Dress yourself up

every fat person you know for the most part probably has a story like this, of medical neglect. many of the stories i've heard personally are when the complaint or the doctor wasn't related at all, like being told to lose weight at the ear nose and throat doctor or at the dentist. it's straight up just bias. it's such a thing that in the show Shrill it's portrayed, when Aidy Bryant goes to the gynecologist and her doctor suggests she get gastric bypass.

the studies on health and fatness are simply not that black and white and there is basically no research that shows that more than an incredibly tiny minority of people can lose weight and keep it off for more than like 2 years. bodies have set points that they gravitate towards, it's not a personal failure. this also is how the weight loss industry succeeds so well - repeat customers.

some of the harm associated with fatness is also due to weight cycling, which is very hard on your body and is even worse if you get off a GLP1, which according to a recent study causes weight to be regained at a rate that is 4x faster than without taking a GLP1.

you don't have to hate yourself. you don't have to hate other people for their body type either. it makes me so sad to see the thinspo tag going around again in 2026 a lot like it was back in the day.

some resources to learn more here:

https://www.reuters.com/article/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/feeling-fat-may-be-worse-for-you-than-being-fat-idUSTON079061/

Kristian Schmidt; Healing

For all of you that didn’t know, Kristian Schmidt is a NZ-born Samoan worked as a MTV VJ (aka. the cool music-journo’s who get to hang out with celebrities) in Australia. In his short-span of a career he has worked as a dancer, host, academic and more recently, an actor. 

I can clearly remember the first time seeing him on television and shouting out to my Mum “aye look Mum another FOB on the telly, we’re getting popular”. Previously the only other Nesian in Australian media I’d seen was Jay Laga'aia on ABC’s Playschool. I felt the same swell of pride in my belly when I saw Schmidt interviewing celebrities on the red carpet as when Laga’aia taught me to count to 10 in primary school. 

I’ve been seeing this post going around in two forms, about how Rogue One (which I have yet to see, so please NO SPOILERS) has an extreme lack of women (including background characters). That’s a really good, important point to discuss. And then there’s a post bashing that same article, pointing to the fact that the film highlights many non-white men and dismissing the article as white feminism.

No.

Both of these may be correct.

The ability of a film to have great representation for men of different races, creeds, abilities and backgrounds does not for a moment contradict the inability of the film to have adequate representation for women of any race, creed, ability or background.

This is why I hate the “trash fire” all-or-nothing mentality. It cannot cope with the notion that something can be good and bad at the same time, in different corners and contexts. For example: something can be great for racial representation and terrible for LGBTQ+ representation. The former does not automatically make the thing great; the latter does not automatically make the thing terrible. (Key word: automatically.)

Not only that, things can have different meanings to different people based on their different experiences. For someone mixed race Asian-white, a main character like Chloe Bennet’s on Agents of SHIELD may be hugely important. For someone black, the show’s troubling history of killing off most of its black characters may be deeply problematic. Neither is wrong. 

Personal experiences shape our interpretations of things. Experiences are not universal. The world is not comprised of absolutes. The stunning lack of women in film (at every layer) intersects, of course, with the stunning lack of non-white people in film (at every layer), but neither is more or less important than the other. (Especially since the doubly stunning lack of non-white women in film is something we should talk about more.) It is not “white feminism” to point out that a film with ten character posters had only one devoted to a (white) woman (even if she is the lead), just because the remaining men are non-white. Nor is it misogynistic to appreciate the film’s focus on (male) non-white heroes.

but the OVERWHELMING MAJORITY of people reblogging this are overwhelmingly positive. they are excited to see a beautiful visual representation of their own body type, romanticized and loved as all body types should be. so fuck everyone putting negative notes on this. 

Hi Melbourne friends!  We’re making a podcast!  

It’s called “Love and Luck”, and the script for the first year is already written!  It’s a queer love story with some magic thrown in, told via voicemails.  Two guys get together, fall in love, open a queer bar, and use their magic to protect and support their community.  It’s approximately M rated - there’s quite a few swears and mentions of homophobic violence, but no one dies, there’s a happy ending, and there is no sexual assault in the story at all (and there never will be).

We need some voice actors!

The two main protagonists in the show, the ones with the bulk of the dialogue, have already been cast.  However we still need some actors for some bit parts!

You don’t need voice acting experience to audition for this!  We’re amateurs making a thing for fun, so honestly it’s probably best if you’re an amateur looking to voice act for fun, too.  Particularly since this is a passion project and we can’t afford to pay you :(  You will however still need to sign a release form for us on recording day.

We should only need a couple of hours total of your time for this.  We’re not looking to dump a lot of work on you, especially since we can’t pay you - all of these parts can be recorded in a single session, and optimistically, most of them should be easily done in less than an hour.  You’ll also need to be able to rehearse with us a little bit, sometime before the recording session - most likely over skype or a similar program, although in person can be arranged too if preferred.

We will be recording the dialogue for the show at the Kathleen Syme Library and Community Centre, at 251 Faraday St, Carlton VIC 3053, Australia.  You will need to be able to travel there for the recording session(s), the dates of which are not yet booked - recording sessions will take place most likely on Sundays, sometime in April or May 2017, with the option for pickups to fix stuff if needed in June.    The building and studio is fully accessible.

To audition for a part (or multiple parts - which you are welcome to do!) record your audition and send it as a .mp3, .wav or .ogg file to [email protected] with the subject line “audition”.  Let us know which part(s) you’re auditioning for, and feel free to tell us a little about yourself in your email if you like!  Don’t worry if you don’t have a good microphone - we’ll be listening to your voice, not the quality of your mic.  Record it on your phone if you like, it’s all fine, really!

Auditions close March 26, 2017, so you will hear back sometime soon after that.  

Please note that the audition lines are NOT the actual dialogue from the real script.  We’re keeping those under wraps for now so as to not spoil big plot points.  Rest assured, if you’re chosen, you will get to read the real dialogue before you commit.  

Read on for the characters and their audition lines!  

Anyway, the podcast you’ve been hearing me screaming about for the past few months is now at the point where we’re casting bit parts!  I am very nervous about it!!  But excited!  But nervous!!!  

It is documented, so it is true, though their exact number is not known.

It’s estimated that a minimum of 40k to 60k Asians of all nationalities set foot in the Viceroyalty of New Spain in it’s two and half centuries. Many settled down, and we know some were employed as guard/militia.

In 1614, an embassy bound for Spain and Rome sent by Date Masamune reached Mexico. Perhaps about half of its 180 Japanese crew (including 60 samurai) stayed behind for good. It’s recorded that a certain Diego de la Barranca was one of them. He came from a place called “the canyon” in Japan, stayed behind and married a Spanish woman, served as a soldier, gained the title of “Don”. He and his descendants were given the right to wear his Japanese swords.

It’s also recorded that a certain Japanese merchant Juan Tello de Guzman was allowed to carry a sword and dagger when selling his wares outside Mexico City to protect himself.

Edward R. Slack, Jr.. “The Chinos in New Spain: A Corrective Lens for a Distorted Image”. Journal of World History: Vol. 20, No. 1. 2009

/u/modern_malice asked this question,

Perhaps you could further explain the context? Where these arrivals primarily in relation to the Spanish treasure fleets from the Philippines? Was Acapulco the primary port of call during this time period?

And /u/ParallelPain replied with this answer,

Date Masamune’s diplomatic mission was…a diplomatic mission. Sendai domain constructed a galleon based on European designs, using foreigner expertise and also with artisans sent by the Bakufu. In his communication he emphasized religion and asked the Pope for more people to spread Christianity, although it is probable that he just wanted trade because the decade-old Edo Bakufu had already re-issued the Christianity ban.

Japanese scholars estimate that perhaps 100,000 Japanese was bought as slaves, hired as mercenaries, or left as traders and shipped out of the Japanese islands before moving in and out of Japan (for Japanese people) was banned in 1620~21. While I don’t know what happened to the other Japaneses, the mercenaries quickly made a name for themselves (though not always in a good way) fighting in European colonial wars, and so got into the records. See here for more on that.

The other questions are far outside my area. I can only say yes, many of the Japanese who arrived in Mexico likely arrived on the trans-Pacific trade network, and yes, I believe Acapulco was the primary Pacific port for New Spain.