On ne passe pas. (Modern Politics, the Middle Ages, and Hat)

[hat_plays_sims]

Last night, I got an anonymous post from someone who I thought had given up on convincing me to help them stir up trouble, or support them in their trouble, or-- honestly I'm not sure what they thought they were doing, but their post read like a list of warning signs for "If he does this, this, and that, run for the hills, you probably won't get out of this relationship alive."

Eventually, after I made it clear that I was not buying what the anon was selling (look, you send me nine paragraphs of trying to convince me to help you tear down another woman, and I'm not going to be nice to you, not even right out of the gate, sorry not sorry as the kids these days say), I got a nice little explosion wherein the anon informed me that they're glad Trump won because he's a Real American, that they're glad my 'bitch queen' Hillary lost, compared President Obama to a false god and thus, me to a worshiper of false gods (that gets you sent to Hell, doesn't it?), and called me a couple of names that were, frankly, a step down from the delicate implication of breaking an Old Testament commandment.

I was shaky when I made last night's post, and I said some stuff that was funny in my head, but I think it was 'funny in my head' in more of an adrenaline-crash 'oh my god did they seriously end what could've been a threat to my life by calling me a little monkey?' way than actually being funny. So, having had some time to think-- and re-read, and a long comment to answer, here's what I actually want to say to anyone still reading or following this blog:

When you start researching the Middle Ages-- and definitely when you start researching Vikings-- you learn pretty quickly that there are two kinds of hobbyist Medievalists.

There are the people who want to know what things were like in as much nitty-gritty detail as possible, especially as might pertain to whatever special area of history tickles their fancy. What sort of seams were on a houpelande? How heavy was a hauberk? Just how much smaller was a Medieval ox than a modern steer? Why didn't Saxons eat chicken eggs if they ate chickens? What was the Danelaw? If we don't actually know what apron dresses looked like, why do all the reenactors wear them the same way? Were there any black people in Medieval England?

Then there are the people who find the Middle Ages fascinating because they haven't, and don't intend to, learn about it beyond Victorian revisionism of the period. They want to keep reading about Europe, before the Age of Sail, before the purchase of the first African slave or acceptance of the first brownish refugee, when the whole continent was white people. The men were white, and they were strong Christian white men who kept their families in line with a firm hand. The women were white and silent (if they knew what was good for them). The children were white and obedient. The kings were white, and the good kings were tall, good-looking men who kicked Saracen ass for the glory of Christendom, while the bad kings were short, misshapen men who murdered little children or overtaxed the rich barons good free men of England, and always got their comeuppance in the end.

And it can be hard to know who's who. The second group sounds a lot like the first when you're talking about types of shoes or the worst jobs in a Medieval castle. And the second type often thinks that, because the first type is just as interested in the trappings of the Middle Ages as they are, the first type is just as white supremacist, too.

This can get particularly troublesome lately, because the incoming American presidential administration pretty much shares those views of a totally white, totally Christian, totally heterosexual utopia enforced by violence and the fear of violence.

I am a white person; I have white nonsense to unlearn (I'm working on it, it's a process). I'm also mentally ill, queer, and a cis woman.

This blog is a zero-tolerance zone for white supremacists, Neo-Nazis, fascists, and supporters of such. Anyone who stands for Donald Trump stands for putting my life* in legalized jeopardy, and is cordially invited to fuck right off my blog and unfollow me forever. I will not welcome debate on this topic. I will not agree to disagree. On ne passe pas.

Anonymous comments are currently screened, but still allowed. OpenID is still allowed, and Dreamwidth (although not busy) is free to join just in case some asshat ruins both anonymous commenting and OpenID for everyone. Disruptive comments will be frozen or deleted at my sole discretion.

*And the lives of a shitload of other Americans who happen to be a little browner or a little queerer or a little less Christian than the rest, but if I can't make them care about what happens to me through the content I've made, then I can't make them care about people they don't know, unfortunately.

99% of this blog will always be Sims related, history-related, or state-of-the-Hat posts explaining stuff that's affecting my ability to Sim or history or Sim History. Sorry for the disruption. Unless you're a white supremacist or white-supremacist-adjacent, in which case I'm not sorry about anything and I hope you step on a Lego. In bare feet, in the middle of the night, while you have a full bladder.

Original post below, it's terrible but it feels dishonest to just delete it.

This is a very petty post.

---

Hello everyone! Tonight I bring you a cheerful message.

Paradox07 is not on my side. Of anything. Apparently.

I don't know if she's decided to clamber unprompted onto anyone else's personal sites waving a laundry list of insults in Sunni's general direction, demanding help spreading word that a website administrator is a tyrant, but hey, that's how she came to mine, and now you get to be prepared in case she comes into yours. If she already visited you, now you know what happens when she's confronted, and that you're not the only person she's approached. (Was I defensive? Yes. I will always be defensive if your opening statement to me is to baselessly rip the hell out of another woman's character, because I will always be wondering, "And what do you think about me?")

Do not go out of your way to bother Paradox07, please. She's not worth the words I used on her; she's definitely not worth your time.

I'm making this post, and making an example of Paradox07, to say that if your politics are as Trumpist as hers, you are cordially invited to unfollow me forever. I am neither heterosexual nor neurotypical; Friday's regime change means I spend the next four years literally afraid for my life and bodily autonomy. I do not create content for neo-Nazis, neo-Nazi supporters, or people who think I deserve to live in terror.

Anonymous comments are going to be screened for a while, I think. OpenID is still available.

Comments

Oh, so we're doing this now?

[blueheavensims.blogspot.mx]

I’ll probably end up rewriting this about eleven times before it’s good enough to post.

@Hat: I’m sorry that the original purpose of your post has been derailed, and that I’ve been responsible for turning your blog into cyber-Geneva.

@Sunni: I will, as always, do my best to keep my response civil. I can’t respond for either Steph or Paradox 07, but I’ll do my best to provide my perspective.

I’ve gone back and carefully reread the Town Charter, and I concede that the “no pornography” rule is there. I would recommend wording Rule 2 a bit more clearly, but it’s there. The rest of my original post stands. I shared the poseboxes because I specifically received an invitation to share them.

Not to put too fine a point on it, but calling it a “rape” posebox is a bit of a misnomer. The Bodice-Ripper poseboxes are broken up into “chapters” and presented in a narrative style. That is to say, of the three sets of posegroups presented, two depicted consensual (but not-quite-vanilla) acts. For the sake of accuracy, the objections were raised specifically about Chapter 13 (The Soldier).

You say “I don't believe it's right to remove members that respectfully share their feelings about something.” This was absolutely not the case. The member voiced her objections, I responded in good measure and met her demands as well as I was able within the framework of the message board (even though I was under no obligation to do so), and her response was something to the effect of “Either you agree with me and cave to every demand I make or you’re an EVIL RAPE APOLOGIST SCUMFUCK”. I’m paraphrasing, of course, but the conversation is pretty much public record. I copied the entire thread onto a Word document. I tried to pull it up in the Wayback machine as well so that I would have screen captures, but there isn’t a time signature for PBK around that time.

At the time, I explained clearly to the member that
1. Sims 2, not real life
2. I do not advocate rape, or non-consensual sex of any kind. To this end, I included it in a disclaimer at the beginning of the post and intentionally wrote the characters perpetrating the rape as unsympathetic.
3. Rape fantasy (as opposed to actual rape) is a legitimate and lucrative (and kinda hot, if the acting is done convincingly) subgenre of the porn industry. The viewer knows it’s all contrived. The actors know it’s just a paycheck. Win-win.

This didn’t stop the member from getting up on her soapbox, nor did it stop you from doing the same after you’d frozen the thread. I’m aware that rape is bad. I made it perfectly clear that I’m aware that rape is bad in the disclaimer at the beginning of the post that no one took the time to read.

Returning to the point, I don’t have an issue with PBK itself, nor with most of its members. For the most part, my interactions have been positive. I have nothing to say regarding your character; I don’t know you well enough to make that judgment. As a creator I admire your work and use it frequently in my stories. My only criticism is how you run your board, and you’re damn right it sticks in my craw that half of my work got pulled down for what I don’t consider to be a particularly valid reason. I still engage with the Keepers from time to time, offering encouragement and wicked modding skills, but I have no further interest in sharing any more of my creations at PBK.


I’m not sure what Paradox07 intended to accomplish by approaching us. I think Hat’s reaction was completely justified, given that the original post was light on evidence and heavy on slurs and disparagements. Hat was in no way obligated to engage with her, and responded as well as she could given the situation.

I tried a different tactic. I engaged with Paradox07, talked her through it, let her vent, and tried to convince her that all of that negative energy would be put to better use if she focused on creating of writing. I think I finally got through to her.


I’ll preface the next part by saying that Steph is one of my oldest friends in the modding community. When we were both just starting out on MTS, we collaborated on a few projects. I made her a modded fireplace a few months ago. She spent a bit of time crying on my shoulder (metaphorically, not literally) after she was banned. When my mom passed away recently, she was in near-constant contact with me. So I may be slightly biased in Steph’s favor.

I never put eyes on the original thread, or on the supposed comments that were added to David’s journal at MTS, ostensibly in your name. All I have to go on are Steph’s word (which I put a lot of stock in) and the posts on the “A Case Study in Sims 2 Forum Etiquette”. That said, the thread is either entirely true, mostly true with Steph’s personal biases inserted here and there, or a really, amazingly good creative writing project. I haven’t decided which. Forum drama isn’t really my thing, and I don’t have a whole lot to say about it, but I believe there’s some truth in there.