early dawning, sunday morning

I'm so glad that y'all are so into Monkey Man and the badass hijra priestess army, but friendly reminder that hijra are NOT trans women. Hijra are their own distinct gender; trans women are women. India has both :)

This is really...weird to post if you yourself are not a trans woman or hijra, op. Many (I would even say most) hijra are women. So many of us use the term hijra women instead of just hijra to emphasise this point. A lot of the hijra identity (and other trans identities in India like Jogta/Jogtini, Aravani etc.) is tied to the arts and religion in a way that the modern term "trans" does not fully encompass or represent, but that doesn't mean that these non-secular (i can't find a better word rn) trans people are not. Well. Trans. Hijra, Aravani and other transfeminine people and women have been active in LGBT and esp. trans activism at the grassroots within India for the longest time. I'm Indian and trans myself and I'm really so tired of this constant third-gendering (and thus misgendering) of trans Indians. (Not to say that many trans people don't view themselves within the third gender framework, but that that term has done more harm than good in the practical sense.)

Here's an excellent thread by an Indian trans women tearing apart the seminal anthropological text that has cemented the idea of Hijra "third gender"ness for its racism, orientalism, and transmisogyny.

https://twitter.com/talia_bhatt/status/1779895088266592638?t=HKXcxNoIXgo0pgWcMR-mzQ&s=19

Hijras are primarily considered "third gender" (which is similar to many other culturally embedded trans women in the global south being seen as a third gender) because western anthropologists and later Indian anthropologists uncritically accepted the degendering and marginalization trans women experience as ontological evidence of a third gender which was later taken up by state policies.

This has been done by ignoring hijras for decades who have self identified as women and using transmisogynistic talking points such as a lack of their wombs making it impossible for them to be women, their forced prostitution and begging because of their exclusion from the formal economy as "cultural practices", and their experiences detailing how despite their wishes and efforts society refuses to see them as women as evidence that they are not women. The vast majority of hijras are women; they exist as women, they take HRT, they get their legal names changed, etc. Calling them a third gender is structural transmisogyny.

link for those on mobile

alet pilon

don’t worry, 2016

chicken wire, paper mache, plaster bandage, wool blanket, cotton bandage

being loved properly for the first time will have you saying dumb shit like “thank you for respecting my boundaries” “thank you for listening when I talk” omg. 🫣

Going Away Dress of wool & silk worn by Elizabeth Holms-Kerr after her 1899 wedding to John Deans Hope.⁠⠀Made by Madame Hayward, 64 New Bond Street, London⁠⠀Glasgow Museums, E.1988.104.2

happy lesbian visibility week

the hollow knights eating beetle jelly cup (nature is beautiful)

yeah

I'm gonna try to keep this brief because I already have a post about this that's gotten like 1,000 notes, I just haven't met this goal and need to soon.

I have been having seizures, and I have a GP appt to get referred to a neurologist. I have been speaking to the clinic system handling my care, and I should be put on a cancelation list as soon as my referral is received. Because of this, I ideally would have the funds for the neurologist appointment by the time they get my referral. That way if someone cancels, and they call me with an hours notice to get to that appt, I will be able to actually make the appt. Currently I need $385 for this.

I am grateful the clinic is willing to rush this appointment. They did this with my roommate last year, and it saved his life. But based on our experience with that, I am stressed about getting the money in time.

Anyone who helps us towards this goal can contact me at @theartistrans and I will do art for you. I also sell the pieces I make there, dm me there abt that too if you want.

PP -- $C -- V -- kofi

This original goal was met, and I've boosted this post a couple times asking for a little bit to get food, but it is now clear we are gonna need help with rent. Right now, we need $650. This is mostly bc my card got stolen three days ago. I had the money for my neuro appt on another card and could use it for rent, but they could call me any day to come in, and my official appt is just days after rent is due on the 1st. I don't know if I'm going to be getting the money that was stolen back, but I've taken the appropriate steps to do so, and been told to wait to hear back. I have had so many interviews for a 2nd job this past week, many of them with hiring bonuses, and if I hear back from any of them, I will able to lower this goal. If anything changes at all I will update immediately. But right now, this is where we're at. Dm me for proof or details.

We have not received anything for rent.

This is always really hard to do but I've been going through really difficult times these last few months and it would help if you could donate here

I have a temporary place to stay but I've been homeless since April 1st. Alot of places near me have rent in the $700 to $1,000+ area which is massively outside my range (the only one I've seen in my price range had no ac 😭 it's already hit 80°f this spring)

I've been working with different resources to help find housing and support (such as SNAP) but they take time. It's been so much these past three months and I'm starting to burn out.

I'll be putting donations towards costs such as: my monthly storage rental, groceries (snap pending), medicine, doctor appointments, security deposit when I find a potential apartment, and filling my car up with gas.

I have a Kofi, with a backlog of art and a discord server. I've also been playing around with a new app on the iPad if anyone wants to request doodles for donations over $10 (examples above)

I appreciate any and all help <3

hey here's a website for downloading any video or image from any website.

works w/ youtube, soundcloud, twitch, twitter (gifs and videos), tumblr (video and audio), and most other websites you're probably lookin to download stuff off of.

for anyone wondering about privacy and whatnot, i'm happy to say that the developers are pretty committed to have 0 trackers and 0 data retention. you can read more in their "about" section, but here's the basic important stuff:

Artefact No. 1 — Musical figurine, 1916

Found in the attic of a house belonging to an elderly woman long since passed. The figurine looks to be custom made, possibly meant to resemble the recipient’s son depicted in a small photograph tucked away in the base. However, its maker is unknown as well as why it was in the woman’s possession. It is thought to be a memento commissioned to remember her son Pte. T. J. Belrose when he went overseas in 1916. The inscription on the bottom reads, “My heart is always with you”. Pte. Belrose died on the 12th of April 1918 at 22 years old. The young couple who moved into the house noticed a strange melody coming from the attic at night and soon discovered the musical memento thankfully intact. Though the figurine no longer spins, it continues to mysteriously play music on its own without winding the key, most notably at 12:04 just after midnight.

She... she syncs up with your favorite bassline sometimes...

this is so funny to me. he said no he’s terrible at what he does but im in love with him x

Butch chilchuck :)

friends and i found an online meme-making flash game that was populated entirely by schoolchildren and we got to watch the brilliant minds of the next generation at work

also it had a chat that was a wonderful ecosystem to explore when people werent trying to bypass the censors to say slurs