#THIS IS A CATEGORY 11 AUTISM EVENT FOR ME

[abueloier]

feeling normal about these three guys specifically being the ones to have lore together. Like im so normal man. totally. Trust

[roundclowns]

Really wanna make a sort of. AU I guess where Wednesday’s Nevermores botany teacher and Enid’s the schools counselor cause idk theyd suit those roles I think. Wednesday would lowkey Loathe that her mothers interest in evil alligned plants has rubbed off on her and would hate it even more that she secretly enjoys her vocation and lowkey torturing highschoolers. Enid is sweet but loves to get all up in peoples business and where better to do so than there. Of course, in that role she cannot gossip about students business but she’d absolutely tell Wednesday, who is neither motivated or interested enough in the goings on of teenagers to gossip.

[possumsinpeoplesuits]

So, every once in a while, I have to rant about something online before I just start blabbing to some poor unfortunate Wendy's employee about niche internet pornography. Sometimes in the middle of that rant I realize I might be onto something, and have to share it with others who might benefit.

Today, that subject is the Omegaverse, and the squandered potential for worldbuilding therein.

Now, this post is gonna have some very broad generalizations about the genre, because while I'm certain there's plenty of authors who do put a lot of thought into the pedantic details I'm about to have a Category 5 Autism Event about, it's been difficult to find them amongst a sea of painfully mediocre fics.

For every stellar Locked Tomb Omegaverse fic set in a modern day Taco Bell (Seriously, I want to engrave Double the Meat onto a satellite and launch it into space so that extraterrestrials can see the peak of human civilization) there's like... a million and one Alpha Male/Omega Female pairings written by Conservative Mormon housewives that dare to ask such questions as "What if a man and a woman could have a baby?" and "What the hell is consent?"

But I'm not here to be mentally ill about yet another space being drowned in heteronormativity. Nor am I gonna be a dick about the first fics written by teenagers who're just dipping into fan communities, because my terminally online since the age of 11 ass would be a huge hypocrite for that.

No, instead I'm here to talk about genitals, and deliver just enough sciencey technobabble to justify my passionate opinions about the potential of what is, ostensibly, werewolf porn.

So, for those who've somehow gotten through all these paragraphs but have zero idea what the Omegaverse is, the basic gist is that there are three sex categories that're separate and occur within the usual sexes that humans already have. Effectively, this means that male, female, and intersex individuals can also be Alphas, Betas, or Omegas.

So, to understand these categories, there's a pretty simple rule. Alphas can get Omegas pregnant, regardless of physical sex. Sometimes Alphas are bigger than normal, and Omegas are more petite, but that's not quite as much of a core "rule" to follow, and more just dependent on people's tastes. Betas usually follow standard human dimorphism, though I have seen some people headcanon them as a sort of halfway point between Alpha and Omega.

There's some more details, too, like the presence of knotting (where the base of the penis swells and prevents pulling out during orgasm), heat cycles and rut (where the mating instinct goes into fucking overdrive in the most literal sense), pheromones, bite marking, and sometimes that whole... imprinting thing from Twilight.

So, taking this all into account... Omegaverse fiction has the potential for a BARE MINIMUM of 6-9 SEXES before even taking the vast spectrum of gender identities and presentations into account.

Do you see what I'm on about now? When our society is still struggling with the concept of being nonbinary, and barely ever even acknowledges intersexuality as existing, any Omegaverse setting would be radically different on a biological, psychological, and sociological level.

Can ya see now why I get frustrated when it gets stripped down to compulsive heterosexuality with wolf dicks?

Now, with all the standard tropes laid out like this, we get back to the question that started this all, the question that should be a no brainer when it comes to smut... What them genitals look like? What does a female Alpha, or a male Omega have down there? I have three concepts in mind, and explanations on how they could work from a scientific perspective that's just barely not bullshit enough to overcome suspension of disbelief!

So, the first thought, and the one that initially appeals to me as a nonbinary person... they just look trans. This concept is really simple to work with, because we can just look at real life trans people and just tweak things a little bit. Maybe primary and secondary sexual characteristics operate independently naturally, or maybe there's HRT for it. It's a pretty common method, too, and I enjoy seeing it... but it feels like it needs something more?

Don't get me wrong, this one's basically my personal gold standard for shorter Omegaverse stories, especially fanfiction, but it's also just... swapping parts around. Great for ease of access, but hard to differentiate from the trans experience. Definitely a go-to if you want to play with transition in an alternate society, though.

For the other two, I have to explain a bit about fetal development and reproductive organ equivalents. Also a bit of genetics, too, because it's where we're gonna fuck around and build a lot of theoretical bullshit around a little bit of real knowledge.

So! Some of you may have heard that every fetus starts as female, but might not know some of the mechanisms at work when that changes, and how finicky they can be. This is also fun to throw at TERFs, because ambiguity throws a wrench in the simplistic arguments of reactionary bigots. :)

So, the usual arrangement of sex determining genes is often simplified to XX=female and XY=male. This leaves out other variations like Klinefelter syndrome (XXY) which affects 1 in 500 people under the AMAB umbrella, causing some degree of infertility, autism symptoms, and a somewhat androgynous body shape. (I've been checked for this one! It came up negative, but reading about it was enlightening.)

Now, the presence of a Y chromosome (usually) causes the proto-organs to change function, and develop into the male-aligned reproductive systems at roughly, say... 6-8 weeks? (Unless, of course, there a deficiency in the 5α-Reductase enzyme, which causes a delay in some of this process, resulting in a child that appears female, then just... grows a dick during puberty when the higher levels of testosterone overcome the deficiency and finish off the primary sexual trait development.)

Hey, wanna know the fun thing? Even that is an oversimplification. The whole Y chromosome doesn't mean shit unless the sex-determining region Y gene is in the right place. It can just... fuck off and attach to the X chromosome. If this mutation occurs in XY individuals, it causes Swyer's syndrome, resulting in a female aligned reproductive system that just doesn't include functioning ovaries, just purposeless ambiguous gonads. Pair that fucky X chromosome with another X chromosome, and you get a male with XX chromosomes.

Plus, if someone has a faulty androgen receptor? Well, partial androgen insensitivity can leave things ambiguous, but if it just doesn't work at all? Yeah, everything will develop along the female blueprint, despite the fact that the gonads are testes.

I swear this is still about the porn.

So, with the information we have about these real, existent conditions, we have a good idea of reproductive development, and the mechanisms at play. Now, there's still some theory that's not been definitively proven yet, but the current consensus on the primary sexual equivalents are as follows:

The clitoris forms into the penis, while the vaginal canal doesn't form.

The ovaries become testes, or stay as undefined gonads.

The salpinx become the vas deferens (these are the tubes that transfer eggs or seminal fluids, respectively. More on this later.)

And finally, and the most theoretical, the uterus is believed to become the prostate. (There's sometimes a little pocket, or divot in the prostate, and the arrangement makes sense, but it's still up for debate.)

But how do we use this for our fuck fics, you ask? How do we take your failed medical career, and translate it into Destiel's babies ever after? Well, it's quite simple! We just have to add the bullshit!

So, most alterations to the SRY gene or the androgen receptor tends to just wholesale alter the whole array, and the midway point usually results in infertility and difficulty with sexual function, but what if we could change this? What if, for the purpose of our fiction, we can mix and match everything, and somehow make it all functional and neat? Well, fasten your fuckin' seatbelts, because we're finally at the theories I made while delirious due to a combination of sleep deprivation and the after effects of eating an entire ice cream cake to myself over the weekend.

So, the firmest idea, and the idea I'll be using because I am WAY too deep into this to not write Omegaverse unironically, is what I've dubbed the Primary/vestigal system for f!A and m!O characters.

So, this theory would require that we shove two things into suspension of disbelief. One, we have to completely fuck with androgen and estrogen receptors to mix and match the development of primary and secondary sexual characteristics. Two, I have absolutely no idea how you'd be able to tell when this is going to occur. Maybe genetic testing, or maybe it's just a surprise? Depends on your style of story.

Effectively, we'd base this off the delayed primary sexual characteristic development mentioned above. Alpha Females would operate similar to the real thing, being born looking typically female, before puberty hits and the Alpha genes take over for the genital development, while secondary characteristics still follow a feminine shape. Maybe the gonads stay inside, but function as testes? Sure, sperm production is more effective around 1-2 degrees lower than normal body temperature, but it doesn't stop entirely.

For Omega Males, the process would occur in reverse. Maybe the testes just change course and go back into the abdomen to become ovaries, or maybe they don't descend at all and the first clue this is happening would just be finding a vaginal canal forming?

I like this one primarily because it feels like a less 1 to 1 allegory for being queer, but still feels kind of relatable? You can, of course, still have the end result resemble the first method mentioned waaaaay up past the sciencey bits, but I kind of like the idea of there being a vestigial remnant of the birth parts left behind. I like the ambiguity, and the chance to explore how this would affect someone appeals to me.

Now, my last theory is mostly for the lulz, but this must be DOCUMENTED for POSTERITY'S SAKE.

So, Omegaverse started with m/m shipping with mpreg, right? Well, a lot of the earlier fiction just... describes typical cis male anatomy, with zero explanation for exactly how this is all occurring. There's just... anal sex, and then that somehow forms babby.

Well, what if I told you that I've figured it out? See, remember how I mentioned that the prostate is theoretically what became of the fetal uterine tissue? Guess where the prostate is? Guess. GUESS.

THE ASS IS WHERE!

So, we just have to bullshit the prostate back into a functioning uterus, but leave the placement in close proximity to the anus. Now, the other problem is that that would mean that there's an opening leading to the colon, which... look, I have no idea how birds and lizards keep their cloaca from getting infected, but connecting other tracts to the asshole doesn't usually end well.

So, we have to find a way to seal it up when not in use. Now, the cervix serves this purpose in the real world, opening to let in fluids, or let out discharge or, y'know... a baby, but that's really expensive so most of us settle for having a breeding kink that we never act on, and instead impose on our favorite blorbos who don't have to pay for health insurance.

But still, even with a butt-cervix, bacteria's still likely to get in, so we need a firmer block. I've suggested a little flap like the epiglottis in the throat as a second line of defense. If it can protect your trachea from wayward chicken nuggets, then hey! It might not be terrible for keeping sepsis at bay!

Unfortunately, layering extra protection over the bussy business zone ain't gonna cut it. Hell, as self cleaning as the vagina is, infections happen all the damn time, even if your hygiene is good. So, we need to take that self cleaning nature, apply it to the bussy business zone, and crank it up to eleven. Just constant mucousal discharge, pushing all the bad back out.

So, yeah. Your favorite Omega Man'll have a rectal womb covered with a secondary internal assflap that's constantly discharging a steady stream of slime (just consider it free lube!), but if you can make it past that, you can live your dreams of gettin' that bussy mpregged by cumming in they gay ass. Then they'd just kinda... poop out the baby, presumably.

So there you have it! Three in-depth explorations of how Omegaverse genitals can work! I'm gonna go take my psych meds and fucking SLEEP.

[sporesgalaxy]

a bit late to sloppy joe swednesday but once when i was in kindergarten i got to buy my lunch at the school cafeteria which was a treat for me as a kid who always brought a packed lunch. and i thought it was going to be so great but they were serving sloppy joes. and that was the day i learned that i hate sloppy joes. its not even just wet beef, its wet beef with other little shit mixed in. i dont even know what they put in those things. vegetables i hope? i dont know what vegetables though. and that scares me. anyway the look of it alone was enough to cause a category 11 autism hell event. thanks for listening to my story

ALLEGEDLY it's onions in there....but yes the textures, especially in School Lunch Form, are a nightmare. thank you for sharing your truth comrade sloppy joe hater

[locowolf]

you guys don’t understand how insane it is that danny brown and quadeca are working on new songs together. this is a category 5 autism event for me. absolutely cataclysmic. like ten 9/11s but in a good way.

[skybristle]

CATEGORY 11 AUTISM EVENT. DONT FUCKING TALK TO ME /POS

[lamphous]

after a conversation last week I've worked up a timeline of keaton undiagnosed gender foci and its.... hm. *touches earth* something happened here.

childhood - gene kelly in singin in the rain, dave from newsradio, will as in "and grace", taran killam's character in the soap opera parody segment of, klaus from a series of unfortunate events middle school - bill hader on snl 2005-11, the tenth doctor, weird al?, blaine from glee, reid from criminal minds, my one and only boyfriend high school - the artist now known as elliot page, dan howell, neil from dead poets society < at which point I realize what is happening here

generally they can be sorted into the two broad categories of "clean cut yet neurotic young man" (1-5, 9, 12, 14) and "lanky nerd with likely tragic haircut" (6-8, 10, 11, 13) but the array contained within each of those is a lot. the trend toward more of the latter intrigues me. one possible explanation would be the autism of it all. I would say that the only personal entry on the list is a real borderline case, which is intriguing and lends credence to the autism theory

[turtleduck-tea]

Just reached Zuko Alone in my rewatch and god yeah no wonder this altered my brain chemistry when I was 13

It's the first episode I ever saw. Little me, in my grandma's house on vacation in Hungary, watching cartoons on the little old box tv she had in crappy hungarian dubs. I was never interested in atla before, but there was only one kids channel, and that's what came on, so I watched it. And god.

I had absolutely zero context at all, but it was an instant special interest and it hit with a force. I'd never experienced anything like that before, and haven't since. The autism gods looked down upon me and pried open my third eye to look at this sad fire boy. I also knew nothing about Zuko outside of that episode, but I didn't need to, I was deeply in love with him immediately (hey, listen, I was 13).

The wifi at my grandma's was a mythical being that only existed in legend, and as such I was unable to even look anything up about the show. I had nothing to fuel my new love and a whole month left there before I'd get to go home to my reliable internet connection. It was hard catching episodes daily too because we weren't just always sitting around at home, and this was before the days where you could rewind the tv. I made up possible plotlines in my mind. I hyperfixated on those. I was desperate.

But my god. I've never felt love so strongly before. I saw Zuko in my dreams (again, 13 year old kid). I turned 14 later that summer. I imagined he was there to celebrate with me. I was also exhibiting other signs of mental illness, strangely no one ever noticed. I made my grandma watch atla with me. I think she liked it.

And then, at last, summer ended and I got to go home. The moment we arrived after a 14 hour car ride I ran to my room and turned on my computer's life support (I had an old-ass box desktop and big computer box thing combo, handed down from my grandfather, and I was incredibly lucky for it). Finally I could get to watch the show that's been taking over every cell of my body. I hadn't thought of anything else even for a second all summer. I had entire AUs and fanfics planned despite knowing at most the bare minimum of what the show is actually about. Category 11 autism event. And at last here I was, and I found the episodes online in german, and hit play, and it worked!

And I managed to watch it for two minutes. Before I turned it off. Despite all my autism I actually had to turn it off, because even though I wanted nothing more in the whole wide world than to finally watch atla. The german dub sucks so much ass. I couldn't do it. I just couldn't.

So I turned it off. And I sat my ass down. And I started learning english. So I could watch atla.

And just to be clear. English was my worst subject. I was awful at it. But the german dub was so utterly horrid that it hyperfixation-fueled me into learning a whole ass language and I'm now more fluent in it than some native speakers. When I tell you I went from barely passing the class to writing whole fanfictions in MONTHS. Look at me writing this post. I don't even know how to write in german anymore.

So, yeah, Zuko Alone. If it'd been any other episode I probably wouldn't have ever become interested. Giving me that episode in that very moment was divine intervention. I needed that. This was supposed to be a short post but listen guys ZUKO ALONE. OKAY. I have feelings about this.

I was never the same (I was better)

[keptoabysmal]

My brother got me The Black Parade on vinyl for my birthday (Category 11 Autism Event)

[zosonils]

7, 9, and 10 for Ferb!!

hoo boy here we go!!

1. how long i've known about them

i've known who ferb was since i first saw phineas and ferb when i was about 8, i want to say? so 9 years, give or take! he was fairly out of focus in my brain for most of that time though, it's only when that dormant hyperfixation finally emerged last year that he started taking up space in my brain

2. whether or not they've ever made me cry

nope - i'm actually drawn to pnf specifically because it almost never makes me feel sad hsjnbfkj

7. the moment of theirs that made me the happiest

i'm gonna cheat a couple of these and just go for Categories of moments rather than single distinct ones [mostly because i don't have time to dig through 200+ episodes hsjnfkj] but the main reason i love ferb so much is how strongly he's coded as autistic so any moment where that really comes through makes me go :) :) :) so much..... most of it is a lack of an action rather than the presence of one, like him being mostly nonverbal and rarely emoting, but sometimes there's a Moment where he does something and i'm like oh you have so much autism and i love that. been a while since i watched pnf so unfortunately i can't pull up specific episode examples but it's there i promise hjkdnjkfgjb

8. something about them that made me laugh

as iconic as it is whenever ferb talks i think the silent visual gags or funny background events he's often at the centre of are so good. a lot of the time visual jokes like that are so much funnier if you don't say anything about them and ferb is the king of this

9. my favourite canon outfit of theirs

oh you KNOW it's gotta be his outfit in the baljeatles. so funky. so openly and unapologetically gay. there's a reason it's my icon lmao look at this

even though this is an easy top pick ferb gets so many good and iconic outfits over the show though. some of my other favourites are his greaser look in my sweet ride and the dress he wears at the end of gaming the system. ferb really went out there and invented queer fashion

10. my favourite moment with them in canon

another category of moments rather than anything singular but i absolutely melt whenever ferb directly interacts with his family in a positive way [especially his siblings] it's invariably adorable. like when candace ruffles his hair during the end of summer belongs to you and he smiles at the affection that's the good shit..... this kid loves and is loved by his family so much

11. my favourite relationship they have with another

easy answer but i love his and phineas' dynamic! they are Brothers and they care each other so much. the way they play off each other is really funny and makes for fun writing when it's explored enough which honestly it kinda wasn't but i digress and it's so obvious that they're ride or die for each other no matter what. it's very sweet and quite possibly my favourite thing about the entire show

12. what i like about how the fandom portrays them

i often see ferb portrayed as casually feral the way many a neurodivergent child is and i LOVE it. objectively correct, thank you so much. let ferb commit arson

13. what i don't like about how the fandom portrays them

fortunately i hardly see it in this gay neurodivergent little corner we've got going on over here but everyone who's ever made some edgy joke about ferb not wanting to be there or phineas never listening to him owes me 200 dollars and an essay on why nonverbal does not automatically mean unhappy

[petermj-week]

Introducing the Spideychelle Recathon!

I really appreciated all of the hard work and dedication the Spideychelle fandom showed during this year’s Spideychelle Week and I really wanted to find a way to celebrate all of those fantastic creators in this fandom, including those who didn’t participate in the week but contribute to the fandom outside of it. A lot of fan events that are hosted on Tumblr focus on content creation and I wanted to create an event focused on content appreciation.

Then it hit me—a recathon, taking from the words recommendation and marathon; an event that encourages people to rec many fanworks over the course of the event. I’m surely not the first to come up with the idea, but I haven’t seen it in the Spideychelle fandom yet. I hope this event will be a success like Spideychelle Week has proven to be in the past and it becomes a staple for the fandom.

The event will take place in October across all thirty-one days. You do not have to participate for every day, however, and you can pick and choose based on the daily themes that have fanworks that you are passionate about and wish to reccomend to others. I’d like on the chosen day for particpants to create a rec list (it does not have to be a list if you only have one fanwork to rec) and tag this blog (@spideychelleweek) so that I can reblog the rec list. It’s also encouraged that you tag the creators’ you’re reccing and let them know you love their work! If the original creator has already posted the fanwork on Tumblr then you can also choose to reblog their original post and tag this blog, letting me know you’re reccing it.

I hope most of the prompts are self-explanatory, but if not then below the cut I’ll try to simply explain each one. If you have any questions about the prompts or the event then please send in an ask and I’ll answer as promptly as I can.

Day 01 | Classics: Older and beloved fanworks; the type that every fan should read/watch/see and is introduced to every new Spideychelle fan someway or another. These fanworks should have been posted before the release of Spider-Man: Far From Home.

Day 02 | Crossover/Fusion: Crossover is when two fandoms combine, such as a fanwork where Peter Parker meets Robert Patterson’s Batman, while fusion is where the fandoms are merged by implanting the characters of one setting into another, such as the ever popular Hogwarts AU.

Day 03 | Kiss: Fanworks involving kissing, such as a one shot about their first kiss or a fanart of a passionate kiss. Kissing doesn’t have to be the main focus of the work. For instance, if you think a 100k word fanfic has the best kiss scenes then rec it away even if it has 95k words where no kissing is involved.

Day 04 | MJ Backstory: In the MCU’s canon we don’t know a lot about MJ’s family or her life, but the fandom has explored and delved deep into MJ’s character so this slot is for fanworks that explore MJ’s backstory whether it be a down-to-earth depiction of her family or exciting backstory where MJ is a spy.

Day 05 | Fluff: A fanwork that is pleasant and makes you feel good, such as fanworks depicting cuddling or other affectionate actions though fluff isn’t limited to that.

Day 06 | Identity Reveal: Fanworks that explore Peter Parker’s secret identity and it being revealed to MJ (who may already know) or other characters.

Day 07 | Post-FFH: Fanworks that take place after Spider-Man: Far From Home and explore what happens after Mysterio revealed Peter Parker’s identity to the world.

Day 08 | Vids: All kinds of fanworks can be posted for each day, but I imagine most will end up being fics so this day is devoted solely to vids which are video edits often set to music using clips from the films.

Day 09 | Fix-It: For fanworks that “correct” canon events that are not liked by the fan(dom), such as fanworks where the Snap/Blip never happened, Tony never died, or whatever else that fandom seeks to correct through fanworks.

Day 10 | Favorite Creator(s): Spread the spotlight to specific creators whose fanworks you love.

Day 11 | Domestic: Fanworks involving the characters living everyday lives. Often involves marriage or children, but domestic fanworks don’t have to include that nor does domestic mean that Peter can’t have powers, since being Spider-Man is a normal part of his everyday life.

Day 12 | Angst: Fanworks that hit you in the feels by making you feel negative emotions, particularly saddness or fear.

Day 13 | No Spider-Man: Fanworks that depict Peter Parker as a normal human being without superpowers. Other characters can have superpowers, but Peter Parker cannot.

Day 14 | LGBT+: Fanworks that depict LGBT+ themes and/or characters such as Trans!Peter Parker or Bisexual!MJ. Those are just examples, so feel free to rec works that don’t fit those specific parameters as long as they are LGBT+ focused.

Day 15 | Underappreciated: Fanworks that are underappreciated, such as not having that much engagement from the fandom. I’ll let you determine what counts as underappreciated, but please don’t rec fanworks that have 1000 kudos and 50 comments. This day is about praising fanworks that get barely any praise.

Day 16 | Alternative Universe: Fanworks that alter elements of canon, such as College AUs, Coffee Shop AUs, Vampire AUs, Omegaverse AUs, Historical AUs, Soulmate AUs, and so, so, so many more.

Day 17 | Spider-Man 3: Fanworks that make you go, “this could be in the MCU’s Spider-Man 3,” whether it be fanart depicting an epic fight scene, a long fic plotting out a huge overarching narrative, a vid with a tight story, or whatever else you can think of. 

Day 18 | One Shots: Fanworks, typically fanfiction but it can include other mediums such as comics, that are standalone stories contained within a single chapter.

Day 19 | Hurt/Comfort: Fanworks involving a character(s) being hurt either emotionally or physically and then being comforted by another character(s). 

Day 20 | Self-Rec: Recommend a fanwork or fanworks that you created! Don’t be afraid to be proud of your work and I want everyone to shamelessly rec their fanworks that they’re proud of on this day.

Day 21 | Comic Elements: Fanworks that include elements from the Spider-Man comics that have yet to appear in the MCU, such as the Venom Symbiote or a reimagining of a classic scene/panel/storyline using the MCU’s version of the characters.

Day 22 | Art: A day to recommend your favorite pieces of fanart. This doesn’t just include drawn/painted art, but it can also include cosplay, sculptures, paper craft, and any other medium.

Day 23 | Missing Scene: Any fanwork that fills in a “gap” in the films and could reasonably be seen as canon compliant.

Day 24 | Five Things: A story structure that includes multiple scenes that are related to each other using a common theme. An example is “Five Time Peter & MJ Almost Kissed & The One Time They Did.” The story structure does not need to have exactly five and can have any number as long as it follows the typical structure.

Day 25 | Humor: Fanworks that are humorous and make you laugh.

Day 26 | Smut: Fanworks that depict sexual material of either a Mature or Explicit rating. 

Day 27 | Drabble: Fanfics that are exactly one hundred words long, but for this day I’ll accept less words or slightly more. And I also would like to see other mediums for this category such as vids that are less than thirty seconds. Generally, just fanworks that are fairly short in length.

Day 28 | Mental Health: Fanworks that depict mental illness, mental disorders, or neurodivergent headcanons. Examples include, but are not limited to, ADHD, Autism, Panic Attacks, PTSD, Anxiety, Depression, etc.

Day 29 | Meta: Essays or analysis discussing the characters and/or relationship in the context of its portrayal in canon or fandom. 

Day 30 | New Fanwork: Fanworks that have only been recently posted. I won’t give an exact hard timeline for you to follow, but as a guideline I’d say it counts as new if it was posted in the past two months.

Day 31 | Free Day: Reccomend fanworks based on any theme (or no theme) that you want.

[juliabohemian]

Can We Take a Joke?

Recently I have been thinking a lot about what it means for something to be offensive. A few years back, a favorite comedian of mine lost his prestigious job, working alongside a duck, as a spokesperson for a large healthcare corporation because he tweeted a joke that some people (or perhaps an entire nation of people) found offensive. 

This particular comedian is notorious for joking about topics that are really touchy. I have been a fan of his comedy since the 80s, probably since before I was even old enough to be watching his shows. I have never been offended by anything he's said. The reason being that there is not an ounce of maliciousness to be found there. He doesn't come across as hateful. Just tactless. Almost to the point where it's so ridiculous, that you know he isn't serious.

Gilbert Gottfried is notorious for joking about topics that are really touchy. I have been a fan of his comedy since the 80s, probably since before I was even old enough to be watching his shows. I have never been offended by anything he's said. The reason being that there is not an ounce of maliciousness to be found there. He doesn't come across as hateful. Just tactless. Almost to the point where it's so ridiculous, that you know he isn't serious. 

Gilbert Gottfried has always appealed to me because of how bravely and stubbornly he refuses to yield to social conventions, which I personally find exhausting. Growing up as a neurodivergent (I have both autism and ADHD) I would often say things that offended other people and could never seem to understand where I’d gone wrong. I felt like I was running some kind of obstacle course, in which the rules were constantly changing. I was fascinated by watching Gilbert on stage, being true to himself despite whatever heckling he might endure. It took me years of navigating around other people's feelings to figure out how I could still be me, without causing others distress. I am still working on it. 

Which brings me to my first point, which is what does it actually mean to be offended? We’ve all been offended at some point, whether we like it or not. Basically it means that something another person said or did triggered an emotional reaction in us that we did not enjoy, and after some analysis (or no analysis) we came to the conclusion that the source of our emotion lay entirely outside of ourselves, rather than consider the possibility that some portion of our reaction was the result of our own trauma or emotional baggage.

So, what is it that makes people feel the need to censor other people? It comes down to control. Just so you know, we don’t have any. The sooner you embrace that, the happier you will be. The problem is that, for the most part, we tend to feel helpless unless we take some sort of action. It gives us the illusion of control. When, in fact, we cannot control what other people say or do. Not really. If you don’t believe me, have some children and you should be thoroughly convinced. At the end of the day, we can only control ourselves. And most of us can’t even do that.

That being said, censorship actually began with conservatives and evangelicals. That’s not too hard to dissect. A major component of their ideology involves monopolizing the moral high ground. They devoted a great deal of energy to protecting humanity from such dangers as homosexuality and promiscuity and women wearing pants and having jobs. Things like that. And they had that gig for a few thousand years until, sometime during the last 4 decades or so, there was a paradigm shift. The right passed the censorship torch to the liberals. Or the right accidentally dropped it while they were looking for Obama’s birth certificate. Either way, it now seems that the left is attempting to do what the right could not, which is to police the world and rid it of its ills.

Bearing in mind, of course, that I consider myself as liberal as a person can possibly be. I find that while I often share the views of other liberals about what is and isn’t offensive, I don’t always agree with them about what, if anything, we should do about it.

Which begs the question, when should a reasonably intelligent, emotionally mature person be offended? And I think it really does come down to a few factors, primarily intent and context. These things are really important. Who told the joke and why were they telling it? Who is the target of the joke? Are we laughing AT them or WITH them?

A Jew telling a joke about jews is not offensive. And if you’re not Jewish, you don’t get to have a say about it. A black man joking about what it’s like to drive around a strange neighborhood, while black, is also not offensive. Neither is a white person joking about it, frankly, so long as the point of the joke is how ridiculous it is that a black person even has to deal with that shit in the first place. 

When the target of the joke is a member of a marginalized group and the purpose of the joke is to commiserate with that person, then it’s not offensive. It only has the potential to be offensive when the person telling the joke is a member of a privileged group (male, Caucasian, Christian) and the target of the joke is not. Note, I said POTENTIAL. Because sometimes jokes that fit that definition aren’t offensive. They’re just not funny. In which case, that situation usually takes care of itself.

I have found that almost all comedy can be divided into two categories: drawing attention to that which is obvious or doing the exact opposite of what people are expecting. Most stand-up comedy falls into the first category. Which is why stand up comedians talk about things like relationship woes, airplane food, having kids etc. Because poking fun at experiences that large groups of people can relate to is a practical choice when you are dealing with an audience of total strangers. Especially when those strangers are your primary source of income.

The thing about comedians is that most of them don't genuinely believe what they are saying. The audience knows this. Or at least, they should. Comedians often adopt a persona when they take the stage, which differs drastically from their real life selves. Do I think Gilbert Gottfried is happy that Japanese people lost their lives to a horrible tsunami? Not for one second. Do I think that he was amused by the events of 9-11? As a lifelong resident of Brooklyn, I seriously doubt it. I think he was doing what he's always done, what we ALL do, which is to make jokes about things that are uncomfortable, in order to alleviate the discomfort. That’s what comedians do. In fact, we RELY upon them to do it. We RELY upon humor to help us cope with tragedy and trauma.

Which I can relate to on a very deep level because I have been through some pretty horrific shit in my life and I have always been the first person to make a  joke about it. There have been times in my life where I have been telling a story about something terrible I went through and the other person was clearly uncomfortable with my making a joke about it. I could tell, just by looking at them, that they wanted to be offended. They wanted to claim that moral high ground and let me know that I was being inappropriate. But they couldn’t because it’s MY LIFE AND I WILL JOKE ABOUT IT IF I WANT TO.

Getting back to how to know whether something is offensive...I was watching a documentary called Can We Take a Joke? which was specifically addressing the topic of people being offended by comedy. Within the documentary there was some footage of a young man at a college doing some (and I use this term generously) stand-up comedy in which he was disparaging women's studies as a major, after which a woman in the audience (who he called a loud mouthed cunt) ran on stage and told him to shut up. 

This is a perfect example of when intent matters. How is this young man different than a comedian who is simply joking about something uncomfortable in order to alleviate discomfort? Simply put, he believes what he is saying. Not only does he dislike women’s studies, he dislikes women in general. He is drawn to the stage out of a desire to have a platform for expressing that disdain. And that came across in his act because, well, he didn’t try very hard to hide it. 

Can the concept of women's studies be funny? Absolutely. There are many jokes we could make about women's studies and gender studies and other similar academic majors. I could probably do an entire 30 minute routine just on social sciences in general. But this young man wasn't drawing attention to the obvious, which is that often these majors don't lead to any specific career path. He was simply expressing disdain for women. 

Is that offensive? Well, yes. Disdain can be funny, so long as it isn’t the product of bias towards an entire group of people. Disdain for having a cold, for instance. Disdain for being stuck in traffic. Disdain for women, however, isn’t worthy of laughter.

But is the appropriate response to run on stage and demand that he be quiet? No. The level of anger expressed by the woman in the audience was, shall we say, disproportionate. She seemed a little unhinged. Although, it’s possible that she already knew the young man or that they had some sort of personal history. Either way, the solution, if there even is one, is to ignore him and stop giving him attention. Is it fair to be offended by someone who seems genuinely hateful? Absolutely. But it isn’t always appropriate, productive, or even possible to take any sort of counteraction. 

Not only that but I think there is no real danger that this kid will ever break into the comedy business for real. So, he will likely have to look to some MRA themed subreddit for further validation of his misogyny. Unless the next loudmouthed cunt that storms on stage kills him, of course.

When Mr. Gottfried made that unfortunate tweet about the tsunami in Japan the internet crucified him. People actually said he should die. Which, to me, is a far worse statement than any jokes the comedian has ever made. I was furious, not only with the general public, but with other show business personalities who refused to speak up on Mr. Gottfried’s behalf. In hindsight, I realize that they were probably terrified that they would be next on the chopping block. Which says a lot about us as a society, I think. 

But I don’t think the problem is that people are too easily offended. The problem is that too many people lack critical thinking skills. We need to be willing to ask ourselves whether something is genuinely offensive, or if the topic of it simply evokes negative feelings for us because of our own individual experiences. We need to be willing to step away and resist the urge to take everyone else with us. We also need to accept that sometimes there are genuinely hateful assholes in the world and that silencing them is not always an option. 

If something genuinely is offensive, what should you do about it? 99% of the time, the correct answer is nothing. Now, I'm not talking about hate speech. I'm not talking about propaganda. I'm talking about some comedian, shock jock, TV personality making a joke that you found offensive. You can certainly blog about it, if it makes you feel better. But after that you should avoid that person, their material, their show etc. Because, clearly it is not the right entertainment for you.

I feel that way about King of the Hill and Family Guy. But since I am capable of acknowledging that those things are amusing to other people, I am able to refrain from launching a campaign against their creators under the guise of making the world a better place for everyone.

TL;DR Gilbert Gottfried is a national treasure and should be protected, like the Grand Canyon. AFLAC knew exactly what they were getting when they hired him and merely fired him due to the pressures put in place by late stage capitalism, which dictate that anyone working for a profit seeking entity is at the mercy of public opinion. Shine on, you crazy diamond.  

[a-queer-seminarian]

“The Origins of the Disabled Body: Disability in Ancient Mesopotamia” by Neal H. Walls, 2007

Anyone who has appreciated commentary on Shanidar I, a blind Neanderthal who lived a long life and was loved by his community, or posts like this one about the place of persons with cognitive/developmental disabilities like autism throughout history, will likely find what Walls says about Ancient Mesopotamia worth reading as well! Thus I took the time to type out a significant portion of his essay (available in full in the book This Abled Body) -- enjoy!

As I study disability in the Hebrew Bible (aka the “Old Testament”), this essay by Walls has offered me insight into the world “behind the text” -- into ancient Mesopotamian cultures. It’s cool to see how Mesopotamian cultures viewed what we today call disability and how it compares to views in the Hebrew Bible.

Is a disabled person “imperfect/incomplete,” and is disability a sign of God’s disfavor or punishment, as the Bible’s Priestly (P) and Deuteronomist (D) texts claim (e.g. Leviticus 21:17-23, Deuteronomy 28:28-29)? Or is disability part of God-created, God-intended human diversity, as the Yahwist (J) source claims (e.g. Exodus 4:11)? What did the cultures of neighboring peoples have to say on the subject? It turns out that like the “competing voices” within the Bible, there were several attitudes towards disability at play in ancient Mesopotamia.

Walls approaches the question of disability in ancient Mesopotamia using a community model of disability: “in which disability is defined or measured by one’s capacity to fulfill socially prescribed tasks or functions rather than by medical or physical criteria” (p. 15) He continues,

“Disability, whether physical or cognitive, is thus a relative and socially constructed category that rests upon a particular society’s expectations. For example, while the loss of a hand could lead to ‘the impairment of major life functions’ (as the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 characterizes a disability) for an ancient singer, it would perhaps not qualify as a professional ‘disability’ in Mesopotamian ideology. Indeed, a Sumerian proverb compares a ‘scribe without a hand’ to a ‘singer without a voice’ as examples of people unable to perform their professional duties. ... As Martha Lynn Edwards (1997) points out in her studies of disability in ancient Greece, information about disabled people in the ancient Near East is often difficult to uncover precisely because they were integrated into society in productive ways. Conversely, those individuals who [had] truly debilitating conditions were unlikely to appear in the public or literary records. ...Hector Avalos concludes, ‘Mesopotamia exhibits a long tradition in which individuals households, not a state institution or the temple, bore direct responsibility for the long-term care of the ill’ (1995).”

Walls continues to describe how the temple system did play a role in the lives of disabled persons, who -- if their families did not have the resources to support them -- could find jobs there “in household tasks such as milling and weaving” (p. 16).

He notes that there is evidence of infanticide in the event of newborns displaying certain disabilities or diseases, involving a belief that such babies were bad omens and might endanger the family/society (pp. 21-22); but  evidence also exists that some disabled babies were given extensive care and lived into childhood and even adulthood (p. 23). Moreover, while chronic illnesses like leprosy and disabilities like epilepsy were often seen as divine punishment and could get one expelled from cities (as well as disqualified from the priesthood) (pp. 25-26), persons with many other disabilities were integrated into society -- and often in ways that went beyond “menial tasks”! Many disabled persons were “given advanced technical skills...or powerful positions at court...and high social status” (p. 19).

Walls takes a look at Sumerian creation myth to learn more about what these cultures thought about how disability came about and how disabled persons should be treated:

Creating the Disabled Body: Enki and Ninmah

“Ancient Mesopotamian myths of creation describe humanity as laborers who were created to serve the gods and relieve them of their labors. ...In the first tablet of the Old Babylonian myth of Atrahasis, the gods call upon ‘the midwife of the gods, wise Mami,’ to form humans: Create a human being [lullû] that he may bear the yoke, Let him bear the yoke, the task of Enlil, Let man [awīlum] assume the drudgery of the gods. Mami creates mortals with the aid of her consort, Enki (also called Ea), from divine flesh, blood, and spittle, as well as clay. Humans are a hardy and fertile stock, built for manual labor as the expendable servants of the deities. ... Since humans were created to be laborers, it is not surprising that the only Mesopotamian anthropogony to include disabled humans does so within the context of assigning them productive work within society. Older than the Akkadian myths of Atrahasis and Enuma Elish, the Sumerian myth of Enki and Ninmah [read it in full here] describes the creation of humanity in a playful tale that also explains the origin of normal and abnormal human forms. The first half of the myth narrates the traditional creation of humans as laborers and the assignment of their fate in service of the gods. ...The latter half of the text...describes the divine banquet at which the deities are celebrating their success in establishing a life of leisure for themselves within the new cosmic order. After much celebration, the inebriated goddess Ninmah boasts, ‘Man’s body can be either good or bad and whether I make a fate good or bad depends on my will.’ Jacobsen (1987) describes Ninmah as a ‘goddess of gestation and birth, the numinous power of the uterus to expand, shape, and mature the embryo,’ who determines a human’s fate by the manner in which she shapes them in the womb. Enki claims that he can counterbalance any form that Ninmah creates, and the contest begins. The first man fashioned from clay by Ninmah ‘could not bend his outstretched weak hands,’ and Enki appoints him as ‘a servant to the king.’ The second man is blind, and Enki decrees his fate, ‘allotting to him the musical arts.’ ...The third man is ‘one with both feet broken, one with paralyzed feet,’ whom Enki sets as a silversmith. A variant text describes the third being as a ‘moron’ or ‘idiot,’ who also serves as a courtier, according to Jacobsen (1987). The Sumerian terminology is imprecise, so this word may refer to a deaf person rather than one with a cognitive disability. ... The fifth person in Ninmah’s challenge to Enki is a ‘woman who could not give birth,’ whom Enki places either in service of the queen or as a weaver in the Women’s House. ... The sixth human created in the Sumerian myth of Enki and Ninmah is ‘one with neither a penis nor a vagina on its body,’ to whom Enki assigns the role of a eunuch from Nippur ‘to stand before the king.’ ...The reference may denote men who become eunuchs through castration as well as those born without external sexual organs. ... In each of these six cases Enki provides a social position and productive economic role for Ninmah’s purposefully malformed children. ... The Sumerian myth of Enki and Ninmah is clear in its rhetorical attempt to incorporate people with a range of disabilities into the larger social structure. The Sumerian text recognizes the non-normative medical condition of these persons, but it does not categorize them as ‘disabled’ or unemployable. Rather than naming ‘disability’ as a means to exclude some persons from city life,...each becomes a functioning member within the social organization, and many are given technical skills and high social status consistent with their abilities.” (pp. 16-19)

[queernuck]

Dead Dead Demon's Dededede Destruction is incredible and like...so much of it is so intimately relatable, is so immediately striking, is absolutely written from a different context but so very much reminding me of what it feels like, living NOW, living how I may have when I was a child (hardly a child, the timeframe is such that equivalence of events puts me in 2004, muddling in middle school, still playing football for one last year) as well as the Absolute Event of 9/11 (almost like a scriptural refrain, rendered here as 8/31 but whether original to the work or not very much reminiscent of it) and themes of refugee displacement, climate disaster, intentionality and anti-war politics in addition to both explicit and subtextual/metatextual queerness, likeness to ADHD/Autism, and even what resonates in the same sort of way as the idea of losing friend or family suddenly, through act of so-called terror (given the terroir of an imperial dynamic, hardly an label beyond problematicity) and how that contributes to responses surrounding it (a frankly necessary question given readers' conceptual linkage to 9/11, mass shootings, and the reprisals, violence, and indeed genocidal responses that follow) as well as representation of accident and luck in the face of unconcerned bureaucracy that will resonate in relation to the spike in fentanyl deaths among both deaths generally and drug death as a category. It's by Inio Asano, best known as the creator of Goodnight Punpun but well-known for other works, so there is certainly not an easy "answer" to a lot of what I have read so far, especially considering part of the manga revolves around one of the main characters thinking-and-re-thinking herself in relation to her teacher (who she has begun informally dating once she is in college) and warnings regarding the "maturity" of the series are obviously necessary. I know that my own experience with the idea of a former teacher as a partner was a fucking traumatic one that I still have trouble with, but I cannot deny that the relatability and genuineness of the depiction is at once harrowing and in a certain way affirming, leads to a meaningful question regarding the structure, origin, and realization of relationships. It's really good.

[newstfionline]

Wednesday, September 8, 2021

Trudeau is met with flying gravel at campaign stop (Washington Post) Hours after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau vowed that he “won’t back down” in the face of the “anti-vaxxer mobs,” protesters—many of them opposed to coronavirus vaccinations and public health measures—threw gravel at him at a campaign stop on Monday evening. The incident occurred while Trudeau was boarding his campaign bus after an event at a brewery in London, Ontario, a city some 120 miles southwest of Toronto. Videos posted to social media of the episode show protesters throwing gravel in the direction of the prime minister and some of the reporters traveling with him. It was the latest ugly scene in a 36-day federal election campaign that has not been short of them. Vandals have defaced candidate lawn signs with antisemitic graffiti. Candidates of all political stripes have reported being targeted with sexist and racist slurs.

Ida’s aftermath (1440) The death toll from Hurricane Ida rose to at least 60 over the holiday weekend, with more than half of the victims coming from the Northeast. At least 27 people were confirmed dead in New Jersey, 17 in New York, and five in Pennsylvania, with a number of isolated deaths reported up the Mid-Atlantic. As of this morning, 13 victims have been identified in Louisiana and two in Mississippi. Assessing the storm’s weeklong path of destruction from the Gulf to Massachusetts, analysts estimated Ida caused as much as $95B in total damage and economic loss. More than half a million customers remained without power in Louisiana, mostly in New Orleans and surrounding parishes, as of this morning. Out in the Atlantic, Hurricane Larry is expected to strengthen into a Category 4 storm, but is not currently projected to make US landfall.

Powerful earthquake near Mexico’s Acapulco kills at least 1 (AP) A powerful earthquake struck near the Pacific resort city of Acapulco on Tuesday night, killing at least one person and causing buildings to rock and sway in Mexico City hundreds of kilometers away. The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake had a preliminary magnitude of 7 and was centered 17 kilometers (about 10 miles) northeast of Acapulco. The mayor of Acapulco, Adela Román, said in statement to the television news outlet Milenio that “there is no really serious situation” so far and no reports of casualties. “There are nervous breakdowns; people are worried because there have been aftershocks,” she said, adding that there are “many gas leaks in many places” as well as some landslides and fallen walls.

El Salvador first country to make Bitcoin legal currency (BBC) From today, businesses in El Salvador will be obliged where possible to accept the controversial blockchain-backed currency as payment as the country has just become the first to make Bitcoin a legal tender. Millions of people are expected to download the government’s new digital wallet app which gives away $30 (€25) in Bitcoin to every citizen.

Bolsonaro’s Supporters Rally (Foreign Policy) Thousands of Brazilians took to the streets across the country today, answering—and protesting—a call by President Jair Bolsonaro for a popular show of force as corruption investigations, lagging poll numbers, and the reemergence of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, have weakened his position ahead of the October 2022 presidential election. A September 1 poll shows Lula trouncing Bolsonaro by double digits in a one-on-one matchup. Those election polls pair with recent polls showing more than 50 percent of Brazilians say the Bolsonaro government is bad or terrible, although those that say his administration is good or excellent has held steady at roughly 25 percent.

Venice prepares to charge tourists (Reuters) From a control room inside the police headquarters in Venice, Big Brother is watching you. To combat tourist overcrowding, officials are tracking every person who sets foot in the lagoon city. Using 468 CCTV cameras, optical sensors and a mobile phone-tracing system, they can tell residents from visitors, Italians from foreigners, where people are coming from, where they are heading and how fast they are moving. Every 15 minutes, authorities get a snapshot of how crowded the city is—alongside how many gondolas are sliding on the Canal Grande, whether boats are speeding and if the waters rise to dangerous levels. City authorities are preparing to demand that tourists pre-book their visit on an app and charge day-trippers between 3 and 10 euros to enter, depending on the time of the year. Airport-like turnstiles are being tested to control the flow of people and, should the numbers become overwhelming, stop new visitors from getting in. Potential visitors are sceptical. “It brings the wrong tone in me when I hear that I have to pay entrance just to see the buildings in the streets of the city” said Marc Schieber, a German national in Venice for the current film festival. “I think it is probably a new way to generate money.”

Lukashenko continues crackdown on opposition (NYT) Belarusian opposition leader Maria Kolesnikova was found guilty Monday of conspiracy to overthrow the government in Minsk and sentenced to 11 years in prison after a closed trial. Kolesnikova is one of the key opposition figures jailed in Belarus after protests ignited in August last year over presidential elections rejected by opposition activists as rigged. President Alexander Lukashenko, who has been in power since 1994, launched a violent crackdown on the protests, jailing hundreds of the regime’s opponents.

Myanmar resistance movement calls for nationwide uprising (AP) The main underground group coordinating resistance to Myanmar’s military government called for a nationwide uprising on Tuesday. The National Unity Government views itself as a shadow government composed of elected legislators who were barred from taking their seats when the military seized power in February. The group’s acting president Duwa Lashi La called for revolt “in every village, town and city in the entire country at the same time” and declared what he called a “state of emergency.” The country has been wracked by unrest since the military ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi, with a low-level insurrection in many urban areas. There has been more serious combat in rural areas, especially in border regions where ethnic minority militias have been engaging in serious clashes with the government’s troops.

Forget Tiger Moms. Now China's 'Chicken Blood' Parents Are Pushing Kids To Succeed (NPR) They schedule their children's days in 15-minute increments. They scour online forums and swap tips on the most exclusive tutors and best sports coaches. Some even buy second homes next to the best public schools. Forget Tiger moms. These are China's jiwa or "chicken" parents, who are known for their attentive—some say obsessive—parenting style. The term is used to describe aggressive helicopter parenting, and comes from an unproven Chinese medicine treatment dating back to the 1950s, in which someone is injected with fresh chicken blood to stimulate energy. Jiwa parenting culture, a relatively new phenomenon, is now in the crosshairs of Chinese authorities. At a time when the government wants to see families having more children and raising more future workers, it fears that hyper-competitive parenting pressures—combined with the meteoric growth of China's private education sector, now worth billions—are deepening inequality and discouraging couples from having larger families, a priority of the country's new three-child policy. As more parents complain about the burnout brought on by jiwa culture, there's concern that the financial and emotional toll is making many reluctant to have a second, much less a third, child.

Singapore trials patrol robots to deter bad social behaviour (Reuters) Singapore has started trialing robots to patrol public areas and deter poor social behaviour in its latest effort to further augment its strong portfolio of surveillance tools. Ranked one of the safest countries in the world, Singapore has put two autonomous robots on trial to detect bad behaviour such as flouting of COVID-19 safety measures, smoking in prohibited areas and the improper parking of bicycles, Singapore’s Home Team Science and Technology Agency said in a statement on Sunday. It said the two patrol robots, named Xavier, are equipped with cameras that can detect bad social behaviour and trigger real-time alerts to the command and control centre. The agency said that during the three-week trial, the robots would be used for surveillance and displaying messages to educate the public on proper behaviour. Singapore’s home affairs minister, K Shanmugam, said in August the city-state aimed to have more than 200,000 police cameras by 2030, more than double the current number of cameras deployed.

3-year-old boy found after 3 days’ lost in Australian woods (AP) A 3-year-old boy wearing a sweat shirt and diapers was found sitting in a creek and cupping water in his hands to drink on Monday, three days after he was lost in rugged Australian woodland. Hundreds of people had been searching for Anthony “AJ” Elfalak, who has autism and is non-verbal, since he went missing from his family’s remote rural property near the village of Putty, north of Sydney, late Friday morning. His father, Anthony Elfalak, said AJ had been bitten by ants, had diaper rash and suffered abrasions. “It’s a miracle,” the father told reporters after he and his wife, Kelly Elfalak, were reunited with their son.

US-built databases a potential tool of Taliban repression (AP) Over two decades, the United States and its allies spent hundreds of millions of dollars building databases for the Afghan people. The nobly stated goal: Promote law and order and government accountability and modernize a war-ravaged land. But in the Taliban’s lightning seizure of power, most of that digital apparatus—including biometrics for verifying identities—apparently fell into Taliban hands. Built with few data-protection safeguards, it risks becoming the high-tech jackboots of a surveillance state. As the Taliban get their governing feet, there are worries it will be used for social control and to punish perceived foes. “It is a terrible irony,” said Frank Pasquale, Brooklyn Law School scholar of surveillance technologies. “It’s a real object lesson in ‘The road to hell is paved with good intentions.’”

The other Afghan women (New Yorker) Anand Gopal traveled to rural Afghanistan to meet women living under Taliban rule, whose voices are not often heard in international media. “Unlike in relatively liberal Kabul, visiting women in these hinterlands is not easy” since they don’t typically speak to unrelated men, Gopal writes. Many of those he interviewed seemed to prefer Taliban rule to the US-led occupation. “To locals, life under the coalition forces and their Afghan allies was pure hazard; even drinking tea in a sunlit field, or driving to your sister’s wedding, was a potentially deadly gamble,” Gopal writes. “What the Taliban offered over their rivals was a simple bargain: Obey us, and we will not kill you.”

Israel searches for 6 Palestinians after rare prison break (AP) Israel launched a massive manhunt in the country’s north and the occupied West Bank early Monday after six Palestinian prisoners tunneled out of their cell and escaped from a high-security facility in the biggest prison break of its kind in decades. The escape marks an embarrassing security breach just ahead of the Jewish New Year, when Israelis flock to the north to enjoy beaches, campsites and the Sea of Galilee. The prisoners appear to have gone into hiding and there was no indication Israeli authorities view them as an immediate threat. Israel’s Army Radio said 400 prisoners are being moved as a protective measure against any additional escape attempts. The radio said the prisoners escaped through a tunnel from the Gilboa prison, just north of the West Bank, which is supposed to be one of Israel’s most secure facilities.

Zuma on parole (BBC) Former South African president Jacob Zuma has been granted medical parole for an unknown illness. Zuma has been in hospital for the past month, where he has undergone surgery and will reportedly remain there until he has been discharged. The 79-year-old is serving a 15-month sentence for contempt of court at Estcourt Correctional Centre. Zuma turned himself in to the authorities in July after being sentenced for failing to attend an inquiry into corruption during his presidency. The unprecedented jailing resulted in violent protests and looting by his loyal body of supporters. He also faces a separate corruption trial, which is due to resume on 9 September. The Democratic Alliance party criticized the parole, saying it’s “entirely unlawful and makes a mockery” of prison regulations.

[headteacherlhs]

Headteachers Blog 48

Headteachers Blog Number 48/Blog Prifathro Rhif 48

 Friday 11th January 2019

Dear Parents, Guardians and Students/Annwyl Rieni,Gwarchodwyr a Myfyrwyr

And we are back!  A very happy new year to all staff, students, parents, governors and community partners. As I started writing this week’s blog, I reflected back on my first blog of January 2018 and was promptly reminded of last years’ resolutions which included Mr Humphreys daily early morning swim and healthy eating.  We were not overly keen on the aroma of his mackerel lunch. But other than that, January had started well.  Well, as we move into 2019, I’m pleased to say that that the mackerel lunch has been usurped by a more sophisticated spicy meatball pasta creation.  There are no ends to his talents.  And again, we are all eating ridiculously healthy food stuffs whilst pledging our devotion to exercise and good wellbeing.  

On that note, I thought it appropriate to start this week with an inspirational story from one of our parents.  It is high time that the achievements of our parents featured alongside those of students and staff in this blog.  So please let me introduce you to Mr Mike Driscoll who has raised £220 for the Autism Base charity by completing an alcohol free month! We would like to thank him for this generous initiative and his example to us all!  He is pictured below handing over the money raised to Mr Charlie Batten who teaches in our Autistic Spectrum Disorder Base (I have no comment with regards to the jumpers…)

Before we launch fully into 2019, I want to share a few of our final moments from the end of 2018 and I hope they will prove to be good tonic for the January blues.

 Food bank

 In the last week of the December term, our Year 11 students visited Splott food bank with our sizeable contribution.  Rosie, Caleb, Sam and Jamie participated in this as part of their Welsh Baccalaureate studies. They collected 5 large bags of food to donate to help those in need over the Christmas period. They were ably escorted by Miss Gough and Miss Perry (I suspect they enjoyed the visit greatly.)

 LHS debators visit the Senedd to sort out a few national issues!

At the end of term, a group of our wonderful students from learning support thoroughly enjoyed a school trip to Cardiff Bay and the Senedd. It was a freezing Friday in December- as you can see from the photograph! However the students were a real credit to our school and the guides from the Senedd complimented them on their keenness to interact and their fantastic behaviour.  Joe Thomas wrote: “We went on two trains and we had a lovely and wonderful time at the Senedd.”  Jessica Jones told us: “ I enjoyed my trip to Senedd it was educational and interesting but we also had a lot of fun.”  The students were inspired by the Senedd building and by the debates that they observed.

 Year 12 Engineering Challenge:

 In the penultimate week of term, some of our Year 12 students spent three days at the University of South Wales developing their designs to solve a real life problem with GE Aviation Wales.  One team are developing an automated system to clean out an aircraft gearbox without dismantling it. The other are developing an automated paint spray system for the fan shaft.  Both teams worked well together and look forward to presenting their ideas to the judges at The Big Bang Fair on 10th April at RAF St Athan.  (If you are a parent of a student involved in the project you are more than welcome to attend on that day. It should be great fun!)

Dragons Den

 I would also like to congratulate all students who took part in our two breakdown Impact days in the final week of term.  Years 7 and 8 engaged fantastically in their PSE carousel and our key stage 4 students worked very hard on a range of Welsh Baccalaureate activities.  In particular, our Year 9 students are to be commended on their attitude and response during the Dragons Den activity.  We were very well supported through our business class partnership with the Principality Building Society.  

 From small seeds we can do great things! James Harper of The Principality was so inspired by one idea that he is going to bring the boys idea to life in New Year!

Community Christmas Hampers

 In the final days of term it was also a privilege to deliver our Christmas hampers to our local neighbours and community.  Here we have Year 9 delivering hampers to Brentwood Court Sheltered Housing.

 James Story – Tennis Scholarship at the University of Memphis!

All of the staff here at LHS would like to congratulate James who has achieved a tennis scholarship to attend the University of Memphis from August 2019.  He will be joining his brother there for a year.  This is an amazing achievement and we can’t wait to follow his journey. Exciting times ahead!  The photograph above is their promotion and celebration of him accepting their offer!

 Cardiff City Stadium Visit - Tuesday 18th December 2018

Now, Miss Koops had a very enjoyable experience on 18th December.  In arranging to take her fabulous Year 11 students to Cardiff City Stadium for a languages event, they enjoyed a tour of the stadium and met two of the players. All students were a pleasure to be with and a credit to the school.  I look forward to sharing hot chocolate with them in the coming weeks.  One lucky student, Grace Drysdale managed a cheeky selfie with the players!

Gabby kicks off 2019 in style!

Finally, this week, I will come full circle and end as I started.  Back to those good new year’s intentions and the new healthy LHS.

 As always, Gabby Dickinson is a wonderful role model.  Gabby participated in part two of the indoor Regional Championships held at NIAC on the 6th January where she competed in the long jump and 60m sprint. Gabby achieved a well contested second place in both events. This is Gabby’s first year in the under 17 women category, bringing her overall tally to one gold and two silvers.  A great warm up to prepare for the indoor Welsh Championships this coming February. We look forward to following her year in 2019!

After that exhausting edition, I look forward to updating you next week.

 Thank you for reading/Diolch am ddarllen,  

 Mrs Sarah Parry, Headteacher