if i was a vampire i'd make a living (lol) settling petty property disputes. there's drama between maureen (52) and her brother lester (58) that erupted when their dear mother passed away and left a will that seems kind of dodgy. now lester has always been kind of a loser and maureen a dedicated daughter, but this weird new will maureen's never seen before is saying that lester gets the house? maureen smells a rat so she calls in the bat (this is my tagline by the way) (it's very clever) and i show up to settle things. maureen tells me i may enter her property, lester tells me i can't, and i walk right through that front door. pack your bags boy.
ngl, I'm beginning to take issue with how in conversations about anti-intellectualism almost automatically, the face of girls and women will be slapped on the problem.
If you cannot comfortably donate, do not feel guilty, you are valued regardless, and should not worry. However, if any of you are in the position to help, please consider contributing to this fundraiser to remove my best friend/girlfriend, the most important person in my life, Emily ( @azirawaffle ), from her abusive household.
Her 'guardians' are doing everything in their power to prevent her from leaving, and if they are allowed any choice in the matter, she will never escape. They are making independence impossible by withholding money that is hers and sabotaging her every attempt to start her own life. Every day she is dealing with severe bullying and hate-fueled harassment in her own home. One of these individuals is a truly dangerous and unstable man, and I worry for her safety as his mental health continues to decline.
I would solve this issue myself regardless of the cost, but the reality is that I am disabled and jobless, and there is an Ocean between her and I. I feel helpless and terrified for the person I love more than anything. I will be doing everything in my power to get her out, but my help alone will not be enough.
Again, only contribute if you can do so comfortably, but in the case that you do, I am so incredibly grateful.
This is the link, please read her description of the situation, not just my summary:
Hi there. My name is Emily, I am 19 years old, very queer, currently living wi… Emily Henn needs your support for A Fresh Start away from my
One of my favorite things with TMA fanart is when people draw Elias with eye paraphernalia or motifs because it makes pre entity discovery tma so much funnier
"I can't believe humans would hunt the thylacine to extinction, humans are fundamentally evil" Hey, did you know that extinction was long thought to be impossible, and within 50 years of humans realizing that extinction via overhunting was a possibility it practically stopped happening? Did you know that humans are so desperate to prevent more losses that they're funneling millions of collective hours and billions of euros into helping other species? Hours and euros that could be spent on humans, and species on whom humanity's own survival does not depend? Did you know that due to an accidental introduction of rats, the Lord Howe Island stick insect population was brought down to 24 individuals and now there are tens of thousands of them?
This bug. This bug that, to most humans, is utterly useless, relatively gross, and completely foreign. Humans saved it because humans do not want to cause another extinction ever again if they can avoid it.
as someone in the field of ecological conservation, I can promise without a shadow of a doubt that people DO care. SO MANY people care.
I have to race to sign up to volunteer trips because even with dozens of spots available, people rush to devote their unpaid free time to helping the environment. these trips often fill up within hours. people care.
you will see a lot of bad news because that is the kind of news that people pay the most attention to. I know this more than you'd think from my optimism- not only do I live somewhere facing some of the most extreme ecological issues on the planet, I also spend my time studying the Bad Stuff every single day.
to see all of this firsthand and stay hopeful is proof enough that there IS hope. I promise there is good news, brilliant news, all the time. it's just less visible. but it's no less important or impactful.
been seeing a lot of people locked into trans discourse express disdain that "ugh the trans unity people want us to all hold hands and pretend there is no beef" and it demonstrates such an inability to see a bigger picture.
I'm nonbinary, and in recent years the people who have been the most exorsexist to me have been binary trans people. Binary trans folks, yall piss me off every damn day on this website. And if I was unable to see past short-sighted ideas that prioritized comfort above autonomy, safety, liberation, authenticity, I could conclude that binary trans people are my biggest enemy. But they aren't. Not even close.
It's not trans people following you into bathrooms, it's not trans people shouting shit when you walk past, it's not trans people killing us. If we want to play oppression olympics, I've got more reason to hate you guys than you do to hate each other, but it's such a cowardly position to take. It's so inauthentic.
Not because trans people aren't doing harm in this shit storm, the race to acceptance and assimilation comes with a body count, but the crabs in your bucket are not the ones who put us here.
This is WHY I am critical of ideology and not of groups. Reactionary movements are an attempt to take back power as a powerless group, but it only empowers you to violence over other powerless people, because your power is granted BY the oppressors. We must build power as a collective against them.
Trans unity is not a fake-smile-we-all-love-each-other bullshitfest, it is a recognition that we are not each other's enemies, even when we are not each other's friends. The shittiest trans woman deserves the things I am fighting for, the most vile trans guy MUST have access to what we are dreaming of. That is the point. And my unity extends to cis people, not just because i do not want to be another barrier to the closeted trans person finding people who will take them in, but because the gendered liberation of cis people is tied to my liberation too.
We are on lists, we are struggling to afford our care, we are abused by people and systems beyond our control, and fighting against a massive machine for our right to live. Of course it makes sense that bullying someone you think is doing transness wrong makes you feel big. Of course it makes sense that you think policing hard borders stops people from getting what you are afraid of losing. But it doesn't work like that. We are too intertwined that cutting each other off is like cutting off our own arm out of spite. Our oppressors LOVE that you have one less arm to fight them with--it doesn't do shit to them!
But it feels like control. It feels like action. When you feel stuck and hopeless, doing something, often especially out of anger FEELS like progress--like movement.
We do not preach "loving" our fellow trans people out of a naive belief that we could all just get along, but because the only way to survive is to survive together. The only way to thrive is to celebrate the wins of others. The only way to move forward is with all of us.
Because if you whittle and whittle away at "threats" and cut down on your circle until only those you can "really" trust who "fully" understands you inherently--rather than meet them and build collective understanding--eventually the only one who will be left is you, and if other trans people are your enemy, how do you think it goes when it's just you vs yourself in the end?
motherfuckers arent ready for my famous "quadruple-edged sword". second it comes out the holster, blender maneuver. red paste. spin cycle. myself included. nonnegotiable. the SECOND i am frightened WE. ALL. DIE.
We need more women characters who are Male Protagonists. You know. Slightly haggard. She's splashing cold water on her face and gripping the edge of the sink staring in the mirror for a minute. She's coping badly with her deadwife
many women are excited to get old and weird, but i have great news that it's fully possible to become weird now, before you get old. just imagine the heights of weirdness you will be able to reach in fifty years if you get started now. that's what I think
did you know that the 'beat girl' is a trans woman ? — all about brigitte bond 🏳️⚧️
most punks / rudies should be familiar with this character. she's the beat girl — the mascot for english ska band 'the beat' and a somewhat-counterpart to walt jabsco (the rude boy character who appears on many 2-tone records). much like walt, whose design was inspired by that of peter tosh, the beat girl also has a real-life inspiration — brigitte bond, a singer, dancer, actress and pioneering transgender woman.
i first learnt about this whilst reading a magazine — i forget which one, but brigitte instantly stuck with me, and she's become one of my favourite people to infodump about. before i get into this however, i will say there's a lot of unknown and inconsistent information, so keep that in mind ! i would also like to acknowledge the youtuber miss upsetter designs, as she has been monumental in the archiving and research of brigitte's story.
the story begins in 1979, with cartoonist hunt emerson attempting to design a logo for the beat. he turns to the latest copy of melody maker, and finds a 1964 photograph of prince buster — the king of ska — doing the twist with a young woman. she was 19 year old brigitte bond, a rude girl and fan of buster, who travelled to heathrow airport to greet him upon his arrival.
left: prince buster & brigitte bond dancing at heathrow airport (feb 25, 1964). right: emerson's illustration of the beat girl
it was this image which emerson referenced when designing the beat girl — obviously. but what do we know about the girl herself ?
born in the mid-40s in either france or malta, there's not much known about brigitte's early life. what we do know is that by the early 60s, she ended up in london and got her start performing at the 2i's coffee bar — one of the most important venues in rock 'n' roll history. it was here where she was noticed by an agent and signed to blue beat records, and subsequently released the single 'blue beat baby'.
here's the song ! ⬇️
the first mention of brigitte being trans came in mid-1964. brigitte was due to marry a man known as sir john waller, who needed an heir in order for him to access a large inheritance. he proposed to brigitte in the hopes that they'd have a child together, but being trans, of course brigitte couldn't get pregnant ! this was written about in various articles.
my favourite anecdote about brigitte occurred on 18 june, 1966. billy graham, an evangelist and all-round rotten person, visited soho (which he called a "notoriously sinful area") to preach his conservative beliefs. it was here where brigitte crashed his appearance. furious over a comment he made about miniskirts being sinful, she proceeded to climb on top of his car and shout "billy, what do you think about my miniskirt?" true punk attitude ! there are numerous articles about it and even a video — take a look :
( you can see her climb onto the car at 2:58 ! )
being a singer, dancer and all-round legend weren't the only things brigitte dabbled in however — she was also a model (particularly for adult magazines) and an actress ! she began her acting career in 1967 under the name 'brigitte st. john', and starred in films such as 'herostratus' and 'la muchacha del nilo'.
to conclude, i absolutely adore the bones of brigitte. her enduring pride and self assurance — all the way back as far as the 50s — goes to show that trans people have always existed, and will continue to do so for as long as this earth keeps spinning ! as mentioned before, miss upsetter designs cannot be praised highly enough for the amazing job she's done at archiving information about this amazing woman. below i will link both a timeline and documentary — both created by miss upsetter designs. if you're interested in learning even more about brigitte, PLEASE go show miss upsetter designs some love !
Hello! If you are reading this post, chances are you saw my documentary, "Blue Beat Baby: The Untold Story of Brigitte". First off, thank yo
being queer is such a fucking incredible experience like holy shit. I was reflecting on this for a while and I figured I'd give the newest members of the queer experience their flowers while I'm at it
the truth is "baby gays" (loosely quoting- I mean everyone) are some of the most underrated members of the lgbtqia+ community. instead of welcoming them with open arms, for a while online spaces were really toxic and hostile to them (2020 was obv a rough time for queer discourse AND being a closeted kid with mental health issues). so here's me outstretching my arm to the crowd, beyond harmful stereotypes and jokes made at their expense. because learning happens with open minds, and starts with acceptance.
to all the baby queers celebrating their first pride month: we want you here. I want you here. everything is likely so new to you right now, and with this comes curiosity and wonder and discomfort and massive numbers of unlearning.
I see you. I was there once. In fact this is my 6th year out and my identity is still changing and evolving as I move through different chapters in my life. Im still learning. and I want you to know even if it's been hard I would never change this about myself. I wouldn't change any part of how it (coming out for the first time) happened because it brought me here right now to this blog post.
It does get so much better. I know it's hard, being closeted for whatever reason at all cannot only be a dangerous secret for your safety but can also make you feel trapped in your own body and mind. this will pass. you will look like yourself one day and you will feel like yourself and you will love yourself one day. you are celebrated. not only by me but by so many others as well
I see all of you lovely people. I love you all. you are so brave and appreciated. If you needed one more reason to stay today then let this post be a sign.
I'm thinking of you, I know it will work out for all of you like it did me because you are strong enough to admit to yourself that things don't feel quite right the way the world is pushing them onto you. It takes a lot to give in to that and let it take you onto an entirely different path of life and I want you to know that that is acknowledged
be safe, know that someone out there loves you for who you are in your heart, and happy fucking pride. so many members of the queer community are fighting for your chance at a happy future right now as you read this. know that your existence is perfectly yours. it will all make sense in time.
-xoxo your cool queer internet cousin pepper ❤️
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