#Accessibility Conformance

[fjordfolk]

i don't even think one has to go as far as to unravel the whole idea of breed, registry and stud books, because i know for a fact that in other animals one has managed to have all of these things without going fckn batshit

[heliianth]

the dark evil wizards have afflicted me with a hyperspecific interpretation of killuas "moral conflict" which leaves a lot of fan content that tries to engage with it unsatisfying. a wicked and foul hex indeed

[homophyte]

mmhhgm 2 AM thinking about HRT…………..perhaps my urgency is influenced by the belief that my transness only becomes acceptable after certain parameters are met and that it is in some way inappropriate to present myself as a trans person while being pretransition . something radical about the exposure of the whole process instead of being one of those instagram transes who pop into existence 7 years on T and post top surgery

[neverendingford]

.

[veal-exe]

EDIT

This has gotten a lot of traction so I’m gonna be rude and say that if anyone here has the means, that my spouse and I need help to not be homeless and hungry.

my paypal is Lahoreling@Gmail.com

END EDIT

———

I was discussing the incident mentioned later in this piece with my wife yesterday and I saw another post by someone earlier doing something mentioned in here and I'm finally going to say something about it.

There is a serious problem in leftist spaces, especially online, especially on Tumblr, when it comes to language.

The way people are expected to speak just to even enter these spaces is incredibly complex, to the point of being outright hostile to those who haven’t already spent time in them. And it’s not just newcomers; people who have important things to say, people speaking from lived experiences, people who don’t have English as a first language but still deserve to be heard, are constantly talked down to or even pushed out entirely for not using the "right" words.

This gets even worse when you factor in how often new terms are coined in English, and then people are shamed for not immediately knowing or using them.

I saw someone reblog their own post saying something like, "I know for a fact more than half of y’all didn’t understand a fucking word I said here."

And honestly? That stuck with me, because yeah, I’ve felt that before. Not because I don’t value critical thinking! because I absolutely do! I just made a post on that too! but because so many of these posts are written in a way that makes them Functionally Inaccessible to anyone who doesn’t already have the right background knowledge. And at a certain point, if you actually want your words to have an impact, if you actually want to create meaningful change, then you’re going to have to accept some things:

People will not always use perfect language.

2. People will not always know the exact terminology you personally prefer they use when engaging in discourse.

3. Dismissing or attacking people for how they say something, instead of engaging with what they’re saying, is actively harmful.

And more than that, if you genuinely want people to understand and engage with the things you’re talking about, especially people who don’t speak English as a first language, especially people without access to higher education, especially people who don’t even know where to begin when it comes to self-education (because yes, that is a skill that has to be taught) then you are going to have to be the one to adjust sometimes. You are going to have to let people say things imperfectly. You are going to have to take a step back and engage with the message rather than just the words being used to express it.

One of the experiences that made me realize that I, as a non-native English speaker, was not welcome in Tumblr leftist spaces was when I spoke about real-life oppression I had experienced. I left one word out of my post, a word which honestly, was not even important when talking about an incident that had Happened To Me, not theory, not hypotheticals or any what-ifs of oppression, a story, a story about something that happened to me.

And because of that, people sat in a Discord server, picking apart my words, accusing me of awful things, and then came into my askbox throwing jargon and buzzwords I’d never even heard before, then got mad at me for being frustrated that this was happening.

Think about that. People who are directly impacted by oppression are being pushed out of spaces meant to discuss it because the way they speak doesn’t conform to certain expectations. That is not justice. That is not solidarity. That is not progress.

There is a fundamental disconnect here between theory and praxis. Ironically so many of you do not know what praxis is, because most of you engage with a lot of theory, and not a lot of praxis, you use the word praxis a lot, but, ironically, you have no idea what it means.

{to put my money where my mouth is, it means Doing Something, in the simplest possible terms}

In theory, leftist spaces should be accessible. They should be places where people can speak openly about their experiences, learn from each other, and work toward meaningful change. But in practice? There’s a gatekeeping of language so intense that many people, particularly those who are marginalized in ways beyond just their political beliefs, are outright excluded.

And this is something I need people to sit with: The assumption that the "right" language is easy to learn, or that anyone who doesn’t use it is being willfully ignorant, is an inherently privileged stance. Knowing where to find information, how to process it, and how to integrate new terminology into your vocabulary is a skill that is largely tied to education. Having the time to engage with leftist literature and theory, to stay up-to-date on every new term that gets introduced, is also a privilege. And the fact that so many people refuse to acknowledge this, that they expect perfect articulation from everyone, regardless of background, and punish those who don’t measure up, is a huge problem.

Worse still, the same people who act as gatekeepers of this language often fail to communicate their ideas in a way that is accessible at all.

This doesn’t mean that complex ideas should never be discussed. It doesn’t mean that people shouldn’t strive for accuracy in their language. But it does mean that if your goal is to educate, if your goal is to spread awareness, if your goal is to help people understand and join the movement, if your goal is to engage with fellow oppressed people, then you have a responsibility to meet people where they are. You have a responsibility to make your language understandable.

Because if people can’t even process what you’re saying, then what’s the fucking point?

And before anyone says, "Well, people should put in the effort to learn!" Let me make something very clear: They do.

People who are new to leftist spaces, or who are coming in from different linguistic and cultural backgrounds, are often trying their best to engage. They are listening, they are learning, they are processing. But if the response to every mistake, every slightly off phrasing, every unfamiliarity with a new term, is immediate hostility,

or even if it's just 'hey I see you're sharing a personal moment, but can you change your language to make me, personally, more comfortable with you discussing your oppression?' then you’re not teaching.

You’re just making sure only the people who already think and speak exactly like you get to stay in the room.

Your language, your terminology, your theory? none of it means anything if you can’t make it accessible to the people who actually need it. And it means nothing if you use it to Exclude rather than Include.

[badaxefamily]

I am extremely grateful that I 1) Never cared about bad advice and did my own creations anyway and 2) Got out of the public school system at grade 5 and never went back. Most creative and/or neurodivergent people are not so fortunate.

Once a little boy went to school. One morning The teacher said: “Today we are going to make a picture.” “Good!” thought the little boy. He liked to make all kinds; Lions and tigers, Chickens and cows, Trains and boats; And he took out his box of crayons And began to draw.

But the teacher said, “Wait!” “It is not time to begin!” And she waited until everyone looked ready. “Now,” said the teacher, “We are going to make flowers.” “Good!” thought the little boy, He liked to make beautiful ones With his pink and orange and blue crayons. But the teacher said “Wait!” “And I will show you how.” And it was red, with a green stem. “There,” said the teacher, “Now you may begin.”

The little boy looked at his teacher’s flower Then he looked at his own flower. He liked his flower better than the teacher’s But he did not say this. He just turned his paper over, And made a flower like the teacher’s. It was red, with a green stem.

On another day The teacher said: “Today we are going to make something with clay.” “Good!” thought the little boy; He liked clay. He could make all kinds of things with clay: Snakes and snowmen, Elephants and mice, Cars and trucks And he began to pull and pinch His ball of clay.

But the teacher said, “Wait!” “It is not time to begin!” And she waited until everyone looked ready. “Now,” said the teacher, “We are going to make a dish.” “Good!” thought the little boy, He liked to make dishes. And he began to make some That were all shapes and sizes.

But the teacher said “Wait!” “And I will show you how.” And she showed everyone how to make One deep dish. “There,” said the teacher, “Now you may begin.”

The little boy looked at the teacher’s dish; Then he looked at his own. He liked his better than the teacher’s But he did not say this. He just rolled his clay into a big ball again And made a dish like the teacher’s. It was a deep dish.

And pretty soon The little boy learned to wait, And to watch And to make things just like the teacher. And pretty soon He didn’t make things of his own anymore.

Then it happened That the little boy and his family Moved to another house, In another city, And the little boy Had to go to another school.

The teacher said: “Today we are going to make a picture.” “Good!” thought the little boy. And he waited for the teacher To tell what to do. But the teacher didn’t say anything. She just walked around the room.

When she came to the little boy She asked, “Don’t you want to make a picture?” “Yes,” said the little boy. “What are we going to make?” “I don’t know until you make it,” said the teacher. “How shall I make it?” asked the little boy. “Why, anyway you like,” said the teacher. “And any color?” asked the little boy. “Any color,” said the teacher. And he began to make a red flower with a green stem.

~Helen Buckley, The Little Boy

[nonexistent-triangle]

"if communism demands absolute conformity then why the fuck can no one in the politburo agree on anything" would as a post do numbers on soviet union tumblr

[caesarandthecity]

Acceptance in Prison and Understanding the Outside World

In Portuguese, the word "accept" comes from the Latin acceptāre, meaning “to receive what is given; to conform to; to receive with pleasure; to admit; to approve.” The word “admit” comes from the Latin admittĕre, “to give access; to admit,” which means “to allow entry; to receive; to permit; to believe in; to accept; to hire.” I believe that to accept is to open the door to forgiveness. Acceptance is never easy; it’s painful, it takes time, and it forces us to rethink our beliefs because true forgiveness goes deep into the soul, cleansing everything. Acceptance means looking at the past and asking forgiveness from everyone. I, personally, wrote letters—many letters—but I never sent them. Letters addressed to the past, to my former selves, who did what they did because it was all they knew at the time. I asked myself for forgiveness over and over again.

I remember sitting for hours in prison, writing. That cold bench, the table scribbled with gang names, signatures, debts, day counts. Prison is brutal; it turns you against yourself, against your family, your friends, your lawyers—against everything. Inside, prison messes with your mind, making you believe that no one is doing anything for you, that you are abandoned, forgotten. That’s the feeling. Eating that horrible food every day, three times a day, like an animal. Leaving the cell when they want, returning when they want, waking up when they command, sleeping when they force you. Prison is brutal.

The C.O.s (correctional officers) are both your friends and your enemies. Get close to them for better access, but never too close, so they don’t think you’re a snitch. My greatest fear was being seen that way. Many choose to rebel, to hate the place even more, their egos crushed by the shame of being imprisoned. But I realized something that many don’t: life in prison becomes much more bearable when you accept it.

Accepting the past has a tremendous impact on accepting the present. It may sound confusing, but accepting, as I explained earlier, is opening the door to forgiveness. When we forgive, we free ourselves from past pains and, consequently, learn to accept the present, day by day. Accepting that I was in prison, accepting my guilt in my crime (and that hurts so much), accepting the guilt of the other who never has and never will ask for forgiveness for what happened, was the most necessary and liberating step in making my experience in prison less traumatic.

Accepting that, many times, you won’t hear an apology, accepting that you won’t get what you want but rather what you need, is liberating. Finding this freedom within prison was essential. Through acceptance, I forgave myself, forgave my past, and was able to move on lighter, understanding that I was exactly where I needed to be. Nothing was out of place.

Acceptance gave me freedom because I learned not to complain about being in prison. I learned that everything happens for a reason, and with that, I gained much more free time… Now, how I filled that free time is something I will talk about in another post.

[anistarrose]

[Image description: digital art of Gaster/Mysteryman from Deltarune. He's smiling and pointing into the air, in front of an ocean pattern evoking the Goner Maker. More related imagery appears below, reflected horizontally and vertically. Black smoke is flowing around the DT Extractor, reflected vertically, and 3D rendered Vessels appear on either side, reflected horizontally. There are Windows-style applications titled "Goner Maker" behind both of them. The Red Soul is at the center. Text at the very bottom says: "don't forget." End ID.]

yet darker

[prokopetz]

The way The World Ends With You handles equipment-gating ends up having some very fun implications.

First, equipment is level-gated, but rather than being tied directly to character level, it's instead tied to a levellable stat called Bravery (BRV) – which makes some narrative sense, since equipment in The World Ends With You consists of fashion items; in narrative terms, you're literally building the confidence to pull them off.

Second, equipment is also gender-gated, at least in theory – but since there's all of one playable girl in the original game (the sequel is better about this), rather than building in any special mechanics for this, the game just gives all of the "for girls" clothing inflated BRV requirements, and the sole playable girl a massive starting BRV score.

In practice, this achieves its objective, for the most part. The inflated BRV for girls' clothing means that even once a male character reaches the BRV level required to wear it, he'll usually have access to gender-conforming options with better stats.

... in the main game.

In the post-game, however, there are many more options for grinding BRV, and the stats for girls' clothing start to better reflect their elevated BRV requirements, to the extent that many post-game optimisation guides genuinely recommend putting your entire party in maid dresses if you can grind out the BRV to equip them.

I thought that was something this blog's followership would appreciate.

[hopeless-eccentric]

going wild thinking about the use of Rocky Road to Dublin in Sinners. It’s a really tight microcosm of a lot of the film’s themes just by itself. Credentials: I’m a retired Irish dancer, I went to worlds and the whole bit. My family is appalachian and I grew up on bluegrass

It’s played on a banjo, an instrument with origins in West Africa formally invented in the US by enslaved people (and then popularized in Irish music through Irish American immigrants, largely in the South and Appalachia). Even the instrument telegraphs an attempt at cultural exchange morphing into theft and exploitation, especially because the history of the banjo has been purposefully obscured by white people

It’s got a strong down beat, making it the musical opposite of the swung blues sound (emphasis on 1/3 as opposed to 2/4). The scene is clearly meant to evoke klan imagery, and giving it this marching feel ABSOLUTELY contributes

It’s in 9/8 meter (with some mixed—it’s a uniquely weird song), making it, traditionally, a slip jig. Historically, this is a light shoe dance for women only (he’s dancing hard shoe in the movie) meaning that Remmick’s attempt to reclaim his own culture has been botched, obscured, and lost as he’s been alienated from it and co-opted into the symbolic hive of American whiteness/cultural orphanage/cultural patricide.

The song itself is about a guy cutting a shillelagh (a walking stick/club with a folkloric purpose of warding off evil spirits) to protect himself on his journey to Dublin, but winding up using it against a few Englishmen mocking him for his Irish accent. It’s a parallel to exactly what Remmick was not able to do—protect himself from monsters, and protect himself from colonization. It also highlights that this number is being used to threaten violence against the leads

It’s such a clever combination of inverting swing/jazz sounds and showing ways Remmick is missing the point. Since he sold his soul for power, comfort, and conformity, he’s only able to access a shadow of his culture, while misunderstanding and misrepresenting major pieces of his own traditions. Even his attempts to culturally “share” through the banjo is plowed over by his use of it and Black bodies and voices for his own individual pleasure and as a threat of further violence. It’s such a smart pick

[crossroads-system]

This fills us with rage. 1. The fact that systems thought it was ok to harass someone at their work. Especially at an LGBTQIA+ hotline is absolutely abhorrent. 2. The fact the hotline thought it appropriate to ban someone from their services due to their stance on inclusivity means they aren't a safe environment.

Literally too livid to articulate what we want to say.

I got banned from an LGBTQ+ crisis holine for being pro-endogenic today.

yes, really. I got hired on as a support councilor, and made my introduction as a diagnosised DID system that is happy to help out with plurality related conflicts regardless of their system's origin. The owner of the hotline knew nothing of the discourse up until this point.

multiple anti-endo systems bombarded their DMs, calling me ableist and said people like "me" were ruining the community. I provided my sources. despite the owner agreeing with me in the end, they couldn't keep me as a councilor OR LET ME USE THE HOTLINE because my opinions built on inclusiveness made the other systems uncomfortable.

[drdemonprince]

I don’t mean to come off as rude or anything but how do non-passing trans men benefit from patriarchal or transmisogynistic systems? /gen please, I’m sorry

If you are a non-passing trans man, that means you are, broadly speaking, probably categorizable by most people as belonging to the gender group you were assigned at birth. While this is likely to be a highly dysphoric experience for you, and subjects you to a lot of forms of misogyny, it also means that you reap the benefits of being perceived to conform to one's assigned gender category, and a gender category that does also confer some privileges.

There are a great many privileges afforded to cis women compared to other gender minorities. You are not treated legally or socially the way that trans women are. You are not seen by default as a predator or a pervert, variance in your gender expression is more likely to be seen as acceptable or at least understandable rather than perverse and dangerous, legally you are not marked as the other, and if anyone does target you for violence or state repression by virtue of your transness, you have the power to turn down a whole hell of a lot of that heat by clarifying that you are not a trans woman. Some amount of expressing or aspiring toward masculinity in those viewed as cis women is tolerated in society, and showing masculine mannerisms or communication styles is sometimes downright rewarded even in non-passing trans men.

Within spaces that are for nonbinary or trans people, you can move with complete freedom as a non-passing trans man, viewed as welcome, safe to be around, desirable, understanding of the community's shared struggles, typical, expected, unremarkable, relatable, and normal. Every single trans space will understand you as an explicable member of it, and not police your identity the way they would the belongingness, safety, or legitimacy of a trans woman. You can find depictions of trans people similar to yourself in a lot of media, and that media will generally not depict you as a dangerous serial killer pedophile (whereas most of the media depictions of trans women do). You can use dating apps both for men or for women with a very low likelihood of being kicked off.

By virtue of not being a trans woman, you can access women's reproductive healthcare centers, women's shelters, women's sports teams and clubs, compete in women's sports free from transphobic discrimination, and participate generally in social spaces designed for gender minorities -- this again might be a *highly* dysphoric experience for you and not feel at all like a privilege, but it does mean you have access to resources that others do not.

By virtue of being a man, you have a degree of psychological remove from the "female" roles and standards imposed on you. You still experience sexism, discrimination, and are held to unfair standards to whatever extent you do move socially as a cis woman, but you also have a distance from those standards truly being relevant to you both psychologically and insofar as you read to others as moving beyond that categorization. You will always occupy a position that is less reviled, exploited, excluded, and feared than that of trans women in society, and you can utilize that distance from trans women to protect yourself and socially benefit whenever you want to, whether you actually do so or not.

I think it is important for people who feel resistance to this idea to think about how all of the challenges and unfairness that they very much *do* face would be amplified and rendered more complex and dangerous if they were having to move through the world as a trans woman. And if you can't imagine how *that* would make things harder, then you need a lot more friends who are trans women.

[sparrowlucero]

Though their initial mutations were the result of long term nuclear war, it's actually an intense culture of propaganda and strictly enforced conformity policies that have kept the Daleks in their current state. Every Dalek undergoes surgery just after birth; not to mitigate the effects of irradiation, but to rid them of whatever is legally considered "imperfections to the Dalek form" (usually throwbacks to a humanoid body plan, such as teeth and hands) and physically ready them for their casing. Additional surgeries must occur throughout a Dalek's life to prevent them from becoming "rooted" - a painful, often fatal scenario in which the Dalek overgrows their own shell and cannot be safely removed. Not only does their homogeneity serve to reinforce their fervent belief in genetic superiority, but the resulting chronic health issues prevent insurrection; a Dalek's fear of losing access to regular healthcare colors much of their judgement, and most attempts at dissent end as soon as their painkillers run dry.

[hollowandcoldanddark]

i hate shoutout posts, so this is like... a whisper to every single fucking system who can't be in therapy. who arent safe. live with abusers. who dont have the money, dont have the location, cant find a therapist. who cant do this shit.

i think that most advice from the internet is like... if you have did go to therapy and i bet thats useful if u can have it but if you cant, its so isolationg. especially with an individualistic (every man for himself) culture, people often tell u to just... go to therapy bro. dont bother me about it.

here are fr some tips as someone who has a lot of problems and is not in therapy:

prioritise staying alive. it can never get better once you are dead.

take your time with it. you dont need to post alter intros or have a plural kit. you dont need to have a journal. take time to be comfortable as you can even if the circumstances are very bad

depending on your amount of control and interaction with your system, introduce people who don't have a lot of life experience to new things like food, new colours and textures and places. this especially applies if you have a bunch of alters who only really know the environment of their abuse

build community. its really really really hard but do try. having friends kept me alive. it still keeps me alive.

learn about healthy relationships - we all have internet access. learn about boundaries and triggers and talking to others healthily. a lot of people with did will struggle with healthy relationships even if they make them. learn and do your best to act with it

treat your body like a rental or a pot plant or an animal if needed - even if it doesnt seem like yours, you gotta feed and water and walk it bro. u need the sun. you need enrichment and interaction.

ignore the discourse if youre struggling - it actually doesnt matter and will make you more sick. thinkning about endo vs trauma or like.... idk... labels discourse can be a major stressor that can lead to warping your sustem presentation or repressing and harming bits that arent conforming well

engage in things that are irl like building mini legos or clay - it can help make outside a better environment and shit, aklso can help ground.

find your own triggers and talk about it with ur system. write notes or yap.

find joy in being alive and being a system. despite what reddit or youtube or whatever will tell you, as things improve they will get better. and u should look for joy and funnies when you can

dont give up

LISTEN TO YOUR SYSTEM. THEY'RE NOT ALWAYS GOING TO BE RIGHT. THEY LIKELY ARE ASSHOLES OR INSANE JUST LIKE YOU. BUT YOU LIVE TOGETHER.

healing is easier as a team.

i believe in you