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copperbadge · 8 months

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As someone who's very conscious of individual fundraising, between my job and my work with Radio Free Monday, I'm seeing an uptick lately in something that I want to talk about. But it's sensitive, so I'm asking you all to read this in the spirit of help, and understand that any negative tone you take away from this is not my intention.

We live in communities: neighborhood, friends groups, workplaces, fandoms. Part of the point of community is that we help others in that community. But there's an aversion to the idea of non-reciprocal aid, of accepting financial help that won't be repaid. And on the one hand I understand; nobody wants to be perceived as a freeloader. But I don't think we can move past the idea of transactive relationships, an ultimately capitalist idea of how we relate to others, until we stop stigmatizing it, even when we're the beneficiaries of it.

I see a lot of "normally I would never ask for help" and "I hate to ask for money" and "I'd rather die than accept charity but" and I'm sure that's true. But...you don't need to say it.

If someone is inclined to give, it doesn't matter. If someone isn't inclined to give, it doesn't help. Charitable giving on the individual level is not a sales situation. There is no magic combination of words that will induce someone to give if they weren't going to. And the more we protest that normally we wouldn't accept, the more we loudly imply that there is shame in asking, the longer it will take us to achieve a compassionate and supportive society.

And also, frankly, you're making other people feel like shit for asking too. Which I know is not something anyone wants.

If you need to ask for money that sucks and I'm sorry. I've been there and it's a real bind to be in. But I also know that in those situations energy is short, and this is one less thing to expend energy on -- instead of protesting your aversion to asking, put that energy into doing one thing to make it easier for folks to give -- make your payment app username a hyperlink or a QR code, or make a carrd with your giving options and link that.

Instead of "I would never ask for money normally" say "I know there are many kind people out there who will see this." Instead of "I hate to make this post" say "You all understand how difficult life can get." The nonprofit world has done a lot of studying of what makes people give, and positivity is a huge aspect of it. Opening with a negative, particularly a negative that people see constantly in other solicitations, is more likely to hurt your chances than to help.

Don't follow a script that continues to debase and abuse you. Mainly because it's not actually helping; there's no upside to prostrating yourself before an imaginary combative donor. Talk to the people who are actually likely to give, who recognize themselves in your words when you talk about kindness and compassion and who don't need you to shame yourself in order to be worthy of support. This is not to scold or shame anyone further, but to offer an alternative that is kinder to you and more helpful to the people who want to help.

Do yourselves and your fellow sufferers the kindness of dignity; lord knows you've had enough unkindness already.

#radio free monday #philanthropy #fundraising #mutual aid

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fatphobiabusters · 10 months

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I hear a lot about how fatness is a "risk factor" for certain illnesses and diseases. I don't hear much about how so are age, socioeconomic status, experiences of abuse, starvation, sex, race, queerness, and so many other aspects of a person's life. And that's because the world already for the most part accepts that a lot of these factors cannot be changed and that many of these factors are not what actually causes an illness or disease.

You don't develop a medical condition because your bank account suddenly shows a different, smaller number. You developed that medical condition because poverty means unbearable stress every day, less access to healthcare, worse housing, inability to clothe yourself for protection from the elements, having to overwork yourself to be able to afford your basic necessities, going without food, and so many other aspects of oppression. You don't weigh your wallet to measure your health because the amount of money you have is not what actually causes a medical condition.

But no one wants to look at the studies with legitimate methodology and admit that fatness is also in this category—that fatness is not something that we can just choose and will away, that fat people face immense systemic oppression just like any other oppressed group, that the correlation of fatness and illness is not some simple relationship of causation. And that's because doing so would mean no longer making hundreds of billions of dollars off of fat people's oppression and having to admit it's not actually okay to treat fat people as an acceptable punching bag.

When I look at medical information for whatever illnesses, see the risk factors laid out, and the only risk factor the website says to change is fatness? I think about all of the research I've read that shows actual permanent weight loss is as likely as finding Atlantis. The amount of hypocrisy at not telling someone to drink a youth potion as a form of treatment at the same time as they lose weight becomes so palpable that I can taste the dirty money being made off of this website telling people to "just lose weight, fatty." It's as cruel as selling an ill person a random crystal that you tell them will fix their health, which they then rely on instead of actual medical care, causing them to get worse and even die. And if you think that comparison is a stretch, you do not realize how many people die every day because they were told weight loss was the answer or were forced to lose weight before the doctor would actually respect them enough to run tests or so much as touch their fat body.

We live in a world where people with PCOS are told to "just lose weight" to solve their infertility, where that is the very first bullet point listed on a website about a medical condition that makes weight loss even more impossible than the already 95% failure rate for the general population. A world where fat people have to stick their own fat bodies with needles during a doctor's appointment because the doctor is too disgusted by fat rolls to even look at the person's body to give them a shot. A world where fat people with eating disorders are encouraged, applauded, and told to keep going while the thin person with an eating disorder has the "luxury" of receiving help, compassion, and a diagnosis that isn't separated in the DSM with the word "atypical." A world where a fat person accidentally given chemotherapy is told by the doctor "At least it helped you lose weight!" A world where weight loss corporations are making the exact same promises they did in advertisements from 1910, yet somehow over 100 years later we have an "ob*sity epidemic" because diets, weight loss products, and exercise regimens "Really work!!!"

If this single "solution" to ill health has not worked despite well over a century of desperate, constant attempts, maybe we should stop trying to jam a triangle into a square hole.

-Mod Worthy

#fatphobia #healthism #fat liberation #medical fatphobia #o word #tw eating disorders #diet culture #Mod Worthy

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hyperfixiation-station · 3 months

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I really like digging into details, and I was thinking that maybe you can make a list of hcs of Simon in a fight? Don’t spare your words I really think it’s interest your view of him 🥰

CW: Mentions of abuse, sa, addiction, canon typical violence So I wasn’t 100% what you were looking for so I decided to go for both him fighting in a professional setting (ie. training/sparring), and also in public(ie. bar fights). Also, this got way longer than I intended so sorry about that. I hope you like it :)) Also sorry for how aggressive this starts out lol And, as always, this is not edited so please let me know if there are any mistakes :3

First off, I do not agree with the whole oH he’S iN tHe miLiTarY, he HaS tO kEeP hIs CoOl sentiment. This is not a true statement, for anyone in the military.(I am willing to explain this if anyone has questions) Ghost isn’t going to get kicked out because he has anger issues. Not to mention that he is a part of a highly specialized group, the rules are much more lax. However he doesn’t really need to worry about it, because he doesn't go around picking fights.

Like I said in my previous post, he spent his childhood being abused, he does not take pleasure in physically hurting those weaker than him. He would not hurt new recruits, civilians, or his squadmates. In fact, the only times he will physically fight people outside of work is if they start it. (ie. people threatening him and his, men who won’t leave women alone at bars, and one time a guy he saw kicking a dog)

Now don’t get me wrong, he has major anger issues, but he has a handle on them, for the most part. He is not going to fight a recruit because they are mouthing off. He might pit them against Gaz to humble them a bit, but again, he does not take pleasure in hurting those weaker than him.

In a fight, he is ruthless and efficient. It's rare for him to draw out a fight, and only when he is trying to make the target suffer.

He uses his height and muscle mass against his opponents, 9/10 being able to overpower them with sheer force.

He loves knives, collects them actually. The action of slamming a blade up to the hilt in someone's neck is muscle memory for him.

He taunts his opponents, throwing them off their game by lashing out at their insecurities. (Or telling really bad jokes if he's sparring with Soap)

He doesn't like fighting, but he knows he can never stop. Since the moment he was born he's been fighting. It's in his blood and he knows it. The euphoria he feels when he leaves the battlefield or the ring scares him. He's worried that one day he is going to take his bloodlust home.

Okay now onto professional/work-endorsed fight hc’s

This man is not afraid to throw hands. He is 6’2 and 220 pounds of pure muscle. In hand-to-hand combat, he could take pretty much anyone on and win, and everybody knows it.(Think Prison Break. Ghost went out with a knife and a pistol and took out a buttload of Shadows with just Soap guiding him from the cameras.) Any mission that is Close Quarters Combat, Ghost is sent in.

He has fought a recruit once. It took him about 10 seconds to pin the kid, and another 10 seconds for him to tell Price he was never training a recruit like that again. (tbh I don’t think that the 141 trains new recruits, but for the sake of getting my point across I am going to hc it.)

Soap and Price are the only ones he is willing to spar with. While Soap is much shorter, he has muscle that rivals Ghost’s and can hold his own pretty well. Gaz asked to spar once but Ghost refused. Although Gaz is close to him in height, he is far too skinny for Ghost to feel okay with fighting.

Soap is agile and intelligent, landing heavy and precise blows before darting out of reach, but is too hot-headed and doesn’t think through his movements half-the time. Ghost is good at reading people, and he knows when to bait Soap and tire him out, and when he needs to take control of the situation.

Ghost studies Soap’s (or any of his opponents really) body with a warrior's mind. In training, when they are clad in gym shorts and a T-shirt, he can tell which way the Scotsman is going to lunge just based on the way his muscles tense. In the field it is a bit harder, his targets usually clad from head to toe, hiding and protecting their bodies, but there are still signs. Just a twitch of the eye or a shift in weight are enough to give him the upper hand. As any child that is a product of a dysfunctional home can attest, he grew up watching these signs in his father, it wasn't too hard to translate those survival skills from childhood to military life.

If they end up training recruits, Price will have them line up and watch as Soap and Ghost go at it. Ghost enjoys that fear in their eyes when he grabs Johnny's wrist and yanks down, uses his free hand to push the opposite shoulder back, and sweeps his legs out from under him all in one swift move. The collective oooooh from the greenies, and the sight of Soap gasping for breath makes him almost smile. He actually does smile when he watches Soap pull it on Gaz a week later. (It takes Soap exactly 3 tries to figure out how to avoid Ghost when he tries to pull it, and another 3 for him to try it on Gaz and get it right).

Price, and eventually Soap, can always tell when Ghost needs an outlet for his pent-up anger. When he gets mouthy one of them will take him to the mats and spar until they’re both exhausted and soaked in sweat.

In the field it is a lot less fun and games. There is no subduing or tap outs, it is kill or be killed. Gaz understands why Ghost refuses to spar with him after he’s sent on a mission with him and watches in almost awe as the man lives up to his legend and comes out victorious in a 4v1. Banged up and in need of medical care, but victorious.

Now onto the public

Honestly I don’t think adult Ghost gets into too many fights outside of work. Teen Ghost got into fights all the time, but adult Ghost has a better handle. However when he does get into a fight, it’s usually his fault, because he provoked the person into swinging. He has a way with words, a terrifying ability to pick out a person's insecurities and use them against them. He rips into people's emotions, and when most of the public places he frequents are bars, his targets are easily riled up. He doesn’t necessarily go looking for fights, he just enjoys pissing people off.

Like I’ve said before, Ghost is not a heavy drinker. He was surrounded by addicts his whole life, he knows what alcohol and drugs can do to a person. He would never drink himself to the point of oblivion. He may have a drink or two when he and Johnny go out to the bar, might even let himself get a little tipsy if the squad is celebrating something huge, but he never gets drunk to the point where he can’t function. Because of this, any fight he gets into in a bar is resolved within seconds. One solid punch to the jaw, and the drunken asshole pawing at some young girl drops to the floor. A person who can’t even stand up straight has no chance against a member of Special Forces.

He doesn’t take cheap shots. He’s not gonna kick a guy when they’re down. Once his opponent hits the ground, he stops. He very rarely loses control and just keeps going.

He has been in a couple of bar fights, one time he took a bottle of alcohol to the head and had a hard time trying to explain to Price why he was given 15 stitches and a week's medical leave.(Not that he took it)

Sorry there's not a lot for this one. I just don’t see adult Simon getting into that many unwarranted fights. He will fuck a guy up if he’s harassing you, or any woman for that matter, he’ll step in if someone gets too rowdy at the bar, if they swing he’ll swing back, and he does not respond to threats against him and his very well, but things like that really don’t happen to often in his way of life.

Fight club(sorry I just keep going 😅😭)

This is a bit ooc, but I thought it was fun nonetheless

Soap takes him to a fight club once, just to watch, but Ghost is enthralled. Soap comes back from getting pretzels to an empty bench. He panics for a second before his gaze moves to the ring, where Ghost stands in a t-shirt and shorts, a plain balaclava hiding his face. Soap makes a lot of money that night.

Ghost finds a new pass-time in this ‘fight-club’ that Soap showed him. It’s a great way to release pent-up energy when he is on leave, and he always leaves feeling relaxed and less volatile.

When the memories and nightmares get too much for him, he goes and pounds it out in the ring. He finds a man of his size and skill, and they become sparring partners almost every time.. Despite the broken ribs, he leaves feelings much happier. Price, however, is not when he hears that Ghost will be out of commission for at least a month.

He goes by the nickname Reaper. (He let Soap pick it out, and regrets that decision deeply)

He enjoys the fight club almost more than he enjoys sparring with Soap. He enjoys being able to fight for fun rather than survival. The anonymity he’s allowed and the money that comes from winning is a nice bonus.

He still keeps to himself, declining his opponents/partners attempts to get a phone number or offers to grab a drink.

If he’s married, you notice that he’s not quite as harsh when he gets back from deployments as he used to be. Though you don’t like his bruised knuckles and bloody noses, if this is what helps him process his trauma then so be it.

He takes you sometimes, to watch. You like watching him win, like the way the clothes cling to his muscled frame, but the sight of his face getting punched in is one you'd rather never see again.

They offer self-defense classes, and he signs you up. He had already taught you some self-defense tips, where to aim and how to hit in the even of an emergency, but he'd rather you have someone to practice with so you know what to do.

Extra(aka sad stuff)

I know that Ghost is not superhuman or immortal, but this man is a beast. He survived an abusive childhood, being kidnapped, tortured, assaulted, and the massacre of his whole family. He can fight through incredible amounts of pain, and is ruthless and blood thirsty. In a life or death situation, all morals go out the window, and he will do what it takes to survive. He’s not proud of it.

When he holds his newborn son for the first time he almost panics. The fragile baby body feels wrong in his scarred, war-torn hands. He sits on the bed for a long time after you take the baby to put him down, just staring at his hands. His fingers curl and uncurl in his palm as he tries to get the image of crushing his baby's fragile skull like he's crushed the throats of his enemies out of his head. It takes hours for the feeling of blood to fade from his skin.

Anywayyys, I hope this is what you were looking for, and again, sorry for the length 😅 Let me know what you think and/or if you want more headcannons in the future :))

#sorry this is just me rambling #simon ghost riley #cod fanfic #ghost x reader #no beta we die like men #ghost fanfiction #john soap mactavish #kyle gaz garrick #cod #cod x reader #ghost headcanons #cod headcanons #I don't even know if there is a point to half of these lol #angst

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drdemonprince · 3 months

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Hi Devon,

I'm a recent grad planning to apply to psych PhD programs in the fall with the plan to pursue a career academia (despite how much I know it'll suck I've thought long and hard about it and truly don't think I would be as fulfilled doing anything else). My research experience has been in cognitive development and I keep on being drawn to questions about autism. I am Autistic myself and pretty much think the way we have historically thought about cognitive abilities in autism is garbage. I want to pursue my questions but am honestly terrified about trying to fight my way through the current status quo in autism research.

You're one of very few people I know of in the realm of academia with views on autism that I actually agree with and respect, so I would love your thoughts. Is there hope for actually Autistic individuals pursuing research into autism? Are there any researchers who you've seen building community with Autistic people and listening to Autistic voices? Do you have any advice for surviving in the field as an Autistic person?

Anything you can say to these questions would be much appreciated, thank you!

I'm the type to be brutally honest rather than uplifting and encouraging, so you know, take that into account when adjusting for the skew of my answers.

Any time a person reaches out to me seeking advice on pursuing a graduate degree in psychology of any kind, I advise them against it for the most part. The field desperately needs more research conducted by Autistic people, for Autistic people (and other neurodivergent groups) but I have never known a graduate program to be anything but extremely abusive, exploitative, ableist, and ill-suited to preparing a graduate student today for the reality of academic life as it now is. These mfers are playing by a rulebook that was tired in the 1980s and its downright detached from reality today. My graduate experience was so traumatic and disillusioning that I chose to abandon academic research or any hope of having a tenure track career altogether. Everyone that I know was either completely abused and traumatized by their advisor, or pod personed by them and transformed into exactly the kind of passive aggressive liberal manipulative ghoul that had once mistreated them. Graduate study ravaged my health and my self-concept.

Is there hope for actually Autistic individuals pursuing research into Autism? Well, there is a growing body of research by us and for us. Journals like Autism in Adulthood do give me hope, and help nourish me intellectually and improve my work.

Are there any researchers whom I've seen building community with Autistic people and listening to Autistic voices? All the ones that I've seen actually operating in practice use methods of communication and workflows that are profoundly inaccessible and harmful to us, even if they are incredibly well intentioned and open to the idea of neurodiversity. There is a lot of decent research coming out these days finally, but I don't know how all of that sausage gets made.

Do I have any advice for surviving in the field as an Autistic person? Make sure you have a very robust support system that exists completely independently from academia. Make sure you have a complete and rich life that has nothing to do with academics and do not give up even a SHRED of it, even if it means accomplishing less and taking more time while you are in school. Have hobbies, friends and loved ones you see daily, a spiritual or physical practice that helps you offload stress, vacations or little adventures within your community that renew you, and work that is applied and grounded rather than just basic/theoretical research. (especially needed if you're in cognitive psych land. shit gets so fuckin abstact and divorced from reality).

Read a lot of fiction or practice some art or do something creative that has nothing to do with your graduate studies. Do not sign up for meaningless committees. Poster presentations do not matter and don't help your CV much at all. Most committees don't either. Read the book The Professor Is In and the blog that goes along with it religiously. Do not trust your advisor. Do not expect your dissertation to be perfect and do not make it your most ambitious project, focus on making it something you can get done quickly that is just "good enough." Cultivate skills that will be useful outside of academia. Do not assume you will ever get an academic job. Read the statistics on how many PhDs there are relative to how many professorships. Speak to people who work outside of academia who have the credentials you are getting. Know how to market yourself and get a job outside of academia if you have to -- consulting especially may be a good fit if you are Autistic and not suited for a 9 to 5 in an office.

Grill any potential advisor at any program you are considered for, hard. if they are defensive being asked questions about their working style, their leadership style, their former students, etc, that means they do not like ever being challenged and that is a red flag. Ask to speak to *FORMER* students. Not current ones. Current ones will not feel safe being honest. Ask for job placement data for graduates of their lab. Look up reviews. Do not pay for graduate school, only apply to fully funded programs otherwise they are scamming you. Remember you can leave at any time. good luck.

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luulapants · 1 year

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Stop Being Weird About Indians

Let’s talk about virtue signalling when talking about American Indians and how it’s doing more harm than good. I saw a take that writing about Kaia, an indigenous character in Supernatural, in fanfiction is a cancel-able offense because the way she’s depicted in the show is problematic. I’ve heard similar things about the skinwalkers in Teen Wolf - I’ve also heard that you shouldn’t even type the word “skinwalkers” because it’s offensive, which... I’m not gonna go into all the details, but that’s a gross misunderstanding of the belief around the word, and also the actual word the belief is about - you won’t believe this - isn’t an English word.

Anyway.

The topic of indigenous oppression in the US is complicated, but one of the fundamental issues, which actual indigenous activists (not just keyboard warriors) constantly talk about, is the way indigenous people are ignored and erased from the story. It’s called “The Terminal Narrative.” Text books talk about indigenous people like they’re a relic of the past, like they’re all dead and gone. (Do you know how weird it is for Indian children on reservations to read a US history book that implies they don’t exist?) Human rights abuses and social issues on reservations are left out of the conversation or skimmed over as if they’re too obscure to be fully understood, or like they impact so few people, it doesn’t really matter.

Policing wording is not activism. Sharing call-out posts isn’t activism. You are not doing anything to help anyone. You’re not funding, volunteering, calling politicians, or doing any actual work to better the lives of indigenous Americans. (Before anyone calls hypocrite, I do work with an indigenous rights group IRL.) When someone scolds another person online over using a word that isn’t PC, 99% of the time it’s clear they don’t actually care - they derive a sense of moral superiority from knowing the “correct” way to speak. And they don’t care about the chilling effect it has on speech overall. This naturally leads to one of the most toxic elements of liberal conversations about race: that you must have the conversation perfectly or not at all. And that’s the impact it has. People just stop talking about it for fear of being wrong.

Can you see how, in a society where indigenous oppression is actively facilitated by silence and erasure, making people afraid to speak about Indians is one of the worst things you could possibly do?

It’s become standard fare for Indian Studies books to start with a disclaimer explaining that “Indian” actually isn’t an offensive word and is the word that most indigenous people use for themselves. The disclaimer isn’t because it’s new or radical information. It’s because white Americans are so goddamn weird about virtual signaling about ~The Native Americans~ that they would condemn a much-needed book of scholarship on native issues just for using a word that they thought was offensive.

Native people aren’t a monolith. You’ll find Indians that insist you need to spell it NDN or that XYZ is offensive. Production companies can pay a native person to come tell them they’re allowed to write about something most people from their tribe would find offensive. Fact of the matter is, a lot of Indians are not experts on like... heritage culture. If they grew up on a rez, they can tell you about rez culture, but they’re not all Indian Studies scholars, the same way not all Irish people are experts on Celtic paganism. Not all Indians are experts on indigenous politics, the same way not all Americans are experts on American politics. And it goes without saying that a GODAWFUL amount of the people lecturing on acceptable ways to interact with indigenous characters are not only uninformed about indigenous issues (I saw one post where someone clearly linked the first thing that came up when they googled “Native American drug addiction”) but are also not indigenous themselves.

And, yes, the vast majority of depictions of Indians in American media are problematic in one way or another, but saying that the solution is to erase indigenous characters from fandom entirely (because they’re all problematic) is the absolute WORST conclusion to reach. Fix the characters if you care that much! Give the Teen Wolf skinwalkers names! And an iPad! Let Kaia be the master of her own destiny! Let her bitch Dean out for pointing that gun in her face! Let her live happily ever after with her girlfriend! What the hell is fandom for if not fixing the issues we see in canon? Why are we allowed to reclaim and rewrite problematic queer characters but not problematic native characters? Who is that serving? Because it sure as hell isn’t serving Indians.

Anyone that tells you it’s better to ignore Indians than say the wrong thing about them is, knowingly or not, actively promoting a terminal narrative and the continuation of indigenous genocide.

#kaia nieves #skinwalkers #fandom meta #indigenous #supernatural #virtue signaling

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australianwomensnews · 2 months

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Teenage girls know a lot more about democracy and what makes it tick than teenage boys, but when it comes to political ambition the boys win hands down.

A global study of 82,000 teenagers from 22 countries showed that almost without exception girls had a greater engagement with and understanding of government, equality, public trust, voting and representation, than their male peers.

But boys were more likely to say they were interested in becoming a politician

“Australian girls are outperforming boys on knowledge, attitudes and values that support a greater competency when it comes to participation in civic life,” said Rachel Parker, from the Australian Council of Educational Research, who worked on the study.

“One of the few areas where boys outperform girls in the study is the intention to be politically active.”

The report, Education for Citizenship in Times of Global Challenge, found that girls were far more knowledgeable about how parliament works, globalisation, independence of statutory authorities and voting and representation.

Girls were also far more likely than boys to support gender equality and equal rights for migrants and cultural groups to access education, employment and political participation.

They were more engaged with big issues such as environmental protection and more likely to participate in civic activities.

However, girls were less likely to report expecting to join a political party or a trade union or stand as a candidate in an election.

The study did not dig into the reasons why, but previous research identified parental influence and societal expectations as feeding gender norms relating to political ambition, as well as widely held perceptions that politics is a man’s world.

Indeed, 40 per cent of boys thought men are better suited to being political leaders than women, while 25 per cent agreed with the statement that women should stay out of politics.

Ella Curran, 18, harboured an ambition to become a politician when she was in Year 9, but a school excursion to Canberra cured her of that notion.

“I started to think more realistically about the sort of lifestyle I wanted for myself. And we did a legal studies excursion to Parliament House and watched question time,” she told AFR Weekend.

“I felt it was so aggressive and personal in the insults that were being thrown about that I just thought it was not the sort of workplace I could feel comfortable in,” said Ms Curran, a first-year arts and philosophy student at the University of Sydney.

“I’m just not prepared to face that kind of abuse or have my appearance or relationship status mocked in public rather than focus on what I am actually doing.”

Ms Curran’s two great passions are climate change and gender equality.

“I’m concerned about climate change, particularly Australia’s response to that because we are one of the worst countries in the world for our emissions,” she said.

Lulu Hamilton, 16, who counts women’s rights and climate change as her two greatest passions, also harboured a fleeting ambition to become a politician when she was younger but abandoned it without any fanfare.

“I thought it was the best platform to make change because if I could have power, I could make my goals become a reality,” Ms Hamilton said.

Having spent the first 12 years of her life in China, seeing democracy in action, including the free exchange of information and ideas, was a head-spinning affair.

“It was such a jarring difference. I never would have spoken to my friends in China about climate change, gender or politics. Even our textbooks had stuff whited out because the Chinese government didn’t want us to read about Tibet and Taiwan. We had very limited access to media.”

As for a future in politics? That’s out of the question.

“I feel the negatives outweigh the positives.”

#auspol #women in politics #radical feminist #feminist #women's education

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cakeboxie · 2 months

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I had to restart his save since it got corrupted- which means it’s time for a new ref!!

I’ve committed to the fact that this man dresses like an 80s dad in any modern au.

Tries very hard to read as the ideal paladin, good morals, strong sense of justice n what have you. He is unfortunately full of trauma and identity issues, fear of his god is a HUGE THING and breaking his oath accidentally is a perpetual anxiety too.

I’ve also decided he has the shittiest, patchy ass beard. Usually he’s clean shaven bc he doesn’t like having facial hair but he’s not quite adept enough with a dagger to shave with one and tries exactly once to shave (failing miserably, much to Astarion’s entertainment) before giving up until act 3 when he buys himself a new razor.

I really should draw him holding the blood of lathander more but that mf is agonizing to draw man there are, so many layers to it.

I finally remembered to draw his glasses on his ref, yippee.

I’m making him an actual dnd character sheet so I’ll probably attach that once it’s done

I’m side tracked I’m supposed to be talking about his lore huh

Whoops

Anyway, tw for abandoment (passing mention) emotional abuse, death (of a parent + en masse,) mental illness that’s being ignored, chronic pain and illness (also being ignored until he can’t)

His actual like- lore lore is below the break.

Born in the underdark, his mom fucked off with him bc the underdark isn’t a great place to live generally speaking, and she had the means. His dad decided last minute to stay in the underdark.

Taken in by the temple of lathander in elturel bc his mother was chronically ill and not expecting or able to be making this kind of journey on her own with a very small child. Ended up being moved from the temple to a hospital after it was determined that she probably wasn’t getting better.

Charlie ended up being mostly raised by the temple, went to school there and was taught how to read and write + basic math. But spent most of his free time working to pay for his mother’s (and soon his own) medication.

Turns out the of the myriad of issues his mother delt with (migraines, persistent nausea and dizziness, chronic joint issues) were genetic, so by time he hit puberty he was working his ass off to pay for it.

You may ask me “cake, didn’t that aggravate his joint issues?” Yes. Badly. He was not given any other options, the fact that they were alive at all was a godsend (I use the word godsend intentionally, he believes, strongly, that lathander is keeping him alive for some reason beyond his understanding, that is the root of his devotion.)

Did you order mommy issues? Hope so bc he has them in spades. You can only be hear your dying mom say she regrets saving you life as a literal toddler so many times before it starts fucking you up, and she said it (and other delightful(/sarc) things) plenty in the months leading up to when she died.

Shortly after her death, and suddenly needing to work way less (his medication was significantly cheaper than his mothers) he devoted himself to the temple, and was eventually approached bc some kids he went to school with to see if he wanted to join their little class thing. The temple liked to train their folks in groups of 4, in hopes of building strong teams should they choose to stay together.

He agreed, and found out that the temple would pay for his medication in exchange for dedicating himself fully to his training and his studies (and occasionally them using him as a scout, being small, naturally stealthy, and decently quick had its advantages.)

Took his oath with one of the other people he was trained alongside when he was 17, and they were collectively sent to continue their training at the nearby Fort Morninglord.

Things were solid, until he was sent along with a group of seniors to Baldurs Gate as a sort of test to see how he would do on a longer mission before officially joining the Order of the Aster.

He did well, all things considered. Unfortunately between him leaving and returning is when Fort Morninglord got eaten by the shadowfell for some reason. (That’s a canon event btw)

So, with all his friends presumably dead, maybe worse, and all his shit left inside a heavily guarded, very cursed fort. He did the reasonable thing, and fucked right off.

He ended up joining one of the seniors he went to Baldur’s Gate with in going to Waterdeep, while they didn’t particularly need another paladin. The temple of lathander in Waterdeep accepted them both until they were able to find stable employment.

Charlie mainly did small jobs for merchants, working as a guard for high value stuff, moving cargo on/off boats, mostly physical labour. It didn’t pay particularly well, but he could afford a little room above a tavern, and his medication.

That’s where he was, and how he lived for almost 130 years until he got wormed.

May or may not be blindly devoted to Lathander bc of… all that. literally any bad thing to occur to him is swiftly written off as a test of his faith, surprising to damn near everyone he is not one for converting people. (He definitely reads like he would though, it’s the theology special interest, there are few gods he won’t speak extensively on. He just defaults to lathander)

Fr though? Having trouble finding a god to worship? Ask him, he will give you an answer or more accurately- a list.

Yknow when you sprinkle random facts into your characters to make them less flat? Yeah my man collects maps, particularly outdated ones.

The only reason he’s not fucked post-worm is bc it fends off the worst of his usual symptoms. He has conflicted feelings about it (on one hand, being able to put honey in his coffee and not feel like his brain is exploding is nice, on the other, what the fuck what the fuck what the fuck.)

Post game he is left in a… state. He’s gotten used to life with less pain and is absolutely bedridden for a WHILE bc suddenly he’s being hit with his usual pain n symptoms but he’s not used to it anymore so it’s absolutely destroying him.

#cakewrites #cakedraws #baldurs gate tav #bg3 tav #tav #Charlie [tav]#userhaarleps

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librarycards · 5 months

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any readings on how physically disabled people are "interrogated"/put under extreme scrutiny (referring both to treatment in medical settings and then social settings where strangers act entitled to our bodies/histories?)

So, to preface: I see a lot of discourse about physical disability exclusive things on here, and while I understand why people are compelled to prohibit, say, the figure of the "able-bodied ND" or w/e from "interacting" with this or that post, this is not something that is widely practiced in actual disability organizing spaces, nor in disability studies broadly (there are always exceptions, but i am speaking about the state of the field as a whole).

that is not to say that lateral ableism, as well as forms of ableism that affect certain experiences more than others, are ignored or irrelevant. it is instead to impress upon you that disability is not a term bounded by certain diagnoses, symptoms, or ideas of "objective" impairment. instead, disability is a political and politicized relationship to systems of medico-legal, social, and deeply carceral ableism, AS WELL AS a tool around which to organize and advocate for shared principles of interdependence, self-determination, and liberation from the aforementioned systems.

in fact, the focus on delineating categories of disabled people - whether in gradations of "severity" or in isolating certain types of experience to solely the "mental" or "physical" realm, reifies the false perception that disability is a concrete and static "thing" to be analyzed and categorized objectively, furthering the very norm of scrutiny and disbelief you want literature deconstructing. for this reason, i put little stock in the kinds of hard divisions i see floating around on here, mostly by people who haven't "done the readings" or, it seems, partaken in social or activist groups that are politically disabled/crip.

with this being said, there are a number of excellent works on the scrutiny under which disabled people are placed! here are a few:

Marta Russell, Capitalism and Disability (rigorous marxist analysis of, among other things, the surveillance and forcible impoverishment of SSDI recipients and applicants)

Mel Chen, Animacies (fixation on children meeting 'developmental markers'/terror at "chemical-induced" difference and ensuing blame game if and when they 'fail')

Alex Cockain, Troubling narratives about dis/ability and the social encounter [...] (looking at the ways abled anxieties about disabled presentation/interaction play out from a CDS perspective)

E. Krebs, Baccalaureates or burdens? Complicating "reasonable accommodations" for American college students with disabilities (about the abusive "accommodations" process in higher ed)

Audre Lorde, The Cancer Journals (Lorde documents her experiences with invasive, abusive, and autonomy-denying medical staff and laypersons alike in light of her decision not to get a reconstruction after her mastectomy due to breast cancer)

Loyd, Secor, and Ehrkamp, Geopolitics of Disability and the Ablenationalism of Refuge (on the policing of legible/legitimate disability narratives in refugees)

hope this helps!

#ask #anonymous #readings #book rec #disability #ableism

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nightcereusss · 10 months

Text

Hello! if I have any AO3 readers who are following in this account and read my stories, I have decided to restrict the access of my stories to archive users only.

As a computer science student and enthusiast, I am delighted on how the AI technology has developed over the years. However, I'm not happy on how some people abuse these tools. AI vs writers issue has been at the back of my mind for some time now, which is why I have encouraged my group to choose a topic related to this issue for our research. We have conducted a small study about the use of ChatGPT to academic requirements, and it's quite interesting and a bit horrifying how some people confessed (anonymously, of course) they would submit requirements generated by the AI bot without regards to academic honesty. It made me uncomfortable more than I expected.

I'm not sure why I'm rambling right now. Maybe it's because I just finished privatizing my works. One of the reasons why I have decided to make my works public was because if a person happened to come by to my story, I didn't want them to be discouraged on not reading it just because they didn't have an account. I wanted to share my works. Plus, it's quite satisfying if they get lured to ao3 because they liked your story, right?

I'm not saying that my works were good or they're really worth data scraping, but I do not encourage the use of essay/story generating AI bots for unethical writing. It's actually quite too late as a data scraping deed was already done to the site (last December, if I remember correctly). But this measure was to at least minimize (hopefully) any future data scraping attempts. My stories might not be good, but they're my stories, my escapes. And I want to protect my stories.

To my readers here that might not have an account to AO3, I'm sorry for the inconvenience. But if I were you, just make an account. AO3 is awesome. It's worth it.

#merlin #bbc merlin #merlin bbc #merlin fandom #arthur pendragon #bbc arthur #merthur #merlin x arthur #merlin fic #ao3 #ao3 fic

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zaceouiswriting · 2 years

Text

The unfaithful bat: A new villain

Character: Clark Kent x male reader, Bruce Wayne x male reader

Universe: Somewhere in DC

Warnings: Very dark, reading on your own risk.

Life became good after Bruce Wayne. Your children were thriving. Especially the oldest two, Dick and Jason. You had never seen, how badly your husband had treated them really. It broke your heart that you were this blind to the things he had done. Now both adults, one with serious abandonment issues, a pessimistic outlook on relationships and the other, massive anger issues and falling into drugs.

At least the drug problems, were you able to end, after you got wind of it. He even got into a prestige university, after he became clean and actually mastered the aptitude test. Still he does not leave your home, he does all the work over the internet. Just to make sure, you would never be alone. Paranoia had exceeded in all of them. Except Damien, who actually kicked a group of villains out of the house once, when nobody even knew they were there.

Years later, Dick became a detective, a job made for him, while Jason is actually studying psychology. After everything he went trough, even dying once, I could not think of someone better to do it. Even when he needed to work, on listening to people.

Tim was an another story, the time he had spent in his room, on all his computers paid off for him. He didn’t even finished high school and already is leader of the „Digital Wayne branch“, Wayne Industries products, now easy to access over the worldwide web. And we also got into all sorts of diff rents industries as well, even movies.

Damien, actually changed, after Bruce had became this picture of an abusing cheater. For a while he kept for himself, lashed out at everyone except for you. But then slowly, he became kinder. He actually cared for others and fought those who bullied weaker people. His school hates him, because he on more than one occasion, broke someone a bone or two. But at the end, they had no foot to stand on.

The most prosperous, were you at the end. Your life took a sudden turn, when Clark asked you out on a date, one evening after a long interview. At this point, you were ready to pounce on him. So handsome sitting in an arm chair in your mansion. His tie slightly opened, just as his button up shirt, showing off his perfectly sculptured chest muscles.

But you could hold yourself, at least for a while. The second time you two found each other in a similar way, a couple of dates in, but not quite in a relationship yet, you did what your heart desired and climbed that tree. It was the most loving and intense experience you ever had in your life. Bruce was nothing in comparison to this younger man. Closer to Dicks age than yours, but it didn’t bothered you.

The kids had accepted him rather easily, which shouldn’t have been that surprising, because they already spoke of him in high regards, which you never understood or from where they had known him. But that was okay, maybe some connection Bruce had, you never knew about. As much during your marriage.

Now years later, and your relationship far enough to call each other fiancés. Life became what it always gets too, stressful. While Clark, could theoretically work everywhere, you couldn’t do always the same. And lately the office needed you more often. Sometimes even for extremely important meetings, that could’ve stopped further expansions.

Clark understood, as he always does. You never thought a perfect man could walk this planet, but thanks to him, you believed otherwise now.

Sometimes you even thought that he was way too good for you, especially after the debacle with Bruce and his countless tries in the beginning to get you and his family back. Isabelle, as you had named the daughter, his affair partner brought into this world, while you and Bruce were still married, knew only you and Clark as her fathers. She knew of Bruce, but never wanted contact with him.

She was still young and might change her mind later, with which you never had any problems, you hated this man, but would never hold him back to be a father, if he ever wanted to be one, that is.

It was just a normal day, Clark went to work that day, would only be able to make it close to night back home, but that was okay. You were on the way to the office, walking a while with Dick and Jason, until both of them needed to take their own paths. Everyday a little philosophical, even though all of you went separate ways, you always come back together.

Not so on this day. Close to night, when Clark finally came back, his stepsons already waited. Isabelle already in bed, without any worry in the world. But her four older brothers, were distraught to put it lightly.

„Did you see our dad?“, they almost in unison asked their dads fiancé. But he just shook with his head.

„Shouldn't he be home? It is late,“ he only commented, not really grasping what was going on. The boys looked at each other puzzled. Which made Clark think again. It took him a moment, but he finally got the message, „Shoot, I have my costume with me. I search for him!“

Not even a second later, superman stood in front of the boys, they would need to take the long way to get to their equipment but promised, to follow him.

You woke up, with a pain on the back of your head. Disoriented, with a headache for days, you desperately wanted to look after the wound, hoping it wouldn’t be too bad. Instead of getting your hand there, you found yourself confined, with chains around your arms. Actually hold upright by them. Your head slightly hanging, with the pain impossible to get up.

Tough your feet were directly on the floor, they couldn’t be moved neither. Chained to the same floor you stood upon. Nowhere out, no voice to cry for help and with pain, that felt like it could kill you. The only thing you were able to do, was waiting for whoever took you to come back or for someone to save you.

Even tough you were a loved public figure, you did not think, that this was important enough for others to search for you. Maybe you just left and told no one, it wouldn’t have been the first time, that someone in your position did something like this. Or you just wanted to flee this entire ordeal with your divorce and subsequently moving away. But without your children? And after all this time?

Still you did not believed that someone could find you wherever you got chained up. It was dark, but the cold, slightly moist air, told you it was deep down somewhere.

For hours you kept yourself awake, to not fall asleep again with this massive wound on the back of your head. Arms slowly losing every feeling you ever had in them. Them getting cold from the little blood that get pumped into them. You had giving up to get out of there, the moment the feeling left your arms.

Now more or less, hanging on the chains, waiting for your capturer to come back, do whatever they have planned, maybe even getting a lot of ransom and hopefully letting you go in one piece.

Just then, finally you heard footsteps, together with a light source. For just a moment, your world was full with color, even in the darkness itself. Maybe it was help? You wanted to call out, until you saw who it was.

A lustful devilish smirk, laid upon a handsome face. One that you had called the love of your life not too long ago. „My love, here you are, I have searched for you everywhere.“ Directly after telling you that, he laughed maniacally. Like a lunatic. A well known black mask in his hand. It was the first time, you had seen him in his costume. You vaguely knew of his and your sons nightly activities. But actually never believed it.

„You are really batman?“ Your hoarse, vanishing voice, scared you, not only that but your throat was so dry, that every word spoken felt like the insides of your throat got polished with sandpaper.

„Of course I am baby, I told you many times. But you never believed me. Always working looking after the company, that you stole from me. His original owner!“, he screamed at you. But quickly recovered from it again. „Im sorry, I promised myself not to scream. But did it anyway hehe.“ His light laughter, sounded completely unhinged to you. Why was he keeping you there? Was he the one abducting you? No, that can’t be, if he is really Batman, he would’ve tried to save me, not taking my as a hostage. Yeah, he must be there to help you.

As you began to smile again, he did too. But for completely other reasons. „I knew, you would come around. Seeing me again as your husband and this time, even as your master. As I deserve to be.“

This little speech, was the turning point for your hopes and happiness. Your smile vanished as fast as it came to be. Dread taking you over.

„Oh did you hoped, I was here to help you? But I had already taking problems on me, to even take you, darling. How foolish of you! I obviously will keep you. Break you and build you up again, to be completely mine again. This little boy toy of yours, surely will not be able to satisfy you, right darling?“

His question sounded anything else than that. More like a plead to tell him what he wanted to hear, but you weren’t a big liar, so you just shut your mouth.

„Right darling?“, he asked more forceful, getting to you faster than his short steps before had promised you. As he almost was right in front of you, trough the little light, he was giving, you were able to see the absolute craziness in his eyes.

No longer than his hands caressing you face, you already knew that he wasn’t there to help you, but the opposite. The hunger for revenge was all too visible on his face. „Be a good boy, like you were when we were married and just let it happen.“ He tried to whisper in your ear seductively.

But it came out like the words of a maniac, spoken like gibberish, together with trembling fingers. „If you are good, I show you how a real man treats his partner.“

Even if you didn’t wanted to, a short chuckle came out of your mouth. It didn’t even take a second, before you felt a tingle in your cheek. The burning sensation from something hitting you there. „I see, you don’t want to be a good boy, then the hard tour. Maybe you learn to be good again, baby.“

Every time he gives you a nickname, you could feel a sickening feeling deep inside of you, one that only can happen, when you know that something really wasn’t right there. When you gut tells you, that something horrible will happen.

At the latest it became obvious, when he started to let his hands wander. First over your clothed body, but really quickly underneath it. Until he ripped and pulled at all of your clothes. They either ripped fully or let you have at least some decency.

With the horror happening right in front of your face, you became frozen. Just looking at the man you once loved and still a bit did, started to doing something like this to you?

Unable to process the happenings, you did nothing. What Bruce must’ve seen as consent. As he tried to kiss you, were you finally able to break free. Instead of kissing back, as he might have hoped, you bit on his lip.

As you tasted his slightly foul blood, he already punched in your stomach. Doubled down in pain. Bruce was walking around you. Helping you up from behind. But not out of love or his guilty conscious. No, his plans are way more malicious.

With all the ripping and pulling of your clothes, you at first haven’t even noticed it, but as you felt a warm hand on your behind, you were aware that something sinister was going on in Bruces head.

Before you even could beg for him not doing anything to you, he already had punched you again and again and again. Even electrocuting you, to his delight. It was sickening. But everything he was doing to you, robbed you a little bit more of the energy you had saved up to hopefully flee from this place at some point.

Until you were hanging there, legs buckled in, again not even enough energy to speak. „Was it really this heart, my love? Know I can finally show you how a good husband cares for their partner.“ Without any further notice, he pushed himself into you. Except for your widened eyes, nothing else happened.

Your throat was too pained to say a word or scream. He violated you what felt like for hours on end. Not even getting tired. He relentlessly dove into you, punching, cutting and slapping you all the time, while he put you down with every second word.

Never in your life had you ever felt this disgusting. So dirty and humiliated.

At some point he left, where you had thought that he was finished with you and left you there to die. But he came back, with more equipment, with multiple different whips, a gag ball and what he could’ve find.

You had no idea what had happened. Almost directly after Bruce had begun his second assault on you, nothing mattered anymore. Instead of being there, you fell in an old memory of yours, playing on fields, that were part of your families farm. Or was it a dream of you and Clark at his parents farm, where you felt so safe?

But as you later came back to your senses, multiple hands tried to save you. Thinking that it again was Bruce, but this time with more people around him, you began to cry. Bitter tears ran down your cheeks.

„Hey, hey, dad everything is okay, we are getting you out of here!“ As you heard your oldest sons voice, with all your left strength, you looked up at him. Pity, was the most evident in his eyes. Something you never wanted to see. Concern and anger, only side characters in his mix of emotions.

„Where is Clark? He can’t be here. Bruce has a trap for him. Please safe him!“, you begged your son. Bruce had told you all the secrets. Now aware that you next love was also a superhero, you weren’t so sure anymore. But still your love for him was strong.

„I get it, Jason you take him to a hospital, he needs immediate care!“

Jason hasn't said a single word, the entire time, he was carrying you from this place, to the nearest hospital. That he even could carry you this far was already a wonder in itself.

Thankfully, he had given you a Jacket to hide most of your at least intimate parts and even put a second mask on you, so no one would see who he was carrying.

In the hospital itself, some nurses came running down to you and Jason, trying to get you out of his arms. But he did not budged. Asking for specific doctors. Which as soon as they came, he let you in their care, warnings them, that nobody can know who you are.

At least you were safe again. You could only hope, that Clark aka Superman was as lucky as you were. But he was a superhero, of course he would come back to you. right?

Taglist: @ravenqueen27

#Clark Kent x male reader #Clark Kent imagine #Bruce Wayne x male reader #Bruce Wayne imagine #Bruce Wayne #dc x male reader #dc imagine #x male reader #male reader #male reader imagine #x male reader imagine

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coentinim · 5 months

Note

You know current normalisation of torture-porn is bad when both the far right and the far left decide it needs to go, and often times for the same reason. Also, I think left-wing guys, those who are more politcally active, are often oppenly creepier than guys who are on the more left-side of the political spectrum. Like, I heard one of the guys who studies in the same class he would like to marry a jewish woman to show her the position of Palestine. Or that epicly famous Vaush drama. Many more conservative guy support group do have nice messages. Not incels. F-ck incels. MGTOWs are barely healthier, and mostly seem like a group of traumatized guys who distrust anyone with an XX chromosome. But like the No-Nut november (because trying to quit porn addiction for a month challenge) and neo-stoician groups who don't think chugging alcohol makes one manly. Heck, most support groups who try to help men quit violent porn are right-wing, at least from what I noticed.

That's one of the reasons, but not the only one, why I don't care about the political stances of authors. I myself lean more traditionalist.

Anyways, I am an Innocent fan, and while I think it's messages were a bit cringe at the end...It's a good manga, relatively speaking. I also noticed, when he stuck to historical accuracy, everything was fine, plot-wise. I prefer his non-linear story telling actually. Because manga and comic are a medium that does serve you everything you need to know on a platter. Doesn't leave a lot of room for imagination and speculation, and it's this plot structure that I think work very well for manga.

Okay... that's a lot.

I also think there's a problem with violent porn, I haven't seen any because I don't enjoy looking at people going at it, but from descriptions it is quite disturbing. I'm glad I never seeked it out lol. I'm not sure what classifies as torture porn, but I guess it's the more abusive or disgusting type... that would legally qualify as torture in a different setting?

Yeah leftist men are scum a lot of the time, I've read somewhere that conservative men view women as private property and leftists as public property, and that's kind of how it is. I don't know what MGTOWs are, but incels honestly scare me... and, the antisemitism of that guy?? What the actual fuck. He should be medicated lol I'm sick of men thinking rape is a weapon of war, it helps no one, fixes nothing, just makes civillians suffer...

Oh and the conservatives are anti porn mostly because they find most porn immoral and against Christianity and not because it harms individuals, so like good for them but their reasons aren't perfect either.

And yeah authors can lie about their political stance and they do it quite a lot, so I also don't care about it. I don't care about Sakamoto's political stance, too, though I do think he has some questionable fetishes going on... he likes drawing torture, gore and creepy sex wayyy too much.

I also liked the structure! I didn't like Rouge though, I've read Innocent really quickly but with Rouge it took weeks. It was way too confusing. I wanna know what he smoked when writing this lol.

#nika gets political

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factorialsotherfandoms · 4 months

Note

hey!! o/ just finished binge reading your xcom-qsmp au on ao3 today and just wanted to say that i loved it!! i'd already read parts of it, but i just got to the rest and enjoyed every word of it. one of my favorite parts was the Dream chapter of Remind Me How It Feels To Hear Your Voice. watching mike slowly put the pieces together in the back-to-back dreams, figuring out what's going on, what pac is doing for mike, what he's doing to himself. (auuugh pacccc </3) i have more thoughts abt this section but i think i'll just go leave a comment on the fic itself at some point bc it is much too long for this already long ask lmaooo

anyway!! question for you abt your xcom au (if you're still taking questions that is): it's mentioned in the fic that cellbit's psionics are "academic" (if i'm remembering correctly) but pac and mike have a soul bond situation going on, which has a different sort of psionics, from what i've gathered. so, what is the difference? and if cellbit's psionics are "academic," then where and how did he learn them? and how/why are tazercraft soul-bonded? idk if this will be answered in a later fic but basically any spoiler-free info you've got on the psionics in your au that you're willing to share, i'm all ears. for reference i know nothing about xcom besides what you've told me so. yeahh.

(also the way pac and mike can just swap between bodies, mush into each other until they're pac-and-mike, communicate without really having to think words over the bond, that's so cool!! and the way pac takes mike's migraine'd body so that mike can get to sleep <33 can you tell one of my fav parts of this au is the psionics because one of my fav parts of this au is the psionics hfjdsk)

Ah! I'm super glad yo enjoyed it <3 comments here, comments there, whereever you comment it's greatly appreciated and makes me smile <3 The dream bit wasn't originally planned for, but is my favourite

Okay, so psionics. God help us all. First, wiki entries for the actual xcom2 canon so I don't confuse you too much

But I should also yeet you this one...

XCOM2 canon wise its also used by the Templars, so their stuff here:

So okay now I've done that, AU version time.

Eh this isn't super spoilery as the characters just kinda know these bits already, or never actually work it out. The where did Cellbit learn it is relatively easy - he's been nicking shit from the aliens for most of the last decade. In terms of an actual study, the aliens and Federation are far superior than any human run facility. Learning it takes putting your body through a lot of abuse, and leads to specific, defined powers the effects of which are known and quantified. Not everyone /can/ learn it, and some are more naturally talented than others, but with time and effort shit can be worked out. Cellbit's been watching and reading and learning, copying known techniques (even if he snuck shit out without a teacher) in an attempt to learn known powers. Once he meets up with the group he spends time with Antoine and Ironmouse - Antoine literally makes a field of academic study about psionics, what exactly it is and how it functions, while Ironmouse as (openly) a demon has a unique connection to it (she can use the psionic field to eat bits of people's emotions, dulling said emotion in return for power. Indeed, it's a demon's primary food source). But still it's very much a case of 'I know this can be done and this is approximately how to do it, now how do I actually make it so'.

It should be noted that Cellbit's powers can be used on anyone (bar himself in some cases), and because they affect the world generally as well as targets specifically can be boosted or nullified by local environment changes.

Every person makes a dent within the psionic field, by nature of having a soul. Cellbit's use of psionics is learning how to tug at the field around them to have knock-on consequences for the target - or in cases such as when he's trying to shield Pac from a possible threat that time Mike contacted him from too far away, an area around himself as he basically grabs the threads of that layer of reality and forces them to freeze.

Next we pause on specifics to talk about soldier bonds. The early and tbh most useful effect of bonds in game (give an action to your bondmate are actually also powers a PsiOp has access to (AKA Cellbit's class) - hand over an action, and remove negative mental effects when next to each other. It follows then to me that the powers are related, but in a different form - and, notably, they are only able to be used on the bondmate. Bonds form simply by spending time in high stress environments together, and how quickly they form depends on just a random number generated. Every unit has a randomly assigned bond-compatibility with every other unit, which is how many 'points' they earn each mission. Each time the bar maxes out, a bond-pair gets new powers (but only one bondmate per person, and it must be mutual).

To which my read on it and what's going on in this au is that bonds are extremely limited psionic sub-networks. Your souls/minds/whatever have via exposure and stress and shit become partially synched to one another, such that when you are nearby there is a slight ripple effect between you. Allowing for the perfect timing and your encouragement having mechanical effect and all. Just little things, mostly, but it's there.

Now, Pac and Mike. Pac and Mike are weirdos, and I say that with affection. They won't be the only example of what they can do that's ever existed, but given... reasons which are spoilers both for the game and if I ever bother to write plot into the AU, people like them are being actively hunted down. Still, what they have is an extremely powerful version of the basic bond thing, one that has become only more apparent with time.

This is for a few reasons. I'll bullet point the ones I can remember without my notes while sick and having just taken meds which fuck my brain <3

Pac and Mike are both just naturally very sensitive to psionics. This would make them great to learn the sort of stuff Cellbit does! They'd be extremely powerful! But they're also both more susceptible to the powers being used on them (for sake of the fact they weren't in game, their ability to reflexively shield themselves and each other is basically a thing they developed during the initial war when they kept getting hit in the face with these effects and needed to live, and sort of... cancels out their penalty? As long as they get it in time. Their ability to shield each other is superior to themselves, tho)

Pac and Mike are just compatible. Of all the many people in the universe, their souls just happen to harmonise well. Everyone's soul haromises a bit with everyone else's (okay no there are some exceptions but that's due to external factors without having been fucked with they would), and with enough time and effort anyone (same disclaimer) can improve their harmony with anyone else. Most people don't bother, because there's no real... understanding of this as a thing? And most people are never in the sort of constant life-or-death situations for the months if not years it'd take. And then aren't in the sorts of situations to realise they can effect each other. Pac and Mike... Well, theirs just started very in synch

Pac and Mike met very young, and under extremely stressful circumstances. It is very much not the case that all orphanages are abusive, but theirs was (if when it shut down the remaining kids ended up homeless even just a few who got lost in the paperwork its not a good place to be. Which. *gestures at those two*). Also like. Orphanage. Nobody ends up in an orphanage for happy reasons. Mike in paticular was bullied a lot, shit happened, etc. Followed by being homeless. And all of that.

So, by this point, they were heavily in synch. It was them against the world, two teenagers who had a lot of ability to manipulate the psionic field - something at the time humanity in general had no idea existed - constantly together and constantly extremely stressed for years. They didn't notice the initial powers, because why would they? It happened slowly over time and just a bit of. They did, however, notice when they started feeling each other's emotions, something which developed into each other's thoughts.

And then, what's two intellectually curious kids already on the path to a life of crime to do, eh? Well, experiment of course. If they could think at each other, perfecting their timing was a natural step. If they could get perfectly in synch then maybe...

... And oops, they blurred together

And go wow this is really useful I bet we can do it again. And worked it out between them. The bodyswapping and perfect synch they developed as career criminals because um well it's actually really useful if the guy who knows everything about computers and the guy who knows everything at lockpicks can be in two places at once, you know? Just in case one body runs into the problem.

So, yeah, that's how they got here. Cellbit studied already known, tried, and practiced methodology. Tazercraft woke up with telepathy one day and decided to fuck around and find out. Also, because Cellbit has studied how to manipulate the field in general he can use powers on anyone, but they're generally a little weaker. Tazercraft meanwhile manipulate not the field but effectively have a shortcut through it to each other's brains, where they can work directly. A little hole in that layer of reality that connects them together, no matter how far apart - though the further apart they are, the more exhausting it is to reach through. As they manipulate each other's minds/souls/brains directly rather than just tug the area around them to make it shift certain ways, what they can do is a lot more powerful. But, only on each other.

Also different skills, because Cellbit studied (even if it was self-guided study using resources stolen from various places) while Tazercraft ran on instinct, desperation, and curiosity just to see if they could.

(Sorry Tazercraft get more because they have the special custom stuff, while Cellbit just has like. The actual in game stuff.)

I said earlier that there are others like Tazercraft. Not strictly true. There's others whose bonds are as strong, but no pair is going to have stumbled into the same thing.

(The bonds other soldiers form in game having all the same powers? Is because their bonds are being allowed to develop but also being intentionally guided in certain shapes, and also by the /same/ stress factors - ie the fucking aliens - so the things they're doing to try protect each other are similar to the same. Aliens shooting you leads to very different necessities than trying not to starve! Though tbh similar to local bullies keep breaking your nose. And they'll never be as strong, because there's something very different about the bond when you grow up with your souls partially merged and if you connect them as adults. That's if I even decide to keep the other bonds as story things rather than just occasionally they're weirdly in synch. I'm honestly tempted to not keep those bonds that formed in game, and when the powers are significant maybe its an indicator of a bond but its not something anyone knows about. Just. A slightly uncanny timing or lucky shot or whatever.)

But yes also this is one of my favourite bits too! Feel free to continue poking me its just ha;f ten and I'm sick so like. God only knows if this was coherent <3

#ask and answer #qsmp x xcom #qsmp au

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cpunkhobie · 1 year

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slip you care abt psychology right? do you know much about the actual factual disproving of “narcissistic abuse”?

someone i know sincerely believes they are a victim of that and it can be so agonizing to listen to them talking about it when i don’t know any sort of scientific talking points that disprove it (this person SOLELY likes “facts and scientific studies”, i have attempted to appeal to moral/pathos arguments before with “well it’s kind of weird to label an entire group of people as abusive” and that has Not worked)

Ok well to start off with the common sense argument:

Narcissistic personality disorder is a Disorder, rather than a personality trait. Saying that you or someone else is a victim of “narcissistic abuse” is like saying you’re a victim of anxiety abuse or ptsd abuse or adhd abuse and so on.

Let’s also re-clarify that people with mental disorders and especially personality disorders have no control over how their disorder effects them, often with or without extensive therapy and psychological treatment.

The first resources you see when you look up narcissistic abuse are also Better Help and Talk Space which have already been disproven by multiple therapists, other therapy resources, and many users as straight up scams or otherwise unreliable resources for psychology and therapeutic practice. Scrolling through the results there are also no other reliable sources claiming that narcissistic abuse exists.

Let’s also debunk a few arguments for its existence:

“People with narcissistic abuse are cold and calculated with their abuse”

That is an abusive behavior and an abuse strategy, not inherently tied to the abuser having NPD. It’s also important to clarify that nearly all abusive relationships have factors or periods of time where the abuser is cold or unloving. This can be shown in many ways, the most common or well-known one being the silent treatment. Basically is shows that the abuser has the choice to not communicate without it effecting them at all, whether that’s the case or not, and that the victim as no power over that.

A lot of that is fluff— point is, being cold and unloving in an abusive relationship is not tied to NPD. That’s something that is common in relationships where neither party have NPD.

“Narcissists will abuse covertly rather than openly ; covert abuse vs open abuse”

This is just so fucking stupid, no one is going to go “look at me !! I’m abusing you!!!.” Abusive relationships exist where someone holds public favor or being in public over a persons head. This can be done through public humiliation, public berating, or otherwise triggering an argument in a public space. It’s also important to mention that threatening these things is also considered abusive behavior. So again, covert abuse does not mean the person is or was narcissist.

“It’s not because narcissistic abuse is real, it’s just from them being a narcissist.”

Then you’re a bad person.

God and even from a moral standpoint it’s just wrong. Attacking an entire group of already vulnerable and villainized people just because you can’t think of another fucking term to use is mean. It’s just fucking mean.

So let’s just say:

Narcissistic Abuse isn’t it’s own thing, it’s a rebranded Emotional Abuse.

Just look at what the fuck Talkspace has to say about it:

All of these things are emotionally abusive behaviors. NONE of them are strictly related to NPD , and an abuser DOES NOT need NPD to do any of things.

And just a general thing - if any of your sources are from for profit sites like mayoclinic , betterhelp or talk space don’t listen to a WORD of what they have to say. Chances are it’s not up to date, not accurate, or they’re spreading false information.

sorry this took so long to respond to but here’s another post where I also talk more about how bullshit “narcissistic abuse” is.

And if you’re an abuse victim reading this who uses this kind of language - from one to another: attacking a vulnerable group of people is not worth reclaiming your power. No matter how much it feels in the moment you don’t have to tear people down who weren’t responsible for your abuse. I promise

But ya that’s it hope this helps o7

#mental health #abuse mention #honestly I feel like this ended up being a whole lot of nothing so I do recommend looking at my other post about it ToT #jonahs lemonade stand

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souryogurt64 · 1 year

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good lord i just read your whole dissertation (and half the incredibly well cited links) on the fucking ryanrosspetewentz history and i’m a bit stoned and have so many thoughts i hope you don’t mind me sharing

anyway. i’m a fucking wreck.. just absolutely devastated about ryan’s life story and the insanity of the scene in that time while simultaneously so impressed by the quality of your writing? i was absolutely enthralled the whole time i was reading, the literary allusions the Homoeroticism the ludicrous lives they were living the role of the early internet and state of popular culture (i can’t tell you how far up my metaphorical alley this is. i’m a huge fob fan and a media/music studies student and wrote my final paper on the rise and fall of emo - it’s not good but i had such a fucking good time writing it i didn’t even care i got a B)

and just some of the most insane real quotes from them. he’s so loved but so unloved. everything palahunik-linked. all of keltie colleen’s quotes about ryan.. oh god the lyrics to Camisado

i’ve been a fan of both bands but had no CLUE about this? god. i find it insane that i was alive at this time but absolutely not clued in to celebrity culture or the internet so just. completely fucking unaware.. i’m not going to lie to you some of those j-14 covers hit me like a truck. like seeing a parallel universe i can’t believe that’s the same group of some kinda nerdy dads doing music. (also i read the whole urie paper mag article and i hated it the whole time.)

god i just enjoyed it so much (although i’m still weeping) and i could sit here and keep bulletpointing my favourite parts but i feel like i’m already coming in very strong. but thank you for like. the most entertaining hour or two of my life, i can’t wait to read more of your work xo

thank you! and yeah ryans life is really tragic. this didnt make it into the article because i didnt really have enough proof and i didnt want to detract from my credibility by making wild claims.

but i think ryans life gets even worse somehow. while i was researching i noticed that there were two very different names going around for ryans mom-- i believe they got printed in two different magazines but so much is behind paywalls or has been lost to time its tough to say where exactly it originated

one of the names had her maiden name and the other didnt. it struck me as unusual that ryans mom would be using the ross last name if she and ryans dad had been estranged for ryans entire life.

it could have just been a mistake or a made up rumor that caught on but then i noticed ryans dad was a casino dealer in addition to being an abusive alcoholic. ryans dad was also older than average, he was 60 when he died and ryan was only 20 which means he wouldve been 40ish when ryan was born.

rolling stone also described ryans mom as "free spirited" and that she was not in contact with ryan which is like the polite way of saying on drugs. this was compounded by the fact that it got printed that ryan was briefly in contact with his mom again post-fame and then stopped, which is also a bit odd, like she only wanted money. i felt like maybe at one point they gave a fake name for ryans mom to obfuscate her actual identity and then just said her name later on.

ryans dad being so old especially was weird because i just did not see it as probable a 40ish year old woman would conceive a child with someone and then leave and have no involvement in that childs life because shes so "free spirited" even after the dad died, especially if the dad was an abusive alcoholic

this was also all so bizarre and set off alarm bells and the math was not mathing so i tried to figure out which name was his actual mom. the one i thought was fake was super common but a las vegas public records listing immediately came up for the maiden name which would put ryans mom at 20 years younger than his dad-- aka she was 20 and he was 40 when he was born. a second listing also came up that would make her 11 years younger

i cant prove it and its very tenuous and speculative, but it would make much more sense for a 19-28 year old possible addict to get knocked up by a 39 year old casino dealer in vegas and then abandon her child with him forever to go be "free spirited" because hes an abusive alcoholic than for a nearly middle aged woman to do that for seemingly no reason.

this is also where "the heart is deceitful above all things" comes in because theres this pervasive rumor that pete said the book reminded him of ryan, which i couldnt prove happened but the book is about a little kid with an addict mom in an out of jail thats physically abused by his religious older relatives when not in her care. i suspect ryan said pete said this on the messageboard panic set up to talk about the book, but the messageboard is long gone lol

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echoes-lighthouse · 1 year

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Something that amuses me is the fact that I’m not caught up on literally any of my fictional others’ source material!

This is a brief study of where I left every single media (and why):

these are my personal experiences and i certainly don’t judge anyone for not sharing them or for enjoying a plot twist/plot arc that i disliked!

BNHA (anime)- I watched to the end of season 4 and never picked up the next season: I was getting tired of suppressing my emotions about the whole hero/police parallel issues and just decided the fanfiction would be more fulfilling than the actual story.

Homestuck- I read the original webcomic to the end, but I abandoned HS2 like a hot potato and refused to touch the whole franchise for a year and a half: it was such a bitter piece of writing, mocking the fandom and erasing the progress most of the characters had made in their original arcs, and I don’t know that I’ll ever fully forgive the creators for it.

Magic School Bus- I read most of the books when I was a kid, but I never watched the TV show! I was one of those 90s kids who didn’t have cable, and I’m not sure I’ve read ALL of the books: it’s been a while for most of them, though I do have 2 still on my bookshelf

TMA- I always preferred the oneshot horror story part of The Magnus Archives, so I started to get pretty burned out around season 3, but I kept going until season 5! Season 5 tends to be less stories and more horror-themed poetry/abstract concepts, so I just didn’t.... bother? But I’m glad people who enjoyed the plot aspects seem to have liked the ending!

Critical Role- uhhhhh I’ll get back to this some day! I’m thinking of starting Campaign 2 from the beginning again? The stakes just got too high and I didn’t love what the group was doing, and it just got stressful instead of fun... but some early-days episodes might get me hooked again!

Rick and Morty- I have to consume this show at a bit of a snail’s pace because the abuse and alcoholism can really get under my skin. I just recently started Season 5 and I’m working at it slowly.

(secondary F/O sources under ‘read more’ so I don’t flood dashboards!)

Black Butler- I did watch the whole anime but I was honestly more into the manga, which is still running! I read until I was caught up in 2015, but I just haven’t gone back into the fandom since then, although I still lovingly stroke the spines in every bookshop: maybe I should make an effort to get the new volumes from the library!

Welcome To Night Vale- I listened to the first hundred episodes! Actually, the first 121, but it was more and more multi-episode arcs and I wasn’t into it, so I let it go. I need to go back and catch up on my Kevin dearest’s arc though :)

Danganronpa- I was watching the Game Grumps playthrough and I finished the first game with them, but they were super halfhearted about the second game, so I only watched one trial, and now I’m waiting to have enough money to buy and play games 2 and 3 for myself!

Mary Poppins- okay this might be an exception BUT I haven’t read the original books!

Nightmare Before Christmas- a second exception BUT I heard terrible things about the new book so I decided not to read it! Does that count?

Sandman- I’ve read the comics fully, including the follow-up comics after the initial run. However, I have NOT watched the TV show: Death looks great but I can’t get over how much they butchered Dream and I just can’t bear to watch any of the scenes with him in it, and he’s the heart of the damn series so it doesn’t feel worth it

American Horror Story- I watched a few full seasons but got a bit tired with the ‘in your face’ style of horror in each season, and categorically refused to watch the Coven season for ‘raised pagan’ reasons. I watched House, Asylum, Freak Show, Cult, and Roanoke, but I really only enjoyed House and Asylum as full stories.

And that’s the story of why I’m not caught up on any of my f/o’s origin medias! Thanks for reading to the bottom, it’s something I’m quite insecure about (like I don’t love them enough if I haven’t finished the original media for their sake) so I decided to write about it in a fun way!

#my f/os #hark i say nothing #fandom negativity #none of these are direct judgments on the media!#but it can still get kinda negative at times #thus it is tagged :)

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