As a person who is 35 -- that largely didn't engage with the books of J.K. Rowling like at all, but happened to try and watch the movies (emphasize on tried) during the pandemic -- I don't see how someone could even see the Goblins in those movies and not peace out of what is very obviously a yikes.
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lonelyahavaCall me Ahava ~~She/Her~~Move to New ZealandRegistered Userregular
i dunno.
i'm not going to disagree that they don't have troubling things. i'm not going to disagree that she's a horrible person. I'm not going not going to buy another branded thing, or likely ever read them to my kid.
but i feel like i can take some of the bigger lessons from that book, and others, and use them as starting points towards learning morals and standing up for others, then it's not a bad starting point.
I never wanted the kid to get into Paw Patrol or Disney Princesses. and that stopped being a reality as soon as she hit daycare. She's going to get exposed to Harry Potter and that world in one way or another by somebody or somebodies at school. so if I can know how to take those lessons and know what/how to teach to help her be a better person, then I use that.
Did I have problems with the books? no, I was a teenager when I was reading them and not as aware as I am now.
Brovid Hasselsmof[Growling historic on the fury road]Registered Userregular
I wouldn't have thought anything of the goblins if people hadn't pointed out their deal. Not everybody is familiar with stereotypes associated with every type of person.
Sure -- I mean, I studied history so I know what it is to distinguish a person's positive qualities from in-born prejudices. And I do fret a bit about canceling the contributions of people in the past (i.e. Dr. Seuss) on the basis of presentism.
But I guess where I'm agog and somewhat judgemental is on the basis that Rowling is a as contemporary to us as we can basically get -- and even then I'm not really about tearing down someone's positive impressions about problematic media when they're still developing and learning themselves.
But I definitely have a bit of side-eye towards those that are fully adult super-fans for things that pretty obviously are low-level -> obviously bigoted.
I wouldn't have thought anything of the goblins if people hadn't pointed out their deal. Not everybody is familiar with stereotypes associated with every type of person.
yeah the goblins are a great example of how racial stereotyping becomes invisible over time to a lot of people. to so many people, myself included for a long time, the visual tropes of the goblins are just broadly speaking, the tropes we associate with the character archetype of "greedy people and bankers". and often, people repeat that imagery. thinking of it only as being associated with those characters and archetypes. and so the history of how those tropes came to be get erased more or less through a game of historical telephone, obliterating the truth of why those physical traits became negative traits associated with greed.
Sure -- I mean, I studied history so I know what it is to distinguish a person's positive qualities from in-born prejudices. And I do fret a bit about canceling the contributions of people in the past (i.e. Dr. Seuss) on the basis of presentism.
But I guess where I'm agog and somewhat judgemental is on the basis that Rowling is a as contemporary to us as we can basically get -- and even then I'm not really about tearing down someone's positive impressions about problematic media when they're still developing and learning themselves.
But I definitely have a bit of side-eye towards those that are fully adult super-fans for things that pretty obviously are low-level -> obviously bigoted.
I think it also shows how powerful fiction can be at subtlety using those tropes when people aren't looking. I think most of the people who read Harry Potter would be aghast at the suggestion that it was ok to enslave some people because that is what they really want. It has some fairly easily reached for real world examples from the not so distant past, and even present. Abstract the idea with magic though, and suddenly it feels very different. It takes us out of the real world. This causes people to look past the real world comparisons until really confronted with it.
Happy Pride y'all! Just had my first real event of the month.
My city's monthly ArtWalk was made into a Pride event for the first time ever. It was huge! I spent the night handing out rainbow and trans flag heart stickers to absurdly happy people.
The ones very shyly approaching me to ask for a trans sticker or flag (we gave away hundreds of various small pride flags too) melted my heart. I could tell how much it meant to them that we had trans stuff, that I was visibly there handing it out. People still living in the closet. But... maybe for not as long, now?
I've taken on too many things (largely why I haven't been around much). But stuff like tonight makes it all worth it.
Triptycho: A card-and-dice tabletop indie RPG currently in development and playtesting
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tzeentchlingDoctor of RocksOaklandRegistered Userregular
So there's a new person at work that goes by They/Them pronouns. They're the first person I've met in meat space that uses different pronouns(I know, I need to get out more and I could use some queer friends to hang out with). Anyways, I'm finding that knowing the concept of using different pronouns is a lot different from actually putting it into practice. Distressingly I find I'm still having to work past old habits despite my familiarity with this. I'm adjusting quickly but I'm having to think about it more than I should. /sigh
I've also been thinking about how best to relate to this person and I thought about how I'd like to be treated. I'm not going to out myself to them or make it weird. I'll just keep it low key and be quietly supportive by using their preferred pronouns and not make a big fuss.
WeaverWho are you?What do you want?Registered Userregular
We got family to take pictures of us on this camping trip, so the first images of myself and my partner that I've seen from a non-selfie perspective
I'm huge! My shoulders are laying claims to trade routes.
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WeaverWho are you?What do you want?Registered Userregular
edited June 2021
Also I'm super exhausted of being male
edit being perceived as
Weaver on
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lonelyahavaCall me Ahava ~~She/Her~~Move to New ZealandRegistered Userregular
It's been 5 years since Pulse.
which seems... daunting.
But on the silver lining side of things, it's also been 5 years since I made the decision that passing wasn't that important, and that I should actually identify who I am and how I feel and actually speak out about it. Five years since I decided that it was important and OK for me to be queer, and to say so out loud.
But on the silver lining side of things, it's also been 5 years since I made the decision that passing wasn't that important, and that I should actually identify who I am and how I feel and actually speak out about it. Five years since I decided that it was important and OK for me to be queer, and to say so out loud.
The first thing that annoyed me about the HP books was the conflating of witch and wizard as gendered terms that are otherwise identical. This annoyed me heavily and doubly-so my wife who is, in fact, a witch.
The upshot is that the queer community ran with it and came up with the term wix as a gender neutral term and I honestly kind of love it.
Me too, kind of. The first friend group who ever unconditionally supported me as a QUILTBAG person were my pagan friends. I like what a non-prejudiced, diversity-accepting and sex-positive religion it is
(at last in my experience & in sharp contrast to how the Christian church views women, sex and QUILTBAG people in the backwards country we all grew up in)
Portrayal of witches in HP - agreed, totally shitty
Pratchett was spot on though IMO, my best friends in college were like a young Nanny Ogg, PerditaX and.. another young Nanny Ogg X )
but what if i don't want to give work people my pronouns because i don't want to be out at work,
and so now i misgender myself in every email OR look like a bigot? it's not ideal.
Oh hey, the exact same question I’ve been wrestling with for months since they added the option of pronouns for things like our email signatures!
Ultimately I decided yesterday to go with he/they for that - not ideal, but not strictly cis either. What pushed it over for me was the realization that as the trainer I will be one of the first people that new folks get an email from/talk to, and seeing something as simple as a gender neutral/non binary pronoun on their first day might matter to someone.
I’m still not sure how I’ll respond if someone asks me about it (probably depends on *how* they ask,) but worst case if someone is going to be shitty about something as minor as that, better they try it with me. I’ve got the years/confidence/good reputation to have that fight, and I do think HR would have my back, they seem to really care about this stuff. If someone asks respectfully I’ll probably say something like “I’m comfortable with neutral pronouns and thought it would be a good thing for new people to see” and leave it at that for now.
I’m also not saying everyone should do something like this, or feel bad about not doing so - I’m lucky to work somewhere that seems determined to support gender/sexual diversity, and established/secure enough in my job that it isn’t so much of a risk.
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UnbrokenEvaHIGH ON THE WIREBUT I WON'T TRIP ITRegistered Userregular
as a gender-neutral wizard, i definitely don't do witchcraft, it's true.
You do which craft, again?
I regret nothing
even this barely tangential pun was enough to get Magic Dance stuck in my head. This is in no way a complaint, mind.
in other quiltbag news, there is/was a whole thing going on with our local libraries where they got a couple copies of the hot new terf book and people (correctly) got mad at them for it. Our local Pride org led the way by cancelling all events at the library, our local geek con did the same (which was really nice to see) and a whole lot of people, myself included submitted complaints to the library board. I finally got a response from them yesterday, and while it wasn't as good as I hoped, it was at least better than I expected.
Thank you for taking the time to reach out to the Library and express your support for Pride’s request to have the title Irreversible Damage by Abigail Shrier removed from the Library collection.
Our decision not to censor this item is grounded in a defense of free expression and the importance of free access to information – this is the foundation of social justice, discourse and public libraries.
The Library does not believe that removing this title will address the larger societal problem of transphobia. However, we will act as a part of the collective effort needed to fight trans hate. The Library will continue to build individual relationships that are supportive, fight misinformation with more and better information, educate our community and work to regain trust. While we will not be removing this title from our collection, we have heard the community’s concern about this book being read in isolation. We have worked with the IWK and community partners to prepare a resource and reading list of trans affirming titles, and a printed reading list of titles and contact information for local organizations that support trans youth and their families will be included with this book with each check out.
We understand that this is not the outcome that you and others in our community are asking for. Our hope is that we will be able to come together to find new ways to provide platforms for trans voices to build understanding, compassion and inclusion. If you have suggested titles that are trans-affirming that should be included in our collection please let us know by completing a suggestion for purchase request. I hope that you will find your way back to the Library.
tl;dr they're not removing the book, but they have a list of trans-affirming books and local orgs that they're printing out and providing to every person who borrows the book. It won't help with any shitheads who already made up their mind, but those people are a lost cause anyway. Heck, it might even have a positive effect if it intercepts someone who goes looking for Shrier's book without knowing any better. Also, while removing a book they already have, especially with so much attention on this particular situation might be a difficult thing for them to do, I suspect the blowback they got for this will at least make them more cautious about what books they purchase in future.
Also I asked a friend for recommendations for good trans/NB positive books to suggest for them and they already had 3/4s of the suggestions in their collection or on order, which is also nice.
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Brovid Hasselsmof[Growling historic on the fury road]Registered Userregular
edited June 2021
I think that's a pretty great response. Not keen on the idea of libraries removing books because they got complaints. Pairing said book up with material that counters its message is a good way to go about it, imo.
Brovid Hasselsmof on
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UnbrokenEvaHIGH ON THE WIREBUT I WON'T TRIP ITRegistered Userregular
yeah, I'd have preferred they not purchase it to begin with (libraries make choices about which books to purchase/not purchase all the time) but now that it's there that's probably the best approach to deal with it
Personally delete the "These are the two genders" and it's good. The line doesn't add anything and it just limits potential storytelling in the future.
I’m 50/50 on that joke page, but the chapter itself will cover player consent to certain topics, a widely used “red card” system where anyone can stop a scene to reset away from a topic, how if you’re a fascist you can put the game back, obvious stuff like how the game endorses all kinds of diversity in players and their little shooty mans. The stuff worth taking a stand over.
Hexamu flipped vertically and hexibo flipped horizontally should have names too.
Oh no sorry, the game runs on hexes, like so:
(Image not from my game)
I just didn’t draw many hexes there, that’s all. It’s all pretty obtuse and gonzo so no harm, it’s me who is vague.
I know. I just mean if you have different hex orientations as different genders, might as well name all 4.
I think the point is there are only 2 hex configurations, pointy-side-up and flat-side-up. The examples used can be mirrored but in the actual game presumably it's all one large playing area of hexes.
Might avoid some confusion if the example pics each had 2 extra hexes so they can't flip any more.
Edit: shit sorry Psykoma! Removed it now
Brovid Hasselsmof on
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tzeentchlingDoctor of RocksOaklandRegistered Userregular
You could make it a bit more obvious what you were going for:
^
^ ^
or
-
- -
Otherwise it just looks like you rotated a 5-cluster by 90 degrees.
So cool! That sounds like it will be a really engaging and powerful game @Endless_Serpents (& helping start conversations about some very important topics for players?)
Maybe your library can buy @Endless_Serpents ' game manual next @Fearghaill ? : ) I bet it will be much more popular than some yucky TERF book...
So cool! That sounds like it will be a really engaging and powerful game @Endless_Serpents (& helping start conversations about some very important topics for players?)
Maybe your library can buy @Endless_Serpents ' game manual next @Fearghaill ? : ) I bet it will be much more popular than some yucky TERF book...
Don’t oversell me, Wreckage is a game about being monster people with guns in a blasted world.
There is more too it, but that’s a big spoiler.
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Brovid Hasselsmof[Growling historic on the fury road]Registered Userregular
So the UK blood donor service has historically had a shitty rule where if you are a man who has ever had sex with another man, you are not allowed to donate blood.
The rules changed on Monday. Donors will no longer be asked gender-based questions about sexual history. Now, if you are a sexually active person, as long as you have only had one sexual partner within the last 3 months - of whatever gender - you are able to donate blood.
Bout fucking time. Fill everybody up with gay blood.
Posts
i'm not going to disagree that they don't have troubling things. i'm not going to disagree that she's a horrible person. I'm not going not going to buy another branded thing, or likely ever read them to my kid.
but i feel like i can take some of the bigger lessons from that book, and others, and use them as starting points towards learning morals and standing up for others, then it's not a bad starting point.
I never wanted the kid to get into Paw Patrol or Disney Princesses. and that stopped being a reality as soon as she hit daycare. She's going to get exposed to Harry Potter and that world in one way or another by somebody or somebodies at school. so if I can know how to take those lessons and know what/how to teach to help her be a better person, then I use that.
Did I have problems with the books? no, I was a teenager when I was reading them and not as aware as I am now.
Democrats Abroad! || Vote From Abroad
But I guess where I'm agog and somewhat judgemental is on the basis that Rowling is a as contemporary to us as we can basically get -- and even then I'm not really about tearing down someone's positive impressions about problematic media when they're still developing and learning themselves.
But I definitely have a bit of side-eye towards those that are fully adult super-fans for things that pretty obviously are low-level -> obviously bigoted.
yeah the goblins are a great example of how racial stereotyping becomes invisible over time to a lot of people. to so many people, myself included for a long time, the visual tropes of the goblins are just broadly speaking, the tropes we associate with the character archetype of "greedy people and bankers". and often, people repeat that imagery. thinking of it only as being associated with those characters and archetypes. and so the history of how those tropes came to be get erased more or less through a game of historical telephone, obliterating the truth of why those physical traits became negative traits associated with greed.
I think it also shows how powerful fiction can be at subtlety using those tropes when people aren't looking. I think most of the people who read Harry Potter would be aghast at the suggestion that it was ok to enslave some people because that is what they really want. It has some fairly easily reached for real world examples from the not so distant past, and even present. Abstract the idea with magic though, and suddenly it feels very different. It takes us out of the real world. This causes people to look past the real world comparisons until really confronted with it.
My city's monthly ArtWalk was made into a Pride event for the first time ever. It was huge! I spent the night handing out rainbow and trans flag heart stickers to absurdly happy people.
The ones very shyly approaching me to ask for a trans sticker or flag (we gave away hundreds of various small pride flags too) melted my heart. I could tell how much it meant to them that we had trans stuff, that I was visibly there handing it out. People still living in the closet. But... maybe for not as long, now?
I've taken on too many things (largely why I haven't been around much). But stuff like tonight makes it all worth it.
I've also been thinking about how best to relate to this person and I thought about how I'd like to be treated. I'm not going to out myself to them or make it weird. I'll just keep it low key and be quietly supportive by using their preferred pronouns and not make a big fuss.
I'm huge! My shoulders are laying claims to trade routes.
edit being perceived as
which seems... daunting.
But on the silver lining side of things, it's also been 5 years since I made the decision that passing wasn't that important, and that I should actually identify who I am and how I feel and actually speak out about it. Five years since I decided that it was important and OK for me to be queer, and to say so out loud.
So
I guess that's something?
Democrats Abroad! || Vote From Abroad
It’s a lot ♥️
Thank you, sleeper agent, we love you 😘
...
avada ke-
The upshot is that the queer community ran with it and came up with the term wix as a gender neutral term and I honestly kind of love it.
Awesome! : ) < 3
Me too, kind of. The first friend group who ever unconditionally supported me as a QUILTBAG person were my pagan friends. I like what a non-prejudiced, diversity-accepting and sex-positive religion it is
(at last in my experience & in sharp contrast to how the Christian church views women, sex and QUILTBAG people in the backwards country we all grew up in)
Portrayal of witches in HP - agreed, totally shitty
Pratchett was spot on though IMO, my best friends in college were like a young Nanny Ogg, PerditaX and.. another young Nanny Ogg X )
You do which craft, again?
Oh hey, the exact same question I’ve been wrestling with for months since they added the option of pronouns for things like our email signatures!
Ultimately I decided yesterday to go with he/they for that - not ideal, but not strictly cis either. What pushed it over for me was the realization that as the trainer I will be one of the first people that new folks get an email from/talk to, and seeing something as simple as a gender neutral/non binary pronoun on their first day might matter to someone.
I’m still not sure how I’ll respond if someone asks me about it (probably depends on *how* they ask,) but worst case if someone is going to be shitty about something as minor as that, better they try it with me. I’ve got the years/confidence/good reputation to have that fight, and I do think HR would have my back, they seem to really care about this stuff. If someone asks respectfully I’ll probably say something like “I’m comfortable with neutral pronouns and thought it would be a good thing for new people to see” and leave it at that for now.
I’m also not saying everyone should do something like this, or feel bad about not doing so - I’m lucky to work somewhere that seems determined to support gender/sexual diversity, and established/secure enough in my job that it isn’t so much of a risk.
even this barely tangential pun was enough to get Magic Dance stuck in my head. This is in no way a complaint, mind.
in other quiltbag news, there is/was a whole thing going on with our local libraries where they got a couple copies of the hot new terf book and people (correctly) got mad at them for it. Our local Pride org led the way by cancelling all events at the library, our local geek con did the same (which was really nice to see) and a whole lot of people, myself included submitted complaints to the library board. I finally got a response from them yesterday, and while it wasn't as good as I hoped, it was at least better than I expected.
Our decision not to censor this item is grounded in a defense of free expression and the importance of free access to information – this is the foundation of social justice, discourse and public libraries.
The Library does not believe that removing this title will address the larger societal problem of transphobia. However, we will act as a part of the collective effort needed to fight trans hate. The Library will continue to build individual relationships that are supportive, fight misinformation with more and better information, educate our community and work to regain trust. While we will not be removing this title from our collection, we have heard the community’s concern about this book being read in isolation. We have worked with the IWK and community partners to prepare a resource and reading list of trans affirming titles, and a printed reading list of titles and contact information for local organizations that support trans youth and their families will be included with this book with each check out.
We understand that this is not the outcome that you and others in our community are asking for. Our hope is that we will be able to come together to find new ways to provide platforms for trans voices to build understanding, compassion and inclusion. If you have suggested titles that are trans-affirming that should be included in our collection please let us know by completing a suggestion for purchase request. I hope that you will find your way back to the Library.
Sincerely,
Cindy O’Driscoll
Halifax Regional Library Board Chair
tl;dr they're not removing the book, but they have a list of trans-affirming books and local orgs that they're printing out and providing to every person who borrows the book. It won't help with any shitheads who already made up their mind, but those people are a lost cause anyway. Heck, it might even have a positive effect if it intercepts someone who goes looking for Shrier's book without knowing any better. Also, while removing a book they already have, especially with so much attention on this particular situation might be a difficult thing for them to do, I suspect the blowback they got for this will at least make them more cautious about what books they purchase in future.
Also I asked a friend for recommendations for good trans/NB positive books to suggest for them and they already had 3/4s of the suggestions in their collection or on order, which is also nice.
Is this funny, offensive, or what?
What about the mirrored here configurations?
Check out my site, the Bismuth Heart | My Twitter
I don’t know. Could you explain?
Hexamu flipped vertically and hexibo flipped horizontally should have names too.
Check out my site, the Bismuth Heart | My Twitter
Oh no sorry, the game runs on hexes, like so:
(Image not from my game)
I just didn’t draw many hexes there, that’s all. It’s all pretty obtuse and gonzo so no harm, it’s me who is vague.
That sort of aesthetic would tickle me pink in quickly throwing together a map for a town or region.
I know. I just mean if you have different hex orientations as different genders, might as well name all 4.
Check out my site, the Bismuth Heart | My Twitter
Thanks
I think the point is there are only 2 hex configurations, pointy-side-up and flat-side-up. The examples used can be mirrored but in the actual game presumably it's all one large playing area of hexes.
Might avoid some confusion if the example pics each had 2 extra hexes so they can't flip any more.
Edit: shit sorry Psykoma! Removed it now
^
^ ^
or
-
- -
Otherwise it just looks like you rotated a 5-cluster by 90 degrees.
@21stCentury
Ah, I gotcha. More effort than the bit is worth, but you’re totally right. Actual gender is discussed on the following pages.
Maybe your library can buy @Endless_Serpents ' game manual next @Fearghaill ? : ) I bet it will be much more popular than some yucky TERF book...
Don’t oversell me, Wreckage is a game about being monster people with guns in a blasted world.
The rules changed on Monday. Donors will no longer be asked gender-based questions about sexual history. Now, if you are a sexually active person, as long as you have only had one sexual partner within the last 3 months - of whatever gender - you are able to donate blood.
Bout fucking time. Fill everybody up with gay blood.