#(this ones to rake in the cishets)

[edsheerankinnie]

Hey can yall vote and rb im trying to see smth

plus a follow up here

[ca-suffit]

First of all, thank you so much for your reply. I really needed to hear that I wasn't the only one who found the lack of melanin conspicuous, cuz everytime I saw the post had more notes than the last like I thought I was tweaking.

Second, you're so right about the nature of this fandom's discourse. Most of it's just platitudes. It's all very... It’s all these ostensibly leftist or at least liberal ppl misusing therapyspeak and being downright nasty with no regard for (other) BIPoC fans' feelings (or the themes of the show), trying to cudgel ppl with how "smart" they are and how "dumb" we are.

I think the nasty thing for me is that I love what the show is doing, but then I check on the fandom and it goes ah ah ah negro you don't understand anything at all. Read Chrétien de Troyes' body of work and watch random USAmerican show #47 before you try speaking again.

I'm coming across as confrontational, I think, and I don’t mean to. Let me try again. Food for thought for the well-intentioned:

Are you really engaging with the show's critique of white supremacy if your behaviour in fandom replicates it? Using the white Western literary canon etc as shorthand for your intelligence/the worth or value of your interpretation. Are you actually egaging with the show's critique of cisheteropatriarchy if all those texts were created by and largely for an audience of cishet men? Maybe ppl don't need degrees in literary or gender and queer studies to have worthwhile insights. Maybe condescending to people while being unfamiliar with a whole host of queer Black literature when talking abt a queer Black show is at best... foolish. Maybe it weren’t for all that then watching the show would feel less like stepping on a rake. Okay, sorry, now I'm being petty (and elitist). I'm trying not to make assumptions or broadsweeping statements here.

Like you said it's all in service of not mentioning what even the blind can see. That's not a value judgement, ppl don't usually bury the subject consciously, white or BIPoC, it's our society. But that's why you gotta think and talk about race, because when you don't, you leave it unchallenged and it perpetuates.

Reading that the Utena thing at least didn't start (?) with non-Black fans did make me feel weirdly more positive about it. Anthy and Utena... Hm. Loustat is everywhere to see for the delusional. 🫶🏿

(I keep mentioning in asks that I'm very happy with the show and I hope it doesn't come across as trying to shame/police fans who aren't or sound like I'm gloating - I just wanna contextualise my specific frustrations.)

This felt productive to me.

Thank you so much for this space and especially for your time, I realise what a huge amount of emotional labour this blog must require (and here I come, shoveling more shit onto you 🫤). You've been both very thoughtful and thought-provoking. - 🦁

I'm out of brain energy to give this a better response rn but I've rly appreciated u being here and sharing what u do, and thank u so much for the compliments too. I used to have this account locked down bcuz I only ever saw anon asks and post comments and stuff allowing bullying to happen in more hidden spaces. I never thought the fandom could utilize the same things in order to be more vocal about a lot of stuff. I love that we've all discovered that this can work like this now. there's still shit happening at times but it's become a lot more positive here than it was at the beginning, bcuz ppl *want* to have these conversations.

[dollypopup]

unpopular polin opinions (again)

-Colin honest to God didn't do anything even REMOTELY as bad as this fandom insists he did? framing him as the big bad in a friends to lovers story is deeply unsatisfying and pits him and Pen against each other when the whole POINT is that they're a team.

-Polin is meant to be ride or die. it's meant to be people who see one another for who they are beyond the front. it is NOT meant to be two people who hold grudges against one another with a scorecard of who hurt the other more huffing about how the other is frustrating. their whole dynamic is 'i like you' 'i like you, too'

-BOTH OF THEM have hurt the other without apology. NEITHER of them are actually in love with the other (yet). Both of them are closed off and secretive and neither of them should actually have to beg and cry and scream for forgiveness. they're supposed to be friends

-jealous Colin as we're pushing for it is a shit tier trope. Colin swooping in w/ feelings for Pen only after other people have expressed interest in her would always make her wonder if he wanted her for her or if he wanted her because someone else did first and that's not the dynamic at all. Colin falls for her organically, albeit slowly. He falls for her when she opens up, when she shows him who she is, and only after he shows her that he's a safe place to do so. Likewise, SHE falls for HIM for real when she sees who HE is, too. When she sees that he's imperfect and that his charming artifice is a mask he wears. They're both scared that who they truly are on the inside is unlovable or unworthy of serious consideration, and when they crack open and the other sees, they fall for who they actually are. It's a love made stronger because it's born out of trust and understanding, not out of an ultimatum of 'I could lose her!'

-Penelope ghosting Colin with no explanation after S2 would be her being a really bad friend and deeply hurtful

-Penelope would hate being the unofficial diamond everyone is seemingly rooting for and it makes 0 sense for her to suddenly have a bunch of suitors. it's just lazy storytelling.

-most of the Polin dynamics this fandom has actively rooted for in S3 is just Kanthony or Saphne 2.0. That's very much NOT the point of Polin's romance. and I do not understand why people want the exact same season playing out the THIRD TIME IN A ROW

-Pen's actual character would despise how some of y'all write about Colin. like. . .she's supposed to love him? he's supposed to love her? If someone called him an idiot or undeserving or uninteresting or that he should beg and grovel she would fight

-Polin's characterizations as individual characters as well as a couple have been so completely twisted and deformed in this fandom for the sake of drama and painfully cishet toxic tropes that it makes me legitimately sad. Polin is a great ship. So much of it is beautiful and healing. Two people who care for one another deeply, if with a good deal of confusion, discovering who they are individually and then realizing they're happiest with each other is lovely. Colin being an atypical male love interest in the sense that his primary draw is kindness and compassion and primary struggles being lost and jealous of his LI for her success is INTERESTING. There are a million and one brooding rakes out there breaking hearts and beating their chests howling 'she's mine!' in the middle of a room full of other men gawking. Ship Pen with one of them if you want that dynamic, but that's not Colin and I don't WANT it to be Colin. Colin is great without that

-Penelope is not an innocent lil bab who did everything she did out of good intentions. she is more complex and relatable as someone who fucks up. It is COMPELLING that she did deeply hurtful things not out of saintly altruism but out of jealousy or scorn or desperation mixed with a genuine desire to do well by those she cares for. It is a better story to acknowledge she isn't even remotely perfect and that in wanting to help, she just tangled things up even worse than before. Penelope has plenty of faults alongside her goodness: she's closed off, distrusting, traumatized, jealous. All whilst being funny, sharp, cunning, loving. She wants to be loved and to love those around her and doesn't know how. She hurts the people she cares about and she hurts herself in the process. THAT'S REAL. The idea that Penelope is a perfect bab who should be fawned over and all her ills can be excused away is flat and infantalizing. I understand: there have been a lot of criticisms of Penelope from people who genuinely dislike her character. But the pendulum has swung to the other side to the point where people who DO like her and DO ship Polin point out unsavory parts of her character, it's met with the same rabid defense as if we were haters. Guess what? I like Penelope MORE because she's made those fuck ups. I like discussing how she's hurt others because who of us haven't? Penelope is overlooked and unpopular and awkward and unsure and I LIKE HER FOR IT. I'm exhausted of the glittering, perfect Penelope who everyone else has to apologize to because she's the 'victim'. That makes her so much more unlikable

-speaking of unlikable, most of y'all who say you ship Polin straight up do not like Colin as a character. And it's obvious. Turning him into a character he isn't, wanting him on hands and knees begging for a second chance, considering him only as an extension of Penelope when he has so much richness as a character in his own right. Assuming the worst in his actions and striking out all the good about him in favor of a narrative that deforms Polin into a ship where he is always wrong and she is always right. And it turns a lot of people off to the ship. People who ship Polin already get turned off by how much this fandom hates Colin, let alone peeps just getting into it or outside of it. There are people who despise Polin that discuss Colin more favorably than we do in our own ship and it makes no sense because he is a genuinely fantastic character. He refuses to abide by toxic masculinity, he's gentle and sweet and caring, he's silly and unsure and self-sacrificing, he's putting on an act and he's self-critical and he's got such a big heart. He's the kindest person in Pen's life. He supports her unyieldingly. He's never done anything to purposefully hurt her and he cherishes her as a friend. Why do we so rarely talk about him favorably?

-Polin is NOT Colin vs. Penelope. That dynamic can create some interesting conflict, sure, but it needs to move beyond that because at the core? At the core, it's Polin vs. The Problem. and it's so much more fulfilling that way

[lordofthechips]

had a few trial days at this all girls landscaping/gardening company… went into it multiple times stating that I am NOT familiar with the local flora as I have just moved into the area and used to live a thousand miles away… had a difficult but ok first day with one of the owners of the company. second day did not go so smoothly as the other owner of the company is kind of a bitch and caught me pulling a tiny plant that didn’t end up being a weed (whoops) and now I didn’t get the position. even though I was assured that it wasn’t a big deal by other owner. and another girl who had been there for a week did the same thing as me, just not in front of the bitchy boss lol.

even though I was one of a few ppl there with no education in this field, I rlly didn’t think it would be such a big deal since this job is, y’know, MANUAL LABOR.

never thought I’d need a degree to pull weeds and lift bags of soil and rake leaves etc.

has me thinking abt how privileged white cishet women co-opt progressive politics and movements just to end up kicking disadvantaged ppl out of them. anyways

[gothra]

In leftist circles, especially with young, hyper-online leftists, I think that white women are regarded as the last acceptable kind of marginalized person to hate. The things that happen to them are okay because things that happen to other people are worse. It’s okay if you’re being a misogynist and you’re queer because you’re queer and you’ve had it worse.

To me, that’s immature, not because I deny the truth of race and racial dynamics, but because others are denying the marginalization of sex and gender and using race as a pacifier, a self-soothing tool that keeps them feeling like they’re doing something good and positive for the world and for other marginalized people. It’s good to patronize and dismiss misogyny if white women are complaining about it, because they’re crazy psycho nutbag Karens who gripe about everything and try and steal the show while the rake in the benefits. Their problems aren’t real, they’re just example problems, practice problems that are only real when they happen to other women who aren’t cishet or white. White women (especially cishet white women) are at an intersection that keeps them in limbo; they get privilege from their racial identity and receive marginalization from their gender/sex. I find white women and their status in this world interesting and I’m glad I moved on from my hatred and jealousy of them, to an appreciation and understanding of them as an entity by enjoying a chosen few, kind of like allowing a wild fox to eat a strawberry out of your hand or keeping bees or something.

The truth is, if you are disrespectful and cruel to white cishet women for unjustified reasons, I don’t trust that you won’t treat me the same way. No, I don’t trust that you’re more of an ally because you’ve strategically targeted our common “enemy”, no I don’t appreciate it or feel safer or more comfortable with your attempt at “allyship”. It raises my hackles in a specific way for a specific reason.

The issues of all women often intersect at some of the same points, and if something is a problem for white cishet women, there’s a 90% chance that it has been a greater problem for WOC for much longer. How are you going to recognize those problems if you find a way to rationalize dismissing them because of the people who experiencing them? As soon as I sense that you’ve gotten into the habit of using an “acceptable” way to commit some act of lateral cruelty, I won’t feel safe. Big things often start the way an addiction starts, with one or two drinks, and end with cirrhosis of the liver, a scarred, poisoned gut, and bad attitudes towards women. I don’t accept that you allowing yourself this little treat of casual misogyny directed at an “acceptable” target won’t turn into something bigger and more dangerous.

Also, the term “kidnapped white woman syndrome” isn’t meant to paint the picture of a dramatic white woman making a big deal about a crime committed against her, it’s a description of media and social attitudes towards white women. That’s just for whoever needs to know.

And this isn’t about POC who express their feelings about the racism they experience at the hands of white women. This is about…everyone else.

[velvetvexations]

I don't have a problem with "cishet people be like" jokes, that kind of thing is objectively fine and always has been, but it feels like lately queerness has been slowly getting more insular and actively hostile towards anyone on the outside regardless of their intent. I'm considering looking into if there's anything I could volunteer to do that centers around outreach to non-queer allies. I feel like that could be my calling in this particular life. I get really, really bothered when a cishet person admitting they don't know something gets raked across the coals and I regularly cry a bit thinking about really early allies when things were so dicey and it took such courage and willingness to stand against seemingly insurmountable cultural momentum.

It's a weird thing about my personality. I know to most people it's like, oh, we shouldn't worship every non-[x] who isn't a bigot, we shouldn't center non-[x], and like, I get that, I get that, I fully agree, but I do also think allies are important and those that actively fight for us deserve respect and gratitude that acknowledges their efforts. And like, if it has to just be me doing that, that's fine. This can be my niche, I can fulfil the role of the designated person who focuses on relationships between my group(s) and people higher in the social hierarchy who want to help so everyone else can do the higher priority things. Like, I've donated to at least one cishet streamer who made a statement after something queerphobic in their game's community happened and I know people would be like "why didn't you just put that money directly to queer charities" or something, and it's like, maybe you can keep doing that while I do this? Because I understand it isn't a vitally life-threateningly important issue but it isn't nothing.

Going to the mat for an issue you don't have a personal stake in isn't the only definition of heroism, but it's one I have an interest in. I often worry people will interpret that as me endorsing some Last Samurai bullshit, but anyone of any race, religion, orientation, sex, or gender identity can do that. I would hope the fact that I opened talking about cis lesbians who support trans people made that clear. My appreciation of those who reach out to others, my admiration of those who actively march with them, and my idolization of those who die for them applies to everyone equally no matter the specifics.

[supersonicsamurai]

In fiction, the cishet white able-bodied man is like all purpose flour. Unless the recipe specifies to use a different one, that's what you dunk there.

**However** fiction isn't baking and so using the same cookie-cutter bloke gets stale rather quickly.

We've arrived at a time when it is acceptable to make him a woman, straying any further from the template will have angry denizens of Twitter swoop in on you either critizing you for being "woke", as if they knew what that means, or for talking over people's lived experiences. Ideally both for extra spice.

This makes it then borderline impossible to find a character who represents my lived experience. Perhaps there is a contemporary novel out there, whose author had heard of intersectionalism. Maybe.

Problem is,I don't read contemporary, and neither do many other people. I am not snubbing the genre, I just find it boring.

Unfortunately, the genre that I read, fantasy,only recently discovered the female species. The amount of misogynist macho nonsense some authors are capable of stuffing into one book...

I understand the concept of the male power fantasy and its purpose, but omfg some of these guys need to get out of the basement and touch grass. I thought I was reading a rags to riches, not a harem story.

Which brings me to the moral of this story. If there is something you want to see in media, you have to create said media, because house names like G.R.R. Martin, Patrick Rothfuss or and especially J.K. Rowling don't give a fig. Their comphet fantasies are raking in cheese, so they have little incentive to change.

Of course, there's the other part of the problem. A cookie cutter story will a cookie cutter cast is easier to get published as the publisher feels less of a risk. Self-publishing is an option, but them you bear the brunt of the expenses and people might think you're self-published out of desperation.

So, where does that leave us? Stuck between a rock and a hard place as published and known authors, who could lend the cause their name and reputation aren't going to do so in order to protect their monetary interests, but trying to publish will have you jumping through hoops you didn't even know existed.

[matoitech]

trigger hinted at returning to promare but i also dont think they have the guts tbh. gay characters are fun to include when you dont have the time to make them explicitely get together but if u do anything post-canon.. youre shit out of luck w waving it off cuz you WILL have a majority of your audience now mad at you if u ignore or backpedal to get to where u dont Have to show the gay ppl together. yknow

[on-a-lucky-tide]

Werewolf of Steel

I listened to Werewolf of Steel by Carnal Agony (listen to it; it's hilarious), and this WIP popped fully formed into my head. It's already about 3k in, but won't be published for a while... I'm just so excited about it. @skaldingrayne and @tumbleweedtech helped me fully flesh out the world so I could start writing (their ideas not included here).

Premise: Lambert is a famous comic artist and author. His prize-winning work, Werewolf of Steel, is about a superhero werewolf who goes around rescuing dames, solving mysteries and kicking ass. He's a cishet male power fantasy and it's raked Lambert in a fortune. Nobody knows his secret...

Warnings: Lambert's father, brief violence against a child, the murder of Lambert's father.

Twelve year old Lambert's father is a top executive in a Big Bank and an absolute asshole. He's disloyal to Lambert's mother, shady, dishonest and just an all round massive shithead. One evening, Lambert catches him banging his secretary when he gets bored waiting around in a conference room for his dad to remember he exists. His father drags him out of the building and decided if he puts the fear of God in the kid, then he'll stay silent. This isn't the first time. Not even close. The noise of Lambert's pleas for him to stop, his screams for help, are largely ignored by passers by. Not their business. But a homeless man interrupts.

The homeless man warns Lambert's father to stop in a deep, metallic growth. He appears to be staggering, clutching his head, and Lambert's father assumes he's another drunk. He tells the man to fuck off and turns back to Lambert, who is crying and shaking. The homeless man, upon hearing Lambert's cries and the threat of continued horrors, transforms with a series of agonised yelps and cracking bones.

He's a werewolf.

The werewolf strikes Lambert's father down. It's not too horrific. A slash across the throat. It's quick and efficient. The wolf pins Lambert down and sniffs him. Lambert is ready to accept his fate. His life's a crock of shit anyway. But Lambert sees shame and fear in the wolf's eyes.

It runs away.

The police arrive.

No one believes Lambert.

They think he's traumatised from a horrific mugging. He goes to therapy. His mother moves on and finds another abusive asshole to shack up with. Lambert never forgets what happened that night. He doesn't see the werewolf as a monster that murdered his father, but believes he was saved by a hero. He grows up into a comic artist and his hit bestseller is Werewolf of Steel. A heroic everyman, who's roguish with a heart of gold. He gets all the girls, rescues the vulnerable and howls at the moon.

We're talking movie deals, a TV series on Netflix. Lambert's hitting the big time, and his agent, Kiera, is pushing, pushing. He fancied her once but she told him that "cute, single nerds do better in the business", so that dream went poof. There's even a catchy theme tune to the new series and Lambert has to include the chorus on the inside of his next issue.

But he never forgot and never stopped looking. His obsession is good for his work, because every dead-end leads to a new story. But there's one tale he can't tell because it doesn't fit with the cishet male power fantasy of the Werewolf of Steel with women falling at his feet.

Lambert draws a second comic. One where he falls in love with the werewolf. He keeps it secret, stashed away in his desk, occasionally he'll work on it, drawing loving erotica and heartfelt romance.

One night he comes home after drinking heavily at the local bar to find a strange man standing in his study. He grabs a cricket bat and challenges him, but the intruder lifts both hands in immediate surrender. Lambert flicks the light on and two things knock the air from his lungs: 1) the intruder was leafing through his private comic, the one where he's wrapped in the wolf, his hands buried in its fur, and 2) he recognises that face. The face he'd seen moments before it turned into a wolf. It's the werewolf from all those years ago. He looks... embarrassed, rather than scared.

He gives his name. It's Eskel.

They stare at each other for a long while. Neither moving. Eskel offers to go out the window and disappear, Lambert tells him that if he does Lambert will hunt him until the end of time. He wants answers.

Eskel agrees, but Lambert sends him to the shower first because he fucking stinks.

Eskel showers and reappears just as Lambert places two empty mugs on the kitchen counter. There is something far too erotic about seeing the man of his dreams in his sweatpants, with damp hair and a naked chest, and Lambert tries to focus on making the coffee.

Lambert makes him put on a dressing gown, because tits that good would get him an NC17 rating on his next comic. And Lambert watches Eskel eat leftover chicken and drink black coffee; he studies those bright, golden eyes and the jagged scar down his face, the thick coils of muscles revealed in a 'big man wasted too thin' kind of way.

Lambert's first question to the man he has searched for, dreamed about, his entire life: "Does it hurt?"

[thatheathen]

Dave Chappelle LIED About Daphne Dorman

Well damn. This is interesting. It's almost as if we shouldn't take the word of an aging aggrieved comedian who tokens a trans woman to hide behind to make transphobic "jokes" then complains being criticized for what they say contributing to that transphobia.

Oh but we triggered trannies are just too sensitive and don't understand the complex nuance of Dave's craft... Give me a fucking break. I watched the whole special and it didn't impress me much, in fact it made Dave C. seem more ignorant of trans people and trans issues.

So in the wake of the backlash "team TERF" Dave tries to play like a canceled victim when people got upset over what he said in his special. Why are edgy comedians these untouchable people that dare not be criticized or its the end of free speech or whatever? I never wanna see a free speech absolutist type comedian get offended by anything lol! Wouldn't that be funny if they did? Does irony beget irony?

Dave didn't get canceled, a black queer Netflix employee was fired though. Very BLM of Netflix by the way. Of course that Netflix employee "deserved" to be fired as they "leaked" info which didn't happen as Netflix said it did so naturally everyone believes the white cishet Netflix heads over black queer people; people that Dave Chappelle refused to address the existence of in his special framing the LGBTQ+ community as this white-owned and white controlled group which is just beyond irresponsible and intellectually lazy.

Nobody is ever held accountable for their shitty behavior at Netflix regarding transphobia and then gaslight us into oblivion, fire people who disagreed with Dave's stand-up special all in hopes to silence the naysayers and trans people in general.

Trying to cancel Dave's special (which I don't agree with) only emboldens the rightwingers fears who hate trans people with a passion already, claiming that the big mean left or evil LGBTQ community loves to cancel people for no reason or cancel anyone over trans/gay jokes... Again, more evidence that we're not allowed to have mild disagreements, criticize, or be angry at cisgender heterosexuals even if we might be wrong on something so the bigots just paint us all as some mindless angry liberal mob to justify their bigotry disguised as free speech.

But isn't it interesting that Dave Chappelle misled people and/or exaggerated about Daphne being "dragged" on twitter (ya know, that non-real place Dave calls it unless it's someone praising him) to be one of the sole reasons that led to Daphne's suicide despite there being no actual proof of this? Makes you wonder what else Dave doesn't actually know or has misled people to believe because he's such a defenseless victim with a massive platform after all. Very unfair you see. Dave Chappelle is an attention seeking moron to my mind raking in the Netflix cash cuz controversy sells.

Special thanks to SpringsInMyStep on twitter for their extensive research and massive thread on this subject. Highly suggest folks read through it all before going off at them or Abigail Beck. And like clockwork, Abigail's video certainty got Dave Chappelle fans big mad pointing his lie out lmfao!

[pandacommander24a]

While we don't have any minis yet, we have been promised Female Knight heads. Here we have Two named Female Knight one of them is in charge of defense and running of Bretonnia's Camelot, and she the fucking lioness of the founding dukedom. And on the cover we got one clearly female knight on the big first new novel of the Old World.

GW should be raked over the coals for a lot of shit, especially representation outside of the White patriarch Cishet "normalcy," but they are trying. You can point how little it is but its an attempt I guess.

Oh yeah, the old world is sexist as fuck.

The only factions that had women where the elves, even then it was sparce.

There where some female special characters sprinkled through out, but it was mainly a sausage fest.

Empire and Brentonian where very sexist, surveraly limiting what women could do.

But the worst? Skaven.

Because they reduced their women to nothing more than giant breeding factories, that's all they do, get fucked, have kids.... And they have to be watched because in their stupidity, they might roll and crush their pups... Or eat them.

I really hope with GW revisiting the Old World, they undo some of this.

[charlies-strap]

it’s a dead horse to talk about the con by now, but truly nothing the actors said at the con was new or surprising. like it’s the same attitudes they have consistently had for years. like, jared putting his foot in his mouth and making no damn sense while doing so? trying to be progressive when you’re really just being ignorant at best, harmful at worst? jensen refuting queer reads on dean and saying that dean’s a misogynist creep? theyre consistent yall!

and i truthfully dont think that this will change most people opinions on the cast either. terminally parasocial stans will always forget or rewrite whatever jensen/jared does and/or blame it all entirely on one of them over the other. mishas going to continue to rake in fans money and support because he is the most supportive of queer readings (truly he’s up against the lowest bar).

the show & the actors have never been revolutionary. they are rich white cishet men doing all of this for the check, which fans keep funding. they do not have secret pro-lgbtq agendas that they communicate by changing their shirts. and yes, they are all individually responsible for what they say and how they behave.

the only way to engage w the cast is to know that they are a joke, that they do not care about you, and have fun watching the batshit behavior of rich cishet white men w terminal child actor brain. 

if you’re a recent fan and have been trapped in an echochamber, im sorry that these people arent who you thought they were. if you’ve been a fan for a decent amount of time though & are still theorizing that, like, jensen saying something sexist is actually a misguided manifestation of his toxic masculinity trauma which he channels into his intentional portrayal of dean as a closeted abused bisexual man......like i dont know what you expected and literally you will always be in this cycle sjkdhf. 

[gayregis]

ok wait i'm a bit confused..,,,, lauren really gave a big fuck you to any other kinds of witcher lore and characters and is just not very talented but is she a actually bad person? bad meaning racist homophobic ableist etc? i can not find anything good and you always have 12/10 chefs kiss info (sry about my shitty english)

she’s not done anything racist personally, but in regards to racism i’d like to point out how all of the black actors/characters are treated in twn. they all were relegated to antiblack tropes:

dara was black best friend trope (”a black character whose role either A) revolves almost entirely around a white character or B) serves as a conscious effort for a white character/writer to appear inclusive”), 

queen eithne was magical n*gro trope (sorry that’s the name for the trope but i don’t feel like i should be saying that word) (”in order to show the world that minority characters are not bad people, one will step forward to help a "normal" person, with their pure heart and folksy wisdom.”)

the dryads in general were depicted very stereotypically as somewhat hollywood natives (” typical depictions will show the (usually dark-skinned) natives as unkempt and scantily clad, decorated with tribal face paint and brandishing spears or bows”) and iirc some the actresses who played most of them were white (anneke weerts, nóra trokán are listed on imdb as being dryads, and i do not think they are black?) yet they all had dreadlocks... it’s uncomfortably close to blackface. also my question is why did “people who live in a large forest and are close to nature” garner one of the main black actresses involved in twn and the whole cast to have dreadlocks and spears (when dryads never used spears in the books)?

fringilla vigo was just straight up evil and does human sacrifice now for some reason, with no personality but being evil and mean to yennefer, who is played by white-passing anya chalotra. in canon, she wasn’t even evil, but they made her a villain for... what reason, exactly?

vea and tea were... okay... “sexy women who don’t speak a lick of the common language” was already a bad trope introduced by sapkowski, but sapkowski never specified that they were black (they’re described with blonde hair iirc, i believe they were based upon the ancient steppe peoples), so taking that trope and saying “oh hey, these two are sexy warrior women who don’t speak any english, they must be black!” is extremely uncomfortable to me

all the other black actors were relegated to background characters that have extremely few lines and appearances.

racism that isn’t antiblackness off the top of my head includes:

they took the depth and emotion out of toruviel’s character, which strikes me as poor treatment of people of color because i believe that natasha culzac, her actress is mixed race (half caribbean).

casting vilgefortz (VILGEFORTZ... the r*pist and main villain of the entire series) as a man of color, and casting very very few men of color in other roles besides this one... like, let me repeat again, VILGEFORTZ... 

yennefer is constantly shown naked and in pain in scenes that just were not canon at all, they cast yennefer as a woman of color and then made her naked and in pain MORE of the timem

since all of this racist treatment and also tokenization of characters is in twn, and lauren is the showrunner of twn, i believe she should answer for this, trying to appeal to a larger demographic to get more money.

her husband is michael hissrich, who won primetime emmy awards 3 times, which leads to how i believe that lauren got her position out of nepotism

and the two are filthy rich, i mean they listed their house in hollywood for $2 million

tldr she’s not done anything horrific, but she’s just another wealthy white woman. she’s not your ally or my ally, she doesn’t care about representation like she pretends to. she’s a very rich cishet white woman who can’t write, and attempts to appeal to more diverse demographics in order to rake in more cash

[buunbi-archive]

slur discourse and lgbt+ discourse as a whole is so incredibly asinine, especially when you start trying to box people into these neat little holes where they can only say and do certain things based on their identity.

like i’ve seen people legitimately say that bi men can’t say faggot, and as a gay man i just wanna know why?? how is a bi mans experience so fundamentally different from my own that he can’t reclaim a word that’s likely been levelled against him countless times, lest he be raked across the coals?

cishets aren’t going to care about the distinction. cishet people will look at you, decide who they think you are, and act accordingly. i’ve been called a dyke or a lesbian (derogatory) for the crime of being afab and having short hair, i can assure you it has nothing to do with whether or not i’m “solely attracted to women” as i’ve seen some people say it means.

if two groups of people, or even two individuals, have an overlap in experiences they should be able to speak on those experiences without threat of harm. in my eyes as long as someone is reclaiming a slur in a positive way, and not using it towards people that aren’t okay with it, anyone can say whatever they want. i’m using slurs as an example here just because it’s the simplest one i have, but i’m talking about discussions pertaining to varying genders and sexualities too.

a bi woman and a lesbian and a bi or straight trans man have more in common than a lot of people seem to think, and it’s baffling to see people get so distraught over the idea that maybe, while our struggles aren’t identical, they’re similar enough that there shouldn’t be so much of a divide between everyone.

[spaceskam]

I'd love to see someone explore kyle being at the gay bar possibly hoping alex walks in? gone there bc of feelings for alex and wanting to explore it? have gone there with alex once and kept going back? has actually gone there ever since getting back to roswell but nobody noticed? idk so many possibilities but ending up with alex 😌

(i keep trying to add a read more and it refuses I hate it)

“You know, gay bars are supposed to be safe places, not places straight people go to for a museum experience.”

Kyle quickly looked up to Alex, eyes wide as he watched him walk towards him. In all the time he’d been coming here, he never actually expected to run into Alex here. Alex didn’t exactly seem the type to actually go out without being provoked to do so. It meant Kyle had to actually explain himself.

Which, you know, would’ve been easier if he knew how to.

“That’s... not what I’m doing,” Kyle said. Alex smirked more to himself than anyone else, sitting down at the table with his drink in hand. He looked more relaxed than Kyle was used to seeing him which immediately told him that absolutely was not his first drink.

“What are you doing then?” Alex asked, “Because I’ve been trying to figure out why the hell you’re in here for about thirty minutes now.”

Kyle huffed a laugh. “You’ve been watching me for thirty minutes?”

“I was trying to see what you would do if a guy came up to ask you to dance,” Alex told him, “Weirdly enough, no one did.”

“Yeah, I don’t think I’m anyone’s type around here,” Kyle laughed, shifting in his seat to try and hide the actual reason no one asked him to dance. There were only so many queer people in Roswell bold enough to go to a gay bar. Kyle had already been there enough times that anyone interested had already asked.

“Bullshit,” Alex said, shaking his head and looking way too hot doing it, “You just give off vibrant cishet vibes.”

Kyle tilted his head at his clearly very drunk friend. “That’s a new descriptor.”

“Yeah, I think it’s fitting.”

“I don’t know if I’d say that,” Kyle said, taking a sip of his own drink. If he was going to have to do this, he needed to catch up to Alex’s level of intoxication immediately. He ended up downing it before he looked back at Alex.

“Oh, shit, so you’re trying to get drunk to avoid to question,” Alex said, still smiling and laughing easily. It was weird seeing him so light. Kyle was kind of obsessed with it even if his presence was stressful. “Here, have mine.”

Kyle took it and drank it all, deciding he needed at least one more before he was at Alex’s level.

“How about this,” Alex said, leaning forward, “I buy you a drink and you dance with me.”

Kyle licked his lips and stared at him. All his visits here, all his experimenting, seemed to lead up to this moment. That was all training and dumb shit to test the waters and make sure he wasn’t a fool. This... this was the real deal. This was Alex, his friend and the guy who made him question anything in the first place. This was like fighting the big boss. This was the fucking Superbowl. 

“Why are you staring at me like a deer caught in headlights? You want a drink or no?” Alex asked, still smiling. Kyle blinked out of his daze and nodded.

“Yes, absolutely,” he agreed. Alex nodded and stood up, walking to the bar to get him another drink. Kyle took that moment to prepare himself, knowing that this was the night he was going to come out to Alex and it was going to be fucking awesome. Hopefully. Maybe. Fuck. 

Coming out was easier said than done. It was one thing to stroll into a gay bar for the first time with no confidence and be boosted up by a ballsy twink who gave him head before the end of the night. It was one thing to get comfortable with the idea of being with men and trying his own hand at new things with strangers in their cars. All of that was easy because he wasn’t even necessarily attracted to them, it was just a good way to experiment and they didn’t mind teaching him when he admitted that he was new to it all. It was something completely different to try and approach his friend who was so confident he was straight and say ‘hey, I might be in love with you in a gay way’. 

But Alex came over with a drink and kept looking at him like he was curious and Kyle tried to tell himself this was going to go his way.

“So, am I ever going to find out the real reason you’re here?” Alex said as Kyle tried to consume the drink as fast as he could so they could go dance, “It’s not to, like, creep on women who come here for other women, right? Because I might have to kick your ass for that.”

“No, that’s definitely not why,” Kyle said, pulling the straw out and just tilting the whole thing back. Alex shook his head.

“What the hell are you hiding, Valenti?” he asked, looking somewhere between amused and turned on and Kyle had exactly no idea how to handle that. Probably because there’s no way that’s what he was actually feeling.

“Let’s dance,” Kyle said, pushing himself to his feet and absorbing the slightly woozy feeling of the alcohol. 

“Yeah, let’s.”

Kyle avoided any looks the men he’d hooked up with before gave him as he pulled Alex onto the floor. They didn’t need to know anything and Alex definitely didn't need to get any ideas from them. He wanted to tell Alex himself. That was the goal.

Alex pulled him close, a challenging look in his eye as if he was just waiting for some type of line to be crossed. He grabbed his hand in one of his and put the other on his lower back, slow-dancing to the relatively fast-paced music. Kyle went along with every move.

“So, what’s the goal here?” Alex asked, leaning in close to speak. Kyle swallowed harshly at the feeling of his breath on his ear. Okay, so there was no time being wasted.

“What do you mean?”

“Why are you at a gay bar?” Alex asked again, “And why are you so okay with dancing with a gay guy? I’m trying to decipher your motives.”

“I’m not some straight guy trying to prove that I’m not a homophobe anymore if that’s what you mean,” Kyle told him, “I come here because I like the atmosphere.”

“What straight guy comes to a gay bar by himself?”

Kyle took a deep breath and focused on the alcohol in his system. Now or never.

“Why are you so sure I’m straight?”

Alex froze in his grasp before he leaned away from him, his eyebrows furrowed as he eyed him. Kyle stared back, unwavering and trying not to seem like a total loser. There was no way this was going to end the way he would’ve liked. 

“So... what do you mean by that?”

“I guess the word is bisexual?” Kyle said, “Or something. I’ve talked to a couple guys here and they agree that sounds right. I’m pretty sure my percentage is, like, 85% women, 15% men, or maybe even less towards men, but I’m still working it out, I just know it’s there on some level because when I look at you, I... Is that too much information?”

Alex was still staring at him like he’d grown another head. Kyle just waited and hoped he would be okay with that. He assumed he would be considering Alex didn’t seem to have a problem with Michael’s bisexuality. Except that confusion slowly slipped into something so close to betrayal that Kyle’s heart sank.

“Are you trying to say that you’re into me?” Alex asked. Kyle slowly nodded and Alex pulled away from him. “So, what, you’ve only been nice to me for the last year because you wanna fuck me?” Kyle’s eyes nearly bulged out of his head.

“What? No, oh my-”

Alex didn’t care to listen, shaking his head and quickly making a beeline for the exit. Kyle quickly followed him all while trying to follow Alex’s thought process. Of all the reactions he’d expected Alex to have at that moment, that wasn’t it.

“Alex! Wait, just talk to me!” Kyle called, following him to his car. “Just let me explain!”

“Explain what? That you’re just one of those people who is an asshole until you want something from me? Because that’s what I’m hearing. I thought you were my friend,” Alex said as he turned to face him. His face was red and Kyle didn’t know if it was the alcohol or the anger. 

“No, I swear to God, that’s not why I’m nice to you,” Kyle said, holding his hands up, “I didn’t even know I was into guys until, like, four months ago. Like I said, my percentage for liking men is extremely low. You just happen to be in that section and I didn’t realize until four months ago. You are my friend, I just... Wouldn’t mind also being more than that if you wanted.”

“Four months ago?” Alex repeated, eyeing him skeptically, “Like, four months ago as in that time my dad knocked us out and locked us in a small ass bunker together for 24 hours?” 

Kyle grimaced, still keeping his hands up by his head. “Guilty.”

“What the fuck about that day gave you a second sexual awakening? I-I was literally sweating the entire fucking time and covered in dried blood. I was gross.”

“What can I say? I guess I like when you’re gross?” Kyle said, trying to smile but it didn’t really work. Alex scoffed, shaking his head before raking his hands through his hair.

“I’m so confused,” Alex breathed, leaning against his car and covering his eyes. Kyle took a deep breath and tried to order his thoughts. He decided the best way to do it was just start from the beginning.

“Um, I think it was actually when we got out. I had to kinda help you walk and you were leaning on me and then, when we got in the backseat of Isobel’s car, you still leaned on me. You fell sleep on my shoulder and I, I was so scared that if I moved you’d wake up and get away from me. It took me a few hours after that to even realize that what I was feeling when you were leaning against me was sort of how I felt in high school with Liz,” Kyle explained. Alex peaked up at him through his hands. “It wasn’t sexual at first. I just... I kinda realized I loved you in a way I wasn’t supposed to.”

“At first?” Alex asked. Kyle shrugged.

“That I realized a little bit later when we were working on self-defense together. I definitely should’ve realized that earlier because I’ve had, like, x-rated dreams about you, but it never really clicked that that was something I would be legit interested in that until I saw you that day. Sweaty and shirtless and breathing really hard and pouring water over your chest like... Sorry,” Kyle said, rolling his shoulders back as he tried to get back on track, “But once I realized that, I realized I had no idea what to do about that. So I started coming here and, well, pretty much every single queer guy in Roswell is down for a meaningless fuck. I learned a lot, so...”

Alex dropped his hands, still looking semi-conflicted as he stared at him. Kyle waited patiently for him to say something. 

“You promise me you weren’t just using me?” Alex asked. Kyle nodded.

“I promise. I would never. And if you’re not interested, I promise we can just go back to acting like this never happened. It’s still early enough in my stupid crush that I can move on without issues if you say you’re not interested,” Kyle explained. Alex nodded slowly. “So, uh... are you? Interested?”

“I don’t know,” Alex huffed, “I’ve never thought about it.”

“Never?” Kyle asked. Alex gave him a look. 

“Not, like, since we were kids and I had, like, a dumb little kid crush on you. I kinda haven’t let myself think about it because you’re straight. Or, I thought you were.”

“If it helps, I thought I was too.”

Alex let out a soft laugh, looking at him with those eyes that reminded him why the hell he’d fallen for him in the first place. If only he’d been slightly less good looking or slightly less ridiculously caring and loyal and strong. But then he wouldn’t be Alex.

“Look, I don’t need an answer right now, I know I kinda put you on the spot,” Kyle said, “You can sleep on it or we can talk more or, fuck, you can shut me down right now. Whatever you want, Alex.”

Alex took a deep breath. “How about we go on a date?” Kyle blinked in surprise.

“For real?”

“Yeah,” Alex decided, “Take me out, woo me, see if it’s actually something we could do without it being weird.” Kyle nodded easily.

“Yes. Absolutely.”

“Okay. Then... it’s a date.”

“It’s a date.”

Kyle couldn’t help but smile at him, feeling giddy and already beginning to plan it in his mind. It was going to be fucking great and he was going to sweep him off his feet. Then he was going to put his new skills to use.

“But I think I need to go home now,” Alex said, huffing a laugh.

“Let me get you an uber or something, you’ve been drinking,” Kyle said, already pulling out his phone. Alex smiled and shook his head.

“What a gentleman.”

“That’s not even the beginning,” he said, “I’m going to sweep you off your feet.”

“Can’t wait.”

And, honestly, Kyle couldn’t either.

[corporatehorror-au]

CHARACTER INTRODUCTION POST

Mike from Marketing

He/Him | Gay cis man | Married, has a child

364 days a year, Mike from Marketing works a 9 to 5 job just like anyone else.

He rakes in the big bucks with his unbelievable work ethic and nye-on supernatural capabilities.

He usually wears a blue boiler suit to work, and never comes in without his mask.

He also strangely emanates the Halloween theme, permanently.

As a man of actions, not words, he never speaks. He will, at most, stare at you informatively. If he ever writes something down it’s for his eyes only.

Employee of the month record holder. Most popular guy in the office. Great listener.

BFFs with Ghostface. Shares an office with them.

Ghost Face from Customer Service

Any pronouns | Nonbinary | It’s complicated

Charming voice can lull even the most hostile customer into a sense of serenity.

A very proficient employee. Always seems to be slacking.

Suspected of frequent scheming, fridge raiding, but nothing ever sticks. Always has a solid alibi.

Rumour floating around that there might be 2 of them.

Shifty, mischievous, always several steps ahead of everyone.

Loves gossip.

BFFs with Mike from Marketing. Shares an office with him.

Mysterious. Follow the official comic to learn more.

Freddy “Turtleneck Fred” Krueger from Upper Management

He/him | Cishet man | Divorced. Has a daughter.

Wears a red and green turtleneck sweater

Basement office, in the building’s boiler room.

Owns a significant stake in Slashers, Inc.

Has been reported to HR more than even Pinhead.

Thinks the company couldn’t run without him. It would probably thrive without him.

Banned from attending “Bring your daughter to work” day.

Entrepreneur. Runs several smaller businesses.

Jason Vorhees, Global Brand Director

He/Him | Aro-Ace Cis Man

Has a heart of gold

Momma’s boy

Nobody ever sees him around work most of the time

Smart casual clothing, almost always.

Only works Fridays.

Smells like fish.

Pinhead, from Human Resources

Uhh…

Umm….

Carrying on,

Candyman, Graphic Designer

He/him | Transgender man | Looking for a victim.

Highly talented artist.

Responsible for the brand’s look and for packaging.

Does weekend seminars on diversity in the workforce.

Volunteer beekeeper.

Red Secretary Thing

Above human comprehension of sex and sexual identity.

Vapes.

Fred Krueger’s personal secretary.

Usually wears an immaculate white dress, reminiscent of a butcher’s apron.

Bubba from Retail

He/Him | Hasn’t thought most of this stuff up | Cis guy | Neurodivergent

Polite. Kind. Friend-shaped.

Clumsy, but loves to be of assistance.

Incredibly strong. Incredibly tall.

How big he’s gotten…

Has been known to wear former employees’ faces.

Lots of manual labour. He doesn’t mind.

Best friends with Ash, he feels like no one else understands him like he does.

Requires permanent supervision, generally Ash.

Free hugs.

Ash from Retail

He/him | Cishet | Horny.

Groovy.

Has been working here nearly the longest.

Works minimum wage.

Has had a stroke, and has developed a sixth sense as a result.

Slacks off but he’s got a heart of gold.

No one can bring themselves to fire him.

Only member of staff to understand Leatherface’s attempts at communication.

Has hit on customers. It works out more often than you’d think.

Kind of racist.

Acts really weird around Candyman.

Best friends with Bubba. They bond ocer their love of chainsaws and their lack of education.

Chin.