#casteism cw

[fictionkinfessions]

The version of the Alternian language in my place and time was a bit different from the tongues I now speak.

There were separate first person pronouns for seadwelling highbloods, landdwelling highbloods, midbloods, and lowbloods. Second person pronouns were similarly separate by how far above or below you someone was in caste. No specific caste pronoun was used to refer to mutantbloods, who were referred to in the same way as objects.

Separate first person, second person, and third person pronouns existed for every caste, but this was growing outdated even in my time and was only used on formal occasions or by particularly pretentious individuals.

- a Alternian troll, speaking uncharacteristically out of a wish to remain anonymous. Suffice to say I am a member of the group referred to as the ancestors.

x

[trollocs-ooc]

If twelve found out slashr was abusing their "partner" i feel like he'd beat the shit out of them

[cobalt-cougar]

Howlback frowns. "I shouldn't be here," she says, "but Grimlock wants me here. In his mind, I'm his mate. And if things were different. I wouldn't even object to that. But as you said...he's the one in charge. He's always been. I just don't think any of you should be here, either."

She shakes her head.

"Ratchet committed some kind of treason against all creation, although I don't expect these people to think so for the same reasons that I do. He nonconsensually reformatted a lot of us, including most of you. Drift was my house-sib Deadlock once."

She swallows. "These people have issues with hybrids and non-standard alt-modes. That's why Ratchet chose us off the streets and reformatted you in the way that he did; so that we could be killed, in accordance with what passes for Autobot law, on the whims of 'Primus' true children', if we became inconvenient or intractable. I saw the culled experiments removed."

It was easier to say 'experiments' and not 'people' or worse yet 'family'; she knew that some of the beings in stasis or gestation tanks had been Predacons like herself, and probably shared CNA with her. She would say those words later. She would say them where it was safe. This was not such a place.

"I do not have my sister's facility with shadows and darkness and going unnoticed. She could hide both of us, but that is why she isn't here. We need to get out of the way of the Prime's cleanup crew; they might decide we're part of Ratchet's mess. All of us, not just you and me. And by their standards, they wouldn't be wrong to decide that."

Howlback laughed at herself quietly. Since when was she a Dinobot? Since now, apparently. "If you can't go in the vents, which would likely be safest, transform into root mode, and look and talk like everyone else. People won't notice us if we look like everyone else does. Their mental images of Dinobots and Cougaraiders aren't bipedal folks with funny kibble."

Captain Howlback Investigates...

Howlback was bored, but she was also one of the best Decepticon military security officers in the galaxy and she couldn't help but notice that on Primus' Light, the cyberchimps were definitely running the whole fragging circus.

Rodimus was easier to deal with than Orion/Optronix/Optimus/ Nemesis/whatever-the-fuck-his-name-was-this-tenday, but that was because he was incredibly distractible and Drift, apparently, was excellent at distracting him. Something was going on in the medbay.

She didn't think she wanted to know about that. She saw all the small cages come out of there and she'd have felt bad for them if she hadn't known that a lot of suffering had ended for people who didn't have much else to look forward to. Ratchet must have fucked Drift over for the last damn time.

(It was easier to deal with Drift's betrayal if she didn't allow herself to use the name 'Deadlock'.)

Anyhow, she couldn't go anywhere without an escort, and Grimlock had assigned her to Swoop, whom she found very pleasant, if twitchy. The Dinobots had a pool going on whether she or Grimlock would break first and how long it would take. Swoop apparently had a preference. She suspected he might favour her, because Grimlock wouldn't have put someone who disliked her in charge of her safety.

But she wasn't sure.

"I know," she said, when she heard him mutter something even twitchier than usual to himself. "You can't argue with him, because then you'd have to fight him. And you can't touch or yell at me, because then you'd have to fight him. Am I right?"

She glanced around the rec room they were cooling their pedes in. "Wow. These Autobots sure do leave a lot of high-grade just lying around unattended. I can't believe how dumb they think we all are."

Meanwhile, she was considering how hard it would be to get a message off to Misfire and Krok, who usually worked this sector, and when would be the best time to do it. Overlord might also be somewhere around. It was really hilarious because something that big and that pink should not have been able to hide out anywhere...but Autobots, for all of their light-worship, just weren't the sharpest knives in the Armory. Probably because most of them never bothered to think about getting their way through means more subtle than outright numbers, physical strength and force of arms.

She was also wondering how long it would take before Grimlock would realise that they both knew he couldn't get anything out of her by force, because he liked her too much to be willing to break her. He already knew that she was very excellent at keeping him frustrated and off guard, and he also knew that she could make his life incredibly pleasant and satisfying, in a wide variety of ways...if he did what he needed to do to please her.

Howlback wouldn't recognise "in love" if it walked up and bit her on the tail (and probably, it had) but she really did care about him. She had never been infatuated (or what Airachnid called "limerent") in her entire fucking life, but there had been a time--before Ratchet had turned him into a fucking dinosaur--when she had loved Grimlock as much as she loved her siblings, except that she clanged Grimlock, which was not something she wanted to do with her siblings.

And it wasn't like she minded the dinosaur thing. What she minded (a lot) was the fucking Autobot thing.

[touhoutivations]

on current events, ooc (discussion and stances, check cws)

Hello everyone, Mod Yuyu/Adrian here. I thought this post would be a good time to discuss my points on current things. I wasn't sure how to go about this, and I want to have a balance between showing up and using this platform for important causes but also wanting to avoid the current culture of always needing to be informed or else you're failing morally. (which is a difficult topic for minutae I have no place to discuss, but ultimately your safety needs to come before helping others) But after the Reimu post, I thought it would be a good idea to put my thoughts here and open up discussion. Again, if anything I said or did with this is upsetting to you in any way and there's a way I can assist or do better, please do not hesitate to tell me.

Under the read more, I will talk about Palestine, genocide, several kinds of bigotry, transphobia laws, abortion, miscarriage, medical topics, menstruation and sexual health. I do not go into detail and depth about atrocities or dispense depressing facts, but I do stress to keep yourself safe, touch on my stances, and provided a list of ways you can help the current american abortion law situation.

Stance on Palestine/War/Conflict: My stance on the currents wars and exploitation will always be such: all people (but especially indigenous communities) should have their rights and agency, and violations of this, from war to systemic oppression to exploitation, will always be condemned. Palestine must be free. Ukraine must be free. Australia, Canada, America, Congo, other African nations and all other entities that have been hurt by colonialism, racism, casteism, sexism, homophobia and other forms of bigotry should regain the right to determine their own livelihoods and the livelihoods of their people. To clarify, the Palestinian conflict is NOT a war- it is the oppression and genocide of Israel that the Palestinians are struggling against. I do not want to argue the semantics of H-m-s, as I have no place to- but 'killing people is bad' and 'peaceful resistance does not work against an oppressive regime and genocide and claiming a moral highground for every unjust death is not helpful' are two sentences that can coexist. Since I'm aware several Jewish users have expressed fears of Antisemitism's rise, I will never tolerate Antisemitism OR Islamophobia. I'm Australian, and whilst I've seen the people around me come to support Palestine, initially several white Australians fell for propaganda traps that appealed to their confirmation biases of Islamophobia. Zionists are not welcome on this blog, nor any other bigot.

======================== On [insert abortion law that got passed]: I chose not to be specific here because unfortunately, the political climate of abortion rights is something that is constantly changing. What is happening is disgusting, and especially if the laws around criminalising miscarriage are going to be passed- uterus-havers can get arrested for practically no reason. Many mothers I know have had more miscarriages than children. It is not something they 'choose' to have. I also want to remind people, especially from more 'liberal' areas to never demean people that live in places where these bills are passed. There are trans kids in Florida. There are women in Idaho that now have to travel 46 miles to get medical care. Mocking these people or gloating about your rights and superiority is not going to help, it is vile. (Though of course, clown on bigots)

=========================== Here is a list of things you should remind others that live in these areas and ways you can assist that I thought aren't donation links: -Remind people that live in these areas to track periods without the usage of apps that will steal their data. Be very careful about providing information or discussion anything that could help the process of an abortion on the internet, even chatrooms. Floridian officials have been tracking people to incarcerate them for driving out of state. -Share resources especially for disabled, those in poverty and poc. These laws will most affect them, both wrt miscarriages and abortion bans. Miscarriages can happen from stress and starvation. -Share information on sex education and contraceptive methods, if you can in places teens and children can access them privately. Follow laws like teaching and book bans, but knowledge is power. Promote local libraries and request them to have sex ed knowledge, or upload free pdfs/resources on the internet for people to access. Sexual health is obfuscating and inaccessible even for those that live in liberal areas. -For people in Idaho especially, anyone that seeks medical treatment will be on a longer waitlist- as doctors have been leaving the country. Keep an eye on disabled friends and ensure they have a contingency plan. -Encourage intersectionality and unionising. If you're part of a collective or community, encourage teaming up with other collectives such as women, lgbt, environmental, racial or religious minority organisations. This helps spread awareness and solidarity. -If you're someone with financial, governmental or legal literacy/experience on a specific topic or process- share your findings and details in a way that others can understand. Bureaucratic and legal processes use confusing and vague language for the layman intentionally in order to hurt them (for example, the use of 'people that do not conform to their assigned gender' is in a lot of anti-trans bills. this is intentionally vague, opening up oppression not just to trans people and drag performers, but potentially gnc women or women that do not fit conventional beauty standards, or even potentially a woman wearing pants.)

=========== 'But what about 'x' topic?' If you feel anger that people are not discussing something that is important, now is not the time to get angry at other's who can support you, it is the time to inform them. If you wish for me to clarify my stances or platform or inform me about a political subject, I would be happy to help- but I will always prioritise safety and comfort of other's mental health and will always tag things first and foremost. Also, this is a touhou blog- I'm not nor want to be the bastion of political discussion, but I do want to show up for my fellow humans. There are several things I am passionate about but had to gloss over for this post because it was getting excessively long; trans rights, racism, ableism, etc.

[a-terror-of-shadow-and-flame]

Haaa, I know how you handle that grey of yours. Everyone thinks greys are these ~*~big strong warriors~*~, but once you smack yours on the head a couple times, they learn better. 'Grats on training your grey so well, I'm working on getting mine some obedience training myself. They're just so slow, aren't they?

hey, quick question, what the FUCKING fuck is wrong with you

[makimacult]

oh wow.... im grateful i don't really venture much out of the sanctity of my dashboard. i see some people in vaguely leftist spaces (like r/librandu) go "they're just kids, they don't know why we have reservation, they'll grow out of it" and it's like... aren't the dalits who get bullied and commit suicide also kids? the sort of anti-reservation "caste pride" thinking (i have seen posts from people celebrating being kshatriya and bemoaning that it's not PC to take pride in your caste) these high schoolers parrot online rn is gonna escalate dangerously when they're in positions where they can actually carry out their bigotry.

that one subreddit for jee/neet aspirants is so incredibly fucked up, like one cursory glance reveals insane levels of casteism and hatred for non-UCs... and these are the 9%ers, the ones who go to college and form the bulk of the educated elite. things are not looking good :/

[flameofcertainty]

i think i see why people don’t like decision

so for those of you who don’t know, decision is a dystopian novel about a society where instead of being assigned a caste at birth (or i guess later, if you live in that one hair color country whose name i forget) people choose their caste when they turn four, and then they have that caste permanently. the author is of the opinion that this would be terrible because lots of people would end up in castes where they were unhappy. which, i mean, this seems like probably not the best way to do caste freedom, for a number of reasons.

but the author doesn’t actually go into any of those reasons! like, this would be bad for caste balance, but that barely even gets a mention apart from an aside about child allocations. it would probably also do weird things to wars, and there’s no mention of that at all. and there’s no discussion of better ways to do caste freedom. instead it’s just ‘oh, lots of people would choose castes that are bad for them, that would be terrible’

and, like ... the author doesn’t really acknowledge that the reverse might sometimes be true, that sometimes people who would have been in a caste that was a bad fit would wind up in a better fit. like, nhothe has this whole speech about how if she had only stayed in grey, even though she’s disabled, she still could have had a grey job, like a bookie or something. but the problem is pretty clearly not actually that she chose yellow instead, the problem is that halfway through the book the author completely changed her characterization to fit her argument. or, one of the ones that really bothered me was at location 1432 of the orvaran edition, when famvira says “how could i, a child of a welder and a tailor, ever have dared to hope to be a singer?” and then goes on a long spiel about how choosing green was a mistake, because no purple could ever be a good fit for green, that’s just not possible.

like, people who are bad fits for their caste, who’d do better off in another one -- we exist! you don’t have to think there’s a lot of us but there aren’t zero. and i feel like that’s something you should at least acknowledge if you’re writing a story like this one. you might not think the tradeoff is worth it, and that’s fine, but the tradeoff is there, and not everyone would be worse off if there were a way to have a caste that wasn’t your birth one

[bloodiedwater]

U want us to think ur therapist is a rapist? Lol ur so fucking fake.

anon is a rape apologist and should throw themself off a fucking cliff. I don’t have any responsibility to justify myself to them.

btw this is exactly what I’m talking about re: oranges being oh-so-innocent

[worstblueintheworld]

My aunt’s informed position on the red cleaning issue:

“They’ll be cheaper than purple staff, and I don’t talk to the help anyway, so doesn’t matter if they’re all savages.”

Well, I guess that's better than “kill ‘em all”? 

[catman-draws]

bro i wanna hear all about the caverns pls info dump at me

Okay y'all Buckle Up

This is about the Beforan Caverns.

I'll be going into this A Little More in the rewrite itself, but I've got all this Extra Lore too so here we go.

Jadebloods don’t have to join the caverns on Beforus, but training for the caverns is compulsory for all jades, even those who don’t want to.

Porrim Does Not Want To.

Had she actually completed her training, she would’ve went on to join the caverns as a junior caretaker- doing the more menial jobs under supervision of an older jade,  Eventually, she’d eventually work her way up as her skills improved and specialize in some area- tending to the mothergrub, working in the nursery, teaching at a training center, etc.

The training centers are mostly text books and lectures and the like- with very little actual grub interaction (saved exclusively for those who pursue actual training.)

This is because, unlike humans, trolls do not feel an inherent affection or protective instinct for the young of their species- including their own spawn (if you could even track them down.)  Instead of finding them cute, the overwhelming majority of trolls find grubs disgusting and creepy- in all, absolutely repulsive creatures.  This is a major factor as to why many jade trainees don’t move on to the caverns.  Porrim is no exception to this rule, and she hated every minute of training.

The actual training centers themselves aren’t actually inside the caverns, but fully above ground, with an entrance to the underground caverns somewhere within the building.

The buildings are usually rather plain-looking; being of a relatively average size with nothing in particular striking them as particularly different, with the exception of being entirely bathed in jade and many older locations being covered with windows.

There is one exception.

[Key: 1: Adult Troll, For Scale; 2: Entrance Way, General Room; 3: Living Quarters For Resident Jadebloods and Dormitories For Studying Jades; 4: Lecture Hall and Library;  5: Unspecified Room;  6: Rooftop Platform; 7: Pre-Lusus Screening Hall;  8: Sea-Grub Pond;  9: Exit To Lusi Area; 10: Entrances/Exits To/From The Caverns; 11: The Caverns;  12: General Storage, Stairs;  13: Observatory]

The training center Porrim studies (and Kankri lives) in is the Oldest Training Center on Beforus, with entrances to the Original Caverns.  This place is absoiutely Fuck Huge and Old As Hell.

Central to the Empire, this center was once solely responsible for the processing of all reproduction on the planet.

Now, it’s still operating, but is functionally little more than a lecture hall. 

Being as old as they are, most of the Original Caverns have since been lost to time and excessive use, leaving comparatively little left of what it was in its prime.  Consequently, this has placed the responsibility of actual processing and grubrearing largely onto surrounding facilities- though, the Empress insists that sea grubs, at least, continue to be processed through this Original Location.  As rare as sea grubs are among the population, many land grubs end up hatching here as well- though, the majority get transferred to other centers.

A center, given their purpose, operates at all hours, but lessons occur in the daytime, due to the jadebloods’ resistance to sunlight.  This is less about security and more about efficiency.  Consequently, the opposite schedule means that the majority of caretakers and teachers do little other than caretake and teach.

Visitors are unwelcome, but no one really wants to visit, anyway.  The only exception would be to returning jadebloods, coddlers, or Her Imperial Benvolence; who, unlike her Alternian counterpoint, does make occasional visits to the Training Centers.

The general process is mostly identical to the Alternian Caverns- with the exception of the DIscharge of Mature Grubs.  Those deemed fit will be matched with a lusus, as on  Alternia.  Those deemed unfit, but acceptable, will be matched with a highblood, for coddling.  They may be matched with a highblood either in addition to, or in place of their lusus, depending on their level of quality.  All others are dealt with as seen fit.

[fictionkinfessions]

to sollux: i'm sorry for everything. i'm sorry for hurting you back on the a2 session, and hurting you in this new life. i promise it will never happen again. no. never. i'm sorry for coughing up a rivalry with you just because i wanted feferi all for myself, i'm sorry for knocking you unconscious during a particularly tense duel, i'm sorry for being casteist to you, i'm sorry for making your cognitive dissonance worse as erisolsprite, and i'm sorry for being a shitty friend in this new life. i promise i will never do it again.

sincerely, eridan ampora

x

[neurodivergentwalkerofnightshade]

Basically somewhere around begining of 2021, Hindu extremist government of India introduced a new set of of Information Technology Regulations / IT regulations.

In nutshell these regulations aim at social media sites like ranging from Facebook, Twitter and to even YouTube, shutting down content, removing any content that basically goes against "government of India". Basically anything that calls out human rights violations taking place in India, government's failure to handle the pandemic, anything that calls out casteism, Islamophobia, etc in India is fair target for being " Anti government " or "anti BJP" or "Anti National".

Basically anything that calls out BJP, the ruling right wing extremist hindu party at the centre, is the content that will be flagged as inappropriate, and asked to be removed by social media sites.

What makes it worse is, government can also force these sites to reveal the location of the person who posted anything against BJP.

Since these rules came in February, there was a three month window, for social media sites to comply with these regulations. Failing which.., as three months have passed, government has threatened to shut down these sites from operating in India.

The situation is that given alarming rise of covid cases, collapse of healthcare system, and worsening human rights situation in India, it is social media that is the only viable platform to find resources from oxygen supply, to medicines, to hospital beds, to medicines, to even finding out where to get vaccinated and when. Above all social media sites are only viable platform, that does remain as a space for people living in India to call out atrocities committed by Indian government against it's citizens and especially the minority communities. It is an attack on freedom of speech and expression, the very right to express dissent against the actions of the government.

Situation in India is becoming worser. It's alarming the rate at which the fascist hindu extremist state is expanding.

[artistic-arborealist]

How can you justify the fact that the first amentans who got to go to space were all greens and greys?

ANSWER ME, you casteist green!

So, I understand why you’re unhappy! You want to be in space ~now~, and waiting is no fun at all!

But I do think it would help to note that while the first Amentans who got to go to space were all green and grey, it’s not ~directly because of their caste~! Because after all, none of my coworkers or I were eligible to join the initial planet search, and we’re all greens! And you aren’t seeing any dancers or arcball players in space either!

And this is because ~none of us are astronauts~, or astrophysicists, or planetary explorers, or xenobiologists, or ~any of the other professions~ that would be in the very first ships!

And so, the professions that got to go to space first are all grey and green! It’s true! But it’s not because of their ~caste~, it’s because ~those are the castes that happen to work in space colonization related jobs~!

And that is unfair, and I’m sorry you’re sad about it! But it’s unfair in the way that empty springs, or hereditary pollution is unfair!

That is to say, it’s unfair in a way that’s going to be ~completely fixed soon~!

So I’m sure you’ll be able to find a spot in one of the ~later colonization waves~! Because once we start establishing actual societies, we’re going to need ~every caste~ to build worlds that work!

So good luck, anon!!! I’m sure that whatever your job is, you’ll get to go to one of the planets soon!

[bloodiedwater]

imagine thinking that disliking theologians is even a little bit comparable to our society’s hatred of purples and the violence it does to their bodies on a daily basis predicated on the ableist delegitimization of their voices as “less intelligent” and therefore unimportant

how,,,, embarrassing

Sometimes people get really worked up over finding ways to improve their lives, and their families’ lives, and they’ve almost never done the first, simplest, easiest, best-supported thing!

All you have to do to make a huge immediate improvement is make your bed!

Trust me, it’s better than watching Tidy Team for that yummy feeling-clean, and on top of that it encourages good sleep habits that will improve health, mood, and general well-being!  The meditative transition of bed-making every morning, and the punctuation of the day when you pull back the covers every night, will give you structure and rhythm.

It sets the backdrop of well-ordered life organization for any tasks or interactions that go on in your bedroom, too - imagine going into the room of someone you respected and seeing the sheets all in a heap, a pillow on the floor, the blankets askew - wouldn’t that make it seem less like they had their lives together, and more like they were flying blind, in over their head?  And that’s what it’d seem like because it’s true.

This habit is easier to maintain if you also take a page out of the South Cene theological school of thought that you should avoid having sex in the same bed where you sleep.  Dedicated furniture is ideal to keep all the activities of your routine in separate boxes, but sofas, the floor, and outdoors are acceptable second choices!

[prioritizingpurples]

internalized clap anti clap purple clap casteism clap is clap still clap anti clap purple clap casteism

i mean

yes?

and like, it’s fine if you personally never show sympathy or friendship towards purples w anti purple casteism, but i'm not gonna stop reaching out in solidarity with other purples even if they’re problematic

i mean i’m still gonna call them out when they express anti purple views but i still think that they can be fundamentally decent people who deserve friendship and support?

[flameofcertainty]

so i don’t think anyone except that one asshole thinks that for real, but just in case

i really don’t see how having out of caste hobbies is “disgusting”

non-greens can play violin for fun

like, non-purples can cook, even if they’re cooking beyond the bare minimum needed for survival

non-purples can crochet

non-yellows can make game apps

non-greens can write fanfic

non-greys can do physical activities (exercise: it’s a thing)

if you’re not orange you can still be interested in anatomy or medicine. if you’re not green you can still be interested in history. if you’re not blue you can still be interested in politics. if you’re not grey you can be interested in military strategy. if you’re not yellow you can be interested in computers. if you’re not purple you can be interested in clothing.

none of these things are disgusting

seriously, ‘people sometimes have hobbies that aren’t literally perfect stereotypes of their caste, and that’s fine as long as you aren’t, like, breaking the law ’ isn’t some weird edgy opinion, it’s basic commonsense that you can figure out from the fact that each caste has, at minimum, millions and millions of people