Abxolotl

There were just so many human moments and interactions that made phoenix drop feel like an actual place. In the early episodes aphmau decided to string fairy lights in the plaza then after a few dozen episodes we see Donna and Logan’s wedding take place there. We see the villagers hold baby showers and congratulate aphmau on her new son, gifting her gifts and moving into her home to better support her when she travels. We see aphmau build houses with Brendan, and after a few adventures where aph meets and aids a bunch of strangers, they move into her village to see what the fuss is about.

list some of your OCs and have your followers send you a number!

when's their birthday?

what's their biggest pet peeve?

what's their favorite Pokémon?

what's their middle name?

do they smoke?

what were they for Halloween last year?

are they single?

what is their usual Starbucks/Dunkin order?

are they good in a crisis?

are they more of a cat person or a dog person?

do they have any siblings? if so, are they close with them?

if they were stranded on the side of the road with a flat tire, who would they call for help?

do they like candy corn?

what's their lockscreen photo?

what do they wear to bed?

have they ever been arrested?

can they swim?

do they have any pets?

what do they do for work?

who is their favorite Sanrio character?

who would they say is their best friend?

what color is their toothbrush?

do they consider themselves to be religious?

what is their least favorite household chore?

do they drive?

what's their favorite holiday?

what time do they usually go to bed at night?

do they believe in aliens?

how tall are they?

so there's a few points to be made here

the 'nonwoman/man' terminology was brought into use in the queer community primarily by white, perisex, binary gendered people. No research was done to verify if these terms were appropriating language already used to describe another group's experience.

the very use of 'nonwoman/man'- even in a new, queer context- legitimises the exact form of bigotry Gordon is talking about. It is inherently a way of labelling people via a negative identifier- what they are not- rather than what they are. It centres the discussion around exclusion first and foremost. Where Gordon was speaking on how this bias is implicit, seen in the ways Black men and women are barred from traditional white gender and personhood, the queer exclusionist community is now making it an explicit identity label, forcing that negative identifier on others just as it has been forced upon Black men and women.

the above also applies to queer Black people. The exclusionary movement is predominantly white and Western.

the use of 'nonwoman/man' inherently excludes a wide range of nonbinary genders, including Indigenous, Asian, First Nations, Aboriginal, and African culture-specific identities. These people have often, due to colinization, been forced into the Western 'man/woman' binary, and the 'nonwoman/man' binary is just another way of forcing people into (white-approved) boxes.

even removing the context of race, it is inherently dehumanising to label gendered groups in reference to what they 'lack', or in reference to what they are not. Gordon was making this exact point in his original text, as he argues that racism requires the dehumanisation of the 'other'.

Even if you don't think that is a solid or valid argument, I would argue that the use of 'nonwoman/nonman' is inherently exorsexist and intersexist. Just applying the example of someone who is both a man and a woman, identifying that way means they aren't a 'nonman' OR a 'nonwoman', therefore the binary is false and unworkable, especially in the queer contexts it is being used in.

Just say woman if you mean woman. Say marginalised genders if you mean 'anyone who isn't a perisex cishet white man'. Talk about misogyny if you want to talk about misogyny. Why do you need to define who is or is not a 'nonman' or 'nonwoman' (or a 'progressive' way of asking who counts as a woman or a man...).

Oh sorry this is a mcyt confessions blog. So sorry, back to your original programming.

more roomates!!! and some other guy,,, idk who let him in here,,,

vvv sketch under cut

i was working at a little cafe where I could deny service over bad behavior, harassment etc. & mask mandates had just ended a week before & already people were being weird about me still wearing mine—an N95, the kind shaped kinda like a duckbill.

so this man walked in, looked at me sooo scathingly, laughed at me, and said “damn. never known a woman to choose…practicality over looks.”

And I just said, “oh. you can go, you’re not getting a drink.” And he said, “what???”

I said, “sir, you just walked in at 6 am & called women impractical and me ugly in one sentence.”

Next up someone is going to claim that the Narnia series isn't kids books.

you've seen the jokes. india is "dirty", indians are "everywhere", why don't they fix their own country. ok. let me tell you why, and what's happening right now while nobody's watching.

first, the history you skipped: britain ruled india for two centuries and drained it. economist utsa patnaik's research estimates around $45 trillion in today's money was taken. the india that got independence in 1947 was one of the poorest countries on earth. every "why is india like this" question starts there. you don't get to profit off a robbery and then mock the crime scene.

now, what's happening RIGHT NOW:

in may the question paper for NEET leaked. that's the national medical entrance exam. over 2.2 million students took it. cancelled. years of studying, families' savings poured into coaching, gone overnight because someone sold the paper. students died by suicide after. these were kids who wanted to be doctors.

and out of that came a protest movement. a gen z group called the cockroach janta party, started by a 30 year old named abhijeet dipke, got 22 million instagram followers within DAYS. they've been doing a sit-in at jantar mantar in delhi demanding education minister dharmendra pradhan resign.

and then there's sonam wangchuk. if you've watched 3 idiots, he's the real engineer the character was based on. built solar schools in ladakh. invented ice stupas so himalayan villages have water. spent his whole life on education. he's 59 and he's been on hunger strike for 17+ days now. reporters went to see him this week and he was too weak to talk. and the troll armies are calling him "anti national" and "foreign funded". a man starving himself for other people's children. that's the thing here, anyone who asks a question is suddenly a traitor.

it's not one incident, it's everywhere you look:

• infrastructure worth thousands of crores failing within months of the ribbon cutting. tunnels collapsing in regions where heavy rain is a guarantee, not a surprise.

• youth unemployment near 10% for ages 15 to 29, 13.6% in cities. in a country of 1.42 billion where more than half the population is young.

• only about the top 3% of indians earn above 10 lakh a year. meanwhile billionaire wealth keeps ballooning and the headlines celebrate it.

• manipur burned for over two years. an ethnic conflict, tens of thousands displaced, and the prime minister barely said the word manipur while it happened.

• journalists raided. critics' houses bulldozed. activists sitting in jail for years without trial under laws like UAPA. our press freedom ranking has cratered.

• even the petrol is a fight now, ethanol blending pushed through while drivers complain about their engines and get no straight answers.

and through all of it, the PM, who came to power on religious polarisation (americans, sound familiar?), travels abroad for photo ops and has not held one single open press conference in over a decade. not one.

what i'm asking:

if you're not indian: share this. our media mostly won't cover any of it because the big outlets are owned by the same billionaires the government serves. the only reason wangchuk's fast is getting any coverage is people refusing to look away.

if you ARE indian: speak up even if you're comfortable. especially if you're comfortable. join the protests. add to this, correct me, translate it. staying quiet is a choice when nothing in this post touches your life.

india is not "dirty". india was robbed, and it's being robbed again, from the inside this time. but it's also the country where a 59 year old will starve for strangers' kids and 22 million young people will rally behind a party literally named after cockroaches, because cockroaches survive everything.

we can still save her. but only loudly.