#I don't know how to tag it

[bunderies]

about luka's outfits

when i introduced alien stage to my friend last night, something struck me about luka's off-screen performance. in the brief glimpse we get of his outfit, i noticed, for the first time, the small cutouts revealing parts of his body. it caught me off guard.

i realized how intentional this detail was: all of luka’s stage costumes expose slivers of his skin in carefully chosen areas. his chest, his back, his shoulders — always with an almost princely delicacy that ensures it never slips into vulgarity. he’s the only character presented this way; till and ivan are entirely covered. even when till's skin is visible for the final, it's with a tank top, far removed from the meticulously crafted, subtly suggestive outfits luka wears. it reminds me of heperu, who mentioned loving luka's neutral expression, comparing him to a doll. there’s also the way luka sits so obediently in the top 3 video, perfectly still. on stage, though, he’s in motion — dancing with mizi, physically interacting with till. while these moves are clearly meant to unsettle his opponents, i like to think they’re also his way of ensuring he delivers the fanservice the aliens expect from him. i can’t help but think back to the scene in sweet dream where he’s just a child, overwhelmed by the relentless cameras and flashing lights. ultimately, luka throws others to the wolves to ensure his own survival — but in truth, he is the real prey. the aliens may have crowned him "ruler of the stage," the stage itself is shaped entirely by their desires… with their unhealthy obsession for him, they are the ones truly devouring him. they elevate luka into an idol —perhaps even a sex symbol — and i imagine the consequences this could bring in a world as dark and merciless as this one. yet it's fascinating to see that luka doesn’t see himself as a victim of this situation; instead, he appears to be in control of it. i keep thinking about that one line he said about hyuna: "Poor thing, if she was in my arms, she would be safe."

in the idol industry, outfits like these would be deemed impractical, and some fans might even blame the stylists for making the idol appear vulnerable under the watchful eyes of the world and countless cameras. there’s this connection where people genuinely worry about the idol’s comfort — whether it’s a skirt that’s too short, a neckline that plunges too deep, or a shirt that’s too sheer. what’s chilling about alien stage is the idea that the entire industry is made up solely of individuals who want to see luka that way. it makes me wonder how he manages to feel safe, or even remotely comfortable, with it all. the only comfort he might find would be with the other humans, but instead, he chooses to psychologically dominate them, always striving to rise higher... the peak of glory must be a lonely place.

[katieaki]

🎀 SOMEBODY HELP HER! 🎀

instagram | bsky | sticker

[anabantoid]

I finally made the gofundme for Wednesday. If you see my deadname no you didn't.

tl;dr I had to put my cat's emergency vet bills on various credit cards and now I need help paying them off after she passed away. The total was $5,668.85, rounded up to $5700 for gofundme since they're not exact.

Wednesday was probably the best cat I've ever had, she meant everything to me and losing her has been one of the worst things I've gone through in my life.

Here's proof of her bills.

Please reblog and share the link.

[diminuel]

I was rewatching Friends the other day with someone who hadn't seen it and we got to the episode where they taste breast milk and it made me wonder...did dragon even try Crocodile's milk when they had luffy? did Crocodile?

I'm going to say probably?

*wanders off to edit my essay*

[wanderingmind867]

Masturbation is not fun in any real way. It's something I do out of habit (and possibly out of addiction). It's a thing that leads to high feelings of pleasure, but which always ends in an emotional crash that makes me sad and uncomfortable. So...you know. It sometimes feels cathartic to get it off my chest. Because i'm not telling my dad about this. And i'm never telling my therapist about it. I would find it mortifying, honestly. So I discuss it here. I get it safely off my chest, and I wind up feeling slightly better for it. Because all of this stuff is awkward but important, i suppose you could say.

[fuckyeahfreeimmortal]

Anyone have that picture of this two people passing a sigarette to each other reminding of the creation of Adam? I think there's a beach in the background but I'm not sure???

THANKS!

[fitilechka]

hiii~ would be appreciated if anyone gave me some ideas for arts in my ask box!!

i'll pick one or two… those that will have my full interest 👀

also kirby or pressure related pls

[blindwildnoise]

quick portrait comm

[zialinart]

A lil friendly flower for a ko-fi !

My kofi

[theunderflower]

cuts and bruises

4 . 09 . 2023

[thebvbbletea]

nerdy loser gf x popular sunshine girl gf. I'm so ready for this trope hdsoejksjd, i begging you 23.5 please coming quickly to me skdjdkd

[einaudis]

Question: What is the greatest magic of all? Answer: Friendship, right? [B]: The greatest magic of all is not friendship, it's chronomancy, the ability to control and warp time. If friendship were the greatest magic, look, it's a pet peeve of mine (...)

DUNGEON MASTER BRENNAN LEE MULLIGAN ANSWERS DnD QUESTIONS (TECH SUPPORT | WIRED)

[shadesofmauve]

I want to step away from the art-vs-artist side of the Gaiman issue for a bit, and talk about, well, the rest of it. Because those emotions you're feeling would be the same without the art; the art just adds another layer.

Source: I worked with a guy who turned out to be heavily involved in an international, multi-state sex-slavery/trafficking ring.

He was really nice.

Yeah.

It hits like a dumptruck of shit. You don't feel stable in your world anymore. How could someone you interacted with, liked, also be a truly horrible person? How could your judgement be that bad? How can real people, not stylized cartoon bogeymen, be actually doing this shit?

You have to sit with the fact that you couldn't, or probably couldn't, have known. You should have no guilt as part of this horror — but guilt is almost certainly part of that mess you're feeling, because our brains do this associative thing, and somehow "I liked [the version of] the guy [that I knew]", or his creations, becomes "I made a horrible mistake and should feel guilty."

You didn't, loves, you didn't.

We're human, and we can only go by the information we have. And the information we have is only the smallest glimpse into someone else's life.

I didn't work closely with the guy I knew at work, but we chatted. He wasn't just nice; he was one of the only people outside my tiny department who seemed genuinely nice in a workplace that was rapidly becoming incredibly toxic. He loaned me a bike trainer. Occasionally he'd see me at the bus stop and give me a lift home.

Yup. I was a young woman in my twenties and rode in this guy's car. More than once.

When I tell this story that part usually makes people gasp. "You must feel so scared about what could have happened to you!" "You're so lucky nothing happened!"

No, that's not how it worked. I was never in danger. This guy targeted Korean women with little-to-no English who were coerced and powerless. A white, fluent, US citizen coworker wasn't a potential victim. I got to be a person, not prey.

Y'know that little warning bell that goes off, when you're around someone who might be a danger to you? That animal sense that says "Something is off here, watch out"?

Yeah, that doesn't ping if the preferred prey isn't around.

That's what rattled me the most about this. I liked to think of myself as willing to stand up for people with less power than me. I worked with Japanese exchange students in college and put myself bodily between them and creeps, and I sure as hell got that little alarm when some asian-schoolgirl fetishist schmoozed on them. But we were all there.

I had to learn that the alarm won't go off when the hunter isn't hunting. That it's not the solid indicator I might've thought it was. That sometimes this is what the privilege of not being prey does; it completely masks your ability to detect the horrors that are going on.

A lot of people point out that 'people like that' have amazing charisma and ability to lie and manipulate, and that's true. Anyone who's gotten away with this shit for decades is going to be way smoother than the pathetic little hangers-on I dealt with in university. But it's not just that. I seriously, deeply believe that he saw me as a person, and he did not extend personhood to his victims. We didn't have a fake coworker relationship. We had a real one. And just like I don't know the ins-and-outs of most of my coworkers lives, I had no idea that what he did on his down time was perpetrate horrors.

I know this is getting off the topic, but it's so very important. Especially as a message to cis guys: please understand that you won't recognize a creep the way you might think you will. If you're not the preferred prey, the hind-brain alarm won't go off. You have to listen to victims, not your gut feeling that the person seems perfectly nice and normal. It doesn't mean there's never a false accusation, but face the fact that it's usually real, and you don't have enough information to say otherwise.

So, yeah. It fucking sucks. Writing about this twists my insides into tense knots, and it was almost a decade ago. I was never in danger. No one I knew was hurt!

Just countless, powerless women, horrifically abused by someone who was nice to me.

You don't trust your own judgement quite the same way, after. And as utterly shitty as it is, as twisted up and unstead-in-the-world as I felt the day I found out — I don't actually think that's a bad thing.

I think we all need to question our own judgement. It makes us better people.

I don't see villains around every corner just because I knew one, once. But I do own the fact that I can't know, really know, about anyone except those closest to me. They have their own full lives. They'll go from the pinnacles of kindness to the depths of depravity — and I won't know.

It's not a failing. It's just being human. Something to remember before you slap labels on people, before you condemn them or idolize them. Think about how much you can't know, and how flawed our judgement always is.

Grieve for victims, and the feeling of betrayal. But maybe let yourself off the hook, and be a bit slower to skewer others on it.

[wanderingmind867]

I think my comics hyperfixation is slowly ending, but I just don't have anywhere else to channel my mental energy, so I keep talking about comics anyways. I'm in a weirdly sentimental mood, so I keep making posts revisiting the Persona series. I suppose I could be slowly drifting towards a Persona hyperfixation, but that would be really weird. It'd be weird because I never play Persona games (i confidently know i'd be horrible at them), and I haven't even watched any Persona game playthroughs since the original Persona 5 came out, back in 2018 or whenever. I never saw the bonus content, and i've got the permanent mentality of a grumpy old man who hates change. So if this hyperfixation sticks, expect me mostly engaging in fandom without ever watching playthroughs or playing the games. Also, expect at least one post where i get all those grumpy complaints off my chest. I just feel like I had to issue this warning. To be cautious and everything.

[tex-now]

Do people care if u get inspired by other polls.... Anyway the red/blue poll I see going around is nice but I found that I associate my friends with all sorts of colors so. here

[fox-bright]

I am never going to be able to leave Reddit.