30ish sci-fi nerd from Scotland. I read, I write, I watch, I draw, I spend inordinate amounts of time thinking about fandom-type things. Also spaceships. Asexual, aromantic, agender, autistic, and of the opinion that everything is better with superheroes. Check out my art blog over at @spacecapart
So I went down a bit of a history of sexuality rabbit hole tonight, specifically the history of sex education, because a friend in a RoL server is interested in writing a fic about Thomas Nightingale's canonical asexuality and wanted some idea of what boys his age might (or might not) have been taught about sex in school in the 1910s.
Which has been fascinating, but I also absolutely have to draw all your attention to a passage I found in Robert N. Willson's "The education of the young in sex hygiene: a text-book for parents and teachers" from 1913 (which is conveniently available on the Internet Archive here).
Now this book is, as would be expected, an absolute mess -- heavily Christian AND written at the height of the eugenics era, which means it's ostensibly kind of progressive goals are uh. There's room for improvement, is all I'll say, while still leaving room for the fact that it's complicated. That's just history for you. I also want to stress that I was NOT actually looking for information on asexuality, just skimming the book to get a sense of what sexual education might have looked like for students in the Anglosphere around the relevant time period. So you can imagine my surprise when I came across this passage, on page 86:
I present this condition of affairs, then, as a simple fact and pass on to another phase of interest and difficulty in the sex question. Certain women and an occasional man are peculiar in their entire lack of sex instinct or interest, and in their failure to experience the sex stimulus that is such an important factor in the perpetuation of the race. Were it only the rule for two such similar sexless or sex colorless animals to mate and exhaust one anotherās lack of naturalness, the world would be happier by far, and perhaps such a pair might even enjoy the absence of enthusiasm and interest in one another. Such a state of affairs is conceivable. Unfortunately this sort of pairing is never seen in actual life. The mathematician, who has by close, analytical work so worn out his humanness as to be practically impotent, usually consorts with an intense and passionate vixen of an altogether contrasting type. The result in terms of the home is a foregone conclusion. Or a strong, active, inconsiderate ox of a man marries an aesthetic, supercilious orchid of a woman, and in a short time learns that he can cause her and his life-circles to interweave in no possible manner. He is of the earth earthy, she is spiritual, and as far as we have the ability to speculate there will be neither sex passion nor earthly comradeship since there is to be no real marriage either here or in heaven.
Which is hardly a rousing endorsement of asexuality, sure, but it's also a fascinating counterpoint to the idea that a lack of sexual desire or sexual incompatibilites are somehow new, or that asexuality is an identity without any real history. As I said to another friend -- it's almost like it's been an obvious part of the sexuality spectrum to anyone who was paying attention for a long, long time.
Anyway this is why I love doing primary source research. You almost always find something that runs contrary to popular accounts of the past, if you poke around enough. This isn't even my era but I knew the general shape of it, and sure enough, it didn't take much sifting for something really, really interesting to emerge!
(And I'll personally be laughing for a while over "perhaps such a pair might even enjoy the absence of enthusiasm and interest in one another" -- hashtag my queerplatonic marriage).
I need to write a fic someday about aroace Thomas Nightingale realizing some time in the future that he has a place in the queer community.
There is something so interesting to me in having a character who has been aware of what he wants and doesn't want in that regard for almost a century (depending when the fic is set and how you define 'almost'), has demonstrably been an ally to the queer community for almost as long, but wouldn't necessarily have been up to date with it and thus wouldn't know about aroace as a queer identity.
He'd be like Of course I support anybody's right to love who they want to love and to express and self-determine their gender, that's just common decency. I relate to their alienation from heteronormative society and of course I support them. What do you mean by asexual- oh.
Probably with the help of Abigail who I feel is much more likely to talk about this stuff than Peter.
people who feel the need to chime in on posts about not supporting hp because of jkr with AND THE BOOKS ARE AWFUL AND HORRIBLY BIGOTED TOO are so completely missing the point it's insane. the content of harry potter does not MATTER!!!! if it was the most perfectly unproblematic piece of media ever it would still be supporting jkr and her bigotry and that would be enough of a reason not to support it!!!! all you're doing is continuing to treat harry potter as something worthy of discussion instead of trying to kill its cultural relevance!!!! you are not an ally and i do not trust you!!!!
good omens is by and large a very good book with positive messages but i stopped posting about it after the neil gaiman stuff came to light bc the quality of the content doesn't fucking matter when we're talking about materially supporting people who wield their power & influence to harm others
and sometimes the character wouldnāt try to push through sickness and do their day job or whatever. again i see what youāre going for but sometimes in these fics something else can happen. open your hearts and minds to scenarios such as āthe character is actually pretty expressive about their needs and is willing to complain a lot but the other characters still donāt take it that seriously for whatever reason and have to deal with the guilt and quencies afterā. or āthe character takes a rest at the appropriate time (or earlier!) but then faces punishment/being ignored/hostility for doing so and that is what worsens their condition into a serious one.ā or āthe character is a practical one who informs people sensibly and takes every necessary step, yet to their distress their condition still spirals out of the control.ā or whatever else but just do you see what iām saying not every character is a silent sufferer and that isnāt the only way to put them in a situation . we can innovate
whether the internet becomes an intolerable surveillance state, ubiquitous subscription model, or unusably ad- or AI-ridden shithole, I think we need to remember
how to do things offline
either on your personal hard drive (just because itās an app doesnāt mean the information is stored in your device) or on paper. Iām not saying the collapse of the internet is imminent, and Iām not suggesting we do everything completely without technology, or even stop using it until we have to. (to be clear, I also donāt think the internet will just blink out of existence, suddenly stop being a thing at all; rather I think it might continue to lose its usefulness to the point where itās impossible to get anything done. anyway) but some people may have forgotten how we got by before the internet (I almost have!), and the younger generation might not have experienced it at all.
I figure most people probably use the internet mainly for communication with friends and family, entertainment and creation (eg. writing), and looking up how to do things, so hereās how to do those things offline:
First and most importantly, download everything important to you onto at least one hard drive and at least one flashdrive! files can get corrupted and hardware can get damaged or lost, but as long as you keep backup copies, you have much-closer-to-guaranteed access versus hoping a business doesnāt decide to paywall, purge, or otherwise revoke your access. I would recommend getting irreplaceable photos printed as well
download and/or print/write down:
anything important to you - photos/videos, journals, certificates, college transcripts
contact info - phone numbers and/or addresses of friends/family (know how to contact them if you canāt use your favourite messaging app), doctors (open hours would be good too), veterinarians if you have pets, and work
how-toās - recipes (one, two), emergency preparedness (what do I do ifā¦ eg. I smell gas)
other things you might google: cleaning chemicals to NOT mix, what laundry tag symbols mean, people food dogs and cats can and canāt eat, plant toxicity to pets
and know offline ways to find things out - local radio station, newspaper, a nearby highway rest area might have a region map, public libraries usually have a bunch of resources
also, those of you who get periods should strongly consider not using period tracking apps! hereās how to track your period manually
free printable period tracker templates (no printer? public libraries usually charge a few cents per page, or you can recreate it by hand)
moving on to entertainment, you can still get most media for free! itās completely legal to download your favourite movies to your own personal hard drive, you just canāt sell or distribute copies (not legal advice)
movies: wcostream.tv (right click the player) - the url changes every once in a while but usually redirects; I recently noticed that itās hiding a lot of movies behind āpremium,ā so it may or may not work anymore | download youtube videos
music: how to get music without streaming it | legal free downloads
games: steamunlocked.net - doesnāt have every game and can be slow to update, but very reliable
Remember that links won't work without the internet, so also write down anything you find useful in this post! You have to download stuff ahead of time while you can still access the internet
keep physical user manuals for things like car, tv, appliances
how to prepare for computer work offline (may need to use reader mode to bypass a popup)
check interactions with any medications you're taking
how to search a library (databases are often accessible via library computers so might still be a thing without internet; also some info on manually searching the actual stacks) (backup rb)
make note of your local/state/federal laws regarding tenantsā rights & housing resources, workersā rights, gun laws, abortion laws (though this is changing frequently)
How to Download Videos
URL downloaders for specific sites & in general
4k Video Downloader Plus, VLC Media Player, Freemake, YouTube-to-mp4
screencap with OBS (may only work on firefox and may violate ToS) or xbox game bar on windows (win+g)
especially download meme songs that you probably wonāt find on a CD (example) with https://ytmp3.nexus/
Print photos with VistaPrint, WalMart, or CVS
Old Farmer's Almanac
Household chores list
Simple household repairs
Loads of old recipes (backup rb)
how to wean yourself off the internet
how to spend time with family
how to get involved with your community
ways to spend more time outside (set a goal/reason to be outside)
how to get outside more in different seasons
how to build nature into your lifestyle
how to start a self care habit | how to make a self care checklist
self care assessment | axes of self care | reparenting resources
Since I've already kind of been doing this due to living on a farm where we easily lose power during storms and lose internet because our only service provider is too fucking cheap to update infrastructure (we have copper wires still, not fiberoptic cable), I feel like I should add on some stuff, too. (Also, we haven't been able to afford any up to date shit since the early 2010s.)
- GET YOURSELF A WEATHER RADIO. Phones can be stolen, malfunction, die, etc. While these things can be a pain in the ass because it goes off for the region your local National Weather Service covers, this could very well save your life, especially if you are in a situation that I'm in that I described above. I recommend Midland, and this one is the most affordable if you're worried about price (Jesus, this thing was 30 bucks a year or two ago... stupid cheetoh). One of my local library branches even has it. (I also heavily recommend getting an emergency radio from them, too! Just be sure you get familiar with it soon and use it every once in a while so you're not struggling in a panic. This is the one I have.) Radio isn't a service you have to pay for like cellphone service or internet. Just be sure you have your battery situation all figured out. That being said, while the weather radio only uses the WX bands, the emergency radio allows AM and FM stations, too.
- Get an antenna of some sort for your television so you can receive local TV stations. This could be important regarding local news. I haven't gotten one for us yet, and I'm not even certain if we can get signal anymore because of how defunct many relay stations for airwaves are. If you live in or near a city and you're not deep in a valley, you're gonna have better luck with this. Yes, there are antennas made for modern flatscreens. Look them up while you can right now, and learn how to hook them up. I wish I could share more on this, but like I said, I haven't gotten one for us yet. I don't even know if we'd get anything to come in, lol. But like radio, airwaves are free. This includes what you could get on television!
- Look into meshtastic. Wanna get in touch with a friend or family member and get a response back quickly? Want to send out a message to the local community also using it? Imagine texting on radio waves. That's... kinda basically what this is. And there's no service to pay for! AND IT'S DECENTRALIZED! I haven't had the chance to try it out, but I'm definitely interested. Here's a video if you wanna learn more about what this is.
- Field Guides in book format. Get them. Mainly those involving local plants and insects/arachnids. Get familiar with where sections are in them in case you need to quickly look something up. You don't wanna assume whether or not something that bit you isn't going to be a problem for your health. I'd also recommend snake guides as well. It's VERY IMPORTANT to know what species bit you if they're venomous so you can be given the correct antivenom.
- Physical media is a thing gaining popularity for obvious reasons. Don't assume it's a fad. Unless you taped it, there aren't gonna be any ads or commercials interrupting what you're trying to watch. Learn how to operate VCRs and DVD players if you're too young to be that familiar with them. (I have the coveted combo machine that I've had since the 2000s. Still works like a charm.)
- Learn to make a go-bag (or several) *NOW.* Climate change is making shit get worse. I've got 2 hiking backpacks ready just in case we gotta split, so all I have to worry about is getting the cats into their carriers. Another thing that weather radio can sometimes be used for is if you need to evacuate due to things like volcanoes, chemical accidents, and wildfires. I am not kidding. A NOAA Weather Radio is fucking awesome and essential. I'm hoping to get a duffle bag to fill with more supplies for long hauls if needed, but I wanted to get the backpacks ready. (And if you're gonna have food with you, BE SURE TO ROTATE THE FOOD SO YOU DON'T HUNKER DOWN OR DIP OUT WITH EXPIRED FOOD. THIS INCLUDES ANY PET FOOD YOU HAVE PACKED.) You need to be able to get your shit and get at a moment's notice. Seconds could matter in an unexpected situation. Make sure you thoroughly plan every possible thing with the rest of your household and loved ones, such as where to go in certain circumstances, where to meet up, etc. INCLUDE ANY AND ALL PETS IN YOUR PLANS, TOO! (If you takes meds, make sure you plan for those, too, and make sure they don't expire. You will also want supplies for typical dental care. Trust me on this one.)
- Learn how to write and mail letters. If shit gets so bad for privacy online, the only way to keep in touch with friends and loved ones with privacy is gonna be through mailing letters. This means you gotta hand-write them. Yes, responses will be slow and you'll have to get the hang of using a writing utensil, but if we did it back in the day and survived, so can you. It is against federal law to open or tamper with someone else's mail. (For now. That cheetoh sure is doing whatever the fuck he wants without consequences.)
I just woke up about an hour ago and still drinking my coffee, so that's all I have for now. I don't know if I have any other things to add and just not remembering any of them. I'm also old and doing this on mobile, so trying to go back and edit and shit made the screen boop around and made me fuck a couple things up. I hope i fixed it all and the wording is fine and the links are helpful.
I'm going to post the rest of my inevitable descent back into Flash fanart over on the art blog (@spacecapart), but it felt appropriate to post at least one thing over here given just how many drawings of this guy ended up on this blog about a decade ago. So, behold! Turns out I still remember how to draw this asshole, and all the things I've learned about inking in the intervening years work rather well for him.
Oh my godā¦ I didnāt know the Torchwood scripts were a freely accessible on the BBC website! I love a script and you better believe Iāll be reading through all of them! Though Iāve just been skimming through the CYBERWOMAN script and two moments have just struck me right to my very coreā¦
The first..
Lisa calls out for Iantoās help during the pterodactyl attack!!! :O
Are you kidding meā¦?! This is horrifying! But I kinda wish theyād kept it in because it revives the idea that on some level Lisa is still in there and actually validates Iantoās fight to save her. By this point everyone except Ianto is set on the fact that there is no Lisa left in the Cyberwoman, itās what justifies the violent actions theyāve chosen to take against her. So having them suddenly hear such a pained human response from Lisa as sheās mauled by the pterodactyl they set on her, suddenly forces back into question whether there was someone there to be saved after all. It also brings some actual visual justification for Iantoās stubbornness - even though itās perfectly evident why Ianto does all that he does in the episode - he loves Lisa, having this moment just allows the team and the audience to also see what Ianto sees, to suggest that maybe there is some justifiable reason behind his reckless persistence in trying to protect her. This is one of those little details that Iād never have thought about before but now that I know it could have happened, I canāt stop thinking about it happening and wish it did happen. This should not have been taken out!
The secondā¦
Tosh brings Ianto a coffee because no one ever makes him a coffee and she wants him to feel seen but because heās so used to being invisible he canāt comprehend the gesture sheās initiating until heās alone againā¦ and oh my heart!! It hurtsā¦ but in the best way!
I wish we could have seen this happen! Itās exactly what needed to happen after everything ianto just went throughā¦ but, I do get why it was cut - the ending they went with is tonally betterā¦ but this scene is so heartbreakingly beautiful and is further proof that the show did both Tosh and Ianto so damn dirty. Their bond deserved to be seen!!!
Anywayā¦
Iāll be honest, I am not okay after thisā¦ and I only read half the script!! I dread to think whatās about to come from me reading them all in fullā¦ not that thatās gonna do anything stop meā¦ watch this space, Iām gonna have thoughts! :)
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