#not a thing that happens by means of a system in place that perpetuates it. and that certain people happen to benefit from)

[transmaverique]

its just such a basic view of feminism to me i guess. like we cant talk about how emasculation is an enforcement of toxic masculinity, how it is racialized, how it effects both transmascs and transfems. bc mens rights arent real, of course, feminism is about womens liberation, not destruction of the patriarchy.

we cant talk about how misandry (such as it is) is a dogwhistle for terfs, bc of course they only ever mean transfems when they say "men". we cant talk about the ways white cis women have utilized toxic masculinity and white supremacy to harm black men, specifically. we cant talk about the ways cis women hold privilege over trans men.

its just so... like... you rush to say "misandry isnt real" because you dont want to engage with the more complex dynamics of oppression that arent as clear cut as "cis man oppress cis woman". and like, sure, misandry isnt real. i dont care enough to squabble over what language we use. and i dont care enough about whatever silly jokes you make on your blog. but you have got to realize that by only ever seeing men as inherently oppressive to you by merely existing you are actively aiding radical feminism.

you are lending legitimacy to bioessentialism by refusing to engage w these more complex gendered oppression dynamics. you are lending legitimacy to bioessentialism by treating men as inherently different and inherently oppressive to women.

[probablyasocialecologist]

‘Refusing to actively assist in a genocide’ is the absolute lowest of low bars, an existentially minimal expectation of a post-war European polity. But that’s where we are. The ranks are closed and serried. It is a hypnotically grotesque spectacle. Meanwhile, in Gaza, the killing intensifies. Genocide has still been on the table all this time, it seems. Every piety about it being the ultimate evil was just so much noise, to be discarded when it became awkward. It now appears that thinking genocide is bad is for the little people. Or perhaps it is a ‘luxury belief’. The most powerful states in the world have enshrined remembrance of the Holocaust in their public places, their calendars, their museums, their education systems. We were given to understand that this was because genocide was the final, absolute line: never, ever again, for anyone. But insofar as Britain and other nations have ignored or assisted Israel’s campaign in Gaza, it turns out that these same states have in fact kept systematic human extermination and ethnic cleansing on the list of possible political options, as rights which they might need to exercise one day. At my most grimly cynical, I fear that this is because the Northern states have concluded that the coming age will take the form prophesied by the Bannonites and neo-reactionaries—a time of sovereign power amidst climate breakdown—and this means they want leeway to operate as they will, at home and abroad, without being bound by any laws or responsibilities, moral or otherwise. Gaza is the end of all pretence to a belief in any law but that of raw force, and as such, it is the proving ground for all tomorrow’s hells.

[...]

The British state is an active and official participant in an ongoing genocide, its politicians and press are running cover, its intelligence services and military are actively involved. The fact that this is still barely in the papers, and that the people who have taken to the streets asking for it to stop have been denounced as hate-filled racists and fanatics, should tell you all you need to know about how much anyone in power or in the press ever really understood or cared about ‘never again’. Perhaps I am naïve, but the purpose of Holocaust education, as I always understood it, was not to teach us that we should obediently wait and see what position pundits and politicians would take on urgent events, and then follow their lead. Nor was it so we could take the long view, see both sides, mutter about complexities, patiently wait for years to pass and for evidence to be gathered. No, the purpose of the quite extensive Holocaust education that most people in this country received was surely so we would know a genocide when we saw it. We were supposed to learn what it looked like so it could be stopped, and so that our perpetual duty to those who died in the camps – a duty consisting of an eternal never again, the magnetic north of personal and political morality – would be rightly discharged, should our time ever come to discharge it. It was so we would not be the ones who turned a blind eye to the removal of our friends and colleagues; so that we would know to speak, to act, to refuse to let it happen without a fight; so that we would never betray a hiding child, never denounce a neighbour, never find ourselves just following orders. Whatever else could it possibly have been for, if it was not to know these things, yourself, in your heart? What can the story of Anne Frank mean to us, as individuals, if it does not mean that we must each of us internalise the lesson that we should never give up a child to genocidaires? And did we not learn, too, that the state would bombard us with propaganda, that the truth would be hidden, and that without effort we would become inured and complacent so that it would not be so simple to see what was before us, and so that many would simply accept what was happening without demur? Were we not warned? We were. A clearly distressed Palestinian man whose mother and family had been killed in the bombardment of northern Gaza was recently manhandled out of a Labour party event in Stockport for the transgression of asking people to look at photographs of his dead mother. In a widely circulated film, Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner stands frozen and silent as he is violently ejected. What has happened to those heart lessons she was supposed to learn? Is this not the very moment for which those lessons were prepared, the moment that we were warned about? If not now, when?

[bonefall]

Since you mentioned only cats and a few other distant animals are sentient, does this mean foxes are getting their sentience removed? Midnight can talk to foxes in the books and even convinces some foxes to leave a patrol of cats alone (the foxes are WEIRDLY violent and talk about eating the cats too lmaoo).

I assume Hollyleaf's changes mean the Fox Cub Incident is either being moved or just removed entirely, I always found that small plot point interesting in face of all those "Non-cat in clan" AUs. Seems like something that could be interesting if an "us vs them" argument was formed from it, especially if it was targeted against Midnight and calling her unholy yknow?

Yeah, that sapience is gone completely. In this universe, language is limited only to humans, cats, and some distant animals that are far outside the range of Albion (elephants, bottlenoses, some parrots, etc)

And Hollyleaf's story especially. Ngl to you, I don't like that fox idea. Or anything about Hollyleaf's Story. I think it was the worst possible route to take.

"Hollyleaf will be a mother to this evil creature to learn what it's like to love something that hates you. It is so sad to be your mom Leafpool (Squirrel-who?). Don't you feel like a shitty daughter now, Holly? Let's not ask any questions about the code btw, or how you were already filled with crushing shame from it. Or how it made you so disgusted about the idea of pregnant nuns that you flipped your shit and ruined the lives of your entire family. No, what really mattered about this situation was maternal empathy. Also here take the nearest male character we can find to ship you with, we accidentally made Cinderheart too gay when she was upset about your death lmao"

But, digressing, putting my distaste of that novella aside,

WC is profoundly xenophobic already with just the cats, and I think it was a CATASTROPHIC mistake to make it so every animal is secretly intelligent but speaks animal language. Now every conflict between cats and their predators is an ethnic dispute! You're chasing out groups of people perfectly capable of reasoning if you bridged the language barrier, but they're also ACTUAL PREDATORS.

AT BEST; It's the same uncomfortable situations that Zootopia and Lion King ends up tripping over. In Zootopia, predators are used as an allegory for oppressed groups... but predators are MADE to eat prey. A rabbit is RIGHT to be terrified of a fox, twice its size with a jaw made for catching bunnies. In Lion King, lions have divine authority to rule over their dinner/subjects, and chase out any animal based on their personal ideology... which just so happens to only be leveraged against rival predator species.

(Nerd preemption: yes i know about lion guard. I do not think diverse Lion Cops were the solution you think it is.)

Carelessly adding sapience to "natural systems" often ends up accidentally justifying bigotry. Bigotry doesn't MAKE SENSE, it's bullshit we made up and perpetuate through culture, but food webs are completely logical. The rabbit fears the fox because the fox eats rabbits. The lion hates the hyena because they compete for the same food. Gazelles don't happily submit to an overlord who is divinely capable of deciding who should live and who should die, it's just nature.

But it gets even worse-- because it's actually WORST CASE; the Erins saw that complicated moral problem and went, "don't worry! They're actually born evil! Foxes just talk about food and killing things :)"

like... my brother in cats, YOU gave them language in the first place! What was the fucking point if they were just going to be evil barbarians anyway?!? For ONE scene where Midnight could show off her Duolingo streak???

So to summarize,

It was an awful idea to start with

It was executed in the worst possible way

In a series that is already plagued with xenophobic sentiment, this somehow made it even worse and more direct

If it was completely nuked it from the story, the series would be immediately better with minimal change. Holly caring for what is essentially the clan cat-equivalent of an exotic animal like a chimp or a tiger cub would have done the same thing

There is not even a glimmer of an idea here that justifies the poison that full sapience does to the wider implications of the series.

Don't even get me started on the Badger Debaucle in TNP, which is actually in my top 5 for most vile things in WC

So if I don't explicitly say that a species in BB is capable of true language, assume it is non-sapient. Talking animals like Midnight and Rat Leader are magical individuals-- gods, curses, etc.

[purgemarchlockdown]

I told myself not to interact too much with the voting discussion because of how much it bothers me, but due to how her votes are going I will talk about it. I know the idea is that to protect the other prisoners we need her to be voted guilty. That's the theory, I'd argue that not only would that not work out the way people expect it to and I'd also argue that voting innocent is the better option overall.

But let's talk a bit about a dichotomy first.

Something I've noticed in fandom when it comes to victims of abuse and trauma is that there's a want for easily digestible abuse victims. There's a want for victims of abuse that are easily infantilized and woobified. In other words, there's a want for a very sanitized depiction of abuse. One where the characters who are being abused did nothing wrong and are morally pure completely righteous characters.

On the flipside, once an abuse victim steps out of those bounds of sanitized digestibility the audience reactions shifts. You tend to find these characters demonized and portrayed in ways that showcase how horrible, toxic or...dangerous they are. If you are an abuse victim in fiction you have to be an incredibly idealized version of the perfect abuse victim who does nothing wrong because if you aren't people will find ways to demonize you and erase any sense of nuance from the story.

You can either be a good abuse victim, or a bad one.

Now of course not everyone voting Amane guilty is doing it because of this...like I've seen a lot of posts from people who just don't know what to do or people who just feel that the consequences of Guilty Vote Amane is worth it in the end or people who just vote her guilty cause they don't like her much. I'm biased in this regard because I love Amane Momose! I'm very much biased towards her.

However it is troubling to me that I see this sort of bias, a lot of people have talked about how this also happens with Mikoto and I'd argue there was a bit of this also involved in Haruka and his voting.

It's something In this fandom and it's something that troubles me personally because I care a lot about this stuff, stories like Amane's are important to me, and I don't like seeing people react like this to abuse victims in fiction just because they aren't palatable.

I doubt most people in real life would act the same way if Amane was real, but also I'm unfortunately very familiar with people ignore someone who is suffering just because they feel uncomfortable. So I do think it's important to mention.

And I think Amane doomed by Milgram! I think Milgram is exactly the kind of place that would trigger her trauma! But even so I don't think Amane is doomed completely. I think viewing her as someone who can never change, who's stuck forever as a devoted cult follower is frankly a disservice to her character.

The power of cults come a lot of factors, manipulation, isolation, perpetuation of abuse and abusive cycles and way more things that I can't even mention. It Does Not come from magic unbreakable brainwashing! We have accounts from former cult victims! They exist! You can google them! There are people with stories like this out there!

I'd argue that Milgram's guilty system emulates Amane's previous abusive situation. It emulates that system of rules and punishment and torture. I don't think voting guilty would help, because voting guilty means Amane has to deal with something that closely emulates her horrible abusive situation, it would drive her further into isolation and trauma. She'd be reliving the situation she just escaped.

"But the other prisoners are at risk-" They're still at risk even if Amane is voted guilty! I'd argue their more at risk because Amane would be driven further into her isolation! Cults tell people that the outside world is dangerous and out to get them! It's one of there methods of control!

If we prove that to Amane, if we prove that yes, the outside world is out to get her and there's no one out there that can actually help her, then we give her The most righteous reason to attack.

Amane from what I can tell usually attacks if she feels like she's justified, if she feels like she's in danger. It's a defense mechanism born out of the torture she experienced. It's not wild swinging at anyone and anything she hates as it seems like people think it is.

I think voting Amane Innocent actually has the better chance of really helping people out. I think Amane being innocent would help crack this image she has of the outside world which would be fantastic actually! Would she be fully deprogrammed? No, you can't deprogram someone with one choice, especially if you validated their beliefs beforehand but it certainly changes things.

I don't like the idea that Amane is completely hopeless, I Feel like it treats cults and the Real Harm they do to people as something that no one can come back from and makes it feel weirdly mystical. Like the cult gets their hands in ya and now their brainwashing is just unbreakable. There's Real Ex-Cult Survivors in the world! They Exist! They aren't an impossibility and I don't think we should treat Amane's growth as a person as an impossibility!

[firesofdainix]

solarballs fics masterlist

A collection of ALL my solarballs fics, all 26 (and counting) of them! I don't even know how I wrote most of these in a month; most of these fics are part of the same universe, an alternate universe heavily relying a lot more on fantastical lore and complex characteristics of each character rather than scientific accuracy. Most scientific theories have been handwaved or explained differently. I'll be posting them in chronological order to better understand the entire series.

Spacetime Continuum Extras

Extra scenes, headcanons, concepts, prompts, and designs of my Alternate Universe. Used as a companion piece for the main series as a whole.

History is a Story Told By the Winners of the Fight

Jupiter commits murder, and he's in bad shape to even think about anything else. Uranus and Neptune help plot his schemes.

Ursa Major

Callisto's creation and what comes after. Featuring some Jupiter and Callisto father daughter bonding!

Pride Cometh Before The Fall

Saturn and Planet X find out Jupiter's best-kept secret and undermine his authority.

The Consequences of Our Actions

Five times Earth and Theia are warned about their sharing of orbits, and one time the warnings ring true- but it's already too late.

Moons Should Know Their Place

Luna has recently formed from what he believed had been space debris; yet why are some planets looking at him like he'd committed a crime?

After the Battle

Jupiter and, additionally Saturn, did something bad a few billion years ago. Just how bad was it?

Masterless Cattle

After kicking Tyche and Planet X out of the solar system, the giants along with the remaining planets talk about dividing their spoils of war, such as paraphernalia of the deceased and banished planets, the moons, and new orbits, along with some emotional confessions along the way.

A Name Forged From His Skin of Sins

The beginning of Ganymede.

(A/N: This one is more of the fanon interpretations of the character and its origins. It's for the plot I swear!)

Still Living The Same Life

One shots covering Ganymede's new life.

Nature Abhors A Power Vacuum

Jupiter and the VOICES.

Remember My Name

Planet X's ejection, the aftermath of it, and the begining of their fall from grace.

Seeds of Love Planted in a Faux Gift

Saturn finds out about Jupiter's less-than-stellar vision. He helps in his own way, not predicting the consequences coming with it.

Lamentations of a False King

Thousands of years after the conflict that had shook up the entire solar system, Jupiter and Saturn talk about their regrets and understand each other a lot better. Meanwhile, Saturn's promise to Planet X continues to break down.

Tsunami

Neptune's capture of Triton in egregious, gory details.

(A/N: Because of the new episodes, this fic will be considered divergent from the Solarballs premise of Triton's origins. More eldritch and messed up things happen in this fic.)

Accidentally In Love

Jupiter confesses his romantic feelings for Saturn, who reciprocates; not before discarding a terrible secret that will haunt him for eternity.

When the Paint Dries

The seventh planet's views on his artistry over the eons.

Break The Cycle

The Giants find out about the revolution, but instead of becoming angry, they realize they are perpetuating the same mistakes as their Sun.

(A/N: This is canon divergent and doesn't really happen. This is a simple "what if.")

If You Need To Be Mean

Mercury thinks about the past often, and how so many things have changed in the past four billion years. Not for the better, according to him.

Saturn's Moons Hanging By A Thread

In the aftermath of the Moon Revolution, Saturn's moons return to their planet and back to their old lives. However, one insult against Titan goes too far, and he finally lets all his feelings over being their main punching bag out in the open.

(A/N: This fic and the next two fics are canon divergent from the episode "Saturn Gets His Moons Back!" But The Moon Club will still happen, although Europa and Ganymede will be included.)

Galileo Figaro

Following Titan leaving his orbit after a spat with his fellow moons, he ends up in Jupiter's orbit talking to familiar faces, who end up, surprisingly, sympathizing with his situation.

Moon-Eater

Saturn uses his power to give his moons a stern talk and a fair warning about the consequences if they ever take things with Titan further than normal. Titan finally gets an apology from one of the moons.

Mars, God of War

Even Mars once had an ocean on its surface. Even the red planet was given the chance to shelter life before it led to its destruction.

(A/N: No longer canon! This one-shot is a what-if conspiracy theory is true, thus I wrote it.)

Take On Me

A collection of moments in time covering Mars and Earth's very tumultuous relationship. Includes copious amounts of codependency and pining from both sides as they struggle to pretend they're not at their wit's end.

You Didn't Know?

Planet X returns to the solar system, not only to gloat at how he is still alive but also to enact the first part of his revenge: to tear Jupiter and Saturn apart with the only promise Saturn had broken.

(A/N: Canon divergent for the future Planet X arc.)

Mania

Earth has had enough of humanity taking advantage of him and destroying his resources, so he retaliates by making their own home planet their biggest mortal enemy, forcing them into submission. Three hundred years later, Astrodude is sent as an ambassador to convince the Earth to stop his massacre of human lives.

(A/N: Canon divergent and futuristic fic. Not actually compliant to the main story as a whole.)

[sophieinwonderland]

cases of endogenic plurality shouldn’t have to need psychology to be considered legitimate. Sociological explanations should be more widely understood and accepted.

I genuinely do not understand particular syscourse blogs’ obsessions with trying to build a psychological explanation for things that are very clearly sociological.

Sociological explanations?

So, society causes endogenic plurality?

Oh, like people said DID was sociogenic? We're doing that again!

I was trying to give the benefit of the doubt with the other posts and assuming they meant they just wanted endogenic plurality studied through the lens of sociology. Not that they were presenting sociology as the cause of and explanation for endogenic plurality.

Okay, let's take a step back and look at what these fields actually are. Because even the comparison to DID's socio-cognitive model would ignore that the socio-cognitive model is socio-COGNITIVE. Even that ridiculous theory didn't try to divorce DID from psychology altogether.

So let's first talk about what these fields are.

Psychology vs sociology

Psychology is the study of mental processes and behavior. It answers questions about what people do and understanding why — such as, the mental processes behind their behavior. Psychology is oriented towards understanding the individual and how the individual relates to the group. By contrast, sociology is a study of systems and society. It investigates macro-level issues like poverty, food deserts, and unemployment. How do these structures behave within society, and what perpetuates them? It’s a big picture look at humans within the context of their society: how the group relates to the individual. Sociology studies the anthill; psychology studies the ants.

This is a great way to look at the differences.

And it's why describing endogenic plurality as "clearly sociological" really doesn't make any sense.

Plurality is in the individual. It's something you only see when you're willing to look past the hill and see the ants.

Yes, there are some cultures where endogenic plurality is accepted, and that can lead to the creation of plurality in those cultures. But endogenic plurals have also formed outside of those cultural frameworks with no connection to those cultures.

That includes myself, who didn't discover tulpas until after I had already gained sentience.

Now, it is true that all types of plurality do have sociological influences. This is also true of dissociative disorders. If you have a dissociative disorder and you grow up in a culture where demon possession is more common, you may be more likely to view an alter as a demon.

But that doesn't mean all forms of plurality are CAUSED by those sociological influences.

But even IF they were, that still wouldn't be (primarily) sociology.

It would be social psychology

Essentially, social psychology is about understanding how each person's individual behavior is influenced by the social environment in which that behavior takes place.

In other words, if sociology is the study of the anthill and psychology is the study of the ants, then social psychology is the study of how the ants are affected by the anthill.

Relatedly, there's also psychosociology which explores the connection between psychology and sociology that could also apply here.

But regardless, you cannot divorce the psychology from plurality.

To view plurality as solely or even primarily sociological would be to erase the individuals who make up the group.

Non-metaphysical Plurality Happens in the Mind of the Individual

I'm not going into the metaphysical aspect because the truth is that I am a skeptic. Although I'm certain many spiritual plurals would dispute that their experiences are sociological too on spiritual grounds.

But for those with non-metaphysical views, I have a hard time believing these experiences would be viewed as more in the purview of sociology.

Do you think the hallucinations (including mindvoices of headmates) are more sociology than psychology?

The dissociation, including switching and letting other agents take control of your body?

The passive influence where your mood and feelings are impacted by the others in your head?

Partial possession or similar motor intrusions where someone else controls your limbs?

The complex inner worlds systems build?

Ooh! How about the sharing of dreams with headmates?

In what way is any of this "clearly sociological?"

Because frankly, I'm at a complete loss.

Obviously, Plurality shouldn't be confined to a single field of study

Anthropology can study different forms of plurality across cultures and history. Sociology can study how plurality may affect the cultures they're a part of and how society responds to plurality. Psychology can study what's actually going on in the minds of plurals. Neurology can look for physical signs of plurality in the brain itself. Heck, even biology could hopefully look at conditions that may make someone plural and how that could be woven into our genes. I'm a firm believer that one reason plurality is so common across so many cultures is because there are evolutionary advantages to being plural.

But looking to sociology for explanations for endogenic plurality, even as so many endogenic plurals discover their plurality outside of social pressures and influences and even in social contexts where plurality is heavily stigmatized, seems to fundamentally misunderstand both endogenic systems and the field of sociology itself.

[communistkenobi]

having gone through (and still in the process of going through) the thousand different processes for changing my legal name and gender marker in every conceivable place those things could come up, one thing I’ve noticed is that being trans wreaks administrative havoc. the particular process of changing your name because you’re transgender isn’t strictly unique, because people change their legal name(s) for lots of different reasons, but there is a systemic unpreparedness for dealing with the scenario of a user or client or patient whose name and gender has changed simultaneously. the most common response I get when I ask somebody at a front desk if I can change my name and/or gender in their system is “huh, this has never happened before!” and then they go talk to their manager. and so to get anything done you have to continually assert that it’s possible, you have to explain that you’ve changed it elsewhere, you have to carry around legal documentation to prove that it’s happened, and you effectively become a perpetual edge case for any given administrative system you exist in. I know, intimately, how my university’s IT systems work in terms of field input because it’s so decentralised that changing information one place doesn’t change it in a lot of other places, and the act of having to be registered at a university with two conflicting legal names means I have to have an ongoing relationship with their IT help desk. People talk a lot about how we have to become medical experts in order to assert our own identity, but you also have to become a fucking IT expert too

[noellawrites]

It’s Always Been You - Yandere!Lip Gallagher x reader

a/n: my blog has finally been un-shadowbanned, so i’m back! :))

summary: Lip finally makes up his mind and realizes that ever since high school, it’s always been you.

warnings: physical assault, intimidation, yelling, passing out, reader is tied down, brief mentions of pregnancy

“Hey Lip, think you got time to fix my car again?” you called out as you entered the dark interior of Born Free Cycles.

He looked up from the bike he seemed to perpetually be working on and froze. You looked beautiful in short brown dress, keys hanging lazily off your finger. He hadn’t seen you in a week, which almost felt like too long. Back when Fiona was still at the house, you used to come over all the time. And now, you barely ever did. And even when you did make the occasional trip, it was always with a new boyfriend or fling or one night stand that Lip couldn’t stand to look at. He hated that he missed his chance with you.

“It started smoking on my way here. I’m worried it’s gonna be really expensive this time,” you sighed, gnawing on your bottom lip. Lip could remember you doing that even back in high school, for as long as he’d known you.

“I’ll take a look at it. What happened?”

You explained the latest problem as Lip listened intently, grabbing tools off his cart and heading over to your vehicle.

“I’m thinking it’s the fuel filter. On this model, a replacement’ll run you a hundred. I’ll throw in the labor for free if we do dinner tonight?” Lip said, glancing up at you nonchalantly.

To put it plainly, you were confused. You and Lip had been in a perpetual will-they-won’t-they situation since high school, and after graduation you decided to move on. You two had flirted since, but he never asked to make concrete plans before.

“Lip, is that really appropriate? I mean, aren’t you still seeing Tammy? What about Fred?”

Lip laughed, now leaning over your hood and fiddling with a random wire. “I’m not seeing Tammy. And Fred’s fine.”

You didn’t respond, instead opting to watch quietly as Lip worked his magic.

“Meet me at my new house at six. Fred and Tammy are at her parent’s place, so don’t worry ‘bout ‘em.”

—

You couldn’t believe yourself. Even after years of telling yourself you were done playing this stupid game, here you were. On Phillip Gallagher’s doorstep. With some homemade cookies in hand.

You knocked, Lip swung the door open and there you were. In Lip’s half-done home.

“Welcome in. D’you make those?” he asked, grabbing the plate from you and placing it in the kitchen next to the spaghetti and bottle of wine.

“Yeah, same recipe that you and your siblings used to love,” you admitted.

“Cool. I made us some—“

“Lip, will you please just tell me why I’m really here?” you blurted, almost feeling bad after seeing Lip’s taken-aback expression.

The two of you stood, waiting, silent for a good minute. Then, Lip spoke up.

“Jesus, I’m really fucking sorry I took so long but I really, really like you (y/n)!”

“‘Sorry you took so long’? It’s been nine. fucking. years! You literally have a child!”

“I know, okay. I know I’ve fucked around and I’ve hurt you, and I feel like shit for it. But there’s always been this stupid thing pulling us back together and I can’t make it stop.”

As much as you wish you could, you couldn’t help but agree. All the late-night studying, babysitting, crazy adventures and innocent flirting never quite left your system, even when you tried to drown it out with alcohol or fuck it away with other men.

“Lip, as much as I’d love to hop back on this train, I have a life now. I have a stable job with an apartment, and—“

“Yeah, and a boatload of shitty men to fill it with.”

“Will you stop acting like i’m some whore? At least I didn’t go and get myself knocked up right out of high school like every other bitch in this neighborhood!” you yelled.

“Oh, because you’re so much better than all of us south-side shit bags, huh?” Lip sneered, taking a step towards you and shoving you towards the wall with both hands tight on your shoulders.

You gasped, wide-eyed as Lip brought his face closer to yours.

“If you’re smart, you’ll accept my advances now and just fucking let me take care of you.”

Your back was now against the wall with nowhere for you to go. Both the window and door were too far for you to reach as you tried to strain your arm.

“Lip, please stop, you’re scaring me!”

“I can’t wait anymore, so either you agree to move in with me or I’ll force you to,” he growled, face mere inches away from yours.

“I’m not fucking moving in with you, Lip! You had your chance to go out with me and you squandered it! Now, you get to accept your fate,” you said, standing up to him.

“Accept my fate, huh? Nice try,” he laughed. Before you could even tell what he was doing, you felt his hand grab your neck and slam your head backwards on the wall. Everything went black.

—

You woke up and looked down at your body, now showered and clean along with wearing a pajama set you'd never seen. You attempted to pull your hands and legs close to your body, only hearing the rattle of chains in response. You were tied to the bed frame in Lip’s new house.

You accepted your fate, looking around at the blank gloomy walls. Lip was too passionate, too betrayed and lonely to ever let you get away again.

“I made some coffee, babe. Want some?” Lip called from the other room. When you didn’t respond, he entered the bedroom himself. He was wearing his Born Free jumpsuit again, with two cups of coffee in his hand.

He took one mug and lifted it to your lips. To your surprise, it wasn’t too hot or too cold. It was just the right temperature.

“I made a big breakfast for you. Granola with greek yogurt, scrambled eggs on toast. Just to boost your fertility.”

Your eyes went wide as he lifted the empty mug from your mouth.

“And you’re gonna need it. After the pills I crushed into your coffee, Fred'll have a playmate in no time,” Lip grinned as you pulled on your chains, crying out for him to let you go.

[tachypodion]

18 things I love about being Jewish

we are encouraged to question things and to have an understanding of why we do what we do

challah is delicious and I get to eat it (theoretically) every Friday night and Saturday

...speaking of which, I think it's pretty great that our days start in the evening because then I get to start my day off with rest and rejuvenation!

back to the challah note, I love that it gives me a great reason to learn to make bread and all other kinds of fun cooking and baking that connects me to my ancestors

learning in general — Jewish culture values learning so much and it makes for such great opportunities and conversations, and I never feel out of place being a person who loves accumulating knowledge for knowledge's sake!

we have a holiday almost every month of the year, and the one month where there are no holidays is nicknamed "bitter" specifically because it has no holidays

our new year is in the beginning of the fall, usually right around the same time that the school year starts, so all the new beginnings happen at the same time

"Bubbie" and "Zayde" are way more fun to say than "Grandma" and "Grandpa" and also provide me with a really cool opportunity to use the language my ancestors did in every day life!

the opportunity to develop a bond across generations that comes with the teaching of Torah skills in preparation for b'nei mitzvah, and the leadership opportunities given to teenagers who go from student to teacher

the inherent willingness to consider multitudes that is exemplified in the age-old saying "three rabbis, four opinions"

the fact that I don't need permission from anyone to believe what I believe, and personal beliefs are secondary to community for many people especially when it comes to relationships with divinity. looping back in #10, many of us hold multiple conflicting beliefs, sometimes at the same time!

our holidays are treated as holy days and the commandments we follow require us to pause and reflect and devote our time to being in the moment and considering the meaning behind the day

we have a commandment "shmirat haguf" that requires us to care for and protect our health and wellbeing, making self care an imperative for those who follow the commandment — this also instructs us to prioritize our safety above following other commandments such as keeping kosher or observing shabbat

the focus of our practice and belief systems is on the living world and not the afterlife, which means both that i can use my religion as a way of grounding me in the present and that i get to use my imagination when thinking about the fates of my dead loved ones

even though we may disagree about significant aspects of our practices and traditions, having Judaism in common with someone is always a rich vein of bonding when making new connections, and it also helps set us up for success in having relationships with people we disagree with about things!

Hebrew gives me a common ground language with every Jewish community in the world, so even if I don't speak a single word of the local language if I find my way to a synagogue I know I'll be able to communicate and be welcomed and understood

the unique blend of resilience and good (if dark) humor embedded in our culture that comes through in quips like "they tried to kill us, we survived, let's eat"

the blessing of community and cultural continuity that allows me to feel connected in perpetuity with a collective entity larger than the sum of its parts and fills me with warmth and confidence in the knowledge that we will outlive them

[alchemistofthenewage]

Why we aren't able to experience unconditional love on Earth?

Why so many people experience heart break on this realm? And why humans don't know what love is?.. not yet at least 

Earth relationships are imperfect and humans are imperfect but that's not just a fact to admit and discard. There is much we can do about it and much we need to do about it.

First of all,in this matter of love, let me get some illusions out of the way about what love is not:

Love is not glorifying the other, love is not compromise, love is not self hate, love is not pain.

Having said that I have noticed that almost most people experience love in this manner. You cannot love another while you are still struggling to love yourself, (except if are a mother to a baby). If you do so love another more than yourself, sooner or later it leads to resentment, emptiness or heartbreak.

As humans, we are unhealed, projecting our lack of love onto people who have more self love than us, creating toxic attachments or codependencies to cover up for our inadequacy. Also we are attracted to people who have qualities we wish to possess or access (or those that lay dormant in us and we haven't claimed within us)

Now what is love really and can we experience it on this realm?

We can experience affection and admiration which is very different from love. It is just a passing feeling.

True love cannot be experienced until we heal ourselves. Until we are full to the brim, overflowing with love and then emanating that love out. 

Also even after we reach this place of emanating love as an individual, we cannot attach to one form /one person or one object or subject to express that love. Love is free of form and attachment and it emanates in all directions.

This means that you feel it inside you and you can choose any form to project it on, be it a flower, a place or a person but it won't be fixed. It keeps flowing,  in all directions and hence, love happens in the moment.

Humans were never meant to be in a single relationship. That is a system of the matrix. They were all meant to emanate love and make connections. Some connections lasting longer, some momentary but very mutual. When two healthy individuals, emanating and overflowing with love connect and have an exchange and are whole and complete within themselves,  it generates more love, amplified love. That's how you create more love in the world. That is the meaning of a sacred union and it isn't restricted to a certain person.

Your ability to generate love depends on how complete you are as a person and how in flow you are with life. You attract people on the same wavelength as you.

When we keep seeking for this feeling of wholeness outside of us, like people in this world are programmed to do, you are perpetuating a cycle of pain and heartbreak and it's a chain reaction that doesn't end until you put an end to it. 

We can put an end to pain by learning how to love. When humans learn to love, this planet will be liberated of pain and the vibration of this planet can rise very quickly.

It may be the most basic thing to do but it isn't easy too. 

It requires us to let go of a lot of baggage, a lot of pain and shift the focus onto ourself.

I don't know if most people are ready to let go of their addictions and illusions but when they are numb to the world around them, the only option left will be  to go within. ❣️❣️❣️

[kittyit]

Most online left x right debate are so devoid of nuances, to the point of being boring. Unfortunately, messing up the reality of what both ideologies support is very dangerous, it has real life consequences.

Speaking specially about women who think we have to allying with conservatives “to protect women, girls and children”, I have news for you: right-wingers don't give a single damn about women, girls and children. Some will try to counter this statement with “b-but the left...” and let me say this: as a socialist black radical feminist, I have felt lost many times in left spaces due to the blatantly misogyny/homophobia and also the tokenization of racism that is often assumed as “racism is taken more seriously than misogyny/homophobia” which isn't true in slightest but I have never thought that the right was the solution. Not because right = essentially bad and left = essentially good, if it was true, the blatantly misogyny, homophobia and racism in leftist spaces wouldn't hit so hard as it does, however they have an essential difference: right-wingers want to perpetuate a world full of inequality across class, race, sex, sexuality, nation, etc because they benefit from this social structure. The leftist goal, however is dismantling all the exploitation and oppression.

They're radically different, even though in the practice we see people advocating against things that oppress them, while wanting to keep things that benefit them. This is why I get upset with how brocialists talk passionately about how cruel is to take advantage of the lack of choice of economic vulnerable people but supporting the whole sex trade with the stupidest neoliberal rhetoric, it's because their class analysis is filled with male supremacist lengths and we should defy that, not supporting people who are already powerful and are not only using you feeling lost and hopeless in a fake agreement in positions that aren't even the same. The case is: it isn't socialism that is incompatible with feminism, it's sexism/homophobia/racism that is incompatible with socialism.

The root of conservative opposition to queer, trans and non-binary is purely homophobia and misogyny. Homosexuality is a threat to the male supremacist capitalism, since this system exist to control women's presumed reproductive capacity in order to get more workers who will keep the current system alive to the next generation of the oppressors.

They see trans people and queers as freakers and this treatment is reserved to feminists(even the male-centric ones), lesbians, gay men and bi people too. Why do y'all think conservative men react to our complaining about the misogyny of TRAs with a total mockery “We told you it would happen. It's all because you feminists wanted to destroy the natural order”. The “natural order” means the misogyny and homophobia feminists have been standing against since day one because it's the reason why we oppose to queer theory in the first place. Not because of hatred, not because we're “exclusionary” but because queer theory and practice are antifeminist, since they ignore/dismiss and in some aspects even support the existence of female oppression and fighting it is the solely reason why feminism exist.

And in all this mess, what is often forgotten is how queer theory and the classic right-wing sexism have a lot of more in common than radical feminism will ever be. Radical feminism can also crashes with queer theory in some points (surprise girlies!!!) and it still doesn't mean we all are the same.

i hope you'll make a blog and write some essays like this :)

[edge-oftheworld]

remembering how careful luke was with substances back when they first started out, it is actually heartbreaking that he did end up struggling with addiction. (I feel like we can often stereotype and box artists in, find excuses why they may end up using like it's their fault and if they happen to overdose and die then well, they should've not gotten into it in the first place. i can't shake that moment, in the 10yr podcast i think (don't quote me) he mentions he wasn't even into weed in 2015. just another 19yo aussie getting drunk and pretending to be tough like every other 19yo aussie, way more conservative and cautious in terms of substances than he probably would ever have admitted at the time.) how well he's always seemed to look after himself physically vs how much he'd given up on himself for so long. the fact he's always loved food and yet struggled with eating. actually I think diamonds should break our hearts. so should bloodline and heck, even baby blue. I think we should listen to starting line and be like hey, maybe we should treat our celebrities better. our artists. we all enjoy what they create, tear themselves apart so we don't feel alone in whatever we're experiencing and yet did we ever stop to think, how can we make this system work for everyone? how can we make fame be less deadly?

I think we should look at songs like motion and repeat when we're thinking of, hey, how should we approach this conversation about mental health? especially in the workplace with pressure to perform and take every opportunity lest we miss out on a big break and that's not only in creative industries. STEM can be like that too. and don't get me started on business/finance. we should look at the way we interact with each other--are we creating a space that's safe to feel and be honest with ourselves and each other and breathe enough to do that? or is it 'r u ok' and it's all about feelings and if you feel to numb to even know what you're feeling, then you're probably fine? we're hopefully beyond blaming parents for everything their children go through by now, but if ever we're not, we can listen to mum and see that you can have this beautiful relationship with your parents and still struggle, still blame yourself and be drowning in it and have the best morals around personal responsibility and still in a bad season be able to weaponise them against ourselves sometimes and only see our mistakes. still put on a farce for the world. still fear that people will leave whenever we take that off. are we creating a world where we're free to be ourselves, and I mean all of us? slip away and place in me should break our hearts even more when listened to in context.

and maybe these insights seem obvious to you but how are we really going at living as if this is what we need to be doing as humans? do we really live like we believe none of us are that invincible but at the same time are so, so capable and should be given the chances and accommodations every person, no matter their unique needs, need to really fulfil that (of course without being blamed for their perceived failures)? or are we still being ableist? are we still deciding we have a bar of perceived success for people we see to be 'like us' and feel like everyone else is somehow doomed and unable to succeed and so we don't need to worry about caring for them too? they either have to pretend to live up to our standards or slip into oblivion and shame? don't you see how this, something we often don't realise we're perpetuating, simply causes even more harm?

and maybe this is a lot to be dragging out from one (expertly done) album. or maybe we have someone who's told their story and we'd be foolish not to listen to it, not to think twice about the connotations of what we're seeing. maybe part of beholding this masterpiece is to use a bit of that same overthinking that went into creating it and do something productive with it. because luke's okay. things did get better for him, and he's coping, just like the rest of us. but what about the next young artist who is thrust into stardom from oblivion, who, clinging to music as a lifeline in a chaotic, unpredictable and lonely world, basks in it and chases it so hard without a thought to its dangers. what if they don't have a loving home away from the chaos to return to, and a close knit, unshakeable group of friends going through it with them? I don't get how you can listen to wfttwtaf and not think of this. also, luke didn't need to share any of these things with us. but I bet, in a world of facades and roles to play that others create for us, simplistic and superficial and suffocating, it's a relief to simply be honest. maybe it's just me. maybe he shared it just to get some money from his art, or to help others feel less alone. but either way he did share it. and he did give incredibly vulnerable descriptions of each song (to apple music i believe it was) which he didn't have to do either. but he did and so let's heed the protest intrinsic in it and cultivate that sense of empathy, be respectful and encouraging to him and the band, yes, but also think. if we have a case study on how to protect and better care for young artists and creatives, are we just going to let it entertain us and then do nothing about what we hear? wfttwtaf is a protest album. it might not mean to be. it might be the saddest and least angry one we've heard. it might be pure in that it pulls at our heartstrings and demands nothing from us. so let your impact be that pure and free of demands too and just. be kind. not only to the people you see in person, but everyone who might be impacted by your individual and collective actions--not only kind but smart about what is actually helpful, actually encouraging. it's pretty simple isn't it? or is it just the wild ideas of my intuition?

[eirinstiva]

Season of love

¡Ha llegado carta! A new letter regarding Jeeves

What ho, readers! Now, some time ago I went on and published a dollop of these stories in a collection called The Inimitable Jeeves. Published them in several collections, really, but this one’s important because I’d chopped them up a bit for it and added some nice connective tissue. This bit of yarn you’re giving the eyeball is the version from that collection, except it’s been rather un-chopped - but when chopped it still remained, the two bits of chop were titled "Jeeves Exerts the Old Cerebellum" and "No Wedding Bells for Bingo". So if any old bird refers to them by either, well. It’s the same old story but in bits.

Best note ever.

Most fellows, no doubt, are all for having their valets confine their activities to creasing trousers and whatnot without trying to run the home; but it’s different with Jeeves. Right from the first day he came to me, I have looked on him as a sort of guide, philosopher, and friend.

Jeeves should add "fashion advisor" to his resume. Jeeves and Wooster are back in the UK, and their relationship is well established but Bertie insists on not following Jeeves' fashion advice before buying clothes. It would be a funny activity for both of them.

This time we had the chance to meet Bingo Little, and I'm sure he is another unique man.

So that it was a bit of an anticlimax when I merely ran into young Bingo Little, looking perfectly foul in a crimson satin tie decorated with horseshoes.

Something like this? btw this is a dog collar:

For I realised now that poor old Bingo was going through it once again. Ever since I have known him⁠—and we were at school together⁠—he has been perpetually falling in love with someone, generally in the spring, which seems to act on him like magic. 

I know at least three men that fits this description: a new girlfriend each spring, but at least none of them ask for advice to their friend who is "not much of a ladies’ man".

Side note:

Happy International Asexuality Day ♠ (April 6th)

Back into business:

Bingo fell in love with a waitress he met on a dance, same place where Jeeves went to have a good time and show how the floats on the dancefloor. Nice!

“What I wish you would do is to put the whole thing to that fellow Jeeves of yours, and see what he suggests. You’ve often told me that he has helped other pals of yours out of messes. From what you tell me, he’s by way of being the brains of the family.”

I just find fun that everybody in Wooster' social circle knows how smart is Jeeves. Bertie likes to show off his valet. Also, Jeeves has experience in the matters of heart ♥:

“I am on terms of some intimacy with the elder Mr. Little’s cook, sir. In fact, there is an understanding.” I’m bound to say that this gave me a bit of a start. Somehow I’d never thought of Jeeves going in for that sort of thing. “Do you mean you’re engaged?” “It may be said to amount to that, sir.” “Well, well!”

And, as always, Jeeves has a interesting strategy:

“The method which I advocate is what, I believe, the advertisers call Direct Suggestion, sir, consisting as it does of driving an idea home by constant repetition. You may have had experience of the system?” “You mean they keep on telling you that some soap or other is the best, and after a bit you come under the influence and charge round the corner and buy a cake?” “Exactly, sir. The same method was the basis of all the most valuable propaganda during the recent war.

Which war? You know, that war (waves hand vaguely).

Will the power of romantic books win? I don't know, let's see what happens in the next letter.

[approximateknowledge]

state of the Medium at the tail-end of the Long Wait

Derse

the Dersite royals got assassinated millenia ago, and the scattered habitats along the outer edge of the incipisphere (constructed of raw material both of deconstructed Derse and the asteroid belt of the Veil) are currently ruled by a couple dozen squabbling gangs and clans and cults in perpetual low-stakes war over resources and habitats (and a third thing ill come to later); they do however tend to mostly temporarily band together any time there's a threat from the the system's center

the mostly still intact but much changed moon with its 3 dreaming gods are a kind of collective holy site for many of the most important veil-cults, and is both untouchable as a holy site and a place of fierce competition (including a few cults who want to kill the dreamers to prevent the session from ever happening)

Prospit

the Prospitian king got assassinated by a Dersite from the Battlefield relatively early in the Wait, while the queen is legally still, though functionally comatose and kept alive only by means of jerry-rigged poorly understood technology copied and looted from the old asteroid belt; the actual ruling now happens via a complex bureaucracy of priest-engineers (the Phyllobatic Order) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_poison_frog)

notably the "royal" palace/temple complex is not located on Prosit proper anymore, instead being "relocated to" its moon, or rather it would be more accurate to say the moon *is* the palace at this point; the base of each Dreamer's tower seen as the most hallowed of places under Skaia's light (and each is guarded by a promising neophyte Phyllobate assigned Guardian of the door, a most honourable position);

Prospit itself is significantly bigger than at the start of the Wait, and between it and the detached moon orbit a host of other infrastructural projects of both civilian and military nature, and the entire orbital path of Prospit is strewn with habitat-cities and arcologies all the way around

The Battlefield

with no prototyping happening, the Battlefield remains a giant centerpiece of eternal stalemate; except of course the amount of players has increased, and the stakes have changed; because after the exhaustion of the asteroids of the Veil, the Battlefield is pretty much the only place in the Medium with unexploited raw resources

which brings us to the main tension between the city-ring of Prospit and the Gang-councils of the Veil; Prospit has the Battlefield seemingly locked down, but they're not actually in the advantage

and the reason is

Carapacian Biological Peculiarities

carapacians have no method of independent reproduction; they're *made*, ectobiologically, in the labs of the Meteor Veil

and that's the 3rd thing: means of reproduction; the Dersite Veil-habitats naturally have the vast majority of ectobiological equipment at their disposal

now, carapcians don't actually *age* like most species do either of course, but they do wear down, the have accidents, they can get sick (and as time and chance goes on, the amount of new sicknesses which had the opportunity to evolve has been increasing!), and so they do in fact still die

so without ectobiological equipment, no amount of raw resources will help in the long run

so while the Veil-Dersites tend to mostly focus on resource-extraction from the inner system for further expansion of their territory (as in, number of habitats and industry), the Prospitians fight mostly to acquire irreplicable ecto-tech from the Veil-Dersites, who in turn squabble over it between themselves, while everywhere various priest-engineers try and fail and try again to find a way to reverse-engineer the holy machines that birthed every single one of them (and the poor sods living on (or these days mostly beneath in subterranean cities of perpetual refugees on account of their usual complete lack of ecto-tech) the Battlefield just take the brunt of it, as usual)

[pineapplerightsideupcake]

Hi! Trans person here!

I was wondering what your blog was about?

because I’m kinda confused, I’m a feminist but what’s so different from normal feminism and radfem and terf feminism?

because I don’t know what’s going on?

nice to meet you!

Hi! My blog is just what I believe. Radical feminism is probably the closest to what I myself believe but nothing is gospel. If any ideology agrees with you 100% you are either cherry picking- or you’ve turned your brain off.

The differences between schools of feminist thought are waaaaaay too complicated to explain in an ask. Entire PhDs are created by writing on this topic.

I can try and give you a very very simplified version though but I encourage you to explore more on your own.

Mainstream feminism believes sex work can be sanitized and exploitation can be eliminated. It frequently tries to combat the harsh judgement and social stigma associated with it by framing sex work as empowering. They feel the same about pornography.

Radical feminism recognizes that sex work is inherently exploitative and that consent can’t be bought. It recognizes that as long as patriarchy and poverty exist women will always be seen as objects for purchase. It acknowledges that sex work doesn’t happen in a vacuum and demand creates supply which means trafficking and exploitation of vulnerable women is inevitable. This is also true of its view of pornography.

Mainstream feminism believes that women’s individual choices to wear make up and perform femininity or to get plastic surgery are above scrutiny or criticism. They believe that women can do these thing “for themselves” and therefore it denies women agency by “policing” their choices

Radical feminism once again acknowledges that nothing happens in a vacuum. It doesn’t believe that any choice that reinforces the patriarchy can ever be chosen from a neutral place- there will always be coercion.

Mainstream feminism believes that the patriarchy also harms men. Some would go as far as to claim the patriarchy hurts men equally.

Radical feminism believes the patriarchy occasionally backfiring on men does not mean it isn’t still a system designed and perpetuated by men because it ultimately benefits them more than it could ever hurt them.

And lastly mainstream feminism believes that it is Gender ID and not biological sex that should be the basis of how we view the world and create laws: trans women are women, trans men are men and all social norms and laws must reflect this fact. It frames gender as a quirky form of self expression, except when a conservative is doing it- then it’s made up.

Radical feminism believes women are oppressed due to their sex and biology. It views gender as an oppressive social construct that upholds patriarchy. It challenges the idea that it is safe or fair for women to have to cede resources, space, and language to trans women.

That all said, it’s likely you would find some of my perspectives to be personally hurtful if you’re trans. I’m passionate about what I believe but I’m never looking to be deliberately hurtful. But this is a place where I vent. I’m going to speak from a place of anger sometimes so engage at your own risk.

[cadhla182]

Rwby is such a gulity pleasure show for me because I know the show has a lot of problematic elements from the drama behind the scenes, some questionable writing and the fandom having the craziest and insane fans ever, that they put Voltron fans and maybe Miraculous Ladybug fans to shame. However, when the show does something good it's really good and it has the potential to be something great. You can't really stop watching Rwby completely because there are some aspects to the show that are genuinely good. Volume 9 is possibly my favortive volume because it actually gave Ruby character development and finally made bumblebee canon , it's not great but not awful either. It's still has issues but I still enjoy it regardless. Honestly the only reason I almost stop watching the show is because of the toxic fans constantly fighting back and forth if Rwby is a great show or sending death threats to anyone who dare talk shit about their beloved show. But the "youtubers critics" are possibly the worst because everytime I heard them trying to critique RWBY they're always mean spirited and only watch the show just to shit on it.

I can't really speak to the fandom, I miss out on most of that drama crap with RWBY, but there's like a weirdly dedicated anti-fandom. Like I'm not sure why a popular nice guy youtuber turns on a current episode and openly says "I haven't watched in seven years but oh my god what is even happening this doesn't make sense I wonder why that is" instead of just not having his head up his ass, but here we are.

The behind the scenes stuff... That hurts because I bought into the whole cult of RT thing but if I take a step back I can't feel guilty about this and watch any MCU movie, or play any Blizzard game, or read any comic ever made. I loved Arcane despite Riot's whole nightmare situation and bigger company means more people were hurt.

The truth of the matter is that all of the media we consume is made from the abuse of the people doing the work in order to benefit the rich guys up top. Some places are worse than others, RT was real bad and other than RWBY I've cut myself off from them, but they're all bad. The whole system is fucked. We're in a perpetual loop of rich people controlling everything and abusing everyone to become more rich. The only answer is revolution.