#ipso anon

[brf-rumortrackinganon]

IPSO anon here.

Re: parliament vote, Thomas revealed, Markle setting him up.

I think the 3 things are 3 sides of the same triangle. This is my theory. 

I don’t think Markle needed to set her father up per se since all 3, Thomas, Doria AND Meghan, were using the same pap in the 205-2018 period. 

However, I firmly believe that she ghosted her father a long time before the wedding, but either he wasn’t getting the hint or he was saw a chance to make some money/ sell a recrafted image because he saw that Doria was making her own papstrolls without a peep from Markle.

Doria is excluded from being media revealed because Markle seeded the R card so the media will never reveal Doria or at the very least proceed with extreme caution. 

So Markle knows Thomas is a staged papstroll, but can’t tell the royals the truth. Or even if she did set him up, the pictures were very clearly staged and everyone knew it except the royals who inexplicably believed her explanations when she was clearly ( allegedly) lying on many different things especially involving media. 

Having ( allegedly)  dropped Thomas, she had no legit way to make it public without looking like a cold so and so. 

And perhaps you are correct with your theory that the plan involved some sort of very public fakery to allow him to decline his invitation publicly.

Either way, the media revelation of the staged pap photos was the golden ticket that fell into all their laps. 

Most of the public don’t follow the royals like we do ie they don’t know enough to see that she lied and then used a very feeble excuse to drop him. They don’t see that Doria was doing the same yet remains unscathed, that Markle wished to drop Thomas long before the wedding, if she hadn’t done so already.  

The first they know about any of this is the media revelation. Which the media AND all Markles pretend to be SHOCKED that he was staging pics when it was pretty obvious at the time of publication to everyone that they were staged. 

In comparison, imagine media outing Meghan’s carpark papstrolls framed as SHOCKED to find that they were staged. 

And this revelation is the perfect opportunity for all parties to withdraw. 

I think what was shocking for Thomas was finally facing the fact that his beloved, favourite daughter really had ghosted him and that’s what drove him to hospital. 

It took many months for it to finally sink in and that’s why he kept trying to contact her though his only route was via the media as she wasn’t responding privately. 

Going by Thomas Jnr’s social media, it’s finally sank in and he is done with her. 

****

This makes a lot of sense. 

This is also why I think the Samantha Markle v. Meghan Markle lawsuit is going to be very interesting. If it goes to trial (and right now, that’s up in the air since there are rumors that WME is pressuring Meghan to settle), the mud is going to fly - Samantha will try to ruin Meghan, Harry, and Doria down; Meghan will try to ruin Samantha, Thomas, and Thomas Jr.; and both of them will tell on themselves. It runs in the family, after all.

[ipso-faculty]

Compiling some terms/posts useful for people questioning if intersex

Note: If a definition in is in quotes, the source material it is quoted from is linked to by the relevant term.

Highly relevant terms

Extersex - "[A] term for those who do not know whether they are dyadic or intersex. It could be because one feels as though they might be some form of intersex, but are unable to medically confirm it, or cannot confirm what intersex variation it is. It may also be for those who have a variation that may be considered intersex, but are uncertain if they want to identify as intersex." - @themogaidragon

Inter-Questioning - "a term for anyone who is questioning if they’re intersex, for any reason. (Whether it’s due to one’s physical body, familial experiences that imply one is, or possibly simply a mental feeling that one is intersex.)" - @eldorr

Quoisex - "[An] umbrella term for anyone who doesn't quite understand their sex or doesn't want to define their sex." - LGBTQIA+ Wiki Note: I understand this as more general than extersex, and would include people questioning if altersex. See the wiki entry for subtypes (quoigonadal, quoichest, etc)

Altersex - "An umbrella term to describe having or wanting primary or secondary sex traits/characteristics that do not align with the binary sex model that a significant portion of society has adopted. It is primarily used by those who are not intersex and are trans+ and wish to or transition specifically to have a body that does not fit the aforementioned sex model." -@intersex-questions Note: Being altersex does not make somebody intersex. I include it because many people questioning their intersex status realize this is what they're looking for.

Anisohormonal - "Aniso (unequal/uneven) + hormonal (relating to hormones). An individual who has an imbalance of hormones for any number of reasons. Such individuals may or may not also be intersex." - @sproutflags Note: includes non-intersex variations such as diabetes.

Subtypes of intersex people

Note: In my experience most people questioning if they're intersex have a hormonal intersex variation like PCOS, so I'm skewing towards this accordingly.

Dysgonadal - "[having] dysfunctional gonads. This includes agonadal (no gonads) and hypogonadal. Also known as gonadal agenesis/dysgenesis, dyssex and nullogonadal/asexed (null sex or avaginal/aphallia)." - @arco-pluris Note: contrasted with eugonadal - "people with functional gonads (reproductive cells). Includes hypergonadal (hyperfunctional gonads)"

Interhormonal - "Someone who is intersex and anisohormonal and/or feels that being intersex has impacted their identity as anisohormonal in some way and/or that their identity as anisohormonal has impacted their identity as intersex in some way." - @sproutflags

Intermeer - "a term used to describe all intersex variations that are caused by an overproduction of horomones (testosterone, estrogen, or both.)" - LGBTQIA+ Wiki Variations include: AES, FMPP, PCOS. Part of The Autre System for categorizing intersex variations.

Intermindre - "a term used to describe all intersex variations that are caused by a lack of horomones (testosterone, estrogen, or both.)" Note: The wiki lists AIS and EIS as examples although they are not due to a lack of hormones, but rather a lack of sensitivity to them. Part of The Autre System for categorizing intersex variations. See the wiki for more subtypes. Thank you to anon asker who pointed out the AIS/EIS issue.

Mesosex - "[A] person who has an intersex variation, but one which does not conform to perisex (non-intersex) ideas of what intersex is. For example, people who have intersex traits that are considered "mild", or who have variations such as PCOS Hyperandrogenism and Poland Syndrome." - @ipso-faculty

More intersex terminology

Intersex Terminology Masterpost by @intersexfairy

Edits: - 2023-12-13: corrected AIS mischaracterized as lack of hormones, ty to anon for correction - 2023-12-13: added interdynamic - 2023-12-20: added inter-questioning, thank you @fazbears-horror-attraction for sharing it! - 2023-12-21: removed interdynamic. Apparently "secondary sex" means something entirely different in omegaverse. Ty to anon for correction.

[lheautontimoroumenos]

cops + govt are absolutely bastards and i wish the one who killed nahel would get more than whats (probably) going to be given to him, and i support the riots going on for justice and to bring this issue to the forefront. but honestly how hard is it to not attack schools and places where people live? there were families in danger with the car on fire releasing fumes into the building. little kids aren't going to be able to go to school or will have to have counseling to understand whats going on

hi anon! I'm glad you're asking this and I'll try to be careful and kind in my answer. If my tone comes off kind of angry I apologize, I just meant to avoid this kind of reaction with my post.

I'm gonna try to answer this in two big parts where it seems we disagree : first the "how hard is it not to attack schools" side of the problem.

Then I'll go more widely on the questioned necessity of destruction and its nature.

(also I apologize if not everything is clear, the French to English brain on this topic is kinda weird, I'm open to more asks if you want something more precise).

Alright, PART UNO, Why Burn Down Schools

Okay, so absolutely no offense, but I'm gonna guess you were a good or at least okay student and therefore had a good relationship to school. I'm also gonna assume you didn't go to school in the banlieue or in establishments on the REP/ZEP list (Network or Zone of Priority Education), this classification is done based on the IPS or Social Position Indicator. Etablishments in REP in Paris today are around 90; the one I went to as a kid around 74; in Nanterre, where Nahel was killed, high schools are around 90 and middle schools between 80 and 90. By comparison Henri IV and Louis Le Grand, two very prestigious high school in downtown Paris have an IPS of around 140. The point being that in those spaces, even if you personally do well as a student, most of your peers have a very different relationship to the institution that is "school".

It has been widely accepted since Bourdieu's Les Héritiers (1964) that school is a machine that reproduces and legitimizes inequalities. We know children of workers, little employees, and people working low wage jobs do worse in school than children of teachers, or state workers, or people working high paying jobs, or that have already done high level studies. We also know these kids get to school at the same time but with a different baggage, and that the baggage from relatively rich (in economic or cultural capital) kids coming from relatively rich families is favored over the baggage from kids from poor families. That is because the first one belongs to what Bourdieu calls "legitimate culture", which is not legitimate in and of itself but legitimized by the dominant class to keep itself where it is. I'm not gonna talk about Les Héritiers the whole time, but in addition to the class difference and struggle in legitimate culture is a struggle especially present in banlieues of foreign culture being considered illegitimate.

The point is not that poor kids or kids of color are bad at school and that's just how it is, but that school as an institution is already a violence to them. It is traumatizing, built to make them fail, all the while telling them it's their fault because school is fair and based on merit. But it's not, because it values things and abilities as if all students start off from the same point (which is false) and make them believe the run was fair (which is false as well). Sometimes the blame is on the teachers, but most often it is the institution that inherently fails them and lowers their self-esteem. (Also, fun fact, I think it was a study done by IPSOS that showed that if they had the same grade, let's say an average of 9/20, in CE1, kids of workers were more likely to be made to redo their year, whereas rich kids would go to the next level anyway).

So you're right, it's easy to think that you shouldn't burn down a school when your rapport to it is: "what a great place, even if it pisses me off sometimes, I learn things and I can see my friends and have fun, burning it down would not help". But when school is a) a violence to you, and b) a lot of the time already breaking down because regardless of what they say on TV the State does not allocate enough resources to banlieues, well it's easier to burn it to the ground (this way maybe they'll actually rebuild it and be careful about abestos/amiante).

That doesn't mean it's good or right or forgivable and therefore forgiven (that's to your own discretion), but what it is, is understandable. These kids are fighting against a whole system, the police, its support by the State, and more widely the State itself and its shitty handling of banlieues and their inhabitants.

Okay, PART DOS, Is Violence Necessary, If So Which Kind

I'm gonna assume and hope you're not one of the people jerking off to theoretical revolution and praising the black block but getting scared when things actually get serious.

You're saying you wish they would be capable of keeping the riots to actual figures of police violence, I guess, or at least try not to harm innocents or do too much collateral damage (thinking about libraries, etc. I hope you can understand how schools also stand as violence to the rioters now).

My gut reaction is to say that's just not possible. If you really want the revolution and the change that comes with it (not just repealing the 2017 law), you have to be prepared to make sacrifices and for collateral damage (again, not saying it's good or right, or that you should thrive for it, just that it's virtually impossible to do without it).

I know some people have been saying they should go to actual places of power, go shake Darmanin out of his fascist bubble, but I also think people don't realize what this means. In the banlieues, they are in known and mostly friendly territory, which makes it easy for them to use the "be water" strategy (scatter when cops arrive). They know these streets and where to run, where to climb, where to hide. If they were to go to downtown Paris? they wouldn't have any of these advantages, plus they would be faced with the anti-riot plan built into the very architecture of the city streets (Haussman and Napoleon III I hate you). Just like the Parisians demonstrated against the pension reform in Paris, the place they know, the banlieusards are doing the same in the banlieues.

Now endangering kids is not the way to go, there we agree. The point of disagreement is that you think the rioters are going to be the ones making victims whereas I think the cops will, and already have (see the guy killed in Marseille by a flash ball impact, or the one from Mont-Saint-Martin in a coma).

(If you want to read something about the price of revolution, I'd recommend Les Justes by Camus, it's pretty short and you can come to different conclusions when you're done.)

You wrote "people need to have consideration for other kids in France". That sounds a tad condescending to me but I don't think you meant it that way. The problem is that they are not considered by other kids in France! as was showed in 2005 and as is showed today by the reactions on social media. You are asking the oppressed to make the first act of love here, and in a way you're right, Paulo Freire would say that next to violence, a revolution is only successful if it contains radical love, and that cannot come from the oppressor, but it is also a hard thing to ask of people. Especially when they know they will be ignored if they don't shake the political landscape a little.

I think you would enjoy reading Paulo Freire's Pedagogy of the Oppressed, it's not too long and it's very interesting regarding this topic.

Now I'd be careful with how you talk about the kids needing to "control themselves" because it sounds condescending here as well (though again I don't think that is how you mean it) and can be understood quite badly. I think what you may be alluding to however is the crowd effect that the riots can have. Once you start, breaking things with your friends, it does feel good, you release energy, you laugh, it's a good time really. The risk is to take the euphoria too far and not realize what you're doing, which of course happens but is really magnified by the media and is actually pretty marginal in the actual riots. But you're right that being in a group makes you forget about yourself (see: demonstrations, sport fans, etc.) and the rioters are not exempt from that.

I think, if anything, what one could fault the rioters for is that they are alienating themselves sometimes from their own communities. That is really going the same as in 2005 I feel like, with some worried moms, or people who agreed at the beginning but think it's lasting too long now. The problem is that politically, the people saying they will stop the riots are the National Rally (fascists) and at a smaller scale Rebirth (Macron's party, right wing). But Macron won't be able to run again next time (we wouldn't want him to) and I doubt his party is gonna hold without him. That leaves us with the fascist RN. So the kids could be building up to their own destruction.

(It is still important to say that even if the RN is elected next time, it will NOT be the rioters fault but the fault of the people who voted for a fascist party to lead the country.)

I don't think I have anything left to say right now, if you have other questions/need precision my ask box is open!

If you want to read more about school as a very imperfect institution I would recommend reading stuff from François Bégaudeau, Entre les murs (it's fiction inspired by his reality as a teacher, there was also a movie), he also mentions it regularly in talks that you van find on YouTube. I'll recommend again Paulo Freire's The Pedagogy of the Oppressed because it really is an amazing book.

P.S. I wrote this with less than 5 hours of sleep so I might be repeating myself and/or forgetting things

[ingravinoveritas]

As Michael doesn't have female genitals as far as we know. I would say his definition of the term cockles derives from the work itself.

That very well could be, Anon. I am assuming you are referring to Merry Muses of Caledonia, which is the work the term (in this context) seems to have originated from. Though to trace the etymology of cockle back further, it typically refers to a mollusk that has a heart-shaped shell (which then may be how the expression “the cockles of one’s heart” came about).

But in terms of the Staged Christmas special clip that I referenced earlier (and will never be able to watch the same way again), @faggghaggg mentioned to me that MMoC is a collection of erotic poetry written by Robert Burns, who is perhaps the most iconic and revered Scottish bard ever. So it is possible that in this case, David knew that, and was the one turning up the innuendo meter to 11.

However...I do have to note that the expression “the cockles of one’s heart” specifically refers to “one’s innermost feelings.” So that leads us to yet another possible meaning of that scene: 

Michael says that his cockles will be warmed by his fellow man. David says that Michael talks about his cockles a lot, so we can infer that Michael frequently talks about his innermost feelings to/with David. Therefore, ipso facto, presto change-o, and the transitive power of these two doing everything they possibly can to put the “bi” in bivalve, Michael wants his innermost feelings to be warmed by David. And/or his cock.

I’m honestly not sure where I was going with this, except that (whether intended by Simon or not), there are just layers upon layers of meaning here that we could talk about forever. Whatever the case may be, this scene just got a hell of a lot more intimate and has made me think quite a bit more about the way Michael and David are looking at each other. Curiouser and curiouser...

[treetownconfessions]

Unpopular opinion:

Disco would be a better parent than Pop.

I have evidence;

One: Disco has an entire mansion and clearly a lot of money AND despite chasing girls all the time he still manages to keep himself AND his house clean.

Two: Yes sometimes he gets blinded by needs and becomes rude but at least he doesn’t intentionally beat people up, unless he has a good reason.

Three: Pop pretty much let’s Cub die while Disco in ‘Ipso Fatso’ when stuck on the treadmill was screaming at people, basically trying to tell them to watch out, so he still clearly cares about others.

Four: Come on. Come. On. Pop took out the batteries of his smoke detector instead of opening a window and didn’t question why his Christmas tree was missing, didn’t process the smoke wasn’t going up the chimney and didn’t bother checking to see if something was wrong.

CAN SOMEONE PLEASE AGREE WITH ME THAT DISCO BEAR IS A BETTER FATHER THAN POP

Same anon that sent this ask ^ (it won’t let me indent it for some reason but whatever) but I just remembered another piece of evidence

Five: In Ipso Fatso, again, when he saw he was overweight, despite struggling, he STILL actively tried to lose the weight, so he clearly cares about his body image still, which in turn, would most likely cause him to care about his child’s body image, something Pop CLEARLY doesn’t give a fuck about because he WAS FINE WITH CUB HAVING A NAIL STUCK IN HIS FUCKING FACE AND WALK AROUND IN ONLY A DIAPER AND SPINNY HAT ON ALL THE TIME. POP HIMSELF ONLY WEARS A ROBE AT LEAST DISCO HAS A FULL WARDROBE

PEOPLE PLEASE I HAVE GOOD POINTS

hey anon you know you can just say "this is disco bear dad anon" or something. you dont have to quote your entire fucking ask.

[the-empress-7]

Different anon but the other thing too about Skippy's wedding is that Harry filed a bunch of IPSO complaints right afterwards. Something definitely went down. Something was definitely photographed and witnessed by media.

Also Jess Mulroney is involved in Meghan's attendance at Skippy's wedding: she and Ben leased the private jet that Meghan took to Jamaica. I don't recall if they went with her - I think they did, and I think it was Bower who confirmed it in his book. (It was either Bower's Revenge or Tina Brown's Palace Papers - I read both at the same time last year and get their stories mixed up.)

I remember the bit about the Mulroney's arranging the jet for her, but I don't believe they accompanied her.

[isobug]

Binary Intersex / Interapto / Interexor

An Intersex individual who is also Aptogender (one who considers one's self as fitting into the Gender Binary); A binary (Exor-) gendered Intersex person.

Labels under the Interapto/Interexor umbrella are Intersex Men / Males and Intersex Woman / Females.

Binary Intersex individuals may have any Modalities such as Ipso-, Ulter-, Cis-, Trans-, and so on. Birth assignments do not matter and are often complicated for Intersex individuals.

The first flag is a combination of the IHRA (previously OII) flag made by Morgan Carpenter and the Aptogender flag

The second flag is a combination of the original Intersex flag by Natalie Phox and the Aptogender flag

Though this term sounds similar to Interbinary, they are not synonyms/synonymous

Made for anon, OP is Intersex!

Help with IDs is appreciated!

@interarchival @conformant-archive

[qqueenofhades]

I’ve spent the past few years laughing at conservatives whine about people living on unemployment because they do know that unemployment, right before the pandemic back in January/February 2019, (when most people were employed) averaged a little less than $400 a week, right? Less than $20,000 a year is not great™️ to live off of, and very, very VERY few people actually try and actively live like that lol. Do conservatives just… not know that you can barely get by on that amount of money?

I mean, you're assuming that conservatives have any coherent strategy here apart from "fuck poor people, I shouldn't have to contribute anything to help anyone apart from myself and DEFINITELY NOT BLACK PEOPLE." We saw it on full display with their arrant disregard of any and all Covid precautions that might cause them to endure the horrible inconvenience of wearing a mask in a public place, so (as ever, since Reagonomics is an equal amount of straight-up magical thinking), I don't think realistic fiscal analysis or even a measurable baseline of compassion for other people is high up their priority list.

They're like that anon I had the other day, who wanted to claim that universal basic income would be "handouts" for "freeloaders." They don't think that they have any obligation to contribute toward the welfare of other people, and deeply resent any effort of the government to make them do so, because their mindset is a zero-sum "all for me none for you, and if there is any for you, there will be none for me." It fits, as I said before, with American conservatives' view of poverty as a personal moral failure to work hard enough, rather than any kind of systemic, structural, or generational disadvantage that has been deliberately made harder and harder to overcome. This is overtly linked to white Protestant evangelicalism, the animating spirit of much of the right wing, and its adoption of the "Protestant Ethic" of always working hard in the capitalist system, as I also described in another post. Therefore, ipso facto, if you don't work hard in capitalism, you are a Bad Person both religiously and morally. I DON'T WANT TO BE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE WELFARE OF ANYONE ELSE!, scream these so-called Christians. You think they have ever even read the Sermon on the Mount, or nah?

Anyway, it’s always deeply depressing that after literally six thousand years of recorded human attempts to figure out how to best live with each other, for each other, and in a society, such a large segment of people have decided irrevocably on "fuck 'em all, the only thing that matters is what I want." Which is, frankly, barely qualifiable as a higher-intelligence philosophy, and is likewise an insult to the number of highly intelligent, group-minded animal species who are often better people than people. So. Yeah. That kind of sums it up.

[jlf23tumble]

I read through your larry post and you mentioned the peace ring. Harry wore it last over a year ago in September and on the anniversary twitter larries were waiting for it to come back, they even wanted a harry london walk with him wearing it. That pap walk they would tolerate. When it didn't happen, they turned to louis. He had a show that day and wore a green shirt, olive green, olive like offering an olive branch, like asking for peace, bam peace ring was back! I cringed so hard when I read that but I used to be like that too so I couldn't even be mad. But then I started questioning my sanity and if everything else i believed about clues and messages larry was sending was wrong and made up. probably most of it. But then i think about the louis maison shirt on harrys house release day and I question it again. But I'm chill about all this. Maybe they broke up a long time ago or maybe they're on off, maybe still together, maybe in an open relationship. Whatever we'll never know so why stress about it. I think mostly on Tumblr everyone is more relaxed about it. It's the new larries who don't grasp any of this and think management is still controlling them and larry are blinking more code at us that are annoying as fuck.

anon 2: Not that anon, but thank you for your that brilliant long ask answer you just gave. I joined in this crazy H&L world only last January after I caught wind of the second E breakup and it really felt like "holy shit, there might really be something here, they really might be about to come out, etc." It's been an interesting time so far in the fandom, and I think I'm more in line with your way of thinking recently. Things just feel...meh. There's a weird coldness to the fandom right now, almost a forced belief like you mentioned in your previous answer. I'll always believe there was SOMETHING going on, but to this current day? Probably not. Thanks for your sanity. :)

-----

Amazed anyone read that long-ass answer, lmao, but thank you! As for thinking people on tumblr are somehow more relaxed about it, beg to differ, anon 1, based on a quick lurk just this sec, but kudos to you for keeping that dash locked down! Without much going on at the moment, it's quiet in the deep, so to speak, but make no mistake, it's out there, waiting! Even today, there are people out there saying, ooooh, tons of larry signs at Louis's show near the stage, and you could see how happy he was compared to last night!! Like, it's some kind of GOTCHA, ipso facto, and uh, yeah, that's not cause/effect, bb, but okay! Spread that shit! Live your version of the truth! For real, you can make ANYTHING a reach if you have the arm capacity for it, give me two pieces of something, and I'll stitch it for you, whole cloth, there's a 28 in it, I just know it. It's always so tempting to whip up a sideblog that goes full hog unhinged, like, jesus, it's not hard, lmao

[addictedtostorytelling]

Hi AJ! Thanks ahead of time for answering this question. I wanted to know if you think Sofia thought Grissom was asking her out on a date? Even if she did, I guess she figured out pretty quickly it wasn’t but I was wondering if she had a crush on him. It kind of seemed like it to me.

hi, anon!

honestly, since the show never actually provides us with much insight into sofia's inner world, it's a matter of headcanon as to whether or not one believes she has a crush on grissom. certainly, there is about equal evidence to suggest that she does as to suggest that she doesn't.

personally, i don't headcanon that she does, for reasons i talk about here and here, if you're interested.

tl;dr: while i think that grissom's "eccentric professor" persona intrigues her and that she eventually comes to value him both professionally and as a friend, i don't necessarily read sexual/romantic interest into their interactions. the few times she makes innuendos around him, i believe they're largely inadvertent on her part—something that happens because she's socially awkward as opposed to because she is expressing genuine interest in him. that's just my take, though, and your mileage absolutely may vary.

however, regardless of whether or not one believes that sofia ever has a crush on grissom, i'm fairly confident that she doesn't believe that his dinner invitation in episode 05x14 "unbearable" is a date or else her reaction to it would very much be different than what in canon it is.

as i talk about here,

one of grissom’s biggest hang-ups against being with sara is his deep-seated fear of (what he views as) his own unlovability, we can’t discount the fact that another big reason he declines her so many times throughout the years prior to s5/s6 is because department rules do not allow for any kind of romantic/sexual relationship between them, and he doesn’t want to damage his career.

the lab’s policy on the matter is clear: “members of the same forensic team may not engage in a romantic relationship.”

and here’s the thing: for as much as said policy would apply to any romantic/sexual relationship between grissom and sara, it would apply just as much to any romantic/sexual relationship between grissom and sofia, as well—and grissom knows as much.

if grissom isn’t allowed to date sara under the rules, then he also isn’t allowed to date sofia under the rules.

if it would potentially damage his career to be with one much younger subordinate, it would potentially damage his career to be with another much younger subordinate equally so.

grissom only eventually decides to risk breaking the rules and suffering the potential consequences of being with sara because he’s so deeply in love with her, which makes the opportunity cost worth it to him.

not so with sofia.

whether or not one actually believes he might possibly be attracted to her—and i personally don’t—it is a fact he’s never in love with her.

as we know from things he says in episode 07x24 “living doll” and “immortality,” sara is the only person he has ever romantically loved; ipso facto, he’s never been in love with sofia.

grissom wouldn’t risk his career in order to ask sofia on a date, not when she’s nowhere near being the love of his life—and especially not when, again, by s5, he is very much aware of and reconciled to the fact that sara, by contrast, is.

that so, just the fact that he invites sofia to dinner at all tells us that he’s not framing the invitation as a date—i.e., it tells us that he doesn’t feel there is any risk in him doing so and he wouldn’t be at all affronted were word to get back to the administration of what he had done. in his own mind, he obviously feels that what he is doing is 100% permissible under the policy. he doesn’t have any compunctions about it.

—hence the way in which he makes the invitation itself: straightforwardly, without any of the hemming and hawing and awkwardness one might expect if he were really “putting himself on the line.”

that grissom openly asks sofia to eat with him without any hesitation or display of hang-ups tells us that for him, it’s a very lowkey deal. he’s essentially viewing it as a “work function,” and that’s why he can be so calm and uninhibited about it—to say nothing of how open.

just as grissom would likely be aware of the fact that he and sofia could not actually date each other per department policy, certainly sofia (as someone who had been an acting shift supervisor prior to her demotion) would be, as well.

whether or not she actually ever has a crush on grissom before being placed on his team, i think that once he becomes her boss, she knows that he is absolutely off-limits to her in that sense.

and even with her intention to leave csi and switch over to working at pd at the time that grissom makes his dinner invitation, as a young woman with aspirations toward advancement within the lvpd hierarchy, she would still be cognizant of the optics of having a romantic relationship with an older male supervisor on the department payroll (and especially one who had at one point been in charge of overseeing her, even if he weren't her direct supervisor anymore).

she would no sooner try to date grissom than she would try to date brass or ecklie.

she knows it's best to keep her personal life out of the workplace so that no one can even begin to question the legitimacy of her professional attainments.

she is much more like catherine, who carefully curates her professional reputation and would hate to do anything that might cause others to question her "worthiness" to hold the positions she does (such as, for example, by having a sexual/romantic relationship with a prominent man in the department), than she is like sara, who is chronically impolitic and willing to throw caution to the wind in order to follow her heart, never mind how doing so might affect her professional prospects.

and especially because, again, even if she once did or even currently does have a crush on grissom at the time when episode 05x14 "unbearable" is taking place (which is, again, debatable), it would be just that: a crush.

she's not in love with the guy like sara is.

so while for sara, it's 100% worth it to put her career on the line for the sake of having a relationship with her one true love, for sofia, it very much wouldn't be for the sake of just getting to know better someone she's a little bit attracted to (maybe).

all of the above so, i tend to believe that had she any sense that grissom's invitation included an offer for anything more than just an "okay, so you're quitting my team. let me take you out for a bite to eat to wish you well and show you that there are no hard feelings (and maybe make one last-ditch appeal to get you to reconsider so that i'm not left high and dry with only three criminalists on my team including myself)" thing, her reaction would not have been to meet him with that amused smile that she gives at the end of the scene.

rather, she would have done something to indicate awkwardness or even affront and probably quickly (though politely) declined him, perhaps even reminding him of the departmental policy on romantic relationships between coworkers.

she cares too much about her career to put it on the line for gil grissom, so the fact that she accepts his invitation and does so with amusement or even "you're so delightfully weird" whimsy written across her face suggests that she doesn't believe she has any reason to be wary of what he is offering her.

it is just a shared meal between two work friends (where they, for the most part, are going to discuss her career prospects) and nothing she would be reluctant to have to explain to ecklie or one of the department higher-ups, were it to become known to them.

she reads grissom's intentions in making the invitation as being thoroughly platonic right from the get-go—which is a good thing, because that's exactly what they are.

while the writers intend to make the audience question the nature of their outing (and grissom's motivations for making the invitation in the first place, particularly in light of the events of episode 05x13 "nesting dolls"), within the world of the show, i tend to think both grissom and sofia are on the same page re: the fact that the meal is something that is professionally allowable for both of them right from the start.

by this point in their professional relationship, where they have been members of the same forensics team for about 3½ months in show time, they know where they stand with each other, and they're both comfortable with it.

—or at least that's the way i read things.

like i said, ymmv!

thanks for the question! please feel welcome to send another any time.

[godsofhumanity]

ANSWER:

Uhmm hi there! I’m super glad that you like my posts :)

Unfortunately, I don’t really know much about “Tieba”, which makes me feel a little uncomfortable about my posts simply being “reprinted” on another platform. Hope you can understand xx

[duckmumbo]

Hello! Anon from the last ask game here, I'm just here to say that writers are cool and amazing and talented and other things like that :]

You guys are an inspiration to others and deserve all the kudos in the world!!

(this was supposed to be longer but i'm not good with words so yeah just drop your fav fics below! /nf)

- 🐇

Anon are you trying to get me to cry because let me tell you you are very close to succeeding /pos

But honestly it's readers like you that make us have the motivation to keep writing and share our stuff with others, getting positive feedback is honestly one of the best feelings lol

Fic recs under the cut because I have absolutely no self control and enjoy way too many fics

recs are in no particular order, though most of the dsmp recs ended up towards the top and most of the hermitcraft ones ended up towards the bottom somehow

If You Give a Bunny a Carrot by ImperialKatwala

Origins SMP setting, Bunnyblade has a tragic backstory and learns to trust again, incredibly cute and I may or may not have almost cried

the world of clinic (series) by bonesandthebees

dsmp hero/villain au, SBI (minus Tommy) are villains, Ranboo and Tubbo are vigilantes. Lots of found family, finally read it after seeing all the posts about it on twitter and omg it's so good I fully understand the hype

Healing Is a Four Letter Word by Hypno_Cat

Hermitcraft, Watcher Grian ends up becoming the local forest cryptid and relearning how to be a player

(Dragon) Riders in the Sky by SilverWing15 (or honestly just about anything by them)

dsmp dragon rider au, Shroud is a baby dragon. Mushroom Henry is a dragon. Friend is a dragon. Need I say more?

Platonic Divorcees and Going Out To Lunch: Purpled's Guide to Adopting an Alien by KiwiFruitWritings

dsmp, Purpled centric, Quackity and Techno both try to become father figures to him, honestly absolutely adorable and I need more of this in my life

The Life and Times of Michael Underscore-Beloved by ImperialKatwala (honestly the entire series but especially this one)

dsmp, just complete fluff, sbi and bench trio are all Michael's family and it honestly made me cry a few times

No time like the Present by LuckyPhantom

dsmp, Phil adopts Techno directly from the Nether, absolutely adorable and i love the piglin culture in this fic

Plumage by SamWasNeverHere

Hermitcraft, Mumbo grows wings after eating Grian's soul and has to learn how to use them. Absolute fluff, plus winged!mumbo my beloved

"the wheels on the bus" by sparxwrites

Hermitcraft, it is a terrible day in the void, the Watchers have found you, and you are a very, very pesky bird

of broken pasts and healing hearts (series) by sky_blue_hightops, Spannah339

Hermitcraft, Grian recovering from the Watchers, lots of hurt/comfort

quis custodiet ipsos custodes by andtheuniverse_said

Hermitcraft/HBG, Fruit asks Grian/the hermits to help Illumina, Watchers are up to shenanigans again

the slow and lengthy process of un-traumatizing your local birb friend (series) by HaloRocks1214

Hermitcraft, yet another "Grian recovers from the Watchers" fic, except this time he ends up with an emotional support dragon, need I say more?

The Lone Wolf and the Hermit by SilverWing15

Hermitcraft x dsmp, Tommy ends up in season 7 and is also a wolf for reasons i do not remember. very funny and also cute

i can be the one you call (series) by mayflowers07

Hermitcraft, hurt/comfort series revolving around every single hermit, basic premise is the hermits have a code phrase that, when said, causes everyone to drop everything and rally around the hermit that said it. one of the very first mcyt fanfictions i read, and honestly still probably one of my absolute favorites, i cry when reading a good chunk of this series

this better be good by raiiyynn

Hermitcraft x dsmp, Purpled ends up in hermitcraft and causes chaos. told entirely through chat messages, and is a WIP but it's still really funny

Anything To Hear You (Say It One More Time) by mgrnn

Hermitcraft, Etho ends up in a life threatening situation and calls Bdubs so he won't die alone, Bdubs is determined to save him

A Day Off is Needed by Sharo

Hermitcraft, the hermits just have a nice fun party and chill, very nice vibes

Sticker War by darkleweather

Hermitcraft, hermits play "put the sticker on the doc", need i say more?

puddle-jumping by Sixteenthdays

Hermitcraft x Empires SMP, HC!Gem ends up in Empires after escaping from the moon, Empires!Gem tries to help her get back

One Quiet Day by TheNightSkyObserver

Hermitcraft, Xisuma just vibing on top of a mountain, absolutely adorable

Lost in the Void's Embrace by ambered

Hermitcraft, Xisuma-centric, the world glitches and Xisuma ends up with amnesia, Scar ends up missing time, and Iskall ends up with major headaches. Surely this is all a coincidence?

[anonymoushouseplantfan]

Anons on Press Freedom...

Dang, I hate being a Cassandra. I remember writing a ton of posts about how the KP statement was a blow against press freedom back in 2017. Even I thought they sounded alarmist and overblown back then, but now they sound horribly prescient. 

Because she cares so much about others. Good lord.

I find it very ironic that the same apparatus that the brf used to stifle press criticism (IPSO,Ofcom, lawsuits, etc...) is now being used to stifle them. Karma is truly having its day. 

Thanks, at least Jake Tapper sees the danger coming his way. The implications of the press not being able to criticize a public figure in the middle of a huge controversy, as long as that person makes a racism, sexism, or mental health claim are pretty horrifying. 

That's how it works now. And it’s the same story among all platforms. We had several purges in Tumblr because Meghan’s minions would spam us with offensive anons hoping we would lash out. Then if someone lashed out, they had that person banned for “abuse.”

I know! Meghan isn’t event he worst example. Cuomo is now in his, what, sixth(?) sexual harassment accusation? 

You have to keep your head on your shoulders when the trolls attack. It’s hard, but you just have to realize that it’s not real. It’s a trap.

She did it “for the children” not for herself.

That’s part of the tribal dynamic. It’s not that only the liberal media makes it legit. It’s that the brf has to have credibility within the whole political spectrum. It can’t just be the right.

[istumpysk]

Just saw someone in the Jon Snow tag mentioning Jonnel + Sansa with the argument that the Starks are a-ok with avuncular marriage so ipso facto Jon and Daniella are Inevitable™ or at least they implied that there is no reason why they shouldn't be together... and their tags were like "I didn't think this needed to be said" like...honey, it doesn't need to be said coz it ain't about your gal and Jon. It's about Jon and *checks notes* the girl with the literal same name of the Stark Jonnel married. Sorry, I know I shouldn't really bitch about Jonerice peeps on anon...but honestly, that bit of lineage foreshadowing, it ain't for them. And really, I would worry more about Jon being deeply and morally opposed to burning people alive than whether or not the Starks accept avuncular marriages...jesus christ

No.

Stop it.

Don’t tease me.

Don’t tell me there’s a jonerys out there referencing Jonnel (One-Eye) Stark, son of Lynara Stark. Jonnel (One-Eye) Stark who married his blood relative, Sansa Stark. Sansa Stark, who was set to inherit Winterfell, following the death of her father, but the lordship passed on her, instead favouring Jonnel (One-Eye) Stark.

Don’t tell me that, anon.

Because if there is a jonerys referencing Jonnel (One-Eye) Stark, son of Lynara Stark, married to Sansa Stark, I might just squeal right here and now.

[mallowstep]

You mentioned that in your Seer Au sometimes the wrong kit is chosen. When it is figured out they aren't supposed to be a seer how does that discussion play out? "You aren't good enough? Starclan doesn't want you?" Or would they be relieved they don't have to leave? On that note, has there ever been a warrior apprentice that was found out to be the real seer kit later on? Being told you can't fight or have kits after all would be rough.

hello anon!

i can't remember where but i know i talked about this, or something similar before, and that's somewhere in the stolag tag.

but to answer your question:

first, if the wrong kit is chosen, it's usually noticed because they are extremely unhappy with the seer position because of their aptitude. to use some examples, compare cinderpaw and, let's say, a hypothetical seer brightpaw.

cinderpaw is unhappy as a seer, at first, but it's not about her ability/training. she's fine with memorizing herbs, treating patients, etc., she just doesn't want to leave her kin behind.

there's great satisfaction in being a seer for her, once she gets there.

because of this, it usually doesn't feel like a punishment. while seers have a lot of power, they also have to give up a lot, and they're not, like, better than your average warrior?

their life might be more valuable because there's only, like, eight in all the clans (out of 100 to 200-ish cats, i'm not sure, i have no concept of numbers), but all are equals in the eyes of starclan.

second, an already-apprenticed-warrior will never be chosen to be a seer. while i don't necessarily agree with everything here, warriors redux treats seers similarly (although ironically, they weren't my inspiration for this au, they're just a major influence on my worldbuilding as a whole), and you can check out the summary to get an idea.

basically, the logic is once a cat has started battle training, they're no longer "pure."

now, because it seems i have a psychological need to ramble about something people didn't ask me about every time i get an ask, i want to take a moment to discuss the difference between beliefs and reality, i.e., what does starclan think about all this?

in warriors, it is generally taken for granted that what the cats believe about starclan is true.

this is because in canon, it is.

for stolag's intents and purposes, the difference doesn't matter. the cats believe it, ipso facto, it is true. but i am a curious person who finds that dissatisfying.

things that could be considered spoilers for "in a faith-forgotten land" (mothwing's piece) below

i bring up spoilers because, to an extent, mothwing's fic is going to grapple with this, and while i don't plan on directly spoiling anything, if you'd like to wait to watch mothpaw grapple with all this, i'll still be here, waiting.

so anyway, let's, for a moment, pretend that starclan has no bearing on this. they can't affect anything. no omens, no dreams, no nada.

cats believe seers have to be raised from a young age with this expectation, otherwise it's too hard a transition

there's no actual way to choose who's going to be a good seer by their personality at birth. you can make an educated guess, but nothing more.

religion, in some sense, exists to explain the unexplainable.

being able to tell an apprentice seer their fate was laid out by the stars is hypothetically soothing, making it a good thing to say, since they may not actually be a good fit.

but by that token, if they're clearly never going to be a good fit, well, the stars certainly didn't make a mistake.

so therefore, the stars must send omens, which a seer must interpret.

which feeds into the system we have.

but missing a kit means the stars didn't send an omen

and they don't make mistakes

so that can never happen

so even without any input from starclan, we necessarily arrive at this conclusion.

we can see this cycle of patterning functional behavior for religious reasons in the entire concept of stolag:

sending year-old cats away from their birth clan means they have a strong tie there, but can still reintegrate

this means they're likely to advocate for peace with their home clan

so each clan has one to two clans they're unlikely to attack, and to have a rivalry, both clans need to be willing to attack each other

so sending seers away keeps the peace

now, you might be thinking, "but matthew! we know the cats are aware of this as a purpose. it's right there in the series description!"

to which i say, yes, but that's only because the cats are aware of the functional/religious patterning in this instance.

"No." Yellowstorm paused, indicating to Spottedpaw she should stop. "It is a scary thing, Spottedpaw, but remember you are leaving because you are ready. You will find your place — your true place — in RiverClan."

"I thought seers weren't supposed to have a place."

"We're not," Yellowstorm said. "But that doesn't mean we don't."

grieving for the living

so like, they're aware of it. buuuut in spottedleaf's piece, we get the following

"I wish I could stay longer," Spottedpaw said. "But Yellowstorm is right, even if I don't like it. It's time for me to go."

"How do you know?" Willowpaw asked.

The question startled Spottedpaw. Her sister had never taken interest in her training before.

"I just know," she said. "Like, uh..." She fished for an example from Redpaw or Willowpaw's training.

"Like how, when you catch something, you just know how to take the killing bite," she said. "I don't know how or why, but I know that I need to move on."

where the spirit meets the bones

so there's an implication here that it is a real change they experience, which suggests they do have a fundamentally different connection to the stars.

what's my point? my point is that belief is a powerful thing. i can't say terribly much more without really drifting hard into stuff i'm saving for "in a faith-forgotten land," but this is the kind of thing i think about.

spoilers over

also, as a bonus, while i use "stars" over "starclan" in general because i think it sounds better, i also specifically chose to avoid starclan in stolag as much as possible because i think it implies a very active role, and that's...definitely in doubt.

both yellowstorm and spottedleaf have two major omens/prophecies, and they're both speaking from their heart, after witnessing events.

the only omen cinderpelt gets that's shown is the pack, pack, kill, kill omen. why does she get it? well, for some backrooms information, she gets it to set up for tigerstar and her connection with the dogs.

but even still, she could have a bad feeling, a hunch, perhaps because tigerclaw is acting suspiciously, and that would guide her.

so anyway, this was more than you asked for, but i hope it answered your question?

[the-empress-7]

If the press has reported something incorrectly, take it up through the Press complaints commission, the body set up to deal with these matters. - A reputable UK gossip site (Popbitch) revealed that Harry started showering ( their description) IPSO with complaints from November 2016 starting with a companion legal complaint to them with the public loveshield public letter. By spring of 2019 they were so sick of his regular, unrelenting complaining letters that they stopped taking them 1/2

2/3 seriously such that when he complained about The Sun article reporting about Sussex command to Windsor Estate workers not to talk to them, their dogs or ask after Archie and also asking them not to use carpark near Froggy Cottage, IPSO said it was a fair article reporting facts and The Sun didn't need to be censured. Looking through IPSO rulings, which are public, there is a long list of Sussex complaints that have diminishing returns for Sussex as time goes by. By the time they lost that

3/3 ruling forced them to go to the lawcourts to get the result they wanted. It's also after this that he joined tyat longrunning lawsuit about phone hacking. In other words he very quickly exhausted the press complaints body that they won't look at him again, and he is now doing the same to the courts which is annoying the judges based upon their public comments within their judgements or telling off his lawyers publicly or awarding him( them) nominal awards and no costs.

====

Fascinating point anons. There might not consequences for over burdening a body like IPSO, but I reckon there are consequences for jamming up the courts with frivolous lawsuits.