#this is totally not directed at a specific group of individuals

[longdaytogo]

casually waiting for the day my writer friends will drop me with a "hey I had this idea" so I can say "omg that's so good" and give my input too so we can work together on it in a way that it also (suspiciously) happens to aligns with all my personal tastes and then I drop in with a "btw I made this artwork for your fic" so it can be included together for visuals when they post it.

#this is totally not directed at a specific group of individuals #i swear #yeah fanart is fun but i want to draw for it before anyone's read it

[thebrightestwitchofherage]

The UN's Official Mission report on Hamas' Sexual Violence in Israel was published

Please take your time to read this. Israeli \ Jewish victims deserve the same protection as any other women.

The brief version can be read here.

----

***I am not going to include any graphic detailing.

The pattern of Sexual Violence used by Hamas is very clear:

It was one of their key goals and tactics on October 7th.

You cannot say "Female Hostages are treated well. you're lying by saying they're raped" anymore!

Notice how they also said **Children**

Civilians were in fact burned inside their homes

This is also clearly a pattern used by Hamas, as this is just one of many examples they detail. -Hamas has also burned soldiers alive in their dorms and offices. That is also further detailed in the report.

This is not fake or propaganda

I can't believe I have to write this but this report is an official report (finally) made by the UN's Sexual Violence Office, as part of their yearly report.

They had a 2-week delegation that toured the actual Kibbutzim (turned crime scenes), interviewed eyewitnesses, spoke to families of victims, etc...

___

I do have to say I was mistaken in my earlier post, besides their conclusion, they have also written their recommendations:

...." V. Conclusions

Overall, based on the totality of information gathered from multiple and independent sources at the different locations, there are reasonable grounds to believe that conflict-related sexual violence occurred at several locations across the Gaza periphery, including in the form of rape and gang rape, during the 7 October 2023 attacks. Credible circumstantial information, which may be indicative of some forms of sexual violence, including genital mutilation, sexualized torture, or cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, was also gathered. 22

With regards to the hostages, the mission team found clear and convincing information that some hostages taken to Gaza have been subjected to various forms of conflict-related sexual violence and has reasonable grounds to believe that such violence may be ongoing.

The mission team was unable to establish the prevalence of sexual violence and concludes that the overall magnitude, scope, and specific attribution of these violations would require a fully-fledged investigation. A comprehensive investigation would enable the information base to be expanded in locations which the mission team was not able to visit and to build the required trust with survivors/victims of conflict-related sexual violence who may be reluctant to come forward at this point.

Regarding the occupied Palestinian Territory, while its scope did not extend to verification, the mission team received information from institutional and civil society sources as well as through direct interviews, about some forms of sexual violence against Palestinian men and women in detention settings, during house raids and at checkpoints. Though the mission team did not visit Gaza, the Office of the SRSG-SVC will continue to monitor the situation for any relevant allegations of CRSV in the context of the ongoing hostilities. The relevant UN entities present in the occupied Palestinian Territory will provide UN-verified information for reporting to the Security Council on allegations of CRSV, which will be complemented by the information obtained by the mission team.

VI. Recommendations

The mission team makes the following recommendations: a) Continue to encourage the Government of Israeli to grant, without further delay, access to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem and Israel, to carry-out fully-fledged investigations into all alleged violations that would deepen the preliminary findings contained in the present report. b) Urge Hamas and other armed groups to immediately and unconditionally release all individuals held in captivity and to ensure their protection including from sexual violence, in line with international law. c) Call on all relevant and competent bodies, national and international, to bring all perpetrators, regardless of rank or affiliation, to justice based on individual, superior and command responsibility, in accordance with due process of law and fair trial standards. d) Encourage the Government of Israel to consider signing a Framework of Cooperation with the Office of the SRSG-SVC to strengthen capacity on justice and accountability for CRSV crimes as well as security sector engagement, training, and oversight to prevent and address CRSV. 23 e) Strengthen the capacity of the United Nations to monitor and report on incidents, patterns and trends of CRSV in both Israel and the occupied Palestinian Territory through the establishment of the Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Arrangements on CRSV (MARA), convened by dedicated technical specialists, namely Women’s Protection Advisors (WPAs), deployed to the region to ensure prevention, protection and coordinated multi-sectoral assistance to survivors/victims. f) Encourage relevant actors to uphold information integrity and ethical, trauma-informed representations of conflict-related sexual violence, including by respecting and safeguarding the dignity and identity of survivors/victims and witnesses of sexual violence, as sensationalizing headlines, media pressure and scrutiny, exposure of identity, political instrumentalization and pressure, and/or fear of reprisal can result in the suppression, silencing and discrediting of survivors/victims and witnesses, further compound trauma and increase the risk of social stigmatization. g) Urge all parties to the conflict to adopt a humanitarian ceasefire, and to ensure that expertise on addressing conflict-related sexual violence informs the design and implementation of all ceasefire and political agreements and that the voices of women and affected communities are heard in all conflict resolution and peacebuilding processes....."

Israelis have been repeatedly saying all of this for months now, while you deny it. I've personally had people tell me it's all "fake propaganda". You should all be ashamed.

I am infuriated at the fact that for 5 months, our evidence and word isn't enough for Anti-Zionists. Here is some undeniable proof for you.

Believe Jewish Women.

#believe jewish women #me too unless you're a jew #feminism #israel #jewish #israeli #jewblr #israel palestine conflict #gaza strip #ישראל #טאמבלר ישראלי #human rights #feminist #israel palestine war #gaza #anti semitism #hamas #rafah #current events #middle eastern history #middle east #ישראלי #gaza strikes #free gaza #jumblr #columbia university #Iran #hamas is isis #עברית #antisemitism

[dnd-shows-have-my-soul]

Yesterday, I was talking with a couple of friends about the newest Dimension 20 episode and it was brought up how killer a party the bad kids are. Their levels of optimization and total mastery of the battlefield is a sight to behold. From there, it was mentioned how Bells Hells and the Bad Kids are at the same level (level 13). And naturally, we began to compare the two parties, and it became quickly apparent that one party felt leagues ahead of the other. And that got me thinking, what do the Bad Kids have that Bells Hells don't?

And this is nothing about the players themselves. All 13 players from both CR and D20 are masters of what they do. Their level of strategy and creativity is unparalleled. And you can't say that one group of people is specifically better than the other. So then where are these problems coming from? And then I realized the problems didn’t have anything to do with the players. Not with characters or even their choices

It’s their party composition that’s the real issue.

While on the surface, BHs looks like a very diverse party, everyone in it is very locked into specific roles. We have three melee fighters (who can really only act as melee fighters), two spell casters who mostly have damaging spells (mixed in with some support stuff) and a cleric (that is really locked into their role of healing and support). Fearne is really the only character with any real versatility but because of the current party setup, she kind of has to play support or healing, otherwise the party becomes very unbalanced.

Because so many characters are unable to deviate from their “roles,” everything becomes much harder.

Look at the bad kids in comparison, Adaine can quickly switch from pure damage dealing to support moves very quickly, Fig can switch between melee to spells to straight up healing, and Fabian, who is mostly melee, is still able to take on a support role because of his levels in bard. And while they do have some more rigid roles (Kristen, Gorgug, Riz), these characters still have options via spells.

The best DND parties are the ones where the individual roles are fluid and ever changing. And because BHs setup, that becomes a difficult feat to pull off.

And then I was thinking about why.

Why they would design the party this way if it was so clearly unsteady.

But the thing is, it wasn’t supposed to be.

Because there is one word that explains exactly why the party is what is. One word that simultaneously explains and fixes everything.

One word.

Dorian.

Having a bard in the party would go miles into helping BHs and make a lot of those issues outright disappear. Dorian ,as a Swords bard, can engage in direct melee, but can also provide additional support and be another source of healing within the party. Spells like Hypnotic Pattern, Warding Wind, and Shatter are all incredibly useful within combat, and having caster that can take a hit is always a good thing.

And again, do I think that Bells Hells doing something wrong by having the party they have? Absolutely not. Despite my earlier statements, I'm genuinely impressed by their accomplishments, strategy and overall creativity. I love them all. But having a Bard in the party wouldn't hurt.

TLDR; Dorian we need you.

#critical role #dimension 20 #bells hells #the bad kids #critical role spoilers #d20 #cr #fantasy high #fantasy high junior year #fhjr #bad kids #dorian storm #no hate to either #i love both cr and d20 alot #analysis #your free to disagree just don't be a dick about it #cr spoilers #i really want dorian to come back if yall couldn't tell

[togglesbloggle]

Is it just me, or is there a pretty under-explored niche for a massive D&D fantasy franchise along the lines of Star Wars and Marvel? The sort of missing third genre leg beside science fiction and comics, so to speak.

They've clearly tried this with Tolkien, at least as far as extending the LotR movies to the Hobbit trilogy and the Amazon show which is kinda-sorta in the same lineage. And those things had more than none traction. But the Tolkien estate isn't making it easy with rights licensing, and there's an awkward founder effect they have to contend with- the Jackson LotR trilogy gave the entire franchise a very distinct 'vibe' in the popular imagination, and in practice it seems to be hard to recapture given current production constraints. It seems like it's really hard to make a Tolkien movie or show that 'feels like' the Jackson movies unless you sink a lot in to costuming and practical effects, but the current trends are in the opposite direction, with elaborate greenscreening and digital everything.

But in any case, Middle-Earth really isn't the brand you want for a mass-media culture juggernaut, is it? It's literary when it needs to be pulpy, mournful when it needs to be exciting, pensive when it needs to be strident. The world is vast, but delicate, and written by a single author exploring a narrow, coherent set of themes and styles.

Surely D&D- which is to say, the Forgotten Realms, realistically- is better for this all-around. It has a truly massive baked-in fanbase that's clearly (through 'actual play' podcasts etc.) already chomping at the bit for high production value experiences, a vast backlog of source material to draw on owned by corporate entities rather than a single brittle family estate, a wide variety of scenarios allowing for multiple sub-genres and directoral styles all under the same umbrella. It's just as popular but less sacred, meaning the audience will be more tolerant of failures. It has merchandising options for days, already has beautiful examples of video game and multimedia tie-ins, and has established and successful writing patterns for epic-scale crossover movies, long-running multi-season campaigns, one-shots, and everything in between.

There's one weakness, which is that compared to Star Wars and Marvel, individual characters are less central in the existing property. D&D has some, such as Drizzt, that rose to prominence in the novel spin-offs, so of course this isn't totally wrecked. However, the brand was originally built fundamentally as a game system and as a set of places, with the heroes to be assembled by the consumers themselves; it must be said that iconic characters are somewhat sparse, and awkwardly spread across multiple settings and continuities. But I think if you got the thing really roaring, this might give it longevity that Star Wars and Marvel ultimately lack- Robert Downey Jr. is Iron Man, Mark Hammil is Luke, and notwithstanding AI representations, once those actors are gone, the franchises themselves flounder awkwardly. But if audiences come to identify their enthusiasm for D&D franchise movies with the world and brand itself, then the turnover in the cast is much less damaging to that brand, because the whole thing is already built from the ground up without overly relying on a specific group of 8-10 actors as a lynchpin of the whole operation. Even the leveling mechanic allows for franchise tentpole actors to grow in prominence as they emerge as audience favorites, then conveniently transition in to CG apotheosis or some other suitable end as the actors age out and new favorites are found.

I mean, far be it from me to give advice to the goliaths of culture, but I'm genuinely puzzled about why Disney hasn't bought D&D yet, or why Hasbro hasn't made some kind of big push to do this outside the single (pretty good!) movie. I think I'd even kind of enjoy it.

#I'm still hoping that I can make 'commedia' stick #as the name for these giant culture-dominating media franchises #but alas #not all wishes come true

[weiszklee]

Same anon.

I totally get what you’re saying about pragmatic ends coming into conflict. For me, 90% of the time when I say I’m ace, I’m specifically trying to communicate that I’m not interested in having sex with anyone. This is because I don’t experience sexual attraction, but I can see someone else who does using the term for the same purpose because of other reasons.

However, someone else who also doesn’t experience sexual attraction, so is definitionally asexual, but is actually interested in having sex, is going to want to communicate something entirely different by the word “asexual.”

What i want to communicate via the word ace is in direct conflict with what they want to communicate, despite us both meeting the dictionary definition. Intra-community, this is handled with micro-labels, but those aren’t going to be super useful for communicating with people who only have a passing familiarity with the term “asexuality” (which isn’t even most people).

As you said, we probably have to wait for this all to become more mainstream, as then both groups of people won’t have to compete for limited word real estate.

Oh yeah this touches on another maybe more abstract problem which isn't even specific to ace stuff which is that our society is kind of obsessed with identity and inner truth, like ... If you don't want to have sex, then "I don't want to have sex" is a very short sentence, there is no real need to go the circuitous and ambiguous route of communicating it by saying you're ace. But somehow the ace route is easier, because it fits into the mainstream thinking of ... how do I say it, people BEING their identity, and acting in accordance to that instead of as individuals.

Not like I don't do the same thing myself. I also tell people I'm gay, a roundabout and imprecise expression of my feelings. And it makes it seem like the only reason why I desire men is that I "am" gay, when really it's the other way around: The only reason why I call myself gay is because I desire men.

This reversal works well enough usually, there aren't many hiccups caused by it in everyday life, otherwise we would have long come up with a better way to talk about these things. But that doesn't make it less weird if you think about it. And I think it does confuse people, many think that actually yes there is some "essence" to gayness, as if my desire says something deeper, is merely the tangible sign of an intangible truth. Like some vulgar Platonism. Really hard to free oneself from this thinking, but very much worth it.

#answered

[this-acuteneurosis]

so funny thing with your dont look back thing, nearly all the political allies of Leia and folks, generally like VERY few that we know are actually directly democratic. like Padme former job could count sorta, but how democratic MONARCHY would work.... although Darsana could be a mostly democratic on via his Senatorship. found it funny cause Bail is like assigned by the queen and padme is hers as well, which fair, Senator is a really bad term for what they are, diplomat would be the better term.

I mean, I've thought a lot about how the Senate is ostensibly a democratic body when actually there is no planetary regulation to how they "elect" their senators.

I've ultimately decided to not go down this specific route for the fic, but arguably, the Republic is...not a government. They don't have anyone to enforce their "laws." The GFFA is huge. Like, I cannot stress this enough, taking the loose shapes of government for countries and slapping it down as a framework for how tens of thousands of planets are "ruled" by a "democracy" was always, at its core, bullshit. The Empire, with it's huge military and aggressive enforcement couldn't prevent the Alliance from camping out on abandoned planets, which, we know as residents of this good earth, is more than enough space to develop multiple entire civilizations. Frankly, as horrifying as it was, the Death Star was about the only logical conclusion space fascists could come to for a total control endgame. (That or implanting chips like the clones had but whoops, the past won't exist until 15 years after the future, so...)

That isn't to say that the Republic, or something like it, wouldn't exist and serve a purpose. Having a forum where people in disparate governments agree to things like trade rules and enforce them by, say, refusing to trade with people not in the group, or at worse rates, could definitely explain a Republic sized coalition of planets/planetary systems. They could even develop things like anti-slavery agreements, taxes dues, a group of negotiators loyal to the "Republic" instead of to individual planets or systems for theoretically unbiased diplomacy.

But yeah, if you notice that Leia's views on democracy don't match Padmé's assertions from AotC and RotS(released post 9/11 guys, Anakin's character was not the only casualty of that time), it is 100% because she was going to be the hereditary ruler of a planet and had no problem with that.

Keep in mind that democracy, in many ways, is more effective the more direct it is, because even self-interested politicians have to give you what you as a majority want if they have to win each of your individual votes. But that is incredibly hard to organize and maintain. Especially because the elected officials figure out really quickly they don't want to be beholden to so many contradictory interests.

And the more indirect a democracy becomes, the more your welfare relies on the innate charity/sense of responsibility of your representatives. Yes, as people who weren't voted into office, Padmé and Bail don't actually answer directly to their people. Padmé's on a bit thinner of ice because she's appointed by a directly elected queen, so Jamillia has motive to oust Padmé if she threatens Jamillia's re-election. But Bail? Our favorite, made it through most of the Empire, stuck to his guns, initiated the Rebellion, raised his baby girl right? Yeah, no, he's a nepotism boy, and everyone would have been screwed if he didn't have the moral and ethical fortitude of mountains.

#Don't Look Back #politics #Padmé Amidala #Bail Organa #democracy #this isn't just true for DLB #the structure of the Senate 100% allowed for the kind of corruption that enabled Palpatine's takeover #he didn't need to convince the galaxy to make him Emperor #just a bunch of scared senators who didn't want to lose their jobs #and were happy to war monger because the Confederacy was very dangerous competition #in theory #if they hadn't also been controlled by the Sith

[beardedmrbean]

Some of the same hard leftists who have been on the forefront in denying free speech rights to those deemed politically incorrect have now begun to champion the First Amendment in defense of those who advocate the killing of Jews.

Among the worst offenders is Harvard's President Claudine Gay, who for years—both as dean of the faculty and as president of Harvard—has championed the idea that it is more important for students to feel safe, and not have their ideas challenged, than for free expression to be allowed on campus. The bureaucracy through which this notion operates is Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), which punishes microaggressions and other forms of speech that certain students claim makes them feel unsafe. The entire woke progressive movement rests on restricting expression that alienates or upsets protected minorities.

In her disastrous testimony in front of Congress, President Gay swore under oath that we at Harvard "embrace a commitment to free expression." If only that were so. For years now Harvard has been suppressing expression deemed by some to be politically incorrect, as reflected by its last-place ranking among American universities in protecting free speech by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression. Lectures have been canceled because of content some deemed offensive. Students have been reprimanded for microaggressions. Acceptances have been rescinded for allegedly racist or sexist speech engaged in by high school students. A former president—Lawrence Summers—was forced to resign over comments about women in engineering. An atmosphere of intimidation has permeated the campus. Freedom of expression was dying a slow death at the university whose motto is "Veritas" but whose actions have suggested "Pravda."

Then suddenly, following the barbarous Hamas attacks of October 7 and the flurry of antisemitic rhetoric immediately following them, the same groups that denied free speech to those who criticize minorities protected by DEI have discovered the First Amendment as a protection for those who are calling for the death of Jews.

"Free speech for me, but not for thee" has been the unspoken mantra of the hard Left. Or, more specifically, "freedom of speech to make Jews feel unsafe but not to make favored minorities uncomfortable."

There are two principled responses universities may take to this unequal application of freedom of expression. The first, and the one which I personally prefer, is to allow total free speech consistent with the First Amendment on all campuses. This would permit advocacy, but not incitement, against all and any groups. This pure and equal approach to the First Amendment is what the Supreme Court has demanded of the government in most circumstances. It allowed Nazis to march in Skokie, Illinois, and communists to advocate the overthrow of the government. It does not allow direct and immediate incitement to violence. The line between advocacy and incitement has been a difficult one to draw since the Supreme Court mandated that distinction. But it is the law, in theory if not always in practice.

The First Amendment is not directly applicable to private universities and other non-governmental organizations. Universities remain free to impose speech codes and other limitations on free expression that they feel enhance the learning experience and the safety of students. Public universities have greater restrictions, but they too have some flexibility in adapting the First Amendment to the special needs of educational institutions.

If private universities, such as Harvard, MIT, and Penn decide not to adhere to the standards of the First Amendment and impose limitations on free speech, they should do so equally and without preference for some groups over others. Few universities, if any, satisfy that criteria. Most prefer certain minorities over others, as well as certain political views over others.

If Harvard had a history of applying a single standard, its president would have had an easy time answering the question of whether Harvard's rules prohibit the advocacy of genocide against the Jews. Here's what she would have been able to say: "under the standards Harvard has applied in the past, there is no doubt that calling for genocide against the Jews is a clear violation of Harvard rules." But she refused to acknowledge the truth—that Harvard has not embraced "a commitment to free expression" equally for all of its students and faculty.

It can be hoped that perhaps the Harvard Corporation's decision to retain President Gay will actually result in a change in its policies toward free speech. Perhaps Harvard will finally "embrace a commitment to free expression" for all. This may be wishful thinking, especially in light of the continuing influence of the DEI bureaucracy over who can say what about whom, without fear of university reprisal. But it is the right thing to do.

#nunyas news

[manda-kat]

I mean, a lot of people don't like christianity for a multitude of reasons, such as homophobia, transphobia, & religious trauma

Here it is. We're back to 'it's ok to harrass you because you totally deserve it'.

Homophobia - believing God designed marriage (and sex) in a specific way between a man and a woman and refusing to engage in or support any deviation from that is not hate, it is a religious law. We do not deny you your right to sin, we simply will not do it ourselves or claim it is good.

Transphobia - believing God created us male and female with intention and that attempting to change that which He has made is both futile and harmful is not hate. We do not deny your right to view yourself as the opposite sex or anything else, we simply do not do it ourselves or claim it is good.

Religious trauma - do not place your individual experience over an entire group or else that group has permission to do the same to you. Trauma of any kind is terrible and painful and should be dealt with in healthy ways. It is true that some people who have been abused or otherwise traumatized by members of the church often paint Christianity as a whole in the same light. While I don't like using logic arguments to fight things that are mostly emotionally or psychologically driven, in the end the truth is; 1) The actions of one do not define the whole. 2) If a Christian abused, hurt, manipulated, lied to or otherwise sinned towards the sufferer, then why would directing anger towards Christians who actively avoid those sins be productive? And 3) If you need to judge someone based on your own past experiences with people the person doesn't even know, then you actually have NO good reason to hate them at all and you're either not thinking straight (so nothing you do in your anger is justified) or you're a hateful little hypocrite!

If you want to remove hateful people from your fandom spaces, you should! Block the people who say horrible things to you! If a Christian happens to bully you about the things you can't agree on go ahead and remove them from the situation by blocking and take the necessary precautions to remove the toxicity, but don't pretend this is the situation I'm talking about when I mention the amount of bullying, harassment, ostracization and hate that Christians get in these communities when they never did anything wrong.

Stop victim blaming and telling us that we deserve all the undue hatred we get.

(I'm being serious, a lot of Christians in fandom spaces who receive this level of harrassment happen to be kids. I've seen minors posting pages of depressive monologs after they received death threats because they offhand mentioned that they didn't approve of a gay ship. Not to mention the things I saw as a kid online just trying to make friends. So stop pretending to be the only one who's ever been bullied by someone who believes differently than you. People are getting hurt.)

[raytorosaurus]

i think where people get confused is that mcr did try very hard and very overtly to make their shows a safe space for queer people and women which is not a political act it just feels political because being queer and/or a woman means you exist in a space where your being is politicised by those around you whether you want to actively be involved in those politics or not. but, as you said, the art itself is personal and the message at shows is generally also about personal expression and learning to be yourself and take care of yourself. there's an element of respect each other/respect each others' differences but that's not political there's no call to action there's no fight for structural change and that's totally fine they don't have to be that

yeah no you said it, i totally agree. like i said, they're only political as far as all art is political - maybe slightly more because they made an active effort to engage with a socially outcast audience, tho in their minds that wasn't about specific marginalised groups like queer people, neurodivergent ppl etc - beyond their vocal support of women at shows/in the scene, they were directing their art just at people who didn't quite fit in in general. there's a big venn diagram there (and obviously some contextual cause-and-effect in terms of what kind of people tended to be unwelcome in hardcore scenes lol - even then, mcr never made any statements about race or whiteness) but it's not like gerard started a band to empower or liberate specific identities in a political sense - it was very consciously an effort to sing more about general unifying human experiences - i.e. ones lots of people can relate to. one of mcr's (especially gerard as lyricist) greatest strengths is being able to tap into those "universal" emotions like grief, loneliness, self-hatred etc. and make them a little easier to confront head-on or feel a little less isolating. that's literally why they're popular - if they had been overtly political they simply never would have made it that big! wait i'll let hanif abdurraqib say it because he said it best (brief snippet from his wonderful essay on the black parade in his collection they can't kill us until they kill us - 100% worth the cost of the ebook alone, and all of his essays are brilliant).

that idea is kind of at the heart of mcr and something i really appreciate about it. there's actually very little specificity in mcr's lyrics by design - it's meant to be projected onto and interpreted. that makes it inherently difficult to politicise bc good politics requires clarity of message and intention. that in turn makes mcr pretty apolitical by nature - which isn't a bad thing! different bands (like all types of art) exist for different reasons, and mcr's reason is catharsis and connection far more than it is any kind of activism. we can be pretty assured based on the lyrics and what we know of the guys that their politics aren't terrible and that's enough for me.

the real issue comes in when people act like mcr are political and give them credit for something they're not (and something they've never really claimed to be!). i get that mcr is a gateway band for a lot of people into harder/heavier music - it was for me too! - but even bands one step removed from mcr in the same scene (e.g. thursday) are leagues more political than these guys are.

this goes beyond mcr/bandom now but....tbh i think a lot of it comes from that relatively recent attitude that's common in online circles that activism is heavily rooted in personal identity (which ties in with the harmful pattern of, for example, white queer people acting like they're somehow above other white people in terms of racism) and comes more from individual thought, words, and discussion (in which using the correct language sometimes has more weight than what you're trying to say) than it does from actual community action. this isn't an attack at anyone btw - a lot of the statements about mcr's politics around here are pretty flippant and light-hearted anyway, i doubt too many people are taking them super seriously, but it's probably worth considering. overall, i'm not listening to mcr for politics and i'm certainly not looking to any of them for political guidance, but it's nice to feel connected to them and to all of you guys and to know that they support my identity, but that’s kind of as far as it goes for me.

#me at 6pm: i'm too dead tired to think straight after work :((( #me at 9pm: so in hanif abdurraqib's essay on the representation of universal grief in the black para- #answered #mcr talk #i Think there's an id on that screenshot btw i hope it worked lol (i'm on desktop)

[trans-axolotl]

Hi! Do you know of resources for direct mental health support that 1) aren't part of the psych system (aka no warmlines, hotlines, psych wards, phps, iops, individual therapy, etc) and also 2) aren't support groups?

I have pretty severe CPTSD and I'm noticing that I need support, but because of my trauma groups don't work for me, and I have had so many negative experiences with traditional mental health supports that I just don't trust them. I have been trying for years to form a support network but I currently only have one person, so anything that involves reaching out to an already existing support network is off the table.

Hey anon! Thanks for reaching out.

That makes a lot of sense that you would want support that is outside the mental health system and also doesn't require participating in groups. I know it can be exhausting to try to find support when everyone just suggests traditional mental health resources, so kudos to you for advocating for the type of support that you need. I have a few suggestions, but as always, you're going to know yourself + your needs best!

My first thought is to find an individual peer support advocate. Depending on the organization they work with, they might be able to offer things like weekly meetings for emotional support, help with crisis planning, connecting you to resources, or even coming to your house to help with material needs like meal planning, chores, etc. Project LETS is an abolitionist organization that has a Peer Mental Health Advocate program. I personally am friends with several of the people at this org and can vouch that they will never engage with the mental health system or cops without your consent. This is a database of Abolitionist Care providers, and there are a lot of peer supporters who don't work in the mental health system listed on this database. Peer Support Space also offers some fabulous 1-1 peer support options.

Another way to find direct peer support If you're in the United States, most states have databases with all the people who are certified as peer support specialists in the state. Depending on what organizations they work for, state requirements, etc, there might be different requirements to access peer support services, and more potential entanglement with the mental health system through that option. Searching for mental health services, especially supportive living services in your area, might help you find organizations that also have individual peer support programs that aren't directly connected to things like therapy, IOP, etc. Totally understand if that isn't a desirable option because of the increased association with MH services, but happy to give you more specific info if you want to share what state you're in on another anon ask.

For me, seeking out educational resources, books, workbooks, and seminars, was a super helpful way to build my confidence in my own capabilities to cope with my distress and navigate healing. I'll link a bunch of resources-as always, take what works and leave the rest!

Out Of The Storm: CPTSD community and tons of resource lists, book recommendations, etc

List of resources + books for CPTSD: (Have not read most of these, would def reccomend seeking out content warnings and reviews for any books!)

Madness, Oppression, and Mad Mapping: Self guided workbook for mapping our madness, evaluating how oppression shows up in our life, how distress shows up in our life, what healing and coping might look like.

IDHA has a TON of amazing seminars, self paced courses, trainings, on topics ranging from trauma to anticarceral crisis response. Some cost money and some are free.

I hope some of these resources are helpful, but please feel free to reach out again if you are looking for something different. Followers with relevant experience, please add on your own resources or tips! Truly wishing you the best, anon, and hope that you're able to find the healing + support that you're looking for 💜

#asks #ptsd #cptsd #cptsd coping #mental health #antipsych #mad pride #psych abolition #neurodivergent

[lazyyogi]

I’ve been bouncing back and forth between Tibetan Buddhism and Zen in my practice over the years. This has resulted in a sort of mush of various teachings in my head and a feeling of lack of clarity. Part of of me feels like I need to let go of one or the other and dedicate myself to one tradition to make progress in my practice. But then, what does “progress” even mean?

Why are you undertaking a spiritual path and practices? That is what will determine the orientation of your practice, its "goal," and what progress means.

There are as many reasons to practice the path as there are people in existence to walk the path, perhaps even more. But in my opinion, all of those reasons are subsumed within the ultimate goal of self-realization, or total enlightenment.

If you are seeking an end to suffering and the lived realization of reality, which is complete enlightenment in its fullness, then that is what "progress" means.

Some people don't like the idea of reducing enlightenment and its path to a results-oriented practice with a goal in mind. There are valid reasons for why they may feel this way.

Firstly, enlightenment is never attained by the individual in the same way we think of individuals attaining goals. Secondly, enlightenment only ever is the realization of what has already and always been the truth. It is not something new that is obtained. And lastly, the results-focused and grasping mindset we associate with this kind of seeking is the same mindset we try to loosen up during meditation and similar practices.

However, there are a few counterpoints to keep in mind.

The first is that while enlightenment doesn't change anything but is the realization of what has always been the reality, there is a significant difference between someone who is enlightened and someone who is not. Secondly, while we may debate whether or not enlightenment is the literal result of a practice/path, the majority of humans that have become enlightened did so while undertaking deliberate spiritual practice. So regardless of whether we consider enlightenment to be the result of practices, we may at least say that without practice it is unlikely a person will undergo self-realization, or enlightenment.

All of this can be succinctly summarized by the following teaching: You will not find as a result of seeking; but if you do not seek, you will not find.

There is a movement within the spiritual subculture called "pragmatic dharma," of which I think you are likely aware. It more or less applies the scientific model to spiritual practice for the purpose of delineating a clear map to enlightenment and the practical methods for attaining it.

Not every "spiritual" person is seeking enlightenment. Instead they are seeking a harmony with their environment, the people around them, the universe at large, and their mortal role to play throughout their life. They may have a specific spiritual tradition or group but most have formed their own perspective from various teachings and beliefs that appeal to them.

If you are seeking enlightenment, however, my advice is to find an enlightened human and practice what they teach.

From our personal exchanges over the years, my sense tells me that you are a dedicated and capable practitioner. However, it is likely you have come as far as you can with your current approach of mixing traditions.

So if you are seeking enlightenment, it is the time to pick a direct path and give yourself to it. See how it goes. Pick something that makes the most sense to you. You can always pivot and change approach/direction as needed later on.

Just my two cents, brother.

Much love!

LY

#buddhism #spirituality #yoga #enlightenment #dharma #pragmatic dharma

[fleurladari]

PUBLIC KNOWLEDGE ( information everyone can know )

Lysandre has multiple degrees, including but not limited to biomedical science, chemistry, and genetics.

Lysandre was born in Kalos, specifically Geosenge Town.

Lysandre did ballet and gymnastics for the first ten years of his life. He still practices ballet and dance as a whole to this day, though it's nowhere near the professional level, especially given how busy he is presently.

Lysandre is in his 40s, possibly his 50s.

Lysandre's birthday is November 27th

Lysandre Labs informally adopted Bagatella Silva when she was six.

Lysandre played the bassoon and mellophone, though he no longer really plays either. He still owns the originals he played on, but doesn't really do it much anymore.

Lysandre Labs has a working relationship with Paldea's academia as a resource for investment. Generally graduates and those looking for higher education are directed to intern at Lysandre Labs.

Lysandre Labs is one of the biggest grant givers of the world, whether it be to students, individuals, small groups, or whole other organizations, etc. Requesting funding from LL is practically guaranteed.

SEMI-PRIVATE KNOWLEDGE ( information lesser know )

Lysandre is a member of the royal family, technically. Though he never talks about this and when it's mentioned to him he sort of chuckles and waves it off. He doesn't really care about it.

Funding provided by Lysandre Labs is easy to get ... but all results and the process itself is often overseen by a representative of LL. Material is often provided by LL, some things are required to be used to keep the funding provided.

Lysandre Lab's research on the Zygarde cells and cores is semi-public, it can be accessed, but it requires a lot of pushing.

Lysandre has been on record saying that Team Plasma is terrible :) On record hates the organization and has said that they are likely tricking the entirety of Unova. When Plasma's goals were revealed, all he did was gesture at his previous statements.

Lysandre Labs has four main lab locations, a Central Lab HQ, a West Lab HQ, an East Lab HQ, and a North Lab HQ. These are all public access, though it takes a bit of digging to actually find out how to tour them.

To be hired into Lysandre Labs, one has to either be an Intern--which if you're an Intern, you're practically guaranteed to be hired--or you have to either reach out or be reached out to DIRECTLY by Lysandre or a head scientist.

PRIVATE KNOWLEDGE ( information only specific people know )

Everyone that gets funding from LL is being tracked and noted as a person or organization of interest.

Lysandre is the leader and founder of Team Flare.

Lysandre Labs is the public face of Team Flare, Team Flare itself is private and completely invisible to public knowledge.

Team Flare was originally formed as a secretive organization made to pull the strings in assistance the population of Kalos and eventually the world.

Team Flare is presently a surveillance cult, made up of a majority scientist population.

Flare has a fully functional cloning facility beneath the LL West HQ.

Flare has a functioning purifying tank for Shadow Pokemon. However, they are currently still researching ways to make the process more streamline as well as a way to use that energy extracted from the corrupted Pokemon.

Flare has captured yveltal, volcanion, jirachi, cosmog, and articuno. However, all have been released willing or have escaped.

Yveltal was in captivity for the longest, a total of eight years in it's cocoon form. These years were spent analyzing and evaluating everything about the legendary. However, due to it's sleeping state, they were incapable of getting everything from it.

During their time with Yveltal in captivity, they both collected cell samples as well as put multiple tracking chips into the legendary.

Unfortunately, Yveltal escaped about 3 years before the beginning of XY. It escaped after an incident with another experiment, which soon was followed by the escape of the experiment that caused that incident. The chips in Yveltal were broke as soon as it awakened temporarily from it's cocoon state.

Flare has some research on Xerneas, but it is nowhere near the amount done on Yveltal.

Flare has gotten their hands on three zygarde cores, with two currently in it's possession. Prior to the events of the game, they were in the possession of the red core and white core, during the events of the game, they were in possession of the blue and white core, with the red core escaping.

Hybridization projects are generally a means to an end, projects that might be fronting as a creation of a hybrid, are often not the end result. The end result of hybridization is between Cloning and learning to what extend a certain species can fuse with another, as well as how to create something new.

Flare has four different types of members--grunts, scientists, heads, and administrators. With the exception of some grunts, every other type, they are practically required to be some sort of scientist or engineer.

You cannot join Flare unless you were specifically given an application by Lysandre or an administration. No matter what, you will be required to be approved by Lysandre himself to join.

The 'payment' of Flare, is only required for those that are not actually Chosen. Members that are assured Chosen are welcomed in with open arms, those that believe that Flare is just an organization for the rich--often grunts--are the ones that pay.

Everyone in Flare has likely gone through a 'purifying' process. This isn't necessarily a physically permanent process, but it is a form of hazing. Lysandre does this himself, generally this can range from burning away the ugly parts of someone--emotionally/mentally--or flushing it out.

Lysandre has a silent agreement with Giovanni to not interact with Rocket activity so long as Rocket stays out of Kalos. [This also depends on the Giovanni and can be changed/removed altogether]

Members of other evil teams entering Kalos are often disappeared if they are still actively in the team. Even if they aren't actively in it, they will be surveyed till they leave.

Kalos is a surveillance state. Hiding anything in Kalos is nigh impossible. Lysandre--or at least Flare--will know if someone enters Kalos or if someone leaves Kalos. There is little to no way to avoid being surveyed while on Kalos grounds, especially in recent years. This was more possible a couple years ago--but after the escape of both Yveltal and SYv:D, this surveillance was taken to beyond immediately. A "surprise visit" is nigh impossible in Kalos.

There is a hidden lab below Pokemon Village. Only heads and administration know about this lab.

Every single lab for Lysandre Labs has a specialized Flare lab beneath them.

COMPLETELY PRIVATE KNOWLEDGE ( information that only lysandre and probably only xerosic knows )

Lysandre has emotional outbursts. These are rare, but when they happen they are extreme and often result in damage of an area or even others.

Lysandre's hunger for beauty is something that will never be quenched, no matter what, he always craves more and more. The world will die, be revived, and repeated over and over, and he will still want to know more.

Even after the failure of Flare in XY, Lysandre regained consciousness and became semi-immortal after consuming a Zygarde Core. He remains otherwise hidden in the lab beneath the Pokemon Village. Xerosic and Malva are the ONLY ones that know about Lysandre's status. [This depends on the Malva and Xerosic and can be changed/removed for post game verses]

#study ;; noblesse flamboyante #i will definitely be updating this . #tw cults #ask to tag #tw cult mention #this is like . this is very bare bones rn JIOFJIOSDJIFOSDJIOFJOISDFIJOSIDOF #i just wanted to get SOMETHING down here ...

[coochiequeens]

But the system oppresses poor trans laydees.

By Eva Kurilova. September 26, 2023

Australia’s Human Rights Commission has released a preliminary decision prohibiting lesbians from holding events for females due to the exclusion of men who identify as “women.” The Commission’s decision comes after a lesbian rights group applied for an exemption under the Sex Discrimination Act 1984.

The application to the Commission was submitted by long-time Australian women’s rights activist Jean Taylor on behalf of herself and the members of the Lesbian Action Group, a collective established to address discrimination experienced by lesbians. The application provided an overview of lesbian organizing and gatherings in Victoria since the early 1970s, arguing that, “many thousands of lesbians benefited from the sense of pride, recognition and wellbeing that a large, well [publicized], public lesbian specific gathering encourages in the participants.”

However, this started to change in 2003 when trans activists challenged the organizers of the 2004 Lesbian Festival, accusing female-only spaces as being discriminatory under the law. This caused the festival organizers to seek and be awarded an exemption that allowed them to invite and only allow access to “lesbians born female.” 

The exemption was revoked on a technicality, resulting in lesbian gatherings in Australia being driven underground for almost two decades in an effort to avoid more challenges from the transgender community.

The Sex Discrimination Act was then amended in 2013 to include gender identity, making it even more difficult to organize single-sex events.

Frustrated by the situation, the Lesbian Action Group attempted to organize a female-only lesbian event at the Victorian Pride Centre this past August. The event was meant to celebrate International Lesbian Day on October 15, 2023, but the Pride Centre declined the booking, claiming that it was exclusionary and conflicted with the organization’s aim of supporting “equality, diversity and inclusion.”

As a result, the Lesbian Action Group applied for a 5-year exemption with the Australian Human Rights Commission with the intention of approaching another venue for the International Lesbian Day event if the exemption was granted. The group also intended to subsequently hold regular female-only lesbian events during its exemption period.

After receiving the application, the Commission requested further information from the Lesbian Action Group, asking for more details about why it is “reasonable and necessary to exclude the relevant groups mentioned in the application and restrict the event to female born lesbians.”

The Group then complied and provided a document of additional information further explaining the importance for minority groups like lesbians to have the freedom to associate with one another and to hold their own events.

The Commission received a total of 236 submissions on the application from individuals and groups by the closing date of September 1, 2023. Of those submissions, 123 individuals and 15 organizations were in favor of the exemption while 82 individuals and 14 organizations were opposed.

One of the applications opposed to the exemption came from Equal Opportunity Tasmania and referred to the Tasmanian Anti-Discrimination Commissioner ruling late last year that women-only events are discriminatory towards men who claim they are women. 

In its ruling, the Tasmanian Commissioner wrote that “The applicants propose to exclude ‘biological males’ from their event… The exclusion of such persons engages the provisions of the act prohibiting direct discrimination on the basis of gender and gender identity.”

Like the Tasmanian Anti-Discrimination Commissioner, the Australian Human Rights Commission’s preliminary view is that it will not grant the temporary 5-year exemption sought by the Lesbian Action Group to host its International Lesbian Day Event or to hold subsequent female-only lesbian events.

While the Commission recognized that “lesbians in Australia have faced structural and entrenched discrimination” and that “it may be important and beneficial for lesbians to gather together as a community,” it nevertheless was not persuaded that it is appropriate or reasonable to “make distinctions between women based on their cisgender or transgender experience.”

The ruling continued:

“The Commission notes that the grant of this exemption may lead to the further exclusion of and discrimination against same-sex attracted transgender women. Transgender women are a group who have and continue to experience discrimination, harassment and social exclusion.”

Australian women’s rights activist Janet Inglis took to X (formerly Twitter) to express her disappointment with the decision.

“Australian lesbians are being denied fairness,” she wrote. “They are being denied their humanity. I am so ashamed of my country.”

Speaking to Reduxx, Inglis said that Victoria is now joining Tasmania in “forcing lesbians underground and out of the public sphere.”

Inglis called it a “damning indictment of Australia” that both federal legislation and the Human Rights Commission have barred lesbians from holding single-sex events.

“The gender amendments to the SDA [Sex Discrimination Act] must be repealed. Our HRC has proven itself unfit for purpose and must be disbanded if it can no longer distinguish between men and women because of shonky legislation,” she explained. “A true HRC would be working to repeal those amendments and restore the rights of lesbians to be recognised in their own right.”

On X, Inglis also called on others to consider making a submission to respond to the Commission’s preliminary view before the October 3, 2023 deadline.

“The War on Women is gaining pace in Australia,” she added. “Australia is so far down the gender rabbit hole it’s truly frightening.”

This is not the first time that Australian women have run into issues with the law in regard to gender identity.

In May of this year, a woman was visited by New South Wales Police after she spoke to media about a trans activist by the name of Riley Dennis who was reportedly injuring female players in a women’s football league. The woman was given an Apprehended Violence Order which required her not to discuss Dennis. Reduxx was also contacted by the Australian eSafety Commissioner and advised to censor or delete an article naming Dennis.

Later that month, two women in Australia were contacted by Twitter and informed that they had broken Australian law by criticizing a trans-identified male for breastfeeding a child.

#Australia #Australia's Human Rights commission #Sex Discrimination Act 1984 #Lesbian Action Group #Equal Opportunity Tasmania #women-only events are discriminatory towards men who claim they are women on account that biology is real

[sacrificedtoatree]

Thoughts on Almost Nowhere

Almost Nowhere is over, so here's my reaction post. I was going to call it "Thoughts on the Almost Nowhere ending" but then I rambled all over and didn't just talk about the ending.

This post is FULL of spoilers for Almost Nowhere, all after the cut.

First, wow there were some very good fakeouts in those last few chapters.

1) I was sure that the Beasts were going to use the Wish-Power once more, in defiance of Everywhere-Heaven. Didn't see Twenty-Five just shooting her before they had time.

2) I was sure that the final chapter would end with something like, “But really, we can’t know which new story Twenty-Seven will choose. We are a part of the old story, and we cannot follow her to the moment of choice. It is not for us.” Especially with how careful our authors have been so far to convey to us that they only know what they were able to find out as a group of characters.

____

I like that the final chapter recalled the world of Anne’s tower again. It hadn’t been such a major presence in Act 3. But really, the completely-real-seeming world of the Annes was one of the big original draws of Almost Nowhere. The bizarre writing of “Ratleak”, the way the Annes just accepted everything as perfectly normal and only casually mentioned things that were totally different from the real world.

In fact, I have a specific memory from early chapters. When Cordelia mentioned that Anne was being kept in a “fucked-up crash” and proceeded to rescue her in Chapter 3, I was kinda disappointed. I thought that the weirdness of Anne’s world, the hook that had grabbed me in the very first few pages, was being demoted to backstory, that it being just one example of a type made it a little smaller, that Michael was being revealed as the equivalent of, say, some random cult in the middle of nowhere that’s got a few people kidnapped.

Of course, I was totally wrong. Anne's tower is explored to a great extent in Act 2, both in terms of the aesthetics and day to day experience of living there and in terms of plot implications!

____

In his post for new readers, Robnost mentions that he really got serious about plotting in Chapter 13.

It’s hard to tell now if I can tell that, or noticed the transition as it was happening. For me:

The first two chapters are fucking perfect.

(Like seriously, it’s hard to tell that anything wasn’t planned out when rereading the first two chapters, and hard to imagine any of their individual paragraphs being more perfectly written)

Then the chapters start to feel a little more like stuff is being thrown at the wall, as new plot elements accrue quickly (though even then ... early Cordelia chapters make a lot more sense in retrospect than they did at the time).

If there’s a low point, it’s the Stein on Stein’s Rock chapter. This chapter has some of the only elements that seem like Robnost throwing things at the wall in a way that didn’t stick. Most specifically, WTF is the Social Web, why are they in space, and in what context would an organization called the “Geometric Brotherhood” be a part of Almost Nowhere? My impression is that Rob noticed this and retconned it with that Annabel monologue.

Then by chapter 11 and 12, it feels like things are coming together and there’s a plan again. I remember Chapter 13, but as a step on that path, not a new direction - but I do have some memory that I noticed it as a particularly [i]longer[/i] chapter than usual for that point.

(But now I look back and it doesn't seem particularly long, though the early chapters do seem unusually short for AN)

Then Aidan’s MM lecture blew me away. The ending of the chapter, with all those plot elements briefly teased and then hidden for another third of the book, was brutal, and brutally effective. And also served to tell me that from then on, it wouldn’t be any kind of crapshoot whether a chapter was good or not.

____

If I could change something in Almost Nowhere, I’d just … make the finale a little shorter?

Rob said he imagined the final section being “fast and explosive”. It did feel that way during the serial chapters. But then, the last block of six dropped and the final act ended up being nearly as long as 1 and 2 put together.

I feel like it would be better if Act 2 had remained the longest act? When I look back over Almost Nowhere, it at least seems to have the largest amount of "differing stuff" in it.

Not a word could be shaved off of Sylvie's physics essay though.

____

btw, Thank You Rob for not having all the characters just give in and accept the alleged moral supremacy of Everywhere-Heaven. I don't like being mugged.

Things I’m still wondering about: the Titanomachy. I was sure it would be revealed that the Alpha Centauri Surface Civilization had fought the Anomalings before, and that was what the “bombs that can kill gods” stuff was about. But apparently Titans are a [i]different[/i] thing created by the Alpha Centauri Surface Civilization?

But wait, the ACSC must have fought the Anomalings at some point, right? How would they still be around otherwise, if they’re stack-users?

I’m interested in Sylvie’s plans for future humanity, but I don’t need to, like, actually understand them. I don't understand the anti-language plague at all. Do feel like some of the big plot tensioners just went away (the Beasts encroaching on Advanced Containment and Hector’s desire to use it for rebase if Anne won’t use Michael’s crash). Though I like that Hector's actually willing to talk. All in all there's enough resolution.

The last chapter is excellent. It truly ties up the main arc. Act 1 interrupted Twenty-Six's orderly universe, Act 2 had Twenty-Six learn to be Twenty-Seven and explore all the secrets and implications of Michael’s crash, and the biggest thing hanging over and driving the plot of Act 3 was what Twenty-Seven would do when it was finally time to rebase Michael's crash. And I was truly surprised by her decision! But I can understand why she made it, and it fits well with the themes (these characters really need to work with what they've got instead of obsessing over what really poisoned the world at its root). And I really liked the little scene with Twenty-Six at the end. Takes us all the way back to the beginning.

I can't believe this thing is really over! I've been obsessing over it since sometime last summer. Looking back I was really lucky to get into it in Spring 2022 when Rob was updating regularly ... I think I had the perfect amount of time to enjoy being a serial reader but not to get frustrated at how long I had to wait for answers.

And now I have the answers. Or at least, enough of them.

Thanks, Rob.

#almost nowhere #nostalgebraist

[monarchisms]

"so, now that it seems that some of the worst of everything in regards to rooster teeth has come to light, what are you, tumblr user monarchisms, the user previously known as kingpattillo, gonna do next?": the post

[under a readmore because it's stupidly long]

so fucking much has happened over the past week, so i'm just typing all of this up to figure out what to do in future, both so that people who follow me are in the loop, and that i can help myself get some shit together. almost every day has been one gut punch after another, so i definitely won't get everything in one go, and can surely edit this if/when i change my mind on a couple of things, with some exceptions.

for now:

"do you still want to watch/listen to/make fan content for rt in general?" Oh Dear God No. i don't want the company to crash and burn, only because i want the people currently still there who aren't shitbags to get all the support they need and deserve, emotional support or otherwise. however, because of a series of totally avoidable errors made by the company, i don't feel bad about letting my first subscription end. whether i just cancel it immediately, or i let it lapse, i'm not sure yet, but yeah, after i get charged for this month, i'm not going to pay for my subscription anymore.

"does that also include achievement hunter?" kinda?????????? that's more complicated to me. monetarily, i won't support them because they're still under rooster teeth, so i won't keep my subscription for specifically them. i'd totally throw them some money if they're able to pull a drawfee and break from the company they were formed under and go independent, and i totally am not mad at other people if they keep the subscriptions specifically for AH. again, it's all complicated. even with everything involving them as a group, i'm still rooting for them. "any reasons why?" many, actually, but here's what it boils down to.

i feel like even with all the stumbles, AH has had better progress collectively since... i'd say since geoff stepped down, if not earlier than that, than rt has had in their almost 2 decades of existing. i don't have a concrete year for AH i can point to for where i feel like progress has really started rolling. i'm just going off of Vibes alone lol. what makes me still have hope in them includes (but is not limited to, since there's a lot of stuff i could have missed) all the twitlongers from the post team, as well as this tweet from jack:

and this tweet from fiona:

(honestly, their whole thread is very good, and i agree with their takes wholeheartedly)

almost every problem i had with AH has been covered in this 4 am vent post i made on the 17th, and the problems i still have actually seem to be on the mend. props to the individuals currently at AH who put in the effort to improve, not just collectively as achievement hunter, but also as their individuals selves. which brings me to my next point:

"what about geoff?"

this hurts to type, but fuck him! the lowest points (in my opinion) of AH were in what many (used to?) perceive as their golden age, approximately the years of 2012 to 2015 or so, all of which were under the time geoff was the AH bossman. if he wasn't the perpetrator of the toxic behavior of his main employees at the time, he was complicit in it for reasons i certainly won't/can't pinpoint because i don't know him personally. though, another tweet from fiona gives me at least one idea:

alongside all of that, there's the direct reply from kdin under geoff 's twitter apology that also makes me 🤨 at him, as well as as all of this from the woman who geoff mentioned in that one reddit post he made in 2020, (edit 10/22/22: and also the fact that his public twitter likes showed that his apology was disingenuous to begin with 🥴🥴🥴🥴🥴), but everyone knows about all of that. if you didn't, then uh... genuinely, my bad :(

oof, speaking of kdin,

"what about her?"

it's pretty easy to sum up my thoughts on her now. basically, i still believe that she shouldn't have gotten through the traumatic events she endured at rt, and should 100% be financially compensated, and i also simultaneously believe that her videos during the tatsudoshi days are downright deplorable. it's one thing to use a slur or two (Which Is Still Objectively Bad, but solely in comparison, is easier to stomach and apologize for), but it's another to go on a fully bigoted rant that attacks multiple marginalized identities, regardless of if it was over 10 years ago. No Average 19-Year-Old Wouldn't Do That Unless They Were Bigoted As Fuck. even if she is better now, that never excuses her past actions.

...also, i personally thought the part of her apology that i could actually accept or not accept was mid as fuck, and blizz perfectly pointed out why:

so fuck her for those points specifically. she should still get paid fairly, though. everybody should.

"is that why you're still :/ about gavin?" precisely. the first day, i just thought kdin didn't see gavin's apology on twitter since she was getting swarmed with a billion notifications, and also just doesn't follow most of the AH crew these days. turns out her not responding to him seems more and more intentional each passing day, so whoops!

"so like, are you going to pirate the rt content you still enjoy(ed)?" Oh, Absolutely. for me specifically, i feel like the only thing i'm going to pirate with no remorse is rwby because i still want to see how the story ends. as for everything else i enjoyed pre-braggnarok:

1. with rvb, the only reason i fell out of love it was because of the lack of care given to zero. i still enjoyed that season overall, but how poorly it was treated by the higher ups killed my excitement for rvb. QvsA kinda hooked me, but considering that grif is voiced by geoff and appears in every episode, 😬

2. with the podcasts i personally listened to under rt, most of them got killed for me because gavin and/or geoff were involved (f**kface, anma, annual pass). i still want to listen to red web because trevor and alfredo are still good to me, but like AH, they're still under rt, so i still don't really feel good pirating that :(

2b. "but face jam's still cool, right?" no </3

like, genuine props to michael for actively improving himself as a person, both on and off camera, for many years now, and not excusing his own past shitty actions. i got no beef with him. however, i cannot continue to listen to face jam because of jordan. "wait, what? why?" well! jordan's own past behavior under rt animation was pretty Yikes. he was one of the people specifically called out by georden whitman (nomad of nowhere's creator) in his twitlonger. can't summarize anything here myself, so i just recommend you read the whole thing.

3. the shortest(?) reason: there's no need to pirate AH content because most of it is available for free on their youtube channels anyways. with stuff like sbi: meltdown, i'll just read the comments to see who got voted off for the remaining episodes that i won't watch. not the end of the world.

"but you still haven't answered: what are you gonna do right now?" i don't know!!!!! rt suddenly imploded bigger than usual, and i don't know where to take my art and gif-making skills next!! i'm kinda scared!!! that's where you guys come in. requests for those will be open forever (they always have been, but they're More Open Now), but currently, they not just extend to individual streamers like matt, jeremy, ray, and their friends (individual AH people included), they alsoextend to any major group or solo people i enjoy. you can feasibly see a drawfee gif from me! isn't that wild?

and finally: "how else can we support you, random internet person?"

i still don't know. i've never been in this position before!!! like, everything i've created, both related to and not related to rt/ah, will always be free forever, but like, if people just want to throw money my way to make my life a little more tolerable, i guess i have paypal????????? i dunno! i'll just have to figure all of that out as i go.

okay, bye again lol

#this is MY twitlonger but on tumblr that nobody asked for /j #i have nothing else to tag this with i think???????

[neurosharky]

What studying Special Needs Education has taught me

This post will only contain my personal opinion and experience! It may not be applicable to others who have studied the same thing, or may be something that is taught in other courses as well/that people have learned in other ways.

I know that not everyone likes the term "special needs", but it is the official translation for the course, so I will be referring to it that way. If it makes you happier you can think of it as "disability paedagogics/paedagogics for the disabled" or "alternative paedagogics" or whatever! Totally up to you.

Special needs education is one of my two bachelor subjects and basically deals with prevention, intervention and rehabilitation in regards to people with disabilities. There is a wide range of info and topics being taught, that do change depending on the country or university, but usually range from learning about the disabilities themselves, over scientific methods & background, to different models & methods, as well as the framework the law allows us to work in.

A lot of it is taught with a focus on kids and teens, as well as the school setting, but occasionally includes young adults and work related contexts as well. There are seminars that tackle these lesser talked about contexts and groups specifically, so everyone can go into the direction they possibly want to work in later.

Studying this subject has taught me quite a lot, despite me already having a big amount of knowledge about disabilities, stigma and the problems that exists in society.

1. What we get taught at uni, does not equal what we can actually use in the current societal situation!

My university & courses teach us an individual based approach, a ressource/strength based approach, a neurodiversity based approach, teach us intersectional sensitivity, teach us about kids "misbehaving" just being a reaction to the environment, teach us about models that incorporate all aspects of a person and their surroundings etc. What they are teaching and have been teaching for years, is sometimes fundamentally different from what people have been saying about how professionals are taught. Sure there are those who don't know and those who don't care, but a big amount of teachers & professionals do know better & simply are not able to use this knowledge due to: staff & time shortage, laws, schools not wanting to deviate from already existing structures, supervisors telling them to forget what they were taught at uni because real life looks different & to just do what they do, systemtic issues etc. The knowledge, teaching and ressources are often there, they just can't or aren't really allowed to use it and in some cases also don't want to.

2. Personal experience in the work/uni context is a difficult variable!

There are situations where personal experience is very helpful and is something that is explicitly asked for and encouraged. This is not only true for seminars or lectures, but also scientific study contexts and professional work in the field.

There are however situations where personal experience does not have a place and this is incredibly important! When you learn about biological aspects, theories & studies that have been done etc. your personal experience may disagree with that, which in itself is fine! It gets problematic if you are not able to consider these theories or biological aspects and that they may actually work well for a certain person, or group of people, just because you personally despise them. In a professional context you will sometimes have to use methods & theories that you don't like/don't have a good experience with, simply because they are the key to success for a specific person. Being able to do this is a key ability of being a professional.

3. Math teachers were right, you really need that shit later!

Whenever you study a subject, that is in any way connected to science, you will have a module along the lines of "scientific methods". And oh boy do you need all of that math and all of those statistical skills, that you thought you'll never need. Doing science, no matter which one, involves math, because math is one of the most constant and clear ways of proving things. In special needs education research we often need math if we want to figure out how many people do/have a certain thing, how effective methods of intervention/prevention/rehabilitation are, or if we want to prove that a certain thing is actually needed, because theres a big amount of people that need it/have benefitted from it (especially if we gotta defend its usage in front of politicians and parents). The methods that are used to assess & study people (especially in quantitative research) rely on math, tho there are programms to make part of it easier!

4. Parents can be your worst enemy or greatest friend!

A lot of work that is done in special needs education, as mentioned in the beginning, is focused on kids and teens. This inherently means that you will have to deal with their parents as well, since all prevention, intervention and rehabilitation processes try to work with the environment the kid is in (unless said environment is not safe for the kid obviously). Parents provide an important perspective due to either knowing their child (and not being able to solve this on their own), or the reason for the needed intervention clearly being that they in fact do not know their child. While we obviously talk with the kid too and get their perspective, its the parents who truly hold the power over the situation. If the parents are our friends and are willing to work with us and their kid, approve of the methods and listen, we can provide the kid with a variety of things which may end up being helpful.

If the parents are our "enemies" though, either due to being the problem and not wanting/being able to see it, or not letting us do the work we need to do, there is not much we can really do to help. All methods & support programms are dependant on the parent agreeing that we can use them and giving their kid the time to flourish in those. We are also dependant on them continuing the process while we're not present! While the kid obviously needs to want help and participate as well, the parents have a bigger leverage over whether we get to do that in the first place. Therefore its advisable to keep the parents on our side and to not meet them with hostility, but with understanding instead, so we can keep having access to the kid. You can supplement parents with any type of caregiver person here ofc!

5. Stigma follows word changes

In the history of disability term definition, theres been a lot of terms that we ended up getting rid off, because they were very negatively connotated and had a big amount of stigma attached to them. Some of those terms were created with the intention of being negative and others started as relatively neutral descriptions and turned negative due to stigma or malpractise. What this has taught me is, that in a lot of cases it will not matter if we come up with a different term for experiences, or if we rename certain conditions for the one hundreth time. The stigma will carry over to the new term (sociopathy => ASPD being one example), because the traits and behaviours described are the same. There are absolutely cases where a language change is needed, due to paradigm changes, the word having been used for systemic crimes, or some other major reason, but renaming a condition each time stigma attaches itself to the new name, will not do anything on its own. Its the stigma itself and its underlying reasons that need to be targeted, before a name change makes any sense, if it does at all.

These are just five little things, that studying special needs education has taught me, or also just partially helped me understand better, as I was theoretically familiar with some of these things before.

I think sharing this may be helpful for the people who are not really aware of these things, or (mainly due to social media) have been led to believe things that aren't nuanced, or accurate enough. These five realizations had a big impact on how I do my education on here, but also on how I see the professional world of disability prevention/intervention and rehabilitation in general. You really cannot grasp how complicated some things are that people regularely call for, until you have studied that stuff for a while and listened to people relaying real life cases. Some things stated on the internet are so baffingly ignorant, that it would amaze me if people had done any research into this at all.

first posted to my instagram (same @)

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