thezachariassmithexperience - Tumblr blog

[thezachariassmithexperience]

the idea that restrooms, locker rooms, etc need to be single-sex spaces in order for women to be safe is patriarchy's way of signalling to men & boys that society doesn't expect them to behave themselves around women. it is directly antifeminist. it would be antifeminist even if trans people did not exist. a feminist society would demand that women should be safe in all spaces even when there are men there.

[thezachariassmithexperience]

Need a Jewish sensitivity reader, particularly for fantasy?

With a degree in English (with a specialization in fiction) and a wealth of knowledge on antisemitism (including topics like historic antisemitism, blood libel, and mythologizing of Jews), we’re happy to consult and provide feedback.

Feel free to reach out via our website! Feel free to send this to your author friends.

Jewitches.com

[thezachariassmithexperience]

can we just have, like, any feminist movement whatsoever. did everyone just stop caring?

[thezachariassmithexperience]

There’s that post that’s like ‘everyone should get into a tiny niche fandom at least once’ fully agree, that was really fun -- but I would like to add that everyone should get into a fandom where their opinions run counter to major fanon because it really teaches you about sticking to your guns and trusting your interpretation of the text without having to rely on peer validation

because WHAT are people talking about sometimes

[thezachariassmithexperience]

I have a theory, and it's that people are "flaky" in RP recently because they've trained themselves to be averse to any sort of conflict, including in character.

Something not going your character's way? Just ghost! Don't reply, don't talk it out with the other player, just leave!

I don't actually know how, logically, anyone is supposed to RP so that nothing ever goes wrong for their character. That just makes no sense from a community POV. But I have observed it so many times, I would love to know what the point is. Like, babes it's RP, none of it is real. If your character gets in a jam, that's okay because it's not real.

[thezachariassmithexperience]

if you think rpcburnbook is so toxic, why are you actively sending in asks and checking it regularly?

If you want to avoid everyone you think is toxic, that's your choice, but I don't agree with that tactic.

I'm fully capable of interacting with people I dislike.

[thezachariassmithexperience]

Hot take but burn book is as toxic as tattler, just more passive-aggressive about it

[thezachariassmithexperience]

another fantasy

roleplay resource forum

[thezachariassmithexperience]

I don't trust anyone who hasn't acknowledged their capacity for evil.

[thezachariassmithexperience]

How to write straight sex scene???

[thezachariassmithexperience]

Fanfic writers, I am begging you- even with dialogue that is clearly attributed, start a new paragraph with each new speaker. The reader shouldn't have to wait until after the dialogue is spoken to understand who is saying it.

Even if it's one word?

Yes.

But it makes things so long!

Great! Your stories will be the king of scrolling, a feast of thumbs, and a gentle stroke across a phone screen.

This convention exists for a reason! Each new paragraph should be a new idea or a new speaker. It's a shortcut for our brains to know that we have jumped across a gap and into the unknown, and you as the writer are about to explain to me where we have jumped to, but at least I know we are somewhere different.

Please practice this! I see so many good fanfic I want to read but except for this huge, glaring issue and it becomes impossible to understand what is happening.

[thezachariassmithexperience]

hey writers if you want to make a metaphor for racism, please maybe remember that racism is literally based on nothing. Africans weren’t enslaved en masse because the Robo-Musa threatened to destroy the world, they were enslaved because it was economically rewarding and politically convenient. If at any point your allegory for racism includes “so <oppressed group> did this major catastrophe and” then you have not only missed the point but you are literally reinforcing the ideas that racism have let racism self-perpetuate (that e.g. black people are naturally dangerous and violent and must be contained or begrudgingly accepted by the Nice White People)

[thezachariassmithexperience]

“One of the most solid pieces of writing advice I know is in fact intended for dancers – you can find it in the choreographer Martha Graham’s biography. But it relaxes me in front of my laptop the same way I imagine it might induce a young dancer to breathe deeply and wiggle their fingers and toes. Graham writes: ‘There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and it will be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is nor how valuable nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open.’”

— Zadie Smith (via campaignagainstcliche)

[thezachariassmithexperience]

[thezachariassmithexperience]

[“A confession of harm is only regarded as part of the repentance process when someone actually intends to do the work. Maimonides says that someone who confesses their sins but “has not abandoned sin in their heart” is like someone who becomes immersed in the ritual bath while holding a lizard—the living waters cannot purify as intended if someone is clutching a non-kosher creepy-crawly that will invalidate the whole process. Nothing is accomplished. It’s a waste of everyone’s time and effort. If a person is not resolved, in the deep places of their being, that they’re done doing the harmful thing—or if, even worse, they’re still doing it—then the verbal confession isn’t valid. It’s not a step on the pathway to repentance.

Everyone has probably experienced this feeling of being pulled in two directions—part of us wants to move forward into the work of change and transformation, but part of us is secretly—or not so secretly—holding on to something that can sabotage our efforts.

Identifying those obstacles is critical. Sometimes they are personal—related to emotion or psychology. Sometimes they appear in the form of advisers or managers concerned with controlling an image or public perception. They may arise from fears, founded or unfounded, about the possible consequences of admitting to having done something wrong. In cases related to harm done at the collective level, obstacles to confession may appear as concerns about the bottom line, differences of opinion among powerful stakeholders, or structural barriers. But regardless of the nature of the lizard, it must be dropped to continue further. Truly being ready to change—to be different and to make different choices—is a critical, nonnegotiable part of the process.”]

rabbi danya ruttenberg, from on repentance and repair: making amends in an unapologetic world, 2022

[thezachariassmithexperience]

from The Erotics of Trent Reznor by Jude Doyle

[thezachariassmithexperience]

day barely even started and I already had to hear "thank you for being our wives, sisters, aunts" and "keep being women and giving birth and being delicate unlike us men" as compliments for international women's day