For Love of Writing

Wow whoever could've seen this coming?!? after spending years bashing trans people to "protect women's sports" they have now moved onto "actually we shouldn't even have most women's sports anyway because it's bad for their child bearing chances." and it's apparently discrimination against men's sports that we are required to offer equal sports for women. Whoever could have seen this coming?!?

At this point I want to scream at people that we don’t HAVE to be faithful to the horrible beliefs of our predecessors. Like even IF Serkis was right (and he’s not) WE can choose to NOT repeat the mistakes of the past.

Tolkien wasn’t perfect and there is racism and bigotry in his works AND there was also a lot of anti-bigotry in his works but we’re not bound to the perspective of one man. We can choose to pick up where he left off and further correct the harmful tropes and inherent biases in his books.

No matter what Tolkien intended, Middle-Earth belongs to everyone and is home to everyone and we can choose to reflect the beauty of our diverse world by welcoming EVERYONE into our own interpretations and reimagings of Tolkien’s world.

When WE create something (even if it’s a reinterpretation or built off of someone else’s work) WE get to choose what values we want to imbue that work with. If we truly believe in antiracism and fighting against white supremacy, racism, fascism, etc. then we must actively choose to include the voices of people who historically have been pushed out for racist reasons.

By actively choosing to hide behind this weird logic that Tolkien wanted a pure whites only Shire so we just CANT cast people of color as hobbits, you are actively choosing to uphold the white supremacist and racist thoughts that are harming the world today. Then you’re using the dead professor as your shield to retain the goodwill of people willing to give you the benefit of a doubt (or who just don’t care). It’s insidious and a great way to cover your own troublesome beliefs. Additionally it creates this mental wall where you don’t have to question your own inherent biases.

Also, even IF that was truly Tolkien’s intention (which it wasn’t) WHY would you want to uphold that intention of all intentions? Why wouldn’t you want to dismantle that disgusting idea as soon as possible? You can love Tolkien and his world and also say you know what that’s a fucked up idea. Let’s not do that. Or yeah no professor that’s your bigotry/racism/biases popping up and I’m not going to tolerate that

There is this weird tension between remaining faithful to a book/comic and acknowledging that the mere act of adapting a work requires you to take someone else’s work and make it your own and by doing so YOU are actively choosing what to retain and what to reimagine. Your adaptation will NEVER be the book because the book is the book and your adaptation is YOUR take on the book. You, ultimately, are responsible for what is included and what isn’t and what you, either subconsciously or consciously, add to the adaptation.

- The reason you get extra hungry before and during your period is because your body is physically burning more calories, sometimes as many as 300 more per day for the duration of your period, with an elevated BMR (base metabolic rate) in the days before it starts. So no, you’re not being weird or gross or undisciplined if you want to eat a bunch of chocolate - your body is just burning the same amount of calories you’d expend in 25 minutes on a crosstrainer to shed your uterine lining. 

- This is especially important to remember if you’re already, for whatever reason, eating fewer calories per day than it takes to maintain your current weight, which is about 2000 for an adult, though it can be dangerous to have much less than 1300 per day. Think of it like this: if you’re eating 1600 calories a day out of a potential healthy 2000, and your body suddenly wants an extra 300, you’re not craving 1900, but 2300, which is the difference between wanting a chocolate bar and a slice of toast, and wanting an entire extra meal. So, I say again: DO NOT feel bad about wanting to eat more during your period. Your body is working hard, and needs fuel!

-  Paradoxically, despite the rate at which you’re burning calories, you’re also retaining water, which can make you both feel and weigh as heavier. Speaking personally, I’ve noticed my weight fluctuate by as much two kilos (4.5 pounds) before and after a period, rising before and during, then dropping sharply afterwards. So if you’re struggling with body image or weight issues, this is a suboptimal time at which to get on the scales: the result you’ll get will only reflect a temporary reality, not your actual progress, and is therefore unhelpful.

- If, for whatever reason, you’re self-conscious about easing your cramps with a hot water bottle where other people can see it, whether at home or work, consider using a plastic soft drink bottle filled with hot/boiling water. Even if you put it openly on your lap, instead of tucking it under a shirt or into a front hoodie pocket, it will just look like a regular bottle of water, and any relief is better than none!

- No, it’s not weird if you shit more during your period than usual, either. The hormones your body releases that make your uterus to contract and release sometimes end up in the bowel, particularly if you happen to produce a lot of them, which means that bowel contracts and releases, too.

- If anyone tries to make a dumbass sexist joke about your being more [insert stereotypically negative feminine quality here] while on your period, you can tell them that actually, menstruation raises testosterone levels, not oestrogen. (Telling them to go fuck themselves with an angry cactus can also be therapeutic.)

- The cramps and lower back pain often experienced during menstruation, when the uterus expels its contents and your hips shift slightly wider to accommodate it, are a microcosm of what happens during actual labour. So yeah: it can hurt!

- That being said, we’ve culturally accepted the idea of massive period pain as normative to such an extent that many people don’t realise their pain is a sign that something’s wrong. Despite how common they are, a lot of conditions like PCOS and endometriosis are poorly understood in terms of their etiology, which means it can be hard to get an accurate diagnosis. But if your periods regularly have you screaming, vomiting or totally incapacitated, get checked out: you shouldn’t have to just shut up and endure because it’s ‘meant’ to feel like that. It’s not, and there are ways to manage it.

- As well as being a form of birth control, you can take the pill to control or stop your period. When used to prevent menstruation, the pill tricks the body into thinking you’re already pregnant, which stalls your cycle (and stops you from actually getting pregnant). Though some people worry that it’s unnatural not to menstruate for long periods of time, or for your body to ‘feel’ pregnant for so long, it’s also important to remember that, after an actual pregnancy, especially if you breastfeed, your period won’t resume right away. This is called  lactational amenorrhea, which can work as a form (though not, I hasten to add, a 100% reliable form) of natural birth control. Basically, it means your body is focussed on producing milk for an existing child, such that you can’t easily conceive another one until the first child is weaned. While this varies from person to person, the important thing to remember is that there’s ample biological precedent for stopping menstruation for long periods of time whether you’re pregnant or not, and that choosing to do so via the pill doesn’t make you unnatural, nor does it cause your body to do something it otherwise wouldn’t or couldn’t. 

-If your blood is brown, it means it has been sat in your body for a while. It is nothing to worry about.

-If your blood is black, it means it has been sat in your body for longer, but is still nothing to worry about. However, if it accompanied by an unnatural pain, get yourself to a doctor.

-If your blood is pink, go to a doctor. You could have an infection.

Islamodora Crystal Clear Water - Eva Volf

American , b. 1983 -

Also it is absolutely ridiculous to think that we can deem a work from a country where queerness is illegal less legitimate because the author has not chosen to publicly disclosed their identity. Authors who were forced to hide their names because of government crack downs on queer art have been questioned for not being openly #Ownvoices.

I'm passionate because I have experience with this issue. I was questioned as to whether I could write about trans people, while I had been out as genderfluid in my personal relationships for years. I just didn't think it was a strangers business. If not for pressure from outsiders, I may have had a better experience coming out on my own terms, but some of y'all ruined that for me.

Specifically, the pertinent part:

Odysseus: Regret it why?

Cassandra: You won’t believe me if I tell you. If I prophecy, nobody believes me. That is my curse.

Odysseus: … I’m Nobody. Fill me in. 

*A couple of months later* 

Odysseus: HELLO PENELOPE, I AM HERE PRECISELY ON TIME AND NOT YEARS LATE incidentally I rescued and adopted a Trojan seer while I was away, she’s great, got me home really fast, Cassandra this is your new mother who’s not going to treat you like shit. 

Penelope: … I’m going to need more details, but okay, sure.