#especially on apps

[genderfreakxx]

Yeah so ummm some of your post is definitely getting into the whole 'if you want to date a binary trans person who doesn't pass 100% you can't be straight' and even 'if you, a man, want to date a cis woman who's had breast reduction surgery or has a low voice or stubble and isn't 100% the misogynistic standard of a woman, you must be queer' which is you know. A bad look.

You don't have to be bi to date a NB person. This is something used against lesbians like a lot and its pretty fucked up

Your boundaries and feelings about your experiences are completely valid but some of the more generalised statements are kinda. Concerning.

Hey thank you for sending this, this is exactly the perspective I needed to be reminded of. You’re right, in trying to shake the rigidity of gender essentialism in others’ gaze toward myself I have inadvertently fallen into the other side of gender essentialism with my blanket statements!

If someone is a binary trans person, there shouldn’t be any problem seeing them for who they are even if their entirely pre-transition, don’t want to transition, or “don’t pass.” It doesn’t make them less trans or less of their gender.

And I’m all about women, cis or trans, with facial hair, deep voices, breast reduction or complete removal etc. ! (And their straight boyfriends lol)

Plus you’re so right about lesbians dating non binary people and having it weaponized against their identities. This is a long standing issue I’m aware of and yet somehow I got so mad at straight men in the moment that I didn’t think about lesbians (for fucken shame) in the context of my rant post, so again, thank you!

I think my bias for trusting lesbians over straight men impacts my thoughts on this aspect of the situation, honestly. Perhaps because lesbians already have to fight for the right to exist as themselves in society, there’s a presumed understanding between lesbians and their non binary partners that they’ve talked about identity and respect one another. I’m not sure how much of this is my familiarity with queer solidarity and how much is leaning toward black and white thinking with “lesbians good, straight man bad” because I don’t truly think people can be categorized so broadly and totally. I just think straight men have more of an opportunity to not consider what their non binary partners gender identity truly means because (whether they’re consciously aware of it or not) it benefits them socially not to defer from their normative identities. Generally, they have an easier time navigating the world and less incentive to question gender roles and identity than someone like a lesbian who has presumably had to take the time to consider the nuances of identity in a world that doesn’t consider their identity to be “normative.” All this is to say, this is why it makes sense to me that lesbians date non binary people and yet it still gives me pause when straight men do it.

But again, you’re right that it’s concerning that I let my rhetoric fall into a category of potential harm for all these lovely people because I was feeling a very specific frustration on a personal scale.

At the end of the day I know there are all sorts of identities and relationships across the board and even if I don’t completely understand them, it’s none of my business and I just want everyone to be happy and comfortable. That’s also why I capped the post with “but again I just wish the app would let me block straight people” because, c’est la vie, man, I would never want to push my personal experience and preference on anyone else- it’s just frustrating that the app for dating doesn’t allow for more personalization.

This was helpful to think about, and will help me stay grounded in the future when similar feelings arise, so genuinely thank you again for taking the time to send this. I can definitely see where my post gets concerning at points as I rant on.

[artsymeeshee]

just thinking about how Ford would take any chance to tell Stan thank you :,)

[lazylittledragon]

it felt like AUTUMN today and i’m going into it with my whole pussy so this is a call for everyone to drop me their soup recipes

[beeduoo]

i really like that one tiktok

[rainyramblesscramble]

day 1 of drawing one of the cod characters until I’m comfortable with trying to find my style

[koiblossom5]

As a chinese-canadian and a long-time user of xhs (xiaohongshu/little red book) I thought it might help to have some information and gentle reminders addressing the many rules + what kinds of content you can post on the app :)

To start, there's a lot of misconception about being able to post anime content. We aren't averse to Japanese content or media- as a matter of fact, there's a pretty big anime and cosplay community, especially on xhs!

Here are some photos from my trip to suzhou! (dungeon meshi and skip to loafer content was a mythical pull lol)

With that being said, it is disrespectful and offensive to post media and content containing or associating with the glorification/apologia, themes, symbols, etc., of Japanese imperialism and involvement during WWII. This includes AOT, MHA, and many other other popular animes.

Please note that I do not support censorship: I believe that people should have the freedom to post, express, and create media on social media platforms as well as have the ability to watch different kinds of shows - but considering xhs is an app from a foreign country, it is important to contextualize its local policies through historical lens. I strongly implore non-Chinese users to research Unit 731 and the Nanjing Massacre to better understand why certain types of content from Japan are banned and blacklisted in China.

2. There are active LGBTQ+ communities on xhs- and for many queer people in China, where the country's ideologies are still pre-dominantly conservative, social media platforms is one the few safe spaces where they can express their sexuality and/or gender identity, particularly for wlw (or le). It is important to keep in mind that progress in the LGBTQ+ rights movement in the East, specifically China, is at a very different stage compared to the West; please be respectful of the fact that the Chinese LGBTQ+ community has their own culture, their own slang, and their own ways of expression in a country where LGBTQ+ people continue to face legal and social discrimination.

3. When you first create your account, you might be quite daunted by the long, long, long list of rules and community guidelines, specifically the first section, where it states, "1. Values - XiaoHongShu encourages users to post content that aligns with current positive social values. All content posted should:

Adhere to the Chinese Constitution and laws.

Practice the core socialist values. (A list of values promoted by the Chinese government, which includes: prosperity, democracy, civility, harmony, freedom, equality, justice, the rule of law, patriotism, dedication, integrity, and friendship)

Promote patriotism, collectivism, and socialism.

Spread the correct views on history, nationality, state, and culture.

Promote the excellent traditional culture of the Chinese nation.

Uphold social ethics, professional ethics, family and personal virtues, and respect public order and good customs.

Promote scientific thinking and popularize scientific knowledge.

Advocate a positive, healthy, and progressive lifestyle and social trends."

No, this does not mean the content you post or interact with has to be about praising the CCP or saying, "I love communism!! 🤩". It just means you cannot be comparing Xi Jinping to W*nnie the P*oh (ifyyk).

The point is, try to avoid political discourse or criticism regarding the Chinese government on xhs, especially since xhs is a platform more akin to Pinterest or Instagram, where its more so a lighthearted place for travel tips, recipes, aesthetic fashion and makeup tips and inspiration, cosplay, cute animal videos, productive lifestyle and snapshots of simple life, etc! You can still discuss different things about Chinese culture and society, such as healthcare system, attitudes toward foreigners, income and spending, etc. But please be mindful that there are real people behind the screen; people who are not their government. I promise you, Chinese people are just as capable of poking fun, referencing brainrot, and interacting with non-Chinese people normally 💀.

Anyways, please take the time to review these rules and guidelines, especially since xhs is very strict about implementing them and can potentially lead to your account getting banned. This includes things such as:

excessive displays of wealth (be considerate of others' financial situations)

only sharing scientifically proven information/avoiding misinformation (no pseudoscience)

respecting boundaries (no nudity or sexual/sexually suggestive behavior; you can definitely show skin, but if you're making a grwm video please don't show up in your underwear - even on tiktok I never understood why influencers do that 😅)

etc, etc.

Many of the community guidelines are in line with social norms that are prominent in East Asia, which is understanding that a social media platform is a public space to be shared with others in a civil and respectful manner. And many of these guidelines refer to explicitness as a measurement - (fake) blood is fine, but gore and other such obscenities are not. You can kiss your significant other in a cute video, but you shouldn't be posting each other fornicating (this applies to both heterosexual and homosexual couples). You can swear, but you shouldn't be yelling racial slurs. Honestly, a lot of this is just common sense - xhs is supposed to be a wholesome, inspirational, and chill space!

4. Take this as an opportunity to learn about another culture, another language, and even make new friends! As long as you're civil, kind and respectful, xhs is super fun and entertaining! Of course, it's not representative of the Chinese internet space as a whole; the majority of users are women (so consider using "sis" or 姐 instead of "dude" or "bro" ). With that in mind, please be respectful in your comments - many of the women posting makeup edits or fashion videos are seeking appreciation, not sexual harassment 😅 even if a someone is posting a thirst trap, try to be tastefully humorous! If you're trying to communicate in Mandarin, I would suggest using the simplified Chinese Pinyin keyboard (QWERTY) and start learning the four different intonations of each character so you are able to sound out and type sentences using the alphabetical keyboard!

I hope this was helpful and legible, even if by a marginal amount (if this was actually incoherent, I apologize, I learned English by watching My Little Pony💀), and I hope everyone has a really fun experience on the app!

[rivkae-winters]

Edit: the app launched and Is down- I have the initial apology video in a post here and I’m working on getting a full archive of their TikTok up ASAP. I’m letting the rest of this post remain since I do still stand by most of it and also don’t like altering things already in circulation.

Warning for criticism and what I’d consider some harsh to outright mean words:

So I’ve just been made aware of the project known of as ‘lore.fm’ and I’m not a fan for multiple reasons. For one this ‘accessibility’ tool complicates the process of essentially just using a screen reader (something native to all I phones specifically because this is a proposed IOS app) in utterly needless and inaccessible ways. From what I have been seeing on Reddit they have been shielding themselves (or fans of the project have been defending them) with this claim of being an accessibility tool as well to which is infuriating for so many reasons.

I plan to make a longer post explaining why this is a terrible idea later but I’ll keep it short for tonight with my main three criticisms and a few extras:

1. Your service requires people to copy a url for a fic then open your app then paste it into your app and click a button then wait for your audio to be prepared to use. This is needlessly complicating a process that exists on IOS already and can be done IN BROWSER using an overlay that you can fully control the placement of.

2. This is potentially killing your own fandom if it catches on with the proposed target market of xreader smut enjoyers because of only needing the link as mentioned above. You don’t have to open a fic to get a link this the author may potentially not even get any hits much less any other feedback. At least when you download a pdf you leave a hit: the download button is on the page with the fic for a reason. Fandom is a self sustaining eco system and many authors get discouraged and post less/even stop writing all together if they get low interaction.

3. Maybe we shouldn’t put something marketed as turning smut fanfic into audio books on the IOS App Store right now. Maybe with KOSA that’s a bad idea? Just maybe? Sarcasm aside we could see fan fiction be under even more legal threat if minors use this to listen to the content we know they all consume via sites like ao3 (even if we ask them not to) and are caught with it. Auditory content has historically been considered much more obscene/inappropriate than written content: this is a recipe for a disaster and more internet regulations we are trying to avoid.

I also have many issues with the fact that this is obviously redistributing fanfiction (thus violating the copyright we hold over our words and our plots) and removing control the author should have over their content and digital footprint. Then there is the fact that even though the creator on TikTok SAYS you can email to have your fic ‘excluded’ based on the way the demo works (pasting a link) I’m gonna assume that’s just to cover her ass/is utter bullshit. I know that’s harsh but if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck it’s probably a duck.

I am all for women in stem- I’ve BEEN a woman in Stem- but this is not a cool girl boss moment. This is someone naive enough to think this will go over well at best or many other things (security risks especially) at worst.

In conclusion for tonight: I hope this person is a troll but there is enough hype and enough paid for web domains that I don’t think that’s the case. There are a litany of reasons every fanfic reader and writer should be against something like this existing and I’ll outline them all in several other posts later.

Do not email their opt out email address there is no saying what is actually happening with that data and it is simply not worth the risks it could bring up. I hate treating seemingly well meaning people like potential cyber criminals but I’ve seen enough shit by now that it’s better to be safe than sorry. You’re much safer just locking all your fics to account only. I haven’t yet but I may in the future if that is the only option.

If anyone wants a screen reader tutorial and a walk through of my free favorites as well as the native IOS screen reader I can post that later as well. Sorry for the heavy content I know it’s not my normal fare.

[fungi-maestro]

[redbootsindoriath]

A cast of characters I put together for fun over the course of like a week. The setting is supposed to be some kind of generic medieval fantasy. I tried to be as historical as I could with the clothes and armor, but didn't hold myself to a strict time period or location and instead went with a vague "European middle ages".

While I personally am fond of the whole grimdark fantasy thing, I love how colorful the real middle ages could be and I wanted to be sure I was sticking to that as closely as I could manage.

[userautumn]

Biphobia is not taken seriously in the LGBTQ community and is, in fact, actively encouraged. the end result is that there are a lot of self-hating bisexuals out there and they're not only expected to suffer through it silently and alone, it's also just the norm and considered, in some circles, a character flaw if you're not repentant for being bisexual. that is fucked up. your desire for men is just as valid and beautiful and pure as your desire for women and vice versa. you don't have to pick a side*. you don't have to feel bad for liking men. you don't have to apologize to strangers for liking men. you don't have to perform a fucking penance ritual for not being gay. you don't have to let people convince you you're straight. your bisexuality is real and authentic whether you're 50/50, 95/5, 60/40, 70/30, whether it fluctuates. fucking whatever. oh my god.

*bisexuality is and always has been inclusive of nonbinary people but this post is speaking specifically about the divide between sexual attraction among binary identities and the response to that attraction among binary people in the community

[jon-sedai]

I’d honestly rather not talk about this topic because of the fandom toxicity that always surrounds it, but I think one of the more…should I say….interesting things to witness post HOTD has been the way fandom treats Jon Snow’s relationship with House Targaryen, and the effect that has on how they perceive his role in the larger (unfinished) narrative. Jon’s association with the Targs is more implied in the books because his parentage has not been revealed yet. But when you read the many companion stories released over the years like the Dunk and Egg novellas, The Rogue Prince, and Fire and Blood, you realize how much of House Targaryen is built around having Jon Snow as a foundation. I’m talking entire characters being Jon Snow clones or being created as a tiny hint-hint, nudge-nudge for ‘Jon the hidden Targaryen prince’. Sometimes, multiple characters within a certain period have elements of Jon; e.g., Jace, Addam, and Alyn Velaryon all being Jon Snow clones to varying degrees.

Jon was one of the very first characters ever created in this story many, many years ago. The first scene GRRM envisioned, of a family finding direwolf pups in the snow, gave birth to two characters who would be central to the entire series’ resolution: Jon and Bran. Then you read GRRM’s leaked outline and though he has since denounced it, it still says something important: Jon was always meant to be a secret royal prince. We can comfortably assume that he was created before most of the world’s history was set in stone. So when GRRM is building upon House Targaryen, which has thus far occupied the vast majority of the supplementary material, he injects elements of Jon into those characters. For example, Egg from D&E is very similar to Jon Snow personality wise. Bloodraven, who is from the same era and even has a role as Bran’s mentor in the main narrative, is created as foreshadowing for Jon Snow. Baelor Breakspear, also in these novellas, is how GRRM shows that Targaryen princes don’t always have the typical Valyrian look. Baelor favored his mother, as does Jon. Beyond just those novellas, he exists to inform on Jon, not just in look but in character too. Sometimes, Targaryen history is written to inform more tangentially on Jon’s own origins. Case in point, Prince Duncan and Jenny of Oldstones as parallels for Rhaegar and Lyanna.

Then we get to Fire and Blood which focuses so wholly on House Targaryen. And what I find interesting, and then frustrating at times, is how HOTD has morphed how we discuss this book. Because outside of HOTD, it’s easy to see how GRRM builds on Targaryen history with Jon in mind. And then we have the Dance of the Dragons. And this is where HOTD fucks up beyond measure. A lot of characters who existed during the Dance inform on Jon and his potential future. I’ve already mentioned the two Velaryon brothers, but I want to zero in on Jace because as one of the key players during this conflict, he is one of the most important ways in which GRRM links these historical characters to the (currently ongoing) main narrative. Jace is pretty much “Jon Snow if his Targaryen parent was actually the woman and he was raised as a prince”. He is so very similar to Jon in character, almost to the point of being an outright clone. And this important because one of his greatest accomplishments during the Dance was his alliance with Winterfell’s lord, Cregan Stark. This birthed the Pact of Ice and Fire, a union between the two most powerful and important families in the meta-narrative. This union went unfulfilled in Jace’s and Cregan’s lifetimes…..but Rhaegar and Lyanna flipped it over its head. Originally meant to be a union between a Stark lord and Targaryen princess whose children would have direct claim to Winterfell, the actual fulfillment of this Pact was that a Targaryen prince sired a son by a Stark lady. The result of this union, Jon, now has claim to both families’ legacies: Winterfell and the Iron Throne. Through the Pact of Ice and Fire, Jon Snow becomes one of the most important and most direct cases of narrative continuity between the current era and Targaryen history. The Dance of the Dragons unknowingly gives birth to Jon Snow.

What HOTD does is to entirely erase one of the most direct consequences of the Dance from its narrative. The show makes no meaningful reference to Jon, or the Pact, even though the author of the source material was careful in laying out just how important Jon is to the central narrative. What’s frustrating is how then they spend a lot of time talking about the prince that was promised whose song is the song of ice and fire. But then they erase Jon, the result of the pact of ice and fire, from the narrative. The worst thing about this is that HOTD has taken such a large space in fandom discussion, such that people use events from the show to inform how they engage with the written text. For all intents and purposes these have been two different narratives, but now I have to read the worst blood-supremacist takes about Jon; which is incredibly ironic given the subject matter.

I often see people celebrate that HOTD doesn’t talk about Jon, which has been a pretty big clue on either one of two things:

Many people who engage in fandom discussion post HOTD don’t actually engage with the text in its entirety. They’ve either never read the books and have only consumed them based on their online fandom bubbles, or what they have read is severely limited in scope.

Some of those who have read these books don’t like ASOIAF for what it is. They like it for what it should be for their headcannons and character-limited perceptions. Thats why they like it when certain sections of the text are outright ignored, because it’s better for their headcannons that way.

Beyond wanting new material, one of the worst consequences of these books going unfinished for me is that large sections of this fandom will be primed to ignoring one of the central characters, because all the material that’s been released outside of the published material has greatly mischaracterized the text itself. We’re now relegated to unhelpful (sometimes idiotic) arguments such as “HOTD says so, so it must be true in the books”. HOTD is taking creative liberties, and we should respect that. And we should also acknowledge that some part of HOTD is continued from Game of Thrones, which didn’t do a very good job of adapting ASOIAF or its characters in the first place. Cutting out the Pact of Ice and Fire (as far as we know) is one of the worst narrative changes made by the HOTD show runners in terms of establishing common context with the story many viewers are already aware of. And it sucks that with that show’s massive popularity, future ASOIAF adaptations will follow suit in completely disregarding important elements of the overall narrative. But hey, at least dragons look good.

[blatantlyhidden]

okay i just wanna say that

i love you fanfic writers. i love you fanartists. i love you editors. i love you gifers. i love all you creators here.

[the-fourchette]

Mel and Jayce - Non verbal communication

[brattyfemmebaby]

on today’s episode of “being weird to stone femmes” 🙄

[novella-november]

I saw a random post linking to this now-unrebloggable but very good post about the current state of reading comprehension in the USA amongst learned english majors due to the quite literal scam sold to the US government decades ago that has impacted generations, as many people have no doubt noticed but not been able to give a name to:

and out of sheer curiosity I am, I guess, now going to read "Bleak House" by Charles Dickens once I get through my current To Be Read list?

Anyways, for those unaware, it is Public Domain in the USA, which means you can 100% legally read it online or download to your favorite reading app from Project Gutenberg!

"Bleak House" by Charles Dickens is a novel written in the mid-19th century that explores the themes of social justice, the inefficiencies of the legal system, and the personal struggles of its characters.

The narrative primarily revolves around several characters involved in the interminable court case of Jarndyce and Jarndyce, delving into their lives, relationships, and the pervasive influence of the legal system on their choices and fates.

The story is introduced through the eyes of Esther Summerson, a young woman of uncertain parentage, who finds herself at the center of the unfolding drama.

It actually sounds super interesting from the blurb, too ...

[winter-parrot]

squeaking in juuuuuust under the end of barricade days, at least by my timezone. a little drabble, because the day snuck up on me (how does it always do that every year) but i wanted to do something. warning for, uh, canon-typical implied violence and death?

---------

Revolutions are bloody affairs. This is is no secret; they have always been bloody affairs.

The glory of that grand Revolution, that momentous ‘89, was forged in blood and then drowned again in blood. And since that day, every great stride of the Republic, and every trembling half-stumble towards Progress and the Future, have been paved first in blood. The Future, after all, is the dearest prize of all, and must therfore be purchased just as dearly.

Enjolras knows this. He has seen this, clear-eyed, from the day he first turned his eyes and his heart from the past towards the future. Sometimes, he half-feels as if he was born with the knowledge carved into his very bones, like the blood in his veins was gathered drop by drop from those ones who spilled their own before him.

He is not alone in this clear-sighted vision, either. Fate has blessed him with an army of friends—the words ring painfully truer than ever now, with the sharp stench of gunpowder still hanging heavy in the air—who share his vision and his hopes and his determination. Eight of them most of all, dearer to him than his own meager, single life. All of them, every last one, stepped on to this barricade knowing what it might entail.

Even now, in the quiet of the early summer night, that thought warms his heart. It also sends a shiver down deep in his bones that has nothing to do with the chill of the early summer night, and everything to do with the freezing touch of death awaiting them.

Revolutions are bloody affairs, after all. Revolution is a tollgate, he’d said, and meant it. And the toll agent is coming to collect. Now it is their turn to pay. We are entering a tomb all flooded with the dawn. He hadn’t meant it quite so literally then, but the words ring even truer now.

They stand alone in the dim pre-dawn, with the silence of the city’s uneasy slumber pressing in around them. There is no surge of citizens answering the call. The streets are clogged with soldiers and lone barricades, not unnumbered crowds of Parisians rising like a tide. And yet, even alone abandoned against the might of the National Guard, he does not stand alone. They stand together, all of them, in this as they have in meetings, in dreams, in laughter and wine and love.

Love, the future is thine, he’d also said—and meant that, too. Believed it more, even, than he believed in the necessary price of blood. We shall be happy. One day, if not today; the ones to come next, if not themselves.

He does not know if he believes in an afterlife; truthfully, he has devoted far less thought to matters of divine than he has to the matters of liberty. But whatever comes next, he has faith that they will see it through together. And that, on the other side of this barricade, on the other side of this dawn, he would see them all again.

A tollgate, after all, leads somewhere.