It's Raphael, or you can call me Apollo, your fabulous bigender nonbinary high femme trans man on Tumblr! I'm an adult, and my pronouns are he/him and they/them!
I am femme-presenting and nondysphoric, and currently has no plans for transitioning either physically or socially, except for changing my name and pronouns on the net.
My interests are makeup artistry, fashion, and drawing. I love colors! I love rainbows! Can you tell that I'm gay from that?? /lh
On this blog I'm going to post my experiences being a high femme non binary trans man, being an aroace/demi bisexual, aside from my hobbies and hopefully, my artwork in the future.
I have no DNI for this blog, but I will simply block haters liberally
hey guys June here neither trans men nor trans women have male privilege ok in fact not even all cis men have male privilege because our societies "normative acceptable manhood" is in actuality incredibly narrow and immensely easy to fall out of and be excluded from. the patriarchy benefits no one. oki that's all
fundamentally all transfeminism not based on dismantling the binary entirely is flawed. so much of trans discourse is treating nonbinary people as childish, simply "playing around" while the Real Serious Transgenders experience all the violence and suffering and pain in the whole entire world. if you only care about "trans women" in the specific narrow lens of women AMAB who have socially and medically transitioned into the Opposite Sex and you only care about "trans men" in the specific narrow lense of men AFAB who have socially and medically transitioned into the Opposite Sex you have done a disservice to your queer siblings. ohh but the weird gender faggots will never be understood by broader cishet society so its basically not worth trying. I have the god given right to uphold the binary as hard as I possibly can as long as I can fit on whatever side of it I want. fuck you, I want mine. and thats the thing, you dont even HAVE yours. you just want to kick us out of the door so you have a chance to close it behind you. but youre never getting in without us baby!! stop centering your identity around acceptance from people who hate us all the same. sorry to say, but transphobes literally do not take your strict binary transition any more seriously than a genderfuck queer dykefag. they literally think we are all ridiculous and disgusting so you better fucking ride with us or you won't have anybody left. I am sick of these two deeply specific categories of identity being treated with utmost care and seriousness and everyone else being expected to just sit there and be quiet because the Real Trannies are speaking. "i dont feel safe around anyone except my specific group of similarly identifying people" yeah, you and every other reactionary. I am sick and tired of this "community" that fucking hates us and themselves. get it together.
This is the 10th Anniversary Edition of "It's Not A Race." Originally released in August, this version is months late because the prospect of adding pages to what is easily my most read works was particularly daunting.
I wanted to post it again unattached to the original so I could display it the way it was meant to be seen.
Blessings,
-J
The currency has collapsed, and the entire commercial exchange is on the verge of collapse. The paper value of every $100 is only $60, and the purchasing power of every $60 does not exceed $10. Simply put, $60 is not enough to buy one kilogram of sugar or one kilogram of flour! This means that work is worthless and money has no meaning. If you need $100 a day to secure a single meal of lentil falafel, fava beans, and a cup of tea... everyone is hungry. Those with good morals, principles, and values āāare the most miserable and hungry. We are going through the most difficult times. We are only talking about one thing, so what about the cost of medicine, treatment, transportation, and many other things? Some people think this is exaggerated, but unfortunately, this is the reality. In order for us to survive and be patient, even if only for a short period, we are in dire need of your help and donations. With your donation, I may be able to provide a meal or medicine.
Hi, my name is Dipa and I'm raising money for Nabila . Please take some time to read her story below and donate so that she can travel to re
Help support Dipanwita Roy by donating or sharing with your friends.
Nothing can describe the suffering we are experiencing here in Gaza. Conditions are deteriorating daily, and families are living between hunger and fear. People don't know when aid will arrive, and if it does, will it be enough? We live in anticipation, and every moment there is concern for our lives and the lives of our loved ones.
I am elderly and diabetic, and I need regular insulin injections to maintain my health, but with the current crisis, obtaining them has become extremely difficult. In addition, I suffer from severe pain in my heart area, which makes my life even more difficult and frightening. The doctor told me I need an MRI to determine the cause, but I cannot afford the test.
Every day I am in a constant state of fear, not knowing if I will have what I need to survive. The situation here in Gaza is making even our most basic medical needs unattainable.
I need your help now more than ever. Any contribution, no matter how small, can give me a chance to continue my life and take care of my health during this difficult time.
Together we can make a difference.
Help support Dipanwita Roy by donating or sharing with your friends.
Hi, my name is Dipa and I'm raising money for Nabila . Please take some time to read her story below and donate so that she can travel to re
something white people (and nonblack people of colour) need to know is that if your friend of colour comes up to you to tell you that you were being racist in some way or another, that is an act of trust.
firm reminder that if youāre saying shit completely indistinguishable from bigots like āwe gotta start killing trans womenā ātrans men should just take some dick and theyāll be normalā ā[slur for intersex people] are such a small minority and they always make it about themselvesā (all real opinions i have seen Multiple times) then you can fuck right off
My name is Abdullah Al-Qassab, Iām 27 years old, and I am writing this message with trembling hands and an empty stomach ā from Gaza.
Before the war, I had a small travel agency something I built with love, effort, and hope.I dreamed of a simple lifeā¦ a dignified life.
But the war didnāt just destroy my home and business āit shattered my ability to dream.
Today, Iām not asking for dreams.Iām asking for bread. For water. For life I now live with my family in the open ā no walls, no roof, just the cold ground beneath us.
We are in a catastrophic famine.
We go days without food.
We faint in the street from hunger.
Our bodies are giving up.
And stillā¦ the world remains silent.
My mother has a heart condition ā she needs medicine and special food.
Now she lies in pain, her chest aching, and I have nothing to give her. My grandmother has high blood pressure ā worsened by hunger and cold nights.
Her body is shrinking before my eyes.
And meš?
Iāve collapsed more than once from weakness. From not eating.But I stand up againā¦ because they need me.
What do you call this life?
Sleeping on the dirtā¦ watching your family starveā¦ praying your heart doesnāt stop before help arrives? This is not a life. This is a slow death. To anyone reading this Pleaseā¦ donāt turn away from me.
Help me buy food before we collapse again. Help me get medicine before my motherās heart gives out.
Help me bring even one moment of comfort to my grandmother before itās too late.
Iām not asking for luxury.
Iām not asking for comfort.
> Iām begging for survival.
Even the smallest act of kindness could mean the world to us. Pleaseā¦ save us from this hunger.
Welp. Google's AI horseshit has arrived. And I'm not complying. They can pry my ID out of my cold dead hands. I will simply go elsewhere. Remember folks, DO NOT GIVE THEM YOUR IDs. Do not comply. Resist, fight it, use other browsers or sources beyond youtube and google controlled services. Call them. Email them. Make noise. Fight back.
I've been using Google as my main mail service since 2006, and every single account or service I've ever signed up for was made with that address. For a long time I thought it'd be impossible to divorce myself from Google.
It took less than 5 minutes to switch to a ProtonMail account, less than 2 hours to download and/or offload every byte of data from my Google account, and less than 3 days to change every single account or service I've ever signed up for to the new address.
As of today, the only single one I have that's still tied to it is YouTube. It's the only thing I'd lose access to if I deleted my Google acount entirely.
They really, really want you to believe that it's a hassle to switch to a different email system. But it's not. Most websites and/or services allow you to change the email address associated with it.
I've been using Google for almost 2 decades and it only took a few days to move everything. It's not a painful sacrifice; it's an easy change that, frankly, has absolutely been worth it.
You can and should switch to a free, encrypted Proton email account. You also get all of the below perks. For free. There is no trick. It is paid for by the people with paying plans. I am one of them. The (completely functional) free tier is there to entice you into getting a paid account with even more perks. (It worked on me.) But there's no penalty or pressure for staying with the free account.
Also get your stuff off the google drive and put it on Proton's drive. It is encrypted. Only you with your password can access it. Not even Proton can see what you put in there.
You guys have GOTTA learn to stop seeking absolution from strangers online.
If someone says "haha Americans are so self-centered they don't know anything about other countries", you don't gotta jump in and explain that actually it's not your fault because you had a bad education. Just learn from the post and move on!
If someone says "white people hate rap because they're racist", you don't gotta jump in and start listing all the totally valid reasons you personally don't like it. You don't have to justify your music taste to strangers, just move on!
If someone says "people should be more involved in their local communities" you don't gotta jump in and start listing all the reasons that you personally can't leave your house and so actually the original post is really ableist. Just accept that the post doesn't apply to you and move on!
Stop publicly demanding that the internet absolve you of sins that some random dipshit made up, it is always going to make you look bad and you'll wind up trapped in an anxious cycle of needing external validation for every aspect of your personality. You don't have to justify yourself to randos on the internet.
When Brazilian graphic designer Carol RossettiĀ began posting colorful illustrations of women and their stories toĀ Facebook, she had no idea how popular they would become.Ā
Thousands of shares throughout the world later, the appeal of Rosettiās work is clear. Much like the street art phenomenonĀ Stop Telling Women To Smile, Rossettiās empowering images are the kind you want to post on every street corner, as both a reminder and affirmation of womenās bodily autonomy.Ā
āIt has always bothered me, the worldās attempts to control womenās bodies, behavior and identities,ā Rossetti toldĀ MicĀ via email. āItās a kind of oppression so deeply entangled in our culture that most people donāt even see itās there, and how cruel it can be.ā
Rossettiās illustrations touch upon an impressive range of intersectional topics, including LGBTQ identity, body image, ageism, racism, sexism and ableism.Ā Some characters are based on the experiences of friends or her own life, while others draw inspiration from the stories many women have shared across the Internet.Ā
āI see those situations I portray every day,ā she wrote. āI lived some of them myself.ā
Despite quickly garnering thousands of enthusiastic comments and shares on Facebook, the project started as something personal ā so personal, in fact, that Rossetti is still figuring out what to call it. For now, the images reside in albums simply titled āWOMEN in english!ā or āMujeres en espaƱol!ā which is fitting: Rossettiās illustrations encompass a vast set of experiences that together create a powerful picture of both womenās identity and oppression.
One of the most interesting aspects of the project is the way it has struck such a global chord.Ā Rossetti originally wrote the text of the illustrations in Portuguese, and then worked with an Australian woman to translate them to English. A group of Israeli feminists also took it upon themselves to create versions of the illustrations inĀ Hebrew. Now, more people have reached out to Rossetti through Facebook and offered to translate her work into even more languages. Next on the docket? Spanish, Russian, German and Lithuanian.
Itās an inspiring show of global solidarity, but the message of Rossettiās art is clear in any language.Ā Above all, her images celebrate being true to oneself, respecting others and questioning what society tells us is acceptable or beautiful.
āI canāt change the world by myself,ā Rossetti said. āBut Iād love to know that my work made people review their privileges and be more open to understanding and respecting one another.āā
From the site:Ā All images courtesy Carol Rossetti and used with permission.Ā You can find more illustrations, as well as more languages, on herĀ Facebook page.
My favorite thing about this is how thereās diversity in the women even when it isnāt relevant. There are more fat women than just the illustrations regarding body image. There are multiple women in wheelchairs even when the text isnāt focusing on it. there are so many different races and ethnicity even when thatās not what the words are focusing on. One of them doesnāt have a left arm and it isnāt the focus. Itās beautiful, showing the overlap between all these things.
these make me so happy. their names are diverse as well, Iām not sure if Iām wording it right but oftentimes you donāt see characters of colour with more ethnic/cultural names and Iām very happy to see that theyve included that as well.
stumbled across your pages by accident and i am absolutely fascinated by the kibbe body types thing (perhaps it is part of my natural autistic instinct to categorise things)
i always wonder when i see things with height categories how they work for transgender people. i am 5'8 as a trans man, which is not particularly tall for people who have gone through testosterone-driven puberty, but certainly above average for people who have gone through estrogen-driven puberty, so i wouldn't fit into a different selection of types depending on what scale you measure me on. does this system take into account transgender individuals, or does it struggle with people outside of the norm?
kibbe is universal and pretty flexible, especially since his recent book detailed a way to figure out our IDs sans height impression but through the famous line drawing around silhouettes:
soon as you get a gauge of shoulder shape, the position of the axilla in relation to the torso, the outline of your face, and how a light fabric would fall on you, you already found your ID without even needing to weed through how kibbe vertical or medium or petite you are.
example - let's do my line drawings (not 100% like david does it, i like to take more factors than just fabric drape into account: a body's more than a mannequin. we have to look at bone structure and flesh to know our ID!) for elliot page just by the upper body alone:
RESULT -> combination of opposites (natural shoulders but no kibbe width, sharp yang but compact, tiny bit of classic balance) that are mostly yang - only flamboyant gamin is possible! page dresses pure classic, but the D + N undercurrent is glaring.
now, and this is pretty important to know, funnily enough kibbe is not big on typing by height to begin with:
he is more interested in how the person comes across and how the garment sits. he's a stylist or old hollywood casting director more than a typist. dude has reached the level of:
"i type a person by how they move, almost any ID can be any height, metamorphosis is about your unique poetic essence and love, clothes have no ID, body types and unattractive people are nonexistent, i'm an autumn TR but dress like a bright spring classic, i delete half of the types in the system just because, and we should all look like the 80s" lmao he dgaf anymore i swear š
david's philosophy aside: if you struggle pinpointing how much vertical impression you have, it's best to flip the script and check for width (N), how parallel your torso lines are (C), and how much the garment has to dip in at the waist (R). remember, vertical check is just to see if you are big 3 (D/SD/FN), there are 10 other types to go through as well. exclusion principle works here. e.g. my shoulder outline is neither blunt nor round -> i'm not natural nor romantic. boom, i've already eliminated five types. i repeat my tenet:
shoulders are ALWAYS the key to one's type. they never lie.
you can also bypass height typing by the famous reverse-engineer, and that's the purpose of the system anyway: trying on clothing from the 5 main IDs - has to be completely head to toe, no singular items - to find the most suitable kibbegory:
unbroken angular column in dark tones, straight-down heavy fabric, large spiked geometric patterns -> dramatic
mix & match earth color in athletic T-shapes, looser but coarse fabric with strong texture -> natural
symmetrical minimal basics in neutral color, gentle and moderately heavy fabric without patterns -> classic
angularly short/line broken color blocks in bright tones, layered fabric and pattern mix -> gamine
belted figure 8 shape drapes in pastels, flowing light sheer or reflective surface fabric -> romantic
(^if no category really fits or you are stuck between two, you are 100% a subtype, but it's usually obvious which one of the 5 is best)
you are not wasting time you are vibing. you are not being unproductive you are literally chilling. make a grill cheese with cheddar cheese and slather a piece of the bread with some honey and maybe you'll relax
Innes Keeper's Formula For Fantastic Grilled Cheeses
(for nearly no extra spoons!)
Are you hungry? Do you have a hankering for grilled cheese sandwiches like, way more than a normal person maybe? Great news! I am about to give you the secret knowledge I stole, like Prometheus himself, from the Akashic Recordsāto bring back to Prudencia! And Iām even doing it without a ten hour long lecture about how the Akashic Records makes me think of idfk, 9/11, and how that relates to sandwiches.
I will, however, briefly say this: You gotta trust me when I say cooking grilled cheeses via this formula WILL grant you Bloodborne Insight. There is no fucking reason that making a grilled cheese this fucking delicious should be this fucking easy. I feel like Iām cheating God every time I do it because it takes (nearly) no extra spoons. And hereās where I show you why.
INGREDIENTS ā SEASONINGS
-butter, i usually use 2 or 3 tablespoons per sandwich
-garlic cloves, I use 3 usually
-a source of heat, like red pepper flakes, or szechuan peppers
-a source of spice OR a source of sweetness, such as dijon mustard or honey. slather that motherfucker on a slice of your bread.
-a source of herbiness, such as oregano, thyme, sage, rosemary, etc in any combination that goes well together or on its own. if someone tries to tell you that you need it fresh, theyāre fucking lying, the 2$ crushed powdered sage is fucking great. experiment with other spices such as ground turmeric if you're spicy
INGREDIENTS - THE METAPHORICAL MEAT OF THE SANDWICH
-two slices of bread per sandwich. this is actually a massive influence on your sandwich taste and texture as a whole. a basic white or wheat will still be fucking delicious because like I said, I stole this from the Akashic Records cookbook section and found it under āfucking perfect grilled cheeses foreverā. However, if you CANāgetting bread like brioche, texas toast, brown bread, rye, or sourdough will make a sandwich already being elevated super easily to āpay 23 dollars at a fancy restaurantā level of elevation.
-one to three types of cheese per sandwich. you can get away with one type but really try for two or three if you can swing it.
this is also one of those massive influences over the sandwichālisten, i know, thatās obvious, but stay with meāwhat matters
isnāt the SPECIES of cheese, itās the TYPE of cheese. getting the deli at your local Safeway or Walmart or whatever and asking for the cheese they gotta cut (or just in general the fancier, better-quality cheeses) is literally the only major requirement that I ask of you. If you are on SNAP/EBT programs, me too, and I promise you: Please do this. Please trust me when I say do not get the cheap Kraft-type cheese because itās less money. I know itās a bit extra but itās only a bit to get like 1/4 or 1/3lb and you have no idea how much Iām actually getting a little emotional about this, because the ārice with butter and beans or top ramen every single dayā life is soulsucking and sickening and it is genuinely one of the greatest sources of suffering
to human beings I can imagine, Iām serious. Following this formula will genuinely change your life/mental health just a bit because you know that you have one meal that is super delicious, super filling, pretty damn cheap when it comes to how much you get, and super easy to make on days where the idea of doing more than just 15 minutes MAX is gonna make you wanna die.
super sorry for that paragraph btw i just really cannot overstate how this is a lifechanger especially when youre poor/low spoons/depressed. delicious food makes me not be as depressed. this is that.
METHOD
Take garlic cloves and crush them either with the meat of your palm or the flat of a knife or literally anything that would crush good. Take bread slices and put a source of spice or sweetness if you are using one. take a pan and put it on the stove on low-medium heat (aka a 2 out of 10).
Place the butter in the pan, as well as the garlic cloves, the source of heat, and the source of herbiness. Congratulations you have now literally done ALL the extra effort that you need to make a grilled cheese like this. Thatās it. No extra dishes. No fussing with amounts or chopping or whatever. Thatās it.
The butter will melt in the pan and soak up the delicious ingredients that you also put into the pan. Take each slice of bread and place it in the pan to butter it, OR just take one slice, place the cheese on it, and then put the other bread on. Itās really just a matter of extra effort.
When the bread is in the pan, turn it up to medium heat (5 out of 10) and just sorta let it sit for a bit. When you can see the cheese start to get visibly meltyāor when you vibecheck itāflip it once and just do the same thing.
When youāve grilled your cheese on both sides, take it out of the pan and put it on a plate (or just a paper towel to save on dish spoons. btw paper plates and plastic utensils are a fucking godsend if you hate dishes and/or canāt do them very easily/takes a lot of effort.)
oh. oh my god. holy fuck. what. how. why. this is delicious. i kinda burned my bread and my cheese didnt melt all the way but it's still the best thing ive ever tasted?????
oh my god. this is so fucking good. the butter melting and absorbing the spices and herbs already smelled amazing, but then i threw the bread on and it started smelling EVEN BETTER. then i took a bite. holy FUCK this is better than sex. i legitimately believe that Innes Keeper stole this shit from Prometheus, there's no other way to explain why this is so easy to make, yet so FUCKING good, other than cheating a god.
ok me and my partner went back and made this. exact words upon eating were āweāve cheated godā and āi feel like my world just got rockedā and then we were both energized to get back to drawing. proof:
Forged by Fire: How to Build an Unwavering Resiliency
Forged by Fire: How to Build an Unwavering Resiliency
"Calm seas never made a good sailor." Franklin D Roosevelt
It is often said that the best way to learn your way around town, is to get lost, and then find your way. I understand with today's technology, that this notion may seem irrelevant, but the idea behind it is timeless. I am also old enough to remember my mother pulling over and taking out a map to figure out the next turn we have to take. Technology by nature is designed to make our lives easier, and if our ancestors were around to see the development of supermarkets and smartphones, they would be scoffing about how good we have it. Ease and peace of mind are all good and well, but it through the hardships, trials, and tribulations of life that we learn the most about the world, and ourselves.
For the sake of this post, we will break down life's challenges into two main categories, those by choice and those by circumstance. It is important for our personal growth, that we constantly look for opportunities to challenge ourselves, to acquire new knowledge, new skills, not in the pursuit of perfection, but of consistent and positive progress. The path of least resistance may seem enticing, but it is a route that will rob you of opportunity, and shield you from the fires of life, that can forge a stronger, more resilient, and powerful you. I challenge you to welcome resistance, to embrace discomfort and the unknown in your life, and use such opportunities to see what you are really made of. That way, you are ready when life throws the unexpected in your direction.
In essence, you are preparing yourself for the hardships of life, and along the way, hopefully pursuing your interests, setting goals, and making the most of your short, fleeting time on this planet. The question I want you to ask yourself when tough times hit is, "What can I learn from this?" You may not want to go through a particular experience, but if you have to, you might as well try and take something away from it and use it to strengthen your position for the next time the storms arrive. If you look back on your life, you will probably see that you learned the most from your toughest teacher who raised the bar of expectations and asked you to reach for it. You will also see that you learned your most important lessons from your greatest failures and setbacks.
Public speaking has long been considered a universal fear for most people, and deservingly so. How is it that one would get more comfortable and capable with speaking in such an arena? You guessed it, by simply seeking opportunities to do it more, and embracing whatever comes of it. To develop an unwavering resiliency, you must be open to facing adversity with the attitude that you will succeed, no matter what comes your way. Just keep moving forwards, earning small wins and confidence along the way. Wars are won through smaller, key victories, and maintaining morale and urgency along the way. Your mindset is everything.
I used to coach golf and as much as the sport requires physical precision, it is much more of a mental game than anything else. If you set up over the ball, expecting to make a bad swing or slice it into the woods, you will very likely do that. Instead, I would encourage you to focus on your setup, trust your practice and your swing, pick your target and go. If you put a good swing on it, but catch a bad bounce, take the same attitude to your next shot, and you will find the green.
The most important thing I want you to take away from this post, is that you must always strive to keep moving forwards, no matter what you face. Life is tough, but you are tougher, and if you don't believe that about yourself, than you haven't had enough opportunities to prove it to yourself yet. I hope you enjoyed this post, and as always, take care, God bless, and be well.
Written By: Manwithaplan aka Jeffrey Kalinoski
Source: Forged by Fire: How to Build an Unwavering Resiliency
