#(obvious to observation bias)

[spectralan0maly]

what the fuck is with the white liberal phenomenon of like 'I'm Not Racist, which means that when I see a minority person and make an assumption rooted in stereotype, its because the stereotype is true and my brain is very smart making these connections. :)"

[beefcake007]

I’m still mad about something that happened on tiktok last week and I want to do a post about it and explain an aspect of transphobia I’ve observed.

A cis user made a video asking that trans people share more banger music that they make, but clarified saying “by trans people, I mean trans women” because trans men only make that “sad ukulele” music. There was much discourse, he doubled down and said trans men couldn’t take a joke, other trans people threw the offended transmascs under the bus, or insisted that they can also make club music, yada yada.

I want to know if the queers who haven’t been queer as long as I have know that this exact drama was had with gays and lesbians. Do you know that some transphobia is repackaged homophobia and lesbophobia? I feel like that’s something we should be allowed to say and examine without someone shutting you down and insisting you’re conflating the gays and transes.

But yeah, for decades the joke has been that gay men are the fun flamboyant ones that make good art and dance music, and that lesbians are angry and dress ugly and make sad folk music. It’s pretty much an identical bias and resulting disrespectful jokes.

And it’s shit! I’m not going to let anyone, let alone a cis person, get away with transphobia just because it’s directed at trans men. It’s rude and harmful to devalue our art, and our art doesn’t need to be easily consumable to you. We’re allowed to be pissed and offended when you write us off, minimize the harm you’ve done, and exclude us from the conversation. It’s obvious when you only tolerate the queers who can serve you, and that you don’t actually care to listen or learn about our lives, struggles, and art.

[caramelheaven]

When Karasu Tabito first confessed to you and wished to become your boyfriend, you were stunned. You didn’t believe him, thinking it was just one of his ploys to catch you off guard so he could make fun of you with his usual sharp-tongue.

So when you rejected him to protect your fragile heart, you didn’t expect to feel your very own heart hurting at the sight of him.

He looked so devastated at the rejection.

But Karasu was never one to back down from someone who interested him.

“But why?”, he asked in a neutral tone to hide the hurt in his voice. You blinked at the question. You expected him to throw a comment at you. Or start laughing for believing his obvious lie which didn’t feel like a lie anymore.

“Well…you’re so…”

You struggled to find the right words because in hindsight, Karasu was a green flag. The definition of a good guy that parents would approve of. Despite his sharp tongue and tendency too look down on people who he deemed as mediocre, he was not a bad person at heart. He was always genuine and hardworking to improve in the areas that he was lacking. He had obvious fears that he admits and you were certain that his sister was a big influence on shaping him to be a man most people would dream about settling down with.

Or it was just your obvious bias towards him.

“…you mean it?”, you finally said after forcing him in an uncomfortable silence.

“Huh?”

“Your confession…you mean it?”

Karasu blinked at your words. He had always been so observant so he should see the uncertainty in your eyes, right? He took a deep breath. His expression was serious.

“I mean it with my entire heart. Can I be your boyfriend? Please?”

You gulped before looking at him.

“Then I accept your feelings. Let’s start a relationship.”

You didn’t expect to feel so…relieved from your own words. So did Karasu. He smiled at you. So tenderly. Now that you thought about it, you thought you had seen him smile at you like that when you were proudly showing off that you scored higher than him on the last pop quiz.

He offered you his hand to hold which you hesitantly accepted. Once you had a feel for it, you tightened your grip which made him chuckle.

“You know where we are headed?”

“To your football practice, right?”

“And you are actually going to watch me this time? Not sitting there and reviewing your notes?”

“I looked at you from time to time.”

“Well, now I want your full attention.”

“…alright.”

[bonefall]

As someone with P-DID(Partial DID. I still have headmates but I can't really hand the body over to them) I am so fucking concerned about Moonpaw. I don't like the idea that she has DID because she's a chimera, that's not how it works, and I don't like the idea of them demonizing chimeras(I am not one myself though I just think we should all dislike that)

But I'm also super concerned because people aren't acknowledging how ableist this is. The voice is stated in the blurb to be sinister and people are ignoring that. I even saw someone say "It's not plurality it's a SPIRITUAL thing" and like. That's not any better. You know that's not better right? It still promotes the idea that hearing voices is always Bad and chimeras murder their siblings.

Idk I'm just super worried.

It's difficult to get through to certain folks on "Why This Is Bad" because most people don't have an understanding of non-overt bigotry.

Guy calling you a slur on the bus? That is overt. It's obvious. It makes "sense" to an observer that he is threatening you, by calling you to attention, trying to provoke a reaction. It's less overt when, say, you're stimming on the bus and that same guy starts huffing and growling in discomfort, but they can still follow the logic that Bus Guy's behavior towards you is altered based on his prejudice.

But they'll have a hard time making that final leap-- that Bus Guy's idea of your disorder is tied to something harmful.

My stims tend to be facial (blinking rapidly, scrunching face, shaking head, etc), but even without the classic "hand flapping," Bus Guy will tie these traits to unpredictability, "weirdness," or stupidity. If we weren't just on the bus and this man had power over me in some way, like if he was my teacher, or boss, or even a coworker, his assumptions about me would influence my life negatively.

Then, of course, multiply Bus Guy by the entire bus full of people and their social biases, and this is how systemic problems are perpetuated without a single person exercising overt bigotry.

THAT is why "Sinister Voice In Head" is a harmful stereotype. In Bus Guy's mind, a link is being formed; Voices = Make You Bad.

Just like how it doesn't actually matter if the "stupid character" is stimming because they're autistic or not, it's still reinforcing that bias. "Spiritual Thing" or not, she is being negatively influenced by Evil Sinister Voice.

Worse; there's barely any counter examples-- no humanizing portrayals of how stimming can help you focus, no discussion of real problems some stimming can cause (skin picking can be really destructive for example), no honest stories of what living with a difficult headmate truly feels like, etc.

...Digressing. My hand on your shoulder, Nonnie. It's gonna be ok.

Even if it is WORST case scenario, total catastrophe... this isn't the first or last time that headmates are handled badly in media. Remember; cultural bias is ingrained in people the same way that canyons are carved. Slowly, steadily, over many examples and many years, lapping away at rock that is already wet.

One more bad example is just another drop in that wave. It will not bring the wall down. It's worth concern! It's worrying, I know! We can do something about it.

[naneun-no]

On “Insecure Jikookers”…

Alright. I might lose followers for this and that’s very okay; curate your timeline and protect your peace babes. But for YEARS, every time the phrase “insecure jikooker” has come up on my feed my eyelid has done a little twitchy twitch 🤨🤨

And I have always ignored it, because I’ve never wanted to be out here policing ppl’s language and we are literally supposed to be having fun and celebrating love, like for me that’s the whole point, but —

I’ve been seeing the phrase popping up again surrounding the release of AYS and I just gotta say it.

You guys the term seems so culty 😬🥲

Like I think I get the origin (maybe)? It probably started when some of the early jikook bloggers (if you are one I salute you, I am not worthy, trust me this is NOT a dig at anyone, jikook bloggers are by and large cool and kind af 🙇‍♀️) would get these sketchy asks that were antis or cultists in disguise just casting aspersions on jikook’s bond or being blatantly homophobic and/or in general being rude little anonymous internet gremlins. Or maybe it was people who did want to believe that jikook was real but kept nagging and begging for reassurance at every turn, which I can totally see becoming annoying as hell and prompting people to start using the term.

But it feels like it’s used now as like a catchall for anyone who expresses any doubt or asks any critical questions? Even like… reasonable ones? And I used to see a lot of “hey believe what you want to believe but this is what I believe” but now it seems like the sentiment around jikooker communities has by and large become “if you don’t believe you’re an idiotic dumb person who has never known love — you’re either a rival shipper in disguise or WORSE (dun dun dunnnnn) an Insecure Jikooker — and we don’t want people like you around.”

And idk it just feels weird for a community that has always seemed to kind of pride itself on being the “rational, fact-based” ship… like we LOVE to be smug about how jikook don’t need edits to be obvious, don’t need slo-mo zooms with red circles and arrows because their chemistry and fondness and affection is just plain to see in basic footage. We’re the levelheaded ones 😌.

But doesn’t that mean that we should always be encouraging critical thinking, and if someone comes to a different conclusion than us, so be it? Like it or not, none of us have foolproof confirmation that jikook are anything more than very close friends. That’s literally all we know. The rest is our best guess based on vibes, anecdotes, dot-connecting, subtext and body language observation, experience, perception (!!This is a big one because confirmation bias is real!!), and suspicion. That’s literally it.

Look maybe I’m just projecting 😅 but when you criticize people for expressing reasonable doubt over something that is literally not confirmed, it’s just a little too religious fundamentalist for me! (This is why I was a bad Christian, because I always raised my hand and asked questions the Sunday school teacher didn’t like.)

Feel free to ignore me. I never want to come across as pushy or trying to stir up anything, it’s just a phrase that grinds my gears and I’m sort of hoping I’m not alone in that… but if I am, so be it! 🤣 would love to hear people’s thoughts because maybe I’m missing something.

(P.S. If you’re a troll who spams jikook blog inboxes this is not me defending you. You’re still annoying and you need a better hobby. Have you tried yoga? Snowboarding? Fly fishing? Filming food vlogs and/or painting? You should try cooking. You should stop being an anonymous internet troll stomping on everyone’s proverbial sandcastles and instead write a poem. K bye ✌️ )

[arttrampbelle]

If your astrology "observations" have any of the following.

You are not an astrology reader. You are bias,projecting,and are a snake oil salesman. You need to stop. Immediately.

Sexuality: sexuality and orientation has NOTHING to do with astrology. Stop lying and stop wasting time for people. Let people figure themselves out. We dont need a tumblr "guru" to fucking tell us if we feel "gay enough"

Weight. This one pisses me off. Fatphobia is not cool. It's actually gross. And you astro babes need to check yourself before you post some crap talking about someone's weight. Which again has NOTHING TO DO WITH WHATEVER THE FUCKING STARS SAY!!!! and fyi. Fat people exist,in all signs n placements. Get tf over yourselves! Fat phobia i wont tolerate in any field especially the spiritual. You should be ashamed astro girlies.

Racism. This one should be fucking obvious but apparently it's not. Ugh

Disorders and or mental or medical problems and issues. No. No no. NO! only said persons doctors and health professionals and providers. And a brain doctor. Should be telling them how to help handle their needs. Not some fucking tumblr person. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES EVER FUCKING PUT ANYTHING ABOUT SOMEONE'S MENTAL HEALTH PROBLEMS OR POTENTIAL DISABILITIES IN A FUCKING ASTRO POST! i immediately know you're full of crap when you do this. "Pisces are more likely to have x disorders" fuck off brenda. No they are not. Don't fucking do that. You could be harmful to someone by saying that. So leave it to their actually care professionals and providers. Thank you.

Anything to do with i*cest,r*pe,etc wtf is wrong with y'all? 1 tag your shit properly. And 2. Why do you feel this is nessicary for an astro post?! I get it some people use it to cope....but that should be kept to a personal post not a PUBLIC astrology reading! Plz dont do this. Make it private if you're gonna talk about that stuff.

And as much as i love astrology,people genuinely get into this and take it seriously(that is a debate for another time) so be fucking careful what you say. You could be doing more harm then good. And if you believe in astrology,then you know YOU KNOW,that in retrogrades and other times similar. It is wrong and hurtful to be spreading lies and acting impulsively.

But whenever i see backhanded stuff like this. It bothers me,and i need to speak up.

So yeah. I know unpopular opinions. Right? But this shit needs to stop. And we should have a proper circle of spiritual practices that actually helpful,insightful,healing,and inclusive.

And HOLD OUR SPIRITUAL GALS/GUYS/PALS ACCOUNTABLE!

My fellow witches and star children. Plz. Dont let your circle be dong.

Thank you for coming to my ted talk.

[lokh]

what do you think toshiro's version of laios would've been like if he was still with the group during the shapeshifter shenanigans

there have been a few speculations in the tag and among the fans and they are all very good SO i am going to take this opportunity to insert a bit of my shipping bias as i like in my interpretation LMAO agdsfgdfgv

i noted that in actuality shuro seems to have a very good grasp on laios' character??? this is most obvious in the manga later on but even seeing how he criticises laios in their fight... iirc nothing he says is actually untrue or wildly exaggerated, and while he does express frustration over something he feels like laios Should have control over (noticing his cues), he is also aware that laios isnt being malicious and that hes Just Like That. what i mean to say is that while i think his version of laios may seem more pushy and in-your-face, i dont think it will be overwhelmingly so. if its post-fight, i think the idea of laios (and marcille) being willing to do anything to get falin back made a big impression on him, as well as the idea that they need to eat and rest in order to succeed in their goals, so those aspects would be prominent in his version. he seems pretty observant, so i think for the most part the physical traits would line up, but i think there would be specific things that stand out to him that would appear strangely striking on his version of laios (like. idk something about his eye colour or the subtle contrast of his armour and chainmail. he seems to have a weird sense of aesthetics if extras are anything to go by lmao). if hed actually been paying attention all those times laios had gone on about what the hell ever, then it might be even MORE hard to tell apart his version since he would also have a good grasp on what laios should know. so either his version of laios is pretty difficult to pick out, OR despite the character being accurate his appearance is too. stylised lmao (exaggerated features or something) OR!! they just get him to pull out his monster gourmet guide thing and are able to tell from there. iirc everyone was surprised at its appearance so its possible toshiro had also never seen it before

IN MY IMAGINARY SHIPPING SCENARIO............ lets say that his laios isnt able to be picked out immediately and that the monster guide thing also doesnt immediately occur to anyone. what the real laios Specifically notices is how close this other laios keeps getting to shuro. and hes like. ??? why is he getting so close to him, theres no way i get that close to him??? but no one else seems to be picking up on it as weird, so hes having a small crisis like do i REALLY get that close to him???? and now that hes on the outside he notices shuro subtly leaning away and he feels both a wave of shame and..... protectiveness??? (JEALOUSY??????) and he immediately steps in and grabs him like Hey!!! cant you see hes uncomfortable???? weve been through this already!!! and like. ok i cant believe im doing this again but i need to separate this into different endings

a) the whump route: i dont think shuro ever envisioned Actually Telling laios about his frustrations outside of being basically cornered into it. has he ever spoken up against what was expected of him?? has he ever been confrontational???? i think part of what held him back from expressing his frustrations, along with the cultural norms, could be fear of what the reaction would be. if he had done the same in any other aspect of his life (his family, his inheritance), i think he would expect disappointment, disapproval, more proof that he doesnt add up to expectation. to be honest i dont think he Truly believes that laios is the type of person to react like this. but it was strong enough to prevent him from acting and i think would be projected onto his image of laios. maybe fake!laios says something dismissive like Well if it really bothered him hed say something right? what, he cant even stand up for himself? cmon, shuro, prove that you cant handle it just like everything else. and thats pretty much the fastest giveaway that it isnt really laios. of course this would be a HUGE tonal departure from what the actual episode/chapter was, so:

b) the dumbass route: both laioses break into fisticuffs, and, yes.... barking. and so they speedrun the entire encounter as the shapeshifters true form appears and, after laios points out that thinking too hard about others versions of you can tear apart groups and peace of mind, they pointedly do not speak of it again. they think about it though. a LOT

c) the normal route: both laioses argue normal like and the group ends up being able to tell them apart because the fake laios goes on a little too long about how theyre all here for falin and everyones like ok its not like he DOESNT love his sister but.......... the rest of the scenario probably goes like canon, though then i would want to see what everyone Else thought of shuro

[merakiui]

RAHHH WAIT WHILE WE R ON THE TOPICS OF PERIOD SEX. CAN WE TAKE A MOMENT TO TALK ABOUT WHICH GENSHIN GUYS WOULD EAT OUT/FUCK DURING A PERIOD?

AAAAAAA OMG YES........ under the cut because I rambled a lot. ;;;;

The most obvious one who would do it in a heartbeat is Childe. He loves the sight and smell of blood, and the fact that it's coming from between your legs is even better. He'll have you crying out while he spends so much time between your legs, all too eager to taste you and listen to you fall apart on his tongue and fingers. He'll fuck you while you're on your period as well. He loves the way your blood stains his dick when he's thrusting in and out. Playfully cooing at you when you beg him to ease up because it's too much: "Aww, can't handle it? That's too bad... down here seems just fine. You're taking it like it's nothing." <3

This is my own personal bias seeping through, but I wholeheartedly believe Scaramouche/Wanderer would adore period sex. I think Scara enjoys fucking you while you're on your period, whereas Wanderer enjoys eating you out just a bit more. There's this whole power/control thing Scara wants to have over you, so he's probably not getting on his knees for you anytime soon. But he will fuck you for as long as he wants, teasing you the entire time. Having your blood on him is all too exciting. As for Wanderer, he'll pretend like it's a tall order, playfully scoffing at you and saying something like, "What would you do without me? You'd be helpless, wouldn't you?" But if you even suggest that someone else do this for you, he's quickly putting that smart mouth of his to work. Try saying that again through all of your moans. :)

ALBEDO OMG........ it's all for "scientific research" because he's curious and would like to know how the human body operates in more detail. Really, this is his own nerdy cover. He just wants to taste you and feel you, blood and all. orz of course he probably collects samples because there's this clinical side to him that wants to know you down to the alchemical level. ;;;;; he spends way too much time stuffing his fingers inside you and stretching you open, curiously observing the blood that coats his digits and making note of all of your reactions.

Razor....... this one is also obvious. He smells blood and assumes you're hurt, so his first instinct is to either patch you up or lick it better. The latter comes into use when he pins you down and spreads your legs to get a closer look at your pussy. Razor's a bit inexperienced and sloppy, roughly gripping onto your thighs, but he means well. He has to keep his mate safe and content, after all!

Xiao........ XIAO!!!!!!!! He's so determined to protect you. He's very accustomed with the scent of blood, so it doesn't take long for him to smell it on your person. Xiao's a little stern when he tells you to stop moving so he can check you for injuries, but he's sincere. Why do you seem so casual? Aren't you hurt????? He cannot fathom the concept of a period because he's never known about such a thing. He's about as virgin as they come. ^^;;;; but he'll do anything to ensure you're happy, forever and always, and so even though he may not know what he's doing at first he'll eventually fall into the rhythm. Karmic debt is cold and cruel, but pussy is warm and soft. <3

I feel like Kazuha would be into it........ he's so sweet about it, too. T^T maybe you're embarrassed to have leaked on the sheets while sleeping beside him, but he assures you it's fine. Things happen. Besides, there's nothing to be ashamed of. It's normal. He'll make you feel so much better about it, and soon you're falling apart on his fingers or mouth. He praises you all throughout it.

Gorou!!!!! This is also a Razor situation. He probably prefers eating you out more than he does fucking you, but the latter is also quite good. He's really such a sweetheart and he gets pussy-drunk SO FAST. OTL even more so when you're on your period.......

Itto!!! >:D truthfully, what won't Itto do? He'll do just about anything for his pal, best bud, partner, lover (you're all of these things to him hehe). He adores you omg. You only need to tell him that it hurts and he's ready to provide, whether that be by eating you out until your cramps are soothed or by fucking into you (he'll be slow and gentle; he promises!). Anything for you. <3

This may be unexpected (or not) but Ayato. I think he just likes the idea of staining those pristine clothes of his in your red. Or ruining white sheets...... there's something very thrilling about it. Also, you're just so sensitive whenever you're on your period and your libido has you begging him for even more.

Definitely Tighnari. He could just mix up something to help soothe your cramps, but why would he do that when he could indulge instead? Besides, this method works very well and you seem to enjoy it just as much as he does. Why would he ever trade that?

Cyno......... I can't explain it, but I feel like he would enjoy period sex... there's something so addictive about sinking into your wet warmth and getting blood on his cock while you dig your nails into his shoulders and rake his back bloody. >:D

Baizhu. Something something doctor's orders!!! Prescription to soothe cramps is not a calming herbal tea but the doctor working you open on his fingers or fucking into you sweetly and slowly!!!!!

Omg,,, speaking of doctors, how could I forget the man himself!!!! Dottore is a creature. He loves period sex. Perhaps some of his clones love it more than others. It's easy to tell depending on who's fucking you or eating you out. He has this deranged sort of smile as he watches you come undone.

PANTALONE.......... I just know he loves getting your blood all over his face and fingers and on his clothes. He's a big fan of simply cockwarming you while you're on your period and only getting you to orgasm by clitoral stimulation. AAAAAAA OTL

Wriothesley can and will spend his entire afternoon between your legs. He doesn't mind the mess. It doesn't bother him. Rather, he's busying himself working you towards your nth orgasm for the day. If you come to Wrio with a problem, you better be ready for him to solve it. He'll make sure you won't be feeling any cramps for the rest of the day after he's done with you.

Another personal bias, but I like to imagine Lyney also enjoys period sex. Maybe even Freminet, but he's too shy to ask you if you'd be okay with it...... >_< AAAA but Lyney!!!!! He reminds me of this audio. T_T Lyney sniffing out your period........ you seem to have cramps and that's no good. Allow him to ease them and this time there's no magic required hehe.

Another bias, but my beloved Gaming!!!!!! I think period sex with him is always a sweet activity. He's so gentle and caring,,,, so focused on making sure you feel good and that you'll have enough orgasms to get rid of the cramps. And of course he has plenty of snacks on standby for when you want to snack during breaks. Leave it all to him! You won't have to lift a finger. Just lie back against the cushions and let him make you feel good.

OH OH!!!! Capitano.......... I've seen some portray him with a long monster tongue and methinks that is very delicious and so true!!!!! Capitano using that long tongue of his to eat you out, and it can reach places that your fingers just can't and and and AAAAAAAA!!!!!

[aphrothiti]

Vedic astrology through the artwork of Salvia (aka salvia001011)

Uttarabhadrapada moon, Magha sun, Ashelsha ascendant conjunct mars

(Born on 18/8/2000, claims to be a tropical Leo rising)

CW: body horror

I wanted to make an infodump type post about this artist exploring her placements and how they manifest through her art (partially because my friends are probably sick of my random bs lol).

Salvia is a visual artist and musician, although I will be only exploring her visual art in this post. A lot of her work involves distortion of the human body, violence, machinery, restraint and the extraterrestrial/otherworldly.

Firstly her face is compact and square, reflective of her uttarabhadrapada moon alone.

However it is also a Saturn nakshatra. Saturn typically represents restraint and order. Being the furthest visible planet from the sun, it is cold (physically and symbolically), but also distant to the emotion + ego as Saturn is more concerned with was is right rather than what comforts you the most. Note that Capricorn and Aquarius opposes Cancer and Leo

On the image on the left, we seem to be in some kind of basement with that blank wall and bright lighting. The figure is entrapped in a metal cage with bizarre machinery holding her up by her scalp. Saturn is largely associated with this kind of metal machinery (although this is a more contemporary interpretation for obvious reasons), and holds significant relevance in this instance as the there are clear themes of restraint.

Even though there’s a great almost medieval brutality in both images, there’s also a great stillness and calm evoked by the pale colour palette and blank facial expressions. Under Saturn’s surpression, the natives often cultivate a quiet and reserved nature, willingly or not, as self control is valued. This however may lead to an emotional blockage or emptiness in the face of unexpressed discomfort or inner chaos.

Another thing about Saturn, especially when expressed through the UBP in pisces, is that it can often be related to ethereal/ alien aesthetics. Grimes is a very popular example of this.

As for other chart influences, the Ketu influence from magha nakshatra is also evident. Ketu is the headless body to Rahu’s dragon head. The head represents our ego and sense of identity, as we recognise most of the people in our lives by their faces/heads. In fact, we read people’s facial expressions to gain a bias of what the person is feeling and what their personality is like, giving us the ability to categorise them by associating them with people we know.

I’ve chosen to include the two images above as examples because I feel they particularly emphasise Ketu traits. The head is either missing or obscured in some way, taking away our ability to “understand” people that I just described. We are left with a body, a physical form, rather than a human being whose intentions we can decipher.

On the image to the left, the bodies are further distorted into different shapes. This adds to the ketuvian ambiguity. Ketu is associated with our past life, and like a foetus in the womb or a very distant memory, it does not feel fully formed or defined.

Many artists who distort the body in this conventionally disturbing and mysterious manner have Ketu influence, I may compile a list of these artists another time if anyone’s curious, as well as make a distinction between Ketu artists and non-Ketu artists who make similarly dark content.

Moving onto her ascendant, I’ve marked Salvia as an Ashelsha ascendant as opposed to Pushya or Magha due to the fact that:

a) She occasionally does Old Hollywood type glamour makeup (example on left) which I have observed to be popular amongst Ashlesha natives, as some of the people who participated in this highly glamorous aesthetic when it first arose being born under this nakshatra. Greta Garbo (Ashlesha venus), Marilyn Monroe (Ashlesha asc) being two prominent examples. Lana Del Rey (Ashlesha moon) is also known for being heavily influenced by this specific aesthetic.

b) Ashlesha is symbolically associated with being bound and restrained, reiterating the themes that we discussed earlier.

c) Ashlesha is an outcaste nakshatra. Salvia occasionally mentions being ostracised or harassed in public for her style, and her work does contain a sense of eroticism that mainstream society would deem too taboo to try to understand it. There’s a type of separation from the rest of society here that could be indicative of the presence of an outcaste nakshatra

d) Salvia has Ashlesha mars debilitated in Cancer. Having mars on the ascendant would intensify themes of violence and war (see right image with gun), which are more negative traits of mars. Mars is also associated with the physical body, but less in a ketuvian sense of dismemberment, and moreso in the sense of using one’s own physical body as a medium for creating art, as is relevant to this instance. For someone who is a performer and creates visual art from pictures of their own body, this seems like a probable placement.

Yeah that’s it I don’t have anything else to say lol. Lmk your thoughts if you have any

[wild-magic-oops]

People really be bending backwards in order to defend Larian and the consistent way that Gale is treated worse than other companions. Truly baffling behavior, but I guess that's what happens when people can't extend the same amount of care to characters other than their favs, and think Larian is amazing for doing what should be the bare minimum in the industry actually (but the industry is so shit that people are ready to praise and defend any studio which doesn't try to rob them while spitting in their faces). Not criticizing obvious flaws won't get you a better product next time, and since I'm a petty person - I hope everyone who's telling people it's not a big deal now have the next character they're really into be the one done dirty by both the creators and the fandom.

Another thing I've never seen anyone bring up is how Gale is specifically the only companion whom Durge can kill due to an urge (which is even worded in a way which you can't guess the outcome of). Where's the urge option to kill Astari*n while he attacks you hm? Or that's right, there isn't one. Guess the fuck why. And retaliating while attacked makes a ton more sense, but sense is not smth that Larian bothers with much when it comes to their preferences.

And people choosing to indulge the urge and explaining how it's in character... I bet the majority would be finding loopholes real quick if it was their fav getting killed instead. Double standards is smth that really irks me and they're just so apparent in this fandom, it's exhausting.

Gale is also a companion you can accidentally kill instead of recruit by failing a simple dice roll. That's all it takes.

Both of those instances are smth very much outside of Gale's writer's control, so immediately the bias is showing, how easy it is to kill him.

So please, by all means, keep defending a company against the fans' criticism based on clear observations (which other people have brought up, not specifically what I talked about in this post) which you just don't want to acknowledge, I'm sure that'll work out so nicely for you the moment your preferences stop aligning with theirs.

And if you're a Gale fan who doesn't care and think people are overreacting - you do you, but the way Gale's exploding ending is treated gives really ugly irl implications which can't be ignored. Characters are fictional, but the way certain types are treated speaks of irl biases, and if you can't realize that, I really don't know what to tell you honestly. But aside from all that - professionals shouldn't let their biases show. But they did and continue to do, and that alone is definitely 100% worthy of criticism.

[cipheramnesia]

Do you think body horror is an inherently ableist genre? Not accusatory, just curious. Do you have any recommendations for body horror that aren't ableist?

Not especially, insofar as I don't generally think of things as inherently something or other except in hyperbole. However ableism is part of society, horror movies are part of society, plenty of horror is ableist purely through how societal bias gets carried into creations from within society. Also, it's very much an eye of the beholder situation - to use an example from my own experience, Sleepaway Camp, the original, is far from a positive or empowering trans femme movie. However, it's relatively common for trans femmes to feel positive about it, to feel seen and heard. The point is, sometimes something which by all rights should be deeply offensive comes full circle for some people. You can't predict how you'll react.

Probably the most obvious non-ableist body horror is Videodrome. I think it's still possible to make that read, but it requires a degree of willful misinterpretation or bad faith to see it that way. It's the infamous "stomach vaginas" movie where television signals are used to induce either physical mutations or controlling hallucinations (it's deliberately ambiguous) in a conspiracy eliminate "immoral behavior" from society. Most of Cronenberg's output, before he moved away from graphic gore in the 90s, has elements of body horror which usually serve a narrative about maladies that come from morally proscriptive, authoritarian societies; or about the complex ways our bodies and emotions feed back into one another.

The Thing by John Carpenter, another widely regarded classic, readable as a metaphor about a variety of forms of social panics from the red scare to the aids epidemic. Hellraiser, Hellraiser 2, and Hellraiser 2022 the body horror exists as an illustration of pleasure and pain merging into raw sensation with no distinction.

Honestly a bigger problem horror has is the whole "psycho killer" cliche along with various other disabilities used as a stand in for being evil. Certainly the element of body horror where the mutability and frailty of the body is utilized to evoke disturbing feelings in the viewer can get badly applied. But the above, I think few of them express the idea that these experiences are dehumanizing, rather they're observing how readily humanity can dehumanize anyone different from the socially defined norm. Still difficult to be certain how they read, but I think those ones are what it oughta be about. Probably I'm forgetting some stuff because it's late and I'm sleepy.

[catboybiologist]

Imma make an observation that literally is just an observation for its own sake, but it's gonna def be borderline toxic and self deprecating. I genuinely only want the observation part about it, and I'm really not being hard on myself or the community here, but if that distinguishment is gonna be hard for you just be warned.

Cool? Cool. Unfocused ramble under the cut.

Now that I've face revealed, I'm kinda curious observing from the sidelines the reactions that people aren't saying. Obvs I'm not a popular enough person to be like "WOAGH SISJDJDJ OMG ITS A FACE REVEAL" but I'm more talking about the general psychology of passing itself now that I show my full face vs when I hid it.

With that tiny scrap of markup covering my nose, chin, and mouth, I had people ENDLESSLY telling me that there's NO WAY I don't pass. OBVIOUSLY whatever I was hiding was the absolute PINNACLE of femininity. My ask box was literally fucking filled with those comments to the point it was obnoxious- "why do you hide your face you're so pretty" or something like it, DMed and anoned to me over. And over. And over again.

I've really only shown my face in "perfect angle" pictures now, and even then it's obvious that I don't pass. Likely, my face looks nothing like what most people imagined. I got this from a lot of people I showed my face to in discord as well- you'd be hard pressed to say that I fully pass now. Best you could do is probably "yeah you look femme but def clocky to the right eye", and I get a lot of "pretty but clocky" type "compliments" from people.

Don't get me wrong, this isn't a "woe is me I'll never pass I'm horrific" post. Now this is Tumblr, and the core group of trans people that I love interacting with largely don't care, or even find the clockiness hot. I'm also gaining confidence in the twinkhon vibes myself, while also knowing that I still have a LONG way to go on HRT, and whatever my face looks like now, it'll be way different in the years and months to come. In the end, passing or not, I don't care. And obviously, that's not a binary thing, blah blah, insert all the passing discourse here. That's not what this post is about.

What it IS about is how far the perception of my face drifted from people's actual assessment of it when I face revealed. When I had the clockiest features of my face hidden, there was an intrinsic assumption that they were more femme than they actually were.

I've also gotten slightly less interaction on my selfies in general (aside from the initial face reveal) but that could just be a byproduct of my reduced activity on Tumblr overall from road tripping. I'll have to see what it's like in the future, but I highly suspect that a large number of lower interaction people now view me as less attractive. I'm not saying they're avoiding me in disgust, I'm saying that when their was a gap in their perception, their brains autofilled a more attractive image than actually existed. This doesn't apply to my core group of moots that are high interaction and comment n stuff (love y'all) but the large scores of people who leave simple tags or reblog and like in passing- I think I just got less attractive in people's minds.

What does all of this say? Honestly it's hard to say. This is more observation than anything else. It might be linked to beauty standards, or just a bias of "unga bunga skinny white woman with conventionally attractive body must have conventionally attractive face" which turned out not to be true, or whatever.

Again, just a weird ramble. Bug summary is that people, on average, assumed I passed before I showed my full face, and now, far less do.

Oh yeah, and inb4 "and omg you actually pass though"- this post isn't for you. There's lots of people who see me and think that I don't, including in Tumblr. Passing varies on a person to person basis, and what I'm saying here is that face revealing flicked a switch in many, but not all, people's brains from passing to non-passing.

[sandboxscenes]

You Can Do Magic!

A/N: Inspired by this little item and the song by America with the same title. Done in conjunction with @xianyoon for their extended bias game. This turned out way longer than I expected.

Genre: Fluff

Summary: Lyney is a master of perception. He can tell when things are out of the ordinary. So, at the end of the day, when you return home and walk through the door with a smile instead of a tired look, he knows something's up. But the last thing he expected was for you to perform a trick for him.

Word Count: 1146 words

Lyney's suspicions were aroused the second you walked through the door.

As a magician, and your dear lover, he knew everything about you. He knew about your six day work schedule this week, with today only being day four. He also that you were sleeping late this past week, usually 12am or later, but lately you were sleeping at 2am. He was about to ask if you were okay.

He didn't.

Lyney stayed quiet when he heard you humming a tune outside your shared home. You strolled through the door, with a smile on your face and lightness to your steps. He knew that something happened. Something changed.

Lyney was determined to find out what that was.

"My love," said Lyney. He casually walked behind you and wrapped one of his arms around your waist. He brought you so close, there was no space between you two. He leaned forward, a sly smirk on his face. "Did something happen today?"

"Um…"

As earnest as your love for Lyney was, he couldn't help but tease you about it. He couldn't help the smile on his face when he would watch you trip over your words to the most innocent of questions. He enjoyed watching your cheeks turn apple red when you got flustered. He especially enjoyed when you got so flustered, you couldn't look at him in the eye. When you couldn't look him in the eye, that's when he knew he stumbled upon something big.

Now, here you were, unable to look at Lyney in the eyes. He had to wonder, just what were you thinking?

"Lyney, um, do you mind if I show you something?" you said.

Oh, how adorable. Lyney's smile turned more genuine when he saw how red your cheeks were. It was obvious that whatever you wanted to show him, it was something that meant a lot to you.

"Of course, love."

"Okay, go sit down on the couch. I'll join you in a minute."

Lyney chuckled. He released you from his hold and gave you a light kiss on the cheek. Then, he made his way to the couch and sat down.

Lyney leaned forward to observe you from afar. He saw how you took out object after object from your bag. With that, he reasoned that the item you were looking for must be small. Lyney smiled when he saw you take out a small vase-like item and a scarf, and make your way over to him.

Lyney let out a chuckle. "Oh? I'm a member of the audience this time?"

You nodded brightly. "Yes! Do you mind if I steal the spotlight for this one trick?"

"Not at all, my love." Lyney motioned you with his hand. "Continue."

"Presenting the disappearing ball trick!" You wave your scarf with a flourish.

Playing his part, Lyney clapped his hands as a member of the audience.

"Thank you, thank you." You bowed, and then held out a small, red, rubber ball. "For my trick tonight, I will make this ball disappear!"

Lyney held his hand in front of his face and made a mock gasp. Lyney placed one of his hands over his chest. His eyes went wide.

Lyney's next sentence held a playful lilt to it. "Can it be possible? My beloved can do magic?!"

Lyney wanted to burst out laughing right then and there. He could see the concentration in your eyes as you tried to continue. But he also caught the way a smile was pulling at your lips. He could tell you were struggling not to laugh at him and what he was doing.

"Anyway," you gesture to the small object in front of you.

"I will place this ball into this vase," you said. You placed the ball into the vase.

"Then, I will cover it with this scarf," you said You covered the small object with a scarf.

"We'll say count to three," you said, "And when I open it, the ball will be gone! Ready?"

Lyney nodded.

Together, the both of you shouted: "One!" "Two!" "Three!"

After the word 'Three' was said, you pulled the scarf off of the object.

Lyney peered into the vase to see if the ball was there. It was not. The ball was gone!

"Ta-Dah!" You raised your hands to the sky.

Lyney scooted over as you sat down next to him. He saw the way your eyes shined like a kid showing off. Your earnestness and passion to commit to the admittedly simple trick touched his heart. That's what he loved about you. He snaked an arm around your waist to pull you closer.

You said, "So, my love. How was that for a trick?"

Lyney wrapped both of his arms around you. He leaned his chin onto your shoulder.

"I think it was brilliant," said Lyney, "Keep it up, and then you can join me on stage."

"Really?" You look down shyly.

Lyney gestures to the small object on the table. "Is this ball vase trick the reason you were happy today?"

You nodded. "I really wanted to perform it for you today, before you do that big show in a few days. I really wanted to see you smile before you left."

As charming as charismatic as Lyney was, he could always find something to say. But your earnest request to see his smile made him speechless. It was clear to him how much your request is because of your love for him, and nothing else.

From his youth, Lyney learned that the only truth in life is lies. As a famous figure in the Court of Fontaine, whenever people made deals with him, they always had some ulterior motive. Lyney knew that.

But you were different.

In his eyes, you told no lies. And that's the truth.

There was no figuring out ulterior motives with you. As Lyney learned early on, you said what you thought and did what you said. You were direct. To be honest, he found you refreshing.

"So, since you did a trick for me, do you mind if I do a trick for you?"

You shook your head. "No, go ahead."

"So for my trick, it's also making something disappear." Lyney grinned. He had a mischievous thought that he thought you would enjoy.

"Okay," you said. You raised an eyebrow. "What's disappearing?"

"Your breath."

In one single motion, Lyney's lips crashed onto yours.

In that moment, Lyney felt so many emotions. He was proud of you for staying strong amid the long and hard work week you were having. He was elated at the fact that you did a trick for him. He was so happy that you loved him so deeply. More than anything, he was so delighted to have someone as amazing as you,be his lover.

Lyney poured everything he felt into that single, intense kiss.

[arkanis-englishupdates]

SUMMARY OF ALL ARKANIS POVS

DAY 57 & DAY 58 — 29/10/2024 & 30/10/2024

DAY 59 — 29/10/2024

The day in Valigma starts off chaotic with countless strange things happening.

The statue of Mayor Jota has disappeared from its location in the center of the lake, being replaced by a statue of a villager emitting a purple light. Some villagers also disappeared.

After the encounter with Choke, Guzhera wakes up and realizes that he has turned into a small frog (The kiss they shared on the date was what caused his transformation).

Quel, JVNQ, Gabepeixe, Beatriz, Guhzera and Coreano get together to talk about what was happening. Beatriz comments that Bia Raux threatened the new group if they hurt the specialists, in a conversation between Moonkase and Bia Raux.

JVNQ remembers a statement from Bagi about Cherry having been killed by Bia, draining her energy, information she got from Mona, but Quel clarifies that Bia was not responsible, without being able to go into more details. Quel claims that Bagi never liked Bia, and says in a rhetorical question, that Araldo would be the most obvious to kill someone/steal vital energy (Since he killed Alice in the same way).

Quel explains to Beatriz the classifications of encoders, decoders and Offrya training, as well as sharing Bia Raux's dreams, in which the new group represented the hope of a new type of Arkanya.

The group decides to call Moonkase to talk too. There, Moonkase explains about Bia's threat and about not being sure about teaching Arkanya to specialists, as it is a very complex power. JVNQ then starts arguing with Moonkase about her not actually wanting to teach them because she doesn't realize that if they don't cooperate, they might regret it again later (He says that, as the new specialists have not faced or dealt with deaths and tragedies in the city, they do not know how important collaboration is)

Quel interrupts the discussion between Moon and JVNQ, asking Moonkase what her suggestion would be. Moon admits that they don't know how to teach Arkanya, and Quel asks if Marília, their mother and teacher, would know how to teach. Moon and Bea confirm yes.

Quel then suggests that everyone look for Marília. Bea explains that she is a very powerful coder who adopted them as family.

To help with the search, Moonkase describes her to the group:

She has long black hair with two white streaks in the front, part of the face hidden by a type of mask. Wears a black blanket, has amber eyes and pointy ears.

Despite not being very affectionate, she always took care of them like children. Moon and Bea still say that, maybe, Malena was Marília's favorite.

During the conversation, Nicklink appears dressed completely differently, darker than before. He quickly leaves the two times he returns to observe the group's conversation.

The conversation is interrupted by a quick and confusing appearance of Bala Laikah, but they realize it was something different. Suddenly night comes and the monster flies around.

Nicklink receives a letter from Jota who apologizes for having kicked him out so abruptly and invites him to the city again, with a fixed salary just like all the specialists. Everyone in town also sees the apology letter.

Moonkase decides to go to the lake with Amora and the two realize that the old statue had returned to the location. They wonder if the water in the lake has finally been clean.

Quel goes to Maethe and the two talk about this apology letter, and Quel says she is outraged by this, because Nicklink threatened them. Maethe says she isn't taking this into consideration, because of what they did before, and Quel tells her to forget about it. The two soon meet Choke and start gossiping about the date.

JVNQ arrives and takes the girls to the District, where Choke finds Guhzera transformed into a frog, she kisses Guhzera and he returns to human form. They stay talking and gossiping for a while.

Later, at Beatriz's house, they are surprised by a meteor shower that creates several craters. The group realizes that the attacks are aimed at Beatriz. Time turns, blue lighting strikes begin to fall on them, and the group moves to the District to protect themselves.

DAY 60 — 30/10/2024

The morning in Valigma starts off lively because of a funny event organized for the day.

Pac and other specialists present talk to Nicklink, who reveals a fraction of his power. They suspect that Nicklink was the perpetrator of the fatal meteor shower occurred yesterday.

Guaxinim and Pac talk "seriously" about Guaxinim wanting to be vice but then changing his mind (In his words: "IF I WERE YOUR VICE WE COULD NOT DATE EACH OTHER!").

The CEVA launches its second project: A Hide and Seek in an arena personalized for each player! The specialists will compete for a grand prize of J$5,000.00.

After a few minutes, the event finally begins!

The first to seek are Pac and Mike, with the Hiding Team winning the round (Milo, Febatista and JVNQ).

The second round starts with Alexey and Amora seeking, with the Hiding Team winning again.

In the third round, JVNQ, Himaru and Pac seek. The Hiding Team wins once again.

In the fourth round the Seeker Team is Malena and Gabepeixe, but again the Hiding Team surprisingly wins.

In the final round, Guhzera and Beatriz are chosen to seek, but once again they lose to the Hiding Team.

The Event ends with a large and devastating explosion in the center of the game, with all players being teleported to Valigma again.

[the-garbanzo-annex-jr]

By GERALD M. STEINBERG

Only by falsifying everything about the Gaza conflict, including the IDF’s emphasis on evacuating civilians in order to fight Hamas and destroy the massive underground infrastructure is HRW able to accuse Israel of war crimes. 

Notably, the staffers who wrote this document admit that “it is impossible for Human Rights Watch to fully interrogate the military strategy of the Israeli military.” In fact, HRW clearly has no clue nor interest in understanding the IDF strategy against the brutal war machine constructed under Gaza. Without this information and expertise, there is no foundation for any accusations based on the laws of war, which require evaluating actual battlefield conditions. 

As in other numerous previous reports, the researchers at HRW have demonstrated that they are totally unqualified to write such reports.

In the absence of facts and evidence, HRW substitutes large-scale disinformation and distortion. In “‘Hopeless, Starving, and Besieged: Israel’s Forced Displacement of Palestinians in Gaza,” they cite explicit statements from Israeli officials that demonstrate the legality and necessity of the Gaza strategy: “Israel justified the mass evacuation order as being for the safety of the civilian population and stated military reason... was centered on the presence of Hamas fighters and military infrastructure, including Hamas’ extensive tunnel infrastructure…”

But then, HRW devotes numerous pages to manipulating distorted and cherry-picked quotes in order to falsely claim that the initial IDF actions following the October 7 atrocities were actually designed to punish and displace civilians, with no military necessity. 

Through this entirely false narrative, HRW asserts its central propaganda claim, that “there is no plausible imperative military reason to justify Israel’s mass displacement of nearly all of Gaza’s population, often multiple times.”  For anyone who reads the text (and not merely the press release) with anything like an open mind, the distortion is painfully obvious. 

This is another example of the systematic bias and immorality that permeates HRW, as verified by Danielle Haas, a senior editor at the NGO for 13 years. 

Haas has referred to the “years of politicization” in singling out Israel, violating “basic editorial standards related to rigor, balance, and... the principles of accuracy and fairness.” Recalling this history, Haas observed that HRW staff know that the “unverified accusations would be widely cited as incontrovertible evidence.” 

The clear objective of HRW’s reports, including this one, is to promote the soft-power war based on arms embargoes, boycotts, and demonization that reinforce the hard war led by Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran.

These bogus reports are cited blindly (or consciously) by UN demagogues, biased academics, journalists, and policymakers to prevent Israel from blocking genocidal terror and defending its civilians. By giving credibility to the propaganda produced by HRW and other NGOs, the international law and human rights community, created in the shadow of the Holocaust, has totally betrayed its mission to protect civilian lives.

[officialpenisenvy]

gio what are your thoughts on the story of cimon and pero/roman caritas. devoid of (incestuous) eroticism bc breasts were and are not inherently sexual or rife with voyeurism on something transgressive for the sake of filial piety. also apparently some versions have it be a mother and daughter so make of that what you will

very very interesting question!! i had to look up the sources because i wasn't super familiar with the story in the first place, and for the sake of ease and context i have translated the two sources i referenced and added them here. (exceedingly long answer under the cut, after some figurative depictions and the sources themselves)

Valerius Maximus, Memorabilia 5.4.1:

Such fame of filial piety is said to be held by Pero, who nursed as though an infant her father Mycon, very old in age, having come into the near-identical condition of imprisonment she was in. The human eye marvels and astonishes upon seeing the paintings depicting this story, which perpetually renews the extraordinary nature of such an ancient event through the admiration for the scene being portrayed.

Pliny the Elder, Naturalis Historia 7.55:

Undoubtedly endless examples of filial piety exist worldwide, but in Rome there is one alone to which none other can compare. A humble woman on the verge of giving birth, a plebeian and thus unnamed, had been allowed to visit her mother who was in prison because of a crime she had committed; despite being under constant surveillance so that she may not sneak in food for her, the woman was caught feeding her mother from her own breast. For such a marvelous display of piety was the mother freed, and both were granted food in perpetuity, and that very place was consecrated to the goddess of Pietas.

i think this is a very interesting story, i can see why it is such a common theme to be depicted throughout art history, and i definitely empathize with and share the reaction valerius maximus describes in the viewer of such artistic depictions: the visual effect of a woman breastfeeding an adult, one significantly older than the woman herself, is no doubt incredibly striking, and it is only compounded by the knowledge that said adult is the breastfeeder's own parent.

there is something extremely visceral about this mental image that makes me want to flinch and look away from it, like i am seeing something i am not supposed to be seeing: this is something different from the reaction that a mother breastfeeding her child usually evokes in me, and far more similar to the reaction i have to seeing a couple have sex in public. of course, a lot of this is my own personal and cultural bias speaking: while breasts are not ontologically sexual, they have a sexual connotation in our society, and an adult sucking on another adult's breasts, even with milk flowing, is an act that instinctively reads as sexual and thus incestuous to a modern-day observer, even one who knows there is no sexual intent behind the act.

there is also an element of subversion, and thus further taboo, enshrined in the act: it's more self-evident in the story about the plebeian mother and daughter, but no less present in the one of pero and mycon. a mother breastfeeds her daughter, who in turn grows to have children of her own and breastfeed them, and this goes doubly so for a plebeian woman who would not have had the means to take on a wetnurse: that a daughter breastfeed her own mother shatters the hierarchical dynamic that tacitly establishes itself the moment the newborn daughter latches onto the mother's breast, and it places the daughter herself in a position of power as the one who now controls the mother's access to food and life, as well as forcing the mother into a regression of age where she now has to step into a child's shoes and trust her daughter with her life and her nourishment.

i would argue the same goes for the father, with the obvious caveat that roman fathers usually did not breastfeed their children and so that one immediate parallel doesn't hold up; however, it is still a very clear subversion, especially when you take into account that the roman father as head of the family would have very concrete power of life and death over his children, while he is here fundamentally subject to the whim of the daughter who holds the power of life and death over him in the form of breastmilk. of course, in both cases, the daughter is magnanimous and pious and of her own volition she offers her breast to her parent for feeding, potentially even robbing her soon-to-be-born or newly-born child of the milk that is rightfully theirs: after all, these are both being used as exempla of filial piety and are surrounded by other such exempla, and selfless devotion to the ailing parent even beyond the realm of what is usually considered proper is a storied roman value. in this sense, one can read these tales as the child giving back to the parent, and therein can lie the subversion: as the parent once fed them and gave them life (or even straight up breastfed them in the case of the mother) in a time of the child's helplessness, so too the daughter in a time of the parent's need must take it upon herself to give back and feed her parent with the body she was given by them.

of course, this is just pure speculation on my part, and while i do think it's likely that an ancient roman reader or viewer might interpret the story somewhat similarly to the last paragraph, i cannot be sure: i don't know how breasts were viewed in the roman world, but i can make an educated guess, judging by how even in most nude or scantily clad depictions of roman women their breasts are bound and they are only shown as unbound in erotic illustrations. it is very possible that the ancient romans saw breasts in a somewhat similar way as us, which is to say quite eroticized beyond the context of breastfeeding; i wonder especially if a father would have had the opportunity to see his daughter's breasts organically, if such an instance was normal or possible or if she would have kept them bound in such a situation.

all this rambling to say that breasts were likely eroticized to some degree in roman culture, and to me it's very telling that some narrations report the guards/witnesses of such breastfeeding as being shocked or finding it indecent before understanding it as an act of filial piety: the sheer fact that it needs to be prefaced with this disclaimer of sorts, of it being a story of filial piety, implies that the image of an adult man sucking on a woman's breasts may have had other, sexual connotations (an adult woman doing the same might even have connotations of lesbianism, how ghastly), and so the tale both plays into that ambiguity and tries to dispel it by explaining the context.

i hope this makes even a lick of sense! i had a lot of fun exploring this story and mulling it over in my head, thank you for giving me the opportunity to do so, i really hope you found my answer the least bit satisfactory <3