#tortoise bones

[originalleftist]

Over half of anti-Heard tweets were bots or paid trolls, many linked to Saudi government bots.

"According to an investigation by Tortoise Media, which examined more than one million tweets, more than 50 per cent of anti-Heard messages in the run-up to the 2022 defamation case were "inauthentic' - either from automated "bot" accounts or people hired to attack the actress."

"Bradley Hope, author of a book on Bin Salman, told the podcast that the pro-Depp tweets emanating from Saudi Arabia appear to be produced by "flies", a name for Saudi bot accounts."

"An intelligence professional who tracks online disinformation campaigns, said there was only a "0.1 per cent chance" that the hate directed at Heard was from genuine Depp fans.

The investigation also claims that bot networks in Thailand and Spain tweeted large numbers of pro-Depp messages."

"...more than 100 Twitter accounts sent 1,000 identical messages at exactly the same time to any company that had worked with Heard, reading: "This brand supports domestic violence against men."'

"The makers of the podcast argue that the criticism of Heard could have affected the jury in the 2022 US defamation trial which found in favour of Depp."

"So, if you couldn't tell the difference between a real-life Johnny Depp fan and a bot in 2022, then you probably won't be able to tell a Russian troll from a US election official in 2024. And that represents a serious problem for the security of our democracies."-Alexi Mostrous, presenter of the podcast.

"Johnny Depp and the Saudi Embassy did not respond to Tortoise's request for comment."

[awanderingtortoise]

Writing snippet! bc I choose to believe Nikolai and Zoya made good use of that dead airtime between KoS and RoW (even though the whole ehri marriage probably hung over it like a wet blanket )

good god I miss them no one does verbal sparring quite like zoyalai

[birbbones]

Myrtle is now ready to be returned to her owner 🥺 🐢 (her shell was only requested to be processed, I'm being allowed to keep her skull and skeleton so will be articulating her with a donor shell in the future).

[mariocki]

The China Syndrome (1979)

"I may be wrong, but I'd say you're lucky to be alive. For that matter, I think we might say the same for the rest of Southern California."

[thedisablednaturalist]

Look at this cool turtle shell my coworker and I found!

Anyone know what it is?

[chanshoesunite]

This is how big I imagine Chan's hands to be

[batnbreakfast]

RIP my notes - the bone collectors found my museum post. 😄

Honestly, if you read this: Have fun with the post, go visit Natuurmuseum Klaas Nanninga in Groningen if you’re in The Netherlands or go, visit The Grant Museum of Zoology when in London, and also have a look at one of my favourite skeleton pics I once took behind the scenes at the Naturalis museum in Leiden, NL:

If you think about following me: I don’t actually post a lot of taxidermy/wet specimens/skeletons. This is mostly a very, very queer fandom blog with some travel- and gardening stories thrown in for good measure. 😄

[crow]

number 9

apparentlya tortoise has nerve endingsin its shellwhich itself is a modified breastbonea skeleton on the outsidelooking smooth and roughit feels everythingin its actual boneswhereas i have only my skinand where there is numbnessthere exists dull pressurelike a weight through cottonor a talk show host’s monologueyou can work on these exercisesto increase mobilityextend range of motionreduce joint…

[kakushino]

Waking up

~300 words, fluff, Giyuu x GN reader Masterlist

Giyuu was warm. His body was floating amongst fluffy clouds, everything fuzzy and diluted. He slowly became aware of his heartbeat, blood thrumming through his veins, air breathed in and out. 

He hadn’t dreamed today, his mind filing the thought as a positive one as he woke up at a tortoise’s pace.

“Mhmm.”

He registered warmth pressed against his right arm and the presence of another person at his side - his lover. 

Unbidden, a smile graced his lips, and he slowly turned onto his side to see you head on. 

He traced your features with his eyes, selfishly hoping you would wake up and gift him your attention. He felt like a scoundrel for wanting more, always greedy for every drop of your affection. Giyuu never deserved it though, he perhaps never would…

Yet that didn’t stop him from entangling himself into your life, stealing your heart for his own, imprinting himself onto and into your body - and he devoted himself to you in turn. If only in the mornings, the devotion was his way of life, prayers falling upon your ears, an unholy man worshiping something holy.

Goosebumps appeared on your skin, the minute movement of your body immediately alerting him to your discomfort. It was winter after all. 

Giyuu scooted closer and put his arm around you, adjusting the blanket. He buried his nose in your hair, which still smelled like the aromatic oil you put in after bath yesterday. For a minute, he just breathed you in. The warmth was intoxicating, it seeped into the marrow of his bones and filled him with contentment. 

He cherished you, he adored you ardently. 

At times, he wished he could stay in your embrace forever, forget the demons and the fighting and pain. You were his solace, his peace, his relief.

He breathed you in, and promised to himself to never let you go.

Dividers made by Luma Networks: @enchantedforest-network @themovingcastlez

[revretch]

Taxonomically speaking:

Hares are rabbits, toads are frogs, butterflies are moths, tortoises are turtles, humans are apes, apes are monkeys, moose are deer, bees are wasps, ants are also wasps, termites are roaches, birds are dinosaurs, insects are crustaceans, and everything with bones is a fish.

[writers-potion]

Writing Armour

Types of Armour

All types of clothing provide some protection.

For street fights where you have a couple of teenagers brawling, it would be appropriate to dress them in jeans and a jacket. For more protection, a quilted winter coat or a morotbiker's thick leather jacket, perhaps.

Leather, especially when treated and straightened, offers good protection against arrows, swords, and spears.

The historical armour will include glued-together layers of fabric, thin wooden or bone platelets sewn onto cloth. For wealthier and more advanced societies, metal would be used.

An armour has many parts, and you'll want to describe them with varying levels of detail. However, here are the basics:

A cuirass is a breastplate, protecting the heart and abdomen.

Greaves are shin guards, usually strapped on, protecting the front fo teh lower legs.

Arm guards (bracers)

Helmets

Modern armour will involve a bulletproof vest (which may also be knife-proof). It can be stiff and heavy, and the wearer will sweat under them.

The body armour can lose its effectiveness after a few years.

Disadvantages of Armour

The typical armour (made of steel) is heavy and clunky. In a few hours, your hero is likely to be sweaty, hot and stinky on the inside.

Armour restricts mobility.

Every armour have gaps (the wearer needs to breathe!), and a clever fighter will aim for the chinks.

Shields

Shields are held by the hand rather than worn, so larger shields will be cumbersome and heavey to move, while smaller ones will offer only partial protection.

Shield often consise of wooden frames with leather, hides or metal. They may be painted with heraldic emblems, scary faces, or with magical pentagons.

A shield can also be used as a weapon, like ramming it under the opponent's chin or slamming it down his feet.

The smaller fighter can use a shield well to their advantage, since a shield of the same size will have fuller coverage of their body. However, they will need a strong arm.

Units of githers may use shield formations, such as the tortoise of the Roman legions, the shield wall of the Vikings, and the Greek hoplites shielding not only themselves but the man next to them.

This post is for writers who are trying to bluff their way through a fight scene with minimal knowledge! For full-fledged scenes, I recommend more research.

If you like my blog, buy me a coffee☕ and find me on instagram! 📸

[cybersunnie]

18+ / MDNI cock warming; f!reader (wc 992) with PATRICK ZWEIG

There was a story about the tortoise and the hare, and Patrick Zweig was the hare. 

Slow and steady wasn't exactly his style. 

He was quick and impulsive. Careless and arrogant. Annoyingly—or admirably?—persistent like the suffocating heat on a hot summer day. If you spared one glance at Patrick, you'd think he was nothing but smug. And he was well aware of all of this, too. He just never cared much about what other people thought of him, to begin with. 

But Patrick loved a challenge, and he sure liked taking his sweet time with you. Or, more accurately, he enjoyed making you squirm.

He'd have his cock stuffed inside your cunt, and tease you with lingering touches and chaste kisses until you caved in and begged him to fuck you. With Patrick, it was all fire and the wrong kind of love. But sometimes, when he felt a little nicer, he just wanted to be close to you, to become one with you, heartbeats linked and breathing the same breath.

And with how poorly he had been doing in his last few matches, he needed that semblance of human connection he had lost years ago.

The night was young, but Patrick was eager to have you. His hungry kisses left your lips raw, and his mouth traveled south and started to nip at your jaw, his nose digging into your cheek. Everything he did was to distract you. Distract you from the burning sensation you felt as his cock stretched you out.

"There you go, atta girl."

Patrick kept a firm grip on your hips, his thumbs caressing the skin there to soothe your nerves. You always got so flustered whenever you tried to take him. And that was because you felt all of him. The tuft of hair on his pubic bone, the veins on his cock. You'd whine, tell him that it was too much, that he was too big, as if your pussy wasn't made for him.

He liked it, though.

Because in the end, you looked so pretty, sitting on his fat cock. 

You heard him groan, low and guttural, and his large hands snaked up to your ribs, stopping just beneath your breasts. His touch was electrifying—everything about him was—and it sent a slight buzz through your body. And the sight of him alone wasn't helping. Patrick's wild hair and deep green eyes and that fucking smirk he never went without. But as much as you wanted to move, you couldn't. He wouldn't allow it. Not yet.

"Fuck, look at you." Patrick slid a hand further up to cup your breast, and you wondered if he could feel your pounding heart. "I could stare at you for hours."

You raised a brow. "I hope that's not the only thing you'll be doing."

"No, no," he said softly, his gaze darting over your face while he let his other hand wander, fingers tracing up your arm and leaving goosebumps in its wake. "But it's tempting."

Patrick watched you roll your eyes, and he chuckled, grasping your hips once again and squeezing. He wished he could just keep his cock inside you all night, your cunt keeping it warm and wet and snug. But you were always too fussy to stay still for long. He supposed that was his fault—he did like spoiling you, after all.

"I have an idea."

Ideas and Patrick Zweig didn't mix well. You learned that early on when you first met him. And as you looked into his eyes, seeing the playful mischief within, you knew you were in for a treat whether you liked it or not. 

He took your silence as an invitation to continue, so he leaned in, his breath hot against your ear and voice velvety, "We should do this in front of a mirror next time." 

Or maybe ideas and Patrick Zweig did mix well.

Your mind started to reel, imagination running wild. But Patrick painted the picture for you like it was something he had been thinking about for a while. 

"You'd have no choice but to look at yourself—to look at just how fucking pretty you are when you're like this," Patrick whispered, his voice beginning to get lost in the heat and longing. "I'd keep your legs spread nice and wide so that you can see how my dick looks stuffed inside your sweet pussy." You squirmed, but his grip tightened around your hips. A silent warning to stay still. "Maybe you'd finally understand why I do this to you every time."

He pulled away from your ear, a hand leaving your hip to caress your cheek, his touch soft despite his calloused palm. All you could do was stare at him with a tight chest. "I care about you, you know," he laughed as if to hide the sincerity behind his words. "I'm not just trying to get a quick fuck. I wanna take my time, stay close to you longer." 

For once, his name tasted sweet on your tongue. "Patrick."

It was a prayer disguised as a whisper, a plea for his words to be true. And he hummed, his lips brushing yours as he uttered your name back. If this was the wrong kind of love, why did it feel so right? Why did he feel so right?

You tried to swallow down your pride. "Please."

"Please, what?" Patrick asked, but he knew what you wanted. He was connected to you. Your thoughts were his, too. "C'mon, use your words, baby."

But you couldn't bring yourself to say more, to accept defeat. You pulled your lips taut.

"No? Nothing?" He tilted his head, and his signature smirk was back. "Well, let me know when you figure it out."

And while Patrick was much like the hare, he knew he needed to take it slow and steady when it came to you. You would surrender to him sooner or later. You always did.

author's note: i have very mixed feelings abt this 😄 ANYWHO i will gladly give patrick everything he needs which is a shower and a bed

UNEDITED — 05.14.2024

[awanderingtortoise]

zoya, power, and vulnerability (analysis)

came across a post earlier talking about how Nikolai's realization of how he feels for zoya began when he admitted he was jealous of juris and it got me thinking a ton about zoya's amplifier story and her character in general so get ready for a long ass post on that scene and how it shows 1. zoyalai and mutual understanding, 2. zoya being scarily similar to, but ultimately totally different from the darkling, and 3. juris vs the darkling. spoiler warning for the entire grishaverse

1. Zoyalai and Understanding

One of my absolute favorite aspects of Zoyalai is how they learn to be vulnerable with each other after putting up walls and facades for everyone else, and I think Zoya sharing her amplifier's story is really a major development towards that. Even this early in their development you see how much Nikolai understands her. Just looking at the Darkling's response to Zoya freeing the cubs and contrasting it to Nikolai's:

Where he basically praises her only for wanting power (which actually wasnt even the reason she freed the cubs but alright) and ignores/shuns the innate selflessness that led to her gaining that power in the first place. Nikolai, on the other hand, has such an understanding of that compassion that drives her, actually the same compassion that fuels her fear of not being strong enough to protect everyone because of how much of it he also sees in himself. The whole reason she feels safe enough to share the story with him (well besides the fact that he could have died the next day) is because they echo each other so deeply; never truly being known by anyone to protect themselves from being hurt. (i go more into that here)

2. Zoya and the Darkling

The Darkling, who i am struggling not to refer to as a little shit after reading the second excerpt, was really just another man who saw Zoya through his own biased worldview. Its true they're pretty similar, and I'd say Zoya definitely had the potential to go down the path he did. But surprise surprise, she's actually just a better person than he is.

Both of them are powerful, ambitious Grisha, and I think its fair to say that in his early life, both he and Zoya were motivated by protecting people. The main difference in their driving force is that Aleksander later wanted not only protection for the Grishas but an elevation of status, believing them superior to normal people. Even from that you can already see the main reason that he was corrupted and Zoya wasn't: his motivations had a streak of selfishness. He wanted to be the savior of the Grisha, he wanted to be the most powerful, he wanted to rule.

Zoya, in contrast, is motivated almost out of pure selflessness. In her younger years you can definitely see her as being selfish but so much of that was because of the way the Darkling had conditioned her. He made her so desperate for his approval that it was all that she cared about. In the amplifier story you see that need for his validation ("his disapproval was more painful than any wound..") and the way he turns her away from her heart and towards pure ambition. Like what the hell would make you tell a girl that was nearly killed for trying to save tiger cubs from death that because of her, they were going to die anyway? He all but ensured she'd view her compassion as a weakness, leaving the amplifiers and power as the only valuable thing she'd gained that day.

Liliyana's death is what turns the tide for Zoya's character arc, bringing her back to that core selflessness, showing her the flaw in the Darkling's ideals, making her realize that power matters only when its working towards the greater good. Though she changes and moves to fight alongside Alina, her grief remains with her until KoS and we only see it processed through Juris' teachings, bringing me to the next point:

3. The darkness and the dragon: Juris in contrast to The Darkling

The way I see it (which is apparently not how the Netflix show sees it), Zoya has had 2 father/mentor figures in her life: Juris and The Darkling. Both strong figures, both powerful Grisha. Her actual father unfortunately did not do his job well enough, failing to protect her from being married off, and I believe thats one of the factors that causes her to latch so strongly onto the Darkling as an-- idol?

When Zoya came to the palace she was just a scared girl who'd just had the world ripped out from under her and her father figure fail her. The Darkling then appears, and he is everything her father was not: strong willed where her father was compliant, mysterious where he was familiar, cold where he was warm, and ultimately cruel where her father was kind. Given that the approach of the latter didnt work out, coupled with her natural desire for approval (dont have much evidence but the peach stealing for Sabina? she wanted her mother to love her for sure) it seems only natural that she grab so strongly onto the Darkling as a figure and embrace the ideals he promised, all things that would be comforting to anyone in her situation. She had been helpless, then shown herself to be a Squaller, that manifestation saving her from a life of suffering. He promised their power made them greater and stronger, that there would be a future where they would have nothing to fear from anyone ever again. What was there for her left to do but to hold onto that promise and the man who had given it?

Of course, as we mentioned above, Darkles has a lovely tendancy to devalue compassion. She still had other examples of the power of love: without Lillyanna's compassion and heart, Zoya might as well have been married off anyway. But were talking misconceptions here, and Darkles' favorite one would have to be power > everything. He's a taker of power, he uses it, he takes what he wants. So of course compassion is nothing when it inhibits the power to be gained, like how he saw empathy as the weakness that led Zoya to save the tiger cubs. But through Juris we see Zoya learn the opposite: its her compassion that gives her her greatest strength. In a very literal way. And this contradiction to the Darkling starts the moment he enters her life and breaks exactly the thing the Darkling gave her that she values so much: her power, as he breaks her amplifiers.

Juris doesn't come into Zoya's life with a promise of safety and strength. Juris swoops in and breaks her world. He shatters her amplifier, scoffs at her understanding of Grisha power, throws her into vulnerability and upheaval when she least wants it. Because its what she needs. He wants to change her relationship with power, and still this makes her more powerful. Juris sends Zoya the caterpillar into a state of pupal goop and soup to become Zoya the avatar butterfly. I regret that sentence but I'm leaving it there. anyway.

claiming a piece of the power of creation, without giving anything of ourselves: The clearest illustration of how Juris and the Darkling differ is seen here. Again the Darkling always takes and with amplifiers thats no different: whether its the way he used Alina or just looking at the Grisha tradition he upholds of killing an animal to take its power, its all superiority, taking, domination and selfishness. Juris works in the opposite direction: merging, giving, surviving the fall, opening the door. He saw the dragon as not something to be taken or conquered but as an equal and felt a kinship with it. This so strongly echoes the like calls to like that is at the core of the Small Science. He goes beyond the act of calling into the act of merging, becoming one with that power by giving up the self. Selflessness versus selfishness. I doubt the Darkling could be capable of that merging, even if he wanted to be.

but still, you wept for the tiger. Just like Nikolai, the very compassion the Darkling devalued is the only thing that Juris finds value in. The amplifiers the Darkling so coveted are exactly what Juris scorns. And yet Juris' way is the one of greater power, ultimately. Compassion is power, that is what he wants her to know. Her love never made her weak. That is why he brings her back to her past, to the memories of her aunt that she locks away because of the vulnerability they make her feel.

She blames herself for the deaths she could not prevent, for falling for the Darkling's lies. She locks that hurt away. But he knows the capacity to feel so strongly that pain is what makes her so strong.

After all that pain, Juris does not ask her to stand up, to toughen herself, to fight. To do anything that she believed made her strong. He asks her to forgive. To forgive herself, most of all. And when Juris is dying and Zoya becomes the dragon, he echoes the theme he began to teacher her when he brought her back to her past. Stop punishing yourself for being someone with a heart. Love is strength, not weakness. To let your wounds heal is what allows you to grow.

Don't leave me. Not you too. Zoya, who spent her life building herself up, working so that she would never feel weak again. At the moment where she becomes her most powerful, she is returned to her weakest and most vulnerable. But she isnt here to fight it and conquer it. To live is to grieve. You are strong enough to survive the fall. Sometimes to let go is the most powerful thing we can do.

in essence:

At the end of the day, the Grishaverse is about the power of love. Look at the first trilogy. Alina and Mal's love is what destroys the fold. Six of Crows is not as grand, but its all about individual love saving individual people. Kaz and Inej as they learn to heal. Nina and Matthias as they break boundaries and prejudice. Wylan and Jesper and the way they teach eachother that they are worthy of love, that its unconditional, flaws and all. Zoya's arc is no different. Juris breaks her from the Darkling's lies she didnt know she was still holding on to, and teaches this girl who wanted nothing more than to be strong and to be safe, that it was this thing she had so desperately tried to tuck away that made her the strongest of all. That's it, really; thats the message of the entire Grishaverse to me:

To love is the most powerful thing we can do.

thakns for coming to my ted talk lmao

[scatterbrainedbot]

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falls down stairs IM HERE IM HERE SORRY IM SO LATE

RAT SONS AU

in which Master Splinter is a wise and silly old tortoise, and father of four skittering, chaotic, ninja rat children. <3

(inspired by that one background moment of the 03 series! 🐢🐀🐀🐀🐀)

there will be lots of similar plot points as the 03 series (like 'tales of leo' and 'good genes' etc etc) but there are also a lot of fundamental changes in the foundation of things too — like the guardians and ninja tribunal and the hamato family line etc etc. content wise tbh its probably mostly just gonna be snapshots of random moments throughout the boys lives, but i do kinda have some plot concepts? so we'll see 👀

(embarrassingly long) introduction under the cut if u'd like to read!

——————————————

Years ago, Oroku Saki defeated Hamato Tang Shen in battle, and finally brought an end to the family that would deny him his power. He ordered her homestead be razed to the ground, and all mystic artifacts to be delivered to him. Particularly, the Hamato’s prized pet tortoise, which was rumored to be itself a conduit for the family’s legendary mystic abilities. With the creature in his possession, along with the new rapid-enhancement chemical he commissioned from laboratory familiar with mystic properties in New York — at last, he would be granted his godhood, and guarantee the legacy of his fathers clan. The Hamatos could deny him no longer. He had won.

Or he would have, had the fools at the lab not ruined everything, the precious mutagen spilling all over the tortoises crate and the fool handlers who carried it. The contaminated men morphed into horrific, animalistic monsters, attacking the scientists and wrecking the laboratory itself. And, most crucially, in the ensuing madness, the crate which contained the tortoise, his last possible connection to the Hamato’s power, lay shattered, and empty…

Meanwhile, Hamato “Splinter” Yoshi, who until this point had quite enjoyed his extended existence as a simple tortoise and family pet, found himself fleeing the eyes and hands of the man who killed his human family, and the lab that granted him this new shift in consciousness, to instead face the terrifying chaos of the streets and alleys of NYC. His transformation into something more bipedal had hurt considerably and left him aching and disoriented, but still he could not pause. He could not falter. Not until he found somewhere safe to hide himself and the four squirming, impossibly small rat-pups in his arms. He hoped the chemical that washed over them had not warped and hurt their young bones as it had his own. He hoped he could find somewhere safe to care for them. He hoped they could survive the night without their mother. He hoped, he prayed he could protect these precious, squeaking, peach-fuzzed ruminants of his family. He did not think he could survive any more loss.

For now, he would do what he could, and slip into the shadows of this city. Having lived so long among ninjas had its benefits there, at least.

[shakti-tiger]

The lies that sexual predators tell, and "the wish not to know " which society perpetuates.

This article is specifically about the lies that predators tell, but also, it's about the denial pattern that we can all experience when faced with uncomfortable truths.

The truth is that even predators can demonstrate positive behaviour sometimes. However, it doesn't mean that it excuses somebody's abusive behavior because they also have demonstrated good qualities at some point. In many cases, people can use their good qualities to manipulate. For example, we know that Neil Gaiman (alleged sexual predator), from his own admission on posts on here, can fake being nice or kind to get what he wants.

This article is really good, and I'm taking bits out of it to paste below. It's an interview with two psychologists who have written a book called "Rapes Many Voices" Dr Yvonne Shell and Stephen Morris have both worked with sexual offenders for many years. The article mentions sexual assault but is not explicit.

I'm also going to paste relevant examples from "the Master" Tortoise transcripts, for each lie predators tell. Tw for mention of sexual assault and manipulative behaviour.

1. The layers of denial – and how they work

“It goes in phases,” said Morris. But the first and most blunt form is “out-and-out denial. Even to the point of saying, ‘I was not in the room. I was not there.” It can also appear as a blanket denial related to their character, such as, “I don’t do things like that” or, “I’m a good person and would never harm anyone,” or, “I haven’t got a bad bone in my body”.Crucially, said Morris, “They believe their denial – or appear to believe it."

Paul Galizia :His (NG) position is that her allegations are fantastical and false. (Re- Scarlett)

Neil Gaiman has a clear position on this woman’s story (K): that it is false, and he denies any unlawful behaviour. Neil Gaiman’s position is that the only similarity between her account and Scarlett is that, in both cases, contemporaneous messages contradict their narratives.

Neil Gaiman: I mean I would never have made the first move on anybody. I would be terrified - NG on a recorded telephone call with Claire. ( But it's his memory that appears to be wrong. That he kissed her first is corroborated by contemporaneous chats she had with a friend and one of his own emails. And that he'd never have made the first move on anybody because he'd be terrified to is not supported by even his own account of Scarlett, which says that he invited her to take a bath with him the first time they met. Kay says he propositioned her and her friend for sex the first evening they spent with him. Julia Hobsbawm says he aggressively jumped on her unprompted at her London flat in 1986. Caroline Walner says he came on to her first at a sauna on his Woodstock property in 2017. )

2. Minimisation

The purpose of the minimisation defence is to downplay and reduce what they have done, brushing it off as meaningless, unserious, or unremarkable. Some straightforward examples, added Morris, can be: “It’s a laugh”, “a joke”, “it’s friendly fun,” or “much worse could happen”.

Paulette Bentham-Grieg- NZ lawyer who met Scarlett after she had left Gaiman's house. "She described things like him being naked in the house and, you know, suggesting to her that if she didn’t feel comfortable with it, that was just protection. ""We’re all grown-ups here and, you know, blah, blah, blah.""

His position is, it was no more than a young man misreading a situation, adding that its inclusion alongside criminal allegations raised in previous episodes in this podcast series would mischaracterise it. (Neil Gaiman’s response to Tortoise regarding Julia Hobsbawm's sexual assault allegation)

3. Victim blaming

Although this concept is well known, it can take many forms, said Morris, as the perpetrator shifts blame or responsibility onto their victim. The more obvious kind can include statements like, “They asked me to” or, “She was asking for it”, or “He gave me the come-on”. Or even, “She made me do it.”

"I would never have laid a finger on you if I had known that you were this vulnerable and inexperienced" Gaiman as quoted by Scarlett

Neil Gaiman’s account suggests we should treat Scarlett’s allegations with caution, as they first surfaced when she was hospitalized, he says, for the treatment of a condition that’s associated with false memories. But we know her allegations pre-date her admission to hospital. Scarlett’s medical records also show us that Neil Gaiman’s claim that Scarlett has a serious preexisting medical condition to be false

Claire: And he told me that he regretted us making things sexual, and all of this have been nothing more than, he called it, an apotheosis of miscommunication. He said that my indecision had caused everyone's stress that night.

4. Justifying and intellectualising

Experts like Morris and Shell refer to this as “permission-giving thoughts”, which are the deceptions in their own mind, and the stories they tell themselves to override any mental or moral barriers in order to assault someone.

Neil Gaiman’s use of NDAs appears to conflict with his totemic public position that he’s a free speech absolutist. His use of NDAs where women have made sexual abuse allegations appears to conflict with another one of his public positions as a supporter of women’s rights and campaigner against sexual abuse. When we asked about these apparent conflicts, we were told that Neil Gaiman rejects any allegation of hypocrisy and that there’s no public interest in this story, whose publication would expose Tortoise to significant legal risk.

5. Playing the victim

In this tactic, the perpetrator positions themselves as the true victim. First by trying to explain away their actions, such as, “I was having a bad time, I needed cheering up”. Or by conveying helplessness, such as, “I didn’t know what I was doing, I was very overwhelmed”. Then by claiming that being confronted by the police, probation officers, psychologists or the media is victimising them. “This whole thing is ruining my life,” for example.

Paul Galizia : Okay, look at this. So on the -- on that day, Neil messages Scarlett. And he says,

“Honestly, when Amanda told me that you are telling people I’d raped you and were planning to MeToo me, I wanted to kill myself. But I’m getting through it a day at a time. And it’s been two weeks now and I’m still here. Fragile, but not great.” So then he really, just a few minutes after that, sent her a message saying, “It was very unstablizing. I think I spent a week actively not killing myself, if you see what I mean.”

Neil Gaiman: A few years ago, I was informed I was high-functioning autistic, which is an interesting thing to learn about yourself when you're old. It did mean I sort of went oh OK. This is why I sort of sometimes find myself tiptoeing through human relations and sometimes getting them very wrong. (From recorded call with Claire)

Neil Gaiman: I mean I would never have made the first move on anybody. I would be terrified . (From recorded call with Claire)

6. Puzzlement, vagueness, and distortion

These techniques are an attempt to blur the picture, either by claiming ignorance of the situation or muddying the moral clarity. Puzzlement can surface in reactions like, “I just don’t understand this consent thing.”

Neil Gaiman, quoted by Claire "I don't know what I see in you. I'm an award-winning best-selling author and you are..."

Neil Gaiman: "I'm sorry. I think, even my memories of it are obviously wrong. " from a recorded phone call with Claire.

The "autistic excuse" can also go in here

The denial in all of us

With any of these techniques, sexual aggressors use them not only to defend themselves psychologically or legally, but because they are often successful in convincing others, according to Shell and Morris. And that’s because of the denial within society. The task for the general public, therefore, is to challenge something within ourselves.

“We all have within us the wish not to know,” said Morris. “Abuse takes us into very unpleasant territory and it’s a very human response not to want to go there. It creates a blind spot. This means people can do extraordinary things and it won’t be seen or heard for what it is. And of course, that is a green light for those who want to do all sorts of behaviours.”

This works in two main ways. The first, is to cling to an idea of who or what an offender might be. For Shell, because society understandably demonises sex offenders, the label obstructs the full view of that person, who might in other parts of their life be caring, talented, or simply ordinary.

The problem we have, she said, is seeing people as only good or evil, as only capable of being one thing or another, so we miss the harder reality: that people can be both. Even being good looking can help protect an offender because we often associate beauty with goodness.

All of which fuels an assumption that rapists and predators are people we don’t know. “It’s the idea that the only type of offender is your ‘stranger rapist’ or your ‘horrible, dirty old man’.

There is a long way to go, they agree. Despite the #MeToo movement, the conversation and understanding hasn’t shifted much. “In terms of the wider public accepting and recognising what goes on, I don’t think there’s been hardly any change at all. I think the thing that has changed is victims are more able to tell their stories. But what we do with those stories, I think perhaps hasn’t changed,” said Morris.

Shell cited some examples of what’s missing. “When are we going to acknowledge that bad things happen to good people, because we like to think bad things only happen to bad people? Or that sex offenders do not only come in one shape and size?”

To be armed with this knowledge is to be equipped to see through the denial strategies into the truth. So next time, a perpetrator perhaps won’t be able to talk their way out of it, when confronted. Instead, they could be stopped.

[uncharismatic-fauna]

Uncharismatic Fact of the Day

What's for breakfast? A pancake tortoise! This species is named for its unusual shell, which is indeed as flat as a pancake. Even more interesting is the fact that, while most other turtles have fairly thick, rigid shells, the pancake tortoise's shell is exceptionally thin, and the underlying bone has openings which allows the shell to be quite light and flexible.

(Image: A researcher holding a pancake tortoise (Malacochersus tornieri) by the Lewa Research Department)

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