#even under the guise of inclusivity

[femgoddess-hecate]

Maybe this isn't the most important thing right now but have you ever noticed how companies sure know what a woman is when they want to advertise?

Like you have your "super inclusive" tampon or pad company that refuses to say women or female but I recently saw an ad for an underwear subscription service that began with "hey ladies".

Makeup has suddenly become more "inclusive" and yet skincare and haircare brands use nearly exclusively female models.

It's like they suddenly are very aware of what a woman is as soon as they acknowledge their consumer base is mostly female.

Crazy how that works huh?

[hell-nurse]

Audiobooks are not reading? That's insane and ridiculous to believe. Writing in a notebook and texting aren't even the same thing. Is someone telling me a story about their ex boyfriend reading now?

[demonslayerunhinged]

*cw: this theory deals with child sexual abuse and has mentions of suicidal ideation and eating disorders.

*If you or anyone you know is going through this, you can find resources here, here and here as well as a list of international hotlines.

Obanai is probably the second most hated character in the fandom, and just like Sanemi, he’s one of the most misunderstood. I think the hate he gets from the fandom is unwarranted; he’s accused of being a dick, a horrible person, a simp and a character who only exists to be Mitsuri’s love interest. All of which is unfair, sure he’s prickly and unapproachable, but he’s not as bad as the fandom makes him out to be.

So, in my quest to draft a defense for our favorite snek boy, I reread his backstory and in doing so, I realized something sad

Unhinged theory

Obanai is a sexual abuse survivor

Let me explain:

Obanai’s backstory and aspects of his character mirrors that of someone who’s been through sexual trauma. The evidence I'm going to present is a combination of my own knowledge about these matters and information I got from forums and websites for male survivors of sexual abuse. So let's examine them...um spoilers

The snake demon

I believe that the snake demon is a metaphor for a sexual predator. Her inclusion in the family could also be a metaphor for how these predators insert themselves into family units-or most of the time are family members themselves-and abuse the children for years and even generations. Obanai's relatives sacrificing their babies to her could signify the real life actions of families who are unaware or, turn a blind eye to, or sometimes actively participate in the abuse of their children.

The sacrifice in exchange for wealth speaks of how families in real life ignore the abuse of their children to maintain the wealth and status they obtain from being related to and associated with the abuser.

Even her decision to wait, ordering the cutting of his mouth so he would look like her, could be interpreted as her 'grooming' him in a sense.

Even her design has a certain sexual, predatory aspect to it that's different from the other demons.

His relatives

Obanai describes his family members as being 'disgustingly' affectionate and bringing him lots of 'greasy' food that made him sick. Food in media is often used to depict love, affection, connection and sex, and Demon Slayer is no different.

There are plenty of instances where food and the giving of food has been used to denote friendship (Tanjiro giving Zenitsu, Inosuke and Genya meals in an attempt to bond with them), connection (Giyuu wanting to give Sanemi ohagi), love (Tanjiro's love of cooking and the satisfaction he shows when his meals are enjoyed by others) and pleasure (Mitsuri's large appetite). I'll make a post about this later.

With this context, we can interpret their bringing of rich foods, their overbearing attention and affections as them objectifying and even being sexually inappropriate with him.

The sexual abuse

Non-physical.

The first instance of abuse is non-physical, but that doesn't make it any less important. Being constantly visited by the snake demon in his room at night, Obanai described his feelings of terror, being paralyzed and watched. His body would break out in a sweat, and he would be unable to fall asleep.

His descriptions of the experience and his body's reaction to it reminded me of some survivors' stories I read, where they talked about how in the initial stages of the abuse or when the abuser was first introduced into their lives, their abuser would give them unwanted attention, would stare at them in a way that felt creepy, gross and wrong.

Some had their abusers come in to their rooms, maybe under the guise of 'checking in on them'. They described feeling terrified, freezing up with the hopes that the attacker would leave. Some would take measures such as sleeping with the door locked or with a heavy object against it, sleeping with a sibling or parent, sleeping in a hiding spot that the attacker knows nothing about or not sleeping at all.

Physical.

The specific age that the snake demon plans to 'eat' Obanai is never stated, but from what we've seen so far and in the sexual context, we can assume that she's waiting until he hits puberty. Some studies state that the average age of victims of female sex offenders usually falls around 14 years, but there are cases where the female predator waited until their victim reached sexual maturity before they carried out their abuse, like in the case of Mary Kay Letourneau. Here's a video that breaks down an interview she did before her death.

Obanai was 12 when he was dragged out of his cell to be subjected to what I believe is the first physical abuse. He had his mouth slit from ear to ear, with the blood collected and fed to her. The snake demon decided to have him live a little longer, which again, fits into my theory of her wanting to wait until he reached puberty.

Bodily violation, violence and blood are common allegories for sexual assault used in media and in Obanai's backstory we see it being used when his relatives drag him from his cell, literally pin him down, cut his mouth and feed his blood to the snake demon. The act of feeding on his blood could also be a metaphor for the snake demon sexually abusing him.

His escape and the resulting fallout

Obanai managed to escape, and although he was tracked down by the snake demon, he was saved by Shinjuro Kengoku before she could kill him. His cousin's response was to blame him for all that happened, asked why he ran away, and said that he should have 'allowed' the demon to eat him.

This could represent how some victims are rejected, ostracized and criticized for speaking out against their attacker, exposing the abuse to the public and getting help. Their families would say 'you should have just let it happen', 'you destroyed the family', 'why did you run away, tell people?' and place the blame on the victim.

Obanai's reaction

There are three aspects of his characterization that are similar to the common reactions noticed in adult survivors of sexual assault, especially male survivors.

His appearance.

His behavior.

His beliefs.

His appearance

Obanai has a small frame that he hides with his baggy uniform and haori. I can tell it's baggy compared to that of the other slayers because of the width of his pants vs the width of his lower legs. Desexualization or hypo-sexualization is a common response among some survivors of sexual trauma, this usually involves wearing clothes and taking measures to make themselves look 'unattractive'.

'But this side feels more comfortable for me, like the baggy clothes I wear, which hide my body, and the long sleeves which reach past my wrists. I promised myself no man would ever touch me again, and whether it was a moment of triumph, or a moment of defeat, I still don't know.'

'I'm thin, shy. I seem easy to dominate. I've grown a beard. That's helped a little. I dress in baggy clothes, covering as much of my skin as possible. That makes me feel safe.'

This not only helps regain a sense of control and power over their body but also serves as a protective measure against sexual advances so they don't get abused again.

In Obanai, given his history of receiving unwanted, suffocating and 'disgusting' attention from his female relatives, it would make sense that he would want to dress in a way that makes him unapproachable and hides his body from the opposite sex. We can see his attempts to desexualize himself in the picture below:

His behavior

'Iguro has difficulty with girls. Due to his experiences growing up, he was unable to conquer his fear and animosity. Plus, the firls who joined the Demon Slayer Corps often put on brave faces because of their sad backgrounds, so he felt sorry for them, making him uncomfortable in a different way.' - Taisho Whispers, official English translation.

'Iguro-san isn't good with women. Due to his upbringing he has a fear and disgust towards women. (I couldn't overcome it easily. The women who joined the Demon Slayer Corps have painful stories of determination. I felt sorry for them and I didn't get along with them in a way that was different from the way I got along with my family)' - Taisho Whispers, direct-sort-of-shitty translation via Google Translate.

Male survivors who were victims of childhood abuse by female perpetrators often talk about how the abuse greatly affected their relationships with women or lack thereof. Some going so far as to say that they became afraid of women, being around them and how sometimes being touched by women would trigger panic attacks and remind them of the trauma.

Here are some quotes posted in a thread on the Male Survivor forum. Full thread here.

'Once that happened, my genophobia became more intense. I couldn't ware short trousers in summer, could never go swimming, got paranoid if I touched a woman's arm or even brushed against one, would always stand at a distance from female friends, and would literally leave the room if anything explicit was discussed.'

'I have started to have strange, deep discomforting feelings as I remember some of the assaults and I have gotten to a place where touch from a woman makes my hair stand up, makes me nauseous, and gives me chills and feelings of dread.'

Obanai has similar responses when he finds himself in proximity to women. We're only told about it in the main manga, but it's shown in the Gakuen. I know the Gakuen takes place in an alternate universe, but aside from the events, the behaviors of the characters are based on their actual personalities in the main manga, so we can safely say the reactions he displays in the Gakuen is canon to his character.

His beliefs

Adult survivors of sexual abuse often struggle with feelings of guilt, rage, and shame. In the manga, Obanai talks about being held back by the decaying hands of his family members, which could represent the long-lasting effects of sexual abuse and how some survivors carry these burdens all through adulthood or throughout their lives.

There's also the thoughts about himself that echo the heartbreaking thoughts shared by some male survivors.

Guilt:

"As the member of a filthy family, I too was corrupt. My sins were deep, so I could not live a normal life"

Rage:

"With no other outlet, I turned all my rage on demons in a grudge of intense hatred. By risking my life for others, I felt as if I could in some way become a slightly better person."

Shame:

"Unless I die and come back in a different body in which this filthy blood does not flow, I have no right to be with you."

Suicidal ideation(mild):

"By risking my life for others, I felt as if I could in some way become a slightly better person."

"I want to die defeating Muzan." (He's the only character that I know of that outright says this.)

He also kind-of expresses his feelings of being weak during the fight with Muzan:

"I've accomplished less in this battle than anyone! I wish I could deliver a more effective attack."

While this quote isn't exactly definite, a feeling of being weak, or being 'less of a man' is also a common experience shared by male sexual assault survivors.

The scar and It's symbolism

The scar is a physical manifestation of the lifelong effect that sexual abuse has on its victims and the stigma it carries. For Obanai, it's not just a painful reminder of the trauma he suffered at the hands of his family, but also a reminder to him that he's like his attacker, the snake demon. The bandages he wraps around his mouth symbolizes not just his attempts to hide his trauma, but also his inability to talk about it due to shame and fear, which is unfortunately an all too common experience of male survivors.

Another struggle survivors often experience is with intimacy, romantic relationships and sex. For Obanai, I believe that this struggle is represented by his eating disorder. The link between food and sex is a well established belief in many cultures, people with large appetites can be seen as having equally high sex drives while people with small appetites have little or no sex drive.

As he grows older, his little appetite is basically him curbing his growing sexual desire, which he sees as ugly, like the scar on his mouth. But the thing is Obanai wants love, he wants to love and be loved, to be intimate with another person, but he feels he doesn't deserve it, after all he's filthy, shameful and probably a predator just like the snake demon. So he starves himself, suffering in silence with the belief that he was disgusting, that no one would ever love him, that he was destined to and deserved to be alone.

Then he met Mitsuri.

In Conclusion, Obanai is way more complex than the KnY fandom gives him credit for. This is a man that went through immense suffering, and it's really sad to see people hate on him because he isn't 'nice'.

Well, that's just how life is. Trauma doesn't exactly make nice people. We can't all be like Giyuu or Tanjiro(bestest boy ❤), a lot of us are like Obanai, Sanemi, and even Shinobu, a lot of us are angry, and why shouldn't we be?

...

*Phew, ok so this one has been in the drafts for a while because I was scared to post such a dark subject matter and also I needed to be really sure I wasn't just talking out of my ass but after rereading his backstory and analyzing aspects of his character, I'm more confident about this.

[thethiefandtheairbender]

my most underrated Kataang take is, I think, the inclusion of Katara's epiphany in The Fortune Teller at all. We've talked ourselves hoarse about how it's the clear turning point in how she consciously thinks of Aang (I will always mandate that she was just unknowingly down bad since the pilot because Look at her behaviour dear god) and how it's important that she has this epiphany even after knowing Aunt Wu's predictions 'aren't real' or necessarily set in stone.

What I want to talk about is why I think it's important that THIS is the moment she sees Aang in a new light amid his previous attempts to have her think of him 'differently' than she did at the beginning of the episode.

When Aang is being sweet to her (making her a woven accidental-betrothal necklace that she happily accepts), Katara is appreciative and responsive, but still says "he's just a good friend, a sweet little guy, just like Momo".

When Aang tries to flirt with her under Sokka's aloof guise, it falls flat. When he tries to get her attention in general (and when having parallels with Meng), it likewise doesn't work.

Finally, he tries the flower but it falls into the lava (symoblism, anyone?) and they have bigger things to deal with, like making sure the town isn't completely wiped out by the volcano. It's also worth noting that after Aang's conversation with Meng:

He never actively tries pursuing or wooing Katara in the same way. He's still kind towards and supportive toward her, of course. He, at some point (probably after the 2nd cheek or third cheek kiss) eventually starts to think (understandably) that Katara has feelings for him. But as of The Fortune Teller, he's stopped trying to have her see him in a new light or do a big romantic gesture.

And that's exactly when she does, consciously, fall for him.

Not when he's trying to woo her in failed, false personas, not when he's being his sweet romantic self, but when he's being the most himself all episode: Aang, "the bravest person [she] knows, who's done nothing but help people and save lives" since she met him (1x12).

He's not paying attention, he's not trying to impress her. He's just being a good, determined Avatar. A good, helpful person. A powerful bender, completely in control of himself and his element. Being himself.

Her Aang.

[subsystems]

At this point, I don't want anyone following me if they uncritically support The Plural Association. This is full rant mode.

I'm triggered and deeply disturbed by the stuff I see being pumped out by this group under the guise of "inclusivity." I'm sick and tired of TPA stigmatizing systems that are different from themselves. I'm sick and tired of TPA spreading misinformation about systems that are different from themselves. I'm sick and tired of the false promises of resources and lack of transparency.

Instead of listening to systems that are different from them, they make up shit about us to turn our own community hostile towards us. You think systems who are pursuing or achieved final fusion don't see the shit you say about our existence? The misinformation you spread about us? You think systems with CDDs don't see the way you talk about them? You think we don't see you inciting more syscourse on social media?

You think we don't see you manipulating the articles people send you with their lived experiences in order to spread your toxic views?

It's ALWAYS the final fusion hatred. Have you ever asked systems who have actually achieved final fusion whether their ideas about us reflect the recovery we desired?

"It does not allow for personhood" what the fuck does that even mean! Never once during my final fusion process did anyone in my system feel like we weren't seen as or allowed to be people. Never once did our therapist erase or minimize our personhood.

Do you even care that our concept of "personhood" can shift throughout recovery, too? That we collectively pursued final fusion because our personhood felt more authentic and wonderful with fusions? And that we wouldn't fucking voluntarily pursue a recovery option if it felt like it took away from our existence, dehumanized us, or harmed us!

You only give a damn about the systems who fit your narrow little box of "valid." The ones who act and talk in the way YOU want, who heal in the way YOU want, who exist in the way YOU want. But fuck all the other ones, right!

God, sorry for this rant but I am just. So done. Please don't send them any hate or harassment, especially people who aren't even associated with them or got paid to write articles & shared their lived experiences for them. I just sincerely hope for TPA to change.

[quitealotofsodapop]

In Century Egg au, Wukong is very much in a weird position. His recovery takes long enough that he's still stuck in the Celestial Realm by the time the Brotherhood have their coup. It's for this exact reason that the Jade Emperor survives the coup, but his power still ends up usurped. In turn, Wukong and Xiaotian are kept as political hostages for the duration

We be talking in the notes here about Century egg au + how the Brotherhood likely gets involved.

Azure is already on guard at hearing how there's a stink between the Ten Kings and the ownership of Brother Macaque's soul - something he hadn't even known was an issue until recently. How come Macaque decided to barter his soul with the Bone Demon?

Then he hears something very interesting from a passing god;

First Ten King: "That was an eventful trial." Second Ten King: "Not everyday a trial for the dead ends with a birth." Third Ten King: "It's best we keep vigilant, however. As immortal as Sun Wukong once was, his child nearly absolved him of all his dao. The Queen Mother has all but threatened us not to send Ox and Horse to collect him during his recovery." Azure, overhearing: "wtf???"

Sun Wukong was in the trial for Macaque's soul? Odd, but not impossible given that they were once mates. But apparently Sun Wukong gave birth during the trial!? Since when was he expecting?! Wait, is that why Macaque escaped Diyu? To be with his pregnant mate? And since when they Sun Wukong, the Great Sage Equal to Heaven - need to recover??

Why is the Queen Mother suddenly being so protective of the very same monkey that ruined her banquet all those centuries ago?!

As if the celestial lapdog couldn't fall farther from grace...

Azure scouts things out cautiously at first.

He visits the Celestial Realm under the guise of working for his Bodhisattva - when in reality he's keeping a watchful eye and ear on the palace itself.

Wukong appears to be in a critical health-state caused by one of the most natural acts a creature could preform. The tiny brown-furred monkey cub is rarely out of sight of it's birth parent, nor the ever-vigilant Macaque. It seems that the two adult monkeys have reconciled since the Journey - the admittedly adorable fluff ball in their arms evidence of such.

Over the coming days, Azure then sees a parade of creatures from all walks of life visit the couple.

The Stalwart Generals that were loyal to the King to a fault.

The Bodhisattva Guanyin that turned their former brother against them.

The former-celestial Princess that drew Brother Bull away from the Brotherhood - an impatient half-bull demon child clinging to her dress. Brother Bull still imprisoned for a crime not even the Underworld has clear explanation of.

A pair of modern-looking Western Sea Dragons, either one holding a pup that chatters excitedly about her "best-est newest friend" resting in their crib.

Azure was confused by the inclusion of the dragons, until he noticed a trio with eerily familiar souls visit the monkey's temporary home. The very same souls that rested within the Pilgrims that felled their remaining Brotherhood! In new shells, but recognisable all the same. The "Great" Monk that had turned their brother onto that futile Pilgrimage now a dumpy mortal scholar that spends days at a time reading inside the imperial library. Zhu Bajie, a celestial general turned demon, now a fretful cook that frequently appears at meal times to ensure that each monkey has their fill of food. Sha Wujing, a former fighter and royal cup-bearer, now no more than a meditative cat-minder.

Azure didn't think it could get any worse when he spotted the Lotus Prince Nezha himself worriedly check in on Wukong, receiving the mother-monkey equivalent of an adoring coo and hug from the King.

Then came the Queen Mother herself, followed soon by her many daughters. Azure had been struck dumb by her presence. Looking deeper into the matter, he learned that the Empress had in fact delivered the King's cub! The lion suspects that the Queen Mother has become attached to Wukong and his cub as surrogate grandchild, given that Iron Fan is adamant on keeping her calf hidden from other celestials. But another reason must be lurking...

When the Jade Emperor appears in a manner almost sheepish at the door to the recovery room, Azure throws up his hands with disbelief. Now he's seen everything! The very same emperor they tried to overthrow was now crying silent tears as he held Wukong's cub in his hand. He did not shed a single cross word or expression to the monkeys, even as the infant urinated on his hand - which Azure thought was delightfully ironic, perhaps the cub was inherently rebellious as it's parent had once been?

Azure Lion now has full reason to believe that Sun Wukong, and unfortunately Brother Macaque as well, has fully thrown his lot in with the celestial host. And whats more, he nearly has the royal couple themselves eating out the palm of his hand. It's a insult to all their Brotherhood had stood for.

So the lion devises a plan to revive his two trapped brothers, and separate Wukong and his cub from the others so that they can have a talk about what has happened since the war.

This certainly wont turn into a political kidnapping now will it? (Doubt)

[lovemyromance]

If you're hosting an event in regards to FICTION, then its not about you anymore. A lot of people who are doing elaingaye ship rhysta and they HATE rhysand.

I literally don't care. If I am hosting an event, what content I allow is up to me. If someone doesn't like it, they can host their own event. Nowhere in the rules of ethics or "hosting character weeks on tumblr" does it say you have to be inclusive to every kink, crackship, or headcanon under the sun.

It is up to the discretion of the person hosting the event to decide. The only time that would be an issue, is if I were to host an Elain event that only accepted Elucien, for example, and then I tried to ban everyone else from hosting their own Elriel or Elain x Tarquin event.

I don't see the issue. If I didn't like the content that comes out of Azriel appreciation week, or if they were banning Elriels... then I'd come up with my own Azriel appreciation week that does accept Elriels.

Literally nobody is stopping you from doing that so why are you still standing here claiming you're oppressed? You're not oppressed if you have full freedom to act how you want and you refuse to utilize it. It's not oppression if your "freedom of speech" is harmful to someone else's personal boundaries.

This is not in any which way or form, an official event. And in fact if it WERE an official event, do you really think SJM is going to sit up here and allow people to submit Elain x Beron and Elain x Tamlin art? Y'all don't even respect her writing or her opinions on these characters, why would you respect a character week hosted by her?

And if you wouldn't respect boundaries set by the author, the literal creator of this fictional work, then why would you stand here complaining that one random person with zero authority is hosting an Elain week where you feel excluded by not being able to submit kinky Tamberlain fan art?

Literally nobody is stopping you from tattooing that ship on your forehead, if you'd like. You sitting here screaming at a mod for not allowing certain ships they are against is not for freedom of speech. What are you protecting? Your right to be an asshole to someone under the guise of freedom to ship whatever fictional ship you want?

Get over it. I don't have any sympathy for your cries of false oppression about a fictional character nobody is preventing you from shipping. Go do your thing... just not in this person's backyard.

[youremyheaven]

I was on Claire’s patreon for a month at the lowest tier because I enjoyed some of her videos and was curious to see the extra documents etc.

There’s also a chat on there and it was quite cool to talk to other people who were into Vedic, and I had a lot of genuinely interesting interactions w ppl. Claire herself is very rarely talking on there.

BUT there’s a channel dedicated to the female path course and some of the things people say on there make me worry a bit about the content of the course. My memory is quite poor, I’ll try and see if I can still access the chat. But someone was saying something along the lines of “Claire said that a woman needs a true masculine like shiva as part of the female path” and there was a whole discussion on what “true masculinity” is.

There was also ideas in that thread such as “mercury women have the hardest time finding a masculine because they are not easily tamed. However when she comes across a true masculine she will be tamed and submit to him and rely on him etc etc”.

The women there was also talking about their struggle between being all sexually empowered girlboss and this idea of having to submit to a man for the sake of completing your spiritual journey or whatever. Madonna-whore complex much?

This is just one specific example but I thought to myself girl what💀 this is literally gender roles 101. Lowkey praying for these women

(Also it’s funny how they say things like “find a masculine” instead of just saying man. They’re trying to sound more spiritual and inclusive but you know damn well a woman can’t be a “masculine” to them)

😳😂😂lmfao this does not surprise me at all

Claire's content revolves heavily around sex, sexuality and traditional gender roles. Initially I found the differences between the male & female spiritual path interesting and relatable and combined with my study of ancient goddess worship, it made sense to me that there's a difference between yin & yang energy and how it's harnessed and what gives it power & strength but the more I saw of her saying women have no light and need a man to fulfill their spiritual purpose and her heavily glorifying female submission under the guise of spirituality, I was a bit like 😬😬 it's so obvious that Claire is Moon dominant ngl, her insistence on women being naturally passive and unable to do anything without male influence really speaks about her receptive nature but it's so toxic and harmful to propagate that myth among people that when it comes down to it, even in spirituality, women still have to be "beneath" men and "absorbing from them" or whatever tf

Moon dominants have a patriarchy kink fr 😤

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Nathalie Baptiste at HuffPost:

WASHINGTON ― Hundreds of mostly white women gathered at a swanky downtown hotel to hear prominent conservative speakers and strategize with other moms about how to spread their message across the country. Decked out in everything from stylish pantsuits, light-up American-flag jackets and, obviously, Donald Trump swag, the crowd at the Moms for Liberty Joyful Warriors National Summit cheered and hollered as speaker after speaker spewed hate about transgender people ― all under the guise of protecting children.

[...] At the 2024 summit this week, the focus was on fearmongering about trans kids and criticizing school employees who support them. “There’s no such thing as a transgender child,” Tiffany Justice, a co-founder of Moms for Liberty, told HuffPost in an interview. Her position is a common one among conservatives, who have taken to attacking trans rights around the country ― even as less than 1% of the U.S. population identifies as trans. The right wing has attacked gender-affirming care as “child abuse,” though the American Pediatrics Association says such care can be lifesaving by reducing the risk of suicidal ideation.

Seth Dillon, CEO of the conservative satire website Babylon Bee, talked about “gender madness” when he addressed the crowd. Actor Rob Schneider, who had a prime-time speaking slot on Thursday night, claimed that children were getting “mutilated.” Texas state Rep. Shawn Thierry, who lost her primary this spring, announced that she was leaving the Democratic Party in part because of members’ views on transgender youth. Maud Maron, a former New York City community education council member who was removed from her post for sending anti-transgender text messages, claimed men were playing in women’s sports. “I think the federal government pushing child abuse really concerns American parents,” Justice said when asked why there was so much focus on trans issues at the summit. “Cutting off the healthy body parts of children is pretty extreme, right?” she said. “We’re cutting off the healthy body parts of girls.” She was referring to gender-affirming surgeries such as mastectomies, which are very rarely performed on minors.

At a panel on writing laws that protect parental rights, the session was laser-focused on transgender children. The speakers addressed the audience about how, through legislation, they can put a stop to “secret social transitions,” or schools transitioning children without telling their parents.

“We’re getting calls from parents saying this is happening at our school,” claimed Matt Sharp, senior counselor at Alliance Defending Freedom, a right-wing legal group. (It is not uncommon for transgender children to be out at school but not at home if they don’t feel safe telling their parents.)

[...] January Littlejohn, a Florida mom, had a similar story. She said her daughter wanted to transition after some of her friends did. The school held a meeting with the child, Littlejohn said, but refused to tell her the details of the meeting. Littlejohn had a warning to the parents in the room. “Parents of young children and grandparents, you need to be actively inoculating your children against this,” she said, claiming that “the faucet of gender ideology is free flowing” on social media. She also railed against allyship, claiming that children were being “indoctrinated” into being allies. “If you see buzzwords like ‘inclusivity’ and ‘safe and welcoming,’ that means gender ideology is alive and well in that school,” she warned.

At the Moms For Liberty’s Joyful Warriors National Summit this weekend, numerous speakers, including Tiffany Justice, Seth Dillon, and Rob Schneider, uttered out anti-trans statements.

[quickreaver]

Emptying my brain...

Recently, there was quite a kerfuffle in the SPN fandom, over the realization that several self-proclaimed “BNFs” had been Mean Girling fellow fans into hating on certain other fans and certain other members of the cast of SPN. Thoughts have been percolating around in my head about this for a bit. Here goes... There has already been some discussions of warning about how cult-like these tactics seem: the initial lovebombing, indoctrination, evolving into intimidation and threats if people don't fall in line. The hunger to belong and smug feeling of group-think is a helluva drug. The fear of losing favor and being ousted from the silo is also a helluva withdrawal. I wonder if there's a reason all these manipulative personalities, every one of them, have been from the Destiel quarter of the SPN family. Is it sheer numbers? Or does it begin with the selling of the ship as this monumental slow-burn greatest love story ever told (even though the show's actual canon does very little to support this fable)? The relationship between Dean and Cas has been romanticized to a legendary degree, and the fanon has become the preferred telling of the tale, replete with lengthy subtextual navel-gazing over lamps and fictional beer brands and artfully staged gif sets on tumblr. Every whiff of the show has been recontextualized to point to Destiel. A stroll through any given list of Destiel All-Time Fave Fics is chock full of AUs and characters that feel more like Any Two White Guys than the actual characters from SPN.

Maybe this primes D/C shippers to be more susceptible to grift, to believe anyone with charisma and confidence and leadership aspirations, who promises the fruition of some manner of Destiel endgame. Which, okay. I totally get how deeply we often feel about our fandoms and the dynamics, how we project onto the characters and idealize the ships as more than the show intended.

It'd be fine... if fans then didn't feel the need to evangelize for the ship and punish those who got in the way. Some groups have been actively attacking the cast and parts of our fandom for years, as well as making actual bank off it all. Under the guise of inclusion and camaraderie, they dangle paying admission into their sacred inner circles like worms on hooks. They took, and are continuing to take, money to offer glimpses behind the doors of their Patreons or special levels of their Discords, where those lucky customers would theoretically be honored with friendship (parasocial, much?), and gifted with the potential of supposed insider info, and/or proximity to the cast and crew at conventions. In return, that same congregation would be used as a tool to attack and discredit the parts of the SPN milieu that the grand poobahs dislike. They would be asked to buy their merch, to keep their secrets, to send hate mail to each other in order to place the blame on “the other side”, try to get competing fans (or even TV shows) canceled, carry the torches of hate, and the list goes on. I don't know where this is going exactly, but there's a difference between bickering over which ship has the best blorbos or whose fave is the most girlboss, and actively trying to generate a lemming-like mass of obedience, enough to impact the IRL health and well-being of other people. Fandom can rally to accomplish such good feats (and lord knows the companies and studios that own our favorite franchises have figured this out), but every coin has two sides. Just, be aware of which one you're on, I guess.

[utilitycaster]

the thing about "let people like things" and "curate your media consumption" and "don't like don't read" and similar is that all of them really just mean "don't throw yourself in front of people to tell them the stuff they like sucks, and don't act like you're being forced against your will to see things you dislike" but both those phrases are increasingly co-opted by an unfortunately loud minority to mean "if you complain about anything I like, regardless of tone, context, or location, I am allowed to call you slurs, harass you, and otherwise abuse you."

It is also immensely important to understand that most tagging systems on social media and elsewhere use the same tags for both inclusion (ie, finding things you like) and exclusion (ie, hiding that which you don't like) and those two use cases clash:

Inclusion typically means people are looking for highly relevant material to whatever they're looking for and might be annoyed when it's something tangential, ie, if I'm looking for fic about a character it sucks to get results in which they appear for one unimportant line.

Exclusion might mean someone wants absolutely no mention of a character, and therefore not tagging that same fic will irritate that group.

There is no fool-proof curation method, and frustration is inevitable, even there were universally agreed upon conventions (there are not) and even if everyone were to follow common courtesy (they don't).

tl;dr any principle in fandom that essentially boils down to "live and let live" doesn't mean "you must be positive about everything all the time" and it definitely doesn't mean "you must be held hostage to the viewpoint of whoever is most shameless about harassing others under the guise of scolding." It means that you shouldn't walk into the bar on publicly announced trivia night and yell "HEY STOP DOING TRIVIA, YOU SUCK", but you're allowed to look annoyed and not participate.

[worflesbian]

things i liked about strange new worlds:

the costumes (aside from the starfleet uniform) were so intricate and cool!

the alien designs, especially the practical effects and makeup, were inventive but not overdone

it tried to take a lighter tone than the prevailing edginess of current sci fi, there were some fun moments and genuinely good character stuff bc of that

things i disliked about strange new worlds:

okay i've got to give the context of the journey i went on with this one. i didn't initially like how chapel, uhura and t'pring were written bc the first two were basically brand new characters and t'pring's inclusion messes with continuity so badly, but i found myself being won over by the seemingly honest intention to give more screentime and depth to the otherwise underutilised women of 60s trek. that's an admirable goal! i didn't like how they had to rewrite uhura and chapel's personalities to achieve it but i still respected the intention. until several things became clear to me: firstly, the writers of snw are far better at lighthearted writing than serious drama, and secondly, they cover up that deficit by taking their cues from soap operas. i think other people have mentioned that giving every single character a tragic backstory is not a shortcut for writing realistic sympathetic people (this was the main problem they had with uhura), and that relationship drama and love triangles is not a solution to not knowing what to do with your female characters (the main problem with chapel and t'pring), but it stands to be said again because it's so fucking frustrating! why bring in uhura only to kill off her loved ones and make her suffer needlessly? why bring in t'pring under the guise of developing her relationship with spock only to have him leave her for chapel? why bring in chapel and rewrite her as a hashtag girlboss looking to advance her career if she's theoretically going to end up still a nurse on the enterprise pining for spock by tos? there's no reason or purpose to the plotlines so they just feel aimless

m'benga, una and la'an also suffered from needless tragedies, as well as the writers' difficulty tackling serious subject matter. i liked the plotline with m'benga's daughter and the pre-holodeck holodeck episode that concluded it, but the man got no time to grieve or adjust to the loss before they threw him into a war trauma plotline. una's main character moment was a weaker version of several stronger trial episodes in past trek that came very close to saying something slightly challenging (to the average trek viewer) about race but apparently forgot the real reason that eugenics are bad, and have been bad long before fictional warlord khan noonien-singh was on the scene. la'an's gorn trauma plotline was, like many of snw's "serious" episodes, ripped directly from better sci fi. like i could've been watching aliens. aliens is a good film. ortegas got very little to do and pike isn't really worth talking about as i think the writers know he's not that interesting and tend to sideline him anyway, so aside from hemmer (rip) and spock (it's all been said) that's the full cast and it's all pretty disappointing!

i'll also say that while i enjoyed the lighthearted episodes more, the only one that i felt was actually warranted or contributed meaningfully the overall season was the body swap episode in s1, but then in s2 they repeated the same formula with a far weaker episode so even that's lost its shine for me. politically the show is a mess as many others have explained (the whole gorn thing...) and when it comes close to making a point it always seems to flinch away into a marketing-approved federation optimism that feels way more sinister than it ever did in tng for the fact that it's obviously Trying to keep you from thinking too deeply about anything. the number of gimmick episodes they've already done in two short seasons is indicative of a fundamental lack of substance that they're trying to cover up with whimsy but it just feels unearned and imbalanced. shallow hijinks or vapid angst, void of meaning.

so yeah now that discovery's concluded with its fifth season, stp is dead and gone, and prodigy is cancelled it's only strange new worlds and lower decks left and although i believe lower decks relies a lot on references to older trek (i've not seen it) it's not inserted itself awkwardly into some past era of the timeline, nor is it bogged down with legacy characters, meaning strange new worlds is the last remaining pillar of the reboot remake rehash industrial complex in current trek and i hope you'll join me in wishing for its downfall 🤞

[stanlunter]

i’m glad other anon said it because i was scared to. idk how old you are op, but i’ve been down that path before when i was 16-17 of terfs making sense at a surface level so i crypto follow them instead of inclusive spaces and it just does not work out later on. hating other queer people under the guise of feminism costs a lot of friends and getting so involved in their discourse is draining and makes you miserable over time even though it’s so compelling at first. i’ve had ex-mutuals come back to my inbox with a condescending attitude on my old account and i guess i’m repeating the cycle as one of yours but rather than taunting you i just worry. i figure you’ll dismiss this as not knowing what i’m talking about and having a self-righteous mindset like i did myself in the past, but respectfully, i hope one day you mature out of those toxic takes. i see your concerned logic in them but at the end of the day pansexual-identifying people, bi lesbians, catradora enjoyers, and lunter haters, etc. don’t matter to the world much if at all. sorry to make this so long. i wish you the best despite our differences, mostly because of our similarities. please at least try to see where i’m coming from even if you don’t understand or disagree. it might make more sense in the future.

Am I suppose to ask again, what terfs are you even talking about

Out of everything else you said, all of these takes are right and I will stay on them. Pansexuals are just bisexuals with internalized biphobia, Lunter is goat, catradora is disgusting

Anything else?

[mixmangosmangoverse]

It's like... I genuinely feel so awful. I'm so selfish but I just need something to comfort me and nothing is giving me that

I need one (1!) content creator to give the bare minimum of "Israel government is bad but I don't support the citizens killed or Hamas"

And I haven't gotten that. Or if it existed it's been buried under the rubble of antisemitic rhetoric and calls for Israeli genocide under the guise of progressivism

I've reached out to one creator whos videos are helping me and who prides themselves on inclusivity, just asking if they're ok with me existing in the community as an Israeli

I didn't even ask if they condemn Hamas because the answer is obviously no

I didn't even ask if they think all Israelis should go "back" to Europe because the answer is obviously yes (despite them being a white American and not having to do that themselves)

I didn't even ask if they think I have the right to live because they probably don't but I'm so desperate for something that all I'm asking is if they're ok knowing I exist

Like genuinely so many people are saying we're snowflakes about this and maybe we are but imagine trying to distract yourself but everything you distract yourself with is yelling "KILL YOURSELF NOW"

I'm never gonna be able to return from this

[steveyockey]

Some might find the pivot in tone and narrative to be refreshing, and the series has already been praised by critics for delivering a gay love story, but the tonal shift from bitter loss to loving oasis feels disingenuous. Part of the issue is that removing Bill from Ellie and Joel’s path entirely is a miscalculation, making him worthless as a character and just as expendable as any of the nameless figures who have had no purpose other than expository dialogue, under the guise of expanding the show and game’s limited narrative worldview (a focus that I’d argue is the games’s greatest strength). But even more damning is that Mazin and Druckmann seem determined to revise an existing narrative to provide what they consider “positive representation” in order to avoid the very concerns about queer characters that once plagued The Last of Us games.

The parallels between Ellie and Bill may go over the heads of some players — particularly because his role is primarily relegated to a small portion of one game, and Ellie grows up so much across the two full games — but looking at them alongside each other reveals a pair of queer individuals whose personal baggage got in the way of having meaningful relationships, thus leaving them to survive alone in a world in which they once had someone to love. In the games, they are not mirror images of each other, but Bill’s presence in Ellie’s life, however brief, serves as something of an ignored warning to a teenage girl: You can lose love as easily as you can find it.

This is what makes the series’s change so frustrating. Mazin and Druckmann reduce a layered queer narrative that extends past any one character into a glorified romantic drama that means nothing beyond the time it is on screen. Watching the episode, it feels as though the writing became stuck in 2003, which is when the fungal pandemic hits in the show, resulting in the kind of gay love story that would have been groundbreaking TV back then, but is now just wearisome. There is no purpose to the episode other than to convince audiences that the series cares about telling inclusive stories. That The Last of Us sacrifices some of its most nuanced storytelling in this pursuit isn’t just a damn shame, but the kind of revisionism under the guise of positive representation that feels more condescending than beneficial. To settle for a narrative this bland and dated, one determined to wring tears while both metaphorically and literally burying its gays — because, yes, stripping them of any narrative purpose is a thematic burial before their actual on-screen deaths, is flat-out mortifying, particularly in a world where more and more nuanced and complicated queer characters come to life every day.

[bucknastysbabe]

THE LAST DAMN THING IM SAYING;

I’d also like to say and make this clear: I’m not friends with Bel and Fae anymore after what I saw posted. That connection is severed. I am still friends with Chris and will remain to be as she is a good person who also fucked up. I was apprehensive about remaining friends when the original post came out considering it was about me— including the purposely left comment by the OP also making fun of me. Which led me back into believing their lies.

I was lied to until the bitter end. I wanted to HOPE until the bitter end everything wasn’t true but I saw the screenshots. About analgate, about being inclusive, and use of slurs. Many other things under the guise of “we made up” so I wanted to trust them.

My gut feeling would switch now and then but I got caught up. I reread the entire gc convo to look at my comments. It’s disgusting to watch yourself become more hateful. That’s a really shitty part of me I worked hard to get rid of in real life through the program of AA.

Somehow I managed to convince myself gossiping and being mean wasn’t so bad online. It is just as awful because people are behind a url. I know better. Now the level of crassness and racism I did not see from them in our small groupchat, as it was being hidden. I have never sent a hate anonymous post, they claimed the same, only to find out that’s all they did and probably did the same to me. Nice.

I seriously fucked up making fun of Agnes appearance due to my dislike getting in the way of doing the next right thing. Which I’m trying to do now. Don’t harass readers or small blogs about me. They are reading about sucking and fucking, not looking into online drama.

The other fuck up I would like to clarify on my behalf. To all Germans— I made tasteless jokes about a German user not liking Fabien Frankel bc of his Jewish heritage. That’s ignorant of me. Very ignorant. Especially as I dated and loved a guy from Berlin for over a year and he even told me that’s a sore spot for them.

Now that sounds like “I have (insert) friends!!!”

But I’m following up to say I still have my OWN unresolved anger at him for our toxic relationship. So I have said “fucking Germans.” For the love of everything good and holy I DO NOT want every person in that country to blow up and die. There’s a difference between vile racism and backward comments coming from a place of hurt. I acknowledge it’s childish and nasty. I also don’t use the word n@z1, but that was clarified in the second post on who said that.

Hope this clears things up. This is the most transparent I can be. I can’t fix any of the hurt I’ve caused. Apologizing like a broken record is annoying— I know. So this is it. I’m staying up. I can only go forward, if you’d like to stay in the past, farewell. For people who are hurt take all the time you need.