#might identify with?

[zhangsfrank]

i agree with this in principle but come on with that last line. its only canon-accurate gender identity? well if it’s all so cut-and-dry, why are we bothering to interpret at all.

the argument for murderbot to choose neopronouns is so obvious you barely even have to make it. murderbot who chose “name: secunit” “gender: not applicable” “other: [null]” as its feed ID? it wants to not be forced into humanity so much that it blew its own assumed cover. murderbot who is unified with its world’s third class by use of a set of pronouns that create a normative social space for it and other machine intelligences? it’s constantly saying it doesn’t understand things about human and augmented human society but it’s never out of its depth with a bot until fugitive telemetry when it’s met with bots assuming roles in human society. murderbot chooses into identifying as a non-human. i don’t think you can say that the only reading is that it does it by accident.

on top of that ��� you’re assuming that the gendered-language-speaking CR would mirror the pronoun usage of today. but, dude. the english-speaking CR doesn’t even mirror the pronoun usage of today. neopronouns aren’t “neo” in the setting of the story; different sets of pronouns are commonplace and no one is misgendered, even characters who hate one another. i don’t think choosing pronouns in the CR necessarily requires a lot of thinking, and it’s a bit moot anyway because murderbot thinks about itself. murderbot thinks about itself. like, reading the books through a particular lens it’s trivially easy to come to this perspective, and it’s also defensible to come to the opposite reading as you appear to have done.

and that’s what i’m getting at overall. i’m glad you’ve found a reading of the story that you like, but i’m not being live-and-let-live when i say yours is not the only strong view.

My unpopular opinion is that in languages with grammatical gender like french, it does make sense for Murderbot to be referred to by whatever pronoun is usually used for robots or constructs. (In french, therefore, grammatical masculine.) Because there are no traditional « it » pronouns in these languages for objects, and while there are neo-pronouns, they are things one must choose for themselves. Do you honestly think MB actually spent time thinking about its pronouns?! No it didn’t. On forms it picks « non-applicable ». When people ask it what pronouns they should use, its honest opinion is « why do you even need to talk about me. Just don’t fucking do that. Don’t think about me either. Just fucking stop perceiving me altogether! »

Thinking about what pronouns to use probably makes it way more uncomfortable than letting people call it what they’ve already been calling it. Making a conscious choice about its identity? And telling other people about it??? No thanks bye, it’s just gonna walk into the ocean now, see you never.

Lbr it probably thinks the only bots that get fancy pronouns are comfort units, and the pronouns are probably shoved into them by humans same as everything else. MB would meet a bot using a neopronoun and it would wish it could barf. Because in a language like french, he/him and she/her, when applied to objects, ARE fulfilling the function of the english « it ». Nobody is saying the table is a woman or related to feminity in any way outside of stand-up comedy; when it comes to objects grammatical gender really has fuckall to do with human gender even if we use the same words. Even animal species names have grammatical gender and everyone gets that there are male and female turtles even if the word « turtle » is a female word, it’s not that confusing.

(I know this is strange when your language has different pronouns for people and for objects, but understand that english uses the same word to indicate if I’m addressing one or many people, and that is confusing to me.)

TL;DR; stop harassing international fans for not getting the correct MB pronoun in english right off the bat. Yes in english calling it « he » or « her » or « them » is upsetting because it’s projecting an identity unto it. But same goes for trying to get a foreign language translation to use a pronoun intended to express or showcase an identity (or even a lack of one!). Murderbot has not thought about it this hard, refuses to think about it this hard -> and that is its only canon accurate gender identity.

[deikshen]

Shen Yuan who collects a harem a lot of Luo Binghes-

It's not intentional!! He, well, he's actually happy with his boyfriend. Twenty-something Shen Yuan had a hard time coming out and all, but, hey, Luo Binghe is a wonderful guy. And he loves him. He is his best friend, his favorite person, his most precious, his boyfriend and (he thinks) his future husband.

Then one day a xianxia version of his boyfriend appears at his door? Who calls him Shizun and demands retribution for being mistreated by him in the past? What the hell?

Okay, the resemblance is undeniable. Admittedly, he can only be an out-of-universe version of his boyfriend. With very long hair and xianxia drama robes. And a sword that gives off a lot of bad vibes.

And the Luo Binghe xianxia is here to stay.

This xianxia Binghe and his boyfriend Binghe's relationship is tense. Shen Yuan had to put in a couple of threats here and there to keep them from hitting each other (one is clearly non-human, one is completely human. That alone can lead to ICU visits!!!), and after a few weeks, the dynamic... holds. Hardly.

Xianxia Binghe demands to take Shen Yuan as his wife and empress, and his boyfriend-Binghe cries a little thinking that an orphan like him doesn't have much to offer Shen Yuan, and that he should just accept him. Shen Yuan gets angry with both of them. He's not going to marry any emperor or take control of any kingdom. No thanks! He doesn't even want control of his parents' company shares!

The tension continues, fights, arguments - which literally end one day when, through God knows how, another Luo Binghe appears. But he's adorable! A sweet little fourteen-year-old Xianxia Bunhe full of trauma!

And now, Boyfriend-Binghe and Xianxia-Binghe have a common enemy: Xianxia-Bunhe who clings to Shen Yuan with teary eyes and looks at them maliciously and superiority when Shen Yuan is not in the room. That damn shameless guy!!

Well, at least Shen Yuan is pleased that these two seem to be getting along better now. No matter what the circumstances are.

Other Binghes begin to appear: a Binghe disciple of Bai Zhan without so much trauma but terrible communication problems, a crown prince Binghe spoiled by his father Tianlang-jun (who is easily reduced in a fight against Xianxia-Binghe and Bai-Zhan-Binghe for treating Shen Yuan disrespectfully), a completely Demonic-Binghe, a very Old-Binghe, gray-haired and tired, even a Raised-In-Brothel-Binghe who looks uncomfortable wearing anything but sheer clothing!! Many Binghes, all with their emotional baggage and traumas, giving in to him like little lambs in need of love!!

Shen Yuan doesn't understand anything. He just... Look, he's living with his boyfriend, the original Luo Binghe for him, he WANTS privacy, not to have so many alternate versions of him in his house!! Even if they are adorable, or arrogant, or irritating!! Shen Yuan wants his life back. With his boyfriend!! To do boyfriend things and... That's it!! Is that so hard to understand!?

Then, fuck it. If there are SO MANY Binghes from so many universes... There must be more of himself in their own universes!! Just... They need to take a look!!! Open their eyes! The sword of Xianxia-Binghe can clearly traverse universes, they can search for their own Shen Yuan!!

... But they all confirm that they have not been able to find someone like him in their respective universes. Shen Yuan takes a breath, has a chat with his boyfriend about interdimensional vacations, and says, fuck it. We're going to go to all your universes and find your own other me.

Even if it means going through universes and confronting all their dramatic plots! Shen Yuan will recover his chill life with his boyfriend or perish in the attempt!!

[asgardian--angels]

**URGENT** HELP SAVE THE USGS BEE LAB!

PLEASE circulate this as widely as possible, as soon as possible.

Hi all, you may not know me but I am a native bee researcher in the eastern US. People like me work to study and protect the 3600 species of native bees in North America, many of which are in severe decline.

We just received devastating news, that unfortunately was not surprising. The Trump administration's proposed 2026 budget is set to defund most of the ecological research happening at the USGS, and that includes zeroing out the budget for the USGS Native Bee Inventory & Monitoring Lab.

Don't know them? Maybe you've seen stunning photos like this:

These gorgeous and evocative focus-stacked photos of native bees on black backgrounds - all of which are public domain - come from the USGS Bee Lab (here's their Flickr). Through these, they've helped bring the beauty and importance of native bees to the public's attention. Hundreds if not thousands of news articles, videos, and publications use these photos.

But that is just one tiny slice of what the USGS Bee Lab does for pollinator conservation. Its primary role is much bigger; they provide technical support, research collaborations, and financial & grant partnerships to federal and state agencies, academic institutions and researchers, and much more, so we can study, manage, and protect North America's wild pollinators. They conduct research of their own that has led to species rediscoveries, and produce invaluable resources that have greatly advanced our understanding of wild bees and our approaches to studying and conserving them. They also provide the essential and irreplaceable service of bee identification. For those who don't know, identifying bees is hard. Sometimes Really Hard. And this lab is one of just a handful of places in the entire country who can identify some of the toughest groups of bees, and who sit on the forefront of breakthroughs on taxonomy and identification that the rest of us in this field rely on. Without this service, agencies and researchers trying to survey and monitor bees in order to track population declines, manage land, and get policy changed are stuck with a lot of nameless bees, severely limiting the usefulness of that data.

Tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of bee specimens pass through this lab annually, plus the thousands in permanent storage, from long-term monitoring efforts by state and federal agencies, and researchers like myself. They operate at a greater capacity than basically any other institution doing this kind of work. Few if any bee researchers in the eastern US, or even the country, have not benefitted from this lab's work, and those benefits are passed on to you through being able to protect pollinators and the services they provide both in agriculture and ecosystems.

This lab is headed up by scientist Sam Droege, who has dedicated decades of his life to this cause, and whom I consider not just a research partner but, humbly, a friend. I am utterly indebted to him for helping me get my start in this field, and for the support and kindness he has shown me and every other young professional who is passionate about pollinators. The Lab operates with an insanely small budget already, and a very limited staff, yet the impact they have is exponentially outsized. Losing the USGS Bee Lab would be a devastating blow to pollinator conservation in this country, at a time when native bee species are sitting on the precipice, and sustainable agriculture is non-negotiable for our future.

You can read more about the Bee Lab here. The Lab is not well-publicized, but it's a lifeline for the many dedicated people who work to try and protect pollinators and the environment at large.

SO WHAT CAN YOU DO?

Sam Droege has sent out a request for help, and has encouraged us to post on social media. This is what he wants you to do to help us save the Bee Lab.

This is verbatim:

What is Happening: ·       The USGS Bee Lab is at risk of being permanently closed due to cuts in the 2026 Federal Budget and looming federal RIF’s ·       Specifically, the Ecosystem Mission Area (EMA) budget, which funds the USGS Bee Lab and the Eastern Ecological Science center has been zeroed out ·       Thousands of layoffs to hit Interior, National Parks imminently - Government Executive What you can do ·       Write to your representatives, the White House, and the Department of the Interior that they should restore the funding for the USGS Bee Lab ·       Send digital or physical letters, write emails, post to social media What you should be highlighting: ·       Personal anecdotes about how the Bee Lab has impacted you or your organization ·       How important the research the Bee Lab is conducting is to your state Contact Information: 1.      Representatives: Find Your Representative | house.gov 2.      Senators: U.S. Senate: Contacting U.S. Senators 3.      White House: Contact Us – The White House 4.      Interior: feedback@ios.doi.gov Send a copy of the letter to droegesam@gmail.com Pass this email around.  Post your response to social media

IT'S OK if you are not a scientist and have not directly interacted with the Bee Lab. Have you seen the lab's photos? Are you concerned about native pollinator declines? Are you aware of any pollinator conservation initiatives or policies in your own state - those almost certainly have drawn, directly or indirectly, from work the Lab has done. Speak about American food production and agriculture, how the Lab's research and collaborations are essential to safeguarding pollination services (this might help reach across the aisle).

Sam urges that these letters, emails, phone calls, etc, must happen quickly - within the next couple days. This information went out on May 8th and that is the day I am posting this. So please, don't wait.

If 'save the bees' has ever meant anything to you, this is the agency that is playing one of the biggest roles in this country in making that happen. Please, contact your representatives, and pass this call to action along however you can. Thank you.

[sthilarions]

Edwin is the one who says it out loud but I love how visibly enchanted Charles is by Niko, and also how predictable it is that he would be

I mean. Take these two well-established facts:

1) Edwin immediately connects to and is drawn towards Niko largely because she is, in some fundamental ways that go past the superficial aesthetic, Like Him. (It’s the autism.)

2) Charles explicitly states that he’s drawn to people who are like Edwin - tells Edwin that’s why he’s into Crystal, because Crystal shares certain traits with Edwin.

So, like, yeah! Obviously Charles would see Niko show up with her crowbar, scared but ready to assist, based on her research, and smile at her like she’s the best thing since… Edwin. Of course he would grin at her utterly adoringly when she declares she has a case and then acts like someone who either does not care about Being Normal or doesn’t really get how to be other than copying people who are. Of course he gives her the smile that’s otherwise reserved for Edwin when she points out that she reads, she knows things; asserts her own self-worth through unexpected knowledge.

Of course he does!

[inkskinned]

crows use tools and like to slide down snowy hills. today we saw a goose with a hurt foot who was kept safe by his flock - before taking off, they waited for him to catch up. there are colors only butterflies see. reindeer are matriarchical. cows have best friends and 4 stomachs and like jazz music. i watched a video recently of an octopus making himself a door out of a coconut shell.

i am a little soft, okay. but sometimes i can't talk either. the world is like fractal light to me, and passes through my skin in tendrils. i feel certain small things like a catapult; i skirt around the big things and somehow arrive in crisis without ever realizing i'm in pain.

in 5th grade we read The Curious Incident of the Dog In The Night-time, which is about a young autistic boy. it is how they introduced us to empathy about neurotypes, which was well-timed: around 10 years old was when i started having my life fully ruined by symptoms. people started noticing.

i wonder if birds can tell if another bird is odd. like the phrase odd duck. i have to believe that all odd ducks are still very much loved by the other normal ducks. i have to believe that, or i will cry.

i remember my 5th grade teacher holding the curious incident up, dazzled by the language written by someone who is neurotypical. my teacher said: "sometimes i want to cut open their mind to know exactly how autistics are thinking. it's just so different! they must see the world so strangely!" later, at 22, in my education classes, we were taught to say a person with autism or a person on the spectrum or neurodivergent. i actually personally kind of like person-first language - it implies the other person is trying to protect me from myself. i know they had to teach themselves that pattern of speech, is all, and it shows they're at least trying. and i was a person first, even if i wasn't good at it.

plants learn information. they must encode data somehow, but where would they store it? when you cut open a sapling, you cannot find the how they think - if they "think" at all. they learn, but do not think. i want to paint that process - i think it would be mostly purple and blue.

the book was not about me, it was about a young boy. his life was patterned into a different set of categories. he did not cry about the tag on his shirt. i remember reading it and saying to myself: i am wrong, and broken, but it isn't in this way. something else is wrong with me instead. later, in that same person-first education class, my teacher would bring up the curious incident and mention that it is now widely panned as being inaccurate and stereotypical. she frowned and said we might not know how a person with autism thinks, but it is unlikely to be expressed in that way. this book was written with the best intentions by a special-ed teacher, but there's some debate as to if somebody who was on the spectrum would be even able to write something like this.

we might not understand it, but crows and ravens have developed their own language. this is also true of whales, dolphins, and many other species. i do not know how a crow thinks, but we do know they can problem solve. (is "thinking" equal to "problem solving"? or is "thinking" data processing? data management?) i do not know how my dog thinks, either, but we "talk" all the same - i know what he is asking for, even if he only asks once.

i am not a dolphin or reindeer or a dog in the nighttime, but i am an odd duck. in the ugly duckling, she grows up and comes home and is beautiful and finds her soulmate. all that ugliness she experienced lives in downy feathers inside of her, staining everything a muted grey. she is beautiful eventually, though, so she is loved. they do not want to cut her open to see how she thinks.

a while ago i got into an argument with a classmate about that weird sia music video about autism. my classmate said she thought it was good to raise awareness. i told her they should have just hired someone else to do it. she said it's not fair to an autistic person to expect them to be able to handle that kind of a thing.

today i saw a goose, and he was limping. i want to be loved like a flock loves a wounded creature: the phrase taken under a wing. which is to say i have always known i am not normal. desperate, mewling - i want to be loved beyond words.

loved beyond thinking.

[tharatorns]

AOUBOOM'S WORKING GOALS 🌼🧸 #FEEDxAouBoom | translation cr. ©

[samuraionyourmom]

Been watching BSD with Japanese audio recently. More specifically, Wan and some of the audio dramas (highly recommend checking these out! This is the playlist I watched.) I find the difference between the way Chuuya and Dazai speak very interesting to me. This may be some base level observations to a native Japanese speaker, but I'd thought I'd share what I noticed. I'm not an expert by any means, so correct me if you see any mistakes!

So, first of all, Chuuya. He has a very masculine and vulgar way of speaking. He refers to himself as "Ore" (俺), which is typically used among teenage boys and is considered masculine and informal. Macho man kind of stuff. On top of that, he rolls his r's a lot, which is also considered very masculine and improper, similar to how a delinquent would talk. I don't necessarily think Chuuya is being overtly manly to the point of toxic masculinity, more so just him trying to be cool and assertive while he was with the Sheep, and then it just kinda stuck. You have to keep in mind that he grew up on the streets, and as the Sheep's leader and protector, it was his job to come across as powerful to keep them safe, so he may have spoke like that to try and intimidate their enemies. Overall, Chuuya's speech is very brash, aggressive, and masculine.

Dazai, on the other hand, is quite formal when he speaks. He refers to himself as "Watashi" (わたし) which is used in formal situations and could be considered slightly feminine. There is something to be said about gender here and how Dazai might identify, but that's another topic for another time. For now, I'm focusing on what this tells us about Dazai's personality, not his gender identity (though I am a huge fan of gender-fuckery Dazai). It's a more passive way of referring to oneself, like Dazai is taking a backseat in the conversation and wanting to seem harmless. Maybe a way of subtly manipulating the situation, maybe he simply doesn't want to exist or be perceived in this world, maybe a bit of both.

Another interesting thing is the way they refer to each other. Chuuya often calls Dazai "Temee" (手前) which is a very vulgar way of saying "you." It could equate to calling someone "bastard." Very, very rude, but that makes sense because Chuuya does NOT like Dazai. He also uses this on other people when they're being idiots, (ahem, Kajii), but it's usually reserved for Dazai. You would definitely never hear him use it for Kouyou, that's for sure. (Whom he calls Ane-san, btw! It's a formal way of saying "big sister," but it's also a common way of referring to a woman of power/ female superior in the mafia).

With Dazai, it's a little more complicated. In Japan, it's considered rude to refer to some as "you" so directly, similar to how it's considered rude to point at someone. So, usually, people will refer to someone as their name with some kind of honorific (-kun or -san, for some examples) that matches their status or by a title. Dazai does this with Kunikida by calling him "Kunikida-kun" or with Fukuzawa by calling him "Shachou" (meaning president in this context).

But with Chuuya, it's simply "Chuuya." Not "Chuuya-san" or even "Chuuya-kun." ("Chuuya-kun" happens a couple times, I believe, but it's rare). Dazai is purposely choosing to leave out any honorific here just to be disrespectful. It's not vulgar by any means like Chuuya's "Temee." Dazai isn't a very vulgar person, as seen by the fact he rarely swears, but he is going out of his way to choose the least polite option for the formal type of speech that he uses. He won't swear at Chuuya, but he will imply that he is somehow not worthy of having an honorific attached to his name when Dazai is speaking to him.

I just thought this was fascinating. Even their way of referring to themselves or others tells you a lot about their personalities. Chuuya isn't afraid to speak his mind, even if it's considered improper or aggressive, and it even gives a nod towards his upbringing on the streets. Dazai, on the other hand, is very purposeful with his language, and every word he uses has meaning. But he also can't resist being a little shit when it comes to Chuuya, doing whatever he can to tease him.

Again, I'm not fluent in Japanese in any way, so if a person who knows a little more about this sees something wrong with what I said, feel free to let me know! Or even add your own observations! I'd love to chat about this.

[alenseress]

seriously? pronoun swapping a LESBIAN song to be about men? I'm mlm but people like you who try to make sapphic art about men are fucking insufferable and make us all look like attention-seeking assholes

Aren't you tired? I don't know what place of ignorant comfort you're from, but in my country my community stands hand in hand against government in the streets at the moment because the noose on our necks is all the same and is getting tighter every day. When your doctors get incarcerated and half a country of trans women and men get forced into diy solutions at expense of their own safety, there's no me and her and them in separation, don't come into my space and try to tell me that I'm taking something from my own community.

You don't know me, have no right to talk to me that way. If this is your attitude to art, it's not for you either. And if you're not a lesbian in the first place, don't talk on woman's behalf when nobody asked you to. Gigi writes beautiful songs that push a lot of people make inspired, raw art. Without the song, the art wouldn't have been created. But it's still my art on my own blog, I'm telling a personal story. If you can't connect with it, well you're the one who sought it out, it's not my responsibility.

God forbid there's a butch out in the world that uses he/him pronouns and might find this artwork easier to connect than you did. God forbid the person I made this about struggles with their own gender. God forbid people enjoy and homage queer music in different colours

[scramratz]

Wait till these radfems find out I still identify as a lesbian

[queenwille]

i’m gonna say this once more, so maybeeeee someone finally gets it.

the only jews “living” in gaza currently are the jewish hostages out of the 134 hostages still in gaza. not one jew is permitted to live there since 2005 by law. yes, it’s against the law.

[canisalbus]

Could you tell more about your face blindness, if you're ok with it? It's a kind of surprise to me that you have difficulty of recognizing people's faces because you are one of the artists who draw characters' expressions so intricate and eloquent, like a mirror towards their mental states. Do you think it has any impact on your art/art style?

First of all, thank you! I love drawing expressive characters ´v`

Sometimes I wonder if the face blindness is part reason why I choose to draw animals/furries/anthros instead of people, but other than that I'm not sure if it has contributed on my style.

[knifearo]

i hate the concept of platonic and romantic as a binary i hate the concept of platonic and romantic as a sliding scale of "less" to "more" i hate the concept of platonic and romantic as the only two options i hate the concept of platonic and romantic as significantly different things i hate the concept of platonic and romantic as all encompassing i hate the concept of platonic and romantic as the two halves of a shallow concept of love that doesn't actually encompass anything at all i think we need to overhaul every popular conception about "types" of love so we can talk about things that are real and true for once

[cacaocheri]

uhmm! i had a realization recently!

[bottombaron]

stray observations from Bob's attic. may or may not be useful to someone.

[caligvlasaqvarivm]

Do you think it is possible for the other trolls to gaslight Eridan into do the murder for the right cause? E.g. not like the murderstuck in the canon but guiding his murderous direction to align with the purpose, using him as a disposable glass cannon and a cannon fodder to take down enemies? but not easily disposable due to seadweller's physical strength and his fighting skills. Not the optimal way to handle him but given that he needs some presence of others how will this scenario go?

no because i believe eridan is the specific type of idiot that you can't actually manipulate because he doesn't listen to people. god bless 🫡

[project-sekai-facts]

One of Nene's main hobbies is playing video games, and the illustration of her bedroom reveals that she owns several consoles. Among these consoles are:

A PlayStation 4 Pro

A PlayStation 3 Super Slim

An Xbox 360 Pro

An Xbox One

An Xbox (with a modified color palette)

A Model One Japanese Sega Saturn (with a modified color palette)

A Japanese Mega Drive 2 (with a modified color palette)

She also owns a gaming PC. There also seem to be two Nintendo Switch Lites on the floor next to her TV, and a PlayStation Portable on her desk.

She also has two amiibo-like figures on her table, plus two more on her headboard, as seen in her untrained To Get Closer to the Canary 3* card (one of which appears to be an Animal Crossing-like character).