#I only care that they seem to think they're in the right to gatekeep a fandom and judge people for how they enjoy a fandom

[askshivanulegacy]

you misread that aita post. they aren't digging up dirt on other people- they made the callout post about themself

No, I got that. Guess I wasn't that clear about it - I meant that they're digging up enough on other people to determine how those other people are enjoying a fandom and then judging them for it. If someone isn't enjoying the fandom in the right way (shipping the way that person wants characters to be shipped), then that person goes out of their way to bother people who reblogged their art with their own callout post.

I just think that:

If you're so obsessed about your own perfect way of interpreting fandom that you cannot stand it when other people who think differently reblog your art, you need a new life hobby.

If you HAVE to be so obsessed and controlling about who reblogs your stuff, there are ways to do that without bothering people until they delete the reblog, which is what the person is doing. Dunno about anyone else, but I would personally never delete the reblog out of pure spite. XD

These people who that person is targeting did absolutely nothing except enjoy the fandom the way it was presented to them, and the person is butthurt about it.

You actually should be grateful and appreciative when someone reblogs your art. You can't pick your audience and all different kinds of people are going to like your art and you need to make peace with that fact. Also??? it's a GOOD thing???? Like

Anyway. I get people think the asker was funny, but I just think they're being a gatekeeper and quite a bit dumb about outing themselves to random strangers online over something as trivial as a reblog. XD

This is tumblr and people reblog stuff. If you're here, you've GOTTA be okay with that. You can't go around wasting your time and energy trying to investigate who people are when they are having nothing to do with you other than them reblogging your stuff or you reblogging their stuff. If you can't, then this is not the platform for you.

[euniexenoblade]

tl;dr version: a very frequent and more recent flavor of trans exclusionism, transmisogyny, and transphobia at large has started to bubble up as an overpowering, overwhelming (and fake) acceptance of gnc cis people.

The actual long version:

Trans people, especially trans women, when they want to come out or explore their gender are often met with loved ones, family, or friends telling them "you can just be gnc, you don't know you're actually trans, men can be feminine, you should try that before scary life changes" we often talk about how this is a move by abusive, transmisogynistic people in our lives, who pretend to to care about gnc people, but in reality it's just transphobia manifesting as a false support. They often manipulate trans people into not pursuing transition and then lay on all the manipulation to convince us we were so silly to think we're trans afterwards.

Though there's a lot of people who still see it as honest support for the gnc, most of us are pretty clear that it's transphobic. But, another way this takes form is from other trans people, there are a lot of trans people with internalized transphobia who only view the existence negatively and when you talk about people potentially being trans, you activate their rapid internalized self hate: how can you say that? You can't know someone else's gender! You're forcing them to be trans! Men can be gnc! You're actually the transphobic one!

You also see it take form as things like "egg prime directive." "You can't tell the egg they might be trans!!!" Yes, you can. And you probably should. Trans people are not some mythical once in a blue moon thing. We are everywhere. There's lots of us. Being trans is not a bad thing, it's simply just a thing. Acting like you can't tell people they're trans is treating trans people like we're dirty secrets, a thing to be ashamed of, you're treating it like an insult. The truth of the matter is, telling someone they're exhibiting things associated with trans people can help speed up the process, less dysphoria to agonize over, less confusion as to what's going on, you can help kickstart a path to happiness.

But these people don't. Cuz they don't *want* people to be trans, and very specifically don't want people to be transfem. I don't need to get into the polls that showed most transmascs think telling a friend they might be a trans woman is morally wrong, you've seen it already. I don't need to tell you about how a transfem mentioned a specific person in the media seemed transfem, just for people to harass them (idk pronouns) off the site, just for people to confirm that yes - the individual in the news was likely transfem. And with that realization didn't come an apology, didnt come a new understanding, the trans and "pro trans" harassers stuck to their guns "recognizing transhood in others the way you see it in yourself is the same as transvestigation, the right wing transphobic conspiracy theory!"

This topic has been talked about a lot this past year, with the egg joke discourse, people getting harassed and ran off the site for correctly mentioning someone seems transfem, the constant harassment and blog deletion of trans women, the onslaught of harassment from the transandrodorks and terfs, etc etc. but I feel like it never gets correctly classified as a form of exclusionism. We easily recognize truscum exclusionism as what it is: "youre nb? You don't try to pass? You don't shave? Lol fake trans" it's the blue hair with pronouns schtick. It's gatekeeping the community. But, in the same respect, the "you can't just say people are trans" "it's ok to be gnc!" anti egg joke types of people are just as exclusionary. One end it's "you aren't a true transexual" and the other is "be gnc instead, being trans is a bad thing."

It's the projection of internalized transphobia into a policy. You can't tell anyone they're trans because you don't see trans people as anyone, you see them as weird monsters. That's a really depressing form of exclusion, but exclusion all the same.

[itshype]

Triple Threat (DC x DP)

So, this is based slightly on this prompt I wrote! Here is the link to my DC x DP masterpost, and one of my last notfics I posted here was Gaslight, Gatekeep, Girlboss, Godhood where Danny and Vlad try to manipulate and mansplain their way out of trouble with the JLA. So, Danny and Billy are brothers. Maybe they're twins separated at birth, but I prefer that they bonded at some other point, maybe they adopted each other after meeting on the street. Danny's parents said they didn't care he was a halfa, but their behaviour changed so much because they were utterly incapable of hiding their fear of him. He ran away. Billy was at this time, already living on the streets.

They 'come out' to each other on the same day revealing their powers out of brotherly love and unconditional trust - not as an accident. And you know what? Trans Rights! They can come out that way too. At this point, Billy is working with the justice league and Danny is spending a lot of his time in the Zone. He is the king, but mostly his job is to be a key judicial figure as the 'only dude who can pretty much beat anyone up' and has a lot of friends there. Hey, the sovereign ruler of the ghost zone was locked up for thousands of years and nothing really seemed to happen so I can't imagine he'd have a lot to do day-to-day. Actually, instead of sleeping on the streets they both spend most nights in the Zone in Danny's Haunt (though I'd imagine Billy also sleeps frequently at the watchtower because the pair of them are quasi-immortal homeless children who also somehow have fulltime jobs that pay nothing. And the watchtower has a kitchen). When I think of Danny's personality displayed as a physical location, I think it looks like a little suburban street lined with weird ghostly trees growing sentient flowers. There's a nasty burger though it's empty of employees and food; they still use it as a dining room. His actual house (ghosts don't need one but I still think Danny would have one) is moderate in size and charming. But it has defences built in, to the same absurd level as home alone or that live action scooby doo film https://youtu.be/2x7W225iC88?t=62 where there's a trapdoor under the doormat. There's a park across the road (which is always empty of cars but has a pedestrian crossing anyways) with purple grass and some plants that are only vaguely carnivorous. Every now and then, Billy helps out Danny with some magic tomfoolery in the Zone (you cannot tell me Aragon's amulets or Desiree aren't magic over and above normal ghost shenanigans). In one of Billy's first ever team missions he calls Danny as backup. He barely knows these people and he knows he won't be able to do his best hero-ing when he can't fully trust them to watch his back. Phantom doesn't end up having to do much because the JLA members are nice and trustworthy, but he is physically and visibly there. At the conclusion of the mission, following a nice orderly debriefing, Wulf comes to pick up Danny to get Walker back in line. This is a point where there are only a few JLA members, but Batman carefully adds "Brother/Twin??: King of Ghosts - The Phantom" to Shazam's file and begins investigating ecto-activity. A few years pass. Enough that Billy’s and Danny’s lives get a lot busier. Billy is doing some non-traditional school shit (I refuse to google the laws around out-of-school younger-age education in a foreign country for a city that doesn’t exist) and Danny is now working in a space agency. He obviously can’t be an astronaut because of the required physical -which he would not be able to pass - and he is busy with king stuff often enough that going into space for half a year isn’t really do-able. I think his Jack Fenton genes might kick in and he bulks out just a tad. It took him a year to be able to look at his ghost self in the mirror because he looked like Dan’s scarier big brother.

The justice league stop some evil invasion but in the process disable a giant spaceship that is now floating, untethered through their solar system. The aliens had been prepared for superman so there is artificial kryptonite meaning he cannot just punt it into the sun. They contact some space scientists to help them figure out how much of a problem this floating object will be; if it will affect future space travel attempts, if it could crash into the moon or Earth itself, if benevolent alien visitors in the future could think Earth was full of deranged murderers if they came to visit and encountered it.

Every agency they contact recommends one guy.

So, Shazam has need of his cool older twin Danny to come and help out with this problem! He is visibly thrilled and eventually admits that Daniel Nightingale (he wasn’t going to add to the prestige of his parents name or risk dragging his career down with their shenanigans) is his brother.

Only a couple of the original members remember all those years ago that Marvel has a brother they’ve met and that’s who they’re expecting when Danny arrives with his team. Of course, the magic ghost is a good option for a dicey mission. But no, it’s Danny. He does a great job and there’s a lot of content here. But after Danny and Billy leave, Batman holds a meeting to update JLA members that have only been around a few years. Apparently, Captain “the champion of magic” Marvel, and Phantom – the king of ghosts are triplets with Danny “Just A Guy” Fenton.

[heartofspells]

on the etiquette of fandom respect

I'm not sure why I'm doing this, really. We've all seen those other posts that circulate around (or the vast majority of us have, at least from my notice) discussing things like negativity towards creators and proper etiquette when it comes to commenting and bookmarking and sharing another person's work. It always seems to fly in one ear and out the other, yet here I am, preparing to write an essay, mainly because I don't think we should ever stop saying it in the hopes of improvement.

Let's start this with bookmarks on AO3, because it seems like people either forget, they don't know, or possibly they simply do not care. Bookmarks can be seen by creators. Meaning they can see your tags, your bookmark collections, and your bookmark comments. There are numerous creators who enjoy going through the bookmarks on their works to see these things, because it's extra insight into why someone liked or even loved that creation, most times. There are also, in my experience, a lot of people who bookmark works and do not comment, so again, it gives the creator that extra special boost to keep doing what they're doing, to create more.

Leaving personal rating scores for a work, downgrading comments, or, in all honesty, opinions on what you did not like in the work is unkind. No one is coming to attack how you choose to keep track of your bookmarks, but please remember these are PUBLIC unless otherwise chosen by you. You can, however, make private bookmarks that only you can view. Even the creators cannot see these beyond a number of how many bookmarks a work collectively has. If you have a rating system or opinions on a work that could even remotely be construed as unkind, please make your bookmarks private. It's incredibly simple. There is a checkbox to select.

Now onto comments and the etiquette behind it. No one is forcing you to comment. While it is appreciated by all creators, it isn't a requirement. Creators love hearing from everyone who views their work. Comments bolster creators, encourage them to continue creating if they love doing it, which most creators do. But if the only thing you can think to say is something demeaning, criticizing, or has no bearing on the work you just viewed, it's probably better not to say anything at all. If you have questions, ask them. Creators love talking about their works, typically. Most will jump at the chance for a discussion. But this does not give anyone the right to ask accusatory questions that degrade a person's work. Also, leaving a comment about any work that blatantly goes against the very obviously stated tags/warnings, or leaving a comment that is short and brief and really doesn't make any sort of reference to the work itself is rude, plain and simple. Do not do that.

You are not being asked to leave a novel behind in your comment (though that's almost always appreciated to a massive extent). Leave a few kind words about liking or loving the work, because just something as simple as "loved this!" goes a long way as encouragement. If you have the time or something specific, tell the creator about a part you liked. They'll adore you for it. But again, none of it is a requirement. All creators ask for is a bit of common sense and respect from people in exchange for what they've created. Basic rule of thumb: ask yourself if you made something you were proud of and showed it to someone, would you be happy or hurt by the comment you're about to leave?

Lastly, let's discuss credit. It's seen a lot, and pretty much everywhere now. Someone finds artwork or a fic or maybe even a simple quote from a work they enjoy, and they repost it with no credit, not even a title (in regards to fics). No reference back to the creator at all. Stop gatekeeping works that do not belong to you. You do not own those works. They have been shared with you, nothing more. By transferring them or even a piece of them somewhere else without proper credit, you are not only removing someone else's ability to properly view this work without directly asking what it's from (if they ask at all, which most do not), you are taking that potential encouragement away from the creator and making them feel worthless.

These works, whatever they may be, were created for you. You may try to argue that they were shared in a public forum, and the creator should understand that by doing so, they're opening themselves up to potential criticism, theft, and even bullying. And you would be right, creators are fully aware of this. But here's the thing: these works, at least in a fandom setting, are being created for FREE. A person is taking time out of their life to make this wonderful thing, and they are offering it humbly solely for the pleasure of doing it, to bring you pleasure.

And you might even argue that creators are not making these things for you, but for the world. But aren't you part of the world? Did you find and are you reading/viewing/listening to these works? If so, then yes, they were created for you, with you in mind. All creators ask for in return, literally the only thing, is some basic human kindness and decency, because creators are not required to share anymore than you're required to comment or spread their works around.

Some creators have thicker skins than others, but keep going as we have been, and one day, the content you love so much might be gone. It's already beginning to disappear for lesser things. Don't be the reason it continues.

[weirdstuffinthewoods]

The inevitable what if...?

Freddy vs Jason (2003)

Horror fans constantly seem divided on what constitutes "real" horror, or even "good" horror.

The issue with gatekeeping the genre is that you start to get bored with the offerings that fit the qualifications. Original IPs are best rewarded only if they're frightening enough to satisfy lovers of jump scares and dread alike. Franchises are begrudgingly watched for ever-lengthening amounts of time, and attempts at reboots are either met with rightful scorn (the moneygrabs) or badly received because fans are still clinging to the original too hard to make room for the new (think Candyman 2021). Between the two options, restricting what constitutes as worthy horror can leave you in a stale place.

All this to say- I watched Freddy v Jason tonight and it continues to be one of my Ol' Faithfuls. While not necessarily frightening, balls-to-the-wall movies like Freddy v Jason, Deathgasm, House on Haunted Hill (1999), or the Hong Kong fever dream that is Rigor Mortis offer something that truly frightening films sometimes can't- fun.

Sometimes intentionally and sometimes not, horror and comedy have always gone well together. You see it as far back as films like The Old Dark House (1932) and at Halloween haunts worldwide every year. A scare actor gets a scream out of you and you run off, laughing. The tension of a film builds and builds and is finally cut by comedic relief. Horror and comedy make the perfect group watches- the acting is usually mediocre, and someone's always going to have a questionable costume or hair and makeup choice (lookin' at you, knockoff Jason Mewes and frosted-tips cop). There's plenty to laugh at but also plenty to make you go

The film is directed by Ronny Yu, a director who also breathed life back into the Child's Play franchise with Bride of Chucky, another one of my favorites. In Fangoria 221, Yu notes that for Bride he was asked if he'd seen the original films. When he answered in the negative, he was told "No worries-you can catch up later or just forget it and start fresh." Using a similar philosophy here (as he was not familiar with either franchise before pairing the two in a match made in hell), Yu managed to keep the lore as consistent as it's ever been (not very) and also give us a horror milestone that manages to be really, really fun.

Still not convinced? Here's a short list of reasons:

The 2000s-era over saturation!

This movie focuses on BLUE as their color of choice- movies like Cabin Fever or House on Haunted Hill were very focused on RED. If you want to forget what colors the real world is, movies from this decade are for you!

The stupid one-liners!

(and casting easter eggs like Kelly Rowland here and Ginger Snaps icon in the lesser but still memorable role of "Gibb")

Joint-smokin' Freddy caterpillar (in super dated cgi, but who cares?)

The entire cornfield rave!

Who throws raves in a cornfield? Is that a thing in the midwest? Who cares? It's a great place to hide Jason's bulk and watch some obnoxious jocks get gutted.

It's like watching a wrestling match between two legends. Both Freddy and Jason have built their respective (if questionable quality) franchises that both began with iconic films that shaped the slasher genre. The pair are polar opposites in every way- Freddy a quick-witted, small, overly talkative set of brains with some knife fingers, and Jason a hulking, silent mass with both his strength and his machete on hand at all times.

The kills are still fun and the blend of practical and cgi effects don't feel totally cheap just yet, but the real payoff is the finale that pits the two legends head to head in an over-the-top, totally rock-n-roll finale. While you can and do root for both of them, the surprisingly sympathetic lens put on Jason adds a layer of connection you usually don't get with the silent behemoth, making it an impossible to call fight. I can hear the theaters full of screaming fans now.

I'm just saying- Horror, if no other genre, is a place for experimentation, especially with its long-running penchant for low budgets. Where else are you going to see crossover fights outside of fanfiction?

When given the choice, definitely champion an original idea (don't want to encourage those big budget studios too much), but if you're having a Halloween rager, why not throw on a bloody good time like this one?

[6em4k]

outside perspective + A civilian seeing Macaque without his human disguise on sinking into his shadow portal.

[Outside Perspective]

"Hey, uh," She started, in her usual drone, "Boss?"

The owner looked over. His resting Owns Your Job face was as unimpressed with her existence as always. Any smile he'd had was reserved for guests and guests only, making any sort of conversation feel ridiculous by concept alone (not even his son seemed to elicit any sort of joy from him. Brutal).

"I..." She slowly closed her teeth together, grinding tensely before spitting out the grit of her concern: "I saw a thing?"

He blinked.

"The other day." Her monotone was built in, the natural tuning of her vocal chords and currently they were underselling the nerves the very memory of the thing pinched.

"...A thing." He repeated, unchanged, somehow even less impressed.

"Yyyyyeaaaahhh." Her gum clung loosely to her back, bottom teeth. "Around that Warrior's Hero show?"

"The Hero and The Warrior." Her boss corrected.

"Yeah, that." She nodded. "It was - super weird, I was just at the counter--"

-----

"Okay, so I dunno if you remember my order from yesterday - I was here yesterday. With my friends. Dunno if you've seen them around?"

The Monkie Kid looked at her with a searching stare, patiently waiting for an answer she did not have and would not pretend to have. She wasn't paid to make nice or answer questions outside of 'cash or card' and 'what size'; and people tended to have answers ready for her anyway.

She popped her gum.

" 'S'okay, 's'cool, you don't gotta know, why would anyone other than me gotta know, right? I mean - it's not like they're missing or anything."

A little more desperation, a little more annoyance for her. As though she were some gatekeeper for who came in and out of the front entrance of each stage. It wasn't her job to count heads - it wasn't her business.

She popped her gum again.

The Monkie Kid stiffened, his anxious air seeming to shirk back into a shyer shell. "...Okay, so uh..." He looked up to the menu, away from her, a sense of shame emanating from him. "I think I started wiiiith..."

As he rambled, she prepared. It did begin to sound familiar to her as she gathered his snacks and prepped his drinks.

Could she remember the order? It was the Monkie Kid ordering, after all, and ordering a very specific amount of food and for a very specific show. Not many people showed up on Hero's Warrior - or Warriors' Hero or whatever it was called. Considering both the awkward timing of the production and the fact that no one could figure out what it was about, it wasn't a large draw.

Except for the Monkie Kid, apparently, who was seeing it multiple times in a row. Maybe that meant it was about Monkey King?

She wrapped up his order and her own thoughts on the topic at the same time - it wasn't her business, and frankly, she didn't much care for subversion stories. Let Monkey King be a hero and keep things simple.

The Monkie Kid was less than enthused by her lack of knowledge on his missing friends he apparently didn't call the police about, and simply paid. With an under-enthused thanks and a heft to the mountain of candy, corn, and boba, he headed into the theatre.

His payment was a mess. Again.

The first time was bad enough, rubber bands and lint and what looked like an old used gummy. Which was terrible because her job involved handling peoples food and handling peoples money and money was the most disgusting thing you can ever be handed and shouldn't be handled before you handle someone elses food.

Now? Now there was more than one used gummy, a chewed-on paperclip and what looked like a dropped boba left in there for God only knew how long.

She wasn't even a germaphobe and the Monkie Kid's money, in particular, grossed her out. Grossed her out to the point of calling for him-- "Hey!" -- in order to yell at him, only to find him gone.

But it had worked.

Something stopped.

What stopped was the shadow cast by one of the decorative pillars, long and expanding, with a head emerging from it. A head covered in the shadow itself, a head that turned her way and looked it at her.

Whatever it was looked at her.

It looked at her with eyes that were definitely eyes and it recognized her, and it did so with a familiarity that she did not have for it in return--

-----

"Oh, that." The owner cut her off, waving a hand. "Don't worry about that."

She reeled back at the words, as though the gesture struck her.

"Don't worry about that?"

"I see your ears are working," He drawled, adjusting his clothes. "It's not part of your job, so it's not your concern, isn't that it?"

"I-I mean," She stammered, shrinking under being read so easily. "Y-yeah, but--"

"Then why worry about it? You probably won't be seeing it again."

Her jaw went slack, jittering in her weak attempts to reply. He ignored her shock, walking past her with his hands behind his back. She followed his stride with her eyes, incredulously, and saw him stop in front of the office door.

"After all,"

His voice changed. Something about it changed. Something about him changed, as his head turned her way--

A head with golden eyes, and a wicked, smug smile.

"Why would something want to be caught twice?"

She watched the shadow beneath him widen. In her sense of self-preservation, she recoiled from it, as though it would get underneath her too. Her back hit the desk as she cried out, her breath catching at the sight and the shock of something happening this close to her, not just on the news or downtown. Like not so long ago when she'd had a spider latch onto her, possessed and itching to climb and crawl and--

She watched her grinning boss as his head changed - dark hair becoming fur, fur becoming darkness itself - as he fell through the shadow, swallowed whole.

The blackness on the floor ebbs back, shrinking in on itself until it vanished, as though it never existed at all.

Her arms locked straight as she gripped the desk. Her legs shook, her weight reliant on her arms and the sturdiness of mahogany. Her breathing wouldn't even out. Her vision swam.

"I so fucking quit."

[multiplicity-positivity]

hey, uh. sry if this gets a bit vent-y. feel free 2 delete.

how do u force urself to go dormant?

i just. i dont think it's good for me to be around. i cant trust any1 and nobody even cares in the first place. im the only 1 in system whos this miserable 99.9% of the time. the 1 thing i got happy abt making got ruined 4 me. i seem to just be a holder of bad things. i cant deal w this.

im part of a subsystem so it's difficult for the gatekeepers 2 manage 1 part of us. and also they're so fucking stubborn abt not agreeing 2 force some1 into dormancy. so i cant ask them.

- 🎵

hey, I’m really sorry, but we don’t have an answer for you here. we don’t know how a headmate can force dormancy on themselves, and even if we did… idk i’d feel a bit uncomfortable recommending that or sharing tips for accomplishing it.

for what it’s worth… we care. we are so so happy you exist and we are happy you came to us with this ask. honestly you are so strong and brave for continuing to exist despite the pain and despite your misery, none of which do you deserve btw. you deserve good things. you deserve happiness.

it may seem impossible right now, but things can and will get better. you don’t have to be optimistic all the time in order for joy to come your way. and as a holder of bad things (be it trauma memories, pain, negative emotions, or anything else) we feel like it’s okay to be sour. it’s okay to be upset that your life is painful so often. it can be really hard to sit with that, to accept that, and it isn’t fair that it’s all on you. we’re sorry to hear that you’re struggling.

we have full faith that you will find something else that makes you happy. it may come at a time when you least expect it, but don’t count yourself out just because the thing you used to love got ruined for you.

it’s spring where we live, and wildflowers are popping up everywhere. we like to look at them. we like to hear birds calling out to each other and we love to look at the clouds. maybe you can find a similar sort of joy in observing nature. it may be small, but when you’re in a lot of pain, even small moments of happiness can be huge victories (they can for us, anyway).

we hope you can get the chance to explore new things and find something else to be passionate about. we hope you can find a new welcome, comforting distraction from your pain. if there is anything at all we can do to help you with this, don’t hesitate to reach out. even if you just need someone to listen… we’re here.

good luck, anon. we believe in you and we care about you. we hope things turn around for you soon, but until then, please know you’re not alone. wishing you peace and rest in your future.

[sweetshelluvaau]

Idea Dump Session One - Stella's Motive of Hiring Striker

I wasn't sure to do this or not but being I'm always insecure about my writing but being I do want feedback, I thought I'd attept this:

I want to make some changes within my rewrite/AU (I mean this obvious) but unsure how to handle some things or unsure if they make sense so I thought, hey, why not post these thoughts on my blog and see what other's think. Constructive Feedback is welcome and encourage and feel free to share some of your own ideas.

Anyways, put this under Read More because it's a lot:

I want to change the whole assassin thing around where it was Andre who ordinally suggested kill Stolas to Stella and she's like 'Oh, what a clever idea'. Now, I'm not sure if this idea makes sense but that's why I'm asking:

So, why would Andre suggest the whole killing thing if she gains nothing in return. She hates him but they're getting a divorce right? I haven't decided if both of them are making that official or there was some talk about it due to the fact Stolas knowing both of them are unhappy and is very tempted to do so, not caring how it looks to the rest of the Ars Goetia which is the opposite of Stella. I plan on doing a rewrite bio for all the characters in the future including Stella so I won't go too in depth here but Stella is all about keeping appearances. She cares deeply about her and her families' image, which is something Stolas thinks too little about due later being how trapped he feels (again, elaborate more later).

So, why kill Stolas. Stella's reasoning:

A) Stolas slept with an imp and it made the family look bad and she's all about appearance

B) pettiness. A silly reason but ya know.

And C) Playing with the whole arranged marriage thing: While she may not necessary get anything if Stolas passes, Octavia does. She can easily live though her daughter. Idk how their relationship is gonna be in the show (likely being a one note bitch like she is now) but she does care and have a mostly healthy relationship with her daughter, even if she comes out more aloof compare to Stolas being openly affectionate with Via however my version of Stella is gonna play by the 'Gaslight, Gatekeep, Girlboss' playbook. Selfish, yes. Vile and cold, completely. But along she keeps the fact she was the one who hired Striker a and being in her daughter's good graces, what's the harm? I mean there is harm but sssh she's a rich bitch and horibble person.

Basically, she wants to play the whole 'poor widow' role and even though Stolas did cheat on her, she pretends that she still loves him because, appearances.

I also plan on making her relationship with Stolas less...dysfunctional? Is that the word? They never loved each other, let alone were happy in their marriage but they tolerated each other and tired to make things work in order to keep appearances (at least that's one of Stella's main reason) and for Via's sake. Yes, she's still a bitch at times to Stolas with backhanded insults being how he seems not care so much in how he looks suppose to her but otherwise attempted to act like a happy couple. It's only after he sept with Blitzo when she started to go off on him, which is completely valid btw BECAUSE STOLAS IT DOESN'T FUCKING MATTER IF YOU HATED EACHOTHER/WEREN'T IN LOVE YA STILL CHEATED YOU FUCKING ASSHOLE!! (I have it where Stolas does feel horrible about the whole thing later on and even apologizes her her post Ozzie's but I'll get into that another time).

Anyways...yeah, that's my idea...

[itsjustelian]

Re-designing a character right now because suddenly I'm writing her story and the design I gave her at first is making less and less sense. (No I will not be showing the old design. It's cringe and I can't look at it anymore.)

Now, I did two designs for them since they change kinda drastically in personality between the beginning and the end and I wanted to show that in her design.

Past- pink dress

Future- blue outfit

Okay, I've decided to throw random facts about the character here, mainly for myself but feel free to do what you will with this information. I will be throwing other characters of mine in here with no explanation so if you're curious feel free to ask!

Name: Pyra

Pronouns: She/They (It when referring to the gatekeeper)

Pyra's body isn't actually a biological body. They lack the organs on the inside that normal people have. So, when she cut her hair it never grew back.

They 'bleed' fire as a defence mechanism. Also took "a good defence is the best offence" too seriously and just stabs herself to fight off enemies.

They dislike seeing their own reflection. No matter how long passes she just can't get used to seeing a person in the mirror.

Of all their friends the only one they feel truly secure with is Illith. Though the other has no idea why.

Absolutely has no sense of fashion and is dependent on Calias to design outfits for them.

Lives in a graveyard.

Can see and speak to ghosts (even making a select few corporeal if she chooses.

Has a strange guilt complex that they have to help people because it's what they were designed to do.

-I love doing these so here's what other characters have to say about her (keep in mind these are things they'd say out loud and may not be their actual feelings). Also, these are all about the future (or present depending on how you look at it) Pyra, not everyone here knew her before.-

Illith - "I'd prefer not to think about the executive of communications, thank you. They never come into the office and on the off chance they do, they never get any work done. Ugh, I just don't see why people like her so much."

Calias - "She's very fun to hang out with on a good day. On a bad day though... ah, it's not my place to say."

Rowan - "Not even Purkinje can stand them and you expect me to have anything positive to say?"

Rahmila: "I have them to thank for everything I am today. Though I worry sometimes that she doesn't take care of herself as well as she takes care of us."

Ray: "I don't have any strong feelings about her. She practically brought me back from the dead... but maybe the cost for that was too high."

Arabella: "Pyra? She's nice. I think Eofor knows her better than I do."

Eofor: "They're a blast to hang out with! Just don't tell Rowan I said that."

Eris: "If she feels up to it, sometimes they'll walk with me to work. On other days Illith has to go make sure they'll get out of bed in the next week. I never even have to tell Illith that Pyra needs her help, she always seems to just know. It's really strange now that I think about it."

[yourgamemasterthewhiterabbit]

No but really I spent the last 4 days trying to get my spine to un-swell, and then yesterday I did what I thought was a 'short' walk to drop off the mail and buy some stuff and that RUINED my calf muscle entirely somehow, and the walk was longer than I thought... and I woke up today barely able to walk, but I had to walk over 2 and a half hours to make my appointment today and drop off a USB to get some medical records...

And I'm not even next day stiff and sore yet, but oh fuck I do not think I will be able to move.

All I did was a bit of light cleaning and some walking... But like, also I should not be doing 20 minutes of walking at once, let alone hours of it. I can feel the swelling and stiffness developing in my spine and legs and even my arms, so bad.

My left bicep keeps cramping up for no good reason at all, and now I just used my right arm to take some of my walking weight enough to get blisters on that hand.

I can't even switch hands when using my cane because my left wrist is so messed up inside. Multiple cysts and the larger fluid filled something that at least isn't cancer, confirmed. But something is just tearing apart the connective tissue in my left wrist specifically.

So they say the IUD is in a good place but I have a cyst on my right ovary again. That explains the recent pain in my right ovary. None of that explains the iud strings going missing or the bleeding every time I have an orgasm, but nothing is like *wrong*TM, so whatever, I don'te care. Maybe my muscles are just contracting hard enough to press vascular tissue against the plastic of the iud or something? They don't care enough to investigate and I'm to tired to care if it isn't serious.

I literally don't care about the pain, I just don't want cancer or permanent damage.

She says she'll ask for me about whether they'd operate on my wrist with only local anesthetic. She would NOT fucking let me see my usual dermatologist about the skin things I am worried about but says I can see the one at their clinic and they can freeze things off for me. I want them surgically removed and biopsied, really, but she just will not leave that up top my usual dermatologist. She is a nurse but she is gatekeeping me seeing the actual expert. I scheduled that for over a month from now because I will not go in later than 9 am and I will not be able to walk for a while.

They're about to not be my doctor's office soon anyway, one way or another, I needed to find a new family doctor regardless. Maybe one a bit fucking closer. idk...

Anyway,

I think I saved my right ankle from the worst of the walking consequences, but I still don't know if I'll be able to walk or move around much by tomorrow.

I don't know why I am in so much extra pain even compared to my usual levels and even for this level of activity.

Maybe it's the one change I made before the vitamin... For the past week and a half I have been having a lot of lactose in the sweetened condensed milk, because I am out of cream. The level of iodine seemed to be fine so far, but I was wondering why I wasn't reacting more strongly to the lactose. The digestive reaction has been weirdly minimal and it's full of extra added lactose as the sugar that's added to it. Maybe it's having other full body effects? I have no clue.

Did you know that walmart sells fucking wheelchairs on their online store? You can just fucking buy those.

If I keep having pain weeks like this I am going to start considering it. Just trying to hold my cane and the umbrella for shade today made it so I couldn't give either arm any kind of break, I still went half blind from the sun, and I can't really stop walking to rest because the change in position in my muscles and joints hurts worse somehow. I can't fucking walk or see anything and this city isn't even particularly walkable. There's also some big ass hills going on and the only way around them makes your walk like way longer. No fucking benches, and certainly none in any measure of shade.

Anyway I need a nap T~T

[schizopilledjester]

Militant shelter programs are more evil than jail bc there is less routine and more consistency in abuse

Being in a homeless shelter is isolating, paranoia inducing and traumatizing. So is being in prison or jail. They are built in such similar ways that once you lose your connection to community and you have been in the system for long enough you rationalize being stuck in the system with its toxic codependency that makes people feel like they're doing something the right way. It's emotional Stockholm syndrome that makes people dependent on any kind of reward. Stockholm syndrome describes the psychological condition of a victim who identifies with and empathizes with their captor or abuser and their goals. Stockholm syndrome is rare; according to one FBI study, the condition occurs in about 8 percent of hostage victims.

https://www.britannica.com/science/Stockholm-syndrome

When community is existing outside of the shelters it is so much more preferred to the shelter. Streets over the system until the streets become unlivable bc of the profit based motives the system prioritizes.

It's a large scale propaganda that the shelter is a safe space to put the displaced peoples, so when people prefer to sleep on the street it makes jailing them justifiable to the wrong kinds of people. I think cops like spreading that nonsense to make it seem more humane that they lock up vast numbers of homeless for any possible infractions, real or imagined. They make it seem like they're doing the homeless guy a favor for "taking them off the streets".

Stanford prison experiments and their relation to system based community

Carried out August 15-21, 1971 in the basement of Jordan Hall, the Stanford Prison Experiment set out to examine the psychological effects of authority and powerlessness in a prison environment. The study, led by psychology professor Philip G. Zimbardo, recruited Stanford students using a local newspaper ad. Twenty-four students were carefully screened and randomly assigned into groups of prisoners and guards. The experiment, which was scheduled to last 1-2 weeks, ultimately had to be terminated on only the 6th day as the experiment escalated out of hand when the prisoners were forced to endure cruel and dehumanizing abuse at the hands of their peers. The experiment showed, in Dr. Zimbardo’s words, how “ordinary college students could do terrible things.”

https://exhibits.stanford.edu/spe

This study to me shows how silly it is to expect people who haven't been screened and trained effectively to effectively hold that much power over people. When people are given unnecessary and unreasonable amounts of power, that feeds a fragile ego and makes people act selfishly. The systems in place (ie: shelters, mental hospitals, care programs, anything medical, jail, etc) all share a very similar method of gatekeeping and toying with people for profit.

Gatekeeping theory is the connection between two inarguable facts: events occur everywhere all of the time and the news media cannot cover all of them. And so, when an event occurs, someone has to decide whether and how to pass the information to another person, such as a friend, an official, or even a journalist.

The gatekeeping of political messages is known as media gatekeeping (Shoemaker & Reese, 1996)—that is, “the process by which countless occurrences and ideas are reduced to the few messages we are offered in our news media” (Shoemaker & Vos, 2009, p. 75).

they make it hard for us to get what we need because of the lack of interconnectivity within the care routes and they want to keep the marginalized poor so we r easier to silence

Medical "gatekeeping was associated with better quality of care and appropriate referral for further hospital visits and investigation. However, one study reported unfavorable outcomes for patients with cancer under gatekeeping, and some concerns were raised about the accuracy of diagnoses made by gatekeepers. Gatekeeping resulted in fewer hospitalizations and use of specialist care, but inevitably was associated with more primary care visits. Patients were less satisfied with gatekeeping than direct-access systems." -- quote from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6478478/

This continued gatekeeping of medical care leads to the further marginalization of peoples who don't have access to direct access medical care and terminology. Getting help with disabilities is a very rare thing to happen unless you are not marginalized. So the 1% is again hoarding the care while the disenfranchised get stuck in the cycles of gatekeeping. The majority is left feeling isolated and without care.

Now they if they try to seek out care.

I think Stockholm syndrome is trained into people who fall into the system like Pavlov's dog. (Pavlov demonstrated salivation in dogs through a series of experiments where he paired the sound of a bell with the presentation of food. Over time, the dogs began to associate the bell with food and would start to salivate at the sound of the bell, even when no food was presented.) To me the pipeline is troubled teen, rehab, jail, shelter, jail cyclically.

troubled teen - mental health

"Ms. Ianelli is an activist and the author of a new memoir, “I See You, Survivor,” which details her ordeal. But she is far from alone. Hundreds of thousands of young Americans have endured similar harms or assaults in residential boot camps, wilderness therapy and Christian and therapeutic boarding schools, which claim to vanquish teen psychological problems like drug misuse, depression and defiant behavior. Among them is Paris Hilton, who first told her story in a 2020 documentary and is now lobbying for recently introduced legislation to stop the abuse.

These children’s programs act similarly to psychiatric hospitals in that they control residents’ custody and communication with the outside world, but they are typically not strictly regulated. Some states exempt programs that claim to be religion-based from standards enforced on other child-caring facilities, while some states have few, if any, regulations on these programs. Because more than a dozen states allow spanking and paddling in schools, corporal punishment that would be illegal in prisons occurs in many of these programs. Evidence suggests that the punitive “therapies” that these facilities use are unsafe and ineffective."

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/19/opinion/troubled-teens-industry-regulation.html

Children's autonomy is easier to steal with no reparations. Legally more excusable historically.

The Children's Rights Movement is a historical and modern movement committed to the acknowledgment, expansion, and/or regression of the rights of children around the world. This act laid several constitutional laws for the growth of a child's mental and physical health. 

https://www.childrensrights.org/

- [ ] Mental health - Rehabilitation

- [ ] Toxic punishment reward system based on shame and fear

- [ ] Rehabilitation - abuse

- [ ] Push and pull loves of drugs and connection

- [ ] Abuse - jail

- [ ] no tolerance for own emotion bc the childhood systems in place silenced ourselves

- [ ] Jail over the streets

- [ ] Community over isolation

- [ ] Food water shelter

- [ ] Not chemically dependent on substances (other than big Pharma)

Gatekeeping and Gerrymandering is a huge system in the bay area. the systems in place currently serve to protect the 1% instead of us and keep us cycled in trauma.

Gatekeeping theory is the connection between two inarguable facts: events occur everywhere all of the time and the news media cannot cover all of them. And so, when an event occurs, someone has to decide whether and how to pass the information to another person, such as a friend, an official, or even a journalist.

The gatekeeping of political messages is known as media gatekeeping (Shoemaker & Reese, 1996)—that is, “the process by which countless occurrences and ideas are reduced to the few messages we are offered in our news media” (Shoemaker & Vos, 2009, p. 75).

they make it hard for us to get what we need because of the lack of interconnectivity within the care routes and they keep the marginalized poor so we r silenced

Medical "gatekeeping was associated with better quality of care and appropriate referral for further hospital visits and investigation. However, one study reported unfavorable outcomes for patients with cancer under gatekeeping, and some concerns were raised about the accuracy of diagnoses made by gatekeepers. Gatekeeping resulted in fewer hospitalizations and use of specialist care, but inevitably was associated with more primary care visits. Patients were less satisfied with gatekeeping than direct-access systems." -- quote from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6478478/

This continued gatekeeping of medical care leads to the further marginalization of peoples who don't have access to direct access medical care and terminology. Getting help with disabilities is a very rare thing to happen unless you are not marginalized. So the 1% is again hoarding the care while the disenfranchised get stuck in the cycles of gatekeeping. The majority is left feeling isolated and without care.

The majority people of the United States are not millionaires. According to the statistic below in 2020, the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara metropolitan area in California had the highest share of millionaire households of any U.S. metropolitan area, with 13.6 percent of all households having at least one million U.S. dollars in investible assets. This is Bay Area culture. The poor stay poor and the rich stay rich.

https://www.statista.com/statistics/294941/largest-ratio-millionaire-households-per-capita-us/

This is where gerrymandering comes into play. To gerrymander is to manipulate the boundaries of an electoral constituency so as to favor one party or class.

Typical gerrymandering cases in the United States take the form of partisan gerrymandering, which is aimed at favoring one political party while weakening another; bipartisan gerrymandering, which is aimed at protecting incumbents by multiple political parties; and racial gerrymandering, which is aimed at maximizing or minimizing the impact of certain minority groups. 

https://www.sfchronicle.com/projects/2022/san-francisco-redistricting-final-map/

There is a clear decision to make the minority voting members of communities that are usually more marginalized by our country.

Again, https://www.sfchronicle.com/projects/2022/san-francisco-redistricting-final-map/ this link is crazy to see the intentional disparity

currently on social media especially there are polarizing AI bots that cause micro conflicts within the communities that should be fighting together

"A report we recently published through the Center for Business and Human Rights at New York University’s Stern School of Business sheds light on the relationship between tech platforms and the kind of extreme polarization that can lead to the erosion of democratic values and partisan violence. While Facebook, the largest social media platform, has gone out of its way to deny that it contributes to extreme divisiveness, a growing body of social science research, as well as Facebook’s own actions and leaked documents, indicate that an important relationship exists."

"In an article published in October 2020 in the journal Science, a group of 15 researchers summarized the scholarly consensus this way: 'in recent years, social media companies like Facebook and Twitter have played an influential role in political discourse, intensifying political sectarianism.'"

https://www.brookings.edu/articles/how-tech-platforms-fuel-u-s-political-polarization-and-what-government-can-do-about-it/

“Twitter has emerged as a key platform on which anyone with a smartphone can engage in political discourse,” observed Michelle Nguyen in her article entitled “Twitter’s Role in Politics” in The Northwestern Business Review (https://northwesternbusinessreview.org/twitters-role-in-politics-b3ed620465c9). She noted that a TV ad “can cost millions of dollars” but “a single post can reach the same number of people just as quickly for a tiny fraction of the cost.”

"Though this study was focused on Twitter activities of members of the 111th U.S. House of Representatives, we suggest that our findings have broader implications about the use of social media by political and administrative institutions. Results of our study are cautionary for governments and policymakers who use social media to collect and interpret the voices of citizens because the preferences of citizens expressed through social media may be directed more toward contentious political issues rather than toward solving challenging problems."

"The capacity of social media to personalize information appears to be contributing to greater levels of extremism, and online political polarization is increasing. Therefore, institutions and governmental entities must develop a process for gathering a wider range of opinions (and greater online participation) from the public and simultaneously discern which voices represent extremist views."

https://scholar.harvard.edu/sounman_hong/political-polarization-twitter-social-media-may-contribute-online-extremism

there are niche micro arguments between people that have the same wants with different language and that's where classism comes into play with our language and the gatekeeping of regular communication

This video shows parts of how language can lead to pipelining and polarization.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=baaMpTGC04U&ab_channel=Jubilee

What is the alt-right pipeline? 0n3ph Answered: it most often refers to a feature of the algorithm wherein maybe you start with a couple of sjw cringe compilations, then you get passed on to say Tim Pool or Jimmy Dore, and then on to maybe Sargon of Akkad or Steven Crowder, and eventually end up with neonazi content.

It means a series of stages presented to a viewer through the algorithm which slowly boiling-frog radicalises them into going full alt-right.

the ways that society is being polarized by trauma porn is making them feel like the largest public issues are what deserve the most importance but the issue is that we are moving away from collective action in places where our masses could actually do something good

[many-but-one]

More Host Team Shuffling

As the title says, host team is shuffling around again. It's always interesting how quickly the host team shuffles around based on the time of the year and what is needed at the time. Which I have somewhat learned is pretty normal for systems with polyfragmentation.

Anyway, felt like doing an update because why not. Ess had been co-host for about a couple months but he is now a purely internal part, replacing another part who wasn't doing her job very well. We're working with that particular part currently, but it hasn't been going well and she's kind of been wreaking havoc on a lot of internal parts, Dorian specifically.

We are also working on getting the newer splits caught up to speed, though they will likely *not* be part of the host team, just folks that pop in every once in awhile. Rook and Seneca are just kind of vibing right now, and they're doing alright. It's pretty clear they're still not super "whole" as they mainly fragmented off of Dorian and Vivian rather than a clear split, so elaboration of those two might take some time, if it happens at all. Our therapist believes Seneca will likely be very temporary, as the reason for his split was me (Dorian) learning too much too fast, and once I start processing things slower and in a more healthy way, Seneca and I will rejoin and I'll be allowed to hold what he holds.

So far, the host team has shuffled around to include these folks:

-Dorian. Duh. ANP "main" host.

-Valentine. Tertiary gatekeeper, guy who handles switching when James isn't around, main co-host and primary protector. Unsure who is handling his area while he's doing this job, but that's something I'll learn later, I'm sure.

-Vivian/Vivi. Persecutor/Protector. Newer member to the host team. He was a frequent fronter but was never considered part of the host team because he was not very responsible. We're trying to get him to work *with* us rather than against us, and with his recent split, that seems to be working really well.

-Priest. Another tertiary gatekeeper. He's not as active as others on the host team, but is significantly more active than before. Likely because he has nobody to replace his "post" in the IW, so he only shows up for emergencies.

-James. Primary gatekeeper, has intermittent periods of being suddenly super active in front and then gone for like a month.

-Deimos. Persecutor/Protector. Has apparently always been there and is really commonly in co and I don't even notice it because he's literally always been there. Working on his persecutor related stuff but he's doing really well.

The ones you will likely see the absolute MOST will be Dorian, Valentine, and Vivian, I'm thinking. We seem to be the primary host parts right now, though Priest certainly pops in enough and Deimos is pretty much always lurking in the backseat.

That's all I've got for this update. Again at my anons/asks in the ask box, I'll get to them when I'm feeling up to it a bit more. These last few weeks have been an absolute shitshow and I know this weekend will probably not be much better. Lol. But then hopefully the rest of November will be a bit more rest and recovery. Internally we've been working on structuring the inner world and making areas for parts to be safe and feel like they have a place to go, rather than wandering around the "deep" inner world forest. (An example would be a part named Iris or a few parts I don't know that I've dubbed the "leprosy girls," we've made them a "hospital" because they are injured or in pain internally and making places for them to get healed or feel like they're being taken care of is important. This has been a super positive change and has made me realize I really need to do more inner world work and comforting of parts when I'm feeling okay to do so, as it always seems to work out in my favor. Just seems like when I get into these weeks of constant trauma responses and constant triggers and severe destabilization of the system, I kind of neglect any "inner work" because I'm too scared to purposely go inside and do anything with folks. (Going inside has left me hurt many times in the past, including SA by persecutor parts or getting quite literally ripped in half by our Inner gatekeeper. It's been a...time. A time. That's all I can really say about it.)

I look back just a few months ago and I'm in awe of how quickly things have progressed, better or worse. I've learned some massively fucked up things, but I'm finally getting some pieces put together that make a lot of the things that didn't make sense prior make a disturbing amount of sense. Which is in turn helping with denial and helping me understand parts more. It's fucking devastating, no doubt, and I'm a fucking wreck. BUT, I'm still here, I'm alive, I'm actually working a JOB?! Like, wow. Look at us go, lol.

(Speaking of job, I will make a post about that later, but something super significant happened at our "new" job, and it's VERY positive and a massive win, but I don't want to clog this post with that information.)

That's it! Until next time.

-Dorian (he/him)

[whiskehorange]

Domestic headcannons for the man, John and doom head?

The Man

Annoying. He's fucking annoying

He's relatively up to date with society and I 100% believe that he not only have social media but especially TikTok and Reddit. He looks like he uses reddit deviously

Anyways, despite what you might think, he's a homebody and would like to keep it that way. He doesn't like going out when he doesn't need to and thinks the same about you. Why you always going out all the damn time? Stay home with him

He's protective and obsessive, of course, and only really wants you home so that he could have you all to himself. If he has to go out he will, but he'll complain the entire time

The house is relatively quiet as well, only him being on his phone for the day with you laying by his side. Deep down he's a sucker for watching movies and shows with you though, he's just picky

Very much not girlboss

Gaslight and gatekeep though

Cannot cook and will not learn. He gets out of it every time saying that he'll watch and learn from you but he never does, in one ear and out the other

Same thing with cleaning, he just doesn't do it and when he does he doesn't do it right. Why the fuck are you even dating him? I mean, if the shoe fits, wear it I guess. Make him do something for the love of God

John

He's quiet and so is his life outside of that. It's comfy out there in the woods but sometimes the eerie silence can get to you if you don't occupy yourself

Uhm.. how do I put this? John is a family man but... it's just not in the ways we think, alright? He'll more than certainly take care of you and provide for you but seems very absent from the home in general

A lot of his time is spend outside and even maintaining the property throughout the day. Walking the grounds and removing anything that isn't supposed to be there, if you know what I mean. It would mean a lot if you did so with him though!

He's equally as unsettling as the silence too, but it's a little cute. You can catch him staring at you from in the yard at almost anytime of day. Other than that he's out and on his way

The two of you eventually manage to get decent enough cell service for him to have a phone, so expect really shitty accidental pictures and some high quality ones of scenery or foliage that he thinks you might enjoy

Sets gifts for you either on the porch or on your nightstand for you to wake up to constantly, how sweet

Doom Head

Domestic is not the right word for Doom Head. Off-duty is

There's also no way to write for this man in a positive light, have you seen him? Look at him and tell me he has even a single nice word to say? He's more girlboss than The Man though...

He's not up for the whole domestic life either, but you know it's what he needs. It's rare for him to really get the chance to relax formally when he's home anyways, but he'll admit you add a liiiitttle light to his life

You get compliments, sure! But they're not worded very nicely! He gives you a hard time and nags a lot, but you simply being allowed over is many times is a privilege on it's own, so don't push it

Doesn't really take you on nice dates very often or really ever, but will toss you a handful of cash if he really wants to get you out of his hair for the day. Go use it for whatever the fuck you want but just bring a case of beer back on your way home

Physical attention is scarce too, but when he does give you the half assed hug and forceful kiss it'll mean something. I mean half of his kisses tastes like beer and tobacco but you settled for this, so don't look at me with a scrunched nose

He's protective of you too, but it shows much differently than you might expect. He's not going to be your bodyguard 24/7 and go out with you on shopping trips or days out, but you'll have enough markings from him for people to get the point

Lester

Oh yeah, house wife Lester at your service

God, he's the most hillbilly you could get but he sure does love smothering you in everything he's got to offer. Do you know how long it's been since he's had someone who isn't a stranger not be mean to him or make fun of him? Just let him give you all of the praise and attention awkwardly as he can

Honestly, I can see the two of you starting a little farm that you tend to everyday. Lester has no problem with the dirt and you enjoy making it bright and colorful with different growing fruits, veggies, and flowers. Occasionally having to refill holes Jonesy's dug and buried something in

You get a lot of gifts from Lester as well, especially things that are specifically shiny and not as dirty that he finds while he's out. He'll come strutting over to you, smile plastered on his face as he hands you a respectively clean racoon bone. Sweet, just another one to add to the collection you involuntarily started

He loves making you laugh and going on trips with you. Anywhere you want to go is on him, just hop in the truck with him and Jonesy and he'll take you somewhere

When it comes it comes to his brothers, specifically Bo, he takes you side often when he's being negative or just rude. Lester isn't one for arguing, giving that he grew up with Bo and knows it's useless to do so with him but he doesn't like when it's about you or directed to you unintentionally

Picnics all the time. Doubt he even has his own dinner table anyways. Guess you'll just eat on the floor

[misscrawfords]

One thing that interests me about the response to the Netflix Persuasion is that it is by no means the only objectively bad Austen adaptation but it seems to be singled out more than others for both excessive hate, excessive defence, and just general discussion. I'm not sure I've ever seen so many reviews in mainstream newspapers for a streaming service Austen adaptation.

I'm not a fan of the 2005 P&P myself but it still has merits and is worthy of being considered seriously as an adaptation. It's the only one I can think of that has received this amount of vitriol. (And yes, some of that came from me, but I'm allowed personally to dislike a film!) Mansfield Park 2007 - does anyone bother with that? Did anyone bother with it when it came out except to say "lol that was a bad movie that totally failed to understand the novel, shame Hayley Atwell got caught up in it" and then move on and focus on the delightful Northanger Abbey that came out the same year or Persuasion which got some fans but otherwise did not leave a massive mark in the Austen adaptations world (mainly due to the legacy of the 1995 film). Nobody apart from a few devotees remembers the 1986 Northanger Abbey and the adaptation of Emma with Kate Beckinsale has largely disappeared. (Unfortunately IMO as I quite like it.)

All this to say that there have been lots of adaptations of Austen that just quietly disappeared or received criticism but ultimately nobody really cared. Why is Netflix Persuasion so different? Why is it so hard to just ignore it or laugh about how bad it is for a bit and then forget about it? Why do people seem to care SO MUCH?

A few suggestions:

the colour blind casting - this has had a big effect on the response, especially in certain corners of twitter and FB. Thankfully tumblr seems relatively free both of bad faith racist responses to the film and the irritatingly two dimensional response which is to accuse anyone who criticises the film of racism and gatekeeping. This is a shame as the casting is one of the film's biggest strengths. They all deserve a better movie but as soon as people can bring racism into a discussion, it gets blown up and becomes "important".

Netflix producing this film now makes it difficult for another adaptation to come along any time soon and people are angry about this, though that has always really been an issue when a new adaptation comes out.

Social media just wasn't as much a thing in the 2005-07 period and it is so much easier now for people to find other people to be enraged with or attack about a piece of media online so as soon as something gains traction even more people will talk about it and it snowballs.

People care a lot more about Persuasion than about Mansfield Park and Northanger Abbey.

It's been a loooooong time since we've had a "straight" historical adaptation of an Austen novel. It feels like we're saturated in Austen adaptations, but that isn't actually true. We've had Death Comes to Pemberley, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, Fire Island but apart from Emma 2020 the last movie/TV adaptation of an actual novel were the 2008 and 2009 adaptations of Sense and Sensibility and Emma respectively. It's over 10 years. We're due for a new spate of adapting the novels, it seems to happen every 10 years, so people actually want more content to digest. (Not counting Sanditon here for so many reasons.)

Austen adaptations tend to reflect the society they're made in so a lot of the analysis is going into what this adaptation - and, arguably Emma 2020 - is saying about us. And if we don't like the adaptation, well, maybe that is telling us something uncomfortable about the state of the media and storytelling right now.

The screenwriter has said some pretty egregious things about not thinking racism was a thing in Austen's time (at least I'm sure he wasn't trying to say that, but it sure came out like that) and that he wrote this script so his teen daughter wouldn't be bored. That's enough to thoroughly dunk on it.

Honestly though I'm hoping that it will quietly die the death of bad adaptations but unfortunately so many people are talking about it and hate watching it (guilty as charged tbh on both counts) that this seems unlikely.

I'm actually not against Austen adaptations that play with convention and focus on satirical humour more than sweeping romance (Love and Friendship was brilliant in that respect) and Emma did a good shot at it and breaking the fourth wall could be a brilliant device if done well, which seems to be the trend in this decade's adaptations. But I hope the inevitable forthcoming adaptations of the other novels are, well, better.

[tianshiisdead]

Re: your post about cultural appropriation, I have a few things I want to ask/get your take on? Firstly, "the people who are uncomfortable shouldn’t be ignored" I understand this and agree, and at the same time I can't help but think, doesn't that kinda basically mean "Don't do it or you're an asshole" in the end? Because there will always be people uncomfortable with it, especially in the age of the internet where even private gatherings can have pictures posted publicly, etc? Secondly, even if you're invited by Chinese people (in some cases FAMILY members) to wear it in a specific situation, if others know about it and take issue, you'll still be criticized as a disrespectful colonizer (if you're from or look like you're from NA/UK, but sometimes even when you're not), and you can't even say "This was shared with me/I was invited to" because that comes off as a "My Chinese friend" kinda argument. Also in conversations I've had w mainlanders, many seem to feel like they're not allowed to have a say about their own culture in these conversations in international circles, bc many diaspora are trying to make rules about it, and shut them down w 'you don't understand bc you're not affected by racism' (which is not at ALL true, even tho its different) and even tho they dont dismiss the pain of the diaspora experience, they feel very frustrated by diaspora trying to claim authority over their culture. (Which is made worse by many diaspora not even understanding or respecting China themselves) (sidenote this is an experience that seems to be shared by MANY mainland/diaspora relationships, not just China) And I just wonder if this is possibly another instance of a very common thing online these days, where people feel they have to turn their personal feelings about something into a strict idea of morality by which they expect everyone to follow, else they be labeled racist. But just because their feelings and experiences are important and valid does not mean they are universal. So they're probably not a good basis to be making moral judgements by. Idk if I'm making any sense at this point. It's a complicated topic I've had a lot of thoughts about that I kinda wanted to share and talk about so that I can develop my understanding of it, but it's hard. I just wish we could have more civil conversations about it. I understand it's sensitive but I don't think people being hostile about it is going to help anyone, and it's very disheartening. Because shutting down conversation and arguing and harassing and gatekeeping is only creating more division. It's the very opposite of cultivating understanding and unity. And I do think the latter is the only way meaningful progress can really be made.

Hi! This is a pretty complicated issue, I'll try to answer one by one but I might ramble a little.

First, to clarify, I originally made my post because I follow a few prominent diaspora hanfu fashion blogs/channels/tiktoks and some of them have drawn pretty clear lines on what they consider acceptable VS appropriation, yet they get constant non asian people in the comments insulting them and saying things like 'well I think it's totally okay to wear hanfu whenever stop gatekeeping', and that is never okay. To go into an asian person's space where they share parts of their culture and talk over them on what they can or can't do right in that space is incredibly rude, and it's frustrating to see so many people ignoring diaspora voices or wielding 'I heard this from a mainlander' to discredit what a diaspora says. We are no less 'asian' than mainlanders. I've seen too many situations where these creators repeatedly make their stance clear but still get people complaining in their comments and such - it's always preferable to block and move on if you disagree rather than harass someone who's made it clear they don't care to have this conversation (which they are not obligated to have). In general, it costs nothing to not harass marginalized people about what you're allowed or not allowed to do regarding their culture when they've made their stance and frustrations clear.

This got pretty long (sorry) so my answer is under the read more

Disclaimer: everything I say is my opinion formed from my experiences, which doesn't invalidate any other person's feelings on appropriation of their culture. It's a complicated issue and people are allowed to have strong feelings about it. Other people might be stricter or less strict and that's okay, no one can solve the issue with a single post and no one should make themselves the single spokesperson of an issue that affects so many people. This is just my take on it.

First question! In my opinion, it's a situation where 'people's discomfort should be listened to if they voice it' not 'never do anything ever for fear of being seen by someone who would be uncomfortable'. There are obviously plenty of situations where a non Chinese person might be invited to wear hanfu, or a non Chinese person might do research and end up concluding their hanfu/cosplay/whatever is respectful and okay. I'm not here to say you shouldn't just in case someone in the world would be offended, however, you still have to be aware you're a guest partaking in someone else's culture, so if you choose to post it on social media, you should be prepared for potential criticism, keep an open mind, and not become defensive when you get it. That is to say, harassing is never okay, and if there is harassing going on I don't condone that, however a lot of the times (in my experience) it's not harassing, just valid complaints brought up in a not incredibly gentle way, and that shouldn't be discounted as bullying. Messing up (unintentionally, after doing research) doesn't make someone an asshole, but if someone decides to post and face a lot of criticism and they choose to ignore it or lash out against the people criticizing them, that does. In my personal experience, I've for example seen a lot of MDZS cosplay that are generally met with very little pushback, and there's a writer I like who's 100% white and lives in China and writes short and distinctively Chinese fiction, and he has a moderately decent audience and gets pretty much no criticism even from diaspora because he's careful to be respectful. This isn't a failsafe and I'm sure no matter what someone out there will be uncomfortable, but there are plenty of situations where non-Chinese people interact with the culture and wear the culture and get little to no pushback. I don't like the implication that the diaspora community is needlessly volatile and hostile - because from my experience most of it really isn't. And, to be completely honest although the internet and videos have made things less private, very few people end up getting enough attention (especially unintentionally) that would result in a great deal of pushback unless they're being Distinctly Offensive. I've seen quite a few douyin with foreigners in hanfu and they're just like any other hanfu video and they rarely gain that level of traction because most people aren't looking to get upset over things that don't genuinely bother them. I do think it's a situation where you have to make your own judgments, but I stand by that if for whatever reason you interact with Chinese people who make their discomfort clear, their discomfort should be taken seriously and listened to.

Second question. Um, this sounds kind of specific? This might be the case sometimes idk, I've personally never seen this happen (not to say it hasn't just that I haven't seen it), but in that case if you're wearing it in a specific (respectful) situation and you were invited (especially by family) then it's not at all a "My Chinese friend" argument I think. "My Chinese friend" is a bad argument because it's vague and tokenizing and used to talk over other Chinese people, but if you were invited to wear it then that's way more direct, so I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing to establish. However, like you mention later, Chinese people are not a monolith and many don't have great connections with their culture, or see no issue with racism, or have internalized self-hatred etc. that would cause them to enable non-Chinese people in doing offensive things. I really do think this is a case-by-case basis, I can't make any sweeping judgments. Sometimes it's the Chinese family/friend who invited who is in the wrong.

Third question kind of (the part about mainlanders having a say etc.) I do think that again it's a case-by-case basis! In the conversation between a diaspora and a mainlander, respect should be given to both sides (and diaspora who don't understand as much should listen to the mainlander about things the mainlander understands better) however, in my original post, I was more referring to non-Chinese people using what mainlanders say to shut down diaspora. Again, the issue is not that mainlanders shouldn't have a say, it's that their words are used by non-Chinese to discredit diaspora voicing their concerns. I honestly haven't seen that much mainlander-diaspora communication online for obvious reasons but that would be a completely different topic. I do think that it's important to remember even mainlanders aren't monoliths or infallible, and sometimes they can discredit diaspora opinions on topics diaspora have more experience on just because they don't have the same experience. Although people in China certainly face racism and oppression in the global framework of north VS south, and many parts of China have remnants of colonization and imperialism which mean white westerner travelers and expats get better treatment than even the locals or ABC, it's also true that they don't usually face the day to day constant racism diaspora face, which is often what informs discussions on why foreigners wearing hanfu might be considered offensive.

(This part will be about diaspora talking over mainlanders, intracommunity politics, self-hatred, etc. These are my own opinions as a Chinese diaspora and it's a sensitive issue, plus people who are not members of the community please Do Not Make Judgements or try and get involved. Again, this is an intracommunity issue, not an open invitation for non-Chinese people to criticize Chinese people on their Chineseness.) The same goes in the other direction, like you mentioned, a lot of diaspora can also talk over mainlanders or claim authority when they don't have it. There's also a lot of issues with diaspora who hate and look down on themselves and their culture through no fault of their own, it's taught by the society they grow up in, but then they never unlearn that hatred and disdain, and the remnants of that will inform how they treat the people and culture even if they try and advocate themselves as a spokesperson. Obviously, I'm not a huge fan and I think it can be super harmful. It's okay to grow up and realize the culture you rejected is something beautiful, it's okay to slowly rediscover it, but one should always keep in mind that they are rediscovering it, they lack a lot of knowledge because knowing about culture is not innate, and to be open to learn and not yell too loudly about things they don't understand. Culture is so vast, no one person can claim they understand fully and should be taken as the single spokesperson. This disdain and internalized racism show up in diaspora, but also in mainlanders to some extent, because we all live in a post-colonial world with a clear racial hierarchy. That is to say, although it's not useful or reasonable to categorize mainland Han Chinese as oppressed POC, especially when they are the privileged majority within mainland, they nonetheless also face white supremacy that is woven into the culture post-colonization and imperialism (white people. are not at all oppressed. in China. :/)

I also think that in the specific situation of cultural appropriation, personal feelings kind of do matter. It's not a strictly moral thing, messing up doesn't mean moral failure and neither does getting offended or whatever, and I also don't think the discussion around cultural appropriation through wearing hanfu will ever be 'universal' because everyone has such different experiences. In a perfect world without a recent history of colonization and imperialism and western dominance, this wouldn't be nearly as big of an issue. The point is that it's not universal, you can only try your best to be respectful but understand there are limits and that if you post for a lot of people to see a lot of people will have different thoughts, and to try and listen to those thoughts the best you can. None of this is a moral issue, just one facet of a larger societal one informed by history and power dynamics, and no one person is responsible for any of it, but it's important to be educated and sensitive.

But yeah! It's definitely a complicated issue, your ask made sense don't worry lol I'm sorry I couldn't give that many definitive answers and so much of it came down to 'depends on the situation' and 'it can vary from person to person'. Like with all these sorts of issues, it can be intensely personal to people because this sort of racism Is very personal. for lack of better words. it's not a concrete thing, the reason it's harmful at all is that it can hurt people, just because of the context of racism and such, and that means it will vary from person to person. Sorry idk if that made any sense but kjlfdhg I think harassment and dogpiling and rudeness is never okay, but a clear line should be drawn between harassment and a Great Deal of People voicing their criticism. I agree that there should be civil conversations about it, but tbh... I don't think any progress will be made regarding this Because it's such a complicated issue with so many diverse voices and experiences that should be accounted for and not asked to conform, it's not at all a solidly moral issue. There's no rulebook for it! All cultures are different too, I can only speak on my thoughts on hanfu and qipao and such, however, other garments from other cultures may have different purposes or ideas behind them and that's not something for me to comment on, I can only listen and respect. I think the only way progress can be made, is for society to progress regarding racism and such built into the system, and the post-colonial state of the world. Foreigners in hanfu and appropriation stuff, this is all just manifestations of the greater systemic issues, and it can only be solved through the solving of the greater systemic issues.

Thank you for the ask! i enjoy talking about these things :3

[cat-sapphics]

the owl house, in my opinion, has gathered the wrong audience when it comes to lessons about behavior, as in the exact opposite of its target audience (excluding lgbt youth, of course) and once i explain it, i'm going to unapologetically make many teens who enjoy it in online fandom spaces very mad. c:

the whole premise of the show is that luz is a neurodivergent outcast who was rejected and made fun of back at home for enjoying and doing things deemed weird and unacceptable. she was isolated because her interests were disapproved of by her peers. she found another community of other rejected "weirdos" through the portal and felt like she could be herself again. luz, of all characters, understands what it is like to feel isolated because everything you do is presumably wrong in the eyes of others and you do not understand why that is, considering your intention was only ever to entertain yourself and curate your social experience to be more comfortable.

and yet, that memo seems to fly completely over the heads of toh stans who think they have the right to socially outcast people whom they deem as freaks just because of their interests, whether that be via "DNI" lists for accounts designed to be openly public safe/positivity spaces for various groups of people (such as one of those "cafe delivery" services for lesbians, a bot writing quotes and messages and creating nice flags for bisexuals, etc.), or by having the fucking audacity to call people out for revealing themselves to enjoy dsmp content and then mass qrt them with harassment because of the majority verdict against the dsmp being "problematic" and "bad." toh stans are the most vile bullies i know, especially on twitter, where they love to... gatekeep the show... from people they deem as freaks... while turning around and declaring how much they love luz, whose entire character revolves around... being deemed a freak... hmm. do you see the hypocrisy here??

luz is a greatly unique comfort character for me in such a way that i like to remind myself, "luz noceda wouldn't hate you for your hyperfixations and special interests the way everyone else would", which is ironically painful because i see shit all the time like, "luz noceda would hate dsmp fans, or [insert any given "problematic media" here]" and it's strange, because one of these statements is just so blatantly false due to how and why she was written in the first place. i'll never understand antis who use her as a scapegoat to not just be wrong about the point they're making, but to intentionally hurt others they dislike. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

in my case, i'm talking about the toh stans who threw temper tantrums back in august when they learned that tubbo (twitch streamer associated with dream & the like - not too closely, but definitely directly fyi) decided to just. watch the show (not bring the fandom into it or overrun it with "cishet/whitewashed" dsmp AUs, whatever that even means... just... watch it. and he said he liked it. that was it.). because they realistically couldn't figure out how to effectively gatekeep it from him and his "freak" socially unacceptable (/s) stans with the spread of the modern version of the cheese touch or something, lmfao. but really, it goes for just about anything. the point of this post is to call out a fandom that preaches having pride in what makes you different, while hating people they do not understand and have prejudiced assumptions and stereotypes against, therefore making them different. i'm sure many of them don't realize it, but it wouldn't surprise me if most do and just refuse to care because of the moral superiority complex they seem to get out of acting this way, lol.

and in the case of the dsmp receiving the verdict of being supposedly "problematic" and therefore making it okay to deem fans/supporters as unworthy and subhuman, that doesn't fucking matter, because you're missing the point. consumers of these livestreams and videos are not hurting minorities just by watching from home like you seem to think, whether directly or indirectly, but you are hurting autistic people and people with adhd when you dismiss these (coming in few numbers btw) clingy attachment sources that actually bring them seratonin, satisfaction, and stimulation when most other sources can't simply because of how selective our wired-this-way brains are, as choices - malicious choices, at that. i am not accepting any challenge to argue or debate about how "important" it is to let go of these hyperfixations and special interests to make some entitled social justice warriors online feel better, and if you attempt that with me you're going to get angrily blocked, i don't care. but i won't leave it at this; i did [write a post] last month that i suggest both agreers and especially dissenters read, going on a necessary rant about how this kind of ableism hurts neurodivergent youth and for... what effective cause, exactly? i probably explained it better there than i did here, but here i reworded it in a way that supports the specific point of this post.