Nessinator

I, and many others in aspec spaces, have recently seen a rise in infighting, exclusionism, erasure, etc. and it's getting genuinely exhausting. I strongly encourage everyone to take a step back, consider what's happening and how others are feeling, and remember that other aspecs are not your enemies. Amatonormativity, allonormativity, compulsory sexuality, etc are the enemy.

I have been seeing attacks coming from all sides of aspec communities, and it makes me feel ill to think about. I get the frustrations that everyone is raising, I truly do, but taking things to the point of personal insults, stereotyping, exclusionism, and general cruelty helps no one, and only leads to further issues.

I am, personally, a romance and sex averse/repulsed (depends on the day), non-partnering, bold-stripe aroace (I experience no romantic or sexual attraction). I want to be very clear about where I fall on the aroace-spectrum, because it is relevant to my interpretations of what has been happening and my exposure to it.

I have, unfortunately, seen a lot of cruel comments about my type of aroaceness (which, for simplicity's sake, I will be calling "the far end of the aroace spectrum"). Not just on Tumblr, but on Reddit, on Twitter, and on Bluesky. Things like calling people on the far end of the spectrum: heartless, robotic, monsters, evil, bad stereotypes.

Often, this sort of thing is in reference to a character (and their desire to ship a character) but saying "But aros/aces can date and have sex! This [aro/ace] doesn't have to be a heartless monster!" or "I'm headcanoning this character as alloromantic demisexual because not all aces are that bad stereotype!" are direct insults towards me and my orientation. It's inherently implying that there is something wrong with my identity, and that only those who are grey-aspec or favorable are okay. It's implying that anyone on the far end of the spectrum is somehow lesser, bad, or broken.

My being romance/sex-repulsed is part of my orientation and identity, not just a preference. My being non-partnering is part of my orientation and identity, not just a preference. My being a bold-stripe aroace is part of my orientation and identity, not just a preference. These are immutable characteristics of myself that I keep seeing get insulted and demonized. And that demonization is aphobia.

Aspec people are not immune to being aphobic, especially via unconcious biases influenced by allonormativity. I am not immune to being aphobic. I have had to do serious work to set aside my biases and open myself up to understanding identities like aplatonic and afamilial when I first learned about them. Hell, my internalized arophobia was so bad that I didn't realize that I was aromantic for years.

Shipping a character is one thing. Using aphobic and allonormative arguments to justify doing so is another entirely, and it feels like no one is bringing this up.

No one, that is, except for exclusionists.

Because, apparently, aspec gatekeeping is back, and I am sick and tired of this bullshit. Grey aces are ace. Demi aces are ace. Cupio aces and aego aces and acefluxes and acespikes and every other acespec microlabel under the sun is ace. And the same goes for the arospec, aplspec, afamspec, etc.

Asexuality, at it's most simple and widely accepted definition, is experiencing little to no sexual attraction. I feel like this conversation has been had 7,000 times and I don't know what else I can say that hasn't already been said.

I don't even know what else to add, except that if anyone tries to exclude my fellow aspecs from this community, they will be blocked from every single one of my blogs, IMMEDIATELY, without question. If you think that aspec identities that are favorable or indifferent or partnering or experience that little attraction aren't part of this community, go ahead and block me, too. I'm tired of aspec exclusionism and gatekeeping.

Also, let's not forget that plenty of allos are being weird about all aspec identities in this whole mess. The number of alloroses I see talking about "but it's a spectrum!" and then absolutely not representing or considering that at all in their shipping is actually disgusting.

Like, how disrespectful is it to demisexuality for an allosexual person to say they intend to write character as demisexual, only to not at all represent or consider any of the ways that being demisexual might affect the character or their relationships or anything, and just treat them as just "a bit prudish"? (this is an actual thing I have seen pretty frequently). It seems so objectifying! It's like weaponizing someone's identity just to not even give them what was promised!

Or how so many people tend to treat QPRs as "romance lite", when they are not at all the same thing!

Like, that phrasing actually reeks of aphobia and allonormativity (consciously or not).

Asexuality is not a lack of sexual attraction, it's experiencing little to no sexual attraction. Aromanticism is not a lack of romantic attraction, it's experiencing little to no romantic attraction.

I do not experience sexual or romantic attraction, but I don't "lack" those things. Lack implies a deficiency, a sense of incompleteness or wrongness. To lack something means that you are lacking in it, and inherently assumes that's a bad thing. That might not be the intention, but the word "lack" is just so pathologizing that I just hate using it to describe something like orientation.

My orientation is not a problem or an absence of something, it's just what I am.

1. The court holds Google responsible for statements made by its AI, considering them Google's statements (search engines have limited liability for results in their engine as they're the words of other sites/companies/people), meaning when their AI lies/hallucinates they're liable for the defamation/harm resulting from those statements.

2. Google's defense that customers are generally aware of the lack of reliability and are responsible for fact checking was dismissed. As the court pointed out, that would "significantly diminish" AI Search's stated purpose and it can't be distinguished from Google's business practices/statements as a search tool.

3. Studies have found about 91% of Google's everyday AI responses are accurate, leaving millions of searches per HOUR with potential liability for falsehoods. 56% of correct responses weren't supported by the sources the AI listed. Both of which mean Google is now liable for a LOT more AI "errors."

4. Google was held liable for 80% of court costs in this case and this precedent is expected to reverberate around the world. This is a massive shift from the 3rd-party search provider role Google has previously played and it comes right as they've tied ALL searches to their AI search.

And they are buying as much as they can right now. Genderweird people, gay men, bi folks in same gender marriages, lesbians, anyone who looks around and realizes that the noose is tightening? They’re buying what they can afford. Sometimes a little more than they can afford.

People are asking about metal purity in our jewelry. This has never happened before, not even during the first trump debacle. People are worried, wondering how they can get out if things go real bad. And I tell them how to sell their stuff for cash if they need to. How to find places that won’t cheat them.

How to get the most out of the jewelry they already have.

They play it off as a joke, most of the time, and I’ll play along to make sure they’re comfortable, but we all know the joke is only funny because it’s true.

I have warned people that they won’t get what they paid back. People who buy jewelry are trying to make money, and they don’t care about the hours put into hand crafting a piece. They care about the metal, the stones, and not much else. Folks I tell this to understand, and sometimes ask if we sell bullion. Or coins. Something that they can use in the emergency they expect is coming.

I wish I didn’t have to do this. I wish more people worried about what it says when people are planning on fleeing their homes with only what they have on their back. I wish I didn’t have a plan for what happens when my genderqueer ass is declared illegal.

Dragons on the wing are vulnerable to being mobbed by smaller, more agile flyers, particularly in your large rear blind spot, like a bird of prey being mobbed by crows. Having a human armed with a long spear perched on your back helps to dissuade anyone from getting any funny ideas.

Breath weapons are impressive enough on the ground, but in flight they're really only good for strafing stationary targets; trying to use your breath weapon in an aerial dogfight is a good way to get fire up your nose. A real fight calls for sterner measures – and, concomitantly, a crew to aim and reload the cannons.

In today's competitive world, it's not enough to devour a flock of sheep and call it a day if you want to keep your edge. You're accompanied at all times by a qualified personal alchemist tasked with carefully regulating your internal furnace to ensure peak performance, and sometimes you even listen to them.

Regular people: Wait, the King has easily stolen potatoes? How do I get in on this?

Because while Eridians are incredibly strong and tough on the outside, on the inside they are actually quite fragile:

They have no immune system, so anything that makes it past their enclosed carapace and internal heating will pretty much kill them

They have no natural defenses to radiation of any kind

In general they have very little organic matter so anything that targets their cells directly is quickly lethal

They are partially cold-blooded and live at a very narrow temperature range (about 20 degrees C)

They rely almost entirely on one, highly developed sense and are helpless if deafened (can't even remember the layout of a room)

They are completely helpless while asleep and can't control when that happens

They will forcibly become dormant after eating AND when badly hurt enough (their equivalent of going into shock)

They require more energy to function than humans do, and have very little organic matter to burn in the case of starvation

In contrast, humans:

Have an aggressive immune system and internal mechanisms for dealing with cell damage

Have adrenaline which allows them to temporarily ignore injuries and perform abnormal feats of strength

Are persistence hunters built for economy of movement and capable of extreme levels of endurance

Exist in a very wide range of habitats and on a diverse diet

Are very hardy in general, able to survive massive injuries, lack of sleep, prolonged starvation, and intense environmental conditions if given proper care

The quintessential example of this dichotomy between strength and endurance is the Going Fishing incident in the book: Rocky is able to survive and move in G forces that are killing Grace and to physically wrestle off the chair crushing him, but he collapses from his injuries almost immediately after. Despite being injured himself Grace then carries his 400lb friend up a ladder, is badly burned returning him to his atmosphere, and then proceeds to get some basic medical care, hype himself up on pain meds and keep working (albeit rather badly, lol) while Rocky forcibly sleeps.

You are not as special as your kindergarten teacher told you that you are. Let's look at your home's seating configuration. Sure, you've probably got a couch or a sofa – Laz-E-Boy makes those too, they just don't try very hard – but they're not the same. Sleeping on a couch is sloppy, piggish. Sleeping in a recliner? Comfort. Think of it as being in the business class of your living room.

Or, if you're into cars, and we all know everyone on Earth is, there's another way to visualize it. Remember bench seats? Back when cars came with those, it was like driving around on a big sofa. You shared the same ass-cushion with everyone else in the car. Whenever you had to take a sharp corner, you were either holding on to the door card or the dashboard to keep from falling onto the driver. A recliner? That there is a bucket seat, like in a race car. A race car... for television.

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2026

10" x 8"

and exomis:

Since we are here might as well share the dhoti and the lungi

https://www.wikihow.com/Wear-a-Lungi

https://www.wikihow.com/Wear-a-Pancha-Kachcham?amp=1

It’s only men in the photos but really anyone can wear them. I am wearing a lungi right now.