#but now I understand that in terms of class I literally have more in common with the wealthiest client than I do with bezos

[marnz]

thinking about how wealth is relational, it cannot be understood or defined without understanding your relationship to others, and how this feeds perfectly into Marx’s three types of alienation, primarily the alienation of the worker from their fellow workers, as well as the concept of class consciousness.

if you ask someone if they are rich and they say “well it depends on what you mean by ‘rich.’ what is your criteria? how much do you make? what is the cost of living like? what kind of wealth are you measuring?” it sounds like they’re talking around the issue. They aren’t. You cannot even begin to comprehend your place in the world, your relationship to power—your class—without understanding the vast gulf between you and everyone around you and the billionaires of the world. everything else is a distraction designed to work in the billionaires’ favor.

[dr-spectre]

What’s the different between hypnosis and brainwashed? Sorry, I just love your Callie obsessed and I don’t understand the different between the two

You don't understand the difference between the two? Don't worry, i got you.

Let's start off with brainwashing. In most definitions of it, it is described as pressuring someone systematically to adopt radically different morals, ideologies and behaviors via forcible means against a person's will, knowledge and consent.

Now let's get into hypnosis, it is described as a state of deep relaxation and focused concentration, where the subconscious is more open to suggestions and it's sometimes used as a form of therapy to treat addictions. It is not some stage act where you can get someone to get naked on stage, that's not how it works. It is not some thing where you swing a clock around and go "you are getting veryyyyy sleepy" and now you control someone's mind, nope, that is a common false assumption about hypnosis.

One of these terms is something used in therapy, the other is used in cults and political/military circles. The two are very different and have different connotations.

The main thing with brainwashing is that there is a forcible/ non consensual aspect to it where the individual doesn't want their mind to get changed. However in hypnosis, suggestions that are given to a person in a hypnotised state must not go against a person's will or morals otherwise the person will not listen to the suggestion, IT IS A VERY IMPORTANT DISTINCTION BETWEEN THE TWO!!!!!!!!! VERY VERY IMPORTANT!!!!

Brainwashing is against someone's consent while hypnosis REQUIRES consent and is not some form of mind control. That's the major difference between the two. Hypnosis is an altered state of conscious while brainwashing is someone's mind literally getting systematically reconditioned until the person's old morals no longer exist.

You can see now why i have problem with Callie being called "brainwashed" during Splatoon 2 because she canonically said to Octavio, "okay fine, I'll hear you out." You don't hear people who are getting brainwashed "yeah sure I'll hear out your points!!!"

You cannot use the word brainwashing for Callie's circumstance because her dialogue in the relationship chart literally goes against the definition of the word itself and using that word treats Callie more as a damsel or object rather than a character who just needs help. I'm tired of Splatoon fans and casuals pushing that word around towards my comfort character when there's a ton of evidence to say otherwise. I am getting REALLLLLLLLLL FUCKING TIRED....

"But Marie sai-" I know, she said "brainwashing sunglasses" in the English version I KNOW!!! From her perspective she would obviously think Callie was brainwashed by the shades, she has no other information to go off of, doesn't mean she is right and WE SHOULD BLINDLY TRUST HER PERSPECTIVE!!!!!!!!! YOU'VE EVER SEEN AN OVERREACTING FAMILY MEMBER BEFORE?!?!

Callie was hypnotised, full stop. Nothing more. Nothing less.

The whole "i remember" thing is not because the shades brainwashed her and removed her memories, it's just that Callie is in a mentally ill state PLUS in a hypnotic state where she's very concentrated and focused. The shades being shot off of her is like you writing an essay in class and someone smacks your eye. Callie looks like she has a headache and it takes a while for Callie to ""come back to her senses"" where she starts thinking a little bit more rationally. Her hearing the Calamari Inkantation floods her brain with good memories and positivity as the song has mysterious and mystical elements to it, Callie gets pumped up and all of that darkness in her head clears away and she goes "i remember! YEAH!!!"

The ONLY character you can argue was brainwashed in the Splatoon universe, is Agent 3. That's the ONLY ONE i may allow.

But even then they say "they have been hijacked." As in Tartar has taken direct control over Agent 3's body and it's not reallyyyyy brainwashing because Agent 3 was unconscious and probably had zero idea on what was going on until they woke up on the helicopter at the end of Octo Expansion.

What about Marina Agitando? Possessed by an ai after getting knocked unconscious. Not brainwashed or hypnotised!!! Marina was asleep during her time as Marina Agitando.

CAN WE STOP THROWING WORDS AROUND LIKE THEY MEAN NOTHING!?!? Stop using that word to describe "Splatoon character but evil." No. Enough. ENOUGH!!!!!!!! STOP!!!!!!!!! I AM GETTING SICK OF IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(I'm not yelling at you anon btw lmao. I'm yelling at everyone else, thank you for the ask!)

[selkies-world]

How to write bilingual characters when you're not bilingual

I've seen this come back up pretty often recently, so I figured I'd make this post to help some of yous out.

I'm a polyglot, I grew up using Makaton, speaking English and Gaelic, I understand Scots though I don't usually speak it. I went to a multilingual school, where we learned a new language every term (4 languages a year) and had the EAL students & teachers teach us their language. We had to use the language the school was learning when we passed each other in the hallway, when we went into a different classroom to fetch or ask for something, when a different member of staff came into the room and when we were stopped by teachers in the hallways. Sometimes we had to use it in the lunch hall, too. We had to be able to understand & reciprocate basic conversation level skills in whichever language was being taught that term. In addition, classes 5, 6 and 7 also learned individual languages which we had to be able to read, write and understand music in as well as converse in more advanced ways.

From 11 through my teens, I taught myself Italian to near fluency, as well as BSL and Scottish Gaelic. I have varying levels of understanding in Russian, very minimal French and Japanese, and conversational German.

(If you're interested in how I learned these languages, check out this post I made and this article I wrote.)

I'm saying this so that you understand when I say: I KNOW HOW BILINGUAL CHARACTERS WORK.

So here's some suggestions on how to write bilingual characters realistically, arranged in no particular order.

We don't forget how to "switch back", so please fuck off with that concept. (Example: "Va bene," Kelsi said. "Huh?" Harry asked, and Kelsi laughed, embarrassed. "Sorry," she said. "I forget to switch back sometimes. "I meant; it's fine.") We don't do this.

HOWEVER, something close to this that we do do is forget which language we're speaking, and jump between two, usually fucking the grammar up as we go. (Example: "It's bene," Kelsi said, and Harry squinted at her. "Huh?" he asked. Kelsi looked at him, confused. "What?" she asked, and he fought a smile. "It's be-nay?" Harry repeated, and Kelsi stared at him before grimacing as she muttered under her breath. "It's fine," she said, louder. "I meant to say it's fine.") This is more realistic than us "forgetting to switch back".

Another thing that can look like us forgetting to switch back is when we get upset and the language part of our brain just. Nopes tf out. (Example: xxxx) [THIS EXAMPLE WAS TAKEN FROM MY BOOK!!! THAT I PUBLISHED!!!! ONLY 1 CHARACTER HAS ENGLISH AS HER FIRST LANGUAGE!!!!! ALL THE OTHERS ARE BILINGUAL AND GAY!!!!]

We forget basic words for shit, and only remember them in other languages. (Example: "- tie your... thing," Henry said, faltering, and Jess raised her eyebrows at him. "My... thing," she repeated, and Henry gestured vaguely to her shoes. "Your thing. The..." He muttered under his breath. Jess only looked at him, not understanding. Exasperated, Henry gestured to her shoes again. "The string thing! In your shoes. The... the fingers. The finger strings. The... the shoe belts! The- just the thing!" Jess was grinning at him as she laughed quietly. "Do you mean my shoe laces?" she asked. Henry nodded, though he wasn't entirely convinced that was the right term, either, now that he was hearing it.)

From that, we usually forget the common term for something, but we'll remember the literal translation from another language, or the literal description of it. (Example: "hey do you have any... uhm... bee puke?" "WHAT?!" "I want to put it in my toast." "WHAT THE HELL IS BEE PUKE?!?! WHY WOULD YOU WANT THAT ON YOUR TOAST - WHY WOULD YOU WANT TO EAT IT?!?!?!!?" "Everyone eats it? It's super sweet. And golden, and drippy?" "It sounds disgusting." "HONEY. I MEANT HONEY! THAT'S THE NAME OF IT!")

Another version of this is saying the sound or action the thing does, rather than the name of the thing itself. (Example: "OMG your bark-bark is so cute!" "You... mean my dog?" "Isn't that what I said?")

This is all I can think of atm, but feel free to ask any questions about bilingual / polyglot characters!

[antiquitiesandlabyrinths]

Kemeticism Under the Advice of Ptah-Hotep: Maxim 1

In my first post I discussed the importance of listening, and the value of Ptah-Hotep's lessons. While this is a paramount lesson, it is also just a precursor to understanding and comprehending the actual maxims of Ptah-Hotep, which we will now read.

Translation of Maxim 1

Don’t be conceited about your own knowledge. Take advice from the ignorant as well as from the wise, since there is no single person who embodies perfection nor any craftsman who has reached the limits of excellence. The perfect word is as rare as an emerald yet it may be found among the maidservants working at the millstone.

Breakdown:

Lesson

Jacq’s translation

Direct translation

Do not be prideful over your knowledge and it’s sources.

“Don’t be conceited about your own knowledge… take advice from the ignorant as well as from the wise.”

“May your heart not be filled with vanity* because of what you know… take counsel with both the ignorant and the sage.”

There is not one person who can be perfect

“… there is no single person who embodies perfection nor any craftsman who has reached the limits of excellence.”

“No one attains perfection in the art**…”

Good advice (the perfect word) and wisdom is rare yet can be found among the common workers and strange places

“The perfect word is as rare as an emerald yet it may be found among the maidservants working at the millstone.”

“A perfect word is more hidden than the green stone*** yet one can find it with the serving women who work the millstone****.”

* - Vanity here means large, or great of heart. Ptah-Hotep has two variants of this expression which both translate literally as large or great of heart; one in a negative sense, i.e a self-inflated ego or sense of importance, and the other in a positive sense meaning generous and magnanimous. Here he is using the negative term, âa-ib.

** - Art is something which goes beyond the reaches of simply craftsmanship in Egyptian culture. It indicates the ability to make matter beautiful and harmonious in its’ symbology. It allows celestial energy to manifest itself in physical matter; to incarnate itself through a craftsman’s work.

*** - Green stone could refer to either emeralds, turquoises, or amazonites. Either way, the word used here, oudjat, had a root meaning of growth and blossoming.

**** - Millstone here is referred to as a benout in the original Egyptian. The root of the word, ben, can also be translated as the primordial stone on which creation was first manifested. On this first stone the benou bird first took flight.

This maxim, while uncomplicated, does deal with a couple subjects, the most pertinent of which is pride. Pride is the centerpiece of discussion for this lesson, and just the same, pride is a centerpiece of suffering and failure within one’s life. Pride about our knowledge — both individually and as a species — is something very ingrained in our society, but it has not benefited us in any way. In fact, it has closed our minds to the possibility of gaining knowledge from sources we deem inappropriate.

Our minds are shaped by our society and our surrounding culture, and that culture decides where it is appropriate to learn and where it is not. For example, in many cultures, school is an appropriate place to learn; spending time with homeless people or drug addicts is not. However, as Ptah-Hotep says, the perfect word — and thus the perfect wisdom — can be found in very strange places, even among common workers, servants, and slaves. And in fact there are many people who are homeless or are/were drug users who have a great deal of wisdom to give to the world; they are part of the undesirables class, but this does not make them different from other humans as a whole. Even the pride or joy you may have that you are different or more fortunate than these people is misplaced; what one thinks of as guaranteed can be taken away in an instant. The goal of realizing this is not to be constantly vigilant in making sure nothing is taken from you, but to instead accept the natural order, and not to judge others based on preconceived notions about whether or not they are valuable as a person.

In the end, it is not so hard for someone who is very rich and assured of their position in the world to suddenly lose everything and become part of the undesirables class that they once discriminated against. All of us are prone to change, not just in our souls but in our position in life. As Ptah-Hotep says, no one attains perfection in the art, and one person’s ignorance is another person’s realization, as everyone’s experiences in life are different.

There is a sort of equality that Ptah-Hotep preaches here; in the first note, concerning pride about knowledge, there is another translation that instead states this as, “Do not be proud on account of your knowledge, but discuss with the ignorant as with the wise”. Sometimes there is nothing to gain from conversing with the ignorant, but it is good to do it nonetheless. In this way, you can share your own knowledge, as simply keeping company with the wise can help one grow and learn.

Overall, the main lesson to take away from this maxim is to not be prideful about your knowledge and do not be overly selective over where you attain this knowledge. The second lesson is more simple, which is that no one person is perfect, and the ignorance or failing that a wise person has may be knowledge and wisdom that an ignorant person has. Wisdom and knowledge can come from all places, even from nature and from within the soul. It is good to accept wisdom from all people, as someone’s social standing does not indicate the openness of their heart, nor their closeness to divinity and the perfect word and art.

[youkaigakkou-tl]

Chapter 102 Translator's Notes Thoughts

You know what, I sort of thought I wouldn’t have much to say about this chapter, considering I’d already pored over all the details from Makuragaeshi arc and Yoseito, and in comes Tanaka Mai with a metal bat!

Summary:

Stuff about the color page

Actual translation note about the divine magic stuff

Stuff about the time travel

That theory I have about Haruaki’s exorcism power

(future op after writing the whole thing: jesus christ this is 3000 words. somebody stop me before i come out with a 70 page peer reviewed thesis one of these days)

Color page

The one with purple hair is Akira LOL I think everyone got got by it for at least a second because we’ve been seeing Douman so much, especially with that half the face blacked out, but look at the hair part. Also I only realised because of this art that Kurai and Akira have a mole by the mouth in the exact same spot, makes sense why he wants to cover it up now. (Irrelevant but I also have a mole in that same spot)

Also, the red string of fate…

Hey remember what happens in Makuragaeshi arc. yeahhhhh hahaha just stab that knife right into me hahaha sensei you would do this to them? to me?

A lot of the original folklore for the red string of fate is pretty mean, but the important common thread (heh) is that the two people meet long ago briefly and part ways, until they eventually get married while not remembering that first encounter, then they find out they knew each other from that first encounter. (Hey why does this sound like almost all the things that happen pre-main story in yohaji. Who is making spiderwebs with the threads of fate up there.)

Red string… Hatanaka’s red scarf, which Ibara knitted for him… His scarf, which isn’t present in the Makuragaeshi world… Tanaka Mai you are fucked up and evil for this. I am going to lie in the sand now.

The scarf… which she knitted for him maybe because she saw him with it 100 years ago…

Divine Magic

Ok I’ll be real I hate translating it as “divine magic” because it’s so vague but translating it as the actual Buddhism term is too specific and technical, when the word in Japanese and Chinese uses very common characters so it’s vague enough while still being the actual Buddhism term.

This chapter specifically calls back to chapter 22, and I totally didn’t recall any mention of anything divine so I had to double check with the JP. Sure enough, it’s used here, translated as “divine youkai magic”. But the thing is, in this situation “divine” just sounded like an adjective for “youkai magic”, rather than the whole phrase being a proper noun which is obvious in JP. (This is sort of why I’m going with “divine magic” instead, and that there’s nothing in the JP word that says “youkai” anyway) (By the way, it’s also on the blackboard in Miki’s class in chapter 96. I translated it as “divine power” then because there was no context)

The word is “神通力 jin-tsuu-riki”, and the Buddhism concept it’s referring to is Abhijñā, or the “six types of higher knowledge”.

Breaking down the word,

神 jin: god/divine

通 tsuu: connection/understanding/knowledge

力 riki: power

Exactly as Hatanaka explains it, in the most literal sense, it means “power that has connection to the gods”. “Jintsuuriki” is also another word for psychic powers in general, but it’s definitely this Buddhism concept because of the names of the six types.

Hatanaka just summarized it, so I think it’s safe to assume there’s more to all of them, and also I want to explain what each of them does anyway, even if they definitely won’t end up being the exact same in the manga.

^ Putting this here so it’s easy to refer to.

1. 神足通 Jin-soku-tsuu (Divine step)

Literally translated, it is “god step connection” (all of them end in “tsuu”). The specific name for it is Iddhi, and is generally called “higher powers”, or “powers of transformation”? I went with a name that’s almost a literal translation of the JP.

The specific abilities attributed to it include:

Replicating and projecting images of oneself

Becoming invisible

Passing through solid objects

Going through solid ground

Walking on water

Flying

Touching the sun and moon

Chinese and Japanese descriptions of it also mention “teleportation” or “being anywhere at will”, though strangely English descriptions of it almost never have this part.

The principal uses this one, and Hatanaka thinks Tamao used it (spoiler: he was wrong).

2. 天耳通 Ten-ni-tsuu (Clairaudience)

Literally translated, it is “divine ear connection”. Fairly self explanatory. Also described as “god-like hearing”, it’s the ability to “hear gods or humans, near or far”.

Interestingly, Hatanaka uses “地獄耳 jigoku-mimi” to describe “having sharp ears”, which itself is a fun phrase. It means “hell’s ears”, referring to King Enma, who hears of everything you’ve done in life and judges you accordingly. Though, in everyday speech it just means “someone who hears all the gossip”, but rarely it also means “someone who remembers everything they’ve heard”.

3. 他心通 Ta-shin-tsuu (Telepathy)

Literally translated, it is “others’ hearts connection”. Also fairly straightforward. The concept of “reading minds” in English is “reading hearts” in Japanese and Chinese. There’s probably a separate essay here about the West’s scientific and medical advancements and how with it, the core of what defined a human was shifted from the heart to the brain, changing the sort of words people use with it. Oh hey wait there IS a video essay about this. (ah shit this is getting off topic)

Anyway. It’s also described as being able to “understand others’ minds/hearts as if they were your own”. I feel this is the one the karasu tengu troupe used in chapter 21/22 to conjure up the illusions of Miki, Sano and Haru’s fears. (But the “conjuring illusions” part could also be the first one.)

4. 宿命通 Shuku-myou-tsuu (Memory of abodes)

Literally translated, it is “abode lives connection”, which… means what exactly? So, “宿命 shuku-mei” together means “karma” or “fate”, and it’s described as the “knowledge of oneself and others’ past existence”, referring to memory of past lives, but also refers to knowledge of karma, cause and effect and the past in general.

(Honestly I don’t like my name for it, but every other name for it I’ve seen is too long and unrepresentative, I’ll probably come up with a new translation if it comes up again and there’s more info given about it. Also I almost went with “remembrance”, which tbh is a better sounding name but I would be exposing that I’ve been playing too much honkai star rail)

I think this is the one Tamao actually used, and I’ve seen some CN comments come to the same conclusion. By the way, remember Yoseito chapter 1?

Unbelievable! Everything really is “haha jk…unless” with this manga!

5. 天眼通 Ten-gen-tsuu (Clairvoyance)

Literally translated, it is “divine eye connection”. Also pretty self explanatory. It is described as seeing the karmic destinations of others, and knowing how they’ll be reborn. It’s also called “死生通”, or “knowledge of life and death”. Sort of a set with the previous one, knowing cause vs knowing effect.

This is the one Haruaki thinks Seimei has, and he’s probably right (somewhat). I’ll elaborate in a sec.

6. 漏尽通 Ro-jin-tsuu (Affliction riddance)

Literally translated, it is… honestly idk this name itself means nothing. But translations have put it as “extinction of mental intoxicants” or “knowing the end of suffering”. Tbh this is also one that I’m not super happy with and would retranslate if it comes up again. Hatanaka couldn’t be bothered to actually summarize it LMAO it’s probably because this is a very VERY Buddhist concept. It’s described as “knowing the four truths; suffering, the cause of suffering, the end of suffering, and the way to end suffering”.

The thing you have to know about Buddhism is it’s really obsessed with suffering, the idea of reincarnation and that it comes from worldly impurities (including suffering), and getting out of the cycle of reincarnation by getting rid of worldly impurities. Like, that’s the thesis statement of Buddhism. Reincarnation exists but the world sucks so you want to get out of it. (gets torn to shreds by my Buddhist relatives for badmouthing it) (so far from all my reading and personal experience with my Buddhist grandparents there is nothing forbidding you from tearing someone to shreds) Anyway. This has been my bitching about Buddhism tangent.

These last three are sometimes considered as a set, and collectively called the “three wisdoms/knowledges”

Hey did you fall asleep (throws chalk at you) wake up!

If you’ve been paying attention to both this essay and the manga itself, you may have noticed that Seimei has demonstrated almost all of these to some degree. Whether this is intentionally something the story is implying and wants the reader to figure out or if it’s pure coincidence, I’m not sure, but it’s something to think about. Also, the “seeing the future” one could totally be applied to Kurahashi. Eyebrow raise?

Also, here’s this ask I answered about the ramifications of Seimei having divine magic.

Intermission

This is something I’ve only come to realise with Yohaji, it’s really so fascinating to see the author in a work (in moderation of course). When viewing a piece of work, especially something framed as lighthearted like a manga, it’s so easy to forget the author behind it and treat the work as if it came into existence by itself. Perhaps because Yohaji contains so many references to real-life mythologies and stories, or perhaps because I’ve been poring over every detail, reading about every reference, reading sensei’s tweets and experiences, that what sorts of topics Tanaka Mai is interested in has become apparent and Yohaji is all the more fascinating for it.

Every one of her previous oneshot/short-serialization works before Yohaji has either made mention of Buddhist terms, or is entirely based on it.

Karma Karma, a 3-shot from 2014 (a year before the start of Yohaji), is about the Buddhist concept of hell and a king of hell who accidentally brought sinners from hell back to the living world.

Gokuraku Joudou no Hotoke-san, a oneshot from 2013, besides obviously referencing the Buddhist pure land in the title has wisdom king Acala and Yakushi Nyorai be its protagonists.

Unfortunately, I don’t think I’ll ever get to read any of these, since they’re from 10 years ago and I’d have to contact a collector about it or something.

In any case, this is clearly something she’s interested in and knows a lot about, and it’s always so interesting to see. It’s always been present in Yohaji too, from the early drafts being more Buddhism-themed, to Sano’s magic circles featuring sanskrit and resembling a mandala in early chapters, to busting out a sutra excerpt in chapter 85.

Maybe it’s a fiction faux pas to pull back the curtain and look at the inner workings of a work like this, but I think I get to decide how I interact with a work.

Time Travel

YEAHHHH I CALLED IT IVE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS!! ITS SO OBVIOUS IT WOULD HAPPEN ITS BEEN SO OBVIOUS FOR A YEAR I SHOULDN’T HAVE LET PEOPLE TALK AUGUST 2022 ME INTO THINKING ITS STUPID!! ITS SO REAL!!! IM A GENIUSSS yeah anyway had to get that out of my system

First of all, we get a good look at the schoolhouse. This is probably the old schoolhouse, or at least in the location of the old schoolhouse. Architecturally it does look different from both times we’ve seen it, in volume 5 and Yoseito’s Izuna flashback arc. It’s entirely possible that the principal had it rebuilt and more floors added in the 100 years he was using it. By the way, based on the turtle map and being able to see the mountain behind the school, it’s likely that this is where it is.

The beam of light on the mountain opposite the school is almost certainly because the gang ended up at the location of the current schoolhouse, which is still just forest at that point. And there is not a single doubt in my mind that the teacher is Ranmaru.

Ok tbh I don’t have that much to say about the time travel half of the chapter mostly because it was just establishing the premise for what’s about to happen for the rest of the arc, so here’s some disjointed thoughts.

First off, even if it’s not obvious, Haruaki does indirectly cause this to happen. Besides nudging the world into the situation at the start of the chapter in a million cumulative little ways, he’s the one who brings up whether Tamao can use any other type of magic.

Also, this chapter made me realise something about Yoseito chapter 28. It makes sense that Yamazaki wouldn’t have recognized Hatanaka before that moment when he made the connection, because for all intents and purposes he knew Hatanaka as just this delinquent kid who even dyed his hair. Even the name “Hatanaka” doesn’t help, mind you, since he’s got dozens of siblings and extended family whose surnames are all “Hatanaka”. Unless they specifically told the Meiji trio the exact situation, and even then, this is probably just “that weird story from when we were in school” to Takahashi and Yamazaki. (a la teacher trio not making the connection that they met years ago until it was specifically pointed out) It was only at that moment that he started to resemble the version of him a year from then, when the time travel would happen.

Anyway, what in the world could possibly happen to Takahashi that he ends up like he does on the color page and looking so shaken in chapter 98… I sure hope the stuff on his face is actually just shading and not blood…. We do have precedent of that half of the face being covered in blood….

And one last thing that might be addressed, something in this arc will probably cause Ranmaru to quit being a teacher (based on makuragaeshi arc), though like the Takahashi thing, I couldn’t even begin to guess what. I can’t see the future, after all! (I feel like I've made this joke before)

The True Nature of Haruaki/Seimei’s Exorcism Power

(sounds like a clickbait title lol)

This is something I realised while answering this ask, but it’s a realisation that could have come way sooner because it doesn’t really hinge on info from chapter 102.

Here’s the parts to this theory: (anything that’s directly quoted has been double checked against the Japanese in case the nuance is slightly different)

Youkai magic is powered by spirit energy (no shit sherlock)

Clarification addendum: spirit energy is called “you-ryoku 妖力” and youkai magic is “you-jutsu 妖術”. both use the same “you” as in “youkai”, and the word on its own kinda means magic-y creature-y things (its usually used with another word to clarify what exactly is magic-y). Literally translated, “you-ryoku” is “youkai energy/power”, and “you-jutsu” is “youkai technique”. its very no shit sherlock.

This exorcism power exorcises spirit energy, and also works on gods to a lesser degree.

This implies the exorcism power has broader spanning effects than is stated, or “spirit energy” isn’t as specific of a concept as previously thought.

Spirit energy is basically interchangeable with “human life force” which is also interchangeable with “human souls”

In chapter 76, Takahashi reveals that if the mother is human, the spirit energy a half-youkai baby needs will be substituted by her life force. Also of note, he reveals that youkai can produce spirit energy and humans can’t.

When talking about youkai that eat spirit energy, “souls” are almost always brought up alongside it. Miki’s mom is said to eat both spirit energy and souls, the makuragaeshi eats both spirit energy and souls. The kasha did throw out the pure youkai Takahashi, Hatanaka and Marshmallow to leave only those with non-youkai blood or souls, but it also didn’t seem to be against attacking them.

In chapter 74, Takahashi says he sensed spirit energy in the hospital, but he examines the gashadokuro and finds it’s formed from human souls. Also in chapter 70, the ability to see spirit energy and souls is lumped together.

And now, one of the loose ends from Kyoto arc: Suzaku saying that “humans shouldn’t overuse powers like that” and was about to say something about life force.

Do you see what I’m getting at here? It sounds likely that “spirit energy” and “life force” are the same thing but in different forms, and assuming there’s not an entirely separate power system that has nothing to do with spirit energy, there’s a possibility that Haruaki/Seimei’s exorcism power runs off life force instead.

This has a few fucked up implications, namely there’s a possibility that Seimei was going to die anyway even without being (debatably) murdered, and also obviously Haruaki… um….

“Souls are equivalent to life force” and “exorcism power runs off life force” would also help explain why his intelligence soul piece could also use it: it just happened to be the biggest piece of his soul (also explaining why it’s physically bigger than the other 4), and it could be that all the pieces had the ability, just that the biggest piece had the “battery” to actually use it.

(I have Many Thoughts about the soul pieces btw, that may never get elaborated on in the story. No not just that white hair Haru is hot! I feel like there’s something more to it than just being 5 parts of his personality. Like, they say there’s a piece that’s the manifestation of his desires, but the athletic piece is into sailor uniforms too? That’s a conclusion the students came up with, after all, and it’s not like anyone present was an expert on this stuff, and anyone who might have known more aren’t saying anything (Ranmaru, Douman, SEIMEI???). Do you get this feeling? That there’s something purposely left unexplained there…)

He also calls out the similarity between his powers and the students’ powers often (off the top of my head, there’s at least a few times with Sano, also with Nyuudou, and now with Tamao). It’s probably his efforts to show he relates to them, but also… yknow…

Of course, there’s details that this theory doesn’t fully address. Both times Miki’s mom ate Haruaki’s soul, she immediately noted it tasted bad, so it’s probably not because of Seimei taking control and actively fighting his way out, rather something inherent about his soul that makes it different from regular human souls or even youkai souls.

This is all pretty fucked up and I don’t necessarily think Tanaka Mai would actually go this route….? I hope…..? But there’s nothing definitive right now that says it DOESN’T work like this, and there’s enough of these little details littered throughout the whole series that if it’s true, this would be the biggest long con sensei has pulled yet.

Haruaki’s exorcism power could also be one of those “lol he can just do this, don’t question it” things, but that’s also what I thought about Seimei’s ability to see the future, and GUESS WHAT.

Anyway that’s all, I think I haven’t forgotten anything I wanted to talk about (probably did though, this took an entire day and thats WITH having taken notes while I was translating), gonna spend a couple days combing through all the previous mentions of the time travel to see if the new concrete details about it would surface any new info.

[ladyimaginarium]

%100 understandable if you don't have the energy or desire to answer this genuinely no pressure here

But I was wondering if you had anything you wanted to talk about in terms of anti native racism in the plural community, if there's anything you could get non-natives to internalize what would that be etc that kinda thing

hellooooo sweetling, thank you for asking !! :3 I& hope you don't mind me& answering, we've& been quite switchy lately !! Now… sit down and listen up, nonnatives, especially you, white settlers, class is in session !!

I. Don't name yourselves after our spirits and/or our nations !! I& cannot express enough how infuriating this is !! There was a time when we& had to deliberately tell a white bodied system to change their alter's name from W**dig* to something else, not just for their safety, but ours& as a Native bodied system !! W **dig*ag are NOT spirits to mess with, let alone to use as a name if you're nonnative, especially if you are a white settler !! These are Algonquian and Anishinaabe sacred spirits, and, no, sacred does not always mean good, and quite frankly, to use our sacred religious figures or any of our nations as your name is cultural appropriation !! And, no, your "w*ndig*" headmate is likely not a w*ndig* at all, it's not a deer creature !! It's very insensitive, our cultures, practices and religions have already been stretched far and thin over the years to the point where we have been imprisoned or murdered for practicing them in the past until only a few decades ago, so be respectful !! Don't be a loser !! 🖤🖤🖤🖤 II. Native bodied systems don't care about your white guilt !! Listen... we& know most people's intentions are well, but at this point, we& don't care, we've& often been forced to listen to white people whine and bitch about how sorry they are, how bad they feel about the way their ancestors treated ours, and will often overstep their boundaries and their place when speaking with us& !! Yes, we& want you to acknowledge who's land you're on, yes, we& want nonnative, especially white settler allies, to be there with us and uplift our voices, but don't speak over us, you're not solving anything by venting to us&, a Native bodied system, about your ancestors' guilt, if you are white. We're& not here to hold your hand, we& won't coddle your feelings, we& won't give you a cookie for expressing and doing the bare minimum and be your palatable native system !! III. Having an exoethnic Native headmate doesn't make your body Native !! I& don't know how else to say this ... simply because you have an exoethnic Native headmate doesn't make your body Native and as such that doesn't give you the right to speak our languages, practice our medicines or call yourself Two Spirit if you are nonnative, especially if you're white bodied !! If you're a system of color and you want to learn our languages, depending on what the language is because some languages are exclusive only to members of that nation, even to other natives, we'd& be more flattered, but if you're a white bodied system who has an exoethnic Native headmate and think that automatically gives you the right to come into our spaces and learn our languages and ceremonies?? Think again !! :3 There are teachings by our& elders and knowledge keepers from different nations that we& are literally forbidden from sharing with nonnatives !! I& understand how frustrating this can be, but respect is essential !! IV. White bodied and nonnative systems of color are not immune to antinative racism and Native erasure in plural spaces !! Native bodied systems, let alone Native singlets, aren't often included in the table on how to make things better in our spaces and are treated like an afterthought even on our own lands !! This happens so often that this led to the term called Native erasure which is extremely common in the media, even in POC spaces !! Don't demand we do your homework for you. Don't hesitate to check up on your Native friends !! V. Our cultures are not homogenous and there is no one "Native look"!! I& don't want to repeat ourselves& but our cultures and peoples are so unique, special and distinct from each other !! We can have any skintone, any hair type, any eye color, we can look like anything !! — 🖤 / Bellatrix& / Beretta&, she/her.

[alicent-vi-britannia]

One of the biggest challenges the narrative of my Code Geass fanfic posed to me was writing a love story with Lelouch. The series did not explore Lelouch's lover facet as it denied itself that aspect to pigeonhole him in the ambiguity, so I had a blank canvas before me. But the difficulty lay in the type of character that Lelouch is. Not exactly a character straight out of a romcom fluff (I used a fanfiction term! I mean those kind of overly sweet, lovely, heartwarming, pink stories that make you feel happy and make you believe in love, do you understand what? what do I mean? Those are the fluff stories); on the contrary, Lelouch looks like something out of a Shakespearean tragedy. He's not the ideal hero to tell a wholesome love story, is he? (One of my biggest fears is romanticizing wrong or immoral or toxic behavior; I don't want to be an author who contributes to the damage and bad reputation of the fics).

So, while I was writing the fanfic, on a whim I started reading "Jane Eyre" and here I was presented with a romance between a virtuous woman and a man tormented by his inner demons. It was exactly the type of romance that I intended to write with the two types of characters that I was working on.

On the one hand, Rochester is built on an archetype that was popularized in romanticism and is a variation of the typical romantic hero: the Byronic hero. Lelouch literally meets all the characteristics of this type of hero. In the words of historian and critic Thomas Macaulay, the Byronic hero is "a proud, temperamental, cynical man, with stamina in his brow and misery in his heart, someone who shows contempt for his class, implacable in revenge, but capable of affection ‘deep and strong’" (I won't go deeper because this topic gives enough for an independent post). I consider the Lelouch from my fanfic to be a more visceral version of the canonical Lelouch, so he tends to give in to his low passions and is much more Machiavellian and ruthless (we have several moments of vulnerability and reliability). At the same time, my readers have told me, he feels very human. To tell the truth, I think my Lelouch has suffered more than the canon Lelouch. It's hard to talk without giving spoilers or referring to a specific case

And, on the other hand, Jane is a character that stands out for her integrity and her principles. She is the moral guide who brings Rochester back to the light. In my fanfic, my Lelouch's love interest is Kallen and I think only she could play that role. Geass curse sucked C.C.'s morality and humanity away, turning her into an empty shell. Shirley is so comfortable in her happy bubble that every time she gets mixed up with the rebellion, she gets hurt. Kallen can gravitate between the normal world within the walls of Ashford Academy and the cruel world outside where a war is going on, and still remain unscathed. Even if she is a soldier who has had to take countless lives in battle, Kallen is not a killing machine. She does not lose the north. She holds firmly to her principles and her goals. It's the same in my fanfic, even though it takes place in an alternate universe. Kallen suffers one misfortune after another and manages to overcome them. She is endowed with a resilience and a morality that Lelouch needs to have (in fact, this is one of the reasons why I think Lelouch and Kallen's romance does work where the others fail).

Now that I exposed it like this, surely a lot of love stories built from this scheme will come to mind and that's because this type of romance is super common and is as old as humanity itself. In fact, I call this type of romance "Beauty and the Beast" because she is always pure of heart and he is a beast who needs to bring out that inner prince he has to be with her, yes! xd

I love this kind of romance. I’m not going to lie. However, it is difficult to write. Either it goes well or it goes wrong and for most it turns out fatally (understand that they deliver a toxic couple relationship). In my opinion, "Jane Eyre" did quite well. And, for me, it stands out among other cases because there is a deep awareness of the problem and they are actively working on it. The Rochester arc is an arc of redemption through love.

Redemption and love are two themes strongly present in my story and in my Lelouch's arc.

The canon Lelouch was able to save himself from doom thanks to the love and friendship he was given by the student council and I accepted that: in part because of the anime's setting, Lelouch is a teenager and for that stage of life friendship plays an important rol; In part, I accepted it because it's an anime and anime, in general terms, gives a special place to friendship. Same as in western cartoons aimed at children; but in books, live-action series, movies, even anime and animated series aimed at adult audiences, friendship is no longer the main focus (I don't know if you've noticed).

The Lelouch in my story is an adult Lelouch and, for this stage of life, friends are and are not. Most of the time the adults are involved in their own business and every once in a while they can see each other and talk only to lose themselves again. Sometimes you only have a friend with whom you walk up and down (ONLY ONE). On the other hand, at this stage of life, it is more likely to look for someone to share life with (that is my vision; you may disagree or agree with me).

So, in the absence of a sincere friendship, I thought it more convincing to give my adult Lelouch a love. It will be up to him if he wants to redeem himself or sink into darkness (you know).

[gothprentiss]

there's a post i've seen maybe twice that's got i think at this point 20k notes. it's about how, like, fictional depictions of medieval women Get It All Wrong (true); how our notions of medieval misogyny are relics of the victorian age, not historical reality (eh??); how class is a more realistic way of understanding premodern womanhood than gender (to some extent!); and here are some ways you might consider writing medieval women, e.g. "tip #2: remember that for medieval women, wife and mother wasn’t the ideal, virgin saint was the ideal. By proving yourself “not like other girls” you could gain significant autonomy & freedom".

the idea that victorian people had particular essentialist ideas about the genders (e.g. the angel-in-the-house-style separate spheres philosophy) and either a) medieval people didn't, not to that extent or in that mode OR b) that has overdetermined our notion of what all the past looks like strikes me as more of a starting point than a conclusion.

like, okay, the idea that there was a singular ideal for women (and that it's virgin saint, lol), even just women in a particular period in a particular area of the medieval christian world-- that does run so categorically against the idea that class is more explanatory than gender here. what you might say, though, is that you can extrapolate this as the sole ideal for women from the historical record (i don't think you can, but let's play) as a result of class and social position. christine de pizan was a court scholar for numerous members of the french royal family. most of the writings that survive of medieval christian women are the products of either noblewomen or nuns. but second of all-- you can't say that the virgin saint was the female archetype rather than the mother or the wife. the virgin saint is literally both of those things: she figures the virgin mary, whose virginity is important because of her maternity; she figures the church, which is allegorically the bride of christ. it's also worth noting, of course, that the virgin saint (i.e. the nun, presumably?) is not the same sort of ideal as the wife or the mother in any material way.

all of this is emblematic about how much of the historical record works and is made to work. in terms of real, factual women who were either able to write at great length or written about with any interest, you have the inevitable upper-class bias, as the post tacitly notes: "Often as nuns, saints, mystics; sometimes as warriors, queens, & ladies; always as businesswomen & merchants, women could & did forge their own paths in life" (odd groupings). in drawing in literary sources, as studies of medieval womanhood always do, you have the additional problem of fabulation, which you are trying to read a theory of womanhood or at least an account of gender roles out of. (medievalists, due to the size and conservatism of the field, are also notably not very good readers when it comes to gender.) e.g. the post cites a thesis which is, as i am looking at it now, significantly about the roman de silence (reading it out of the context of hagiography and alongside the roman d'eneas). the desire for fiction to work as historical record is common in medievalism (really in all premodernism), and understandable, and has some foundation. it is rare to see this foundation meaningfully established in this work.

the other problem you have for the concept of medieval women-- whether you just want to, like, depict one, or have some baseline understanding of what their lives were like, or do them justice-- is the privileging of the individual and the outlier. "women could do this in the middle ages" is often a sentence backed up with, like, five truly good examples, one of them legendary. the desire for a history of empowered women gives you a certain kind of returns; the expectation of a history of misogyny gives you a certain kind of returns. this sort of "THIS IS HOW MEDIEVAL* WOMEN REALLY WERE (*LIMITED TO A SPECIFIC SETTING, AREA OF INTEREST, ETC.)" trumpeting is naturally not about all women of that particular context, and to do so-- beyond the really quite blunt-headed approach to the dynamism of both gender and misogyny-- strikes me as a great disservice to this object of study, delimiting womanhood to solely that of the wealthy and, by that same token, empowered. if nothing else it's certainly telling about the state of gender scholarship in pop medieval history (if not also medieval studies) that feminist interventions get you to about the mainstream scholarly feminism of the 80s, where gilbert and gubar write a whole book named for bertha mason that is only really interested in jane eyre.

[bonesandthebees]

glass analysis time!!! it’s been a while for me!

people comparing it to deadnaming are SO CLOSE but instead of considering the context they project onto the POV character in “real time” and miss the point completely. bc to me it came across as the opposite of deadnaming.

when i first read ch 9, the way you described tommy using wilbur’s name and the way the story was going so far, i actually found it comparable to when someone starts using a the right name/pronouns, bc using new pronouns, even if they’re the right ones, can feel super weird at first bc you’re not used to hearing it and bc of internalized transphobia. but there’s a part of you that thrills at hearing it and the more you hear it the more right it sounds and hearing your name becomes something euphoric rather than dysphoric or apathetic. (obviously i know that this is not a universal trans experience, but i’ve seen other people talk about it so it seems at least somewhat common)

this is where my mind went based on your descriptions, especially when tommy asks wil if any part of him recognizes his name and the “bird in a cage in his chest” perks up

like, wil has literally had his personhood denied and been conditioned to believe it’s right and him and many others believe it is bc of the notion that religion should never be questioned, both by its own people bc it demonstrates a “lack of faith” (is an effective way to control people) and by people not affiliated w the religion bc of “respecting others’ religion”

how many people have experienced something similar in real life??? quite a few it seems. and in my experience, these people tend to not respond well to being told by someone else who they are, even (and especially) if it’s true.

plus, similar to wil coming to terms w the abuse he faced in stars, it can really hard for abuse victims to acknowledge that they’ve been abused, bc if the illusion of control and all that.

(kids will complain about having to explain why the curtains are blue then turn around and not understand a very obvious unreliable narrator in a detailed, intentionally-written piece of MINECRAFT ROLEPLAY FANFICTION. i don’t wanna say “touch grass” but maybe at least pay attention in english class???)

anyways i’m loving the story so far and can’t wait to see where you take it!!!! thank you so much!!!

- 💜

PURPLE HEART ANON!! <333

honestly I didn't have that exact experience in mind when I was coming up with the concept of the name thing, but it fits SO well. he's been told for so many years now that he shouldn't have a name. he's dedicated himself fully to that belief in order to cope with his entire situation, that it feels wrong to hear his name! but he stills recognizes it as his. even after all these years, there's a part of him buried deep down that wants to hear it even if he tries to deny it

also yes!! like stars!wilbur, it's gonna be so hard for glass!wilbur to accept the fact that he was abused by a religious institution! the faith he's been forced to accept and dedicate his entire being to has hurt him in unimaginable ways that's not gonna be an easy thing for him to just realize and accept.

god that should be my new tagline. "I'm not gonna say touch grass but please pay attention in english class" i'm losing my shit that's me at so many of the comments I get

please it's an unreliable narrator guys just cmon use your heads-

thank you so much purple heart anon!! so glad you enjoyed!!

[spiders-hth-is-an-outlier]

hi, i saw your tags on the "Women Do Ask" post and would love to hear how you think the way we think about gendered socialization is wrong! relevant 2 my interests.

So I'm happy to give you the thumbnail version of my thinking, with the warning that I am Literally Nobody, I have absolutely no special psychological or sociological expertise, this is just something I think about a lot.

So broadly speaking, “socialization” is just a term that means the process of teaching someone the acceptable ways to be a Normal Person in their society. It starts more or less in infancy and continues throughout your lifetime, and probably the most common understanding of how it works, at least in the Euro-American world, is some assumed version of Blank Slate Theory. Babies are born knowing nothing, having no opinions or understanding of the world outside of very basic experiences like being hungry, cold, or scared. Everything that isn't crying to not be hungry, cold, or scared, has to be taught – is essentially a kind of OS that adults install in children to enable them to grow up and become a Normal Person. Psychology as a discipline has tended to focus on experiences in childhood with your parents, because the idea is that if a parent improperly installs the OS, you'll malfunction in adulthood.

In the back half of the 20th century, a more social-psychology kind of take on childhood development started to take hold, that recognized people weren't only receiving socialization from their parents, but in fact were absorbing larger cultural ideas from community and media and ideologies and so forth. Pretty foundational to the various progressive and liberation movements of the 60s and 70s was the idea that if you take the Blank Slate of an empty baby and you run that baby through the Oppression Machine of white supremacist capitalist patriarchy, you'll socialize that baby into an adult who believes in and contributes to white supremacist capitalist patriarchy – that the Normal Person that child grows up to be will have been stamped by socialization to replicate the worldview of its society. In the case of second-wave feminism, what developed was a widely held understanding that women, having been subjected since birth to the Patriarchy Machine, were largely submissive to its demands and largely uncritical of its ubiquity. The movement rested on the need for “consciousness raising” – the explicit or implicit understanding that women who were performing socially sanctioned femininity were essentially programmed with the Good Woman OS, and that a kind of jailbreaking process had to take place in order to help them understand the nature of their oppression and its potential solutions.

Second-wave feminism is a pretty interesting and complicated chunk of modern intellectual history that we're not going to get deep into right now, but long story short, the basic understanding that emerged from academic sociology and psychology, combined with the lived experiences of overwhelmingly middle-class Baby Boom young women who were away from their parents for the first time and organizing in environments with very, very little cross-generational participation, was that to be a girl was to be programmed with the Woman OS, and to become a feminist was to reject that socialization. “Female socialization” was – and is – kind of deployed to explain everything about how women behaved, unless and until they unplugged from the Matrix and replaced patriarchal socialization with feminist re-socialization. First-wave feminism had focused on legal limitations – the inaccessibility of divorce, of financial self-determination, access to family planning, suffrage, etc, and based its legitimacy on insisting that women were absolutely as competent as men when it came to citizenship – but what made second-wave feminism comparatively radical was the way that it proposed that a large chunk of what restrained women was actually that women were socialized to believe in their own inferiority, and that what would ultimately topple the patriarchy was women learning that they were not obligated to occupy the role of Woman as it had been defined for them by the society that socialized them. (I'm wildly oversimplifying everything here, but this is the short way of explaining an overall pivot from viewing institutional power as the main playing field of feminist organizing to viewing “the personal,” or intimate relationships and ways of understanding and performing femininity as the main playing field of feminism.)

This is still largely the Feminist Orthodoxy – that girls grow up and pass through the Patriarchy Machine, which shapes them in its image until they are liberated by the discovery of feminism. You notice it everywhere – almost all feminist discourse rests on the idea that women behave differently from men because they are Socialized Differently, and that undergoing Female Socialization creates humans who are more timid, more inclined to perfectionist people-pleasing, less competitive, more nurturing, more self-conscious and self-doubting, and who largely willingly act out certain received scripts in regard to things like The Most Important Thing to Be Is Thin and Beautiful, or You Have to Have a Boyfriend, or Your Husband's Career Takes Precedence Over Yours, or You Should Apologize a Lot for Anything You Absolutely Have to Ask For. Intramural arguments in feminism tend to be about how much Female Socialization is a pure sucker's game that's only intended to produce compliant doormats, and how much Female Socialization is at least in some respects a deeply devalued but fundamentally worthy and valuable alternate way of existing in the world.

The thing is – I actually reject the idea that Female Socialization is a fixed thing that can and does produce the kind of psychological effects people claim, or at least that it can and does that job reliably. Because it seems to me that the bulk of the evidence is that it's actually very, very, very difficult to convince people that they aren't important; people are naturally and inherently extremely important to themselves. The Patriarchy Machine can certainly try to deform girls (and those it perceives as girls) into complaint cogs in the system, but what I have observed is that is usually fails to do that. What it does, unfortunately, do quite successfully is teach girls and women (and those it perceives as such) to expect punishment in exchange for defending their own dignity and humanity.

.Basically, I think that most behaviors that most of the time people claim are the result of “female socialization” are not at all about the shape of one's psychology, but are actually completely rational and effective methods of risk-benefit analysis for functional and self-willed human beings living under a state of oppression. Women are punished in all kinds of ways for gaining weight or otherwise “letting themselves go,” for interrupting or dominating conversations, for complaining or correcting, for appearing threatening to or even simply disintersted in men's egos – and given that, you don't have to be socialized any particular way to figure out that there are real, material benefits to holding yourself to patriarchal standards. You just have to be exactly what humans are: observant and adaptable.

Once you start to realize that women are actually rational actors, you start detaching from the mysticism of the Female Socialization that allegedly makes women easy to get along with, self-effacing and demure. You start to realize that in situations where women know they're allowed to speak up, they generally do! When they know they are in charge, they tend to act like they're in charge! The most body-conscious and fashion-obsessed girl in the world will wear their pajamas to an 8 am class if everyone else is also doing it, if they know it falls within the realm of what they're allowed to do without consequence. And once you start seeing those relatively little dynamics play out, you start reframing all the big ones in your head. The way that a lot of people have personal histories that include incredibly controlling and self-involved mother figures who center their own needs within their families, just as if they were running the Male Socialization OS. The way that when people transition genders, they actually do learn extremely quickly how to function in a new social context, because people actually are great at that, they are not and never were at the mercy of some kind of fixed programming in their brains that traps them in the role that they were expected to play. The way that women are unified by the fact that they experience misogyny, but that they do not actually all respond to that with compliant self-compression, or by uncritically believing that the Patriarchy Machine is fair or correct in its assessment of them. Long before feminism was a thing, women have absolutely known and believed that they were being treated unfairly, that their potential was larger than their options. The idea that women somehow do not know that until they're Educated About Feminism is just simply false, as thoroughly false as the idea that, say, being socialized within slavery produces inherently servile people. It doesn't. Yeah, people can internalized some degree of negative messaging about their worth and value, but for the most part, the instinct to understand yourself as having full and unabridged personhood is actually extremely difficult to wipe out. People don't have to learn that about themselves. They mostly have to be assured that if they insist on it out loud, other people will back them up.

Basically what I'm saying is that women are shaped by growing up under patriarchy, but rationally, in such a way that means that if their circumstances change, their behavior is likely to change. The article that sparked this off was specifically about asking for a raise, and what stands out for me from that article is that female socialization doesn't prevent women from valuing their own work or from perceiving that they deserve equal pay, which is a myth that rests on the just-so story of women's mental and emotional brokenness. Female socialization isn't the fucking problem at all, the problem is the external undervaluing of women's labor. It's that when they do ask, they're turned down, and sometimes retaliated against in large and small ways. The problem here isn't with women and it isn't going to be solved with self-esteem or consciousness-raising or unlearning wrong-headed lessons about femininity, which unfortunately is the arena where a lot of feminist effort gets burned up.

I don't have a solution here, but I do think it's powerful and, actually for me at least, liberatory to ask yourself whenever you hear “well, women are socialized to...” – not just the (also very valid!) intersectional feminist question of, “which women are we talking about right now? Be specific!” but also “if we disregard socialization altogether, are these actions still completely reasonable responses to conditions for women on the ground?” Because a lot of times, the answer is yes, absolutely. And then you can kind of break out of these arguments about what Female Socialization is and who has the realest version of it and start talking about women's direct, material needs, which I kind of suspect would be a lot more impactful to actual women.

But again, I'm just making all of this up. Don't quote me or anything.

[in-sufficientdata]

[Image IDs: slide contents 1: etymologically speaking; or, how to completely change the way you talk to match the original meanings of words. caption: so due to some posts i saw earlier today and my general saltiness levels i decided to share a powerpoint on this topic that i made a couple of years ago please enjoy.

[slide contents 2: pedant [ ped-nt ] - noun -a person who makes an excessive or inappropriate display of learning. a person who overemphasizes rules or minor details. a person who adheres rigidly to book knowledge without regard to common sense. caption: do you know any pedants? i know some pedants. [obi-wan of course i know him.jpg.]

slide contents 3: decimate!!

slide contents 4: a flow chart showing the evolution of english from proto-indo-european to proto-germanic to ingvaeonic (north sea germanic) to old english (anglo saxon) to midde english to early modern english and finally to modern english. caption: so the question is how far back this grand tradition goes. 'cause, you know, every language comes from an origin in other, older languages spoken by the people who came before us. it takes about 1000 years for a language to evolve into something that modern speakers can’t understand. that’s why anglo-saxon, which began to shift into middle english in 1100 BCE, and from middle to early modern english by 1500, is fully impossible for us to comprehend. chaucer, from the 1400s, is difficult to read, and some people even have trouble with what’s considered fully modern english as written by the constitutional framers in the 1770s. caption: we all know that pedant who says that ‘decimate’ really means to kill off one tenth, or that you can’t use the word ‘literally’ figuratively. i think if we are going to be pedants we should go whole-hog with it.

slide contents 5: Gramer þe grounde of al · bigyleth now children - For is none of þis newe clerkes · who-so nymeth hede - Þat can versifye faire · ne formalich enditen - Ne nouȝt on amonge an hundreth · þat an auctour can construe - Ne rede a lettre in any langage · but in latyn or in englissh — William Langland. caption: pedantry, is, of course, a long-standing tradition among scholars throughout history. take this quote from William Langland from the 1300s. this is full of words that have shifted meaning and/or spelling since the 1300s, although langland WAS writing in english, SO we actually need a translation to understand it.

slide contents 6: churl comes from the old english ‘ceorl’ "peasant, one of the lowest class of freemen, man without rank," which evolved to early middle english "man of the common people". caption: the modern meaning of churl is a rude, boorish, or surly person, or someone who is stingy.

slide contents 7: girl derives from an unrecorded old english word that later became ‘gyrle’ c. 1300 with the meaning "child, young person" of either sex. caption: now, we all know what a girl is. but this means in our new way of speaking english, girl is the perfect gender-neutral term we’ve all been looking for! we should immediately start calling every young child a girl. i see no way in which this could go wrong.

slide contents 8: meat is from middle english mēte, descended from old english mete "food, nourishment, sustenance," also "a meal, a repast". caption: so originally, a picture of meat would be more like this. vegetables were called grene-mete until the 15 century; dairy products similarly referred to as whyte-mete. what we now refer to as meat today would have been known as flesh-mete or simply bread. yes, bread.

slide contents 9: awful comes to us circa 1300 ‘agheful’ "worthy of respect or fear, striking with awe” or “profoundly reverential”, caption: originally a synonym of the word awesome, which has retained this sense to this day. one might think the fact that this word’s meaning has shifted so far is simply awful.

slide contents 10: nice is from the late 13c., "foolish, ignorant, frivolous, senseless". caption: nice is a word that’s shifted a lot from its meaning in the 1300s, many times, to the point where researchers sometimes don’t know what meaning someone writing in the 1700s or 1800s was even going for. so that’s nice.

slide contents 11: silly changed meaning often but could mean "pitiable" (late 13c.), "weak" (c. 1300), and "feeble in mind, lacking in reason, foolish" (1500s). caption: so you might think begging on the street is a silly way to try to make money, but under this definition it’s literally completely silly.

slide contents 12: slut is circa 1400, "a dirty, slovenly, or untidy woman" or in other words, a slob. caption: the word slut did not shift meaning from its 1400s meaning until the 1960s, which is the strongest case I know for one of these entries to go back to what it originally meant.

slide contents 13: the scene so far: the nice girl sat down with his father, the churl, and ate some bread that consisted of flesh-metes and whyte-metes. it was absolutely awful. the girl’s mother, a silly slut from saskatchewan, was actually a real giglot.

caption: what, you're telling me you don’t know what a giglot is?

caption: giglot: "lewd, wanton woman" (mid-14c.). End IDs.]

i made this presentation a couple of years ago for a comedy slide presentation event. my presentation was the most educational of the bunch and i think everyone felt betrayed.

[yournightowl]

Your Nightowl#013

i learned what a bastard is today. It was one hell of a rabbit hole.

These two jerks were arguing with each other- i don’t know why, it started, but with them its always something petty and dumb. (¬_¬")  The whole class was just watching them (me included) in a pretty bored way, cause we’ve seen this before and it never goes further than namecalling. But then jerk A called jerk B a Bastard, and the whole mood shifted. Everyone else in class sat a little straighter. Eyes started darting around, looking for an adult to come and intervene. Jerk B got real red and pale at the same time, and i could see veins on his forehead from across the room. i thought he  was gonna hit the other guy. ( o_o)

But then he just walked out real fast.

Bastard’s not exactly a common insult, but it isn’t rare either- and it’s really not that bad. i couldn’t understand why everyone was so static, but i knew it wasn’t right for me to just start asking. So i did what i usually do instead of engaging in the moment- i went and did some research.  (⌐▨_▨)

First, some context- jerk B wasn’t raised by his parents; they’re dead. His family took care of him (well literally he was taken care of by a swathe of maids and butlers and Ads and whatever, but you know what i mean). He never knew his parents, but its still a dick move to bring them up during an argument over something petty and dumb (and remember, with these two, It Is Always Petty and Dumb).

Second, some historical context- Bastard originally meant someone born to parents who were not wed to each other. Obviously, not something anyone gives a shit about today, but for most of our recorded history, it was.

The term also more generally means anything of questionable origin, like a bastardized copy, or an inferior version. It was also sometimes used to describe an illegitimate heir.

All of those definitions are relevant here.

People have been freezing their eggs for a long time now. It’s less common, but people freeze their sperm, too. And when people die, their gametes aren’t always destroyed. It’s incredibly rare, and widely frowned upon, but if you have the rights it is entirely legal to make a child from two people’s DNA without their consent. 

And it’s even possible to make a child from two people who are dead.

It’s possible…but why would you, right? There’s no shortage of DNA to go around. Why would you want the DNA of some dead person?

The answer to that depends a lot on how their will was set up.

Imagine your rich as hell aunt and uncle pass away. They never had kids of their own, so they give you a little something…and give the lion’s share away to charity. The story should end there- “Maybe i should’ve sucked up to them more while they were still kicking, oh well, i better move on,” but then you get a message from a biocorp. 

“Sorry for your loss, standard copy, standard copy… hey, we’ve still got your rich fam’s gametes in the freezer. Wanna make some money?”

So that’s what Jerk A was calling Jerk B- not an asshole, but a Bastard Heir. A designer baby cooked up by his screwed-in-the-head relatives after his parents had already died. A person born just so that their “guardians” could rob their parent’s graves. An illegitimate knock-off of what a child is supposed to be.

(O∆O), right?

Jerk B’s parents died when he was two, so the accusation is total bullshit. But i can understand why he got so mad. He’s probably not still sore about his parents deaths’, not after so long, and not when he doesn’t remember them. But it's nasty to imply that his family only cares for him because they can use him to control his parents fortune.

And that implication could actually be true.

wincing as i type,

Your nightowl

[maneaterwithtail]

I'm always torn on this because I've heard multiple conflicting information on the star of David being a literal jewish symbol aa opposed to 1 that's been assigned to them or a cultural catch on sort of like wearing headscarves

I mean obviously this fanart is just for fun and it's not necessarily bad and being other or a form of someone who is slightly out of line is a part of what characterizes these folks. so it's understandable anything that catches on or resonates with that could be assigned

At the exact same time, there's something to be said about being aware that there's something more to a culture than it's just not being mainstream and having its own unique needs experiences struggles and what have you

Having the insanely tall, light eyed, blonde haired guy with a full body Characterized as jewish just because he's disliked for his unusual behavior, which is deliberately unusual and born out of inconsideration/nd not so much cultural or religious matters feels a bit off

Even more so when you tap into more specific issues he's having with family. mainly not being able to fit with the culture and traditions of his people and how they've been hurtful to him and his sister. at least by his assessment (why would hewish mother assume daughter cursed and treat her like that?)

But finally perhaps the worst is that I'm thinking of an old old old anime movie known as project A-ko 3...or 4

We have a full on ancient alien conspiracy going on and then it's pointed out that the star of David is actually 2 isoscles triangles intersecting with each other i.e. a common geometric shape that's going to have a certain level of appeal and multiple uses and meanings. so even across the stars it could literally be a coincidence.

now admittedly this was a deliberate comedy gag in a parody anime movie series

But it's for this reason alone that I've learned not to go 'okay if I see this sign I might not actually know what it's about. it could be a hexagram. it could be related. simple coincidence. Spiritual symbol. or not. and if it is I probably want to hold off"

Just my personal thoughts and responses to this whole idea

But

because someone did go through the trouble of actually drawing and sharing something that they imagined yes this is funny charming and witty.

I like that I can notice the characters. I'm glad that scene inspired you to have some ideas and wonder what the characters would be like if this was the interpretation or meaning that might apply to them in their setting.

Actually I want to ask you further questions. given the relative time period that may be alluded to in the series, what if any traditions or implements will be used in terms of the coming of age ceremony of jewish men and women at the time?

Everything is of course subject to change and of course I understand that there are regional aspects as well as time period ones.

so I'm curious genuinely if they would have bar mitzvah and if so what would they look like? could they run them? it's my understanding that lios isn't just some random guy he's actually the son of someone with authority in the village if not the village chief

Even if this isn't the case they at the very least had the opportunity to ship their daughter to a foreign high boarding school. that might have been as much a cultural matter as opposed to a class opportunity

But adapting what would be the equivalent of Judaism or the jewish people into the world of dungeon meshi would be kind of interesting to consider without focus on representational value

Certainly wouldn't want to offend the jewish heritage and history and ideas and concepts but at the same time much as toshiro isn't exactly the most faithful or charming display of Japanese culture I hope that the primary idea of engaging with hey what if the toden's are in fact jewish or their people have greater influence from people's or groups. Maybe human faith/religion isn't presumed to draw. From universalized to the point of sludge Christian tradition or iconography but whatever cultural enclave can use as touden base

Is it possible for instance that Judaism is accepted on a level of cultural appreciation not necessarily actual honor authority that in order to be thought of as having class or Religious legitimacy a lot of its aesthetics iconography and rituals have been plucked alongside and throughout the peppered human villages and cities that are around the world of delicious in dungeon?

For instance there are lots of aspects that just read to us as Japanese cultural of Wa that would naturally have to tie into India and thus Buddhism and Hindi culture trying to sort of exist

Yet at the exact same time could not. along with say Korea and various dynasties of China.

And finally as has been pointed out there are a lot of new world vegetables cuisine and ecology in a show that very much emphasizes the point of ecology and social development in how things are made and get to where they are

I am not going to knock the ethnic diversity in DinD

Just amongst the humans, dwarves, and elves themseleves division race/ethnic, generational, class and other winnowing

But I mean where are the native Americans? we got their crops.

Where are the Americas? and how have they been affected by having a presumably even longer lasting more capable empires that even as they are dissolving and falling into themselves would be incredibly powerful and influential as noted with a boomtown on the island being subject to just one random ship showing up and basically believed to have their way?

watching new dunmeshi ep

[maguro13-2]

*Stomach Gurgling*

Ringo : Oh boy! I'm really hungry. All this walking is really making me getting us some eats.

Maguro : I know something to have for lunch. Good thing we're on lunch break!

Ringo : Good eye! Let's go check into that restaurant!

(scene flips)

Ringo : You know I'm glad that this date is becoming surreal this time. It's a funny solution you might ask.

Maguro : Well, that's the reason that I known about you back in 15th anniversary in Japan or in America. Don't tell Sonic Team about this, or we'll end up making ourselves a quite appetite. So what you're thinking on tonight, babe?

Ringo : Just the usual. It's not like that I'm having any male personality, while you have a female personality. Remember the time that I opened your shirt by accident and we got caught, yeah. We should do this more often then having human sex in the you know what I mean. Although despite this at a young age, we are definitely too young to have sex, but we did learn anything about it in Sex class.

Maguro : I'm not sure if we agree on anything to do with ourselves, but it's good that we are on a tight busy schedule. So...There's no one around, just the two of us. alone. all together.

Ringo : So...Shall we begin this like always? It'll be just as a sweet of pie.

Maguro : I absolutely agree on all the terms that I have this moment to be perfected, so I guaranteed that you know that I have been maxing out on our company's allowance. So...If we agree that we don't have our problems then we'll have something in common for all of us. Well...

Ringo : Kiss me on the mouth, why don't ya? I wanna see how good that you are very taste and sweet.

Maguro : Oh, you think so!? You really want to kiss me, girl!? Let me get this opportunity done for ya! I am going to be the one that will make the heck out of you!

Ringo : Oh, Maguro! Give me some love, honey!

Amitie : Bingo!

Ringo : Hey, what the--!?

*CAMERA FLASH!*

Amitie : Hahaha! I gotcha ya! I caught you two making out while you two were alone to do some of that sweet sweet Puyo Puyo whats it call it in the world of Puyo Puyo!

Ringo : I know what is it, Amitie. And I felt embarassed in front of Maguro. It's called "Sex", Amitie.

Amitie : Yeah, I know right! That's-What? What is that?

Ringo : Well, at least you know nothing about it! I don't feel embarrassed how I feel and you do know that it's complicated settlement the actions and discussions about our problems to you know. Let's face it, we Sega characters don't know what Sex is and I heard Yakuzas even barely knows what sex is about, it's like making motions to sweet sweet love that is, and SEGA gotta get some romance or something. You know like pink and blue.

Amitie : That's Sonic and Amy. I know, right?

Ringo : Yeah, you're right. I feel too embarassed.

*scenario ends*

Ringo : And that's why I was having a more Boyfriend complex, while Maguro has a Girlfriend complex. Totally understanding the mix up between the female hero and the boy sidekick wonder. I always come up with a plan if it's like Maka and Soul, yeah, that would totally work! It's Soma thing! Or probably a Souma thing right now. What do you say about girls having a boyfriend complex while some boys a have a girlfriend complex?

Arle : Umm, I think that's literally out of context. You see is, what does sex is and what does boyfriend and girlfriends that goes mix up in different places, I don't think that you should be getting this from Sex education through all of this week. (sighs) I couldn't agreee with you more. So much for all of us, in the amazing world of Puyo.

Amitie : Talk about a misunderstanding.

*Phone vibrating*

Amitie : Hey, not to mention to spoil the talk. I suggested that's someone on the phone.

Arle : It's your boyfriend or girlfriend, whatever it is?

Ringo : (blushes red) W-WHAT!? He's not my boyfriend! It's my lover! I have someone on the phone to talk privately! I have no suggestion on you judging me on the phone!

Amitie : Nobody's judging you, Ringo. Just talk to anyone, it'll make you confess.

Arle : You have a deep feeling for anybody.

Ringo : Well, if you insist, I agree that I can do this bravely. (phone beeps) Hey, babe. How are you doing?

Maguro : (on the phone) Oh, Ringo?

Ringo : Yeah, I'm on the phone, talking you. So any problems with people barging on our relationship, sweetie?

Maguro : (on the phone) No, not at all. I see that you're in top shape. No need to get all cranky on that one.

Ringo : Yeah, yeah, me and the girls are having a great time together, so it's best that I'm on way meeting you at the right time. I hope you'll stay safe from all of that danger. Okay, my dear?

Maguro : (on the phone) Okay then. Gottta go, I'll get there to see you. Love ya

Ringo : Love ya too, sweet cheeks. (phone beeps, sighs) That was amazing. You see what I did there, yeah, I have a Boyfriend complex while Maguro has a girlfriend complex. Yeah, I'm a weird person, but it's all right. Cause I'm the coolest.

Arle : Well, definitely. That's the Ringo that is all in her world, cooler, smarter, and talks like someone is a girlfriend material. Guess that Maguro person was making her the crush of her dreams.

Amitie : I agree that this would be all a misunderstatement, but it's okay. That's Ringo for ya. I think that we're getting along together.

Arle : True that.

Amitie : I wonder what's next for her character to be.

"later..."

[Freek N You by Jodeci]

Ringo : So, where we're we? (pulls down shirt)

Maguro : (with his shirt opened) Are you sure this is going to work out for us?

Ringo : Trust me, baby. I know it will. You truly are an amazing person, aren't you? Why don't you make me mine, forever? I will make you the glory to your trust.

*DOOR OPENING*

Amitie : Hey, guys! One republic came to Japan today and they're releasing a new song called "Nobody" that is used for the Kaiju anime song! Holy Mean Beans! Ringo, Maguro! I didn't mean to opened the door.

Ringo : Knock first, Amitie! Can't anyone teach you some manners!?

Amitie : Right. Enjoy your free time. *closes door*

[Freek N You resumes]

Ringo : Okay. [To Maguro] Back to our nightly hours, I'm gonna spend my night eternal night blessed by your own kind.

Maguro : Absolutely.

Ringo & Maguro : (kissing and moaning)

Ringo : Oh, you're such a naughty boy, Maguro.

(pans to Amitie hearing from the door)

Amitie : Ohhh? So that's how they wanna play, eh? I'm getting all of this kind of entertainment to prove something useful.

Arle : Please, end me.

"later..."

Arle : Where were you last night?

Ringo : Sorry, I was in a bit of a pickle with Maguro last night. We had a great time and it was our first run. So yeah! I felt lucky of being a puyo puyo sensation on the contrary. I'm all ears with Maguro, now.

Amitie : Quite. Not sure if that I heard some kind of entertainment, I hear that you literally knocked up Maguro like that, in some kind of way.

Ringo : Yep. (stretches) I never been felt better than to make one mistake or not, it's only a fare share that I'm on a busy schedule going head to head on puzzle battles that makes puzzles, boring and fun at the same time, but don't forget I always get what I wanted, cause I'm a certain type of what I get started!

"Mean Bean Machine SFX : Yee-haw!"

Arle : Wow! Congratulations, Ringo! Looks like you're becoming a women of your own world! Now that you've got yourself tied in a knot, how did you knocked Maguro like that all night and how did he made you felt better to be this?

Amitie : Yeah, what's the orientation of you between Maguro and you?

Ringo :That's easy, guys! I got myself pregnant with Maguro's child.

Arle : Eh...?

Amitie : Eh...?

*DBZ SFX : SURPRISE!*

All : SAY WHAAAAAAAT!?!

(Everyone except for Sig is shocked)

Klug : [dumbstruck] Abra. *SHATTER!*

Sig : Tch. Whatevs'.

Amitie : D...D-D-Did you say you're pregnant...

Arle : With someone's child?....[outbursts] We're you not even wearing protection while we told you about this at Sex class!? What were you thinking about getting knocked up like that!? Did anyone taught you that in Sex Class as well!? We're supposed to even think about doing that and you forget that you needed protection!?

Amitie : Did you even think about making out before even do that!? Now we understand what sex is? It's about making love!?!

Arle : Unbelievable!

Ringo : Yep! Cause that's why I, Ringo of the world of Puyo Puyo, is now a mother to the world's greatest Puyo Puyo champion of all! And I am certainly "Boyfriend complex"! (laughs triumphantly) So what did you think, guys?...Guys?

*DBZ SFX : Collapse+Boing*

Ringo : Guess I spoke too soon about that, isn't it?

Maguro : So. Now that we got on the wrong foot. So can we just get along.

Ringo : Allow me to do this for you. (carries Maguro behind) Hang on tight, big boy. Cause I'm gonna take you for a ride. (walks off)

Arle & Amitie : ARE YOU FRIGGIN' SERIOUS!?!

Sig : Don't judge a book by it's cover. Guess that's what love feels when it comes to the world of Puyo Puyo doesn't know anything about the life and bonds between the human sexes. Despite the world of Puyo Puyo a weird place, this is quite an opportunity to think Sega would get away with Mature stuff going on and believe it or not, we all needed to learn some how.

Amitie : Sig, you're right. I guess it is what love feels.

Arle : Also, I'm still single and I even had dump Satan for his kind, can I at least get back to whatever I am doing, right now?

Carbuncle : [with a male voice] You know that you should really consider getting yourself some therapy. But I still dig it that two of them has found love on the battlefield.

Arle : Ice storm!

*Smash Melee SFX : Ice*

Satan : You know seriously! I'm getting a little frigging teed off, right now!

[dreamerandthedarkhalf]

Queer and Community

A friend attended their first meeting for an online book club this evening and came back with a question for me. "What is your reaction to people using the term queer? And not straight people using it, or the word intended as a slur. But folks in the community using it as an identifier?" This was our conversation: me: Queer is the only term that is all-inclusive to everyone who isn't cishet. I'm frustrated and annoyed that our own community wants to say it's a slur and not use it and continue to reinforce further segregation. Not using queer is forcing people to choose tiny buckets to fit themselves in when that was never the intent of the queer community as a whole. We switched over to LG and the BT and then just kept adding letters after that which only makes it harder to be a single, united community. And at the very least, if people wanted to use an acronym, they could have at least used QUILTBAG, which is far easier to type and say, but it puts Gay men last and we certainly can't have that :/ her: Thank you. I appreciate that. That's the term I use for myself (because bi, pan, demi...I don't know they keep changing it on me) and I tend to use it for the community because I find it all inclusive, like you said. So my class was forming smaller discussion groups, and a large chunk of us are queer. So this person got the group created and just labeled it "queer". And a few people were super upset. So of course I've been worrying all day that I've been terribly offending others with my choice of words. And maybe I am, but i also feel like I'm allowed to use that word? I really appreciate your answer. me: So it's generally the VERY young amongst us who like to cry "queer is a slur!" because that's what's being pushed on them right now. The TERFs know what they're doing, and they're part of the red hats. They are sewing discord into the minds of the very young and malleable because those young have no concept of queer history. They look at the Legend of Korra and scoff at those of us who /freaked out at the representation/ because it wasn't good enough for them. It wasn't enough for them. Because they have grown up in a world where you WON'T be dishonorably discharged from the military for having a same-sex spouse. They have grown up in a world where you have shows like the new She-Ra or Schitt's Creek or literally fucking anything. And they don't understand the history. How hard we've fought for just what we have. And how quickly it can all be taken away (thanks SCOTUS). Whether they know it or not, those who want us to keep putting ourselves into littler and littler buckets are just trying to separate us so we are NOT a unified community. It is much, much easier to get smaller groups to attack each other than it is to fend off all of those groups united against them. her: It was really upsetting to me, honestly, how quickly it turned into that? Like I was so happy so many were like "let's make an intersecting queer group" because I suppose people weren't shouting that 20yrs ago. And then so fast there was in group "fighting" about, what I feel, was kind of trivial? me: I think it's an important conversation/discussion to have and I do genuinely worry about the future of our rights, and our LIVES, if we don't find more common ground to stand together again. But right now, it feels like everyone is so focused on their own individual portion that they forget we are all here TOGETHER. And only TOGETHER will we make all our lives better and more diverse and accepting. We can't keep pigeon-holing ourselves and allowing small-minded/small-hearted people to force more laws to take more of our lives away. So to those of you out there who are upset about using the word "queer", I'd like you to take some time to do some internal soul-searching. Who benefits from you gatekeeping and attacking other members of your own community? Because representation is important, absolutely, but so is standing together and knowing that EVERY TERM has been used as a slur against us.

[artqueen02]

Okay so I put a rather long tag response on this post, then realised after pressing reblog that Tumblr cuts it off after a certain amount of tags or something, and I was going to post this as a reblog but thought better of it, realised that this could apply to more than just this situation, and decided to make it an original post (although I did just copy-paste what I was going to reblog it with so it probably will make more sense if you check out the original post, not 100% necessary though.

(But please do check it out it's important)

I've put it under a cut bc it gets pretty long

Ahh I always forget that once I get past a certain number of tags tumblr just doesn't show the rest which is annoying but here we go again.

Here's what I had so far:

#Oh shit ok I didn't know this#Will be trying to remove this from my conscious speech immediatedly#I would like to say though (This gets really long be prepared)#(bear with me on this)#At a glance#many of these responses are either people being like#'Oh shit okay I didn't know this I won't use it any more'#(Very much like my response)#or it's people getting so annoyed/angry at people who just genuinely don't know#like guys please#I do genuinely understand that this is a terrible thing and fuck it makes me angry as well#But!#Getting angry at the people who actually don't know about it isn't gonna help!#tell people about it!#spread the word!#But remember lot's of people probably picked it up from fandom or similar spaces#and spaces like that are filled with young people!!!#People who probably had no exposure to this!! people who#Just#Didn't#Know#And That's ok!!!#It's okay to not have the information about it#I'm not trying to justify the term or the way it's used legally#But sometimes#It's okay to not know about something#even something that could be potentially harmful#Ignorance is not a crime!!!#What's bad is the people who know about it but continue to use it#(Conciously!!! It can be hard to completely scrap an entire common phrase from you everyday vocabulary. and mistakes are ok! it happens)

And here's the general gist of the rest of what I was saying:

And the people who use this as a legal defence! And the people who accept/condone this being used as a legal defence!

Speaking as a young person myself, 'The News' isn't as big a thing anymore! and the likelihood of them even putting something like this in it is so slim! augh! And I really haven't been sheltered at all but like I hear about things through my friends, my teacher/classmates, my family, tumblr, and the radio in the car once in a blue moon. If there's a car crash like two streets away from my school I don't know about it unless a) I see it, b) someone in my class or one of my friends says something about it, or c) my grandma starts an hour long conversation about it. There's a murderer on the other side of the state? I only know about it if a friend mentions it from a murder podcast or if mum is like 'well this is one of the reasons I don't want you to go to this completely unrelated place in broad daylight with lot's of people around, two friends, and your friend's mum working literally a five minute walk away'. Now, you may be questioning where the fuck I'm going with this and how this relates to the term 'gay panic' but my point is, we don't really hear about current events anymore, and if we do it's like an add about stocks or bitcoin or how apparently china is going to kill the Australian Currency, or its something about America, which, let's face it, are they really going to put something like this in the news and it'll get broadcasted to other countries? no. or it's election time and we see peoples faces on stobie polls everywhere being like 'this is the reason you should vote for me!' and I'm like 'I don't care that's a completely irrelevant thing and I didn't even know it existed until five seconds ago!' or something similar. also! this was literally abolished where I live when I was like nine or ten, which, not great but also just serves my point that SOME PEOPLE JUST DON"T KNOW!!!!!

I cannot emphasise the extent that I have not been shelter at all enough without going much further into my personal life then I would like to right now, and I do know that I'm probably speaking from a place of privilege, but my point is.

Lot's of people

Genuinely

Don't

Know

AND THAT"S NOT A CRIME!!!!

Don't get angry at them for ot know, tell them about it and give them as much information as they ask for that you have or you know where to get, because otherwise they're just going to either a) get angry right back at you or b) feel like shit about themselves because they didn't know this thing and used a harmful term without knowing because they thought it was fine, so many people around them who are also of the same community use it after all. And do you really want either of those outcomes? it's not productive, it's not helpful, really, it's the opposite at both those things.

Just guys, please. don't get mad at someone for not knowing