Fimfiction Bug · 2:48am Mar 30th, 2021
I'm still alive. I'm just very, very tired. Having a disease like ME/CFS is not much fun.
Teaching is very difficult with my disabilities, even with a reduced load. I'm pretty sure I'll make it through this semester, but I'm not sure what I'm going to do to manage this in the future. I have Summer off. I'll need time to think. I don't have that time right now.
I didn't post this as an update, though. After some people commented on one of my stories, I noticed there's a significant flaw in how Fimfiction is justifying text, and it's in multiple stories. For some reason, it treats many italicized words as though they are followed by a soft break. I don't understand why. I've tried retyping the words and it changes nothing. I'm only using ASCII characters.
For a very obvious example of the bug, go to this chapter and search the page for the phrase "his name". If you don't see what I mean, then this may be a browser or font issue.
It doesn't show up in text previews, either. It only shows up in the actual story. Note that I'm using sans-serif font to view stories, so it's Open Sans via a network resource. You might want to switch to sans serif in Fimfiction's options, then check to see if you're seeing the same font. (In Chrome: highlight text, right click, select "Inspect", click on the "Computed" tab in the right pane, scroll to the bottom. That will show you what the actual font is.)
This is an issue in my stories and I presume may affect other authors as well (or other readers), so any help would be appreciated. Thanks.
oh also Arkansas just passed a law banning medical care for trans children in opposition to AMA guidelines which is technically genocide so yeah that happened
Glad you're somewhat well.
media.tenor.com/images/82354152b45f4c230eb4664c50579c92/tenor.gif
5485890
Oops, I think it was Arkansas actually.
That makes a huge difference no wait I still can't tell idiot states that begin with A apart I'm sorry
Arm trans people and put transphobes in reeducation camps
Non-justified, sans serif font, that phrase and all the italics in that chapter (I glanced at several examples) all look fine to me. Prior to that I had it set to justified with whatever the default font is and it looked okay that way too.
Edit: fwiw, I'm in Chrome.
I hope you hold up okay until summer break.
I'm using FireFox and have no such issue. Using Open Sans as well. Maybe Chrome's just a piece of shit? idk lol
Also, that bill in Arkansas and South Dakota only prohibits giving hormones and gender reassignment surgery to kids, not a blanket denial of all medical services.
Sorry you're still feeling tired and ill, Trixie. I'll increase the positive thoughts and send hugs!
Alabama is working in the same type of bill, btw. I just can't understand people in this part of the country... I thought we were all supposed to help one another. Hopefully, that law will be repealed.
Good luck with your health and job; I'm afraid I don't have any specific advice to offer, but I do hope that things go well for you.
As for the bug, though, hm. I don't seem to be seeing it. FIMFiction, at least, tells me I'm also using Open Sans, and while I'm not using Chrome, I think I found the right place in the inspector for the font and found there also "Open Sans". Assuming I'm not just not recognizing an error that is on my screen, I don't recall encountering something fitting your description elsewhere on the site recently either.
Good luck with sorting this out, too; I'm afraid I also don't know what might be going on here, though.
I don’t see any bug on Safari either. Might be a browser glitch. Could happen.
Trick you have all my sympathies. I hope your condition gets better very soon. You’ll make it!
Big hugs 💟
Glad to hear you're sorta vaguely okayish. Hope things improve for you soon.
Glad to hear from you, though I'm sorry to hear about the ongoing difficulties. Can't replicate the bug, but that's not the important part. Here's hoping things get easier to manage down the line.
Yeah, that's been going on for quite a while as a matter of fact. Italics are definitely involved, though I've also seen the line breaks just come randomly, too. You can watch them break in real time if you open up the formatting dialog and change the page width!
Here's hoping the summer helps you figure things out. :C
5485909
That's not an entirely accurate portrayal (edit: I mean the first part of your response might be slightly misleading about what is being banned). Hormone blockers are what is being targeted. They delay puberty so kids who are trans have time to go through therapy to decide what's right for them (because it takes time to know if they really do want to transition), and it's a measure supported by the medical community and backed by research.
Forcing children to go through puberty into a gender they do not feel connected to leads to poor outcomes and increased risk of suicide, but scaring people by suggesting doctors are experimenting on children is a great political weapon.
Seriously, I trust doctors over legislators. Elected officials with no medical background should not be trying to control medical best practices, period, end of sentence.
5485990
Is this something that could or should be reported to Xaquseg? I guess it's worth a shot. I'll send them a note.
5485908
There's no way throwing soft breaks into BBCode is a Chrome issue. This seems likely to be Fimfiction rendering BBCode weirdly, in all likelihood.
Chrome's pretty awesome, though it hurts my furry cred to not use a fox-based browser.
5485908
I actually don't have Open Sans installed on my machine, by the way. I'm using it through the network resource. Google's font resource is pretty popular now. It kind of make sense that fonts should be clouded, tbh.
5485894
I like you because you mean well. No reeducation camps, though. Education needs to come slowly and by outreach, not force.
5485909
Oops, I may have misread this. Yes, I know it isn't denying general services to children based on whether or not they're trans, it's specifically about medical services related to being trans.
I should probably be more explicit when complaining because I realize people tend to exaggerate (and not fact-check) when something matches what they want to believe, and that's on me. It was just an angry gripe, though. I was having a bad day. Most days are like that now.
5486054
I mean it’s that or just execute them but I like to give people the chance to change for the better.
5486122
To this day I remain convinced you're an ultraconservative fascist who pretends to be liberal.
I don't see the text-bug. MS Edge.
TL;DR.
I got carried away reading an article about the Arkansas law; I find the subject of transgender-ism to be very interesting.
MSN article:
(Schmidt, 2021)
First link: (Rafferty, et al, 2018.)
(Rafferty, et al, 2018.)
Second link: (Hembree, W., et al, 2017.)
(Hembree, W., et al, 2017.)
The first source has issues as to whether it is or isn't relevant; I think it should've been excluded for the article.
The second source refers to a minimum age of approximately 14 for treatment prior to 16 years of age.
The second source explicitly advices against treatments for children approximately 13 and under.
I'm a little bit surprised that the journo acknowledged those, and more.
(Schmidt, 2021)
(Schmidt, 2021)
I feel Schmidt slightly misrepresented the source.
Schmidt kept writing about children and didn't appear to clarify that the research was extrapolated from adults.
The problem being written in the first highlight of the second quote (above).
Third source: Turban, et al. (2020).
Turban, et al. (2020).
(Schmidt, 2021)
I'm ignoring both source links here because one is a self-serving news bulletin (Washington Post) and the other is a self-serving organization (US Trans Survey).
I don't take those as reliable sources.
The effect of the law is to block people under 18 years of age from accessing Puberty Blockers, Hormone Treatments, and Sex-Reassignment Surgeries.
As quoted above, guidelines already discourage any treatment for people under 14 years of age.
The guidelines already discourage any treatment beyond Puberty Blockers for people under 16 years of age.
So what we have under the guidelines as described by source (Hembree, W., et al, 2017.):
<=13 :: No Option
14-15 :: Puberty Blockers
16-17 :: Puberty Blockers and Hormone Treatments
18+ :: Hormone Treatments and Sex-Reassignment Surgeries
So what we have under Arkansas Save Adolescents from Experimentation (SAFE) Act as described by Schmidt:
<=13 :: No Option
14-15 :: No Option
16-17 :: No Option
18+ :: Puberty Blockers, Hormone Treatments and Sex-Reassignment Surgeries
My personal opinion: Under the Arkansas Save Adolescents from Experimentation (SAFE) Act Puberty Blockers become redundant, Hormone Treatment begins late into puberty, and Sex-Reassignment Surgeries for females becomes more expensive due to the removal of breasts.
Okay, so what's in the proposal? HB1570 lists a bunch of health complications regarding the existing treatments, followed by:
The above sounds a little bit like eugenics, because it is the only exception to the prohibition.
The vast majority of concerns appear to revolve around the irreversible surgeries.
They described that despite guidelines advising against such actions, there is an increase in the frequency of referrals for children to undergo surgeries.
Note that they refer to "nongenital gender reassignment surgeries" which refers to Puberty Blockers and Hormone Treatment.
They've written into the bill a definition for "Gender transition procedures" which includes Puberty Blockers, Hormone Treatment, and Sex-Reassignment Surgeries.
What they've done is define-away the problem by categorizing chemical treatments as surgeries.
References
HB1570 as engrossed on 03-08-2021 11:23:12 (state.ar.us)
Hembree, W., et al. (2017, September 13). Endocrine Treatment of Gender-Dysphoric/Gender-Incongruent Persons: An Endocrine Society* Clinical Practice Guideline. Retrieved March 30, 2021, from https://academic.oup.com/jcem/article/102/11/3869/4157558.
Rafferty, J., et al. (2018, October). Ensuring Comprehensive Care and Support for Transgender and Gender-Diverse Children and Adolescents. Retrieved March 30, 2021, from https://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/142/4/e20182162.
Schmidt, S. (2021, March 29). Arkansas passes bill restricting access to medical treatments for transgender children. Retrieved March 30, 2021, from https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/arkansas-passes-bill-restricting-access-to-medical-treatments-for-transgender-children/ar-BB1f68qU.
Turban, J., et al. (2020, February). Pubertal Suppression for Transgender Youth and Risk of Suicidal Ideation. Pediatrics. Retrieved March 30, 2021, from https://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/145/2/e20191725.
5486209
I appreciate the references. I'll have to pore over them, though I should mention it's pretty easy to find individual studies that make claims to the contrary of the prevailing opinion (especially in Britain, which has a culture that has been full of terfs given the extreme nature of their feminist dogma—but I'm not assuming this is the case here).
The banning of surgeries is kind of a red herring because gender confirmation surgery is already not permissible for children or supported by the medical community. It's kind of like making a bill against affirmative action in hiring practices, but mentioning quotas in it repeatedly, when quotas are already illegal. The thing they're focusing on is something that doesn't even apply, because they're trying to inflame public opinion and spread misinformation about medical practice.
5486222
Hm? I didn't write a response to the article. I didn't provide references from my own research to combat the opinion of the journalist.
The references are the linked sources used by the journalist who wrote that article for MSN. I just quoted the apparent source of information for each claim the journo made. I was originally looking for anything that would indicate a manipulation or misrepresentation of the research, but I couldn't find any.
Sorry if it seemed like I was making a retort to the article.
5486233
I wasn't trying to imply that, because I haven't had time to look through any of it yet. I was just letting you know this is a topic of some controversy where fringe opinions frequently try to make it appear as though they're mainstream, there are organizations that use similar names to sound like professional organizations they're mimicking, and sometimes an organization's public opinion changes over the course of just a few years.
5486192
You think I’m a psy-op?
5486192
The banners and slogans are entirely different.
5486055 It's a touchy subject by any measure.