Microstory 544: Attack on Asexual Headquarters; Amadesins Take Credit

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Few things in this world are more complicated than the religious order for Amadesis. This religion is so old that historians are not in agreement as to how it even began. Head Professor of Religious Studies at Langford University in Alberta, Nessa Shannon had this to say about it in her most recent novel: “Amadesis is not a set of ideals. It is not a cult, yet it is not a true religion. It is a vague affiliation of nonconformists whose only commonality is that they hate everyone else. It is an infection; one that can contaminate only individuals born into it, or those otherwise conditioned to believe that they are powerless to stop it.” She goes on to say that Amadesis would not function in a world without opposing systems. It thrives not only on the friction it causes against the outside world, but amongst its own sister sects. Basically the idea is that if everyone believed what any one sect believed, it would fall apart, because there would be no one left for them to fight. And so all sects of Amadesis fight each other, each one hoping to gain dominance over the others, and possibly later over the world. This is happening constantly. The duration of any one sect’s hold on power varies from a couple weeks to several decades.

Few things in this world are more complicated than sexuality. It is common knowledge that sexuality is fluid, and that no two individuals are truly alike. We all have our different tastes; be that as noticeable as a partner’s apparent sex, or as minor as eye color. Preference cannot be quantified, or categorized. Early psychologists attempted to place individuals on some sort of sexual spectrum, but this proved to be difficult. There was no way to account for seemingly inconsequential priorities. Famous author, Collin Angler was once quoted as saying, “I’m very picky when it comes to the men I’m attracted to. Medium build, no body hair, clear skin. I’m not as picky when it comes to women. I have no interest in forming deep bonds with men, and I’m less interested in sexual relationships with women. Where on the spectrum do I fall? Labeling me as bisexual does me no justice.” Still, words are a necessary product of communication. We use words to convey ideas, because demonstrating an idea using abstract wordless concepts is logistically impractical for everyday life. So we do the best we can to come up with the most useful words possible. One of these words is asexual.

Asexuals are defined as individuals who possess little to no sexual drive. As you can see by this definition, it typifies a wide array of conflicting personalities, and to understand any one person who identifies as asexual, one would need information beyond this one word. Despite this, an institution exists in order to positively promote the asexual paradigm as a whole. The Asexual Awareness Project is a relatively new organization led by similar people who wish to be heard. Historically, asexuals have had little voice in their community. They are easily dismissed as apathetic, self-involved, or even sociopathic. Unfortunately, the sad truth is that the only thing Amadesins and everyone else can agree on is that they dislike asexuality. Most people have reported feeling no hatred towards asexuals, but they do test at a significant level of ignorance. It is Amadesis who can be violent about it.

Yesterday, the AAP headquarters was attacked. Authorities are still investigating, and details are scarce. But we do know that a series of bombs were placed at strategic locations of the building. The explosion of one bomb would send workers, volunteers, sanctuary-seekers, family members, and visitors towards a second bomb. Once that next bomb went off, they would try to escape again, only to be met with yet another. Two deaths have been reported, with dozens of others injured. As mentioned before, only one sect of Amadesis is in power at any one time, but this changes hands frequently. There are certain sects, however, that remain on the fringe, even from the perspective of other Amadesins. A sect will tend to focus on one particular issue, and the Order of Girard has evidently chosen asexuality as its primary target. They have not yet issued a complete statement, but have taken credit for the attack, claiming that “[they did] not intend to permanently harm anyone in the building, but instead wanted to point out society’s preexisting indifference to the asexual’s ‘plight’ [sic].” Political experts believe this to mean that the outrage found from other terrorist attacks—such as the Spiralshell City Massacre, or the very recent Kalian Train Derailment—will always be considered by the public to be more tragic than one against asexuals. Only time will tell if they are right. Investigators have yet to confirm any members of the Order of Girard as suspects.

Microstory 351: Tolerance

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Self-expression

Tolerance is the first step for this week, but it is not the last. In fact, if you get stuck on this step, then I can’t be sure it was worth all the trouble we went through trying to get you that far. Tolerance is understanding that there’s something in the world that you cannot change. You don’t accept it, and you certainly don’t like it, but you have finally given up fighting it. Congratulations, you’re on your way, but you’re not done yet. You might feel like you’re being tolerant, but if you keep complaining about it, then that’s not really what’s happening. I’ve heard people say that they’re all right with gay people “as long as [they] don’t have to hear about. Really? Really? How often are you hearing about it. Where are you going that your ears are being filled with detailed descriptions of gay sex acts? You’re probably not actually hearing about it, and that’s just a poor excuse for you to retain your ignorant hate. But you know what I hear a lot? Heterosexual stories. Rape jokes. General NSFW comments. I bet you would be pretty upset if I told you it was okay for you to be straight as long as you kept it to yourself, and that it was “your business”. In fact, I would go so far as to say you’d be enraged over it. That’s because we live in a world where you’re born straight, and of a gender matching your visible genitals, until proven otherwise. And maybe not even then. That’s pretty frustrating, but I’m getting a bit ahead of myself, because we are now talking only about tolerance. In this post, and in others, I have really driven home this idea of rights for those who do not identify as heterosexual. That seems to be my main issue, but it’s not the only one. There are plenty of other problems in the world, but everybody already knows they’re not supposed to be racist, for instance. They’ve reached tolerance on that issue, so I won’t be speaking on it until later.

Acceptance

Microstory 350: Self-expression

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Self-confidence

I’m not done with the topic of self-expression. I touched on it with the one about sexuality, and I’ll branch out more over the next few entries, and beyond. I feel the need to reiterate that self-expression does not give you the right to express your beliefs if those beliefs are ridiculous. I hate that false maxim of everyone is entitled to their opinion. The truth is that you’re not. Sure, there are different perspectives, and others need to take yours into account, but it’s very possible to be wrong about something. If you’re wrong, you have a responsibility to change. Of course, that presents a bit of a problem, because how will you ever know that you’re wrong? Just because a great number of people are against you doesn’t mean you’re wrong. I believe that people should partake in no recreational drug of any kind, including alcohol. Millions of people disagree, but that doesn’t make my position any less 100% correct. So what can you do? Research. And live. Go out and experience things; learn from others, and even read studies. People have taught you to question other people’s claims, but you should also be questioning your own ideas. You have a right to be who you are, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t change, grow, learn, or own up to your mistakes. I can’t remember if it was on this site, but I’ve told a story before about how I long ago didn’t understand transgendered people. I thought that being of one gender with the appearance of another was their identity, and that they shouldn’t change their bodies. I was wrong, and even though I was just a kid at the time, I’m ashamed for having let myself be so uninformed. This all sounds like a grand tangent from what this entry is supposed to be about, but it isn’t really. You already get that you’re supposed “be yourself” so the only way for me to elaborate on that is to make sure you also understand that being yourself doesn’t mean being stubborn, ignorant, or afraid to evolve.

Tolerance

Microstory 347: Freedom from Persecution

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Weight Control

Wow, that is a really ominous title, isn’t it? Freedom from Persecution. Sounds like something a former NSA analyst would shout after committing treason by leaking dangerous state secrets to the public. Yesterday, from the time of writing this, I had a haircut. The woman started talking about this girl she saw with a buzzcut like mine, dyed hair, and tattoos. She seemed to be against this until she got the impression that I wasn’t quite so judgmental, and her perspective seemed to change. We’ve all been hearing lately about people coming out publically as “different”. Transgender, intersex, non-binary sexuality are but a few examples. Some people think they’re showing courage, while others find such things to be disgusting. I would like to live in a world where no one has to announce who they are, because they don’t owe anybody anything. You shouldn’t have to reveal that, though you were born with girl parts, you’re actually a boy. You shouldn’t have to explain that you don’t see yourself as having one of two genders, or any traditional gender, or any gender at all. You should only discuss who you are with others if they’re genuinely interested in getting to know you, and if you’re comfortable with talking about it. Either way, you should be able to live your truth without worrying about people making judgment calls about you that have no basis, and serve no purpose. You shouldn’t have to disprove stereotypes, or defend lifestyle choices that don’t harm others, or go over how simple physics and biology work (i.e. that a person’s sexuality cannot be transmitted to someone else). Freedom to be yourself does not allow you to do absolutely whatever you want. You are still subject to boundaries designed to protect everyone’s safety and right to be themselves. If you are doing something immoral; if you are raping people, or killing them, or abusing animals, then you definitely need to change. But if who you are isn’t hurting anyone, then honestly, people who don’t like it just need to shut the fuck up.

Physical Independence

Microstory 288: Perspective Sixty-Three

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Perspective Sixty-Two

Even with this “love is love” campaign, and others like it, people like me and my family have trouble with public perceptions. Sure, things are better than they used to be, and I have to believe that, but we still have a ways to go. It would seem as though society is finally all right with two people of the same sex being with each other. You still have your holdouts—backwards hicks and smarmy politicians (i.e. people whose opinions don’t matter)—but for the most part, we’re moving not only past hatred, but past tolerance, and into acceptance. It is believed by many that acceptance of transgendered people is our last hurdle, but it’s only the most obvious one. In fact, the world’s increasing appreciation of sexuality is about recognizing the differences in who people are at their core, but says little about practice. As an example, lots of people are all right with gay people, as long as they don’t have to hear the specifics. The question of group marriage or polyamory, however, involves how people behave in their daily lives. Gay people are gay because that’s who they are, but polyamorous people are strange because of what they do, and how they act. But we are not so different from you, as a well-adjusted person would be able to see. Most people will not understand this word upon hearing it, but upon learning its definition, will make snap judgments about the family. We are assumed to be wandering sex-obsessed indecisive deviants. The words I hear most often are “hippie” and “tree-hugger”. Much like bisexuals, the assumption is that we simply cannot decide who to love, and so we just take what we have at the moment, comforted in the fact that the relationships do not have to last forever.

I would like to clear up a few misconceptions. We are not polygamists. Polygamy has a deep history of imbalance, rape, and a sort of numbers game. It is so much a male-centric concept that polygamist relationships with one woman and multiple men uses a completely different word, and is considered even weirder than the normal kind. Certain mormon sects practice a form of polygamy where underaged girls are forced into marriages because they’re raised to believe that this is their duty in life. And when they consummate these marriages with their “husbands” it’s called rape, because it is not consensual. It can’t be, because they’re only married because they’re told they have to be, and to this specific man. You can call it sex-slavery, if you prefer that term instead. And it’s a numbers game because a higher number of wives indicates notoriety and respect. Polyamory, on the other hand, is a form of relationship based on love, mutual expression, consent, and everything else that composes any other kind of relationship. My husbands and wives are all in this together. For us, there is no “primary relationship”. We are all bisexual, and we are each in love with all the others. No two of us are legally married to each other, because we believe that this would distort the group dynamic. We have sex as a whole, in smaller groups, and as couples. Our family is particularly large, I admit, but the standard criteria stipulates only a minimum of three people. We want to be heard and accepted, just like anyone else, but we understand that other changes need to take place before these things will be put forth in legislation, or even the media. And so we patiently wait our turn.

Perspective Sixty-Four

Microstory 122: Francis Deering

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One major restriction in the evil religion of Amadesis is sexuality. In the early days of development, humans pursued homosexual relationships at a relatively mild rate. The biological imperative to propagate the species was too strong and important in those times. But as the population settled into a nice pattern, adoption and surrogacy became technologically feasible, and happiness began to supersede biology, people felt comfortable with forming long-lasting relationships with members of their own sex. Bisexuality was generally assumed about a person unless they actively identified themselves as monosexual, or something else. As a byproduct of this gradual paradigm shift that they detested, a small cult that had once exiled themselves to the deserts of western North America found ways of increasing their numbers to excruciating proportions. They recruited those tested to be susceptible to suggestion, and in need of something to follow blindly. They stalked and harassed their family members, keeping records of their lives that were so detailed, it forced them to join as well. They manipulated their own laws so that they would allow both polygamy and child rape, extending a member’s ability to conceive for them new members; ones that could be emotionally molded to their liking.

Their obsession with increasing the population was so radical and destructive that their number one rule was heterosexuality, not only in practice, but in true feelings. Bisexuals, monosexual homosexuals, and the worst in their eyes, the asexuals, were considered counterproductive to society. Amadesins worked hard creating entirely unscientific instruments designed to measure a person’s sexuality, and using the utterly falsified data to remove unwanted properties from the subjects. The money that they charged for these review sessions funded further evil endeavors. The only thing that protected people from Amadesin wrath was the law, and the fact that such beliefs, even at a low degree, were practically nonexistent amongst non-members. Therapist Francis Deering was an incredibly special individual from the nation of Texas, and the face of the necessarily growing active anti-Amadesin movement. She primarily identified as female, but was capable of physically reassigning her own gender at will. Her biology was studied and used to perfect gender reassignment for anyone who needed it. It was for this reason that she was absolutely the most in danger from Amadesins, and had to be protected.

Microstory 61: Grace

In the universe of my canonical stories, most people identify as bisexual. The number of true monosexuals is to a very low extreme. And I say true monosexuals, because there is a not insignificant number of people belonging to a religious order called the Amadesins who all claim that sexuality is a choice, and that they all choose to be heterosexual. Amadesis is an amalgamation of Mormonism and Scientology, but also exhibits the absolute worst aspects of any and all other religions. The rest of society recognizes the difference between love, sex, and procreation. They understand that you can have one without the other two. With modern technology, even procreation is now possible without sex. Back in the day, homosexual relationships were slightly discouraged, but only to foster the increase in population. This led to a few still-standing traditions, along with the misguided Amadesin movement. In an opposite-sex relationship, the resulting child will usually inherit the surname of the father. This is because of earlier theories that children received more than half of their DNA from their mothers. The father being able to pass down his name was symbolic way of balancing out the contribution, and the practice remains to day for simplicity, and to have some kind of standard. Similarly, in the case of same-sex relationships, one caregiving parent will also be a genetic parent, while the other caregiver is not. The child will usually use the name of the non-genetic parent.

Because of the prevalence of bisexuality, the words boyfriend and girlfriend do not exist. Besides sounding juvenile and unsophisticated, it would never occur to society to use such gender-specific terms. Instead, they use gracer and gracie. These are technically opposites of each other, but are used interchangeably, and respectively mean “one who favors” and “one who is favored”. It’s possible to refer to someone who either favors you, or you favor, but with unreciprocated feelings (i.e. crushes). Clarifying language will be used for these situations. There is another reason for using these terms instead of limiting words like partner, companion, or significant other. They perceive romantic relationships to reside on the same spectrum as friendships; only to a higher degree. Even though emphasis was placed on population sustainability millennia ago, pairings solely for the purpose of propagating the species were never part of common practice. A marriage of two people who were not friends would have always been seen as strange. Arranged marriages did exist in some cultures, specifically Amadesis, but it was pretty taboo.