Esoteric Merit

30 years old, e/e/e-self, pan poly agender ace and alienated Lnu 

[catchymemes]

[teaboot]

"she thinks this is bonding behavior" my friend this has BECOME your bonding behaviour

[missstrogen]

@staff stop terming my friends. Why are you letting nazis thrive and terminating trans girls fifty times in a row

[crotchapplin]

They reinstated Pjackk, a blog that's been abandoned for over a year before getting terminated, but none of the trans women who were termed for posting selfies and talking about their days

[missstrogen]

damn happy pride huh

[missstrogen]

reminder that staff never answered my messages regarding my original termination with nothing but automated boilerplate stuff until they blocked me from appealing.

Staff doesn't want trans women

[parkchanwoohoo]

[tortuah]

People in the notes need to shut the hell up about ai datacenters this is about the US military which you people are clearly not the true victims of so please fuck off and make your own post somewhere I'm not gonna see it.

[tortuah]

USAmericans will really see a post about the harm they cause and go "is no one gonna talk about how I'm the real victim here? 🥺" And NOT wait for an answer

[dee-the-red-witch]

This Pride, make sure every trans woman that you follow, are mutuals with, goon over, or consume their work in general, has a roof over their head, their bills paid, and food in their kitchens.

You wanna call yourselves allies? This is the work. Do it.

[dee-the-red-witch]

And yes, I'm putting my links on here because I still have to get around 1800 in for rent and bills.

Donations: http://paypal.me/tormentedartifacts

Or https://ko-fi.com/tormentedartifacts/shop

And yes, if you're transfem of any kind, you're welcome to add your own links on here when reblogging.

[deervsheadlights]

look even if you arent into grace/rocky you just HAVE to admit they explored each others bodies on the journey to erid. just to see whats up. the scientific boundary-crossing is already canon. and you wanna tell me those two intellectually curious guys trapped in a tin can for 3-4 years didnt at least get up to some weird shit for enrichment? dont make me laugh

[deervsheadlights]

#i know this post is supposed to have a sexual connotation but imo they're getting weirder than that#rocky lets grace observe his entire digestive process with an adapted x-ray machine#they make some slapdash endoscopy equipment so rocky can look down grace's esophagus and stomach#grace lets rocky pull a tooth for study because he's fascinated by the human body producing something that's similarly sturdy#to himself (also he wants to have it professionally embedded into his carapace as soon as they get to erid but shhhh)#rocky chips off pieces from his own mantle (his deformed legs are already brittler than the rest of him so it's not like it's hard)#also for “study” but is internally debating himself on how to ask grace if he's ever considered subdermal piercings#grace gives himself multiple surgicial lacerations so rocky can get a better view of his sinew and muscle#and document the (from his mostly inorganic perspective) insane restorative ability of human skin#maybe grace even lets some of them get infected on purpose so he can show off his immune system#anyways that being said#rocky is not a biologist and probably doesn't know the exact chemical make-up of his internal tissue.#so they're definitely shoving a heat protected spectrometer up his cloaca

no no @ecobanshee youre right on the money. its definitely also about all of that.

[finalgirldigital]

People love natives in such a superficial way. People wanna stand with natives when we’re talking about the trees, and the land. People wanna stand with natives when we talk about philosophies of love and togetherness. But as soon as it’s time to talk about political side of being native. About dismantling a system built on the genocide of our people. About how we need a new system that isn’t built upon capital gain and benefitting white bodies. About putting up a fight. About how the colonial state we reside in is a disgusting imperial plague on this land. Suddenly y’all don’t wanna talk native.

[neechees]

"They spent hundreds of years trying to assimilate my ancestors, trying to create indians like me, who could blend in, but now they don’t want me either. They can’t make up their minds.

They want buckskin and face paint, drumming, songs in languages they can’t understand recorded for them but with English subtitles, of course. They want educated, well spoken, but not too smart. Christian, well behaved, never question. They want to learn the history of the people, but not the ones that are here now, waving signs in their faces, asking them for clean drinking water, asking them why their women are going missing, asking them why their land is being ruined.

They want fantastical stories of Indians that used to roam this land. They want my culture behind glass in a museum.

But they don’t want me." -Shelby Lisk

[contemptible-scoundrel]

my cursed sword doesn't even tell me to kill people anymore it keeps begging me to put on a skirt and tights

[satanfemme]

[lakemojave]

[inkskinned]

Every day I handle more money than I will ever make. Every day.

At the start of my employment, my boss showed me videos of people stealing, and we both had a chuckle about it. How silly they were! There was a camera overhead, and it’s not to watch the shoppers. See, we can’t actually stop shoplifters. They get away with it maybe nine out of ten times. But we, who are watched and tallied and witnessed? We are always caught.

At first it was hard to hold one hundred dollars bills. An amount I had never seen before. An amount that didn’t exist in my household. It’s normal now. Here is something that is not for me.

“What the hell, I’ll take another,” says the man, pondering our 200 dollar watches. What the hell. Total comes to 580 and not even a flinch in his face. I have been working for 11 hours today and made only 110 dollars. It will go to my rent. Today I work for free, it feels. When I get my check, I will have 35 dollars left for food and saving.

The six hundreds he hands me go into the cash register. For a moment, I imagine having money. Then I put it away, counting out his change.

I know for a fact we sell our products for double what they are worth. That I could be making commission. That they could hand me those 580 dollars and change my life and not even mark the difference in their checkbooks. He’s not the only sale they make today, but I am the reason they made it. He’s not the only one spending 600 dollars, but if I hadn’t spent two hours with him telling me about his life, he wouldn’t have spent any. I go home. I don’t own a watch.

I have watched and rewatched a video on how to make salmon four ways. My shopping list is always the same. Pasta. Rice. Tuna. If I can afford butter it was a good week. I dream of the world I will never walk in, where I can throw the best fish fillet in the cart with a shrug. I hold hundreds in my hand and look up at the camera. I put them under the cash drawer.

I go to work. I scrap together my savings. I eat my bowl of rice slowly. My manager takes a paid week off from work just for his birthday. He owns a yacht. 

I’m not worth the cost of a watch.

[inkskinned]

i wrote this while i was working at orlando’s walt disney world parks.

i was part of their college program. i moved to the state for it. they legally owned the building i was living in and still charged me rent. i ostensibly was being charged to work for them. it was a 2 bedroom apartment and they placed 6 adult women in it in forced triples.

as many as one in ten disney employees have experienced homelessness while working for the company. despite huge efforts to unionize, strike, or otherwise demand fair treatment; disney has refused to increase employee quality of life.

disney admits publicly that a good portion of their success is because the employees (“cast members”) are dedicated, passionate, and selfless. this is never reflected in pay. even “face” characters (ie those that are princesses etc) make barely above a minimum wage.

at the time that i worked there, i made $8.50 an hour. at one point i was asked to create a human shield around a bag because a bomb dog had alerted to it. for eight fucking dollars an hour.

i now work a very cushy office job. i have bought the salmon and cooked it all four ways.

i go to the store. i am nice to the person behind the counter. she looks up at the camera while she counts out my change. there is nothing fundamentally different about her and i.

we are both worth more than the watch, anyway.

[angelicguy]

my toddler is 3 years old and wont eat anything other than fine porterhouse steaks and sweet port wine

[milk5]

you need to discipline your child. port is a horrible choice for the main course and wildly clashes with a rich béarnaise.

[angelicguy]

dude hes three….

[bumblr-dotcom]

And uncultured. Get a new child

[transhuman-priestess]

A yuri is anything that makes me happy. Pizza is a yuri. Drugs are yuri. Kissing girls is yuri.

[ashmindpalace]

average first sentence of a math wikipedia page:

A snorkle basis is a particular sort of set that has some properties and is generally "nice" (in a rigorous sense) and can do many things and is very practical.

[ashmindpalace]

average first sentence of an nlab page:

A snorkle complex generalizes the geometric notion of a snorkle basis to a context where there are not only internal morphisms, but pseudomonic ∞-morphisms on higher modalities.

[algebraic-dumbass]

The stable (∞,1)-category of snorkle complexes is anti-equivalent to the stable (∞,1)-category of (connective) bumblical complexes, by a celebrated theorem of Goncharov.

[gentlyevilvt]

the problem with hypnosis porn games made by straight people is that no matter how interesting they make the premise, a few hours in you realize that they genuinely think the hottest thing you could possibly do with hypnosis powers is have penetrative heterosexual sex with somebody who would otherwise not be interested

[maidslime]

No more waiting, no more debating, go get your hrt. "I don't know if I'm really trans!" You are. Now go. "I'm scared!" We all were. Now go. "There's a long wait to be seen!" Go get your name on the list then. DIY if you need. "What if my friends don't accept me?" They weren't really your friends. Now go. "What if my spouse doesn't accept me?" Get a divorce. Now go. You do not need to continue to live in agony and depression to pretend to be someone else. Go get your hrt.

[durgenjune]

God, I wish I could. My main barrier is that I have trypanophobia (fear of needles), with no real way to treat it right now. Sure there's other ways to administer estrogen, but I would still need to get blood tests. Fucking sucks.

[maidslime]

Pills exist and we can do a pretty good job helping you manage that, there's thousands of trans people who diy and have fine tuned a lot of different details whether it's pills or injections.

THAT SAID @doyoulovethewayzeylily once wrote a big thing about how to overcome the fear of needles and work with injections. I have not personally made the switch, but please understand I too have a severe fear of needles, it's possible to overcome for hrt if you truly want to!

[rui-cifer]

I also recommend gels and patches you can get them. Neither requires any interaction with needles!

[maidslime]

@durgenjune also this!!!!

[hungwy]

Another reason why trains would be good is that most people are not good at driving

[jadeazora]

Pokemon GO's new log-in screen for Forever Forward is a throwback to one of its oldest ones!

[storyweavingspider]

I’m not sure which one came first but I’m happy for their transition!

[storyweavingspider]

Good for her and for the family and for pedestrian safety :)

[curiositysavesthecat]

Do you think it's weird and/or predatory for a 13 year-old and a 30 year-old to be best friends if they're not family members or related by blood? Assuming everything is innocent and platonic. Nothing romantic or sexual.

Yes, it's weird and predatory

It's weird. But not predatory

It's predatory. But not weird

No, it's not weird or predatory

Remaining time: 5 days 8 hours

*This poll was submitted to us and we simply posted it so people could vote and discuss their opinions on the matter. If you’d like for us to ask the internet a question for you, feel free to drop the poll of your choice in our inbox and we’ll post them anonymously (for more info, please check our pinned post).

[creelson]

unpopular opinion but I don't think there's anything weird or predatory about an innocent friendship

[dianxiacantastemolecules]

The question is why the fuck is a thirty year old hanging out with a 13 year old if not in their family?? The only other relation that could have them interact is through teacher/student and bring friends like that would be weird as fuck

[creelson]

found family? the kid not feeling safe in their house? the adult wanting to help? family / teacher / school isn't always a guaranteed safe place. should the kid and adult each have friends that are their own age too? sure. but if their friendship is genuinely innocent then I think the problem isn't them but people who project their weird and predatory thoughts onto them

[the-bar-sinister]

Don't forget shared hobbies?

A 13 year old and a 30 year old could reasonably meet at a tabletop gaming store, a fiber arts group, a book club....

[audacityinblack]

They could literally just be neighbors. This whole isolationist thing of never even talking to the people you live closest to is new and weird.

[moniquill]

It is important to human social development to have extra-parental adults as advisors and role models!

[audacityinblack]

Something I really think needs noting is that this is very much a white people thing. I am always hearing people of color talk about aunties and uncles and mentors and elders who are not their blood relatives. These intergenerational bonds are absolutely critical to people's survival, particularly when you belong to a group that is treated violently simply for being who you are.

Systems of power have always relied on isolating people and turning them against each other. The current system we live under absolutely does not look out for or protect children, so it's absolutely critical that there be adults in reach that a child can trust outside their immediate family or authority structures. And it's just as critical that kids know how to find and connect with these people.

Elders are survivors. We have managed to live and even sometimes thrive in a world that has time and again made it clear that it doesn't want us to. We are proof of both a history and a future that young people desperately need right now. More than that, we can teach you how to survive and thrive, because we're living in that same world that still doesn't want you to.

[esoteric-merit]

throughout my life, I have been good friends with teenagers and younger simply because I'm visibly queer and trans, and they were queer. That's not a weird relationship, that's a "holy fuck, there are other people like me".

An 8 year old considered me her best friend after I met her at a toys 'r us when her mom slapped her, and i confronted her mom about it. I was the only person she talked to about the parental abuse for a while until she felt confident enough to tell others. I gave her a copy of my house key in case she ever needed it. (she hasn't. Her dad's in prison now and her mom is . . . better enough that she's forgiven her)

I run TTRPGs and regularly make friends that way. Some of them are 80, some of them are 12, we all bond over being omnipotent magical frogs for a while.

I'm a known eccentric at my local nerd conventions. I've checked in on younguns' who I notice are seeming overwhelmed, or are sitting by themselves away from their friends, and sometimes they tell me all their life troubles and about their depression or anxiety or whatnot and I'm able to give them my perspective . . . which is helpful sometimes.

I run a YouTube channel reaching people how to make custom content for a specific videogame series, and most of the people I interact with there are teenagers, (they have the most free time to do such things).

I bike everywhere, and I'm often seen repairing my bike on the sidewalk outside my apartment, so the neighbourhood kids will often cluster around me getting me to fix or tweak their bikes for them.

I've known my friends' son since he was born, and I've tutored him in math from grade 1 to 3rd year university. He joined my fencing club for a while, he's been in and out of my boardgames groups.

My friend's daughter is the weirdest little gothic drama queen autistic 13 year old, and we hang out and watch anime together. I show her classics like cowboy Bebop and talk about the influences they've hard on anime since then, and she shows me recent stuff like Frieren and we get to discuss how awareness and familiarity of fantasy tropes has evolved to allow such storylines.

Like, there's nothing predatory about generation-gap friendships, (and the weird thing about them is only that it's less likely to happen so it sticks out), and ergo a best friendship isn't predatory either.

I can't imagine refusing to bond with or help someone over age. I can imagine not liking someone because they're a horrible brat, but that's age-independant. I don't generally enjoy being around kids, and they tend to remind me of my childhood traumas and trigger me by being kids. But like, that's not a them problem.

Perhaps the big question is: if you think it's predatory, or even just weird, why do you interact with children so little that you aren't familiar with intergenerational friendships?