#but representation is important for everyone

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Business school professors trained an AI to judge workers’ personalities based on their faces

I'm on a 20+ city book tour for my new novel PICKS AND SHOVELS. Catch me TODAY (Feb 17) for an event at KEPLER'S in MENLO PARK with CHARLIE JANE ANDERS and TOMORROW (Feb 18) for an event with WIL WHEATON in LA. More tour dates here.

Theory-free inference is a hell of a drug. For years, Big Data advocates – the larval form of today's AI weirdos – have insisted that if you have enough data, you can infer causal relationships between complex phenomena without ever having to understand how x causes y, and thus, we can slay the dread "correlation is not causation" beast.

This is cousin to Milton Friedman's famous economic catechism:

Truly important and significant hypotheses will be found to have "assumptions" that are wildly inaccurate descriptive representations of reality, and, in general, the more significant the theory, the more unrealistic the assumptions (in this sense)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Essays_in_Positive_Economics

AI turns out to be a great tool for creating plausible statistical correlates of imaginary phenomena. Remember the guy who claimed to have invented Machine Learning Gaydar by analyzing the faces of gay people and comparing them to straight people? Same dude later claimed to have invented an AI that could guess, from your face, whether you were a Republican or a Democrat:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/01/15/hoover-calling/#phrenology

This is just AI Phrenology, a continuation of the "scientific racism" movement that was invented to provide a justification for colonialism, slavery, genocide and eugenics. It imagines that there are invisible genetic traits that determine things like your ability to be a good boss, or whether you will cheat on your partner, or whether you are destined to be rich. It's a kind of cod-scientific astrology, where you get to declare yourself to have been born with "good blood" that destined you to rule over others.

Amazingly, this "scientific" philosophy has somehow managed to thrive after the rise of computational genomics, the science that analyzes population-scale genetic surveys to identify whether there is any genetic basis for the idea of "races" (and other cherished distinctions of the "human diversity" movement) have been shown to have no discernible basis in, you know, genetics.

As Adam Rutherford – a superb science communication and accomplished computational genomist – writes in his 2020 book How To Argue With a Racist, nearly everyone on Earth is descended from the same tiny group of survivors of a couple of severe genetic bottlenecks, the exception being Africa, where there is far more genetic diversity than in the rest of the world:

https://pluralistic.net/2020/08/16/combat-wheelchairs/#race-realism

A Swede and an Australian Aboriginal person are more closely related than two members of the different groups of San people. If genes were the dispositive factors in human personality and accomplishment, we'd expect to see far more variance in the outcomes of African people than we do between, say, Inuit people and Italians. And yet, somehow people who all live in the same society, facing the same structural challenges of post-colonialism, international looting, and a global IP regime that denies them the ability to manufacture their own medicines and fix their own equipment produces people with remarkably similar outcomes. Meanwhile, it's surprisingly easy to predict the life outcomes of people from very different societies, based on those societies' position in the global hierarchy.

Sure, genetics play a role in shaping our outcomes. We are built out of the interactions between our genome and the physical and social world around us. But all evidence points to the social and physical factors grossly outweighing the genes. Back to astrology: distant celestial objects inarguably interact with us at our births and through our lives. Some infinitesimal tidal stress is exerted upon the Earth by other planets; photons streaming from faraway, long-dead stars shower down upon us. But the gravity exerted by, say, Saturn, on your body as you pass through the birth canal is less than the force exerted by the paper covers the midwife wears over her shoes in the birthing room. Sure, those disposable covers are a lot less massy than Saturn – but they're far closer, which matters when you're talking about forces that attenuate at the square of distance.

Genes play an important role in the development of your brain and the systems that regulate it, like hormones and nerve signals. But that role is clearly swamped by the role that the physical and social environment play as you grow up. You don't have "good blood" or "bad blood."

But people who believe in – and benefit from – social hierarchy have always yearned for a freestanding, objective basis for the fact that they have more and everyone else has less. That's the origin of "efficient markets hypothesis" (I'm rich because the market thinks I'm a good "capital allocater"), of "meritocracy" (if I'm rich, I must have merit), and "evolutionary psychology" ("Honey, it's not my fault I fucked my grad students – blame the bonobos!"):

https://pluralistic.net/2020/08/30/arabian-babblers/#evopsych

Which brings me to this week's caliper-wielding AI: the "Photo Big 5" AI that can look at your face and predict whether you're going to be good at having an MBA:

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=5089827

This is the creation of four academics at elite institutions – however, their discipline isn't genetics. They're business school professors. They got a bunch of MBAs' self-assessed results on surveys of "Big 5 personality types" – itself a kind of astrological exercise with barely more rigor than, say, Meyers-Briggs – and then fed these results, along with the subjects' Linkedin profile photos and self-reported salaries and titles to an ML and produced – voila! – a machine that tells you whether you'll be a good manager based on your face!

This is an objectively very funny exercise, like AI Gaydar for middle-managers. They resort to some hilarious obfuscation:

Photo Big 5 exhibits only modest correlations with cognitive measures like GPA and standardized test scores, yet offers comparable incremental predictive power for labor outcomes.

In other words, we created a new random-number generator that is as bad at predicting your life-chances as the SATs or your GPA, two extremely bad ways of predicting your life chances – except to the extent that both numbers can be inflated if you start with a bunch of money and hire elite test-prep consultants. Good thing personal appearance has no correlates with wealth and there's no way to spend money to look more like a member of the elite? Naw, it must be the genetics underpinning the relationships between your "craniofacial features and behavior."

It's easy to see why AI is so tempting to people who want to incinerate any qualitative factors in a complex societal problem, transforming them into dubious quantitative residue that an algorithm can do math on:

https://locusmag.com/2021/05/cory-doctorow-qualia/

It's junk science at scale, with a business model. The purpose of this automated eugenics is the same as every "rational" account of hierarchy in human history: to retroactively justify winners, and to condemn losers before the game even starts.

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

https://pluralistic.net/2025/02/17/caliper-ai/#racism-machine

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

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

[thecheshireprincess]

Because all of two people said they wanted to read my newest story obsession, here's a sneak peek at my favorite chapter I've written . . .

Let me introduce you to:

The Game Itself

A Chishiya x childhood best friend reader (Niragi's sister!) fic

Content Warning: Mentions of an abusive father, mentions of reader trending toward a panic attack, canon-typical violence, curse words, Niragi is in here and is a menace

A/N: This chapter takes place well into the story, having already introduced many of the main characters and some important plot points. None of my own twists are spoiled by reading this chapter first, and I think it's the best representation for how this story will be 😘 I hope you love it 💕

You lean back with a sigh, relaxing into the plastic beach chair set in front of the glittering pool packed with bodies. The sun is high in the sky, and the citizens of The Beach are happily drinking it in. That's not the only thing they're drinking in, mind you - it's mid-afternoon, and the party is absolutely raging. The music is bumping, the drinks are flowing, and the people are doing what people at The Beach do best - celebrating life. It may seem macabre, to party the days away when you're forced to face deadly games by night, but honestly it feels kind of right when you aren't really sure how much longer you have left to live.

Chishiya sits at your feet, one arm draped lazily over your bare calves and the other holding him upright on the chair. As usual, his face is devoid of any emotion, but you know he is enjoying the opportunity to people watch and get some sun. Even he isn't a vampire, after all.

You spend a few moments studying the people yourself - many splashing around drunkenly in the refreshing pool water and others dancing uninhibited around its edges, everyone looking free as can be. How must it feel to not have to worry about anyone in the Borderlands but yourself? How easy it must be to not have the two most important people in your life stuck here with you, wondering if today is the day they're going to die.

You feel the familiar tight feeling in your chest start to build, and force yourself to shake away those suffocating thoughts - you simply cannot afford to panic here.

You turn your attention instead to playing with the beads adorning the straps of your emerald green crochet bikini. The suit was new, wearing it outside of your room for the first time today. It was special to you - Kuina had found it while she was out for a game last week, saying it had reminded her of your sparkling eyes. The gift made you feel loved, and the suit made you feel sexy.

Rolling the wooden beads between your fingers seemed to help settle your nerves. When your breathing finally returned to normal and the simple anxious task was no longer needed, you sigh loudly, covering your face with your arms and flopping further back into the chair. Bored.

Chishiya smirks, raising an eyebrow. The man very nearly laughs at the dramatic habit that was very you. "Bored already, hm?" He hums, "Coming down here was your idea after all."

"Yes, but I thought there would be more excitement" you whined, flailing your arms widely to accentuate your point. Chishiya sweeps his eyes over your form, looking at you with amusement.

He's about to say something more when he's interrupted by the arrival of two familiar figures - a nervous looking guy with shaggy black hair, and a fit, muscular girl with a cute bob cut. Chishiya squeezes your calf to get your attention, flicking his eyes toward them as they sit down apprehensively on two beach chairs across the pool from you. It was the two newcomers from the most recent executive meeting, and before that, your 5 of Spades game. Arisu and Usagi.

"So they decided to stay after all," you muse, sitting up in interest and folding your legs underneath you. You scoot your body closer to your friend, your thigh brushing against his, as you continue to observe the couple. You briefly wonder what had happened to his blonde friend, and the one they'd been trying to get medical help for. In a place like this, it's probably best not to ask.

The blonde turns his head to study your face, brushing a piece of hair behind your ear as he does, "I can't imagine that it would have gone over well had they declined Hatter's offer." You feel a slight shiver run down your spine at Chishiya's intimate touch. That's new, you note. He had brushed your hair behind your ear like that many times in your life, and only now does it take your breath away. You hum distractedly, still staring at the pair but suddenly feeling very far away from the events taking place around you.

You grin brightly, then, having noticed Kuina skipping over to them. She plops, likely uninvited, down on the chair beside Arisu, her unlit cigarette hanging characteristically in her mouth. There is no doubt in your mind that she was already teasing them about the relationship between them, despite having just introduced herself.

Kuina was confident like that, and you loved that about her. Well, except for when she was teasing you and Chishiya. You blushed slightly just thinking about it, wondering when you had started becoming so flustered about your best friend. You duck your head at these thoughts and pretend to study the sparkly manicure Kuina had given you last night.

You and Chishiya were still just best friends, right?

Within a minute or two, the air had turned from relaxed to tense, and your neck snapped up to find out why. Your discerning eyes land on the militants, of course, you really should have guessed. The hostile and generally power hungry group of The Beach's "personal protection unit" were filing into the party, sure to flash their weapons at anyone looking. The smart people were avoiding their gaze entirely, and the stupid (drunk?) people were openly gawking. You rolled your eyes, how typical.

Leading the charge onto the pool deck was Aguni, looking cold and calculating as usual, with your brother following close behind. Your eyes narrowed, having not seen him for a few days.

"Looks like you're about to get your excitement after all," Chishiya whispered, his breath tickling your ear. You took in a sharp breath in anticipation; the full militant corp was standing at arms looking ready to fight, at the pool. Could this mean the fall of The Beach could be coming sooner than you previously expected? Anxiety swirled heavily in your stomach, fingers subconsciously finding the wooden beads again.

You look to Niragi, the one person who would normally soothe your frayed nerves with just a glance, but feel even worse seeing the wild look in his darkened eyes. Had your relationship truly deteriorated so much in a matter of weeks?

Being all the way on the other side of the pool from them, you're unable to hear Aguni's request, but Niragi was quick to obey. He moved towards Usagi, pulling her roughly up to her feet.

You watch with widened eyes - had Aguni asked for Usagi? What would he even want her for? Nothing good, certainly. Maybe you overestimated his kindness and empathy the day he saved you in the 9 of Hearts game. Or maybe this place really does create monsters out of men - you could certainly see that in the long-haired man across the pool from you, once soft and caring, now swinging a gun around without a care in the world and physically threatening a girl not much older than you. Hell, you see it even in yourself, having been happy enough to let everyone but Chishiya die from the second you landed in this wretched place and started playing.

You're shaken from your reverie when Arisu springs up from his place beside Kuina to help Usagi. You groan in despair, knowing full well that your brother would only be further provoked; Borderlands-version Niragi has an extremely short fuse. Kuina also looks displeased, as though she'd literally just told them not to mess with them, which she probably had.

The people of the party are now definitely watching, but openly pretending not to be. If you didn't feel so anxious at the situation, you'd probably laugh at how nosy and indiscretion drunk people truly are.

You find yourself standing instead, ready to close the distance between your perch and where Niragi has now thrown Arisu to the ground, kicking him repeatedly in the stomach. You felt like throwing up watching the display. Memories flooded your mind of watching your father do the exact same thing to the tall man who was now delivering the blows. It was taking everything in you to not curl up in a ball crying like you always had when the two men in your family were fighting. No, this time you had to put an end to it. This time you would be brave and fight.

"You're going to try to save them, aren't you?" Chishiya mumbles in concern, knowing this scene was likely triggering to you. You knew he wanted you to stay out of it, but you just couldn't help yourself.

"I can't sit back and play victim anymore, Shiya," you whisper. You move swiftly around the pool, before you could lose your nerve or Chishiya could stop you.

"Niragi, please. They're my friends," you plead with the violent man, grabbing onto his forearm as he delivers another crushing blow to Arisu's ribcage. The people of The Beach were now actively watching the scene, fully invested in your family drama. You're unsure of why you called the couple your friends, when you just barely know their names. All you know is that you don't want to watch your brother kill the poor guy, and you definitely don't want to find out what Aguni had planned for Usagi. Or was it that you couldn't stand to see your sweet brother hurt someone the same way he had been hurt so many times in his life?

Niragi ceases his assault on the boy and rips his arm from your grasp. He gives you a full once over in the process, his cold eyes meeting yours for the first time in days. You feel real, raw fear filling your system, something you haven't felt since leaving your father's house for the last time 8 years ago. You'd never felt smaller in your life than you did now, shrinking under Niragi's brutal gaze.

Taking a shaky breath, you muster the shiniest, prettiest puppy dog eyes you can, peering up at Niragi through long eyelashes. "You won't hurt them, right? I'm friends with them."

Niragi continues glaring intimidatingly down at you, in what you realize is disgust. He doesn't address your concerns, but instead has something else to say.

"Put some fucking clothes on, you look like a slut" he spits fiercely, his pierced face now just centimeters from yours. The tight feeling in your chest had returned in full force, threatening to suffocate you.

You stumbled back as if he'd struck you - Niragi had never spoken to you like that. Your stomach dropped, and it took all of your willpower to maintain your composure. You obviously couldn't cry in front of all these Beach idiots, gaping at the two of you like you were the best soap opera in the Borderlands. You turn your head to escape his intense gaze, and put your tongue in your cheek to keep the tears from spilling over. You want soap opera? I'll give you soap opera.

Looking back up at your brother, you cross your arms over your chest. "What are you going to do, make me?" you implore him brattily. Niragi seethed, pierced eyebrow arching, looking like he was seriously considering slapping the attitude right out of you. You stand your ground, the way you should have every other time you've faced a monster like this.

As you and Niragi stare each other down, the initial cause for your dispute long forgotten, Aguni and the others have become distracted by Hatter's arrival. One side demanding peace, and the release of the newest members of the beach; the other begging silently for chaos to ensue. The tense atmosphere surrounding you indicates the balance of power between the two leaders was indeed in jeopardy.

After what feels like hours of strained silence, Aguni ultimately yields to Hatter. The Beach seems to collectively release their held breaths as Aguni and the militant corp flock away to another part of the resort. Usagi quickly tends to Arisu, leading him back into the building to treat his wounds and get to safety. Meanwhile, you have your own struggle for power going on.

Niragi still stands towering above you, obviously not in the mood for your games. He unbuttons his black and white collared shirt, draping it over your shoulders, "Go. Change. Not a request." His fingers wrap tightly around your forearm, aggressively yanking you towards the entrance to the hotel. The force that Niragi had exerted on you nearly sent you careening into the pool still glistening mockingly at your feet, but luckily Chishiya had appeared in just the right position to catch you. Unbeknownst to you, the two exchange a brief look before Niragi skulks off to find Aguni and his other lunatic friends.

The panic within you threatened once more to boil over and your brain simply shuts down - this day had been too fucking much. In your daze, you barely register Chishiya dragging you inside, away from the curious and scrutinizing glances of The Beach citizens. You were embarrassed, confused, and fucking mad.

Just as you passed through the swinging double doors and into the air-conditioned building, Kuina fell in step with you two. She let a reassuring hand fall on your shoulder, squeezing it for comfort. At her kind touch, you feel your carefully crafted resolve finally crumble to the floor. Chishiya knew immediately that you were done for, lifting you easily into his arms and allowing you to ground yourself in him. He carried you protectively the rest of the way to his room as your thoughts thundered around in your head like a wild storm.

You had been lying to yourself your whole life, Niragi had been lying to you your whole life. He promised that your family wasn't broken, that you weren't broken. You guessed it was too much to ask for you to remain untouched by your father's special brand of cruelty. That one day, you'd likely both become just like him.

And now Niragi had. He called you a slut, degrading an outfit that had made you feel beautiful. He embarrassed you in front of an audience. He grabbed you so hard you could see his fingerprints etched in your skin. He was just like him and this time you knew you wouldn't escape.

It was then that you knew - this game that you were playing was much more dangerous than you had initially realized.

♤ ♡ ◇ ♧

OKAY so I got a little carried away 😅 Yes this was supposed to be a sneak peek, but believe it or not it's not even the entire chapter 🤭

Who's ready for the whole story?

Chapter One

[authorofthemoon]

I Was a Teenage Exocolonist: Genetic Augments being a metaphor for generational trauma

So a big theme in Exo is avoiding repeating humanity's mistakes in Earth. And I always found the idea of the kids being born with genetic enhancements interesting. But it wasn't until I learned about a certain someone's augment that I really thought about how messed up it is. And then it makes me question why they were given then in the first place. I've come to the conclusion that each augment is what each parent thinks their child needed to survive and thrive based on their experience in earth as they are the only ones to remember how awful it was. It also makes clear what expectations they have for their child. So I'm just going to go through everyone and explain further.

Vace and Rex: I think they fall under the category of 'social survival.' Vace is the one who made me realize the connection because why the hell would you want to enhance your child's genitals? Vace is a clear representation of the patriarchy instill by his pos father. A 'man who takes what he wants, builds a family, a tough guy' etc. I actually really like Vace though I get why people don't. But it can't be denied his father messed him up and constantly talked down to him. He developed an inferiority complex and his augment fed into that, making him feel the need to prove he's a man. He's proof the patriarchy causes men to suffer under it as well as he suppresses his emotions except anger and takes it out on other, finishing friendships not based on fear. He's probably the most 'earth' out of everyone. And all the intimidation he uses kind of assured that he leads and excels in a social setting. Rex is the opposite of this but serves a similar purpose. He's a dog, sweet and lovable. He's friendly and helpful and people are drawn to him. I think it's also important to recognize that Rex is a black or at least dark skinned male. With this in mind, I think this is why his family found it important to give him the dog augment. Under the light of racism and white supremacy, black men are seen as aggressive and dangerous. So, it makes sense that a black family that came from that earth would want to ensure their child would be seen as a non threat and thrive socially even if it drastically affected his personality and shortened his life span. Though it's unknown if they knew that. I think what makes Rex and Vace good foils is how they navigate social interactions. Vace through fear and Rex through charm.

Nem, and Tammy: Both fall under the category of survival. Tammy has sensitive hearing which allows her to pick up on a lot of things. More than likely this was for hearing predators, animals, etc. Or even things like a baby crying. Even though it's useful, we see it can also be a detriment as she gets anxious hearing what's outside the walls and loud noises hurt her ears. Nem has her scaly skin which seems to help her defensive capabilities and such though we don't really see it in action. It makes sense her mother who sees very coddling would want her to be tough so she doesn't really get hurt though it seemed to backfire in a way since she joined the defense force. They both seem to be augmented to survive and help others survive as well which makes sense since earth seemed to be at war when they left.

Cal and Tangent: I think they have a looser connection of 'thriving in career.' Cal doesn't need to sweat (which I still question if that is biologically healthy) which allows him to work in the fields and avoid heatstroke and can brave the cold as well. It makes sense his family would want this augment and it fits in to his farm life. But it does make you question if his augment affected him at all in that way. Tang needs much less sleep than other people. We know that her and Dys have a rough relationship with their parents, their mother taking her own life and they dealt with that in different ways. Her mother more than likely wanted her to not need as much sleep to just survive and maybe help her mentally. However, it's an obvious detriment as it causes her to overwork which damages her mental health more. It's tough to know what their mother was really thinking especially after she named one of her kids Dysthymia. I do believe the augments were a way of her trying to protect her kids in some way.

Dys and Marz: A couple of my fave characters and I think fall under 'mental health survival.' For Marz, I once again think it's important to recognize that she's a black woman which I think directly affects her lack of shame. A lot of black women right are shamed for anything they do. Their body, their attitude, their hair. All things Marz unapologetically displays. Her dads, also being gay men it seems, would probably want her to live her life without being oppressed by other people's opinions. She can be grating at times, but it's just because she unable to feel bad for her existence. This allows her to thrive and stare her opinion without feeling bad later. Obviously even if it sounds nice, there's some obvious downsides such as her bullying others when she was younger and doesn't really feel shame over hurting others. Dys doesn't feel fear and that causes him to do things without restraint. However, he has a soft heart so he can still feel bad and have hurt feelings. Similar to Tang, his mother probably tried to protect him, thinking getting rid of fear might help him mentally, but he can still be anxious. It really makes you question whether a lack of fear actually helps anything. Life on earth was probably dominated by fear. There's no confirmation on what exactly happened on earth before they left, but it obviously wasn't good considering Flula's attitude.

Edit: My dumbass forgot about Nomi. Even though Nomi's augment status is unconfirmed, their parents attitude towards it is telling. Based on dialogue, they feel like very hippie hands off parents who want their child to have the freedom to be themselves, but the problem is that they equally don't offer guidance so Nomi has a hard time knowing what they want and feel a bit stranded. Again it's probably a reaction to earth ebung very strict in some children and many people are forced to be something they didn't want. Including things like gender and career. So they try to give Nomi freedom but not the support they need.

All the kids in Exo and their augments are products of their parents trying to escape the late stage capitalism white supremacy authoritarian hellscape earth had becomes and have their kids protected against those dangers on the new planet. These have been the thoughts infesting my mind as of late. Might make a similar post about how the kids are each in danger of repeating the earths mistakes. If you wanna weigh in with anything you're more than welcome. Thanks for reading!

[jamethinks]

i said this a while back but one thing people regularly misunderstand about Anya is that she is an asshole. most of her art and portrayals show her as this cheerful cutie pie who is a bit ditsy at times but if you actually read the text you would see that she is a complete dickhead.

she's selfish, lazy, unmotivated, crass, and childish (that is a bit fine but for the state of the story it is problematic). her biggest flaw isn't that's stupid. anya has all her braincells and is dedicated to using them for anything but

and this is not a hate post or anything because i love that anya is a little dipshit, that's the core of the story. and yes anya is capable of putting others first and being kind and helpful in general. but she's not a selfless goodie goodie as everyone portrays her as.

anya has her good traits and she has her bad ones, most of which are just a result of her being a child. i just when people completely strip her of her dimensions in order to push her into this cutesy ditsy manic pixie girl fantasy.

the many good things anya does comes at a cost. and that is a very important detail that gets overlooked. she isn't selfless, she only does things when there is a foreseeable benefit for her. it's that lack of pervasiveness that makes her so strong and compelling. the fact that people have to earn her kindness is integral with her character and her relationship with Damian.

and i'll say it, it's misogyny. anya very clearly does not abide by the laws of femininity. the juxtaposition between her and becky highlights this. again, this is one of the core elements of anya's story. her refusal to play by the rules of class and gender, instead acting in the way she believes to be right and just.

so take that rebellious attitude and competitive spirit and water it down to her being a bit odd and out of place is misogynistic. the struggles anya has is not because she doesn't know, it's because she does not care. bondman attempts to portray a generic idea of gender (bondman saving the princess and swooning all the women) but rather than accept her role as the princess she aims to be bondman.

the reason i say anya punching damian is such an important moment isnt because it was funny and abrupt (it was but not my point), it's because that moment symbolizes anya's character. it is a rejection of her status as a woman (girl) and lower class (than damian). she crosses both class and gender boundaries and puts that little bitch in his place.

every time you contort anya and strip her of those evidently masculine traits, you give into the system and that's just unforgivable. every time you age up anya and she "grows out" of those more undesirable traits and models more of a traditional representation of femininity, i will stab you to death <3.

and keep that choice feminist anti-intellectual ass takes away from me. i'm not having it.

[ruuari]

I am so serious when I say this. an amazing way to support your trans friends, mutuals and followers that you share fandom space with is to depict trans characters in your fanfiction and art. cis people get to turn to fandom works for comfort when things feel overwhelming and grim, and get to see themselves depicted. for trans people, this is rare. we don't get to experience the same comfort in fandom that cis people do, in a world that tries to silence us.

depicting trans characters in your fanfiction and fan art tells the trans people around you "I love you. I hear you. I care about you. your stories and your humanity are valuable and are worth depicting in the things that I care about."

[bayetea]

seeing non-black people critique rick's portrayal of black characters is interesting sometimes. only like 30% of the critiques I see make any sense to me to be honest

[whim-prone-pirate]

interviews with oliver stark that i really really really think you should all read

https://tvline.com/lists/911-buck-tommy-gay-kiss-explained-season-7-episode-4-recap/tommy-casting-explained/

https://variety.com/2024/tv/news/911-buck-tommy-kiss-queer-episode-100-oliver-stark-interview-1235956913/

https://ew.com/911-buck-tommy-kiss-bisexual-oliver-stark-interview-8624837

none of them are extremely long and altogether its only a few thousand words. if you are as elated and envigorated and affirmed as i am, oliver's words are only going to help.

[v7n5]

Sorry can’t talk rn, I’m conjuring up an au that involves fashion designer Jesse and his muse/ famous model boyfriend Nacho.

Ok fine. So a while ago, Jesse’s enthusiasm towards character design and sketching gave me the idea of him having a knack for it ever since he was little and following that passion as he grew up. His story about the wooden box is so dear to me not only because of the hopefulness it brings but also because it reveals that he pays great attention to detail and his craft, meaning he’d be a good tailor (creativity AND meticulousness? he’s a whole package). Despite his parents’ disapproval, he’d go on to receive a scholarship from a prestigious design school in New York - where he would move to to receive a higher education and really flourish.

Nacho, who still lives with his father in ABQ and has a hard time making ends meet, would be really close to going down that drug dealer path. Manuel would talk him out of it like “you’re destined for something great and legal mijo” and he’d actually listen. But he’d insist on moving somewhere else to get away from all the affiliations he had in ABQ and to find a better career opportunity/ himself.

Time skip. They’d meet in NYC in somewhat the same way all the supermodels got discovered. And that’s as far as I could get tbh.

(True story, my socials were bombarded with images and videos from the DSQUARED2 SS 2024 collection at the time, and my immediate thought I was “Yep, Jesse Pinkman would endorse this. And who (else besides Tyler Durden) would have enough cuntential to rock this unapologetically? Nacho Varga obviously.)

[altschmerzes]

one day my wife and i are gonna compile our enormous 'this is why this is garbage and everyone who wants to kiss this author's ass should so some serious personal reflection and also read another book im fucking begging you' review of all for the g/ame and then it will be over for all of us

[usercelestial]

a canon queer relationship will always and i mean always be more important and more revolutionary than a non-canon one. cope.

[impossible-rat-babies]

being nb/trans in bg3 is kinda funny to me in that there are really nasty evil people, but at least they will call you the correct pronouns while trying to murder you

[seraphic-sibyl]

An Portrait of the Artist Singing Will Wood During Karaoke Night (and Appearing As If They Were Giving A Rather Existential PowerPoint). Digital ink on canvas, 2024.

[statisticalcats2]

My principles and way of life are just gonna keep being based on "caring about others" while a bunch of people on all sides rant and rave about that being the most infuriating and inexcusable thing they've ever heard of.

[walker-lister]

I just have to remind myself sometimes that no matter what anyone else says, the way a piece of media makes me feel and the positive impact it has had on my queer identity is valid, and that tearing myself apart thinking I have to defend it or questioning my own place within queer communities is not at all important when compared to the almost tangible sense of 'rightness' that piece of media helped me to feel about myself.

[frogs-and-books]

I have to admit that it's so frustrating to me that people are doing this "He's canon ace but not canon aro" thing. It feels like people wanting to have it both ways at the cost aro people. If you're going to say only what's explicit in the text matters, then be honest with proper embrace of Death of the Author and disregard what Brennan said outside the context of the text. If you want to invest meaning in authorial intent, than be honest about the authorial intent with Riz. It's hard enough being aro in fandom as it is without people playing both sides of the fence on this

I'm sorry that there is a lack of aromantic representation, but you can't decide what the authorial intent was for the author. He could be aro! There's a lot of subtext and ways to read the story like that, but it's just as easy to read it as him being demiromantic or gray romantic or even just a late bloomer. Because of this, I can't confirm the authors intent unless he states it. I don't personally have an opinion on it, I just like Riz, and I'll like his character no matter what his sexuality is. I'm not going to disregard a statement from a cast member, especially when I doubt Brennan would have said without Murph's permission. That, to me at least, is confirmation of authorial intent.

I can understand why you're frustrated, but there aren't (or at least shouldn't be) sides. I'm simply saying that Riz is not canonically Aromantic, which is true. However, this does not mean that Aromantic people are somehow wrong in saying that they believe he is! Just like many other things, it is up for the viewer to decide currently.

If Murph comes out and says Riz is Aromantic, that's it. He's Aromantic. But until then, it's up for interpretation. You aren't wrong for saying he's Aromantic, but neither is someone saying he's not Aromantic.

I am so glad that Riz resonates with you, but others don't have your same experience and might relate to him in different ways, and their experience and interpretations aren't less valid than yours.

The world isn't black and white. There are so many nuisances that can be beautiful if you allow yourself to see them.

I'm not on the fence. I know exactly where I stand. Riz is canonically asexual and he has no confirmed romantic interests, although he has been shown to be less interested than his peers. This could mean many, many different things, but saying that thinking Riz is asexual but not aromantic is being on the fence is discounting real people who are asexual and not aromantic.

It's not all or nothing. I'm not out to get you or hurt anyone. It just frustrates me when people state their interpretations of media as facts and get upset when other people have different interpretations. Your interpretation isn't more valid just because it's more diverse. That would be like me reading a book where someone was never stated to have a race, but I decided that their character would make more sense if they were black, so now they're canonically black, even though I don't know what the author imagined them like. Just because it's adding diversity doesn't make it more morally correct. It doesn't make it more incorrect either. It just makes it your interpretation.

I know you're probably sick of hearing this, but it's up for interpretation, and you can't fault people for having a different interpretation of a character.

[newtness532]

all I'm saying is that if you are mad because you were expecting a sapphic kiss in a 2000s movie set in the 1950s that's a you problem