Comfyvoid

I’ll never forget the first time I saw “I, Mudd,” because this scene made me tear up a little.

Despite everything I already knew about these characters, I completely bought that Uhura was succumbing to temptation and turning on the crew—and that Kirk was going to shame her for it before coming up with another brilliant escape plan—because let’s be real, we’ve seen that happen a million times in a million shows, whether they broadcast in 1966 or yesterday. I was thinking, Damn, I thought this show was different, but here we are again. And I was feeling crestfallen, disappointed, but mostly exhausted, because it’s tiring to live in a world full of pop culture in which even the strongest female characters might at any moment betray everyone for a chance at youth and beauty.

And so the revelation that in fact she was saving Kirk’s life (and everyone else’s), meant so much to me—because not only is it another amazing Uhura power move, it also highlights the fact that her character didn’t happen by accident. Nichols, Roddenberry et al. knew what they were up against. They knew the stereotypes and sexism bought into by other pop culture (and audiences), and in this scene they actively played against those expectations to say, Not on this show, folks. 

First there’s the obvious one, the one you expect: the weak-minded woman betraying her male companions for personal gain. This is handily avoided when Uhura’s “betrayal” turns out to be a ruse.

However, there’s another layer to it: the obligatory ham-handed Aesop wherein the woman’s male companions believe her betrayal to be genuine, only to be upbraided for their sexist mistrust. Even today, that’s how we expect this sort of scene to play out - but Star Trek subverts that one, too, by revealing that Kirk was in on the scam, and never doubted Uhura’s loyalty even for a moment.

You have to love the art of words for its own sake. Love the sound of words--how you can make music of a million different rhythms and moods, how the words and sentences you choose can make a million different atmospheres. Love what you can do with words--paint an image, share an emotion, put a person into a scene that only exists in the world of imagination. Love the different ways you can use words--different points of view and tenses, different formats and styles that can each provide a different experience of the story for the reader. You have to love words as your artistic tool and delight in learning new ways to wield them and new effects that you can create with them.

this one has been passed around recently from the mayo clinic and that actually makes me so happy because how many of transfeminine people are aware of what their options even look like?

me: my dude we just woke up!! It’s time for wakefulness and doing things and Productivity

I personally have a specific phobia that, when triggered, used to make me spasm and hyperventilate and cry, and it was super embarrassing because I was fully aware that there was nothing really wrong. You can experience the effects of a phobia while objectively knowing you're safe! And STILL I would get people telling me to chill out cause I was fine.

I've gotten better at managing it. I can thing straight and control my breathing and not feel *emotional* fear, but my body still locks up and my heart still goes crazy and I still have to focus on breathing.

When IM experiencing the effects of an irrational fear, imagine putting whatever awful or dangerous or nasty thing disgusts you in your mouth. Imagine experiencing a RATIONAL fear. Because it doesn't matter what I know is true, the effects of rational fear and irrational fear make your body do the same things.

Nausea, locking up, inability to make yourself move, panic, denial, refusal, shaking, disgust, revulsion, anger, fear, outrage, humiliation, vulnerability.

If my phobia is, say, walking past a 2002 Toyota Prius, then making myself do that FEELS just as difficult and horrific to me as licking broken glass off a gas station bathroom floor does to YOU. The only difference is *I* might have to do the thing ANYWAYS, while people make fun of me an I know that I look ridiculous, whereas YOU would at least know that your feelings are normal and your experience will be taken seriously.

But anyhow, today I encountered one of my phobias and was able to react to it calmly and rationally while my brain screamed instead of physically locking up and doing the screaming out loud, so here's to gradual progress

Also, figured out a better analogy over the years:

If Fear is like disgust, think of a Phobia as an allergy

Billionaires are ruining your present and your future, while telling you to be mad about who's wearing a skirt or which side of an imaginary line someone was born on.

Things that will literally never affect your material existence in any significant way.