Previous: A Sojourn to Rationalism La-la-land
Up to now, Ziz has never protested her treatment at the loathsome hands of the Rationalists. She has been scared off by the thought of them perceiving her as a "gaslighting" "SJW".
Up to now, Ziz has figured that she will be "different than the stereotypes of trans people":
traumatized, paranoid, unable to brush off people being idiots.
…Up to now, our resilient Ziz "did not yet have this deep well of vitriol and trauma [herself]":
Or understand how hard it is to brush it off when it's almost everyone you know even if they did not seem malevolent at first, there's no safe support network to retreat to.
…She has, up to now, reminded herself not to take the blitherings of the Rationalist clowns who surround her "personally". She has, w/ a civility that astounds us, approached their blitherings like: "A rationalist conversation. To be answered with friendly lighthearted logical quips"— "rather than as propaganda politically opposed to [her] existence."
She has, by way of describing their conduct, linked on her blog to the TV Tropes page for "Noble Bigot". She has not— as she will later say w/ regret— done "the sane thing and flee".
To the contrary, she has worked herself to the bone trying to "educate" these clowns, has even felt a "parental" sense of obligation towards them: "like, wasn't it lucky they had run into me, a trans woman who could speculate [rationally] about science" in the face of unceasing abuse.
But Anna's blitherings *&* exclusion *&* anti-rationality are the last straw(s). Ziz must take action. She sits herself down, & she… writes an email.
***
Ziz’s email, unbeknownst to her, will have big implications. Not only will it, within the year, be cited by Anna as one of many reasons to expell Ziz from the Bay Area Rationalist community; it* will, in 2025, once news of Ziz’s “death cult” breaks, be cited by the press ad nauseam to paint a picture of Ziz as a uniquely menacing individual.
*Or, rather, Anna’s stated *reaction* to this email will be cited. Why the email itself will *not* be cited may soon become clear to readers.
Anna will, within the year, report to her many online allies (OAs) that her response to Ziz’s email was one of “extreme fear”. She will describe being "viscerally afraid/paralyzed and [unable] to think clearly about all of this"— for months. She will ask these OAs to weigh in on whether this email— which she describes as “angry/ranting”— "can reasonably be expected to induce fear for physical safety".
So what? What are the stakes in this rather obscure org drama?
The stakes are... not small:
1. Anna's "extreme fear" at this email will— as mentioned— be used to justify expelling Ziz from the Bay Area Rationalist community.
2. It will— as mentioned— be cited by the press ad nauseam to paint a picture of Ziz as a uniquely menacing individual.
3. Moreover: if Ziz’s email does *not* warrant “extreme fear”, we may make an assumption. We may assume that Anna, by & large, has not been reacting to Ziz-the-person, but has instead been reacting to an esp. wily monster of the mind, which we will henceforth refer to as the SOTTV: the specter of the ~traaans villain~.
*****
Next:
If you would like to get on w/ the story: You've got Zail (Ziz Mail)
If you would like a description of the specter of the ~traaans villain~: The Specter of the ~Traaans Villain~