Down The Gender River

This is my place that is full of ramblings about what I want to ramble about. Xe/Xem/Xyr pronouns, proud aroace autistic enby. This is my blog: http://downthegenderriver.blogspot.co.uk/

[aglet-baby]

EBONY DARK'NESS DEMENTIA RAVEN WAY HAS CRASHED THE SUPERWHOLOCK WEDDING

[that-is-a-name]

Leonard: Was the giant, terrifying, otherworldly apparition also you?

Arthur: Yes

Leonard: ...

Leonard: Okay

[nozaeron]

so much for "occasionally handling" and it's literally the guy who's daily handling his supernatural situationship with a voice in his head

[downthegenderriver]

I mean to be fair he handles john for the power of love and friendship, not for money

[indigayghost]

It's so funny how Arthur just talks to John completely ignoring that Leonard can hear him like

Baby are you so scared that you don't care or you just don't see Lenny as a fucking human being that you don't care? Ahxhdusjsj poor Lenny

[downthegenderriver]

Also lenny saw john? Like his projection and didnt question it when arthur said it was him. What is going on with those two.

[you-shut-your-cakehole]

"Projection is extremely taxing for both of us. We only use it in emergencies and extremely tense situations, so as to conserve our strength and not risk draining our life force... anyway, wanna project so we can fuck with this i don't like?"

"Yeah, sure, I'm in."

Son 😭

[downthegenderriver]

Truly a choice of all time

[renthony]

As a nonbinary intersex person, I feel like I'm always trying to balance on the knife's edge between "I believe that anyone should get whatever hormones and surgery they want, no questions asked, with no shitty barriers" and "...but some of y'all are really edging into truscum/transmedicalist territory, I really need people to stop equating the term 'transition' with 'HRT, surgery, and nothing else,' and I am begging other trans people to do way more work in deconstructing their binary view of gender, because if one more trans person says something exorsexist and/or intersexist to me about my body, I AM going to fucking snap. Stop gendering my body and trying to dictate what transition should mean for anyone who isn't your own damn self."

[renthony]

I really wish it was easier to say, "hey, transmedicalists have put a shitty amount of pressure on me and several of my other nonbinary friends to transition in a way that doesn't suit us, and the emphasis a lot of trans spaces put on HRT and surgery can be super uncomfortable as an intersex person who has had doctors try to tell me I should get hormone treatments to 'fix' my body."

But people get touchy and reactive about that conversation, because of how many bigots are doing the "omg trans people are FORCING their DIRTY HORMONES on our CHILDREN!" narrative.

I never want to accidentally contribute to that moral panic. But at the same time, as a nonbinary intersex person, some trans people really fucking do pull the "oh my god you have to get HRT and surgery in order to be VALID and REAL like ME!" shit.

And it's hard to navigate sometimes, y'know?

[renthony]

These thoughts are on my mind today because I'm reading an anthology of trans-focused comics. A significant number of them are "how I got my surgery/HRT and started feeling like a Real Trans Person" narratives.

The authors haven't done anything shitty in telling their stories. These stories are important to share. But it's hard not to notice that I've yet to see a story like mine, where the journey of self-love comes through learning that body parts have no gender, that my body does not determine my identity, and that I don't have to alter it in order to fit binarist, truscum, intersexist ideas of what I should look like. My body can just exist without intervention. I don't need to do anything to it unless I want to, and the fact that I don't want to does not make me any less trans, nonbinary, or intersex.

It just gets kind of exhausting and alienating to see endless "trans empowerment is through SURGERY and HORMONES!!!!" stories, without much variation.

I wasn't born in the wrong body. I don't feel trapped in my body. My body is already nonbinary, because I am nonbinary.

[one-time-i-dreamt]

There was a new viral youtube song about feminism that opened with the line "Did you know that Mulder roleplayers have the habit of explaining how X-Files works to Scully roleplayers? And I know this because I am a male Scully roleplayer."

[onrepeatdaily]

i feel like a lot of people-- and tumblr especially-- are seriously sleeping on Paris Paloma! even if you don't recognise her name, it's very likely you've heard her voice before: she's the artist behind the song labour.

what you may NOT have known is that she also has a whole bunch of other bangers about other current and social issues: primarily related to women and feminism, but also covering other topics.

i'd like to introduce just a few of my favourites that i feel are as good as "labour" (if not better), and should definitely be just as popular:

feminist topics

good girl - in her own words: "this year I reached my limit with diet culture, anti-ageing culture, cosmetic surgery culture, and overall culture of policing women’s bodies."

last woman on earth - a grim rumination on how women are sexualised, objectified, and often violated from the moment of birth to even beyond death

as good a reason - about subverting beauty standards for women, set by a male-led industry to make a profit off of our insecurities

good boy - turns the gendered idea of "submission" on its head by pointing out that nobody is more submissive than a man to the billionaires (other men) at the top of our capitalist and patriarchal society, in the hopes that they too will be rewarded (they won't)

pre-raphaelite - in her own words: "pre-raphaelite is a love letter to the female gaze. it speaks about being mesmerised by feminine beauty without sexual attraction. the way you look at a cool girl and appreciate her like a painting: alive, beautiful, and full of depth."

knitting song - about solidarity and kinship between women and girls, the passing down of traditions between generations of women, and sharing in and celebrating a valuable craft and custom often derided for being feminine/female-dominated

boys, bugs and men - how boys realise at a young age that they can use physical and emotional harm towards women as a form of domination and power

drywall - about the double standard regarding men's and women's emotions: how men as seen as "logical" and women as "emotional", despite the fact that men are allowed to throw tantrums at simple inconveniences

other topics

miyazaki - anti-AI banger of all time! about paris' (and humanity's) natural need and desire to create art, and how soulless AI will never replace that (she will never let it)

triassic love song - the most beautiful and sad song about the triassic cuddle ever created. in the top 3 paris songs for me personally

hunter - about someone fighting-- and learning to live peacefully-- with the spectre of the mental illness they suffer from. in paris' own words: "hunter is a reckoning and a reflection on all the times I decided to keep living instead of giving up."

stem the flow - how it feels to love someone and realise they have hurt you extensively, and being unable to forgive them while also hoping they will change so that someday you can. begging them to prove they love you while also being angry at the realisation that maybe they don't know how. aka: toxic family song that breaks me every time

notre dame - sung from the pov of the hunchback: a figure who is both exiled from society but still wants to bear witness to people's loneliness, and give them comfort by existing invisibly in the rafters of the cathedral and being "a higher power, in case there isn't one"

it's called: freefall - a cover of the Rainbow Kitten Surprise classic, given a new haunting vibe through paris' classic folk sound

yeti (feat. Old Sea Brigade) - a song about the aftermath of a relationship, where two parties who were once obsessed with each other now no longer are. described via a metaphor of yeti sightings, and an explorer who no longer cares about them

anyway... these are all amazing songs, and you should definitely check them out! she has a new album coming out on sep 4 that i am veeery excited for (and no, she did not pay me to write this and promote it lmao), so now's the perfect time to get into her music!

[fishyfishyfishtimes]

Hi folks, I have a new question. Tell me your favourite animal or animals, please! You can even tell me information about them :D

[plaguedocboi]

Currently I’m getting into Vetulicolia. Like can we talk about these thangs??

They were either a sister group to chordates or their own fuckass phylum. No eyes no limbs no apparent sensory organs. They just swam around on pure vibes. I’m not necessarily surprised they died out in the Cambrian but I wish they had stuck around. Imagine what they might be up to today.

[atlas-the-worldbuilder]

I love them to no end. Have you seen KiaBugBoy's beautiful animation of them?

[hope-for-the-planet]

The DIY Diehards Building Green Infrastructure from Scratch

Renewable-power renegades are constructing their own wind turbines — and making it easy for others to follow their lead.

From the article:

On his return home, Schreiber wanted to spread the word. The next year he held his first wind turbine-building workshop, founding PureSelfMade, a nonprofit to teach people how to make their own wind turbines from scratch. Ever since, Schreiber, who returns to Scoraig every year to see Piggott and other friends, has been offering courses, usually for groups of between eight and 20 people, on how to make wind turbines from scratch, including rotor blades and custom-made generators, and setting up the basic electrics. Although outputs vary depending on locations, most turbines could power several appliances, but not an entire home. Often they are connected to batteries to store energy for when it’s needed. In the context of volatile energy prices, the pressing need to shift to renewable power, the limits of centralized electricity systems and the risks of relying on foreign supply chains, there’s growing demand for communities to become energy self-sufficient. Until now, so-called “small wind” has been a relatively overlooked local provider. But for Schreiber, the “DIY approach” brings with it a level of reassurance and freedom. “Instead of big industry, I prefer the more grassroots way,” he says. “I like the idea of decentralization. With a lot of chaos in the world, it’s better to be self-sufficient, to have a reliable energy system at home.”

PureSelfMade is expanding into selling parts kits for DIY wind turbines as well as detailed guides. Most of the materials for their designs can be purchased at a local hardware store, and the wood blades are biodegradable when they need to be replaced.

[leelarots]

⚠️

trespassers will be time scooped and put in the death zone

[circular-time]

Hooray the proper black trapezoid none of this namby pamby silver blancmange

[theprofessional-amateur]

link to bluesky post

[theprofessional-amateur]

In addition to how to turn various things, it includes:

Other useful AI Removal/Detection links

How to spot AI Hallucinations like a Reference Librarian (originally on Substack)

Library Freedom Project has a lot of handouts about AI on their Resources page

[bird-gifs-collection-agency]

Buy 1 Get 1 Free Socks Deal at Clothing Store #ShakeMyASS

[downthegenderriver]

Baby!king in yellow being an anthropologist is so cute. Him googling the horrors while driving people to madness. What fun!

[downthegenderriver]

Sometimes i think about that one guy who ate a computer.

[crabussy]

Why do kiwis have such massive fucking eggs “it’s because they are related to ostriches and-“ yeah ok but like why didn’t they evolve smaller eggs if I was in charge I would do that shit pronto. Thoughts?

their big eggs are actually that size for a similar reason to human babies having massive heads!! being bigger at birth can be important.

kiwi are trying SO HARD to become mammals. fur-like feathers, whisker-like feathers, little beady eyes, nocturnal, great sense of smell.... that's basically a mammal!! they're well suited for life on the forest floor.

their big eggs work alongside these adaptations to give them a leg up in the bird world. their young hatch already feathered! they're precocial, which means they're born with the ability to open their eyes and move around. like foals.

big egg = more powerful offspring from the get-go. babies don't need to spend precious time vulnerable while they develop on the ground when they've already done all that in the egg!

(unfortunately, with the introduction of mammals to aotearoa, these adaptations are a little less useful...)

[downthegenderriver]

So I watched that "showing off a world that does exist" thing and i'm taking that to mean that the events of SFAWTDE are canon to malevolent.