#Reality Of Binary Options

[techsoulculture]

Reality Of Binary Options : Legal To Trade Binary Options?

Binary options are a type of financial instrument that allows people to speculate on the price fluctuations of different assets such as

[doberbutts]

With this latest round of discourse being "trans men shouldn't complain about being kicked out of women's spaces", I felt the urge to write up a relatively long post regarding the topic, as I feel it is a long tangled mess and involves a significant amount of people simply talking past each other.

To begin, what is a woman's space? I ask this, because "women's spaces" often fall under one of three categories: medical services, social services, and social gatherings. Of the three, trans men need access to nearly everything if not everything included within "medical services" and "social services". These things often need to be considered co-ed anyway, but are still considered "for women" and often are labeled things like "women's health" or "women's defense". Social gatherings- things such as book clubs, concerts, festivals, and other similar outings- can have a nuanced and complicated history when it comes to the inclusion, or exclusion, of trans men.

As an example- I am a binary, gay trans man who has not yet been sterilized. If I become pregnant and need to seek out social services, I must do so via my provider's "Women and Babies" department. I am neither of those things, and yet regardless of whether I am completing or terminating the pregnancy, I must label myself a woman in order to receive care. If I wish to have a pap smear, receive birth control, or investigate my chances of ovarian and cervical cancer, I must do so via the "Women's Health Clinic". I am not a woman, but I must label myself as one in order to discuss sterilization options. Many trans men who have had their gender markers changed prior to sterilization have reported difficulty even booking an appointment, as well as difficulty convincing their insurance to pay for this appointment due to a discrepancy with gender markers vs gendered care. Many have discussed the realities of being a pregnant man, whether they remained pregnant until their child was born, or whether they terminated said pregnancy with an abortion.

It should come as no surprise that the statistics for trans men receiving quality gynecological care are abysmal. It should be equally unsurprising to hear how many trans men have died from botched abortions, untreated miscarriages, infections and cancers of the uterus and cervix and ovaries, and complications during pregnancy or birth. We belong in this space, despite it being labeled "for women", and the only thing pushing us out has done is quite literally what's been killing us.

This is, of course, not even taking into account the numbers of trans men who have been forced to become pregnant via their husbands or families as a means to detransition them, and those who have become pregnant as a result of corrective rape. There is a saying among trans men of my age- it isn't "we all know a guy this has happened to", it's "which of us haven't experienced this? who among us doesn't fear this? who will it happen to next?"

Which brings me to my next point: women's social services. As with women's medical care, nearly everything labeled "for women" as a social service must be inclusive to trans men. Shelters for domestic violence survivors, rape crisis centers, self defense classes, family planning, these are all things that honestly should already be co-ed. But, many times, they are exclusively targeted towards women. I understand why, I do. But with trans men being statistically more likely than cis women to experience the need for these services, it seems a cruelty to close their doors to a vulnerable demographic reaching out for help.

Where should trans men in crisis go? Shutting the door to us without addressing the reason we need to access these resources gives us a single ultimatum: detransition, or die. Go back to being a woman, or die knowing the likelihood that a woman's name will adorn your headstone, and "daughter, wife, mother" will be said in your obituary. Much like the medical services, this incomplete answer has lead many trans men to their deaths. Whether by their own hands, or by their attackers'.

But there are other social services out there that perhaps are not as dire. Women's scholarships, colleges, all girls schools. Girl Scouts, women's sport leagues, gym memberships. Trans men don't need access to these, right?

Well... is the trans man in question out? Has he been living as a man, or is he still closeted? Is it safe for him to come out? Does he pass, or has he just bought his first binder and given himself his first buzz cut? Is he living under the control of his parents, or is he able to freely decide for himself the type of person he'd like to be and the type of life he'd like to live?

You see, I was a Girl Scout once. And, if we are to believe to our core that trans men are men even before they know the words "transgender", this means I was a boy in a girl's space. I didn't know that being transgender was an option for me at the point where my troop disbanded, and another leader to replace the first within my local area was not found until after I had aged out.

But also... I was in 7th grade when my troop disbanded. Two years later, I would learn the word "transgender", and suddenly everything would make sense. Two years later, I would come out to my parents and my sisters. To put this into perspective, I graduated high school in 2010. The Boy Scouts officially allowed cisgender girls and transgender people of all genders to join all programs in 2019.

I was not expelled from my Girl Scout troop. My leader simply stopped showing up to meetings, and my troop disbanded to go our separate ways when leadership could not find someone quickly enough to replace her. But... if this had not happened, I would have been a recently out transgender boy in a girl's social service, still wearing push up bras and frilly shirts because that's all my parents would buy me until I became an adult and moved out and had a job with my own money to re-purchase myself a wardrobe. Indistinguishable from any of the others, outside of what went on inside my own mind.

I would not have been accepted into the Boy Scouts, if Girl Scouts had been taken from me as abruptly as it was from a different transgender boy in the same state I was born and raised. Which would have left me with... nothing. Neither. And the only reason I even joined the Girl Scouts was because I had wanted to join the Boy Scouts and the local troop had refused to allow me, because they had labeled me a girl.

I don't believe I'm the one that coined Schrodinger's Gender, but I do reference it often. In this situation, one is both a boy when it hurts, and a girl when it hurts. Even if that gender label changes by the second, the point is to use your gender and your assigned sex to hurt you.

But then, why do these services even have to be gendered to begin with? After all, Boy Scouts just updated to be The Scouts, and has removed (on paper) the insistence on gendering.

Well... I certainly agree that the majority of gendering these services is at this point a concept that needs to be reformed, but I'm unconvinced that we will be able to completely integrate without addressing the reason they were segregated by gender in the first place.

Women's gym memberships are gender segregated for two reasons. Women and girls- and anyone labeled as women and girls, regardless of true identity- are frequently not afforded the same access to resources as cisgender men and boys. Women and girls- and anyone labeled such- are frequently at high risk of predatory sexual behavior and physical violence. Both of these problems are symptoms of a larger system of misogyny at play, and both of these problems directly affect trans men especially those who have not transitioned in a way that makes them pass for cis men.

Regardless of the truth of my identity, the reality is that I was seen as and treated as a girl when it came to physical fitness, and thus barred from the same activities freely offered to the boys. Regardless of the truth of my identity, I have experienced predatory sexual behavior from cis men as young as 8 or 9 years old, continuing past when I came out and began to transition socially.

If the problem is not addressed, cis women cannot re-integrate with cis men. But, additionally, if the problem is not addressed, the choice still remains clear for trans men. Detransition, stay closeted, or go without.

A common complaint of trans men is the invisibility and erasure our demographic faces. It should be easy to see why this happens. The problem of a misogynistic society is one that continues to this day, and without addressing the problem we cannot hope for success in creating a more inclusive space. At the same time, trans men are being pushed out and isolated as they realize they must make a choice.

As for social gatherings, such as a woman's retreat or a woman's music festival? Of course, it may sound odd to say that a trans man should feel welcome there. But the truth of the matter is the majority of the trans men asking for the ability to stay are trans men who have been within that space for years already, prior to coming out, prior to realizing some things about their genders, prior to taking their first steps as men.

I'm pretty good friends with an older butch who told me that I am the first person they ever told that they were a nonbinary man. This person is in their 50s. They're married. But the wife doesn't like it, and they love their wife too much to cause friction in the relationship, so they keep it to themselves, and they keep quiet, and they don't say anything about being transgender, but in their head they aren't a woman. This person is not a woman, by their own insistence. Should this person be forcibly ejected from their local lesbian community, which they and the wife helped form decades ago? Should they divorce their wife, since that would make her not a lesbian anymore?

What harm is it, truly, to allow this person to stay? Social isolation kills people. The trans man suicide statistics are just as abysmal as any of the others I've mentioned here. Forcing someone to burn 20, 30, 40 years of their lives and their friends and their achievements because they are finally living as themselves is a deeply hurtful and isolating experience.

The majority of trans men asking to be included in these spaces are not trans men like me- who never really jived with the idea of womanhood and distanced ourselves as much as possible the moment we saw the opportunity. They are men like my friend, often existing outside of the binary, often with a deep love and appreciation for womanhood despite realizing that perhaps the label does not fit them as well as they once thought. They often have many years of connection, entire lives spent intwined in these spaces.

What good does it do to chase them out? What harm does it to do let them stay?

[punishedgwyndolin]

i wish it was less complicated to talk about the ways in which people preferentially support transfems who present or talk about themselves in similar ways as before transition but there’s so many layers it’s just a pain and everyone else tunes it out. julia serano wrote that it’s often the case for tomboyish, masculine, or butchy trans women to be preferred and sought after over feminine trans women (notice how neutral isn’t an option for us? Ha-ha.) in lesbian and queer spaces, but i don’t think this is a whole truth in of itself; trans women who are very feminine are often othered and pushed away, but at the same time, the “support” for the masculine or boy-identified transfems is also highly circumstantial and fairweather. many perceived markers of masculinity, or absences of femininity, still bring transmisogynistic punishment and othering on these women.

in reality, i think what is really happening here is an unspoken, perhaps sometimes even unconscious bias against transfeminine transition. people who aren’t transfem, and often especially other trans people, are uncomfortable and afraid of the hybridity implied by people they thought were men blooming and changing and taking on aspects they didnt think possible. they don’t know what to do with the anomaly that calls the legitimacy of the binaries and gender systems into question through her active living, and so they want them to stop or to couch it within a context of preserved masculinity, manifesting as this “preference”. it’s a subliminated desire against transition rather than an enjoyment of masculine women, a shoring up of gendered walls to defend what manhood they hope remains, and sometimes it’s directly for detransition.

this is why you see people clamor about how attractive trans women with cropped short hair and undercuts are when a girl muses about how long her hair is getting. why you see people say that trans women who get laser hair removal are supporting gender norms, but at the same time misgender and hate on trans women with thick unshaven body hair. it’s why they love to see you joke about how bad of a man you make, but are put off and disturbed when you try to be taken seriously as anything else. even if they don’t word it or see it as such, a lot of people just genuinely only want transfems in their life to stay as hollow, subservient husks of boyhood for their enjoyment or political tokenization

[lizardsfromspace]

The factchecking this cycle has been so profoundly incompetent that it's finally getting some real backlash, but the extent of it really should be clear. So much of factchecking is not based in reality, but in a kind of contorted moon logic that can find true claims to be false and false ones to be true based on wildly inconsistent reasoning.

But this one really shows off some of the base assumptions of modern factchecking, and also bc it got a community note which is funny:

Let's take this one by one

The idea that quotes have any options but "he said it" or "he didn't say it". It is a binary, maybe with a third option of "it was clipped wildly out of context", but something you see constantly now is the idea that quoting someone's direct words without deceptive editing or removal of context can somehow be false

Pointlessly noting that it's from 2016, and that it's not clear if he currently believes it. What the hell does that matter to the question of if he said that in 2016? People understood that the "dig up someone's tweets from when they were 17" thing was inane, but they counter-balanced by apparently deciding that citing anything someone said more than about six months ago is Misinformation if we don't have objective evidence they would say the exact same thing now, even if there's no evidence they believe anything else. Analyzing someone's high school tweets and analyzing something the literal President said seven years ago are not equivalent

Noting that he walked it back following criticism. You see this constantly, too. Again, what does that matter to the question of if he said it? But this is just taken as a given now: if someone gets blowback and says "whoops I didn't mean it", that should be taken at face value. Effectively, Politifact is letting Donald Trump self-factcheck Donald Trump: their only evidence (and I read the article too) this is at all false is that Donald Trump said Donald Trump didn't really mean the words he said, so they must agree with the judgment of Donald Trump that Donald Trump was treated so unfairly here.

A general confusion over what factchecking is. If you're asked "did Donald Trump say this in 2016?", your sole job is to determine if he really said that in 2016. It's not to divine if he, deep in his heart, still believes it now. That's completely irrelevant.

The two guiding principles of modern factchecking are this: one, it's strongly rumored - and also, obvious to everyone literate - that the major factchecking sites have either standing orders to find equal numbers of lies on both sides, or are staffed by people who think it's their job to hold both sides equally to account (the exception is Snopes, whose writers are just terrible at their jobs). In the name of this, Donald Trump can say something on camera only for it to be judged false, while a Democratic politician can be excoriated for mildly rounding down a figure in a speech. A factchecking website once determined that saying climate change was a threat to life on this planet was a lie, because climate change won't kill all life on this planet. Politifact's lie of the year one year was a Democrat saying a Republican plan would "end Medicare as we know it", which was judged to be a lie because it wouldn't literally end Medicare completely. Figurative language needs to be scoured, comments said directly on camera need to be made fuzzy. This makes factchecking sites worthless at factchecking, because what even is this?

It's not true that Donald Trump will refuse to accept the election results, because he's merely said he won't accept, and has said if he loses, it's only because the election was fraudulent. Okay, what, do you demand that people prove he said his plans in exact words? What is the actual, functional difference between "he said he won't accept it" and "he said if he loses it's because he won and they stole it from him, and he won't commit to saying he'll accept it"? What are you talking about, who is this for? When you go to the Logic and Reason Site for Debunking & end up having to puzzle out their convoluted logic and reasoning to understand anything, the plot's been lost a bit

The other is the idea that context is exonerating. Any context at all. If they said they didn't mean it, partially false. If they walked it back, partially false. If they said it was taken out of context, partially false. If they said it a certain number of years ago, partially false. If there's a longer video, even if it shows functionally the same thing, pants on fire, five pinocchios.

Again, we have footage of Trump saying this, and the footage in the ad is unedited, and the factchecking website is declaring something that OBJECTIVELY HAPPENED WITH HARD EVIDENCE IT HAPPENED didn't really happen bc we don't know his heart, maybe he believes something different now, we simply can't know for certain. But we do know for certain. Because "false" at least used to mean "didn't happen". But factchecking sites are now on those Beyond Belief definitions of "true" and "false" I guess

But the real problem here is that they just accept anything someone being factchecked says at face value. Because, and I can't believe I'm saying this

It seems like the people paid to determine if other people are lying...have forgotten that people lie sometimes

[tales-of-wocdes]

Tales of Wocdes: The Silver Protector

A WIP Twine game! The demo is now available (demo updated 27.10.2024, ~103 500 words with code inside text and different branches):

Also about 22.5 k words of bonus content published as a part of the demo 16.2.2025. See this post and this post.

Tales of Wocdes: The Silver Protector is a high fantasy interactive fiction made in Twine. During the story, your protagonist will change from a helpless child to a Silver Protector, an elite warrior and protector. In time, you may wield powerful magic, or be a master of the blade. ��

The game is in early development. All content is subject to change.

There is also now a kofi page.

Premise

Wocdes is a world full of magic, monsters, and secrets. No beings in this world embody all three better than the Ancients,  godlike in power and unbeatable in battle. Incredibly wise and compassionate. Incredibly terrible and cruel. Immortal and glorious. Petty and vengeful. Or so the stories go. 

Not that you know the stories. Why would you? You are a child kidnapped for unknown purposes.  You barely know anything about yourself. Your life is one of pain and suffering at the hands of people you do not know. 

In a moment of desperation, a plea leaves your lips. Or perhaps it is only in your mind. Unexpectedly something hears you and will never ignore a broken child alone in the dark asking for help. You are saved but you are permanently scarred by your experiences. Given into the care of the newly created Orphanage of Firgrat, here is where your journey truly begins. How will you cope with your past and current reality?  Can you survive the cruel world of Wocdes, the weight of your trauma? Can you help others survive?  Can you grow up, make friends, learn to love, and become a real person again?

What to look forward to

In this game, you will (eventually) be able to:

Customize your character, from their appearance and gender (male, female, non-binary) to their abilities and personality.

Admittedly, your characters emotional development has taken a bit of a hit due to recent events, leaving them a bit confused in general about... everything. 

You can add elements of fantasy races to your character's appearance, such as a tail, wings, pointy ears and many more.

Discover why you were kidnapped, eventually.

Protect those you feel deserve it, become stronger for yourself or to protect others.

Grow up alongside other orphans and kids from the city, journey through childhood at the orphanage and the surrounding city, to adulthood with responsibilities. 

Develop your relationships with your fellow orphans and other companions, maybe even get into a romance. 

Speaking of romance, the author aims to offer an option to be completely and utterly dense about romance, like completely oblivious to the degree people worry about you. Or maybe you will be a smoother operator.

Go on adventures and missions, both innocent and not, in an original fantasy world full of magic, wonder and cruelty.

Characters

Primary

The twins Atru (m) and Azha (f): The original inhabitants of the orphanage and the only children already there when you arrive. Both twins have short blond hair and green eyes. Atru is a seemingly silent emotionless boy who clings to his sister Azha. Azha is a little girl shaped ray of sunshine and well-meaning mischief. And chatter!

More characters will be filled out later. A bit more info is available here and here.

Secondary

Havard (m): The head custodian of the Orphanage. A father figure to all the children. His duty is to guide the children, and it is a duty he takes very seriously.

Lexia (f): The Silver Protector in charge of you. Young, excitable and strong. One of the first to be chosen for the new elite order called the Silver Protectors.

Alessa (f): The custodian in charge of the twins. A sweet young somewhat shy woman who the twins adore, both in their own ways. 

Sandor (m): The Silver Protector in charge of the twins. A good-natured and somewhat shy young man often trailing after the twins with a fond look. 

The Ancients

RAFO (Read And Find Out). You might meet some. 

Disclaimer

This is a work of fiction! Any potential resemblance of appearances, names, or personalities of characters with people in real life, living or dead, is coincidental.

This story is meant for adults. The game contains depictions of violence, blood, gore, sexually suggestive content, black humor, explicit language etc. A more complete list can be found in game. Like everything else, this list is subject to change. 

The game contains dealing with traumatic events. The author is not a qualified medical professional, and the in game responses to trauma are not in any way encouraged.  If you are uncomfortable with what you are reading, please refrain from continuing until you feel better. Or drop the story entirely. None of this is worth your health.

[xiibiibby]

The Veilkeepers ~ Progress Post

An episodic interactive fiction that spans across four seasons. Each episode features a new mission, set in a new world with new objectives, new stakes, and a new cast of characters. 

◊ The Story

As a Keeper for a powerful, interdimensional organization, you are tasked with journeying to distant realities on the brink of collapse, using your skills to restore balance and prevent their destruction. Armed with advanced tools and accompanied by skilled allies, you’ll navigate alternate worlds and make choices that will shape the destiny of entire civilizations.

Each decision you make tips the scales, determining whether a world will survive or fade into memory. With the fate of countless dimensions in your hands, your actions will have dire consequences. Will you rise to the challenge, or will the weight of your mission prove too great? The choice is yours.

◊ Customizable Hero

You will have various options available to customize your character as you see fit.

Choose your Gender: Be a Man, Woman, or Non-binary.

Decide your Sexuality: Be attracted to Men, Women, Both, or be Asexual.

Customize your character's descriptive appearance!

Choose from three unique backstories: Legacy, Survivor, or Anomaly.

◊ Create a Skill Set

Pick from several skills in-game to create a skill set for your character! Every skill is unique, and opens up a variety of new choices & interactions throughout the game. Your options are:

Strength

Athletics

Endurance

Dexterity

Ranged Combat

Melee Combat

Persuasion

Intimidation

Perception

Intelligence

Stealth

Luck

◊ Romance Options

As you travel through the multiverse, you’ll be joined by companions from different worlds, each with their own story to tell. Along the way, you’ll have the chance to get to know them, share experiences, and build meaningful relationships, whether it’s friendship, rivalry, or romance.

◊ Planned Features

Character Creator: I want to have a visual character creator like the one from my DBD Fan Game, but this one would use entirely new assets and match the style of the other characters' portraits. This isn't a guaranteed feature, as this sort of thing tends to be VERY tedious.

Companion Selection: Be able to choose which two companions join you during each mission. This would significantly alter the course of that episode, and open up new choices or routes to take throughout your mission.

◊ Current Progress

The demo, which contains Episodes 1 and 2, is a work-in-progress and currently sits at around 25,000 words. What I haven't yet decided on is if I'll release updates by the episode, or if I'll release them season-by-season...

I'll figure it out! Anyway, this is just a lil' peek at what I've been working on outside my fan game :D The demo's close to finished, and I'll keep y'all updated on its release!

[shoyastars]

Big thank you to @n0t-evenhere for looking over my fanfic! I appreciate the help, go check them out!

Now then! Onto the birthday celebration!

Birthday Photo - NSFW

—

April 30th - Ray’s Birthday

Headlines and even the news announcing the Hero Binary Star’s birthday. You sigh as you know how these things usually go, everyone will want to give your boyfriend or Binary Star their gifts and attention, while you just want to spend time with him. You can’t help but curse the NAHA for hogging him.

You bring yourself to be reasonable again, after all… if everyone’s favorite hero wasn’t able to be seen on his birthday then people might cause useless drama over it, however some people still criticized the NAHA for making him work on his birthday too. A double edged sword, if only he had a cloning ability… wait scratch that, you didn’t… who knows what type of shit he could pull if he had one…

You turned off the tv and decided to go back to making a cake instead of going to a store. He liked your cake last year, so why not do it again this year but with more practice and with the help for decoration from YouTube tutorials that you thought Ray would like. You were more confident in this one, but only setting a cake didn’t sit right with you… yes you did it last year, but what gift could you give him? He can buy anything he wants, of course you were an option, but it really didn’t make your thought easy. You sigh tired, as you hummed to a relaxing melody playing in the background, somehow causing you to drift off into sleep, you felt so relaxed your eyes completely shut..

The buzz of your phone against the table annoys you enough to reach for it, in your half asleep state, you yawn and manage to answer the phone.

“Hello?”

“Hey Star, just wanted to call and see how you were holding up at home.”

Hearing Ray’s voice causes you to wake up instantly, looking at the date, you sigh in relief that you didn’t sleep the full day away.

“I’m good, just um… watching some tv and doom scrolling… a lot of things popped up about you.”

“I bet… but I’m more interested in spending time with you after all this…”

You felt your face head up, as much as he is supposed to have his birthday about him, he still can’t help but be selfish when it comes to you.

“Yeah yeah.. why make it about me though? Seriously if anything I should be more excited to see you today of all days.”

Ray chuckled as you smiled on the other end of the phone. Sometimes you wonder if you still were dreaming upon how the two of you crossed paths… it would’ve been one hell of a dream… but reality always has its surprises… speaking of surprises… his gift… many times have you thought of getting his gift for his birthday…. Yet… the obvious always settles in…. He can literally buy anything he wants or needs, but you were someone he’d rather have over any object he can use anytime.

“I’ll see you when you get home! Happy Birthday Ray.”

Ray smiles on the other end, a light pink across his face, hearing your voice was at all was definitely the best gift he’s had all day.

“Thank you Star.. I’ll see you soon.”

The beep as the call ends, the settling thoughts come in, you had no idea or at least have an idea for a gift for his birthday… maybe some would say it’s unnecessary, but you really couldn’t think of a better idea. You knew him well by now, you weren’t dumb not to notice. However… you were sure you didn’t have anything too interesting to the eye.

You saw an interesting thing come on your feed though, taking Burlesque photos… though they came up as a show for the groom during the wedding or at reception… you remember having a having a camera that could help you take one… it is old however.. you would have to see if it still works, after all what's wrong with this idea? If anything it’s been awhile since the two of you…

You shook your head and decided to go through with it, even if you end up regretting it later… At least you won’t have work tomorrow… all the better for it. At least you hope.

You searched for awhile, till finally finding the old thing. Though you wiped away the dust, you pressed the button to take a quick photo to see if it’s still useable, lucky it still does…. You did need a shower.. you didn’t like how sweaty you were after taking a nap.

When you did take pictures of yourself, looking at them now, you were hoping it was good enough, you took at least three, one you accidentally made blurry, the other you didn’t like, third you were ok with. You sigh as you then decide to at least keep it on your nightstand. You wondered how to actually give it to him after he comes back. Last time you tried to send him a photo of yourself, you immediately regretted it when you were running late to your job in the morning. So that’s off the table.

You wondered if you had a small box, maybe you could do one of those annoying open a box to another box…. No… that doesn’t even sound like a good idea for just one photo of you…

You looked online again, only find the people doing this were handing it to their partner, or had a whole damn photo book of themselves to give to their partners. You were annoyed at this point, you were starting to think this was a bad idea, you grabbed the photo when suddenly you hear the door open and shut.

‘Fuck! What time is it??’

“Star, I’m back!”

“Uh…”

You quickly turned off your phone and went to get the photo, you didn’t know what to do. Only for Ray to look over at you in your panicked state and wonder what exactly you’re worried about.

“Something wrong?”

“Nope! Nothin, nothin at all!”

“Star…”

“Aren’t you going to take a shower? You probably should go!”

You go to push his towards the bathroom as he looks confused, yes he was still in his hero suit after a long day, but he was mostly concerned for you.

“Star, what’s going on?”

“You just arrived at a bad time is all! Besides I need time… to do something…”

Ray looked at you, he really wished he didn’t promise to not read your mind unless it was an emergency.. He really didn’t like it when you hid stuff from him, but he seems more focused on your facial expressions. It’s become a new habit, when he finally caught on he only smiled a bit.

“Alright, I’ll be out soon.”

“Perfect! Ah! I mean… ahem! Just, don’t take too long.”

Ray chuckled at that as he closed the door behind him, you let out a sigh of relief, now you just needed to think, or at least whisper to yourself what exactly to do…

You didn’t want to just give him a photo, maybe… maybe it would be better if you and him were to-… you honestly were at a loss, why did you think this was a good idea?

Well… you took it, so you might as well go all the way.. you go to get something more suitable for tonight, you liked what you saw, he’ll probably like it too, however you also needed to keep things settled until the right moment to give it to him. When you went back to the kitchen for the cake, you made sure it was all good. You were hoping this will all work out. Despite the fact it was a trend online instead of an original idea for his birthday, you take a deep breath and as you mapped out a plan on how to give him this gift… or at least what you call a gift.

You heard the bathroom door open and close, when you saw him peak in you felt you’re heart racing. Ray seemed to notice you’re nervous movements, however you had to go through with this. You can’t just pull out now, you were a fucking villain before, you faced the dangers of criminal life in the shadows, and faced double, even though he nearly cut you’re finger off. You took the cake you made and Ray smiled as you placed it on the table. He patted you’re head, perhaps to ease you’re nerves.

It really didn’t help.

“Looks like you took time to make me a cake yet again, thank you Star.”

“I did my best to improve my baking skills this year, so enjoy it while you can.”

“I know I will, since it’s made from you.”

Ray took the fork you provided along with the cake, and as you did with your own slice. A bit of talking would pass as you slowly begin to ease you’re nerves over the surprise. You and Ray would eventually go to the bedroom you two would share when he stayed over, usually it’s just you’re bed but you and him would share it mostly. Ray would open the window and light his cigarette for a quick smoke. You begin to lay back in bed, Ray gives a small smile seeing you so relaxed.

“Tired already?”

“What can I say? Made a cake and waited for you to come back.”

“Sorry, can’t really help it.”

“No, it’s fine. After all… it’s a double edge sword situation where you have to go, if you didn’t fans would rally around.”

Ray laughed a bit at that, you looked at him as he did. Giving him a bit of a look.

“What?”

“Were you… nevermind..”

“No, tell me!”

“…Were you jealous of me getting all the attention from fans of that guy?”

You felt you’re face heat up, Ray begins to laugh again. You covered your face with a pillow.

“Shut up!”

“Star- it really isn’t that serious.”

“Really? Especially since they get you all day?”

Ray sighed and put out his cigarette, sitting beside you, as you peaked at him with some of your face still in the pillow.

“They can have Binary Star, but I recall that you wanted me, Remember?”

You grumbled into the pillow, but knew he was right. You could care less for Binary Star… you said you wanted him, so you have him. Yet again, Ray was alway the guy you fell for… so to say the people had him… was wrong.. because that wasn’t him but a mask he put on for a show he’s forced to play…

“Yeah… I guess, I’m just upset that I couldn’t spend most of my time with you.. especially on your birthday. I want to spend time with my Ray ya know?”

You laughed a bit awkwardly, Ray ruffled your hair smiling at you. You smile as you then go to fix your hair. You two shared a quick kiss before gone to get off the bed, only to stop.

“Something wrong-“

“What’s that?”

You looked where his gaze was, that’s when you remembered. The photo! You quickly go to reach it only for him to take it before you could. You immediately knew this was the moment you wished you could just disappear. Ray looks at the photo and you a couple of times, he runs his hand through his hair a bit, still sat on the the edge of the bed. You want to say something, but what? Surprise??? You hated how you forgot about one simple thing on your bedside table! So embarrassing… so humiliating how you didn’t go through with your plan!

“So uh.. this is you?”

“I- wanted to give you gift this time…”

“Oh, a gift huh?”

“Don’t start…”

He looked at you as you go to cover yourself with the blanket. After a bit you felt the bed shift by his movements, he moved the blanket away from you, meeting eye to eye now. You tried to look away but one of his hands cupped your face, his thumb moving over your bottom lip. You saw the look in his eyes, a familiar desire.

“I think it’s cute..”

He leaned in close to your ear, making you’re heart race again, you swear you were going to have a heart attack. His hot breath can be felt against it.

“However, I prefer the real deal. Wouldn’t you agree, my star?”

You couldn’t help but feel your face heat up at his words, he chuckled at you’re reaction, moving away from you’re ear to look at you. Was he really teasing you right now? Well you did take the photo knowing he was going to be like this, so why are you still getting flustered like some teenage virgin reading smutty books?

“I didn’t know if that would be a good gift ether way so-“

“So, I’ll be sure to cherish this when I think of you.”

“Ray, what the fuck!”

“Ah ah! You said it was a gift.”

“I- well, true… but-“

“So easy to tease.”

“Fuck off!”

You cover your face with your hands, as much as you are glad he likes it. Does he really have to express what he’s mostly going to do??? What else would he do other than jerk it to your photo? Ray smirked as you kept you’re hands to your face. However, he wasn’t really planning on just teasing you.. especially after seeing you like that for him..

You felt as his hand went under you’re shirt, you immediately turned your attention to him.

“Ray- Wha!”

“What? Don’t tell me you weren’t expecting me to not adore you after giving me such a thoughtful gift.”

Feeling his warm hand trailing over your body felt good, you couldn’t resist it… you wanted it.. however a deep part of you still felt more embarrassed by the situation. Jesus Christ, why can’t you just pick a struggle today?

Small sounds of pleasure came from you as he began to kiss and nip your neck, you liked how he did that.

“Did you also plan ahead by picking out these clothes for easy access for me?”

“Shut… up..”

He let out a small laugh as his hand trailed down, you wanted it, you really did, his touch was drawing you in more and more. He really did know what he was doing.. him hearing the small gasps of pleasure were even better, he continued to treat you like this, he wanted you to know how much he loved his gift, this was definitely the best gift he’s been given all day, instead of those gifts those people though he might like… maybe for that guy, this though…. He loved this one more..

The small whispers of his name as he continued were beautiful to him, he always liked hearing you say his name. His name. No one else’s… you were his, he was yours. He hoped you knew that, even after all this time…

“Ray-“

“You’re doing amazing Star.~”

The time you let yourself go with him felt right, so safe, so good. Ray smiled at you as he went to take off both his sweater and undershirt, his scars and muscular frame now visible to your eyes, he leaned in to kiss you, a deep passionate kiss. Assisting you in taking off your clothes as you two were so lost in each other's lust. Finally hearing that stupid belt come off, you were both eager to continue this dance with each other. Hands intertwined as you continued to feel this pleasure with him, the moans between the two of you were sweet melodies to each other's ears, such passion, so much love for one another, it drew both of you in. Two broken souls, two who wanted to find each other, to try and become something beautiful together. The hunger along with the love in Ray’s eyes only further shows how you don’t regret your decision, and how you have no regrets.

The moan of your name with so much affection in saying it was enough to make you feel content, to feel so satisfied with this outcome. The two of you now breathless, sharing one more tender kiss. How close his face was to yours, causing the both of you to feel content in this moment. Just the two of you in this moment of bliss.

He cherished this gift, as you treasured his love for it. Resting in each other’s embrace, no longer a care in the world.

—

In the Morning, the sun shines on your face as you groaned in annoyance, you realized that your clothes were still on the floor as you woke up a bit, going to get off the bed proving impossible, your tired boyfriend clinging to you. You signed in as you ran your hand through his messy hair, a hum of approval from him as he kept his arms around you. This moment is counted as a beautiful moment of peace for you. You stayed like this for a couple more minutes, the rest of the day, despite it not being his birthday anymore, was enjoyed by the two of you.

Just being with you made his day all the more brighter, the people can have Binary Star, Ray on the other hand, was all yours. Forever and always.

You were His Star, as much as he was Your Ray.

—

Happy Birthday to our Favorite Hero! <3

[alexanderwales]

There's a thing that happens with writing sometimes where the intent of the story runs up against the reality of the story, and this is where a lot of really terrible conversations about stories come from.

For example, a story sets up a hard choice that a character has to make, but doesn't sufficiently set up why this choice needs to be made, or why it's a binary. There are different ways to read this:

The character is making a choice, got it

The character is making a choice, and it simply did not occur to them that there was a third option

The character is making a choice, and they considered the third option but rejected it off-screen

The character is making a choice, and the fact that they see this as a binary is an important aspect of reading their character

The writers screwed up

The writers were being expedient

The writers were simply not interested in having this choice be justified by the text

And the big problem is that people get into a conversation about the hard choice, and then don't ever reconcile that they're having different conversations. They haven't agreed on the frame they're arguing in, and might not realize that they're in different frames at all, and everyone just talks past each other for ages.

(I think that this post might have originally been about some particularly insipid conversation I was reading, but then it sat in drafts for long enough that I'd forgotten.)

[srbachchan]

DAY 6253

Jalsa, Mumbai Mar 30, 2025 Sun 11:43 pm

🪔 ,

March 31 .. birthday happiness to Ef Sai Poorna Patnaik .. Ef Keren Ben Ezra .. and Ef Shravan Kumar .. 🙏🏽❤️🚩

greetings and wishes from all the Ef ..

The consciousness of time , builds in the mind along with all the other concerns and schedules, damaging the thinking process of what we work on presently ..

And with the several options open to us, it does become even greater in the context ..

So what can be the cure ..

For me I have worked out that the moment the 'other' thought invades the mind while working on something .. just get up and fulfill the wants of the invasion .. and get back to doing what you have been doing .. at least it lessens the burden we carry of the schedule and the time factor that troubles the mind .. the saturated cerebrum reduces the factor of space .. and all seems to be in order ..

Been trying it for the last few days , with reasonable success ....

Reasonable , because never is the act of work fulfilling enough to move away and give space and time for the 'other' ..

The 'other' is a magnificent factor , often not given the importance it generates in human lives or any lives ..

A view ..

"The concept of the ‘Other’ operates both metaphorically and in reality as a defining factor in literary consciousness. It represents exclusion, difference, and opposition, shaping identities and narratives. In metaphorical terms, the ‘Other’ embodies the unknown, the marginalized, or the exotic, reinforcing binaries like self/other, familiar/foreign. In reality, literature reflects the power dynamics that create ‘Otherness’—colonialism, gender, race, and class—challenging or reinforcing societal structures. Writers like Edward Said and Simone de Beauvoir explore how the ‘Other’ is constructed, exposing ideological biases. Ultimately, the ‘Other’ remains central to literature’s interrogation of identity, belonging, and human understanding."

.. and there are several views such as the above on the subject of 'there' .. Simone de Beauvoir and other greats like existentialists Jean Paul Sartre .. did great work on these theories .. they must be read to be able to fully understand their inputs ..

Sartre .. a playwright as well .. and one of his plays 'Crime Passionnel ' I had the privilege to go to and educate myself ..

A crime whose base is passion is not a crime in certain laws in certain countries .. that was the essence .. but would meet with immense legal debate and challenges in today's time ...

What would not perhaps meet immense debate would be the GOJ

🤣

🥰

... and Ghibli .. invades the world ..

in the reality of the realm of communication ..

and the making of the 'reel' .. another now popular concept .. one which demands attention ..

.. may the days ahead be filled with prosperity and love and success ..

and my gratitude to all that wish me on this special day of festivities .. i cannot respond to each individually .. so this ..

🙏

Amitabh Bachchan

[olderthannetfic]

There is something confusing to me about older queer people (which is to say, older than I am, at a relatively young 24 years old) who get mad at original fiction whose worldbuilding involves neopronouns. I'm hoping maybe, ONTF, since you've been in queer spaces a lot longer than I have, you can explain why people have such a negative reaction to the idea.

Basically, I'm working on a novel based that takes white-throated sparrow biology and uses it for building blocks in the same way A/B/O takes (now debunked) wolf science and used it for building blocks. This means there are essentially four genders, the two viewed as more intelligent (brown-haired men and women) and the two viewed as more physical (white-haired men and women). Those two groups then get further divided along the lines of 'women are better at making smart decisions under pressure' and 'men are better at staying home and defending the children, as God intended'.

So it seemed natural to me that this worldwide quaternary system would result in at least some languages having pronoun sets for each of the four options. Some languages in real life have more complicated pronoun systems than that, particularly ones where there's a bunch of formal and informal pronouns. It'd also help the reader keep track of who was a part of what group without my having to turn around and state people's coloration constantly. Yes, these people are human, just as humans in A/B/O are, but society is fundamentally very different. I'm not throwing this in to just complicate things or sound smart or something. It's here because my minoring in Anthropology and majoring in Linguistics taught me language usage reflects the needs and values of a people.

The writing group I'm a part of IRL is mostly queer, mostly 40+, with some cishet women who are also present and active writers. The writing group I'm a part of on DW is mostly DWRPers, in their 30's and up, though no older than 50, and entirely queer. I did not expect these to be groups that were uncomfortable with the idea of "different world, different pronouns".

Instead the reception has ranged from suggestions it's pretentious or overthinking things to requests I reconsider doing it. I've been informed this could be seen as mocking the real life queer people who go by pronouns other than she, he, or they. One person asked if this was went to be me "artificially justifying" nonbinary pronouns and implying I didn't find them valid in the real world. That was an awkward conversation, to say the least.

In reality I wasn't really thinking about real life people who use nonbinary pronouns when I was writing. I was just asking, "Logically, wouldn't it make sense for things to work very differently under a quarternary than it does under a modern European binary?" and following my brain along to its' conclusions as it processed that.

I have gotten zero negative feedback from my queer friends my age regarding this. So obviously, generation and the experiences informing a generational context are key, here. I'm just... still lost on how anyone finds this objectionable.

Help?

--

Ahaha. Oh god.

Well, as a reader of sff in the 90s, the first reaction I have to such things is "IS THERE A CONLANG AND A MAP?" Because, man, the conlang people were some of the most tedious motherfuckers I ever had to deal with in sff spaces.

But broadly... I think the reasons queer people get annoyed about this stuff boil down to a couple of big factors:

Disrespectful children who don't know history

Idiot old people harrumphing about "history" they clearly failed to pay attention to while it was going on in the first place

I personally hate being asked to use new words most of the time. A few bits of fandom slang I'll pick up at once, but I'm usually like "Why would I call it 'spirk'? We already have 'K/S'!" *shakes cane*

If you're American, they're your "roommate", not your "flatmate". No, I don't care how much more precise this foreign term is, you pretentious wanker. (But then I'll use 'wanker' because fandom adopted that years ago...)

So my reaction to being asked to say aloud any pronoun not in very frequent circulation in my offline life is "Urrrgh. Do I have to?"

However, the reality is that people have been messing around with pronouns in English since forever. Do you see 'heo' in Modern English? No, you do not! (Not that it was gender neutral, but the point is that even words as ancient as pronouns have changed quite a bit.) The early internet was full of pronoun stuff in MUDs and the like. You had a choice of a lot more than just three in a bunch of these. People besides men and women have always been in queer communities.

So some people like to cry about neopronouns being actually neo, and they're just wrong.

As for the why do you care part...

There is a nasty habit in contemporary queer spaces to act like gay rights issues are solved. Bisexuality? Passe! etc. Gays and lesbians finally got a little mainstream acceptance only to suddenly be treated like the worst of the establishment by the queer youth. How dare?!?! It's even more egregious with bisexuality where the focus of a bunch of queer activism finally swung that way in the 90s... only to be sharply cut off in the 00s.

There's a real "You already got yours. Where's mine?" vibe to some queer discourse today, and it's directed at people who never got theirs. It shows up in demands for mentorship by people who've barely had a chance to escape a rocky start and figure out who they are themselves. It shows up in yowling about this or that bit of queer media we finally got not being progressive because it's the wrong letter of the acronym.

None of which has a damn thing to do with what pronouns you use in your novel, obviously, but I think some unresolved embattled feelings are why some older queer people are very weird about pronouns.

Some of them are also doing the old person version of throwing the weirdos under the bus to placate the normies. Respectability politics became a term long before the behavior was rife on tumblr.

--

If someone really does find it pretentious, though, and not just as a cover for crying about nonbinary identities being fake, I suspect they just remember how 1970s SFF was full of privileged anthropology students misunderstanding kinship systems from elsewhere in the world and then trying to tell everyone how ~deep~ their extremely contrived novels based on them were.

I'm not saying your writing is like this or that every one of these old sff novels was either, but when I hear "anthropology student", I groan internally. It's an instinctive reaction. It's less about the real fields and more about the bevvy of dilettantes I've run into over the years who'll say they study those things but really want to talk my ear off about Joseph fucking Campbell or the strong form of the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis or something.

--

Those birds are a really cool source of inspiration. Like with A/B/O, the first thing I wonder is how queerness works in that context and how much people like to defy their designated roles.

Omegaverse started on porn logic, so "The one I say tops always tops!" makes sense. When it gets expanded to try to make it make logical sense as a whole world, I often enjoy it, but it can break down quickly if treated as biology is law. I don't know how often the birds veer off of their set patterns, but humans certainly would.

One place where I get a strong "Oh god, this again" feeling from people's plotbunnies is when they're trying to make up a sff society that strikes me as too rigid in a way that real humans aren't. I'll see people using fake wolf biology (not just for horny reasons) but never looking at what's going on with gender in contemporary Thailand or whatever. Like... Le Guin may have made sedoretus feel plausible, but nobody I've ever seen stanning the concept as something fandom should play with has. That's probably because Le Guin was using over-complicated social norms as a thing that breaks down and causes trouble, and "This should be the next A/B/O!" posts are treating it as something that actually works and is a good way to get the pair you don't ship separated while shipping poly.

"It'd also help the reader keep track of who was a part of what group without my having to turn around and state people's coloration constantly."

This, in particular, gives me that cold shudder of recognition from when Homestuck fandom was everywhere and everyone wanted to over-explain those stupid playing card suits and why I should care.

Your concept sounds neat, and I think a set of four pronouns could easily make sense there...

But I also think that if people need the pronouns to keep track of coloration, you haven't set up a system that feels organic enough or haven't given enough cues about how characters are treating each other or why. Use the pronouns too, but just keep that in mind. It's like the "m/m is hard because the pronouns don't tell me whose hand is where" problem. It's almost never actually a pronoun problem.

--

Anyone else have thoughts here?

[silvershadow1711]

I think something that drives me crazy when I think about the binary star game is the double and haley endings

Like- SURELY it cant be that easy right?? Surely we’re gonna acknowledge the aliens still planning to bring on the END OF THE WORLD while Double has us chained or us going thieving with haley and miles. Believe me, I love Haley and Double endings because GOSH i love Haley and miles but they are NAWT safe and gonna be happy for long when we literally remember the worldbuilding and that drives me crazy ToT

Another thing also is yuh Ray. I think what gets me so jumpy with their endings and after stories is well- idk, The lack of Binary star mention?? (i mean they do mention him but) That guy is NOT leaving us alone and that makes me so paranoid because oh god Haley, Miles, hell double are in danger still.

Like are we seriously gonna go and be thieves with Haley when we have our own serious history with idk, BINARY STAR THE NUMBER 1 PSYCHO HERO? mb i fr just dont want my besties killed 😞🙏 With Double though I guess my paranoia isn’t that extreme considering how good at hiding I assume he can be?

I think it just makes me all jumpy thinking despite us getting Haley or Double endings, we are not gonna be left alone yknow? We’re not- safe and sound even as we hang with Haley in the diner. We’re not gonna be safe with us chained to Double because surely soon enough *he’s* gonna come right? Or idk just decide its the end of the world

Ill stop my yapanese rq I gotta eat lunch 🥳!!

OH MY FUCKING GOD YES! FINALLY SOMEONE ELSE ACKNOWLEDGES THAT THE HALEY ENDING IS COMPLETELY DIVORCED FROM THE REST OF THE STORY!!

Like, I'm pretty sure I've said this before (where or when or to whom i don't remember) but Ray does not care about what you want. You don't like him? You're not interested? That's nice; you don't have a say in the matter. You are either in a relationship with Ray- whether or not you want to be- or you are dead. There are no other options, the Haley and Double endings are just prolonging one of those outcomes.

It doesn't matter how good Double thinks he is at hiding- Ray can read thoughts. Sure there's probably a maximum distance, but it's not like the guy is keeping you in the earth's core. What else is Ray going to do other than sweep entire cities until he hears you mentally bitching about Double for the umpteenth time?

It's even worse in the Haley ending because Double can at least teleport you away to put some distance between you and Ray (though, let's be serious; he would absolutely throw you at Binary Star like a feral cat to buy himself time to escape). If Ray shows up- and he WILL show up, let's not delude ourselves- what is Haley going to do? Even assuming they can turn into literally any animal they want, what's a hippo or tiger going to do against lasers that can melt diamonds? Die, that's what. And the fact that the MC isn't even thinking about Ray in that ending just shows how utterly divorced from reality they are- at least in the Double ending, seeing Ray's face everywhere makes them paranoid. If he showed up in the Haley ending, MC would probably say something like "what's your name again? I wanna say... Roy?"

(Haley ending is the Golden Deer route of BSH, change my mind)

And as for the alien invasion, it would be so funny if, while it's happening, Ray does nothing and while the people are begging him to save them, he interrupts a presidential address as Binary Star and directly addresses the MC. Like, their full name and everything on live tv. "MC. I know you're watching this. And I'm here to tell you- you, specifically- that I'm not doing jack shit until you come back to me. That's all it would take to end this. The blood of every man, woman and child that dies in this invasion is on your hands until you come home. Make your choice, Star."

[this-is-exorsexism]

"binaries are okay for people who need them."

this is exorsexism.

there's so much wrong with this little sentence, but unfortunately this is a sentiment i see quite often.

firstly, binaries are never ever okay.

secondly, this is so obviously based on a fundamental misunderstanding of what a binary in terms of gender is. the gender binary doesn't mean "men and women exist". the gender binary means "male and female are the only valid options for gender and you can't be anything else". these are very different things. this misconception is based on the myth that nonbinary people want to destroy manhood and womanhood, when in reality all most of us want is equal rights, equal recognition and coexisting without hierarchies.

this myth is based in binary fragility, where people think nonbinary people wanting recognition and equal rights means we want to get rid of men and women. they feel threatened by our existence and demand for equal rights as it threatens their privileged position in the gender hierarchy.

however, you can absolutely be male, female, masculine, feminine and many more things that are currently part of gender-related binaries even when those binaries no longer exist. you can be male, female, masc, fem, all while anything outside these categories is also being celebrated, honoured, valued.

if your womanhood is threatened by the existence of agender people, that's a you problem. if your transmasculinity is threatened by the existence of transneutrality, that's a you problem. if your femininity is threatened by xeninity, that's a you problem. if the only way to feel valid in your gender is for there to be only one other gender, that's a you problem.

"needing the gender binary" is the same as "needing nonbinary people to not exist" and it says a lot about how many binary people define their gender by keeping others down in the gender hierarchy, and it's really messed up how nonbinary people are expected to appease binary people by saying "binaries are okay for people who need them" and how many of us have internalised this idea.

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

By: Emily Yoffe

Published: Jan 20, 2025

Toward the end of the 2024 presidential campaign, Donald Trump’s campaign released an unexpected ad, and one that was extremely politically effective. The tagline—“Kamala is for they/them. President Trump is for you.”—could go down in history as one of the most effective campaign slogans ever devised.

The ad reinforced a promise Trump repeated at rally after rally as he toured the swing states: If returned to office, he would immediately take on the gender ideology the Biden administration had embraced. Namely, he would end policies such as allowing males on women’s sports teams and in women’s locker rooms, and the housing of male prisoners who identify as transwomen in federal prisons for female offenders.

President Trump has addressed all this and more in an expansive executive order he will sign tomorrow afternoon called “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government.”

Here is what the order sets out:

The Executive Order establishes Government-wide the biological reality of two sexes and clearly defines male and female.

All radical gender ideology guidance, communication, policies, and forms are removed.

Agencies will cease pretending that men can be women and women can be men when enforcing laws that protect against sex discrimination.

“Woman” means an “adult human female.”

The Executive Order directs that Government identification like passports and personnel records will reflect biological reality and not self-assessed gender identity.

The Executive Order ends the practice of housing men in women’s prisons and taxpayer funded “transition” for male prisoners.

The Executive Order ends the forced recitation of “preferred pronouns” and protects Americans’ First Amendment and statutory rights to recognize the biological and binary nature of sex.

This includes protection in the workplace and in federal funded entities like schools.

Asked why Trump is making sex-based policy a day one priority of his administration, an incoming senior administration official said, “This really was a defining issue of the campaign. The president is going to be fulfilling the promises he made on the trail.” The executive order puts it more bluntly: “Radical gender ideology has devastated biological truth and women’s safety and opportunity.”

It is becoming something of a presidential tradition to begin a term with sweeping directives regarding “gender identity.” President Biden, on his first day in office, demanded the federal government “review all existing orders, regulations, guidance documents, policies, programs, or other agency actions” that could impinge on transgender rights. Language and rules about transgender identities became embedded in the vast federal bureaucracy.

Now, Trump has ordered a reversal of all this. In an exclusive briefing with The Free Press, two senior officials provided a summary of the executive order. “Women deserve protections, they deserve dignity, they deserve fairness, they deserve safety,” said a senior policy adviser explaining why the order explicitly embraces the necessity of special treatment for women. “And so this is going to help establish that in federal policy and in federal laws.”

In reading the order, it’s clear that lawsuits challenging the new directives will start stacking up quickly. The order, for example, asserts that “All radical gender ideology guidance, communication, policies, and forms are removed.” This is far from mere symbolism. United States passports—which since 2022 have allowed citizens to choose “X” as their gender—will revert to offering exclusively male and female options, with the proviso that what people select must “reflect biological reality and not self-assessed gender identity.”

The executive order also “ends the forced recitation of ‘preferred pronouns’ and protects Americans’ First Amendment and statutory rights to recognize the biological and binary nature of sex.” When asked about how this would affect public universities, which are bound by the First Amendment’s free speech protections, the senior policy adviser said the U.S. attorney general will enforce these rights. The adviser cited a 2022 federal court ruling to the effect that a Shawnee State University philosophy professor was deprived of his First Amendment rights by being forced to address a transgender student using that student’s chosen pronouns.

The task of the Trump administration now will be to promulgate rules implementing the order, which will affect people’s daily lives. It is inevitable that activist organizations will take these matters to court. The policy adviser said the administration is ready for litigation, predicting Trump will be “100 percent successful.”

It’s a fight the new administration seems to relish. Both officials said the executive order has the potential to broaden the president’s support. “Just take a look at the polling,” the senior official said. “The public is broadly in favor of the president’s and of the Republican Party’s stance on gender. That there are two biological sexes is something that the public is supportive of.”

The executive order does not address one of the most contentious areas of transgender activism: “gender-affirming care” for minors, meaning putting gender-distressed young people on a swift course to transition and lifetime medication. The Biden administration ardently supported such treatments, even as other Western nations began to restrict them, and dozens of U.S. states began to ban them.

The Biden administration sued Tennessee over its ban. That case resulted in a contentious oral argument at the Supreme Court in December, after which most observers felt the court would probably uphold Tennessee’s law.

Asked about why the new executive order does not deal with this, the senior official said, “This executive order is the first of many. I would expect that anything the president said he would do on the trail regarding these issues, he’s going to be fulfilling those promises.”

The order ends with a sweeping statement about the fundamental issue the White House believes is at stake in this order: ”Men and women are equal but have obvious sexual differences,” it reads. “If federal policies promote such an obvious falsehood that men can become women, the government will forfeit all credibility. The government must maintain a commitment to recognizing biological reality to maintain the trust of the American people.”

This order is one of nearly 200 executive actions the White House is rolling out today. Among them: orders to declare a national emergency at the border; end all DEI programs across the federal government; withdrawal from the Paris climate accord; and a return-to-office directive for federal workers.

==

Go ahead and try to explain how this is unreasonable.

[hachyxd-blog]

Ray´s B-day fanfic <3

"Today, years ago, my favorite yandere was born from all the visual novels I've had the fortune to see or play. I can separate fiction from reality, but I don't think I'm the only one who would like to be there to hug Ray and give him a little peace. As a small gift, I wanted to make a short fanfic of my coffee addict alongside a little drawing to complement it. I apologize in advance if it's not understood well, English is not my language and I'm using a translator."

@concreteparasite Gracias por crear tal maravilla.

Happy birthday.

Who would have thought it would be possible to keep a secret from the great Binary star. Mc laughed happily in the kitchen as she finished washing the dishes. It had been just over a year since she moved into Ray's home. At first, it wasn't easy; it seemed like the option to leave was given, or rather, it was never up for discussion. After much talking, they managed to make it work together: Mc wouldn't be confined to her new home, but she would always stay in touch with Ray when she went out.

Truth be told, it's not like she could keep a secret from him; after all, he possessed the incredible ability to read minds, but she trusted him not to read hers all the time. Mc really believed it was impossible to turn on her mind... until she discovered it. On her maternal side, she spoke Spanish, and unconsciously she had been thinking in that language, discovering a weakness to Ray's ability. He seemed annoyed that he couldn't fully understand, but there was nothing he could do.

Today, in particular, he seemed very upset. I concentrated as best I could so that the only language I thought in was Spanish and not to ruin the surprise.

"Tell me what you're thinking..." Ray's voice appeared behind me, his hands wrapped around my hips as he rested his chin on my shoulder. The height difference between us was cute.

"I'm not thinking anything important," I said playfully.

"Stop," he said seriously.

"What?"

"You've been thinking in Spanish all day," His voice sounded annoyed, while I tried to contain my laughter.

"Really? I didn't realize."

"It's annoying."

"Well, darling. It's not the end of the world if you don't know everything that's going on in my mind."

Without responding, Ray left me alone in the kitchen and headed to our room, then came out in his superhero suit. Before me was Binary Star in all his glory, the only difference being that he didn't show that fake smile but still looked upset.

Unknowingly, due to my practice, I had been thinking in Spanish again.

Normally, he would give me a kiss goodbye and go to his vigil shift. But today, he flew off the balcony without looking at me. I won't deny that it hurt me. But it meant I was on the right track to keep the surprise.

Ray came back around 5 in the morning. Half-asleep, I felt him walking around the room before lying down on the other side of our bed. It seems he's still upset because he didn't hug me as he always does.

The next morning, I let him sleep, it helped that we slept separately, so I got out of bed easily. After putting on my robe, I went downstairs and asked the neighbor for my package. I had gotten a chocolate cake with coffee to celebrate Ray's birthday. But if I kept it in our house, he would realize I was planning in Spanish. The neighbor agreed to keep the cake at his house along with my gift.

I went back home, made coffee, and took the cake out of its box, and my gift was already on the tray.

In our room, Ray was still asleep. I cleared my throat and started singing "Happy Birthday."

Ray looked for a moment and then covered his face with his pillow. I could see that lovely smile; he was embarrassed.

I left things on the bedside table and threw myself to hug and kiss Ray; I knew I should have let him sleep more, but I couldn't contain myself after all these days preparing the surprise.

In no time, I was caught in his arms.

"Everything... was for this," His voice sounded deeper from just waking up, but he seemed happy.

"Yes, did you forget your own birthday?" I joked, stroking his soft hair, and running my hand over his cheek. "Ignoring them doesn't mean you stop aging, old man."

"No, I just don't usually celebrate it." He ignored my joke and just passed his hand over his face, somewhat frustrated.

"Well, get used to it. This might be the only birthday I manage to keep a surprise. Next year, you'll know what to expect." I exclaimed proudly.

Ray smiled, keeping his eyes closed; maybe it was the fact that he now had someone to be with him for the following birthdays that made him take this even more joyfully.

"If you don't want cake now, we can save it for later." I gave a glance to the table with his cake and gift, along with his essential morning coffee.

"How about the gift?" He pointed to the purple box. "Can I have it now?"

It was at this moment that nerves increased from zero to a hundred. Everything would be decided at this moment.

"Of course," I handed over the gift, watching as he slowly unwrapped it.

Ray's eyes widened as he looked at the contents of the box and then at me, pulling out two handmade dolls of them and a pregnancy test. After a moment of silence, Mc cleared her throat.

"D-don't think I'll give you a gift like this every year." I laughed nervously.

"Since when—" maybe it was shock, but his voice sounded distant, as if he didn't completely believe what was happening.

"I-it's still early, I haven't been to the doctor yet." Ray looked at me as if I had committed a crime. "I-it would have ruined the surprise."

Ray went from surprise to anger to simply accepting the inevitable: the love of his life was forgetful.

"I swear I feel fine. But you're happy, I mean, we talked about this in the past, but maybe you were thinking of another time in the future... I..."

Ray's hands took me by my cheeks, cradling my face, to give me a tender kiss.

"I am, I mean, I'm so happy that I'd like to hold you so tight in my arms and show you how excited I am about this." He gave me a subdued smile.

"Ray, what's wrong?"

"What if I don't do it right, being a good father?"

"Well, no father is prepared for this. We'll learn together..."

I could see Ray's face relax at my touch and my words. His hands surrounded my back, pulling me into a tight hug.

"Happy birthday..."

"Thank you..." His whisper was weak, but I felt genuine gratitude.

"Next year, we won't be alone on your next birthday, Mr. Dad."

We stayed hugged for a while. I didn't know what was going through Ray's mind, but whatever it was, I would be with him.

When I set out to eat the cake, I was interrupted by Ray, who carried me to the shower to get ready to go to the hospital. It was funny how from one moment to the next, our small bathroom became a dangerous area in Ray's eyes: slippery floor, sharp-cornered furniture, and a bathtub where I could drown, among many other dangerous things. He took out his phone and started calling to have our entire home redesigned to make it safe for me and our upcoming baby. And may God have mercy on the people in charge if I ever got hurt, no matter how insignificant it was.

If this was going to be my life from now on, it would be a long nine months.

"Your father has gone crazy," I said as I stroked my still flat belly. "But that's how I love him."

[intpstyle]

Dragon Age: The Veilguard Review Pt. 1 - "How to move on?", The Companions

DA:TV Spoilers ahead!

So what does DA:TV want to say, or rather: to ask?

I think the question at the lyrium-red heart of the game is “How do you move on?”. It does not only make sense narratively, for Solas and his complicated relationship to his own past actions, the companions’ story arcs, and the “good ending”, but also for a game that has been trapped in development hell for 10+ years. How DO you move on?

Specifically, the question seems to be: “How can we move on from guilt/an unjust/imperfect past into an uncertain future?”

We see this theme echoed in all companion quests, to varying degrees.

It is in Bellara literally being faced with a manifest regret from her past (her brother) and having to choose how to honour the legacy of their work for their people.

It is in Davrin taking responsibility for the guilt over and future of the last surviving griffons whose species almost died because of his organisation’s, the Grey Wardens’, abuse.

It is in Emmrich finding the courage to do what Johanna (his more extreme, unethical mirror) could not do: to face the uncertainty and walk across the threshold of death with peace of mind, either in his ritual or later in life, because of Manfred’s sacrifice.

It is in Harding waking up to the injustices towards her and her people that have been buried deep underground and choosing how to unearth them and carry them forward.

It is in Lucanis moving beyond the reality that he was betrayed by one of the very few people he trusted - that he crawled out of a year of torture by the skin of his teeth, forever changed and fuelled by Spite, and choosing to break the cycle by not murdering Illario.

It is in Neve being haunted by (yet another) criminal from her past, grappling with the age-old noir questions of who a detective would be without their murderers, whether the fight with/ against corruption can ever stop and what it means to be “a force for good”, so that she can fully embrace who she is and wants to be for Minrathous in the future.

And it is in Taash, walking the many tightropes of traditional expectations (man or woman? Rivaini or Qunari? Honouring the past and their mother or carving their own path into the future?) only to realise that some choices are not binary, that one can only discover options beyond that which one has been taught by “struggling with oneself” (shokra toh ebra), and that embracing certain parts of oneself does not mean dishonouring others.

All companions must face something that they were afraid to confront in their own lives, made unavoidable through the appearance of Someone Who Is What They Are Not (Cyrian for Bellara, Isseya for Davrin, Johanna for Emmrich, her own unbridled rage for Harding, Illario for Lucanis, Aelia for Neve, and, the Dragon King, but also, surprisingly, I think Neve for Taash?)

What I find most interesting is how this question (“How can we move on from guilt/an unjust/imperfect past into an uncertain future?”) seems to be answered along a sliding scale of personal vs systemic failing and also personal vs systemic responsibility.

The quests that intrigued me the most were the ones in which the personal and the systemic were deeply intertwined and were also acknowledged as such: Davrin’s (his own struggle with individuation vs being shaped (and potentially abused) by a community/ organisation mirroring Assan’s and the griffons as a whole; both he and the system must change), Emmrich’s (his own deep intrinsic fear of death as the driving force behind his a) appreciating and b) being terrified of the Mourn Watchers’ philosophy of going beyond death is beautifully thought out), Harding’s (her own supressed rage as the price for being ever-pleasant, useful, and building others up by mirroring the long-forgotten suffering of the tranquilised Titans who were literal building materials for the elves? *chef’s kiss*) and Neve’s (her constant fear of losing control (which is highlighted in her romance) while still being drawn to the thrill of the chase is mirrored in Minrathous’ constant chaos where just one slip of vigilance can cost you at best a leg, and at worst your life, or your loved ones – but Neve’s quest marries personal and systemic responsibility by asking: would you rather shape the system’s chaos or be shaped by it?).

The quests that fell a bit flat for me had either side of the equation slightly underbaked: Bellara’s (yes, she and Cyrian were deeply invested in Arlathan and Anaris was a Forgotten One, but how does his death directly relate to Bellara keeping or “freeing” (?) the Archive?), Lucanis’ (there is such potential in an assassin re-evaluating whether murder is always the best solution for everything and especially betrayal (and especially-especially because family members assassinating one another seems to be just another Tuesday for the Crows (and especially-especially-especially because it’s heavily implied that Lucanis knew that whole year in the Ossuary who put him there)). But sadly, the game doesn’t really go into Lucanis’ deeper thoughts on the Crows as an organisation, assassination as a moral quandary or the potential culpability of Caterina – which makes his final decision all the more baffling. Him struggling with his “inner demon” would have been a great set-up for struggling with the title of Demon of Vyrantium; what makes him more or less of a demon now than before? But alas), and Taash’s (all the ingredients are there, but the lack of systemic emphasis really dragged down Taash’s story, I felt. Taash explicitly exists between systems, and yet we don’t really see them engaging in either culture and/or going beyond them except for rather shallow markers, like food, clothes, and jewellery – I really would have liked to experience that moment in which Taash talks to Neve, Maevaris and their friends and reflects on their views on gender. I also really would have liked a moment between Isabela, Rowan and perhaps an Antaam defector on what being Rivaini, in-between, or Qunari meant to them, and for Taash to pitch in. In the end, it was not narratively satisfying for me why Taash must now make a choice (or, even weirder, why Rook must now make a choice for them) between being more Rivaini or more Qunari when them thinking through being more man or more woman ended with “neither/both/a third option, actually”.)

Pt. 2 is here, Pt. 3 is here

[velvetvexations]

Venting but like. I know it's influenced by which circles I follow and such (I'm on this site, for example) but it feels like people just seem to associate gender varience with lesbianism. Like I see so little content of people who center femme gay men, or masculine women who aren't lesbians, etc. People constantly make jokes about like "sees what looks like two gay men but is actually two butches which is ontologically better" but never never anything like what if these two femme looking individuals were gay men. That and like the lack of community and language for feminine men just makes it harder for me to feel like I fit in where the options seem like cis gay overall gender conforming men on one side, people attracted to women of diverse genders and presentations and experiences on the other. People talk about events where they've felt seen as their gender and found other people with queer gender experiences and it's like yeah it was at the Dyke bar or something and I love that for them but where do I go someone who's gender is femme but also man and attracted to men cause the gay male community feels so distant and very cis and conforming, I don't feel a sense of belonging there but the alternative feels desperate to tie me back into womanhood or attraction to women. Butches and dyke's are fantastic but I wish I could find more queer rep of gender exploration that isn't tied to lesbians, personally. And I know it's largely because of the history of these groups and all that and the ways that lesbianism is treated and policed (how there's always arguments against bi lesbians but not bi gay men, trans man lesbians but people just flat out ignore trans women gay men(see the language deficit) etc. There's no equivalent to the butch community for gay men as far as I know, not to the same extent. There's not even commonly used terminology similar to butch or lesbian that gets across that kind of meaning without explicitly tieing in a binary gender(people try with things like Achillean, but that doesn't have the same recognition and often gets mocked instead)(easier to say "the term lesbian includes nonbinary people" than it is to say "the term gay man includes nonbinary people") so I've had to say gay men community even if I'm not entirely a man because there's no words for me) but I feel like I don't even know where to look to find people like me a lot of the time.

This is all just a very personal rant and probably not entirely indicative of wider reality but it helps me to express it to someone else, so I greatly appreciate you having your ask box open to listen <3

It's not things I have a good handle on, but I've heard very similar from others. You're not alone, anon!