#I am exempt from this obviously

[gravesung]

this is a super interesting video on misogyny in the artfi.ght space that i think (to a lesser degree/dependent on niche) also applies to the rp community. worth a watch if you're interested. this is the reason i'm very strict about not writing with people who won't engage with my femme characters 🙂 like don't even try it with me, i will revoke my men

[godmodebeginswithlesbians]

thinking back on the whole four thing in the lu fandom and like. literally everyone was acting evil, huh

[konakoro]

If I watch the same movie more than 3 times a week, it immediately qualifies as an Autism Movie

[sneefsnorf]

people on here love neurodivergent ppl until they get confused on what's satire or not. or just like. need a joke explaining to them. then theyre stupid idiot babies that are ruining the funny shit. and its such fuckass nonsense

[deanportmans]

Y’all would not believe some of the media I’ve dragged Dean into. Sometimes I need my husband with me </3

[thesuntookgoodcareofme]

People my age irl think needing medicine for mental disorders is such an hilarious thing. Me when I'm ill and take medicine to feel better😂

[always-coffee]

WV Libraries Are Under Attack: How to Help

News came out yesterday that West Virginia House passed House Bill 4654. This would remove “bona fide schools, public libraries, and museums from the list of exemptions from criminal liability relating to distribution and display to a minor of obscene matter. …”

Potentially criminalizing librarians is bad, and it’s straight out of the fascist playbook. “Opponents of the bill said that while the bill does not ban books, the bill would have unintended consequences for public and school libraries, resulting in increases in challenges to even classic books and attempts to criminally charge librarians over books not pornographic in nature, but books that include descriptions of sex. They also said it could result in improper criminal charges against library staff,” Steven Allen Adams writes.

So, the question is: now what? What do we do? Where do we go from here?

If you live in West Virginia, call you state senate reps. You can find them listed here.

It’s okay to keep your message short:

“Hi, I’m [full name] calling from [ZIP code], and I’m a constituent of [Senator Name]. I am calling to voice my opposition to Bill 4654, because this is a dangerous step toward book banning. It could potentially harm librarians and libraries, which is incredibly wrong. Do not back this dangerous bill.

You can also ask how many people have called to voice their opposition to this bill. This may annoy the person on the phone, but they technically have to answer you. They may be evasive anyway. But you can either give them your contact information and tell them you’d like a call back or you can call back again later and ask for the tally.

The thing is, people rarely call in. A handful of calls is considered a lot, and the best thing you can do right now is make yourself a nuisance. Good trouble, etc.

Only call if you live in West Virginia, because they do not count calls from those outside their constituency. I am obviously not an expert, but if you have additional questions, ask them and I’ll try to help. I learned way more about how politics work during the last presidency than I thought humanly possible.

Additional resources:

[yenqa]

firsts

synopsis — sakusa and you have never had a conversation, and honestly you’re terrified of the man. but one conversation turns out to be many more of your firsts with sakusa.

warnings — reader is scared of men LMFAO, not really any

pairing — sakusa x implied fem!reader

wordcount — 710

a/n — happy birthday to himm! also my first hq post in a while OOPS also not proofread sorry!

You’ve never really talked to Sakusa.

You had been the manager of the volleyball team since your first year–and you had known him since then, but for some reason, you haven’t talked to him unless it’s volleyball related.

In fact–you don’t think you’ve ever had a conversation with him. But there's a first for everything, right?

Itachiyama has made it to nationals (not like it’s a surprise), and everyone has just arrived. The room continues to fill with people you don’t know, so you decide it’s best to stick with your team so you don’t get lost.

Well apparently that was a horrible idea to everyone else. Because you’ve lost everyone but Sakusa. 

And you’re terrified. Surrounded in a room full of men you don’t know sounded like your worst nightmare, and you were living it currently.

Frantically scanning the room for anyone that’s not Sakusa, you somehow can’t spot any of the familiar bright yellow and green jackets your team is wearing.

Everyone knows that Sakusa doesn’t like to be bothered. But when you make eye contact with him, you change your expression to a way where he understands you’re pleading for help.

And he nods once.

Your mouth breaks out into a smile, and you shimmy your way to the crowd. Letting out a sigh of relief–you lean on the wall for support, muttering a small thank you to Sakusa. 

You don’t expect him to say anything back, but you can hear his muffled voice say, “You okay?”

Tilting your head slightly up to make eye contact with him, you smile as you say, “Yeah–I’m fine. Are you nervous?”

You’re not sure why you ask the question, he probably doesn’t want to be bothered. I mean–you were still kind of shocked that he let you even be near him.

“Not really. Are you?”

You’re even more shocked when he continues the conversation. You’d expect he’d be the most rude person if he didn’t want to talk. “I-uhm I am a little bit. But we’re exempt from playing today right?”

Yeah–this definitely is the first and last conversation you’ll ever have with him.

He nods.

Then it’s silent.

Surprisingly, the silence isn't the most awkward thing you’ve experienced. It feels as if you’re just two people co-existing.

You watch as everyone excitedly hugs each other or glares at their next opponent. One person even tries to rile up the other, eliciting a small chuckle from you.

From the corner of your eye you can tell he’s curious, but he hasn’t said anything yet. This time, you take initiative to point at the players, also describing the jacket colors.

And you swear you can hear him laugh.

Not a full–hearty laugh obviously, but a small chuckle. A quiet one that you don’t even notice. But it’s definitely the first time you’ve heard him do anything resembling a laugh.

“You laughed.” You blurt out, before you even realize. 

He furrows his brows, “I did.”

Your eyes widen, “Sorry–oh my gosh, it’s just the first time I’ve heard your laugh before, Sakusa-san. I swear I didn’t mean it like that–you just have a nice laugh–”

And now he’s actually laughing–like not even hard to hear.

He’s laughing, he’s hunched over, shaking and clutching his stomach. You don’t think you’ve ever felt more mortified in your life.

“It wasn’t that funny was it?” You ask, a frown on your face.

Sakusa catches his breath, “Funnier than any of the jokes Komori tries to make.”

“There wasn’t even a joke! And I happen to like the jokes he makes!”

“Only if you’re sick in the head.”

You scoff at his remark, “Wow, Sakusa-san, you’re very hard to please.”

“Kiyoomi.”

“Another complaint?” You tease, trying to play dumb at what he’s trying to imply. 

“Call me Kiyoomi.”

You can feel heat rush to your cheeks, you tuck your hair back behind your ear and mutter, “Okay, Kiyoomi.”

And even though he’s wearing a white mask, you swear you can see his eyes crinkle and you can assume the corners of his mouth turn up ever so slightly. 

You’ve had many firsts with Sakusa today. This is the first time you’ve seen him smile–just maybe next time he’ll do it while his face is fully shown.

yenqa © please do not copy, steal or translate.

[succubusvalentine]

⁺‧₊˚ ཐི⋆♱⋆ཋྀ ˚₊‧⁺ THE THUNDERDOME ⁺‧₊˚ ཐི⋆♱⋆ཋྀ ˚₊‧⁺

Hiii, I'm Val :3

If you're new here welcome welcome. Enjoy your stay. If you're a repeat stalker, ily don't abandon me.

I don't have a schedule or anything, I post when I do. If you get frustrated that I don't post frequently enough for your liking, womp womp.

I don't wanna be mean or nothing, but mind you I am doing this for no money nor taxes. I do have a life. I have college, friends, boyfriend. This is a hobby for me. Not a job.

If you're one of the lovely people that reblog my posts with reaction images or amusing hashtags, I LOVE YOU. Seriously, I live for those.

Anyway I'll finish up my yapfest. Have fun on my page sluts ‪‪❤︎‬

MASTERLIST !

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

Requests 

⚰︎ Requests are always welcome unless my pinned post says otherwise. Do be patient in waiting for your request to be answered. And if I don’t do your request, don’t be upset! I most likely didn’t see it within the onslaught of the other requests.

What can you request?

⚰︎ I mainly write blurbs for requests! I like to keep full length fics and stuff to my own wall of ideas just to keep it fair for everyone. So, have a blurb idea? Awesome! GIMME IT. ⚰︎ Request character x character, or character x reader, even character x reader x character!

What won’t I write about?

⚰︎ Im sensitive to outright rape. So I won’t write about that. Although I will write dub/cnc as long as somewhere in the writing I mention that it is at least somewhat consensual. ⚰︎ Scat/watersports. It’s just not my groove. ⚰︎ Child stuff OBVIOUSLY. ⚰︎ Anything morally wrong. ⚰︎ I don’t write anything about cheating unless it is a planned thing. See an example here.

Who do I write about?

⚰︎ Any and all COD  ⚰︎ Stranger things (all underage characters are exempt from this) ⚰︎ Criminal minds ⚰︎ Gladiator  ⚰︎ TLOU

[genderkoolaid]

Just saw a post on my dash claiming you're a terf psyop because some terf on Twitter has the same username as you. I just wanted to warn you in case you haven't seen it yourself. You two having the same name is the only evidence given in the post. Nothing else. And I frankly don't believe it for a second. But other people are spreading this and seem to be accepting it as the truth. And I think it's messed up, and I'm worried about you. You don't have to respond to this at all btw; I just wouldn't have felt right about seeing this and not telling you.

Well this is wild lmao. I'm presuming both of these are talking about the same person.

—

—

Obviously that is not me. Mostly because I am not in fact a TERF (or from the UK). I chose "genderkoolaid" to be ironic because transphobes use that phrase.

But also because, if I was a TERF psyop, why in the world would I use the same URL for both my secret evil psyop account and my blatant TERF account?

She seems to have developed an entire conspiracy theory around transandrophobia in which she starts with the idea that everyone who talks about it is a secret TERF, and works backwards to twist anything anyone ever says into being proof of her conspiracy:

—

^ Her pinned post is... something!

Anyone can find the worst posts in the transandrophobia tag and use it as proof the whole thing is transmisognistic, because obviously transmisogyny remains a widespread problem and no space or group is exempt. But she doesn't even use those, really. Any post that talks about how transmascs suffer from misogyny, or just suffer in general, is apparently saying trans men are women and should detransition.

It's wild that she seems to understand that radical feminism relies on this man bad/woman good binary, AND that TERFs target trans men for conversion therapy, but does not seem to understand that... this is not that?

It's only somewhat included in the first screenshot, but the third image in that trio is an image with Joan of Arc which many of you have probably seen:

... which does nothing but contrast claims about masculinity with a person whose murder was justified because of their invalid masculinity. But of course, by masculinity we must REALLY mean... cis womanhood! That makes sense!

She also apparently believes that me describing myself as FTMTX is code for me being a detransitioner:

—

Like, this is genuinely just conspiracism & exorsexism. She seems one step away from claiming TMRAs are all Satanists kidnapping children.

To give her credit for one thing, though: She tags these as "broeddels" which, while useless as a term, is a very good pun.

Don't harass this person, primarily because harassment is bad but also because it seems like she is not in the best space and is obsessing over this as a result.

& if you want to actually support trans women, consider raising awareness of Rue, a Black teenage trans girl who recently survived a stabbing in Houston.

[txttletale]

Obligatory "in good faith" premise.

I've seen an argument against tme/tma that focuses on the fact that there's no similar terms for other types of oppression (as in, no terms like "racism affected/exempt"), and how tme/tma aren't good terms because they imply there's people who can't be affected at all by transmisogyny, regardless of whether it would be "misdirected" or not (which I do think it would be, although a lot of people against tme/tma would disagree).

Since tma/tme functionally ends up meaning just "transfem" and "not transfem" (or at least that's how ive seen it used and advocated for), do you think there's something to the idea that we could just say that instead when discussing transmisogyny? Or is there something about these specific terms that adds to the conversation?

I mean, I guess it would be awkward to put "not transfem" in your bio maybe

i mean like. there are those terms, though, those terms dfo exist, they're jsut called 'poc' and 'white'. liike the construction of 'whiteness' is such that it basically literally means 'racism exempt' within the context of white supremacy (which is ofc the context in which most discussion of racism takes place).

i feel like people are really getting caught up on like, 'exempt' and 'affected' as like, total absolutes 100% of the time and bringing up edge cases as though this absolutely refutes them when i think that's not a particularly useful thing to do for what are fundamentally abstractions for discussing a particular set of nuanced and diverse relations to transmisogyny! like obviously every single person has a unique and specific relationship to transmisogyny, but that doesn't make the terms useless an ymore than 'gay' or 'trans' are useless because people have complicated sexuality or gender situations.

& i think that if we started saying 'transfem / not transfem' then all the exact same edge cases and arguments would just start shifting onto the definition of the word 'transfem'. which i don't think is synonymous with TMA. i think that e.g. arguing that drag queens who regularly have their lives threatened by nazi militiamen with guns are not Transmisogyny Affected is kind of sillygoofy, right, but a lot of them don't identify as transfem! & i think moreover that saying 'trans women' and 'non trans women' kind of is the exact same maneuver as people who say 'don't say cis' because like the implicit content of using those constructions is that there are 'default' people who need no descritpor and then there are 'transfems', right?

+ i think TME/TMA are valuable because they articulate exactly what's relevant about the distinction, which is a relationship to transmisogyny. like a trans guy isnt 'TME' because he's a trans guy, but because if he gets into an argument with me he can pull out the classic 'aggressive' 'scary' 'creepy' 'predatory' 'sexual deviant' cards and try to have me socially murdered and have people side with him by default, something he shares with a cis guy and a cis girl in the exact same situaiton. because of the Trans Misogyny that i am Affected by and he is Exempt From and that therefore can be weaopnized against me in any interaction.

[br1ckwa11]

sigh this is a yellowjackets rant.

so, i feel like yellowjackets obviously is not exempt from criticism and i do believe people have a right to dislike aspects or plot points of the show. however, i am so sick of the non stop complaining over everything. like i truly feel like so much of the fan base has just been so negative. and what upsets me most is that the people complaining are the same people who expect the show to be %100000 percent accurate to real life which was never gonna happen because its a fictional tv show. and although i do love this show yes it has its flaws but the people who only ever CONSTANTLY talk about the flaws make me so mad bc obviously it seems like they just know better. and like i said before yes you can dislike seasons or plot points but also when you just constantly talk about how much you seem to hate everything about it, maybe just stop watching? idk sorry 😔

[kanmom51]

I actually have a crazy theory...

I have already sent this ask as the response to someone else’s thoughts, but then I thought about it and I REALLY wanted to know your opinion about this.

I think Jikook by the beginning of last year didn't know they were enlisting together.

I think they obviously knew about buddy system but didn't actually think they would need to use it. Because it's not really done by idols, and also they both could've gone to safer and easier stations, where they could have more freedom.

BUT THEN Jimin started working intensely on his album and JK started acting out (like having drunken lives), and it became VERY CLEAR that they would not be able to do 18 months apart.

I mean do you remember, that at this time JK said himself that he was not working on anything. And I think the plan was for Jimin to go first (just like a lot of us thought he would) and for JK to have more time for promo alone, when others are gone (I’m pretty sure that HYBE definitely wanted for JK to have big solo debut apart from other members).

But then like I said the drunken lives happened and realization hit, that they have to apply for buddy system, that 18 months apart would be BAD for both of them.

And that's when HYBE (or whoever) made specific demands from JK. Like if he wanted to leave by the end of the year (and he had to for buddy system to work) he HAS TO do the album, and because there was no time to write it from scratch they got all the English songs. Also his schedule was extremely packed and difficult.

So I think that the travel show was something Jikook specifically done for themselves because JK's schedule was so insane that if not for that excuse they would not be able to hang out freely before the enlistment. (By the way am I the only one who thinks that we are getting the travel show only next year? And waiting for it now is kinda crazy?)

But again it's just my theory, mostly because HYBE doesn't feel (to me) like the company who would just let their artists do whatever they want. To me they are waaay more pragmatic than that, and if they decided to allow their stars to enlist together (something that isn't really done in idol culture), than they would make sure to get something in return. They worked JK very hard, and I think he took it because he had a specific goal (more like a person) in mind that he was willing to work for.

So, although we might be on the same wave with some of your thoughts, I don't fully agree with you.

I agree that they didn't know they would be enlisting together way back at the start of 2023.

I think that way back then they were still struggling with the realization that they will have to be enlisting. All the way back to the end of 2022, basically up to around the Busan concert, which was October 2022, they still held hope that some kind of arrangement could and would be found to allow for them not to enlist or to serve a shorter term. It was quite a conundrum for them, something I think most of them struggled with (and I say most because I do think that at least one of them did genuinely want to enlist) - on the one hand this is a life changing pretty scary thing (terrifying even - we saw how sad, and I will even say broken, JM was having to shave off his hair, and that was only a small part of it) they would have to do (joining the army is not a walk in the park, no pun intended), not to mention being in their prime, in the height of their success, having to part with the life they are accustomed to (professionally and personally), not being something they would necessarily want to do. And on the other hand you have that sense of commitment to the country and to their fellow Koreans, that have to face that same compulsory enlistment, adding the knowledge that not taking that path of enlistment could also come at a price. Like us, they knew that there were those that indeed believed they should be given an exemption, but at the same time many Koreans would have frowned upon it, and it's them that have to live among their people. Also, enlisting like any other SK young man would allow them more freedom in the future when it comes to voicing their opinions, as they had, like all others who had served their country fulfilling their duties. Criticisms of anything within a society you live in is easier to swallow when the person voicing said opinion is part of that society and enjoys not only the rights bestowed on those who live there, but has also fulfilled all required duties as well.

Long story short, end of 2022 the decision to enlist became a reality and Jin enlisting hit them all VERY hard. At that point I don't think they had a plan of enlistment just yet, although we do know from RM, for instance, that he was supposed to enlist with Hobi but ended up pushing back as he was busy working on his album and preferred not to lose the momentum.

And btw, hearing this from RM also teaches us that JM was never going to enlist so early on. And here I think our ways part when it comes to the continuation of your theory, because I do believe that JM's plan had ALWAYS been to stick around for JK's solo debut, whenever that would be. And I'll get back to it in a few...

JK was struggling start of 2023. What we got to see, starting with his lives in Feb 2023, him deleting his IG, was him pulling himself out of the pit he was in. Taking initiative and deleting his IG (which I will once again say was a big old F U to the company) and reaching out to us with his lives was JK becoming more active in getting better.

*Side note: I'm using the term getting better meaning pulling yourself out of a bad place you are in mentally (one that effects you physically as well).

Idk if starting the lives was a conscious decision on his part towards getting better, but I do believe that starting them was a key part in it.

Talking to us, sharing things with us, setting (at least trying to set) boundaries with his fans what is and is not acceptable on his part as an idol when it comes to fan behavior and interactions with him, doing it all in the most JK way, intelligently and respectfully.

JM was busy all the way from end of July 2023 through to the release of Face and until the end of his promotions. It's not that they weren't seeing each other or spending time together during this time. It's not that JM wasn't there for JK, as much as he could in the moment. It's very important to state this. But JK was struggling with everything. It's the hiatus, Jin's enlistment, their looming enlistment (the unknown of what will be with the two of them - separation for such a long time is something that both of them would find extremely hard to handle for so many reasons), the lack of direction, the lack of a structured timetable (JK is neuro divergent - there is zero doubt in my mind - if it's asd or adhd or a combination of the two, which in my mind is the most likely of them all). He was kind of lost and his anchor, JM, was not available in the way that he needed. Not JM's fault. Not JK's fault. It just was what it was, and JK was a little lost. It's natural for something like this to happen. I spoke about it quite a bit in my posts about his lives at the time. We saw RM was kind of lost for a while there too. The trick is to pick yourself up and pull yourself out of it (with help of others if necessary), and JK did, and JM was ecstatic to see him doing it. Those comments of his during JK's lives (we are talking about the lives during Feb-Mar 2023) were testimony to that.

Once again I can't seem to reign myself in and keep on point, lol.

So, where was I? Oh yes, they didn't know what will happen, but at the same time JM was not planning on enlisting earlier that year. Understand this: JM enlisting earlier would, to them, mean them being apart for not 18 months, but for 18 months plus. Plus the time between JM's enlistment and JK's enlistment. And plus the time from JM's discharge to JK's discharge. Even without JK's situation this was not something that they would want or agree on. Not to mention JK not only wanting JM around for his solo debut, but NEEDING him around for it. And it's not about being by his side 24/7, which he wasn't and he couldn't be. It's about being accessible. Being there to support him if he needed. Whenever he needed it. Being able to be with him for his first solo performance (this brings me close to another ask I received and am working on regarding JK's FIRST big solo performance). All this has to be within the limits of their glass closet (glass getting a little murky for their own liking since the end of 2021 all the way to the end of 2023), and the limits set by the powers of be (some of which JK very defiantly crossed). So yeah, JM was going to wait for JK's solo debut before enlisting.

As for enlisting together. That was something that was being assessed and in the works for several months. Something obviously kept quiet for good reason.

Was there a give and take with the company when it came to JK and the album? 100%. There were things he wanted, there were things they wanted, there were frogs that it being a first solo album he knew he would have to swallow.

Were some of these concessions given to allow the two more freedom, like allowing the 'travel show'? I do believe they were. Perhaps also prices paid (with Golden) for demands agreed upon in their new contracts. I can definitely see that happening.

The push for a full length album could be one of those, for example. JK was talking about a mini album even as late as mid July, and then it turned into a full length album. Could it have been the company pressuring him into it? Yes it could, as in the company wanting this. But JK is not one to cave in just because the company wants. So very possibly we had a bit of give and take going on here, and some of it most definitley would have had to do with allowances made for the two of them.

But at the same time I don't think it had anything to do with the joint enlistment. Not only don't I think that the company would have a say in it, legally or morally, but this wouldn't be something that either of them would stand for. So, in case I didn't make myself clear here, I will say it again - the company didn't use the possibility of joint enlistment as a tool to get something extra out of JK.

You talk about Hybe not being a company that will allow their artists to do as they wish. BTS belong to Big Hit, which is a subsidiary of Hybe. But Hybe would not have existed if not for BTS. BTS made BH what it is today and Hybe was built on their coat tails. And BTS, the members, they have enjoyed many freedoms within their company over the years. Not full freedom though. And Jikook, well they were allowed to be (while in other companies this was not allowed, couples forced apart or forced out). And not only were they allowed to be, but towards the end of 2020 there was movement towards normalizing their relationship, ear suck, hickey and all.

But then came Hybe and Hybe going public, and I knew the day that was announced that even though the members will get a huge payout this move will cost them freedoms they already had, because now there were shareholders and share prices to worry about, and when your band is the main bread winner for that company, well, as I mentioned, there is a price to pay. And they have been paying that price. The two of them for the 2 years prior to their enlistment. As long as they were under their old contracts they were bound by them. Which is why I feel like there will be changes coming when they are done with their MS and well into their new contracts. This will be freedom regarding their art (I think we can already see part of that with RM's new album) but also regarding their personal lives, in a sense of what they can or cannot show if they choose to. JK telling us he's human, telling us he loves us but he deserves to be happy, or even more needs to be happy to be able to create and perform and make us happy (you need to be especially dense if you don't understand that this also includes being in a relationship with another person, who may or may not be a member of his own band). This includes setting boundaries with their fans - yes they love them and feel indebted to them, but at the same time they need to stay in their own lane (I do think JK has been too nice at times setting these boundaries, while others like RM, Yoongi and Tae - a couple of times - were way blunter).

Once again, Hybe wouldn't have the right to 'allow' or 'disallow' them to enlist together. This would have been their decision and theirs alone. Hybe could talk about timing and what they would like to happen before or after, but not if it can or will happen. Hybe could like or dislike it, support it or not, but they would have no power over it. The military alone would have a say if to allow it or not, and at the end of the day we know how that one ended.

I also want to touch on another point.

Again.

Their choice to enlist together.

I've seen talk about Jikookers using the term NEED when it comes to the two of them - needing to be with one another to get through their military service, and I wanted to put in my two cents on this.

The way I think of it is that when people use the term need in that case it's not about saying that if they weren't allowed to enlist together they wouldn't have survived it. No. That isn't it. Not in my opinion, in any case.

These two young men are strong physically and mentally, and they would get through whatever was thrown their way (wouldn't be easy, I tell you that, but they would get through it). Chances are that if they wouldn't have gone down the path of enlisting together they could have landed a cushier placement, band perhaps, like NJ, who knows. But definitley the choice to do this together had a price tag to it, and their letters from Festa tell us as much as well (even though they obviously sugar coat it for us, but the sentiments are clear - it's hard).

So, they chose this. They knew this was going to be hard. A harder, more difficult, placement if they were to go down this path. And yet this was their choice!!

Why?

And here comes that NEED into play.

Yes, I do think that they needed this. They needed each other. They needed to not be separated for 18 months not knowing if and how often they could get to see each other or be together (maybe, if allowed, once in 3 months, and only if their units allowed the time off at the same time). They needed that person that they trusted and KNEW that would stand by their side, that would support them, be their rock, catch them when they fall, be by their side in their time of need, just like they always have been.

They are each other's PERSON. The one that would ALWAYS be there through good and bad.

They both put it down in words:

JM

And JK

Shock, awe... I must be one of those delusional Jikookers that believe JK's lyrics were not describing his relationship with us, the fans. Another song written for the one person they love, yet given as a gift to Army.

And in his very subtle but intelligent way, he told us that himself:

"Even when I was working on the song, I really wanted to release it as a fan song".

Just like JM did, eh?

Would it be too hard to just say : "I wrote this song for my fans"? He chose not to, didn't he? Once again we have choices here.

I digress.

You could replace NEED with WANT, if you will. Same same in this case, imo. Seeing how hard they fought to find their way to this exact point.

The first, the only idols to ever do this!!

Bottom line:

To me, using the term NEED in this context is not about them not being able to make it otherwise, but more about a choice made to have that person they feel closest to, the person that has since forever been their emotional anchor, the person that lifted them up when they fell, the person that stood by them, cared for them, supported them when they were struggling. The person that KNEW them to the core and would be there by their side to get through this together with.

Each other.

[orangerosebush]

Recently, I did a re-read of the AF series, and I am working through some thoughts I have on the Fowls and what allowed them to maintain power -- especially in the sense of being landed -- in Ireland after arriving during the Norman conquest in the 12th century.

Colfer establishes that Hugo de Folé and Virgil Butler arrived in Ireland during the first Norman crusades in the 12th century (1169).

“The first record of this unusual arrangement [between the Fowls and Butlers] was when Virgil Butler had been contracted as servant, bodyguard, and cook to Lord Hugo de Folé for one of the first great Norman crusades.” From: Artemis Fowl. By Eoin Colfer.

At once, these origins of the Fowls would make them ambiguously part of the Old English, a term from the modern period (post-1600) used to describe the descendants of the first Anglo-Norman conquerors who largely inhabited the Pale (Dublin and surrounding areas) and surrounding towns. Hugo de Folé and Virgil Butler would have likely been Catholic.

However, the origins of Fowl Manor complicate this.

The original Fowl castle had been built by Aodhán Fowl in the fifteenth century overlooking low-lying country on all sides. A tactic borrowed from the Normans. From: The Arctic Incident. By Eoin Colfer

In the 15th (c. 1401-1500) century, Aodhán Fowl acquired land for Fowl Manor in the Pale (Dublin and its surrounding areas); the estate has remained in the Fowls' possession ever since, which is important to note.

The Fowls' historical proximity to the Pale likely was what allowed them to maintain power over the centuries.

Between the 12th and 16th centuries, the Lordship of Ireland (1177-1542) placed swaths of Ireland under the control of Anglo-Norman lords loyal to the King of England.

However, by the 14th century (1300s), English rule of Ireland beyond the Pale (Dublin and its surrounding areas) was weakening. Beyond the Pale, (Catholic) Hiberno-Norman lords' fiefdoms had a degree of independence from the English, often adopting elements of Gaelic language and culture.

This changes around the 16th century with the Protestant Reformation and the Tudor conquest of Ireland. In 1536, Henry VIII of England decided to reconquer Ireland and bring it under crown control. Charles II, Henry VII's son, made the re-established Church of England even more explicitly Protestant.

Between the 16th and 17th centuries (c.1550s-1620s), Irish land was transferred to a new wave of (Protestant) settlers from Great Britain and Scotland to strengthen the Crown's weakening control over Ireland and Anglicize (and thus "civilize") the island; the land transfer was facilitated through the creation of plantations, such as the plantation of Ulster.

The Old English, which would have included descendants of de Folé and Virgil Butler, were supplanted by the New English, the Protestant landowners introduced by the Tudors in a number of ventures at plantations.

It is important to note the historical nuance that:

There was no equivalent in Ireland to the English Test Act of 1672, and there were plenty of precedents for exemptions to the Act of Supremacy. The legal position of Irish Catholics was, in many practical respects, better than that of English Catholics; many fines and penalties fell into abeyance under Charles [II], and the Catholic hierarchy co-operated openly with the Dublin administration. From James's [James VI and I] accession, the Church's position was obviously improved; priests emerged into the public eye and were allowed salaries, though they were not as yet endowed. Protestant superiority remained, in many areas, axiomatic; Catholics continued to occupy a curiously edgy position of formal inferiority combined with tacit toleration. But the ambiguities of their situation reflected the logic of local conditions just as much as the shifts in central policy. [...] But the 'Test clause in the 1704 [Popery] Act, obliging holders of public office to take sacraments according to the usage of the Church of Ireland, gradually excluded Presbyterians from town corporations even in Ulster. Despite the regium donum and the Toleration Act, their equivocal relationship with the civil power remained, and would provide a key theme in the radicalization of the Irish political world after 1780, when the threat of Catholic disaffection apparently receded. [From: Modern Ireland, 1600–1972. By R.F. Foster]

Still, the Popery Act would have had consequences for the historical Fowls and Butlers as Old English families. Beyond the Test clause in the Popery Act, it also limited Catholics' ability to buy/lease land, as well as limited inheritance from a Catholic to be by gavelkind i.e., divided equally, and thus shrinking with each generation, the estate between all sons, rather than according to Primogeniture.

It begs the question of how Fowl Manor remained in the hands of the family, rather than becoming the estate of a member of the New English.

As anti-Catholic sentiment was largely grounded in the political context of loyalty to the Crown (as opposed to the Pope), certain members of the Old English gentry could have (and did!) find ways to join the wave of the Protestant Ascendancy.

"The Anglo-Ireland of the day in fact encompassed sizable middle and lower classes -- a heterogeneity that Foster finds "exemplified by that quintessential Ascendancy institution, Trinity College: defined by Anglicanism but containing sons of peers, of shoemakers, of distillers, of butchers, of surgeons, and of builders" (Foster 1989, 173). And not all the "Anglo-Irish" were, strictly speaking, "Anglo." Early in Bowen's Court, Bowen's historical account of her family's Cork home, we learn that "Bowen" derives from the Welsh "ab Owen" or "ap Owen" (Bowen 1942a, 33). Other Anglo-Irish men and women traced their ancestry to the Old English and to Catholics who converted to Protestantism in order to reap the accompanying social, political and material rewards. Violet Martin (better known as Martin Ross) descended from the Old English Martins of Ross, who had owned land in Galway and had converted to Protestantism in the eighteenth century (McMahon 1968, 123). As Thomas Flanagan concludes, "there were many ways of being Anglo-Irish" (Flanagan 1966, 59). So what, then, defined Anglo-Irishness? In [R.F. ] Foster's view, it was Anglicanism. Anglicanism "defined a social elite, professional as well as landed, whose descent could be Norman, Old English, Cromwellian or even (in a very few cases) ancient Gaelic. Anglicanism conferred exclusivity, in Ireland as in contemporary England; and exclusivity defined the [Protestant] Ascendancy, not ethnic origin" From: An Anarchy in the Mind And in the Heart: Narrating Anglo-Ireland. By Ellen M. Wolff

And what do we find out in the first book of Artemis Fowl?

"Beside [Angeline] was a facsimile of [Artemis'] father, constructed from the morning suit he'd worn on that glorious day in Christchurch Cathedral fourteen years ago." From: Artemis Fowl. By Eoin Colfer

Christchurch Cathedral (in Dublin) is Anglican in denomination!

I just think it is so cool that across a few sentences from Artemis Fowl and The Arctic Incident, it is possible to situate the Fowl family within a semi-realistic history of Ireland.

[ghostboyravenight]

it actually drives me insane when people use transmisandry to mean "the unique oppression trans men/transmascs face" instead of the original definition which was just "the intersection of transphobia and misandry." the first definition makes it sound like transmisandry is exclusive to trans men/transmascs while the actual definition acknowledges misandry as a real axis of oppression.

i think its because people use transmisogyny to mean "the unique oppression faced by trans women/transfemmes" instead of the original definition which was "the intersection between transphobia and misogyny."

anyway as someone who was there when transmisandry was coined it really gets my goat.

I think the definition of transmisandry/transandrophobia has become a lot more fluid lately, with no one singular definition that can really encompass everything that trans men/mascs face, because it isn’t possible to encompass that without creating yet more binaries that not everyone can fit into.

In all honesty, definitions like “the intersection between transphobia and misandry” and “the intersection between transphobia and misogyny” are also— in my opinion— still a bit too simplistic to fully describe the reality of either (and obviously prompts a bunch of irritating arguments about “misandry not existing” in order to silence us), but I understand where you’re coming from. I agree that transmisandry isn’t exclusive to trans men, because bigotry never stays on target and a lot of different opressions can overlap with each other, so it would be counterproductive to describe transmisandry as an oppression unique to trans men, when that’s just not the case. Otherwise we might as well start using TMA/TME to mean transmisandry affected or transmisandry exempt, which would put us right back at the beginning of arbitrary binaries that exclude far too many people.

When it comes to transmisandry, and how I explain it to people, I usually just say “the kind of transphobia I’ve experienced on the basis of being a trans man” and then I follow it up with said experiences to anyone who cares to listen. Obviously, it probably requires it’s own thesis to describe the root causes of the issue and how it can stem from many different oppressions intersecting with each other, but I am not qualified to make that thesis. All I can do is talk about what I’ve been through, and listen to what other trans men/mascs have been through (and how transmisandry can intersect with racism, intersexism, exorsexism, etc.) and make judgments from there about what transmisandry means.

A fixed definition can’t really work in this case, because trans people cannot be fixed, but I do agree that “a unique axis of oppression that only trans men face” is a terrible definition that will simply encourage further exclusionism, and it is not a definition I subscribe to.

That being said, I do also think it’s important to talk about the intersections between one oppression and misandry, such as the intersetion between race and misandry, because that is a necessary conversation to have and one that does require the acknowledgment of how misandry can be weaponised against marginalised men, so I’m not negating the original definition at all. I just think the original definition has probably evolved to encompass a wider range of intersections and experiences, which I think is a lot more beneficial to the conversation.

[recurring-polynya]

I have this love-hate relationship with whenever the Bleach anime tries to pad out canon events. On one hand: more world-building! Yay! I love world-building! On the other hand: it so often doesn't fit with/straight-up contradicts canon in a way that makes me insane. I know that usually when I get like this it means I've watched #46: The Worst Field-Trip Ever, but today I want to talk about

~The Lieutenants' Meeting from Bleach #227~

[rest under a cut because I am extremely Back On My Bullshit]

As you may know, the most precious chapter of Bleach (to me) is 0.side-B the rotator, the little flashback that appears in the middle of the Advance Team Arc (it's collected at the end of Vol 23) where we learn that Rukia's mission to Karakura was her first solo assignment and she was very nervous about it and didn't even tell Byakuya she was going, and also where Renji gets his promotion notice, but decides not to tell Rukia until she gets back. This was adapted not once, but twice by the anime, neither in the correct place.

The first time is in Episode 109, the final episode of the Bount arc. Even with 0.side-A the sand, it's not really long enough to make a full episode, but they intersperse it with some Kuchiki Manor hijinks and a bunch of Bount wrap-up stuff.

The second time, is episode 227, which is in the middle of the Fake Karakura town, although it's the first of a handful of standalone episodes and then the Zanpakutou Rebellion Arc, so I guess they were stalling for the manga to catch up. Anyway, it's completely re-animated for some reason, and the also added in Ch. 0.8, the Mizuiro flashback story and it still wasn't long enough, so they also threw in a Lieutenants' Meeting. This is exactly what I would do if I were a writer on the Bleach anime.

Bleach loves a Captains' Meeting, but Lieutenants' Meetings rarely merit screen time. There were two during the Soul Society invasion arc, but those both seemed to be pretty ad hoc emergency deals. There was a third one at the beginning of the Blood War that never got animated, which was also an emergency one, and had a distinct "hang out while the captains have their meeting" vibe.

So what does a normal, no-wartime-exemption Lieutenants' Meeting look like? Citizens (me) demand to know!

First of all, back up. One does not simply smash cut into a Lieutenants' Meeting. Apparently, each lieutenant brings a report to the meeting, which gets run by their captain first. It's unclear if it's required or just a courtesy. In any case, they give us this Goofus and Gallant style juxtaposition of Hinamori delivering her report to Aizen, along with some calligraphy she's done. This is followed by Hitsugaya tracking down Matsumoto by the smell of her booze and demanding the report (she was too drunk to write it and apparently also too drunk to go to the lieutenant's meeting).

Okay, now we can go to the meeting! It's held at Squad 1.

Hinamori is...late. I would not expect Hinamori to be a person who is habitually late, but then I remembered that she was late to a meeting and knew a short-cut that time she found Aizen's fake corpse, so maybe she is habitually late. I suppose it's possible that Aizen dawdled over approving her report, but it's also very funny to me that a good half of the lieutenants have executive dysfunction, so I am going to assume that Hinamori is one of those people who is ready 20 minutes early but it's too early to leave and then she gets distracted and ends up 5 minutes late.

Back to the meeting!

Holy moly, it's the same room that they used for the Soul Society Invasion Lieutenants' meeting! Remember this place?

It's got the green paneling, the white-with-gold-diamonds frieze, the criss-cross windows that Renji jumped out of once, and the map of the Seireitei. Also, a drop ceiling with elementary school style fluorescent lighting, apparently!

The most exciting part, though, is this fantastic purple table and chairs. Obviously they need this because the Lieutenants' Meeting also features snacks, which is noted have been provided by Oomaeda. (Do you think he always brings snacks because he's rich and loves snacks, or do they have a rotation??) Perplexingly, since this flashback takes place before the Soul Society Invasion, did they...did they move the table and chairs out for the Emergency Meeting? So that it would look more serious??? Like. That is a big table. That would take some effort.

Aside: The room doesn't actually look like this in the manga versions of the Soul Society Invasion arc meetings. It's got the wood paneling, but the windows are different and it doesn't have any other details. However, it does look like this during the TYBW meeting. I guess maybe Kubo liked it and adopted the design??

Back to the meeting at hand!: Sasakibe gives Hinamori some grief for being late. Matsumoto's absence is noted and attributed to being hungover, which leads to Iba complaining about his hangover.

This is so unserious. I love it. I love all of them.

We skip back to Karakura Town for a bit, but when we come back, it is business time. Isane is reading her report to the group. Anyway, first order of business: Karakura Town needs a new resident officer. Apparently the previous officer was from Squad 4, but had to be relieved due to "cramps." The reporting is sort of directed toward Sasakibe, but it's not very formal because we keep getting interruptions from the peanut gallery, which is to say that Kira and Oomaeda then start arguing about cramps. There is definitely the vibe that Kira hates sitting next to Oomaeda and is willing to throw hands about anything.

Anyway! Kiyone volunteers Rukia for the position on behalf of her captain, and Sasakibe goes for it. Importantly, we get a loving close-up of my beloved Seireitei map.

More importantly, all of this is bullshit. Squad 4 doesn't station people in the World of the Living (except for Hanatarou that time). Karakura Town is Squad 13's turf, it has been since Isshin's day:

I don't even know what the anime was going for here. We've already met Kurumadani (Afro-san) by this point. I guess they wanted to have a reason to discuss this at the Lieutenants' Meeting? I guess so Hinamori and Kira would have this information to tell Renji later?? This really could have been smoother, Bleach anime!!

Let's move on to the next order of business, which is...Renji's promotion! Actually, first, let's consider a shot of the room from a different angle:

In case it wasn't obvious earlier, everyone sits around the table in numerical order. I'm honestly a little worried about that back corner with Hinamori, Renji and Iba and Hisagi across from them. Troublemaker corner. They got Nanao back there, to keep them from cutting up, I spose. Yachiru is asleep. Matsumoto still hasn't shown up (nor will she, in case you were hoping).

Anyway, Isane announces that "the Captains' Meeting has chosen Abarai Renji, Sixth Seat of Squad 11." a) of all, why is this part of Isane's report?? And why isn't Shirogane here, anyway? You would think Squad Six would require a transition plan, but I guess he just noped out and left Byakuya in the lurch. (Real reason is likely because that would have required them to remember what Shirogane looks like and get him a voice actor. If the Bleach anime loved me, they would have done these things). AHEM! Also, what is this "the Captains' Meeting has chosen" bullshit? Captains choose their lieutenants, which Aizen mentions while gloating over Shinji in TBTP, and then Kyouraku brings up again when he bullies Central into letting him have two lieutenants. It is extremely funny to think about the other captains saddling Byakuya with Renji. They would never let the captains have a PVP mode, though, their hate game is worse than Tumblr's. I will be generous and say that perhaps what Isane meant is that it was announced at the Captains' Mtg, and since all the captains canonically love Renji, no one had any objections.

All the vice-captains love Renji, too--this announcement is met with delighted gasps. Wait, no, Oomada hates Renji:

I unironically love this, mostly because it sets up the Renji-Oomaeda beef from Diamond Dust Rebellion where Renji calls him an otter-face.

Oomaeda claims that Renji is "a punk" and "will scar the name of the Gotei-13." Granted, Renji does commit treason shortly thereafter, so he's not exactly wrong. No one cares though and Yachiru starts drawing on his head halfway through this rant.

And that's it! Altogether, this took less than 5 minutes of screen time, but hopefully this was very helpful and informative if you, like me, love to write fanfiction about lieutenants' meetings. Don't forget to include snacks!!