#also eff you they are all disabled

[wildwheatfields]

Okay I came back with the right order this time—this isn’t what you ordered? Um—are you sure? So you didn’t order the seasoned background zombies? Oh man I’m so sorry you can just take it and I’ll be right back man I’m so sorry

Human au 🔮 Print shop 🖼️

[mostlysignssomeportents]

The reverse-centaur apocalypse is upon us

I'm coming to DEFCON! On Aug 9, I'm emceeing the EFF POKER TOURNAMENT (noon at the Horseshoe Poker Room), and appearing on the BRICKED AND ABANDONED panel (5PM, LVCC - L1 - HW1–11–01). On Aug 10, I'm giving a keynote called "DISENSHITTIFY OR DIE! How hackers can seize the means of computation and build a new, good internet that is hardened against our asshole bosses' insatiable horniness for enshittification" (noon, LVCC - L1 - HW1–11–01).

In thinking about the relationship between tech and labor, one of the most useful conceptual frameworks is "centaurs" vs "reverse-centaurs":

https://pluralistic.net/2022/04/17/revenge-of-the-chickenized-reverse-centaurs/

A centaur is someone whose work is supercharged by automation: you are a human head atop the tireless body of a machine that lets you get more done than you could ever do on your own.

A reverse-centaur is someone who is harnessed to the machine, reduced to a mere peripheral for a cruelly tireless robotic overlord that directs you to do the work that it can't, at a robotic pace, until your body and mind are smashed.

Bosses love being centaurs. While workplace monitoring is as old as Taylorism – the "scientific management" of the previous century that saw labcoated frauds dictating the fine movements of working people in a kabuki of "efficiency" – the lockdowns saw an explosion of bossware, the digital tools that let bosses monitor employees to a degree and at a scale that far outstrips the capacity of any unassisted human being.

Armed with bossware, your boss becomes a centaur, able to monitor you down to your keystrokes, the movements of your eyes, even the ambient sound around you. It was this technology that transformed "work from home" into "live at work." But bossware doesn't just let your boss spy on you – it lets your boss control you. \

It turns you into a reverse-centaur.

"Data At Work" is a research project from Cracked Labs that dives deep into the use of surveillance and control technology in a variety of workplaces – including workers' own cars and homes:

https://crackedlabs.org/en/data-work

It consists of a series of papers that take deep dives into different vendors' bossware products, exploring how they are advertised, how they are used, and (crucially) how they make workers feel. There are also sections on how these interact with EU labor laws (the project is underwritten by the Austrian Arbeiterkammer), with the occasional aside about how weak US labor laws are.

The latest report in the series comes from Wolfie Christl, digging into Microsoft's "Dynamics 365," a suite of mobile apps designed to exert control over "field workers" – repair technicians, security guards, cleaners, and home help for ill, elderly and disabled people:

https://crackedlabs.org/dl/CrackedLabs_Christl_MobileWork.pdf

It's…not good. Microsoft advises its customers to use its products to track workers' location every "60 to 300 seconds." Workers are given tasks broken down into subtasks, each with its own expected time to completion. Workers are expected to use the app every time they arrive at a site, begin or complete a task or subtask, or start or end a break.

For bosses, all of this turns into a dashboard that shows how each worker is performing from instant to instant, whether they are meeting time targets, and whether they are spending more time on a task than the client's billing rate will pay for. Each work order has a clock showing elapsed seconds since it was issued.

For workers, the system generates new schedules with new work orders all day long, refreshing your work schedule as frequently as twice per hour. Bosses can flag workers as available for jobs that fall outside their territories and/or working hours, and the system will assign workers to jobs that require them to work in their off hours and travel long distances to do so.

Each task and subtask has a target time based on "AI" predictions. These are classic examples of Goodhart's Law: "any metric eventually becomes a target." The average time that workers take becomes the maximum time that a worker is allowed to take. Some jobs are easy, and can be completed in less time than assigned. When this happens, the average time to do a job shrinks, and the time allotted for normal (or difficult) jobs contracts.

Bosses get stack-ranks of workers showing which workers closed the most tickets, worked the fastest, spent the least time idle between jobs, and, of course, whether the client gave them five stars. Workers know it, creating an impossible bind: to do the job well, in a friendly fashion, the worker has to take time to talk with the client, understand their needs, and do the job. Anything less will generate unfavorable reports from clients. But doing this will blow through time quotas, which produces bad reports from the bossware. Heads you lose, tails the boss wins.

Predictably, Microsoft has shoveled "AI" into every corner of this product. Bosses don't just get charts showing them which workers are "underperforming" – they also get summaries of all the narrative aspects of the workers' reports (e.g. "My client was in severe pain so I took extra time to make her comfortable before leaving"), filled with the usual hallucinations and other botshit.

No boss could exert this kind of fine-grained, soul-destroying control over any workforce, much less a workforce that is out in the field all day, without Microsoft's automation tools. Armed with Dynamics 365, a boss becomes a true centaur, capable of superhuman feats of labor abuse.

And when workers are subjected to Dynamics 365, they become true reverse-centaurs, driven by "digital whips" to work at a pace that outstrips the long-term capacity of their minds and bodies to bear it. The enthnographic parts of the report veer between chilling and heartbreaking.

Microsoft strenuously objects to this characterization, insisting that their tool (which they advise bosses to use to check on workers' location every 60-300 seconds) is not a "surveillance" tool, it's a "coordination" tool. They say that all the AI in the tool is "Responsible AI," which is doubtless a great comfort to workers.

In Microsoft's (mild) defense, they are not unique. Other reports in the series show how retail workers and hotel housekeepers are subjected to "despot on demand" services provided by Oracle:

https://crackedlabs.org/en/data-work/publications/retail-hospitality

Call centers, are even worse. After all, most of this stuff started with call centers:

https://crackedlabs.org/en/data-work/publications/callcenter

I've written about Arise, a predatory "work from home" company that targets Black women to pay the company to work for it (they also have to pay if they quit!). Of course, they can be fired at will:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/07/29/impunity-corrodes/#arise-ye-prisoners

There's also a report about Celonis, a giant German company no one has ever heard of, which gathers a truly nightmarish quantity of information about white-collar workers' activities, subjecting them to AI phrenology to judge their "emotional quality" as well as other metrics:

https://crackedlabs.org/en/data-work/publications/processmining-algomanage

As Celonis shows, this stuff is coming for all of us. I've dubbed this process "the shitty technology adoption curve": the terrible things we do to prisoners, asylum seekers and people in mental institutions today gets repackaged tomorrow for students, parolees, Uber drivers and blue-collar workers. Then it works its way up the privilege gradient, until we're all being turned into reverse-centaurs under the "digital whip" of a centaur boss:

https://pluralistic.net/2020/11/25/the-peoples-amazon/#clippys-revenge

In mediating between asshole bosses and the workers they destroy, these bossware technologies do more than automate: they also insulate. Thanks to bossware, your boss doesn't have to look you in the eye (or come within range of your fists) to check in on you every 60 seconds and tell you that you've taken 11 seconds too long on a task. I recently learned a useful term for this: an "accountability sink," as described by Dan Davies in his new book, The Unaccountability Machine, which is high on my (very long) list of books to read:

https://profilebooks.com/work/the-unaccountability-machine/

Support me this summer on the Clarion Write-A-Thon and help raise money for the Clarion Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers' Workshop!

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/08/02/despotism-on-demand/#virtual-whips

Image: Cryteria (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:HAL9000.svg

CC BY 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en

[butchgtow]

Introduction to Armchair Activism

Current feelings about the state of radblr.

Fundamentals

"Yes, Everyone on the Internet Is a Loser." Luke Smith. Sep 3, 2022. YouTube.

An activist movement can be a place to build community with like-minded people, but action is its foremost purpose, not community. To allow yourself and other activists to remain effective, you are obliged to abandon your personal dislikes of other individual activists. Disagreements are worth discussion, but interpersonal toxicity is not.

Connect with in-person community and do not unhealthily over-prioritize online community. Over-prioritization of online community is self-harm.

Luke is a loser, but his channel is teeming with entry-level digital literacy information and advice pertaining to healthy use of technology for us cyborgs.

"Surveillance Self-Defense: Tips, Tools and How-Tos For Safer Online Communication." Electronic Frontier Foundation.

Hackblossom, outdated, is discontinued. The EFF project Surveillance Self-Defense is up-to-date, comprehensive, and follows personal educational principles of simplicity and concision.

To learn more about general (not focused solely on personal action) cybersecurity, visit Cybersecurity by Codecademy and Cyber Security Tutorial by W3Schools. Both contain further segueways into other important digital literacies.

Direct recommendation: Install and set up the linux distribution Tails on a cheap flash drive.

Direct recommendation: Develop your own home network security schema.

Direct recommendation: Always enable 2FA security for Tumblr, disable active / inactive status sharing, and learn to queue reblogs and posts to protect against others' interpretations of your time zone.

Direct recommendation: It's both possible and relatively simple to host your own instance of a search engine using SearXNG.

Zero-Knowledge Architecture.

As a remote activist (even if also a hybrid activist), none of your action should be taken on, using, or interfacing with non-zero-knowledge-architecture services. Tumblr is, of course, a risk in and of itself, but you should not be using services provided by companies such as Google, Microsoft, or any others based in or with servers hosted in 13-eyes agreement nations.

Search for services (email, word processor, cloud storage) which emphasize zero-knowledge architecture. Businesses whose services are structured as such cannot hand over your data and information, as they cannot access it in the first place. If they cannot access the majority of your metadata, either - all the better.

Communications for Armchair Activism

"Technical Writing." Google.

Contained within the linked page at Google Developers, the self-paced, online, pre-class material for courses Technical Writing One, Technical Writing Two, and Tech Writing for Accessibility teach activists to communicate technical concepts in plain English.

"Plain Language." U.S. General Services Administration.

Plain language is strictly defined by U.S. government agencies, which are required to communicate in it for simplicity and quick, thorough comprehension of information.

"Explore Business Law." Study.com.

Extensive courses are offered to quickly uptake principles of business law such as antitrust law, contract law, financial legislation, copyright law, etc. Legal literacy is often the difference between unethical action of a business and its inaction. Legal literacy is also often the difference between consideration and investment in your policy idea and lack thereof.

"Business Communication." Study.com.

Now that you're able to communicate your prioritized information, you may also initiate writing with bells and whistles. While other activists care most about the information itself, business communication allows you to communicate your ideas and needs to those who you must convince worthiness of investment to and win over.

Logic.

Learn it through and through. Start with fallacies if you're better at language and work your way backwards to discrete mathematics; start with discrete mathematics if you're better at maths and work your way forwards to fallacies, critical literacy, and media literacy. State that which you intend to state. Recognize empiricism and rationalism for what they are. Congratulations: you are both a mathematician and a law student.

Economic Literacy for Armchair Activism

"Microeconomics." Khan Academy.

"Macroeconomics." Khan Academy.

The globe operates on profitability. Women's unpaid labor is a massive slice of the profitability pie. While it's possible to enact change without understanding all that drives the events around you, it's impossible to direct or meaningfully manipulate the events around you beyond your scope of comprehension.

Understand economics or be a sheep to every movement you're active in and to every storm that rolls your way.

[innerangeltoadlover]

31. What happens when psychiatrists screw up? Well they don’t EVER . To answer this question one must go back to the beginning. Why doctors like to diagnose- when we get a diagnosis it’s a kind of relief that at last we will get treatment for this ailment and there is hope in that. We are told there is no cure and that we will be affected for our lifetime. Admittedly medication is great to calm us down and to get some sleep- this illness plays havoc with sleep cycles and sleep deprivation makes the mad madder. What we don’t realise when the diagnosis happens is that doctors are given the opportunity to say nothing . When their client is stuck in a dilemma that any kind person would step into resolve a psychiatrist will couch the problem in medical terms . Monitoring the condition rather than helping or comforting a patient is used to separate you from the generality of human suffering. It also destroys a person's ability to maintain any level of human functioning – your illness becomes your definition. Doctors will tell you that this lack of function is part of the condition. To be honest I’ve never really minded being ill but being denied opportunities is hard . I finished my degree in history and was given a cleaning job by a disability agency. I registered my dismay at this to my current psychiatrist who hardly acknowledged it. This was a devastating experience for me and I felt I had no chance in life. Studying was part of a life plan to escape from my sister’s abuse . However I was reminded during virtually every visit that my degree was worthless because it was not science based . She would also regularly tell me her husband could do my degree in a year and my lecturers knew nothing. Whilst studying the Holocaust she announced that her son’s large head indicated he had a lot of brains. These very ignorant statements which I would pick her up on would be fought for tooth and nail- this kind of treatment was continuous. I remember telling my lecturer some of my sister’s views on genetics , her reply was , “please don’t listen to your sister”. My sister’s continuous “what would they know” was tiring and boring but she had energy and she grew powerful from depleting my limited reserves. I can honestly say I have never had a conversation with my sister that did not involve her actively bragging - there was nothing else. She would suck the energy out of every conversation and I have never heard her apologise to any member of our family for anything. Apologising would be viewed by her as weakness whereas I see it as strength - if I had the means I would have left the country to get away from her but alas that wasn’t to be. Whilst I’m on a roll I’ll add another one ( i could fill the titanic with this crap) - my nephew’s nappy needed changing and my sister was having an afternoon nap - so i thought I’ll change it so she can relax. I was quite proud of my effort as I’d never done it before. Upon rising there was no thanks for the effort but i was as usual abused because the plastic nappy bag was not opened correctly. This was what it was like all the efffing time.

I do sometimes wonder what happens to victims of crime who have schizophrenia. It is somewhat under reported. If it follows my experience is it met with skepticism? What happens to sexual assault victims ? Mind boggling

[koexchange]

I don’t know what I’d request exactly but I would die just to have one (1) date with Elaine but I fear my ADHD cursed ass would have far to much energy for her. (Also as a transmasc creature I’m so happy you write for any gender, I hope your charger never breaks)

a/n: AWWW YOURE SO SWEET i also have adhd and I HOPE YOUR CHARGER NEVER BREAKS EITHERR!! uhh im assuming u wanted adhd and transmasc reader x elaine SO here it is :333 its their first date and they met onnnnntinder

cw: slight mention of binding

word count: 769

(Transmasc!Adhd!)Reader x Elaine!

Wow, this cafe is insanely boring.

Seated across from you, Elaine, your Tinder date, stirs and stares into her black coffee, wondering what convinced her to swipe right on you.

Perhaps it was the corgi in sunglasses you were hugging. Is it your pet?

Or your strange bio? What is 'adhd'?

Or the meticulous placement of your photos? Why was your abnormally large figurine collection before the well-lit selfie?

Or maybe it was just you. All of you.

"Hellooooo?" You wave your hand in front of her face, startling her.

Bless her broken heart, her automatic response is to grab your hand, firmly, and jump back. For protection. So she does.

Your face scares her more than the orphanage. You look like you've just seen a ghost.

Quickly, "Oh- sorry", she apologizes and lets go.

"Don't worry!" You smile warmly at her.

You rather miss the feeling of her gloves on your hands. It is with reluctance that you return your hands to your lap.

Your binder is making you itchy.

"So. How is- I read your..." Your mind is running a marathon a minute as you try to focus on her voice.

"The thing about 'add-huh-duh'?" Wow. She thinks the condition is just one odd word.

"How long have you been learning that language?"

Oh even better. She thinks you're bilingual.

Elaine seems like the type to get offended by laughter, so you try to stifle yours.

"It isn't- Adhd is a disorder I have. Don't worry it isn't contagious." Is your favorite show on tonight?

"Oh. Okay." Elaine is a bit disappointed in herself, she has OCD but knows nothing of other disabilities.

At this point, you believe that any spark between you two has fizzed out for good.

You wonder if faking a family emergency would be too rude.

You could really go for seafood.

In an attempt to speed this up salvage the date, you ask if Elaine has ever heard of your hyperfixation.

When she says that she hasn't, you just can't help the words that fall from your mouth.

You ramble on and on about the media, for what seems like years.

You really can't find the compassion to care about how uninterested she looks.

Maybe because you're too concentrated on how beautiful she looks.

Or, maybe it's because her face hasn't changed since she sat down. Talk about are-bee-eff.

As you finish droning on, Elaine finishes her coffee. Her mouth is moving, but you can't quite pick up her words. A small part of you, in the back of your mind, wonders what she would taste li-

"Like or hate it, the Shadow Decree knows what it wants." Her lithe hand moves her hair out of her eyes.

Oh. When did this conversation start?

She's staring right at you. Straight-faced. Expecting a response.

You've never felt so lost.

Other than twenty minutes ago. The time you were literally lost. Who puts a cafe next to a gym?

"Yeah uh. They have goals! For sure!" You shout, way too excitedly to be talking about a crime organization. The smile you forced onto your mouth hurts.

You wonder what hers would feel like.

It's nearly inaudible, her sigh.

Did you do something wrong?

"If I called you later, would you answer the phone?" She asks without shame, standing up.

Guess not.

"Oh! I thought you hated me...?" You don't hide your laugh as you struggle to grab your things.

Elaine laughs with you. You stand with Elaine.

And hallelujah, she can smile. You drink up her expression, and it's better than your tea was.

"I apologize if I came off that way. I am very interested in you." She saunters over to the exit, with you close behind. Looking like an obedient dog.

"Oh!" You truly look like an idiot with your mouth agape in shock. It snaps shut with a click, taking way longer than it should.

"Of course I would! I'd have to be out of mind not to!"

Elaine's expression softens, marginally.

Elaine finds your expressions cute.

She would never say that out loud though.

The faint blush rising on her cheeks might give you a little hint.

Crazy how fast you went from debating running out of the shop to asking her to stay longer.

Once you get yourself together, she wraps her arm around yours and steps outside with you. You lean in close to her.

You get a glimpse of her teeth this time, her grin feels comfortable on her face. Real. "Want to show me around?"

She read your mind.

You've never been so centered on someone before.

a/n: HOWD I WRITE SEVEN HUFNRE WORDS IN ONE SITTING uhh im so sorry if this isnt what you wanted anon im a little dumb but uhhhhh i hope you enjoyed! thanks for reading! <3333

[capinejghafa]

Hey, I thought I'd add into the people telling you that you're completely right and you should say it about Inej/Kanej. This season gives the air of Kaz doing everything she's asking of him and her running away and acting like it's not on her own inability to deal with her trauma. Inej Fails Kaz at every turn this season when it comes to emotions. He lashes out after the Pekka thing because he was Worried, he specifically asked her there for Comfort and she didn’t show, he's rawest he's been since his brother died and irrational, and she just doesn't bother to fight back. She just tells him to eff off and leaves. Nina and Jesper tell her she's being just as dumb as he is and she decides Again, not to bother. Kaz does open up to her about his hallucination, a highly vulnerable thing for him to do, and she decides it's a great time to throw his words back in his face. And then adding the armor scene just comes off like, despite his trying, he will never be enough. Even in the book, though her reasoning is vaguely better, it still comes off as her saying, "your disability makes you not enough for me" and I don't know how I feel about that.

Hi! this is going to be a little bit of a tangent lol

I think it's very interesting the way book!Kanej is different from show!Kanej. Even as individual characters, they are altered to fit the show verse. Book!Kaz is very much closed off than he's show's counterpart... partly because in the book, he's a teen, and in the show, he's an adult. He's driven by revenge for sure, but he's also capable of more complex emotions because he's had to grow up alone in his environment. In the show, we don't know when he meets Jesper or Inej, but we know he's lonely. In the books, he meets them a few years after becoming part of the Dregs. Sure, book!Kaz didn't have friends, but he wasn't exactly alone alone (or not completely!).

Also, book!Kaz is actually bad at feelings because Leigh wrote him that way lol... a lot of his inner monologues are great to get the audience to be sympathetic with him, but he doesn't say what he means out loud... kind of. Like he tried to Inej how he feels before deciding to stay silent ("I will die unafraid..") And I think that's where the show had to find ways to get those thoughts into action. It's why we have Kaz be more open. In the books, it was fine... but it wouldn't have translated well for a general audience, you know?

I bring this up to say, show!Inej seems to have the problems that book!Kaz. Her problems are very internal. She's very much willing to say the problems she has with Kaz's plan or make comments regarding the crows' safety, but Inej struggles a lot with romantic feelings. It's not something that comes naturally to her. She didn't have it before the Menagerie (presumably not), and she's barely experiencing it now. With Jesper and Nina... and even Wy to that extent she doesn't have to worry about that. Hell, I'd even add Alina and Zoya to the mix. She doesn't have to double guess her choices, and they can just be her family (with Jesper) and her friends (Nina, Wy, Zoya), or her Saint (Alina). But with Kaz, she does. It's not that Inej is incapable of saying how she feels lol It's just that she is not comfortable if it's romantic.

So, it makes her actions regarding Kaz seem like a fail. It sort of feels like she's self sabotaging. Like come on, Inej you can't be upset at Kaz for being mad because you said you'd help take down his brother's "murder" and then walk in like nothing happen after you said you'd help destroy him... all awhile he's probably like idk if you're safe.

Or at least, if not self sabotaging, then something like kind of expecting him to forgive her because that's what the Crows do. Especially after he told her, "No Saint ever watched over me. Not like you have."

I don't think in the books it was necessarily supposed to be seen that way. I just think Inej is slightly more honest about her feelings there and unlike her show counterpart, Inej's biggest weakness was the company she keeps, the people she loves. So rather than have only parts of Kaz... I'm thinking more of his heart than physical. Or at least work towards that. I say slightly because there's a moment where Kaz said the famous "If I couldn't walk, I'd crawl you..." and Inej's face is very skeptical. Which makes sense because in her head she was fairly certain that Kaz wouldn't come for her, but I disgress.

tl;dr inej and kaz have to be accountable for their action, and idk talk to each other.

[talenlee]

Story Pile: My Hero Academia, Season 1

New Post has been published on PRESS.exe: Story Pile: My Hero Academia, Season 1

Nothing quite like striking after the iron’s gone.

This is the last year in which My Hero Academia will not be an anime that ‘has run for ten years.’ Seems a fine time to get into this superhero comic book anime for tweens. Behold, beyond the fold, I will be talking about the first season of the anime and that means some spoilering.

My Hero Academia, in the first season, is an anime from 2016, based on a 2014 ongoing manga about a futuristic world where most people have superpowers, and the job of ‘superhero’ is an idolised and widely respected job that leads to kids attempting to join highly competitive schools to pursue it, in a sort of mashed up hybrid of an idol career but also a dash of the idea of being a doctor. It’s a big deal, and our protagonist, Deku, wants to become a superhero, except I said most people have superpowers and our hero does not.

This is the first place where the story kind of skewed off of what I expected; I knew at the start of the series of the hook of The Misfit Toy wants to be a Real Boy, and that Deku had the drive to be a great hero, but no powers to back it up. The opening also shows off his notebooks in which he’s been drilling about being a hero for his whole life, learning about and studying them for ages, while grappling with what it means to be ‘without power’ and how that is different to being ‘powerless.’

The other major thing people know about in the series is the character of All Might, a sort of iconistic vision of a Superman-style hero modelled in the anime vein; he’s an enormous, larger than life gigachad who is faster, stronger, and tougher than anyone he faces, and he’s the internationally vital symbol of what it means to be a hero, to be peaceful, to save the day, with a real red-white-and-blue Americana aesthetic over everything.

What I thought was going to happen off this starting position is that Deku gets into Hero High School despite having no powers because this All Might guy sees him and sees something in him and the whole story is about someone developing a power or routing around the absence of powers or maybe just learning to choose powers, but turns out I was straight up wrong. Instead, the first episode explains to us that All Might is a dying icon, a symbol whose powers are limited and who does his heroing around his medical disability, but the power he has is a power that can be passed on from person to person, getting stronger every time. Then, after some training to ensure that Deku can handle it, he shares his power with him, and we now get a much more standard story about Deku becoming a superhero with All Might’s power, which is also so powerful that every time Deku lets himself use it, the power completely effs up his everything, limbs and bones and all.

The first season covers this introduction, brings Deku to school where he meets a pretty awful teacher, gets introduced to a big group of characters, gets his first superhero outfit, and then there’s a multi-episode fight where some villains attack the school to draw out All Might in an attempt to kill him and destroy The Symbol Of Peace.

This is a good chunk of story, especially for introducing a superheroic story that’s going places, it’s just that it’s always a rough sell when a story introduces a pitch to you that gives you an exciting idea then does sometihng else entirely. I thought this was going to be a show that slow-rolled his Getting A Superpower a lot more, but nope, turns out it’s pretty much gunna happen straight away, also him getting in on one of the most dire secrets in world history.

These things that feel like they’d have been great plot points to develop into are much more about setup, which gives the story time to develop the idea of a Superheroic High School, giving you things like superhero teachers and examples of superhero infrastructure, and then have a good old fashion superhero fight scene with the added texture of a bunch of loser heroes on hand for us to cheer for.

I don’t think, watching this, that this is going to be a superhero series I like. Too many moments were set up with an opportunity to do things I really like, that I’m really excited by as a superhero storytelling device, and instead it chooses to do something that I guess is more obviously shonen battle anime. There’s a definite flair to the combat mechanisms but also the combat doesn’t free itself of the way fights get drawn out, and there’s a lot of recapping and reiterating between ad breaks that feels like old tech that stories like this have moved past.

Also, am I too suspicious in saying that this looks like a show that introduces a lot of girls to be present on marketing but will never really do much with them? I feel like there’s a better handle on the awful little twerp Mineta, a character who has gotten a lot of dialogue and expressed his opinions more than we need. I dunno, I feel that if the creepy perv of the class gets more attention and development than the girl in the class, it’s a sign of what the story thinks of as ‘relatable.’ This is meant to be an elite class of people who tested highly, so why are there shitty little arseholes like that and complete losers with powers like ‘has tape’ alongside ‘can synthesise any material?’

Oh, and one last beef about the first season. In the physical testing with quirks the characters do, the teacher tells them he’s added together their scores to get their ranks. Ochaco ranks half-way, despite the fact that one of her tests, the throw-a-ball test, gave a numerical response of infinity. Know what you get when you add ten to infinity?

Yeah!

I dunno, I feel like in that situation, you could have just put her at #1 in the class and had an explanation offered after the fact, but nope, gotta put her in the middle for no good fucking reason I guess. It’s so strange, like I feel like the ranking was based out of a gut feeling but then they include the idea it’s a sum of scores.

My Hero Academia is Bleach for swordphobes. You have the same kind of vast cast of under-developed characters made to fit a visual motif or aesthetic, things that the story promises no really, we’re going to cover this later, we’re going to expand on it, but I am doubtful. The first season wants you to ask questions, but the way it answers what it has so far leaves me feeling like the answers will be very unsatisfying.

I’m not tapping out of the series! It’s still, you know, fine, it’s just a very popular, mainstream series based around cool identifiable characters with special powers and a popular aesthetic that wants me to keep watching because it Will Explain Things Later.

I don’t think it’ll explain it well.

Check it out on PRESS.exe to see it with images and links!

#Anime

[nyanofilter]

Quick intro post, so I don't look like a bot account while I draft the first actual tech advice posts! I'm 30 and she/they are my pronouns. I'm bi and married, and we have two cats. I'm an ambulatory wheelchair user with endometriosis who lives on electrolytes, and I'm AuDHD

In any game I can, I play a healer. I really love getting to support my teammates, keep em alive so they can focus on their part, and help us all reach the end

For me, tech support is like getting to do that for people irl, just with their technology--I "heal" their tech by fixing it, and I teach them how to use it. I take great pride in empowering people to make informed choices on how they interact with tech, and teaching them to use it. I call myself a tech priest in training--I still have a LOT to learn, but I'd love to share what I know

I strongly believe in the right to repair and the right to digital privacy. If you want to learn a bit about these things I highly recommend Louis Rossman's YouTube channel, the Electronic Frontier Foundation or EFF, and iFixIt. I also believe tech should be accessible, both in terms of accommodating for disability and various adaptive needs, and in terms of affordability and physical access. The Internet with its wealth of knowledge should be freely accessible, just like clean water, food, housing, and healthcare

TERFs ain't got no friends, and they certainly won't find one here. Same goes for aro/ace exclusionists. Frankly anyone who shits on people using any combo of labels in good faith can fuck off. Queer is QUEER, that means it's hard to put in neat little boxes and categories, and that's wonderful

Welcome to my helpdesk!

[bakurapika]

didn't even put this in the tags bc i don't rly want to be like Also My Minor Experience Counts Too Just As Much As People With Actual Problems

but i do remember when i had a foot injury that wasn't visible and was unspeakably embarrassing to teenage me. and adult me. ask me about it and i won't tell you. it's shameful and i will take it to my grave. but anyway i remember friggin limping through the hallways in high school... at least one shopping trip i had to use a wheelchair at the store. felt soooo anxious that someone would see me stand up to get something and call me out. it also was impossible to navigate stores that way, it turned out, so it was easier just to grit my teeth and deal with the pain 🙃 hate that for everyone. diversity loss!

when my mom was out here with a temporary disability parking pass but she was also embarrassed to use it or to use a wheelchair

i still am salty about when i went to the mall and it was so friggin inaccessible for STROLLERS so we had to have a 3 man team (1 carrying the baby, 2 carrying the stroller up and down stairs) and i made a report to the ADA. and that was a fuckin nightmare in terms of paperwork. the bureaucratic dismissal. it was almost impossible to make the claim. and then it wasn't ACTIONABLE (as i was told weeks/months later??) because i myself wasn't disabled

and like all i wanted was for someone from a gov office to call the mall and be like 'hey... fix ur stupid elevators Or Else' but even that was apparently outside the realm of possibility. like i would have had to schedule a meeting with someone to start a big freaking process, and they only booked out XX weeks in advance, and those weeks were all 100% filled up

like ugh the amount of bs (legal/regulatory) that we the general public assume just gets done correctly when in fact it is usually ignored and if you have a problem you can go eff yourself is so stupidly high

[ajentmm]

FEH Refine Theorycrafting March 2023

Oh boy, it’s March, it refine time again! I don’t know how many of you read this blog expecting wacky new weapons, but these predictions are going to be as accurate possible, meaning copy pasting, find replacing.

Celica: Queen of Valentia

Lvl. 40 5 ☆ 40/38/38/18/28 Max Invest 48/46/46/25/35

Saintly Seraphim: Grants Spd+3. If unit initiates combat, deals damage = 25% of foe's Res. (Ignores reductions to Res from Special skills.)

Miracle - Swift Sparrow 3 - Soul of Zofia II - Atk/Spd Oath 3/Atk/Spd Menace 3

Soul of Zofia II: Neutralizes effects that guarantee foe's follow-up attacks or prevent unit's follow-up attacks during combat. If unit initiates combat, unit can make a follow-up attack before foe can counterattack. At the start of combat, if unit’s HP ≥ 25%, inflicts Spd-5 on foe and reduces the percentage of foe’s non-Special “reduce damage by X%” skills by 50%. *

Legendary Celica is basically a tank buster like Legendary Alm. His remix (both refine and perf) adding a counter to damage reductions, Null-Guard, and disabling counter attacks. Celica’s new perf was already Desperation and NFU, now it Dive Bomb (unconditional Desperation) and 50% reduction to DR. All she needs now is Tempo, but then what else?

Saintly Seraphim: Grants Spd+3. If unit initiates combat or is within 2 spaces of an ally, grants Atk/Spd+5 to unit during combat and deals damage = 25% of foe's Res. (Ignores reductions to Res from Special skills.)

At the start of turn, if unit's HP ≥ 25%, grant "unit can move to a space adjacent to an ally within 2 spaces" to unit for 1 turn. At start of combat, if unit's HP ≥ 25%, grants Atk/Spd+5 to unit and neutralizes effects that inflict "Special cooldown charge -X" on unit during combat.

Yep, Warp Ragnarök is here. I could have gone for like penalty negation or special charging, but this fit too well.

Astram: Midia's Hero

Lvl. 40 5 ☆ 44/35/36/36/21 Max Invest 52/42/44/44/28

Mercurius: Grants Atk+3. At start of turn, if unit's HP ≥ 50%, grants Atk/Spd/Def/Res+4 to unit and sword, lance, axe, bow, dagger, or beast allies within 2 spaces for 1 turn. (Bonus granted to unit even if no allies are within 2 spaces.)

Bonfire - Wind Boost 3 - Wrath 3

Astram was a solid support for his time, buffing himself and allies with no tactic condition or need to be near allies to get the buff himself. While Null-Panic would be the best thing for him, I’m instead just making him better with the bonus he does get. He’s now budget B!Marth, having all the tools to frontline, so long as his allies received buffs.

Mercurius: Grants Atk+3. At start of turn, if unit's HP ≥ 25%, grants Atk/Spd/Def/Res+4 to unit and allies within 2 spaces for 1 turn. (Bonus granted to unit even if no allies are within 2 spaces.)

If unit is within 3 spaces of an ally, grants bonus to unit’s Atk/Spd/Def/Res = 4 + highest bonus on allies within 3 spaces during combat, and also, if unit is within 3 spaces of ally who has total bonuses ≥ 10, neutralizes effects that guarantee foe's follow-up attacks and effects that prevent unit's follow-up attacks during combat. Calculates each stat bonus independently.

I know all you guys want Null-Panic, but Ally Bonus Doubler (like Erika) is closer to GHB territory for refines. Along with that, he gets 4 additional Atk/Spd/Def/Res for having an ally around, we increased the range to 3 for ease of getting the bonuses and grant him NFU if he is near an ally that received his bonuses. He’s going to be another stat ball, but at least you don’t need to give him NFU. He can work well with a Unity skill or a Finisher skill.

Selkie: New Year's Spirit

Lvl. 40 5 ☆ 35/31/39/16/40 Max Invest 43/38/47/23/48

New Foxkit Fang: Accelerates Special trigger (cooldown count-1). If unit's Res > foe's Res, deals damage = 70% of difference between stats. (Maximum bonus of +7 damage.) If unit's Res > foe's Res, reduces damage from attacks during combat and from area-of-effect Specials (excluding Røkkr area-of-effect Specials) by percentage = difference between stats × 4 (max 40%). [Beast (Calvary)]

Iceberg – Distant Ward – Sabotage Spd 3 – Odd Res Wave 3

I’m be real, I had other ideas for New Year! Selkie, but since NY! Lethe came, it was clear that she is getting the most Copy Paste Find Replace refine. It at least makes my life easier. . . . This is my life?

Accelerates Special trigger (cooldown count-1). If unit's Res > foe's Res, deals damage = 70% of difference between stats. (Max +7), and reduces damage from attacks during combat and from area-of-effect Specials (excluding Røkkr area-of-effect Specials) by percentage = difference between stats × 4 (max 40%). If unit initiates combat or is within 2 spaces of an ally, grant Atk/Res+5 to unit during combat. [Beast (Calvary)]

If a skill compares unit's Res to a foe's or ally's Res, treats unit's Res as if granted Res+10. At start of combat, if unit's HP ≥ 25%, grants Atk/Res+5 to unit and neutralizes effects that guarantee foe's follow-up attacks and effects that prevent unit's follow-up attacks during combat.

So we give her Player Phase Stanard Atk/Res, to increase her chance and meeting the Res checks and increase her pitifully low Atk stat. She has enough Spd already and Sabotage Spd can help her double, but it’s not as much as Lethe. Then she gets Phantom Res, which guarantees she gets the +7 True Damage and 40% damage reduction. Then she gets 5 more Atk/Res and NFU when above 25%. I could have replaced haft of NFU with Null-Guard but she needs defensive NFU to stop slow mages nukes like Micaiah from attacking twice with her effective damage. Plus, no Galeforce please.

Mila: Goddess of Love

Lvl. 40 5 ☆ 41/37/17/40/37 Max Invest 49/45/24/48/44

Nurturing Breath: Grants Def+3. If foe's Range = 2, calculates damage using the lower of foe's Def or Res. Grants Atk/Spd/Def/Res+2 to allies within 7 rows and 7 columns centered on unit during combat.

Rally Def/Res+ - Bracing Stance 3 – Sabotage Atk 3 / Dragon Wall 3 – Mila's Turnwheel II

Mila's Turnwheel II: At start of turn, grants “foes cannot make a follow-up attack" to unit for 1 turn and inflicts [Isolation] and [Guard] on foes in cardinal directions with Def < unit's Def through their next actions.

If deployed in Aether Raids offense during Light season, grants Turn Limit+1. (If the Turn Limit is 7, it will increase to 8, etc.)

Mila (♪ the Goddess of Love ♪) is known for Isolating foes with low Def, mostly dancers. With this remix, she is also preventing them from charging Specials. This stops minimaxed mages, archers, fliers, calvary, etc. from triggering specials on their follow-up. It also shuts down Galeforce dancers strategies, where if they attack, proc Galeforce, and get another action, Isolation is removed so they can dance again. She also gets the bonus that prevents foe’s follow-ups. It’s not too bad. But in the breath weapon? She grants allies within a very large box an insignificant buff. I have a solution to that.

Nurturing Breath: Grants Def+3. During allies’ combat, grants bonuses to allies' Atk/Spd/Def/Res equal to the number of rows and columns centered on this unit the ally is; if =7, +2, if =5, +3, if <=3, +4. (ie. if the ally is within 5 rows and 5 columns centered on unit, they get Atk/Spd/Def/Res +3) If foe's Range = 2, calculates damage using the lower of foe's Def or Res.

Yeah, I made a three-tier box. The closer to the Mila the ally is, the more in-combat buffs they receive.

If a skill compares unit's Def to a foe's or ally's Def, treats unit's Def as if granted Def+10. At the start of combat, if unit's HP ≥ 25%, grant Atk/Spd/Def/Res = 4 + X (X = the number of allies (excluding unit) within 7 rows and 7 columns centered on unit whose HP ≥ 25%, Max 4) and also, there is an ally within 3 rows or 3 columns centered on unit whose HP ≥ 25%, grant unit a guaranteed follow-up attack and neutralize penalties on unit.

Yep, her unique refine is a combat boost, just like our other support mythic. You get some tools to make her less of a liability in combat, even thou you probably don’t want her in combat anyway. At least gave her Phantom Def, so her turn wheel is basically guaranteed to proc, even against Dancer! Eldagan. For the combat boost, she gets more stats when she and her allies are healthy, up to 8 if you have a team of 5, which it’s Aether Raids, you should. Plus, if an ally is really close, she goes mamma bear mode and gets a follow-up attack and no penalties, in a method of defending her “child”. There are plenty of other effects they could give her, like true damage and true damage reduction like Askr or Special manipulation like the new Tiki’s, it’s all up in the air at this point.

To wrap it up, here are the other two units, from past blogs. Click the name for more of an explanation. Please like and subscribe.

Bylth

Creator Sword: Accelerates Special trigger (cooldown count-1). During combat, neutralizes effects that guarantee foe’s follow-up attacks, prevent unit’s follow-up attacks, grant "Special cooldown charge +X” to foe, or inflict “Special cooldown charge -X” on unit.

Inflict foes within a 2 tile radius of unit Atk/Spd/Def/Res-X during combat (X = number of allies (excluding unit) within 2 tile radius of targeted foe x 3, Max 9). Grant the follow effects for every ally within a 2 tile radius of the unit or the targeted foe: If 1 ≥ deals +5 damage during combat, and when unit deals damage to foe during combat, restores 7 HP to unit. (Triggers even if 0 damage is dealt.); 2 ≥ , grant Special Cooldown Charge +1 per attack during combat. (Only highest value applied. Does not stack.)

Forsyth

Sol Lance: Grants Res+3. When unit deals damage to foe during combat, restores 20% of unit’s Max HP to unit. (Triggers even if 0 damage is dealt.) If foe initiate combat or foe’s HP≥75, grant Atk/Def/Res + 5 to unit during combat.

If unit’s HP > 25%, grant Atk/Def/Res + 5 to unit during combat, and also, if the sum of unit’s base Def and Res ≥ the sum of foe’s Def and Res at the start of combat, reduce foe’s Atk during combat by percentage = difference of the two sums (max 30%)

[thelittleredheadedmusician]

Still not over the guy at work yesterday who was ONLY buying dc tpbs and got into a sexist nonargument w/ me culminating in him saying he hates the legacy characters. My friend & I realized I met someone who actually called in to have Jason Todd killed in hindsight.

[pensoluv]

SAGAU Work 34

Nanno Villain God/Goddess!Reader, crack

Tw: Slight gore but not much, since it’s our platonic bae @weakestpoint who’s gonna write the hardcore gore ehe~ New AU let’s goooo~ Characters: Morax, Barbatos, Raiden Shogun, Zhongli, Venti, Ei

“Please, you guys are so uninventive! That’s a boring execution. Such despair.” You swing your legs on the high roof ledges of the Shogun’s mansion and shout below.

“Wha-“ the massive following of cultists look up as they flinch from the all-too-familiar voice.

Hadn’t they cut off your tongue already? No, you should be dead, you are finished, and their eyes were witnessing the mangled corpse they were beating the shit out of. Then where and who was the voice coming from?

As they crane their necks looking up to no avail of locating you, you leapt down.

You have unlimited spare bodies to use anyway. You picked the right body data plan, after all. That was expensive, so it’d better be worth it.

You accessed your anemo power to lessen the fall damage and stood right on top of ‘your’ dead body. “Hi!” You grinned.

The crowd cowardly shrunk away, as usual, some crouching down, kneeling, and some of the foolish ones were pointing their weaponry towards you.

One of them shot their arrow straight to your head. ‘You’ died again, and the crowd released their held breaths.

“Hoorah! Am I right?” You chortled like Santa Clause in the Evil AU. You reappeared on the rooftop, but then decided to teleport again.

This time, you teleported right to face the back of the one who ‘killed you’.

“Well. That was rude.”

You put one of your ghostly cold hands on his shoulder and whispered breathily, like a howling wind spirit, into his ear. He fainted, and so did some of the crowd.

✨Pathetique✨. They could’ve been more aesthetically-pleasing with passing out. Hmph. The disrespect.

You dislocated both of the offender’s wrists, feeling somewhat merciful from your almost giddy mood. They were like a babble of clowns that amused you.

The asshats apparently didn’t learn anything, because Baal immediately started pulling out her booba sword. You turned to her and unequipped her weapons, including her sister’s sword. “Step the eff up, Raiden.” You said, mocking her (in the same way Kyle was mocked in the legendary vine).

Baal was left stunned as she sees herself no longer holding a weapon. You also snatched all of the Archons’ weapons, talent books, artefacts, everything. Maybe you would loot the other vision-bearing acolytes later.

Equipping yourself with those times, you visibly noticed your attributes/stats go up.

“Ei. I’m confiscating your Dango desserts and milk bottles.” Doot doot. You yoinked it and noticed Raiden’s puppet façade fade away, in place for the true Ei herself.

“🥺”

“I don’t speak in bottom. (Not today. I would but I’m kind of pissed, you know?)” You then switched from the valley girl accent to a booming Chad accent. “Speak up, Raisin Ei.”

“😭” Again, she attempted to guilt-trip you as she did to your first body. That was not very fetch of her.

“Nawww girlie, you killed me. I’m not amused right now. Hand over your vision.” You continued to speak in a very ‘manly’ way.

“I… don’t have a vision?” She attempted to fool you with her cat-like eyes and submission.

“You very much know what I mean. Your gnosis and the visions you haven’t returned yet. GIB ME VEE SHIOUN.” You deadpanned in a serious voice. You changed your tone to sound like a disgruntled history teacher.

You noticed Sara flying above, aiming an arrow at you. Ah, the crow-like general.

“I SAID, BE CREATIVE-“ you teleported Sara next to you and promptly disabled her wings with a snap of your fingertips.

“Huh-? My wings-“ You flicked your wrist idly. “Honey, you’re lucky I just locked them inside your body. They’re still here.” Before she could fully let out a sigh, you continue. “For now!” You loved how surprised and horrified she looked. It was almost worth the times your other bodies suffered, from her carrying out Baal’s orders.

“Y’all- I’m mad just because you guys didn’t even bother to kill me in a fun way. I’m disappointed. I’ve seen better in other worlds.” You’re straight up lying about only being mad for that reason, but that’ll make things more fun.

You sighed in the iconic drama kid font and twirl around to face Ei.

“Raisin. Gib me veeshion. Nawr.”

Zhongli took the opportunity to lunge at you with a spare shard of glass, this time aimed at your heart. You knew before he struck, but you mock-gasped instead of ducking from the attack.

“The betrayal! But the clapping of your booty cheeks had alerted me already. Such a shame.” ‘You’ died dramatically again.

They heaved as ‘you’ finally died, ‘your’ eyes fading out of focus. You’d feel bad for the cheering crowd if you weren’t slightly iritated.

“Oh dear, it’s getting boring~” you whistled. Your unlimited body package deal worked like a charm. It kind of is one, but it’s ingrained into your soul. You’re now reformed and standing on top of Zhongli’s head.

It was almost fun feeling him tense up under you, his fists visibly clenched like the Arthur meme. His geo colour scheme would’ve worked if his sleeve was yellowish. Pity.

The crowd felt invisible and that’s because they’ve been giving you unsurprising reactions. They’re starting to bore you.

“What the fu-“ Eh, classic Venti. You revelled in your twisted sense of humour, as you gazed at his dropped jaw.

“No, not the archon with the Wendy-ass haircut swearing at me.” He opened his mouth but you reached out with your electro powers to buzz his lips and hold them shut.

“SHUT. No. That’s an off-topic question. Permission denied. NEXT.”

You floated up and formed a skyscraping geo structure stronger than any of Zhongli’s attacks. You stood there menacingly, t-posing. Zhongli was tall, but not enough for you to see the whole scene with a bird-eye view.

‘It’s over, Anakin. I have the high ground. You underestimate my power.’ You think to yourself.

You continued your ‘speech’.

“Raisin. Visions now. Ven-tea, your apples. Shlong-li, your osmanthus wine. If I have to hear you wax about your wine again, I will bonk you in the face with Guizhong’s lock.” You paused as they attempted to absorb the absurd events that happened. Zhongli almost looked traumatised, as if he didn’t abuse your other selves. Your compassion had been going on a hiatus and it won’t be coming back anytime soon. Reasonably so. It didn’t help that the other times you tried to care resulted in your untimely demises.

“Oh, and kill me in creative mode this time!” You gave them encouraging thumbs-ups, reminiscent of a parent encouraging their toddler. You clapped mockingly when they finally managed to step forward under the increasing pressure of your now negative aura. “Good job! Don’t trip, little ones!” You sat on the geo tower and watch in amusement. If they could prove themselves to be fun enough, maybe you would let them try out new killing ideas on your body, before you ‘return the favour’.

You hope they would invent new death methods in your honour. Ehe~

A/N: not sure about this but ayo I hope y’all enjoyed it ehe~

[kimyoonmiauthor]

How to defeat transphobes quickly.

Phase I: Transphobia was created by the Patriarchy, like misogyny was.

The main two books to do this with is:

The Creation of Patriarchy by Gerda Lerner

Caliban and the Witch: Women, the Body and Primitive Accumulation by Silvia Federici.

And this is dead easy to support.

See transphobe’s heads explode. You see, if you haven’t read my profile I majored in Anthropology and concentrated it in systems. That’s sexism, ableism, anti-LGBTQIA, etc. Granted, I was interested in it in kindergarten after getting bullied and getting insufficient answers.

So limited land and men’s need for prestige caused men to try to find reasons to try to take land from women. But in order to define what women were, they needed to create a strict binary. In order to create a strict binary, they had to throw out the existing trans people. (Who, BTW, existed pre-Christian times.)

With needing to own land, then you need someone to work the land. This is where the ableism comes in. Who will inherit the land? Men, but you need to prove your fragile male virility. And will disabled people do who may not be able to work the land? NO. And can you allow your descendants to show they are gay? Eff no. I mean, you need to show off your big D--- and show the equipment work by *gasp* making sure your children reproduce so you have a legacy. --;;

That’s trans down. That’s the disciplining of women. That’s the disciplining of LGB. And then intersex. Obviously you, great patriarchal male is going to called someone intersex “disabled.” And now disabled.

OK. Racism, comes also from land owning. You have to look at Moors and Mongols for that one. OMG, it’s more misogyny. Can’t have women having those dirty Moor or Mongol babies.

BTW, I’m not saying that the systems act the same CURRENTLY, but I am saying the root of the problem is exactly the same. Stupid ass male fragility And Boy do I have historical examples.

The history of anti-LGBTQIA and anti-women are tied CLOSELY in history. The downfall of one always comes with the downfall of the other. Should we start listing historical events?

Korea: Imjin War--Downfall of women and LGBTQIA

Early Christianity was disciplined: Downfall of women and LGBTQIA

China: (every time they’ve done it historically and in contemporary times.) Discipline women and LGBTQIA

Imperialism spread the hatred into other regions... Notably India, Australia, New Zealand, and the Americas. What happened? Europeans disciplined women and LGBTQIA.

The binary was made to suppress women, but in doing so, they also suppressed everyone else.

What happens is either the transphobe gets so upset they block you, because they realize on some level the root of their hate has the same origin as hating trans people (and everyone who doesn’t own vast tracks of land they plan to give to super privileged sons)... thus they are hating themselves, or they go into a ranty fest trying to attack you, because they can’t attack two cishet white women on their theses that are widely accepted by academia.

Phase II: You’re being Eurocentric Racist.

Also, you can all them racist since they refuse to recognize third genders from other locales. Such as: Indonesia, Bugis, India, Thailand, Angola, Kenya, Plain Indians, etc.

If they start with “But clothes” you can ask them the difference between a robe and a dress. All the dictionaries say a dress is what a woman wears. There is no difference. And Hula skirts, sarongs, kilts, etc are skirts.

Heels were invented for horseback riding, so men should be wearing them.

And pants are for horseback riding.

Lace was originally a prestige item for men.

Eyeliner were the original sunglasses.

So anything women have worn, men have too. Calling out my PoC transphobes. This works well when you point out such notions came from white imperialism. Usually you can find third genders in their country of origin and argue about how much transphobes hate their definition of gender.

Phase III: The Biological Argument. I think this is easy. Scientific American, Nature, the DSM VI, Psychology Today, Anthropology, don’t back them. As soon as you point out there are XXY humans and humans who don’t have their expressed gender by chromosomes, they start flipping out and sputtering. They don’t have much left because the reputable magazines have turned against them.

They might pull out the “Disability” argument and “the majority”

Then you ask them what if the person is born with both? Which also happens. Persistent Müllerian duct syndrome. What are they,then they pull out the chromosome argument... Swyer syndrome Klinefelter syndrome and present to them the weird world of biology that doesn’t care for human rules. Culture exists to create rules about nature that nature always overturns. One less Chromosome: nature is like, sure-- let’s try that. Turner syndrome.

When they get to “They should not exist” in their argument you hit them with the Eugenics questions. Do you support Hitler? Hitler’s Germany who supported positions like sterilization... https://www.jstor.org/stable/4397988 Phase IV: Their feminism is behind and dates to the 1960′s Second wave White feminism.

At this point since they can’t argue about statistics... say the whole bathroom argument: https://www.wcnc.com/article/news/politics/stats-show-assaults-dont-happen-in-bathrooms/275-126572739

https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/06/health/trans-teens-bathroom-policies-sexual-assault-study/index.html

Also numbers from RAINN: https://www.rainn.org/articles/lgbtq-survivors-sexual-violence

Or the Sports argument: https://www.aclu.org/news/lgbtq-rights/four-myths-about-trans-athletes-debunked/

And then hit them with: Is this the biggest concern that feminists have?

They will try to hit you with, “You don’t care about women” argument. And this is where you hit them really hard. Argue along the lines their feminism is out of date, is filled with ignorance about the creation of the Patriarchy they are trying to dismantle, and only dates from the 1960′s, and so who doesn’t care about women, you or them? Women moved on, you can argue. There was Third wave feminism: Which argued for the inclusion of LGBT, intersectionality and PoCs. Also lead by black women, including Black transwomen. Stonewall was started by black trans women and black lesbians TOGETHER. So are they saying the activism that black women did was irrelevant and they prefer white feminism and global impacts?

There is Fourth wave feminism, which included masculine fragility, Asking about how to talk through flexibility for boys which would solve a lot of the issues from the binary they are so paranoid about coming from trans people, rather than directing it towards the aggressors and solving the problems with masculine fragility in the first place.

Arguing this will make them really upset, because by this point, no arguments are left. They can’t name call you, you’ve laid out facts about their transphobia supporting the Patriarchy, and said their feminism is behind, and that their statistical basis is wrong. They got nowhere to go except try to find ways to attack you, such as “you weren’t listening to me at all.” or personal attacks, in which case.... Phase VII: Psychology. The last bit you should know is most transphobes don’t seem to have hobbies outside of social media. And they are looking for peer adulation, so don’t care abut correct facts. Most of them on twitter are unemployed, come off slightly antisocial, and don’t seem to have other social skills. A lot of them, flip out when you disappear for a few seconds, a few hours, go off and do a job. And the ones that defend She-who-should-not-be-named, don’t seem to be familiar with any of her work or writings. So ask them the following: Do you have a job? Don’t you have hobbies? You don’t have face to face people you can talk to that like you? And a lot of them will go poof, the other percentage will accuse you of not having the same, in which case you can assert you do, and they should work on that and if they need help, you know that therapy is available to help with such things. And I haven’t found a single one *yet* that can fire back. The amount of posts and retweets, etc is always screaming they don’t do anything else besides social media. They don’t have better things to do. They want peer approval and attention, so shine a light on their weakness. Asserting you have time outside of social media works.

Conclusion: Personal attacks? Report them.

That said, if people are going to hate, they are going to hate anyway. But at least inform them their hate comes from something they don’t own: Vast tracts of land to be passed down to mostly white cishet abled men. Hate is so uncreative and generally has the same origin. If we could only cure male fragility.

The reason they hate is because hate feels like control, but as the old saying goes, hate can consume you. And the more that you try to feel control through hate, the more you try to find you lose control, and thus hate more. And then you come back to hating yourself and your own in spectacular fashion. Hate also tries to punch at the weakest people because it is not brave. Can’t punch at men? Punch at trans people. Usually transphobes try to bait people in order to exhaust them. In which case, bait them back to let them spout their full transphobia. Don’t be transphobic, just set the trap, so you can hit that report button and let the platform ban them. I did say I read the Art of War several times and Machiavelli’s The Prince several times.

[pterodactylterrace]

So after the disaster with my MIL, I ended up deep cleaning half my house because my anxiety would not let me sit still. Today my left leg is PISSED. I’ve been half dragging it all day.

The worst part about my disability is the fact that it isn’t constant. There are times where I’m doing so good, I wonder if I was just being a cry baby before. Then things get bad again. Then I wonder how I was able to do things so easily before.

Yesterday I was up and down stairs all day, sweeping, organizing, scrubbing carrying trash bags outside. Now today I had to have my service dog walk me back from the kitchen because using my left leg was so painful I wanted to cry.

I also have wonderful nerve spasms today. Who doesn’t love random unpredictable electric shocks from their own body? Oh yeah, me.

Also, while somewhat on the topic of my crazy ass MIL: she called the police to come do a wellness check on my children. My son was sick so I offered to bring my daughter’s out for him to see. I was in the middle of cleaning the kitchen so I didn’t want him walking through it. I explained that she had done it in retaliation to me calling them on her for showing up at my house the previous night drunk and trying to fight me. He told me he didn’t need to see the kids, he could tell I wasn’t stoned and he believed everything was fine. I was honest and told him I have my medical card, but I do my best not to use it, especially in front of the kids.

My husband is furious. He hates that he can’t do anything about it right now. He feels none of this would have happened had he been here. I kept telling him that everything is handled, and that I can take care of myself. He doesn’t need this stress in his life.

Also, my crazy MIL messaged MY mom saying she needed to talk to her about “their children” and that she was going to tell her “the truth”. Seriously? There are two people in the world I never lie to about anything. My husband, and my mother. They don’t get a choice, they HAVE to love me 🤣

So yeah, crazy ass MIL (CAMIL for short) is in for a rude awakening. It’s kind of funny, in our marriage, people are more likely to air grievances to me rather than my husband because he’s a big intimidating dude whereas I am a small woman. They don’t realize that HE’S the nice one. I’ll just laugh at you and tell you to eff off. Between my mother and I, people are more likely to go to her because hey see her as a sweet little old lady. Yeah… she’s meaner than I am. I told her she has to fill me in when they talk. I’m dying to know what “truth” CAMIL has come up with.

[transguylifter]

hi! i'm a newbie to lifting and i've never lifted before. i have a few questions if you don't mind? 1. what are some common terms/slang/words used on liftblr that a newbie may not understand? 2. how,, do you even START? 3. how do you not feel bad about lifting? i want to lift and like,, i hate capitalism, but i don't want to fuck over minimum wage workers because i wanted to steal something.

Terminology

Sus- suspicious

LP- loss prevention, the people whose jobs are specifically to reduce shoplifting. some of them are just doing their jobs but a lot of them really hate poor people, and as with a lot of jobs where profiling is a necessity they're often racist and ableist

SA- sales associate, the regular employees

RFIDs- "markers" that make the alarms go off, sometimes hidden within a clothing tag at higher-up stores (example: t🎯) or on a sticker/tab stuck on or in a box/packaging

Magnets- neodymium magnets, super strong magnets that can be used to remove some security tags (typically plastic, possibly set up to trigger alarms)

Boosting- shoplifting or doing a DNA for the purpose of reselling the item

Magnet detectors- similar to the "scanners" at entrances/exits that detect RFIDs, these are specifically for detecting powerful magnets. As far as I know these typically alert employees in a more private way, and they're usually only in a few high-security stores

Blindspot- an area of the store where no cameras are able to see. Sometimes also used to describe an area that both cameras cannot view and employees/customers cannot view as easily

"borrowing"- another term for lifting, typically used by those on tikt0k, will not get you much respect on liftblr as we all hate borrowing tikt0k

How to start?

I personally started learning how to lift at d0llar tr33, at most locations they have no cameras or LP and generally just don't have a huge emphasis on security

I then moved on to the nearby r1te a1d, which has cameras and some security but isn't super difficult for anything smaller and non-alcoholic (I or my lifting partners have gotten make-up, tampons, and condoms from there, all without setting off the alarms. With some things RFIDs can be within the packaging, be careful)

Just keep getting practice on how to conceal and being aware of employees/other customers while still appearing casual

After that it really depends on what stores are available to you, for me eff-too-won was the next step, where I learned how to conceal in dressing rooms. h0t t0pic can be easy with smaller things, though it really does depend, I've been to locations that had much better security than my local one

I truly don't have a whole ton of experience outside of d011ar tr33 and a few other stores, I might not be the best for advice on places with higher levels of security (jay cee p3nni has sussed my lifting partners before, lmao, that's probably the most secure place I've been even partially involved in lifting from)

How to not feel bad about lifting:

With me it was easy because I'd already been used to anarchist/anti-capitalist ideologies, but basically:

I'm trans and disabled (I'm neurodivergent and struggle with chronic fatigue/pain) AND I'm underage which means getting a job isn't easy for me. And even if I did get a job, honestly I'm of the opinion that capitalism generally sucks. It's a whole hour's work for not even 15 dollars for some people. And it just isn't fair that some people are literally billionaires while others are struggling to pay rent or get food.

That's maybe not the best explanation but I just think poor people deserve things, even if they're not absolute necessities.

As long as it's not a small business/locally owned location, it's not affecting anyone if you shoplift.

[wigwurq]

WIG REVIEW: THE CROWN SEASON 4

You guys. It has come to my attention that I never got around to doing a wig review of The Crown. Nor, apparently, have I ever done a wig review of any season of The Crown!! Apologies all around. I guess this is probably because unlike most prestige TV, this show was given an actual wig budget which has resulted in actually good wigs (and that’s no fun to review!) Anyway, since I have now moved on to far more trashy British prestige TV viewing (Bridgerton), I will not do a full episode-by-episode review of The Crown but will take it character by character. Ahem:

THE QUEEN (AND PRINCE PHILIP)

Olivia Colman is, well, MY FAVOURITE but honestly, this season is not about her or her wigs, which are absolutely lovely wigs fit for a queen. And unlike most male wigs, Philip’s wig is not bad! It does not have the frightful issue most mens’ wigs possess: the fact that they jut out at the tape of the neck. Prince Philip is an absolute asshole and he does not deserve such a good wig, but whatever: he got one! Cheers to both these characters that no one actually cares about this season. Moving on!

MARGARET THATCHER AKA THAT BLOODY WOMAN

My father is from Northern England and my family still very much call Margaret Thatcher “THAT BLOODY WOMAN” and it is the only thing anyone should ever call her. My one issue with her portrayal in this show is that they try to make her seem like a human being with real, vulnerable emotions and not the evil gargoyle that she actually was. As an OG X-Files fan, I love Gillian Anderson and support the fact that she has now become a faux British person in a way that Madonna was never able to achieve and she is absolutely just fine as That Bloody Woman even if her wig is slightly larger than That Bloody Woman’s actual hair. 

Still, the quality of this wig is impeccable (as are all these wigs - please give shows actual wig budgets, people!) But I am very disappointed that this season really didn’t show That Bloody Woman to be the monster she was and didn’t even mention the fact that she gutted the English mining industry. For a far more accountable portrayal, please see this number from the musical version of Billy Elliot and please sing this song every damn Christmas. One thing I did learn is that the kitchen at 10 Downing St is tiny and apparently That Bloody Woman had to do a lot of cooking as PM. Ok?

PRINCESS MARGARET

Obviously, the only Margaret I care about in this show is PRINCESS MARGARET who has always been the goddamned coolest (and most heartbreaking) character on this show every season. Although her fashion is still ON POINT this season, her wig is mostly in some bun or french twist but still looks great?

Also I absolutely adore the royal family’s affinity for head scarves. Also look at how many jackets she is wearing! Princess Margaret can do whatever the eff she wants (except find love apparently...) and also I really applaud her for how she reacted to discovering her family covered up secret disabled cousins (!) while she was trying to get her own self care. OY VEY.

CAMILLA PARKER-BOWLES

Camilla has long been the UK’s enemy #1 and apparently this season of this show has created a renaissance of this feeling. However! As played by Emerald Fennell (who also wrote and directed the fabulous Promising Young Woman), Camilla is just a misunderstood gal who was forced into a loveless marriage by the queen mum and Lord Montbatten (RIP). This frizzy, bent as hell ‘do is honestly way better than Camilla has ever looked in her damn life. Amen.

PRINCESS DIANA

There is one true star of the royal family (STILL!) and of this season, and obvs that is Lady Di. We first see her as a teenage weirdo dressed as a tree nymph who later captures Charles’s heart by wearing yellow overalls and this damn sweater to a county fair. SURE!! Her first wig is as unfortunate as this outfit since it has the issue most male wigs has - it just out at the back!

As her hair grows longer, this becomes less of an issue. I will say that they did their best to recreate these iconic royal moments. 

I love that as her fame grows, so does her hair! These wigs are honestly impeccable even when Charles is not (TRULY UGH CHARLES). 

In the end, Charles and Diana’s marriage is a total effing MESS but these wigs totally can withstand high winds and horrible husbands/in-laws/lovers/80s fashion.

VERDICT: WURQS