Me Every Freaking Night

If you’re interested in checking out Stop!! Hibari-kun! then I recommend Hazel’s excellent video that serves as a primer to the series - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oa6MK_boub0

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Transcript:

Sometimes I just stop and think about how weird it is that Stop!! Hibari-kun! even exists. A romantic comedy where one of the leads is a trans girl would be notable even today, but this show aired in 1983, and the manga it was based on began in 1981. Stop!! Hibari-kun! is almost forty years old, and yet I’d argue that in certain ways it still hasn’t been surpassed. There have been shows that handled their trans characters better, and there have been other shows with trans protagonists (although, frankly, not very many). But Hibari herself is an utterly unique creation, and I honestly can’t think of any trans protagonist in the intervening years who could match her in brilliance and sheer badassery.

It makes for some bizarre juxtapositions because in every other sense the show is a product of the 80s, whether stylistically, in its pop culture references, or the occasional jarring racial stereotypes. There’s a fair amount of transphobia and homophobia too, which might seem at odds with what I’ve described so far, but part of Hibari’s strength is that thrives in spite of the adversity she faces.

Hibari is the daughter of a yakuza boss and is – on paper, at least – his only son and heir. The story is told mostly from the perspective of Kousaku, a boy sent to live with the family after his mother dies, and who immediately falls for Hibari but then feels conflicted upon learning that she’s trans. Make no mistake, though: Hibari is the star of the show here. She’s strong, smart and beautiful, and at school (where she’s presumed by everyone to be a cis girl), she’s a popular grade-A student with throngs of lovestruck boys – and at least one girl – falling at her feet. In another show this might come across as insincere; a low-key transphobic joke along the lines of “the most popular girl is actually a boy!” But with Hibari it doesn’t feel like that. The show’s presentation of her victories feels genuine and celebratory.

The grace with which Hibari navigates her life extends to her encounters with transphobia, too. Most of her family disapproves of her, and Kousaku’s ongoing inability to deal with Hibari’s transness often comes off as pretty hurtful. But Hibari seems unfazed by her father’s ranting and enjoys teasing Kousaku over his plainly obvious attraction to her. That’s not to say there aren’t brief moments where Hibari expresses frustration over her situation, but the narrative never lets her stay sad for long.

And I think it’s Hibari’s nigh-invulnerability – both physically and psychologically – that makes her work as a character, especially from the perspective of the trans women in the audience. In the hands of a lesser creator, Hibari could have been a figure of ridicule, but remarkably she is never a punchline, while those who mock her or try to hurt her inevitably end up as the butt of the joke. Crystal Frasier, who knows a thing or two about compelling trans protagonists, describes the show as a “transgender power fantasy”, and I think the recent resurgence of interest in Hibari has come at a time when trans women are seeking out stories where we get to be victorious.

This does return us to the question of exactly how this transgender power fantasy came to be, back in the early 80s, and at the hands of a cis creator, no less. And that’s… well, that’s a little complicated. I’ll simply say that Hibari’s creator, Hisashi Eguchi, has stated in interviews that “It is really the frustration of not being born as a girl which fuels my drawings” and leave it at that. Regardless, Eguchi has given trans audiences an icon. In a world of trans stories that focus on pain and misery, here is a protagonist who approaches her transness with joy, optimism and strength. As Hibari herself would say: “Just think of it as God’s prank.”

hate them

did you know in season 5 of gotham ed spends so much time searching for oswald due to a false memory that lead him to believe oswald did something to damage his brain but when he finds him and confronts him oswald tells him that he would never do something like that and that if they are ever at odds again he will know he is his enemy which is so much more than oswald could say for anyone else as he is like so constantly backstabbing lying and betraying people but for ed he swears to be honest and he pushes the barrel of ed’s gun right to his heart and ed realizes that when he though oswald said “i’m going to fix you, ed” he was saying it with LOVE and ed looks at him and swears to him that if that day comes he will stare him in the eye as he stabs him in the heart and oswald SMILES which is so insane and also he named his DOG EDWARD and then they spend the rest of the technically-apocalypse planning to build a submarine and run away together but when oswald decides to stay back and fight for gotham ed begs him to stay and says “following your heart has never worked out for you” TALKING ABOUT HIS OWN FUCKING SELF and oswald looks at him and tells him he should spend more time listening to THIS (poking his heart) instead of THIS (pointing to his head) and then do you know what ed fucking does he SHOWS UP AT THE LAST MINUTE TO COME AND FIGHT WITH OSWALD and it is FOR OSWALD because oswald gives a big speech about gotham being his home and ed is like yeah me too what he said whatever and during the battle someone throws a grenade at them and oswald screams “eddie” and without a second thought covers ed to protect him and LOSES AN EYE and afterwards ed is apologizing profusely for not doing anything (“i saw the grenade and i froze”) which he has never done to oswald or anyone really oswald cuts him off and just says “it was the least i could do” which is insane and when he asks ed if its bad and shows it to him ed says no but he gags and it cant be because he was grossed out because he was literally a forensic guy and a serial killer its because he cant see oswald hurt like that and after everything after the battle theyre fuming in a little room about how “that BITCH stole our submarine” and all their treasures and ed says he felt NOTHING for the people of gotham as he was fighting WHICH FUCKING CONFIRMS that he came back for OSWALD and oswald alone he doesn’t care about gotham but he wouldn’t leave oswald and he has some big speech about never taking the knee to anyone in gotham again and oswald says theyd be stronger together and ed is like perhaps and oswalds like oh this bitch is playing games and ed’s like let’s shake on it and oswalds like are you fucking kidding me we’re HUGGING you idiot but he takes a knife out of his boot surreptitiously and ed takes a knife out of his pocket surreptitiously and they hug and they hold the knives to eachothers backs but oswald tears up and he doesn’t do it of course he doesn’t he couldn’t kill him and assumes ed will stab him but he doesnt either he SMILES and when oswald moves to pull away ED HOLDS HIM TIGHTER AND DOESNT LET HIM because theyre in fucking LOVE. hello

do you understand. do you understand.

Hi everyone. I know the original op made their post unrebloggable for their safety, so please reblog this post instead with their VETTED gfm link.

Although Mohammed Bhar has been martyred... please help his family evacuate Ghazzah to safety. Mohammed's younger brother, Ibrahim, also has Down syndrome. They are so close to their goal!! Please share!!!

gofundme.com

Donate to Help Ibrahim with Down syndrome and his family survive., organized by Amjad hammad

Please help us to arrange to get my brother Ibrahim Hammad… Amjad hammad needs your support for Help Ibrahim with Down syndrome and h

It was actually vetted by BBC (yes I know we don't like BBC) and they've also done a few pieces about him and his family in 2021, after Israel bombed Gaza for 11 days straight.

Edit: I am adding OP's commentary addressing ableism onto this post under a cut in addition to it already being in a reblog. Hopefully people can circulate this edit as well (thank you for reblogging this post).

The original post by original poster under the cut, on addressing ableism etc:

OP's URL has been removed from this post, but their post is reuploaded by me in case OP is deactivated, and also because they have addressed the ableism from the original Tweets and are much more eloquent than I am at wording it.

Caption in ALT text

me wearing a dog collar and leash looking up at my manfriend in his trench coat and fedora: let’s go out in public where you can walk me like i’m a dog in front of people who are visibly uncomfortable

@fish-daily lemon shark! :3

they shadowbanned alaa again. this is at least the tenth time this has happened. tumblr doesn't respond her to her appeals and deletes her accounts. this is fucking vile. keep donating to her fundraiser. [verified]

gofundme.com

Donate to Urgent! building a new life for the family, organized by Alaa Amsse

My name is Alaa, I am a Palestinian mother of two children: Maria and Hamza, as … Alaa Amsse needs your support for Urgent! building a new l

"save me, substance abuse!" i cry. before you can moralize to me about the dangers of addiction, a noble and powerful steed gallops into the room - my horse whom i have named "substance abuse". you learn an important lesson about making assumptions. i snort a line off its back