Thorn Wilde

Paul and I are seeing Spider-Man Far from Home tomorrow, so rewatched Homecoming tonight. Found a very important PSA from Captain America in the special features that’s relevant for all you Americans tonight. It’s at 28 seconds in.

Wish more people thought the way you do.

That's why I said most. Feels pretty absurd, doesn't it?

I'm always happy to share and to educate. If you ever have any questions, PM me or something and I'll answer as best I can.

It can be difficult, yeah, but I don't like to compare. I guess one of the key differences would be right to self-identification. For a trans person, claiming one's gender one is often faced with the reaction that one is not the gender one claims, whereas most gay people won't have people telling them, no, you're not actually gay, you're straight. So people won't accept that I'm not a woman, especially not if I don't try really, really hard to look and behave masculine. Some of us even end up overcompensating because we're so afraid we won't pass otherwise, especially pre-medical transition, or those who don't want to medically transition at all.

Oh yeah, Happy 4th of July to the 'Mericans! Enjoy your day!

I admit to occasionally playing otome, or romance based visual interactive novels. It's a huge market, most of them straight with female protagonists, though some have male protagonists too, and a small subset allow for queer romance. I found one that was entirely gay and found, in a comment thread on Steam, some guy complaining that there were no female romance options. I was pretty stunned. His complete lack of self-insight, as he ranted about this in response to people who pointed out that if he wants a female romance option then this game just wasn't made for him, just floored me. EDIT: Dream Daddy as a sweet, funny and rather excellent game like that (not the one that comment was made on) that I highly recommend, if you feel like playing a dad who gets to hook up with other dads.

CD Projekt Red has said that they want to include transgender and non-binary customisation options in character creation for Cyberpunk 2077. If they do, that would be awesome, though it's not confirmed that it'll actually be a thing... Hope it is. It would make a lot of sense for that kind of science fiction world to have that, given the direction we're moving in of trans and non-binary identities becoming more visible. So I hope they actually go for it and they're not just playing with it. I mean, it can't honestly be that difficult to do, can it? In CD Projekt Red's The Witcher III there's the character of Mislav, a quest NPC early in the game, who's gay and tells the tragic story of how he was ostracised for it and his lover died. As much of a cliché as that is (medieval Europe based fantasy world or not), I liked the fact that there was no option for Geralt to be judgmental or disgusted by it, that he shows empathy and even seems to relate, which makes sense given the way Witchers are seen and treated.

I know how you feel, @BabyXander1990. I'm still figuring out how to 'boy' and it's not easy. I just try to remind myself that that isn't what makes me a boy, only how I express it. It's something I am, irrespective of what I do. Gender expression becomes a lot more important when you're trans, though. Things cis-people never have to think about become a huge deal when you're trying to pass on the outside as what you are on the inside. I'm glad you feel you're there. I've got a ways to go.

Morning, everyone! Hope you all have a nice day. Hi, @rickproehl! *waves* Nice to have you here.

Today has been a less than awesome day as I had a flare-up of my physical symptoms this morning. My own fault, though. I picked the wrong breakfast. It was unpleasant. Hopefully, tomorrow will be better. Gonna try to do some writing, or at least some editing, in bed now. I hope you have all fared better. Goodnight, DiC!

I've never been a big DC fan, but I like the dark and gritty Batman stuff. I read a lot of Marvel comics, though. Especially Deadpool. If it has Deadpool in it, I've probably read it.

God, Chris's reaction to Tad showing symptoms is just heartbreaking. Nate has come a long way. It takes so much strength to stay calm and strong in that situation.

Looks like it was an excellent march, @Defiance19. So much joy in those photos! What a great thing to be a part of, especially this year. ❤️

So, Robert Pattinson will be Batman, and now we may be getting Daniel Radcliffe as Wolverine, apparently. Should be fun. The new Tom Holland Spider-Man films skipped the origin story. They just went straight into the actual plot. Everyone knows Spider-Man's origin story, and everyone knows Batman's, too. So yeah, I'm hoping they just skip it.

Morning, Def! How are you? Morning, DiC! Hope you all have a good day!

I feel like this belongs here more than in the other music thread... Sommernatt ved fjorden (Summer Night by the Fjord in English) is a song by Norwegian composer Kjetil Bjørnstad, performed by opera singer Ellen Westberg Andersen. It was recorded in 1978. The song tells a story of the Norwegian painter Oda Lasson (later Krohg when she married Christian Krohg, another famous painter) and her lover, the writer, philosopher and activist Hans Jæger. Oda, Krohg, and Jæger's love triangle is famous in Norwegian cultural history. They were all part of a group of artists and subversives known colloquially as the Kristiania Boheme (Kristiania is an older name for Oslo) in the late 19th century. The song describes the couple out rowing late in a bright summer night, told from the point of view of Oda's sister, Bokken Lasson, who was a singer, song-writer and troubadour. My translation of the lyrics is in the spoiler.

Good questions and great answers! Aww, @northie, I feel you so much right now. It's a tough feeling to have and an even tougher one to admit to, really. And yeah, @Timothy M., my response is missing the last two words, lol! Should be 'if any of this makes any sense'.

Goodnight, DiC.

Morning, everybody! Hope you all have a good day. Glad your date went well! You deserve it.

I'm off to bed. Goodnight, everyone.

Oh, that's awesome! Hope it goes well and you have a great time! ❤️

This was a beautiful story that I enjoyed very much. It's great to see it featured.

Oh! Happy Canada Day!

Hey, everybody! Hope you’re all well. Paul and I went to the Viking ship museum here in Oslo today. They have three burial ships there, dug up from burial mounds. Really cool and very interesting. So now I’m inspired to get back to my Viking historical drama I started on ages ago... Have a great day, all!