#i was going to include a section on work where the author is not problematic but the content is but then that felt not related lol

[lakesbian]

ok Worm Bigotry Breakdown in more detail for @silverflyingpikachu

tl;dr: author is Cishet White Guy From Canada In 2011. he ostensibly thinks he is progressive. this does not change his proclivity for tossing his Cishet White Guy From Canada Biases into the books and then saying even more bigoted things in defense of those writing decisions on forums. wildbow is just some cunt on the forums with bad opinions on wildbow's writing. the book is 1.7 million words long but i believe in my ability 2 categorize this shit with decent accuracy. everyone who has ever said worm's CWs can't be categorized, including wildbow himself, is a lying ass bitch. this will include some vague spoilers, because i can't really go in-depth without a few examples, but i'll stay away from anything too plot-critical.

racism:

- worm is fundamentally a book abt systems of power and the ways in which they suck. some of the critiques worm issues--e.g, its depiction of how school systems enable bullying, inspired by wildbow's own experiences w/ the school systems as a deaf kid--are viscerally accurate and incredibly compelling. but wildbow fundamentally doesn't understand how certain systems of oppression work--e.g policing--and subsequently, his attempts at depicting them occasionally fall flat onto their face and land in racist territory. this gets particularly nasty when combined w/ the White Guy Author propensity for racist stereotypes--for example, his chosen face of police brutality is a black girl portrayed as predatory & animalistic.

- who is also one of the only black people in the book overall, alongside--for example--an addict portrayed as having less interiority & being less deserving of empathy than A Literal Fucking Nazi. also, the main characters have to team up with the nazis "for the greater good" (defeating the mean asian villains) at one point. it is a mercy to the readers when this part of the story ends. - there are two black characters in the main cast. for the first, wildbow just Straight Up Forgot to include the most compelling aspect of their background + characterization in the text (it was provided via WoG instead, which i provide to all wormreaders like a fuckin' DLC patch when they get to where it's relevant) & entirely forgets they exist towards where the end of their character arc should have been. the second is introduced w/ the most misogynoiristic description on the planet but blessedly has a largely compelling and well-written arc as the book goes on. - depiction of china is just like. fox news level sinophobic "it's all a brainwashed indistinguishable evil cult" shit. not relevant for very long relatively speaking but insufferable to read. asian characters are also like. we got Brutal Yet Honorable Asian Man. we got Fiery Asian Girl With Blue Eyes. it fucking blows it's not good

- oh yeah forgot this one someone mentioned in the tags. #it's an insignificant paragraph and nobody talks about it but the part where it goes #“yeah literally EVERY cape in South America is with a cartel and the heroes are barely distinguishable from the villains” #fuck you #not that the others aren't bad the fatphobia gets really gross but nobody mentions this and that one got me so yeah typical Insufferable Awful Imperial Core Author Understanding Of What Other Countries Are Like - i could make this section one million bulletpoints long but the gist is summarized i think--wildbow's varied racist biases leak fucking everywhere, into character design, into narrative assumptions about who's deserving of interiority/empathy or not, into attempts at Saying Anything About Society, into which characters he prioritizes, into who he offers validity via the narrative, etc etc etc.

homophobia: - theres a girl named amy dallon in it and she is the worst lesbophobic stereotype ever known to man. no other Problematic Lesbian™ you can think of has anything on this girl. the worst part is that she genuinely has a decently compelling character concept and arc, which her being awful is integral to, so you might accidentally find her interesting anyway and then she'll move into your brain - wildbow kept accidentally writing characters that scan as massive dykes and then got really mad about f/f ships for the book being popular in the fandom. he responded by making a deranged forum post involving the phrase "pandering is pandering" insisting everyone (but the bisexual "hedonist") is straight and writing a scene into the book where one of the characters literally turns to the camera and tells the readers "not to get the wrong idea" about her hugging her friend. - over the course of 1.7 million words he finds excuses to loudly inform you that all of the relevant female characters are straight and it's sooo shoehorned in you can always tell when he's doing it - basically worm is like if naruto was about homoerotic teenage girls who do violent terrible things, in terms of levels of unintentional homoeroticism, and the author responds to ppl going "lmao gay" about the unintentional homoeroticism with poorly restrained seething rage

fatphobia: - generic brand of fatphobia you'll see in p much all mainstream media where only side/bg characters are fat and it's obliquely used as a descriptor to indicate that someone has negative personality traits or should be viewed as sort of gross

anti-addict shit: - wildbow generally likes writing about how social circumstances--i.e neglect from society, oppression, failure on behalf of systems--causes crime. he generally likes demonstrating the ways in which the villainous main characters are traumatized teenagers failed by society fumbling to keep existing & holding each other up through The Horrors. unfortunately all of this intelligent writing flies out the nearest window when addicts are involved. there is a gang comprised entirely of addicts, all of whom are portrayed as disgusting, violent, dangerous, and of course often racially stereotyped. it is a mercy to the readers when they're no longer relevant to the story. - on a more subtle level, characters are every so often just like. a little more anti-drug than they would realistically be and you can tell it's wildbow's opinions leaking into their characterization. this is largely what the anti-addict writing is kept to after The Addict Villains leave the story iirc.

if youre wondering wellwhy does anyone read this book then. to that i would say that unfortunately despite it all it'sa fucking excellent book. so we all carry on reading the parts that suck and thinking about how they suck and then reading the parts that fuck and going "ouuugh my god" and rolling down 20 flights of stairs about how hard they fuck.

[baeddel]

thismorning i've been reading some articles, posts, student guidelines, etc. about "plagarism vs. allusion" or "plagiarism vs. intertextuality", partially out of some anxiety about my own writing that contains allusions. doing so i found this article (click), which talks about plagiarism in relation to philosophy. he says that plagiarism in philosophy was common 'as late as Hume' and describes it like this: "philosophers would rehearse the arguments of those before them, often in direct, but unsourced, quotes."

i know that people do see it that way (there was controversy a while ago about Kripke stealing arguments from somebody else), but it still surprises me. in that post, a couple of parts down, about fighting, i rehearsed arguments made by Clausewitz in On War. Clausewitz talks about the difference between existential conflicts concerning the fate of nations and conflicts which are merely about capturing one or two provinces, etc. he also distinguished between a tendency towards 'total war', a full exertion of force, which is limited by the concrete factors of reality concerning the political situation, financial commitments, the geography, and so forth. then he says that the interaction between the tendency towards total war and the limitations imposed by reality produce the specific character of the actual war. i'm using these ideas in the post, and i try to flag it by using the same language; when i talk about fights which are and are not 'existential', and how specific fights are produced by the restrictions placed on them. i'm obviously thinking about one-on-one combat using the arguments i read in Clausewitz.

but i don't mention Clausewitz in the post. am i plagiarizing Clausewitz, so doing? i'm not going quite as far as the quote describes by copying whole sections, but things like the Kripke controvery were over something much closer. probably nobody would accuse me of plagiarism for it; but if, for example, i wrote a book where i went into the argument in more detail, and a reviewer noticed the dialectic from Clausewitz, even using some of the same terms, they might say: 'this hack writer is trying to pass off Clausewitz' arguments as their own!' and accuse me of plagiarism. at that point, they would probably have a good argument, pointing to those sections which i mentioned and showing the similarity in the same way, perhaps also illustrating it with quotes from On War's opening chapter. at this point, many people might be convinced that i was trying to pass off Clausewitz's arguments as my own. similarly, if i was a student and i handed it to a professor, and they had just the night before been reading about Clausewitz, they might recognize a few key terms and become suspicious that i'm cheating; after their suspicion has been roused they could find plenty of confirmation in a similar way.

in most of the articles, posts and student guidelines i read (including the linked one), the difference between plagiarism and intertextuality or allusion is handled by some version of this: authors include allusions because they want you to recognize the allusion, while authors who plagiarize don't want you to notice. however, in the case of philosophy or non-fiction, doesn't this kind of break down? i don't necessarily hope you notice that i'm borrowing the ideas from Clausewitz. instead, i'm writing the post to work out my own thoughts about it. and because i've read Clausewitz, my thoughts are influenced by the arguments that Clausewitz made. this is where the idea of plagiarizing arguments is problematic to me—isn't the entire point of reading a philosophical book that i hope i will actually start thinking that way? why learn the arguments if not to make them?

[6leggedhorse]

The Green Witch: Your Complete Guide to the Natural Magic of Herbs, Flowers, Essential Oils and more by Arin Murphy Hiscock Book Review

The long awaited book review I’ve been trying to get pumped out has finally come to fruition! So it took me a bit to read this, as this book is PACKED with information. So grab something to drink and eat. Get comfortable and grab your pet and let’s dive into this.

‼️THIS AUTHOR TRAINED UNDER SILVER RAVENWOLF. READ AT YOUR PWN DISCRETION.‼️

Who is the Author?

Arin Murphy Hiscock is an author and has a lot of books written. One includes 1 or 2 books about Assassins Creed; however her main topic of choice is witchcraft, specifically green witchcraft and the other similar branches like Hearth and Folk to name a few. Now when I tried to get onto her website, my internet browser for some odd reason refuses to load it. So I can’t say much due to this technical issue. I recently received information from someone who was chill enough to let me know that the author was trained under Ravenwolf,I advise that if you decide to read this to create your own opinions, do your own research, and figure out what works for you.

The Review: 6.5/10⭐️s

So, this book is..meh for beginners. This book is lengthy for green witches, but it has corresponding plants and their intentions, recipes, spell instructions and more. It’s mid if your just starting out on your path and need copious amounts of information and or if the internet itself isn’t accurate or doesn’t have much information. What I like is that it’s detailed, but it’s too detailed. This was about 10 bucks on the books app; now this book was and is not too great,there is one thing I wasn’t too fond of being said here.

“In the green witch’s practice, however, we do not require protection for everything is part of nature.” (The Green Witch: Your Complete Guide to the Natural Magic of Herbs, Flowers, Essential Oils and more by Arin Murphy Hiscock, pg. 40) this rubbed me the wrong way, it’s the reason why it’s not a full ten out of ten. Now sure, energy is part of nature, but sometimes people will have it out for you. Malicious intent can be behind casting out the negative energy towards someone. Sometimes sure it’s positive but other times, someone can be jealous or hateful and perhaps just petty/spiteful. I encourage you all that your coming into this or any practice you research and practice protection. This is important for yourself, home, family, significant other etc. there are times where paranormal activity can interfere, energy comes with all objects and that energy could be really heavy, now sure it’s natural, but how fair can or are you willing to go to think that because it’s part of nature that it’s okay to coexist with? This quote, don’t pay it any mind, keep protecting yourself.

Looking back on this, I do not support or condone anything Silver Ravenwolf. Had the website loaded or had this commenter didn’t mention this, I woulda been clueless. So I dropped the review points, anything involving Silver loses points due to her problematic nature and making up stuff.

In Conclusion

It’s actually a long read, totally worth the money, but if you don’t want over saturated material! But that section of not utilizing and practicing protection is a bit too unsafe for me. I don’t recommend it for sure, but I would read protection books first before cracking this one open. If you do.

Epilogue

So I am a slow reader but this book had so much information it slowed me down :’). Anyways sorry for the slowed pace, I’m not as crispy with the burn out but I am working towards getting my Fridays off for good as I cannot not have a day off. Hopefully in time things will get easier; both work and personal life wise. I learned that a former love interest and friend turned out to be a scumbag and he got dumped by his gf of 4 yrs while he is half way across the country. As I sit here mourning the fake persona he put on for me, it’s almost if he passed away, but he hasn’t passed away. He’s alive, but he’s not the same. Well enough of me getting a tad bit emotional over him, he doesn’t think about me ya know?

I look forward to making a post for you guys next Monday!

Would I read this again?

No, not really, might grab some info about plants, or something but not much more than that.

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

By: Anonymous

Published: Jan 9, 2024

I’m a school librarian in a major UK city and I wanted to write to you about what is going on inside education at the moment. The final straw for me came when I received an email from the (US) School Library Journal about their trans and NB spotlight with the line “J.K. Rowling’s recent transphobic tirades on social media”. And check out the line-up on the Zoom panel!

Enough is enough.

I will admit that several years ago I was pretty full-on with my alphabet-soup allyship and then I got peaked by Mumsnet when I had my children. Once you see it, you can’t unsee it. 

My issue is with how the indoctrination has seeped into books and materials unchecked. Last year I read the book “Nothing Ever Happens Here” written from the POV of a young girl about her father transitioning and it was utterly awful. The ending was the family all happy with two “mums”. It was a Stonewall pamphlet in disguise. Any possibility that the child would be upset by what was happening at home was quickly brushed aside. It turns out that its author, Sarah Hagger-Holt, is a Stonewall employee.

There are so many books like this finding their way into libraries and the library staff do not appear to be questioning the content or even the quality of the writing as long as the books tick the “inclusivity” box. For example, “If I Was Your Girl” is an award-winning story about a trans girl who gets surgery and hormones and “passes” in her new school. It’s written by Meredith Russo, a trans-identified male, who has a history of sexual and emotional abuse, but no matter! It reads like a TRA wet dream: the pretty young teen smoothly transitions and gets the life she wants, which includes getting a gorgeous, straight boyfriend. A young person reading this may not realise that this is simply wish-fulfillment wrapped up in Young Adult (YA) fiction and nothing in it is remotely feasible.

Recently I was being nosy on a secondary school’s website and discovered their library’s LGBT section was made up of “Some Girls Bind”, “Being Jazz”, and “The Trans Teen Survival Guide”. That was it. Nothing else for the LGB kids. “The Trans Teen Guide” explains to young people how easy it is to legally change your name, and signposts websites where you can buy binders. Mermaids are listed as a place to find support, of course. 

Meanwhile, JKR is Satan for standing up for women and girls. It is painful reading discussion board threads written by librarians questioning what they should do about the “problematic author.” Facebook groups are particularly interesting as I’ve witnessed the group moderators remove the comments that support JKR because they were repeatedly reported by other members of the group. Some say they won’t buy her books, or they will remove them from circulation or stock them but not promote them.

No more Harry Potter events, no more displays of her work. It’s not all librarians, but there are plenty of vocal ones who have bought into the idea that JKR is literally murdering trans kids with her words. Last year I unsubscribed from a favourite Young Adult podcast for their segment on what to promote as an alternative to Harry Potter. It’s madness. 

I think the thing I really object to in libraries overall is the lack of questioning going on. I know you have covered the Drag Story Time in public libraries, but I’m really shocked by the lack of research and critical thinking from information professionals who are supposed to be champions of these skills. I’m sure that many of them believe they are doing the right thing. I know I did. 

The School Library Association made Juno Dawson one of their Patrons at the end of 2020. I met Dawson many years years ago at a library event and I really appreciated hearing an honest and frankly, painful story of a young gay boy being bullied and how much of a lifeline the school library was. Dawson struck me as a very kind and deeply sad person at that point. School libraries are a safe space for the vulnerable, and it’s no coincidence that often you will find the LGBT students seek it as a place of sanctuary. We do need someone popular and well-known to speak up for us as patron. Let’s be honest though; Dawson has made a tremendous career from being trans. From speaking to packed-out auditoriums of young readers to writing non-fiction books educating us as “she knows everything about gender because she’s been both.” A few years ago, over 300 copies of Dawson’s book “What’s the T” were bought and donated to schools by well-meaning people on Twitter. So heart-warming and kind. Nobody seems to be questioning this. 

I’ve been a huge supporter of my LGBT students for the whole of my twenty-plus year career. It hurts to see these brilliant young girls telling me they’re non-binary or trans. The vast majority of our female students in this ever-growing group are on the autistic spectrum or have mental health issues. I don’t understand why this isn’t being questioned more vocally. I’m worried that I’ve made this much, much worse by promoting this propaganda dressed up as YA fiction for years. LGBT History Month? Here, have this book telling you being a lesbian is bad and you’re probably trans. 

I’m scared that at some point the trans ideology train is going to come for the “forbidden” books in my library.  Will my Head tell me I need to remove all the Harry Potter books? What about the non-fiction books that tell these girls the biological truth about periods and puberty? Cancel culture is coming for school librarians in the UK; how long before we become like the US school system where books are regularly banned for being offensive to individual, captured parents?

Librarians were struggling to keep our jobs before Covid-19 and now it is even harder. We are being made redundant to save money. Lots of school libraries were closed and became temporary classrooms, COVID testing centres, or spill-over staff rooms in 2020. Some of us haven’t recovered. Are librarians really going to poke their heads above the parapet if it means they might be marked as “transphobic” and made unable to get a job in a school again? Or maybe have to move sectors and end up working at university libraries which are even more indoctrinated?

For the moment I’m concentrating on trying to undo some of the damage I’ve done. Last year I purchased a pile of Young Adult books featuring happy, gender non-conforming girls. I’ve researched YA love stories about positive LGB relationships. I want our girls to realise they are perfect just the way they are. 

To parents I would say, try to talk to your children about what they are reading. Honest, open communication is key. 

Please remember that there are people in schools who are trying to make a difference. We just can’t say it openly.

(Author’s name has been witheld on her request. If you have a story on how gender ideology is affecting your place of work, please write to thewhistleblowermailbox@gmail.com)

==

Reminder, Juno Dawson is the same self-hating gay man who said:

"There are a lot of gay men out there who are gay men as a consolation prize because they couldn't be women. That was certainly true of me."

He has no business giving any advice to anyone, least of all gay kids.

[kukuandkookie]

Might copy and paste the text here later from my Twitter thread where I expressed why I enjoyed it, but I recently read My Little Poplar and ended up liking Bai Xinyu and Yu Fengcheng quite a bit!

Yu Fengcheng’s eventual regret was honestly written really well, and the relationship between the two leads has good chemistry. 👌

Even better is that it features Jian Suiying, who I also have gotten weirdly attached to???

Like objectively the book Jian Suiying comes from, In Love With an Idiot, has its flaws. Or rather, it employs tropes that really aren’t for everyone, which includes the main couple fighting constantly (so it’s basically fighting and then fucking and then fighting and then fucking and you get the idea), and it gets kind of overdramatic at times, as some very angsty-type stories can be—whether they’re from China (known as “dog blood” stories) or not.

I even found it a little silly that so many were so obsessed with Jian Suiying, and yet…

Here I am now, sliiiightly obsessed with him. 🤡😂

It’s just that! As I mentioned on my Twitter, he’s so unique for a shou/bottom/uke character!! Before he met Li Yu, he was always the top, and he’s sexually confident and pretty intelligent and ruthless and…well, temperamental. He does admittedly have a charm to him that works and I find it pretty amazing the author managed to predict that, since so many characters in her novels adore him BDMGIHSKD.

Even his red flags give him charm, because while he is problematic, the red flags make him an intriguing character. The author does a pretty good job at balancing the different aspects of him that make him technically infuriating and yet also compelling.

His charm is further boosted by the fact there’s actually a clip of one of his VAs just trying to cheer you up if you’re sad?? Like hello??? 🥺

It is no longer a surprise to me that Li Yu ended up so obsessed with Jian Suiying. 😆

Also I’ll note now the last image is actually by the My Little Poplar manhua artist while the others are from the manhua adaptation of Jian Suiying’s own novel! I like how the manhua artist draws him quite a bit since it feels so him. I’ve seen fan art and they sometimes feature him smaller and thus not domineering enough, even though they usually show him with the same hairstyle—which makes for a fun tangent on its own since danmei designs can be a bit “basic,” so when one specific design becomes a recognizable look for a character, I find it pretty cool.

In fact, one of my favourite details in My Little Poplar was watching Yu Fengcheng be very frustrated with how much Bai Xinyu looked up to Jian Suiying. 🤭

Also just seeing him show up always made me go “yay!” because it’s so fun getting to see him again, especially as part of his story aligns with My Little Poplar (as in the plots of both novels happen somewhat concurrently).

Similarly, the manhua adaptation, My Beloved Fool, has a really nice art style and I really like that the artist always lets Jian Suiying shine by really dressing him up. He and Shi Qi from Trap a Vicious Dog (another series I want to ramble about on why I’m enjoying it so far) are two manhua protagonists I know of who are like…confident smart corporate bosses that get stylish fits almost every manhua chapter, which is a nice detail ahaha.

My Beloved Fool has recently hit the heavy angst section of the novel so it’ll be depressing to follow for a while since you’ll just watch Li Yu fall apart as Jian Suiying suffers absolute hell. 😔

Someone even uploaded the first season of the vomic version of the manhua on YouTube. 👀

Similarly, I’m really excited for the My Little Poplar manhua to get to all the good bits of the story there, since Bai Xinyu develops a lot as a character and I find Yu Fengcheng’s regret especially well done. But evidently it’ll take quite some time to get there; first we have to get past the military bullying alfndkfjjss.

Anyway the actual reason I started typing this out before I spiralled into another huge ramble asjakfl is that I found In Love With an Idiot and My Little Poplar audio dramas on YouTube!!

I’d heard some In Love With an Idiot audio clips from something that some fans had shared to YouTube before, but it sounds like those clips were from a completely different audio drama than the one I landed on. I’m especially excited about the My Little Poplar one. Even if it’s not extremely high quality (I think Bing Xing Xia Deng aka Inferior by Nature aka The Selfish Gene has admittedly spoiled me because it was so high quality 😆), it’s still fun hearing these characters come to life aurally.

Even more so since iirc I saw a Twitter post saying the My Little Poplar and In Love With an Idiot got taken down officially, so they may only be accessible via online reuploads right now. I can’t find the post to confirm, but if true, I’m glad someone preserved them. 🙏

Update: I did find the other version’s VAs of the In Love With an Idiot audio drama! Except it’s maybe a…sequel? Where a Li Yu of the past transmigrates 5 years into the future when Li Yu and Jian Suiying are a couple?? It’s on MaoEr FM…and it’s for free. 👁️

In fact, I could totally ramble about the Bing Xing Xia Deng audio drama—which I already have for a friend, so I can just copy and paste that long-ass (slightly more incoherent because it’s a lot of fangirling) wall of text here haha. I am currently very obsessed with that series too because it really is high quality and I like how it evolved the novel it’s adapting, but my friend is the expert on it so I feel a bit more shy about sharing my thoughts sometimes.

Welp that went on quite a number of tangents but yeah. I’ve enjoyed these novels and I’m very happy they got audio dramas and that they are still out there to be enjoyed after everything. 🥺💕

OH and final note but…the fun fact about the 188男团 aka 188 Group, which is the overall series Jian Suiying and Bai Xinyu belong to (so-called because it’s 10 novels that share a universe and all feature (scum) gongs of 188 cm) got sort of made into an “actual” 男团, aka a boy band/group! I found the couple (?) songs they released and some fan songs and it’s nice seeing them all “singing” together alfjskfjs.

An English translation can be found here!

An English translation can be found here!

Me when I spy Jian Suiying, Li Yu, Yu Fengcheng, and Bai Xinyu especially in the MVs: 🥺

[huntingorbits]

Review: The Door to Witchcraft, by Tonya Brown

I just finished reading this book earlier this year, and thought I'd write a review on it. This is also going to help me determine how I want to review other texts going forward. So without further ado, let's get started.

TL;DR:

I highly recommend this book for both beginners and more experienced witches who are looking to expand their practices or gain additional resources. Brown takes a practical approach and breaks things down beautifully in a way that's easy to understand and follow. (Such as steps to creating a spell, steps to spellcasting, etc.) The second half is spells that may take a different approach to what we're used to seeing in other books, which in and of itself is very useful.

What's Inside (Contents)

PART I: Witchcraft and Practical Magic

1. Understanding Witchcraft 2. Core Beliefs and Values 3. How to Tap into Your Powers 4. How to Practice Witchcraft

PART II: Spells (Begins on page 87)

5. Love 6. Health and Healing (in Yourself and Others) 7. Career 8. Friends and Family Matters 9. Spiritual Work 10. Protection

Glossary Resources References Index

Summary

Part I: Witchcraft and Practical Magic spans 86 pages and includes a lot of information.

"Understanding Witchcraft" is your fairly standard introductory chapter, addressing questions such as, "What is Witchcraft?" and, "Are you a Witch?", before diving into a brief history of witchcraft.

"Core Beliefs and Values" is a high-level tour of the most common tenets of witchcraft among witches of all varieties, not just Wiccans.

"How to Tap into Your Powers" and "How to Practice Witchcraft" are more instructional than educational, but Brown includes a lot of education in those chapters nonetheless, including a handy breakdown of the structures of rituals and spells, sabbats, and some basic correspondences.

Part II: Spells is approximately 90 pages in length (some pages are just illustrations). Brown prefaces these pages with a few notes, including:

"Some of these spells may not align with the stereotype of spellcasting that you've seen in the media. They may seem too simple or they may seem too complicated. I implore you to come to these spells with an open mind..." (pg.89)

The spells that follow offer a variety of complexities, though most of them take less than half an hour to cast.

Provided Resources & References

Following the Spells section of the book is 3 pages of Glossary, 2 pages of Resources that appear to be reading recommendations, and 3 pages of References - titles cited or referenced throughout the book. Going over these materials, the book appears to have been written using carefully curated resources, which is very encouraging.

About the Author

From Amazon:

TONYA A. BROWN is a current resident of Florida, where she is the editor-in-chief of Witch Way Magazine as well as writer and host of the podcast The Witch Daily Show.* Tonya is a Lenormand reader, medium, and magical guide for other witches.

*Formerly The Daily Witch.

Her other titles include Evolution of a Witch: 150 Journal Prompts for Witches; (Witch Way's Book of) 100 Love Spells; a children's book titled Tutty Learns About Witches; and The Hectic Witch's Planner (currently only for 2022 and 2023).

I'm already a fan of both her magazine and podcast (which I started listening to last year), though I have yet to check out her other works. It's encouraging to see a witch-positive children's book in the lineup, though.

As for the podcast, Brown does briefly recommend Lilith as a goddess that could be followed in the "Badass Goddesses" episode on January 17, 2023. This is, of course, problematic, but I haven't listened to each episode since then to see if she has recanted that statement or revised her perspective on the subject.

My Overall Review

I really enjoyed reading this book. Though it was designed as an introduction to witchcraft, I learned several new things and gained resources I didn't have before. The breakdown of spell structure is especially appealing to me, as at the time of this writing, I've just started writing my own spells.

The language Brown uses is conversational and easy to follow, using accessible vocabulary and staying on track through each subject. I greatly appreciated this aspect because we've all read enough books that meander and tangent into unrelated thoughts and information. We don't see that with Brown; her writing stays on task and only "wanders" to provide necessary context.

Additionally, where she makes claims or presents facts, she always cites her sources in a way that isn't distracting. It was quite refreshing to see in an area of study where sources are often an afterthought.

Final Word: I will definitely be keeping this on my bookshelf and I look forward to seeing more from Brown in the future. I do sincerely hope she'll be more thoughtful on the subject of Lilith in her podcast going forward, as well.

Thank you for staying with me throughout this review. I hope it helps you to make an informed decision if you've been pondering this title.

[hedgewitchgarden]

”It’s me, hi, I’m the problem, it’s me.” -Elisabeth Báthory

In July of this year, an independently-published book called Witchtoker’s Grimoire appeared on Amazon, the description of which stated, “This Grimoire is a collection of spells, how to’s, [and] magical writings, by a collective of creators from Tiktok.” I myself was unaware of said book until a snarling gaggle of videos about it popped up on the witchier corners of the Clock App, and the fury with which the Grimoire was being discussed piqued my curiosity, so I started doing some digging.

I am not sure when work on the Grimoire actually began, but from what I’ve been able to piece together, the creator behind it reached out to a handful of other WitchTok personalities and asked them to contribute spells, recipes, etc. A few people took issue with this — claims floated around that the creator would not accept submissions from witches she didn’t “approve” of, which seemed counterintuitive to a “community” driven book. But within the greater publishing industry, some projects involve open calls for submissions, while others are invitation only, so if the creator hand-picked her contributors, that doesn’t constitute compromised ethics.

The contents of the book, however, raised legitimate ethical concerns. One essay seemed to suggest that corpse water could be consumed. Another provided instructions for a spell jar that the author had made for a friend undergoing surgery to remove cancer: Because of the phrasing, some readers thought that the author was declaring the spell jar cured cancer.

Having read both snippets (screenshots abound), I can say that the actual problem is a severe lack of editing — like, if the cancer anecdote had been cut, the chapter on the spell jar would’ve been just fine. But it’s this dearth of editorial oversight that led to even bigger problems, primarily accusations that a good chunk of material in the book was plagiarized.

According to allegations, passages from at least seven different published works were lifted whole-cloth and incorporated into the Grimoire. Additionally, someone ran sections of the book through a plagiarism detection engine and apparently found that a number of spells had been copied and pasted directly from websites. And while the Grimoire does feature a bibliography, it does not include citations, which, honestly, would’ve only be helpful had the authors used their own voices to rewrite or summarize the info in question.

In a way, the bibliography almost functions as an admission of guilt. Like, “Oh, you wanna know where we swiped all this stuff? Feast your peepers!”

Lines were immediately drawn in the sand once official controversy hit the algorithm, with people on one side vehemently denouncing the Grimoire, and friends and family of the book’s creator vehemently denouncing the people denouncing it. The online battles escalated, and I decided that not a damn bit of it was any of my business. (Although I did throw the lithomantic stones to see if I should offer some objective clarification on what corpse water actually is. It felt like a neighborly thing to do.)

But as evidence of plagiarism piled up, and the book’s supporters realized that they were going to have to switch tactics if they wanted to stay on top of the situation, one of them said something that made me understand how problematic the Grimoire had been from the very onset.

I was scrolling through my For You Page a couple of mornings ago, flipping past conspiracy theories and videos from disillusioned contributors publicly requesting that their submissions be removed from future editions, when I landed on a live conversation between the book’s creator and one of her more ardent apologists. And that’s when I heard the following:

“[You] put together a conglomeration of people’s submissions. I don’t understand why all this comes on you. Like, you have to double- and triple-check every submission?”

“Or tell people that fire burns,” the creator replied. “Or that water is wet. Or that you should not get in the shower with a hairdryer going.”

And I had to stop for a second and collect myself, because the answer to all of the above is a non-negotiable yes: The editor of an anthology must absolutely double- and triple-check every submission, and the anthology itself must contain disclaimers to protect everyone involved. Whether desktop or traditional, this is how publishing works.

But this also made me understand that the people who put out the Witchtoker’s Grimoire approached publishing the same way they approach witchcraft: It’s something you can just do successfully without any education or training or skill. It’s not about growing, or teaching, or sharing knowledge: It’s about snatching up unmerited authority and using it to bully all of the smaller fish in the pond.

And when called out for troubling behavior, or spreading misinformation, or outright theft, it’s about redirecting the narrative, and manifesting a projective shield of victimhood behind which to hide: Anyone who speaks ill of them is a jealous detractor who doesn’t want you to know the truth.

It’s a shield that tends to collapse and bonk heads when the unbiased truth comes out.

As of this writing, the Witchtoker’s Grimoire has been pulled from publication, and the creator has issued a public apology, taking full responsibility and letting her viewers know that there will not be a revised edition. (The original plan was to tweak the worrisome bits and rerelease it.) To her credit, this was the right thing to do, and it displays some maturity on her part. Although as contrite as the video came across, it may have also just been an attempt to stave off the legal ramifications of selling a plagiarized manuscript.

If that’s the case, she’s in for a series of unfortunate surprises. Regardless of how sorry she may be about the debacle, the book went to print, and multiple copies were purchased — if the allegations prove accurate, this means that copyrights were actively infringed, and there will be  consequences for that. A remorseful “whoops” won’t protect her.

I don’t know if she’ll ever try her hand at publishing again, but if she does, she’ll have a very hard time convincing anyone to take a chance on her pitches. Traditional publishers will more than likely give her a wide berth, and freelancers who want to keep their reputations stain-free will avoid collaboration. This particular path has ultimately come to a dead end for her.

Speaking of paths, the whole saga of the Witchtoker’s Grimoire reminds me of Mandrake from the Liminal Spirits Oracle (by Laura Tempest Zakroff; Llewellyn Publications, 2020), and one of Tempest’s interpretations of the card strikes me as a fitting end to this post:

“There is no easy or fast road to big rewards that are truly worthwhile. Eschew tantalizing shortcuts and lazy practices. Fully invest the time and care needed to perform a task properly and responsibly — build any house as if you yourself were going to live in it.”

The results we get out of our craft are directly and prosperously proportionate to the effort we put into it. If we expect good results from whatever it is we’re doing without honest effort — or if we expect results without honesty, period — we’re better off not doing it at all.

And y’all, we don’t just have to live in what we’ve built.

We have to live with it.

[akari-hope]

So I’ve heard differing arguments relating to it, ranging from “Well, if we shun content created by this person and/or everyone who’s done anything problematic, that’s a slippery slope that’ll lead to us being unable to enjoy anything” to “It doesn’t matter if you can separate the author from their creation to an extent, there’s ultimately other content to be consumed, & shunning the work of the problematic author in order to deny them or their progeny traffic is more important than salvaging

2/4 said author’s work.” Pablo Neruda, Yukio Mishima, & JK Rowling are authors that come to mind in these discussions. (For example, I’ve seen several SPOP edits ft. Pablo Neruda’s love poetry, & when his problematic history was explained to one creator, they cited death of the author.) Another argument against the concept, or rather, against how the concept is often applied, that I see is that people cite it in order to uncritically consume whatever they want.

3/4 Yet others say that people who say this often take the concept too far, to the point where no one can enjoy anything, ever, unless they’re obsessively analyzing every last detail of something for potential problematic tropes or other problematic content. I just don’t know where I fall, because I both agree and disagree with various parts of these stances, but see how all could be taken too far and used poorly, if that’s a sensible way of wording it. But I don’t know what dictates “too

4/4 far”, so I’ve never voiced a definitive opinion on the matter. I hope this makes sense, it’s a bit more jumbled than I had intended.

total sense!

death of the author is such an interesting concept, purely bc how it was MEANT to be used and how it has come to be used are so different. for transparency, death of the author is a lens of examining a piece of work which states that the author’s original intent does not matter, that the metatextual elements of a work do not have any bearing on what is actually present in the text.

to use an example, fans of spop will likely know that adora and catra are at least somewhat inspired by noelle stevenson’s own relationship. since we know this, we can see this in the text. the more you know about noelle and molly, the more you can see what parts of their relationship influenced those characters. we don’t have to guess that catradora is meant to be viewed in a positive light - we’re told by the showrunner itself it should be. if we were to apply death of the author, though, we would ignore this. it is not written explicitly in the text, and is therefore metatextual. we can still come to the same conclusion based on information within the show itself, but we would not use that “word of god” type of information.

and you can do this with basically anything. an artist said their song is about romantic love, but you see it as platonic love? claim death of the author! once it’s out in the world, it’s up to the audience to decide what a piece means.

now, here’s where it gets tricky: you can’t just ignore bigotry in a piece, even if you are applying death of the author. let’s look at hp lovecraft for this one. anyone with even passing knowledge of lovecraftian horror will know that the main element of it is fear of the unknown. sure, there’s many ways you can interpret that within the text! but fact of the matter is that lovecraft was a horrible xenophobic racist. and knowing that, it becomes very hard to separate the “fear of the unknown” in lovecraft’s work from real world xenophobia. you can still claim that within the text you interpret it differently, sure. but you can’t go so far as to pretend the intent isn’t there. the author’s interpretation doesn’t have to be yours, but it’s impossible to separate the author’s worldview from the text - it’s baked in.

okay, so, interpret however you want, but acknowledge prejudice. easy enough. until we get to the elephant in the room, joanne rowling herself. now, we know she has horrible ideas baked into her text. but that doesn’t necessarily mean we throw it all away, right? after all, people still love lovecraft’s work, and he was horrible. there’s an entire horror genre coined after the man. if we don’t throw lovecraft away, why throw joanne away? and the big difference there is that...joanne is alive. and wealthy. with friends in high places. and a large public following. even when he was alive, lovecraft didn’t exactly have millions of followers on twitter. pablo neruda and yukio mishima were not good people, but again, also dead and not with the same level of power. meanwhile joanne is actively using her wealth and following to influence british lawmakers.

and here’s where people lose death of the author. bc yes, you can still examine harry potter however you want. you can still say the books were an influence or that they meant something to you. but you cannot use “death of the author” to substitute an answer to a moral dilemma. and the moral dilemma is simply that supporting joanne, be it by word of mouth or monetarily, is supporting her ability to spread transphobia. this is why we see a more active push than usual to stop consuming hp and related rowling works. the driving force is not just “thing bad”, but the active harm joanne is causing to trans people in the uk.

so, what does that all mean? basically, use death of the author responsibly. you don’t have to toss out every single problematic work ever penned. if we did that, we wouldn’t have much left, and the foundations upon which modern media were built would be gone. but, you also can’t say that you don’t have to acknowledge biases and prejudice in media. bc you still do. there’s not a filmmaker in hollywood who can claim they’re not using some amount of technique pioneered by alfred hitchcock, but we also can’t pretend like “psycho” didn’t have transphobic undertones. it’s possible to both appreciate “psycho” for its importance to film history AND acknowledge those problematic elements without beating them to death.

basically, if you’re thinking of applying death of the author, you need to ask yourself two questions:

-am i using this to analyze the work, or am i trying to make myself feel better? -is my consumption of this work allowing the creator to cause harm?

if you’re trying to make yourself feel better, you don’t need death of the author; being aware of the problems within the work is sufficient. and if your answer to the second question is “yes”, that’s when you need to wonder if your consumption of said work is really more important than the harm you may be inadvertently causing.

bc it feels wrong to not include them, lindsay ellis has two wonderful videos on death of the author, which i will link to below (as well as a video on transphobia in pop culture, which i sort of touched on here, that helps give a better sense of how you can consume and even admire problematic media while acknowledging its flaws)

Death of the Author

Death of the Author 2: Rowling Boogaloo

Tracing the Roots of Pop Culture Transphobia

tldr: death of the author is a great tool to analyze media, but all too often gets used as an answer to a moral dilemma when that was never its intended purpose. you can invoke death of the author without ignoring problematic elements of a work, you don’t have to self-flagellate over said problematic elements, but be aware of if your consumption of a work causes active harm to people.

[gh0st-patr0l]

ADHD in DSMP

So about a week back, I made a post about Karl Jacobs (a bit of a passive aggressive one, I’ll admit, but I think it was justified), complaining that a lot of the ‘criticism’ I see about Karl is actually rather insensitive towards his ADHD. I got a lot of responses to that post, and the most common sources of confusion I saw were:

People not understanding what I was saying they should avoid being judgmental of, or-

People who didn’t know that Karl had ADHD or didn’t understand which behaviors were caused by it.

First of all, Karl has confirmed that he has ADHD.

(NOTE: Yes, I know he said ADD. ADD and ADHD used to be categorized as separate disorders, but in the most recent edition of the DSM, it was decided that they are both simply subtypes of the same disorder- ADHD is the correct technical term. ADD is still sometimes used as shorthand by some practitioners to diagnose primarily-inattentive ADHD, but it's a bit outdated.)

Secondly, that original post made me realize that a lot of people who may be well-meaning may genuinely not fully understand ADHD and its symptoms as well as they want to or think they might. If you aren’t aware, Karl isn’t the only one in the DSMP with ADHD- to my understanding, both Technoblade and Dream have confirmed that they have it as well. So, I thought it would be helpful to put together a comprehensive crash-course on ADHD symptoms and how they effect people’s behavior!

Now, before we go further, I want to address something- as I said earlier, I saw some people unsure of whether certain behaviors are ADHD or “just his personality”. I feel the need to point this out above the read more so people will see it. To answer this question, as someone with ADHD;

A lot of times, it’s both. ADHD is a neurodevelopmental disorder, meaning that it’s caused by the way your brain developed from birth. A lot of the symptoms and effects of ADHD are extremely influential towards the way we think, act, and behave, to the point where “symptoms” and “normal behavior” really don’t have a clean differentiation. This is why it’s technically classified as a ‘disorder’, instead of an illness. While certain aspects of it can require treatment, the condition itself as a whole is not something to be mitigated or eliminated- it’s a part of who we are as a person. This is also why sometimes, even if you don’t have ADHD, you’ll look at certain specific behaviors or experiences and go “Oh, but I do that too!”. A lot of ADHD ‘symptoms’ are just a bunch of normal traits or behaviors, but in combination with each other and some actually problematic aspects, form the appearance of the disorder.

So, what are you allowed to nitpick about it? Well, there’s no real ‘authority’ on this, and even if there was it certainly wouldn’t be me. But if you want my opinion? Nothing.

See, here’s the thing- what I was trying to say when I made that post was not that you can’t be critical of Karl. If you want to say something about his Actions, his Ideals, or the content he creates- sure, go for it, that’s fair. I will agree that there are some very valid and constructive points to be made. But when you post ‘criticism’ about the way he speaks, his interests or preoccupations, his personal behaviors? That’s not criticism. That’s just judging someone.

And you’re allowed to think that stuff! Nobody can control what annoys or bothers them. It doesn’t necessarily make you a bad person. But you don’t need to be vocal about it. You can keep your mean thoughts to yourself. And if you do make posts or communities or whatever about judging someone for things they can’t change about themselves, don’t call it “criticism” or try to morally justify it. It’s not productive or righteous, it’s just rude. Nothing else.

Anyway. Back to Education!

The following will be a descriptive list of visible ADHD behaviors, using Karl’s behavior as examples.

I feel the need to add a disclaimer here- I am not a mental health professional. However! I have ADHD myself, I have taken some psychology courses and done a Lot of research into this stuff, and I’m the daughter of a therapist with access to a DSM. While I’m not an expert, I’d like to think I’m fairly well versed and knowledgeable on at least ADHD. (That being said, if by chance anyone who Is a professional sees this post and notices mistakes, by all means let me know and I’ll fix it!!)

WHAT IS ADHD?

You’re here for the behaviors more than the science, so I’ll keep this short and sweet. ADHD is Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (Known in the past as Attention Deficit Disorder). Despite its name, the root problem of ADHD is not in the person’s ability to pay attention, but their brain’s capability to manage itself. In simple terms, people with ADHD have a lot less control over what their brain does and wants. This results in some behavioral differences along with some personal challenges, namely a difficulty with attentiveness and self-discipline.

Now, onto the symptoms!

ATTENTION

This is perhaps the most visible and pervasive of the ADHD symptoms, hence why it’s the namesake. Inattention is a lack of focus and an inability to stay present and occupied with certain tasks or thoughts.

Because ADHD impairs self-management of the brain, people with it have an extremely hard time directing themselves anywhere but where their brain instinctively wants to go. This results in inattentiveness and the easiness of distraction that is often mocked or stereotyped for people with ADHD.

Here are some examples of how Karl can sometimes display his inattentiveness;

When he has an idea that he seems passionate about, only to drop it or switch to something totally different without warning soon after (either forgetting or getting bored of his original idea).

When he sets out to do something like a build, works on it for a short amount of time, and then immediately gives up or gets someone else to do it.

When someone else is talking and he totally zones out. (NOTE: While I wont make a whole section for it because it’s not easily observable, maladaptive (constant and intrusive) daydreaming is a common ADHD symptom as well!)

It’s important to remember that the whole problem with ADHD is that we can’t control when or what we focus on. When someone with ADHD zones out during a conversation or activity, it doesn’t mean they’re doing it on purpose, and they likely don’t mean any offense! We often are trying our best to listen or participate, but our brain just wont cooperate.

However, inattention is not the only way ADHD effects our focus. There’s also what’s called hyperfocus or hyperfixation, which is when we are so absorbed into a single subject, task, or idea that it is extremely difficult to get us to think about or do anything else. This is usually because our brains have found something that is getting those satisfaction chemicals flowing, and it’s clinging to that with everything it’s got.

People with ADHD will often experience brief periods of hyperfocus. Think of how Karl talks about spending hours straight working on a build or project without eating or drinking, or how he’ll sit down to play a game with someone and end up going six hours without even noticing.

There are also hyperfixations, where someone with ADHD becomes extremely preoccupied with a certain subject, topic, etc. for a period of time. These can be short term- personally, my hyperfixation can sometimes change as quickly as a couple weeks at a time. However, it can also be long term. Karl has been obsessed with Survivor since the second grade- not to mention his memorabilia, rambling, and constant references to Kingdom Hearts.

HYPERACTIVITY/STIMMING

This is a BIG one for Karl. I should clarify; ‘stimming’ is not a technical term, and in professional situations these behaviors are just referred to as Hyperactivity. However, I personally like the term stimming much more and find it far more accurate to what the behaviors actually are, so I’ll be using that instead for this post.

If you’re not already familiar, ‘stimming’ (derived from ‘stimulation’) is an unofficial term used to describe consistent and abnormal patterns of physical and vocal behavior typically expressed by people with ADHD and ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder). This includes things that people usually call fidgets or tics.

(NOTE: There are differences in how people with those two disorders stim. This post will explain stimming specifically from an ADHD perspective! ASD stimming is caused by very different factors and presents itself in much different ways. Do your own research if you’re curious!) 

There are two major observable forms of stimming- physical and vocal. Karl expresses both VERY often! I’ll use examples for each type;

Physical Stims: Flapping his hands/arms, jumping up and down when he’s excited, twisting around into odd positions in his chair, throwing, hitting, or tapping things, standing up and pacing around when he’s hyped up or laughing, twisting his rings, etc.

Vocal Stims: When he gets excited and repeats a certain phrase incessantly (Think any variation of “I’m popping off”), making certain repetitive noises while he’s focused on something or bored (”la la la”, the meow-noises, the weird heart-beat noise, etc.), singing or humming, tongue clicking.

It should be noted here that it’s pretty common for people with ADHD to get “stuck” on certain phrases or noises, and be unable to stop repeating them (reminiscent of echolalia, a symptom of ASD, but not the same thing). Think of how Karl might sometimes keep making a weird noise for an extended period of time even though it’s not that funny, or that one time he was physically struggling to keep himself from singing the Bakugan theme. These repetitions are completely impulsive and trust me, we usually know how annoying it is while we’re doing it, but we physically cannot stop.

ADHD stims are caused by the fact that the barrier between our brain and body is much weaker than a normal person’s. Because of this, most ADHD stims are actually very positive expressions of joy, excitement, or enthusiasm! Y’know how when you get excited, you feel like you wanna jump or dance? The ‘hyperactivity’ of ADHD is basically just that, but we don’t have the self-control to Not do it.

Stims can be caused by negative feelings like overstimulation, but in ADHD this is not nearly as common. Usually, the most negative reason we’ll stim is when we’re bored- in that case, our brain isn’t getting the Constant Stimulation that it naturally wants, so stimming is a way to make our own.

Whatever the cause, stimming is natural and impulsive. While different people experience it to varying degrees, those who regularly stim typically have little to no control over it. Suppressing stims is very hard and very frustrating to do.

Besides that, like I said- ADHD stims are often an expression of joy, excitement, or enthusiasm. They’re a beautiful thing that shouldn’t be seen as shameful or annoying!

BEHAVIORAL DIFFICULTIES

ADHD is a disorder which causes a lack of self-control. Naturally, this means that people with ADHD are inherently reckless, impulsive, and struggle with a lack of self-discipline that they cannot fix.

Of course, people with ADHD do still have some level of self-control, and they are still responsible for conscious, long-term behavioral patterns and decisions. However, in regards to most things, they are much, much less capable of controlling themselves than an average neurotypical person is.

These are some examples of how this will often present itself in Karl;

Excessive rambling, dragging on a joke or conversation when it could and should probably have been dropped, etc.

Speaking over or interrupting other people (NOTE: As someone with ADHD- THIS IS ALMOST ALWAYS UNINTENTIONAL. I know it can seem rude or annoying but I promise, 90% of the time if someone with ADHD talks over you, they either didn’t realize or physically couldn’t help it. Please try to be patient!)

Lack of awareness towards social cues (NOTE: Unlike ASD, in which the person is incapable of/has problems fully understanding social cues, ADHD results in a lack of awareness. For whatever reason, we’re often just not paying close enough attention to pick up on things like body language, tone of speech, and facial expression as well as we would normally.)

Indecisiveness and overthinking

Bluntness, lack of subtlety

Unintentional dismissiveness, accidentally ignoring things/people (NOTE: Again, this behavior is purely accidental. In this case, it’s usually just the person genuinely not hearing or processing things.)

Making noises, speaking, joking, etc. at inappropriate times

There’s probably more, but I think you get the idea by now. A lot of the time, behavior which results from ADHD can be seen as rude, lazy, dismissive, or otherwise intentionally harmful. In reality, we just aren’t wired to navigate common social interaction with grace.

In Karl’s case, he’s clearly an incredibly sweet, empathetic, and kind-hearted person, if the various close friends who have talked about him are to be believed. Just because he talks over people or makes a poorly timed joke, that doesn’t mean he meant any harm. 

I think that’s about it for how much I wanted to point out! You can do more research if you’re curious, but I feel like this post should be enough to tell you what to keep in mind and be understanding about when talking about/making judgements on Karl, and other people with ADHD.

[thelucyverse]

Why I don't write Harry Potter fanfiction (much)

I had this or parts of this conversation a lot lately, so I thought I would try to note down my thoughts to refer to in the future.

First of all - jkr's a bitch. She's racist, sexist, homo- and especially transphobic, and sadly the canon text also shows these positions and more.

-> Because of her views, I don't want to support her in any ways that would encourage her making money or pull more people into her influence, which is why when I do post about HP content, I try to do so in ways where only people who are already familiar with the canon material will find it, so it won't be advertising HP to people who would then go and buy her books etc - so while I might post a fic tagged HP, I won't share many rec posts for it on tumblr main where ppl not already in the fandom may see it. I also try to put disclaimers about Please not supporting jkr - by buying her merch or following her online - under any HP works.

However - I don't think that it is, like, evil to still be in HP fandom. It's important to be able to critically engage with a text, and I believe that in the case of HP, I'm able to discern which parts of it are problematic, I listen when someone points out a problematic detail I hadn't noticed so far, and I don't think jkr's views can, at this point, affect my own....

-> I think I can safely engage with her content, while I can't really enjoy the books any longer, I do read HP fic (though I don't tend to advertise that anywhere but the comment sections there because, again, advertisement for the overterf) and I still sometimes watch the films when they're on TV, but I absolutely understand if other people can't or don't want to be in the fandom at all anymore, either because they're afraid of being influenced by her problematic believes, or because they feel too hurt/are triggered by it, for example when someone is trans themselves and HP only reminds them of jkr's transphobia. I get it, I really do. Thinking about her leaves a bitter taste in me as well, and at this point I can really only enjoy fic that obviously fixes those issues or if they aren't mentioned has a nice author's note about it.

Canon is so very fucked up, and if I were to write a longfic in HP 'verse instead of just an AU or a quick character study, I'd want to fix all these mistakes.

-> I already mentioned that both the author and her works are deeply problematic, including but not limited to:

- Happy slaves (house-elves) that are never properly explored apart from basically saying 'ok really physically mistreating that one friendly elf that wants to be free is bad actually, but all other elves are okay with their situation so shut up about it'

- Boys can't get into the girls dorm, but the reverse is okay (sexist, and also dangerous when considering her transphobic views, she'd definitely not want a trans girl anywhere)

- Harry being abused by the Dursleys, something that is never acknowledged as abuse in canon

- Snape abusing students, same as ^

- arguably anti-semitically Jewish-coded money hungry big nosed Gringotts goblins, an entire race just worried about riches and money

- 'Creature' rights within the story - goblins, centaurs and other completely sentient beings are seen as lesser and for example aren't allowed to carry wands, in general the treatment of different fantasy races is incredibly negative and while canon sometimes offhandedly mentions that this is negative, it's never properly explored, also Hogwarts seems to only accept purely wizarding children, the one werewolf is hidden, the half-goblin teacher and squib caretaker are hiding their identities, and the one half giant was expelled at the first opportunity, there are no vampires, mer-people, veela, goblins, elves, centaurs etc etc, although all those and more are mentioned in canon and seem to generally have a level of intelligence and magic comparable to 'normal' magicians that would allow them to sit in the same classes as the canon students

- The heck kind of a prison system is Azkaban? I don't just mean sending sirius in without a trial during war time, I also mean... In general, that prison sounds like a box to put people in you want to execute but just give a slow death to instead, not like any sort of program making people ready for society after their sentence - and while, at least in canon, a bunch of insane death eaters probably deserve their life sentences because they'd never change anyway, not only is it arguable whether the government should torture them for it (dementors), it's not just death eaters that do criminal things and end up imprisoned - Hagrid also gets sent to Azkaban instead of any other holding cells - so like... Don't they have some other way of ensuring wizards don't get away? The way magic works in HP makes it seem like it would be very easy to put up wards that just take all access to magic away from the prisoners, you don't need to use dementors to make them insane.

- Also, the auror force, what they're allowed to do and how from book 5 and up it all goes downhill is a prime example of how nothing is safe from being turned into a fascist government, and how having cops with kill orders in place is Never a good idea. ACAB, yeah some of the characters that are written as being likeable are aurors, but they all actually do things - give information to the groups they happen to agree with, arrest people only when they feel like it but then with force, lie to their superiors - that would make them the typical bad cops that hate the internal affairs.

- Do I need to tell you that the government being able to execute people (dementor's kiss) is bad? That that's something that can't be reversed even when sb later turns out to be innocent, something that happens with human error (like Sirius being imprisoned for life, and only getting lucky not being executed)? Also Barty Crouch junior, while evil, just got executed on the spot, in a school, on the order of one single person, the minister, if I remember correctly. Canon good guy characters are only mad because they needed his testimony. I can't even

- Basically... All animal welfare arguments? Owls in tiny cages? Intrusive outdoor pet cats allowed to hunt freely in masses? Transfigurations? And that's just off the top of my head

- While the points about house elves, sexism, creature rights, prison system, dementors, aurors, animal welfare and all feel very in-character for the traditional wizarding world under people like Malfoy who are old money and people like Dumbledore who only care about a specific own agenda, what really bothers me about these points is that they are not pointed out as negative in canon, that the next generation, especially muggle-raised Harry and Hermione who should know better, don't realize how many things are wrong, and that at the end of the books/movies, the status quo hasn't changed - even in the epilogue scene from what we can tell, there definitely aren't non-humans mentioned to us attending Hogwarts.

- While always arguing in text that blood lines and wealth doesn't matter, in the end it's still a story about a little rich boy only winning because of his parents

- evil people being called ugly and fat and (in women's like Rita Skeeter and Aunt Marge's case) manly - not just using fat and manly in a negative way (fat- and transphobia), but also heavily implying that those people are 'ugly' because they are evil or vice-versa

-> on top of this, there are also non-morally questionable things I'd still like to fix, just plot holes like...

- parseltongue - snakes can't bloody hear. And the 'they're magical snakes' argument doesn't rly work because Harry also talks to several snakes in purely muggle environments

- when and how the fuck did the Marauders have time to become animagi and create the marauder's map next to pranks and school? I'm sorry but the three Marauders we do later see on-screen don't rly seem overly gifted enough to explain that

- What gigantic and unused pipes is the Basilisk travelling through, that also conveniently open to the castle - or is it just the one exit? If yes, how far can it even get away from there unnoticed? Also why didn't the thing starve over hundreds of years? And didn't jkr say that Hogwarts plumbing didn't exist in the founders' times?

- what exactly does the knight bus... Do. Like. Why is it a bus and not an apparating box given that that's all it really does. Someone really wanted to have a car chase in a book without reason for it huh

- the three most forbidden curses are not really the most dangerous ones

- So many weird names that seem like someone named the character after half their life. Moon moon mcwerewolf, author's choice I get it, I just don't bloody enjoy that style of writing as it doesn't make sense within the context of the story

- so many loose ends: the veil in the department of mysteries, how Voldy learned about Horcruxes, how underage magic is regulated and why, why does tech not work in Hogwarts and what tech exactly doesn't work? I get a ban on smartphones in modern times because, like, hard to regulate outgoing info, but um... Why does tech not work? How?

- I have deep dislike for the happy family 19 years later same status quo epilogue

So basically - if I want to write a story fixing jkrs errors, there are A Lot of errors to fix, and I need a bloody manual not to forget any at this point, and most are not things that I can just decide not to write about, no, if I want to stick to canon at all things like house elves need to be addressed either by an author's note saying They Don't Exist Imagine A Fictional Replacement or by... Actually fixing the issue.

And when it comes to fixing it - I do have thoughts and ideas. But I'm fairly certain almost none of them are my own, because I read A Bloody Lot of HP fic, plus in the olden days before jkr's idiotic personality made itself all to known, fandom had been happy to ignore her misgivings and not exactly fix but rather explain canon a la 'well Snape is a git but Only Because He's Already Acting As A Spy And That's Why Dumbledore Hasn't Fired Him' etcetcetc, so... I have a lot of ideas in my head that I don't want to use without credit but often don't even know who to credit for. As an example, here, Just the topic of snakes, basilisks and slytherin house, how I would want to 'fix' canon if I were to attempt to write a properly thought out HP longfic:

- only magical snakes speak parsel and only they have a thought structure similar enough to translate to a language humans can understand

- Parsel is a magical language that the brain directly translates as meanings instead of converting to English or the person's primary language, because of which Harry doesn't notice that he's speaking a foreign language, but he would notice the hissing sound if he really tried

- basilisks are protectors actually and mean humans no harm, Voldy just made this one angry or cursed it, it was supposed to protect the school (fairly certain this one's originally by Of A Linear Circle)

- Basilisks can swim and are so able to access the pipes which are in use/ the basilisk has access to the black lake to hunt

- The giant 'pipes' the basilisk uses aren't actually part of the plumbing but specifically a basilisk network put in by Slytherin, the bathroom just happened to be put over the entrance later, and Slytherin's magic converted whatever the entrance was into the snake password thing now on a sink (might be from Accidental Animagus by White Squirrel?)

- Either the Basilisk only kills near the entry to the chamber, not like in canon Or there's another proper entry near the library and the hospital wing etc Or the Basilisk can shape-shifting or make itself invisible or whatever it needs to get around the castle

- Basilisks have 2 sets of eyelids, one to watch, one to kill (also Of A Linear circle?)

- Basilisks kill without petrification when looked at directly Or basilisks usually have their eyes closed/their second set of eyelids closed to hunt as otherwise they'd only catch inedible stone

- Slytherin was not evil, his message just got mistranslated/purposely mangled over time to fit to the current pureblood ideologies, in reality it was either all made up or he wanted no nonmagical people in Hogwarts, no people without knowledge of magic in Hogwarts, or compulsory separate education for magical- and nonmagical-born students to accommodate their different needs OR Slytherin was evil and there should really not still be a house named after him. Also, the house system is bogus anyway so why not disbandon it entirely

Concluding: I'd rather fucking ignore the existence of HP, come up with my own magic system based on a mix of HP magic and Age of the Five stuff, and re-name any HP-inspired characters or ocs (that had HP lastnames bc of their family relationships), than having to deal with all of those things for my fics, bloody hell

Lmk if I missed any other more obvious plotholes or moral failings of HP canon!

[itsclydebitches]

(WLW anon) I really don’t like the “bad rep is better then none at all”. I hate that. We should want good rep, because bad rep has been used time and time again by homophobes as to say we shouldn’t get representation. To me it’s not “gay can have the same flaws as het”, it’s “fix the flaws in the het”. Also I know Renora being independent was a good, I was just saying in comparison BB. Also, yes, they were separated, but also didn’t stop thinking about each other. Especially bad with Yang.

Indulge me for a moment because I want to take a trip down memory lane and list some—just some—of the queer rep that has been important to me over the years:

Ellen comes out both as herself and as her character… years later, she’s a hated millionaire who is criticized for how she treats her staff

The wildly influential Buffy gives us two women entering a loving relationship… except then Tara is killed off, Willow goes evil for a time, and Buffy comes under fire for Joss Whedon’s everything

The beloved and respectable headmaster of one of the most popular book series ever published is revealed to be gay… except it doesn’t count because it wasn’t in the text and now all of Harry Potter is cancelled because JKR is transphobic

Kurt is an unambiguously gay teen in a hugely popular TV series, acting as one of the first overt representations a generation has seen… except he’s way too stereotypical and Glee is a joke now

Orange is the New Black gives us a number of queer women, including one of our first trans characters… but isn’t it problematic that they’re all criminals?

Brooklyn Nine-Nine hosts an out gay captain and gives us a bisexual coming out story that resonated with many, myself included… except now we’re supposed to hate all the characters on principle because they’re cops

Korra and Asami walk off into the spiritual sunset together… but they never kiss or anything, so that doesn’t count either

Steven Universe gives us a queer relationship and a wedding… but it’s an issue that this is just a kid’s show and, really, does it count when the rep is embodied by space rocks whose entire species only creates a single gender? Feels like a cop-out

Same with Good Omens. Yeah, Crowley and Aziraphale clearly love each other… but you never see them kiss or declare their intentions. It’s great ace rep though! Unless you want to level the criticism that asexual characters are always nonhuman

A character intended to be a minor guest becomes a show staple and eventually declares his love for one of the two main characters… except then Castiel immediately dies, Dean doesn’t respond, and they never meet on screen again

I finished Queen’s Gambit the other day and the main character had a one-night stand with a woman! … but everyone is talking about how bisexuality is used to represent her lowest point, so that’s bad too

I could go on for literal pages. Some of these arguments I agree with (Dumbledore), others I’ve pushed back against quite strongly (Crowley and Aziraphale), but all of them are valid criticisms depending on what part of the queer community you’re in and what your expectations are. My point here is that it’s all “bad rep.” I mean that seriously. If anyone reading this is scrambling for the comment section to say why [insert media title here] is actually fantastic rep, I guarantee that someone disagrees. Or if they don’t, give it some time. Just wait until the characterization becomes offensively outdated, or another part of the story ruins the relationship, or it comes out that the author did something truly horrific, or the terminology changes and it’s labeled as “problematic” now… just wait. At some point, any rep we feel is good rep now will be criticized, cancelled, and dragged through the mud. The rep that I personally haven’t seen much push-back against—like the beloved Captain Jack Harkness in Doctor Who, or Schitts Creek that just won a ton of awards—is wrapped up in the criticism, “So it’s all just about able-bodied, cis, (mostly) white dudes, huh? :/”  Even the argument that queer characters need to be written by queer authors doesn’t hold up. I absolutely adored Sense8. “Wow, a gay main character in a loving relationship with another gay man, both of whom enter a loving poly relationship with a woman, another lesbian trans main character who marries the love of her life on screen, an entire cast arguably queer due to them sharing orgy scenes centered around the emotional intimacy they share, everyone survives, and this was written by two trans women! Great, right?” Well, not according to the wealth of opinions explaining how Sense8 is horrible rep, actually. Every piece of rep we’ve got is either currently flawed or will become flawed in the future.

So what do we do with that?

That’s where my “I’d rather have bad rep than no rep at all” comes in. For me, that’s not waving the white flag. That’s not an oath that I won’t expect better rep in the future (I do) or that I won’t criticize the rep we get (BOY DO I), but rather just an acknowledgement of reality. The vast majority—if not the entirety—of rep is “bad rep” in one way or another, but I’d still rather have it than nothing at all. Because I’ve lived just long enough and studied media just enough to know what nothing looked like. It was watching all queer characters meet untimely deaths. Before that it was watching queer characters be derided and treated as jokes. Before that it was nothing but coding, where queer characters didn’t exist except in our own headcanons and interpretations. Obviously “bad rep” covers a very large range of issues and “They haven’t even confirmed this relationship yet” is a bigger issue than “This queer character embodies one or two, mild stereotypes,” but ultimately I’d take any of it over nothing at all. And enjoying what we’ve currently got doesn’t mean I’m willing to settle for it indefinitely.

To use an iffy analogy, imagine there’s a factory. This factory makes plates. So. Many. Plates. Big plates, small plates, plain plates, decorative plates, plates for every possible occasion in your life—and everyone with a steak for dinner is pleased as punch. You though? You’ve got soup. You need a bowl. Your entire life you’ve been struggling to eat your soup off a plate (it doesn’t work) and listening to friends and family claim that the plate with a slightly raised edge could be a bowl if you squint (it’s not). To say it’s frustrating is an understatement.

But then, one day, the factory starts producing bowls too. Hurray! Except as soon as you get your hands on one, you’re told you really shouldn’t be using it, let alone praising it. Look at the state of that bowl! It’s cracked right down the middle, ugly as hell, shoddily made all around… you’re not really going to settle for that, are you? And no, you obviously still want the factory to produce better bowls, but at the same time, this is a bowl. You’ve never gotten one before and you can finally enjoy your meal, even if the soup leaks at times. Sometimes a lot. But you’re still feeling better about your meal than you ever have before. And what you then begin to realize is that lots of the plates are a mess too. They also have cracks, they’re also ugly, many are also shoddily made. The difference is that the factory is producing so many plates at such a rapid pace that every steak eater is able to get by. One plate breaks completely? You’ve got a thousand fallbacks. Don’t like the look of this one? A thousand other options. You disagree about what “shoddily made” means? Luckily there are enough plates that everyone can find what they prefer! But the bowls… there’s only a few. Some are really expensive. Others are only available for a limited time before they suddenly disappear. Your bowl breaks and you have to wait months, years sometimes, to get another one. You’re constantly told to go buy this one obscure bowl no one else has heard about and yeah, you like it... but you’d also like to buy one of the bowls everyone is already enjoying. You find yourself looking at the plates and thinking, “I’d like that. I’d like to have so many options that the flaws, while still a problem, are much more bearable.” You’re still going to demand that the factory get its shit together, you’re still going to (rightly) complain about the awful quality of your bowl… but it’s still nice to have a bowl, period. There are still things you like about it, even if it’s a mess: the color, the size, the beauty of the shape of it. Its potential. You’re still pleased you have something to enjoy and that helps serve the need you’re looking to fill, even if that something is imperfect.

That’s “bad rep is better than no rep.” To bring this very long response back to Blake/Yang, I don’t think their problems negate their benefits. Is their relationship currently non-canonical and filled with a number of writing issues everyone has a right to be angry about? Yup. I express that anger a great deal. Are they still half of a team on a very popular show that is (presumably) set to be canonized as queer? Yup. I’d much rather live in a world where big shows like RWBY try to include queer rep and fail in a multitude of ways—with the expectation and hope that they’ll continue to improve—rather than in a world where authors a) don’t care or b) are too scared to try. Because that’s where a “good rep or no rep” stance leads. The danger isn’t homophobes because they’re, well, homophobes. It doesn’t matter if the rep is good or not, they hate it on principle. But if queer authors writing for other queer identities, or allies writing queer identities, or even queer authors writing their own experiences (like in Sense8) continually come under non-stop fire for their attempts… there’s a good chance that many people won’t ever try. We’re already seeing that here on tumblr with young authors admitting that they wouldn’t touch [insert topic here] with a ten-foot pole because just look at what happens when you get it wrong. And authors will get things wrong because authors are fallible people forever unlearning their own ignorance. So though it might sound strange coming from a blog that has turned into such a RWBY critical space, I am glad that RWBY’s queer rep exists, despite all the frustrations that I share about it. I think a RWBY with various types of “bad” queer rep is better than a RWBY with no queer rep at all, particularly when “bad” or “good” is so intensely subjective. There’s a middle ground between passively accepting whatever we’re given, and tearing into rep with such ferocity that we end up rejecting it all. There’s a space where we can be critical of rep and embrace the parts that work for us, simultaneously.

I hope and expect the het rep will get better too, but… that’s never going to happen instantly. To quote RWBY, there’s no magic wand we can wave to fix all our problems. Rather, it will take slow, plodding, meandering, lifetimes’ worth of work to see that change occur and I personally don’t want to spend the one life I have waiting for that perfect rep to show up. Because it’s unlikely that it will. While we work, I’d rather find the good in what rep we’ve already got.  

[samwisethewitch]

How to Find Good Witchcraft Books (Baby Witch Bootcamp Ch. 4)

This post is loosely based on the fourth episode of my Baby Witch Bootcamp series on YouTube. In that video, I recommended some of my personal favorite books on witchcraft and spirituality. But, after some thought, I decided it would be more helpful to give y’all some guidelines for how to find worthy resources for yourself.

After all, your interests may be different from mine, and the books that have shaped my magical practice may not interest you at all. But the standards for a good, trustworthy resource are constant, so that’s what I’ll be addressing here.

Research the author’s reputation and credentials.

There is no “university of witchcraft,” so sometimes the only credential an author can have is being a lifelong practitioner. However, some magical traditions do require initiation and/or have a more formal structure. For example, Reiki (which is not technically magic, but many witches still have an interest in it) cannot be learned from a book — it can only be passed down by a Reiki Master. If you’re reading a book about Reiki, the author should specify which Reiki lineage they were initiated and certified through. (Even then, reading their book does not mean you are initiated!)

Likewise, if someone claims to be a member of the clergy, whether a Christian reverend or a pagan high priestess, look into how they got that title. What religious group are they associated with? Did they attend seminary or some other form of training? Were they ordained? If an author does not have this information readily available (such as in the “About the Author” section of their book), be skeptical of their claims to religious authority.

Even though not all authors who write about witchcraft will have been initiated into a formal tradition or will be ordained clergy (and not all of them need to be!) most authors will have a reputation of some kind. The best way to figure out if an author is legit is to see what experienced witches think of their books.

Try Googling “[author’s name] + controversy” or “[author’s name] + scandal” to see what comes up. Have they been called out for spreading misinformation or for problematic behavior in the past?  For example, Googling “Silver Ravenwolf controversy” will bring up several articles about bad information in that author’s books.

It’s also a good idea to look that author up on social media — both their own profiles, and the tags associated with their work. Is there anything on the author’s Instagram or Twitter that seems like a red flag? What are other social media users saying about their work? Some authors will even have a blog, so you can read some of their writing for free before deciding to buy a book.

Even if an author’s books aren’t super popular, you can still read reviews and check out the author’s social media. This doesn’t always weed out bad resources, but it is a good first step.

Just because a book is popular doesn’t mean it’s a good resource.

See my previous note about Silver Ravenwolf. There are a lot of very popular books and authors that many witches will tell you are hot garbage. There are also a lot of very shallow, surface-level “Witchcraft 101”-type books that are popular because of a good marketing campaign, an Instagram-worthy cover, or some other superficial factor, but contain very little actual hands-on instruction.

(Note: There’s nothing wrong with Witchcraft 101 books, and in fact I recommend starting with more “beginner-friendly” books until you figure out what aspects of witchcraft you want to focus on. But just because a book is for beginners doesn’t mean it can’t have depth to it.)

I’m not saying don’t read popular books — some things are popular because they are genuinely good. I’m just saying that you shouldn’t buy a book only because it’s popular.

Look for a well-rounded “Resources” section.

If you want to know if a book is worth your time, flip to the back and look for the “Resources,” “Bibliography,” or “Further Reading” section. In a well-researched book, this section will be several pages long. (Obviously, if the book is especially short and/or only covers a single topic, the Resources section may be shorter, but it will still be there.) In a really well-researched book, it will include sources written by non-witch, non-pagan authors like historians, scientists, and psychologists.

If you’re reading a book about mythology or paganism, the Resources section should contain some primary sources (or as close to primary sources as possible). For example, Morgan Daimler’s book Odin: Meeting the Norse All-Father, lists multiple English translations of the Poetic Edda in its bibliography. A good book about Wicca will reference the writings of Gerald Gardner, the founder of modern Wicca, and probably also Aleister Crowley, even if the author does not agree with their views.

If a book doesn’t list the author’s sources, it’s probably not worth your time. Either the book is poorly researched or the author is intentionally being vague about where they are getting their information. Either way, that book is not a transparent resource and should not be used as a reference.

Avoid authors who use vague phrases like “scientists say ___” or “the old witches knew ___.”

This goes back to being transparent about sources. A lot of writers will use wording like this to give their claims the illusion of authority.

“Scientists” could very well refer to a small group of fringe scientists (or pseudo-scientists) who are not respected by the mainstream scientific community. For example, some “scientists” have voiced support of the anti-vaccination movement, but no respectable medical professional is going to tell parents not to vaccinate their kids. If the author doesn’t say who these “scientists” are, they may as well write “My friend Steve, who once took a high school physics class, says ___” for all the credibility it gives them.

The problem with claims about the “witches of old” is that witchcraft is not and never has been a unified tradition. Witchcraft is a practice which has existed in different forms within many cultures throughout history. Even witches living on the same continent at the same time would have very different practices based on their local environments, religions, ethnic heritages, etc. If the author does not specify which magic tradition they’re referring to, the information is pretty much useless.

Avoid any other vague wording or claims to authority that don’t provide an actual source.

Don’t be afraid to fact-check an author!

Do your own research outside of the witchcraft books you read. If you’re interested in mythology, read books written by historians and archaeologists, not just witches. If you’re interested in energy work, read books by doctors and scientists, not just energy workers. If you’re interested in herbs and plants, study their medicinal as well as magical uses. You get the idea.

If an author says something that sounds weird to you, or that seems to contradict what you’ve read in other books, don’t be afraid to do some research. If it turns out to be bullshit, you probably want to take everything else in that book with a grain of salt.

On a related note: some older books contain incorrect information not because the author was dishonest or misinformed, but because that information was widely accepted as true when the book was written, but was later disproved. For example, many academics used to believe in a unified “cult of the Goddess” spanning the continent of Europe in ancient times. This has now been pretty thoroughly disproved by archaeological evidence, but you’ll still see some older books referencing it.

Hopefully these guidelines give y’all a better idea of how to find books to lean on as you’re developing your craft. Research is a big part of witchcraft and paganism, so finding good resources is very, very important.

[eaglehealthworks]

Lots of words, lots of meanings Pt. I

This entry is intended to bring a little educational understanding to those who are unsure of what all the different terms mean in the world of people with drug/alcohol/behavioral issues. For the sake of discussing the individual, he/she/they are known as such and will be in active use, active recovery, or active wellness (complete remission, perhaps). There are those that will state that one cannot be cured and there is only a state of recovery because the individual is never not addicted to whatever caused problems. I contend that an individual can achieve active wellness which would include complete abstinence and a life without psychoactive substances and/or other excessive repetitive patterns know as behavioral addictions (e.g., gambling, sex, shopping &c.) in healthy, sustainable, and satisfying ways.

Yes, if someone who has been in the throes of chemical dependency or behavioral disorder return to the substance and/or behavior, the cycle begins where it left off for many biological reasons. The point is it is absolutely possible and very much achievable to never return to that way of existing. If you follow medical orders after realizing a high blood pressure diagnosis, the problem becomes completely manageable. If you get your blood pressure down then revert back to a lifestyle which caused it to increase then guess what, it will return with a vengeance. Same exact thing.

I’ll step off of my “You can live well” pulpit and get into the terminology because the layers to wellness are many, deep, and worthy of their very own post(s) .

What is drug addiction, and should we use the term or its derivatives?

According to the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA, 2019), it is “a chronic disease characterized by compulsive, or uncontrollable, drug seeking and use despite harmful consequences and changes in the brain, which can be long-lasting”. Note how it is considered a medical disease by the established medical community. This gets some people in a tizzy and those are often heard exclaiming, “You did this to yourself!, It’s not a disease!, Cancer is a disease!”, &c. The number one cause of death in these United States is heart disease caused largely by; you guessed it, the sufferer (Weatherspoon, 2019). Smoking, diet, overweight, sedentary, all contribute significantly to this problem. Those previously mentioned anger mongers will often retort “Yeah, well it is also genetic!”, and so is chemical dependency (Johns Hopkins, 2021).

Whether or not the term is used or not is always up for debate, and only time will determine its existence. Addiction as a term is fairly straightforward and accurate; however, the term addict is filled with negative connotation, stereotype, and stigma. I can assure you that easily half of everyone I have ever treated looks and behaves just like every other citizen walking around in any neighborhood anywhere. Rich, poor, elderly, young, and all points in between describe people with substance use disorders and behavioral addictions, many of whom you would never guess. I have also known many straight edge folks who the average American might easily mistake for someone who abuses drugs based on appearance alone.

How does someone get diagnosed?

Well, it must be done by a licensed and qualified medical professional who has spent many years in study and has the student debt to prove it. Or you can generally ask someone who is suspected of having a problem with drugs, alcohol, or circumstance and they will know if it can be controlled or if help is needed. This does not take into account those in denial or fear of losing something by the very nature of the question (like safety, shelter, liberty, &c). In the case of the former, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders Fifth Edition (DSM-V) by the American Psychiatric Association (APA) uses the following criteria to determine whether a problem exists and/or the degree of severity if present (APA, 2013):

A. A problematic pattern of [insert substance or circumstance] use leading to clinically significant impairment or distress, as manifested by at least two of the following, occurring within a 12-month period:

1.     [insert substance or circumstance, e.g., alcohol, opioids, gambling, &c.]  are often taken in larger amounts or over a longer period than was intended.

2.     There is a persistent desire or unsuccessful efforts to cut down or control [insert substance or circumstance] use.

3.     A great deal of time is spent in activities necessary to obtain the [insert substance or circumstance], use the [insert substance or circumstance], or recover from its effects.

4.     Craving, or a strong desire or urge to use [insert substance or circumstance].

5.     Recurrent [insert substance or circumstance]  use resulting in a failure to fulfill major role obligations at work, school, or home.

6.     Continued [insert substance or circumstance]  use despite having persistent or recurrent social or interpersonal problems caused or exacerbated by the effects of [insert substance or circumstance].

7.     Important social, occupational, or recreational activities are given up or reduced because of [insert substance or circumstance]  use.

8.     Recurrent [insert substance or circumstance]  use in situations in which it is physically hazardous.

9.     Continued [insert substance or circumstance]  use despite knowledge of having a persistent or recurrent physical or psychological problem that is likely to have been caused or exacerbated by the substance.

10.  Tolerance, as defined by either of the following:

a.      A need for markedly increased amounts of [insert substance or circumstance]  to achieve intoxication or desired effect.

b.     A markedly diminished effect with continued use of the same amount of an [insert substance or circumstance]. (Note: This criterion is not considered to be met for those taking [insert substance or circumstance]  solely under appropriate medical supervision.)

11.  Withdrawal, as manifested by either of the following:

a.      The characteristic [insert substance or circumstance]  withdrawal syndrome (refer to Criteria A and B of the criteria set for [insert substance or circumstance]  withdrawal).

b.     [insert substance or circumstance]  (or a closely related substance) are taken to relieve or avoid withdrawal symptoms. (Note: This criterion is not considered to be met for those individuals taking [insert substance or circumstance]  solely under appropriate medical supervision.)

NONE – Presence of 0-1 symptoms

MILD – Presence of 2-3 symptoms

MODERATE – Presence of 4-5 symptoms

SEVERE – Presence of 6 or more symptoms 

Questions? Anyone? Let’s keep moving. Now with this information held firmly in your mind, you still need to be properly credentialed in order to affix a legitimate diagnosis to anyone, so this is for informational purposes only. Here are a few more terms to add to your lexicon though:

1.     Drug Intoxication. This is elusive because many people with a substance use disorder(s) have been using for so long that their strange and erratic behavior has become accepted traits. Often the presence of intoxication is a sudden change in demeanor, i.e., one moment a person is restless and anxious, they go to the bathroom and after emerging proceed to pass-out after sitting down anywhere (opioids). Or an individual is nervous and even a little shaky but after a few moments alone returns happy, smooth in gait, and chatty (alcohol). Perhaps a loved one is lethargic and grumpy, but after returning from the bathroom is full of energy and talking a mile a minute (cocaine, methamphetamine). Of course, there are many indicators, but you get the point.

2.     Drug Abuse. The continued use of a psychoactive drug or behavioral patterns despite the knowledge that it is causing social, occupational, psychological, or physical problems (APA, 2013). Put simply, doing something to excess where the consequences outweigh the benefits; An ice cream cone is great, a half-gallon  makes you vomit (in most cases).

3.     Drug Dependence. Maladaptive pattern of use resulting in significant impairment or distress, as shown by compulsive use, increased tolerance, withdrawal, and obsessive thoughts about it (APA, 2013).

 You know, the word withdrawal has been presented several times in this post and it deserves its own little section because it is this experience alone that keeps more people in active use than any other single precipitating factor. The human mind is in a constant state of seeking homeostasis or normal acceptable functioning. All people, not just those with drug/alcohol issues seek the avoidance of pain. Ok, somewhere there is a body builder claiming no pain no gain but let that pain be a sciatic or tooth nerve and he/she is reduced to a tower of gelatin seeking immediate relief.

 This next sentence is a value statement directly from the horse; withdrawal is an exquisitely harrowing experience engulfing the entirety of the human experience and reducing it to the most detestable overall sensation of prolonged living death. The only relief which is desperately sought and despised simultaneously is more of the substance that caused it. I really don’t know a better way to explain it. I know of septuagenarian Rockwellesque grandmothers who have sold themselves for heroin because their medical provider overprescribed opioids for years and due to pressure from governing authorities cut them off, just to avoid withdrawal. People question this but its sadly true, and not even the worst of the stories.

 If you ever want to chat with me about this or anything else related to relief from substance and/or circumstance please contact me here or at the clinic. Feel free to click on any of the links provided for more reading. Thanks for taking the time, enjoy.

-        Edesepam

References

American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.books.9780890425596

Johns Hopkins. (2021). Substance Abuse / Chemical Dependency. Retrieved from https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/substance-abuse-chemical-dependency on 2021, June 30.

NIDA. (2019, January 17). Treatment Approaches for Drug Addiction DrugFacts. Retrieved from https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugfacts/treatment-approaches-drug-addiction on 2021, June 30

Weatherspoon, D. (2019, March 29). What Are the 12 Leading Causes of Death in the United States? Retrieved from https://www.healthline.com/health/leading-causes-of-death on 2021, June 30.

[dusk-writes]

hoooo boy. I’m probably gonna get hate for this (bc i’ve heard the stans of this fic are Like That) but here goes anyway!! & I’m also…. really hoping you asked me this in good faith, @parttwoelectricboogaloo, because I’m Not Here to Start Shit (ie, important disclaimer that this post is NOT an attack against the author or anyone who likes the fic, & i won’t tolerate stans being rude/shitty in the replies).

anyway, tl;dr: the author took a CANONICALLY strong & independent character (Remus) & reduced him to someone who literally cannot function without a romantic love interest (either Sirius or the OC) by the end of the fic– his arc is essentially a downward spiral over the course of which he loses any shred of agency & becomes unhealthily clingy/needy instead.

Remus in Actual Book Canon is clever, competent, intelligent, and incredibly self-sufficient– while That Fic characterises Remus as the sort of person who literally whines & begs his lover not to break up with him (and I’m entirely unable to understand where OP got this characterisation from, bc it doesn’t remotely resemble Canon Remus from the books).

…like, Remus’s character in the final chapters of a/t/y/d is strongly reminiscent of Bella from Twilight– and I shouldn’t need to explain why this is Not A Good Thing. you know that one super icky section where Edward buggers off & there are several completely blank chapters with only the names of months at the top, to show how she literally Cannot Exist without her hot boyfriend & nothing else going on in her life is even worth mentioning…? This fic, similarly, has Remus fall into a deep depressive state after Halloween 1981 (including problems with addiction & substance abuse) from which he needs to be ‘saved’ by a Man, which would justifiably have everyone up in arms if he were a woman (except in some ways it’s even worse to shove Remus into this role, bc he’s a grown ass man and not an immature hormonal teenager). I definitely don’t dispute that Remus was very messed up after the war, and of course it would take time for him to recover from that trauma, but this is something he Can & Should be able to work through on his own!! Having another character (especially a love interest) swoop in to pick up the pieces for him strips Remus of his agency, & I’m really not about that.

Point 1: if a trope is gross & misogynistic when applied to a female character, it really should not be applied to a gay man, either. And, on that note, portraying one half of a gay ship as the ‘soft emotional vulnerable one’ (especially when this is not a canon trait of the character) is in fact super problematic; it’s literally a homophobic stereotype.

Point 2: Romance is not a cure for mental illness!!! And any romantic relationship where one partner contributes all of the emotional labour is Not Healthy.

Canon Wolfstar is beautiful because Remus & Sirius are equals who perfectly balance each other out, whose lives are both improved by the other’s presence while each still existing as his own independent person. they’re so close and vibe so well together that even after 12 years apart they barely need to speak out loud to understand each other. The author of a/t/y/d, meanwhile, is on the record as saying that Sirius & Remus ‘don’t really understand each other’, and injected their own OC into this role instead (which… Big Oof).

And for the record, I want to be 100% crystal clear that I’m NOT saying no one should ever read this fic, or that enjoying it makes you a bad person!! (we’re all still fans of HP & wolfstar in spite of JKR being a terrible racist terf, after all). But please, if you enjoy this work, do so while being conscious & critical of its flaws, and stop holding it up as the Pinnacle Of All Literature, or even the Best Fanfic Ever (remember that Perfect Flawless Media Does Not Exist!! flaws are normal, & they don’t mean you can’t/shouldn’t enjoy things, but it’s important to be aware & respectful). Because yeah, as a mentally ill queer dude, there are a Lot of unfortunate implications in this fic that make me very deeply uncomfortable (and friends who are POC have voiced discomfort regarding that aspect as well, though I’ll leave it to them to elaborate if they choose to). Again, you’re absolutely free to enjoy this fic & rec it to others, & it’s not my intention to stop you– but it is Not good rep of mental illness & disability, or of queer men (another side note: writing a character who explicitly & consistently IDs as a Gay Man throughout his adult life, only to have him marry a woman as the ultimate endgame ship, is also Very Squicky). I’m just. Really Tired.

in closing: It’s 2020 & We Are Past The Need For Gay Men Cast As Sexist Female Character Tropes & Presenting Toxic Unhealthy Relationships As Romantic. thank you for coming to my ted talk, and have a lovely day, friends ♡

[achadental]

Dental implants morrisville

There is three (not serious) main questions, when you no doubt know that you desire a dental implants Morrisville procedure:

1. Just how much dental implant cost? 2. Just what are main dental implant prices? 3. Can I receive free dental implant? Actually, dentures implant procedure is one of the popular expensive actions you can take at dentist’s office.

Up until recently, dentists would be sure to keep or replace teeth with treatments for example root canals, bridges, and fixed or removable dentures. Unfortunately, an important wide variety of root canal treated teeth fail, bridges require that healthy adjacent teeth be slashed down and removable dentures is often unstable and require the usage of sticky adhesives. Dental implants are a resolution to these complaints, and lots of the concerns involving natural teeth are eliminated, including dental decay.

A Single-Tooth Implant

Single-tooth implants can be utilized in those who find themselves missing one or two teeth. An tooth implant is surgically slipped into an opening manufactured by your dentist on the jawbone. As soon as the implant integrates (attaches) in your bone, it provides for a new "root" in the crown that might be replacing your missing tooth. A crown (cap), that may be made to turn into a natural tooth, is coupled to the implant and fills the left on the mouth via the missing tooth.

For this action to figure out, the converter should have enough bone on the jaw, along with the bone is to be sufficiently strong to hang and support your tooth implant. If there isn't enough bone, be must be added in which has a procedure called bone augmentation. Moreover, natural teeth and supporting tissues near from where the implant might be placed must take good health.

There are many work with replace a missing tooth. A gap amongst the teeth, if obvious as soon as you smile or speak, may be a cosmetic concern.

Based upon their whereabouts, some missing teeth may affect your speech. A missing molar mightn't be noticeable as soon as you talk or smile, nonetheless its absence make a difference to chewing.

Whenever a tooth is missing, the biting force on the rest of the teeth sets out to change. Because the bite changes to make amends for the lost tooth, we have a risk of additional pressure on and discomfort on the jaw joints. If the missing tooth seriously isn't replaced, the encircling teeth can shift. Harmful plaque and tartar can collect in new hard-to-reach places having to do with the shifting teeth. After a while, this can lead to dental caries and periodontal disease.

Just what Dental Implant?

A dental implant is option for replacing a tooth. Implants are produced devices that they fit surgically on the upper or mandibular, where they are the anchors for replacement teeth. Implants come from titanium and many other materials that happens to be works with a body.

An implant-restored tooth consists of countless parts.

 The     implant, which     features titanium, is slipped into the top or lower jawbone.

The     abutment can     be achieved of titanium, gold or porcelain. It truly is coupled to the     implant which has a screw. This part connects the implant in the crown.

The     restoration (the     part that appears being a tooth) may be a crown, usually composed of     porcelain fused to somewhat of a metal alloy (PFM), but in addition will     be an all-metal or all-porcelain crown. The crown is attached either in     the abutment or instantly to the implant. It is usually screwed or     cemented onto the abutment. That the crown is screwed in the abutment, the     screw hole might be engrossed in restorative material for example tooth-collared     filling material (composite).

An implant feels and looks being a natural tooth. They fit securely as soon as you chew and speak. A single-tooth implant may be a free-standing unit as well as doesn't involve treatment in the adjacent teeth. Which includes a dental implant, the encircling teeth can remain untouched if they're scams healthy, and potency and efficacy and integrity could possibly be maintained. The implant can stabilize your bite and alleviate problems with difficulty the jaw.

 What Happens Through the Tooth Implant Procedure?

Treatment generally may be a three-part procedure that takes several months. Your dentist may supply treatment, or that you are mentioned an authority - for instance a periodontics, a orthodontist a dental and maxillary surgeon - for everyone or a section of the treatment.

In the first task, the dentist surgically places the implant on the jaw, with all the surface of the implant slightly above the surface of the bone. A screw is inserted within the implant to forestall gum tissue together with other debris from entering.

The gum then is secured in the implant, where its going to remain covered for as much as 3 to 6 months as the implant fuses with all the bone, an operation called "Osseo integration. "There are some swelling and/or tenderness during their visit following on from the surgery, so pain medication usually is prescribed to cure the discomfort. Eating too much soft foods, cold foods and warm soup often is recommended within the healing process.

With the second step, the implant is uncovered along with the dentist attaches an extension box, known as a "post," in the implant. The gum tissue is permitted to heal to the post. Once healing is complete, the implant and post will be the building blocks for the fresh tooth.

With the final step, the dentist is really a custom artificial tooth, known as a “dental crown," of your size, shape, co-lour and fit which will blend with other teeth. Once completed, the crown is coupled to the implant post.

And so, maybe most critical part.

We'll be sure to answer if dental implants are good selection for you.

 When     you're missing a tooth, or teeth you'll probably be a superb candidate for     implants, especially if your smile reveals missing teeth!

When     you're uncomfortable with all the way your dentures fit. Loose dentures     causes sore gums as a consequence of friction or food trapped inside the     given bridgework.

Loose     teeth from gums and teeth might have support.

Dental     implants can provide a fresh base to assist new teeth to operate and feel     as though natural teeth.

Over these instances, dental implants can help.

 Success and failure rates for dental implant procedure.

Dental implant success relates to operator skill, quality and volume of the bone available to begin, as well as the patient's oral hygiene. Various studies realize the 5 year recovery rate of implants that should be between 75-95%. Patients who smoke experience significantly poorer success rates.

Failure of your dental implant will likely be in connection with failure to Osseo integrate correctly. A dental implant is regarded as failing the expense of lost, mobile or shows peril-implant bone decrease in longer than one mm in the 1st year after implanting and longer than 0.2mm one year after that.

Dental implants are certainly not chafes from abrasion dental caries but additionally can be cultivated a periodontal condition called Peri-timpanists where correct oral cleanliness routines weren't followed. Risk of failure is increased in smokers. Therefore implants are generally placed only looking for patient has stopped smoking as being the therapy for this is very expensive. More rarely, an implant may fail as a consequence of poor positioning whilst surgery, or could possibly be overloaded initially causing failure to integrate.

Will do it very hurt to obtain dental implants placed?

A procedure to surgically place a dental implant is accomplished under local anesthesia and is normally never painful. If your anesthesia wears off about 3 to 5 hours later, you will expect some discomfort. How much discomfort can be quite distinctive from person to person, but the majority of patients don't need significant problems.

Where there does exist prolonged pain, you must call at your dentist right away. Prolonged pain is Nintendo Wii sign with dental implants and although no always mean failure, the explanation for the anguish needs to be determined immediately after possible. Automobile implant is improperly integrating within the adjacent bone or if infection develops, the implant might have to be removed.

Consider some of the options to implants?

The options to implants are dentures or bridges. On the flip side, you may want to simply accept the in which a tooth is missing.

A denture usually incorporates a metal and/or plastic base carrying plastic or porcelain artificial teeth. It's a removable replacement couple of missing teeth (partial denture) or a total range of teeth (complete dentures). Dentures are certainly common but additionally can loose, making it problematical to chow down and speak. Several implants is often designed for help support and retain a denture.

A bridge features artificial teeth cemented onto adjacent natural teeth. If a restricted bridge may be used, your dentist would lessen the adjacent teeth (the second molar along with the second bicuspid) and fit a 3 unit fixed tide over those two teeth.

The missing tooth is going to be known as a poetic and it might be effectively replaced by significant unit bridge. But if your dentist were to utilize an implant which has a crown in it, he'd place an implant on the site of the first first molar. He could do that immediately or at some date after the 1st molar was removed. There is absolutely no time period here. The implant will require about 3 months to touch base with all the bone after which it in those days, your dentist can construct one single crown relating to the implant to interchange the missing first molar.

The money necessary most of these procedures is different from office to office, but a 3 unit fixed bridge costs about like an implant and then a crown. A decision to try and do one over other rests with everyone’s dentist. One way is not inherently superior to other every relies on the method that you present along with your dentist's skills.

Related Article here: https://dentistmorrisville.weebly.com

[aphmexphil]

Musings on historical sources

I was recently skimming through, Bonds of Blood by Caroline Dodds Pennock, and I came across a section that brought up a very good point. In that, while viewing historical sources, especially those by non-natives and/or colonial authorities should be viewed with a critical eye, it is equally as unwise and reckless to discard or dismiss them because of their colonial origin.

She reasons that although the sources are imperfect due to a multitude of factors, and thus rightfully should be viewed with caution...The context of why they were written should be taken into account as well.

For example, most Mesoamerican codices were written by missionaries as guides to help their fellow brethren in understanding the local culture in an effort to help proselytize the native peoples, both in trying to understand their worldview to make Christianity more palatable to them, learn their language(s) to help better communicate their message, and also look out for 'pagan' traditions that they wished to eradicate.

Fray Bernardino de Sahagún, behind the existence of the Florentine codex. In response to criticisms levied against him for researching and documenting pre-colonial Nahua society and religion responded:

While his personal motives for recording native history and culture could be considered reprehensible, it doesn't change the fact that he still viewed documenting Nahua culture as accurately as possible to be very important to him.

In that context, why would they (purposefully) write false or misleading texts that would only hinder their fellow missionaries in the evangelization efforts?

In the same section, Pennock also warned of the dangers of casting aside historical sources in leu of conflating other cultures with each other to reconstruct a complete picture. Such methodology is problematic as it tends to generalize varied and diverse peoples and treat their cultures as synonymous with each other, often trying to force connections where there is none. In my opinion it also comes off as troubling in that I tend to see this tactic used (by nationalists) to build an idealized and/or romanticized view of the pre-colonial past, often reaching into unrelated cultures to force that view.

Her example in the book includes a passage of a work by Richard Trexler, who discarding colonial sources regarding the condemnation of homosexuality (by the Nahua) as fabrications or distortions by colonial authors, Trexler instead opted to use information on the culture of the Zuni people, particularly on the Lhamana, as a source and evidence as to the views and practices of Mesoamerican priests (regarding same-sex relations).

As Pennock notes:

"Here, Trexler attempts to synthesize the practices of early sixteenth-century Central American priests with the findings of a study of berdaches among the North American Indian Zuni in the early twentieth century...What possible justification is there for Trexler’s assumptions? Why should we assume that the practices of all ‘American Indian’ peoples were, and have remained, similar? Such analysis is fundamentally undermined by its lack of specificity."

I'll stop here before I go on, but I just found this really interesting, and it gave me something new to think about in regards to sources. Also on one last note, I kept the original words used by the author such as Berdache, and Indian. Please note the the usage of the word Berdache is an outdated label that is considered derogatory and offensive by many indigenous people. However, the term was fairly common in anthropological circles up to the 1990s but nowadays is not as common as it once was, being replaced by the pan-indigenous label of Two-spirit, largely in use by the indigenous peoples of the United States and Canada. The word Indian is...it's own post I feel, especially its use in the English speaking world vs in Latin America. That being said, it's not a term you'll find me using often, if ever, outside of historical contexts.