I reblogged her late last year and my 2024 has been very satisfying work-wise and (secure enough to not stress out) money-wise so far. Money Snake is wise and good.
“Ugh this prominent women in the Lesbian movement turned out to be a bisexual” “ugh this famous lesbian transitioned into a man” “ugh this queer romance writer turns out to be ace” “ugh this cis feminist author ended up being nonbinary” “ugh this writer on masculinity transitioned into a woman”
Oh no! We might have to recognize liberation as an interconnected intersectional struggle! Ahhh!!! >.<
Pink is hilarious cuz all these celebrities are making posts about how we need to do better and all deaths are tragic meanwhile Ms Alicia Moore is like
my favorite way to think about DC comics is to treat characters as simultaneously their canon age and the age of how long they’ve been in publication
whether Dick Grayson is canonically 9, 19, or 29, he was created April 1940 and is therefore a member of the Silent Generation (as are Batman and Superman)
Time is very squishy and rubbery in the DC Universe
Yes Dick Grayson is 9-29 years old. No he’s not a millennial or Gen Z, he’s Silent Generation. No he’s not a time traveller. But he’s not quite an ageless immortal with 80+ years of meaningful life experience behind a young face either, except sometimes he sorta is. That’s just something that happens sometimes, don’t worry about it.
I remember one of his writers being like “Well to me he was a kid in the 40s, a teenager in the 60s, and a young adult in the 90s. Everything is canon, even if it’s just canon by way of someone making up a story to tell at a party.” And honestly? Yeah.
I think a fair amount of biphobia online is rooted in what I call the "fanfiction bisexual mentality". in a fanfiction, often a character who is straight in canon, with a string of past opposite sex romantic/sexual partners, is paired with a same sex partner, and rather than devalue all those past relationships as not actually meaningful, the author will have the character realize that they are bisexual when they catch feelings for someone of their gender. and crucially, in a fanfiction, that ship is usually end game, they realize they're bi and live happily ever after with their gay lover.
but that is not how real life works. bisexual people might date exclusively one gender for years or even their entire life because that's who's around or who they are in love with. a bisexual might realize they're bi after meeting one specific person, but maybe that relationship doesn't work out - someone doesn't have to be The One to make you learn something about yourself! maybe you realize you're bi while already married and you stay married!
but allllll fucking pride month I have seen post after post about "this woman SAID she is bisexual, so why is she dating a man?" (and usually it is directed at women but not always). they expect someone to realize they are bi and then immediately start a serious relationship with a same sex partner and if they don't, then why did they even bother coming out as bi? it's not relevant to the gay happily ever after, so... maybe they're lying for clout? and god forbid they do date a gay partner and then go back to a straight one, despite like. straight/bi opposite sex potential partners outnumbering gay/bi same sex partners twenty to one.
I get irritation if a tv show tells you a character is bisexual but only ever puts them in "straight" relationships, but people are not tv shows and they're definitely not fanfiction. coming out as bi is not ~forwarding the plot~ or character growth leading to your ship declaring their love. it's people sharing an important part of themselves, and in a time of increasing queerphobia, who the fuck are you to criticize someone for doing that - or worse, accuse them of lying about it. not to be all "let women date men!" but bi people don't exist to give you cute gay celeb couple pics and the biphobia is exhausting.
The pushback will take time. Don't lose steam just yet. If you're like me and phones make you anxious, take advantage of the scripts that are floating around or write your own. Use the same one for every call and drag it out. Do laundry or dishes while you have them on speakerphone or are on the commute to work (hands-free of course drive safe or else!).
Also remember that it's pretty likely that the person you're talking to also doesn't want censorship. You can be firm with your complaint, but don't beat up the person on the other end of the line. Even tell them that you're not mad at them if you do get worked up.
Steam, Itch.io and the banning of explicit and LGBT+ Content. What can we do?
[All images in this post have alt/id text if you need it or want to copy paste anything]
With no warning, Itch.io, a site where many host their indie games, comics, books and more, has started purging and shadowbanning explicit and LGBT+ works. Creators got no warning. And if they were still owed payouts from these works, Itch.io is saying they won't give them their money as they 'broke the rules'. Rules that were only just set in place, with no warning, and therefore no way for creators to try and draw out their money or delete these 'offending' works before they got banned under the new rules.
So Itch.io has been the most recent to fall to the demands of a group that's been contacting Visa and Mastercard and convincing them to threaten sites/businesses with 'stop selling what we consider to be explicit content on your sites of we'll stop allowing your site to have transactions with Visa and Mastercard'. Steam folded, and now Itchio has too. And a reminder earlier this year Gumroad also stopped allowing explicit content, further back than that Patreon banned some kinks and fetishes even if it's depicted in fiction not real life, and I don't have to explain to you guys the great Tumblr explicit content ban of 2018.
And as always remember this doesn't stop with sexually explicit work as LGBT+ stories and people are often labelled as explicit and already we're seeing works being taken off Itch.io that are about LGBT+ and especially trans stories. Other non-sexually explicit works I've seen already getting shadowbanned, delisted or deleted are SFW games featuring furries/anthros, SFW dress up games (because when you take the clothes the model is nude), and the aforementioned SFW games that include LGBT+ characters and stories.
I'm compiling here information I've seen around various social medias, mostly Bluesky, because I haven't seen all these things shared over here.
I don't personally have explicit content on itch, but I had been considering one day selling things on there and I do currently have explicit content on my Patreon, my main source of income, and am terrified that Patreon is going to fold next (if anyone knows alterative for hosting audio content behind a paid subscription service please let me know so I can start maybe making a back-up in case the worst happens). Because for me personally if Patreon goes next, it's not like I can go out and easily get another job. Not only because in general finding and getting a job is difficult enough, but I'm autistic and have chronic pain and have been constantly getting sick or new pains over the last few years and don't feel safe being trans in the UK right now and all of that combined rules me out of a lot of jobs and makes me feel unsafe to apply to any. I'm so grateful I've been able to make a community around my work, but if Patreon caves next and I just leave my SFW posts on Patreon... 10% of my Patreons are signed up to the SFW tier, 90% are signed up to the explicit tier... I know if Patreon caves I will go from someone living comfortably who's searching to move out of my parents so I can live in a safer environment to someone who can no longer even afford the rent I pay to my parents. I'll try and get an alterative found and set up in case that happens and I can only hope you guys will follow me to whatever other site I have to set up... but it feels unlikely that people will get a whole new account on a whole new payment provider just to support me on a website they might never have heard of...
But what can we do right now?
A petition you can sign (international but you do have to give your name, email, and postal/zip code):
Mastercard's new policy unfairly targets the adult content industry, making sex workers more vulnerable, especially Black trans women. It mu
Get calling:
Mastercard (US): 1-800-627-8372
MasterCard (UK): 0800 964 767
Mastercard (International.): +1-636-722-7111
Visa (US + Can): 1 800 847 2911 / 1-800-VISA-911
Visa (AUS): 1 800 125 440
Visa (UK) : 0800 891 725 or use their international call collect +1 303 967 1096
Visa (International): (call collect - it costs them $): +1-303-967-1096
PayPal (US): 1-888-221-1161
PayPal (UK): 0800 358 7911 from landline, +44 203 901 7000 mobile
PayPal (International): 1-402-935-2050
(numbers gathered from these posts X X X )
Don't know what to say on the phone? Here's a script written by timidtanuki:
Creators have had their work removed off Itch.io with no warning and since it's been removed for 'breaking the rules' (rules that were suddenly in place with no warning) they aren't entitled to get their payouts. Just like other sites such as Youtube and Twitch and Etsy, Itch.io hold onto money from their users in a wallet and then give them payouts. So there is money creators have made, are owed, that Itch.io is not giving to them.
People are recommending that if you still have works on Itch.io to turn down the revenue sharing to 0% so that Itch.io no longer takes a cut or your money if you no longer want to support Itchi.io finically but don't want to remove your works from their platform. X
Other Bluesky posts and calls to action I've seen:
radiantg.bsky.social is asking for anyone on Itch.io who got their game deindexed, removed , or payouts turned off to reach out to them (espeically if you make explicit and/or LGBT+ games) for a piece of journalism about what is happening.
sleepyhart.bsky.social is making a thread of all the games that Itch.io has censored/removed from their site search function. Obviously be aware this will include 18+ only games, games with sexual content and other dark or heavy themes.
thetransfemininereview.com wants you to reach out to them if you're a trans creator on Itch.io who is being affected by this so they can make an accurate report. they say 'authors' in their post and I'm unsure if they also want game devs to reach out.
dropdownbear.bsky.com wants you to reach out if you have purchased things on Itch.io that you can now no longer access because of this ban. they can include them in a report being filed with the Australian Consumer Commission as this may be a violation of Australian Consumer rights. If you are Australian you can no longer access things you purchased of Itch.io you can report directly with this guide.
It's a scary time for adult creators and sex workers. It's a scary time to be trans. Support creators. And if anyone knows of any alternate payment providers that allow explicit work, and/or alternate websites to Itch (and in case things get worse, also give me Patreon alternates please) where people can host, sell and/or offer paid subscriptions to writing, images, videos, audios, games and more please leave them in the replies. And please help share this post, the posts I'm linking too, and any other resources you can find.
Casual reminder that in the 70s, 80s, 90s, if you liked DnD, heavy metal, etc, you stood a chance of being accused of murder or worse in a lot of places in the US.
In the 2000s and early 2010s, slurs for queer folk and the differently abled were common slang/normal internet humor. (#MeToo changed a loooot of things online.)
In the 1960s, women were finally granted the ability to open a bank account in the US; though it took the 1974 Equal Credit Opportunity Act to help women fight against discrimination from banks and financial institutions.
We cannot forget how recently these and other victories were won, these circumstances were changed for the better. We cannot forget that the vestiges of times before still affect us, even when victories are enshrined in law; bigotry and ignorance remain.