If you’re not ok with this, say something
Rhyd’s call for an anti-fascist witch hunt hasn’t resulted in any witch hunting but his friends on tumblr haven’t seemed to have caught that memo.
EDIT apparently some people think i agree with this horse shit (the article linked below). I do not. I find these tactics repugnant. I posted to alert people as to the depths to which some will sink in order to silence free speech and to prevent our traditions from rooting and growing.
http://fiadhta.tumblr.com/post/149283607521/cockroaches-in-wolves-clothing-fighting-the
I particularly like these leaps in logic (and law):
2. Trap them. Catch them doing or saying something illegal and record it. Anonymously notify the correct authorities. If he’s racist he’s probably also a raging misogynist, here is a pretty high percent chance he beats women. Bust him for that.
3.Sabotage. Sabotage everything. Their protests, their social events, their rituals…their relationships. Sabotage them physically, sabotage them magically. Block them at protests. Blast distractingly loud noises in the vicinity of their rituals. Curse them liberally.
NO pun intended, I’m sure.
I guess freedom of speech really isn’t free. or a thing. anymore.
Is this the community you want? Are these the tactics of which you approve? Your silence makes this possible.
Posted on August 28, 2016, in community, Uncategorized and tagged Asshattery, Community, freedom of speech, politics, Rhyd Wildermuth, why we can't have nice things. Bookmark the permalink. 54 Comments.
Gangleri's Grove 
…what?
I thought progressives were supposed to be the good guys. And, okay, 1, 4, and 10 are good advice. 5, 7, 8 and 9 aren’t bad. 6…I do not like it but I will not speak out against anything that makes someone under threat feel safer. But 2 and 3 Those are definitionally not tactics “good guys” use, because using those tactics makes us the bad guys.
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I had that same cognitive dissonance. Back in the early 90s, I was as liberal as they came. I stood up and gave gay rights, women’s rights, Native rights, and anti-corporate and anti-war speeches in our student government. That only increased as I got older. But then, over the last 10 years or so, something began to shift, especially on the college campuses. Left, Right, Republican, Democrat, etc. have lost all meaning as our culture comes dangerously unhinged. That’s why I don’t look at the labels a person identifies with anymore, but their ideas and more importantly the actions they take in the furtherance of those ideals. That is the true measure of a person – not the box the check on election day.
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This is the same stuff that the anti-abortion people were doing with Planned Parenthood. These people are on a holy mission. They are consumed by it.
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exactly and people lost their lives there, good doctors and health care providers. Others continue to work under threat of death. think about that and where all this could lead.
Alexeigynaix, I’m all for responsible gun ownership, carrying weapons, etc. with proper training, but the rest of this is intensely disturbing. intensely.
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“Responsible” and “with proper training” being the key words there.
And reading for better comprehension, most of that list (once you get past the first sentence of the bullet) is appalling. Like. Get off my side, people, you’re making me look as bad as the people you’re advocating using these strategies against!
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I find the trapping and sabotage things to be disturbing, especially when paired with “get a weapon.” I’m all for the 2nd Amendment, but putting those in the same list hints at more than merely exercising one’s rights or self defense.
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I fail to see how Augustus Sol Invictus is a fascist….? Since he openly challenges current govt corruption, and he cannot possibly be a racist since he is married to a woman of Hispanic descent, and they have children together….
This is truly crazy. And frightening. Do these people not realize that this is exactly how millions were massacred in the last century, by making differing thought a crime? THIS is why critical thinking should be taught from a young age.
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I hate to break it to you, but it’s perfectly possible for people who marry POC of still be racist, just as it’s possible for misogynists to marry women. It happens all the time. Please don’t use that to excuse anybody, it’s simply false.
I don’t know whether this guy is or is not a racist, but it’s definitely not possible to tell by whom he’s married to.
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If you had listened to any of his podcasts you would know. I have.
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Yeah I think I’m adding Tumblr to my website block app.
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Good plan.
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Woah. That’s… terrifying. Nothing Sannion said was a fraction this bad (even pretending he didn’t write satire) but people threatened to call the authorities over it? Yet this is someone okay since they’re on the “correct” side? If they consider words and graffiti to be acts of violence, then what is this? This is insane. It’s bad enough I have to worry about right wing nut jobs trying to make the USA a psuedo Handmaid’s Tale copy, now I have to worry about some SJW attacking me with a knife because of my wrong thought.
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In a nutshell.
and not even wrong thought; *perceived* wrong thought.
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Ha, I actually meant to type perceived but I was rant-typing through my anger and must have missed it. But yes, I just… ugh. Still raging over here.
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The word is “Thoughtcrime”. Welcome to Amsoc everyone.
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These people are absolutely vile. Advocating violence in this manner over opinion differences is inexcusable. Not to mention #1 is basically advocating for people to lose their jobs because they have the “wrong” beliefs. Simply vile.
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John Michael Greer is a fascist because he likes Oswald Spengler so who knows how Augustus Sol Invictus got on their list. And no, this is not OK. It is is about as far from OK as you can get: it has nothing to do with stopping racism and everything to do with promoting a toxic ideology.
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As I have said many times…I will confront someone when dressing up their racism to make it look like something that it is not…otherwise I dont give a flying fuck if they are so long ad they stay far far away from me and my family. Thus shit here us just insane. If someone seeks to harm you then you have every right to knock their head off…but this is waaaay overreactionary.
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Reblogged this on A Forest Door and commented:
There is no way of viewing the current scenario that makes some of these proposed tactics okay (esp. #2 and #3). None. Pay attention, everyone. No matter how wrong you might have ever felt any of the devotional/tradition/standards side of this argument to be, no matter how strident anyone’s tone or uncompromising their vision for what polytheism should be… none of us have ever advocated destroying the opposition’s relationships, turning them into the authorities, disrupting their religious rituals, or preparing for physical, violent confrontation. This is a whole new level of fucked up, and frankly it’s pretty scary. Am I going to have my life destroyed because someone didn’t like a post I made on my blog about how I think my religion should be practiced? Or, maybe even because I *didn’t* make a post properly siding with a certain political view (which I’ve also seen criticized now)? Is this what we’ve come to now? These are despicable scare tactics meant to shut people up. It’s disgusting, and there is no gray area here – this is simply WRONG.
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Forward, to the barricades! Take back the folk-metal scene!
Gosh, spiritual warfare is so exciting. It reminds me of Christian kids who want to fight demons and perform exorcisms.
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Why do you even look at tumblr? Isn’t it the devil?
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Way to dissemble, and by doing so to support the vile activities advocated in that post.
But since you asked, that link was sent to her. She didn’t seek it out. Not that it makes any difference – in fact it corroborates her position that Tumblr is a cesspool.
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I’m not OK with this. I have nothing to add that hasn’t already been said.
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I’ll be blogging about this later but still collecting my thoughts. Just appalled.
This is actually terrifying in that I wasn’t long ago berated online because I agreed with someone on a topic that is pretty conservative and therefore was labeled a right-wing nut and everything that goes with it including being informed that I must be homophobic and many other nasty things. The same has happened with family who are conservative assuming that because of my views on GLBTQ rights I must therefore be a Democrat (I’m Independent and pretty moderate). I then informed the person I was none of those things and generalizing someone based on one belief was ignorant. I say all this because it could be easy for people on either side of the political divide to believe me being one way or another and, obviously by this post, assume it is therefore ok to attack me.
Still collecting my thoughts but just when I have a pretty good idea of what group might be most likely to harm me and my family and I should therefore stay away from…things like this happen.
How does calling someone an NRA-loving Odinist and painting them as evil compare to telling followers of this rhetoric to arm themselves and use said arms against their enemies? I won’t go into my own beliefs about guns here but this is very cauldron calling the kettle black.
What does “sabotage them physically” even mean?
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As a longtime traditional polytheist, libertarian, capitalist & proud gun-owner I have to say I find this person/s attitude downright CRAZY. Not surprising after all I have been reading about these people. Putting the extreme in extremist, indeed.
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I see now that my experience of Tumblr is QUITE limited. The worst I’ve personally encountered is an extremely well-informed, but equally foul-tempered, Hellenic polytheist. Yeesh.
Part of what makes me conservative is my tendency, when confronted with speech that is morally ambiguous, is to go with the first amendment until I have enough information to do otherwise. I’m that guy who will loathe what you’re saying but defend your right to say it. Tactics destined to silence first and ask questions never are anathema to me. I’ll go to the mat for free speech any day of the week.
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It is from the freedom to speak our minds that all others flow; without it, none of the rest matter. Besides, why try and silence the opposition? Most of the time they’ll make your argument for you if you just stand back and let them.
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So… People with disabilities have nothing to contribute? only able-bodied people can affect change? Do tell that to FDR, Helen Keller, and Stephen Hawking. Are we fit only to be sidelined and be fawning sycophants? Someone needs to be slammed upside the head with a copy of the Havamal.
Trap them? Entrapment is illegal and inadmissible. And….argh! So much stupid.
Action? You know what my actions in service to my gods are? I pray, first and foremost. I work on tearing down what keeps us apart and with a mental illness, it’s like trying to claw my way out of a bank vault. I find ways to incorporate things like god poles and shrines into urban environments. I learn to navigate worlds within this world because there are indeed many gods and most are not mine.
Every week, I pick up trash and recycling while praying to Jord for forgiveness. I live below the poverty line, but that doesn’t stop my USO donations to aid those under the eyes of Odin, Thor, Tyr, and Loki. For Saga’s glory, I push for expanded history lessons in our public schools. Also for Her sake, I push for ASL to be as mandatory as English in our schools because if you isolate a people by denying their language, you are that much closer to denying them personhood and life itself. In Holdr’s glory, I work for Braille,to be included on all packages. For Odin’s glory, I work to improve things for His wounded warriors.
When I create, I chose an appropriate charity that will receive a portion of whatever income is generated. Sometimes it’s as little as fifty cents that goes in the collection can by a cash register, or I give it to a homeless person.
For Odin’s glory, I donate to veteran organizations.
I do this without a gun in my possession, or any martial arts knowledge beyond “scream while trying to break their kneecaps.” though I often wish I had one (see mental illness reference). I rebuke even people I love for ableist comments, I rebuke my elders for it as well because their wisdom should not be tainted. I go against generations of “respect your elders” to debate and question their racist, sexist speech. I do this though I am afraid of retaliation, of enduring another violent assault.
I do this because so many of my Dead did not have the protections I do, though the wrongs continue. I do this for the glory of Odin, Loki, Sigyn and Her Sons, Saga, Thor, because I can’t be Theirs if I remain silent–though a failure to pick my battles will result in Death by Stupid.
Oh, yeah, and I listen to folk, classical, metal, blues, jazz, and world music, and my aesthetic pleasures are not an excuse to be an asshole. Humanity’s greatest weapons are their minds and their empathy. Few use them. If more did, imagine how much further we’d get.
Maybe I’ve missed the point of the OP, but a little man with a gun and questionable mortality will not aid anything. Even Sun Tzu wouldn’t know what to do with this one, and he knew the strategic use of cowards, idiots, and the greedy. This “action plan” will not improve anything, will not provide succor. I may be more “soft” than an Odinswoman is expected to be, but I do know warriors. I am born of two. I married one.And the person who wrote that Tumblr post is not a warrior, but merely an adrenaline junkie wanting to make a name.
ProTip: doin’ it wrong.
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Standing ovation, Brava.
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Galina, thanks for bringing, and continuing to bring, the antics of the “antifascist” witch hunters to light. (I lurk here irregularly, in case you were wondering.) It’s been a source of wry amusement to watch Rhyd et al. acting out exactly the sort of behavior they claim their supposed enemies are engaged in — one gathers they could teach Carl Jung a thing or two about projecting the shadow. I’ll get something up on my occult blog as my posting schedule permits, to let people on my end of the alternative-spirituality scene know about this latest fatwa from the Marxist pseudopagans.
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I noticed the same thing. We are blank canvasses upon which they project what they despise in themselves.
There is also the narrative of the noble victim who fights the evil system and becomes a successful martyr. You get to collect injustices and paint yourself a noble spiritual warrior at the same time. It is the principle of the thing!
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Thank you for spreading the word. I very much appreciate that. I find this whole thing horrifying.
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There is one thing absurd about this. Having actual anarchists who blew things up in my family, I know something about how they work. One thing they do not do is broadcast to the universe what they are doing. They meet out of the way and do the stuff, and leave quietly without any bragging.
When you start broadcasting your tactics in such a public way or urge others to be anarchists, you are a poser, pretending to fight the good fight with your words.
Also, something serious – the head folks at DESH (those guys) do not fight nor do they blow themselves up. They present a noble and spiritual picture for some other poor slub to enlist, and voluntarily blow themselves up. The head folks reap the rewards with having to put themselves on the line. Ponder that with the people who are urging radical action and who refer to themselves as political, spiritual warriors as in religion=politics. Who are the foot soldiers in this cosmic fight? Who are they recruiting? What happens when poor slub does what they suggest? Will they be heralded as a hero?
Third thing – follow the money in these things. Notice when the rhectoric went to a fever pitch, people were monetising their sites, and wanted traffic and money. Notice when the rhectoric gets greater, where is the money flowing.
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That actually makes me feel sick to my stomach. Almost makes me want to hunt down my password and call them out. This really is insane.
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So I’m a lurker and a devotional polytheist but one who usually tends to agree with the “other side” of this divide. But let me say I am not ok at all with the post in question!
Now, is there anything actually linking this random tumblr person to “Rhyd et al” besides a real or perceived similarity in rhetoric? I tried to click through and the author appears to be a 23 year old woman from New Orleans who doesn’t appear to be connected to the “G&R” crowd or have any sort of following or standing. Help connect the dots?
And why does a tumblr post (no matter how vile) by some random individual rise to the level of a “fatwa” from a group (which group please?) but an actual racist, homophobic and transphobic declaration from a Heathen organization with thousands of members doesn’t deserve a mention (other than to giggle at those who are bothered by it)?
Help me to understand the reasoning here?
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No more using spirituality as an excuse for passivity and inaction. The esoteric community can no longer afford to look at people like Augustus “Sol” Invictus and laugh like “oh haha, those whacky wingnut edgelords,” or look at the NRA-loving Odinists and say “lol, those silly wannabe vikings.” With Trumps rhetoric fueling and emboldening the white neo-nationalist movement, they are becoming more and more dangerous.
Every one of those points is straight from G&R’s playbook. I have no idea what their affiliation with that collective is (and can’t determine further since they took their blog down) but they clearly have been reading and taking those words to heart.
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If you need a refresher to see where this is coming from, start here:
https://krasskova.wordpress.com/tag/rhyd-wildermuth/
https://godsandradicals.org/?s=fascism
https://krasskova.wordpress.com/tag/gods-and-radicals/
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Two things. First, the woman who reblogged disavowed it and deflected it back on to bring an attack on her by Galina. My question is that if she didn’t agree with the original posting then why reblog it without commentary. Why simply not simply say my bad. Why deflect back on to Galina, as it supposedly Galina’s fault?
Secondly, the outcry about the other group seemed to be virtue signalling. Not by everyone, but that group has long been those things, and people have discussed that for a long time. My question why this time such an intense reaction unless something else is at play. Such as the fear of being a fellow traveller if you don’t protest against a group that most people have ready said was all those vile things.
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Nice way to deflect. I suppose it’s too much to expect these people to stand by their words or show any kind of conviction whatsoever.
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Just read their backpeddling. What hornswoggle. Galina wasn’t even aware of their attack piece on her until after she posted this. The reason she linked to fiadhta is twofold: 1) that was the link a friend sent her and 2) the OP had deleted their post so it wasn’t possible to link directly to that. fiadhta had quoted substantial portions of it, so that’s what got linked. fiadhta is not the person being called out, it’s the author of the piece. However, since fiadhta did repost it, with favorable commentary, they can either fully renounce the hateful rhetoric contained in it or be damned through association. The reason Galina didn’t go after the other post fiadhta made is because it wasn’t deserving of a response. Who cares what some attention-starved child on Tumblr says unless they’re advocating violence, threats, stalking, harassment and other forms of intimidation as this person is by reblogging such content?
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As for why I’m hitting this – beyond the obvious fact that such ideas create toxic communities – is that HUAR, at the instigation of Rhyd, put a target on my wife by accusing her of racism for posting a video critical of Muslim rape-gangs. They had no other proof of her alleged -isms, but that would be enough for some deranged lunatic who agrees with the views espoused in that article to feel warranted in going after her. And I’m not talking about writing some snotty post on the internet – these people are advocating taking up arms and beating people up for holding views contrary to their own. Racism is a real thing and deserves to be called out, but when you muddy the waters so much that any opinion you don’t share can be deemed “racist” or “sexist” that creates a situation that threatens all of us.
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What I found interesting is the mental gymnastics used for the blogger to be the victim of the evil Galina. If I wrote that stuff, I would either stand by it or apologise for my mistake.
Don’t people ever say mea culpa any more? Why is it always someone else’s fault. I noticed that when you confront the left folks on their rhetoric, that it is your fault. You are the evil bully.
Do people ever have discussions any more? Or are we all shouting past each other?
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I know! Galina didn’t force them to reblog that post and add their own commentary – all she did was post a link and encourage folks to speak up if this was something that bothered them. Hell, she didn’t even say that this was something that one had to object to – just that if they did, they shouldn’t give it a pass.
Either stand by your words or don’t post them. Or if you have a brainfart and say something stupid, apologize for it. I’ve done that plenty of times and will probably do it plenty of times more in the future. That’s called owning your shit, which is a prerequisite of being a properly functioning adult.
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I agree there is an agenda painting Galina as the vile evil to be destroyed. As I said about Desh using poor shlubs to blow themselves up, to continue achieving their end, one has to look to see the people running things behind-the-scenes. What is their skin in the game. To be a successful martyr without having to do the hard part? Why Galina, who is low hanging fruit? Why not go after harder targets?
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Oh, they will. They’re just gearing up for it. Look at the response they got going after Galina and then the AFA, both of whom are controversial for different – and ironically contradictory – reasons. They were testing the community’s response, and since they got exactly what they wanted it’s emboldened them. I’ll bet you dollars to donuts we’ll see them calling out a bunch more groups over the next couple months, with equally vague and implausible accusations. Hell, we should start a pool on who their targets will be.
Personally, I’m a little offended that no one has called me out. What, am I not good enough, important enough, or critical of them enough to warrant it? I just feel *sniff sniff* slighted, ya know?
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From the list : 1-3 and part of 9 are the standard Tumblr Progressive tactics used frequently. There are entire blogs dedicated to gathering information and harassing people at their workplace, harassing their employers to fire the person. And when these tactics succeed, celebrations are had.
The tactics may reek of G&R, but much of this comes from a place of genuine hatred masked as “fighting the good fight” on behalf of others. All the while those they claim to be helping are shoved aside. This mentality is pure ego manifesting as progressive ideals for all. Anything that dares challenge that ego is immediately labeled as an enemy to progress for all.
Much of this behavior is further reinforced by the celebratory aspect in the echo chambers that are created. Those who often take part in these methods and behaviors have no true remorse or regret for their actions until they are forced to face real world consequences for their actions.
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Yeah, I don’t think the OP is a blogger at G&R (though considering who they have writing for them, it’s not like they care a great deal about quality control – hell, when Rhyd first launched it he even asked me to write for them!) nor even necessarily a frequent commenter. I do strongly suspect they are a reader and influenced by the site’s rhetoric considering the notes they strike. However, I will concede that this is common practice on Tumblr, which is why so many people liked and reblogged it. Hell, it’s even possible they’ve never read G&R and just arrived at the same bad ideas independently. I don’t think it’s very likely, but it’s certainly within the realm of possibility.
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Go armed, wherever you go, for those that are able to do so. Those that aren’t able to do so, be with those that can as much as is possible. The world has always been an interesting place but things in the United States of America are on a steady downhill grind. I fully expect to see people implementing the ideas in this ‘to do’ list with the utmost viciousness more and more often as time passes…but then I’m sort of cynical.
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in response to this disgusting tumblr post…I know it will be stating the obvious but I will stand up and say the dirty word. *ahem*
This, ladies and gentlemen….is Domestic Terrorism!
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Yes. yes it is.
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That you would either stand by it or apologize, Virginia, is a mark of your character, as in having character and that’s a good thing.
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Up until this point I had never been given diarrhea simply by reading something awful. It isn’t an experience I wish to repeat.
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