#you will probably have to make side blogs

[carriesthewind]

WOW.

Okay, after a night's sleep, I have decided that yeah, there is value in responding to this absolutely steaming pile of ignorant, self-centered, self-important, anti-intellectual, b.s.

It looks like a number of people in the notes were swayed, at least to some degree, by this garbage, so I think it is worth trying to show why it is nonsense.

(Also it's possible I'm still spoiling for a fight after being denied an evidentiary hearing on Friday.)

I'm not reblogging the post because folks don't need a self-aggrandizing tantrum on their dash, but I do think it is worth taking a look for yourself, in order to practice your analytical skills. Some questions to consider as you read:

(1) What is OP saying in her original post? What claims is she making?

(2) How, if at all, does the poster respond to claims OP made? What claims is the poster saying that OP made? Do these match what OP actually said? If not, (a) what techniques does the poster use to transform what OP said into the claims the poster is claiming OP made? (b) What rhetorical purpose does it serve for the poster to warp OP's claims?

(3) What affirmative claims is the poster making? What evidence or arguments do they provide to support their claims? Do they explore any of the specifics or real world implications of their claims? If not, what real world implications of their claims can you think of?

(3) What other rhetorical techniques does the poster use to bolster their argument? Do these techniques actually enhance and support the substance of their argument?

(4) Relatedly, how does the poster play into the biases of their assumed audience (tumblr users with generally progressive policies). What claims do they make to play into those biases? What evidence or argument, if any, do they make to support those claims? Are these claims by the poster reasonably related to the claims made by OP?

Now, let's explore their response in detail!

(Also obviously don't harass the poster, and I would recommend not directly engaging with them at all. Harassment is vile and makes you far worse than them. And earnest engagement is unlikely to be productive - the OP tried to engage with them politely (and even offered to help) in the notes of poster's original post. In response, the poster (1) implied that OP is an obsessive rude busybody. (2) Told OP to "Shhhhh. Chill." (in response to (paraphrased), 'hey, the advice someone else gave you is probably a waste of time and effort'). (3) And finally, after condescendingly telling OP, "Breathe. Practice radical acceptance. Know that I am here on the other side of the internet, flagrantly wasting my effort and thinking of you every second of that time," proceeded to prove that they were, in fact, "thinking of [OP] every second of that time" by searching OP's blog to find this post by OP and dumping this Arrested-Development-level demand to be taken seriously in the reblogs.)

(All of which is to say: hi, poster who was "being vagueposted about." I assume you are reading this, because you demonstrably don't have the good sense to block and move on. I'm not going to block you in advance, because I think you have the right to make your own terrible decisions, and I suspect any response you make is going to be *very* funny. See you in the notes!)

So, let's go through the poster's response, paragraph by paragraph.

They begin by doubling down on the stance that, "any sufficiently deep enthusiasm is indistinguishable from academic rigor." This, they say, is their defense of that stance. Let's see how it goes - but first, I think it's worth remembering, OP's original post is literally a single sentence long.

OP's claim, paraphrased, that the claim that "any sufficiently deep enthusiasm is indistinguishable from academic rigor" is incorrect and anti-intellectual. If we read the OP's tags, she clarifies that enthusiasm is valuable, but different from expertise.

The poster starts their defense with a long...explanation that the structure of their claim was a reference to the Arthur C Clarke's third "law" (read: sci-fi fiction adage).

*deep breath*

Ok. I'm a big a fan of wordplay as the next person. And I know from personal experience that it can be really frustrating to do some fun wordplay to make a point, and then get misinterpreted here on tumblr.com.

But. The wordplay has to make a point for it to be relevant to your defense. OP's claim wasn't "this poster did a bad job with the linguistic structure of this sentence and is not familiar with classic sci-fi." How does the "rhetorical structure" of the poster's claim support the substance of their claim???

It doesn't, is the answer. The poster explicitly asks this question later down, but then they never actually answer it. Instead, the rhetorical effect of this whole digression is just to throw out surface level references to things (Arthur C Clarke! "AI"!) that might make the poster sound more thoughtful and knowledgeable. It also creates distance from OP's actual point - as the post continues, the poster has to remind us what they're talking about. This gives the poster more control over the narrative, over what claims are under discussion.

Which leads to the poster's next paragraph: the unanswered question of why the poster structured their claim to resemble a sci-fi author's famous quote, and a baseless attack on OP.

And I think it is worth really lingering on this attack on OP. The poster claims, OP perhaps is "misreading or misinterpreting" the poster's point. But what on earth is the poster talking about? OP literally just quoted the poster's exact words and then said that they think this is anti-intellectual. What "misreading or misinterpreting" is being done?

No. Instead, this attack rhetorically sets up the poster's next couple paragraphs: not actually defending their claim as OP originally quoted, but reinterpreting their own words, providing their own special unique meaning that they will then proceed to use for the rest of the post. They are redrawing the rhetorical bounds of the conversation. Rather than defending their stance, they are redefining their stance so that it matches the defense they now want to make.

(Which is still bad. It's a bad defense and it makes me very angry.)

The poster proceeds to define "academic rigor" in a way that just means, "enthusiasm." Notice how no part of their definition includes things like critical thinking skills, building up a knowledge base, testing ideas, receiving criticism (wow I wonder why), or any expertise or action to build up and test that expertise. It's just what a person "cares very much about," how much "curiosity" they have; some inherent quality someone who "NEEDS to know." (Also hit the bell for another surface level reference - this time to Herodotus - to make the poster sound more knowledgeable.) If you actually read the poster's definition, it is entirely "idk vibes i guess."

Now, having defined "academic rigor" as enthusiasm, they successfully declare that enthusiasm is a necessary precondition of enthusiasm.

And then, we get the best paragraph of this entire tantrum of a post: "Any sufficiently deep enthusiasm is indistinguishable from academic rigor. It's like a fractal -- the closer you look, the more complicated it gets." No only is this another attempted surface level reference, this time to fractals, but just. What is this supposed to mean. At a glance, it seems like it kind of follows from the last paragraph - maybe, the more an enthusiast looks at something, the more there is to know? But the closer you look at this sentence, the more nonsensical it gets. What does things getting more complicated the more you look at them have to do with academic rigor (either a real definition or the poster's enthusiasm-based definition)? More importantly, what does it have to do with proving the point - that enthusiasm is indistinguishable from academic rigor? (You might as well say, "the further you fall down the rabbit hole, the deeper you realize it goes," except then more people would realize you are expressing straight conspiracist reasoning oops.)

Now, several paragraphs in and having firmly taken control of the rhetorical boundaries of the argument, the poster finally decides to provide some context to the original statement (and needlessly insult OP for trying to be helpful again).

The poster correctly quotes relevant parts of the discussion (although mischaracterizes their own responses as "polite" instead of "incredibly condescending and rude"). However, the poster then immediately characterizes OP's response as "muddied." Because words have objective meanings, however, we do not need to accept this characterization. OP expressed her argument very clearly. Rather, it is the the poster who claimed that OP was making an argument that she was not, which we can paraphrase as, 'passion and capacity for learning are limited to formal education at academic institutions.' It would be convenient for the poster if OP was making this argument, because it could be easy to argue against. But since OP clearly stated that she does not believe this clearly incorrect thing that the poster made up in her head, the poster claims that her response was "muddied."

The poster emphasizes this false claim in the next few paragraphs. They say, "to me she seems to be arguing that one MUST (?) receive formal training at an academic institution ("academic training" "trained expertise") in order to achieve that level of rigor." But OP simply doesn't say that. You can look at the reply the poster quoted, it doesn't say what the poster says it does.

Now, this is speculation on my part, but I think the poster really believes that OP is saying 'passion and capacity for learning are limited to formal education at academic institutions.' I think they believe this because its how they feel when they hear the (correct) statement that enthusiasm does not equal expertise. The poster repeatedly says that they think that enthusiasm for learning is the same as expertise. They throw a tantrum after receiving the slightest, politest, disagreement. They think someone giving them advice that hey, maybe its a good idea to get a basic foundation of knowledge before cold-emailing experts is a busybody who is obsessed with lecturing them. The poster simply, demonstrably, doesn't believe expertise is real, and refuses to admit that someone else might know more or better than them. If they "care very much about getting it right," how dare you say they aren't as good as anyone with "academic training," fuck you very much you elitist jerk.

This sense is emphasized by their next paragraph. First, they shift the rhetoric framework of the conversation again. The actual claim the poster says they are defending is that "any sufficiently Deep Enthusiasm is indistinguishable from Academic Rigor" (emphasis added). Now, they are claiming that OP means that no one outside of an academic context "has the capacity to learn what rigor means in their field." These are very different claims, but the poster shits between them seamlessly.

Second, they just completely misunderstand what academic rigor is. I'm sorry, you can read every book and article and (*sigh* dear god) TED talk in the world, that doesn't make you an expert, and that's not academic rigor. A large part of academic rigor is in how you critically engage with what you read. Otherwise you just end up, at best, with a bunch of shallow facts that you can "whip out at dinner parties to impress [your] acquaintances" or sprinkle as references in arguments on tumblr to make you sound smarter.

But no, the poster confirms in the next paragraph, you don't need critical thinking or training or people who will tell you that you are wrong. All you need is the information. And if you disagree, you are arguing in favor of "the ivory tower." (Take a drink.)

In the next two paragraphs, the poster pays lip service to the idea that sure, it's easier to learn in academia. But even then, they imply that somehow that's the easy route, that good learning environments create weak men, that people who are self-taught are the ones who are actually building up the critical thinking skills because someone doesn't just "tell them the answer."

Then, before the readers have a chance to absorb, wait, did you really just say that academia is really just having someone either tell you the answer or where to look for the answer and therefore unsuitable for "sincerely love to learn," (because you are, in fact, anti-intellectual), the poster then throws in a bunch of shallow buzz phrases about how higher education isn't available to a lot of people.

And I say these are just shallow buzz phrases for two reasons. First, the poster never actually engages with this lack of access. It's just sprinkled in, like the references to Arthur C Clarke and Herodotus. (For example, no, actually, "any sufficiently MOTIVATED person" can't actually access all this information that is online. You need a stable internet connection, devices to allow you to make use of that connection, to speak or read the language those materials are published in, enough time and sleep and food and goddam shelter.)

Second, this doesn't actually have anything to do with the actual claim that the poster is supposedly defending. Remember that? Remember the position the poster is arguing for? "Any sufficiently deep enthusiasm is indistinguishable from academic rigor." How does, "some people can't go to college" support that claim, specifically?

It doesn't, which is why the poster's next paragraph instead claims that OP is arguing that "those people do not have the ability to hold themselves to a rigorous standard of learning."

Which just.

Fuck you?

Because yeah, that would be a shitty opinion to hold! And you are the only person raising it! You are explicitly making the claim - fuck, perpetrating the anti-intellectual worldview - that anyone who suggests "caring about something does not inherently equal subject matter expertise" is an elitist who thinks that everyone else, ordinary people, real Americans, are stupid.

I'm gong to be honest, this is the part of the poster's claims that made me mad enough to respond.The notes include people agreeing that academics and "experts" are actually pretty elitist, aren't they, and they deserve to be "taken down a few pegs," that suggesting that you need a baseline level of knowledge or vocabulary before you can engage deeply with a subject is "gatekeeping."

The U.S.'s institutions are crumbling as they are dismantled by people that are making these exact same arguments. There is no meaningful difference in the reasoning of the poster's argument here, and the argument that "alternative medicine" hacks who never completed their medical training have sufficient credentials to run goverment agencies, and that if you bring up their lack of credentials, well, that just proves what an elitist you are.

The "worldview" the poster does not accept - is telling you not to accept - is the idea that expertise exists at all.

And because that is an incorrect and harmful worldview, the poster has to use a bunch of rhetorical tricks to hide what they are doing. And then to sell it, they throw in a bunch of words to stir up the audience's preconceptions and biases. OP's claim (again, that enthusiasm and academic rigor are not equivalent) is "racist and imperialist." Why? Don't worry about it. Something something college is expensive and inaccessible to a lot of people. All you need to remember is that these ivory-tower academics are The Bad Thing.

*deep breath*

Anyway, knowing we need a laugh to bring the mood back up, the poster then says someone on reddit criticizing your argument is an "informal version[] of the peer-review process." Besides betraying a deep ignorance of the nature of peer-review (I guess even knowing how academic processes work is also elitist?), I think this means that the poster has to be cool with my post here, right? Because I'm just doing peer review? (Because also, just to be clear: "the academic structure of the peer review is a formalized process of the very human impulse to gleefully tell other humans when they’ve stuck their foot in their mouth." No. This is just. No.)

Next, more misstating OP's original claim. The poster says, "An institution of formal learning is not a prerequisite to pursue and absorb information," which OP already agreed with in the comments of the poster's original post.

In support of this claim that no one is arguing with, the poster than makes up a "guy at the model airplane shop who seems to know absolutely everything that has ever been known about WWII planes," and asks, "why don’t we acknowledge him as a legitimate expert?" The poster implies that this is because this guy is autistic and OP is a bigot.

But the real answer is simpler:

Unless you are referring to something you chose not to link for some reason, he's made up. He's a made up guy in your brain. And OP never said anything about him, so it's really weird for you to criticize OP for not sufficiently praising him as an expert. Fanfic isn't reality.

To the extent we are talking about real phenomenons - who do you mean by "we" and what do you mean by "acknowledge him as a legitimate expert"? There are lots of people with legitimate expertise, and in my experience, they often are recognized as such. And I don't know where you live, but outside of revenge-fantasies of conservative pundits and the people who are mislead by them, most academic experts aren't exactly exhausted and prestige and praise.

'Knowing a lot about a subject' is not the same as academic rigor. This isn't a criticism or insult to people who know a lot of things, despite your weird, self-centered hang-ups. Let me be clear here, actually: I am not an academic. I am a lawyer. I know a lot about the law in the areas I practice in. I do not practice the law "with academic rigor" because that's not really meaningful. I also like to constantly learn more about the law, including in many areas I don't practice in. I am not an expert in those areas. Just as an academic who studies the law and legal practice would not necessarily be good at actually practicing the law, my enthusiasm does not mean I have academic expertise (and my academic training is rather rusty, this many years out). This is normal? My ego is not threatened by acknowledging different kinds of expertise and knowledge exist?

And perhaps most to the point - "seems to know absolutely everything that has ever been known about WWII planes." "Seems to." An important part of academia - part of what makes it rigorous, if you will - is that you actually have to prove your expertise to other experts. They are then "recognized" as experts because there is a process the public can usually trust that they don't just "seem to" know what they are talking about. If you are talking to an amateur enthusiast - how do you know you they actually have the expertise they claim to have? Because I know of some guys who are really enthusiastic about the, claim to be experts, and have a lot of strong opinions about how they have reclaimed their Sovereign Identity by not capitalizing the letters in their name.

I agree with the poster's final paragraph. I love learning. But I can't see this as anything other than a manipulative postscript, a rhetorical trick of ending on a point of agreement and mutual enthusiasm. By a person - and I can't emphasize this enough - who refused assistance in learning and threw an enormous tantrum because someone suggested hey, maybe its a good idea to get a basic foundation of knowledge before cold-emailing experts.

[key-is-drawing]

see guys i’d love to be those cool blog that posted fire headcanons about their fave too but unfortunately i have to make everything about sparrow and duchess so here damn

Sparrow is a gifted burnout kid. Hear me out, hes used to love archery and actually planned to follow Robin’s story until he tried too hard + the peer pressure from his parents (they thought he wanted to do it so they supported and taught him everything) —> genuinely tired of doing things and picked up music instead. He’s still good at archery but rather not picking the bow up ever again. In contrast to Duchess’s unwavering passion for ballet, I think Sparrow switched lane when he got to Junior School and focus on his new band and barely touched his bow anymore until he’s in EAH and joined the archery club (Grimm kinda forced him too cuz thats Robin Hood whole thing)

He hand-pierced his piercings. Tucker and Lil Johnny were there for solidarity. He did their piercings too cuz why the hell not.

The Merry Men has weed circle. Again, solidarity. They smoke weed, tobacco, shroom, all kind,…and get high in the tree house. Melody is their guest and always welcome to join. They are very bros before hoes if you can tell.

They deep-clean their tree house once in 3 months. Tucker is the best at cleaning cuz he used to help clean his father’s church. Lil Johnny is actually a great baker and know have to make edible cake. Sparrow however, makes FIRE bacon and sunny side egg for traditional English breakfast. They have that once a week on Sunday.

Sparrow invites Duchess for the Sunday breakfast. She likes the handmade sausage and helps cleaning the dishes after.

They have picnic next to the Lake sometimes after Duchess has finished her routine. Not quite like Huntlynn picnic date tho, just sitting and drinking soda and chatting.

Whenever he needs to see Duchess, he always uses the window route. Randomly pops up and climbs on the balcony one evening, knocks on the window glasses and goes “Heyyy can I get your General Villainy homework real quick.” Both Lizzie and Duchess hates that cuz they’re both easy to startle (Duchess literally honks at the knock)

Sparrow and Faybelle are friends! In some way…Faybelle probably thinks he’s a cunning little shit after the whole play in Next Top Villain and isn’t scared of crossing anyone. They have some kind of respect to each other but mask it with snarky mockingly comment.

Half of the school think Sparrow and Duchess are hooking up with each other. Not dating, just hooking up. Like there’s definitely something going on between them. They are pretty physically close too btw (THD and Spring Unsprung). Duchess is trying to beat the allegation while Sparrow is feeding into their delusion

Duchess has a swan army in the Lake. Like they can attack anyone if Duchess feel like it. Some students get chased around by them to stay away from the Lake while she’s dancing.

thats all for now! Stay tune for more banger

[trannyradfem]

How does it do that when you have zero idea what we even believe in? You tell me the violence I suffered doesn't give me a free pass to "discriminate" but exactly what have I said that's even discriminatory? Seriously, name a single thing I've said here that's discriminatory. I'm waiting.

All I've said is that transfems do not have the right to harm us and get away with it. Exactly how is that non-inclusive? Exactly how does that "ignore" intersex people?

Also... "my binary"??? What are you even talking about. Can you please respond to something I've actually said?? I'm literally NB, GNC, and being worked up for intersex conditions. I literally didn't HAVE a proper puberty as a teen. I don't appreciate you passively misgendering me OR trying to speak over me as if I'm some ignorant outsider. I've been here for decades, hell, I've probably been trans longer than you've been ALIVE. Where do you get off putting these putrid words in my mouth?

Literally NOWHERE did I say transmascs need RF to save them. What I DID say is that if the trans movement keeps drawing dumb lines in the sand while allowing transfems to abuse transmascs scott free, there will be more of us RF trans people. That is a fact.

The trans community hates vulnerable minorities way more than RFs ever did, especially when it cannot even hold space for those harmed by it, or hold those who cause this level of harm accountable. RFs do Not want to erase trans people, and you'd know that if you actually read anything we DO believe in, instead of listening to the lies of the trans community that serve only to make you feel like you have no other option than to continue receiving gender-affirming abuse. Seriously, go read some Dworkin and tell me what you think. If you're brave enough.

It's never, "Who did that to you? We need to get them out of our community". It's always, "Suck it the fuck up and keep taking the abuse, because it doesn't happen often enough for me to personally care about it". You're a fucking fool if this is how you treat people, and yet you somehow think you've got the moral highground.

Trans women that mock us, degrade us, or try to trigger our dysphoria ARE NOT ALLIES. If that hurts trans people, then they need to stop siding with people who ACTUALLY HARM US instead of making feminists the scapegoat.

You don't have to tolerate being treated like that just because the community has lied to you and made you feel like nobody else will love or accept you for who you are.

Also, I literally have several transfem friends, one of which literally got me into RF LMAO. They are sick and tired of porn-addicted behavior and sexual harassment, and that being a part of transfem culture when it never should've even an acceptable benchmark. One of my transfem friends regularly comments on how dysphoric and uncomfortable she is in transfem spaces because of this consistent trend of NOT HOLDING ABUSERS ACCOUNTABLE. That shit literally HURTS TRANS WOMEN TOO. But for the record, I shouldn't fucking need a trans womans endorsement in order for my criticism on a community I literally belong to, to matter.

Hell, since posting my 1st reply, I've suddenly had a dump of 40+ notifications of new interactions with my blog overnight, with all but your response being solely positive, and the majority of the accounts belonging to trans people. People scrolling so far back on my blog that they reach posts from literal months ago, and then following me. Clearly, what I'm saying is resonating with others. Tell me why that is if I'm simply being "discriminatory".

You are just being so ignorant right now. This entire narrative you're trying to build even about me is built on nothing but assumptions and lies to the extent that you have even misgendered me. But you're the morally superior one? Yeah, right. Try again.

uvb76fan is posting in this tag talking about all the ways trans men have it “worse”, while misrepresenting the statistic she is citing. most likely banking on no one looking closer or reading the links.

this person is a terf. if you search trans on her blog it is immediately clear, i am not using terf loosely she is literally actually a terf.

we cannot let our weariness at not being heard by some of our community push us into the sick and malformed arms of transmisogyny and radical feminism, these people do not care about us at all, they are trying to harm every single one of us. our solidarity with trans women, men and people as whole should cause us to slam hard on the breaks. no matter how many trans women you see being antitransmasculine it does not mean that there are not so many more who are our genuine allies, do not let the algorithm pushing hateful person after hateful person your way skew your understandings. the transphobes want dissent, they want us to tear each other apart. we do not need to contribute to the harm to have ours lessened. (causing harm to a vulnerable minority is never morally correct no matter what got you there in the first place. also straight up trans women are easy to love and are inherently deeply deserving of community solidarity, and fascism (which terfs are) should not have any appeal whatsoever no matter how hurt you are but i digress.)

on another note: we cannot and must not reactively take on the mentalities of trans rad fems, no gender in the trans community needs to be the most oppressed to be taken seriously and given respect in our community, the equality in our suffering is immense and must be acknowledged without each group needing to prove we are the most victimized to get the care and community support we need. this is harmful no matter who is doing it. we absolutely must nip this kind of thinking in the bud.

push back on terfs in this tag everywhere you can, and if there is a reason you cannot comment or reblog to shut them down, block them on sight.

[wolfertinger]

such a nitpick, but its kinda crazy to take a transman character whos probably the most direct, raw and just... extremely upfront and aggressive about just how mentally distressing and damaging gender and body dysphoria is, just absolutely in your face about this being something almost life-ruining for someone; and make it about how you should just learn to love your body and that you don't need gender affirming surgery. Like togata is yelling at the screen about how bad he feels cursed because hes trapped in a body he hates and wishes he could change and the take away is "just learn to like it" like hell theres trans characters out there that do have a "i love my body, i dont want to change it, i'm happy like this but Im still trans!" mindset, this blog has mentioned Ladiva from granblue and thats a very major aspect of her presentation and character as a bearded, musclular trans girl and we're going 'learn to love how you were born <3' to a guy whos literally screaming about how horrible trying to just live as a woman feels. Like I get it, surgery isn't viable for everyone, and sometimes you just gotta make do... but this is clearly someone extremely distressed by being denied that

^^^

tbh. ladiva and togata, are basically 2 sides of the non op coin. the irl experience is varied from person to person. but you have ladiva, in a magical setting, where transition is as easy as a spell, choosing to keep her body as it is, and everyone is respectful of such. she is not mocked, belittled, or treated any differently for her non op choice.

togata is forced, to keep his body as it is. he expresses psychological distress and debilitating depression, often associated with irl dysphoria. due to the magical setting of his world, he will never be able to physically transition, and thus keeps himself closeted, constantly self-loathing, he is unable to be his true self due to his own circumstance.

i would say, despite the vastly different depictions. both of these are good rep, especially for mainstream media, of non-op trans people. but ironically, ladiva's presentation and setting is far more fitting of salem's identity and expression, vs togata, who feels "trapped" by his femininity.

[boundwithpurple]

hi you don't have to answer this bc i know you get lot of asks. Agree with lot of your posts and not attached to word 'grooming' at all - also experienced incestuous abuse. maybe am misunderstanding. but feel weird about the 'children are smart / know what's happening' thing? don't think can universalize. as a child and even adult i have often NOT known what's happening when people abuse me until long afterward. not just sexual abuse but other things like bullying too. this is disability thing so it also has to do with power structure. But like i have rarely been in situation where abused and understood that it was abuse at the time. i grew up just thinking everything was kind of uncomfortable and confusing but i wasn't allowed to make any choices. i think many children and adults are like this. it wasnt that i saw bad things would happen if i resisted, it truly did not occur to me that resistance was possible, it would have been like dividing by zero to me.

yeah that’s fair! always good to be cautious about universalizing and i admit i probably overstated my case there (post i didn’t expect to extend beyond my blog/the specific context i was discussing at the time, which was lolita and one true experience it expresses which is being really intensely aware of what is happening to you ie the companion post about dolores saying hh raped her explicitly). i was responding to an overgeneralization in the other direction (and thus overcompensating, which is an occasional error) which is the idea that children NEVER know what’s happening is wrong or find it upsetting at the time, which is as equally untrue as the idea they always do. for me, i don’t think i could have named it - it took till adulthood to do that - but i knew i hated it. i was not ever convinced i enjoyed it or wanted it in the way a lot of conversations imagine - that “grooming” is the process of making children think what is happening to them is ok, that any attempt to hide what is happening to them is a result of the creation of that delusion and wholehearted investment in it (and never from calculated self-interest like keeping a family together because, for example, one parent in prison would be economically devastating). that is certainly one story but it just isn’t the only one. but in tossing off a quick tumblr post on my one side i agree i was far too prescriptive, and i apologize if it felt erasing. no one can cover every angle in any one tumblr post but obvs if you are just seeing the one post cross your dash, how should you know. it wasn’t my intention to imply that was any kind of ultimate statement. there are as many stories and truths as their are victims and i’d never want to fail to make space for that.

[halfofmysoulasthepoetsay]

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༺｡° .. ° ｡༻༺｡° .ᘛ Intro Post ᘚ. ° ｡༻༺｡° .. ° ｡༺ ⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘

(making this cuz I never did one lolz)

~ ☆.🌸 You can call me Evelyn or Telemachus, or any variation of those ! (I.E. Eve, Lyn, Tele, etc) ~ ₊˚⊹౨ৎ ₊˚⊹ I'm a minor ! Adults can interact if they are comfortable (and aren't weird) ~ 𓏲⋆ ִֶָ ๋𓂃 ⋆ᡣ𐭩 I'm autistic + have OCD + i'm hypersexual ! ~ ⋆.˚✮🎧✮˚.⋆ I'm genderfluid (meaning my gender switches up) and bisexual! You can use he or they pronouns for me ! ~ ⋅˚₊‧ ୨୧ ‧₊˚ ⋅ I'm in a lot of fandoms lolz ! ~ִ ࣪𖤐୭ ˚. ᵎᵎ I'm often awkward/cringe !! I try my best ~ ☆.🌸 I'm happily taken !!! (@wannablegendary is my wonderful boyfriend ^^) ~ ₊˚⊹౨ৎ ₊˚⊹ I use emoticons a ton !! ~ ⋅˚₊‧ ୨୧ ‧₊˚ ⋅ I'm trying to learn about the Hellenist religion, and maybe become Hellenist! If you're Hellenist/pagan hmu I need tips ~ִ ࣪𖤐୭ ˚. ᵎᵎ I'm American, unfortunately ~ ☆.🌸 Enfj !! ~ 𓏲⋆ ִֶָ ๋𓂃 ⋆ᡣ𐭩 This blog is mainly me shitposting and talking about my interests, +reblogging way too much stuff ^^ !!

~ Likes:

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Fandoms: (Purple = currently very hyperfixated on Blue = used to be hyperfixated on (still enjoys) Red = casual enjoyer Pink = special interest (has been heavily fixated on for years) Orange = getting into/meaning to get into Green = VERY VERY VERY VERY HYPERFIXATED ON RN)

Epic the Musical

The song of Achilles

Class of 09

Welcome to Night Vale

South Park

Aristocats

Cookie Run Kingdom

Genshin Impact

Greek Mythology

Project Sekai

Vocaloid

Percy Jackson

Bluey

Doctor Who

Angels of Death (anime)

Hamilton

AmRev

Heathers musical

Beetlejuice musical

Beetlejuice movie (both of them)

Legally Blonde musical

Ride the Cyclone

Dear Evan Hansen

The Odyssey/The Liliad

Omori

Danganronpa

The Owl House

Probably more that i'm forgetting

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Hobbies:

Thrifting

Cosplaying

Writing (fanfiction mostly) (I mean kind of) (writer's block go brr though) (I will not show you my writing) (unless we're close ofc)

Making OCs

Drawing (I do digital art) (a lot)

Animating (when I can) (its mostly short animatics) (For my OCs)

I sometimes bake, although I don't much anymore. And cook eggs. Like specifically eggs. I love making sunny side up eggs. Im awful at it, but I love it!

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| DNI: Basic DNI criteria, MAGA, trump supporters, anyone who judges any religions at all, cishet men over 15 (no hate I just don't feel comfortable!), anyone who believes in cringe culture, proshippers, darkshippers, epic!sharpwolf shippers

| BYF: i'm awkward, I have some attachment issues so I might get overly attached to you quickly, I mirror people so I might be dry if you are, but I DEFINITELY will not be if you aren't. Also, like I said, i'm a minor!

I am a yumeshipper! What that means:

A yumeshipper is someone who ships themselves with a character, or someone who ships an OC of theirs with a character. It could also be a platonic/familial thing, like you're saying a character is your family! Sometimes this uses a self-insert or persona, or sometimes it's just yourself. (Feel free to ask additional questions about this in DMs or comments! i'm happy to answer as long as you're being respectful!)

f/o list: (all familial yumes default mean my children and i'm sharing with all of them!)

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Telemachus | Epic the Musical | hypersharing | romantic Aeolus | Epic the Musical | sharing | queerplatonic Berlioz | Aristocats | familial Janice Palmer | Welcome to Night Vale | familial Elio | Elio | familial Rachel | Angels of Death | familial Kiran | OC (fae's (@/Apolloinaplaguemask's) :3) Eddie | angels of death | familial Atticus | OC | hypersharing | romantic

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Other socials:

Twitter (@Evelynshitposts)

Discord (@Night_vale8)

Spotify (can't get on rn but I'll link it tmrw)

I also have pinterest but unfortunately I cannot make that account public until i'm sixteen, so cannot share that yet!

I love to talk to people, so feel free to leave anything in my inbox, dm me, whatever! I usually follow people back :3

[redux-iterum]

Can we have some fun facts about Whitestorm, Redtail, Speckletail, or Bouldernose? I really like their characters and seeing as most are gone, and Bouldernose isn’t likely to get more screen time, I thought now would be a good time to ask. If you don’t want to that’s a-okay!

I really do appreciate the effort, complexity, and life that you poured into these characters! All of them seem like their own person with goals that I would be willing to read a book about!

Thank you for the kind words! Let me see...

Whitecloud has never once wanted to be in charge of anything, but he was very aware of how good he was at being a leader. And what sort of fool would he be not to utilize those skills with an apprentice or an entire Clan? He would've been content never making it to even deputyhood, honestly, but ThunderClan needed him more than ever, so by golly was he willing to step up.

As a side note, he never raised his voice. He spoke mostly in a quiet, lax rasp that was somehow nonetheless easy to hear. Yelling at Fireheart to escape with Cinderpaw was the first time in years he had actually shouted, and it hurt his throat when he did it.

Redtail, I've always imagined to be pretty short for a ThunderClanner, as well as long-bodied and long-tailed. He was compared as a kit and apprentice to a weasel more than once. Not that that really bothered him. He was good at rolling with jokes and comments that would've thrown anyone else off.

Another side note: his body made it down the river all the way past RiverClan territory, was picked up by an unusually kind human when he snagged on a fallen tree close to shore, and buried on that human's property that the river ran alongside. Thankfully, he rests in a small grove, shadowed by trees. It did take him a second to find StarClan, given just how far away he was from the territories, but he was never at risk of becoming a wraith - he didn't know that Tigerclaw was the one to push him in, so he assumed it was a rogue and ran his way home, barely taking time to look around at his new surroundings and enjoy the view. He should have. It's a very pretty place.

As we've mentioned before on this blog, Speckletail's father was deputy before her, and likewise didn't make it to leadership. She is delighted and amused in StarClan that her son is deputy now too. Also immensely proud of him, but amused.

Speckletail herself had probably the most "buddy" relationship with her apprentice, Mousefur, when the two were training. Like, they didn't feel like a typical teacher and student. They felt like old friends with a few years' difference in age. They got along really well all throughout Mousepaw's apprenticeship. It likely led to Mousefur being as chill and practical as she is.

Finally, Bouldernose is good with kids. Shockingly good. He isn't allowed near the younger kittens (better safe than sorry with a newcomer tom), but apprentices and near-apprentices all like him greatly, and he likes them in return. He's also pretty good with making up stories as he's telling them, so when it's a rainy day or the kids are bored, they'll go to him and he'll whip up a tale about a cat with rabbit ears that whispered secrets to reeds. It's always weird random premises like that. The apprentices love it.

Final extra info! The Aulmir doesn't really allow for good tracking or use of one's nose thanks to the nasal cacophony that is the streets. Too many really strong scents to keep track of or identify. It overwhelmed him at times. Now that he's out in the wild, he can make very good use of his sharp senses (particularly his nose) and has a ball learning about all the new things he can smell and see out here. He's doing great, basically.

That's about all I got! I hope that sufficed.

[whos-that-demon]

Hey I get having a username from childhood but ngl you should probably make an alt or a side blog if you are going to engage in this discourse if you are good faith.

Having 88 in your username while trying to have a civil debate with any Jewish person does not look good whatsoever holy shit.

Wonder if what happened yesterday would make American Jews realise that when they stick to the party that wants them genocided and their homeland occupied by Arabs, what they end up getting is Zohran Mamdani and co, or if they'll continue to uplift Jihadists, and take it further, all the way up to the presidency.

And I will admit I couldn't care less about the mayor of NYC, but when I see Jews bend over and take the whippings and then ask for some more I'm bound to say something.

Have some Jewish pride in you, Gosh darn it. Stop voting for people who spit on you!!!!!!!!!!

Yom tov

[starry-sophrosyne]

Attention all pc rpf blogs! hopefully, i'm not being too intrusive by taking the lead on this but.. i have decided to create a little private tumblr community for us! a big thanks to @the-tcclique for bringing this up, and i thought it was be a great idea, so yeah! ꒰ঌ(˶ˆᗜˆ˵)໒꒱

i do want need a name and tagline for the community, and i think calling us just the pc rpf bloggers would be a little basic, so.. if anyone (including anons) have any creative names, please lmk! ٩(ˊᗜˋ)و

i will probably dm the invites once we have decided on a name, and i understand that most of the pc rpf blogs here are side blogs, so if u want me to send the invite to a different acc, then pls lmk! (ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ)

Side note: i do think that our title should be less directly referencing the party crashers, lest we reference the boys as ourselves, which has some other implications considering the amount of aroace pc rpf bloggers here lmao… (ˊᗜˋ;)

@crashingstar69 @sopping-wet-cat-wizard @the-tcclique @second-best-daisy @sussybaka42069 @vernnationembassadors

[merlins-strawberriesandroses]

TO be honest. I don’t understand what it means when people say Merlin was Arthur’s bane. Mayhaps I misunderstand but. Arthur was a bit of an assassination magnet (not to mention all those magical creatures and bandits... so many bandits), and Merlin actively prevented Arthur's death for years, which would have occured without him anway in the very first episode. I can see why one might argue that Merlin was just delaying the inevitable, or that he didn't succeed in keeping Arthur safe until Arthur could enact the golden age, but certainly I don’t see how he could have been Arthur’s bane.

Also, it’s implied in the last episode that the golden age does occur, but under Guinevere. Which makes sense as she knew Merlin was the sorcerer and that she was pleased about it (and I recall it was confirmed in interviews), so I also don’t follow the twin train of thought that Merlin was his own bane or even Camelot’s. Camelot was already bane-d(?) under Uther. But partly because of Merlin's steady friendship, Arthur matured into a king who was kinder than his father. He also actively sought magic's aid on multiple occasions, so he knew magic had potential for good (like healing his queen) without Merlin needing to tell him about his magic.

I don't think it's fair to say Camelot's laws on magic remaining relatively static was because no one close to Arthur came out as having magic. There was still much risk in that, and for Merlin a lot at stake, not just his life. A law change was still possible (and almost seemed to be set up that way) without Arthur needing someone he was personally close to having to do the work to humanize it for him (in the sense that the episodes with the druids, the druid boy with Elyan, and the dolma seemed like they were pointing to a law change because Arthur sees the diversity of magic and those who have it).

At worst Merlin’s efforts didn’t change the status quo, but we do have things indicating that they did. And Merlin was not single-mindedly serving Arthur at the expense of everyone else. He saved Camelot as a whole multiple times. He was also very willing to stick out his neck for many others even during the height of his anxiety and agitation in season 5. (Also only being slightly silly when I say this, but he was also THE wingman for Arthur when he was getting with Gwen, so in a way Merlin’s help led to their courting being a success and thus contributed to her being in a great position to change the laws. so personally I give points to Merlin for that). Most of the decisions centering Arthur's safety seemed to stem from the fear that Albion would crumble before it began if Arthur were to die, so he tried his best to prevent that from happening in any way he knew. (Like, when Arthur is dying, Merlin asks "So I failed?" regarding the whole golden age thing, which I think is telling that the prophesy and his role in it was still VERY much at the forefront of Merlin's mind).

And this is a digression but I know people think Merlin should have done more for Camelot, or for folks with magic (like, as a revolutionary or something akin), which I understand but no one reached out to network with him really? It'd require resources, people (always confused why there weren't a whole bunch more folks offering Merlin material/intellectual/emotional support if they thought he should be the one to bring about the golden age. all he was told was that the forseen way it actually happens succesfully is through Arthur), time (I doubt it’d have been much of a ‘quicker’ way necessarily), and incredible planning + foresight if it's meant to be something that works out effectively + long-term. Okay I think I've digressed enough now. This is a whole seperate thought that I don't think I'm gonna do any justice here lol, and I'm already rambling, so I'll stop now :,)

But anyway, in terms of being his own or Arthur’s bane, we know Arthur will return, and we don’t know how Merlin spent his years. His magic can play with time and maybe he learns how to control that, or he could have entered a stasis like in various legends, etc etc etc. And I mean it is tragic on many levels, and it’s sad we didn’t see Arthur’s arc completed, and that Merlin sacrificed so much for a goal that didn't get much acknowledgment by the show at the end, but still. I don’t think Merlin was Arthur’s bane, or Camelot’s, or his own.

[oceanwithouthermoon]

ive received multiple dms or asks asking why i blocked people (fyi to the anons, i dont have that many people blocked so youre not saving yourself much embarrassment by being anonymous😭) and im just gonna say this here EVEN THOUGH I DONT OWE ANYONE AN EXPLANATION FOR THIS im just tired of the messages

i will block anyone who has disrespectful takes (usually misogynistic but sometimes just straight up mean, FOR EXAMPLE if you make a really farfetched take or disregard canon SPECIFICALLY for the sake of discrediting someone elses take or ship) or if you always post a ship i dont want to see 🤷🏻‍♀️

so basically youll get blocked for being a dick... or a torisai shipper 😭😭 thats the criteria

[superbellsubways]

hate being an artist that likes fictional characters i feel like everytime i post art of a character and tag it the people going through the tag absolutely hate my ass LOL

[ask-elland-n-will]

[OOC rant about HL rp space here on tumblr: Wanted to mention this for a while but engagement requires... engagement. The more rp blogs exchange asks, the more pathways there are to communicate, to create a net of connections, make characters and the world around them come to life. Over the past year and a half I sent hundreds of asks, in anon/as me/as my characters. I understand being shy. I've been there, and it took some great people in this community to get me out of my shell.

But it is just what it is: unfortunately, if there is no reciprocity, there is no dialogue.

You don't have to wait for a green light/talk in DMs first with creating an rp scenario to send anyone an ask or to initiate rp by tagging someone. You can if it makes you more comfortable but don't have to. Most of us have Rules of Engagement but that's all the pre-requisites.

Before I burned out, I sent people asks just to make them happy, give some interactions for their characters. I wanted to find out more about MCs/OCs. But at this point (and I am not alone in this) whenever this turns into a one-sided communication, I am bothered by it, and I stop sending asks after a while.

I get that if I do it with anons, people won't know who to reply to. But even starting small, sending an ask or two for at least some rp people, so that we know you want to engage — it means a lot. It makes us want to continue playing in this HL sandbox.]

[ghostlakan]

"i love tumblr i should post more on tumblr" and then i once again do not post more on tumblr

[nixie-deangel]

And we have our winners from the WIP poll! I will be focusing first on the following top five:

Virgin Jake x Vampire Bradley (need to flush out the society of the AU).

Speedrun Hangster Girl Dads

The Seresin family Breaks Up Sereshaw

Serial/Contract Killer Jake pampers and spoils normal Bradley

My Shifter Verse AU!

(and because I dearly love @redfurrycat, who has listened to me chitter on like a crazy person about...basically all of these, I will also be focusing on the vampire Jake x human Bradley AU, just for Red 💜💜💜)

Once two are officially completed and posted to Ao3, then I will once again do another poll (most likely with even more and newer ideas added to it XD) and do this again to see which ones I will be focusing on then!

A post actually asking for the emojis to make me write will be going up closer to the weekend.

💜💜💜

[energeticpoltergeist]

i have yet again drawn something Fire Emblem related

still kinda sucky at drawing FE characters, but im slowly figuring it out and seeing as i have plans(which i'll hopefully be able to act upon sooner then later, no promises though) im going to be getting a lot of practice in my future anyways yeah, Chrom time