Meandering and blabbering

I’m going to go ahead and pin this post. I wish I didn’t have to say this, but because I reblog about Palestine, a lot of people are following me. And I don’t know them.

And if you’re one of them, and you don’t want to talk about fandoms, art, knitting, gaming, writing, podcasts, or food and culture, I’m going to ask you to unfollow me.

I’m not going to be doing anything more than reblogging campaigns others have already vetted, and reblogging news for my followers to share with people they know off tumblr.

I’m Palestinian, I get it. I know these times are dire, but I’m not doing great right now, myself, and I’m sorry, but I don’t want people following me to ask me for anything more than I already am doing, and I suspect these dozens of people who just started showing up are going to be doing that.

I’m going to start soft-blocking people who just show up randomly in my follower list, and go back to purging people once in a while.

It’s not personal.

catboybiologist:

asexualzoro:

catboybiologist:

catboybiologist:

catboybiologist:

I’m sorry I’m going fucking insane over trans people in sports issues the anti trans crowd has lost the fucking plot and then has the audacity to act like its the trannies who are ridiculous

I used to be of the “well the sports issue isn’t really important to me its w/e I just don’t want it to be a gateway into other transphobia” but oh my fucking god we are so far gone. The fencing shit is sending me over the edge. What the fuck.

I can’t even articulate my words so I’m just going to tell a story in screenshots

I am so fucking tired of being gaslit about this

I’m also still so fucking pissed that we have to include “ooo the trans fencer only finished in X place” because its a reminder that trans women will never be allowed to excel at anything in the public eye without being cut down. Fuck OFF

i hope you don’t mind me adding to this post op but i’ve got a sorta personal connection to this story. for ppl who do not know this about me, ive been fencing for like five years and am trans. i also used to fence in the same circles as this woman

this woman—stephanie turner is her name, because i think people should know it so this shit can ruin her life—regularly fences cis men and wins because fencing is fucking co-ed

i know that is in the screenshots already, but what i can add which isn’t in the screenshot is that i personally know and have fenced some of the people listed in that “competition history” screenshot, including some of the cis men which she beat. i know from fencing them myself that these guys are good, smart, capable fencers

that said, even if i didn’t know them, i could tell you a lot of these guys are solid. do you see that column labeled “rating”? being rated means they’ve placed very well or won medals at prestigious or decently sized tournaments—E is the lowest rating (but still difficult to get) and ratings go up to A (and U means unrated). if you look, you can see she beat a few rated fencers in that screenshot, some of them male!

another thing i know about stephanie turner is that she fences at a club my friend’s brother works at. she regularly beats said brother, who is 6’4 and 200lbs. i’ve never met this brother, but if he’s anything like my friend, he’s a damn good fencer with years of experience. stephanie turner is GOOD. per my friend, she probably would have won the bout she took a knee on. she really did not need to pull shit transphobic shit and i guarantee she knows it.

all this shit about fencing cis men really does not matter, to be clear. being a woman beating men doesn’t make stephanie a good fencer—it doesn’t even make her a notable fencer. every afab fencer who is good enough to beat other fencers beats amab fencers. the first fencer i beat as an afab person was a cis man who started the sport at the same time as me just bc we were at the same general level. because again, fencing is co-ed. i just am explaining all this to show how damn stupid dying on this hill is (and the fact she for sure knows how damn pointless and hateful it is)

because fencing is NOT a strength sport! being stronger or taller than your opponent, like how a cis man would stereotypically be vs a cis woman, isn’t necessarily an advantage—strength can absolutely fuck you up if you don’t know how to manage it, and if you know how to use it, being shorter than your opponents can actually be an advantage

if anything, fencing a stamina sport, which something you can very much train no matter your gender if you put in the work. more than anything to do with strength or speed, though, fencing is a strategy sport. there is really no reason to gender segregate it. a lot of tournaments do, but plenty tournaments DON’T, and most clubs you go to for practice and drills and learning fencing will be co-ed and have you constantly fencing against “opposite sex” fencers

(half related—one of the best foils on my fencing team is a trans woman who sometimes fences in the men’s brackets in tournaments and regularly beats cis men)

if stephanie turner is a good fencer—which she definitely is—she knows all of this. that fencing is more about stamina, that strength and height mean nothing, that the only thing that really matters is your strategy.

stephanie turner was literally just doing this to be an asshole. the fact she’s getting money for it is fucking disgusting. i hope she faces some damn consequences for this shit, because it’s such stupid, hateful bullshit, especially for a sport where that “biological advantage” shit really and truly does not matter

i do want to end this addition on a nice note tho, so i want to add: a few days after this story broke—this weekend, actually—i attended a two day tournament as a spectator. while it wasn’t everywhere, i definitely saw a lot of refs and staff wearing trans pride/support pins, as well as a few people in attendance wearing trans supportive shirts and accessories. all of the people ive spoken to in the fencing world about this—which is quite a lot—have thought it both appalling and monumentally stupid, and im hoping that will lead to consequences for stephanie turner and anyone else who tries to follow in her bullshit idiot footsteps

I don’t have anything to add, but this is more insight than I could ever have so I’m RBing for visiblity

schmoinkle:

new boycott infographic posted by bds today

ALT

keep in mind that this list isn’t exhaustive; it’s only listing US-based companies

lastoneout:

styro-sometimes:

leyfin:

leyfin:

sobbing and crying at the woman who stole a meth addicted kitten from her dealer and then she and the kitten got clean together

ALT

ALT

ALT

thats love baby!!

TUMBLR STORY TIME.

I volunteer for my local shelter and when the weather’s good, we do a free vaccine clinic every Friday. Free distemper, free rabies, cats and dogs. We hand out free food from the pet pantry, we give people leashes and collars, we do whatever we can to keep people’s animals at home and healthy. Every animal that can stay home and be fed and be vaccinated is an animal that we can keep out of the shelter.

We get all kinds of folks, sometimes we even get backyard breeders but we don’t do any judgment, because we want people to come and get their dogs vaccinated, because one parvo case costs $7000+ and the whole year of Parvo vaccines for hundreds of dogs costs less. It’s just harm reduction, everything we do is harm reduction.

So anyway, this one day this woman comes up to the vax clinic and she is high as fuckin’ hell, just obliterated fucked up, smoking a joint in line, and she has this TINY pibble puppy with her, maaaaybe four weeks old. This thing is so fuckin tiny and wormy and lethargic, and she’s like, “Hey I heard I can get her shots.” and we’re like, oh fuck this puppy is gonna die. Like straight up, we were all like, fuck that dog is gonna die. So we gave her wormer, we gave the first distemper shot, and I put together a whole care package: wormer to take home, puppy milk replacer, puppy wet food, a leash, a harness, some blankets, toys, we gave her instructions on how to get the puppy eating food, and we told her to come back in 3 weeks for the follow up vaccine. And we were all like, well fuck, that puppy’s gonna die, goddamnit, that’s so fucked up. But you know, we did our best, and we hoped we’d see her again.

And in three weeks, you guys, she showed up. And she was still high, but like, half-high this time. Smoking a cigartte in line but like, could focus, could ask and answer questions. And she’d taught that tiny puppy how to SIT and had her walking on a leash. We found out that it took her three buses to get to the clinic, and she told us all about how she got the puppy eating right, got her stool solid, she was taking her on walks… The puppy looked so good, you guys. I almost cried, it was so big. Really happy puppy. At the end of the visit, we were like, ok, see you in three more weeks for the next distemper.

So three weeks later, she shows up, and she’s sober, and she told us, “You know, I was really fucked up the day I bought that puppy, I wasn’t sure I was going to live, and I bought that puppy and she was too young, and I didn’t know what I was doing but y'all were so nice to me, and you helped me so much, and I knew that I had to give this puppy the best life I could, so I moved back in with my grandma, and I’m getting clean, and I’m on methadone, and I’m going to rehab next week, and when I get back, I’ll come back and visit you guys again.”

So I just wanna say. Sometimes it’s hard to find a reason to get clean for yourself. Sometimes you gotta do it for a little critter that depends on you.

caats:

“sorry i can’t come out, i have plans”

the plans:

invaderonie:

invaderonie:

i just learned “kiffe” means to love or like in french…. and “كيف” means joy in arabic…. 😣🩵

elodieunderglass:

gaaaaaay:

Last summer I went insane and spent like 120 dollars on this fucking dress from 1950 because I tried it on and nothing I’ve ever worn has ever fit me so well so after obsessing about it for like 3 weeks I bought it. I thought my mom would love it but she fucking hated it lol. I sent my aunt a pic and a couple weeks later she mailed me a vintage slip to go underneath that is the exact same color. Posting bc people need to appreciate this dress and hopefully validate me and I have nowhere to wear it. I googled it endlessly but couldn’t find anything quite like it (there was no tag) and I think someone just crocheted it like 70 years ago for someone with my exact same body proportions. Maybe I will wear it to my wedding someday

I appreciate this dress and it’s quite possible that we could find out more about it

This dress is so pretty????? Who makes fun of something like that!!

upsettingandunfortunateclasshate:

Woman becomes first UK womb transplant recipient to give birth

Grace Davidson gives birth to baby Amy Isabel after receiving her sister’s womb in 2023

the Guardian

A fucking womb transplant, what an incredible thing. Fair play to all involved. A positive news story amidst all the dire shite.

wearywoes:

ladycelebrianofimladris:

nuroful:

Sudan faces one of the worst famines in decades, warn UN experts

GENEVA (17 October 2024) –A staggering 97 percent of Sudan’s IDPs, along with civilians who remain in their homes, are facing severe levels

OHCHR

https://www.instagram.com/khartoum_aid_kitchen/

Sudan's local kitchens are stepping in to make up for the lack of international aid

International aid groups are struggling to provide relief across Sudan. Mohanad El Belal, co-founder of Khartoum Aid Kitchen, shares how som

NPR

Donate to Fight Hunger in Sudan: The Khartoum Kitchen appeal, organized by Mustafa Ibrahim

The War in Sudan has created the World’s largest Humanitarian cris… Mustafa Ibrahim needs your support for Fight Hunger in Sudan: The Khart

gofundme.com

DONATE TO KHARTOUM KITCHEN RIGHT NOW! They provide meals in the Greater Khartoum Area!

dailyflicks:

ZOOTOPIA
2016 | Byron Howard, Rich Moore