Title: Apophenia?
Date: 2016-09-05 22:30
Category: commentary
-Tags: two-type taxonomy
+Tags: Julia Serano, two-type taxonomy
> Media depictions of trans women, whether they take the form of fictional characters or actual people, usually fall under one of two main archetypes: the "deceptive transsexual" or the "pathetic transsexual." While characters based on both models are presented as having a vested interest in achieving an ultrafeminine appearance, they differ in their abilities to pull it off. Because the "deceivers" successfully pass as women, they generally act as unexpected plot twists, or play the role of sexual predators who fool innocent straight guys into falling for other "men." [...] In contrast to the "deceivers," who wield their feminine wiles with success, the "pathetic transsexual" characters aren't deluding anyone. Despite her masculine mannerisms and five o'clock shadow, the "pathetic transsexual" will inevitably insist that she is a woman trapped inside a man's body.
>
Title: Is There Affirmative Action for Incompetent Crossplay?
Date: 2016-09-05 23:50
Category: other
-Tags: cosplay, Steven Universe
+Tags: anecdotal, cosplay, Steven Universe
_(This post was originally published elsewhere, and has been retroactively cross-posted, with slight edits, to the_ Scintillating But Ultimately Untrue Thought _archives.)_
Title: Joined
Date: 2016-12-19 22:17
Category: other
-Tags: cosplay, Star Trek
+Tags: anecdotal, cosplay, Star Trek
_(This post was originally published elsewhere, and has been retroactively cross-posted, with slight edits, to the_ Scintillating But Ultimately Untrue Thought _archives.)_
Title: A Leaf in the Crosswind
Date: 2017-10-27 23:47
Category: other
-Tags: Avatar, cosplay
+Tags: anecdotal, Avatar, cosplay
I cosplayed as [Korra](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korra) (from _The Legend of Korra_, sequel series to _Avatar: The Last Airbender_—see [also previously](/2017/Jan/avatar-the-last-genderbender/)) at—let's call it "Republic City" Comic-Con the other month. Saturday only—conventions are just my excuse to crossdress in public; I don't actually perceive two and a half days' worth of things to do.
Title: From What I've Tasted of Desire
Date: 2017-01-24 22:48
Category: commentary
+Tags: bullet-biting
> _Oh, we have to get this right
> Yes, we have to make them see_
Title: The Blockhead
Date: 2017-11-26 18:52
Category: other
-Tags: meta, self-flagellation
+Tags: meta, procrastination
Writing? Why, there's hardly anything to it. Writing is just a matter of _thinking honestly_ while Emacs happens to be open: the process of refining one's own thoughts is sufficiently tightly linked to the faculty of language, that the further step of presenting the product of those thoughts to others is largely a matter of muscle memory.