16 3 / 2024
Anonymous asked:
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.
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.
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?
16 3 / 2024
le-vent-the-wind asked:
Happy Caesar Was Stabbed Day, Neil!
Will you be stabbing anyone in today's rituals?
Um. Butter Pecan, or any fresh fruit gelato.
16 3 / 2024
pumpkinpumpkinton asked:
Mr Gaiman what is your favorite ice cream flavor?
I think the ritual of stabbing Julius Caesar on the Ides of March is an important Tumblr tradition that needs to be maintained for coming generations.
16 3 / 2024
why do grooms get one boring black jacket and brides get the most jawdropping gowns ever like when i get married i want pearls and lace and a train is that too much to ask??
Hnn could you imagine.. a suit embroidered with baroque pearls… a LACE CAPE gently floating behind the groom… a fuckin sword..
oh my god…. your m i n d…. the wedding industry is quaking
Meanwhile in Scotland…
YO, there are SO MANY great groom outfits around the world where he is dressed all in silk, lace, gold, pearls and glitter, with capes and scarves, hats and stitchery and I find it so sad that most of these countries switch over to “suit”. Like, look at these handsome boys!
India
Sudan
China (traditional)
Nigeria
Indonesia
Mongolia
Ghana
Ethiopia
Poland
Romania
Russia (1)
Russia (2)
*shakes fist at sky*
damn you western marriage culture
may I add
Norway
japan
japan the hard core traditional wedding costume
Turkey
Hungary
Navajo
maori (new zealand)
Fiji
Tonga
Here are some gay wedding additions:
India
India-Pakistan
South Africa
Thailand
Japan
Georgia
This last addition to this ^^^ is my genuinely my most favorite part!
I rb’d a different version of this and added other cultures (including that Georgian one – which, ftr, notes that these guys are Georgians in America, because if they’d worn those clothes [chokha] in Georgia as openly gay men having a gay wedding, there’s a not-insignificant chance they would’ve gotten killed, since gay men aren’t considered “real men” and only “real men” are deemed worthy of wearing chokha. Which I think is contextual information worth sharing here – that this isn’t just beautiful cultural garb but also a very deliberate act of defiance and pride using that clothing in the face of the intensely hypermasculine, homophobic culture it comes from).
Rb’ing this alternative version just because I love the inclusion of some of the other same-gender weddings.
Also, interestingly, American wedding culture diverged in a weird way from British formalwear culture. So there’s a weird thing where British formalwear is flashier than American!
In British formalwear, there’s a distinction between morning formal and evening formal. In America this still remains reflected in conventions like “evening dress,” which is a phrase and class of dress understood in America. The “masculine” counterpart of the “feminine” evening dress is the evening suit or tuxedo, which is further divided into black tie or white tie tuxedo, which are worn with a bow tie.
As a result, American weddings are usually a business suit (matching jacket and trousers) or a slightly nice everyday suit (blazer, trousers don’t have to match, maybe a fun tie) or a tuxedo type event.
However, British formalwear still recognises the importance of the “morning suit” as different from the evening suit, and it is fairly flashy. It’s an option for a fancy event or formal wedding in the daytime. You would not wear a tuxedo to a morning wedding if you were old money classy.
Morning wear usually incorporates multiple colors and can’t be just black, has the distinction of a waistcoat, can have interesting patterns, usually has flowers and jewelry as accessories. Minimum handkerchief or boutonnière, cufflinks, snazzy buttons. People might feel self-conscious about the hat and cane, but they’re traditional options.
Of course you can wear whatever you want forever, but if you’re interested in clothing rules or are saddened by the apparent paucity of masc options (especially if you’re trying to stay in your cultural lane) you can still get character and excitement in masculine stuff too. And it’s an open piece of culture that anyone can use because colonisation. So for example, if you’re a trans guy of no particular white background reading the post, and feeling a bit sad about your options to get married in, I am psychically fixing your boutonnière, king. Everyone loves a guy in a morning suit.
(via ibelieveinturtles)
16 3 / 2024
The Kate Middleton mysteries, as channelled by Emery Robin (from here):
(via ibelieveinturtles)
16 3 / 2024
I was waiting for the night bus at 1am the other night, eating fries, when a dude, high as fuck, tried to harass me. It took several “I don’t want to talk to you, please go away” for him to finally move, but I think it helped that another man was giving him the death stare and clicking his tongue at him. He then checked I was okay and whether I knew the guy or not. Good dude.
Shout out also the man who silently switched places with me on another night bus to be a buffer between me and a guy who had threatened me. Thank you
Men: this here? This here is what you need to be doing as allies. The men who harass and insult women are not likely to take our complaints about it seriously. But you, another man, they will listen to.
I was pumping gas at like 10 PM one night, and these bunch of drunk guys came walking up to the gas station, and one of them yelled over to me if I wanted to see his dick. His friend says to him, “You don’t have anything she wants to see.” and apologized. It was pretty awesome.
this is all we want from men. to recognize the wrongs done by other men, and acknowledge it. not give us shitass defense like, “not all men do that”
this is proper chivalry
We know not all men are like that! Now please help deal with the ones who are!
(via ibelieveinturtles)
16 3 / 2024
We don’t talk enough about how fanfiction writers love to give character large amounts of non-specific paperwork they hate doing
say more pls
Yeah sure why not.
So most stories take place when Events are Happening, and this means that no matter what kind of job the characters have, they’re probably not too focused on them. Fanfics, on the other hand, often show the down time. Which means that the writer has to figure out what the hell these characters do in their jobs. Unless the characters have a job the author understands or knows well, the author is often at a loss for what to have the character doing.
So they sit them at a desk and give them paperwork. What is the paperwork for? Rarely specified. It is Paper Work for the characters Important Adult Job they have and they need to read or sign it or something. And there’s always a line about how Character Hates Paperwork. Doesn’t matter if Character is a Mafia Boss or a General or a Diplomat, here they are in an office trying to get out of Doing Paperwork.
There’s also a sense of, like, humor and mundanity that comes with it. Like the examples above, it always particularly stands out to me when a dangerous individual is griping about some paper they need to sign or something. The less you can picture Character doing paperwork, all the better to force it upon them. If Character is saddled with Paperwork, they’re usually now concerned about the physical damages their motley crew causes, because damage = More Paperwork.
Anyway I just think it’s fun or funny, Sephiroth doing paper work and Sawada Tsunayoshi doing paper work and this just in, Tony Stark is doing paperwork. Sorry, Phoenix Wright can’t play right now. Yeah, it’s paperwork.
This is fair and true.
… but also there is a shocking amount of paperwork involved with most jobs. Does your job deal with money? There are ledgers and piles of invoices to handle. Does you job deal with building things? There is paperwork for acquiring, storage, and tracking of materials, and then more paperwork for the storage, sale, and distribution of finished products. Do you build experimental shit? All of that materials nonsense is still there PLUS now you have math and extremely detailed models to do to make sure your thing works. Over and over. Along with a whole lot of data for every test run, and then a lot of math and comparing numbers.
Is your job talking to people? Welcome to the world of correspondence, which, yes, a lot is verbal, but just as much is written, not to mention all bullshit to set up to maintain those networks and keep updated on any various projects or special interest groups that may be relevant, plus any/all reports required to keep your superiors (if you have any) updated on progress. Business communication counts as paperwork (where are my office workers out there who have spent three hours on an email so you dont get fucking roasted later, or so your project gets approved?).
Do you have a military command? Omg welcome to paperwork central (as confirmed by a friend of mine who is an O4), because everything needs to be tracked, and all things run on bureaucracy.
Lawyers? Holy FUCK the paperwork. Court documents don’t write themselves, and there is a LOT of specific language, AND it needs to have references cited (there was a pretty spectacular couple of court case fubars recently about a couple lawyers trying to us chatgpt for it and fucking themselves and their client over HARD).
Are there folks who are “important” enough that they can push off any and all paperwork onto minions? Some, but they tend to be few and far between, and even very powerful people often like to personally ensure that said paperwork is being done right, which at least requires a review. Get enough projects going and employees, and even a basic glance over of each team’s work just to make sure that the end product isnt a steaming pile of shit can turn into a LOT of reading. And potential editing, too.
So. Like. Yes. The mindless paperwork that a lot of fic authors use to fill in the narrative gaps in fic is amusing and sometimes ridiculous, especially if the character.in question doesn’t have a ‘job’ per se, they just go DO STUFF. And yeah, there are definitely characters ans stories that excess paperwork doesn’t make sense for.
But a lot of the background busywork is based in what a lot of jobs are really like. And the more action-based a character’s job is (ie a mechanic fixes things, a jedi talks to people and potentially stabs them, a race car driver drives cars), the less happy they are likely to be about doing any required documentation, invoicing, or book keeping to sustain that job.
@skierunner your tags pass peer review i am fucking dying.
If you’re looking for a hellish alternative to paperwork, may I suggest mandatory online training modules?
Sexual harassment is the one we mostly see in TV because it has the most obvious opportunities for humor, but I also have to do insider training, data security and making strong passwords, combatting waste and fraud, HIPAA* compliance bc my job is Healthcare related, and more every single year. Not to mention trainings on how to use new software etc like how my company switches time card programs every time our introductory rate ends and there’s a half hour video on where to go to click “clock on” and how to submit expenses and shit. At my job, we sometimes have to watch the same videos but for new clients, too. It’s also just paperwork, they need to submit a form saying that everyone with access to their data knows not to post it on tiktok.
Even a mob boss has to watch a video to learn the new payroll software at his front businesses.
*HIPAA is US patient privacy laws. If you’re a minor thinking about gender affirming care, birth control, stis, abortion - any medical care you don’t want your parents to know about - you should make sure you know your rights in whatever country/state etc before accessing care. /siderant over
Yeah I saw the initial post and was like…yes, it’s an amusing observation, but having lots of general paperwork in any career is WAY more realistic than what a lot of tv and movie writers do where every ambitious protagonist’s career involves doing big idea pitches to either clients or much higher up bosses, and these pitches make or break their hopes of succeeding.
Are there jobs that have that kind of structure? Sure! Is it the majority of office jobs? Absolutely not.
Tell you what the majority of office jobs DO have, though, whether it’s digital forms or literal physical ones–PAPERWORK.
I nominally write sci-fi but in reality I just write wall-to-wall bureaucracy where people occasionally fall in love, and paperwork is a GOLDMINE of character enrichment, story progression, and plot tricks. May I present for your consideration:
1) Competence. What if your character is very good at doing paperwork? What if they know exactly how to charm permission out of building management to do a controlled explosion on a roof at 3am. What if they did their risk assessment three weeks ago (surprise) and so the villain can’t legally stop the protagonists’ plan even though they think they’ve got them cornered. What if they were highly literate and good at navigating the bureaucracy maze and able to use that to help other people. This can be a fun way to give any character agency, especially if they’re not the type to blow things up themselves.
2) Obstruction. Speaking of villains stopping the plan, this is often how power is wielded against the underdog: through the paperwork piling up on your MC’s desk. Wrenches are thrown in the works can be structural rather than personal, and that’s often the letter, or the email, or the meeting they have to go to with their boss where they get their space freighter inspector badge confiscated for trying to stop the villain smuggling endangered space leopards. This is also a really good way to keep your villains 'on page’ and remind the reader they exist while not have to write a scene with them every chapter.
3) Shoes to drop later. If a character is regularly going through large amounts of data and moaning AGAIN that the wizarding council wants to build a bridge on a CLEARLY unstable magical portal, this is both an easy Chekov’s gun and a fun place to pull out details for detective work and later plot reveals. You’ve earned that information as a storyteller - it was right there on the page - and we believe the character pulled it out from the back of their mind and made the connection at just the right moment.
4) Malicious compliance. Listen I don’t know what to tell you but if you jump through every hoop in the 'obstruction’ column and then turn around at the climax triumphantly pulling a legal loophole on the antagonist I am putting your story in the High Art column.
5) Humour. Honestly this is mostly why I write it. There is something about Assessment 38-B, the plot that requires Assessment 38-B, the people who do not want to fill out Assessment 38-B, the people who are ADAMANT that Form 38-B needs filling out, and the character who finally writes 'Risk Assessment: Everything On Fire’ and puts it on their commander’s charred desk that is never not funny to me.
So in conclusion, more paperwork in writing, please, and the more jokes the better.
Another brief hiatus break: yeah I do gotta say that while I get what OP meant to an extent …
… no I’m just giving my chars the paperwork I do know they should be doing because all of these people will be doing fucking paperwork. Yes, even the mafia boss (do you think money laundering does not come with reams. of fucking. paperwork?).
We’re showing the downtime, which is where you do the paperwork. This is also how Intense, Stressful Jobs actually work. You get into a shoot-out … and then you do paperwork! (If a shoot-out ISN’T generating paperwork, that’s a Bad Sign).
Finish a stressful call in the ambulance? TIME TO FILL OUT FORMS! In the ER you get to do the paperwork WHILE also having the stressful moment! And so on. And so on.
And the worst part is, all of this is for a reason. Most of this paperwork (or computer-work, or other way of logging shit so that its traceable and usable and functional and conveys meaning to other people within the ambit and effect of your job) actually has a purpose. Some of it is absolutely life and death. But it’s still paperwork!
Now some people are just leaning on that as a Commonplace, and sadly tend to be less funny because they don’t have the sense of Why This Exists (presumably, they have not had to do a lot of paperwork in their life yet … ), but that’s more on them for not understanding it than on the trope for being wrong*.
And on the other hand often we’re non-specific because a) unless we’re being really specific for The Bit we do feel safe assuming that readers don’t actually want to know about the Visa vs Non-Visa Expenses Form Iteration A-13 (Regular Staff), or the A3365 Requisition Form that you have to sign before you get the B12 Requisition Confirmation Form that you have to countersign before you get the repair parts for your tank….
….and also b) there is zero standardization and most of us would rather not have to MAKE UP new systems of paperwork.
(Please note that I did say “most”, and also noted that we’re OFTEN non-specific, not that this is always the right way; all is context. If someone responds raising either of these objections I will throw a shoe at them.)
A lot of life in extremely complex systems is paperwork, except back in Uruk, Babylon and Persepolis where it was tabletwork, or the Andes where it was apparently knotwork. And really for quite a while in Europe it was parchmentwork. But I digress.
*And, obviously, it’s much better if you actually sit and think about the characterization beyond “lol dangerous character hates paperwork.” This was fun for YBEB-verse; for Clint the issue of Paperwork is one of the areas wherein the fact that he’s just as fucked in the head as everyone else flashes a few fins at the surface, because the performance of it is both part of his elaborate dance to remind Fury that Fury doesn’t actually control him which he does because he profoundly respects Fury and doesn’t want to have to kill him some day because Fury forgot and crossed the wrong line. Natalia is neutral to paperwork: paperwork is like everything else, it is part of the job and it should serve its purpose and be done efficiently etc etc etc. Maria has a love-hate relationship with paperwork because she both needs it and her entire world runs on it and yet a deep part of her soul really wants to be more like Clint about it.
Hilariously, Steve and Tony do paperwork in more or less exactly the same way: avoid it until a person who is actually keeping track of shit corners them and tells them exactly what paperwork they have to do, no, NOW … .unless for some reason they’ve got the bit between their teeth about Something that has Offended or Annoyed them, which happens to involve paperwork, whereupon they become paperwork machines. Neither of them is consciously aware that they share this trait. Bucky is absolutely consciously aware that Steve and Tony share this trait and thinks it’s fucking hysterical. And so on.
Legitimately, now that I have an office job you have no idea how much paperwork i have in my office at any given time. Multiple piles and paper trays just full of papers because we have to have hard copies of everything for Reasons, and I’m on the LOW end for “amount of paperwork required” in my office. So… yeah, just give 'em fuckin paperwork.
The alternative for more minimum wage type jobs (retail, food service, etc) is make them clean things or do inventory. Both regularly necessary, both easy to either detail or brush over depending on your needs.
I wrote a bit into leaves where Martin had started putting together a cross-index of all the statements they had recorded. It was not part of his job description, it was just a Thing He Did™. People - especially people who had worked office jobs - loved that.
And that was 100% based on my personal experience. I’m the team lead for
a nonexistent teamthe team that handles the incoming mail to the litigation department, and as such, people often come to me with questions (“Where is X?” “How much work do you have to do?” “What’s the ETA on Y?” “How do you do Z?”) that I have to answer as quickly as possible. And the longer it takes me to find the answers to those questions, the less time I have for doing the other work that I am trying to do.So? Spreadsheets. Forms. Paperwork. I log everything. When I was responsible for scanning, after trying for months to convince upper management to just buy us new scanners already because the ones we were using had stopped being manufactured in 2011 and I had, and I am not exaggerating, this is literally what happened, blown up two of them because something inside shorted out from overwork, I started writing down how many pages I was scanning. Every document, every batch, I would dutifully record how many pages scanned, and if the scanner jammed or malfunctioned, I would place a big red dot next to the number scanned. Did it by hand during the day, then entered it into a spreadsheet before I left at EOD. Eventually I sent the spreadsheet to my manager and the AVPs with a polite explanation of what they were looking at. I got two brand-new scanners two weeks later.
So yeah. Never be afraid to make up your own paperwork if your character is the sort of person who, for example, might have the “Excel Lovers” role on a particularly nerdy Discord server.
(via ibelieveinturtles)