#you do not have to engage in media you find distasteful or harmful | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

thepromptfoundry · 4 months

Text

The Prompt Foundry FAQ

To head off some potential confusions and concerns.

Q: Hey, who's running this thing? I'm Eiiri. I'm a writer and a nerd and I like lists. I also wrote an Ao3 metatext guide one time.

Q: What if I missed a day, or filled a prompt late? A: No problem at all! The only timeline here is for when prompt lists are posted. You create and post on your own schedule, I'll reblog as I see prompt fills pop up!

Q: What if I don't want my art reblogged here? A: If you don't tag me in the post or use my tag for the prompt theme, I probably won't even see it to reblog it. I will also endeaver to heed notes either in the body of posts or in tags to not reblog it, or you can turn off reblogs in general. If I have already reblogged your work and you'd like me to delete it, please message or reply to me.

Q: If I use prompts from the Foundry, do I have to give credit? A: Yes please.

Q: Can I share the prompt lists outside of tumblr? A: Sure! Just give attribution pointing back to this blog.

Q: Are there any formatting limitations or guidelines for prompt fills? A: Most any way you can format a tumblr post is going to be okay. I recommend using a readmore on long posts—such as writing longer than a few paragraphs or comics longer than a couple pages—just for ease of scrolling for everyone. Best practice is to make each prompt fil its own original post. If you do them as a reblog chain—especially if you start that chain from the prompt list post itself—you can expect that your prompt fills will not be reblogged to the Foundry until the end of the month. If you prefer, you can send in your prompt fill as a submitted post so that the post and all its notes track to Foundry rather than to you.

Q: Do I have to tag my prompt fills a certain way? A: Not really. I recommend using the theme tag for whichever prompt list you're working from (which you can find on the original post of the list), and tagging fannish work with what fandom it pertains to. Beyond that, it's up to you what tags you feel like adding.

Q: Hey, Eiiri, can you tag for ___? A: All prompt lists are tagged with "prompt list" and whatever theme tag I'm using for that month. Prompt fills get "prompt fill" and the theme tag. Original posts from the Foundry get "the prompt foundry." I cannot promise anything else will be tagged for consistently. I may add warning tags to reblogged prompt fills based on my own judgement, and particular tags may be added to specific posts upon request. Such requests should be made by DM or Ask, do not do so in replies on the post itself unless you are intending to ask the creator of the art rather than me, the curator of the Foundry. Either way, be polite about it.

Q: For fannish work, are there any fandoms that are off limits? A: Not really. There is no such thing as an umproblematic fandom, and I'm not interested in telling people what stories and media they are or are not allowed to engage with in a transformative manner, even if I personally find it distasteful. As long as the piece of fannish art is not, in and of itself, perpetuating or advocating harm, I will reblog it to the Foundry. If it is perpetuating or advocating harm, I will report it and block the creator.

Q: Is NSFW allowed? A: Yup! Please use tumblr community labels for mature content as appropriate and consider using a readmore to keep anything particularly racy or scary out of immediate view—that goes for both visuals and words. I may choose to not reblog NSFW work that I deem insufficiently guarded.

Q: Is machine-generated "AI" content allowed? A: No. We are here for the joy of artistic creation and the prompts are meant as inspiration for real, human artists. Anyone found to be using machine-generation in filling these prompts will be blocked.

Q: Is there any other content that's not allowed? A: Content that is itself harassing, racist, queerphobic or exclusionist, or that otherwise perpetuates or advocates harm to real people. Any such will not be reblogged, and the creator will be blocked. I am willing to hear concerns that work I've reblogged here is harmful in ways that I may have missed—such as using dogwhistles I'm unfamiliar with or just didn't catch—but anti-ship arguments will get the complainer blocked.

Q: Are minors allowed to interact with the Foundry? A: I'm not blocking anyone based only on their age. I expect everyone engaging with the Foundry to curate their own experience. Block tags, block people, use community labels. Kicking up a stink about the presence of kids, or of non-kid-friendly art, will get you blocked.

Q: Is there anybody who isn't allowed to interact with the Foundry? A: Yeah, people I have blocked. That's mostly TERFs, suicide-baiters, and other such assholes. And porn bots, though if a porn bot actually filled a prompt I would be rather impressed. Anybody harassing me or other creators within the scope of the Foundry will be blocked.

In general, be kind, be respectful of differences in this shared space, support your fellow creatives, and have fun!

If you have any other questions, comments, confusions or concerns, or if you just want to say hello, my ask box is open!

#the prompt foundry #FAQ

3 notes · View notes

forthetaintedsorrow-whump · 1 year

Text

'Helpful Warnings'

In regards to the trend of sending 'helpful warnings' to people about others based on perceived differences of opinion and preference, I'd like to gently remind folks that we're all here on tumblr to enjoy our respective niches - in this case, the whump fandom. Regardless of what other's personal preferences are, the prime reason we follow others is for content - which means whump.

Personal preferences do not demonize the individual, even if some may find them distasteful.

The greatest evil on social media is bandwagoning, fear mongering, and ostracizing. To many on social media, I'd like to gently point out that believing claims that come into one's inbox about others is harmful to both you and them. Often points are pushed with little to no proof, and are often done from a position of one's personal dislike or one's personal bad experience, neither of which are a complete picture nor a true reading on someone else, and neither of which need to be pushed onto others. I have personally seen lies spread in this manner, which critically affected the person the lies were about. I chose to be a bystander - it wasn't personally affecting me and I didn't want to draw attention. The individual affected by those lies is no longer with us. Take what you will from that statement. I choose to be a bystander no longer.

I try to scroll past or ignore posts I dislike, as is a good, healthy habit. If I encounter something that is disturbing enough to ME, or more importantly, a repeat habit, I do quietly unfollow and/or block. Please try to remember that a personal dislike does not mean a person is bad, nor is it a red flag to be warned to others, even if others may share the sentiment.

Let us not turn tumblr into twitter. Let us not turn into a toxic cancel culture. There is very little valid about which to cancel others. Suicide and death are very real outcomes of this toxic culture.

We all engage in what can be a very deeply disturbing or emotionally moving fandom - whump. Let that be what moves us, and not others' personal preferences.

To those who might feel inclined to offer a 'helpful warning' I'd like to gently encourage you not to, and to remember that whatever opinions you may see that do not align with yours, they are simply one's personal preferences - and that's not a mark of a bad person.

#whump #whump fandom #whump community

6 notes · View notes

mittensmorgul · 3 years

Text

Imagine you really, really hate murder mystery novels.

(this is difficult for me to imagine personally... but for the sake of a metaphor, let’s go with the concept. I’d prefer to use a category of fiction I actually enjoy for this particular point)

But for the sake of this argument, imagine you believe they’re terrible, to the point you think they shouldn’t even be allowed to exist. They’re bad all around, no redeeming value, not even for the sake of intellectual curiosity or pure entertainment. You think murder is just SO BAD in real life, that nobody ANYWHERE, EVER, should be allowed to engage with fictional depictions of this crime.

I don’t think you’re likely to find a ton of murder mystery authors who receive accusations that the only reason they enjoy writing murder mystery novels is because they’re ACTUALLY murderers in real life. Or because they are “glorifying” murder or have some agenda to promote murder or in any way make it appear “morally acceptable” in the eyes of the general public. But just imagine someone SO ANGRY that these terrible, morally bankrupt books (in their eyes) are allowed to exist, allowed to be sold in bookstores or freely available in libraries, or even *gasp* adapted into films or television programs or other media, that they chose to go on a moral crusade against anyone who dared to write such moral (YET ENTIRELY FICTIONAL) atrocities.

In your goal to stamp out this moral outrage, you send these authors (real actual human beings!) death threats and other vile garbage. YOU HAVE NOW CROSSED THE LINE FROM FICTION INTO REALITY.

Sending real human beings direct threats of violence is NOT protected speech. It’s not “fiction.” And nobody consented to actually read that garbage.

The thing is, if you don’t like murder mysteries (because we’re continuing with this metaphor), when you walk into a library or bookstore you can easily avoid having to engage with that section. It’s clearly marked and labeled for your convenience, just like every other section is so that you can easily find what you DO want to read.

Nobody, and I do mean NOBODY, has to justify their reasons for enjoying murder mysteries to you. It’s literally none of your goddamn business. You hate those sorts of books? Fine! Someone else enjoys them? FINE! Their interests in the FICTION they consume do not dictate who they are as human beings, and how they relate and interact with the REAL WORLD. With OTHER LIVING PEOPLE.

People who enjoy consuming fictional things you hate do not deserve your condemnation and do not deserve your abuse. If you attack real living people over what fiction they choose to read or write, then YOU are officially an abuser.

Not in a fictional way.

If someone casually browsing in the romance department nearby hears you loudly complaining that these people who “glorify” murder in their books should be killed, or beaten, or banned, and steps in to suggest that would be morally unacceptable to harm real, living people over the contents of the fictional stories they create or read, and then you turn around and stalk that innocent person who has never read or written a murder mystery novel in their entire lives, and has no interest in doing so even, for the imaginary “crime” of defending free speech that you happen to find distasteful or offensive, then YOU have become an abuser. You have become (to another real, living human being) the embodiment of the thing you profess to hate.

At that point, you can no longer claim the moral high ground here. You could’ve just as easily walked past the murder mystery shelves. You could’ve carried on your entire life engaging with the types of stories that bring you happiness, but instead spend all your free time obsessing over the things you hate instead. I can only assume attempting to make people who are busy creating and consuming the content they enjoy most feel as miserable and hate-filled as you do.

Joke’s on you fools who think that way. It’s just fucking sad, is what it is. Pitiable. Honestly.

I cannot imagine going through life with that much hate and vitriol driving my every waking thought. Turn off the fox news already. Please engage with reality as it actually exists, because nobody gives a shit about your moral fucking outrage over fiction. Please read an actual book about cognitive dissonance, because the complete lack of understanding of your own actions is jarring, and yes, pitiable.

Yes, this has been about purity culture wankers.

#I get my random threat merchant is mostly illiterate and doesn't actually read more than the tags on my posts #and clearly lacks reading comprehension enough to understand this post or see themselves in it #i get it metaphor is more a high school concept... it requires critical thinking and understanding #but for everyone else... this is what i've been putting up with for the last few days #i'm the romance writer/reader on the next aisle over who ended up being stalked for not being a racist fucking dickwad #apparently that's a crime to the motherfucker who has too much time on their hands and a rape fetish...#like... dude i don't even read or write the things you're accusing me of and it's 100% clear you don't get that...#you just get off on threatening people... you're a terrorist who's completely failed #because i'm not terrorized... i feel fucking bad for you #you've earned my eternal pity #i really do hope you actually get a life #fandom problems

299 notes · View notes

lostcauses-noregrets · 2 years

Note

What to you think about authors and harassment? Let's suppose a fic author from Eruri fandom spends all their time in social media harassing Erer!s (real people) for ships, calling them p* and stuff like that. Do you think we as community need to do something about it? Do you think the best we can do is block, mute, and move on? I believe this author is toxic for Eruri fandom and I wish they could stop tbh. I don't know what to do. Thank you for your blog.

I’m going to preface this by saying that I don't know who this ask is referring to, however there are issues here that are worth talking about because they are not unique to the Eruri fandom, in fact they’re currently common to pretty much all fandoms.

Firstly there is never any justification for harassing real people over fictional ships. That’s non-negotiable. If you have a strong revulsion to a particular ship, that’s fine. You’re entitled to your opinions. By all means share your feelings with your friends in private. But do not go after other shippers. Stay in your own lane and focus on the things you enjoy rather than the things you find distasteful or distressing.

The second thing is that it’s rarely reasonable to expect any fandom to act as a coherent community with a single will and purpose. This is particularly true since fandom moved out of gated communities on sites such as LiveJournal and into public spaces on tumblr, Twitter, Instagram and TikTok. The individuals who make up fandoms are a hugely diverse group of people who are loosely united by a single common interest - wanting two (or more) characters to fuck / save the world / get married and have babies / open a tea shop / whatever. Otherwise they may have very little in common. Fandoms are made up of myriad distinct communities spread across multiple platforms. Some of those communities may intersect, many don’t.

The Eruri fandom is a case in point. There’s been a huge influx of people to the fandom since the manga ended, however, when I talk about “the Eruri community” I’m thinking of a small group of about 20 or so people who I have known personally for five or six years. There are vast swathes of the fandom that I have no interaction with at all. I know there’s a big Eruri fandom on TikTok but I have nothing to do with them. Same goes for Instagram and although I am on twitter, most of the people I follow there are people I was mutuals with here on tumblr before the exodus.

Given this diversity, it’s rarely reasonable to expect “the fandom” or “the community” to act en masse to police an individual’s behaviour, no matter how toxic. Who specifically would do this? Who would make that decision? How would you achieve consensus across such a huge and diverse group of people? I have seen cases in the past where entire fandoms have been accused of being toxic because they have failed to call out an individual whose behaviour has been deemed to be problematic, when in reality, 99% of the fandom will have no clue at all what has been going on. Another manifestation of this is expecting so called BNFs to police the fandoms they happen to be part of, which again is completely unrealistic.

Having said all that, I have seen rare incidents where an individual as been engaged in genuinely predatory behaviour that risks harming real people and they have been called out swiftly and unanimously by every corner of the fandom.

So what can you do if you feel someone is behaving badly in your fandom and harassing other fans? If you know that individual personally then you can absolutely confront them and talk to them about their behaviour. If you don’t know them personally, but still feel you need to say something, then you could try talking to them via DM. They might listen and change their behaviour, they might not. The other alternative is to mute, block and move on to a corner of the fandom where hopefully you can find people who share your views. That tends to be my approach.

I don’t know if this helps at all Anon, but it’s the best advice I can give without knowing specifics.

#asks #fandom #shipping

41 notes · View notes

phulge · 3 years

Text

i’m hardly active but love creating chaos so just jumping in to throw my opinions into the void.

if you find yourself outgrowing dans content and feeling alienated from what he makes, it’s okay to distance yourself from him. we don’t need cited moral reasons and public approval to dislike something or to validate our criticisms.

it’s frustrating to no longer relate to or identify with people we have looked up to for years, who maybe made us laugh and feel seen during confusing and isolating parts of our lives. however there comes a point where you just kind of have to accept that you’re no longer a part of target demographics.

dans book certainly isn’t for everyone and definitely deserves criticism in certain areas. i will be the first to admit that there are flaws and a number of distasteful opinions and writing decisions. however, sweeping black and white statements about dans personality and motives and impact is a bit extreme and overstepping the limits of what we can and should know about him. we don’t know him. we never will. but ultimately placing so much personal emotional investment in dans actions is, in my opinion, a sign of needing to evaluate how you engage in parasocial relationships.

dans a celebrity. we can’t change that or expect him to not make decisions or moves like one. he has flaws that are magnified through the public lens and unfortunately a history of being overly transparent with his audience. that period of over sharing is long over, but the expectations and culture of it still linger in our fan spaces. we can’t expect dan to make decisions like he doesn’t have millions of followers and a professional, public media career. it can feel hollow when he tries to relate in those old ways again.

i feel like these criticisms are better placed toward celebrity culture. why do we feel the need to idolize people? why does celebrity success necessitate the output of quantity of content over quality of content? what parts of this industry reward the potentially rushed and minimally edited creation of a book and value selling names over content? and since i’m a die hard leftist, why does capitalism influence the industry this way and ultimately lead creators to make these decisions at the cost of alienating fans?

there aren’t any solid answers on how to handle this, but it is possible to extricate the “phandom” from your identity. i didn’t mean for that to come off as condescending; i’m saying this because i had to do it. because tying myself so tightly to online fandom became unhealthy and ultimately harmed me. we don’t owe loyalty to our favs, and it will feel like grief creating distance, but it can be an ultimately positive experience.

hope y’all are well.

#hi everyone i have opinions again #love y’all and again authors note that this isn’t accusatory #i think we just need to have conversations about parasocial relationships again #as someone who has a few of them

38 notes · View notes

do-you-have-a-flag · 3 years

Note

Eurovision is funded by Israel. And they ban Palestinian flags at the event. You spamming Eurovision has shown what side you are in this massacre. You’re gross and I’m blocking your ass

eurovision is funded by whatever country hosts it, i did not want Israel to win and found their song distasteful, while i doubt that you'll see this i never intended to make anyone feel unsafe by posting content related to the various participants in eurovision. If blocking me makes anyone feel safer then I respect that as the most responsible thing to do.

I understand how horrific the treatment of Palestinians are, I understand how it is an inexcusable series of attacks and human rights violations, and i acknowledge that various nations are complicit in supporting Israel's violence.

I also understand that often in the course of acknowledging this people fall prey to anti-Semitic propaganda disguising itself as activism. (a fault of the people doing this not of the people who fall for it)

While i don't share much on here I quietly read and boost and donate to Palestine when I can, I do it while trying my best to avoid the language used by anti-semites conflating all Jewish peoples with Zionism and Israel specifically. (again not a topic i'm hugely informed on but i try to be conscious of it)

I apologise for creating an environment that made you (or anyone else) feel like occupation and war crimes are things i approve of, I cannot control how others perceive me but this kind of projection of intent comes from a place of pain that i don't actually want to contribute to. My own ignorance doesn't mean malice but it doesn't mean i did no harm either through omission. I might believe that casually engaging with media doesn't mean implicit support, but that doesn't mean i'm going to deny where that media gets it's funding or fail to acknowledge the implications.

if you are still reading this, anon who sent this message or anyone else, here are some places where you can donate to support Palestine: https://donations.islamic-relief.com/ https://www.map.org.uk/donate/donation-details/352 https://www.care.org.au/country/palestinian-territories/ https://donate.unrwa.org/-landing-page/en_EN https://www.unicef.org/appeals/state-of-palestine

I know how heated discussion of this crisis gets and i'm neither in a position of knowledgeability, nor personal connection to it so i don't find it my place to post about the topic often, especially because i'm not well known enough to have much impact, i have no real resources to help much myself, and any mention of the topic brings extreme reactions.

I wish you a safe day and hope only the best for you.

if anyone else wishes to message me about this: I don't want this to get dragged out on my silly blog over a long series of messages, I don't think it would be appropriate or possible for me to provide the best arena to spread information and I'm woefully under informed and under-qualified on these issues. I am as civil anonymously as I am in DMs, but this is a heavy topic that people don't follow me for so I made this very long post as a quick acknowledgement without intention of starting a larger discussion on my page. I'm neither an expert nor an authority and I have nothing to contribute other than clarifying my limited perception.

#1/.#2/.#3/.#4/.#5/.#6/.#/7/.#heavy post

18 notes · View notes

anna-scribbles · 4 years

Note

if this sounds rude, i dont intend it to be, but how can you support ml after all the things with Astruc (racism, p*dophilia), i really liked the show but once i learnt about it i felt really sick and i couldn't watch it without thinking about what astruc had done.. maybe if i know how you do it i might be able to get back into it 😭

hi anon! don’t worry, I don’t think your question is rude--I think it’s really relevant & important. i’m going to respond under the cut just out of respect for anyone for whom the subject matter might be triggering.

for anyone unaware of the issues with ml surrounding p*dophilia and racism (anti-Blackness and Islamophobia in particular,) this email template by @pastisregret is a great resource that helped me to become more educated on the matter. (i’d recommend reading the original post and the discussion in the notes as well.)

to preface, I am a white person and as such I consume and create from a place of privilege. i’m sure that my own prejudices and ignorance have played a big role in my ability to enjoy a show like ml. but, since you asked, this is my reasoning for how/why I continue to watch ml despite its issues:

for me, it’s important to recognize that there is no piece of media that is ideologically pure. all art is created by people, and all people have prejudices and biases that will be communicated in whatever they create, whether intentionally or unintentionally. this isn’t to say that we shouldn’t make an effort to support art that is beneficial (or at least not harmful) toward marginalized populations; obviously, we should make every effort to consume and create media with good and helpful representation. my point is only that there are no people totally free of prejudice/bias and therefore no art that will succeed in representing everyone perfectly every time.

that being said, I find it more important my own life not to try to only consume media that is ideologically pure, but rather to make sure I am constantly thinking critically about the media I consume and analyzing the way that it represents people from all populations. again, this isn’t to say that we shouldn’t seek out artists who create content from a place of education and out of a desire to create positive change (especially artists from populations that are marginalized and commonly misrepresented.) I in no way seek to diminish the damage done by bad representation in media, nor the incredible value of good representation. I only mean that even good shows fail sometimes, and at that point all we can control is our own response to it.

I think that when you come across harmful media, you can choose to not consume it or attempt to consume it critically, and both are valid choices. i’ve chosen to try and consume ml critically, being actively aware of its damaging representation and the prejudices/biases of the creators behind it. it’s entirely possible that i’ve failed to do this; critical thinking is a constant and difficult process. there are certain elements of the show I find incredibly distasteful and damaging; namely, Marinette’s whitewashing, the treatment of Alya and Nino as the dark-skinned supporters of the light-skinned protagonists, and the sexualization of Ladybug (among other things.) I’m sure there are many other damaging facets of ml (as well as all other media I consume) that I’m not aware of, so I try to approach engaging with it as an opportunity to examine the biases in the show, examine my own biases, and listen to the voices of people more educated than me so that I can continue the constant process of breaking down my prejudice.

TLDR; I find it impossible to only consume media that is ideologically pure, because all creators operate from places of bias and prejudice. Because of this, I try to think critically about every piece of media I decide to consume. Thomas Astruc and the ML team are particularly insensitive and ignorant, which means that I try particularly hard to be actively aware and critical of the way it represents marginalized populations.

#as always pls lmk if anything I said was insensitive/ignorant #also sorry it's so long I just wanted to communicate clearly #I hope this helped anon!#asks #ml

74 notes · View notes

hidetothink · 3 years

Note

Do you feel ok about lesbian fujoshis, slashers and gay porn enthusiasts vs the bi or het ones or the nuisance and discomfort hits you the same way? Are there subtle key differences that you find meaningful enough?

To try and boil a complex issue down to simple bullet points:

1. I'll freely admit that the het-attraction of bisexual and heterosexual women who obsess over gay sex, gay and bi male characters, etc. is a major part of my distaste. I've beaten myself till I bled because I'm a homosexual, it feels wildly apathetic to the reality of historic, present, and future homophobia to treat our love the way these women do

Miss me with your "allowing women to explore their sexuality" bullshit. Fetishizing me is not exploring your sexuality free of men. Where is the obsession with lesbians among these same women? To deny that the het-attraction involved doesn't matter is delusional and apathetic. There are layers of homophobia involved, from dehumanizing our same-sex love into nothing but "comfort fics" for privileged consumers, to disgust with lesbian romance from the SAME WOMEN

I have to be fucking nuanced on every damn thing when I write. This is my treat where I say fuck off, it's homophobic and fetishizing, go jump in a lake

2. Where does that leave lesbians? First, I dont think there are many lesbians who interact with this media the way you describe. Most are looking for representation of same-sex love without the fetishization that plagues so much of media involving two women together. This is very understandable, I often feel more comfortable with lesbian and bisexual women in my media because I can actually relax instead of analyzing

Inherently, the sexual attraction element is gone for these women. So...what now?

Well, I still take issue because a massive majority of popular gay and bi male media (books in particular) are not created BY and FOR homosexual or bisexual men. It's very often women writing these stories for one another. And frankly, even if every one of these women researched their entire lives to write authentic, respectful novels about same-sex love, I would have a problem

The reality today is that women write same-sex love stories, consume them, and create a market where their tropes (not those derived from actual gay and bi men) are required for success. They strengthen that market by repeating the above steps, and then gay/bi men CANNOT break into our OWN representations

When anyone reads and engages with this industry of same-sex comfort stories (written outside the actual world and lives of gay and bi men), it still harms us. It still contributes to a broken system. It's still helping to keep women as our storytellers and not US

Yes, there are plenty of other issues to care about. I write about them often! But I still see this as an issue worth discussing. And again, I'm required to show nuance 99% of the time when I discuss these things and I refuse to here BECAUSE it's fairly minimal on my list of things to change for gay and bi men

So yes, I am going to personally find your fanfic collection, half-written male slave-to-lover slash fic, and Yuri On Ice box set and burn it in front of you (not @ you anon, just the people I know are already seething. Die mad in my inbox)

25 notes · View notes

justdyingslowly · 4 years

Text

1. Name justdyingslowly obviously come on

2. Nationality Australian

3. Age 22

4. Birthday nnnah dont feel like it

5. Zodiac sign (or your primal zodiac sign) Libra/Scorpio cusp

6. Gender wamon

7. Sexuality very very hetero

8. Your looks (add a picture or describe yourself) androgenous

9. What do you/did you study? Psychology (focus on sexology) and art.

10. What’s your current job like?/What job would you like to have? I am disabled you think I can work ha sexologist would be awesome. When I was a kid I wanted to be a fireman but Australias always burning

11. Your birth order head first

12. How many siblings do you have? 1

13. Do you have good relations with your family? yeah dads finally out of his abusive relationship, nearing age 70 and his emotions and his sexuality are finally opening up for the first time and that makes me SO happy.

14. How many friends do you have? what kind of fucked up question is this.

15. Your relationship status relationshipped. Fiance? got the marriage papers in a drawer somewhere with the car rego but can’t be fucked filling them?

16. What do you look for in a SO? empathetic, mature, calm. Always open to discussion. Prefers to be blunt rather than secretive. Emotional age over 14 (incredibly fucking rare apparently). Puts an importance on context and understanding other views above all else.

17. Do you have a crush? Hellll yeah Crush on my partner and got a crush on a mutual friend of ours who don’t even know hes cute af hehe one day partners gonna accidentally spill the beans and embarrass me coz hes shit with secrets RIP me.

18. When did you have your first kiss? You think I can remember this bullshit? Its not that big a deal

19. Do you prefer serious and meaningful relationships or casual dating/one night stands? One night stand sex almost exclusively sucks. Just. SUCKS. Because neither of you know what the other likes and it ends up being an awkward mix of trying to please yourself while trying to also be considerate.

20. What are your deal breakers? Plugging your ears to anything that feels gross, uncomfortable or disagrees with you. How can you grow as a person without introspection? How can you mold what you think and believe without taking in other arguments and comparing them to your beliefs to see how they stack up? Its pathetic.

21. How was your day? cute mutual friend had a fall this morning and were both worried about him. His back is bad and he’s getting a little older, he can’t be getting dizzy and having falls like that. other than that im anxious about seeing my gastro. He’s lovely but... specialists are specialists. Good at knowing what they know but not always great at listening.

22. Favourite food & drink you think im allowed to eat or drink? water and... foods a touchy subject.

23. What position do you sleep in? Usually on my side with a body pillow to grip so I don’t end up choking my partner in his sleep.

24. What was your last dream about? uuhhh...going to italy and being unable to get into this tiny basket boat properly.

25. Your fears does PTSD to medical shit count haha

26. Your dreams ... going to italy and being unable to get into a tiny basket boat thingy?

27. Your goals - get some sort of diagnosis eventually. Its been 3 years of trying and im tired. - get back to studying art part time for my bachelors. - pass JLPT N3. - go back to university for psychology. - do the dishes when I get home.

28. Any pets? two budgies. we also take care of any orphaned or injured birds.

29. What are your hobbies? feeling nauseous drawing writing a little bit im making a little gameboy game in C atm too

30. Any cool places in your area? i live next to a national park with waterfalls and koalas and emus and stuff

31. What was your last awkward situation? mutual friend made a comment on his chest i playfully smacked it (related to the comment) it was surprisingly hard ��O-oh wow, thats... I didnt expect that” my partner laughed at me. it was awful.

32. What is your last regret? getting embarrassed at friends pecs stop making me think about it 33. Language/s you can speak english. N4 Japanese.

34. Do you believe in astrological stuff? (Zodiac, tarot, etc.) of course not what the fuck

35. Have any quirks? Quirkless. I do wiggle when im happy though apparently.

36. Your pet peeves open doors.

37. Ideal vacation spend a months chilling in an old japanese house in autumn hokkaido oooooof that sounds nice

38. Any scars? internal? yes

39. What does your last text message say? peepee poopoo ustinky

40. Last 5 things from your search history how do i find this

41. What’s your [device] background? Sam Porter Bridges walkin around Sam Porter Bridges cuddling BB-28 Louise while he sleeps my chicken

42. What do you daydream about? all might

43. Describe your dream home an old japanese house in autumn hokkaido oooooof that sounds nice

44. What’s your religion/Your thought about religion its a comforting thought having a parent-figure who cares about you and looks after all the big things you can’t manage yourself, but institutionalizing it runs a severe risk of becoming harmful cults. And it often does.

45. Your personality type me

46. The most dangerous thing you’ve done i saw the lost bunny that was on all the posters in the neighbourhood looked thin and patchy so i grabbed him to take him home. im allergic. sent me to hospital and I almost died.

47. Are you happy with your current life? feeling sick sucks and partners having a depressive episode but things are pretty good

48. Some things you’ve tried in your life living

49. What does your wardrobe consist of? blacks, reds, whites and pinks

50. Favourite colour to wear? at the moment pink. Red is always comforting though.

51. How would you describe your style? mix between lazy alternative punk, teenager with band shirts and harajuku peach kawaii uwu

52. Are you happy with your current looks? kinda wish i was a bit shorter but what can you do

53. If you could change/add something to your appearance - impossible or not - what would it be? bit shorter

54. Any tattoos or piercings? lol no PTSD

55. Do you get complimented often? by who? partner constantly, family haha are you kidding im australian so a friend’s version of showing affection is calling you a cunt and slapping your ass in public

56. Favourite aesthetic? all might

57. A popular trend that you dislike blocking because you disagree or find them distasteful. Ignoring all context to opposing thoughts and arguments. taking a personal feeling of disgust to mean something is evil. Blocking your ears to anything that isn’t a circlejerk of what you already think - and trying to isolate anyone who even just listens to something other then the noise of your sloppy dicks to have a thought of their own.

58. Songs you’re currently obsessed with? The Machine by Low Roar

59. Song you normally wouldn’t admit you like. why wouldnt i admit i like a song

60. Favourite genre? probably enka haha

61. Favourite artist/band/genre? probably enka haha oh and tatsuro yamashita

62. Hated popular songs/artists? why the hell would I hate something like a song? I hate aspects of the music industry as a whole I guess?

63. Put your music on shuffle and list first 5 which playlist they aren’t all together in one place

64. Can you sing or play any instruments? piano, saxophone... uh... partners good at making music and playing shakuhachi

65. Do you like karaoke? no.

66. Own any albums? yes? many?

67. Do you listen to radio? What stations? no. but triple J, ABC Jazz and Classical. sometimes they even play final fantasy and JRPG music on classical which is pretty neat. -

68. Favourite movie/series? can i make this about games because then the answer is Metal Gear Solid

69. Favourite genre of movies/books/etc ...shounen?

70. Your fictional crush/es if they’re over 40yrs old, male and happy and bubbily or grumpy and sad then there’s a big ol fat chance I wanna bone. Solid Snake from MGS4, All Might and pretty much anyone drawn by Tarou Madoromi.

71. Which fictional character is you? uh

72. Are you a shipper? List your otps, if so what does this even mean what language is this

73. Favourite greek god? idk hades seems chill

74. A legend from where you live that you like the story of Tjilbruke is funny and good. all Kaurna stories are good.

75. Do you like art? What’s your favourite work or artist? im in a big egon schiele mood atm.

76. Can you share your other social media? no i am incapable

77. Favourite youtubers? many

78. Favourite platform? not too high up. actually i like being a little lower than ground level in corners.

79. How much time do you spend on the internet? too much

80. What video games have you played? Which one’s your favourite? look i just want to say that MGS4 is the best one in the series and Death Stranding is phenomenally engaging.

81. Your favourite books (manga also counts) these are all so goddamn definitive how can I pick? Oh wait the answer is One Piece

82. Do you play board/card games? I play DnD atm and know 15 yr old rules to Yugioh

83. Have you ever been to a night marathon in cinema? that shit dosn’t happen here

84. Favourite holiday golden week coz its a week also easter because thats when all the glucose based sweets come back

85. Are you into dramas? what kind

86. Would you use death note, if you had one? no. thats called being a murderer.

87. What changes would you make in the world, no matter how impossible, if you had the power to? chill people out a bit. when people feel unsafe they get really depenfive and territorial and block their ears to everything, making in-and-out groups for themsevles that end up putting them in more harm.

88. Could you survive a zombie apocalypse? im disabled with a disabled partner. we arent funny sure we can survive normal everyday life when society is angled so sharply against us.

89. If you had to be turned into a paranormal being, what would it be? id like to be a mimi spirit

90. What would you want to happen to you after your death? spooky time

91. If you had to change your name, what would be your pick? toshinori yagi

92. Who would you switch your life with for a week? anyone healthy

93. Pick an emoji to be your tattoo that cursed one with the intense eyes and the hand

94. Write 3 things about yourself - only one of them must be true im me im not me im pee

95. Cold or hot? cold.

96. Be a hero or be a villain? both are distasteful ideas in reality

97. Sing everything you want to say or rhyme? i can’t do either partner speak sin bad puns and its hell, these both sound about equal

98. Shapeshifting or controlling time? shapeshifting. controlling time is eithe rmanipulative or lonely. shapeshifing is every other superpower at once.

99. Be immortal or be immune to everything aside from natural death? both are deeply upsetting ideas

100. ….. or …..? jiji or ossan? generally Jiji, but ossans can be lovely too.

#personal #stupid

69 notes · View notes

pale-tower · 4 years

Text

The White King: History

He appeared to me first when I was around the age of 13/14. This was a time in my life when I was inundated with nightmares and waking sleep paralysis. The dreams I had were in black and white, and often of my childhood home. My childhood had been one of neglect and abuse, and this home was heavily associated with it. My teens were turbulent and I was mentally unwell from my childhood experiences, and it manifested in my sleep disturbances.

I didn’t take much meaning from the dreams, it was the usual dream fodder. Recurring characters did appear, however, and none of them had any sort of spiritual or mystical connotations, but they became recognizable faces. But only one of them began to leak out of the dreams and into day to day life, a white stag with glowing blue antlers, ghastly thin, black eyes that stared into nothing, face and neck adorned with spheres.

I drew a lot to cope with stress, and I did draw a lot of the characters that appeared in my dreams. Some of them I still draw to this very day, and they are dear to me, but they are as fictional to me as mickey mouse or any other cartoon character a child might come up with. But the white stag was different. Every image that was produced didn’t feel like it was entirely my idea. They were wrought with symbolism that I understood on some level but couldn’t necessarily put into words.

The dreams then started to slip from the unconscious, to the conscious. PTSD, especially c-PTSD, are well known for states of nonconsensual zoning-out, known as dissociation. In these states my mind would wander, and I found them co-opted by the white stag. He’d guide my mind with daydreams, ones I didn’t control, bringing me away from self destructive looping thought patterns, suicidal ideation, etc, and showed me beautiful imagery.

He’d create stories for me, ones that didn’t always make sense if I were to tell someone else, often how dreams don’t make sense when you try to retell them, but made enough sense to me to listen and build upon them with him. From this I began to make my own stories, writing them in my head. They were different from his, much different. His always had the same predictable themes, kind of like a mythology, whereas my stories reflected more of the outside world and the media I consumed.

In my teens I was highly skeptical and kind of one of those edgy atheist types. I did not actually think much of him, I saw him just as a figment of my mind. I was a creative type, afterall, and figured that he was a normal manifestation of the creative mind. But even with my disregard of religion, spirituality, etc, I still felt compelled to treat all imagery of him with the utmost of respect.

Every drawing of him that I dug up out of my closet or drawers would give me a moment of pause as I gazed upon it, in a way none of my other artwork did. It was as if the paper itself would judge me if I caused it any harm. As my depression lead me into periods of not cleaning my room, much of the loose-leaf artwork of him became damaged and I felt a deep sensation of guilt, one that did not exist for any of my other works.

His contact with me had dwindled in my late teens and early twenties; not ceased entirely, but his periods of guided daydreams were few and in-between as I spent time focused on my own life.

My depression, trauma, suicidality came at a head in my early and mid twenties. I have attempted suicide many times over my life, but it was during this period of time that I had come to my closest to actually being successful. During this period, he returned vividly, and took a strong hand in forcing vivid visions onto me, now with full intent and purpose, rather than just to tell stories for amusement. It was the first time I had ever began to view him as a separate entity, and was reluctant to do so even then, as amidst all of the mental health problems I was already dealing with, this form of insanity was not another one I wanted to take on.

I was reluctant to acknowledge him at first, but his persistent badgering for a call to court finally had me listen to him, and all of his messages went against what you would assume a figment-of-newly-insanity would tell you: that my sinking into the depths of depression was largely of my own doing and a reluctance to criticize myself, that i was destroying the relationship with the first person i truly ever loved, and that i had some serious flaws with my personality that i needed to address and to stop wallowing in self pity and self hatred, since that would not fix my life.

His offered solution to this was one I found strange, but it was quite plainly, to convert to paganism and to become totally devoted to him, to pay homage to him and only him, and to treat my body like his temple; his palace, and failure to do so was a personal insult to him. Considering this was just off the heels of attempting to suffocate myself with a plastic bag, I decided to accept. I didn’t have anything else to lose, I was experiencing the lowest of low in my life.

In return for homage to him, he acts as my aide.

It’s been about 4? years since this occurred.

I’ve made a lot of progressive in recovery. I still obviously deal with depression, as depression is often a genetic thing and it runs in my family, but I am nowhere near the level of depressed I was when he reappeared to me. I managed to pull my relationship with my spouse out of that pit (we had broken up for approx 3 months), and while we sometimes do argue we’re far, far better together than we used to be and are engaged, and he is noted how much I’ve come to improve my side of the relationship.

I’ve lost weight. I eat healthier. I’ve done my best to remove toxic people from my life. I focus on hobbies and people I care about. I’m always trying to find ways to improve my mental health rather than wallowing in self pity like I used to. It wasn’t an all at once thing, it was a constant struggle with the stag, and things he has said to me might have come across wickedly cruel to anyone else, but he dragged me back to my feet and started me walking.

His contact comes and goes still, he takes a back seat when he’s not needed, he’s never been an overly commendering figure. He’s never asked me to do something ridiculous, or dangerous, or malicious. In fact, he’s never asked me to do anything that doesn’t directly involve him or myself, he’s never shown much interest in the world outside myself unless it affects me (aka his temple) negatively.

He gets cranky if I don’t maintain his altar and observe the passing of seasons. And if I start to neglect my health, mental of physical, he also makes his distaste known. Occasionally he’ll surprise me in a quiet moment, like in the bath, with another guided vision where he’ll flash me with spectacular imagery with symbolism I don’t always understand, but I figure it’s something he wants me to think about.

#unknown deity #the white king #the stag #pagan #✧#my art

2 notes · View notes

orbemnews · 3 years

Link

Opinion: How to talk to insurrectionists and conspiracy theorists I’m a cognitive scientist who has been studying the drivers of political violence for the better part of a decade. My work has involved interviews, social network analysis, psychology experiments, and surveys of jihadists, white nationalists, and conspiracists. My colleagues and I also conducted the first-ever brain scan studies on jihadist supporters. Our findings point to one thing that ordinary people can do if they feel that someone they know might be getting radicalized: Stay connected. Jan. 6 insurrectionists, QAnon adherents, and other fringe actors are not the same as jihadists, but some findings on the latter are instructive. We found through one of our neuroscience studies of jihadist supporters that when extremists feel that their peers—not necessarily other jihadists, just other members of their ethnic group — did not support violence, the jihadists themselves toned down their own violent intentions. Not only that, it reactivated areas of the brain associated with deliberation and self-reflection which had previously been offline. Again, these peers were not fellow extremists but rather just other local members of their ethnic group. To me, that clearly shows that if we want to lower the violent intentions of political extremists of any kind, we have to make them realize that the broader non-extremist community, including people similar to them, disapproves. This means everyday Americans have the power to reduce insurrectionist violence of the kind we saw on Jan. 6, simply by condemning it. The caveat, however, is that in order for peer influence to work, extremists need to see themselves as part of the community who are condemning their violence. Otherwise they don’t see those people as “peers,” and their opinions will hold little sway. That’s a major reason why staying connected is so powerful, when a friend or relative seems to have fallen into a political-extremism rabbit hole. A big part of what extremists do is create a wedge between their adherents and the broader society. They want their supporters to be solely surrounded by fellow extremists. This means being married to extremists, having friends and family who are extremists, only getting information from their sanctioned news sources, and spending time on messaging app groups and social media apps where fellow extremists make up their network. This part of extremists’ recruitment strategy leads to new adherents being cut off from the outside world and its norms. This means the onus is on all of us to not allow this social severing to take place. If we fail to do this, the consequences can be disastrous. In another brain scan study we conducted on jihadist sympathizers, we found that social exclusion is a key driver of extremism. In a virtual ball-tossing game, we found that when jihadists were excluded — i.e., when participants stopped tossing them the ball — they became more committed to their values and more willing to use violence to support their cause. In other words, making people feel socially excluded only pushes them toward extremism. So while it may be distasteful, we need to make those tilting toward political extremism — those who support the Jan. 6 insurrection, espouse violence in support of their political beliefs, or adhere to conspiracy theories — feel included and not excluded, if we want to pull them back from the edge of violence. What this means is that all of us have to engage with our friends and family who start showing sympathy for insurrectionist violence and ideas. It’s tempting to attack them in comments sections of their online posts, to unfollow or unfriend them, to block their numbers, or to stop inviting them to dinner parties. But our findings suggest that these actions may do more harm than good. Instead, try to engage them by using the following guidelines from psychological research. First, talk to them one-on-one either through messaging, voice or video calls, or best yet, face-to-face. Research shows that people not only form more positive attitudes toward those they interact with face-to-face rather than digitally, but they are also more likely to agree with someone they’re talking to in real life. Second, instead of telling them what you think, listen to what they think. Research on asymmetric conflict (where one group is materially stronger than another) shows that asking those on the weaker side to take the perspective of the dominant side often backfires. But if a member of the dominant side lets a member of the weaker side give their perspective, this ultimately lowers their guard and makes them more open to discussion. While the number of people who support insurrectionists is worrisome, they are nonetheless still a fringe group and thus the weaker side of the conflict. So, let them give you their take and try to listen sincerely. That will also help with the third and most important lesson from research on radicalization: People join these groups because they offer a solution to some problem in their lives. These problems could be financial, mental health related, a lack of belonging or purpose, or many other things. Extremist groups offer potential members a pathway to a better life. The belief in the ideology is the cost of entry to that new life. I’ve interviewed dozens of members of jihadist and white nationalist groups but more recently I’ve been interviewing adherents of QAnon. One Anon (as some adherents to the QAnon conspiracy theory refer to themselves) told me that he always needs a plan because uncertainty gives him anxiety. The real world is complicated and unpredictable, so it seems he’d rather believe in a conspiratorial one because at least he feels he understands it. This gives him peace of mind. Another Anon suffered from severe mental health issues. For her, believing in conspiracies allowed her to focus outside of herself. She could displace her anger, fear, and depression onto the imagined conspiratorial system. This helped her in her recovery. Another Anon felt alienated from his family and friends. He was deeply alone. Then he got a girlfriend who’s an Anon; he moved in with her, and she taught him about the movement. The more fervent he became in his beliefs, the closer their relationship became. Their beliefs are now the glue of their romantic bond. These stories are similar to the dozens of members and supporters of jihadist groups I’ve interviewed over the years. The common theme is that the jihadists and QAnon adherents were all suffering in some way, whether materially or emotionally, and the extremist groups offered them a solution. The extremist groups gave them money, a community, emotional support, or a sense of purpose. In order to steer someone away from these kinds of movements, you need to understand the deeper reasons for why someone might join. Simply arguing with them about their beliefs won’t work. This is also why some deradicalization and reintegration programs for extremists fail. Many programs send former extremists right back into the very environments in which they initially radicalized. This can lead to recidivism, since their life conditions still make them ripe for wanting to rejoin the group they’ve left. What if the person is currently very happy in their extremist movement? I’ll be honest with you: If that’s the case, you’re going to have a hard time getting them out. If they get a sense of belonging, purpose, peace of mind, or other benefits from being in the extremist group, then they’re probably not going to leave it all behind, at least not soon. In such a situation, all you can do is be there for the person, ready to serve as a bridge back into society — and wait. There may come a moment when the person grows disaffected with extremism. If they have a friend who’s standing by, ready not only to help them leave the group but also to help establish a satisfying life — to improve on the unsatisfactory conditions that made them vulnerable to extremism in the first place — that’s when all those weeks, months, or years of contact will have paid off. Disengagement and deradicalization is not an easy or predictable process. But it works much better when the extremist still has a lifeline into the normal world. That’s not something governments or social media companies can provide. That’s where you hold the power. Stay connected, listen, and be there for them when they’re ready to rejoin the rest of society. Source link Orbem News #conspiracy #Howtotalktoinsurrectionistsandconspiracytheorists-CNN #insurrectionists #opinion #opinions #talk #theorists

0 notes

dipulb3 · 3 years

Text

Opinion: How to talk to insurrectionists and conspiracy theorists

New Post has been published on https://appradab.com/opinion-how-to-talk-to-insurrectionists-and-conspiracy-theorists/

Opinion: How to talk to insurrectionists and conspiracy theorists

I’m a cognitive scientist who has been studying the drivers of political violence for the better part of a decade. My work has involved interviews, social network analysis, psychology experiments, and surveys of jihadists, white nationalists, and conspiracists. My colleagues and I also conducted the first-ever brain scan studies on jihadist supporters. Our findings point to one thing that ordinary people can do if they feel that someone they know might be getting radicalized: Stay connected.

Jan. 6 insurrectionists, QAnon adherents, and other fringe actors are not the same as jihadists, but some findings on the latter are instructive.

We found through one of our neuroscience studies of jihadist supporters that when extremists feel that their peers—not necessarily other jihadists, just other members of their ethnic group — did not support violence, the jihadists themselves toned down their own violent intentions. Not only that, it reactivated areas of the brain associated with deliberation and self-reflection which had previously been offline. Again, these peers were not fellow extremists but rather just other local members of their ethnic group.

To me, that clearly shows that if we want to lower the violent intentions of political extremists of any kind, we have to make them realize that the broader non-extremist community, including people similar to them, disapproves. This means everyday Americans have the power to reduce insurrectionist violence of the kind we saw on Jan. 6, simply by condemning it.

The caveat, however, is that in order for peer influence to work, extremists need to see themselves as part of the community who are condemning their violence. Otherwise they don’t see those people as “peers,” and their opinions will hold little sway. That’s a major reason why staying connected is so powerful, when a friend or relative seems to have fallen into a political-extremism rabbit hole.

A big part of what extremists do is create a wedge between their adherents and the broader society. They want their supporters to be solely surrounded by fellow extremists. This means being married to extremists, having friends and family who are extremists, only getting information from their sanctioned news sources, and spending time on messaging app groups and social media apps where fellow extremists make up their network. This part of extremists’ recruitment strategy leads to new adherents being cut off from the outside world and its norms.

This means the onus is on all of us to not allow this social severing to take place. If we fail to do this, the consequences can be disastrous. In another brain scan study we conducted on jihadist sympathizers, we found that social exclusion is a key driver of extremism.

In a virtual ball-tossing game, we found that when jihadists were excluded — i.e., when participants stopped tossing them the ball — they became more committed to their values and more willing to use violence to support their cause.

In other words, making people feel socially excluded only pushes them toward extremism. So while it may be distasteful, we need to make those tilting toward political extremism — those who support the Jan. 6 insurrection, espouse violence in support of their political beliefs, or adhere to conspiracy theories — feel included and not excluded, if we want to pull them back from the edge of violence.

What this means is that all of us have to engage with our friends and family who start showing sympathy for insurrectionist violence and ideas. It’s tempting to attack them in comments sections of their online posts, to unfollow or unfriend them, to block their numbers, or to stop inviting them to dinner parties. But our findings suggest that these actions may do more harm than good. Instead, try to engage them by using the following guidelines from psychological research.

First, talk to them one-on-one either through messaging, voice or video calls, or best yet, face-to-face. Research shows that people not only form more positive attitudes toward those they interact with face-to-face rather than digitally, but they are also more likely to agree with someone they’re talking to in real life.

Second, instead of telling them what you think, listen to what they think. Research on asymmetric conflict (where one group is materially stronger than another) shows that asking those on the weaker side to take the perspective of the dominant side often backfires. But if a member of the dominant side lets a member of the weaker side give their perspective, this ultimately lowers their guard and makes them more open to discussion.

While the number of people who support insurrectionists is worrisome, they are nonetheless still a fringe group and thus the weaker side of the conflict. So, let them give you their take and try to listen sincerely.

That will also help with the third and most important lesson from research on radicalization: People join these groups because they offer a solution to some problem in their lives. These problems could be financial, mental health related, a lack of belonging or purpose, or many other things. Extremist groups offer potential members a pathway to a better life. The belief in the ideology is the cost of entry to that new life.

I’ve interviewed dozens of members of jihadist and white nationalist groups but more recently I’ve been interviewing adherents of QAnon. One Anon (as some adherents to the QAnon conspiracy theory refer to themselves) told me that he always needs a plan because uncertainty gives him anxiety. The real world is complicated and unpredictable, so it seems he’d rather believe in a conspiratorial one because at least he feels he understands it. This gives him peace of mind.

Another Anon suffered from severe mental health issues. For her, believing in conspiracies allowed her to focus outside of herself. She could displace her anger, fear, and depression onto the imagined conspiratorial system. This helped her in her recovery. Another Anon felt alienated from his family and friends. He was deeply alone. Then he got a girlfriend who’s an Anon; he moved in with her, and she taught him about the movement. The more fervent he became in his beliefs, the closer their relationship became. Their beliefs are now the glue of their romantic bond.

These stories are similar to the dozens of members and supporters of jihadist groups I’ve interviewed over the years. The common theme is that the jihadists and QAnon adherents were all suffering in some way, whether materially or emotionally, and the extremist groups offered them a solution. The extremist groups gave them money, a community, emotional support, or a sense of purpose. In order to steer someone away from these kinds of movements, you need to understand the deeper reasons for why someone might join. Simply arguing with them about their beliefs won’t work.

This is also why some deradicalization and reintegration programs for extremists fail. Many programs send former extremists right back into the very environments in which they initially radicalized. This can lead to recidivism, since their life conditions still make them ripe for wanting to rejoin the group they’ve left.

What if the person is currently very happy in their extremist movement?

I’ll be honest with you: If that’s the case, you’re going to have a hard time getting them out. If they get a sense of belonging, purpose, peace of mind, or other benefits from being in the extremist group, then they’re probably not going to leave it all behind, at least not soon. In such a situation, all you can do is be there for the person, ready to serve as a bridge back into society — and wait.

There may come a moment when the person grows disaffected with extremism. If they have a friend who’s standing by, ready not only to help them leave the group but also to help establish a satisfying life — to improve on the unsatisfactory conditions that made them vulnerable to extremism in the first place — that’s when all those weeks, months, or years of contact will have paid off.

Disengagement and deradicalization is not an easy or predictable process. But it works much better when the extremist still has a lifeline into the normal world. That’s not something governments or social media companies can provide. That’s where you hold the power. Stay connected, listen, and be there for them when they’re ready to rejoin the rest of society.

0 notes

becauseithrewgasandamatchonher · 7 years

Text

So can’t message you for some reason, doesn’t work when I send a message so why don’t we put everything under a read me so it doesn’t get so damn long.

One:

You know what if you won’t take my word for it listen to James Grossman the Executive Director of the American Historical Association:

James Grossman, the executive director of the American Historical Association, says that the increase in statues and monuments was clearly meant to send a message.

"These statues were meant to create legitimate garb for white supremacy," Grossman said. "Why would you put a statue of Robert E. Lee or Stonewall Jackson in 1948 in Baltimore?"

(http://www.npr.org/2017/08/20/544266880/confederate-statues-were-built-to-further-a-white-supremacist-future)

Or Doctor Mark Elliot:

“All of those monuments were there to teach values to people,” Elliott says. “That’s why they put them in the city squares. That’s why they put them in front of state buildings.” Many earlier memories had instead been placed in cemeteries.

The values these monuments stood for, he says, included a “glorification of the cause of the Civil War.”

(http://www.history.com/news/how-the-u-s-got-so-many-confederate-monuments)

I know you like to use your opinion instead of sources but I’m excited to see how you explain this away or discredit these people. Especially the guy in charge of the American Historical Association.

Two:

Oh yeah because few people on the left are burning stuff that suddenly means everyone who is left leaning is for that. Are you out of your fucking mind? This is fucking ridiculous you think they speak for the entirety of the Left?? Like show me facts. Show me statistics that it’s a wide spread thing on our side then maybe I’ll take these people seriously until then chill the fuck out.

Also let’s talk about this article in regards to colleges. First and foremost again with the misuse of freedom of speech unless you’re going to fight all the times students have gotten expelled from Universities for saying slurs and shit you really need to chill out with your problem you have with a University exercising their right to not allow someone on to the campus and people exercising their right to protest until they are heard.

There is a code of conduct at Universities and it’s beyond ridiculous if a school is okay with inviting someone that has said/done things that go against that code of conduct when if I a student did any of that I would be fucking expelled. Them bringing that person in shows what the schools values are before you say “well they aren’t students.” If I owned a school and decided I was going to let Sean Spencer [a neo nazi who has called for ethnic genocide] come speak to my students that would say something about myself and my schools values.

Ann Coulter has said some fucked up shit to include the homophobic word f*ggot. She’s said "We should invade their countries, kill their leaders, and convert them to Christianity." She’s said "I think the government should be spying on all Arabs, engaging in torture as a televised spectator sport, dropping daisy cutters wantonly throughout the Middle East and sending liberals to Guantanamo." She’s said “ Jews would be “perfected” once they became Christians.”

Do I need to keep going about the fucked up shit she has said? No one owes this woman a fucking platform she’s garbage. I read something once about how speech can be violent because of the effect it has on the body and the brain but there’s something that stands out to me:

The scientific findings I described above provide empirical guidance for which kinds of controversial speech should and shouldn’t be acceptable on campus and in civil society. In short, the answer depends on whether the speech is abusive or merely offensive.

Offensiveness is not bad for your body and brain. Your nervous system evolved to withstand periodic bouts of stress, such as fleeing from a tiger, taking a punch or encountering an odious idea in a university lecture.

Entertaining someone else’s distasteful perspective can be educational. Early in my career, I taught a course that covered the eugenics movement, which advocated the selective breeding of humans. Eugenics, in its time, became a scientific justification for racism. To help my students understand this ugly part of scientific history, I assigned them to debate its pros and cons. The students refused. No one was willing to argue, even as part of a classroom exercise, that certain races were genetically superior to others.

So I enlisted an African-American faculty member in my department to argue in favor of eugenics while I argued against; halfway through the debate, we switched sides. We were modeling for the students a fundamental principle of a university education, as well as civil society: When you’re forced to engage a position you strongly disagree with, you learn something about the other perspective as well as your own. The process feels unpleasant, but it’s a good kind of stress — temporary and not harmful to your body — and you reap the longer-term benefits of learning.

What’s bad for your nervous system, in contrast, are long stretches of simmering stress. If you spend a lot of time in a harsh environment worrying about your safety, that’s the kind of stress that brings on illness and remodels your brain. That’s also true of a political climate in which groups of people endlessly hurl hateful words at one another, and of rampant bullying in school or on social media. A culture of constant, casual brutality is toxic to the body, and we suffer for it.

That’s why it’s reasonable, scientifically speaking, not to allow a provocateur and hatemonger like Milo Yiannopoulos to speak at your school. He is part of something noxious, a campaign of abuse. There is nothing to be gained from debating him, for debate is not what he is offering.

On the other hand, when the political scientist Charles Murray argues that genetic factors help account for racial disparities in I.Q. scores, you might find his view to be repugnant and misguided, but it’s only offensive. It is offered as a scholarly hypothesis to be debated, not thrown like a grenade. There is a difference between permitting a culture of casual brutality and entertaining an opinion you strongly oppose. The former is a danger to a civil society (and to our health); the latter is the lifeblood of democracy.

By all means, we should have open conversations and vigorous debate about controversial or offensive topics. But we must also halt speech that bullies and torments. From the perspective of our brain cells, the latter is literally a form of violence.

(https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/14/opinion/sunday/when-is-speech-violence.html?mcubz=1)

Now can you say that being anti-Semitic [Jewish people will be perfected by becoming Christian] calling for the invasion, murder and forced conversion to Christianity [man that has a long history of fucking up countries] saying that we should televise and condone torture AND drop fucking bombs [daisy cutters] throughout the Middle East isn’t fucking abusive and oppressive? I mean you could but it’s garbage.

Three:

I love that you left out what that statement was in reference to. You said no one who is affected by it cares which was a blatant lie and you’ve obviously ignored the copious amounts of NA that have called for this stuff to be removed.

Your facts were called bullshit because they didn’t support your original statement.

You do realize it doesn’t fucking matter if 4.7 million don’t care right? Those 520k+ NA still exist and they give a damn so your statement the people affected don’t care is a fucking lie and using that article to push your narrative that is fucking wrong makes it bullshit. It’s not because I don’t like evidence. It’s because the evidence you have provided is garbage and doesn’t support the statement YOU FUCKING MADE. You don’t get to fucking decide an issue doesn’t matter because the majority of said group doesn’t care about it.

Four:

Nothing you said changes that the article detailed how to help the NA community. So either your article is good and the information is sound or it’s bad. You can’t pick and choose. You can’t use part of the articles information to back up your statement then trash the rest of it. Do you know how that makes a source look?

Doesn’t matter why you omitted it. The point remains it proved my point that the government was fucking the NA community over. Your source that you provided agrees that what the government is doing with the land [along with the cigerrets and the casinos] are hurting the community.

Hmmmm that’s fair the US has provided that but uhm just a quick thing:

Since it was first established within the old U.S. War Department in 1824, the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) has distinguished itself as the most corrupt, ineffective and abusive agency in the federal government. Although the BIA now professes the greatest respect for "tribal sovereignty" and "tribal self-determination," there is precious little evidence of genuine concern for tribal autonomy in its administration of federal Indian policy as its recent illegal intervention into the internal affairs of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma substantiates. The overwhelming weight of evidence tells a very different story about BIA policy making. By any standard, the BIA is a colossal failure as a government agency and the dead weight of its administrative wreckage represents the single greatest obstacle to the freedom, prosperity, cultural integrity and progress of Native Americans. Until the BIA is abolished and federal Indian policy is fundamentally reformed, the future holds little promise of a significant change in the lives of Native Americans.

(http://www.cherokeeobserver.org/Issues/abolishbiapart2.html)

Five:

I don’t use reddit. Ever. So like again I say just say the shit you wanna say so I don’t waste my fucking time responding to it??

Six:

So the fact that they haven’t paid there bills somehow means they deserve to be living with dirty fucking pipes? They deserve the city officials to not fix the fucking pipes that a lot of them have been prosecuted over for their role in it?

The first thing that you said in this post was this: We’ve given you everything you want, but you just want more you greedy layabouts. So you didn’t originally say anything about people only complaining on twitter. Try reading through your own statements.

Seven:

You know how you said that I was misquoting you [which I wasn’t lol] it’s nice to see you doing the same thing. Here’s what I said:

ALSO I don’t know if you know this but not everyone is able to go out and do the stuff I do whether it’s age, whether it’s economical, whether it’s because they have a disability of some sort so calling them a lay about is so many levels of wrong not to mention talking this stuff on the internet can and often does get people involved who can do stuff to do so. You discounting the power of words and the internet is illogical and just to ridiculous for words.

At no point did I say that no one out of the people I listed could go out in protests but the fact remains that for every child, poor person, disabled person that can go there’s someone that can’t so again you calling these people layabouts is fucking garbage, but I love that you think the links you provided mean EVERYONE in those particular communities can do something.

Eight:

Yes. It’s quite possible since you’re more likely to live in poverty if you were in poverty as a child (https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/rich-kids-stay-rich-poor-kids-stay-poor/) (http://www.nccp.org/publications/pub_911.html) (https://www.brookings.edu/blog/social-mobility-memos/2016/02/19/a-college-degree-is-worth-less-if-you-are-raised-poor/) (http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/06/the-long-shadow-poverty-baltimore-poor-children/) and having literally all your money, land and shit stripped away from is a sure fire way to put people in poverty if I ever saw one.

I honestly can’t expect much from someone that thinks institutional oppression doesn’t exist. I mean I can’t blame you for not understanding this “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” thing is garbage and has always been garbage

Nine:

Read the following: (http://www.aaihs.org/slavery-the-13th-amendment-and-mass-incarceration-a-response-to-patrick-rael/) (http://www.historyisaweapon.com/defcon1/gilmoreprisonslavery.html) (https://www.afsc.org/story/slavery-mass-incarceration) (https://www.democracynow.org/2016/10/3/from_slavery_to_mass_incarceration_ava) (https://eji.org/enslavement-to-mass-incarceration-museum) (http://racism.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1470:institutionalized-slavery&catid=137&Itemid=155&showall=1&limitstart=)

Also let’s talk about your articles

The one talking about Black leaders: I’m all for admitting there were other circumstances as well but the idea that the war on drugs wasn’t to attack Black communities (http://jezebel.com/nixons-policy-advisor-admits-he-invented-war-on-drugs-t-1766359595) or that drugs weren’t funneled into the community (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/10/gary-webb-dark-alliance_n_5961748.html) is factually incorrect.

Also there being other contributing factors to Mass Incarceration doesn’t suddenly mean it didn’t start with slavery. That’s not how that works.

The first article:

Is the fact that Black politicians are on board with this and that there’s some racist black guy trying to put Black people in more economic poverty supposed to prove anything?

Ten:

Have you ever experienced poverty? Have you ever experienced being so poor you can’t feed your own children [due to racism in the job market and a slew of other things] that you turn to crime to feed said children? If the choice is between starvation for yourself and your children and committing a crime that’s not a real choice.

One I didn’t bring the law in to this [despite the fact there are numerous racist legal practices] but I’m glad you can recognize that stuff from 100 years ago can affect today albeit even if you’re saying so in just a legal capacity. But please tell me how your comment is right but mine is wrong when I say stuff from 100+ years ago can affect people today?

Eleven:

We are having a debate/argument/discussion whatever you want to call it and while you are right it’s not a research paper when you do this stuff you need to have your fact straight.

For example I haven’t gotten stuff wrong here that’s fine but nothing I’ve gotten wrong has presented me as a possible racist liar [your own actions even if they were by accident are the same actions that racist people have done. People I’ve had this conversation with before so if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck it’s a duck until I know otherwise. AGAIN that was your fault. My initial evaluation of you was your own fault.]

Twelve:

Don’t really care. If I’ve got the facts to back me up I’ll cuss all I want especially when it’s about topics that directly affect me and others like me. If you allow my insults to detract from the facts that’s something YOU need to work on not me because even if you had cussed me out I still would have read your sources and I would have replied to them in kind.

If my argument is supported by facts and you think me being mean to you delegitimizes my argument that is supported by facts that means you don’t care about the facts because someone was mean to you. People need to stop using people being mean to them as a way to negate facts.

Thirteen:

So I realized I didn’t actually link my source apparently lol?? I thought I did so that’s on me but it was a list of articles from google talking about the issue but I already know we are gonna run into this problem again later down so I’ll save what I am going to say for then.

Fourteen:

So all you’ve got is your opinions didn’t I say don’t bother responding if you couldn’t give me something other than your opinion?

However there is something I will address. Yes we commit more violent crimes I won’t ever deny that because I know it’s a fact. I frequently use those FBI tables in conversations. What I will say though is violent crimes doesn’t encompass everything so let’s talk about that other stuff:

Even more surprising is what gets left out of the chart: Blacks are far more likely to be arrested for selling or possessing drugs than whites, even though whites use drugs at the same rate. And whites are actually more likely to sell drugs:

Whites were about 45 percent more likely than blacks to sell drugs in 1980, according to an analysis of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth by economist Robert Fairlie. This was consistent with a 1989 survey of youth in Boston. My own analysis of data from the 2012 National Survey on Drug Use and Health shows that 6.6 percent of white adolescents and young adults (aged 12 to 25) sold drugs, compared to just 5.0 percent of blacks (a 32 percent difference).

This partly reflects racial differences in the drug markets in black and white communities. In poor black neighborhoods, drugs tend to be sold outdoors, in the open.

(https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2014/09/30/white-people-are-more-likely-to-deal-drugs-but-black-people-are-more-likely-to-get-arrested-for-it/?utm_term=.1797b7e3e9ef)

To compound on this cops just don’t seem to care about white people doing this stuff. (https://www.aclu.org/issues/mass-incarceration/smart-justice/war-marijuana-black-and-white) (https://privacysos.org/blog/there-goes-your-overtime-cop-explains-why-police-dont-target-powerful-whites-in-drug-enforcement/) The CIA definitely didn’t care when they were targeting Black people and Hippies.

Not to mention white people are now calling for a gentler war on drugs now because of a fucking heroin crisis (https://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/31/us/heroin-war-on-drugs-parents.html?mcubz=1) but I mean fuck the Black community right? Let’s support laws that put them in jail (http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2014/08/racial_bias_in_criminal_justice_whites_don_t_want_to_reform_laws_that_harm.html)

Black people are more likely to have their cars searched despite the fact that they find more illegal stuff on white people (https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/10/27/police-are-searching-black-drivers-more-often-but-finding-more-illegal-stuff-with-white-drivers-2/?utm_term=.e402ec8667c4)

Black people are more likely to be stopped and frisked despite the fact that white people carry more contraband (https://thinkprogress.org/white-people-stopped-by-new-york-police-are-more-likely-to-have-guns-or-drugs-than-minorities-9bf579a2b9b3/)

And there’s this too: (https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2016/07/data-police-racial-bias)

So that information about violent crime doesn’t suddenly fix everything.

ALSO Black people are more likely to be in poverty so there’s a racial aspect to all of this isn’t if it isn’t the single contributing factor. One of the reasons is probably this: (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2915472/) or this: (http://www.epi.org/publication/african-americans-are-paid-less-than-whites-at-every-education-level/)

Fifteen:

Columbus was also trash and his statues need to be removed and Columbus day should be replaced with Indigenous People’s Day [it’s already happening but all of America needs to get with the times] again books, museums and mandatory curriculums exist that’s not gonna change.

Have you heard anyone call for the removal of museums that are about educating people? I know for a fact that the African American History and Heritage Museum has a section about Civil War and there’s no way people would remove that. Now a museum glorifying the actions of the Confederate sure remove it. History like that should be remembered not glorified.

Educating isn’t glorifying and if you can’t tell the difference between those two words I can’t help you. NOT TO FUCKING MENTION it’s the people that are supporting this shit that are ALL FOR revising ACTUAL HISTORY BOOKS that teach kids about this stuff. We aren’t the ones doing what you’re accusing us of. The right is.

Sixteen:

Soooo you’re against pedophilic material being censored since no one should be forcibly censored? I mean that’s cool…I guess….I can’t even.

Now obviously, I don’t actually believe you believe that but your stance is no censorship is good but if you budge that means in certain circumstances it is. So who are you to decide what those circumstances are? Mine reasons are based off the racist history of the statues and their continued presence in a society that claims to be post racial/racism

Seventeen:

So I’ve already proven that you’re wrong about why those statues were put up from two very reliable sources but I am eager to see how you plan to discredit them or if you’re even gonna bother providing sources and are going to use your opinion again which will not hold up to that.

Anyway those statues were put up to glorify the reasons the south seceded [racism along many other things] and to terrorize Black people. It wasn’t solely about memorializing their fallen [I’ll agree that was part of the reason] but like that part shouldn’t matter since the racism is quite clear now. At least to anyone that cares about sources.

Eighteen:

Things happened in the past that effect the present [which you agreed with] and therefore reconciliation should be made.

Also you didn’t have a single source to back up your opinions so you saying it’s not real doesn’t mean shit to me because your opinion doesn’t mean shit without fucking sources. Your word isn’t fucking fact.

OH MY GOD yes because a Black man managed to do that with some KKK members that means they can all have that happen? Didn’t you get “mad” at me earlier for something along these lines? You are a joke if you think the people he convered represent the entitirety of the population of the KKK which is said to be 3000 people (http://www.epi.org/publication/african-americans-are-paid-less-than-whites-at-every-education-level/) We don’t even have a number of how many people he converted but you wanna use that as proof that all these racist fucks aren’t gonna stay that way?

Fine I will change my stance THE MAJORITY OF THESE FUCKS will continue to be the way they are unless there are serious consequences for the fucking behavior whether it’s getting expelled from college, losing their job or someone beating the ever living shit out of them. This is not me saying I condone violence but my point stands.

Nineteen:

Do you realize the KKK have been marching around the US before this? Do you realize the Nazism and all that was on the rise before this happened? Also when it comes to PoC people claim the victim narrative is bullshit but let it be the KKK and Neo-Nazis all of a sudden it’s got legitimacy that’s racist bullshit.

Their beliefs don’t change facts. Their history is racist. The KKK is racist. Neo-Nazism is racist. The Confederacy seceded for multiple reasons but one of them was RACISM. The fact that people are claiming to agree with them is just more proof that our country is racist but of course no one will go for that because these people are the actual ones trying to erase fucking history.

Things aren’t always black and white. Things don’t always happen because of racism but you acting like systematic oppression doesn’t exist is factually incorrect, moronic and doesn’t help shit in tearing down these systems in order to help people.

REMINDER: PUT YOUR RESPONSE UNDER A READ MORE

1 note · View note