Doctor Who 'Face The Raven' Review

We've known Jenna Coleman's departure from Doctor Who was coming, the news broke several weeks ago, but most people (and myself included) would have thought that her end would come in the closing story of the series, not with two episodes left to go.

The shock of Coleman's sudden departure this episode is what made her death stand out for me.  Right up until the point when the smoke came out of her lifeless mouth I was expecting her to somehow survive, to use the episode as a curve ball to make the audience believe she was going to die before letting her live for a few more episodes.  Alas, that was not so and Clara Oswald met her end for no reason, dieing simply from her own stupidity.

Her intentions may have been pure, to remove the threat of death from Rigsy, but she was in full possession of the facts, as she came to realise at the end of the episode, that she was doomed the second she took the mark.

The thing is, was that really a surprise?  If you watch Clara over the course of this series she's a very different person from who she was last year.  She's taking more risks, she acting recklessly and literally laughing in the face of danger (like when nearly falling out of the Tardis in this episode).  She has been putting herself in more and more danger each episode.

Whilst some of that can be chalked up to her cockiness, and she has been extremely cocky in the role of companion since the first episode in which we met Rigsy where she was left to play the part of The Doctor whilst he was stuck inside a miniturised Tardis, it's not just down to her thinking highly of herself and her skills.  No, this is all down to the death of Danny Pink.

Danny died in last series finale, and Clara hasn't been the same since, a fact that she even acknowledges just before her death.  She's been throwing herself into danger because she hasn't really cared about living as much as she was before.  Whether it was conscious or not, she didn't care about her safety any more, even to the point where it had The Doctor worried.

The moments leading up to Clara's death are what really made this a good episode.  Up to that point we were given a mystery story, the return of some previous characters in the form of Rigsy and Ashildr and a new piece of Doctor Who mythology in the form of hidden refugee settlements for some of The Doctors fallen foes.

It was as soon as the characters realised Clara was about to die, with no way to save her, that things really got interesting though.  These are the kinds of moments where I love seeing Peter Capaldi in the role of The Doctor.  He was able to portray despair, sadness, anger, frustration, hopelessness and simmering rage in such wonderfully subtle ways.  You could see all those emotions swimming just under the surface whilst he tried to maintain a brave face for his friend.  This scene is definitely up their with his speech at the end of the Zygon two parter as showcase moment that perfectly displays why he's one of the best Doctors we've had.

All in all I was very happy with the episode, it introduced some new ideas to the show, brought back some characters and monsters from the last few seasons and set up brilliantly for what looks to be one of the more unique season finales we've had, one with The Doctor alone and companionless (unless Missy comes back to help for the last episode).

It was also good as it was the first episode since the show returned that had the nerve to kill a companion.  Whilst Donna's end was extremely sad (sadder than Clara's) she was still alive and ended up rich and married, and whilst Amy and Rory never saw The Doctor again they both lives into their old age, so those 'deaths' didn't count.  This one does though.

Sometimes it's good to remind the audience that travelling with The Doctor isn't safe, at all.  It's good to show that the good guys don't always win, and it helps to remind people that whilst Doctor Who is a family show characters still aren't safe, even companions.

A great start to the series finale and excellently acted by both Capaldi and Coleman.

Amy.

xx

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Marvel Comics Reveal First Look At 'Mockingbird' Comic

Marvel announced at Baltimore Comic Con Summit that Chelsea Cain would be writing a new Mockingbird comic, with Kate Niemczyk providing art.

Despite gaining massive popularity in the last couple of years since her inclusion in hit television show 'Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.', played brilliantly by Adrianne Palicki, Mockingbird has never starred in her own book.  She has been used in other characters titles, and in team books, especially alongside Hawkeye, but has never been the centre of a story.

All that's about to change with the upcoming launch of 'Mockingbird'.  The title will reportedly follow her 'medical history.  Nick Fury saved her life with a dose of Super Soldier Serum and Infinity Formula, and I (Cain) wanted to explore the fallout from that.'

'She's got to go in every week for a medical check-up.  I loved the idea of this medical clinic for super heroes - a place where they go to get stitched up and get their Prozac refilled.  And the waiting room would be full of bored heroes leafing through old 'Us Weekly'.  Would Bobbi uncover a conspiracy in that sort of environment?'

'Well she is good at ferreting out conspiracies having been subject to them a number of times herself.  Frankly she's a little sensitive about that.  But the books will also show Bobbi on her personal time, and off having Bond-level adventures - the Roger Moore years.'

Amy.

xx

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Daily Mail Brands Trans Students & Allies As Fascists On TDOR

The repugnant 'newspaper' The Daily Mail has chosen today, the internationally recognised Transgender Day of Remembrance, to publish an article that has attacked transgender students and their allies at Cardiff University as being fascists.

The article, which despite being printed on page 17 of today's issue was promoted on the 'newspaper's' front page, compares students, who earlier this week protested the appearance of feminist and known transphobe Germaine Greer at Cardiff University, as being fascists for trying to prevent the spread of hate speech.

The article is written by Brendan O'Neil, a journalist known for his extreme thoughts and opinions.  In the past he has opposed the legalisation of same sex marriage, has criticised the notion of tackling global warming by lowering carbon emissions, and even considers efforts to combat racism in football as 'a petty poisonous desire to police the working classes'.

O'Neil believes passionately in free speech, he believes that nothing should be barred from being said, a will use those arguments to justify sexist, racist, homophobic and transphobic hate speech, as he does in this article.

He begins his article by stating that 'Britain's universities have changed.  They've turned from citadels of intellectual enquiry into sprawling camps of conformism, where anyone who dissents from what is decreed to be the correct thought process will be cast out into academic darkness.'

He places the blame for this change in universities squarely on the shoulders of students, claiming that the 'bright eyed students' are now 'proselytising zealouts' and refers to them as 'student Stasi'.  It's amazing that he would equate trying to erase disinformation and hate speech with an evil secret police service, but I guess to him being told that certain terms are harmful is the same as taking away his rights.

He uses the article to complain about people with known racist views being prevented from talking at universities, he complains about men being asked not to be involved in abortion debates, he complains about the fact that some universities have stopped playing Robin Thicke's Blurred Lines record because of its close rape connotations.  Some people would argue that all of these things are good things, that they're the right steps forward towards making a better, safer and healthier environment, but not Brendan O'Neil and the Daily Mail.

The students Brendan O'Neil insist are fascists, with their messages of peace.

This blatant refusal to see that certain speech and views can be harmful extends to the language O'Neil uses to speak about transgender people.  He references Greers views, stating the 'men who have sex-change surgery do not become real women' without even trying to disagree with those views or say that trans women aren't 'men'.  He enforces this by later saying that such views are considered 'harmful'.

Those quote marks aren't from me quoting the article, that's how he describes transphobic views, he puts harmful in quotation marks to show that he doesn't believe it to be harmful, that it's only an opinion.  Well Brendan, that's quite simply bollocks.  Transphobic views ARE harmful, fact.  If they weren't the suicide rate of the trans community wouldn't be 12 times higher than that of the general population, and we wouldn't be remembering over 270 people killed because of those views today.

Transphobic views being harmful is in no way an opinion, and to try and describe it as such is both ludicrous and insulting.  But he doesn't stop there with it, he even goes on to show his support for Julie Bindel who was prevented from speaking at Manchester University for her transphobic views.  He even feels the need to quote those views just to include another shot at the trans community.

He claims that it's only 'different or daring thinkers who are silenced by censorious students', but the things he's complaining about aren't 'different' or 'daring', it's opinions that have been proven and accepted by most people as false and ludicrous.

If someone wanted to talk about how all men are animal rapists, or all German people are cannibals, or that the only cure for cancer is prayer, or that people who have a disability are being punished for something in a past life would those views be given a platform to speak on and viewed as 'different' or 'daring'?  No, they'd be called out for being completely ridiculous, unfounded and in some cases hateful.

That's exactly the kind of thing that O'Neil and the Daily Mail are trying to defend though, they feel that anyone can say anything, claiming it to be true and no thought should be paid to the effect of those words.  They seem to consider putting thought into what should be given a public platform should be seen as fascism.

'The word fascist must never be used lightly.  But to destroy with fire words you don't like?  That is fascistic and the very opposite of the freedom of thought that should prevail on 21st century campuses.

'As we have seen, the New Fascists, and the academic apologists who cave into their censorious demands, from on alternative thinking and seek to eradicate dissenting thought.'

It is worth remembering what kind of 'newspaper' the Daily Mail is though, it's the kind of paper that calls a woman trying to highlight sexism as a 'feminazi', it's the kind of paper that calls refugees fleeing from war 'boat people' and even gives Katie Hopkins a platform.

With that I'm not surprised they've chosen to label the transgender community and their allies as 'fascists' for wanting to end the kind of hate speech that has led to literally hundreds of deaths this last year alone.  What I am a little surprised about is the fact that they chose today to do it, that they would show an image of the trans flag next to the term 'fascists' on their front page on the Transgender Day of Remembrance.  They chose to use that image and that language on the day that we mourn the deaths of over 270 transgender people, most of whom were violently murdered by people exposed to so much transphobia that they saw those views as normal.

But maybe they're right, maybe wanting to stop the rapes, beatings, stabbings, shooting and murders of transgender people around the world is being a fascist, because as we all know fascists have historically wanted nothing but equality.

Amy.

xx

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Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. 'Many Heads, One Tale' Review

After sidelining Hydra for most of the season to focus on Inhumans, the A.T.C.U. and building tensions between them and S.H.I.E.L.D. it felt a lot like Hydra was becoming a thing of the past, a side plot that would come up only when the writers wanted to give Ward some screen time.  This weeks episode changed all of that.

In a dramatic final five minutes we discover that Hydra is much older that everyone in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and us the audience, were led to believe.  It turns out Hydra was around long before the Red Skull and the events of Captain America: The First Avenger,  'hundred generations' ago.  Hydra were also behind the NASA mission that sent Will and his team through the monolith to the alien planet Simmons was trapped on, and had been sending people through for hundreds of years.  All because they serve the Inhuman that was sent through the, presumably the 'creature' Will was so afraid of.

Hydra believe that this powerful Inhuman is destined to rule the world, and plan on both bringing it back to Earth, as well as building an Inhuman army for it to lead.

This is the kind of moment that makes S.H.I.E.L.D. a genuine joy to watch.  Whilst I anticipated Hydra being behind the A.T.C.U. and wanting a force of Inhumans under their command, their being connected to the monolith, and being founded to worship and serve a powerful Inhuman was definitely a twist I wasn't expecting, and certainly sets the stage for some exciting stories to come.

Elsewhere in the episode we were treated to the agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. being agents again.  Instead of going up against Inhumans, or other alien threats we got to see our favourite secret agents actually being secret agents again, breaking into a secret facility.

Taking up a decent sized chunk of the episode, the team were tasked with breaking into the A.T.C.U. facility to find out just what Rosalind and her people were up to, something that was genuinely enjoyable to watch.  Things got changed up as we got to see Hunter playing the techie as Daisy talked him through tech speak that he was obviously clueless to, and even had Mack's phone call role-play was fun to watch.

When the spying didn't go exactly to plan it was down to Bobbi to fight her way out of the facility, which led to a fun new use of her iconic batons, as she made use of some snazzy magnetic wristbands to make the weapons fly back to her after throwing them.  Her fight with the Inhuman Mark Damascos was fun to watch, though way too short.

The episode had some good character development too, in more than one place.  We got to see May open up to Lincoln in a very well written and tender scene as the normally stoic woman opened up to Lincoln and apologised for Andrews actions as Lash.  This scene was by far the best one of the series so far to feature Lincoln, though mainly due to Ming-Na's excellent acting, and will hopefully help to bring the Inhuman into the team.

Coulson and Rosalind also had something of a rocky week after their romantic moment from the previous episode.  It would appear that whilst Coulson does genuinely like Rosalind he just can't trust her 100%, even going so far as to lock her in one of their Inhuman holding cells to question her motives and what the A.T.C.U. is really up to.

Whilst some will still think that Rosalind is working with Hydra, I believe she has to be one of the good guys now.  Her reactions to what Coulson were doing, and the revelation of what was going on in the A.T.C.U. building seemed too genuine to be faked, even for a seasoned spy.  I think that like many before her, Rosalind was simply fooled by Gideon Malick into thinking he was a good guy.  Don;t forget, this man was on the World Security Council in Avengers, so he's clearly very good at hiding his true intentions.  Add into that the fact that Rosalind helped Bobbi and Hunter escape I think she's going to continue to be an ally of S.H.I.E.L.D. throughout the rest of the season.

The main moment of the episode, other than the shock ending, came with Fitz and Simmons finally kissing.  It's been building for two and a half years and didn't feel false when it finally happened.  With the shadow of Will still hanging between them it was hard to watch the two characters try and resolve their situation, especially as Fitz made it clear that he felt in some way inferior to the handsome astronaut, those his doubts were blown away when Simmons made it clear just how amazing Fitz really is, he 'dove through a hole in the universe' to save her.  That's pretty damn bad arse in my books.

This episode is a prime example of S.H.I.E.L.D. doing what it does best, giving us action, drama, emotion, intrigue and revelations that will go on to shape the whole Marvel Cinematic Universe.  Fingers crossed the show can keep up this standard and deliver one of the best seasons yet.

Amy.

xx

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Flash 'Gorilla Warfare' Review

After last weeks impressive Zoom centric episode it was going to be hard to compete, luckily The Flash had something up it's sleeve, everyone's favourite psychic Gorilla, Grodd.

Just like in the first season Grodd is very impressive, with so much phenomenal effects work going into giving the villain life.  That work doesn't just extend to making Grodd realistic though, this time round he's able to show a broad range of expression and emotion through both is face and body movement.  The result is a fully CG bad guy that actually has more depth and range of emotion that some of the other villains on the show.

Last years 'Grodd Lives' was nominated for an Emmy due to it's impressive visual effects work, and I certainly wouldn't be surprised if this episode is received the same way.

Despite Grodd's return to the Flash universe being a big deal it still feels like the character is still in the process of being set up to be the villain we know and love from the comics.  This episode was used as a healing process for Barry, for him to get over the beating he received from Zoom and build his nerve into getting back into the suit.

Whilst there's nothing wrong with showing our hero emotionally and psychologically shaken after his showdown with Zoom (and who could blame him for that) it feels like an under use of Grodd's potential.  At least the episode started Grodd down the path to bigger and greater things, transporting him to Earth-2 to Gorilla City.  I'm hoping that he'll be back for season three more as the Grodd we've read in the comics, and introducing Solivar would be cool too.

Elsewhere the episode was spent showing us the recovery of Barry Allen, who after receiving massive spinal trauma last episode began this one already walking.  I know it's one of the benefits of Flash's powers that he heals exceptionally quickly, but the show runners could have at least had him recovering for more than half an episode.

His incapacitation though was a good way of bringing John Wesley Shipp's Henry back to the show after several weeks away.  Whilst it's a shame he isn't around more, the brief times we are given him he's always a pleasure to watch, not just for his great acting but for the joy of seeing both Flash's on screen together.

We were also given a small tease for next weeks Arrow/Flash crossover when Cisco went on a date with Kendra Saunders.  Using his 'vibe' he was able to see a flash of Hawkgirl.  Yes, we might only have to wait a week to finally get to see her fully, but this brief tease was a great way of building excitement as the CW have been very sparse on showing her in action so far.

The stand out for the episode has to go to Tom Cavanagh for the way he played Harrison 'Harry' Wells.  After a couple of weeks of being something of a grumpy arse hole it finally feels like Harry has started to find a place in the team, he's realising that they are his best way of getting his daughter back and he's slowly starting to warm to them, so much so that he put himself in danger to save Caitlyn after Grodd kidnapping her.

It was these scenes that really show how good Cavanagh is in the role.  Even when wearing the Reverse Flash suit it was very clear that Harry Wells is not the Harrison Wells (well, Eobard Thawn really) that we knew from season one.  Yes, sometimes he might seem creepy and cold, but he's really playing it differently now.

'Gorilla Warfare' was a good follow-up episode to last weeks, plus a great way of carrying on Grodd's story.  Add into that the fact that we got to see Gorilla City on TV, which is something I never thought I'd see.  With the mention of Atlantis a few weeks ago and the cameo of King Shark maybe Earth-2 is the shows way of experimenting with the wackier side of DC's back catalogue, and I hope we get even more amazing things in the future.

Amy.

xx

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Lily Allen Celebrates Trans Awareness Week, Receives Transphobic Responses

British singer Lily Allen, sister of Game of Thones' Alfie Allen, posted a meme on Facebook to celebrate Transgender Awareness Week and show support to the transgender community.  The meme was very simple and clear, it said that gender is decided by the brain, not by genitals.

Whilst this is a very simple fact that members of the trans community know and understand, and many members of the cis community are coming to realise, the singer was met with a torrent of abuse for her meme, with many of the top comments being transphobic in nature.

Comments range from people claiming scientific knowledge on the subject, though it is obvious that this knowledge is based solely on primary school learning and no real in depth knowledge, to people making the oh so funny comments that they wish to identify as animals now.

On a positive not, there was a lot of positive support for Lily Allens post, with a number of trans people weighing in to thank the singer and show their appreciation.  Sadly, despite trying to educate those people that disagree with basic fact, it seems like they're simply talking to a wall.  The people making these negative comments aren't going to have their minds changed by the trans community.

Sadly this is an indicator that despite how far the trans community has come, there is still a so much more that needs to happen before the trans community becomes fully accepted.

Amy.

xx

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Neon Moon - Promotes Trans Rights, Fails To Demonstrate

A few weeks ago I produced an article on the feminist lingerie brand Neon Moon, discussing their use of a transgender model in their latest campaign.  To prepare for that article I interviewed both the model, and the CEO of Neon Moon Hayat Rachi.

Following that article Neon Moon has acted rudely and cold towards myself and Planet Transgender, where the article was published, and even reprinted much of my work on their own website claiming it to be their own work.

The article did not mention that the interview was conducted by myself, or were conducted for Planet Transgender.  The article made the claim that it was a piece of their own making, and that they were the ones who performed the interview.

This was done without the knowledge or consent of either Planet Transgender or myself.  We were not approached to ask if Neon Moon could reproduce our work, and we were certainly not asked if they could tell people that it was their work.

The link to the now deleted article, clearly stating 'We ask', rather than
citing the original article.

The only main difference between the interview I conducted with Hayat, and the article she had produced, was that they added a question and answer about her appearing in her company's photographs as a model, and removing a question I asked her about how she would react to accusations that Neon Moon were just using a trans model to gain media attention.

I believe that it was this question, and the subsequent reporting of it in my original article that begun Hayat's cold behaviour.

I asked that question of her to give her a chance to counter any criticism of her and her company before it arose.  I made it clear to her that I myself was not accusing her of 'taking advantage' of the focus on trans people, but giving her an easy way of showing that she wasn't before the accusations began.  We live in an age where even good deeds can be seen as suspect, of having an ulterior motive.  I wanted to give Neon Moon the platform to say 'that's not us'.

Hayat refuses to respond to a question, a question I believe to be the source of
her poor behaviour towards myself and Planet Transgender.

The reason I believe this question became a source of contention for Hayat was that her response was 'I'm not comfortable with this question'.  She went on to say that 'no one would accuse Neon Moon of this', and asked me why I would ask that question of her.  After explaining that I was not trying to cause offence, but on Neon Moon's side her response was 'could you word it?  They'd trust you more than me'.  She had once again refused to answer the question, and that fact was reported in my article.
With this question removed from the interview I conducted with her and a question of her own put into it's place I guess she felt that it was an original enough work to claim it as her own.  The article was posted to Neon Moon's Facebook page and Twitter feed, where I left a comment to say where the article was originally publish and who the actual author was.

At this point I was upset that Hayat had taken my work and was trying to pass it off as her own.  I took to Twitter and vented my frustration that someone had taken my work and was claiming it as theirs.  I did not, at any point, however, mention Hayat Rachi or Neon Moon in this, giving them the benefit of the doubt of contacting them before going on to name them.

Later that night, when I was then able to try and message Hayat I found that the article they had produced had been removed from their website.  I went to contact Hayat to talk about what had happened only to discover that I had been blocked by Hayat on Facebook, and blocked from the Neon Moon Twitter page.

I emailed Hayat to talk to her about why she had felt the need to block me, and messaged her on Facebook through the Neon Moon company page.  The email has thus far been unresponded to, and the several messages that I have sent through Facebook have been viewed, but ignored.

Hayat Rachi blocked me from both Facebook and Twitter, ignoring my communications.

I worked with Hayat on three articles, two of which were way before she announced involving a trans model with the company.  I believed in Neon Moons message of body positivity, I thought that they had a good and healthy approach and were a company that conducted itself well.  I even believed that they wanted to help tackle transphobia and help trans women.

What I find hard to understand is why a company that preached equality, and spreads a message of positivity towards trans people would firstly steal work from a trans person, then block and ignore that person when they try to speak to them about it.  I find it hard to understand why Neon Moon go out of the way to share and promote the articles people produce on them, yet have not once shared or mentioned the last article produced by a transgender publication.  They are sending one message, and then acting completely opposite to that message.

This is not designed to be an attack piece, instead I'm hoping that the publication of this prompts Hayat to open communications again so that this matter can be resolved.  However, I doubt that she will do so.  So instead this is designed as a warning, that some companies, and I believe Neon Moon in particular, preach a good message when it comes to trans people, but act completely contrary to that message.

UPDATE

Less than 24 hours after posting this article another trans woman read this and chose to try and ask Neon Moon about this rather than believing it as fact from only hearing one side of the argument, a very well reasoned choice.

This other person was wanting to give Neon Moon the chance to explain what had happened, to give them a chance to apologise, or to even say that their had been a misunderstanding.  Instead, Neon Moon deleted this woman's comment and blocked her.

That makes two trans women blocked in a two day period.  Questionable action from a company that is pushing for trans equality and sending a pro-trans message.

Amy.

xx

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Arrow 'Lost Souls' Review

Last week we learnt that Ray Palmer, the superhero known as The Atom, was not in fact killed in an explosion at the end of season three as believed (despite the fact that we were told that he was alive months ago with the reveal trailer for Legends of Tomorrow).

That's what a lot of this episode was about, building towards the new Arrow spin-off 'Legends of Tomorrow', as not only was The Atom re-introduced to the franchise but so was Sarah Lance's Black Canary, who we know will go on to become White Canary.

Whilst the episode did carry on with a number of the stories already established in the show already, the up and down relationship between Ollie and Felicity, the evil machinations of Damian Dahrk, but all in all it felt like a very throwaway episode where nothing much actually happened.

All the main changes involved Ray and Sarah, who were both very quickly sidelined by the end of the episode.

The one positive in the episode is that even though it was heavily focused on setting up for the future spin-off Damian Dahrk was heavily involved.  Whilst it was good to see a rematch between Green Arrow and his supernaturally powered opponent, compared to Flash's fight with Zoom it felt a little underwhelming.

Hopefully the show will bet a little back on track next week and get back to the main story of the season.

Amy.

xx

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Patch Reynold - Remembering An Amazing Person

I've tried several different starts to this post, been trying to get it right. But I realise that I can't. So instead I'm just going to write, and hope that whatever I end up with isn't complete nonsense, because I don't know how to do this.

I've reported on death's before, I even did it earlier today, but I've never written about a friend dying. I don't know how to make sense of the emotions I'm feeling as I'm writing and make any kind of coherent statement about such an amazing person.

That's what Patch was, an amazing person. I'm sure that anyone who is reading this who knew her will agree with that in a second, and for those of you who never knew her, I'm sorry that you missed that opportunity.

I first met Patch years ago, back when she was in her teens. A friend of mine owned a comic book shop, and as per the rules when one of your friends owns a comic book shop I was always hanging out there.  

That's where I met Patch. She must have been fourteen or fifteen at the time, and would come in after school and at the weekends and hang out. She was always excited to be in the shop, to get to hang out with other geeks and have a place where it was cool to be different and into 'silly' things. It was always great to see her and her friends be so passionate about their interests.

I lost contact with Patch for a while after that, but thanks to modern technology was soon in contact with her again. We'd talk for hours and hours over the web about so many different topics, from TV, to politics, to the deeply personal.

Patch talked in depth with me about her questions about her gender, and shared some things with me that made me feel deeply honoured for that trust. She asked me about writing, and spoke so passionately about her wanting to write on politics.  

She talked to me about some of the trouble she had had through the Internet, from people sending her hate and the effect that it had had on her.  She spoke to me about her mental and physical health.  She spoke to me about so much, and with such honesty that it was hard to feel like I didn't know her well.

That was part of what made Patch special to me, she was never afraid to talk about subjects that would make other people scared to share. She understood that their were social stigmas around subjects like gender, sexuality, mental health, and she knew that those stigmas were complete bullshit.  

Patch understood that there were so many problems with the world, that she and others were going through a whole range of different issues that weren't being talked about, and she went out of her way to make sure that it was okay to talk about those things.

She displayed a wisdom and caring that was almost unheard of in someone of her age. In a lot of ways she was the kind of person I wished I could be, which I never told her and wished I did.  She joked with me that I was a 'big sister' to her, and told me how much she admired me, but the truth is Patch, I think I looked up to you more.

You were off at Uni, doing things you loved, getting involved with groups and charities, you took part in workshops for important subjects, you were taking the world by storm and trying to make a positive impact. You were amazing.

I hate that for so long we only talked online, and I wish we could have seen each other in person more. I hate that through writing this whole thing I'm having to write about you in the past tense. I'm going to miss our conversations, and seeing your amazing posts and tweets come up in my news feed.  

You were a truly amazing person, wise beyond your years, passionate and caring. The world has lost one of it's best and brightest.

I miss you 'little sister'.

Amy.

xx

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Transgender Man Found Murdered & Mutilated

Yoshi Tsuchida, 32, was found dead in his Tokyo home yesterday by his adopted son, with his head covered in a plastic bag and his face removed.

Mr Tsuchida's 28-year-old son, who has not been named, returned to their shared home on thursday morning.  He went to bed, but awoke later to find his father dead, according to a local police spokesperson.

'When I woke up my father was bleeding from the face' Jiji Press reported him saying, citing police reports.  It is not uncommon in Japan for adults to be adopted, hence the small age gap between Mr Tsuchida and his son.

Reports cite a history of violence between the two of them, and that police officers had visited the home on multiple occasions responding to reports of loud voices and people fighting.

It's also being reported that Mr Tsuchida's son is also transgender and receiving female hormone treatment, but still identifies as male at this time.

It has not yet been established if this is to be considered a hate crime, or if it unrelated to Yoshi Tsuchida's transgender status.

Amy.
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