#er system DW

[the-er-system]

System gatekeeper here. I wanted to add that sometimes you really don’t have a choice. We’ve got a few persecutors, and two of them are very well integrated into the system. One, however, is not. She’s an abuser introject and she’s also my sister. What she says and does is harmful to everyone in the system, especially her two kids (age 15 and 10) and the host. She doesn’t want to change no matter how hard I try to explain to her how she hurts others.

I’ve tried to ask her to stay away from headspace (which is what we call the co-con area to discern it from the rest of the innerworld). But there ends up being massive (physical and verbal) fights as she tries to force her way in anyways. I have a million other things to manage in order to keep the system safe, I don’t have time to fight my sister 24/7 because she’s mad I won’t let her neglect and abuse her ten year-old daughter anymore. (Her older son ran away years ago and has been living with friends).

If we’re to help her become better, she has to want to do that. She doesn’t want to change. We don’t have access to therapy right now, so we can’t get her professional help either. Although we all need that. So I had to make the decision to lock her in the “restricted area” only I can access. I go see her often to check in and bring her things she needs, and right now that’s the best I can do.

I know she’s a person (for Christ’s sake I grew up with her and we’re both in our 40s). But she’s so bent on doing harm while insisting it’s the best thing for us and I can’t change her mind. None of us can get through to her and, again, we don’t have access to the professional help we need. Not for lack of trying, mind you, it’s just that no medical professional wants to deal with our complicated case.

You should absolutely try to integrate your persecutors if you can. Because they are people too. Jason is usually off doing his own thing but he still is close to his sisters and often co-fronts with our youngest (the aforementioned 10 year-old) to look after her when her adoptive dad’s aren’t around. Jo is best friends with the host and lives with them. She and her service dog hang around co-con often and we all love having her around. Both are hurting and need help and we do our best to give it to them.

But my sister doesn’t want that help and she repeatedly does harm, so until she decides she wants to be better and we can get her professional help, I have to keep her locked away from the others. It’s hard and I deal with a lot of guilt but I have to do what’s best for the system. Especially our most vulnerable members.

Don't. I repeat. Do not lock away your persecutors.

This is not a healthy practice and leads to way more issues down the road. They are human. They are hurting. Don't do it.

I'm going to speak from personal experience here. We used to lock away our two persecutors under the claim that it was for our safety.

It was only through therapy that we found out just how inhumane this was and how much we had hurt them. One of them posts on this blog and is an active part in our recovery process. One of them still refuses to communicate with us years later and justifiably so...

What we should have done was give them a space to express their feelings and provide them with coping mechanisms to try. This is what we're doing now. This is what we should have done in the first place.

Give your persecutors a safe space. Give them a home. They are proof of a hurting child who struggled to survive. They are hurting and angry and villainizing them hurts them more. Don't lock them away.

[raz-writes-the-thing]

Keep 'Er Steady (Doctor Who Drabble)

Tenth Doctor x Eleventh Doctor x GN!Reader 18+ ONLY / requests are OPEN

Summary: It's about time you learnt how to fly the TARDIS

Fic type: smut lite

DW: @nyxiethesimp @quickslvxrr @midnight--raine @blueberry-sunshines @stevekempscocktails @go-bonkers-go-foolish @peytonpenguin37 @yeethaw13 @complimentary-breadbasket @thekirbishow (send an ask to be added to a tag list!)

___ ___ ___ ___ ___

When your Doctors had said they thought it was about time that they taught you how to fly the TARDIS, you’d been excited! How many of your friends could say that they’d learnt how to fly a Police Box through time and space? Not many, you’d wager. 

But still, they’d given you a few lessons out in the Lower Belt where any obstacles were few and far between, and you felt like you were finally starting to get the hang of it. Twist that knob there, pull that lever here, slap that button over that side. Yeah, you were starting to get there. 

And then they’d decided to up the stakes, soft caresses over your spine as they worked the more complicated parts of the flight system, a squeeze of your ass as a job well done, an affectionate kiss on the cheek when you landed successfully. It was nice. 

And then, today- today was lesson number ten, and you had been doing very well, in your own opinion- but when Eleven ran his hand up your side and Ten trailed his fingers over the outside of your thigh, you’d sucked in a breath and focussing became that much harder. 

Their hands trailed up to distract you, and as if they’d planned this (and they probably had), their lips were sucking marks into the skin of either side of your throat. You let out a gasp of a moan, trying to focus on the hand of the lever you were suddenly white-knuckling. 

“Oh, come now,” Eleven laughed, only pulling away long enough to get the words out. “You’re behaving like something is distracting you, Petal.” 

Your mouth dropped open as he swiped his tongue from clavicle to ear. Ten breathily chuckled into your neck, seeing how the goosebumps appeared over your arms and up your neck. 

“Watch what you’re doing, love,” he breathed, trailing kisses down your shoulder. “Wouldn’t want to crash land on a stray moon now, would we?” 

You shook your head and forced yourself to focus, opening your eyes to check on the stats on the screen before you. You pulled the lever to the right and the TARDIS made a groaning sound as she got back on track. 

Both their hands began trailing over your tummy and towards your crotch. You stuttered on your words as you tried to focus on flying. 

“I- boys- you’re not being o-hoh-verly helpful,” you breathed, hips jolting towards their exploring hands. 

“I think learning under pressure is fantastic, don’t you, Eleven?” Ten said thoughtfully, dragging his fingers to your lower belly and rubbing soft circles there. 

“Oh- most definitely,” Eleven added seriously, hand sliding over Ten’s to rub at you through your pants. “You have to know how to keep the TARDIS steady even when there are distractions, Petal-” 

You supposed that made sense, but with both of them laving attention over you like this, you weren’t sure how many lessons it was going to take before their distractions would stop, well, distracting you. 

But you looked forward to finding out.

[randomfoggytiger]

Collector's Edition: Bill Scully, MSR, and Pain (Part II)

And here we have part two to the distinct madness of Bill caught up in MSR whompfic observations-- Season 7 AUs and onward~.

Loose chronological order below~

Alelou's (Alt. Tumblr, Xanadu) Beyond Conception

AU-- Bill and Tara offer their embryos to Scully if she (and Mulder) wants to give parenthood a shot. 

@numinousmysteries/numinous_mysteries's Legacy (Ao3)

AU-- There is no baby, only Mulder and Scully growing closer after the IVF failure during a tenuous Colonization, a happy family, and her mother’s decline. 

MD1016/md1016's (Alt. Tumblr) Sins of the Father (FFN)

AU-- Post Sein und Zeit Bill and his family push Mulder for answers after Scully, withdrawn and unwell, won't explain herself. 

@kyouryokusenshi/Kyouryokusenshi/Kyouryoku Senshi/Char Chaffin's (Annex) Deliverance from Evil (Annex)

AU-- Colonization, but with Bill, Tara, Skinner, twins, and a surprise villainous visit from Krycek.

Chiefchopstix's Let's Settle This Like Men

AU-- S7 Bill and Mulder fight and are taken to the ER after Scully announces her pregnancy to the family.

T. Griffen's Faith

AU-- Post Requiem Bill supports his sister after she reveals her illness is actually a miraculous pregnancy.

ML/ML_is_me’s (Ao3, Gossamer, DW, Invidiosa) Absentee Father

Post Without Bill's rampage is checkmated by Maggie's good sense. Every baby, after all, needs a father.

jeri's (mulderscreek) "O Brother . . .

Post TINH Bill wants to think God will exempt Mulder for his sister's sake.

Dryad's (Ao3) Country of the Crepescule - Do You Like Our Owl?

Post Three Words Bill tries to patch things up with Scully: flubbing their dinner together, caring for a sick Mulder overnight, and meeting her new partner over breakfast the next morning.

Paige Caldwell's Regrets and Resolutions

AU-- Bill's attitude tore his life apart; but, like he and his sister and Mulder, learns to make do and move forward (and even helps freshly returned Mulder scrounge together an outfit for the baby's birth.)

Suzanne Feld/WildwingSuz's Going Solo (Ao3)

AU-- Post Existence Bill empathizes with newly single dad Mulder.

Girlie_girl7's Man to Man Talk 07

AU-- S9 Bill starts being nice after Mulder holds down the sick kid fort.

@mollybecameanengineer/Sareki's Is This It?

AU-- After S9 Mulder, Scully, and William escape CSM's compound with the help of their friends, Bill backs off from his tirade and begins to connect with his oft-hated, sort of brother-in-law.

@drbedeliadumaurier/heartsfilthylesson's fanfic prompt scully has bruises/isolated systems - Chapter 1

Post IWTB Maggie and Bill drag Scully into an intervention after seeing the bruises on her skin.

@suitablyaggrieved/ScullyLovesQueequeg's Holiday Apologies

Post IWTB Bill buries the hatchet after observing a drooping Mulder.

@contrivedcoincidences6/Spooky66/geektime66's For Worse

Post IWTB Bill fights then accepts Scully's decision to stand by her depressed partner. 

@wtfmulder/@momdadimpoppunk’s (Ao3) iclet; if only in my dreams

Pre-Revival Bill gives his sister some much-needed perspective after her separation from Mulder.

Thanks for reading~

Enjoy!

[grungiiuvu]

I have a couple of questions about tags 😭

1. we have a "fengqing endgame" and "hurt/comfort" but does that mean it will be a happy end specifically? Since we don't have a happy ending tag and we have the character death tag, we could get a fengqing endgame but not a happy one 😭

2. does the "identity porn" mean there will be smut scenes in the future? if yes will they be briefly described or detailed?

3. "identity reveal" tag probably refers to the eventual reveal of Mu Qing's identity to Feng Xin, right? Which may cause them to take 3 steps back. I can imagine it being like: FX confessing love, MQ not exactly rejecting but revealing his identity, thinking that FX loves qing-er not him since he doesn't really look like qing-er but at the same time MQ doesn't act like qing-er anymore since having the OOC option available so it could be messy. I'm really curious about how the reveal will go 😭😭

4. do you more or less know how it will end? like do you have a possible idea for it? Also please tell me that them confessing won't be in the last chapter and that we will be able to see them being a couple for at least a couple of chapters 😭

Anyway hope you're having an amazing day‼️‼️ Waiting patiently for the next update 🙏🙏🙏

SORRY IT TOOK ME SO LONG TO GET TO THIS </333 I WAS ON HOLIDAY AND COULD NOT BRING MY TIRED ASS TO TRY ANSWER ALL THIS ON A TEENY PHONE SCREEN 😭😭😭

For your comfort and that alone, it will most likely be a happy end. The reason the 'fengqing endgame' tag is there is because i have tags like feng xin/xie lian due to the og setting of cultivator's choice and some.............. future ideas. i put it there so fenglian shippers wouldn't get their hopes up for the wrong ship, i'd hate to do that haha

'identity porn' (as far as i know) isn't actually about smut. It's about the complications of alter egos and deliberately exploring it. All the stuff between mu qing and qing-er and the system and the body dysmorphia falls under that tag. As for future smut, I'm not sure. I've never written any smut before, let alone published any, and I'm still trying to figure out the endgame fengqing dynamic. if there is any smut, i really doubt it'll be massively explicit.

WE'RE A LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG WAY OFF FROM THAT, BRO, I AM SOOOOOOOOOO SORRY

i do know roughly how i think it'll end and DONT WORRY they will confess before the last chapter <333 i love writing romance :))

I HOPE TO UPDATE SOON, DW!!!! TYSM FOR ENJOYING MY FIC, I LOVED THIS ASK!!

[mewling-central]

A Brief Guide to Mewling

Mewling, or as its referred to by the mews as either 'Myukox' if you're a grandpa or 'Ḿaw' if you're a slightly younger grandpa, is my first ever language i've ever made by process of linguistic evolution. So it's weird and at times blaringly novice but it gets the job done. Getting into some linguistic jargon, it's a polysynthetic agglutinative language with free word order. The writing system is a logography (like chinese) that's written top to bottom, left to right. I'm gonna divide everything up for the sake of convenience

Sounds

These are the sounds in it:

you can use this website to specifically hear what each sound sounds like but for the most part everything is BASICALLY pronounced how it's written. For reference of some not immediately intuitive ones (in reference to the perspective of english speakers), ill gloss over those.

/ɸ/ and /β/ are like f and v but instead of using your upper lip and bottom set of teeth, you use both your lips. It's blowing but with a purpose.

/t͡s/ is exactly what it looks like. just a ts sound

/t͡ʃ/ is just ch

/x/ is like the ch in loch or the gh in ugh. that kinda throaty sound you know the one.

/j/ is actually y

/ŋ/ is like the ng in sing (its pretty rare tho in mewling so dw abt it too much)

/ʃ/ is just sh

The syllable structure is (F)CVC where F equals a fricative (s, z, f, v, sh, j, and x), C means any consonant, and V means vowel. The stress pattern is weird but the rule is stress always falls on either the last syllable (in words with only two syllables) or the third syllable from the end (in words with more than two syllables) UNLESS the second syllable from the right ends in a consonant in which that case it will be the one stressed instead.

Syntax

Mewling has free word order meaning that you can shove a word anywhere in the sentence and it would be understood the same. 'the man ate the orange', 'the orange at the man', or 'the man the orange ate' would all be understood to mean the same thing because mewling changes the words based on if its the subject of the sentence or the object. But by default mewling is subject-object-verb, meaning the verb almost always is at the end of the sentence (like in japanese or latin). Adjectives go before nouns, prepositions go after nouns, auxiliary verbs go after the main verb.

Grammar

Mewling is actually kinda fun imo with this. Mewling is agglutinative so when it makes new words it does so by taking smaller words and putting them together. 'ki' (this) + 'mar' (land) = kimar (place). 'ere' (give) + 'tos' (knowledge) = eretos (teach) and so on and so forth. Pretty straightforward. English does this too esp with words w germanic origins: birthday, butterfly, notebook, rainbow, honeycomb, bathroom, etc etc.

Now for nouns, their pronunciation changes depending on their noun case, which is a type of suffix (in this case) that acts kind of like what a preposition does in english. for example:

netal (the tree)

netalotso (at the tree)

netaler (in the tree)

netala (away from the tree)

netalova (towards the tree)

etc etc so on and so forth. Now some noun case do grammar stuff. The subject has no special suffix but it's usually at the beginning of the sentence so it's whatever. The object, the word that's receiving the action of the verb, uses the suffix '-n' or '-on' depending on the word. so in this sentence

Myu miron moraf (the mew eats the fruit)

It goes 'the mew' (subject) 'the fruit' object 'eats' (verb). The fruit is what's being eaten by the mew, it's being affected by the action. Now you could even put the object in front

Miron myu moraf

And it would mean the same thing, because the fruit is still marked as the subject. But if you made the fruit the subject

Mir myon moraf (The fruit eats the mew)

THEN that'd actually change the meaning. english doesn't really do this, we just know which is which because the subject is always before the verb and the object is always after. but doing this allows mewling to be able to change its word order to express different kinds of sentences.

Now verbs were the hardest part to create but GOD is this part fun. the verbs conjugate for tense (time), mood (specific action or meaning), and agree with both the subject AND the object (usually languages will choose one or the other). It has a past, present, and future, and you can add a whole bunch of suffixes to make the verbs specific. for example:

tos (know)

toslan (knew)

tosfas (will know)

and you can make REALLY long words like this

wemokorwanfunolanisolirikorcharaywamapikorusatif (which means something along the lines of "if (this) wouldn't have wanted to accidently been made to need to have started to continue to be able to constantly be improving (by me)" or something like that) tho its rare and more comical than anything to get THIS long. i could talk all day about the verbs but i'll add one more thing.

Mewling has three pronouns: mi (i) pa (you) and yo (they). these are usually changed up with whatever noun case it needs but since the verb changes to show both the subject AND the object the language becomes pro-drop, ie the pronouns can be dropped from the sentence entirely because the verbs make them redundant. for example:

Mi pan maso (I see you) is grammatically correct but more often than not it would be shortened to just 'Moso' because the verb already says that I'm the one seeing you. the pronouns are unnecessary. this in turn allows someone to say an entire sentence in just one word. very useful.

IN CONCLUSION i was really really really REALLY just summarizing cuz i didnt even get into things like relative clauses or sentence reordering for conjunctions or specific cultural notes of the language BUT i hope this'll give at least a smidgen of an idea of how much work i put into this. if you ever want me to translate something don't be afraid to ask too, at this point i could pretty much translate almost anything lol. But for now, sonapatan pafu nenampinon iyer (thanks for reading).

[weeswine]

Stuff I have noticed watching ST season 4 for the 5th or something time:

(Or just my rekindling of opinions and feelings)

Lucas wasn't a back stabber, he sent Jason and the crew to El and Hops old cabin (me too busy just focusing on Lucas (he is babygirl✨️))

Eddie isn't present for like 2 episodes and that is just a big wow [also Erica, miss her :(]

That classic shot of Eddie at the d&d table is not him being a dramatic whore™, rolling dice, but actually congratulating Erica

Why is Erica wearing the flag? Like slay and also the American theme song is playing but like girl?????

Erica supports the gays ✨️ (She probably is a gay 🇺🇲🇺🇸🇺🇲🇺🇸)

Angela still deserves that skate to the head [slayed !]

Murray is slay.

Still cant look at Robins outfit from the psych ward (sorry but yeah nah)

Alexei 😫

Jason is a leader but not a responsible or smart one, like he is hunting down a couple of 20 y/os and their half a dozen 14 y/o children??? And supporting his teammates to do the same (i didnt like him before but jeez dude)

also you can see his style of leadership of basketball and children hunting have some similarities sus

California Dreamin was played because ... *drumroll* THEY ARE IN CALIFORNIA!

The main group are the pick me girls of character developement (they dont develope like other characters~ they get desensitized and are used to death and gore *bites lip, tucks hair behind ear, giggles and pukes little*) but also geniuenly concerned for their sanity:

Argyle: Omg that dude dead, my 1st (?) death, the party is not here my dudes😔, wtf is happening, Ive never been through this, Im meant to deliver pizzas not dead bodies🍍🍍🍍

Byer boys + Mike: Oh my ✨️gawwdd✨️ Argyle get over it already ... like chop chop this agent died like 20 seconds ago move on !

(but they were in danger like Argyle indeed dude chop chop)

Does Yuri always just drug his coffee with sleepy pills? Like my guy thats not what coffee is meant to be used for, and the pills wouldve been low dosage cause unless Yuri is a maths wiz he wouldve been counting his mula for a while

Hop! Just dont have feet. At this point get rid of them! Get those 'orrid manky things outta 'ere!

The most horrific part of ST is not asshole Vecna and his gang, its just watching Hop get his feet dragged or him running around in the snow, no shoes, big cuts, the only thing keeping is feet on his body is Joyce, she is a super glue.

Vecna is more than just a piece of shit, hes the entire digestive system.

But him just targeting traumatised kids and touching them on the fore head, like: "Dw sweetie~ I'll fix you, shh is okay, you be nasty never again <3 Nurse Vecna will make you all better~ :)"

They are not nasty! They just been through some shit. Fuck you twerp

Freds visions with the funeral family giving ✨️Tisphone✨️ vibes ~♡

Early season 4 Mike is an asshole (dw it gets gayer *pats on head*)

Steve 🥰

Robin 😍

Nancy 😘

Eddie 🤩 (star fish boy)

Together united in harmony, they are the power Rangers💕💞✨️✨️

Dacre Montgomery (Billy) was in power Rangers (hes also aAussie which is just so oool)

Conspirewithme: #headcanons

Joyce could totally just go 1v1 brawl with the entirety of the upsidedown, Id pay to see it.

That guy who hired Robin and Steve who also worked at the arcade defo played d&d with Eddie at some point

I need to see El just have a giant therapy dog (think Perrito but Great Dame size)

Mike might be projecting Will onto El butttt he bi af, have you seen his cheekbones??? ( im watching a documentary on "Mike Gay????😱😱")

I am only up to the beggingin of episode 5, gods i hope this makes sense and im not accidently offending anyone

(Im a tag sl**)🐌

[babyawacs]

@all @world @bbc_whys @deutschland @dw @bild #undsoerklaereichesmeinenkindern  sofunktioniert das alles wenndie arbeitsplaetze sagen  /// nun insoeinem system der werterzeugung des auspressens und entsorgens durchoptimiert w a s ist mit denen die nicht koennen und oder wolen was machtman mit denen wo ist der trick wennman die gegeneinander aufhetzt und sich sonst in aeh assimillionaerschicht suhlt mit d em teil des ausbeuter spiels dasman kontrolliert staaten die das kontrollieren und macht haben sortieren  wer ist auspressbar 50prozent welcher wert erzeugung vondem schaa f und wer ist aeh  na ja aeh bereits ausgepresst und eine aeh aeh  l a s t  und schon fuehrt das zu richtig teuflischen dingen ‎ //// als teil der bevoelkerung und der wertschoepfung werden sie im kreislauf des konsumismus un d des verbrauchens gehalten was aber die druecke in denen die funktionierenmuessen selten entschaedigt jenach wirtschaftssystem //// ‎ den arbeitern erklaertniemand das alles  aber sie sind abgerichtet zum funktionieren viel wertvoller als sie meinen  die basis von vieler werterzeugung aber sobald bestimmte dinge nicht funktionieren sie sehr schnell wertlos werden   das ist so was ist gesellschaft und politische systeme stabilitae t dann sehr schnell was aber grossenteilen der spieler egal ist je hoeher das level d er sache ‎ ////

@all @world @bbc_whys @deutschland @dw @bild #undsoerklaereichesmeinenkindern sofunktioniert das alles wenndie arbeitsplaetze sagen /// nun insoeinem system der werterzeugung des auspressens und entsorgens durchoptimiert w a s ist mit denen die nicht koennen und oder wolen was machtman mit denen wo ist der trick wennman die gegeneinander aufhetzt und sich sonst in aeh assimillionaerschicht suhlt…

[aidsyouinthinking]

I am a genie and will grant you your hearts desires!

Oh cool, sooo no whishing for wishes right?

Well... we've completely overhauled the system. Basically, we inqure different parts of yourself for your deep-seated desires-

That's complica-

I'm not finished... So we ask your inner child, your litteral heart's desires-

What?

*quick loud cough*... alright... we ask your heart, and your sole.

...

I'm finished.

Okay... So, when do you start doing that?

Oh, I did it, like while we where talking.

Wait, what? That's like, bad. I didn't really consent-

Nor do I, it just happens, believe me, It's worse for me than you...

Oh... yeah that sucks... sooo what do I get?

... You get to pick two of the following; maltzers are all you need to eat, you exercise more especially cardio, new shoes that have broad ends to reduce pressure on the sole.

?

Dw. Er, you want to understand yourself, less stress for "reduced blood pressure pls thx" direct quote-

What?

...

Sorry. Yes, continue.

And the ability to fly... without shoes and socks on...

Okay... I... when you said souls-

Yeah, no souls are not in the budget, but most people hear feet and sorta leave, thinking I'm some weird cosplayer. Sorry for lying.

No prob... Wait, there's a budget?

Mhm...

I was hoping for more than yes.

*sigh* Well, with all these videos on how to trick genies, upper management's decided to do this.

There's an upper management?!

Do you think corporatization works only for humans?

Ig... I assumed beings that can wish things into existence might have a better solution. Maybe IDK wish for one?

Wow so smart, you forgot one thing... corruption.

*sigh*

Yeah...

I guess I'll take less stress and... maltezer thingy.

Not flight?

I can't just fly around... like... we live in a soc- no I ain't doing that bit...

Okay, so, maltezer thing isn't healthy but does give you all your nutrition.

Eh, it still works, and I can eat other stuff, right?

Yeah.

Is it done now?

Yeah.

Okay so we done here

Yeah...

... Damn, yk... if some part of me made a wish for you, then I would've-

Yeah. Well that's another reason why they do this...

Geeze, erm wow, errr like... can I do anything?

Nope.

Alr, well I wish you well- oh err sorry.

Nah, it's alright.

...

*sigh*

...

[sentientsky]

brilliant, amazing (as well, i love that u threw in the bit again about the bookshop no longer being safe. totally didn't make me feel like crying). also, it's really interesting to think about the way in which appealing to diverging attachment styles further reinforces/bolsters your argument (oh man, i'm slipping back into academic jargon. i'm going to be so annoying for a hot second, sorry). alex, i know you know all of this already, so apologies in advance. i'm going to go off on a tangentially-related idea, but i just had to get this out of my brain lmao.

okay, speaking as someone with a deeply, deeply ingrained (primary) fawn trauma response, the establishment of this pattern is contingent on pre-existing internal factors/wiring combined with experiences of childhood trauma:

(source) This pattern, of having an abusive parent "whose behaviour you [can't] predict" can lead to the development of a disorganized/fearful-avoidant attachment style, in which the individual is both constantly yearning for closeness while simultaneously flinching away (source).

I've heard people discussing Aziraphale's attachment style as purely avoidant, but given how you've highlighted his fawning response, I feel like there's also a case to be made for fearful-avoidant. As a result of the brainwashing he's endured, Aziraphale holds this very dichotomous view of morality (Heaven = axiomatically good / Hell = axiomatically bad), and is constantly confronted with this inconsistency, and like you said, dissonance! "God is good," but She also sought to enact Armageddon, etc. "Heaven is the side of truth and light," but so too do they allow and carry out (or attempt to carry out, in some cases) the murder of children/goats/etc. The "parent whose behaviour you can't predict" (God/Heaven) leads to the development of more of a fearful-avoidant attachment style, in which Azi's constantly both running towards Crowley and away from him, largely out of his own internal religious trauma/strife. e.g., "that's what friends are for" vs. "we're not friends"

In contrast, Crowley has a more nuanced, consequentialist view of morality. Having Fallen, having intimately known the depths of what both Heaven and Hell are capable of (e.g., his time in Hell post-1827), he isn't living with this unpredictable "parent"--he solidly understands that the existing system is fundamentally wrong. Again, this is coming from my own experience as both a fawner and a fearful-avoidant attachment-er (that's a word, shhhh), so please feel free to correct me. Both fawn and fight are self-preservationist at their core, but fawning also seeks to minimize external damage (largely at the expense of one's own wellbeing). !! quick tw for more explicit discussion of verbal/emotional abuse !! As a kid/teenager/early adult, my parents were very verbally and mentally/emotionally abusive. However, due to my reliance on them for my continued survival, alongside my disorganized attachment style (and other factors), I leaned into fawning; I would make myself smaller, quieter, less obstructive. I apologized for anything and everything. I turned myself into a prey animal, etc.--essentially whatever it took to deescalate the situation and make it out intact. And yet, at the end of the day, I retained this desperate need to be loved and to salvage the relationship with those who hurt me. (things r better now, dw!) Similarly, though Aziraphale understands that Heaven has done terrible, horrific things, he maintains this belief in its ultimate redeemability. Again, just to reiterate Alex's point, this doesn't mean that Aziraphale isn't incredibly intelligent or compassionate. Rather, he's struggling with longstanding (literally millions years old) religious trauma and brainwashing. In contrast, Crowley understands that there is no salvaging the relationship with Heaven. For so many thousands of years, he has been told that he is, at his core, wrong. He's been cast out from Heaven, he's been forced to witness violence after violence.

So his reaction of choosing to fight makes complete sense! Like you said,

Even as an angel, he was already questioning the system, he was ready to go and tell God she was doing a terrible job, that her ideas were bad, that he wants to keep his stars and the universe— six thousand years are nothing! If you actively oppose existing rules and defy people's authority over you, fighting is the only option you have unless you plan on giving up or the response becomes too much to deal with.

My brain is starting to get foggy again, so I'm not really sure how to end this lol. Anywayyyyy,,, Your point about Crowley having a primary reaction of fight, with a secondary (or fallback) of flight, is so interesting, and it shifts my understanding of his attachment style. I was under the assumption that he had more of an anxious attachment style, but I'm not sure anymore!!

It was actually rather hard to decide how to begin this meta post because there are essentially going to be two main parts: why Crowley does not actually avoid/run from his problems and why "going off" is not a bad thing regardless.

Then I wrote the first part and realised this is now 2.5k words long, so uhhhh I will grant part 2 its own post.

With that, welcome back to Alex's today-not-unhinged meta corner!

I am going to approach this topic from a psychological angle, which a lot of people have already done, but without explicitly mentioning it or going into depth. All my information comes from personal experience, research, my therapist, and my psychiatrist, just so you know I am not making shit up. I actually dug up some resources my therapist gave me a while ago.

Generally, there are four different fear/survival responses: fight, flight, freeze, and fawn. Most people have probably heard about fight and flight, since those two are usually the only ones that are mentioned/taught, so I will stick to explaining the other two.

"Fawning" refers to actively being submissive and subdued, both physically and emotionally. The goal is to appear non-threatening and to calm whoever is causing the fear response in the first place. It shows up as being overly agreeable, not having thoughts/opinions of your own and ignoring them if you do, your body language changing (e.g., making yourself smaller, taking up less space), and generally attempting to 'keep the peace' or reinstate it.

"Freezing" is pretty much exactly what it says on the tin—you freeze. It means slipping into a dissociative state, which disconnects you from your body, your emotions/mind, and/or the outside world. Usually, people stop being able to talk well or at all, they do not move, and if they do, it is on autopilot; you do not fight or flee, you simply exist until what is causing the fear response is over.

While dissociating, your brain is unable to form full memories—and depending on how heavily you are dissociating, it does not form any memories at all. 

Freezing as a response happens when fight, flight, and fawn aren't possible anymore, e.g., a child who has no internal mechanisms to deal with large amounts of fear because it's a child, so the only way to escape the pain and aggressor is by fleeing into your mind and shutting down.

Why am I telling you all this? Because most people tend to have one or two survival responses that dominate/they usually fall back on, and the same goes for Aziraphale and Crowley.

When faced with an outside problem and a lot of stress, Aziraphale's first instinct is to fawn, to placate the person, to diffuse the situation, to make sure everyone is agreeing, or, at the very least, submitting to authority figures or aggressors. It is what heaven teaches them—stick to the rules, don't ask questions, do what you are told. If fawning involves lying, he will do so, here the need for safety is stronger than his desire to be truthful and stick to his morals.

Unfortunately, the fact that this is his primary fear response is also the reason behind his extreme cognitive dissonance. How can you stick to the rules when you do not know what the rules ARE? So he is stuck trying to figure out what is "good" and what is "bad" so he can be a good angel and avoid doing anything that might be seen as bad or disobedient.

His secondary response to stress or fear is to fight—once it's clear that fawning won't work, he can and will switch over to being more direct and aggressive/less submissive. We see that happening when he gets discorporated in season 1 and needs to get back to earth, at the airbase, or when the bookshop gets attacked.

If I were to ask you what you think Crowley's primary fear response is, how would you respond?

Well, if you said "flight"—you're wrong, and I will explain why.

Flight is his secondary fear response, it is what he falls back on in absolute emergencies when everything is doomed and there's nothing he can do anymore.

Before that, though, he fights.

Even as an angel, he was already questioning the system, he was ready to go and tell God she was doing a terrible job, that her ideas were bad, that he wants to keep his stars and the universe— six thousand years are nothing! If you actively oppose existing rules and defy people's authority over you, fighting is the only option you have unless you plan on giving up or the response becomes too much to deal with.

Fear itself happens when you or someone/something you love is being threatened (whether that threat is real or simply perceived as such doesn't matter), plus there are a large number of more irrational fears.

Crowley's creations were threatened -> He goes against the rules, he wants to fight for them.

On the walls of Eden, he questions God and talks to an angel, his hereditary enemy, once again defying the rules, questioning them.

Job and his children were threatened -> He goes against orders to try and save them.

There is good reason to believe he went against God by saving some of the children from the flood.

He showed Jesus the kingdoms of the world—do we really think that was based on orders? No, it was once again Crowley not playing by the rules.

Wessex? He proposes the Arrangement, which is one gigantic "fuck you" in his fight against celestial rules. Everything after that goes back to Crowley knowing that their jobs suck and that they can cheat, fight the system by working together. In 1827, it gets him pulled to hell and punished, and yet he does not stop; he keeps fighting.

Crowley is the one who immediately tries to stop the apocalypse. Aziraphale needs to be talked into it, needs to be convinced with selfish reasons and personal pleasure.

The reason why both heaven and hell absolutely loathe him is not because he is a runner; it's because he constantly and consistently defies them. He fights.

In season two, he immediately tries to deal with the Gabriel problem while Aziraphale is standing behind him and saying "I don't know" to all of his questions. Taking him somewhere so they can figure shit out in peace is not 'running'—it's smart. Sure, it's far from ideal, but we see what keeping him in the bookshop brought them, don't we? The hiding miracle is what tipped heaven and hell off in the first place.

Aziraphale goes to Edinburgh based on a hunch, but once again—did that help? Did his journalist roleplay trip actually provide vital information that solved a single puzzle piece of that mess? No. Finding out that Gabriel was at that pub with some mystery person was a nice fact to know, but that's it.

During the ball, Crowley is scared, vigilant, prowling around the shop, checking windows, telling Aziraphale to "stop this charade" so they can figure out what to do. Aziraphale, in that moment, was already convinced that sticking to the rules would save them—a heavenly embassy on a technicality, surely the group of fallen angels who got booted due to not following heaven's rules will respect that.

Crowley goes to heaven, which is once again him actively looking for a solution, while Aziraphale also falls back on fighting because fawning is not going to do shit.

There are three times during which Crowley suggests fleeing—which is his secondary fear response—but those are exceptions. Let's have a look at them.

The first one is at the bandstand, the evening before the Apocalypse, and since Aziraphale is lying to him, the situation seems hopeless to him. Yet he is still having his 'agents' look for him, is still fighting.

Do you know why he even suggests running? He is about to leave when Aziraphale calls him back with "there isn't anywhere to go," and now allow me to insert the following passage from the scriptbook.

Crowley looks back. He looks at Aziraphale. Above them, a beautiful starry sky. And Crowley softens.

"Big universe. Even if this all ends up in a puddle of burning goo, we could go off together."

The sentence in the show is slightly different, but they have one thing in common: If.

IF the world ends, we can still leave and be together. IF.

Crowley is NOT saying "let's leave", he is presenting Aziraphale with a contingency plan in case stopping the Apocalypse does not work. He is NOT running, he isn't even SUGGESTING to run.

It's a "if the world ends, we can be together. We don't need to be with hell or heaven; we can be in the stars," because remember what the end of the world would mean? Eternal torture for Crowley while Aziraphale bores himself to death in heaven.

The next time he suggests it again—when he stops Aziraphale on the street—several things have happened.

First, he did not leave. If he truly wanted to flee, he would have by now, but he didn't. He sits in a cinema waiting for the end: "Out of time. Out of hope," as Neil puts it. Then Hastur and Ligur show up on screen and tell him, 'You're dead meat, Crowley. You're bloody history. […] We're coming to collect you'.

We all know that means "eternal torture in hell," but if you're not convinced for some reason, have another snippet from the script book that did not make it into the show.

Dagon is speaking from the Bentley's radio while he drives towards the bookshop, saying that something has gone wrong and they're sure he has a 'perfectly reasonable explanation' for it. Once he gets out of the car, however, Dagon still keeps going and says the following:.

"Your explanation, and the circumstances that will accompany it, will provide a source of entertainment for all the damned of hell, Crowley. Because no matter what agonies the damned are suffering, Crowley, you will have it worse."

Crowley already knows that. He has been punished by them before, heard, seen, lived torture, there is no doubt as to what will happen should they catch him. So he does what any person with a single fucking brain cell would do—he tries to get his loved one and FLEE.

Flight is the best response in this situation, and if you need me to explain why, then honestly, I cannot help you anymore. I won't go into detail about Aziraphale's response, but, tl;dr, it was shitty and incredibly hurtful, go figure.

Now, let's get to situation number 3, which is his speech during the final fifteen. We do not have an official script for that, but someone did make transcriptions for all episodes; you can find them here. Additionally, I will copy some of what I already said in a different meta post.

Crowley, stuck in his trauma-induced hypervigilance and paranoia, suggests putting as much distance between them and the problem as possible. I think it is interesting that in ep1 he wants to get Gabriel away from them, while at the end of the season, he is ready to get them away from the problem.

So far, I have never seen anyone mention that change! And it’s important! The entire season, it is hammered into our heads how much they love being on earth. It is THEIR bookshop and THEIR car and THEIR life.

Crowley wants to protect that home, and Gabriel is a threat to it, a threat to both of them, their life, the bookshop—everything. He does not want to leave, he wants his peace and angel in one place.

Yet by allowing Gabriel to stay, Aziraphale destroyed the sense of comfort and safety Crowley had slowly developed over the last few decades. Heaven nipping down every now and then to check in with Aziraphale is very different from him sheltering the Supreme Archangel who is running from ‘something terrible’ without even asking if he’s alright with that.

Aziraphale calls it their bookshop, but he fundamentally still sees it as his space to govern and Crowley as a guest; he even calls it a 'heavenly embassy'.

After another horrible week and having his previously safe space violated by several different times and beings, Crowley is back to where he was before—without a home. That fragile existence broke apart, so he is standing in the heap of shards and telling Aziraphale 'I don’t feel safe here anymore, let’s leave’.

He lost his safe space, but he still has his safe person, his best and only friend, the person he loves. I doubt he cares where exactly they go as long as they’re together and it’s safe.

Returning to heaven—it is the one place Crowley cannot follow him to. It’s literally the worst option, he can’t go back, he won’t go back. So he invokes the bookshop again, if you don’t want to stay for me, stay for the bookshop, your books, your corner of existence that I thought we had carved out for ourselves.

There is a common error that people make regarding the timeline, which is assuming that during this conversation they are already aware of the impending apocalypse—but they aren't. Aziraphale himself has no clue, and while Crowley saw the conversation and trial, he does NOT know when it will happen. For all he knows, it could be tomorrow, could be in a thousand years, and, even if he had been given a date, I doubt they laid out all the details and how to stop it.

Considering that his original plan was "get drunk at the Ritz and then have us time," I don't think he knew literally anything about how or when to stop it. So no, Crowley does NOT suggest running away from earth and leaving it to die.

All he wants is some bloody peace and quiet where no demons, angels, or power-hungry floating heads can interrupt them. A space that is safe and theirs. There are also zero mentions of where he wants them to go; he is not talking about the stars or the universe. He wants to get away from where they currently are because heaven and hell show up uninvited whenever they please.

If your boss and ex-boss constantly kicked down your front door and stated their wish to torture you, would you stay there or would you move? Yeah.

This post got very long, but it was long overdue.

I am tired of seeing people call Crowley a callous coward who always runs away from his problems when he is the literal opposite. You take three sentences said under exceptional circumstances and apply them to Crowley as a whole, when it is nothing but his last ditch effort to keep himself and Aziraphale safe.

One last thing: If you come onto my post and start aggressively arguing about this, I will block you. Genuine discussions and questions are always welcome, being a dick is not, and I also simply cannot handle some of the rhetoric people in this fandom perpetuate because it's very triggering.

Make your own post, don't do it on mine.

[the-er-system]

✌︎ Intro And DNI ✌︎

⚀ Basic Intro

Physically, we’re nineteen, disabled, neurodivergent, and an ambulatory wheelchair user. The reason we’re called the ER System is because we’re a medical disaster, and so far it’s been three-four years of medical testing with no answers. C’est la vie

⚁ Alter Guide

There’s a lot of us and our system is constantly changing as we figure things out. Just check the tags for things we post and we’ll maybe do intros. Some of us post to the side blogs @system-scientists and @er-gamer-girlies

❥ #er system Cain

-DNI

❥ #er system DW

-mid 40s, they/them

❥ #er system Jason

-19, he/him

❥ #er system Jo

-17, any pronouns

❥ #er system Leo

-16, he/him

❥ #er system Magpie

-19, they/them

❥ #er system Mikey

-DNI unless you’re a friend

Boundaries: We don’t want to answer questions about our system unless you’re a close friend. We formed because of trauma and are too tired to really engage in endo discourse, so we prefer if pro-endo people leave us alone. If we’re looking for content on OSDD, we’d prefer it be from other traumagenic systems.

⚂ DNI

✘ Any of the phobes

✘ Pro-shippers

✘ The usual people on these lists y’all know who you are

✘ Evangelicals

✘ People who think non-physically disabled people can reclaim cripple or count as cripplepunk. I don’t care if you’re neurodivergent or whatever else. I am too but that’s not what makes me cripplepunk. I’m not gonna argue this fuck off

✘ Fakeclaimers

✘ Pro-endo

✘ Pro-irls

✘ Literally anyone obsessed with internet discourse and that qualifies as Absurdly Online

[olderthannetfic]

Hey so I recently saw something that idk if it's a reportable offense or what, but it was so wild that I felt like at minimum I needed to share. There's this fic called "Oddly specific rp request" – it's 60 words long, and it's just the author asking for someone to rp with them. But here's where it gets weird: they found someone, and the two of them then proceeded to rp back and forth in the comments section for five months.

Like... this fic has 34,354 comments on it at this point. Only like five of them are outside of the one rp thread, and they're all in another thread which is literally just someone asking how the fuck there are 34,354 comments on what is basically just a personal ad. The two rp-ers chimed in to say that at this point, it's not even really rp, they just like to talk.

I wasn't actually able to verify that last part, though, because I tried to click "show more" on the rp thread, and AO3 couldn't load it and threw up an error message.

Like I know that interactive fics are a thing and all, but... surely this is against the rules, right?

--

Sigh...

I mean... is the work itself a fanwork? Not really. (So that's reportable.)

But if I were the Abuse team and I had to field this one, I would probably tell the person to c&p the comment threads into another chapter, declare it a valid fanwork, and call it a day.

Much as I don't want to encourage stupid RP requests as AO3 works or to just declare that unsuccessful RP ads are bad while successful ones are good, cleaned up RP transcripts have long been posted in fanfic spaces, and reporting this work will probably just get it converted into a real work rather than getting it taken down (and that would be a good thing, in my opinion). So... gray area? Kind of?

It's not unheard of to use the comments section as a fanwork. I wrote a joke years ago that was the first Ghost Soup Infidel Blue fic, and while the body is technically a (bad) fic, the actual point is the fake fandom wank in the comments. (I recruited people to start fake fights before the recipient woke up.) "Ghost Soup" was a hypothetical fandom in a meta post about how to write exchange letters, and the idea of standard fandom wank was kind of baked into the original example, so I thought it would be hilarious to get fans to riff off of that. In fact, a bunch of people after the recruits saw what was going on, got the joke, and jumped in.

It's not the same situation since the body of that work was an actual work, but I don't want to be super ultra draconian about weird meta uses of AO3 either, you know?

I would personally leave this one alone because it's just going to give Abuse a headache. There's plenty of low-hanging fruit to go after instead.

FWIW, to RPers reading, while AO3 was designed for comment threads, it was conceived of as a bit more static and less social media-y. The heavier the interactions, the more strain on the system. (Running twitter is harder, on a technical level, than running a site full of static text documents. That's a lot of why OTW wanted to focus on an archive, not make fandom's next social media home.) I think a better procedure would be to RP on Dreamwidth, posting a cleaned up transcript to AO3 if that's your thing. I know a lot of you already use DW or other more suitable platforms, but for those of you from other corners of the RP world...

[whispering-raine]

Hi yes Go-Kart hcs for CC characters even tho no one asked

Preston passes Max and Max immediately goes "FUCK YOU!" and flips him off.

Space Kid has to sit in a kart with one of the adults (he's too short to ride by himself; he can't reach the pedals) so he rides with Gwen.

Neil ends up accidentally bumping into Space Kids/Gwens cart and while turning around to shout "I'M SO SORRY!", he accidentally runs into someone else.

Dolph is also too short, so he shares a kart with Ered.

Nurf goes absolutely batshit on everyone. He probably gets kicked out eventually.

Nikki ends up forming an alliance with Nurf and gets kicked out too.

David doesn't ride the first few times bc he's genuinely scared that he's gonna hit someone, and Max just drags him to one of the karts and he's like "Get your ass in one of these and have some actual fun for once."

David ends up loving it.

Cameron is so fucking tall that he can't even fit in one of the karts (thank Xemüg for that, he'd probably kill someone if he could), so he just stands by the fence with a slight smile on his face as he watches the kids enjoy themselves.

Quartermaster tried to hack the system to make them go as fast as possible. David immediately stopped him.

Nerris and Harrison are at each others throats the whole time. Harrison gets so mad at them that he almost threatens to make them disappear. He just decides to calm down before he talks again. (Dw he's alright, he just needed a second to cool down.)

Oh yeah, also, Dolph ends up switching carts to sit with David bc Ered is a bit too extreme for him.

Max throws out death threats left and right whenever someone passes him, just to make sure everyone knew that he wasn't just "playing around". He really was just playing around, but this little edgy asshole would never admit it.

Gwen checks so many damn times that everyones seatbelts are buckled good (yes, even Davids), and she's most definitely worried about everyones safety, but she says that "she doesn't want to do the paperwork for a dead camper". It's obvious she cares a fuck ton about everyone tho. David lets her think she fooled him and the campers.

Max hits everyone except for Gwens/Space Kids cart bc 1, He doesn't wanna deal with a pissed off Gwen. 2, He honestly just doesn't wanna hurt Space Kid. He has nothing serious against the kid. 3, Gwen isn't going fast, so the kart won't pass him anyway.

At one point, Quartermaster turns to Cameron, sees him smiling, and immediately goes "...You're smiling..?" and Cameron stops smiling and clears his throat and he's just all like "What was that?". Quartermaster has no energy left to argue with Cameron, so he drops it.

Welp. That's it. Hope y'all enjoyed whatever this is.

[thebibliosphere]

#sorry to reblog a somewhat personal post#but uh i had no idea anaphylactic reactions could include those symptoms

Absolutely please reblog this and spread awareness!!

Not enough people know what anaphylaxis actually looks like, and it can be life-saving.

My early warning signs are GI, systemic, and circulatory, which meant my anaphylactoid reactions were misdiagnosed as mental health issues for years until an ER doctor saw me go into shock and realized what was happening. If I wait to have the classic hives and breathing issues before seeking medical care, it'd already be too late.

(Also, dw about reblogging my posts. If I don't want something rebloggable, I'll make it non-rebloggable.)

Wondering why my anxiety is so fucking high and why my body feels weird. Like, 'the end of the world is happening inside my bones' weird.

Then realized I'd been so migrained for the last 2 days that I'd forgotten all my mast cell stabilizers.

Insert-scream-painting.jpg-here.

[gayroytheory]

WAIT UR IN THE ER?? i hope u are ok!!

dw im ok i am home now with my wife! very sweet of u though

yeah i was in the ER for over 7 hour LOL.. im not actually that sick but i have medi cal and am poore so no regular doctor would see me.. american healthcare system is broken. but i rly needed to see someone cuz I've had a migraine for 8 days literally nonstop and i wanted to make sure i dont have inflammation or somthng. aanywayyy

[newstfionline]

Sunday, March 7, 2021

Job Market Picks Up Strength (NYT) Driven by unexpectedly large job gains at the nation’s restaurants and bars, the labor market picked up strength in February, raising hopes that the economic recovery was taking hold more firmly. All told, employers added 379,000 jobs, the government reported Friday, the strongest showing since October. The increase, as vaccination efforts ramped up and restrictions on businesses eased, followed a deep loss in December and a modest rise in January. But the February pace was still far short of the gains recorded from late spring to early fall as the pandemic’s sudden stranglehold loosened. There are roughly 9.5 million fewer jobs than a year ago, and a year’s worth of lost opportunities—as many as two million jobs that would most likely have been created if previous hiring trends had continued. Congress is considering a $1.9 trillion package of pandemic relief intended to carry struggling households and businesses through the coming months.

Can Biden Keep Coal Country From Becoming a ‘Ghost Town’? (NYT) From a porch in Martin County, Ky., in 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson declared a war on poverty. Decades later, President Barack Obama dedicated millions of dollars to work force development projects in Appalachia. President Donald J. Trump even pledged the impossible: a revival of the region’s faltering coal industry. President Biden is talking big, too, assuring residents that his climate plan will also create well-paying jobs there. But after generations of promises, communities once reliant on coal mining are understandably skeptical. Administration after administration has tried to bring the region sustained prosperity, yet many communities remain on the brink. In eastern Kentucky, the poverty rate in several counties exceeds 30 percent. Unemployment is among the highest in the nation. And an outward migration over several decades has cut the populations of some counties nearly in half, leaving local governments strapped for tax revenue and struggling to fund essential services. “Fifty years from now, this could be a ghost town,” said former Gov. Paul E. Patton, an eastern Kentucky native. “That’s my prediction.”

Hyperinflation Pushes Venezuela to Print 1,000,000-Bolivar Bills (Bloomberg) Venezuela said it will introduce new large-denomination bolivar notes as hyperinflation renders most bills worthless, forcing citizens to turn to the U.S. dollar for everyday transactions. The country’s central bank posted a statement on its website Friday saying it would begin circulating the new 200,000, 500,000 and 1,000,000 bills to “fulfill the current economy’s requirements” without providing further details. The 1,000,000 note—the largest in the nation’s history—is worth only $0.53 cents. As Venezuela’s economy shrank for a seventh straight year in 2020, the government turned a blind eye to a growing number of dollar transactions, kick-started by rolling power outages that prevented credit and debit card purchases and fostered the use of cash. About 66% of transactions across the country are estimated to be made in foreign currency, according to Ecoanalitica. While the dollar has gained ground, Venezuelans continue to rely on bolivar bills for public transportation and to purchase subsidized fuel. The Caracas subway recently issued an electronic payment system after it routinely stopped charging passengers due to cash shortages.

Protesters and Police Clash in Paraguay Amid Anger Over Pandemic Response (Reuters) Protesters clashed with the police in Paraguay’s capital, Asunción, late on Friday as anger over the government’s handling of the coronavirus crisis boiled onto the streets and forced the resignation of the country’s top health official. Security forces fired rubber bullets and tear gas at hundreds of demonstrators who had gathered around the Congress building, while protesters broke down security barriers, burned road barricades and threw stones at the police. The protests broke out amid growing outrage as coronavirus infections hit record levels and hospitals verged on collapse throughout Paraguay.

UK COVID-19 lockdown provides boom towns for rats (Deutsche Welle) Rats, and other members of the rodent family, have a lousy reputation. They crop up regularly in our everyday language to describe bleak situations and sentiments (Rats!, caught in a rat race, someone with rat-like features—you get the drift). They seem to be omnipresent in the best of times, but now, they’re having a, er, field day. In London and other major cities across the UK, rat sightings have soared during the pandemic. The British Pest Control Association (BPCA), which represents 700 vermin catchers across the country, said its members reported a 51% hike in rodent activity during the first lockdown last spring, and a 78% increase in November after the next lockdown. Typically, rats avoid humans and make drains and sewers their homes. However, as a result of shuttered businesses and deserted high streets, the creatures are out in full force and making restaurants, pubs and empty buildings their new habitat as they look for other sources to satisfy their dietary needs. “It seems their lifestyle patterns are changing. Rats, in particular, are also becoming more visible in areas of population. With less footfall across cities and towns, there is less associated food waste being left in bins and on the floor. Also, bin areas behind restaurants and pubs are empty and free of food waste making it unavailable for the local rat population,” Natalie Bungay, technical officer with the BPCA, told DW via email. As a result, rats are also moving further afield to find other food sources. “Rats seem to be moving from cities closer to residential areas, where we’re still filling our bins with food waste,” says Bungay.

Brexit Antagonism Escalates as EU, U.K. Go Another Round (Bloomberg) When the U.K. and European Union shook hands on a trade deal late last year, few expected the new relationship to be plain sailing. And as with many divorces, antagonism between the sides has refused to fade. Among the most sensitive issues is Northern Ireland, and tensions ramped up considerably this week when the U.K. announced it will ignore some crucial obligations under the Brexit deal and the EU responded with a dramatic threat of legal action. With Prime Minister Boris Johnson already under pressure from members of his own party to rip up the Northern Ireland deal, the risk is a further escalation that erodes relations. That could have spillovers far beyond politics, and the ongoing saga is a frustration for business. The U.K.’s huge finance industry, for example, is seeing the potential for beneficial trade agreements being slowly whittled away by endless political spats.

Pope, top Iraq Shiite cleric hold historic, symbolic meeting (AP) Pope Francis and Iraq’s top Shiite cleric delivered a powerful message of peaceful coexistence Saturday, urging Muslims in the war-weary Arab nation to embrace Iraq’s long-beleaguered Christian minority during an historic meeting in the holy city of Najaf. Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani said religious authorities have a role in protecting Iraq’s Christians, and that Christians should live in peace and enjoy the same rights as other Iraqis. The Vatican said Francis thanked al-Sistani for having “raised his voice in defense of the weakest and most persecuted” during some of the most violent times in Iraq’s recent history. Al-Sistani, 90, is one of the most senior clerics in Shiite Islam and his rare but powerful political interventions have helped shape present-day Iraq. He is a deeply revered figure in Shiite-majority Iraq and his opinions on religious and other matters are sought by Shiites worldwide. The historic meeting in al-Sistani’s humble home was months in the making, with every detail painstakingly discussed and negotiated between the ayatollah’s office and the Vatican. The “very positive” meeting lasted a total of 40 minutes, said a religious official in Najaf.

A decade after Fukushima nuclear disaster, contaminated water symbolizes Japan’s struggles (Washington Post) Beside the ruins of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, more than 1,000 huge metal tanks loom in silent testament to one of the worst nuclear disasters in history, the meltdown of three nuclear reactors 10 years ago this month. The tanks contain nearly 1.25 million tons of cooling water from the 2011 disaster and groundwater seepage over the years—equivalent to around 500 Olympic-size swimming pools—most of it still dangerously radioactive. Running out of space to build more tanks, the government wants to gradually release the water into the sea—after it has been decontaminated and diluted—over the next three decades or more. Even though a formal decision has yet to be announced, the government and the Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) have insisted that an ocean release is their preferred solution and that it is perfectly safe. The only thing holding them back appears to be the Olympics and the bad publicity it could generate before the Games begin in July, experts say. The idea of releasing the water has infuriated Fukushima’s fishing community, only now getting back on its feet after taking a battering in the wake of the 2011 disaster and the subsequent ocean contamination. Also angry is South Korea, even though it is more than 600 miles away on the other side of Japan.

Hong Kong reforms prevent ‘dictatorship of the majority’, pro-Beijing lawmaker says (Reuters) China’s proposal for Hong Kong electoral reforms could prevent a “dictatorship of the majority”, pro-Beijing Hong Kong lawmaker Martin Liao told Reuters on Saturday. The Chinese parliament is discussing plans to overhaul Hong Kong’s electoral system to ensure Beijing loyalists are in charge. Hong Kong representatives, in Beijing for an annual session, say the change is necessary and desirable. “Many people in Hong Kong are politically immature,” Liao, who sits on both Hong Kong’s and China’s legislature, said in a telephone interview. “They think ‘one man one vote’ is the best thing, and they take advice from countries that don’t even have ‘one man one vote’,” Liao said, referring to how neither the U.S. President nor the British Prime Minister is elected by a popular vote. The proposed changes, which include expanding the city’s Election Committee from 1,200 to 1,500 people and expanding the city’s Legislative Council from 70 to 90 seats, will make Hong Kong’s electoral system more “representative”, and less prone to “dictatorship of the majority”, Liao added. Critics say that Beijing would be able to stack the two bodies with even more pro-establishment members, to gain the numerical superiority needed to influence important decisions such as the election of the city’s Chief Executive, leaving Hong Kong voters with less direct say in who they want to lead them.

Myanmar forces fire tear gas, stun grenades on protest as U.N. envoy calls for action (Reuters) Myanmar security forces used tear gas and stun grenades to break up a protest in Yangon on Saturday, just hours after a United Nations special envoy called on the Security Council to take action against the ruling junta for the killings of protesters. The Southeast Asian country has been plunged in turmoil since the military overthrew and detained elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Feb. 1, with daily protests and strikes that have choked business and paralysed administration. More than 50 protesters have been killed since the coup, according to the United Nations—at least 38 on Wednesday alone. The army says it has been restrained in stopping the protests, but has said it will not allow them to threaten stability.

Lebanon on edge as protests persist, caretaker PM pleads for new government (Reuters) Demonstrators blocked various roadways across Lebanon for the fifth day in a row on Saturday, and a heavy army presence filled parts of the capital as anger simmered over the country’s economic downturn. Caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab threatened in a speech earlier in the day to stop performing his duties to pressure politicians to form a new government. Groups of protesters have been burning tyres daily to block roads since the Lebanese currency tumbled to a new low on Tuesday, enraging a population long horrified by the country’s financial meltdown. Lebanon’s financial crisis, which erupted in 2019, has wiped out jobs, raised warnings of growing hunger and locked people out of their bank deposits. A new cabinet could implement reforms needed to trigger billions of dollars of international aid.

Electricity, time, and Bitcoin (The Baffler) In early 2018, millions of digital clocks across Europe began falling behind time. Few took notice at first as slight disruptions in the power supply caused bedside alarms and oven timers running on the frequency of electric current to begin lagging. Three minutes were lost in January, three more in February. In March, the Brussels-based European Network of Transmission System Operators of Electricity issued an apology. Whoever was causing the unprecedented power shortages “must cease”—but, until they did, the thirty-six nations plugged into Europe’s common electric grid were tasked with ratcheting up their voltage frequencies to speed the continent’s clocks back up. European authorities soon traced the power fluctuations to North Kosovo, a region commonly described as one of Europe’s last ganglands. Since 2015, its major city, Mitrovica, has been under the control of Srpska Lista, a mafia masquerading as a political party. Around the time Srpska came to power, North Kosovo’s electricity consumption surged. Officials at the Kosovo Electricity Supply Company in Prishtina, Kosovo’s capital city, told me that the region now requires 20 percent more power than it did five years ago. Eventually, it became clear why: across the region, from the shabby apartment blocks of Mitrovica to the cellars of mountain villages, Bitcoin and Ethereum rigs were humming away, fueling a shadow economy of cryptocurrency manufacturing.

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Doctor ... WTF?

An impassioned rant about the steady decline of Doctor Who, the trajectory of the Thirteenth Doctor, and the righteous indignation after The Timeless Children, not only as a Whovian, but as a woman-

I love how certain people are spinning The Timeless Children as being good, yet the BBC has released (2)TWO statements basically telling fans the following:

“Doctor Who is a beloved long-running series and we understand that some people will feel attached to a particular idea they have of the Doctor, or that they enjoy certain aspects of the programme more than others. Opinions are strong and this is indicative of the imaginative hold that Doctor Who has – that so many people engage with it on so many different levels.

We wholeheartedly support the creative freedom of the writers and we feel that creating an origin story is a staple of science fiction writing. What was written does not alter the flow of stories from William Hartnell’s brilliant Doctor onwards – it just adds new layers and possibilities to this ongoing saga.”

Creative freedom, huh? Ask Joe Hill about it. Or Gaiman. The writers, including Chibnall, are only free to do what the Beeb and the other show investors tell them. 

They go on:

“We have also received many positive reactions to the episode’s cliff-hanger. There are still a lot of questions to be answered, and we hope that you will come back to join us and see what happens, but we appreciate that it’s impossible to please all of our viewers all of the time and your feedback has been raised with the programme’s Executive Producer." 

Uglylaughing.gif

There is a huge, monumental difference between 'not being able to please everyone all at the same time' and basically making a whole fandom, New and Classic, young and old, come together with the same level of disgust and disappointment.

I also find the people arguing "Canon? What canon?" about the Doctor now being the Lord and Savior of the Shining World of the Seven Systems to be foolish at best, and disingenuous at worst.

No canon?? So what have I been steeping myself in for years  - a vague approximation of a tale? Please. Of course, writers have embellished and alluded, but tampering with the unspoken but well-known 'no touch' rule about the Doctor's origin is ... well, it's canon, in and of itself...

...which Chibnall completely wrecked, and I can't imagine why. Hubris? By all accounts, he was a fan. I thought Moffat was a dick for bringing back Gallifrey, but now, to me, my disappointment then vs now is like comparing a fart to a shitstorm.

Please excuse the scatological references, but I'm using it deliberately. It is a swirling turd, which I and many others wish we could flush down and forget forever.

In another RadioTimes article - which basically is the BBC - amongst the usual apologetics, Huw Fullerton drops this little gem:

“The glory days of David Tennant et al were in a different TV landscape, and if the Tenth Doctor touched down now it seems unlikely he’d command anything close to the ratings he did over a decade ago.”

Yeah, you can all take a break to have a hearty laugh. Or throw up. Whichever. Did they just hint that, basically, the incarnation of the Doctor who continues to get as much love (if not more) than Four, who still consistently gets thousands of butts in seats in conventions worldwide, and has made the BBC hundreds of thousands of pounds sterling in merchandising “wouldn’t command the ratings he did in 2008?”

As Gary Buechler of Nerdrotic said in his response to this article: “Actually, if David Tennant had been given as many chances as Jodie Whittaker, it would’ve had Game of Thrones-level ratings.”

And I agree. Not because I’m a Tenth Doctor stan, but because it’s just ... categorically true. His seasons consistently got average rating of 7.5 to 8 million viewers - and this in a time before BBCiPlayer, so 7-day catch up ratings meant nothing. It was butts on sofas then, which, to me, speaks of a massive, sustained interest.

But Huw goes on to say that such things mean nothing. And that the huge, telling sink in both overnight and 7-day ratings between the 11th and 12th seasons, and the dismal 4.69m 7 day ratings for The Timeless Children - the lowest for a NewWho finale since its reboot - shouldn’t be taken as a loss of interest from the fandom.

Then, pray tell goodman, what does it mean? Does it mean that fans are following the Thirteenth Doctor’s adventures in spirit? Ratings are tanking. Outside of the precious few who blindly tweet and write articles about the show solely based on its now female protagonist, people are notoriously furious, especially after the execrable season finale.

Yet BBC’s Piers Wenger, who once produced the show, says “I don’t think it’s been in better health, editorially. I think it’s fantastic and I think that, the production values obviously have never been better.”

Right. Okay. So, putting Tom Ford makeup on a pig makes it haute couture, huh? The writing is appalling, and after two excruciatingly painful to watch seasons, the Doctor has failed to appear - all I’ve seen is borderline sociopathic navel gazing from an ‘alien’ wearing a pastel duster.

How dare you besmirch the unfailingly cool reputation of the long coat, Chibnall? Jodie? How?? 

I will not let someone piss on my head and call it rain ... ‘because it’s a woman.’ Assuming I’ll accept it just adds insult to injury. Who do they think we are, as female fans? I will not cosign garbage to further an agenda that is ultimately damaging one of my favorite things ever, Doctor Who. I agree that politics, and a positive moral, have always been a part of DW, but at it’s best the writing was so good that it only added to the entertainment. Now, the BBC is feeding us all the bitter pill, without the kindness to hide it in a piece of tasty cheese. It gives the impression that they believe we are already so indoctrinated that we no longer need artifice!

Well, not only am I not indoctrinated, but I refuse to ingest.

I refuse to allow people to silence me because the Doctor is now a woman, and so am I. That, I shouldn’t say anything, or complain, because it’s an act of rebellion on womankind, not only in entertainment, but in general. Well, to that I say ... er ... I disavow.

Disavow. Disavow.

And this from a woman who once criticized Peter Davison for saying that casting a woman was “a vital loss of a role model for boys,” taking it as a sexist comment when in truth, it was just a relevant narrative concern about gender-swapping the traditionally male-presenting Time Lord. Just changing a character from male to female doesn’t do anything but demonstrate a tone-deafness about the emotional and physical differences between men and women, which exist whether we want to address them or not. This is why genderswap reboots are terrible. They are trying to further the feminist agenda, while surreptitiously painting traditional, every day femininity as weakness, and something to be avoided at all costs. I reject the modern Hollywood representation of what a ‘strong woman’ is meant to be. I can be clever, yet sensitive enough to comfort a friend when they confide their fears about a cancer relapse. I can be funny, and not at the expense of the man in the room. I can be brave, but not at the expense of my friends. The mind boggles as to why they thought their current tack with the Doctor was going to be any good. The Doctor is a woman, but more importantly, she’s a Timelord. Where are they? Is the alien that we’ve known and loved for the last 60 years truly gone away, and Thirteen is from a whole different timeline? If so, I don’t want to know her. 

And it breaks my heart.

Why continue to support a corporation who thinks of me, the fan, as no more than a heartless, thoughtless consumer? A drone? A sheep who has no conscious idea of what I like or need?

I’m done. It’s been two seasons of absolute dreck, with absolutely no sign of a course-correction due to the overwhelmingly negative response. I may be many things, but I’m no masochist - even in the name of love. And Chibnall, knowing that many fans would go back to the classic stories to cleanse ourselves, went back to the beginning and took a giant shit there too. 

Oh, the cleverness! the absolute schadenfreude of not only tampering, but rewriting the Doctor’s origins! I suppose that tells me he truly was once a fan. But no longer. Even if it turns out that the Master is as full of crap as Chibnall and it’s all an orchestrated lie, I don’t care anymore. Every inexplicable, terrible thing that happened before has already exhausted my patience with the narrative.

As veteral DW writer and script editor Terrance Dicks said:

If you’re concentrating on putting forth a political message, rather than on doing a really good show, I think there is a danger, maybe, you can do both but it would be hellish difficult, and I think that there’s maybe a danger that the show wouldn’t as be as good as it could or should be, because you’re not looking at the right aims.”

It seems like all that has been lost in time. Big corporations are buying up beloved science fiction properties, and systematically destroying them by trying to mix their politics into the mythos. [see ‘the fandom menace’]

I say, don’t support things that make you unhappy, in the name of nostalgia. That’s how they continue to upset us, while lining their pockets with our hard earned money. Complaining amongst ourselves, writing emails, or making angry Youtube videos no longer works anyway. Now is the time to just ... let it go. No more special edition DVDs, novelizations, or pretty action figures. Hit them in the pocketbook. We will still have fond memories of better times. I will not let them hijack, retcon, and retool them too.

There is a telling paragraph hidden in the depths of the article, which makes my DW fangirl sink:

It’s not as simple as “the ratings are down so Doctor Who will be cancelled,” as for the publicly-funded BBC there’s an interesting question about exactly what ratings are for beyond bragging rights. Obviously they need to make TV that people want to watch – but which people?

Not us, Huw. That’s who.