#they believe themselves to be and etc etc etc

[glypt0don]

So, this is quite a rant. You can skip to the bottom, if you want to know my opinion but don't want to read that much... But I worked hard on it and I think it's important, so it would make me very happy if you read through the whole text.

So this fits into something I wanted to post about anyway: a broader theme of why do we frame things as wars? Like, why is it culture war, specifically. First I liked the concept, I thought it described something quite complicated reasonably easily. But I pondered on it a bit more and I think there's more going on.

It's pretty trivial, that most societies went through a huge change over the last half century. It's not just feminism. I could make a whole list of things we as a people took on. Anti-racism and civil rights, religious acceptance, global trade, reinterpreting the meaning of peace, connecting the word through the world-wide web, etc. We ( or, as I am barely an adult and have no idea how to change things for the better, I should say you, or maybe chat) decided it was time for change, so change came. You brought it about.

And I agree. Change WAS and IS necessary. What that change should entail, well, we all have our ideas, right? And they have the ugly tendency to differ from each other. The question then is, how do we coincide our contradictory ideas on society? The answer is both worrying and very important.

To be fair, our race doesn't have a great track record on solving these kinds of issues. I dug into my historical knowledge, since, you know, those who don't learn from it, repeat it... The only thing I can compare to what's happening today would be the Reformation (which probably says a lot about my historical knowledge). That's the only time I know, where societal assumptions were altered so much in such a short time. That time it was specifically about the Catholic church (if you don't know, what I'm talking about, you really should, so Google it), and the result was a series of wars, that ultimately may have wiped out about a fifth of Europes population. The wars were of course led by powerful men, who capitalised on the divide to further their own goals.

As back then, now too, we can't rely on institutions to tame the public. Many media and political identities have a direct interest in polarising society. Because that's what happens. All these contentious issues about gender, class, or foreign policy become dividing lines between folks who are supposed to be parts of the same whole (call it community, state, nation or humanity, depending on how wide you can think). You know, how it works, probably saw it a few times, whatever your interests are. It's literally everywhere! We fight it out with the perceived enemy of the week sometimes, when there is an election, something notable happens, or it's simply Pride Month. Then everyone goes back to their respective corners, where they vehemently agree with themselves. We don't talk a lot, just throw words at each other, like Buggs Bunny, playing tennis with a dynamite.

I should say, this post is a notable and refreshing outlier. Thanks, @trans-androgyne , for starting a discussion for a change!

I know, it's a bit like nuclear armament. You can't just stop, because THEY won't, and then they win, and you can't allow that. It's life and death! And I don't have some magic pill to make it all go right, or believe me, I wouldn't sit here, typing this out at 3 in the morning Central European Time. But let me propose this: don't call it a war! Neither culture war, nor gender war, nor anything like that. Because this isn't a war. Just ask anyone in the middle east! They can tell you, what is war, and THIS IS NOT IT! And also, because it may not be guns and destruction yet, but nothing guarantees, that it stays that way. We already had multiple attempted takeovers of capital buildings since this cursed decade began, because our social reality became so fragmented, that you can't accept the results of a popular election anymore. That should raise alarm bells. I know it does, but it can be much worse! Learn from history, do not repeat it! Hit the Wiki page on the Huguenot war! On the siege of Magdeburg. Or, if that's not your cup of tea, watch Civil War! I genuinely think it's the best movie of the year.

Call it Social Discourse! That sounds much more manageable, doesn't it? Or you can come up with something else, as long as it isn't some warmongering bullshit. And maybe the next time you meet someone with sexist, homophobic, racist, or maybe radical left and anarchistic views (whatever you're opposing), don't attack them with your words! Those aren't weapons. Try to talk to them instead! Try talking about feelings! Listen to theirs, make them understand yours! I say feelings, because you both have those. Try finding a common ground, however small, and build up from there. Like Minecraft Skyblock. It can be hard in a challenging way, instead of making you want to shoot yourself in the head. Remember, you aren't fighting a war. You are having a discourse.

All of it is to say, the world and society are changing, wether you like it or not, and we have to change with it, to survive. That is the simple fact. If you call that change a war, that's just gonna make the whole thing unnecessarily painful for everyone involved.

This was sociopolitical advice from a giant armadillo.

Genuinely, what happened to “feminism is for everyone”?

That’s the feminism I grew up with: encouraging people to recognize that fighting sexism and restrictive gender roles helps folks of every gender. We’d push back on the idea that feminists hate men, pointing to inclusive feminist literature and how many men are feminists.

Now, there are so many people insisting that the solution to patriarchy is to openly hate and ostracize men no matter what. Why? What is the benefit? It’s certainly not effective in fighting oppressive structures to exclude half the population from your cause on the basis of immutable traits. It may feel cathartic to say horrible things about men and try to punish them for your frustrations with patriarchy. But the only actual effect I see is the increasing right-wing radicalization of young men, who are being told that the left hates them for the way they were born and presented with an abundance of proof that it’s true.

Why are we going back to treating men and women as different species? It doesn’t fix things to say “well women are the good gender and men are the bad one” this time. If you sincerely want to dismantle sexism, you’re going to have to unpack and let go of all sex and gender essentialism—even that which considers women inherently pure and men inherently immoral.

[planetsandstarsandstuff]

Synastry & Composite Chart Notes/Observations part ll:

🪐༘ Moon in the 10H synastry: Moon often feels a strong sense of pride in the 10H person, even if they don't know them very well. They can become very emotionally invested in this person's success and are often highly defensive of them, particularly from public scrutiny. (sidenote: if you have Moon in or ruling your 10th house, you might that find people feel this way about you regardless of where their Moon sits in your chart.)

🪐༘ Composite 3H Uranus/Uranus-Mercury: These placements can often speak to sporadic communication - going long stretches of time without speaking and then messaging each other out of the blue, conversations lacking rhythm, communication over text feeling incohesive, etc.

🪐༘ Venus in the 2H synastry: Venus loves giving compliments to the 2H person; making 2H feel good about themselves makes Venus feel good in return.

🪐༘ Moon in 1H/Moon-asc synastry: Moon is often very attached to the way the asc person looks and can be sensitive to changes in their appearance - this synastry reminds me of when a baby starts crying after their dad shaves his beard or gets a new haircut LOL

🪐༘ Composite Libra Mars: Conflict often feels extremely uncomfortable here.

🪐༘ Planets in the Composite 12H can point to themes that the two are shy about expressing with one another:

Venus - love, affection

Sun - personality, authenticity

Moon - emotions, vulnerability, earnestness

Mercury - communication, unfiltered thoughts + ideas

🪐༘ Mars in the 4H synastry: Mars can feel a lot of anger toward the house person's family on their behalf, sometimes really resenting them. This is like when you tell a friend about your parent treating you poorly and they get 10x more worked up about it than you.

🪐༘ We might be able to see how others feel about our relationship with someone by looking at how their planets interact with the composite chart. Their Venus can tell us what they like or possibly envy about the relationship, their Mars can tell us what might anger them about it, Pluto may be able to show where they feel jealous or try to assert their power, Mercury can show where they're most curious about the relationship or what aspect of it they may discuss with others, etc.

🪐༘ Both Jupiter and Neptune can often grant a lot of forgiveness in synastry, but in slightly different ways:

With Neptune, there tends to be a presumption of innocence about the other person - it's easy to forgive them because we have a difficult time believing they could ever intentionally cause harm. There's often a lot of tolerance here.

With Jupiter, we're more likely to recognize this person's flaws than we are with Neptune - we don't view them through the same rose-colored glasses. However, we still tend to be very forgiving of them because we have faith in their overall character and ability to grow. There's often a lot of good will granted here.

🪐༘ Saturn-Moon synastry: As the Saturn person, we often feel responsible for the Moon person's safety and emotional well being - there's a strong sense of obligation here. I find that even if we don't particularly like this person, we can't help but feel somewhat protective over them.

That's all, thanks for reading!

[dreams-hopes-lies14]

some thoughts about the Doctor Odyssey mid-season finale:

I’m SO shocked that the writers had the balls to do this but I’m genuinely so glad because (although I think I’m in the minority) I always find a pregnancy storyline to be so interesting especially with how it can change up character dynamics

I’m not mad at Tristan x Vivian👀 HOWEVER, I think that Tristan is still in love with Avery (and also Max but doesn’t know it) AND VIVIAN DESERVES BETTER

Genuinely, I want to see more Vivian

We are in dire need of a Broadway episode!!!

okay so Tristan may also have some daddy issues that may have helped form his intense fear of abandonment (so now he has daddy issues with our resident daddy, Dr. Max Bankman🤭)

I hate how this “female dilemma” is currently being framed BUT I think (or hope) that the writers are doing this to set up the potential of both Max and Tristan being involved in helping out so Avery can also achieve all of her dreams because WITH THE RIGHT SUPPORT IT IS DOABLE

Avery is such a cynic who believes that joy is excruciating and I NEED her to talk about why that is (perhaps divorce trauma? childhood trauma?)

Avery definitely had ideas of a life with a white picket fence, but I think she’s more accepting that that might not be her fate compared to the boys but I don’t think she ever figured that having a kid doesn’t have to be in the context of a white picket fence

either way I support Avery’s right to choose! and I’m so glad that Tristan told her what she needed when Max was clearly freaking out

Max’s automatic reaction was to somehow make the pregnancy work while also helping Avery with her dreams and I can’t help but wonder why exactly he locked in on that assumption because I think it goes beyond the “I haven’t had this happen before”

So many themes of life coming to catchup with you even in so-called heaven and idk if I should buy into the heaven/afterlife/coma theories or if this is the writers saying “BUCKLE UP — REAL LIFE SHIT IS COMING AT YA SOON”

Reality always has a way of catching up to them so is it potentially Max’s reality of potentially still dealing with COVID (the theory) or is it that the throuple isn’t some sort of fantasy just as ALL three of them (yes, including Avery —especially Avery) has been treating it

The throuple can (and should imo) be rooted in reality, but right now, it’s being treated as a dream, an overindulgence, and a form of escape rather than as a real relationship where they have to constantly work on the interpersonal bonds amongst themselves AND their intrapersonal traumas

I’ll definitely have to rewatch the episode and I’ll watch it within the context of the previous episodes because I wanna look into more of the song motifs and themes throughout the show because I do think that this is a Ryan Murphy specialty

I also think the music could give us an indication of where they might go with the throuple, Tristan x Vivian, etc.

Overall, I know that some people may not like the trope, but I’m really really glad that they decided to go all in with this! I loved this episode and the fact that we’re seeing Avery being forced to confront something very very real that could potentially connect with her previous traumas

im also SO glad that the fanfic I have cooking that has some people from Max’s past fits in with the storyline (dare I say, even more so because it deals wit a childhood friend, and a previous teen pregnancy and how it affected Max’s life🤭)

[reboundttv]

Here's a Bunch of Words Expressing Frustration with Online People Part 2 I Guess? Arcane.

(Part 1 was about reactions to Wonder Woman #14, but that was on Twitter and it's gone now.)

It's been long enough. People who haven't seen it have successfully avoided spoilers. SO. Let's talk about the CaitVi sex scene.

Because there are a LOT of opinions about how it was handled, how it was written, etc. And I've seen a lot of...basically, Purity Culture, over how they never worked out their feelings, and Caitlyn never had to answer for trying to kill Jinx, or getting Vi to become an Enforcer or hitting her in Ep.3 or the dictatorship or the fascism or-

Here's the thing: Neither Caitlyn nor Vi know what's going to happen. They don't know tomorrow. They don't even know six hours from now.

We don't need a bunch of preceding episodes where somehow they have the time to get psychoanalyzed on-screen so that when they're finally intimate it's completely moral and unproblematic.

Arcane was never about being unproblematic. It was a show about broken people doing horrible things for selfish reasons, for better and for worse. Singed LITERALLY TELLS YOU AS MUCH (Season 2 Episode 5):

Caitlyn: "Why? Why do all this?" Singed: "Why does anyone commit acts others deem unspeakable? For love."

For context, he wants to conquer death so that he can save his daughter. And look at how it's worded. "acts others deem unspeakable." The awful things he's doing, he's rationalized them as necessary so that he can accomplish his goals. Whether it's him, or Viktor, Jayce, Caitlyn, Vi, Jinx... ALL of the characters in Arcane are like that. No one in this show was perfect. Far from it, actually.

And in that scene, Caitlyn and Vi are two broken, messed-up people. Their whole worlds have been upended. Vi believes that she's lost everything and everyone important to her, and that it is of her own doing. Caitlyn is questioning the only thing that's ever made sense in her life: her duty to Piltover and how that's run up against her own morals and how she has changed to accommodate them, rather than stayed true. Caitlyn also has guilt over being intimate with Maddie. (fuck maddie all my homies hate maddie)

And the only thing they have, in that moment, is each other. The only kind of, sort of constant in their lives. Is it perfect and unproblematic? No. Is it healthy? Arguably not. The scene is messy, and clumsy, and for fuck sake they're having sex in a prison cell.

But are those the things that actually matter? Is that the story that's trying to be told? NO. No, it is not. Broken people, just trying to make sense of what's going on around them. Trying to find others to hold on to, to anchor themselves. Find that closeness and intimacy, and even if it doesn't work out the way they want, they'll still have each other.

[susansontag]

hello, I heard you called.

the word ‘lazy’, you will find, is in quotation marks, because I personally do not think audiobook listeners are lazy, but there are many other posts and discussions about this latest thinkpiece topic on the internet, including some in which these people trying to redefine literacy jokingly allude to themselves as lazy. but you knew this, because you know what quotation marks mean, and you would never accuse someone quoting an argument in a book with necessarily sharing the view quoted, because you know how basic punctuation functions—you even used quotation marks in your own latest response, so you absolutely know what they mean! so you can stop lying now.

you can also, for that matter, cease your blatant lying about other things. let me walk you through.

I did indeed say reading is a more psychologically sophisticated process than listening. this is true, because decoding written language must be taught to someone, and is called gaining literacy. I never said that people lack psychological complexity if they can’t read, though you falsely claimed I did (and I quote)—‘you just think they have less “psychological complexity,” an argument used to support aristocracy and colonialism’. I never assigned ‘psychological complexity’ (your words) to individual human beings anywhere in my response, I simply said one process out of the many processes our brains can undertake requires deeper and more sophisticated processing whilst said process is taking place (the process: reading, or the decoding of written language made by possible by written/typed/etc symbols). again, this is about the sophistication of a particular process, not about the relative sophistication (or your word, ‘complexity’) of the brains of different individuals or groups! but again, this was quite obvious if you read my response in good faith, fully willing to engage with the argument being made on its own terms (that redefining reading is a bad thing).

I can accept it may have been accidental, but considering you went on to transpose my viewpoint onto someone else who very considerately tried to explain this view to you—someone in education, no less, who clearly has great reason to feel strongly about this topic—I’d think you really should have brushed up on your cursory glance at my reply. especially seeing as you responded again and again, digging your heels into this imaginary thing no one has said.

your point about colonialism isn’t worth dignifying with more response, you’ve attached a meaningful concept onto your fabrications to lend them more weight somehow. no one fell for it.

it seems you even agree with us, that reading and listening are different skills. why you then continued on this tirade it’s difficult to ascertain. regardless, as per your last response there’s no reason to hand-wring about my believing your given definition of reading as ‘understanding the words and sentences and meanings that the text serves the function of conveying’, because that is not a definition that takes into account the decoding of symbols and thus is not an adequate definition of reading. this one will suffice:

so, let’s review. you have lied (deliberately or accidentally) that I believe audiobook listeners are lazy, you have lied (deliberately or accidentally) that I believe individuals who lack literacy are not psychologically complex, and you have complained about people believing a definition of reading that you yourself have introduced that is not, as it happens, the definition that the two people you were arguing with believe anyway.

one wonders what’s been accomplished here.

This conversation is so fucking funny to me

[thesoulforgeorder]

As promised, a summary for each background to help you choose what would be the best fit for your character in chapter one. I will try to avoid heavy spoilers and focus more on the themes and general settings and highlights for each background.

Military

The military background is for those who wish to make a character that was born into the militant society. Your character would have grown up in a prestigious, high ranking military family and known a life of luxury and privilege. You were afforded the best training, equipment and opportunities that money could buy.

However, with that came a heavy burden. For generations your family has held high ranking positions in every branch of the Navy and passed the rank of admiral for Voxis's greatest warship down. Everyone is looking to you to take over the mantle as your father's eldest child.

You will be able to decide how you react to your legacy. There are also characters that will be introduced and can play a key part in the story later. Depending on what impressions you left on them, this could help you later.

Wastelander

The wastelander background is for those who wish to explore the dynamics and culture outside the military government's influence. Wastelander is a name given to the nomadic people who travel and settle in the Wastelands of Voxis.

The wastelands are seen as a very dangerous place because there is no protection against the exilliums (there are no walls, military patrols etc. Like in the cities). The people in the cities often tend to look at wastelanders with distrust and skepticism because they keep the old faith; worshipping the Old Gods.

While Voxis worships technology, wastelanders still pray and perform the rituals of old for the Old Gods. Your character will get to decide your relationship with the religion and how you view your commune. Knowing about the Old Gods will trigger special dialogue and scenes later in the story.

You are also able to meet Theo, one of the six ROs, and start to build your relationship with him.

Orphan

Finally, the orphan background. This background focuses on what life is like for those born in the lower rung districts in Voxis; what happens to those who have no family or connections. It provides insight into the devastation exilliums can cause and how the military reacts.

This background is unique in that it has a branching path that will drastically change how a character, you meet in this background, will react to you, the player, later in the story. (Sorry for being so vague but I really think it is best for people to experience it themselves, any spoilers would ruin the path.)

Overall, this background is all about being stuck between two worlds. Your character can decide whether you feel resentment towards the military because you don't believe they do enough to save people (like your parents) or believe that they are doing their best and that you want to stop people from losing their loved ones in the future.

[woman-respecter]

oh and one last thing. i cannot believe how leftists and queers are treating sarah mcbride. it makes me sick to my stomach. i can't stomach it actually.

bullying minorities who happen to be "privileged" i.e. rich, white, etc is so fucking gross and easy like bullying a child (and is part of the reason for all the antisemitism btw! since they think we're all whiter than aryans and that we are the most privileged). seeing everyone jumping with joy to harass sarah mcbride a trans woman who's an easy target since she's white and trans (white trans women bad unless they prove themselves by getting arrested for....palestine with jvp like hunter or they threaten to kill biden for cool points like ethel) for sucking up which. all minorities have to do for a place in this world is INSANE.

these are the SAME PEOPLE calling everyone a terf and being misogynistically distrustful of women/feminists because we're all a potential zio- um terf is so sad because 1) transphobia is a serious problem among cis women which should never be downplayed and a lot of cis women are transphobic. i know this because i've faced transphobia lite since i have a bit of an adams apple as a cis woman which leads to transvestigation :/ but 2) the "solution" isn't and will never be to act like cis women are the enemy/worse than men/to be misogynistic towards us either. 3) it's all so sad because these people are doing so much harm by being misogynistic "in the name of good/in the name of trans women" but they're just bullies who also hate trans women but get to hide it because they're #allies. they're "allies" who spread hate in the name of a people who want to be left alone and they spread that hate because deep down they hate trans people and want to make them look bad (not downplaying misogyny that is present in the trans community but yh). these people are trying to stifle the 4b movement in the name of trans women while trans women like veondre mitchell dont gaf (obv trans women are not a monolith). it's so evil. who needs enemies with "allies" like this? (also if you wanna deal with the transphobia the solution isn't to misogynistically try to shut 4b down. but they just hate women and it's never been about trans people so!)

anyways back to the topic. sarah mcbride really breaks my heart. they hate her and they've been treating her so terribly (theyre giving her the jew treatment 😓). no one has her back and it goes to show how the left is a lost cause. if you arent what they want, if you step out of line, they treat you like the conservatives treat you.

yeah i’ve been somewhat following the sarah mcbride saga thanks to the wonderful mariacallous and it is disgusting. i think in part what happened was that post calling her a “zionist” got popular so people wanted to look for more reasons to hate her. these days everything comes back to the Omnicause.

i also think that the trans girl tankies are kind of having a crab bucket moment about a trans woman being successful through grace and intelligence instead of posting graphic threats at people they deem subhuman from behind an anime girl icon on a microblogging website. they hate to see a class act thriving.

sarah mcbride is doing the best she can in a very shitty situation, and people who should be her allies are just making it worse.

[sparrowlucero]

It doesn't happen like that very often because it's not very random. Like humans, they pick up social cues from the people around them as they grow up and conceptualize themselves through those. Their shape is like someone's accent, religious background, anxieties, politics, relationship to race and gender, etc. Even slightly not fitting into the social norms of what their "species" is meant to be is often a very troubling and dysphoric experience. (I should clarify here that the "species" of fairy are not distinct fantasy races but quite nebulous social designations, a way they quantify traits like "bird-like" "plant-like" etc. so, for instance, a goblin that grows up to have a toothy beak and wings and a long tail may be thought of as a basilisk, and the associated stereotypes of being seen like that will further influence their looks.)

For example, a fairy who's born to harpies and raised to think they're supposed to have wings and talons and sharp eyes and a taste for mice and be able to live on the cliffs and that's what's proper and normal won't just end up looking like a lady with a fish tail one day at random, they're going to resemble what they believe they're meant to look like to some degree. They may, however, grow up and start to feel personally at odds with their family and community and end up subconsciously thinking of harpy-ness as something less inherent to their identity.

What's more likely than housing issues from this is interpersonal ones; most people have a fairly conservative idea of what constitutes a "real selkie" or a "real dryad" etc and this often has big social/legal ramifications; they do get rejected by their families and communities for it, quite frequently, before they'd even get the chance to grow into something very different. That hypothetical hatchling who was raised as a harpy could easily get kicked out of a household and excommunicated for not developing wings because something is obviously "wrong" with them

thinking about revisiting my personal dumb high school/early college fantasy setting (everyone had at least one)

[jenny-ate-ink]

While I fully believe every woman should have a gun to protect herself, I understand many will never be comfortable having one, be it because they're suicidal and know they may very well use it against herself, or they worry it might be taken and used against them, or some other reason. And so I want to offer some other things women can do to ensure their safety and defend themselves.

Acknowledge The Threat Is Most Likely To Be A Male You Know, Not A Random One

Your father, brothers, uncles, grandfathers, male cousins, male friends, male partners, and male hook-ups are all the people who pose the biggest threat to you. You do not have to cut these males off, although it would be much safer to do such and is extremely recommended for that reason and many more, but staying vigilant of how they speak and act around you and do not let red flags go dismissed or excused are things to do if you cannot or will not remove sperm makers from your life.

Memorize male faces you know and all the differences about them. Look for key details that you can still notice even if he is wearing baggy clothes, a mask, or otherwise attempting to disguise himself. Freckles, moles, scars, tattoos, accents, lisps, height, weight, shoe size, hand size, nose shape, ear shape, mouth shape, portions (length and width of arms, legs, torso, etc all put together), can all be identifing details. If you are on friendly terms with a male, maybe even manufacturer a scenario where he is wearing a mask or otherwise disguising himself and memorize how he looks disguised and ways to recognize him when disguised.

If you are attacked, immediately look for identifying futures, and if you even suspect his identity, or you can clearly see who he is, yell his name. Yell his name and that he is attacking you. Yell his name and tell him to stop. This may discourage him from continuing as he does not want to face justice for his crimes by being reported, and his identity being exposed can lead to that, but do not rely on this solely. Even if this does not discourage him from continuing, if there are any audio recording devices or people close enough to hear you, it helps identify him and get you justice after the fact.

Focus On Physical Strength And Weaponless Defense

Weight lifting, boxing, martial arts, and basic self-defense training are all incredibly useful. The stronger and better trained you are, the harder it will be to hurt you. Your goal isn't to be able to win against a male in an equal fight, but to be able to get away from the fight, and that means knowng how to and being willing to fight dirty, learning and utilizing evasive maneuvers, and being quick enough to dodge blows and grabs. Letting males know you work can also be a deterrent, but do not let him know which specific workout or training you are doing as he may try and find coutner maneuvers to your defense.

Eyes, nose, mouth, ears, throat, joints, and genitals are all spots to aim for and to be ruthless against. Dig your nails into his eyes, and don't stop even if they pop. Headbash his nose until it breaks and keep going, bite off his nose even. Palm strike/punch his nose, ears, and temples again and again. Grab his ears and rip them off. Bite everywhere you can without holding back, make them bleed. Punch his throat repeatedly till he can't breathe, rip it out with your teeth. Kick his knees until they dislocate or break and he can't chase you. Slam his elbows in the wrong way until they dislocate or break. Kick and knee his crotch with all your strength until he lets go. Once you have an opportunity to escape, run and don't look back, and immediately go to a safe location and call for help.

Being "gross" could also make him hault in the middle of an attack. Urinate, throw up, and deficate even, anything really. This will often make you far less desirable target.

And remember; once a male is even attempting to commit harm against you, he has given you the right to do infinity worse things to him.

Safeguard Your Home

You are more likely to be hurt at home than anywhere else, and so preparing your house for the event a male does attempt to hurt you can be life-saving.

Change your locks. Keys can be copied from something as simple as a picture, and if your keys have been around a male, he very easily could have taken a picture of them without your knowledge. Do not leave your keys visible, or let any male have access to them, no matter how trusted you consider him to be. Once a male has your key, he can easily sneak in and catch you off guard.

Get several security camera both inside and outside your house, and make it known without revealing the company they're from. A simple hand made "smile you're on camera!" sign will do. Cameras are a huge discouragement, and when they don't work to discourage, they can capture evidences of what exactly happen and prevent the man from lying about the situation—be it claiming he is the one acting in self defense and you're the aggressor, claiming you are lying about it all, or trying to soften and dismiss what he has done. Cameras facing entry points such as doors and windows and cameras in the main spots where an attack will happen, such as the living room, kitchen, and bedroom, are the best spots to have them. If you can not afford or are not permitted to add a cameras to your home, even just having a sign that says you have cameras and lying to the males in your life that you have cameras can still be an effective deterrent. However, if he knows which brand/company your cameras are from, he can easily find ways online how to disable and break them, if not hack them to stalk you.

Get a protective and/or gaurd dog and do not let males socialize/befriend them. Dogs can have your back, but not if they know and like your attacker. Even just knowing but not necessarily liking a male may make a dog hesitate to or even refuse to attack him when he proves to be a threat. Keep your dog outside or in another room if you must have a male over to keep them unfamiliar if necessary.

Keep anything that can be used against you tucked away. Knives, scissors, and anything that can be used to stab or cut should be stored in drawers. Baseball bats and other objects able to be used as a blunt weapon should be in a closet. Possibly projectiles such as glass or porcelain cups and bowls in a cupboard. Things like vases should be firmly secured if not removed. This will not stop an attacker from using these against you, but it will take longer for him to find them or remember where they are, giving you time to flee. It may even prevent the idea of using these items against you from crossing his mind altogether.

Find Alternative Weapons You Are Comfortable With And/Or Can Legally Have

Tasers, pepper gel, hair spray, knives, wrenches, hammers, bats, and more can all be used as self-defense items instead of a gun. If you are not legally allowed to carry self-defense items and are not comfortable priorizing your safety over the law, being creative with the items you use can provide possible deniability.

Carrying a bat with a mitt and ball can make it so you can use the excuse that you are heading to or back from a game. Hairspay, hairbrush, and hair ties can be used so that way you can excuse having the hair spray on you for future touch-ups. Carrying a bag instead of a purse and keeping some general tools in there can allow you to say that you're bringing them to a friend.

Safeguard Your Body

This isn't about "looking" a certain way to prevent an attack because wearing or not wearing something will never prevent a male from being violent. But rather, this is about wearing practical clothes and hairstyles that won't disadvantage you during an attack.

Heels, too-tight or loose shoes, restrictive skirts, shorts, pants, and tops, fake nails that can break and rip off the real nail underneath, piercings that can be ripped out, loose hair or hair styles that make it easier to grab hair should be avoided. Normal teeshirts or long-sleeves, along with basic shorts or jeans that allow a good range of movement, are all comfortable and practical clothing.

If you're like me, though, and chafe through pants within a few weeks for those to be practical budget wise, loose but not overly big knee length and maxi skirts also allow for a good range of motion, and I found that I personally don't chafe through sweatpants either, so those are also an option. Having skirt clips on a belt as to raise the skirt to avoid tripping in a pitch is also advised to free up in order hands from lifting the skirt when fleeing. Biker shorts or leggings or leggings cut into shorts can also be worn under a skirt to prevent flashing if that is a worry.

Although pants and shorts and sweatpants will always be more practical than a skirt overall, and so, if you can wear them, it's best to do that whenever possible. I personally keep a new pair of pants put away for when I need to leave the house and advise every woman to do the same.

Short hair is harder to grab than long hair, especially pixie cuts or shorter, so consider a haircut. If you don't want to cut your hair, or you can't do it safely for any reason, wearing in braids you pin to your head also makes your hair harder to grab then if it'd left down or in a protruding hairstyle such as a ponytail or unpinned braid.

Have A Safety Plan

Much like how you should have an escape route for if a fire starts, you should have an escape route for if you attacked.

Memorize the layout of your home and every possible exit point. Think of how you would go about escaping each room, and which room would be the safest to lock yourself into if you can't escape. Also, have a plan to seek help and shelter for when you escape your home. Find a neighbor who will be willing to take you in so you can safely call for help if possible, preferably another woman. Males will often take advantage of women they think can get away with harming, so do not trust him to not also become an aggressor. Males do not protect women, women protect women, remember this.

If you are in a store or your car, try and keep track of where you are and where escape points are. Check your back seats and underneath your car. If possible, put a mirror in your cart so you can keep an eye on behind you when shopping. Keep a look at for familiar cars and faces that keep showing up, and if you noticed you are being stalk, do not go home, but rather to a police station, hospital, or somewhere else they cannot do anything to you without being seen.

Acknowledge That Just Because A Male You Know Is The Most Likely To Hurt You, That Doesn't Make Males You Don't Know Any Safer

Violent males are opportunistic creatures, and the reason a male you know is more likely to be violent than one you don't is because he thinks he can more easily get away with hurting you.

Be vigilant when out in public, especially when males are around. It doesn't matter if he's thirteen or sixty. Do not let your guard down around him. Avoid being near places that you can easily be dragged into, such as alleyways or vehicles, and avoid being too close to males as they can easily and randomly strike. A single punch can knock you out, if not kill you if enough force it put behind it and lands in just the right spot. Spacial awareness is extremely important. Keep your eyes, ears, and smell on the lookout. If possible, do not go out alone and bring other women with you. Avoid going out during low visibility and activity. Advoid male dominated spaces where if one decides to hurt you, the others may choose to stay quiet if not join him in hurting you in order to "protect his bro" or "partake in the fun".

These are all the things I can currently think of at the moment, but I'm sure there's more. I invite every woman to add on more safety measures, weapons, plans, etcetera other women can take to stay safe that doesn't involve gun ownership for those who are uncomfortable/unable to own a gun

[thatnonameuser]

For some time now I’ve gotten curious, how exactly do they figure out who’s a Yandere and who’s a Darling? Like how do they do that and how do they determine it. There’s also so many people that it could get hard to keep track on who’s who, Although they could use files. How do they do it? Also how do you distinguish a Yandere and a Darling? Like what are the traits?

Okay, so....... 😅

I kinda swept that one under the rug and said I would deal with that later, actually never, so I guess I have to handle that now. 

Similar to mental illness and neurodivergence, yandere and darling behavior is diagnosed based on a set of personality traits and behaviors that the testee has to see if they have traits strict to yanderes or darlings. Usually around age 5-10 or (50 to 100 for fae like Malleus) for half a year to get an understanding of their personality and behaviors.

Records are made and well documented in every country, so that every yandere, darling and neither is properly recorded. 

The tell tale signs of a yandere are -

Possessive behaviors to loved ones and possessions.

Control issues, specific to the people in their lives.

Trouble accepting death and separation. 

Willing to make great sacrifices to keep something important close to them. (breaking the law, killing someone, violating some moral code)

Jealous to things they can’t have, to the point they’re willing to steal it or hurt someone for it. 

Clingy behavior to one or multiple things in their lives, to the point they don’t ever want to part with it. 

Difficulty sharing people they care about with others. 

Following and studying objects of their affection to the point they sacrifice their other responsibilities. 

Stealing and keeping things to themselves so that no one else can have them. 

Manipulating others to not part with them.

And any other actions that describe possessive, obsessive or manipulative behavior.

For Darlings, it’s much less strict with the signs, because each darling is different. Feral, pure of heart, they’re all different. But there’s still a basis….

A darling can be diagnosed if….

They are able to share the things they like with others. 

They don’t believe in hurting others to keep the things they love to themselves.

They have a tendency to react poorly to the things that yanderes consider fine. 

While they might experience jealous or clingy behavior, it’s not to the point of drawing blood, kidnapping or stalking. 

While they might be possessive with belongings, they aren’t willing to stab someone for it. 

And some other reasons I can’t think of right now.

One massive flaw with this method is bias. The understanding that darlings are helpless and demure can cause some to be judged based on appearances. Cute kids often get misdiagnosed by opinions on what the tester thinks is darling behavior. Families might also carry this bias, and treat the yanderes like darlings because of their inherited behavior.  The inverse applies to darlings being misdiagnosed as yanderes for having violent or extremely clingy behavior. 

(This actually applies to Epel. Because of his adorable looks, he was misdiagnosed as a darling till he reached his early teens when his yandere behaviors got too apparent to ignore so he was retested and correctly diagnosed)

Another flaw (the one that lead to Neige being misdiagnosed) is that the yandere doesn’t have any connections (familial, platonic etc) to allow them to be appropriately diagnosed.

[angrywerewolfbeliever]

How I manifested getting into my dream school

*For some context, high school in my country is for fifteen to nineteen year olds*

I've always loved academics, and I've always been very smart, and because of that, I really wanted to go to this one particular, very academically challenging high school that is very difficult to get into.

For all of middle school, I kept thinking and worrying about whether or not I'd get in. I already knew about reality shifting and manifestation, and I believed it fully, but I was ridiculously misinformed, insecure, limiting, and inconsistant, so it's really no suprise that didn't get me anywhere.

Anyway, to get into this school you need to take an exam. I procrastinated studying for it, and the closer I got to the dreaded exam, the more I doubted my intelligence, manifestation as a whole, and most importantly, the likeness of me getting in.

After the exam, my anxiety worsened, especially because I didn't get into another school I applied to.

Safe to say, when the results came in, I was told I didn't get in.

Was I devastated? Yes. Did I want to rot in bed, soaking in self-pity? Also yes. Did I do that? No.

I don't think I had ever wanted anything more than to get in, so I sure as hell wasn't going to give up so easily.

I pulled myself together and said to myself, "No. I did get in. This is a mistake." This was immediately after I got the results. Of course, I still felt sad and disappointed, but I shoved those feelings down as deep as possible. For the next two weeks, I affirmed that I'm going to that school in the upcoming September, I checked what bus I'll need to take, I imagined me and my friend who did get in talking about how excited we are to be classmates, etc.

I knew that a second wave of people would get accepted in a couple of months, so my main affirmation was that I would be one of them and that I'd be first in line.

For the next two weeks, I spent all my free time, whether it was break between classes or walking my dog, affirming. Whenever I found myself thinking, "What if I don't get in?" I'd immediately tell myself to shut up, and I'd continue affirming. After a couple of days, my affirmations started popping up in my mind by themselves. After a week, I fully believed them. It didn't matter anymore that I didn't have the physical proof.

And guess what? My mom got an email from the school telling her that I got in. Keep in mind that those results weren't supposed to be out for a couple more months. I was first in line after all the others that got in and a spot opened. Not only was i first in line, but the amount of points that separated me from the last person who got in on result day was 0.05!

Now I go to that school and I couldn't be happier :)

The takeaway from this is:

1. Manifestation is incredibly simple,

2. Persist, persist, persist,

3. Circumstances don't fucking matter,

4. The 3D is your bitch and it's going to show you whatever you want it to so don't care if you're seeing the opposite,

5. Believe in yourself!!!

With love,

Venus

[ecos-discourse]

If one chooses to separate themselves from people with a male reproductive system, that should be opt-in. We should not be making sports trans-exclusionary.

Depending on the prison, yes, because we believe that prisons should be a much higher quality and have separate rooms unless requested to have a roommate, and this way there wouldn't be an issue in that situation. Some prisons should be co-ed, but this does not mean all of them should be, depending on what type of crimes the people in the prison have committed.

(small crimes like pirating, robbery of larger corporations, etc. should be co-ed with individual cells + optional roomates)

(large crimes like rape, murder, etc. should be separated with individual cells)

Sports, yes they should be co-ed.

I have gone to a school with only gender neutral bathrooms. They were all singular, non-connected bathrooms. So yeah, in that way specifically. Single stall bathrooms should not be sex separated. No, they do not have those redundant public bathroom stall doors, they were actual doors. Like the one's you'd find at at-home bathrooms. Yes, obviously there could also be women's and men's rooms, but those are highly uncomfortable for me for several reasons.

Changing rooms should be single stall in my opinion. Similar to how I feel about bathrooms. Like the ones at malls, except fuck the ones with just a curtain.

Domestic violence and rape shelters should function like a dormitory with separate rooms, a women's area, a co-ed area, and a men's area. If one wished they could have a dormitory in the co-ed area, also a separate room. Women's and men's area should require a key or a keycard. This makes sense to me, lmk if there are problems with it, as we've never seen a domestic violence or rape shelter before.

Separate areas should be opt-in (except for a few things, like domestic violence and rape shelters, which should be opt-in for co-ed.)

No, that's just how I word things. Because not all men have a male reproductive system, and not all women have a male reproductive system. There are also enbies like myself, who again, may or may not have a male reproductive system. There are also intersex individuals, who's reproductive systems greatly vary.

Hope this helps!!

“vagina-centric feminism” is… insane. “Shut up about sex-based oppression! Care more about males!” is what they meant to type.

[tubbytarchia]

I think it's endlessly more intriguing to think that the Watchers don't do crap, even if some characters place importance on them, like Jimmy praying to them (lmao) as if fate is in their hands when really Jimmy's tended to do horrible because of the environment the other characters have created for him and not because of any intervention from beyond

I love it when the characters are horrible to themselves or others in death games. They are flawed and interesting like that. They put a name to the canary curse and they expect and enforce it. Every fault that any character has showcased is their own. The Watchers don't sway anything because they don't have to, these people are all already insane and suffering. They're just hanging out playing pocker or something, but the thought of a characters THEMSELVES blaming things on them etc is an interesting one

[jupiter--dream]

So tired of Cream being considered "the vanilla/super wholesome ship" when, yes, it ends like that at one point, but both Dream and Cross are characters who have a hard time seeing their own value past their usefulness, I wish there were more fics exploring the ways their tendency to self-sacrifice would hurt the relationship

[ohwellokcomputer]

my trust in goyim is so broken. I don’t think it can ever be repaired. I can’t believe how much people hate Jews for no reason other than we exist and they dislike that.

[bumblingbabooshka]

Headcanon that Seven of Nine and Naomi actually find Neelix’s cooking to be fine because it’s the only food they’ve ever eaten/their first introduction to food and when they get to Earth everyone’s so excited to show them Alpha quadrant foods but neither of them likes anything they’re offered very much. Seven doesn’t really care either way except that she has to get used to a whole new palette and Naomi likes the obvious (Ex: candy, cake) but frequently complains that nothing tastes ‘right’. Naomi: -pushing away a slice of pizza- I don’t like it... Tom: You’re kidding me. You don’t like pizza? Naomi: It doesn’t taste right! Make it how Neelix used to. Tom: You want me to put gerhalorian beets and yuk mushrooms in the sauce so it congeals into a lumpy, slightly sour mess? Is that what you want, Naomi? Naomi: Yeah :(  I want Naomi and Icheb to work tirelessly together on a side project for years until finally doing it - being able to communicate clearly with those in the Delta quadrant! Icheb uses it to speak to the other borg children (now adults) and Naomi immediately uses it to call Neelix and ask him to find the nearest time portal and toss a big box of leola root into it. She’s been craving it for years! No one told her the Alpha quadrant didn’t have leola root, she wouldn’t have gone otherwise!