#not because im particularly like. bigoted. at least i like to think im not

[devotedlystrangewizard]

i think if i wrote and published a book id get semi-cancelled

[system-of-a-feather]

(Disclaimer: this post was written in two parts, the first half was done the day before but not posted cause I didnt feel it was a complete thought, the second half was added after. I did not edit or touch the first half as I like to keep space for the thoughts of myself as they were; i also have passive chronic amnesia so Im not 100% sure if everything is on the same page; regardless that is just context)

Honestly, I think the thing that is important to keep in mind when interacting with syscourse - or specifically for us cause the only one we really care about is the tulpa discourse - is that you are never going to force or change anyone's mind who is so set that they are sitting on tumblr and pulling the dumbest arguments out of their ass to support their claims and I do think those that spend their time arguing with @/sophieinwonderland and @/cambriancrew - while honestly doing the dirty work no one wants to do by balancing out their bullshit posting so mad respect - are largely wasting their time if they do ever think that a mind will be changed.

The only reason to ever engage or talk about the stuff they (and the clique that actually buys into those arguments) talk about is solely to make an example out of how incredibly deep their interalized racism and just disregard for POC goes and honestly looking at them as anything other than a stubborn white person is putting more emotional energy than its worth.

Because genuinely, in a weird way and me doing what XIV calls "The Riku Thing" of looking at a really negative, annoying, and/or harmful thing and finding the bright side silverlining to it, I do kind of appreciate how astonishingly White TM they are because their unapologetic and loud nature makes a really big spectacle for a lot of people who otherwise would not understand how bad certain issues are look and go "what the fuck" and in its own way, it brings good publicity to the issues AAPI and eastern cultures go through in a western and white predominant area.

AAPI issues often go under the radar and are disregarded due to a number of reasons, but honestly? This is the most I've ever seen people actually talk about how white people take advantage of eastern and Asian cultures (relative to the size of the community in question) save for the brief blip of when Stop Asian Hate got loud during COVID where sinophobia blasted up and a bit surrounding Cyberpunk as a genre when Cyberpunk 2077 came out.

In that regard, I'm kinda glad they are so loudly racist and White TM about AAPI cultures. It makes for good publicity and awareness by being the example of just the Usual Bullshit and it starts better conversations. I'd honestly prefer a loud bigot to a quiet insidious one cause the loud ones at least can serve part of a message and be ignored.

Anyhow, this is all just to say that bigots will be bigots and you can argue with them all you want and call them truthful statements like "bigots" and "racist" but thats about all you can do to really control their behavior. Those balancing out their bullshit arguments, mad props - I could never cause that shit is too toxic and too much of an investment, but it is respectable work. (insert "it aint much but its honest work" meme at yall)

---(cut between original thoughts and the added bit)---

That said, I'll just say it as the fact that it is, those two and those that follow their rhetoric do not care at all about AAPI individuals and are just racist. We don't have to debate it and it's honestly not up for debate and while we could put our energy to trying to tear down their following and make them shut up, in a world where the KKK still exists and thrives, its an unlikely and futile of a goal to try ti achieve.

Instead its best imo to treat them like the public case study of white and western abuses to AAPI culture, particularly since time and time again they redisplay some of the most classic and frequently used techniques white and western individuals do to try to excuse their shit.

If you wouldn't give a person arguing with any other loud and proud bigot, its best to just accept that bigots be bigots and rather than banging your head against a wall, put it up for display on the museum wall as a means of education and awareness.

Theres no point in talking to bigots about how they are bigotted. There is, however, a point to displaying it for those less effected and usually not given the opportunity to sed it in full get a much closer look at some of the shit we deal with

I like to think that while a lot of white and western people suck, that a lot of them genuinely are trying their best with the limited awareness, access, and understanding that they have.

I dont feel as though I would be correct calling them and bigots a "small minority", but I'd like to think they aren't the majority and I honestly appreciate those willing to learn and better understand and so ya know? Whats a better way to explain it than with a live dancing monkey that loudly and proudly displays the behaviors in question for all to see.

Anyhow, I digress. Take this as you will. I am just throwing some insight and personal thoughts about specific users in hopes that some people who might be overly stressed about it might find a little more peace moderating the topic

[yveltalreal]

Redoing this because Yveltals old one was shit.

Welcome to the rotumblr blog for the real actual god of death Yveltal! They/It/She/He pronouns. She enjoys Barbie media, baking, playing various video games I show him, listening to classical music like the old geezer (/aff) she is, and spending time with its family and friends. Do not call her a bacon bird or a murder chicken or anything like that, she doesn’t like it. Also you can ONLY call her Yveltal. If you are allowed to call her something else they will tell you. This is primarily their blog, I just live here.

I’m Maple, host of the Reaper System! I use He/She/They and we use She/They/It collectively! We’re Yveltal’s Chosens and frequent hijackers of this blog because we can’t be assed to make our own!! There’s me (#from m), Whirlybird (#whirlybirds musings), Circut (#circuits circus), Marble (#marble posting), and Acer (#acer speaks). We’re attending university at Naranja-Uva Academy and also are Paldea’s very own Dark Type gym leader (Fuck you, Iono! It’s my gym now!) You might also occasionally hear from my rotom, .ZIP, or my Ninetails, Glacier. I don’t think any of the others know how to use rotumblr.

some of the others in question are:

Pickle - Meowscarada (Service/Partner pkmn)

Dash - Cyclizar (We do a lot of racing)

Hephaestus - Houndoom/Lycanroc hybrid (Service/Partner pkmn)

Glacier - Chimeric Shiny Alolan Ninetails (Alpha)

Little - Shiny Scolipede

Bubblegum Bitch/Bibi - Shiny Lopunny (Freak)

Eepy - Zoroark

Tami - Absol (Basically my mom)

Biscuit - Hydreigon (General in the Deino Army)

En Passant - Kingambit

Wave - Wattrel

Sneeze - Houndour

Theres a couple others like the rest of my gym team and all of en passant's army and a few others. Also I USED to have a kilowattrel named storm but. lets not talk about him :D

Oh, also sometimes I turn into a houndoom for a little bit and it’s Zygarde’s fault apparently.

OOC UNDER THE CUT!

okay hi second pinned post yippe.

likes and follows come from @vibossvi

peliper mail, musharna mail, and magic anons are on if i think theyre funny enough/arent like annoying or really fucked up, and in this vein musharna malice (sending nightmares) is off. you can also send ic anon hate just dont be like. too over the top with it. i may smudge the rules if what you send is something im not particularly freaked out by and can figure out how theyd respond, but dont push it. if you aren't completely sure just like ask me with a dm or something, either here or over on discord if you already know it (im not giving it out just in case. if you know you know, and if you dont you dont.)

mod and characters are adults however reaper system does include a little in it and also im just generally not comfortable with nsfw?? i might make slur jokes or kys jokes so keep that in mind but i do tag them and thats p much the extent ill go.

while high stakes shit might be mentioned (i will tag it as high stakes) uhhh it probably wont be too much?? at least other than occasionally mentioning offhand highstakes events.

maple and yveltal primarily exist within a discord rp, meaning events, characters, lore, and places specific to that rp may be mentioned on this blog ans maple and yveltal will favour interactions with people from that rp as they will have already been friends/know eachother but i will try to interact with others as well as long as you dont contradict any of my lore too much!!

mod and character are both systems so please be normal about that. this means dont be systemphobic but also dont try to drag me into like discourse about endogenic systems.

homophobes/transphobes/racists/other bigots are not welcome. neither are pedophiles/maps/no-maps/pears or whatever the fuck you call yourselves. also general rule of dont be a freak /neg and just dont be an asshole. the amount of batshit anons i have that you people should not be sendinf a random guy roleplaying a bird on the internet is insane.

[kojoty]

WARNING-- a michael 'talks out loud to himself in a tumblr post and isn't trying to strictly have a concise or tight theory, but rather is musing aloud to think about things and begin a conversation / ie this isn't a reflection of codified and stringent politics but more of just thinking out loud' post is amongst you, so please do not read this as anything more than good-faith attempts to deconstruct a phenomena that i see often.

a funny phenomenon on this website is people see-saw affecting their politics so much that they end up viewing someone engaging in homosexual fandom-- specifically homosexual men-- as somehow indicative wholesale of misogyny, because that content does not center womanhood. and i just think if you think about that construction-- of which I see a LOT of-- for two, literally two seconds, you will realize how reactionary that kind of mindframe is. the propensity to take isolated events and singular bouts of annoyance / bullying / cringe / and even bigotry and turn it into ideological 'intuitive' readings (in this case, seeing a trans masculine person or even a cis man!!!!!! engage in ... homosexual... man... content... as befits their own sexual and gender identity) on the 'problematic' nature of the entire concept is... well. lol. lulz, even, if we want to get cheeky on this little tuesday morning.

now of course, the same can be said of the way I have personally seen trans masculine folks on this site begin to ideologue and signpost distrust towards lesbian-geared content because they have had isolated instances of drama / issues / bigotry et all from specific users who engage in specific material. i don't want to isolate the transmasculine perception of this as like... the end all be all of this phenomena, it is just the thought that led me into this rabbit hole. this is an issue amongst... every single grouping of people and it can be particular troubling and hard to pinpoint in leftist spaces particularly, because we all have at least the smallest level of ego that we are attempting to signpost in the correct direction-- ie, that our politics are inherently rooted in good-will and kindness.

however, like anything, if you begin to perceive yourself as immune to ideologueing and accidentally generalizing, you are, most likely, doing it insidiously against yourself. This doesn't just pin to reactionarily enacting homophobia or transphobia, it is just particularly visible on tumblr, I think. Ie, a gay trans guy says some stupid shit to a woman (usually misogyny, internalized or not: this is not to say these groupings of people don't have systemic reactionary or bigoted constructions or ideologies that need to be worked on, but rather that assuming all over incidence is flawed) -> suddenly gay transmasculine content itself becomes a 'sign' of someone's inherent misogyny. A lesbian transfemme says some stupid shit to a trans guy (usually belitting / silencing an experience that multitudes of trans guys will attest does, in fact, happen; again, not all but indicative of some toxic mindsets that are unfortunately embedded into communities because of idealogues spreading messaging / sowing reactionary incurious assumptive thought processing into communities) -> suddenly lesbian transfemmes and the content they post is all a 'sign' of someone's inherent transphobia (and internalized misogyny.)

(again, these are the ready examples I have from discourse du jour of the past 6 months. The same processing can obviously map to non-trans specific discourse about sexuality. Racism. Xenophobia. Classism. The du jour this week seems to be monogamy/polyamory discourse).

anyways, im just writing essays to think out loud. i think bottom line as always these thought processes inspire me and are designed for me to be mindful of the assumptive discourse I might delve into accidentally. One should, within the realms of emotional energy, always try to treat a situation as the situation presented-- not as a monolith with which to generalize and build a bank of what soon and rapidly becomes reactionary caricature, which becomes, all the more quickly, into actual codified bigotry that has its 'justifications' because you build them yourself. and sure, that consideration and care to be specific isn't always energetically possible-- but if you catch yourself in that mindframe, perhaps maybe that is your sign that you do not have the energy to be discoursing at all, and could or should instead be attempting to disengage with the content for a while and reframe how deliberate and mindful your day-to-day is.

SHRUG c'est la vie, que sera sera, live deliberately-- BUT LIVE IT!, it is what it is, stay curious, etc etc my dear reader.

[mino2aur]

I’ll ask— why do you hate Rocky Horror Picture Show? (<- has never seen Rocky Horror Picture Show)

IT WORKED THANK YOU

so the thing about rocky horror picture show is that its a bad movie.

the character of dr. frank n furter is transmisogynistic he is shown to be pathetic and sexually predatory and is specifically referred to as a transvestite. im not saying that if you like rocky horror youre a bigot and honestly im not saying that this type of content automatically makes the film bad, but its enough to turn me off for sure. this is not however the case for a lot of people, which is wild, because everything else about the movie is ALSO SHIT

theres no plot, the 50s b movie parody angle from the opening doesn't get played off of nearly enough.

the music is middling at best. one thing that i find interesting is that the songs are mostly like. Unrelated to the plot? the eddie dinner song and dammit janet are pretty specific but like. aside from the ones featuring names the songs are kind of just stand alone musical pieces. which is weird.

i cant really parse what the movie wants the audience to think about its characters or like what the message youre supposed to take away from it is. like im not sure if they want to be pro or anti-sex and honestly they dont have enough to say for me to care

the time warp is a bad dance. do the steps provided in the song with no further additions its a shit dance

the most interesting thing aboyt the movie to me is the shadow cast and audience callbacks found in showings of the film, which are genuinelykind of a cool phenomenon. (side note, ive heard a lot of the callbacks and i find them grating. theyre jokes thst have been crowdsourced since the 70s and you can really tell)

in conclusion, a lot of people still really like this movie, particularly amongst transmascs, because the movie is not making fun of that kind of transvestite and so its much easier to watch. ive found at least amongst my friends a pretty distinct pattern in who likes rhps and who doesnt. That aside, its also just not a good movie from a technical standpoint. it doesnt bring enough to the table to make up for the bigotry because its A Shit Film!!! Its Bad!!!!

thank you so much for asking ive had a rant locked and loaded for months

[bi-demon-ium]

ah pinned post <3

im gert, and i like writing fic (my ao3 is biDEMONium) and drawing shit (my instagram is bidemonium). i mostly use he/aer/xem/they pronouns, but as long as you don’t call me she or it, i’m comfortable with pretty much any pronouns

this is currently a the mysterious benedict society blog (ahhh nicholas benedict my beloved) although i also post about the house in the cerulean sea, podcasts, and some other books. and i’m ALWAYS accepting asks and basically any other interaction <33 

quick tag shortcuts: #gert giffer  #my writing  #snippet  #wip  #askbox #gertspeak  #nicholas/milligan #mysteriousfisherman

i’d like to kindly ask that if you want to write a fic based on one of my posts/ideas you ask me first, and credit/link in the author’s note. art’s always welcome, but again, please credit/link if it was based off one of my things &lt;3

I follow back from @/androgymagnus, my main. I have a video games sideblog at @/holowniet. I’m also tracking #usergert but if it’s MBS related honestly I’m almost certainly going to see it anyway.

I also have a twitter (bidemonium) but I've basically not used it yet. I might when season two comes out, though, haven't decided yet. For now it's more to keep an eye out for updates 😭

TAGS

#gertspeak - personal posts or posts where i'm just talkin'. this tag was created on 12/12/21 (lol) and i might go back and tag some old posts but even if i do i'll probably miss some. hell, i might miss some after that date just because im adhd and forgetful lmao. haven't decided if this includes all original posts or just ones non-fandom related, but currently leaning towards the latter because hhhhh

#askbox - asks, anonymous or otherwise! (this does include wip 🌹 asks) 

#wip - wip snippets. usually from 🌹 asks, but also just in general.

#snippet - snippets that probably won’t become a full fic

#my writing - my fics, finished, usually just the ao3 links.

#my art - my art, usually shitty doodles and sketches from my sketchbook. they're not very good most of the time, but they're fun at least.

#gert giffer - my terrible adventures in gifmaking. i am not good at it 

some other minor tags include #incorrect mbs quotes (what it sounds like) #whumptober2021 (also what it sounds like) #mbs liveblog (won't be updated for quite some time for obvious reasons) 

as well as just normal character tags (i think you'll find #nicholas benedict to be one of the most occupied, for example, and i keep forgetting it has a tag now but my #nicholas/milligan agenda is gaining steam, also sometimes tagged #mysteriousfisherman courtesy of peachygos my beloved) and tags such as #tag games and #mmc (for “make me choose” gifsets)

I know DNIs are functionally useless as most people won’t respect them, but know that I’ll be blocking any bigots (yes, that includes exclusionists and TERFs and transmeds/truscum) as well as “pr*-sh*ppers”/”anti-antis” (PARTICULARLY “MAP supporter” types).

Also, full disclosure, if you post a lot of negativity for the show, I’ll probably block you just because I really don’t want to see that. It’s nothing personal, this is just kind of my hyperfixation / comfort thing right now.

[musicallisto]

Hi, congrats on 800 followers! Can I please get a Six of Crows ship? I’m have short brown hair (I dyed red last week) and green eyes. I don't mind if im shipped with a girl or a boy. I like reading (no romantic novels), music and photography. I'm Aquarius. I’m very curious. I'm a little shy and even cold at first. I’m not good with feelings, I mostly keep them to myself if I can, but I care deeply for my loved ones and would do anything to help them, even if I'm not very good at giving advice. ☆

hi! here’s your vanilla milkshake, I hope you like it! I ship you with jesper fahey!

You don’t imagine the extent of my joy to be able to add a gif of an actual real person for Jesper... however shall I survive until Aprid 23rd?

For the longest time, you thought the world started and ended at your corner of Fjerda, in your frozen estate by the True Sea.

You were descented from minor Fjerdan nobility, and your father, jaded by Court Life and its political intrigues - and, unofficially, penniless after giving his all for the sempiternal wars on Ravka -, had decided to leave the capital and retire to his family’s estate by the sea a few years after you were born.

All you had ever known were the large, marbled corridors you’d spend entire afternoons wandering, daydreaming about adventures in the confines of the country - or living the lavish life of a true Fjerdan princess, in an outrageously enormous bed of satin sheets...

The house was spacious and beautiful, with a marvelous view over the sea, gently carrying its boats to and fro before you - and you’d stay there on the balcony in your flowy white dress, admiring the ocean until you couldn’t fight the chills of the night creeping up your spine anymore; but as tranquil and languid as your existence was, it was also terribly lonely.

All you longed for was a sibling, a friend, a partner in crime, someone you could explore the world and go on quests with...

... until a lighting bolt tore the silence, one night.

You couldn’t sleep, so you had gone on a walk by the shore as you often did - your father was never worried about it, since you knew the rocks and their cracks like the back of your hand, and would know the way back home even with your eyes closed.

But you were so absorbed by the distant twinkling of stars that you didn’t notice the shadows creeping up behind you until it was too late.

Screams in a language you can’t understand; an arm around your neck in a chokehold, another slipping under your knees; you thrash around, slice all you can, bite and claw at all you can grasp...

Your abductors know better than to let Fjerdan nobility get away from their grasp. They don’t know exactly who you are - but they’ve guessed from the distinguished aspect of your house that there’s a fine sum to gain from whoever will be willing to pay for you - your father for a ransom, or anyone else, in Kerch, who’ll make good use of your services.

Those brothels in Ketterdam pay good money for young girls, they hear - even more so for a Fjerdan pearl.

When they throw you on an overloaded carriage like a potato sack, you’re still yelling at the top of your lungs, pleading for your father, for one of your maids, for anyone to help you.

But no one hears.

You shed all the tears you have in the first night, tossed around in a dark chariot, off to somewhere unknown. Your father hasn’t prepared you for this - nothing, not even your books nor your fantastical imaginary adventures...

But you don’t intend on being sold off that easily. So you devise a plan to get away.

The first opportunity to break free presents itself when your kidnappers force you to board a ship; but they manage to catch you before you’ve run very far.

But second time’s the charm; with nothing better to do during the voyage than to bide your time and gnaw at your bonds, you’re able to slip from your captor’s watch, and blindly run through the harbor - just to get as far as possible from the stench of this floating carcass.

The first thing that strikes you is the odor. You’ve known the sea forever - it’s clear and bright as ice, and smells of fresh mornings and cold salt; never of this green rot that festers everywhere in these streets... and all those chimneys, all those people, who stare you down as you run down these grimy streets, barefoot in your off-white dress...

You understand that you’re farther from home than you’ve ever been, and it’s not a thrilling adventure, it’s terrifying and overwhelming, and you want nothing more than to burst into tears.

But you don’t, because a pair of strangers flag you down in a language you don’t understand.

A tall and lanky dark-skinned boy, wearing vibrant fabric and a self-assured grin; and possibly the most beautiful girl you’ve ever seen in your life, all bright eyes and genuine frown.

Paralyzed, you open your mouth, once, twice, incapable of making the slightest sound; until the girl notices your visible discomfort, and, eyeing your pale eyes, asks in the slightest of Ravkan accents;

“Are you Fjerdan?”

You nod with all your soul. You’re ready to cling onto them both for dear life.

“What happened to you?”

Your voice fails you - you can’t explain it - you haven’t even comprehended it all. You were curled up in front of the fireplace just the night before...

“Do you have anywhere to go?”

You shake your head with despair, trying to blink back the tears.

“Come with us. We know someone who’ll help you.”

You don’t mull it over very long. Maybe it’s your sheltered uprbinging that has made you naive; maybe it’s the curiously comforting warmth you see in the Ravkan girl’s eyes; but you simply have no better option, and you can’t understand a word of Kerch, or wherever it is that this barbarian folk speak.

Although your two saviors start arguing, probably about whether or not they can reasonably take you in, your tear-stained cheeks and desperate vulnerability are enough to convince them - so you follow them.

Into the lair of the Dregs, of whom you’ve never heard - and of Kaz Brekker, who you know very well.

After all, he’s the infamous gangster who invaded your homeland, broke into the Ice Court, and stole the Shu boy - or so you saw your father read in the papers. To know that you are under the same roof as that lowlife would be enough to give your father a heart attack...

You’re half convinced that he’ll throw you back to the streets, but Nina and, surprisingly, Jesper as well, plead in your favor with a greatly convincing fervor. You learn that it’s probably because Kaz has much greater worries on his mind - the criminal group is planning on retrieving one of their own from the clutches of a treacherous business partner, or so you’ve gathered.

Either way, you’re more than happy that the terrifying and redoubtable Kaz Brekker is leaving you alone, and that you can enjoy Jesper’s company.

You two become unexpectedly good friends overtime. He comes to visit you at the Crow Club, where you’re staying, almost every day. Yet communication is not your strong suit, especially in a language you don’t understand at all, and you don’t fancy yourself a particularly enthralling girl to be around.

Not when one has lived the life of a criminal, a sharpshooter, a wanderer, a playboy... well, all those things that Jesper prises himself on being, and all those words he’s taught you in Kerch.

(That and the curse words, of course, that you’re a bit intimidated to use at first, until they slip out of your mouth one evening when you drop your plate at dinner with the Dregs, and the entire canteen falls dead silent.)

“Did she just say ‘fuck’?”

“I think she just said fuck.”

“See, Matthias, she wasn’t immediately struck by lighting by Djel’s hand. You won’t die if you say it.”

Speaking of Matthias, he’s also a good friend of yours - it’s comforting and refreshing to have a familiar face around, one of Fjerdan roots and mores.

Although the rest of the group says you’re not that Fjerdan.

“You’re one of the feisty ones, at least.”

“I’m not ‘feisty’. Shut up, Jesper.”

“Ah, I see you’ve been working on the vocabulary I taught you!”

Matthias and you both have a lot of soul-searching and unlearning to do about the outside world - you were raised in particularly bigoted environments, you somewhat less than him. The hatred for the Grisha he’s been taught by the Drüskelle is fear in your case; you’ve been brought up on bedtime stories of bloodthirsty Grisha who devour unruly kids, and war and devastation caused by their unstability and blasphemous magic.

It’s even more of a shock to you when you learn Jesper is a Grisha.

Unbeknownst to you, you’ve started to fall a little for him - how could you not? He’s funny, charming, sarcastic and witty; always has the best stories to tell, and despite it all, sincerely cares for you amidst the chaos of their heist and revenge plans.

But to learn he was the kind of monster - no, the kind of creature - no, the kind of person, you force yourself to correct mentally - that you had been taught to fear for your entire life...

“I’m so sorry. You should never have been there.”

He’s pacing back and forth in your room after a shootout has gone awry and you were caught in the crossifre; it’s the first time he’s ever had to use his Durast powers to get you of the mess - and normally he wouldn’t have, because it’s a secret he wishes he could carry to the grave, but the fear of losing you was too strong...

“Thank god that I was there, though. What would you do without me?”

He’s fidgety and restless, nervously playing with his pistols, and his nervous laugh is all but genuine; and you’re huddled up on your bed, staring him down with wide eyes.

“Jesper, you...”

“Yeah, maybe not the best moment.”

“Jesper...”

“It’s like they have a knack for knowing exactly where we’re gonna be and when...”

“Jesper!”

He abruptly turns to look at you, and his eyes widen. He’s starting to understand, almost, but refuses to believe it. Your voice is a murmur, and you can hardly hold his gaze.

“Jesper, are you... going to hurt me?”

His words die in his throat. He remembers where you’re from... the garbage that they must have filled your ears and head with from the day you were born... how feverish Matthias was with Nina... he looks at his hands, and his Materialki magic rumbles like a dark curse.

“Y/N, you’re scared of me?”

The sheer hurt in his voice breaks your heart. Even though you’re trembling, you let him step closer to you, slowly. It’s Jesper in front of you, not some ungodly monster from legends... Jesper, your Jesper...

“I’m... I’m sorry...”

He cups your face in his hands, warm and just a bit moist, and stares into your eyes with a vulnerability you have never seen in him.

“I’d never do anything to hurt you, Y/N, I swear on my life. All I want is you to be safe...”

Safe from me, if that’s what you wish, he thinks for a split second, but you don’t give him time to doubt; you’ve captured his lips in a frenzied kiss, and hold on for dear life onto his lean shoulders.

Fjerda and its blind hatred is very far from you, now. You're locked in Jesper's embrace, and you won't have to hear their lies anymore.

You know you have nothing to fear from him; not now, and not ever.

800 follower sleepover CLOSED!

[uncloseted]

there's a part of me that still thinksa bortion is murder. i act like i support it to fit in but deep down i dont. please just listen. i think forcing someone to go through a pregnagncy they don't want is inhuman but it also feels inhuman to kill a baby and i dont like thsi idea that if youre 4 weeks pregnant and you want it its a baby but if youre 4 week pregnant and dont want it then its just a clump of cells thats just not how scence works. so theres this woman who was forced to get an .

Anonymous asked:

abortion and she was 6 months pregnant and apparently th baby waws born alive but it died shortly after from ashpyxia and i just dont know what to think. i know forcing smeone to get an abortion is just as bad as forcing them to give birth and that theres no such thing as a six month abortion and at least wher e i live abortions are only available until week 14 but like wwhat if someone is 15 or 16 weeks or 7 months, do they not have a choice anymore? please dont think im a bigot im not im so

Anonymous asked:

sorry i just dont want to be brainwashed by ANYONE, pro life or pro choice and im just so easily influenceable i just want to support whats right you know

No worries at all! I don't think you're a bigot and I'm glad that you want to engage with this issue critically. I'm happy to give you the facts as they stand and offer you my perspective on the issue. Apologies in advance that this is a bit long, but please try to stick with me until the end! All of this is important in understanding the different sides of this discussion.

There are a few main categories I want to talk about in this answer: legal, science, politics, and culture. For now, I'm going to avoid delving into any religious or metaphysical questions about what is and isn't considered "a person", since while those conversations are interesting, I don't think they're particularly useful in the context of discussions about abortion. As Harry Blackmun wrote in the court opinion for Roe v. Wade, "we need not resolve the difficult question of when life begins. When those trained in the respective disciplines of medicine, philosophy, and theology are unable to arrive at any consensus, the judiciary, at this point in the development of man's knowledge, is not in a position to speculate."

Legality

Starting with legal issues, there are a few points I think it's important to make in order to get a sense of how we relate to abortion. Abortions are legal in 98% of countries. 34% of countries, including the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand most European countries, and China, allow abortions on the basis of a the pregnant person's request, without needing to prove that there is risk to life, risk to health, risk to the fetus, economic or social reasons that abortion is a necessity, or extenuating circumstances (such as the pregnancy being a product of rape or incest). The vast majority (93%) of countries with highly restrictive abortion laws, such as outlawing abortion except in cases where the pregnant person is endangered, are in developing regions. There are five countries that completely outlaw abortion. These are: Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Malta, Nicaragua, and the Vatican City, all countries where the Catholic church has significant influence.

Of the countries that do allow abortion, there is always a limit on how far into a pregnancy a person can be when they choose to terminate. Beyond that limit, the person doesn't have a choice anymore, and must carry the pregnancy to term (except in extenuating circumstances). The most common limit is 12 weeks (3 months), although some countries allow abortion up to the point of "viability", where the fetus can live outside the mother's womb with artificial aid. Typically, the point of viability is around 24 weeks (6 months). In the US, 87% of abortions are performed before 12 weeks, and 92.2% were performed at 13 weeks or fewer. For reference, pregnancies are typically around 40 weeks long.

Forced abortion is illegal in almost every country, including the US and the UK, and it is considered an act of violence against women. It is just as bad as forcing someone to give birth, which is why all countries do their best to prevent it from happening. While forced abortions can and do happen, particularly to victims of sex trafficking, I think the solution to this issue is to put policies into place that protect vulnerable women, instead of trying to ban abortion entirely.

Science

So, most countries allow abortions up to 12 weeks. What does that actually look like in terms of the fetus? Here's a timeline of fetal stages of growth:

Weeks 1-4: at this stage, the "baby" is actually an embryo. It starts out as just a fertilized egg. The amniotic sac forms around it, and the placenta develops. The eyes, mouth, lower jaw, and throat are in very early development. Blood cells are taking shape. By the end of week 4, the embryo is smaller than a grain of rice. It is very literally "just a clump of cells" at this point.

Weeks 5-9: the "baby" is still an embryo. Its facial features begin to develop, folds of skin that will eventually become ears grow, tiny buds that will eventually grow into arms and legs form, the neural tube, digestive tract, and sensory organs all begin to develop. Bone starts to replace cartilage. At about 6 weeks, a heart beat can be detected. After week 8, the baby is considered a fetus instead of an embryo, at which point the fetus is about one inch long.

Weeks 9-12: the fetus' arms, hands, fingers, feet, and toes are fully formed. It may be able to open and close its fists and mouth. Ears are formed, and its reproductive organs begin to develop. By the end of week 12, the fetus has all of their organs and limbs, and their circulatory and urinary systems are working, but everything needs to continue to develop in order to become functional. At the end of week 12, the fetus is about 4 inches long.

It is important to know that the miscarriage rate is highest in the first trimester (before week 12). Among women who know they're pregnant (typically further along than 6 or 7 weeks), 10-20% will miscarry. 30%-50% of all fertilized eggs miscarry.

Other important developmental markers include:

During month 4 (weeks 16-20), you can see the sex of the fetus.

During month 5 (weeks 20-24), the fetus starts moving around.

Between week 22 and week 24, brain waves appear in the cerebral cortex.

At week 24, the fetus may be able to survive if it is born prematurely, provided it has intensive care.

Somewhere between week 26 and week 30, the fetus may be able to feel pain, although we don't know that for sure.

A fetus is not capable of thinking, communicating, reasoning, self-motivation, feeling emotions, or consciousness. They don't have a concept of the self, and they don't know that they exist. They are essentially sedated for the entirety of the pregnancy. Since we use "brain death" as the primary criteria for death, it makes sense to me that we might consider "brain life" (the point where a fetus exhibits brain activity) as the point at which a fetus becomes a person.

While some people will refer to an embryo as a "baby" from the time they discover they're pregnant, scientifically, it is a clump of cells, whether that clump is allowed to continue to grow or not. It's not something we would recognize as a baby, or be able to interact with as if it were a baby. An embryo is a precursor to a baby, kind of like how a seed is a precursor to a plant.

Some other arguments

I want to quickly touch on some other arguments for abortion rights that people make. I'm not going to delve deeply into them, but it didn't feel right to leave them out entirely. These are arguments that don't depend on whether or not a fetus can be considered a person.

Bodily Rights

There are many situations in which we prioritize individual bodily rights over the right of someone else to live. For example, we don't force people to donate organs to people who are dying, even though a donated organ would save their life. Advocates for abortion rights argue that those same bodily rights should be extended to a pregnant person.

Deprivation

This argument usually looks something like, "but what if that fetus was going to cure cancer when it grew up!" Basically, it's saying that abortion is morally wrong because it deprives the fetus (and the world) of a valuable future. To me, this completely ignores the deprivation that already exists by forcing a person to carry and birth a baby they don't want, and potentially the deprivation that comes with raising that child. People who make this argument never seem to ask, "what if the pregnant person was going to cure cancer?"

Slippery Slope

Some people argue that normalizing and legalizing abortion may lead to people also accepting euthanasia. I am unconvinced by this for two reasons. 1. Slippery slope is a logical fallacy and 2. I absolutely do think we should legalize euthanasia for certain situations.

Religion

I don't want to dig too far into this one, but what I will say is that the US is a country that (at least nominally) has a separation of church and state, and the religious beliefs that other people hold should not infringe on a person's rights to make choices about their own life.

History and Politics

The practice of abortion itself is incredibly old. The Sanskrit epic Ramayana, which dates to the 7th century BCE, describes abortion being practiced by surgeons and barbers. In the Assyrian Code of Assura, circa 1075 BCE, a woman is allowed to procure an abortion except when it's against her husband's wishes. The first recorded evidence of induced abortion is from the Egyptian Ebers Papyrus in 1550 BCE. Japanese documents show records of induced abortion from as early as the 12th century, and it became more prevalent during the Edo period. It is considered to be unlikely that abortion was punished in Ancient Greece or ancient Rome. All major Jewish religious movements allow abortion in order to save the life or health of a pregnant woman, and often support abortion for other reasons as well. Christianity has a more complicated relationship to abortion, for reasons that I'll go into in a bit, but for now let's just note that there very much were ancient Christians who believed abortion was morally permissible at least some of the time. Before the 19th century CE, first-trimester abortion was widely practiced and was legal under common law throughout the English speaking world, including the US and UK.

The reason I bring all of this up is because the political debate over abortion isn't really that old, and the debate tends not to actually be about the morality of abortion as an act so much as it is a proxy for other issues. The first backlash against abortion in the English Speaking world was in the 19th century, and was a direct reaction to the women's rights movement, which was starting during that time. In the US, anti-abortion laws began to appear as early as the 1820s, but picked up in earnest by the late 1860s. These laws were introduced for many reasons, including the fact that abortions were being provided by untrained people who were not members of medical societies and concerns about the safety of abortifacients. By 1900, abortion was a felony in every US state, but they continued to become increasingly available. By the 1930s, licensed physicians performed an estimated 800,000 abortions a year.

Jumping forward a little bit, let's talk about the history of abortion in the US just before Roe v. Wade. It's estimated that in the 50s and 60s, between 200,000 to 1.2 million abortions were being performed per year, even though they were illegal. Throughout that same time, the second wave feminist movement was growing, and was increasingly advocating for birth control and liberalized abortion laws. As a reaction to second wave feminism, a number of anti-abortion organizations, primarily led by Catholic institutions, cropped up to mobilize against the legalization of abortion. It should be noted that, at the time, abortion was not an issue for evangelical Christian groups. In the 1960s, 17 states legalized abortion for a variety of different circumstances. Then in 1973, Roe v. Wade happens, ruling that a pregnant woman has the right to choose to have an abortion without excessive government restriction. The ruling was 7-2 in favor of legalizing abortion. Even after Roe v. Wade, Christian Evangelicals were neutral to positive on the ruling. It's only after 1980 that Evangelical Christians started to organize around abortion as a political issue and joined the Catholics to form what we now think of as the Christian Right. There's a lot to say about that and why that switch happened, but for the sake of brevity, just know that the evangelical backlash against legalized abortion in the US started not as a moral crusade, but as a way of convincing people to vote for Ronald Regan instead of Jimmy Carter (who wanted to de-segregate schools). No political debate happens in a vacuum, and it's important to understand what other factors might have been at play when looking at where these debates come from and how the sides formed.

Culture

Lastly, let's talk a little bit about the cultural impacts of banning or legalizing abortion. The right to have or not have a child is necessary in order for women to achieve equality with men. Countries with high gender equality, such as Iceland, Finland, Norway, New Zealand, and Sweden, also have easily accessible abortion options. Criminalization of abortion disproportionately impacts poor women and women of color, and does nothing to address the systemic issues that may cause them to require abortions in the first place.

Researchers from the WHO and University of Massachusetts found that banning abortion is an inefficient way to reduce abortion rates; in countries where abortions were restricted, the number of unintended pregnancies actually increased, and the proportion of unintended pregnancies ending in abortion also increased. When abortion is banned, women aren't not having abortions; they're having illegal abortions that are done unsafely.

There is also some evidence to suggest that legalized abortion actually decreases crime rates. 20 years after the legalization of abortion in the US, there was an unprecedented nationwide decline of the crime rate (including murders, incidentally). The drop in crime is thought by some to be a result of the fact that individuals who had a higher statistical probability of committing crimes (people who grew up as unwanted children in poverty) were not being born.

Which brings me to my next point- the majority of people who are "pro-life" (at least in the US) aren't really pro-life. They're pro-birth. If they were truly pro-life, they would be interested in making sure that all of those babies had their needs met after they're born. They would be interested in making sure those babies can lead long, healthy, safe, and productive lives. They would be for universal healthcare, expanded social safety nets, parental leave from jobs, universal basic income, raising the minimum wage, mandated vacation time, increasing funding for public schools, decriminalizing drugs, abolishing prisons or at least reforming the police. They would be against the death penalty (ironically, some of them are actually for the death penalty for women who have had abortions), and for increased access to birth control, comprehensive sex-ed in schools, increased gun legislation, against war and nuclear weapons, for enforced mask wearing to prevent people from needlessly dying from a global pandemic... but those issues don't factor into their "pro-life" stance. They're for "the baby gets born and then has to pull itself up by its bootstraps like the rest of us."

Closing Thoughts

Look. I'm not super jazzed about abortions. I understand how they can feel like an ethical issue. I think we should do what we can to reduce the number of abortions that are performed- teaching comprehensive sex-ed in schools, making birth control and emergency contraceptive options widely accessible, letting men know that reversible vasectomies are an option. I think we should make abortion easier to access, so those who do need it can make the decision early in the pregnancy. But I also think that it's a very personal decision, one that's irreversibly life altering, and the person who's going to experience the life altering event should be the one who decides what happens. 65 year old conservative, Christian white men who will never be pregnant (and frequently don't really know how the female body works) shouldn't get to make that decision for them. As someone for whom pregnancy would be life threatening, I want to know that I have options should that situation present itself someday.

[nonie-star]

10, 11, and 12 for both Jakob and Nonie?

Thank you so much for the ask! This'll be fun

10. Where were you born? Where did you grow up? Where do you live now?

Jakob smirked. "I was born in Berlin. I lived there with my parents until shortly before the pipsqueak came along. Our parents had decided that children should grow up in the countryside, so we moved away from the city, into a small village." He smiled at Nonie, telling her that it was her turn.

Nonie shrugged. "Well, I was born in a small town near where we lived. Grew up in the countryside with my brother. Our parents still live there and I will probably have to return there as well, once I finish Hogwarts, which I'm not particularly thrilled about."

Looking at his little sister, Jakob asked why she wasn't excited to go back home. "It's pretty great, if you ask me. Always quiet, away from the trouble of the city... surrounded by nature and-"

"Bigots?" Nonie interrupted her big brother.

"Well, I was going to say animals, but... I guess you're right..?" Jakob said. "What happened? I always thought that you loved the countryside."

Nonie sighed. "I did. Until you vanished. People started spreading rumours, you know how our neighbours were. They already disliked us before, because they viewed our family as different but after that it just got worse. And you should've seen some of the looks they gave me when I brought Merula home for Christmas- i know it's not like this everywhere in the countryside, but it is where we grew up. I hate it there."

Jakob wasn't quite sure what to say. He had never realised how much the other people in their village had actually talked about his disappearance. He wasn't even aware they had known. "But..." he eventually said. "You always liked to watch the stars from your window. Or sit in the garden with me at night, and have me explain star constellations to you. You can't see the stars as well in the city."

Nonie smiled, saying that he was right about that at least. "I'd still prefer living in Britain, like you do now. Here is where all my friends are after all."

11. What is your favourite type of media (TV, movie, books etc.)? Name some specific favourites ( which shows, books, movies etc) you like!

"I've always loved reading, so I would say books!" Nonie said. "I don't think I could pick favourites. Im not a big movie person, but I do enjoy watching TV as well."

Jakob laughed. "Oh I remember. Sometimes our mother could barely pry you loose from the TV. And then she'd get annoyed because I would oftentimes just sit you in front of the TV when I was babysitting. It was the easiest way to ensure that you would not destroy the house. You were a tiny tornado, Ellie."

Nonie shook her head. "You might just be the only person to still call me Ellie. You know I go by Nonie now. But that aside, what's your favourite media?"

"I still don't understand how you get from Eleonore to Nonie.... Nevermind. Movies. I particularly enjoy action and horror movies." Jakob then said. "My favourite would be... hmm..." he scratched his chin. "You know what, I can't pick one either. Indecisiveness runs in the family after all."

12. If you could go anywhere in the world, where would it be? (On vacation or permanently!)

"London. Forever." Nonie said, without the slightest bit of hesitation.

Jakob shook his head. "Are you serious? That's so boring. If I could go anywhere, I would go to Africa, Korea, Spain... any country you could think of. Its why I want to be a curse-breaker. I want to see everything the world has to offer, and that way I would get to travel, break curses in different countries... That's the life I want."

"I prefer to remain stationary. I don't like to travel." Nonie said, and shrugged.

Jakob smirked. "You know, that makes sense. I remember that you would always get incredibly car-sick, no wonder you associate traveling with something bad. But you should try to travel, shooting Star. See something of the world."

Again, she shrugged. "Maybe someday."

[herbonesarebeautiful]

Get To know Me:

hi i'm lydia (she/her), chosen after lydia from the tim burton film “beetlejuice.”, as it is not my birth-given name. lydia is a feminine name meaning, “noble.” or “beautiful.” i enjoy tim burton's portfolio, especially corpse bride. i was born in monroe. now i live in brockport, new york, although i hope to move to los angeles someday. as i am still a minor, i have idols. specifically jim adkins, melanie martinez, heart, grimes, marilyn manson, audrey hepburn, strawberry switchblade, lana del rey, courtney love, and nicole dollanganger. i get quite a bit of inspiration and motivation from them. i am an aspiring musician (preferably alternative). my favorite sub-genres are definitely emo, gothic rock, skatepunk, death metal, and ambient rock. i usually find new music on the website everynoise.com. my favorite songs at the moment: nicole dollanganger - angels of porn II hole - doll parts

slutever - maggot melanie martinez - cake

crawling - linkin park nirvana - sappy strawberry switchblade - trees and flowers my favorite quote is a song lyric: “i love him so much, it just turns to hate.” - doll parts - hole i love these artists, and definitely think they have good albums. you should check them out! i don't like much about myself (i sorta hate myself, currently). but i guess i like my ability to be creative. im passionate about art, and not just the painting or drawing type. there are many art forms. it's not a hobby, but in the future i'd like to start a rose garden, so i can pluck them from the dirt when they're finished growing. i like dead things, they're pretty. cemeteries are so mesmerizing. i'd also like to take up sewing. to stitch wounds. i use to want to be a doctor. since im quite off topic i might as well tell you, i'd like to shave my head and wear brunette wigs (with bangs) and get a couple peircings. i'm called rebellious but in reality, at least right now i'm quite average with odd interests. including aesthetics, carnivals, vintage things (mostly the 60s/70s/80s) taxidermy, skateboarding (i'd like to learn how to again) film making (mostly horror), oddly specific, but the meanings behind nursery rhymes, because they're usually quite dark. and anything about music. i go to wiki aesthetics list for more aesthetics, my favs are 'nymphet.', 'morute.', and 'trad goth.' i particularly enjoy horror, true crime, and sometimes romance. my favorite movies/tv shows (currently): my friend dahmer my mom's a werewolf trick 'r' treat (the bus scene was cool, i liked the masks) friday the 13th (not the plot too much, but jasons design is well-done, in my opinion) jackass american horror story although i enjoy “morbid.” stuff, at the end of the day i do agree that i'm quite the 'coward'. i also think i'm a loser; but that's ok it doesn't bother me 2 much. heights scare me A LOT. i'm also apart of the lgbtq+ community. i like girls and guys. i am anti-bigotry and an anarchist. i do not like bigots, but i try to negotiate with them, without using any forms of hate. i agree with socialism and anarchist polotics for the most part. my goals currently: - becoming a musician. - writing a self biography (because i don't know who i am). - writing a book about someone infamous, such as a serial killer. - enjoy nature more i'm unsure if this is a goal, but i don't want kids. i'd rather not make someone suffer by bringing them into this world. i maybe will get married, weddings are pretty, i want to wear a lace black (or pink) gown with a white rosary. and a black (or pink) veil, if i do get married. oh, and the flowers should be deep red. with red lipstick and eyeliner on my face, no matter what i'm wearing. i like clothes, i don't have a lot i find pretty right now though, i like floral and pastels, but i also like dark colors and lace. i've always wanted a victorian bonnet. ribbons and buttons also amuse my fashion taste.

Extra: BEANIES ARE HOT!!!! also, emo people r ♡

[ill-be-istj-if-no-one-else-is]

what do you think is the most likely type to pull off the "agree to disagree" thing when they want to stop an argument? i hate it so much lmao. If i'm discussing smth with you is because 1) either i am right and want to prove a point/show you you're wrong or 2) im unsure and want other perspectives/i think im right but im actually wrong, in which case you should convince me of your argument/show me where im wrong. like... make it make sense.

The TJs are most likely to do this successfully, followed by FJs and FPs who are tied for different reasons, followed by mature TPs. The only people who don’t ever do this are people with no understanding of human psychology and who have no better things to do.

To your first point: mighty bold of you to assume you’re right. Sometimes you are! But also there are like, flat-earthers and anti-vaxxers and people who think aliens built the pyramids, not to mention, uh, racists/homophobes/bigots of all stripes, and most of those people are not like “hmm I think these things but I might be wrong :)”. No, they are like “I absolutely believe the earth is flat and I shall prove it”. A man literally built a rocket and died when he crash-landed in the pursuit of proving the earth is flat.

Sometimes people are right despite everyone thinking they’re wrong. The problem is a whole lot of people, not all of whom are high Ti users, think they are Galileo against the Catholic Church, speaking a truth that has been deemed heretical, when they are in fact tin-foil hat nutjobs (or, again, like, outright bigots who believe certain people are subhuman). And this happens on a far less extreme scale too, and so many people will be able to pick up on the simple truth that sometimes, people can be wrong and refuse to look at evidence for whatever reason and continuing an argument with them is pointless.

There are also a such thing as cases where we are not debating a fact but an opinion, and this isn’t an opinion where there will be any end outcome, and some people are bad at understanding that particular nuance and are like “HOW DARE YOU DISLIKE MY FAVORITE BOOK” and it’s like, well, I do, and this is not a judgment upon you or your tastes but merely me having different ones, and this argument is pointless so I’ll just be like “it wasn’t for me! glad it brings you enjoyment! bye!” because, and I think this is a key point here, tons of people don’t actually like arguing unless there is a clear end goal that arguing will bring about. Some people like arguing for its own sake! Many people do not. I do not. Sometimes my end goal is to show why my idea is good! Maybe we’re deciding what to do tomorrow, and there are two different ideas, and I vastly prefer one, and we only have time to do one, and I have a clear goal here: to convince my argument partner(s) why we should do the think I want. But if it’s an argument of whether chocolate or vanilla ice cream is better, like, you can like what you like and I can like what I like, my only goal here is to stop this boring discussion of ice cream flavors and actually obtain some ice cream for myself.

To your second point, if you are looking for opposite perspectives, have you expressed that? You didn’t give an example, so it’s absolutely possible the other side is not providing any evidence to convince you and is shutting down the argument for reasons that range from bad (too lazy to bother providing sources, which takes like 5 minutes and which they should do) or good (perhaps this is totally a matter of opinion and the outcome of this argument is literally nothing).

I can’t say why people do this, particularly without knowing the nature of the argument. Sometimes you are right and you’re dealing with a whiny baby who is wrong and won’t admit it, and that is frustrating, but again...you continuing to argue won’t make them magically stop being like that, so may as well quit and spend time on something that’s productive or at least not infuriating. But sometimes you’re arguing about something trivial and no one else wants to argue with you and you won’t shut up, or you’re wrong and ignoring the evidence, and so “agree to disagree” is a polite way to say “I think you are an annoying idiot and I am not enjoying this argument so I am putting an end to it.”

I’ve been in various organizations where there’s been voting on issues or on internal elected positions, and the magic phrase is “will anyone be swayed by further discussion.” If no one will be swayed, some people might be doing something wrong, but arguing is a waste of everyone’s time. Argument requires at least two consenting partners, and “agree to disagree” is someone revoking that consent.

[somnilogical]

case study: elle benjamin

the rationality community's least skilled exploiter of transmisogynistic coordination points known to me

when thinking about strategy, i often use the least sophisticated version of a given strategy that i know of to reason about the minimal elements of the strategy in general. i have an index of unsophisticated versions of things that i ping and ask "is this strategy basically this vector but with more optimization power behind it?" it helps compress a lot of information. to check, i can make a prediction given a set of examples of the pattern and test it.

(like i did with the transmisogynistic rationalist orgs "i bet this org has 0 transfems in positions of power" and yep they did, they all did.)

and thats how i factor strategies generated by agents with large amounts of optimization power. who might have more ability to optimize in a domain than i do.

both of these claims are false. elle benjamin never let emma into the group. shes culpable for her continued choice to "believe" bigoted propaganda. just as davis tower kingsley is culpable for "believing" that anna salamon, the president of cfar, isnt involved in cfar's hiring.

elle benjamin is deeply concerned about the treatment of trans people in the rationalist community. elle isnt that good at social optimization so this is an obvious false face. like a cop during segregation who runs an algorithm of "smile at people" if no black people are using the WHITE water fountain and "beat up a human" if a black human uses the WHITE water fountain. as long as trans women know their place as violent abusers like ▘▕▜▋, elle is happy.

if we start claiming we are women just the same as them and how people are treating us is wrong, if we protest against omnicide, if other people are coordinating against trans women along lines of transmisogyny; then elle decides its time to show us our place in the social order as male. violent, child abuse loving, misogynistic, strong-arming, men.

this decision-circuit is not peaceful. people who start trying to exploit transmisogyny in an attempt to coordinate with others against you only when you look vulnerable or they think they can get away with it and otherwise smile at transfems are with their whole soul given over to transmisogyny.

erica's post is so passive-aggressive!

<<One issue is that i think this group is just too large to remain a high trust environment.>>

<<Thanks everyone for keeping this a civil place that deals with sensitive issues all these years!>>

in reference to my blog posts about how they didnt have any transfem mods and immediately took down hot allostatic load because it was a [[bad culture fit]] and [[incoherent]]. as if i were expected to keep some confidentiality about transmisogyny. i have no loyalty to keeping secret that kind of oppression, i signed no contract to that effect.

as if telling other trans people exactly what they did was "uncivil"! as if it were ruinous to society instead of ruinous to a cis women coordinating on transmisogyny.

as if posting hot allostatic load and talking about transmisogyny on my blog were less "sensitive" than the other things the group was doing which included posts like "How many romantic novels/movies/etc do we have left, once we take away all the ones focused on a man relentlessly trying to convince a woman through trickery and persistence and stalking that she should really have sex with him" and "the White Knight/Damsel in Distress dynamic" at the time HAL was taken down.

https://somnilogical.tumblr.com/post/175420481784/i-tried-to-post-to-rationalist-feminists-closed

its an equilibrium where anyone opposing the "peace" of transmisogyny is labeled "antisocial" and "disrupting things".

would you say this woman is being misogynistic and "strong-arming" a female DA?

<<Last year, I was arrested twice in Sonoma County at Sunrise Farms and then Petaluma Poultry, two massive industrial farms that torture and kill hundreds of thousands of birds- while lying to the public about how these animals are treated. My crime? Asking the county to help the starving animals inside. Not just asking by email or phone call or office visit (though all these efforts were made and ignored), but asking by going right to the frontlines myself, exercising my statutory right to help neglected animals, and calling the attention of the authorities to this pervasive cruelty. The fact that the sheriffs chose to arrest us and ignore the animal cruelty broke my heart. It's hard to believe we live in a world where helping someone who is dying is the "crime" and not putting that life in danger in the first place. But have hope that this will change, and my hope growing.>>

<<Now, in response to the action at Reichardt, Sonoma County District Attorney Jill Ravitch has decided to file additional charges against me, Priya Sawhney, and Wayne Hsiung. We are already facing 7 felonies and 5 misdemeanors and we're still fighting for animals every day. Do you think new charges will stop us? No. And it wont stop the movement, either. They think they can stop DxE by targeting leadership, but they don't understand that we are a network of leaders. That every single one of us is leading the world to one of the biggest changes it will ever see. #RightToRescue>>

probably not because shes cis and looks like:

laying down and making it clear that you offer no impediment to mass murder is not a female thing, its not a feminist thing. its a *you* thing, elle benjamin.

someone commented on the screenshots:

<<(It feels relevant that when I met this person a few months ago they went on a rant about the evils of TERF’s before telling me I couldn’t experience misogyny bc I was “male-socialised.” They apologised quickly after having it explained but the idea of their being the Font of Wisdom about transness to rats is insane.)>>

https://loving-not-heyting.tumblr.com/post/614660027724283904/ht-somni-for-screengrabs-this-sums-up-absolutely

ozy brennan, i know what the fuck im talking about when i say "transmisogyny". ive been lied to then kicked out of a homeless shelter for being a trans woman. several men forced me to the ground and held me down and cut off my clothes while i shouted "I DONT CONSENT" locked me in a bare room then crowded around a window embedded in a door and said "i told you it was a guy" and a bunch of people came to gawk at my naked body. and so much more.

some of my interactions on the street in the bay:

<<at bart ppl would call me an ugly bitch and ask me to sleep with them in exchange for meth

someone tried to sell me something and i was like "im not interested in being scammed today" and they were like "bitch!!!"

i walked around in sf talking with a homeless women for ~8 hours and someone asked if we had boyfriends and offered to sell us meth if we went with him and i was like "no thanks" and she was like "how much?" but it was too expensive or something. she showed me lots of places to get food and shelter.

and like if i sit down in places for long enough people will come up to me and ask me if i have a boyfriend or if i want to go get coffee with them on a date.

sometimes ppl ask where im *really* from and if i was born a girl. sometimes ppl touch me on my back or thigh.>>

ive compared notes with cisfems, i get more solicitations to have sex with men in exchange for meth.

this isnt oppression olympics, this is "maybe 7-8 years ago when i started transitioning i didnt have a detailed model of transmisogyny, but now i cant not have one". alyssa vance could have one too (and know things like elle is the kind of person who exploits transmisogyny whenever she gets a chance) if she werent busy using her adult intelligence to defeat itself for miri/cfar.

what elle benjamin did was transmisogynistic and i can arbitrage actually being aligned with justice by taking a stack of screenshots of all the things she said and showing them to transfems uninvolved with the ambient miri/cfar gaslighting. and theyll be like "yup, thats transmisogyny". and other transfems can be like "yup, elle was also transmisogynist to me."

rationalists like alyssa vance and ozy brennan currently have an incentive to imply people who accurately identify transmisogyny are crazy. to go along with the status quo. (if i had to guess: ozy to protect an environment where they can provide for their baby, alyssa because she routed her hopes for personal immortality through miri/cfar.) though its not like i expect /alyssa vance/ to start calling transfems “gross uncle style abusers" like patrick lavictiore did or start listing off their "manly" physical characteristics contra anna salamon being a small feeble cisfem like peter did. not because alyssa vance is a particularly good person, shes not. but because thats paying in to a coordination technique that could be used against /her/. she doesnt expect social reality to label her "psychotic" anytime soon so she pays into that instead. ozy does and didnt call me "psychotic". this optimization is dumb, myopic, and doesnt serve their own values. but all evil is like that.

i dont hold by "use words for their expected value over a community" like scott alexander does. this is nice because i can align what i say with my internal cluster structure of anticipations of reality and escalate arbitrarily far without things breaking. elle benjamin cant escalate very far until her claim of ziz being a "misogynist" shatters, because its not exploiting the cluster structure of thing-space.

anyway GG on this front. the territory of "elle benjamin isnt transmisogynistic, somni is hallucinating transmisogyny" isnt worth enough for the miri/cfar campaign to expend energy on; elle benjamin isnt an important piece to miri/cfar like anna salamon is; and alyssa vance isnt in an environment with a bunch of warm bodies she can coordinate on a falsehood with. so afaict this region is ceded.

one technique of fem v fem cyberontological combat when you are right is arbitrage. when people gather a bunch of warm bodies together to gaslight you that elle benjamin isnt doing transmisogyny or whatever. instead of submitting to a series of increasingly arcane requirements until your writing looks like the inside of /principia mathematica/ and then have people complain about you writing long technical paragraphs saying they dont understand them dont care to understand them and you must be crazy;

just take a comprehensive recording of them all choosing to be dumb in a given direction and show it to people who dont have a political commitment to be dumb in that direction (which, when you are right, is often most people outside of the gaslighting bubble) and explain why its wrong. there are a lot of overlapping social spheres and you can iteratively arbitrage between them exploiting the fact that the methods of rationality and justice are more universal than specific false coordination points. in go terms, the spirit of this strategy is tenuki.

--

alyssa vance also says anna salamon isnt transmisogynistic, tried claiming ziz whistleblowing on miri/cfar paying out to blackmail was blackmail, and defends paying out to oneshot blackmail with subjunctive dependence for cdt reasons.

[monochromemedic]

Two Sides of the Commonwealth

Brotherhood of Steel. Why the hell they came to the Commonwealth was a mystery to most of the populous, but Fallon was getting real tired of the vertibirds and constant clanging of power armor as he searched the wreckage. It was stupid as all hell and getting really annoying.  Fallon kept seeing some... asshole in armor alot. Slick back blonde hair, chiseled jaw with a butt chin and angry eyes.  It was like he was stalking him or maybe he was patrolling the same area...  Clanking around like he owned the ruins, no one owned the ruins... well accept for maybe the mole rats and the mold. But this Brotherhood jerk kept stomping around and pushing him away from the ruins and acting like there was something to hide in the old police station. Fallon was getting tired of it. And so he was gonna confront the guy and stop him from...stopping him. Fallon stumbled around the wreckage, twisting the lead pipe in his hands, trying to see what was left that wasn’t taken by anyone else. Usually he was good at it, he knew what could be used for scrap.  He took note of the laser blasts in the wall, touching it with a gloved hand. Laser weapons... dangerous things. And the BOS seemed to only use them. If that guy turned sour, Fallon knew he wouldn’t survive a blast. Hell he barely knew how to take care of a normal bullet hole but one that was singed and burned was... a different thing all together. He began to hear the tell tale sign of the power armor’s hydraulics clambering around wreckage and crushing rubble under their feet. Fallon rounded the corner, smiling as he saw that it was that grumpy soldier. “Ah hey  if it ain’t tall, blonde and loud as all shit. Still here?” The blonde BOS soldier grumbled, adjusting the laser rifle in his hands. “You... how dense are you that you can’t get ‘leave and don’t come back’“ “Ah you know... a man’s gotta eat and you know I just love that scowl.”  “I need you to leave, this is area is under-” “Watch of the Brotherhood of Steel yeah I got it tattooed on my brain by now. I just wanted to ask uh.. why the hell have you been here for the last two weeks. Doesn’t the Brotherhood have something better to do or have you still not found whatever the hell your looking for? Cause listen I wanna check this place out and I need to eat.” “That is classified information to civilians.” The man growled, beginning to walk away only to have Fallon follow behind him like a parasite. “Then just... monitor me while I look around! Come on the tin can squad can’t fucking lock a place down how is that even fair? Whatever your looking for here can’t be that important it’s a run down police station! You have SO MUCH, let the little guys have something.” Fallon complained, grabbing the man’s arm only to be pushed away. “You have no right to ask or grab me...” The man lifted his rifle, aiming it at Fallon. “Why do you come back, do you want to get shot? What makes you think that I won’t shoot you, or are you just that stupid and suicidal?”  Fallon raised his eyebrows and backed up a bit, giving a bit of a smile. “Well... uh... I meant i’ve done this how many times and you haven’t shot me yet despite my bullshit, so that either means that you don’t want to kill a civilian, you love me, or you’ve been told not to kill anyone. Either way I feel like im in the clear.” The man looked over Fallon and lowered the rifle, closing his eyes and muttering something under his breath. “Then I suppose if I can’t get rid of you I should just... monitor you. What’s your name scavenger?” “Fallon Campbell.” “Fallon... very well. You may address me as Paladin King.” “KING. Holy shit is that your real last name or are you brotherhood of steel fuckers just that conceited!?” Fallon bellowed, grabbing his stomach and laughing hard as King’s nostril flared. “It’s just my last name... and you’re already pushing your luck. Do you do this with other paladins or have you just run into me?” “Eh it’s just kinda you in all honesty... I didn’t uh run into others, kinda scared of the others but there’s something about you. Probably the fact that you have those kind eyes. and restraint to not shoot me.” Fallon stepped over a few broken desks and stared at the symbol on King’s power armor, frowning. “Why the hell did you join those assholes? They’re just a bunch of bigots that probably love the smell of their own farts.” “A real question behind the snark hm?” King muttered, looking around the place before exhaling loudly. “It’s not as simple as it would seem. Didn’t use to be like that. In... honesty I don’t like the direction that the Brotherhood has taken, but I can’t do anything about it” Fallon bent down and began to search through some drawers of a file cabinet, turning a bit and giving a chuckle. “What you don’t like that guy in the sweet ass coat that looks like smoker’s lung incarnate. What’s his name... Max...Ma... Mason?” “Elder Maxson.” “Yeah him... not a fan?” “Not... particularly. I was around before he came into power. Things were simpler back then. But now it seems like he’s... gone a bit mad with power. He has ... good intentions but the way he handles it, it’s wrong. Too controlling. Too... “  He trialed off, rolling his shoulders and looking away. “Doesn’t saying this shit just put a bulls-eye on your head? You think you wouldn’t tell some ‘dirty scav’ but here you are, telling me some deep dark secrets. Next thing you know you’ll wanna talk about your troubled childhood.”  “I’m allowed to say my piece. I’ve been no stranger to that and i’ve taken the brunt of the blow for saying what I believe, specially around other members of the Brotherhood of Steel who lick the very ground Maxson walks on. I’m not scared of them. Someone needs to speak up instead of being a mindless drone. I didn’t come to be in the Brotherhood for what we’re doing right now. I came for protection and helping America, suppressing technology like nuclear developments.” Fallon was quiet, shoving a few things into his bag and looking over at the Paladin. He shifted the bag and stood up, walking over to him and beginning to walk, scratching the thin stubble on his face. “Damn... why don’t you leave? You seem to not agree with alot of shit...why not leave?”

“Because I believe in the overall cause, and I believe that’ll get better. We just have the wrong man in charge. That and I owe it to the Brotherhood. Without them I’d be dead. So I feel like there’s a life debt I owe to them.” “Life debt... ha... life debts are shit. No one here lives as long to fill out a life debt. Just live and pay what you can in the moment. You spend enough time on ground and not in that big blimp you realize how quick things go. You promise a girl you’ll be back a few days later with some gear and you find out that as soon as you left, she got mauled by ferals, children... they...” Fallon cleared his throat and tightened his fists. “You don’t live long is what I’ve learned. The fact that I wake up every day is a miracle to me. Just do what you can. So fuck the life debt. It’s a dog eat dog world baby, you either jump or you get pushed.” The two walked in tandem for a while, chatting quietly about their thoughts.  It was weird but this tin can wasn’t as bad as he thought he was. Just seemed to be in a weird situation. Least he was nice enough to pick up some junk. When  he finally decided that enough was enough he began to head to the exit, giving a small smile at the Paladin. “So... you still gonna be hanging around here tin man?” “Unfortunately.” “Good. Maybe i’ll see you around? Date night i’ll bring a few brews, you ever try Borov’s Moonshine, knocks you out. Be my treat I know the guy who makes it.”  He said, giving a grin as he backed up. The paladin was a bit weirded out but paused, giving a small smile in return. “...Fine. As long as you don’t do anything stupid I’ll... make an acceptation Fallon. Since I can’t get rid of you.” Fallon bumped his fist in the air, laughing loudly “Aw dude sweet, i’m pals with a Brotherhood of Steel Paladin!” He fell against the door and stumbled out of the station, the paladin hearing a little clatter as he got back up and walked away. Idiot. But it was nice to learn about civilians lives... more then some of the BOS would do. It was nice to bitch about Maxson too without getting side eyed. Maybe it’ll be the start of a strange new friendship.

[clairvoyantxatu]

On Pokémon and Insensitive Portrayals

WARNING! LEAKED CONTENT FOR POKEMON SWORD AND SHIELD AHEAD! AS WELL AS DISCUSSION ABOUT CONTROVERSIAL TOPICS! AND PLEASE, DON’T MAKE ASSUMPTIONS UNTIL YOU FINISH READING THE TEXT, I TRIED MY BEST NOT TO DEMONIZE ANY OF THE PARTIES INVOLVED IN THIS DEBATE!

So, I’ve just found out that some Jewish fans have condemning the design of Impidimp’s final evolution, Grimmsnarl, for being eerily similar to antisemitic caricatures from Nazi propaganda.

They claim his green complexion, curly dark hair and long, pointy nose is pretty close to Third Reich-era depictions of Jewish people. The issue is similar to the controversy surruounding Jynx that happened when the series first came to the West. I decided to write this in order to expose my opinions on the matter, and maybe prevent further conflicts between defenders and accusers. Keep in mind, I can’t speak for Jewish people since I’m not one of them, but I personally believe anyone can share their opinions about controversial topics as long as they don’t commit the mistake of thinking they know more about a group they don’t belong to than themselves. Here goes my thoughts:

I personally DON’T believe Game Freak, as a company at least, is actively discriminatory against any group in particular; the majority of their employees, even the main members of its staff, might hold some biases coming from the still pretty conservative Japanese culture they’re inserted in. But they’ve already shown thorugh their actions throughout the years they’re not trying to perpetuate hatred towards any group in particular, even taking some measures - some of them, even too drastic, IMO - to secure that, like changing Jynx’ color palette starting from Gen III, temporarily replacing Brock in the anime with Tracey and slightly altering Gym Leader Lenora’s default design to please the fans concerned with their possible racist implications. But I think the biggest proof of that is how, starting from Gen V, they’ve been making an effort to include more diversity among their human cast, including more and more characters with different cultural and ethnic backgrounds with each passing generation, and even alluding to sexual diversity from time to time - if only through subtext, in the latter’s case (save for that post-op trans woman in the Battle Chateau, which got slightly less explicit in the English localization). Of course, not everything is perfect in that department, as can be attested by their reluctancy to depict the Player Characters in their more dark-skinned variations, as of X and Y, (and before that, the complete absence of that possibility in-game) in promotional art and spinoff media outside of screenshots of main series games designed specifically to showcase character customization, but I’d like to think this had more to do with the Japanese market - still their main target audience, despite the franchise’s success over the entire globe - being hesitant to accept character designs outside certain “standards” for their PC’s even to this day, to a lesser extent than in the past, of course. But one thing that people need to understand is that companies are complex entities encompassing many individual minds; them having flaws and making mistakes from time to time does not necessarily mean they are rotten to the core, even if, in the end, their main priority is making money for themselves (altruism is NOT a strong point in capitalist societies, sadly, but I digress).

With all that said, I’d like to point out as well, that sometimes, good intentions are not enough to perform a good deed; in fact, they can lead to grave consequences! And it’s not different with representation; sometimes, one can intend to portray a character from a certain group in a positive light and end up being tremendously insensitive, usually due to their own ignorance towards that group. I believe that’s the case with Jynx and other examples from Pokémon; while I’m one of the fans who prefer to believe Jynx is based on the Youkai Yama-Uba (refer to this link for more info on that: https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Jynx_(Pok%C3%A9mon)#Origin), I cannot deny there is a strong similarity between Jynx’ original design and blackface caricatures, specially since the Yama-Uba is usually portrayed in Noh theatre by performers wearing blackface - even if without the intention to emulate actual black people. It doesn’t help that the anime chose to portray this species as Pokémon’s equivalent of Santa Claus’ usual elf assistants, possibly linking Jynx to Zwarte Peit, a infamous folklore figure heavily associated with Santa as well. In regards to the substantially smaller Lenora controversy, I personally believe it was the case of GF misinterpreting some depictions of black women from less-enlightened times, in particular those borrowing from the mammy stereotype, as something more positive than they actually were, possibly connecting them to traditional Japanese ideals of femininity and motherhood, but that’s just a wild guess, I admit. What I’m sure, however, is that while Lenora’s apron could be excused as a means to carry her archeological tools, even if I’ve never seen an actual archeologist wearing aprons to do so, her original Gym Leader Title in the Japanese version of the Gen V games, “Natural-born Mama” raises a lot of suspicion against the intent behind her design, specially since she’s not known to have children, have a particularly “motherly” personality, act as a mother figure towards any character in-game or have an occupation that could be interpreted as being akin to a mother’s role; the best I can think of is Lenora and her husband referring to each other as “mama” and “papa”, but considering other Gym Leader titles refer more to their main character features, and Lenora’s relationship with Hawes is more of side note in comparison to her role as Nacrene Museum’s director... the fact the rest of her characterization is pretty straightforward, lacking any racial elements to it, however, lends credency to the idea GF didn’t intend her to be a caricature of black women.

Nevertheless, the closeness between those depictions and real world racist depictions of minority groups is still unsettling, at least to some. And just because the author’s intention wasn’t to offend a certain group, it doesn’t mean people don’t have the right to dislike their work for that. After all, so many people hate Palkia’s design for resembling male genitalia despite that obviously not being the intention! What if they coloured Cloyster light pink instead? Would you blame people for associating it (even more) with a vagina? I’m not saying we should storm off GF’s office demanding they change Grimmsnarl’s design while accusing them of being bigots, specially since I don’t believe it’s the case at all; all Im saying is that there’s a strong point of favour of those discontent with the characters’ design, despite all claims that it’s not meant to represent something they despise. I don’t know if GF should feel impelled to change Grimmsnarl’s colouring to solely please those people, but I’m sure I’d also hate if they created, even unintentionally, a character who bore too much resemblance to a particularly negative depicition from a group I belong to, say, some Fuu Manchuu-esque Evil Team Leader or the like. If they simply made a new Pokémon with a Chinese-inspired aesthetic, even if some elements were a bit cliché, like Ludicolo is for Mexican people, I wouldn’t mind nearly as much.

And I don’t think anyone should dismiss those concerns, much less with weak arguments such as “if you see racism in that, then you’re the real bigot” like I’ve seen out there, just because they don’t grasp the ideas I exposed above. Neither do I approve the attitude of people who react with too much intensity to opposition towards their accusations or jump the gun and accuse GF of being prejudiced towards a specific group without enough evidence or incite violence of any kind towards them because of those unfortunate depictions. Remember, they come from a culture far away from our Western issues, so it’s more likely than not that they aren’t even aware of them, specially more relatively obscure elements like old Nazi propaganda. Having a British man as one of their main designers can help, but even Western people aren’t aware of all Western problems, so...

[tumblunni]

Its weird how much the perceptions of queer people can change throughout history

And like i'm not just talking about how widespread predjudice is and how shitty the education is, so that a trans person like me could grow up not only not knowing they were trans until age 20 but not even knowing that trans people EXISTED. And then of course there's how the perception of the word "queer" has made a rollercoaster journey from "unrelated quaint word for slightly odd" to "homophobic slur" to "reclaimed slur" to "so reclaimed that it's used as a common umbrella term by LGBTQ rights organizations and educational systems" to "ok suddenly its a slur again and we dont know if we'll be able to reclaim it this time". And then allllso there's the fuckin annoying subject of how bigots insist upon perceiving trans women as "really just gay men" or "straight men with a fetosh for dressing up", and then trans women as also being the only trans people who exist,because trans men (and lesbians) are apparantly "just women playing at it" or "lol sexy" and somehow can't really be real. Somehow even less real than the thing they already say isnt real. Seriously, wrapping my head around how bigots think is EXHAUSTING!

Aaaaanyway all of those recent issues REALLY SUCK but then they got me thinking about how bigotry was really different just ten years ago, and how fascinating (and depressing) i found it to hear about unrecogniseably different bigotry in ancient history. So uhh yeah lets ramble about that??

Random example that I only remember because I had a Big Norse Mythology Phase in high school. Back in those times it wasn't considered gay to be attracted to men. Like.. Seriously! They still had homophobic bigotry and horrifying lynchings,banishment, social ostracization and other hate crimes. It's just that their definition of who was 'one of the bad ones' and who was 'acceptable' was wildly different from what we have today. It was like.. Not about who you were attracted to but the specifics of the act itself? They uhh..literally had top and bottom predjudice. You weren't "gay" if you had sex with men, only if you were on the bottom when it happened. Because it was "natural" for a man to be the pitcher, but "womanly and deviant" to be on the receiving end and *gasp* actually enjoy it! You could somehow retain your straightness card by topping a dude and he was the only weird one for enjoying this sex you were having. Because yknow the top is just totally imagining he's fucking a woman, so its Not Gay. Somehow.

Like there's a whole poem about two guys slinging insults at each other for five pages, and one stanza is like "i totally had sex with you and that makes you gay!" Taken to ridiculous extremes where he claims the other man is SO gay that he was somehow able to get magically pregnant and have his children. Also they were monsters because why not. But (i shit you not) he adds that they werent even PARTICULARLY SCARY monsters and that proves that you are a terrible man. For giving me a bad lay. Which somehow means you are gay and I'm not.

And like I mean.. I can understand how a culture with so many all-male sailing crews would kinda have to deal with a lot of gay relationships happening, but its just so fuckin WEIRD that they managed to do it while retaining a predjudice against them! I mean the ancient greeks had a similar situation and they very notably went full acceptance to the point even the most LGBTQ-erasing scholars can't manage to paper it over. Not that they were perfect either, of course, there was a lot of societally accepted pedophilia. But then again britain's had a history of that too, plus even worse stuff... Okay im getting offtopic, thats another subject for another day.

So yeah. Weird alternate conceptualization of sexuality. And part of me wants to laugh at those bigots being so wrong, while part of me feels relieved thinking that at least half of all gay men managed to avoid predjudice compared to how common it is in our society. But then i think about how much the "i'm on top so i'm straight" thing is played off in really creepy ways in those mythological tales. Like seriously its horrible imagining some guy raping another guy as a sign of dominance and pulling the "he enjoyed it so arrest him" card. Or lovers selling out their other half to deflect suspicion from themself, like "yeah you caught us having sex but he was the gay one." It's such a weird form of bigotry to wrap my head around, i don't even know if these worst case scenarios would have happened but i'm scared to research more into the subject in case i find triggering stuff like that.

Tho i mean this is just a factoid i found in a mythology book to explain a weird diss poem, like not even an actual history book with sources ans examples. So for all I know maybe it isnt even true? *shrug* i just thought it was interesting to think about and i hope maybe i can bump into someone else who's better informed on the topic.

Oh and also LOL just to add that I totally fell in love with norse mythology cos of Loki,became a huge Loki stan, wrote stupid fix-it fics for LITERAL MYTHOLOGY where Loki was proven right and got all his dead kids back, and throughout this entire time dumb teenage me never once thought "hmm maybe i'm fascinated by the one gay and genderfluid character because i might be queer". What a dope! (Seriously internalized transphobia fucks you up...)

[occupyvenus]

"Why are sansa ships so hated upon" lmao which one? Sansan? Where a 13 years old girl is paired with a 30+ man? Jonsa, where she is paired with her cousin/sibiling who she neglected her whole life and only cares about him bc he is what's left of her family? Or Sansa/Littlefinger maybe, when she's paired with a creep, pedophile and an asshole? Geez I wonder why these a+ healthy ships are so hated upon (im not even a jonerys btw, you guys are annoying the same amount)

I suppose you are talking about this? Because I don’t remember ever writing anything about why “Several Sansa ships are so hated upon” … Like, I really don’t. I remember writing the thing linked to above, where I bring up the issue why I think Sansa, like the character, not her ships … you do … you do understand the difference? Do you? Wait, here let me display it as easily as possible: 

Sansa == “the character”Sansa/Whatever == NOT “the character”

Do we have that? Take your time, I don’t want you to strain your brain. Just try to realize what’s the difference between “a character” and “the ships involving that character”. Don’t hurry, this is a very important point, I can only keep going once you get that distinction into your lovely, little head. I’ll wait, don’t worry. 

…

Got it? Good. I’m proud of you. Well done. Here, have a treat. 

What a gooood boooyyyyyyy. 

I did talk about ships in that post as well, but … not about the ones surrounding “Sansa” (you know … “the character” Remember? We already learned what that means?), but the most popular possible canon-pairings for Jon. Who is not Sansa … wait, time for another explanation:

Sansa == SansaSansa == NOT JonJon == NOT SansaJon == JonJon/Whatever == NOT Sansa/Whatever

Okay? One of them has a dick, the other has a vagina and tits. One of them has black hair, the other one red. One of them likes sword fighting and brooding, the other likes stitching and dancing. One of them is of above-average height, the other one is a smoll dwarf king… I honestly don’t know, how you could confuse the two. But okay,  I hope you understand now, so it’s time for another treat:

Look at thaaat!!! A good boy through and through! 

And not even concerning those did I ever talk about why people might dislike one or the other. I talked about my own personal preferences a bit …. okay, just so you understand what that means: 

my own personal preferences == my own personal preferencesmy own personal preferences == NOT why other people might dislike themmy own personal preferences == NOT other people’s personal preferences

We already learned another thingy! I know, it would be time for another treat, but I don’t want to spoil you. I promise to give you one if you power through until the end, okay? I know this is much to take in at once, but I know you can do it. I BELIEVE IN YOU! 

So here we go, the last complicated concept for today: 

If I remember correctly my little thing was called “On why Jonsa of all ships is so bitterly fought about and/or not taken seriously” not “Why Sansa ships are so hated upon”. That’s … not the same. I just proposed the theory that Jonsa is so easily dismissed as a canon possibility because 

a) Sansa is still considered a side character or at best the least important main character by many people and b) she attracts a lot of unwarranted hate (that doesn’t mean you have to stan her, love her or even necessarily like her. But so many people hate her to an unreasonable degree)

I just stated that if you consider all three key ladies to be of equal importance, all three ships are a legit candidate for jon!endgame!romance. You can find foreshadowing and clues for all, which one (if any at all, or all of them, whatever) you do actively get behind depends on your personal preferences (and I’m not going to judge that? Like, why would I?) and other endgame presumptions. (Will Jon live or die, will one of the three Ladies die? Will there still be a Iron Throne or not? If it does, who will sit on it? Etc, etc.) And if you don’t think they are equally important, every discussion about what is “delusional” or “possible” becomes obsolete because you’re not even approaching the whole issue from the same starting point. 

I never talked about why people might “hate” that one ship I actually talked about, except those two things. I totally get people who are a bit grossed out by the “thought-they-were-siblings” factor. I totally get that people dislike the ship for a variety of reasons, or no reason at all. Like, you do you. It’s just that (here comes another hard one, that many people seem to struggle with): 

What will happen == NOT just what you likeWhat is possible == NOT just what you like

I don’t know how you could read that thing (if you even did) and come to the conclusion that I wrote about why people dislike/hate specific Sansa-ships. I hope with all this new fancy information you can go back and think about the things I actually wrote about. But before you do, have another treat, you deserve it (that was a lot information at once. I know.)

What a good boy. Look at him go. Isn’t that yummy? Yes, it is. 

Now before you go take a nap to digest all these delicious treats and to recharge your brain, I have to talk about one last topic. I do prefer positive affirmation, but every now and then one has to resort to a stricter tone, especially when people talk shit about my ship: 

If we guys are that annoying to you, why do you take the time to look at our posts and respond to them? Like, just block us and go on with your life. 

It’s funny that you think 11-year-old-and-younger Sansa was in any position to “neglect” Jon.

It’s also funny how people just assume that Sansa somehow bullied Jon all the time (because I guess that’s what you’re getting at), when there is no canon evidence of her being THAT bad. In the show, she apologizes for “being awful to him”, but there actually is no book evidence that she was. More on that later. 

Even if she was a bit of an entitled brat AS A CHILD, show!Jon already forgave her for that, so why can’t you? Like, why do you people still blame her for something that not even the character you are supposedly defending gives a shit about? 

The only time book!Jon thinks about her in a somewhat resentful way is when thinking “he even misses Sansa, who never called him anything but her half-brother since she was old enough to understand what bastard meant.” And honestly, even the term “somewhat resentful” is too strong anyway. He’s simply surprised that he also misses the sibling he was the least close too. He thinks about her a couple more times, but never in a bad light (After Ned gets killed, he’s worried about both his sisters, who he assumes are in KL and hostages of the Lannisters. He thinks that Sansa would cry at “the magic” of the wall, while Arya would just laugh it off. He thinks about Sansa’s advice about talking to girls. He mentions her in passing when talking about the feast in Winterfell and being forced to sit in the back. (Though he was obviously lying about being that pissed at his family to manipulate Mance.) He thinks about her when thinking about his weak claim to WF (that even his sisters come before him in the line of succession). He declines Stannis’ offer to make him Lord of Winterfell because “by right it belongs to Sansa.” twice. He thinks about her brushing out Lady’s fur, after receiving the Pink Letter. I honestly don’t know where people get the idea from that they hated each other or even look back at each other in a particularly negative way. They weren’t close, no, but if you claim jonsa is an “unhealthy” ship, because Sansa “neglected” him so badly … I hate to tell, that’s all in your head. Seems like you people are projecting your own wrong conclusions and feelings onto a fictional character. Okay, he talks about her once before leaving WF, when he and Arya mention their most important rule for doing some forbidden shit “Don’t tell Sansa!” OH NO! She must have been a tyrant to her other siblings. Now, that proves it. Do any of you people have any siblings or cousins yourself? Did any of you interact with other children or teenagers when you were that age? Did your grow up on some isolated island with literally no other people around? EDIT: I FORGOT TO MENTION THE BEST EXAMPLE OF JON “HATING” SANSA: At the feast they throw for Bobby B at Winterfell, he doesn’t think “look at that smug, arrogant, privileged bitch who always calls me her “half-brother”, getting to walk next to the crown prince while I have to sit in the back!”, He thinks that SHE LOOKS RADIANT! Man, Jon really hated her and only left Winterfell because she was so very awful to him. 

Sansa actually did think about Jon before “he was everything that was left of her family”. She includes him in her prayer at the Battle of Blackwater and worries about him after realizing that not all men of the Night’s Watch are chivalrous black knights. (And before you give her shit for being so naive … Jon believed the exact same thing before actually travelling to the Wall.)

She thinks about him later as well (when fashioning her Alayne persona after him), but since you didn’t claim she doesn’t I can’t criticize you for that, can I?  (See what I’m doing? I’m reacting to the things you actually wrote). 

Btw, the whole sibling turned cousin issue is one of the things I totally get. I think it’s pretty bigoted going after those who don’t (like me and … all other Jonsa shippers), but I’m not going to argue with people that they shouldn’t either. Like, you do you and I do I or whatever. 

That said, I do think that the arguments “they see each other as siblings” and “weren’t even close” put in the same sentence are most often an obvious contradiction. “They see each other as siblings that can’t stand each other” would be a valid argument, if the later statement only had some proof to back it up. 

While I was very forgiving and tried to be nice and explain things, I can’t give you a pass for this nonsense

You know, there are probably many faws in my thinking and writing, but you people aren’t even trying. Just once I would like to have a civil, interesting, mind-provoking discussion with someone who disagrees with me. Instead, I get all the idiots with poor reading comprehension who can only bring up the same three illogical, stupid arguments. It’s getting boring.