition to living with the physical and psychological challenges of illness there's the additional challenge of having their humanity discounted. Think of the word universally used in English to describe Tuberculosis patients in the 18th and 19th centuries. They were called 'invalids'. They were literally invalid.

"People living with TB today have told me that fighting the disease was hard, but fighting the stigma of their communities was even harder."

...

"Finally, the origin, or perceived origin of a disease also matters. If an illness is seen to be the result of choice it is much more likely to be stigmatized.

"So for instance, people with major depression are often told to just 'choose to be happier' just as those with substance abuse disorders are told to just 'choose to quit drinking'. And some cancers and heart diseases are stigmatized for resulting from purported choice as well.

"Of course, this is not how biology works. Illness has no moral compass, it does not punish the evil and reward the good, it doesn't know about evil and good. But we want life to be a story that makes sense, which is why, for example, it was commonly believed up until the middle of the 20th century that cancer was caused by things like social isolation, parents were actually told their kids got leukemia because they hadn't been adequately loved as infants.

"If a clear cause and effect isn't present, we will invent one, even if it's cruel."

John Green - The Deadliest Infectious Disease of All Time

i can like take any old drawing from months ago, turn off the lines, and its suddenly classy

the idea that restrooms, locker rooms, etc need to be single-sex spaces in order for women to be safe is patriarchy's way of signalling to men & boys that society doesn't expect them to behave themselves around women. it is directly antifeminist. it would be antifeminist even if trans people did not exist. a feminist society would demand that women should be safe in all spaces even when there are men there.

eddie wrapped his v-day present himself this year 💝

SARAH MICHELLE GELLAR as BUFFY SUMMERS BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER | 2.12 "Bad Eggs"

There's something about the tmagp characters' motivations, and who they're willing to sacrifice, and how the people or things they prioritise act towards them, and how it goes for them.

Because

Celia is willing to sacrifice Sam, who loves her and who she genuinely does care about, to stay with Jack. And then there's a moment where she isn't sure she can go through with it, and she loses him anyway without having to act, and she'll probably never know exactly what choice she would have made in the end, even though she's consciously planned this for weeks.

Alice straight up abandons Teddy and Colin, who are both Not Doing Well, when they are explicitly asking her for help, to go and protect Sam, who has told her not to come after him. It's barely a decision for her - she quite clearly stops thinking about anything or anyone else.

Sam finds out that Celia betrayed him and STILL puts himself in danger to protect her. And ends up falling through the gap to another world, which is exactly what she was planning to do to him.

Gwen throws Lena under the bus the moment the opportunity comes up, purely for the sake of her own ambition, which is part of a broader pattern of decisions. And it's immediately obvious when she gets what she wanted that it's only going to go badly for her.

Idk idk it's the love and the need and the want of it all, and the ruthlessness that can come out of it, and the way they make or don't make their choices, and the consequences of it aaaaaa

This post was inspired by me reading “Lol also I lied again. Only one more chapter now to end the story, I promise!” With 50k left to go. Like HAH that’s what YOU think! I however am from the all knowing mystical future and know better.

I love when I’m reading a fic and there’s an authors note saying something along the lines of “one chapter left!” “Gonna wrap this up soon!” And then I look and see that I’m literally less than halfway through an 80k fic. Muahaha you fucking thought! I feel like an all knowing oracle of the future. The author doesn’t even know what I do! They don’t know how The Muse is going to drag them along kicking and screaming for 30k longer than they anticipated. But I do!

Sometimes I’m in a suit, sometimes I’m slutted up…

I really need to stop being a fucking bitch and start the medical transition I’ve been salivating at the thought of for 7 years

The fearmongering around medical transition for transmascs will never not be upsetting to me.

“you’re gonna look ugly as a man” “but you’re such a pretty girl, don’t change that” Wrong. You will look different after T, but you will look happy. You will probably grow hair and gain weight and look pretty different, and none of that is bad or makes you less desirable. You are going to look like you and that’s all that matters.

“T makes you angry” “you’re gonna be a scary man i won’t feel safe around you” Wrong. Testosterone does not “make” you angry. Messing with your hormones will mess with your emotions for sure, but you will not immediately become some scary predator when you start T. Being a man/masculine does not make you a threat, a predator, or inherently angry. That’s radfem shit.

“bottom growth is gross” “no one will want you with bottom growth” Wrong. Bottom growth is cool and a LOT of guys end up loving theirs a lot more than they thought they would. For a lot of people it is a desirable trait, there are people who find bottom growth hot and attractive. And! If you’re sure you don’t want it there’s things you can do to work around that, just talk to your provider.

“bottom surgery is super painful and not worth it” First off, call it phalloplasty, because that’s what you’re talking about. Second, yes it’s painful, it’s surgery. There are risks to it and complications can happen, but that’s true of any surgery. Phallo might not be for you, but it is life saving care for other folks. It is beautiful and should be talked about as life saving care and not as some afterthought thing that no one actually does.

Being transmasculine is a beautiful thing. Transitioning medically is not something every trans person wants, but if you notice yourself holding back for the reasons i’ve listed above (or similar) maybe reconsider.