#Mass Transit Trouble

[elijbrony]

Here is my last YouTube video for 2023. Happy New Year, guys.

[nomaishuttle]

AAAANYways. look at the map ive been working on :]

[judgeitbyitscover]

Southern Reach series (10th Anniversary Editions) by Jeff VanderMeer

Cover art by Pablo Delcan

MacMillan, 2014-2024

Annihilation (2014)

Area X has been cut off from the rest of the world for decades. Nature has reclaimed the last vestiges of human civilization. The first expedition returned with reports of a pristine, Edenic landscape; the second expedition ended in mass suicide, the third in a hail of gunfire as its members turned on one another. The members of the eleventh expedition returned as shadows of their former selves, and within weeks, all had died of cancer. In Annihilation, the first volume of Jeff VanderMeer's Southern Reach Trilogy, we join the twelfth expedition.

The group is made up of four women: an anthropologist; a surveyor; a psychologist, the de facto leader; and our narrator, a biologist. Their mission is to map the terrain, record all observations of their surroundings and of one another, and, above all, avoid being contaminated by Area X itself.

They arrive expecting the unexpected, and Area X delivers—but it’s the surprises that came across the border with them and the secrets the expedition members are keeping from one another that change everything

Authority (2014)

After thirty years, the only human engagement with Area X—a seemingly malevolent landscape surrounded by an invisible border and mysteriously wiped clean of all signs of civilization—has been a series of expeditions overseen by a government agency so secret it has almost been forgotten: the Southern Reach. Following the tumultuous twelfth expedition chronicled in Annihilation, the agency is in complete disarray.

John Rodríguez (aka "Control") is the Southern Reach's newly appointed head. Working with a distrustful but desperate team, a series of frustrating interrogations, a cache of hidden notes, and hours of profoundly troubling video footage, Control begins to penetrate the secrets of Area X. But with each discovery he must confront disturbing truths about himself and the agency he's pledged to serve.

In Authority, the second volume of Jeff VanderMeer's Southern Reach trilogy, Area X's most disturbing questions are answered . . . but the answers are far from reassuring.

Acceptance (2014)

It is winter in Area X, the mysterious wilderness that has defied explanation for thirty years, rebuffing expedition after expedition, refusing to reveal its secrets. As Area X expands, the agency tasked with investigating and overseeing it—the Southern Reach—has collapsed on itself in confusion. Now one last, desperate team crosses the border, determined to reach a remote island that may hold the answers they've been seeking. If they fail, the outer world is in peril.

Meanwhile, Acceptance tunnels ever deeper into the circumstances surrounding the creation of Area X—what initiated this unnatural upheaval? Among the many who have tried, who has gotten close to understanding Area X—and who may have been corrupted by it?

In this last installment of Jeff VanderMeer's Southern Reach trilogy, the mysteries of Area X may be solved, but their consequences and implications are no less profound—or terrifying.

Absolution (2024)

When the Southern Reach Trilogy was first published a decade ago, it was an instant sensation, celebrated in a front-page New York Times story before publication, hailed by Stephen King and many others. Each volume climbed the bestsellers list; awards were won; the books made the rare transition from paperback original to hardcover; the movie adaptation became a cult classic. All told, the trilogy has sold more than a million copies and has secured its place in the pantheon of twenty-first-century literature.

And yet for all this, for Jeff VanderMeer there was never full closure to the story of Area X. There were a few mysteries that had gone unsolved, some key points of view never aired. There were stories left to tell. There remained questions about who had been complicit in creating the conditions for Area X to take hold; the story of the first mission into the Forgotten Coast—before Area X was called Area X—had never been fully told; and what if someone had foreseen the world after Acceptance? How crazy would they seem?

Structured in three parts, each recounting a new expedition, there are some long-awaited answers here, to be sure, but also more questions, and profound new surprises. Absolution is a brilliant, beautiful, and ever-terrifying plunge into unique and fertile literary territory. It is the final word on one of the most provocative and popular speculative fiction series of our time

[divinesolas]

Ok so if you watched scream 4 Jill manipulates charlie into being with her and thinking he's her partner in crime then she kills him. So imagine that with Ethan you join him and date him you actually start to like him but kill and betray him in the end and get away or you can have reader die too if you wanna be extra angsty

Whatever it takes

Summary | You loved your boyfriend you really did, but did you love him enough?

Warnings | Carpenter!reader (tara’s twin), murder, angst, 1.6k wc, heavily jill coded reader

a/n | i loved writing this request !! i hope you like it sorry for the wait 😭

“You're an asshole!” Tara spits at ethan as he laughs, “I know!”

He turns to the other ghostface standing next to him with a smile, “Come on baby lets do this.” 

“Baby?” sam mumbles. The ghostface rips off the mask to reveal you. “y/n?” tara says in shock. “Hi tara.”

Ethan laughs, “God look at their reactions this is gold.” 

Your sisters watch in horror as ethan moves over to you and give you a deep kiss to which you smile when you pull back. “Its better than i could have imagined.”

You had always fallen into the shadows with your other sisters, Sam obviously had a mass amount of attention due to the Woodsboro attack, you would watch as people would come up and talk to her and scroll through hundreds of social media posts about her. 

You cant forget about tara. Who could? she wasnt internet popular like sam was but she was definitely popular amongst the people you knew. Everyone liked tara, of course they did she was funny and super pretty, basically everyone you knew has or had some sort of crush on her at some point and time like wes, amber, even chad. 

Then there was you. Tara’s twin sister. Nobody ever remembered you, there was sam, tara and, the other sister. You were fine with it at first but over time you grew to hate it, and hate them. Nobody ever seemed to notice you or even paid attention to you, not until him. 

You met Ethan early into your time at Blackmore University. You sat next to him during econ. You could see him stare at you out of the corner of your eye which got you thinking. When you turned to him with sweet eyes and sweetly asking if you could borrow a pen he melted and stuttered before giving you a pen and you gave him a sickly sweet smile to which he looked down and meekly smiled, he was so shy and sweet. He was perfect, exactly what you needed.

You two quickly became friends and soon enough started dating. When you two started dating your friends were happy for you, it was an easy transition since ethan was already friends with chad since they were roommates so he easily made his was into the friend group.

Ethan was quick to follow along with you. He had a troubled home life, never being shown any sort of love and affection as a kid and when he met you who showed him what it felt like to be loved it was easy to get him to do anything you watched him to just do he could please you.

You quickly learned ethan had very…. violent tendencies. He was more than eager to dawn the ghostface mask and begin to brutally, yes brutally kill the people he once called his friends. Anika, mindy, chad. It was easy to him, once he found out you hated them he began to hate them too. 

He was the perfect partner, doing all the heavy lifting because he didn't want you to hurt yourself which made you smile. 

You didn't truly like him. did you? you did. you found yourself having a warm feeling in your chest whenever he smiled at you, you would find yourself smiling and laughing after hearing his contagious laugh. it was dangerous. you never intended to actually begin to love him like he loved you when it got closer and closer to the time where you would end this you grew more and more upset. You hated it.

Before your sisters had even arrived, you had given ethan a big long hug, one he did not reject. He squeezes you tight like he always did as you bury your face in his neck, taking him in.”i love you ethan.” you can feel him laugh. “I love you too baby.” You pull back and kiss him deeply, he hums into the kiss and smiles, “i cant wait to celebrate with you afterwards.” You almost frown but nod your head leading him to give you a toothy grin.  

Sam watches in horror as ethan brutally stabs tara over and over infront of her, tears running down her face while shes sceaming for him to stop. Looking over at you her face grows angry, “Why are you doing this y/n please stop this.” 

You scoff youre growing more and more annoyed, “oh shut up itll be your turn soon.”

Ethan seems to be done having his fun with tara and he stands up turns back to you with a smile. “Fuck it felt good to kill her.” 

You barely take a glance at her dead body bleeding out with what must be twenty stab wound all over her. You smile and laugh at her empty and soulless eyes as sam hysterically continues to scream and cry.

Ethan turns to her and rolls his eyes, “god shut up.”

He turns back to you and smiles, “Your turn.”

You had told him he could deal with tara, he had his own aggression towards tara since she was always the one to pick on him so he wanted to be the one to kill her while you got to take care of sam. 

You give him your own smile and walk over to wear sam is sitting tied up and kick her in the stomach.

“You wanna know why im doing all this? why ive taken everything from you?” You run your knife along her cheek barely caring if she was actually listening to you over her tears. 

“because you took everything from ME.” you slash her arm and she cries out looking at you, “what are you talking about?” 

You scoff, “Its always been, oh sam and tara oh sam and tara but what about me! i have always been left behind, forgotten, left for last. Even my own friends i had made nyself chose you guys over me and im sick of it!” Another cut hits her along her stomach and she cries out in pain again. “once i slit your throat and watch you bleed out the news will think it was your fault, you went crazy and killed your best friends. But who will live to tell the tale y/n? im sure youre wondering. Me.”

Ethan thinks nothing if your words, glaring at sam as you make your way towards him and wipe a piece of dried blood off his cheek leading him to smile at you. Your hands shake and the grip you have on your knife grows tighter, “i have always lived in your shadow. in her shadow.” you point your knife now turned towards her dead body, “its my turn to be in the limelight and it would finally be my turn.”

You admire ethan for a moment, your eye's almost water as you stare at him, “and i cant share it. with anyone.”

The knife plunges into the side of his neck and his eyes widen as he stumbles back falling to the floor, blood pours out of his mouth and you move to stand above him.

“im sorry.” you crouch down and run your thumb along his cheek, he struggles below you, grabbing your elbows and staring at you with confused eyes which water. 

“im sorry baby, but i cant share my fame with anyone not even you. Im sorry.” 

You continue to watch and a tear falls down your cheek at his painful face, “i love you, I really do baby. forgive me.” 

With the last of his strength he reaches his hand up and cups your cheek, wiping the tear off your face before his hand falls and the light draining from his eyes. 

You frown, he was taking care of you and he did it until the very end. You rub your sleeves on your eyes wiping away any tears you had and stand up. Theres no time to mourn now. You had a job to do.

You turn over to sam, a new agression filling you body as you stalk over to sam. the knife covered in ethans blood tight in your hand.

It was her fault, everything was her fault none of this would have had to happen if it werent for her.

You lift the knife high and stare down at her ignoring any words she was saying or the tears running down his face as you slammed the knife down, hard, over and over and over and over and over. 

Admiring your handy work you check her pulse, feeling nothing you smile. it was over. but you cant celebrate yet, you make your way over to ethan trying not to look at his bloody face as you rip the ghostface suit off his body and throwing it into one of the empty trashcans and setting it on fire. 

You rushed around, you know somebody had called the police so you had to hurry, taking off your own outfit and putting it onto sams body, you had untied her and put the knives near her but not before stabbing yourself twice, “fuck” it hurt of course it did. it did make you smile, knowing that you were the one that caused sam to feel what you just felt but much worse.

You painfully drag sams body closer to where ethan was and take a minute to take a breath. 

You mess up your hair and slice at your arms leaving a couple of times hissing each time.

You can hear police sirens outside so falling to your knees and lay down on the ground, facing ethan. you smile, knowing he would be happy you had succeeded. 

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Biden should support the UAW

On September 22, I'm (virtually) presenting at the DIG Festival in Modena, Italy. That night, I'll be in person at LA's Book Soup for the launch of Justin C Key's "The World Wasn’t Ready for You." On September 27, I'll be at Chevalier's Books in Los Angeles with Brian Merchant for a joint launch for my new book The Internet Con and his new book, Blood in the Machine.

The UAW are on strike against the Big Three automakers. Biden should be roaring his full-throated support for the strike. Doing so would be both just and shrewd. But instead, the White House is waffling…and if recent history is any indication, they might actually come out against the strike.

The Biden administration is a mix of appointees from the party's left Sanders/Warren wing, and the corporatist, "Third Way" wing associated with Clinton and Obama, which has been ascendant since the Reagan years. The neoliberal wing presided over NAFTA, the foreclosure crisis, charter schools and the bailout for the bankers – but not the people. They voted for the war in Iraq, supported NSA mass-surveillance, failed to use their majorities to codify abortion rights, and waved through mega-merger after mega-merger.

By contrast, the left wing of the party has consistently fought monopoly, war, spying, privatized education and elite impunity – but forever in the shadow of the triangulation wing, who hate the left far more than they hate Republicans. But with the Sanders campaign, the party's left became a force that the party could no longer ignore.

That led to the Biden administration's chimeric approach to key personnel. On the one hand, you have key positions being filled by ghouls who cheered on mass foreclosures under Obama:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/03/06/personnel-are-policy/#janice-eberly

And on the other, you have shrewd tacticians who are revolutionizing labor law enforcement in America, delivering real, material benefits for American workers:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/09/06/goons-ginks-and-company-finks/#if-blood-be-the-price-of-your-cursed-wealth

Progressives in the Biden administration have often delivered the goods, but they're all-too-often hamstrung by the corporate cheerleaders the party's right wing secured – think of Lina Khan losing her bid to block the Microsoft/Activision merger thanks to a Biden-appointed, big-money-loving judge:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/07/14/making-good-trouble/#the-peoples-champion

These self-immolating own-goals are especially visible when it comes to strikes. The Biden admin intervened to clobber railway workers, who were fighting some of the country's cruelest, most reckless monopolists, whose greed threatens the nation:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/02/11/dinah-wont-you-blow/#ecp

The White House didn't have the power to block the Teamsters threat of an historic strike against UPS, but it publicly sided with UPS bosses, fretting about "the economy" while the workers were trying to win a living wage and air conditioning for the roasting ovens they spend all day in.

Now, with the UAW on strike against the monopolistic auto-makers – who received repeated billions in public funds, gave their top execs massive raises, shipped jobs offshore, and used public money to lobby against transit and decarbonization – Biden is sitting on the sidelines, failing to champion the workers' cause.

Writing in his newsletter, labor reporter Hamilton Nolan makes the case that the White House should – must! – stand behind the autoworkers:

https://www.hamiltonnolan.com/p/whose-fault-is-it?

Nolan points out that workers who strike without the support of the government have historically lost their battles. When workers win labor fights, it's typically by first winning political ones, dragging the government to the table to back them. Biden's failure to support workers isn't "neutral" – it's siding with the bosses.

Today, union support is at historic highs not seen in generations. The hot labor summer wasn't a moment, it was a turning point. Backing labor isn't just the moral thing to do, it's also the right political move:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/09/14/prop-22-never-again/#norms-code-laws-markets

Biden is already partway there. He rejected the Clinton/Obama position that workers would have to vote for Democrats because "we are your only choice." Maybe he did that out of personal conviction, but it's also no longer politically possible for Democrats to turn out worker votes while screwing over workers.

The faux-populism of the Republicans' Trump wing has killed that strategy. As Naomi Klein writes in her new book Doppelganger, Steve Bannon's tactical genius is to zero in on the areas where Democrats have failed key blocks and offer faux-populist promises to deliver for those voters:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/09/05/not-that-naomi/#if-the-naomi-be-klein-youre-doing-just-fine

When Democrats fail to bat for workers, they don't just lose worker votes – they send voters to the Republicans. As Nolan writes, "working people know that the class war is real. They are living it. Make the Democratic Party the party that is theirs! Stop equivocating! Draw a line in the sand and stand on the right side of it and make that your message!"

The GOP and Democrats are "sorting themselves around the issue of inequality, because inequality is the issue that defines our time, and that fuels all the other issues that people perceive as a decline in the quality of their own lives." If the Democrats have a future, they need to be on the right side of that issue.

Biden should have allowed a railroad strike. He should have cheered the Teamsters. He should be on the side of the autoworkers. These aren't "isolated squabbles," they're "critical battles in the larger class war." Every union victory transfers funds from the ruling class to the working class, and erodes the power of the wealthy to corrupt our politics.

When Democrats have held legislative majorities, they've refused to use them to strengthen labor law to address inequality and the corruption it engenders. Striking workers are achieving the gains that Democrats couldn't or wouldn't take for themselves. As Nolan writes:

Democratic politicians should be sending the unions thank you notes when they undertake these hard strikes, because the unions are doing the work that the Democrats have failed to accomplish with legislation for the past half fucking century. Say thank you! Say you support the workers! They are striking because the one party that was responsible for ensuring that the rich didn’t take all the money away from the middle class has thoroughly and completely failed to do so.

Republican's can't win elections by fighting on the class war. Democrats should acknowledge that this is the defining issue of our day and lean into it.

Whose fault is a strike at the railroads, or at UPS, or in Hollywood, or at the auto companies? It is the fault of the greedy fuckers who took all the workers’ money for years and years. It is the fault of the executives and investors and corporate boards that treated the people who do the work like shit. When the workers, at great personal risk, strike to take back a measure of what is theirs, they are the right side. There is no winning the class war without accepting this premise.

Autoworkers' strikes have been rare for a half-century, but in their heyday, they Got Shit Done. Writing in The American Prospect, Harold Meyerson tells the tale of the 1945/46 GM strike:

https://prospect.org/labor/2023-09-18-uaw-strikes-built-american-middle-class/

In that strike, the UAW made history: they didn't just demand higher wages for workers, but they also demanded that GM finance these wages with lower profits, not higher prices. This demand was so popular that Harry Truman – hardly a socialist! – stepped in and demanded that GM turn over its books so he could determine whether they could afford to pay a living wage without hiking prices.

Truman released the figures proving that higher wages didn't have to come with higher prices. GM caved. Workers got their raise. Truman touched the "third rail of American capitalism" – co-determination, the idea that workers should have a say in how their employers ran their businesses.

Co-determination is common in other countries – notably Germany – but American capitalists are violently allergic to the idea. The GM strike of 45/6 didn't lead to co-determination, but it did effectively create the American middle-class. The UAW's contract included cost-of-living allowances, wage hikes that tracked gains in national productivity, health care and a defined-benefits pension.

These provisions were quickly replicated in contracts with other automakers, and then across the entire manufacturing sector. Non-union employers were pressured to match them in order to attract talent. The UAW strike of 45/6 set in motion the entire period of postwar prosperity.

As Meyerson points out, today's press coverage of the UAW strike of 2023 is full of hand-wringing about what a work-stoppage will do to the economy. This is short-sighted indeed: when the UAW prevails against the automakers, they will rescue both the economy and the Democratic party from the neo-feudal Gilded Age the country's ultrawealthy are creating around us:

https://doctorow.medium.com/the-end-of-the-road-to-serfdom-bfad6f3b35a9?sk=207d6afdb89b0351b92233cc3318ab94

There's a name for a political strategy that seeks to win votes by making voters' lives better – it's called "deliverism." It's the one thing the Trump Republican's won't and can't do – they can talk about bringing back jobs or making life better for American workers, but all they can deliver is cruelty to disfavored minorities and tax-breaks for the ultra-rich:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/07/10/thanks-obama/#triangulation

Deliverism is how the Democrats can win the commanding majorities to deliver the major transformations America and the world need to address the climate emergency and dismantle our new oligarchy. Letting the party's right wing dominate turns the Democrats into caffeine-free Republicans.

When the Dems allowed the Child Tax Credit to lapse – because Joe Manchin insisted that poor people would spend the money on drugs – they killed a program that had done more to lift Americans out of poverty than anything else. Today, American poverty is skyrocketing:

https://thehill.com/opinion/finance/4206837-poverty-made-an-alarming-jump-congress-could-have-stopped-it/

Four million children have fallen back into poverty since the Dems allowed the Child Tax Credit to lapse. The rate of child poverty in America has doubled over the past year.

The triangulators on the party's right insist that they are the adults in the room, realists who don't let sentiment interfere with good politics. They're lying. You don't get working parents to vote Democrat by letting their children starve.

America's workers can defeat its oligarchs. They did it before. Biden says he's a union man. It's time for him to prove it. He should be on TV every night, pounding a podium and demanding that the Big Three give in to their workers. If he doesn't, he's handing the country to Trump.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/09/18/co-determination/#now-make-me-do-it

[sleepdeprivedsimp234]

Soooooo— Gov spawning into existence as a girl and not liking his body :<

Cue him binding his chest with bandages and cutting his hair in order to feel more masculine

And like- what if Mass (who transitioned before the Revolution) walks in on him and Gov thinks that he’s gonna get in trouble, but is pleasantly surprised when Mass actually helps him bind properly, gets Jersey to fix his hair properly, and gives him tips on how to feel more masculine :]

[donnerpartyofone]

Various people and their parents:

Yesterday we went to church between neighborhood errands. I'm always interested in, and a little unsettled by the appearances of teenagers there; kids who are starting to come under the influence of their changing bodies, and who are starting to discover their individual identities in ways related to the body and not, standing next to their parents to participate in a submission ritual heavily marked by the words "mother" and "father". One kid is handsome and unctuous, and everything about him--his posture, his nervous energy, his haunted stare--says I'D RATHER BE MASTURBATING. Another tall, lanky boy sits with his hips and shoulders touching his mother's; he caresses her and whispers to her continuously throughout the mass. His father sits a foot or two away and shoots his wife a sharp look when their son gets up and disappears. Bathroom, she mouths. Masturbating, his eyes seem to reply.

Today many people are on mass transit with their parents. On the train an attractive, affluent woman in her 30s explained to her sister and mother that she found out in the middle of pilates class that her friend's 13 year old chihuahua had died. Then the sister explained that she had been named godmother of her friend's cat. I guess the friend must be dying because the mom said "So you might wind up owning the cat!" but the daughter said, "Ugh, it's not like that. I'm just providing moral guidance to the cat." Then on the ferry a woman expounded in great detail on her troubled relationship with her ex-husband to her traveling companion, their adult son. I kept wondering, Does he appreciate this? Is this at all welcome?

I started the day reading an article about this woman whose 70-year old mother decided to have an assisted suicide in Switzerland for no other reason than that she felt like it. Part of the byline indicated that it was really evil of her not to stay alive for her adult children. I always think that's kind of fucked up; if someone kills themselves you should assume that they were experiencing a kind of pain that you, a non-suicidal person, could not imagine. After someone is dead many people are comfortable saying "That was so selfish, how could they inflict this misery on US?", but I bet a lot of them would not have had the nerve to say to the pre-suicidal person "You should continue to bear your literally unbearable pain so that I can go on with my untroubled existence." But then I read the rest of the article and it really clearly described a narcissistic psychopath who had been habitually abandoning her loved ones and dependents all along. So, shows what I know!

[cuprohastes]

The Trouble with Pebbles

Part the One-th.

The Tsin say Spite is a poison that hollows bones. The Atrix say Spite leaves no winners. Humans say "All things are possible through spite" and then printed it on a coffee cup, which is why everyone worries about humans.

"Then Again, 43 did walk into a hard vacuum and rescue Garf when everyone knows that's impossible, and I supposed that's what they might mean," said Dave The Human, official human and female-ish alien pangolin-mouse thing.

She was looking at the coffee mug in Question.

Raxy was also looking at the cup, and having put on some mass and developed the biology for it said, "I was there. Actually, it was me who went and got him. And I'm fairly sure she did it because… reality annoyed her."

Garf, paused while putting a new jumper on Un-Named. "… 43 is a her?"

Everyone paused to try and recall what 43 looked like.

"… Are you sure?" Dave said after another moment.

"No." said Raxy. "But uh, 43 is definitely my favourite aunty," they said.

To Atrix, anyone who wasn't your offspring, or partner (ex or otherwise), was an Aunty. They have twenty-three words for Aunty, ranging from one's most precious and delightful Aunt, to something that has the connotations of 'Oh. You. I'm obligated not to stab you, and that's as far as I'll go.' - Atrix is a fun language.

"I find it hard to tell them apart." Admitted Raxy, whose eyesight had only been good up to about two metres until recently.

Dave pawed at her muzzle. "Best advice, play dumb, or wait until they tell you or a couple of other humans refer to them enough times you can be sure. Sometimes even they don't know. Human gender is hard, Raxy."

Garfield "Garf" flickered an agreement and Un-Named Male said "Graak."

Raxy, in the transitional phase from Little Guy to Big Adult squinted at their tablet. "I thought they only had two genders."

Everyone took a moment to avoid looking at each other, and play non-committal face patterns or whootle a little ditty.

Dave, who had a degree in Humans said "OK so that's… not quite right? They have two common biological gender categories, a set of less common ones, and each category is sort of sub-divided into subsets, which have their own subsets. It's insanely complex." she said.

Tsin have four main genders, one of which can swap, a base family unity of four to eight individuals, and extended families that you have to be Phillipino to properly appreciate… and they took a long look at Humans, threw up both sets of hands and declared that the whole shebang was beyond them.

Meanwhile, the Atrix have one gender, and reproduction so external that Atrix parents can be absent for both the conception and birth of their offspring, and any pretence to Male or Female is purely a convenience for other species.

Which is to say Raxy was a little lost.

"So…" they said. "43 is…?"

Everyone took a moment until: "Grak." said Un-Named and Garf and Dave relaxed. "Yes! Ok, that is entirely correct, and definitive, and answers every question one might have about 43." Dave said. Raxy made a note.

"And Dave the Human - female?"

"No." said Garf flatly.

"Eh. Officially, male. Same as me." said Dave. "But they're still OK to be an Aunty. They're a good sort." she said eying the coffee cup.

"Practically Atrix." agreed Garf.

Meanwhile…

Dave the Human was sitting on a grassy log hiding from the lights down in the Atrix section of the station, discussing edible moss with Gondy.

Gondy who was recovering nicely from almost getting freeze-dried alive was still taking it easy. After several months of treatment, her eye was back to normal and there were hardly any scars. It'd taken 43 about two weeks to recover fully, and then he'd fussed over Gondy like she was the one who walked into space wearing only a paper gown and rescued him.

Dave was wearing a full copper tinted faceplate and a soft light jumpsuit under some specially made Atrix Coveralls that had been gifted to him. The jumpsuit, faceplate, hood and gloves prevented the UV in the Atrix lighting from causing damage.

Around thier feet, in the purple moss, skittered some junior Atrix, hatched within the last year or two, peeking out and chasing each other, watched over by the elder small adults - The ones about the size of Un-Named male, of about ten to twenty years old.

Several transitional Atrix - Smaller than Gondy, a little larger than Raxy were gardening. And since this was the Atrix deck and they weren't at work, like Gondy they were naked, which Dave privately considered a poor choice.

Then again Dave was a fan of pockets and disliked any state of dress where one couldn't comfortably stash a tablet, pen, snack, a string of Glowbs, and two multitools.

Gondy stuck her hand into some moss and pulled out a little junior Atrix, who immediately went limp, causing a couple of fatherly heads to pop out and watch her.

Atrix are communal child raisers. Atrix sub-adults sleep in little burrows under the moss that they blend in with, and when they're old enough they watch the younger generation until they develop enough to want to pair up with the more mobile large adults.

Gondy casually blinked colours at the youngster, who blinked back, while she talked: Atrix babytalk.

"It's an unusual cultivar. We had real trouble propagating them until they got popular on Earth. But now they're a lot hardier… but they're stronger-tasting. It's caused a bit of a shift in cooking recently. We've been trying some homeworld variants on curries." Gondy said.

The Junior scurried off of Gondy's lap, up to Dave who peered down at it and tossed it into the central water feature.

Dave gave a nod. "Yeah… we don't have many edible mosses but now you can hardly get a salad without powdered Grak on. And frankly, now Ranch comes with Graaak, who'd want it without?" he said casually, "As for the stuff you guys think of as a major weed… we can't get enough of it. It's the third biggest supplier of dietary fibre and vitamins for most ships and colonies."

Gondy flashed an amused expression, because the stuff was considered unpalatable and faintly poisonous to Atrix. And the humans had shown up with salad forks and a hungry look, and now it was a staple anywhere you could stick a UV bulb and a strip of substrate… wet paper would do it.

The soaking-wet little junior scrambled up onto Dave's leg and bounced excitedly, so he threw it again.

"Anyway, I've been seeing a few dry patches in my planters but I'm sure they're getting enough UV while I'm on shift… any ideas?" Gondy however didn't reply.

Dave peered and tried to decipher her colour patch then looked down to see a small adult holding an attractive rock out to him. "Oh. Oh dear." he said.

"Yes," said Gondy, "Awkward…"

And that meant...

O'Patel and Big Ma had to get involved.

They shared an office, which suited them both fine.

While technically co-administrators, they'd long ago worked out that neither of them wanted to play dominance games life was too short for office politics, and Big Ma, whose human name was: "Don't-Make-Me-Come-Down-There" had determined that the dark-skinned Irish administrator was both affable and competent, had settled in to nest comfortably with a desk and thirteen varieties of office plant, on one side of the office.

O'Patel had determined that Big Ma's subtle sense of humor and technical acumen was second to none, and that he'd rather have her on his side more than any five people he could think of, had promptly followed suit.

He had an aquarium, a cage of rats and a near constant floating video conference with a bewildering variety of people whom he bantered with, harangued, wheedled, and kibbitzed with in seven different languages.

Big Ma appreciated that O'Patel dealt with virtually all the people who called in to make themselves feel important, make demands or otherwise tie up Admin's time.

And right now they had the door closed, the windows tinted and the emergency biscuits out.

"Really, he gave Dave a rock?" asked O'Patel.

"A really nice one! I have no idea where he got it, that's some premium pebble. If it wasn't for… you know… he could have gotten anyone with that."

"That good?"

"That good."

"But…?"

"Yes…" said Ma. "Not too long back, he wouldn't have lasted long at all. No colours!"

"Is that… I have to ask, but is that because the condition also causes low survival?"

"No." Said Ma. "It's because we used to just straight up step on hatchlings like that. It was considered too severe to live with. It was a… Mercy." she said and lunged for a biscuit.

O'Patel could read the distress on the colour-changing skin across her forehead and muzzle.

"But we live in kinder times." he said.

"Barely. It's really awkward talking to him - Creepy, and he's usually excluded. No chance of pairing up. Ugh. I feel terrible but I couldn't imagine…" she admitted.

O'Patel could see the shame on her face, in a rippling pattern. "So… kinder but crueller." he sighed. "And so he propositioned Dave. Is there any chance it's some sort of mistake…?"

Ma indicted No, with certainty. "No. he outright stated that if we didn't want him around he'd see if anyone else would. Actually, he said 'Graaaak' - Very blunt but I admit, to the point - but I can't put that down in the report. I mean… I understand he feels strongly but… We can't allow it, can we? Can we?"

O'Patel selected a biscuit and pondered it. He took a bite, chewed thoughtfully and then shared it with the panel of rats who were lined up, watching him intently.

An Atrix little guy with a birth (hatching?) defect that meant he'd never developed the Atrix signature colour-changing display. And he'd more or less asked Dave to be his partner. A bit of an interspecies diplomatic issue to be sure.

The problem was that Dave was very popular with the Atrix crew and despite some highly unusual hijinks and events, had never actually done anything wrong - And O'Patel knew that Dave had a grasp of Atrix culture that was good enough that he'd spent a week as one of them on a technicality.

The technicality was that O'Patel and Ma had their claws out over someone who'd showed up to harass their staff and the aftermath was that while publically, Words Had Been Said, tacitly both the Atrix and the Human governance had been very pleased.

Big Ma had joked that if the humans didn't want Dave, they'd take him and find him a Little Guy - And now a Little Guy had marched up and put in a request.

"You know… You know what Dave will do if he finds out. And our other Dave will back him up."

"It's what I'm afraid of." agreed Ma.

"But what… what if?" Said O'Patel. "What if?"

They both had another biscuit and started to plot.

[infinitegest]

Freshman Dorm (II)

Horny Plot Device University returns!!

“Oh, fuck!”

“Oh yeah, oh yeah, OH…”

…

“Do you want to keep going?”

“Oh, god, yes…”

Quark looked at their phone. “Sorry guys, it’s Noah. Poor little guy probably got lost again.”

The crew waved Quark off, saying to give Noah their best and worst wishes.

“Hey, nerd, what’s up?”

“Hey, uh… can you come over to my dorm? We—I need some help.”

“Uh. I’m with the crew right now, can I talk you through… whatever it is? Also, who’s ‘we’?”

“it’s… um… kind of urgent?”

“What’s wrong?”

“So, uh…”

“You bottled someone,” Quark asked, aiding the scene transition, “in the first week of the semester?”

“You keep saying ‘bottled,’ I don’t know what the hell that means.”

“That was a missed opportunity for a Princess Bride reference right there.”

“Bite me, I’m freaking out. What do we do? What do you mean bottled?”

The two of them were standing in the men’s residence halls, just outside Noah’s dorm. Noah was sitting on the floor, barefoot, shaking, wearing a hastily assembled outfit of a Hawaiian shirt and sweatpants.

“Context, you idiot, it means exactly what you just did.”

“There’s SLANG for this? That’s fucked up!”

“Not as much as you’d think. You have much to learn, my dumb-of-ass sibling. It’s not common, but it’s not exactly rare either. Little freshies get to campus, feel the difference, and get… overenthusiastic. Don’t know when to stop. Like you two just did, apparently. But it usually takes a few weeks, you guys might have broken the record…”

“What do we DO, though? My roommate gets back from work in an hour!”

Quark looked at their anxious little brother. Noah was a good kid, he just didn’t always—what’s a nice way to put this—think, very much. Not with his head.

They took his head in their hands, and said, “Listen to me. Things are going to be fine. You’re not in trouble, at most this is going to be an inconvenience. And, I hope, a learning experience. I’ll go in and talk to her, you go and get some water for both her and you. Stay hydrated, kids.”

Noah took a deep breath, nodded, and pulled away from their hands, heading to the common area.

Quark stepped up to the door of Noah’s room, fine-tuning their “everything is gonna be okay” face, and pushed it open.

Dear god, they did NOT miss these rooms. Just enough space for two beds, two tiny desks, closets, and a mini-fridge, and not much else. Not enough space for a third person, and definitely not enough for a third person who was currently much larger than they had been when they first entered the room.

Much, much larger.

In the bed, Quark saw a sprawled pair of pale, bare legs. They also saw the face of a slender girl, no more than twenty. The girl had a light spray of freckles and wavy ginger hair, pretty, though currently screwed up in obvious distress– tears streaked her cheeks, and she was making quiet, pleading “shh, shh” sounds. Between the legs and the face (along with a slim torso wearing what looked to be one of Noah’s Iron Man shirts) was a bump.

Actually, to call it a bump would be an absolutely absurd understatement. It was easily the size of a yoga ball, perhaps larger, and was very visibly roiling with activity. The girl was stroking the bulging mass, desperately trying to soothe the squirming horde of children Noah had planted inside her.

Quark cautiously, almost reverently, approached. “Hi! You must be Caitlin?”

The girl jumped, as much as she could with what looked to be nearly ninety pounds-worth of babies inside her, drawn out of her distressed reverie. “Oh! H- hi. You must be Noah’s…?”

“Yeah, I’m Quark. Nice to meet you. Tell me how you’re feeling.”

The girl almost laughed. “How I’m feeling? I feel like, fucking, a hundred bucks. Amazing. Fantastic.”

“I know this is kind of scary, but it’s gonna be okay. Trust me.”

Caitlin chuckled darkly, and Quark noticed a slight blush coming to her face. “We were… having a really nice time, you know? It was really good. And I started growing, and we– we kept going, and I grew some more, and it felt good, so we kept going, and…”

“You realized how much you were growing.”

Caitlin nodded, tears welling in her eyes again. “And it was a scary, but it stopped, so we thought ‘Oh, it’s fine,’ but then I realized I couldn’t get up and probably wouldn’t fit through the door, and Noah started freaking out, and I started freaking out, and now I’m stuck under this stupid giant belly and the babies won’t—stop–kicking—!” Caitlin started sobbing, grabbing at her massive stomach, trying to quiet her restless brood.

“Hey, hey,” Quark said, grabbing one of Caitlin’s hands. “I was just telling Noah—this isn’t as crazy as it feels right now. Lots of freshmen don’t know when to stop, and then realize they’re stuck in someone else’s dorm, or their own dorm. Some really dumb cases get stuck in storage closets.” They paused, hoping to at least get a smile from her with that. They didn’t. 

They plunged ahead. “The thing is, it’s okay. Worst case scenario, you end up staying here for a week. You can go to classes digitally, your parents don’t need to find out…”

Caitlin’s sobs eased up a little bit. Good, Quark thought. Keep talking, distract her.

“Do you want to know a secret?”

Caitlin gulped, closing her eyes and dropping her head back against the wall again. “Sure, I guess.”

“The same thing happened to me as a freshman.”

Caitlin’s head snapped to attention. “What?”

“Noah doesn’t know, and I don’t plan on telling him. But yeah, a month into the term, I hooked up with a friend, and we went a little crazy, and I got bottled. Twelve babies, using my belly as a battle royale arena. I was stuck for about a day and a half before they could get me out.”

There it was– a quiet snort, and the slightest hint of a grin from Caitlin. Quark smiled back. “But listen, you’re lucky: I’d guess you’ve only got, say, ten in there, maybe? With a bit of elbow grease (and literal grease), I bet we can get you back to your dorm, or at least to a friend with more space.”

There was a knock at the door, and Noah stepped in with two bottles of water. “Hey…”

Caitlin smiled, weakly. “Hey.”

“Hey, nerd. Stop gawking, yes she’s beautiful, but you’ve got a job to do. Run over to the campus store, they rent out wheelchairs, and see if you can borrow lube or butter from someone along the way. Hop to it, Jeeves,” Quark said, grabbing one of the water bottles and handing it to Caitlin.

Noah saluted, took another lingering glance at Caitlin and her monument of a belly, and closed the door behind him. Then he popped back in. “Can I change my clothes, first?”

“You’re the one who owns a Hawaiian shirt in the first place, dipshit, walking across campus in that is your punishment. In a few months you’re going to be showing up to all your classes in pajamas anyway.”

“Ugh.” Exit Noah.

It was quiet for a moment. Caitlin shifted uncomfortably, pinned down by her crowded belly. “Thanks for telling me your story.”

“Sure. You want to know the crazy part?”

“I’m very nervous to hear the crazy part, but sure?”

“You know how I mentioned the few really dumb cases that get stuck in storage closets?” Quark slowly lifted a finger, pointing at themself.

Caitlin stared for a moment, and then laughed, genuinely laughed… which startled her babies and sent a visible spasm of movement rippling across her massive midriff. 

“HA! … Ohhh… god.”

“Oof, I’m sorry honey. Is it bad?”

“No, no,” she said, “It was just really stressing me out when we were panicking, I guess. It’s fine now, I think.” Caitlin stared at her belly, mesmerized by the moving bodies within her. She slowly pressed deep into one side, and grunted at the chain reaction of kicks and punches. She shivered. “Oh.”

“Yeah?”

“It actually feels really, uhm.” The big-bellied freshman really blushed this time, her pale face turning pink as she slowly flexed her legs to press her bare thighs against the churning sphere. “It feels really. Er.”

“Ah, yeah. Been there, my dude, fuckin’ been there. Do you need a moment?”

“... yes,” Caitlin whispered, her hands sliding around her belly.

“Gotcha. I’ll be just outside.”

Quark left, glancing back just as the door shut. They caught a brief glimpse of Caitlin’s face tilted back, eyes closed, mouth wide in ecstasy, hands moving lower and lower along the great pale curve...

They turned and almost immediately ran into Noah. “Hey, where’s the wheelchair?”

“I got halfway to the store before I realized I forgot my wallet. Is she okay?”

“You can borrow my card. And yeah, I think she’ll be fine. Don’t go in there.”

“What, why not?”

“Because you, young one, must learn control.”

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

By: Bernard Lane

Published: Mar 25, 2024

The dramatic growth of gender medicine clinics around the world would have been unthinkable without the promise of puberty blockers. Children born in the wrong body could simply pause the wrong puberty. And if their self-declared transgender identity proved wrong, it was a simple matter of unpausing natural development. Or so we were told. But now, England’s National Health Service (NHS) has announced an end to puberty blockers as a routine treatment for young people who are distressed about their gender, arguing that the balance between the benefits and harms of this medical intervention cannot be known because the evidence base for blockers is too weak and uncertain.

The impact of England’s decision has been reflected in recent editorials in The New York Post and The Times of London. The Post calls puberty blockers “deadly junk science,” while The Times has declared them “a medical scandal of the first order, a reckless exercise in 21st-century quackery,” explaining:

The case for puberty blockers was that they allowed troubled children to pause while coming to terms with their gender identity. These hormone inhibitors were characterised as an on-off switch that could be flicked with impunity. This was a startling example of medical arrogance.

Gender clinics from Stockholm to San Francisco, from Florence to Melbourne, have been running an uncontrolled experiment on children, while cloaked in the mantle of human rights and denouncing any critics as hateful bigots. It will take time to understand the implications of this experiment. Even those gender clinicians who sold blockers as safe have generally acknowledged one dangerous side-effect: low bone density. Hormone-suppressed teenagers are unlikely to get full benefit of the surge in bone mass that comes with puberty; as a result, they may be prematurely exposed to the brittle bones and fractures normally seen in the elderly. And there is another lesser known but potentially more profound risk: the effects of blockers on the brain.

The NHS decision to ban blockers rested heavily on a 2022 interim report by paediatrician Hilary Cass, who has led an independent review of gender dysphoria care. In her report, she writes,

It is known that adolescence is a period of significant changes in brain structure, function and connectivity. Animal research suggests that this development is partially driven by the [natural] pubertal sex hormones, but it is unclear whether the same is true in humans. If pubertal sex hormones are essential to these brain maturation processes, this raises a secondary question of whether there is a critical time window for the processes to take place, or whether catch up is possible when [cross-sex] oestrogen or testosterone is introduced later.

This question is not new. In 2006, Dutch clinicians, who had pioneered the off-label use of puberty blockers for gender dysphoria—these drugs had previously been used for other, distinct conditions—stated that, “It is not clear yet how pubertal suppression will influence brain development."  

There was talk of a study to elucidate this, but it was never carried out. Despite this, by 2016, a key Dutch clinician was claiming that puberty blockers were “completely reversible.”  

And this was the slogan picked up by gender clinics around the world as they adopted the puberty blocker-driven “Dutch protocol” for paediatric gender transition. A crucial unknown had been memory-holed.

Puberty blockers came to be seen as a low risk, no regrets option in the popular press, too.  In 2015, men’s fashion magazine GQ ran a transgender zeitgeist article, featuring former Olympic athlete Bruce-turned-Caitlyn Jenner, “a beautiful, stylish lady.” The article cites Jenner’s fellow ex-Olympian, the gymnast-turned-doctor Michelle Telfer, who explains to readers that the onset of puberty intensifies the distress of gender dysphoria:

At that point we can start someone on puberty blockers. They don’t stop growth generally, or your brain from maturing emotionally and cognitively, they just stop the sexual characteristics from developing.

Dr Telfer is an adolescent medicine physician. In 2012, she took charge of the gender clinic at the Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne (RCH) which, under her direction, went from 18 new referrals in her first year to 821 in 2021. What were young patients at her clinic told about blockers and the brain? It is unclear. Neither the hospital nor Dr Telfer, who is now chief of medicine at RCH, have responded to my emails asking them to clarify this.

In 2022, however, the hospital did acknowledge that the effects of pubertal suppression on the brain are unknown, though it did so not in a public statement correcting the record, but in a gender clinic newsletter, which it sent out to patients and families alerting them to future recruitment of subjects for a new study of the effects of blockers on the brain. The newsletter states:

During adolescence, the brain changes considerably. However, it is unclear whether the hormonal changes of puberty help to promote these changes or if this development occurs independent of our hormones. Related to this, we do not know whether using puberty blockers affects development of the brain.

It is unclear, however, whether this new study will be robust or whether it will be yet another “gender-affirming” study whose weak design makes it impossible to deduce any clear findings. It is also unclear whether the consent information the clinic provides to its patients and their parents today provides a candid acknowledgement of the cognitive unknowns associated with blockers.  

The clinic’s gender dysphoria treatment guidelines were initially issued in 2018 by Dr Telfer and her RCH gender clinic colleagues. The Lancet lauded them as the first such guidelines specifically for children and adolescents. They include the claim that puberty suppression allows the young patient “time to develop emotionally and cognitively prior to making decisions on gender-affirming hormone use which [has] some irreversible effects.” That reassuring statement remains in the current iteration (version 1.4) of the RCH guidelines.

(The statement is also found in the hospital’s 2019 guide to fertility preservation for cancer and gender patients, accompanied by jarringly activist language that defies the normal understanding of biology. For example, the hospital advises “men”—meaning, females who identify as male—“to use contraception if they have a male partner” and states that “According to [government] Medicare data, >60 men give birth per year in Australia.”)

More relevant is the fact that administration of early puberty blockers followed by cross-sex hormones is likely to lead to sterilisation, sexual dysfunction, and lifelong status as a medical patient with symptoms that may puzzle mainstream doctors. Yet our popular culture has been bombarded with the largely unchallenged story that puberty blockers may save lives and that, if not, they have the virtue of being reversible. By uncritically repeating this and other contentious claims, Australia’s public broadcaster, the ABC, has served as an unpaid publicist for the gender clinics. For example, the popular ABC programme Australian Story recently featured an emotive profile of Dr Telfer, in which she repeats a claim she made on another high-profile ABC platform, Four Corners:

Puberty blockers are reversible. The only risk is that it can affect your bone density.

Such a claim would surprise anyone familiar with the state of the evidence base. 

Few researchers know the scientific literature better than Mikael Landén, a psychiatrist affiliated with Sweden’s Karolinska Institute and the University of Gothenburg. Earlier this month, the journal Acta Paediatrica published his signed editorial under the title “Puberty suppression of children with gender dysphoria: Urgent call for research.” In it, Landén makes the point that,

Unfortunately, the discourse surrounding the use of puberty blockers in gender dysphoria is often framed as a political human rights issue rather than as a medical issue. There is a prevailing assertion that puberty blockers are lifesaving, fully reversible, and always safe. Even though that would place gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonists [GnRHa or puberty blockers] in a unique and unlikely category—there are no other known drugs that simultaneously meet these criteria—any effort to shed light on the balance between the benefits and risks of [this] treatment is misconstrued as an attack on the LGBTQ+ community.

The same journal issue also features a paper by neuropsychologist Sallie Baxendale on the scientific literature dealing with hormone suppression and the brain.

Baxendale’s paper had previously been rejected by three other journals—not because of any fault with the science, but because anonymous reviewers were uncomfortable with its findings, which suggest that there is little evidence to support the benefits of puberty blockers. Baxendale, who holds a chair in neuropsychology at University College London, elsewhere relates her surprise at the politicised reactions her paper provoked:

the most astonishing response I received was from a reviewer who was concerned that I appeared to be approaching the topic from a ‘bias’ of heavy caution. This reviewer argued that lots of things needed to be sorted out before a clear case for the ‘riskiness’ of puberty blockers could be made, even circumstantially. Indeed, they appeared to be advocating for a default position of assuming medical treatments are safe, until proven otherwise.

Professor Baxendale was also unsettled by the paucity of convincing scientific literature on the benefits of puberty blockers:

I was surprised at just how little, and how low quality, the evidence was in this field. I was also concerned that clinicians working in gender medicine continue to describe the impacts of puberty blockers as ‘completely physically reversible’, when it is clear that we just don’t know whether this is the case, at least with respect to the cognitive impact.

These are observations that should give any serious gender clinic pause.

Professor Baxendale is particularly concerned that not enough is known about the neurological effects of puberty blockers for children and their parents to make an informed decision about their pros and cons. She writes:

Vague hints from poor quality studies are insufficient to allow people considering these [hormone suppression] treatments to make an informed decision regarding the possible impact on their neuropsychological function. Critical questions remain unanswered regarding the nature, extent and permanence of any arrested development of cognitive function that may be associated with pharmacological blocking of puberty. If cognitive development ‘catches up’ following the discontinuation of puberty suppression, how long does this take and is the recovery complete? While there is some evidence that indicates pubertal suppression may impact cognitive function, there is no evidence to date to support the oft-cited assertion that the effects of puberty blockers are fully reversible. Indeed, the only study to date that has addressed this in sheep suggests that this is not the case.

These concerns are shared by Professor Landén, who was the corresponding author for the paper describing Sweden’s systematic review of the evidence for the benefits of hormonal treatment for gender dysphoria. In that paper, Landén writes:

Against the background of almost non-existent longterm data, we conclude that GnRHa [or puberty blocker] treatment in children with gender dysphoria should be considered experimental treatment rather than standard procedure. This is to say that treatment should only be administered in the context of a clinical trial under informed consent.

As Landén has pointed out, it cannot be considered “anti-trans” to scrutinise the evidence base for puberty blockers. Far from a risk-free way to pause an unwanted puberty, these drugs are a potentially hazardous treatment promoted by politicised medical societies and ideologically driven lobby groups. We should heed his warning:   

Insisting that [puberty blocker] treatment should not be evaluated using the same rigorous criteria as other medical treatments will ultimately harm patients with gender dysphoria. The view that conducting a thorough assessment of the impacts and potential side effects of [puberty blocker] treatment is offensive, obstructs individuals with gender dysphoria from accessing treatment supported by the level of evidence expected for any other patient group. Instead, the ethical imperative to safeguard our youth demands nothing less than a concerted effort to shed light on potential cognitive and other side effects of [puberty blockers]. The outcome of such research might demonstrate significant benefits with negligible risks, or conversely, that the risks outweigh the benefits. These are empirical questions that require careful investigation. Regardless of the outcome of such investigations, it is essential to ensure that the treatment of children with gender dysphoria maintains the same standard of evidence as any other medical treatment for children. Settling for anything less would amount to discrimination based on ideology.

[kakiastro]

Astrology of Doja Cat

Using whole sign

Rising/Chart Ruler

Libra Rising with Chart ruler Venus in Scorpio 2h.

She’s a private person, she knows lots of people but very few people really know her. It may take awhile for her to open up in a vulnerable way. She may constantly be in the spotlight for her fashion choices. We all know she sings and raps which makes sense because Venus rules over music. Music may be healing to her. Also her chart ruler is in the 2h that’s rules the voice and vocal chords. If you listen to any of her music than you’ll know there’s lots of sexual themes but it comes out pretty and smooth because of that Venus 😅

Libra Stellium 1h

(Sun. Mercury, Chiron, North Node)

Sun- this indicates mass fame. Your constantly in the spotlight or people always have their name in your mouth. Now this can be good and bad.

Good because if you’re a creative or businessperson than you can get exposed easier. The sun will always shine on you(1h)

Bad because the sun is always you. Your mistakes is always being highlighted or people want to know every little thing about you and if you’re a private person like Doja; this can be a nightmare.

Mercury- your words will be remembered easily because it’s in the house of self. Now I see Chiron is conj here so she has to be careful because her words can get her in trouble or there’s going to be some backlash which has happened to her already a few times

Chiron- she may self doubt herself a lot and think she’s not pretty or good enough to be where’s she’s at but that’s not true at all! People who have Chiron 1h are some of the most beautiful people but they tend to self sabotage because they think they’re not good enough which isn’t true at all!

North Node- libra is all about relationships, business, balance, peace and harmony do with that being in her 1h, she needs to learn to let people in but also put boundaries in place while still being her own boss. NN is the toughest placement because the lessons we need to learn in order for our soul growth and that usually means stepping out of our comfort zones. Her NN ruler is in the 2h so creating a legacy whether it’s in fashion or music are the themes in her life. Her South Node Aries 7h tells me that in previous life times; she may have been selfish when it came to other people especially with friends and siblings with ruler Mars in the 3h. Also very stuck in her philosophical thoughts. This lifetime is teaching her about teamwork but still having your own individuality.

I also noticed she’s about to go through a Reverse Nodal return when Transit NN enters Aries this summer which will conj her SN Aries. This means she’s going to have lots of déjà vu moments because things from early life and pass life is going to show up. Wouldn’t surprise me if she’s start to get interested in certain time periods out the blue.

The Moon

(Virgo moon 12h)

Moon-her Venus his already a private sign but her 12h moon makes her super private!

Virgo moon are more so logical than emotional but being placed in the a water house; yeah she feels a lot and probably analyze every emotion, it doesn’t help that she has a 1h Chiron that probably makes her doubt herself already😫

She also has Cancer 10h with Leo Mc so her emotions are often on public display and may be seen as overly emotional or erratic 😩

Honestly; I think taking breaks from the spotlight is actually good for her health(mental, emotional and spiritual) her NN is conj her sun so learning how to be in the spotlight is her life lesson but that doesn’t mean she can’t take breaks from it and focus on herself from time to time.

Saturn Pisces

Saturn-I see she’s about to enter her return since Saturn just entered Pisces on March 7! She has Saturn in the 6h so health, daily routine, organizations, co workers, pets are the main things this house rules over. She won’t feel this return until transit Saturn get close to her natal Saturn degree which is 18°(Virgo degree) so in late 2024-early 2025ish we may see her on the news related to these things. I’m hoping it’s all positive though😊

Pluto Aquarius Transit

I see Pluto is about to enter her 5h of creativity, passion, children and dating. I predict she’s going to take a new direction in her music career! Maybe switching genres or collaborating with people you never would’ve expected her to collaborate with.

Pluto is transformation and Aquarius is the think out of the box sign

Asteroids

(Fama and Varuna)

Fama- known as “Fame”. Is in her 4h Capricorn.

I do remember her saying she didn’t like fame a few years ago on twitter and now it makes sense why because fame is in her house of safe spaces and home. She may feel like fame robbed her of that. There’s some resentment toward it for sure. The is also tells me she’s been famous in previous lifetimes as well; may have been from a famous family. 4h can show us past life stuff as well in case you’re wondering why I said that😅.

Varuna-indicates mass fame on a world wide scale. It’s in her 10h of public relations . I love how she has a song called “woman” and “ain’t shit” that was pretty popular and have a cancer 10h😅

I hope you all enjoyed this breakdown and don’t forget to check my other post in the pinned section

Thank you!

[star-stages]

Now I'm quite curious as well :) Do you have a top 10 list of favorite AoStH episodes? ✨

Hi hi hi, gotta love these AoStH discussions xD unsurprisingly we have almost the same favorites✨️

1. Tails in Charge

2. Tails Prevails

3. Trail of the Missing Tails

4. Tails's Tale

5. Tails New Home

6. Sonic Breakout

7. High Stakes Sonic

8. Lifestyles of the Sick and Twisted

9. Mass Transit Trouble

10. Spaceman Sonic

Other faves: Mobius 5000, Fast and Easy (this one has my favorite Sonic Sez) Momma Robotnik returns, Sonic Gets Thrashed, The Magic Hassle, Robotnikland, Road Hog, and Sno Problem and full tilt tails

[adapembroke]

Natural Rulers of the 8th and 12th Houses: Where are Mars and Jupiter?

It's interesting to me that when astrologers talk about natural rulers of the houses they almost always use modern planets. There is no modern ruler of the 4th, so the Moon rules the 4th, of course, but Pluto always rules the 8th, and Neptune always rules the 12th. There is rarely any mention of Mars or Jupiter as rulers of the 8th or 12th.

Why is that? The idea of natural rulers of the houses is a modern technique, of course, so we're not going to hear about it from traditional or Hellenistic astrologers, but there are a lot of modern astrologers who work with traditional rulers. Why don’t we hear more about them in discussions of natural rulers of the houses?

On the surface, this may seem like a technical debate for late nights at the bar at astrology conferences, but mapping traditional rulerships onto the houses has practical ramifications for how we interpret houses. The traditional planets add nuance, but they also bring the 8th and 12th houses down to earth, teaching us how to cope with some of life’s most difficult territory.

Mars as Natural Ruler of the 8th House

The 8th house is traditionally called the House of Death. Modern astrologers often call it the House of Sex, Death, and the Occult. Regardless of what side you’re on, the 8th house covers difficult territory. Even the sexy side of the 8th isn’t just “adult entertainment.” It is the raw, primal bonding of people who have become profoundly attached to each other, with the inevitable knowledge that they will someday be ripped apart.

Pluto is the modern planet most often assigned as the natural ruler of the 8th. Pluto makes sense as the natural ruler of this house because Pluto is the modern planet of death. Pluto was discovered in the 1930s, ushered into our awareness along with Stalinism and the Wehrmacht.

Pluto is the inevitable, all-powerful march of mass movements of death and destruction. The resistance of the individual is pointless, inevitably crushed by the Gulags, death camps, or the relentless tanks. What is the individual to do against world-shaking forces like these? Pluto says, "Only the foolish little ego would stand up to me."

For that reason, we often talk about surrender and the 8th, and there's a truth in that. Only the foolish would fight the inevitability of 8th house transits. Death is coming, and it’s better to surrender than to fight it, isn’t it? Perhaps, but that approach doesn’t work if we see Pluto and Mars as natural co-rulers of the 8th.

Mars isn't an easy planet, either. In traditional astrology it's one of the two malefics. As the planet of war, its territory overlaps with Pluto, but Mars war is a more ancient conception of war. It is the war in which two guys with a sword clash on the battlefield, not massive bombing runs and anonymous drones.

Mars is a personal planet, so Mars' battles are personal. Mars sees the individual watching the dictator on TV with horror. Mars asks the question, "You there, are you going to put up with this?" Mars looks into the face of the massive, impersonal horror of Pluto and demands personal courage.

Surrender is the death of Mars. If Mars rules the 8th, it means that we aren't supposed to just lay down and die when we face 8th house things. Mars tells us to fight for life, even knowing that death is inevitable, knowing that this might be the battle we're not going to win.

Jupiter as Natural Ruler of the 12th House

Even if Mars ultimately delivers bad news, there is a natural synergy between Mars and the themes of the 8th house. The 8th house is the inevitability of death, and every warrior knows that death is inevitable on the battlefield.

The relationship between the 12th house and Jupiter isn’t so immediately obvious.

The 12th house is traditionally called the House of Troubles. Modern astrologers call it the House of Self-undoing. As much as modern astrologers try to look on the bright side, the 12th house is still the most unlucky house, and yet Jupiter is the planet of luck!

If Jupiter is a natural ruler of the 12th house, does that mean the 12th house is secretly lucky? Sometimes, I think it does. There are times when unfortunate events look different in retrospect. We lose something that we thought we wanted only to realize that our loss has made space for something better or something we didn't know we needed.

At the same time, if Jupiter is the ruler of the 12th, it points to a side of Jupiter that we don't like to talk about. Jupiter is the planet of excess, and the 12th house is the place we go to recover when we have over-extended ourselves. It is the house of hospitals, prisons, and monasteries. These are places we go when we have over-extended ourselves with drugs or alcohol, when we have worked too hard and need rest, or when our selfishness has harmed others.

Neptune meets us in those times when we have overinflated ourselves and collapsed. Neptune is the planet of dissipation, handing us another glass of whiskey when we’ve already had one too many, but it is also the planet of universal love and compassion. It reminds us that we are not alone. Our successes and our failures aren’t really ours. It’s all just a natural outworking of the song of the universe playing itself out.

Like with Pluto, a person can get lost in the vastness of Neptune. Once again, a traditional planet casts the whole situation in a more personal light, reminding us of the power of faith to pull us out of the impossibly deep hole we’ve dug ourselves into.

What about Uranus and the 11th house?

Traditional astrologers are highly vocal about the fact that natural rulerships of the houses don’t make sense. Hellenistic astrology has its own system for assigning relationships between the planets and houses called planetary joys. Natural rulerships are a scheme that was invented by astrologers in the 20th century without the grounding of the traditional rulership scheme that we inherited from the ancients.

I hope that I’ve already made the case that there is something to be gained from meditating on the planets and houses together using the natural rulership scheme, but I do agree with the traditional astrologers that the system of natural rulers isn’t a complete and elegant system the way planetary joys and traditional rulerships are.

In my opinion, the place where the systems of modern sign rulers and natural house rulers breaks down is with Uranus, Aquarius, and the 11th house. In modern astrology, these symbols are often boiled down to “groups.” Uranus adds a small bit of nuance. As the planet of rebellion, it expands the influence of the crowd beyond the personal, turning it into social consciousness and revolutionary movements.

Much is lost, however, when these symbols are simplified this way. Mars and Jupiter bring out shades of nuance when they are associated with the 8th and 12th houses, helping us to understand how to respond to events that are beyond us.

Saturn, on the other hand, is helpless to pull us out of the oversimplification of the Uranus-Aquarius-11th house narrative. Saturn is the planet of authority. When it is pulled into a conversation with Uranus about the 11th house, the conversation becomes a battle of the wills, devolving into an us-vs-them discourse. “Who will be the ruler of the empire?” they ask, “the rebels or the establishment?”

Ultimately, however, this is the role of Uranus. Uranus was discovered during the revolutionary period of the late-18th century. Uranus is the death of kings, dealing the final, crushing blow to feudalism. Of course, it would come along and break astrologers’ systems of rulership.

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[sunbeamedskies]

The Orange Menace/Hope

I sighed an immense breath of relief earlier once I acknowledged something big that’s been getting me down- my relationship with America. I’ve tried to distract myself with other things lately instead of pondering the election further, but it’s time to dive deeper into those troubled waters. My initial post about it is actually currently going “microviral” on this site, and I’m ecstatic so many people agree with me about the problems the modern left continues to cause in America. I love reading everyone’s comments and tags!

Being in Europe made me realize how profoundly damaging the US’ dependence on cars is and how much it has personally hurt my life. I knew it was fucked up, but experiencing the miracle of safe, efficient mass transit was a true Godsend. This kind of toxic individualism is emblematic of so many other problems in the US. The election coupled with learning how much better life can be made me start to view America generally through a more negative lens. The problem is though…it didn’t feel accurate to how I really see it as a whole deep down

I love my fellow Americans. Our landscape is varied, and the scope of its majesty can make your eyes burn with tears you never thought could slam into the cracks of your soul so hard. There are numerous cities full of bubbly life which make me feel sparks in the marrow of my bones. Our entertainment industry has produced banger after banger. I’m grateful for the freedom of the press, right to free speech and dress, and so much more. Los Angeles is one of most enchanting places I’ve ever been to- one of my homes. I adore my college town

Eventually, as long as we start working out some serious issues, this will pass. Fewer people will fall for Trump and his ilk’s potent lies. There will be more left-leaning politicians winning. This can be the inflection point, but only if we change our attitude when it comes to engaging in dialogue with others who believe differently from us

I’m frightened for the most marginalized in the US. Allowing my love for the great parts of America to flow freely does not get rid of that deep-seated fear. I don’t have all the answers. There are a myriad of resources for others who are scared which can help. I also remain steadfast in my goal of not living in the US in the near future. My destiny, I feel, lies largely elsewhere. It’s complex

Stay strong y’all. I hope to be able to ironically shout “America- FUCK YEAH!!!” with less of a what-the-fuck-is-going-on feeling in my heart someday

Make Saying America FUCK YEAH!!! More Fun Again

Love,

J

[wet-paiint]

The only thing voting third party will accomplish is splitting the vote and making it more likely Trump wins. And if Trump wins, it won't just be Palestine that's in trouble, but also every single minority and/or non-cishet individual in America.

The US, like it or not, is a two-party system because of the electoral college, and there is no way in hell that will be changing before November, and anyone that tells you otherwise is a psyop.

u guys canNOT just keep saying “anyone who disagrees with me is a psyop” like come onnnn

1. shit is ALREADY bad for every single minority in america. abortion bans? already here. drag bans? already here. transition bans, no more affirmative action, turning away asylum seekers en masse, black people slaughtered by police on the daily, that is all happening now under a democratic administration.

2. you do know there are ways to push policy without voting third party, right? liberals and so-called “leftists” voting for kamala could have just… lied. it’s literally so easy you don’t even have to actually withhold ur vote. you can just pretend to! yall could have said “kamala harris, we will not vote for you unless you stop killing palestinians” and if fifty million people said that, her staffers would at LEAST start to worry. but you guys were so goddamn hyped to vote for the next maniacal capitalist murderer who at least is a woman of color this time that you couldn’t even PRETEND to lift a fucking finger for palestine.

[likeakiss]

licking blood from your teeth. a raised scar. the old east end. testing the cut on your lip with your tongue. a loud bang from somewhere in the distance. ringing in your ears. refusing to change. slicking back your hair. whiskey and cigarillos. shoot first, ask questions later. remembering where you came from. having to fight for everything you’ve got. violence as a language that everyone understands. exit wounds. the pig-headed belief that you’re always right. struggling to let things go.

statistics.

full name:  joaquin vidal nickname(s)/alias(es):  keen, the crooked hand name meaning:  established by god age:  fifty-seven date of birth:  april 16th star sign:  aries place of birth:  poplar, london (now tower hamlets) current location:  lambeth, london gender:  cis-male pronouns:  he/him sexual orientation:  bisexual religion:  raised catholic (not a very good catholic) occupation:  mob boss family:  david flores (father, estranged), alejandra franklin (née vidal, mother), bernard “bernie” franklin (step-father, estranged), ricardo “ricky” franklin and antonio “tony” franklin (half-brothers, estranged), emilia franklin (half-sister, estranged) “sweeney todd” (ex-wife) education level:  didn’t even get his o levels (old man equivalent to gcses) living arrangements:  a modern warehouse conversion in stockwell financial status:  wealthy spoken languages:  english, spanish

inspirations.

reggie kray (legend) harry (in bruges) tyler durden (fight club) euron greyjoy (game of thrones) maxwell roth (assassin’s creed: syndicate) reyes vidal (mass effect: andromeda) bill sykes (oliver twist)

biography. (tws for poverty, xenophobia, violence, unhealthy relationship dynamics)

A third generation Peruvian immigrant, Joaquin Vidal has never known any home but London. Born and raised in Poplar (a notoriously impoverished area of the city) life was always going to be a struggle for his family - for stability, for money, for respect - but struggle they did. Joaquin’s grandparents went about things the old fashioned way, sacrificing every last shred of their dignity to scrape together enough money to take over the lease on the local newsagent after the previous owner passed away. They managed it, just barely, but even at the tail-end of the sixties, Poplar wasn’t the most tolerant of places, and the shopfront was regularly graffitied or worse.

By the time Joaquin was born, the Vidals had come to realise that London’s streets weren’t paved with gold, as they had hoped they would be when they arrived in England. They had their shop, true, but it wasn’t enough - the family was still living on top of each other, three generations packed into two rooms, living hand-to-mouth. His mother, Alejandra, was only sixteen when she discovered she was expecting, and a wedding was quickly organised in a desperate attempt to hang on to the precious little respectability the Vidals had garnered within their community. It was only two years before Joaquin's father vanished into the night, never to be seen again.

Joaquin was still young when he started looking for trouble (or when trouble started looking for him, as he’d always insist). He was a handsome, charismatic teenager, with a swagger in his step and an appetite for violence that only comes from feeling like you’ve got something to prove. It seemed as if he was destined for gang life from the get go, smoothly transitioning from playground bust-ups and brawling in the streets to the well-paid world of underground fighting. Joaquin was a workhorse in the ring, a surprisingly lithe figure that categorically refused to stay down, and it made him a hugely valuable commodity as a prize fighter. He would do whatever it took to win, and then some.

It was around this time that he set his sights on a woman known to the Jolly Rogers as Sweeney Todd. The former Crooked Hand, a man by the name of Alistair Winchester, had heard of Joaquin’s success on the underground fighting circuit, and was actively trying to recruit him to his cause. Sweeney was Alistair’s niece, and had been embroiled in the workings of the gang since she was very young, meaning she was already well established as a career assassin. Joaquin was drawn to her immediately - he knew they were made for each other.

As his relationship with Sweeney developed, Joaquin became as assimilated into the Jolly Roger lifestyle as she was, working his way up from pit fighter to contract killer in a matter of years. He would always prefer working with his hands (or, rather, his fists), but he learnt to wield a gun with precision and deadly force. As a rule, Joaquin and Sweeney were not supposed to work contracts together - they were both experts in their craft, but their dynamic was volatile and unpredictable, entirely inexplicable to anyone but themselves. People used to say that one day they’d either kill each other, or end up married - they chose the latter.

Realistically, it was never going to last between them - in fact, it’s some kind of miracle (or maybe a curse) that their marriage survived the eleven years it did. After one, final, explosive argument, the Vidals separated for good, but angry as they were, they couldn’t stay away from each other for long. Joaquin started taking contracts abroad, furthering his reputation with the Rogers while doing his best to forget about Sweeney. But he couldn’t, he couldn’t move on from her. He’s never been good at letting go.

When Alistair Winchester shit the bed and got himself nicked, it was only a matter of time before someone was called in to clean up his mess. Following the customary vote between senior members of the gang, Joaquin was compelled to return from his work overseas, not so much stepping into Alistair's shoes as kicking them out of his way. He never sought the title of the Crooked Hand, and his election came as a surprise, but who is he to spit in the face of democracy? If the Jolly Rogers wanted a show of force, Joaquin Vidal would be the one to give it to them.

He's been the head honcho for coming up on four years now, driving the Jolly Rogers into an era of prosperity that puts old man Winchester's legacy to shame. The treaty is starting to chafe at him, though, his patience for niceties running dangerously thin. No, he thinks its high time his people start making some more aggressive plays - show the Jabberwocks and everyone else who really runs the streets of London.

other things.

Before he was the Crooked Hand, Joaquin was known as Sykes, after the character from Oliver Twist. Not the most flattering of code names, but he’s never been much of a reader, and didn’t understand the connotations until much later on. 

Joaquin calls in on his mother approximately once every six months. They didn’t have the best of relationships after she remarried and started a new better family, but she’s old now, and the only surviving relative he’s still in touch with.

He's not usually much of a gambler, but he goes out of his way to attend the Royal Ascot every year, delighting both in betting on the horse races and terrorising the unfortunate toffs forced to share space with him for the duration of the event.

He’s a passionate West Ham supporter, and will thank you not to remind him how poorly they’ve been performing in the premiere league.

To date, Joaquin has never seen a cow in real life.

There isn’t a single event that could convince Joaquin to wear a tie. He didn’t even wear one to his wedding.