That’s not  justice

reblog until ur fingers bleed

SMASH THAT MOTHERFUCKING BUTTON!

the ultimate upgrade 

I think this is necessary to post. I see a lot of people “saving” bunnies.

Never knew this, keeping this for reference

As a student of Veterinary Medicine I can completely confirm this! Do NOT take them out of their nest unless you’re 100% sure that the mother did not come back for them after at least one day!

💕 2x23 // 5x04 💕

We’re Ready

I was presenting an assembly for kids grades 3-8 while on book tour for the third PRINCESS ACADEMY book.

Me: “So many teachers have told me the same thing. They say, ‘When I told my students we were reading a book called PRINCESS ACADEMY, the girls said—’”

I gesture to the kids and wait. They anticipate what I’m expecting, and in unison, the girls scream, “YAY!”

Me: “'And the boys said—”

I gesture and wait. The boys know just what to do. They always do, no matter their age or the state they live in.

In unison, the boys shout, “BOOOOO!”

Me: “And then the teachers tell me that after reading the book, the boys like it as much or sometimes even more than the girls do.”

Audible gasp. They weren’t expecting that.

Me: “So it’s not the story itself boys don’t like, it’s what?” The kids shout, “The name! The title!”

Me: “And why don’t they like the title?”

As usual, kids call out, “Princess!”

But this time, a smallish 3rd grade boy on the first row, who I find out later is named Logan, shouts at me, “Because it’s GIRLY!”

The way Logan said “girly"…so much hatred from someone so small. So much distain. This is my 200-300th assembly, I’ve asked these same questions dozens of times with the same answers, but the way he says “girly” literally makes me take a step back. I am briefly speechless, chilled by his hostility.

Then I pull it together and continue as I usually do.

“Boys, I have to ask you a question. Why are you so afraid of princesses? Did a princess steal your dog? Did a princess kidnap your parents? Does a princess live under your bed and sneak out at night to try to suck your eyeballs out of your skull?”

The kids laugh and shout “No!” and laugh some more. We talk about how girls get to read any book they want but some people try to tell boys that they can only read half the books. I say that this isn’t fair. I can see that they’re thinking about it in their own way.

But little Logan is skeptical. He’s sure he knows why boys won’t read a book about a princess. Because a princess is a girl—a girl to the extreme. And girls are bad. Shameful. A boy should be embarrassed to read a book about a girl. To care about a girl. To empathize with a girl.

Where did Logan learn that? What does believing that do to him? And how will that belief affect all the girls and women he will deal with for the rest of his life?

At the end of my presentation, I read aloud the first few chapters of THE PRINCESS IN BLACK. After, Logan was the only boy who stayed behind while I signed books. He didn’t have a book for me to sign, he had a question, but he didn’t want to ask me in front of others. He waited till everyone but a couple of adults had left. Then, trembling with nervousness, he whispered in my ear, “Do you have a copy of that black princess book?”

He wanted to know what happened next in her story. But he was ashamed to want to know.

Who did this to him? How will this affect how he feels about himself? How will this affect how he treats fellow humans his entire life?

We already know that misogyny is toxic and damaging to women and girls, but often we assume it doesn’t harm boys or mens a lick. We think we’re asking them to go against their best interest in the name of fairness or love. But that hatred, that animosity, that fear in little Logan, that isn’t in his best interest. The oppressor is always damaged by believing and treating others as less than fully human. Always. Nobody wins. Everybody loses. 

We humans have a peculiar tendency to assume either/or scenarios despite all logic. Obviously it’s NOT “either men matter OR women do.” It’s NOT “we can give boys books about boys OR books about girls.” It’s NOT “men are important to this industry OR women are.“ 

It’s not either/or. It’s AND.

We can celebrate boys AND girls. We can read about boys AND girls. We can listen to women AND men. We can honor and respect women AND men. And And And. I know this seems obvious and simplistic, but how often have you assumed that a boy reader would only read a book about boys? I have. Have you preselected books for a boy and only offered him books about boys? I’ve done that in the past. And if not, I’ve caught myself and others kind of apologizing about it. “I think you’ll enjoy this book EVEN THOUGH it’s about a girl!” They hear that even though. They know what we mean. And they absorb it as truth.

I met little Logan at the same assembly where I noticed that all the 7th and 8th graders were girls. Later, a teacher told me that the administration only invited the middle school girls to my assembly. Because I’m a woman. I asked, and when they’d had a male author, all the kids were invited. Again reinforcing the falsehood that what men say is universally important but what women say only applies to girls.

One 8th grade boy was a big fan of one of my books and had wanted to come, so the teacher had gotten special permission for him to attend, but by then he was too embarrassed. Ashamed to want to hear a woman speak. Ashamed to care about the thoughts of a girl.

A few days later, I tweeted about how the school didn’t invite the middle school boys. And to my surprise, twitter responded. Twitter was outraged. I was blown away. I’ve been talking about these issues for over a decade, and to be honest, after a while you feel like no one cares. 

But for whatever reason, this time people were ready. I wrote a post explaining what happened, and tens of thousands of people read it. National media outlets interviewed me. People who hadn’t thought about gendered reading before were talking, comparing notes, questioning what had seemed normal. Finally, finally, finally.

And that’s the other thing that stood out to me about Logan—he was so ready to change. Eager for it. So open that he’d started the hour expressing disgust at all things “girly” and ended it by whispering an anxious hope to be a part of that story after all. 

The girls are ready. Boy howdy, we’ve been ready for a painful long time. But the boys, they’re ready too. Are you?

I’ve spoken with many groups about gendered reading in the last few years. Here are some things that I hear:

A librarian, introducing me before my presentation: “Girls, you’re in for a real treat. You’re going to love Shannon Hale’s books. Boys, I expect you to behave anyway.”

A book festival committee member: “Last week we met to choose a keynote speaker for next year. I suggested you, but another member said, ‘What about the boys?’ so we chose a male author instead.”

A parent: “My son read your book and he ACTUALLY liked it!”

A teacher: “I never noticed before, but for read aloud I tend to choose books about boys because I assume those are the only books the boys will like.”

A mom: “My son asked me to read him The Princess in Black, and I said, ‘No, that’s for your sister,’ without even thinking about it.”

A bookseller: “I’ve stopped asking people if they’re shopping for a boy or a girl and instead asking them what kind of story the child likes.”

Like the bookseller, when I do signings, I frequently ask each kid, “What kind of books do you like?” I hear what you’d expect: funny books, adventure stories, fantasy, graphic novels. I’ve never, ever, EVER had a kid say, “I only like books about boys.” Adults are the ones with the weird bias. We’re the ones with the hangups, because we were raised to believe thinking that way is normal. And we pass it along to the kids in sometimes  overt (“Put that back! That’s a girl book!”) but usually in subtle ways we barely notice ourselves.

But we are ready now. We’re ready to notice and to analyze. We’re ready to be thoughtful. We’re ready for change. The girls are ready, the boys are ready, the non-binary kids are ready. The parents, librarians, booksellers, authors, readers are ready. Time’s up. Let’s make a change.

imagine thinking you’re too woke to enjoy Brooklyn Nine Nine lmaoooo

by this i mean, imagine thinking that “I don’t watch it because it’s cop propaganda!!” is a more progressive stance than “I can watch and enjoy this genuinely very funny TV show that features a diverse cast in gender, ethnicity and sexuality, that doesn’t stoop to stereotypes and also tackles serious subject matters like police brutality, gun violence, systematic racism, homophobia and lgbt struggles and being a woman in a male dominated world and work force. I can simultaneously acknowledge that this show doesn’t depict actual police officers and my enjoyment of the show doesn’t in any way detract from my acknowledgement and anger towards the behaviours of too many real US police officers. And me laughing at Andy Samberg singing Backstreet Boys doesn’t make me any less capable of loathing officers that allow racial profiling to colour their behaviours and lead to the use of excessive force towards and the mass incarceration of poc. This is because my enjoyment of pop culture and my ability to critically analyse the world are not mutually exclusive and i have an understanding of nuance and context.”

Me @ nbc

YEAH SO WHAT IF IT IS ALMOST 5 AM AND I HAVEN’T SLEPT YET I JUST FOUND OUT RISE WAS CANCELLED BY NBC I’M FURIOUS.

TWEET ABOUT IT. (USE #RISEAGAIN AND #SAVERISE, @ nbc and hulu and netflix and anyone who might pick it up)

EMAIL NBC.

MAKE A RUCKUS.

MAKE NOISE AND GET SOMEONE TO PICK THIS SHOW BACK UP.

LGBT+ REP (INCLUDING A PRETTY CENTRAL TRANS CHARACTER), DIVERSE CAST, IMPORTANT ISSUES, PLOT IS ABOUT SAVING THE ARTS IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS.

THIS IS A LOT OF CAPSLOCK FOR FIVE IN THE MORNING BUT ITS ONLY CAUSE I MEAN IT SO MUCH

to remember how many feet there are in a mile, u just gotta use 5 tomatoes

five to-mate-oes sounds like five, two, eight, 0 and there’s 5280 feet in a mile

To remember how many meters there are in a kilometre you just remember “1000” because the system of measurement in the rest of the world wasn’t invented by a drunk mathematician rolling dice.

fun facts about autistic people!

Can we please please normalize subtitles? 

Subtitles are:

1. A necessity for deaf people

2. REALLY helpful for those who are partially deaf, have APD (like me and my sister) or any other hearing problem

3. really helpful for those who can’t focus well, especially for those with ADD/ADHD (like me)

4. Is incredibly helpful for people learning a second language, or for bilingual people who can read better than they can hear 

5. Even if you aren’t into learning the language, there are countless amazing foreign movies and songs you really can’t enjoy without subtitles!

6. Can help people (like my sister) who have reading comprehension 

7. Can help when you’re having a party and you don’t want to pause every time someone wants to make a comment/joke

8. Can help when the characters in the show have a heavy accent (especially in period shows) 

9. Let’s be honest subtitles can really add to the humor of the show! (”sobs mathematically”, “screeches loudly”, “angrily fixes bowtie”)

10. Can let people watch content without headphones, or in areas of loud noises. 

11. Alternatively, If someone has sensitive hearing or is triggered by loud noises, they can turn the volume down low and still be able to enjoy the content

12. The last bit is VERY true for movies where they switch between soft speaking and LOUD BOOMING NOISES (I’m looking at you hunger games)

13. Very good for helping young kids recognize and associate words and learn to read faster!

14. Really good when you’re eating chips/crunchy candy and can’t hear the movie

15. IS A NECESSITY FOR DEAF PEOPLE!!!

I can’t even tell you how many of my friends made fun of me for needing subtitles, to the point of where I just don’t bother with them anymore. Asking for subtitles at an event is the scariest thing I can imagine. People often complain that it “gets in the way” of their movie. Watching shows (especially in loud areas or with people who talk a lot) is incredibly frustrating for me. People often think I’m stupid for not understanding a show or needing to rewind when someone talks. Most Youtube users don’t bother to create subtitles for their videos (and auto-generated subtitles are crap). I just wish people were nicer to people who need subtitles, and that they were more accessible on other platforms. 

Oh my god you guys last semester some guy in my film history class was whining like a kindergartener about how we opted for subtitles on a film that was in English and I went OFF

I rarely, rarely, reblog things I have already reblogged. But this is SO DAMN important.

The Avatar series could potentially make 2 more shows after Legend of Korra with an earth nation avatar and a fire nation avatar and I for one would not protest.

Avatar could come full circle and do another show about the next Air Nomad Avatar (someone who was different from Aang) and even another one about the next Water Tribe Avatar and so on and so forth and I would not protest. 

Avatar could do another show about another Avatar centuries before ATLA or another avatar thousands of years after and go out of order and tell any story in any era they want and I would not protest.

Avatar could make literally any other show about the avatar universe and I would not protest.

Avatar could make a show about the cabbage salesman and I would not protest.

strange how b99 has done many different holiday episodes but still hasn’t let jake peralta celebrate even one (1) jewish holiday… @ dan goor give me the hanukkah episode i deserve

You know that episode of Brooklyn 99 where Jake is telling someone that he can’t stop Amy from going on dates just because he’s too chicken to ask her out?

Whenever I watch that scene, all I can think of is Ross Geller,

And I think that Brooklyn 99 did unrequited romance right. Because Jake knew he had no right to stop Amy from dating other guys, even though he was in love with her. And they said it out loud, that Jake can’t make a woman’s choice for her.

They acknowledge a woman’s right to choose what she wants.

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (2018)

The most hilarious thing about the fact Buckbeak had a trial and lost is that later on JKR resolves the issue by having Hagrid take him in again and renaming him Witherwings. That’s literally all it took. What if in POA, Hagrid simply said, “Sorry, Buckbeak flew away.” 

“There’s a hippogriff right there, Hagrid.”

“A different hipprogriff.”

“I’m… pretty sure that’s the same hipprogriff.”

“Prove it.” 

no dna tests we die like scientifically underdeveloped societies

Prisoner of Azkaban continues to be the most frustrating book

Someone should have just adopted Sirius and started calling him Gerald.

Remus: Erm… this is our new order member, my… cousin Gerald. Gerald White.

“Mr. Lupin that is Sirius Black with glasses!” “Oh come now Minister, Sirius Black doesn’t wear glasses. That wouldn’t make sense.” “Well have Mr. White take off his glasses then!” “He can’t he needs them to see.”

it got better

It’s honestly a miracle to me that wizarding society doesn’t collapse every other week because like

You’ve got this world full of people who can destroy whole buildings or turn people into beetles or make vehicles fly just by waving a stick at them

And there is literally no common sense

Anywhere to be found

Voldemort would never have had anyone find out he was back if he just went around calling himself Steve 

Okay, see, I thought I saved this post to comment on it but I’d like to bring up

The Minister would NEVER EVER disbelieve in Gerald White. He’d buy it hook line and sinker. The wizarding world would buy it hook line and sinker. The GOBLINS wouldn’t but wizards have been shown to be pretty blindingly clueless. Still, Gringotts would grudgingly give Sirius access to the Black fortune.

But, but, but, you know the one person

the one person

who Gerald White would drive AB-SO-LUTELY FUCKING BATSHIT?

Severus Snape.

Snape would do everything, EVERYTHING, to get people to believe that it’s Sirius. But the Order would ignore it (they accepted Sirius as Sirius before anyway) and Remus would just be so… so affronted.

‘Severus, he is my cousin.’

And Sirius would love it. He’d love the fact that Snape just hated it. He’d be the BEST DAMN GERALD WHITE EVER b/c Snape is doing everything from dropping veritaserum into his firewhisky to capturing a dementor in a box and releasing it on Sirius when he least expects it

That one causes problems for a bare minute because SHIT A DEMENTOR ATTEMPTED TO GIVE GERALD THE KISS MAYBE SNAPE IS RIGHT except Harry comes forward and is like ‘excuse me, I’ve never committed a crime and dementors are ALWAYS attacking me, I think they’re attracted to glasses’

and the magical community is like ‘shit, yeah, you’re right’

and just

Spare. Snape goes spare.

Picturing Snape as Mr. Crocker from the Fairly Oddparents now.

Gerald White eventually becomes a fully registered animagus. When he turns into his animagus form right in front of Snape, Snape’s bursting at the seams, just pointing at him and spluttering:

‘HE’S A BIG BLACK DOG! A DOG - THAT IS BLACK. SIRIUS BLACK. BLACK DOG DOG BLACK.’

And Remus calmly says: “That’s absurd, Severus. Sirius Black was never an animagus and besides which, people’s names don’t have any influence over their animagus forms or anything like that. That’s ridiculous.”

And Snape yells: “Shut it WEREWOLF MCWEREWOLF!”

Everyone looks at Remus, who blinks and sighs as Gerald White turns back into his human form.

“Pure coincidence,” Gerald says. “My aunt was into Roman mythology. Has to happen sometimes.” Then he pauses to give Snape an overly concerned look. “Are you alright, Severus? You’re looking a little red.”

I keep imagining this as reverse A series of unfortunate events where Sirius get caught by the ministry, keeps disappearing and coming back in new avatars while snape loses it trying to convince everyone. 

Sirius black shows up wearing a fake moustache and calls himself jack terence or something 

Snape: that is sirius black. 

Everyone else: no no mr snape gerald white was sirius black. This is lupin’s other cousin jack terence