Something to Live By

Moira Squier did.

JK Rowling wrote about a short and swarthy ethnic minority legally denied the right to own certain kinds of property, excluded from most careers apart from finance, oppressed for hundreds of years but still ignored by equality activists, perceived as duplicitous and bloodthirsty, speaking a guttural language and having a culture considered inferior by mainstream society.

The film franchise gave them big hooked noses.

Moira Squier created a new character from this minority who was the victim of a brutal, life-threatening hate crime in his youth, which radicalised him against the society that oppressed his people. She wrote a narrative in which a marginalised person's resentment of their oppressors causes them to become morally corrupt, and the only "good" members of the marginalised group are the ones who can overcome that resentment. She created a story in which the protagonist must prevent a marginalised group from reclaiming their property, because doing so would make them too powerful, and that might threaten the status quo.

Troy Leavitt was the lead developer for the first several years of this game's creation. He runs an alt-right YouTube channel in which he defends cultural appropriation and sexual harassment apologism, among other things. He oversaw the design of a marginalised minority which bears an uncanny resemblance to Nazi propaganda:

That’s Louis Rossman, a repair technician and YouTuber, who went viral recently for railing against Apple. Apple purposely charges a lot for repairs and you either have to pay up or buy a new device. That’s because Apple withholds necessary tools and information from outside repair shops. And to think, we were just so close to change.

Have an iPhone and are in need of repairs

Have a friend with that problem

Hate Apple and are more than happy to spite them in some way

So I asked the internet, well how hard IS it to repair? And I saw this guy’s video, and while I am no techie, I AM fueled by spite, so I was all “oh, they do that shit on purpose specifically so they can charge me $1200 bucks or make me buy a new computer hunh? FUCK THEM” and I bought all the tools I needed for about $25 and I bought all the parts I needed for about another $25 and I watched a few tutorial videos, and I replaced my own keyboard.

So, once you are doing the actual deed, it becomes pretty obvious that they are finding creative ways to make this much harder than it has to be on purpose. On thing that stood out to me is, instead of all the tiny screws being the same size, there are about two dozen very slightly different sizes. They could easily be all the same size, or like, two sizes at most, but no.

These mother fuckers will take a panel that screws into place and they’ll use a different size screw for each corner. They are so close that you almost cannot tell them apart visually, but they each will only screw into the matching corner. Like, it’s a pretty clear “fuck you” to anyone trying to do repairs.

Like. You might as well walk into a bookshop and stamp BLOCKED FOR BADWRONG CONTENT on every book in the Song of Ice and Fire series, half of Shakespeare, every YA novel about rape recovery, every adult novel about rape recovery, every biography of someone who has suffered from rape, incest or paedophilia and been brave enough to write about it, every book of Greek, Egyptian and Norse myths, the fucking Bible - just a truly massive percentage of the entire global literary canon, because there is literally no way to remove each and every reference to these themes otherwise. 

Do you know why schools and libraries are pressured to ban books like I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, To Kill a Mockingbird and Laurie Halse Andersen’s Speak? Because dumbass, scaremongering adults think that letting teens read about rape or racism or sexual violence or queerness or half a dozen other topics they think are Bad Things will lead to them down a path of Vice. 

What happens to characters in stories, no matter how graphic or awful, is not the same as that act occurring to a real human person in real life, nor does reading or writing such works indicate endorsement of those acts. This is why a story which features paedophilia, regardless of whether it’s written as overtly sexual content or as a damning condemnation of the act, is not the same as child pornography by any legal definition: because no actual children are harmed. Are you personally still allowed to be angry and disgusted about the public availability of the former type of stories, even in instances where the writers are themselves victims of child abuse trying to process their trauma? Yes! You’re under no moral obligation to like any kind of content! But are you correct in asserting that the creation of such stories is illegal and hurting somebody in exactly the same way that a real abuser hurting a real child would be? No! Because fictional characters are not real people, and whatever our motives for creating or engaging with a particular thing, monkey see = monkey approve is not how it fucking works.  

Have you ever watched an episode of CSI? Congratulations! By your own logic, you’re pro rape and murder. Ever watched an episode of Hannibal? Congratulations! By your own logic, you endorse cannibalism, Stockholm Syndrome and serial killing. Ever watched a historical drama where a young girl gets married to a much older man? Congratulations! By your own logic, you endorse child brides. And on, and on, and on.

I say again: you are allowed to be critical of particular works and/or the recurrence of certain themes across a particular medium. But arguing that an entire literary platform needs to end because some stories there contain Bad Things makes as much sense as banning the works of Octavia Butler or Sherman Alexie from school libraries because of their content. Which is - spoiler alert - a really bad idea.

Puritanical culture is really fucking dangerous. By thinking you’re being ‘pure’ and ‘good’ and condemning all these things, you’re actually playing right into the hands of people who want to control media content by pretending shades of gray don’t exist. It’s not as simple as Thing Good or Thing Bad. It’s “Thing Complicated And Needs Critical Thought And Review.” 

I also suggest, for people on the other side of this argument, to study a bit more history and look into censorship. I live in a country that spent a lot of time under dictatorship (I wasn’t alive myself at the time but my parents were) and I know enough about it to make it obvious that it’s a Goddamn Bad Idea You Dumbasses lol

People work through their personal bad experiences through literature, like the other people in this thread said. Sometimes people write things to raise awareness about a subject. Art isn’t pure or cute, it shouldn’t be forcefully cleansed. Making art uniform is supid and wouldn’t work when we’re plural multifaceted beings, These fanfics teach people about these subjects, when well written they can educate. I learned loads about consent reading fanfic. It’s more effective than long tumblr rambles about it, It allows you to put yourself in the shoes of victim or perpetrator. And that’s not a bad thing!

If reading about certain contents bother you just DON’T READ IT?? It’s that simple! You know why the tags exist? So people don’t have to read it if it triggers them or if they would rather not, A lot of you are spoiled and grew up on AO3 but trigger warnings weren’t even a thing when I started writing and I’m incredibly thankful for them now. I’m thankful for tags that keep me safe. And that’s what you’re ultimately fighting against. And pro censorship if you think someone is gonna sit there and review everyone’s fics to say whether or not they’re appropriate.

Don't acknowledge it.

Just. I know you can't stop yourself from crying and your voice from cracking and your hands from shaking. If you're with someone you trust, I'd suggest asking for a break- tears mean you're reaching a breaking point, it means your body is trying to relieve the immense pressure.

But if you're not just... Don't acknowledge your own crying. Treat it like a sneeze or a cough. Keep talking through your tears, maintain eye contact. If your voice cracks, clear your throat, say "excuse me" and move on. Take deep breaths. Try and consciously relax your muscles one by one.

The worst part of crying during an argument is the feeling of being invalidated because of it and for me, specifically, it has helped so much to just not give the other person the chance to even bring it up. If they say "you're crying" I say "yes. Anyway" and keep talking about my main argument. I don't acknowledge them. We move on.

okay. this is in response to me saying “respectability politics is a trap.” which it absolutely is.

but i’ll give you the benefit of the doubt here. let’s define respectability politics, shall we?

several people who are more well-spoken than me have talked about this. to quote this article on the subject:

Respectability politics is a school of thought that utilizes respectability narratives as the basis for enacting social, political, and legal change.

Respectability narratives are representations of marginalized individuals meant to construct an image of the marginalized group as people sharing similar traits, values, morals with the dominant group.

essentially, respectability politics is when people in a marginalized group (queer people, disabled people, people of color) wish to be accepted by the majority, and thus present themselves in a way and behave in a way that the majority deems acceptable - and pressure others in their marginalized group to do the same. for example:

“Not all bisexual people are sluts, I’m bi and I’ve been in a committed relationship for 20 years!”

“I’m gay, but I’m not one of THOSE gay guys, I hate shopping and I don’t like to flaunt my sexuality at all!”

“Lesbians aren’t really all masculine, I love makeup and having long hair.”

(I’m using examples I’ve seen in the queer community because I’m queer; I know this happens a lot in communities of color, but I am not qualified to speak on that at all.)

this stems from a desire to be accepted by the majority; for the purposes of this discussion, straight people. we hear straight people say things like “i could never date a bi person, they’re all cheaters” or “i don’t mind gay guys, don’t just shove it in my face” and “why don’t lesbians act like women if they love them?” and, in response, some people go, “i don’t act like that!! you can accept me! i fit in! i’m respectable, i’m not like those guys, they embarrass us!”

there’s also a lot of people saying, “don’t reinforce the stereotype.” as if it’s OUR fault straight people stereotype us.

so this leads to shaming within our own community:

“You’re bi and polyamorous? Wow, way to make people think we’re all two-timing whores.”

“Makeup? Jesus, we get it, you’re gay, you don’t have to make it a pride parade every time you go out.”

“You look like a teenage boy, this is why everyone lesbians aren’t real women.”

and that all boils down to:

“THIS is the example you’re setting? This is the face you show to the world? Don’t you know you’re representing us? No wonder they don’t respect us.”

and that’s the real problem: telling other queer people, “it is YOUR fault you’re not accepted, YOU aren’t acceptable, YOU reinforce these stereotypes, YOU should try and be more respectable, more normal.” and the thing is, “normal” is defined by the majority. THEY decide what is acceptable behavior for us. and guess what? 

most of the time, that boils down to, “It’s fine if you’re different... as long as you’re as close to what I deem normal as possible. As long as I can’t tell you’re different.”

in the queer community, this sort of thinking has led to the exclusion of butch lesbians, femme gay men, nonbinary people, non-passing trans people, trans people in general, people who use any pronouns besides she/her and he/him, bisexual people, ace people, aro people, pan people, polyamorous bisexual people, people who have an active sex life, sex workers, people who have changed how they identify, and countless others. these people get shoved aside by the Good Respectable Gays, who are eager to say, “We’re not like them, we’re just like you!” in order to be accepted by the mainstream. and it still doesn’t work. even the most macho, would-never-guess-it gay guy is bound to face some level of oppression or otherness at some point in his life. it doesn’t matter how much he fits in, how much he distances himself from the Unacceptable Queers; it won’t work 100% of the time. how’s that for a punchline?

there is no point in trying to file off the “unacceptable” parts of our community just to please straight people. 

if a person hates all queer people, no matter how they act or present, they’re a homophobe.

if a person doesn’t hate queer people, just the ones who shove it in your face and sleep around and won’t shut up about it and buck gender norms and use weird pronouns and expect people to learn their new name and change their identity every week... they’re still a fucking homophobe.

and why the fuck are we trying to please homophobes, again?

so when people say lil nas x is bad, actually, because he “reinforces the stereotype” of gay people going to hell and thinking a lot about sex or whatever, they’re playing right into respectability politics. why can’t he just talk about his sexuality in a normal way? why can’t he express himself in a nicer way? why does he have to use that imagery? why does he have to make straight people uncomfortable?

lis nas x is a gay black man who grew up being told he’d burn in hell for being gay. and he made an awesome song with a legendary music video saying, “fine. i’ll go to hell, just like you want, and it’ll be great. i’ll take the damn place over and make satan fall in love with me. and i’ll have a great time doing it, because i’m proud of who i am, and i won’t apologize for it or be ashamed of it anymore.”

to see that and wring your hands, worrying that a straight person will see it and decide to be homophobic about it, and pinning the blame for that on nas is missing the point.

every time we as a community make ourselves lesser or change the way we present just to be accepted by the majority, they move the goalposts, and someone else gets left behind. and the beautiful thing about the queer community is that there is a place for everyone who is left out in the cold by the straight, cis majority.

“We’re here, we’re queer, get used to it” was the rallying cry for a reason. we’re different, you think we’re weird, you think we’re deviant, you don’t get us, and that’s fine, you don’t have to get us. we’re not going anywhere. get used to it.

Heard some important information on Twitter today, and thought I’d post it here for anyone who may not have heard it. This is actually a thing, devised by human rights organisation called Karma Nirvana.

On Wednesday, September 1, 2021, Texas’s new law, S.B. 8, went into effect. This law effectively bans abortion in the state AND asks private citizens to act as bounty hunters to “enforce” the law.

Then, in the dead of the night, the Supreme Court turned its back on 50 years of precedent, rendering Roe v. Wade effectively meaningless in Texas. The Supreme Court allowed Texas’s unconstitutional six week abortion ban to go into effect. Six weeks is before many people know that they’re pregnant.

This is an attack on human rights and Texas law sets a dangerous legal precedent and could clear a path for states to override people’s constitutional rights. If the courts let this bill stand we can expect to see similar bills introduced in states across the country.

Abortion is health care. Yet politicians are consistently attacking access to that care (even during a pandemic).

Tumblr, let's rally our voice and speak out against this ban.

Ways to take action:

Hit the ❤️ and 🔁buttons to share this post

Make sure your voice is heard by signing this petition

Give your community a little ✨razzle-dazzle ✨with this poster

This is what a real, qualified OBGYN will tell you about what women feel when they get an abortion

I reblogged this.

a lot of big businesses, including disney, will post a black square and donate some money but won’t actually make any changes to combat the racism in their own companies and its fucking bullshit

it feels like they haven’t made any other efforts towards true diversity because at the end of the day they just don’t care

also notice how it’s really only ever the Black mcu actors who bring up the racism/lack of diversity in marvel/hollywood ?