#and that all of these labels have a long and complex social history

[pinkcadillaccas]

We need to stop making up random one sentence definitions for sexualities which always end up being wrong, exclusionary and transphobic. We have to return to manifestos.

[genderqueerdykes]

i think that certain parts of the community are starting to become more and more exclusionist. like im starting to see a lot more pro-lesboy spaces say "lesboy doesnt mean trans man/cis man! full men cant be lesboys!" or pro-mspec monospec spaces say "mspec monospec doesnt mean being both things for the same attraction! it means being mspec for sex/romance and monospec for the other!! no one is a romantic mspec AND monospec at the same time!" or just. Things like that.

i did not see this ask until now and am i glad you sent it

short answer: yes, agreed, it's petty queer infighting that doesn't need to be happening

so from what i've noticed is most of online queer discourse really at the end of the day is about what an individual person thinks that queer label isn't, and not what it is. people are very nihilistic right now, and really love to take everything in bad faith. we're seeing a rash of reactionary content in general where people take their knee jerk reaction as their stance on an entire complex concept that requires time to digest and process. like literally the most farfetched dogshit take you've ever seen because they just found out about a concept and bullshitted and answer.

certain people wanna think they're experts on queerness overnight because they just realized they're [xyz] or whatever other reason they want to be the expert on queerness. really what it is is people who want to tell other people what it is, but not listen. like it really just is people who want to say "this is how queerness works. shut up because i'm the only one who knows why. don't ask me for a reason". like it's about control. it's about people who have never done any research into queer history in any country on any continent, has not interacted with their local queer community who still want to have a captive audience about what queerness "really is". so instead of learning history and talking to other people they tell you how they feel and spin it as the truth.

other people just send the most bizarre angry posts, asks, DMs, whatever, about how they hate this 1 really specific kind of person that they've never actually met, but hypothetically they would hate. it's mind games. people get caught up in their own thoughts long enough to believe the hypothetical guy they made up isn't real. it's the strawman argument. i don't know what compels humans to do this but for whatever reason, people really love making up a fictional guy to get offended at. it's really bizarre. if cishet men wanted to identify as lesbians, they would literally already be doing it

if you know what logical fallacies are to some extend and have been around internet discussions in general for a long time, you start to recognize the patterns. it's a type of entitled attitude that leads a person to not be in a community for very long. it's a certain kind of person who gets a rise out of being a jackass. like i've tried to word that better. no. that's what it is. like people are aware of the fact that they're being a jackass and continue to do it anyway. people are getting a kick out of this. like. people are chasing the rush you get from fucking with someone. that's all it is. when people say "how can they be so cruel?" they're chasing a mental high that fades extremely quickly, so they have to keep doing it over, and over, and over.

it's like how do i put it. now that social media is so widespread, just about everyone has one on at least a few platforms at this point. people are being exposed to these conversations. and you're gonna have some complete noobs who come in thinking they can define lesbianism because they realized they were a lesbian yesterday and it's like. people will keep fighting the same tired old argument about how trans men can't be lesbians for the 9439030985th time and meanwhile they're ignoring the 50 trans male dykes interacting with one of their mutuals like i think it's literally dumb as hell that there are people on this website mentally abusing strangers on the internet because they refuse to crack open a book, read a zine or open a pdf and read the biographies of real world trans male lesbians, or even just read an article about one. like it's easier and more fun for them to pretend it's not happening it's wild as hell to me

anyway, yes. it's really stupid. people are getting caught up in all the wrong parts of what separates identities. it's the compulsion to draw lines in the sand that is forced upon us in our binary obsessed society. it is likely tied to black and white thinking, and catastrophizing, which both can happen when someone is stressed and looking at a situation in a maladaptive way, either due to perspective or neurotype. sometimes this legitimately can be due to someone's mental health, so it's not an excuse, but it's an explanation for why people get so riled up. those headspaces get you very heated and it's difficult to come down from. it requires a lot of time learning emotional coping skills to walk backwards from those types of episodes

[transmutationisms]

possibly too broad but do you have any thoughts on the discourse around self-pathologizing? seems like there’s weird territory there since there are so many barriers to diagnoses and people should be free to self-report, yet some pathologies are essentially capitalist inventions and it may be more harmful than helpful for people to fixate on them without some kind of external guidance (though i don’t mean to imply they need to consult medical practitioners). i also don’t really think faddishness is the big concern it’s made out to be, but what do you think?

yeah to me this is a good example of how genuinely epistemologically radical critique of psychiatry can become assimilated into pretty staid liberal discourses of self-empowerment / -care / -improvement. pathologisation, imo, is basically materially meaningless if it's not backed by the sorts of institutions and power relations that characterise the psychiatric establishment. which is to say, if we're only talking about diagnostic labels in a kind of personal-choice framework (as so much of the medium dot com industrial complex seems to be doing lately) then it robs these conversations of a lot of their urgency and impact. i don't think overreliance on the language of the dsm is particularly helpful, as a general matter of seeking to develop political consciousness as well as self-knowledge, but i also don't think it really matters one way or another if someone self-dxes or un-dxes. what makes a difference is things like: is this person being robbed of their autonomy? are these explanatory frameworks being imposed on them by credentialled experts levelling their professional status to claim epistemological authority over the psyche? what social and economic violence is being committed here? some rando online relating to a diagnostic label and using it for themself is not doing these things, and may very well be helpful to that person (it may also not. but again the harm here is p limited).

i have said before, a lot of what puts me personally off dsm labels is the essentialism they're in bed with. ie, it's not just a shorthand descriptor of behaviours or symptoms—these terms are pretty much always being wielded as claims to have identified a biologically based 'neurotype', eg, or some as-yet-unverifiable misery-engendering genetic complex, or whatever else. and to be clear, i think these types of claims do actually carry widespread social harm, because no matter what rhetorical games you play, you're never just saying these things about yourself. it's a claim to certain forms of bio-essentialism that both shores up professional psychiatric authority and applies to people besides yourself (this is just the nature of such universalising claims about human biology). but this is an issue that goes so far beyond use or disuse of diagnostic labels; plenty of people who have embraced superficial principles of anti-psych critique still make all manner of such essentialist claims when it comes down to it, with or without grabbing onto a specific diagnostic label. so i think the kind of panicking we see in certain left-leaning circles about self-dx is not actually about this issue at all, and is certainly not capable of addressing it productively.

without going insanely long here i would just add that this is kind of a general answer because different labels have different histories and functions (eg, compare the social and political function of pathologising a depressive episode, vs autistic traits / behaviours, vs a so-called personality disorder). and also, whenever talking about self-dx i think it's important to add that one of the most important functions of these labels from a patient perspective is they function as means of gatekeeping access to certain accessibility measures, so any kind of anti-self dx position in current political conditions will harm people who need those accommodations. and i have less than zero interest in questioning anybody who wants accessibility measures for literally any reason or uses any method to obtain them.

[lgbtqdefinitions]

Welcome to LGBTQ Definitions!

Queer stuff is a passion of mine. For about half of my life, I've found myself being someone my allocishet friends have come to for clarification on different LGBTQ terms or flags, to learn about identities they want to understand more, or even just to help them source queer perspectives on different social justice issues or whatever diversity discussion comes up. I've also helped LGBTQ questioning friends find labels they didn't even know about previously but that fit them perfectly, and shared resources with them for all sorts of topics related to queerness.

It's one of the things that brings me the most joy and feels the most meaningful and impactful.

Eventually, I began feeling like it could be useful to have one spot to collate resources to be able to quickly share for anyone who wanted to learn more, and this months-long hyperfixation was born.

The intention of this site is to be able to find basic explanations of many terms under various LGBTQ+ umbrellas, under several headings for easier categorisation:

Sexual and Romantic Orientation

Gender

Culture-Specific Identities

Miscellaneous (common terms within LGBTQ+ subcultures or related to transitioning)

Issues and Intersectionality (some of the problems faced within the LGBTQ+ community, as well as the interconnectedness of queerness and other social identities)

Finally, I have a page about the history of the LGBTQ Pride flag, and last but not least, a page of many links to general resources for and about the LGBTQ community.

It's important to note that many of the definitions for identities do not cover the complexity and nuances of those identities.

Queerness is ever-evolving and adapting. The definitions here were meant to be somewhat simplified so as to be less overwhelming for people who are new to all of these concepts. I've included many links to sources with much more in-depth information; this site is just meant to be a starting point for you to begin to branch out yourself - an anchor from which to propel yourself into the (previously) unknown and start your own questioning journey, or learn how to become a more understanding ally, all while absorbing facts about queer history or symbols or what the various Pride flags look like and mean.

I hope this can be a useful resource for people coming in good faith to learn more about the LGBTQ community and/or themselves. I spent more than six months pouring blood, sweat, and tears into this project - and it will still be ongoing - but all I hope for is that this will help someone. If at least one person comes away from this feeling like they've learned something new about themselves or the people around them, then I'll be happy.

If you'd like to reach out to me about anything here, or support me in any way as an autistic queer enby, you can find information on my Carrd!

I'm excited to hear from you! Please feel free to share the link (and this post if you see it) in the hopes it can help someone!

P.S.: This site is best viewed on a computer! The home page formatting will unfortunately not show up on mobile as it defaults to a generic mobile site - though the rest of the pages will be fully formatted on mobile (but still best viewed on PC).

[why-raven]

quiz: tragic play character — yiuno.

Misunderstood Villain.

Prepare for an onslaught of both the most dehumanizing and hateful takes, and flood of thirst comments. You’re chronically misunderstood; whether or not you’re actually evil is debatable. You may be acting out for revenge, to defend someone you love, or even just to protect yourself—you’re a pretty jaded person. You don’t trust or even really like most people—perhaps you did, at one point, but that part of you is gone, and you don’t go a single day without grieving it. You think a lot about what your life could have been. You’re stuck in the past—you’re angry and maybe you don’t even want to be, but this is the only way you can see to survive. You’re open, but less in a trusting way and more like a wound. You don’t like to let people see you, but the hurt spills out of you before you can stop it. You’re impulsive, even as you try hard to plan and prepare. Maybe someday your side of the story will finally be heard. Until then, you can convince yourself that being hated is safer anyway.

link to quiz.

Oh, wow. What an eerily accurate result.

Yiuno embodies many aspects of an anti-hero: be it common tropes (ex. Dark and Troubled Past), or tip the scales further into extremity (ex. Psycho for Hire and Femme Fatale), it’s really fun working on his characterization… as much as I struggle to comprehend his complex, multilayered nature.

I dunno if people see him as a misunderstood villain—guaranteed, this guy literally kills for a living, and he was a war criminal at one point (as a major participant during the Magi War in the Fifth Astral Era). His unique physical condition has twisted his perception of time, like he’s stuck in a psychological limbo akin to a living hell, for eternity. While the idea of eternal life has been explored many times in the game (both the MSQ and mostly the ARR side-quests), to an immortal like Yiuno, only death can bring him true peace.

Oh wait, sounds like Emet-Selch much? Not really—for one, Yiuno does not crave for the past (in fact, he wished he could erase it and start over again), and he doesn’t believe in utopia. While Emet tried to justify his genocidal acts as a “necessary ritual” to reclaim his lost paradise, Yiuno doesn’t even bother to sugar coat the war crimes he’d committed. Though Emet (in Shadowbringers, not Endwalker) did humor the idea of giving the current world a chance as he observed how WoL and the Scions tried to save the First, he never stopped to show outright contempt for the Sundered, calling them lesser beings unworthy of existing. Yiuno, however, never harbors any form of racism or social prejudice towards anyone—on one hand, he sees people as, well, just people; on the other hand, he may appear to be rather apathetic and detached (and hence why he could kill people as willingly as Emet, but for different reasons).

It also didn’t help that his childhood was equally fucked up. Born into a clan with an unconventional (and controversial) family system and societal rules, Yiuno grew up pretending to be a girl for many years just so that he could stay together with his twin sister for as long as possible. This twisted upbringing gave him a rather unique outlook to gender and sexuality—while he identify himself as biologically male and is very much aroace, mentally he feels disconnected and sees them as mere labels. It’s hard for me to explain in a way that people can understand, without radical folks jumping the gun and dissing me about “misrepresentation” and stuff, so I won’t go into details here. (If you want to know more, feel free to ask me in DMs!)

I guess the last line rings true—perhaps it’s easier to hate him for no reason at all. I mean, unless it’s his soulmate Y’shtola or the energetic curious child Sora, very few people have the patience and time to learn more about a walking history like Yiuno.

[ogradyfilm]

Recently Viewed: Creepy

[The following review contains MAJOR SPOILERS; YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!]

With the possible exception of The Man Who Killed Hitler and Then the Bigfoot, Creepy is probably the most accurate title in the history of cinema. That single six-letter adjective describes the pervasively unsettling atmosphere of Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s 2016 psychological thriller elegantly, economically, and succinctly. Like the director’s own Cure, the film finds horror not in shallow jump scares, grotesque gore effects, or supernatural mischief, but rather in something far more chillingly universal: the nuances of human behavior.

To call the movie’s central antagonist a “serial killer” would be an egregious understatement; that label seems too mundane to apply to his insidious modus operandi. He doesn’t merely butcher his victims’ bodies: he infiltrates their lives, erodes their agency and free will, and unravels their interpersonal relationships. Their minds, spirits, and very identities evaporate long before their flesh expires, reducing them to little more than docile, submissive zombies—obedient (albeit unwitting) accomplices to the psychopath’s sadistic crime spree. Most terrifyingly, it isn't particularly difficult to corrupt them; the oppressive, overwhelming burdens of societal norms and cultural conventions have already irreparably weakened their resolve—their tormentor simply needs to discover and exploit their vulnerabilities, gradually chipping away at their brittle defenses until they finally (inevitably) shatter.

The visual style perfectly complements the story’s underlying themes and conflicts. The protagonist, a former police detective haunted by his catastrophic failure to negotiate a hostage situation in the recent past, copes with his physical and mental trauma by burying himself in his new profession as a college lecturer; beneath his façade of passivity and numb contentment, however, he’s clearly eager to atone for his mistakes—making it relatively easy for an ex-colleague to lure him back into the fold with the promise of an especially baffling missing persons case. As the investigation demands more of his attention (indeed, his “purely academic interest” in the disappearances quickly evolves into an all-consuming obsession), his wife begins to feel increasingly neglected and abandoned; despite her valiant efforts to swallow her misgivings and play the role of a dutiful homemaker and productive member of the local community (though the neighbors tend to be either indifferent or outright hostile, consistently rebuffing her attempts to befriend them), her loneliness, alienation, and isolation remain painfully obvious. Consequently, the couple is frequently framed in claustrophobic, symmetrical, fragmented compositions, the space surrounding them externalizing their repressed anxieties, insecurities, and resentments. The camerawork—which is often so subtle that it borders in subliminal—reinforces this sense of emotional inflexibility; these characters are trapped in private purgatories of their own design—and because the editing implements cuts so sparingly, the audience is forced to suffer alongside them through a series of excruciatingly long, uninterrupted takes, ensnaring subject and viewer alike in an inescapable prison of time.

Ultimately, Creepy closely resembles the murderer around whom its plot revolves: it crawls inside your skull and lingers in your subconscious, refusing to grant you a moment of respite. It’s a deliciously disturbing experience; I savored every unnerving image… but having thus feasted on its rich subtext and complex social commentary, I doubt that I’ll revisit it any time soon.

[in2thenewworld]

Hello! May I request a Final Fantasy VII matchup?

𝗦𝗲𝘅𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘀: Transmasc (AFAB) Genderfluid, Biromantic and Pansexual; He/They

𝗔𝗴𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗔𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲: 22 years old, 5'1.5", Southeast Asian (Filipino). Chubby with Messy Medium brownish grayish hair [mistakenly thought to be dyed], Chocolate brown eyes, and a Small beauty mark on my forehead.𝗦𝘁𝘆𝗹𝗲: Feminine Tomboy, Soft Punk/Rocker Chic, Casual Chic, Modernist Chic, and Rustic fashion style (like Malia Tate)

𝗠𝗕𝗧𝗜, 𝗘𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗮𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗺 & 𝗠𝗼𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁: ENTP-T, 4w5, Neutral Good

𝗣𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗶𝘁𝘀: Gentle, Warm, Polite, Supportive, Religious, Unassuming, Creative, Multifaceted, Diplomatic, Nurturing, Booksmart, Fair-minded, Enthusiastic, Insightful, Adventurous, Well-rounded,and Childlike

𝗡𝗲𝘂𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗶𝘁𝘀: Complex, Sarcastic, Driven, Wary, Reluctant, Loud, Outspoken, Keen, Sensitive, Chatty, Traditionalist, Feisty, Clumsy, Humorous, Stubborn, Hopeless romantic, and Dogmatic

𝗡𝗲𝗴𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗶𝘁𝘀: Volatile, Flighty, Inconsistent, Aloof or Dependent (depending on the mood), Potty-mouthed, Gullible, [a bit] Manipulative, Exasperating, [can be] Possessive [but needs your own space], Restless, Tenacious, Indecisive, Overly dramatic, Moody, Blunt, and Condemning

𝗟𝗶𝗸𝗲𝘀: Arts, Literature, Creative writing, History, Old cathedrals, Theology, Catechism, Saints, Choir, Amateur-fact reading, Social commentary, Beauty pageants, Makeup, Cute minimalistic items, Eating, Night sky, Astronomical events, Galaxy color palette, Karaoke, ASMR, Rock bands (Fall Out Boy, MCR, and Evanescence), 2000s-2010s music, Kpop (ATEEZ, Seventeen, TXT, and Enhypen) Cartoons, Memes, and Chilling both Indoors and Outdoors

𝗗𝗶𝘀𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲𝘀: Stereotyping (I hate it when I labeled as sunshiny girly girl), Forced obligation, Being left out, Interrupted plans, Emotional invalidation, Apathy, Judgemental people, Hypocrites, Pressuring, No privacy, Forcing to do I'm against with, Gaslighters, Telenovelas, Dirty bathrooms, blackout, Lightning, Firecrackers, Toads, Snakes, Cockroaches, Toxic Masculinity, Misogyny, Fake wokes, Nitpickers, Trash talkers, Extremists, Colonial Mentality, and Overly girly things

𝗛𝗼𝗯𝗯𝗶𝗲𝘀: Drawing, Conceptualizing original characters, Writing, Reading random subjects (except math), Singing, Dancing [when nobody's around (I'm very bad at it)], Walking like a so-so called model (if I ever feel so confident), Sharing nerdy or opinionated thoughts, Sleeping, Listening to music, Chatting in social media, Watching videos on YouTube, Watching cartoons, Creating clay charms, Making terrible jokes/puns, and Cooking

absolutely! let’s do this thing!

loading your match! ପ( •̤ᴗ•̤ )੭ु⁾⁾.｡.:✽・ﾟ＋

your match is…

RENO!

* Reno shares your sarcastic humour, loud nature and everything that comes with it. It’s a little bit nightmarish for people who are more composed on the surface like Tseng or even Rude 😅 But you’re a dynamic duo, there’s really no changing the two of you.

* Reno isn’t very traditional in any sense of the word, so whatever that means to you, you may have to compromise every now and again.

* Reno the type of mf to be like “Look! It says gullible on the ceiling!” tbh. He’s always trying to prank you. You’re welcome to try and get him back though.

* I think Reno would adore all of the bands you like (10/10 taste btw OP) and would probably watch a lot of cartoons with you as well. That’s your down time to just relax together. You wanna rock out? He’s so here for it. Always always always. And the music will be blasting as loud as you’ll allow.

* Reno will do his best to be considerate of your emotions. He’s the type to act on impulse at times and has a tough edge, so he understands in a way! If something bothers you let him know. He hates people who aren’t direct and will dance around the truth.

* He’s a very strong individual. He doesn’t like to be tied down, told he’s wrong or what to do. So long as you don’t do it to him, he won’t do it to you. He’ll also very much make fun of people who follow in a flock, sooo…

* You should conceptualise some cool weapons for him if your artistic abilities lend themselves in that avenue! He’ll love anything you make because it’s you, but thats a sure fire way to really pull him in.

* Will try get you to troll on servers or websites with him. He comes up with the most unhinged shit ever. It’s so strange to watch.

* Is casually affectionate, but struggles to open up. He’ll flirt and throw his arms around you, be absentmindedly always making physical contact in a subtle way, but he hates doing big public displays of affection or getting all sappy. If you want to know what he’s really feeling or if he’s struggling, it’s gonna be a bit of work.

hi I hope this is good! :D also as a runner up I would choose aerith it was definitely a close call

[mariacallous]

BRATISLAVA—On Sept. 30, many Slovaks went to sleep having presumed that the country would be led by perhaps the most progressive government in its modern history. The next morning, however, they woke up to an alternate universe with a new winner: a scandal-battered political veteran, who, in a number of ways, has risen like a phoenix from the ashes.

This emotional roller coaster was caused by the dramatic inaccuracy of a local exit poll, which predicted a certain victory for Progressive Slovakia, a liberal and urban elite party led by Michal Simecka. It eventually came second to Robert Fico’s Smer-SD, a social democratic party that has over the last several years turned more nationalistic and populist. With all the votes counted, Smer-SD won 42 of the parliament’s 150 seats. Progressive Slovakia secured 32.

Fico, unlike 39-year-old relative newcomer Simecka, has been shaping Slovak politics since the mid-2000s. Having resigned in early 2018—and with a series of electoral defeats for Smer in European, presidential, and parliamentary races, as well as a split within his party in between—he has made a stunning comeback, boosting his party’s support from just 9 percent in January 2021 to almost 23 percent in 2023.

In many ways, his return was paved by the previous anti-corruption coalition, which due to its chaotic style of governance dampened voters’ enthusiasm. In a time of Russian invasion of Ukraine and galloping inflation, Fico—Slovakia’s longest-serving prime minister (2006-2010 and 2012-2018)���could pitch himself as a guarantor of stability and consistent decision-making.

His triumph is all the more impressive as he has done little to distance himself from his past deeds that pushed not only his party but the entire country to perhaps the darkest place it’s been in its modern history. Almost six years ago, he was swept away by a wave of public anger inspired by the massive protests that erupted after the murder of investigative journalist Jan Kuciak and his fiancée, Martina Kusnirova. Now, symbolically, Fico’s close collaborators—Robert Kalinak and Tibor Gaspar, whose behavior as interior minister and police chief, respectively, at the time of Kuciak’s murder was under scrutiny—entered parliament with one of the best results in this election.

This crime—committed on Fico’s watch and ordered by a local millionaire, his former neighbor—shed light on the way he ruled the country. The image of Smer-SD emerged as a hermetic and highly opaque clique that grabbed control of major institutions in the country, including in justice and police, rewarded loyalists by distributing public assets, and was influenced from behind the scenes by shady businessmen (some with ties to organized crime) who operated with impunity.

This is, of course, a recipe that both Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Polish ruling party head Jaroslaw Kaczynski have long been successfully implementing in Hungary and Poland, respectively, on a much larger scale. For instance, Fico never attempted to turn the public broadcaster into a hard-line propaganda mouthpiece or use it to discredit opponents, as his two neighbors have. Nor did he try to create a homogenous nationalist-ideological umbrella for his appetite for power. Nor did he make the West a favorite attack target, being a rather quiet but loyal EU and NATO member. In a nutshell, the main headache for Slovakia under Fico was corruption and clientelism, not authoritarianism.

His attitude toward Russia is also far more complex than Orban’s indiscriminate support. Many international outlets tend to label Fico as “pro-Russian,” but, as usual, they have looked at rhetoric and symbolic gestures. And these rarely match Fico’s deeds. After all, it was he who purchased American weapons, including F-16 fighter aircraft and Black Hawk helicopters, to replace Slovakia’s ageing Soviet-era military equipment. And, although he did not succeed in decreasing the country’s dependence on Russia’s natural gas, oil, and nuclear fuel, it was his governments that introduced far-reaching investments in infrastructure that drastically limited Slovakia’s vulnerability to gas supply disruption.

Also, back in 2014 it was Fico’s Slovakia that, to Russia’s dismay, came to Ukraine’s rescue by opening up reverse flow of gas after Russia annexed Crimea and increased prices for its gas.

For years, Fico has cast himself as an arbitrator between the country’s strong economic rooting in the West and rather pro-Russian public sympathies, which, in political terms, have been utilized mainly by the Slovak National Party (SNS), Fico’s former and now new junior coalition partner. This chaotic group of rather obnoxious individuals, many with far-right views and obscure ties to Russia, has long pushed for halting Ukraine military aid—something that Fico also promised in the campaign to attract radical voters.

Even if he delivers, which is expected, it wouldn’t necessarily mean that Slovakia is turning east, as some warn. It’s still more likely for Fico to continue to play the same game, with the goal of keeping the country close to the EU mainstream (and the flow of money from Brussels) but rhetorically satisfying both the SNS and pro-Russian figures from his own circle, such as Lubos Blaha, Marian Kery, and Juraj Blanar. Back in April, at the meeting with U.S. Ambassador he supported Ukraine’s accession to the EU, while in his first post-election public appearance, he reminded citizens that under his leadership, Slovakia joined the eurozone and Schengen Area, which both could be seen as signs to Brussels that no major turns in the country’s foreign agenda are expected.

Of course, the attempt to take the country into more heavy-handed directions may be too captivating. In many ways, he’s a different man now. The long and toxic campaign has proved that, having had a near-death experience, in both political and human terms (back in 2016, he underwent heart surgery), Fico has become angrier, perhaps more eager to take revenge, and less fussy about the optics of his support base. These were not only older voters from small towns lured by his generous social welfare policy and socially traditional agenda whom he had remobilized that gave him victory, but also anti-vaxxers and other consumers of the far-right playbook.

Still, the hope that Fico will pocket his more radical image from the campaign—despite his personal grudge and a noxious coalition partner—is not based on his good will, but arithmetic. To form a stable government, he needed not only SNS (10 seats), but mainly the Hlas-SD party (27), created by a group of defectors from Smer-SD and led by moderate Peter Pellegrini, who is at odds with some of Smer-SD’s most contentious figures. The three-party coalition now has 79 seats, just three votes above a majority—enough for it to fill major posts and pass laws, but not enough to make constitutional amendments.

This shaky advantage will deny Fico the latitude that both Orban and Kaczynski have enjoyed in their countries. What’s more, relatively collectively ruled Smer-SD is by no means a mass party comparable to Orban’s iron-fisted Fidesz or Kaczynski’s Law and Justice, which both have, year by year, expanded their voter bases so as to depict themselves as the voice of the nation. This year, Smer-SD won with just 681,000 votes. Putting aside the 2020 campaign shaped by Kuciak’s murder, it is the party’s worst result since 2006.

With all these limits in mind, it’s doubtful that Fico will succeed in transforming Slovakia into a Hungary-like single party monolith, at least not in the next four years. What he can do, though, is to attempt to restore his influence over public institutions—especially judicial ones—and among economic actors, verbally antagonize journalists, take control over the narrative provided by the public broadcaster, and further divide and radicalize the society—all of which could serve as solid foundations for more Orbanesque approach in the future.

Whether he succeeds or not will depend on the Slovaks themselves—especially the sensible members of his coalition government and those motivated by the memory of Kuciak and Kusnirova.

[artiists]

𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐑𝐎𝐃𝐔𝐂𝐈𝐍𝐆 … 𝒸𝒶𝓂𝒾𝓁𝓁𝑒 𝑜𝓁𝒾𝓋𝒾𝑒𝓉𝓉𝑒 .

CAMILLE OLIVIETTE the TWENTY SEVEN year old is known as THE ARTIST within the group. they are known to be DAUNTLESS and INTRACTABLE which makes sense when you think about how SHE HAS NEARLY FILLED A SKETCHBOOK WITH DRAWINGS OF HER CRUSH but i guess we’ll find out for ourselves.

FULL NAME : camille evangeline oliviette . LABEL : the artist . AGE : twenty seven . DOB : november nineteenth . STATUS : single . SEXUALITY : bisexual . POSITIVES : altruistic incisive magnanimous steadfast . NEGATIVES : brazen mutinous dupable . AESTHETICS : splashes of paint on a gorgeous white summer dress, glitter highlighter akin to a mirrorball, elegant penmanship in glitter gel pens, the compelling tendency to overshare, daisy chains in the height of summer, the dynamic duo of a sketchpad and takeout coffee, a sweet voice framed by fierce lipliner, the unwavering loyalty of a girls' girl, a denim satchel donned with pins from all over the world, always dotting your letters with hearts .

there was no shortage of love in the oliviette household when camille was growing up. her moms were childhood sweethearts, first loves who stayed together through the complexities of life in the 7O's and 8O's as gay women. it took three rounds of ivf for the pregnancy to carry to term, and she's been doted on ever since .

growing up, there was color everywhere. in her heart and family, metaphorically, but her home never fell victim to the formal black and white furnishings that some of her friends' homes seemed to have. vibrant fluffy rugs and home-painted masterpieces donned the walls, with patterned wallpaper and decor that rotated with the seasons. her genetic mother came from a line of painters who had submitted their work to galleries all across the united states - some even sharing their talent with the world. her other mom came from a creative family who seemed to have creativity sprinkled throughout the family lineage ( see : she's cousins to the director ) .

school was always hard. the academics just weren't for her - not because she wasn't intelligent. camille could be analytical with her reading and crunch her numbers, she could recite her history and point out most countries on a globe by the time she was sixteen. three languages donned her tongue, crafted from travels around the world with her family and an adoration for foreign films and music. she just couldn't sit still for long enough to take a test.

it felt more like a social hub to her, pulled in to this group of friends unexpectedly and suddenly there was a place in her heart for each one of them as she watched them grow and make terrible decisions and craft their teen lives together. there's no one in the group who hasn't at some point become the subject of fascination for a period of time. except ace who she thinks is ugly <3

you'd find her painting on a beautiful summers day, or tracing a quick portrait of one of her friends when she thought the sun was catching them just right, or their expression was too intriguing to let go. she's got hundreds of used canvas' and books in storage back at her home. the creativity extends to poetry, with doodled verses often surrounding the picture she's drawn .

a weekend of fun with her friends sounded like a good time, mostly because her heart ached for reconnection for friends she'd drifted from along the way. honestly, she thought it sucked that it was only going to be a few days ...

𝐖𝐀𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐃 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐍𝐄𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒

all of them any gender : someone who has been a constant muse for her, best friend, people she has travelled with, fellow creatives, ex partners, a bad influence, someone who doesn't trust her bc she's too nice, ex friends, hook ups, friends with benefits ( she'd def get too attached we can make it fun lol ), sibling like friendships, first love, fellow dreamers, someone from michigan who looks after her pet bunny while she's on trips for work .

[erigold13261]

I can see there is a tier to who gets put into Nueva York

(Some people just received the watch or a visit to the Go Home Machine)

Tier 1: You hurt someone/caused massive property damage (Miles, Hobie, potentially Peni, Margo)

Tier 2: Your family has a history of powerful elementals or power holders with problems (Pav, potentially Gwen)

Tier 3: You have a problem that needs "fixing" (Noir and Peter Porker)

And yes, this is based on how much damage had been caused to the outside world, not the internal issues anyone could be facing(like the Medical Model of Disability versus the Social Model of Disability) and Miguel's personal trauma

There's definitely more to it, but I can see that being the most basic way to explain it. Everyone probably has to go through some kind of program, but the different tiers dictate how intense and long your program is.

I'm kinda thinking of it as some kind of class similar to the SCP foundation. Keter being extremely hard to contain, Euclid being difficult to contain, and Safe being relatively easy to contain. Except for Nueva York, the tiers would relate to powers.

Top being a very dangerous power or the person with no control of their power (or both). Middle being a relatively dangerous power or the person still needs help controlling their power (or both is the power is on the lower level of threats). Bottom being a basically safe power that is not inherently dangerous without creative and active thinking to hurt someone, or the person is basically completely in control except for small lapses of control. (These names of tiers just being place holders for this ask).

My reasoning for this is that you can have very inherently dangerous powers that you are in completely control of, that would put you in like the middle tier. Those powers could be elemental or just something you have that no one else has.

Now I actually do like your model, but I think that would be better for a labeling on why someone is there and what kind of treatment they need in a specific tier. Someone in the very dangerous top tier might be there because their family has history with that power but they didn't hurt someone yet, meaning they are like Top Tier 2. While someone with very dangerous powers who hurt someone would be Top Tier 1.

A Top Tier 2 person and Top Tier 1 person would have similar programs to go through, but the Top Tier 1 would have more restrictions and less forgiveness for mistakes compared to the a Top Tier 2 person.

Like most Top Tiers are probably super intensive programs that take a long time to get through, while Bottom Tiers are easier and quicker to get through.

Watches go to everyone who joins, and you have to keep it on as long as you are in any of the programs. However, if you keep failing your program, or keep messing up and having to start over/retrace steps, that is probably when you have to go into the "Go Home Machine" as you are not able to naturally finish a program and can't be trusted to just keep the watch on all the time outside of the program (the Go Home Machine is probably also used a lot around holidays and stuff like that so people can go home temporarily).

There are definitely better ways to explain this, and I'm sure I can make one since I love making stupid and complex labeling systems. Nueva York absolutely has a ranking system so it is easier to know what resident is in there for what. Like there is probably another Tier that says a person is there of their own free will vs being sent there by concerned family vs breaking the law.

High-Middle-Low: Danger level. Basically how little control of the power someone has or how inherently dangerous it is.

Teir 1- Tier 2- Tier 3: Issues. What you are struggling with (1-having hurt someone/something, 2-your family is naturally powerful, 3-you have a problem that needs to be fixed).

DET-CON-VOL: Actions. What lead you to being placed in Nueva York (Detained/Detention, Concern/Fear, Volunteer).

Something like this above. So Hobie would be along the lines of High Tier 1-DET while Pav would be Hi-Mid Tier 2-CON. Peter Porker is along the lines of Low Tier 2-VOL and Noir is probably Mid-Low Tier 2.3-VOL.

I don't know if naming them Issues and Actions are the right words, but you can have hurt someone while being a volunteer or you could have been arrested/detained and sent to Nueva York without having hurt someone. Also, having "hurt" someone/something isn't always physical. Like Pav's powers could hurt people's minds or something could have been broken as an indirect cause of your powers.

Definitely don't take this as absolute truth in how I am going to convey powers in Nueva York. I just wanted to have fun making a labeling system. There are definitely problems and outliers that could be made in this system, but I wanted to make a 3 level labeling system and I did lol. Just know, there is definitely some kind of labeling going on in Nueva York.

[moku-youbi]

I just want to start by saying I think gender is stupid and made up, and I fully support people using whatever pronouns and labels THEY choose, or none at all if they prefer not to because they're like me and fucking hate labels (again, personal preference, borne of years of people trying to shove labels like lesbian onto me despite my vehement disagreement, which is why I love queer so much and you'll pry it from my cold, dead, queer hands, but this is getting off topic)

BUT to answer this in a genuine way, I think at least some of it has to do with the history of the usage of the term lesbian by cishet men in the 00s as, like...a joke. Like a woman tells a man that's hitting on her "I'm a lesbian," and he'd be like "hahah, I'm attracted to women, so I'm a lesbian, too." And try to continue to hit on her, and be a gross douche bag about it. And there was a certain degree of fetishistic, male-gazey perception of lesbianism along with it, which understandably, lesbians didn't like. So there was a lot of very vocal backlash with lesbians saying if you're a guy, you don't get to call yourself a lesbian.

It's only recently, with a broader view of gender and sexuality on a spectrum that people are openly identifying as he/him lesbians (or indeed, all manner of mixed pronouns and genders), and I think it's fucking great, like just destroy gender please. One of my least favourite social constructs. Be whoever you are, fuck people who don't accept it...

But maybe have a little more perspective for people who don't *understand* it. Their confusion isn't necessarily from a place of hatred or derision. They might be uncomfortable because they've heard repeatedly "men don't get to call themselves lesbians" and think they're being an ally. Maybe they don't see the inherent terfish potential of that statement. Maybe they don't have the same education regarding/relationship with gender and usage of pronouns that you have. Often times just explaining things, instead of treating people with such disdain, like they're absolute idiots for not getting something that's complex and unfamiliar to them, goes a long way to helping them be a better ally.

And then, if they still wanna be dicks about it, you at least know they're not worth your time.

i dont understand how he/him lesbians and she/her gays are so confusing to people

[strategic-social-media]

Rap music was originally lament, protest and social commentary. The controllers can never allow legitimate free expression and so that was quickly hijacked to replace it with those that promoted the lowest common denominator in humanity, fleshly urges for sex, ego urges for status and so forth. The black community was clearlt to be controlled, engineered, by the record labels and media machinery to produce the lowest, not the highest, values.

The result is a shift in the MESSAGE or Rap. In this engineered/synthetic Rap music the message is that to be SUCCESSFUL and powerful means to be a thug - to be criminal, but the specific kind of rich criminal that gets away with crimes in pursuit of vapid excess.

The message is that to be successful is to indulge in excess and to flaunt conspicuous consumerism (an accusation that before was always targeted exclusively against white people in America). In other words, they APE the lifestyles of the rich and famous, but not in uplifting ways, but in degenerate ways.

To be successful is to have a harem. To have money just for the purpose to publicly waste it. To have the finest things in life to such excess that you no longer enjoy any ot them. And importantly, not to be degenerate in private, but to publicly flaunt it all. Not just to be cool and trendy, but specifically to demonstrate that you are SUPERIOR to your fellows. Success is thus to be a criminal above the law that can get away with anything.

It is thus to make music videos that show you have no greater aim in life than to APE the European abusive aristocracy that America fought to get free from, but now dressed in name-brand clothes so even the dumbest among you can clearly see you ooze opulence.

This morning I saw a direct link to this and to how America uses the military to bully others and to get away with war crimes. The American military USES its power, not for the good of all, but to FLAUNT that it can kill across the globe, target with drones, bust the bunkers, and so forth AT WILL, without restraint, with LAVISH FUNDING that will pay ridiculous prices for things, and importantly... to GET AWAY WITH IT. To do as thou wilt, which has everything to do with being ABOVE the laws that others, weaker and with less funding than yourself, have to submit to.

The egotistical debauchery is very similar. The proof you are the boss is that your military can be caught on video committing war crimes and collateral damage, but no one can hold you accountable or punish you for it. The other nations are sheepish, intimidated and impotent to rein you in.

There are lots of parallels between the corruption and indulgence of these tho seemingly different cultures - the RAP culture and the Military Industrial Complex culture. Success means such an abundance of power that you can WASTE the power on public demonstrations. Lavish it at will.

You don't answer to the police and you don't answer to Congress either. The thrill is the same rebellious lawlessness. The proof of dominance is that you "get away with it all." Having more women, champagne, cars, cash and gold chains than you could possibly need. Having more missiles, ships and jets than is needed to reduce the planet to rubble. Excess reaffirms your unchallenged dominance.

And this ego is not new. We could mention the excess of Caesars and Persian emperors alike with lots of historical references throughout recorded history.

But, American Hegemony (Petro Dollar Dominance) is at an end. America is a money whore, and has been USED by bankers and reached the end of its usefulness. The rapper, so to speak in this analogy, is now not to be envied, but become booring, predictable, whiney, mired in the stagnation of its own hyper-consuming ways. It has become what the Greek thinkers and social commentators long warned against: dissipated.

That means it has worn THIN, being diluted, dissolved, thinned out and without substance through (a) over-indulgence / addition to pleasure, and (b) the squandering of money, energy, and resources. It has devolved into being wasteful for the sake of being wasteful.

The empires of history have all collapsed. And America's brief time in the limelight, a mere 250 years or so, is also about to be snuffed out. Instead of humility, uneslishness and all the other virtues, it has gathered together for itself every VICE. Like a rapper just trying to impress and prove its superiority/dominance to its peer group, American leaders have FLAUNTED themselves to the nations of the world. And the world has seen the lack of virtue, the pleasure-seeking, lifestyle-seeking with NOTHING NOBLE to be a meaningful foundation.

The rapper sells the image of happiness, of the good life, through petty crime, through rebellion and lawlessness, through making all women want you for your money and other trappings of success. You become a success object so as to collect sex objects.

In reality the rapper works for the record label and its lawyers. Likewise the American military boasts of all its might, but finally works for the bankers in their economic wars.

American excess, ego and selfishness will be reined in, despite itself. America, like rap music, has been engineered to be a STENCH to many. Odious among the nations. They find nothing to respect any more in America and the supremacyy of the petrodollar is chipped away from all sides like old Rome being pillages by the barbarians.

IN this way America hold no value to other nations other who now recognize it is ripe to be looted, pillaged and done away with. Serving its own ego, not those around it, like rap music, the original positive intention it started out trying to be as social commentary, as creative and innovative, has been undermined by those re-engineering it to serve the schemes of the bankers.

Like Rap music, it will continue to thrive in its synthetic form as long as it serves the industry, as long as it is easily milked for money from those too shallow to recognize the dead end of its dissipation. But as for an "American way of life" that only tries to serve itself, is proud and dissipated with no larger purpose than self aggrandizement, judgement is unfolding.

To switch my analogies: The castle walls have already been sapped, and await the command... well shall we say what Elon tweeted when his rocket exploded recently "It was a rapid, unscheduled, disassembly" (in April 2023). America will experience a rapid disassembly that catches the distracted off guard. But this collapse is very scheduled by the banksters, the milkers of the Petrodollar Milk Cow called America, that no longer find America useful to their larger schemes.

[stephenjaymorrisblog]

Mental Block Head

Stephen Jay Morris

7/1/2023

©Scientific Morality

                It had to happen. Like many writers, I have come to that place known as a “mental block,” meaning, “I can’t think of anything new to write about.” Today, I looked over my old articles and realized, I repeatedly make the same points. Currently, I am rewriting an old manuscript I penned in 2011. It’s about my life over the span of three years in the late 70’s.

Today, I asked myself, “Who gives a damn about my life?” Well, nobody really. Perhaps, I was inspired by the late Henry Miller and his stories, which were anecdotal accounts of his life. There’s Charles Bukowski, who was an alcoholic poet and self-professed bum who frequently got into fist fights in bars. I really loved Jerry Rubin, the America Yippie revolutionary. And, of course, the great Lenny Bruce, social comic. Finally, there was Michael Bakunin, the Anarchist theoretician. The alternative to Karl Marx.

                In my youth, I was attracted to writing, however, I couldn’t spell and my grammar sucked. So, I didn’t write anything. My dyslexia plus my low self-esteem further impeded me. Over the years I dealt with it prosaically. I got so many different messages, that my head exploded.

                My wife, Pamela, could give you a extensive list of my good points. But, I need tangible results. When I got into activism, in the late 60’s, I came to learn how Western Civilization is constructed. “What about Eastern Civilization?” I would wonder to myself. Confucius, 495 B.C., predates Jesus Christ by 400 hundred years! Then, I learned how people acquired their beliefs. It all comes down to psychology, the science of the human mind. Politics is just a symptom of that. Well, I’m not going to explain that anymore! People will think I suffer from Tourette syndrome! Tourette syndrome! Tourette syndrome! Tourette syndrome!

                Like many from my generation, I wanted to expose the fallacies of our cultural, Caucasian superiority complex, which says that White people are superior in all facets of human accomplishments. Science, art, architecture, technology, and war is because we invented it. If you explore history, however, you will find that that’s not true. Proclaiming this fact, however, you run the risk of being labeled an anti-White bigot. Why is it so important to be proud of your tribe?  Well, I will give my standard answer: because if you do not accomplish anything, you can substitute love of country or being a fan of a football team. Oh, and let’s not forget race. If you are victimized by members of a certain race and then are angry at that race, and then express that anger, you are accused of being a racist.

This is the type of shit I have been writing about for decades! I have been critical of the political Right bowel movement since 1969. I think they are dangerous, and they think I’m dangerous. Sure I am. I am dangerous to weeds and household flies. I think I’ve got to change my subject.

I have evidence that stupidity is not a permanent tattoo on your brain. Nobody reads books anymore or even reads text on a computer scene. So, what am I saying?

I’m going wait until this mental block leaves me. I don’t know how long it will take. For now, I am going into the living room and staring at the ceiling.  See you later.

[salti-thelatediagnosedautist]

The beginner autistic guide to common terms in our community (with extra context!).

*Disclaimer, I’m not a professional. This is just knowledge from my experience as an autistic person. Please feel free to correct anything :)

These definitions will include some of my own opinions and thoughts, especially on the more controversial terms. This is simply to help better prepare new autistic community members for conversations they become engaged in. Having all the perspective and context you can have can be very helpful when moving into new social spaces.

Autism (Or Autistic Spectrum Disorder, ASD): A neurodevelopmental disorder that is present from very early childhood. It’s mostly recognised through difficulties with social interaction and restricted and/or repetitive behaviours. The way it is referred to as “Autism Spectrum Disorder” is specifically referring to the fact that autism presents in countless ways. There are common traits and patterns, but the severity and complexity of those traits and symptoms is infinite.

NOTE: This does not mean that ‘everyone is a little bit autistic’. You are either autistic or you are not. It just means that if you have autism, it may present very differently to other autistic people you know.

Asperger’s Syndrome: Asperger’s syndrome is usually considered an older term for a ‘subtype’ of autism. The term is considered outdated by the DSM-5 and no longer used in that document. However it is still used in a lot of other countries. Now it is becoming more socially known that ‘Asperger’s syndrome’ is just a specific presentation of autism. Many autistics don’t like the use of the word ‘Asperger’s’ because of a couple reasons:

The term has a long history with NAZI’s and eugenics.

The term seems to basically mean ‘high functioning’ autistic, which simplifies the condition.

Asperger’s Syndrome is defined in a very similar way to autism, however people with “Asperger’s’ may be described as ‘gifted’ or ‘intellectual’.

It’s important to note that many people still identify themselves with the term ‘Asperger’s’. While it is good to be educated and up to date with terminology, some people have identified with this term their whole life and it’s not wrong to use the term for one-self. But either way, I do encourage you to do more research if you are comfortable.

Neurotype: Can be basically defined as the type of brain function one has. Some people consider autism a neurotype, and then neurotypical as another neurotype. However, many people claim that autism is ‘just another neurotype’. This is a harmful way of thinking about autism because autism is a disability. Labelling it as a ‘neurotype’ belittles all the struggles autistic people have that make them disabled. Autism is a spectrum and so some autistic people may not really consider themselves disabled, but many do.

Neurotypical (NT): A non-autistic person with no other mental conditions.

Allistic: A non-autistic person who can still have other mental conditions, such as depression or ADHD.

Neurodivergent (ND): Traditionally ‘Neurodivergent’ has been used to mean either autistic or ADHD. However in some contexts it is used to mean someone with any mental condition, including personality disorders or mental illnesses such as depression and anxiety.

Neurodiversity: a term used to describe the fact that there are many neurotypes in the world. It is used to imply that differences in brain development and function should be accepted as relatively normal. I think this is a good sentiment, but that some neurotypes should still be considered disabilities as well as a neurotype, so as not to diminish the struggles specific neurotypes go through.

High functioning/Low functioning: The labels of functioning are terms used to describe how independent an autistic (or other kind of disabled) person is able to be. Many autistics do NOT like the use of these terms for a couple reasons:

It tends to focus on the way an autistics disability affects the allistic people around them.

It simplifies the experience of the individual with autism to how independent they are, and is also not very descriptive for anyone trying to help the said autistic person.

High needs/Low needs: These are labels used to describe how much assistance an autistic (or other kind of disabled) person may need. It is slightly preferred by autistic people as the language is more centred to what the autistic person needs, rather than how independent they can be.

NOTE, many autistic people would argue that these terms are basically the same as high functioning and low functioning. I personally consider it to be best to just state someones highest needs or difficulties. For example “Olivia is nonverbal and highly sensitive to light and noise.”.

Masking: Masking is the act of hiding ones autistic traits to appear to be neurotypical. Masking is often a survival strategy developed by autistics to evade bullying or isolation. Masking can include suppressing the urge to stim, forcing oneself to make eye contact, learning how to ‘properly’ execute facial expressions, studying body language, etc. Masking can be an extremely vital skill for autistic people, but when an autistic person has to mask for long periods of time it can lead to negative consequences such as burn out or meltdowns. Masking can also be used in the context of other disabilities, such as ADHD.

Scripting: Scripting is a form of masking, when an autistic person pre-plans or practices responses or entire conversations. You may have a script you unconsciously follow for questions like “how are you?” Or “how is work?”, etc. It may be inspired from TV shows, movies or observing other people interact.

Burn out: Burn out is when an autistic person reaches their limit and has decreased energy for an extended period of time. Burn out may last anywhere between a couple days or a few years. Burn out is often caused by excessive masking, but can also be caused by repeated rejection, bullying or other mental conditions. Burn out is not the same as depression, but it can co-exist with depression.

Meltdown: A meltdown is when an autistic person experiences what might look like a ‘tantrum’. The person may be very angry, yelling, punching or hitting things (or themselves). They may be aggressively stimming or humming to themselves. A meltdown, internally, feels as if you are completely filled with negative energy, as if you might burst. It can feel like extreme irritation, or anger, or shame. Meltdowns can be caused by any number of stressful situations. For an autistic person this can be having a lot of social events, their routine being disrupted, having to eat foods they don’t like, being overstimulated, or even just negative social interactions.

Shutdown: A shutdown is very similar to a meltdown, in how it can be caused. For me personally, I tend to have a shutdown if I am not in a safe place to have a meltdown. From the outside it looks very similar to dissociation, and it can co-exist with dissociation. It typically feels like you are shutting down, turning off. You emotions were about to burst and then you just went numb. You may be unable to move, or go non-verbal. You may be crying quietly or you may simply just very suddenly feel the need to go home.

NOTE: Meltdowns and shutdowns can appear to feel like a panic attack, but they are different. Panic attacks come from intense feelings of dread or doom. Meltdowns and shutdowns come from repeated, or intense, stressful situations for an autistic.

Hypersensitive: Hypersensitivity is when the brain processes sensory input (such as touch, taste and smell) as much more intense than a neurotypical person would. This can mean that a slight cold breeze may feel painfully cold. Or looking outside a window can hurt ones eyes because it feels too bright. Or having to wear specific textures to stay calm.

Hyposensitive: Hyposensitivity is the opposite of hypersensitivity. It is when your brain inteprets sensory input as much less intense than a neurotypical would. Ways this can present in an autistic person include not realising when they hurt themselves, having a high pain tolerance, being unaware of temperature changes, etc. You may also not recognise your bodies hunger cues, dehydration or need for sleep.

NOTE: An autistic person can experience both hypersensitivity and hyposensitivity. It can also fluctuate day-to-day.

Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD): SPD is basically the term for experiencing lots of variation in your sensory input. It is similar to Auditory processing disorder. Which is where your hearing is technically fine (you aren’t any form of deaf), but you have trouble distinguishing what specific sounds are, or listening to one, important sound, in an area with lots of different noises (for example, being unable to understand what someone is saying next to you, because the TV is on.)

Overstimulation: This is when an autistic person has been experiencing too many different sensations at once, or for an extended period of time. This may be caused by too many noises happening at once. Or even just one annoying sound repeating for a long time. It can also be triggered by touch, taste, sight and smell.

Executive function/dysfunction: Executive function is the term used to describe how the brain initiates tasks. For neurodivergent folk, our executive function is often dysfunctional. This means we can often find it difficult to start new tasks. A way you may experience it is when you are sitting down, you may be screaming internally that you need to go and get some food, but your body seems unwilling to co-operate. Having executive dysfunction does not mean you are lazy, or do not want to do the task, it means you may be unable  to do the task.

Autistic intertia: Autistic inertia is related to executive dysfunction, because it is a term that helps describe how autistic people struggle to switch or initiate tasks. “ An autistic at rest remains at rest, and an autistic in motion remains in motion”.

Special interest/Hyperfixation: A special interest is a extremely long term interest/obsession with a particular topic. An example might be being really into pokemon. Learning all the different types of pokemon, playing all the games and collecting heaps of merch. A hyperfixation is a more short-lived interest that can be destructive in it’s severity (for example, it might get so extreme that it’s the only thing you can think about, to the point where you neglect your needs). Special interests are less likely to be destructive. But hyperfixations can be healthy and normal too.

Stimming: Stimming or self stimulation is the act of doing repetitive movements to help self regulate. Stimming can look like spinning, chewing, flapping hands, dancing, foot tapping, pen clicking, touch soft fabrics, using weighted blankets, lighting candles, eating crunchy snacks, etc. All of these forms of movement or repetitive sensory input can help us regulate our emotions better, prevent a meltdown or shutdown, or focus on a task easier.

NOTE: Echolalia is another term you may hear. It is a form of stimming in which an autistic person repeats sounds/phrases over and over.

ADHD: Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder is a neurodevelopmental disorder like autism, but it affects the brain in different ways. It often presents as having difficulties with paying attention, regulating emotions and hyperactivity (or, alternatively, it can present as being inattentive).

Savant or Savant syndrome: A condition when someone with some type of significant mental disability is an expert/’savant’ in a particular field, to the point of surpassing neurotypical experts. An example might be having photographic memory, or being able to learn languages extremely easily, or being an extraordinary mathematician. Autistic people often don’t like to hear the term ‘savant’ as we are often only valued by ‘society’ if we are savants. And if we are not, then we are often treated as lesser. This is kind of a form of eugenics.

Eugenics: Eugenics is a philosophy or belief that we can selectively breed humans to ‘improve’ humanity. Or create the ‘perfect race’. This was an idealogy practiced by Adolf Hitler during WWII, which lead to the holocaust. Eugenics is often a subtly underlying philosophy behind many statements that, on face value, seem relatively harmless. For example - “autism is the next step in evolution” is currently a popular statement. However, this implies that every other neurotype is not an improvement, which therefore implies that being autistic is superior. This would be considered a form of eugenics. Eugenics is considered a horrible philosophy because it encourages people to look down on others and dehumanise anyone not like themselves.

Co-morbidity: A co-morbidity is the term used for a condition that is regularly seen in conjunction with another condition. For example, autism and ADHD are often seen together. However, it can also be used to simply describe someone who has more than one condition (physical or mental).

AuDHDer: Someone with autism and ADHD. Just a shortened way to refer to people with both disabilities.

Selective mutism/Situational mutism: When an autistic person (or other neurotype) experiences periods of being unable to speak or communicate. This can often occur in stressful situations, like before tests or during doctors appointments. It is officially referred to as ‘selective mutism’ but many are trying to change it to ‘situational mutism’ as the individual does not willingly choose when they go non-verbal.

Alexithymia: Alexithymia is typically described as the inability to define and/or describe ones emotions. So you may often feel a type of discomfort, but not be able to label what it is. Not being able to distinguish between anger and irritability. Or not knowing if you feel sad or confused. It can make seeking professional help for many conditions really difficult, as you are unable to put your experience into words. It can also be similar to hyposensitivity in the way that it makes it difficult to understand what you body is feeling.

Dyspraxia: Dyspraxia is a disorder that affects co-ordination, movement and balance. It can make things such as sports, driving, cooking and writing difficult. It is fairly common in autistic people.

Prosopagnosia: The inability to recognise/remember faces. It is more common in autistic people.

Synesthesia: Synesthesia is when one form of sensory input is sometimes also experienced as another. For example, someone with this condition may see colours when they hear someones name. They may hear a song and get a taste in their mouth. This is also more common in autistic people.

FINAL NOTE: Autism is a spectrum and you may not experience all of these different terms, or you may not experience them in the way I described them. That does not mean you aren’t autistic. This is not a diagnostic tool. This is simply a guide to learning the terms you may often hear when discussing autism.

[ao3feed-piltovers-finest]

Anonymous asked:

This is a fairly new fandom but it's already obvious how things are developing, and which fics and authors are standing out more and why. That's why I'd like to thank literally every single person who left a note, tag or a comment on any of the posts from this feed. And most of all I'd like to thank you, for every review and recommendation you've offered so far. Especially for the works of some authors who really deserve the spotlight. I.e., that last one, I coincidentally read a little while ago and it's still haunting me, as most painfully vivid, dark and beautiful, intense piece of work I've read in a long time. I'd really appreciate another one like that, if you find it? You have a really good taste, and should make this review thing a weekly thing, really. Thank you. 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

Hey there, friend.

Thank you for your kind words, because yes - I should also use this opportunity to extend my gratitude as well to all of those out there who are kind enough to leave public comments, notes and recommendations. Especially because there were others, who left similar comments, notes and messages - also looking for some non-biased fic rec system that would work. Some referenced the Discord server group, and explained why it didn't really work for them. But unfortunately I am just a single person here, with limited time and resources - and the only thing I can do is - ask for everyone else to contribute? Even in the form of notes or just simple comments if not reviews... because as you noted - it's evident which kinds of fics get most of the attention (yup, mostly steamy-hot smutty, oneshots, which - nothing wrong with that, but... ;) while some other works really deserve more attention and spotlight.

The above referenced one being the prime example. So, speaking of...

As noted in that post (by @superqueertastic and @dynamicillusion, for which - TY, guys) I guess I owe a public apology to @xanthinriff for unwittingly but unjustly bundling up their work under that limiting "bdsm" label - since it's SO much more than that. I think I tried to explain that in my waffle, but... hey - this page turned out to be so much more work than just a plain automatic rss feed, so...  ¯\_(ツ)_/ ¯

So, of course - dear author, I would also like to use this opportunity to thank you for your kind reaction comment. I am always happy to recommend personal faves and generally good quality works, when asked. And, as already noted by somebody, your writing packs a punch. I personally appreciate the skill and confidence with which you tackle difficult topics, both in that fic, as well as my personal favourite so far - Rich Girl Providence. Whether it's those Cait and Vi being caught in that dark, bleak vortex of social/class struggle of the topside and the underworld as well as their complex history, or it's the modern day Cait struggling with comphet (a situation with a multitude of angles where all of us encountered at least some, and are quite familiar) your storytelling is so vibrantly palpable. The way you incorporate their character dynamics and progression with the dark, gritty, intense - or contemporary, very tangible realities... it is absolutely noteworthy. But, I've already left a (waffly, yes :) personal feedback there, so I won't repeat myself. I'll just thank you again, in hope it'll encourage you to continue producing these uniquely narrated tales.

In the end, again - my personal gratitude to everyone else, taking part and contributing, in this modest fic rec system - as... modest as it is.

Thank you all! 🌈💖

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Facebook thrives on criticism of "disinformation"

The mainstream critique of Facebook is surprisingly compatible with Facebook’s own narrative about its products. FB critics say that the company’s machine learning and data-gathering slides disinformation past users’ critical faculties, poisoning their minds.

Meanwhile, Facebook itself tells advertisers that it can use data and machine learning to slide past users’ critical faculties, convincing them to buy stuff.

In other words, the mainline of Facebook critics start from the presumption that FB is a really good product and that advertisers are definitely getting their money’s worth when they shower billions on the company.

Which is weird, because these same critics (rightfully) point out that Facebook lies all the time, about everything. It would be bizarre if the only time FB was telling the truth was when it was boasting about how valuable its ad-tech is.

Facebook has a conflicted relationship with this critique. I’m sure they’d rather not be characterized as a brainwashing system that turns good people into monsters, but not when the choice is between “brainwashers” and “con-artists selling garbage to credulous ad execs.”

As FB investor and board member Peter Thiel puts it: “I’d rather be seen as evil than incompetent.” In other words, the important word in “evil genius” is “genius,” not “evil.”

https://twitter.com/doctorow/status/1440312271511568393

The accord of tech critics and techbros gives rise to a curious hybrid, aptly named by Maria Farrell: the Prodigal Techbro.

A prodigal techbro is a self-styled wizard of machine-learning/surveillance mind control who has see the error of his ways.

https://crookedtimber.org/2020/09/23/story-ate-the-world-im-biting-back/

This high-tech sorcerer doesn’t disclaim his magical powers — rather, he pledges to use them for good, to fight the evil sorcerers who invented a mind-control ray to sell your nephew a fidget-spinner, then let Robert Mercer hijack it to turn your uncle into a Qanon racist.

There’s a great name for this critique, criticism that takes its subjects’ claims to genius at face value: criti-hype, coined by Lee Vinsel, describing a discourse that turns critics into “the professional concern trolls of technoculture.”

https://sts-news.medium.com/youre-doing-it-wrong-notes-on-criticism-and-technology-hype-18b08b4307e5

The thing is, Facebook really is terrible — but not because it uses machine learning to brainwash boomers into iodine-guzzling Qnuts. And likewise, there really is a problem with conspiratorial, racist, science-denying, epistemologically chaotic conspiratorialism.

Addressing that problem requires that we understand the direction of the causal arrow — that we understand whether Facebook is the cause or the effect of the crisis, and what role it plays.

“Facebook wizards turned boomers into orcs” is a comforting tale, in that it implies that we need merely to fix Facebook and the orcs will turn back into our cuddly grandparents and get their shots. The reality is a lot gnarlier and, sadly, less comforting.

There’s been a lot written about Facebook’s sell-job to advertisers, but less about the concern over “disinformation.” In a new, excellent longread for Harpers, Joe Bernstein makes the connection between the two:

https://harpers.org/archive/2021/09/bad-news-selling-the-story-of-disinformation/

Fundamentally: if we question whether Facebook ads work, we should also question whether the disinformation campaigns that run amok on the platform are any more effective.

Bernstein starts by reminding us of the ad industry’s one indisputable claim to persuasive powers: ad salespeople are really good at convincing ad buyers that ads work.

Think of department store magnate John Wanamaker’s lament that “Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don’t know which half.” Whoever convinced him that he was only wasting half his ad spend was a true virtuoso of the con.

As Tim Hwang documents brilliantly in his 2020 pamphlet “Subprime Attention Crisis,” ad-tech is even griftier than the traditional ad industry. Ad-tech companies charge advertisers for ads that are never served, or never rendered, or never seen.

https://pluralistic.net/2020/10/05/florida-man/#wannamakers-ghost

They rig ad auctions, fake their reach numbers, fake their conversions (they also lie to publishers about how much they’ve taken in for serving ads on their pages and short change them by millions).

Bernstein cites Hwang’s work, and says, essentially, shouldn’t this apply to “disinformation?”

If ads don’t work well, then maybe political ads don’t work well. And if regular ads are a swamp of fraudulently inflated reach numbers, wouldn’t that be true of political ads?

Bernstein talks about the history of ads as a political tool, starting with Eisenhower’s 1952 “Answers America” campaign, designed and executed at great expense by Madison Ave giants Ted Bates.

Hannah Arendt, whom no one can accuse of being soft on the consequences of propaganda, was skeptical of this kind of enterprise: “The psychological premise of human manipulability has become one of the chief wares that are sold on the market of common and learned opinion.”

The ad industry ran an ambitious campaign to give scientific credibility to its products. As Jacques Ellul wrote in 1962, propagandists were engaged in “the increasing attempt to control its use, measure its results, define its effects.”

Appropriating the jargon of behavioral scientists let ad execs “assert audiences, like workers in a Taylorized workplace, need not be persuaded through reason, but could be trained through repetition to adopt the new consumption habits desired by the sellers.” -Zoe Sherman

These “scientific ads” had their own criti-hype attackers, like Vance “Hidden Persuaders” Packard, who admitted that “researchers were sometimes prone to oversell themselves — or in a sense to exploit the exploiters.”

Packard cites Yale’s John Dollard, a scientific ad consultant, who accused his colleagues of promising advertisers “a mild form of omnipotence,” which was “well received.”

Today’s scientific persuaders aren’t in a much better place than Dollard or Packard. Despite all the talk of political disinformation’s reach, a 2017 study found “sharing articles from fake news domains was a rare activity” affecting <10% of users.

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.aau4586

So, how harmful is this? One study estimates “if one fake news article were about as persuasive as one TV campaign ad, the fake news in our database would have changed vote shares by an amount on the order of hundredths of a percentage point.”

https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/jep.31.2.211

Now, all that said, American politics certainly feel and act differently today than in years previous. The key question: “is social media creating new types of people, or simply revealing long-obscured types of people to a segment of the public unaccustomed to seeing them?”

After all, American politics has always had its “paranoid style,” and the American right has always had a sizable tendency towards unhinged conspiratorialism, from the John Birch Society to Goldwater Republicans.

Social media may not be making more of these yahoos, but rather, making them visible to the wider world, and to each other, allowing them to make common cause and mobilize their adherents (say, to carry tiki torches through Charlottesville in Nazi cosplay).

If that’s true, then elite calls to “fight disinformation” are unlikely to do much, except possibly inflaming things. If “disinformation” is really people finding each other (not infecting each other) labelling their posts as “disinformation” won’t change their minds.

Worse, plans like the Biden admin’s National Strategy for Countering Domestic Terrorism lump 1/6 insurrectionists in with anti-pipeline activists, racial justice campaigners, and animal rights groups.

Whatever new powers we hand over to fight disinformation will be felt most by people without deep-pocketed backers who’ll foot the bill for crack lawyers.

Here’s the key to Bernstein’s argument: “One reason to grant Silicon Valley’s assumptions about our mechanistic persuadability is that it prevents us from thinking too hard about the role we play in taking up and believing the things we want to believe. It turns a huge question about the nature of democracy in the digital age — what if the people believe crazy things, and now everyone knows it? — into a technocratic negotiation between tech companies, media companies, think tanks, and universities.”

I want to “Yes, and” that.

My 2020 book How To Destroy Surveillance Capitalism doesn’t dismiss the idea that conspiratorialism is on the rise, nor that tech companies are playing a key role in that rise — but without engaging in criti-hype.

https://onezero.medium.com/how-to-destroy-surveillance-capitalism-8135e6744d59

In my book, I propose that conspiratorialism isn’t a crisis of what people believe so much as how they arrive at their beliefs — it’s an “epistemological crisis.”

We live in a complex society plagued by high-stakes questions none of us can answer on our own.

Do vaccines work? Is oxycontin addictive? Should I wear a mask? Can we fight covid by sanitizing surfaces? Will distance ed make my kind an ignoramus? Should I fly in a 737 Max?

Even if you have the background to answer one of these questions, no one can answer all of them.

Instead, we have a process: neutral expert agencies use truth-seeking procedures to sort of competing claims, showing their work and recusing themselves when they have conflicts, and revising their conclusions in light of new evidence.

It’s pretty clear that this process is breaking down. As companies (led by the tech industry) merge with one another to form monopolies, they hijack their regulators and turn truth-seeking into an auction, where shareholder preferences trump evidence.

This perversion of truth has consequences — take the FDA’s willingness to accept the expensively manufactured evidence of Oxycontin’s safety, a corrupt act that kickstarted the opioid epidemic, which has killed 800,000 Americans to date.

If the best argument for vaccine safety and efficacy is “We used the same process and experts as pronounced judgement on Oxy” then it’s not unreasonable to be skeptical — especially if you’re still coping with the trauma of lost loved ones.

As Anna Merlan writes in her excellent Republic of Lies, conspiratorialism feeds on distrust and trauma, and we’ve got plenty of legitimate reasons to experience both.

https://memex.craphound.com/2019/09/21/republic-of-lies-the-rise-of-conspiratorial-thinking-and-the-actual-conspiracies-that-fuel-it/

Tech was an early adopter of monopolistic tactics — the Apple ][+ went on sale the same year Ronald Reagan hit the campaign trail, and the industry’s growth tracked perfectly with the dismantling of antitrust enforcement over the past 40 years.

What’s more, while tech may not persuade people, it is indisputably good at finding them. If you’re an advertiser looking for people who recently looked at fridge reviews, tech finds them for you. If you’re a boomer looking for your old high school chums, it’ll do that too.

Seen in that light, “online radicalization” stops looking like the result of mind control, instead showing itself to be a kind of homecoming — finding the people who share your interests, a common online experience we can all relate to.

I found out about Bernstein’s article from the Techdirt podcast, where he had a fascinating discussion with host Mike Masnick.

https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20210928/12593747652/techdirt-podcast-episode-299-misinformation-about-disinformation.shtml

Towards the end of that discussion, they talked about FB’s Project Amplify, in which the company tweaked its news algorithm to uprank positive stories about Facebook, including stories its own PR department wrote.

https://pluralistic.net/2021/09/22/kropotkin-graeber/#zuckerveganism

Project Amplify is part of a larger, aggressive image-control effort by the company, which has included shuttering internal transparency portals, providing bad data to researchers, and suing independent auditors who tracked its promises.

I’d always assumed that this truth-suppression and wanton fraud was about hiding how bad the platform’s disinformation problem was.

But listening to Masnick and Bernstein, I suddenly realized there was another explanation.

Maybe Facebook’s aggressive suppression of accurate assessments of disinformation on its platform are driven by a desire to hide how expensive (and profitable) political advertising it depends on is pretty useless.

Image: Anthony Quintano (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mark_Zuckerberg_F8_2018_Keynote_(41793470192).jpg

Cryteria (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:HAL9000.svg

CC BY: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en