Terri Writing

evening dress, 1910-13 by unknown designer

this dress is another dress worn by Queen Maud of Norway

First of all, my friend and dear. Do not apologize for being sad. Sad is natural. In certain amounts it is good for you. I have a personal rule of never rejecting a question asked of me in good faith. And I have never known you to act in anything less than the best of faith. Whether you were just venting into my inbox OR knowing me to be less of a cynic than you hoping I would have something uplifting to say (I am, I did, and that's the option I'm hoping was on your mind) I was able to respond with something that made you feel better. And what else can I call that but a blessing.

We are living in difficult times. If we can't lean on one another then what the hell is the point of any of this? And what possible lessons could we be taking from our heroes if not to help one another?

And that is a philosophy the modern JSA has taken to heart.

(A full mural of the JSA done by famous painter Alex Ross, showing its newest, youngest members at the forefront)

The modern JSA, due to its age, its focus on legacy and the fact that most of its most foundational members had to support one another through the difficult decades of the heroic interregnum turned from heroic strike force into a family affair very quickly. Becoming even more true as more of said original members were replaced or supplemented by their children, wards or others who were inspired by their mantles. While of course the JSA's written membership is mostly offered to those who hold some claim to a golden age legacy the JSA is also seen as a, if not THE foundational root from which all of the American hero community grows. And they take great pains to act like it.

There is a standing order that the JSA Brownstone is a safe space for any hero who needs sanctuary, for as long as they need and no questions asked. The same goes for any JSA facilities. Their computer systems, their records, their training rooms, Doctor Midnite has been known to provide judgement free care to young heroes he's never even met.

The "Old Men" of the JSA, mostly referring to Jay Garrick, Alan Scott, Ted Grant and Carter Hall are all well renowned for their grandfatherly aura. Though it does come in different flavors for each of them, and Garrick is by far the most popular of the four socially speaking.

Because of his age he doesn't use social media MUCH but if you look on basically all of the accounts that have been set up for him they are 99% selfies and photos that have been tagged of him with young heroes from across the spectrum. He makes it a point to "welcome them into the family" as soon as he gets the chance. And looking at his feeds, it seems Galaxy is the newest face he's gotten spotted with. (He photobombed a selfie she was taking with Hawkgirl and the lit up faces they both make when they spot him are DEEPLY precious). That's a good example of someone you mentioned. Galaxy and the current Hawkgirl have grown VERY close, VERY fast and it seems the original Hawkman has taken the alien heroine under his wing (HA) with equal enthusiasm.

On the note of people who have pictures with everyone, the 3rd Blue Beetle is a social media fiend and also of basically the same generation as Stargirl. The two of them are both seen as vanguards and models of what the post Teen Titans heroic era will probably look like, and they're two of the most popular names for imagining what an eventual Justice League 3rd generation would consist of once the Titans generation passes the torch. Not anytime soon mind, but still. While both of them probably fit the term "Young Justice Generation" poorly seeing as neither of them were actually members, they fit together like a glove. Batwoman and the current Question were both graduates of Wildcat's school of hard knocks. Which is what he usually brings to the table as far as legacy is concerned. No superpower-free vigilante can be said to have really earned their stripes until they've survived boot camp with the champion. Teaches them to kick ass the old fashioned way on one hand, without any of the gadgets they might otherwise over rely on, it also teaches them an important lesson in humility and respecting their opponent one way or the other. He might be an old man, and they might be a pair of flashy and well trained young women. He still knocked them on their asses and told them to try again and MEAN IT this time.

Alan Scott for his part has taken on the twin roles of the superhero community's elder queer AND mediator between Earth and the cosmic authorities via respectful nomination. Not only has his semi-recent public coming out of the closet meant that young queer heroes have taken him as both scion and mascot (which has made the blessed old man VERY off center, his ass has NOT read theory and he's very much a man's man outside of that) but also, despite not actually being a MEMBER of the cosmic Green Lantern Corps, the Corps treats him as their first point of contact when space borne shenanigans are headed our way and earth's defenders need to be rallied. This seems to be mostly because all of Earth's Green Lanterns respect him unquestioningly, and the Corps is following their lead.

Other more "modern" members of the JSA all have their relationships. There's a friendly rivalry between Mister Terrific and the Batman of all people. Liberty Belle and Damage have both made it clear they will always consider themselves Titans no matter HOW far they roam. Power Girl of course is a dyed in the wool member of the Superman Family. This is what happens when all of the heroes in this country, and many far beyond it, all trace their roots back to that one institution.

pretty incredible that google went from this bountiful source of information to just trotting out blatant factual inaccuracies every time you try to use it. i do not use she/her pronouns. GREAT JOB AI

its funny because when i first posted about my non-dysphoric trans way i was VERY hesitant because its complex and nuanced and i was worried people would take it out of context and flatten it into something incorrect. turns out the people were fine. MACHINES on the other hand cant figure it out

to explain again and help the broken AI machine and then i wont have to talk about it anymore: my preferred pronouns are he/him. my real pronouns are she/her. i prefer to use the wrong pronouns

the reason i do this is because i am not dysphoric and dont need every conversation i have to revolve around gender and my spiritual beliefs about gender. i love my male body even if it does not match my soul. it is a VERY COOL SECOND PLACE and i am pumped as heck on it

"Re"-domestication of cheetahs?

With reference to This Post In ancient Egypt, Cheetahs were sometimes used as hunting animals like greyhounds, and kept as housepets by the royal family and later, many wealthy households.

Now, there's an argument about how "domesticated" these cheetahs were- the majority of them were captured from the wild as adults and tamed/trained to tolerate humans and obey hunting commands, mostly because back then and still today, cheetahs are extremely hard to breed in captivity. Some were bred and raised from cubs, and there was not a shortage of cheetahs living in and around human habitation for them to replace stock with.

Even today, cheetahs are... weirdly comfortable around humans, if those humans know how to mind their manners. Game wardens in Kruger National Park sometimes sleep next to young cheetahs they are re-introducing into the wild, or have had female cheetahs who are familiar with them drop their cubs off on their feet to 'babysit' while she goes hunting.

Here's a pair of San hunters from the Naankuse Wildlife Reserve in Namibia bow-hunting while a wild local male cheetah hangs out with them (the angle makes him look much bigger and closer to the men than he is, but he's still VERY close). The male's name is Aiko, and is well-known to these men- they're not worried about his presence because they know how to respect his space and he knows not to go after game they've downed. Game they miss is free for him to run down, and game he flushes from the bushes are much easier to shoot- a mutually beneficial partnership. It's extremely similar to how the indigenous people of Papua New Guinea hunt with their dogs, some of the most recently domesticated and most similar to ancient 'proto-dogs' alive today.

So, cheetahs aren't domesticated the way dogs and housecats are- they haven't been selectively bred for generations, they're not dependent on humans, and they can and will attack people that bother them.

But like Coyotes, the remaining cheetahs we have are VERY habituated to humans, arguably even moreso than coyotes are, and we've made a lot of progress in getting them to breed in captivity- Ironically by pairing them up with highly domesticated dogs, who teach them domesticated animal behaviors like "not worrying about everything".

With Coyotes, the obstacle to domestication are mostly practical matters like "getting a coyote farm funded, zoned, built and insured.", whereas with cheetahs the problem is "there are almost no cheetahs left to practice domestication on and the ones we do have are already inbred". There IS a lot of commercial interest in domesticated cheetahs, so I think a good way to get the funding for species conservation and genetic re-diversification of cheetahs would be to frame it as a prerequisite to "Re-Domestication" and pet cheetahs.

that way we know we’re from tumblr without revealing anything

I’m just going to say this to strangers until i find a tumblr person

must keep reblogering!! Im going to be so suspicious if any one tells me this now!

Remember the answer is: I stole them from the president.

And this is going to make a lot of people very angry to hear.

But a lot of y'all on this website are truly deeply genuinely never going to be capable of any kind of real narrative analysis--and I don't mean 'being right all the time' I mean 'meaningfully engaging with the text in any way'--

The match cuts were meticulously designed and put there to communicate something.

The VA's delivery of a line was being directed. Inflection and tone change the meaning of dialogue. This is intentional. There are entire teams of people shaping those choices and deciding which take to use based on what works best for the story.

Information is being revealed in a specific order, on purpose, to craft an emotional arc and guide the audience's understanding.

A character's romantic preferences are only, and SHOULD only be, their primary motivation if the genre is romance. That is why there is a genre called that. Most stories are other genres.

Creators who dislike a character generally give them LESS attention, MORE boring storylines, and LESS screentime.

Sometimes curtains are just blue. But if the shot composition or written narration takes time to HIGHLIGHT, especially more than once, that the curtains are blue, then the blueness of the curtains is by definition narratively important.

"Cite your sources" is not a witch's curse that banishes People With Different Opinions to the shadowrealm of Being Wrong. Someone making points that challenge your perceptions, while including screenshots and explicit examples, cannot be dismissed with "cite your sources" because they are literally doing that. Don't @ me on this one I've seen shit in the wars, y'all.

Failing to understand these things WILL bar you from ever really engaging with or understanding any narrative more complicated than Paw Patrol for the rest of your life.

I am begging the UK trans community and its allies to attend the Mass Lobby at Parliament on June 25th, 11am-4pm, organised by Trans Solidarity Alliance.

The new EHRC Code of Practice pushes trans people out of toilets, hospital wards, and community spaces. It normalises gender policing based on appearance and stereotypes. It becomes statutory guidance in the UK by the end of June.

Trans people are now legally their assigned gender at birth and must join gendered spaces accordingly, but if they are perceived as their lived gender, they can also be ejected from those spaces. The guidance says: either break the law, or don’t pass too well.

A mass lobby is where you invite your MP to discuss your concerns with you in-person. Ask your MP to:

Demand full parliamentary scrutiny, debate, and use their free vote on the EHRC Code of Practice.

Support any motions rejecting the EHRC guidance. As of June 4th, Labour MP Nadia Whittome has submitted a prayer motion - Early Day Motion 240.

Write to Bridget Phillipson, the Minister for Women and Equalities about our concerns

Your MP does not have to be an ally, they do not have to respond to your email for you to show up and greencard them (details below the cut.) What matters is that as many people as possible show up.

I cannot stress this enough: Showing up in person matters. It is much more effective than petitions, emails, and letters.

It is a horrible, stressful time, and I am so sorry if you're trans and live in the UK. But I was at last year's mass lobby and the line for greencarding alone stretched around the back gates. It was a record breaking mass lobby and made us impossible to ignore. Let's do even better this time. Details under the cut:

I'm not going to be able to go, but I do have some experience with lobbying my various MPs over the years, so here's some quick advice off the top of my head:

If you're resident in the UK but not a citizen you still have the right to go to Parliament and be seen by your MP.

If you don't know who your MP is you can look it up by putting your postcode into the Find My MP page on Parliament's website (pro tip if you are a uni student, check your MP for both your family home and your uni, one may be a better option for lobbying than the other, you may even be able to Green Card both of them, but I don't know if that's possible, ask on the desk when you ask for the card).

And everyone needs to remember that while officially you're not required to show photo ID to get into Parliament the official guidance from the House of Commons is "you don't need photo ID to get in but we suggest you bring it anyway" (which is just unhelpful)

You will also be required to pass through airport style security which obviously may be a stressful experience for some of the people taking part in the mass lobby. That can take anywhere up to half an hour, the staff are usually pretty nice, but the entry into the security check is a sloped metal ramp with zero shade and nowhere to lean or sit so plan accordingly.

If your MP is not in the building to come and meet you they are required to respond to your Green Card as soon as possible via the contact details you put on your Green Card. While meeting them in person is the ideal you will get a response so it will be worth it even if your MP is unavailable.

People in general, are more likely to take you seriously and want to help you if you are nice and polite to them.

They may not be in parliament. They may be their London offices which are located a 5-minute walk away in the Portcullis House.

In Bodyminds Reimagined Sami Schalk traces how black women's speculative fiction complicates the understanding of bodyminds—the intertwinement of the mental and the physical—in the context of race, gender, and (dis)ability. She reads (dis)ability in neo-slave narratives by Octavia Butler (Kindred) and Phyllis Alesia Perry (Stigmata) not only as representing the literal injuries suffered under slavery, but also as a metaphor for the legacy of racial violence. The fantasy worlds in works by N. K. Jemisin, Shawntelle Madison, and Nalo Hopkinson destabilize social categories and definitions of the human, calling into question the very nature of identity. In these texts, as well as in Butler’s Parable series, able-mindedness and able-bodiedness are socially constructed and upheld through racial and gendered norms. Outlining (dis)ability's centrality to speculative fiction, Schalk shows how these works open new social possibilities while changing conceptualizations of identity and oppression through nonrealist contexts.

"Bodyminds Reimagined reveals how nonrealist representations can defamiliarize categories assumed to be self-evident, opening up new ways of thinking about methodology, trauma, metaphor, and politics. Schalk's work pushes all of us in feminist studies, black studies, and disability studies to reimagine how we understand minds and bodies moving though the world.” - Alison Kafer, author of Feminist, Queer, Crip