#It was really interesting to read some stories of these badass women

[silent-deydreamer23]

Nostalgia for A Cartoon Theory #1

I felt nostalgia so I watch one of those top 10 craziest cartoon theories and got reminded of this one. I.e. professor utonium and samurai jack being the same person through time shenanigans. I did a drawing of the girls based on this concept.

In this AU jack is approached by this old sorcerer who claims they have a way to defeat who using his own essence against him in the form of a super serum labed something like the "Elixir X". And then this person like tasks him with collecting all these items (the whole sugar spice everything nice). Basically making Jack do the heavy lifting in the process then-BOOM!!

"the three perfect little girls!!"

Nothing like what he was expecting at all. Turns out the sorcerer was the evil High priestess of Aku the whole time ( Ashi's mom). The Powerpuff girls would be Aku's daughters made by Jack's hand. Long story short Jack defeat her and takes the girls to raise them as his own. And they would join him in his fight against Aku filling in that place of student mentor and daughter father figure. I tried to based the girls design on onna-bugeisha(term for female samurai) attire. They came out in a rough sketch that could be better.

[short-black-diamond]

{His woman.}

This is just a fantasy! AU, with princess x servant/bodyguard (?), reader is a badass lady and the servant is head over heels for her. also, have fun reading!

also, I tried to make this as poc! friendly as possible. I have written some parts about hair, but I don't mean it in a bad/racist way. I'm not black, but in this story, you just have problems with your hair like I do, so I literally just inserted myself there. I just made it so other people could maybe relate to my problems too :)

Warnings: suggestive content, Your bodyguard masturbates to you behind closed doors in detail, angst-father issues/trauma/no love (at first, maybe a part two? 👀👀👀), near death experience-but not you

this is more like a story, so buckle up babes! Also, I think I'll make more parts of these, but tell me if you like it!

---

I have plenty of weird but also pretty romantic dreams, and in this one, I was some sort of princess who had to choose a husband because of being the next queen and only child and no brother and bla bla bla.

BUT. I also had some sort of, I dunno, servant? Well, someone who always watched me/my back like some sort of bodyguard. The thing was, he was pretty hot. Freckles which adored and accentuated the cheeks, neck, shoulders (+ other body parts 😏), glasses in front of tired, serious eyes, long/dark brown thick/curly locks that were always in a low pony tail and forehead fringes that gave the guy a cute but also at the same time hot look, big nose, broad shoulders, tall, muscular body (but not too buff), nice arms, veiny hands and pretty much everything that would make a woman wet swoon.

Also, the voice was to die for. Do you know professor cal? (I know him from youtube). Yeah, I had his voice in my head as the guard and let me tell you guys, I wanted that guy to become real.

Also, let's call him...Cal, okay? because of professor cal's voice, alright? and his nickname or real name will be Lasco, so when you are alone with him, you call him cal! And you're the only one who's allowed to call him that.

But that's not- okay wait that was mainly the fucking introduction of the guy of my dreams, now let me start with the introduction of the story.

---

"Your majesty, you can't just reject a man blindly-", a nameless maid said, but was interrupted by your soft glare. "And why can't I?", you asked gently, looking at her with an almost pleading look. you wanted to know the answer as well.

Your poor excuse of a brutish father and shitty leader of your country wanted you to be married to an unimportant country. The son from the country was a playboy, treated women like objects, didn't know what sharing meant, stepped and spit on other people and wasn't really interested in you, more attracted to your body.

your mother was a softspoken woman, but since women were still not respected in the monarchy, you wanted to change that. you hated that your mother couldn't stand up for herself. you hated that she got belittled whenever you were around, and you feared that it was much worse when you weren't.

One day, however, it all stopped. and you were the reason.

"Why should I marry him again?", you asked the man who was one of the reasons you came to this world. you hated to call him that.

Father.

ugh.

your 'father' gave you a glare which you reciprocated tenfold, making the geezer sitting in front of you scratch his neck nervously.

"Well, because... because I said so!" "And what use would that bring to our kingdom?"

"How dare you-" "Your highness. please tell me. Why am I going to be betrothed to a man whom I have no information over and who doesn't even seem interested in wanting to get to know me? What use would our marriage have?", you retorted quickly, eyeing the guest to your 'father's' left. His son was right next to him, glaring at you angrily. your mother only looked at you with a shocked expression before standing up to apologize-

"Don't, mother. You have no reason to do that.", you only said coldly while holding a hand towards her direction, awaiting a plausible explanation from the bastard sitting next to your king.

"Listen, me and your father are good friends, and we decided that it'd be a good idea if-"

"So you have no use for the country but just want us to get married to each other because you guys are friends? Or because your whore of a son can't seem to stop getting his dick wet and because I have never touched a man? If that's the reason, THEN YOU CAN FUCK RIGHT OFF!!!", you screamed, pulling your golden sword from it's home-your earrings-and pointed it towards the bastard.

That seemed to be the thing they were not prepared for, because the king from the other country and his son scrambled away while your 'father' was getting angry at you. But, oh boy.

How was the saying again? Like father, like daughter?

If his anger was already bad enough that most people from his own country feared him because of his temper, how would the other countries try to calm yours?

"YOU INSOLENT CHILD! WHY CAN'T YOU JUST DO AS YOU'RE TOLD?! DAY AND NIGHT AM I WORKING-"

"WORKING?! DON'T GIVE ME THAT! WHAT YOU CALL 'WORKING', IS JUST FUCKING OTHER BITCHES, LOOSING YOUR MONEY FROM GAMBLING AND GIVING ALL YOUR DUTIES TO THE POOR SERVANTS!

YOU ARE NO WHERE TO BE CALLED A KING, A LORD OR EVEN A LEADER! YOU'RE NOT EVEN A GOOD FATHER!", you roared, your voice booming louder in the castle than his ever could, grabbing the attention of all the residents of your own, soon to be castle.

your golden sword pointed towards him, and while nearly every servant and some guards gathered together to know what this family fuss was about again, they were shocked and surprised to see that you were pointing your sword at him.

sure, you had arguments and fights with that old geezer, but nothing ever was as serious as this. "You put-" "YOU LISTEN TO ME, YOU POOR EXCUSE OF A MAN, I am done with you humiliating our name, or kingdom, our country. do that you get the hell away from here, with all your fucking concubines and mistresses. and don't you ever show your face in here, or my country again. because if you do...

... then I'll find you and behead you myself."

All he could do was run, run as fast as he could, and while he was still at it, his concubines and bad partners, gambling friends, drinking friends and other bad people he liked to associate with, followed him as well while taking all their belongings, which surprisingly, wasn't less than you imagined.

After the last one was gone, your mother only whispered your name and you immediately threw yourself to the ground in shame in front of your mother. "I beg for forgiveness. Please forgive me for my big mouth and sharp tongue, mother. please don't be mad at me-"

"Mad at you? Oh, my sweet daughter, how could I ever be mad at you?", she asked, opening her arms with tears eyes and a wobbly smile. You ran towards her but held her as gently as you could, like a flower. "I fear that I do not onderstand, mother. Why are you not mad? I put shame on your name for rejecting a noble's proposal...!"

Your mother only chuckled, happy to hold her one reason to stay alive in her arms. She was also glad that everyone saw that her and her daughter were so close and that the rumours about the daughter and the mother hating each other would come to an end. "That's exactly why I am so proud of you, my love. you have mastered what I couldn't and still can not do today; express myself, voice out my uncomfy state, give my opinion...being loud. Being heard. Being understood."

You stroked your mother's back like a mother consoling her child. your mother's nerves were always on haywire when your father was around, and it was tearing your heart apart to see your mother so scared in the presence of that former bastard of a leader.

"I will try my best to help you mother. After all, you are leading this kingdom on your own now. But fear not, I will stay by your side until death will tear us apart. But even then, I will not rest in peace until I have found your soul next to mine and we can be together again, even after we've descended to heaven.", you promised. She only hugged you tighter and released a breath.

Lasco, your bodyguard, who has witnessed your great performance of strength and anger, only watched you in awe, a small blush on his cheeks. See, as you were the crown princess, the next queen and he was your guard, he had to look after you ever since he could remember. he was also your best friend and you and him did pretty much everything together.

Except...

...love.

...

It was actually not fair, to be honest. Cal had a crush on you since the first time he saw you, which was when him and you were children; even when you were chubby, had snot coming out of your nose, and always chaos-hair. what drew him to you was your calm nature. He thought of you like a flower when he first met you. Never bothering anyone. always in your own little world. You never yelled, or got really angry or made a fuss out of everything. Only when something really bothered you, did you frown, pout, and release a small and quiet 'hmpf!' sound, which he cherished forever by grabbing at his chest where his heart belonged whenever you did it.

He also found you really cute. your eyes were so adorably wide and full of wonder, wanting to explore the world with silent pleading. But since it was forbidden, you examined books, maps and even listened to adventurers and businessmen and women who sailed the world like your life depended on it.

Your hair seemed to have a mind of it's own, as it was either perfectly calm, a few strands of hair not wanting to go to their place or your hair pointing to all directions. your personality was also to respect, or gush over.

You were always a calm kid, never dared to trouble your parents, always good with everyone. you tried your best to help everyone and do your homework or train your body to fit into a queen's life. you tried to take as much off of your mother's chest and shoulders as you could, with no regard of self care.

you, with those beautiful eyes, that changed over the years.

Your body, that changed over the years.

Your mind changed too.

But it scared him.

Sure, you've gotten a lot smarter and even more helpful than you already were. you blossomed from a small, sweet, shy, friendly, peace-loving girl to a poisonous, beautifully, deathly and ruthless woman. But Cal was not even close to the mind to complain.

I mean, you've grown up, and so has he. It was just...to him, time flew by so quickly. One moment, he was protecting you from other baby princes from bullying you because of your shy nature, then you and him talked about serious topics like future and love in your teenage years, where he nearly gave out his secret of having a crush on you, and now, you had to choose a husband, rule the kingdom alongside your mother, and forbid war, even when your kingdom was one of the strongest out there.

Cal has fallen for you. And...so have you.

You fell for him the moment he gave you the promise that he'd always protect you. It was when you two were still children. He was eight and you were five at the time, but you could not mistake your warming cheeks and fluttering stomach for anything else but love towards that boy. the first few weeks, you hid from him, spoke as little as possible with him and never looked him in the eyes.

You were wondering every night if Cal knew about how you gave him heart eyes everytime you two locked eyes. or if he maybe thought of you as a pretty girl...? Or if he thought of you as a nuisance, because you thought that you'd be one to him, being a princess and all. Since you had trouble forming big sentences and tended to be shy by nature, even as a grown up, you only gave him commands, asked about his wellbeings, or nodded when he gave you an update about something.

The more days passed, the more you strived to be perfect. Not just for the people you'd have to rule over one day, or your mother, but for him. you wanted to show him that you could become the perfect leader. That you'd become a great queen. You took more care to your body when Cal made some remarks about how skin care was less appreciated these days. your hair seemed to follow your lead too, because over the years, you managed to take proper care of it.

you took more care in the way you dressed, acted, spoke and most importantly, your face. you always frowned, naturally, and you hated it. You hated when people asked you why you were looking so sad or glum or depressed or angry, and you were left irritated. so you always raised your brows to give your face not an irritated, but bored look. Better than nothing, right?

whenever you looked at Cal, you didn't see your bodyguard, but a potential lover. He was always good with kids, treated women with the utmost respect, was one of the strongest men in your kingdom and very handsome.

However, there was one information that shattered your little love world and heart yes and daydreams about Cal; you had to marry a prince. Bodyguards were not allowed as potential husbands, except for when you'd like to have a consort or lover.

You, from that moment on, forbid your feelings towards your longest friend and buried them into the darkest corners of your heart, soul, and mind. and over the months, you managed to hold proper conversations with him, plus, you didn't see him as husband material anymore.

Or so you thought.

...

NSFW:

As you were busy with making new rules, comforting your mother and firing your father's followers, Cal thought that you didn't have any use for him at the moment, which was good.

As fast as he could, he excused himself with a silver plate in front of his crotch and went straight to his room. Beforehand, he made sure that no one was in the hallway, so that they couldn't hear him doing his unholy, and unforgivable act. In his chamber, he whimpered into his hand and his other one grabbed his hard-on. His glasses went down a little, but not that he cared. Lasco moaned into his hand as he slid against the door a little, panting at the thought of you.

You, who so bravely told your father to fuck out of your life with a blade at the bastards throat which you took from your earrings. you, who always was so...cold, but at the same time so unbelievably hot at the same time. His princess, who didn't want any nameless, stupid prince. Cal didn't know what type of prince you'd like. What type of husband would meet your standards. Maybe the fictional characters you've been sighing about with a sweet smile and gazing off with a blissed out face?

C-could he call you... his princess? Could he call you...his girl?

...His woman?

At that thought, Lasco stumbled towards his bed, throwing his belt and pants to the ground before stripping off his underwear and grasping his leaking cock. It may look small in his hands, but if you saw it, you'd be really scared of it's size and girth. Much over average, about 9 and a half inches, and his girth around the width of your wrist. His mushroom head was adorably flushed a light pink, with freckles adorning his shaft and inner thighs- actually his whole body to be honest.

He pumped it a few times, abs already glistening with sweat, whimpering in a high pitched voice again, brows furrowing and shoulders shaking, his nipples growing hard at the cool air of his room, forgetting that he'd get overly sensitive when he got hard because of you. He whined when he immediately had a flashback of him following after you for safety reasons and you suddenly halting in front of him and him stumbling on you, his hips - and so his dick - brushing against your soft, plump ass. When you turned to apologize, there was only a gust of whind in form of his silhouette.

He rubbed his head a little harder, and choked back a sob. His glasses nearly fell off, but he adjusted them while his left hand shook from touching himself. he faced the door this time, his brows furrowing, as he stroked his shaft, the foreskin covering and uncovering his cockhead evertime he moved his hand up and down.

What if somebody came in? How would he explain himself?

Lasco massaged his balls gently, groaning before chuckling breathily, growing shy as he thought of you again with a cute -about to be fucked out- smile on his face.

What if you came in and caught him in this state? How would you react? What would you say? Would you get aroused too? Or bully him? Tease him? Or be disgusted by him for thinking of you so lewdly?

He cried out your name before cumming so suddenly, the orgasm shaking him. His back arched and his thighs squeezed shut a little, and his glasses finally fell down, onto the sheets which were now soiled. He felt like the walls of his room were still echoing your name and he groaned. Cal was laying on his back now, arms spread out and he stared at the ceiling.

He panted, grinning like a madman with a heavy blush. The thought of you catching him in such an incredulous act, with him parting his legs for you and chanting your name like a mantra, giving you a show-

Ah shit. He got hard again. He sighed exasperately.

Just as he was about to do the act again, this time feeling a little more guilty for picturing you doing these things to him, he changed his mind. He stood up, and took a long, cold shower.

END OF NSFW.

...

Now refreshed and not so horny anymore, the bodyguard quickly made his way over to your presence, fixing his posture and taking deep breaths, a neatly written letter which he wrote months ago, only for you and you only to read.

Maybe Cal should just confess and hope that you'd accept his feelings. But he didn't know how you felt about him. Since you were little - since the first time you two fucking met - you never really talked much with him. Cal was left wondering if you even harboured any feelings for him in the first place.

If you didn't then he'd make a total fool out of himself. If you did, then maybe...

Just maybe, he'd become your husband. Your husband, who'd try to read every single wish you had right from your delicate lips. Your lover, who'd be the man of your dreams if you said yes to the very question. Your lover, who'd swear to become the greatest king in history, with you as his strong, smart and beautiful wife. His woman.

He wanted to be yours so bad it hurt him mentally and physically whenever a love interest who wasn't him got brought up. whenever you spoke about maybe visiting or inviting a prince over made him hurl and want to punch a wall.

He didn't notice that he was already in front of your door, your deep, gentle voice immediately reaching his well-trained ears. He allowed himself to smile for a millisecond, then his smile vanished and he stepped inside.

---

Heya, how was that?

I kinda let out everything I thought in here, like for part 2!

[alittlebitofwonk]

@bonesandthebees has me thinking about book recs, so I’m posting some of my favorites in case anyone wants something new to read!

FANTASY

Priory of the Orange Tree: This is a BRICK of a book. The hardcover would make a good weapon. But it’s also an incredibly good read. A well built fantasy world, dragons, sapphic romance, and it centers WOC characters. The prequel, A Day of Fallen Night, is also amazing.

Legends and Lattes: This is such a cozy little book! It’s fantasy, sent in a DND inspired world where a retired orc mercenary opens a coffee shop. Also, sapphic romance side plot. It’s very cute.

A Thousand Steps Into Night: A Japanese folklore inspired novel where the protagonist must make bargains with spirits to avoid becoming a demon. I learned a lot about Japanese legends and folklore in this one, and the protagonist, Miuko, is just so earnest and lovable.

SCI-FI

Project Hail Mary: Andy Weir does it again. A fantastic novel featuring a struggle across the galaxy to save earth as we know it, the most endearing alien EVER, really cool futuristic science, and a reminder that humanity also instills in us all a sense of good.

The Kaiju Preservation Society: This book is so much fuuuun. It’s just a blast. Inter dimensional travel, giant monsters, conservation, and a protagonist that had me cackling with laughter the whole time.

MYSTERY/THRILLER

The Final Girl Support Group: When the survivors of several horror-movie esque massacres are all targeted by a new killer, how will they survive? A really awesome story about a bunch of badass middle aged women who kinda hate each other teaming up to identify their would-be killer… before it’s too late.

Gone Girl: Nick Dunne didn’t kill his wife. He has no idea where she is, or what happened, and he swears he didn’t hurt her… but no one really believes him. Meanwhile, the truth is far more interesting, and a testament to the phrase “hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.” This is THE female rage story.

[physalian]

Treatment of female characters in fandom

Fandom Hot Take That Isn't At All New

The floor is open for debate, feel free (but do so respectfully, yeah?). This is a pattern I notice when exploring both old and new fandoms and that’s the perception of the highest-ranking female character, with rank as in protagonist vs love interest vs secondary vs tertiary character. Upon a massive paradigm-shift I just had about Percabeth.

There is a tendency, at least as I see it, within fandom to skew in favor of the female protagonist in fanfic instead of dumping her for the two hottest male characters. This happens when the female hero is a wish-fulfilment type. As most fanfic is written by women, this tracks. The audience loves her whether she sucks or not because she's them, and they write smut and romance for her because they want to live through her. They're very forgiving to female leads in and even if the fandom argues over her, she’s still the center of the largest ships. She’s the hero, and odds are, the most popular ship is the canon pairing, with some exceptions like Zutara.

If she’s not the protagonist, look at any fandom with a male lead and she’s probably dumped for the top five hottest men in the story for non-canon pairings. She has very little slack in the fandom and is subject to incredibly critical views. She has to be on point or better than her male counterpoints (ex: Katara) to be in the top ship for the fandom, or her canon ship with the male protagonist is just that old that it predates everything else (ex: Annabeth). Why? Because they're almost always less compelling than the hero's next closest male connection, because the writer wrongfully assumes that “it’s romance, you get, it I don’t need to put in the effort” but they do have to convince you why the friendship or rivalry exists. But also, because of how fandom treats female love interests.

I don’t read a ton of original fiction romance and when I do, it’s always a lady lead. If I look up fanfic for a series and I personally think the main romance is meh, she’s still there all over the archive (TOG, Twilight, Red Queen, Outlander, Star Wars Sequels, Max Ride etc). If I look up a fandom with the same quality of problematic romance, she’s tarred and feathered by virtue of being the love interest even if her character is as deep or as compelling as her contemporaries in other works where she’s the hero instead.

As in, if Edward was the protagonist of Twilight, the majority pairing would be Edward/Jacob while Bella would be absolutely despised. Same exact personality, same exact role in the story, it’s just told from Edward’s perspective (which I know exists I’m talking the actual book Twilight). People already hate the Star Wars Sequels, but if they were the exact same movies except Kylo was the POV character, “fans” might’ve bullied Daisy Ridley so much that they killed off her character—looking at you, Supernatural fandom.

Not every single lady love interest. Astrid/Hiccup is the most popular ship on AO3 for HTTYD. Astrid is a badass character and far more than a love interest and a perfect example of writers who worked hard to make it believable (and also there’s no one really second to Astrid within the story in terms of depth and screentime, except Toothless… which is the next most popular ship so). But even when she's pretty universally loved by the fandom (ex. Hermione) that doesn't guarantee her top billing if she has a male rival for screentime.

I don’t know if it’s just different fans who pick up these different genres or double standards for female characters but it’s pretty consistent. It might just be that readers can live vicariously though a cardboard narrator but get incredibly protective of the male lead and who’s allowed to court him when they can’t. I had this debate with somebody a while ago and they argued that it simply comes down to fanfic writers getting attached to the few female protagonists they're allowed to have. But like. This is across all genres, and the idea that fans starved of female heroes will only like them if they're the main hero and not the secondar hero is not the pro-women slam-dunk that person thought it was.

I also only really participate in fandom where it concerns fanfic and not live online discourse. I write male protagonists as a female author because it’s just what I grew up reading more and I like the action adventure genre far more than the romance genre, which is usually helmed by male heroes, but my writer catalogue is nearly 60/40.

It says something pretty loud and clear about the state of Percabeth which had ten years on Solangelo, to have the gap closed between them, with some disclaimers: I’m only looking on AO3 and Percabeth predates the surge in popularity of AO3 vs FFN where Solangelo hit at the perfect time. The third most important character in the PJO books kept changing from book to book (Grover, Thalia, Luke, Rachel, Zoe, etc), so Annabeth was the only ship option, she had no big competition.

But even then, when I go out of my way looking for good Percabeth fics, they’re just not there. The ship might technically be the most popular in that it populates in the most fics, but it’s not as front and center as Solangelo, and there’s way less canon content for Solangelo. If Will had been a girl, Solangelo would not be the fandom juggernaut that it is. If Annabeth was a man and Percabeth was a gay ship, she'd probably have a lot less hate with the exact same abusive personality, simply because she'd be a man and male characters will always have more leeway.

[alphajocklover]

Alpha with a Capital A: Alphas and Gender

I’ve had some people ask me who can become an Alpha. Mainly they ask if being an Alpha, having the power to dominate even reality, is something that only men can do. That’s a simple question with a very complicated answer. The short answer is yes: only men are Alphas. No one is really sure why. Maybe it’s because dominance and masculinity have become so connected in the global culture that the spark that creates an Alpha is never ignited in a woman. Maybe it’s a genetic phenomenon where only those with male chromosomes can become Alphas. Either way the simple truth is that there are no woman Alphas. There are stories told amongst Alphas, of an ancient race of women known as Amazons who have powers similar to Alpha. Some theorize that the Amazons are still around, having isolated themselves from the rest of the world for some reason. But no one really knows.

As interesting as the idea of Amazons are, they’re hardly the most interesting thing about Alpha genders. Things get far more interesting when we begin to talk about those who don’t fit into either gender category perfectly. Mainly transgender people. Trans people, like women, can’t be Alphas, but it’s not for the reason you think. Almost all Alpha have a deep respect for trans people. I mean, deciding that the gender you were born with isn’t what you want and fighting to change it, despite all the difficulties and obstacles? Wanting to be yourself so bad you change your biology through hard work and sheer will power? That’s exerting your will on the world just like Alphas do! That’s Alpha as fuck! There are two reasons that Alphas aren’t trans. The first is that Alphas are men. That doesn’t mean they were born with a cock, that means they’re men. So trans women and non-binary people, even if they are born male, can’t be Alphas. Whatever power enables Alphas to exist respects people’s preferred identities. The second is that, well… they’re Alphas. They’re literally so manly, so sexy, so dominant, that they can influence reality. If an Alpha has a vagina and wants to have a cock, while… then they have a cock. They will themselves to be biologically male. That’s why there are no trans Alphas. They can literally make themselves cis.

Gender is a complicated issue no matter who you are. But, like with everything, Alphas rise above the petty shit and enforce their will on the world. Fucking badass.

**hey guys! I hope I didn’t turn anyone off with this controversial post. I know not everyone is going to appreciate me making a post like this, one something so political, but I think it’s important to not shy away from controversial topics. I also wanna apologize if this in any way offends the trans community. That was not my intention at all. Thanks for reading, please enjoy**

[rosemarydisaster]

I feel like the misogyny in fandom is only partially the fandom's fault. Let me explain: if the piece of media you're a fan of has a 50/50 female to male ratio, and treats its female characters with the same love, nuance and respect they treat their male characters with... Obviously you have a bigger chance of having your favorite character be a woman instead of a men.

If there's only one or two women, if they're written like shit, if they're not allowed the same complexity (because they're just set dressing or because "feminism dictates female characters can't have flaws" lest they call you out) well obviously you're gonna gravitate to the more nuanced male characters. If you don't care enough to write compelling female characters why should the audience feel compelled?

Don't get me wrong, even great female characters get sidelined in favor of "tall dudes with (dubiously) homoerotic tension". But in fandoms with majority female characters/really compelling female leads, the vibes are completely different. Even if there are still assholes. A great example is the fandom of Game of Thrones vs the fandom of A Song of Ice and Fire. When all your female characters either feel the same brand of girlboss/badass or are framed as annoying/evil while most of your male characters (even the evil ones) are painted as cool and badass as opposed to having a full cast of nuanced characters of both genders... yeah misogyny is gonna happen.

So yeah, we do need to work on our internalized misogyny and we do need to point out when we or the fandom treat female characters unfairly. But we also need more stories that love their female characters as much as their male counterparts. No one has the guts to hate on the female characters of The Locked Tomb Series. Mostly because why would you read a book with a mostly queer female cast about necromancy and the awfulness of love if you hated complex female characters??

We should try to give more attention to those stories. Once you start asking "isn't it weird there's no interesting women here?" When you watch/read/listen to a story you find yourself not caring much for a lot of shows. Hell it's why I can't watch most shonen anymore and why I gave up on supernatural at some point. As a "consumer" (hate that word) I also have the option to stop caring about a show that clearly doesn't care about me (or any woman for that matter).

Does this mean you can't read Sasunaru fanfic anymore? No, but when you start a new show you might want to keep that question in mind. And you also may want to consider specifically searching out for works about women or that care about their female cast as much as their male counterparts.

The fandoms don't yearn for the misogyny as much as we think. I've seen some fandom really work the terribly written female characters into extremely compelling stories. Or write new female characters in fandoms with barely any (shout out to "Local Skate Dads Adopt Three Sons and a Hooligan" for adding like three new female characters to a show with one and a half).

Our internalized misogyny is left alone to fester in a desert, deprived of good female characters. Of course people develop an almost paraphilic obsession with M/M ships when they've been trained from birth on shows that don't care for their female cast (if they have any). We center men because society centers men. And we have to do the individual job of decentering men/centering women while also aknowledging that the people that make our shows aren't doing the job.

Also if you're reading this and wondering "what even is good female representation? What kind of show should I watch?" Read the locked tomb series. Trust me, it is a religious experience (not just for women, it has so much gender in it).

Has this all been a ploy to get you to read about TLT? Yes. I also recommend The Magnus Protocol for podcasts, and Derry Girls for tv shows. They're all so good.

[aerkame]

Is there perhaps an explanation as to why Finfolk are so obsessed with silver? I tried to look up information online but can’t seem to find an answer.

I could not find an answer myself, it seems to just be a thing with them. Much like how dragons have hoards, fairies love kidnapping mortals, goblins having greed, the list goes on with characteristics in folklore creatures that are not explained.

Some of them could probably just be symbolism like how the dragon hoard in Beowulf cursed humans to turn into greedy dragons themselves. I wouldn't doubt it really. One of the stories (well two, but one only mentioned it) had Christian symbolism in the form of crosses that could ward off finmen from kidnapping women. They would paint a cross on their chest or hold onto a silver cross around their wrist and the women were warned to never turn their back towards the ocean, letting their guard down.

But aside from that, I really don't know. It might be symbolism for something but it is interesting as the folklore is from Orkney but has Christian influence sprinkled in SOME stories that I read.

Bit of a history/folklore rant

The cross on the chest thing really does remind me of unicorns (the original, not modernized ones). Unicorns are also Christian /English folklore creatures that were seen as wild, untamable, magestic beasts that could only be calmed by the innocent or pure of heart. It was said that they lay their heads on the chest of pure women, which is something that is often seen in some folklores that involved Christian values or had influences. I personally think this is because of how the soul was viewed back then. A lot of people always thought of the heart and soul as everything to the person and not the brain like today. So it would make sense that it was seen that the chest/breast (where the soul and heart of a person is) of an innocent woman was extremely precious and needed to be protected from evil or harm. (Fun fact: This is also why everyone always went for the chest in battle. A stab or shot to the chest was considered instant death, not the head.)

I would like to note that when talking about folklore, I tend to lean towards learning from OLD English times. They have some really interesting things to learn about and some of the folklore is just so fun to get into. Also old unicorns were really badass looking. So strong, so beautiful.

In case you couldn't tell, I really love history and folklore.

[bum-tan]

So I read the comic "Wanted : Lucky Luke," and I just wanted to pop up here to rant and comment about it.

I'd recommend you read it first if you don't want to be spoiled, but if you don't want to, I'll still explain the plot for context.

The official synopsis:

"Riding peacefully along a western trail, Lucky Luke is suddenly ambushed by an unknown assailant. After a quick gunfight, the cowboy loses his mysterious attacker but happens upon a lone wagon beset by Apache raiders. Another quick fight later, Luke is surprised to find that the occupants of the wagon are three lovely young women! Three sisters on their way to start a new life, and who all find the lonesome cowboy ... quite interesting."

Just by reading this synopsis the premises sound interesting, but not enough to be engaging, in my opinion.

Anyway, here is a short explanation of the overall plot for better context :

In "Wanted: Lucky Luke," the famous cowboy finds himself on the wrong side of the law. After being framed for a crime he didn’t commit, Lucky Luke is declared an outlaw with a bounty on his head. The tables have turned, and now, instead of chasing criminals, he must evade capture by both lawmen and bounty hunters. Along his journey, he must clear his name, uncover the real culprits, and help a group of sisters he has encountered on his way.

I'm sure some of you may have recognized the artstyle as it was made by Matthieu Bonhomme; The same person who made the comic "The man who shot Lucky Luke", which is interesting in on itself, but I won't be talking much about it in this rant.

Regarding the art ? I enjoy it for the most part. It feels very fitting to the world of old western, but I understand the people who may not like it as it's not suited for Lucky Luke's stories that are usually more light hearted.

I personally don't really like the way Luke is drawn in Matthieu's art style. But I digress.

Moving on, here are some of my favourite panels from this comic that I'd like to comment about (please click on the pictures to better see if need be) :

For context, this was when the girls were being held hostage by the criminals, who then forced them to sing and dance. The girls were defenseless against these men. And as they were being harassed, I feared something explicitly bad would happen to them.

Thankfully, this big guy (Big Jack) stepped in and stopped the other men. I know he is a bad guy and the only reason why he protected them was because he was enjoying their performance, but still. It was nice to see.

Next set of my favourite panels :

Sadly, I couldn't put all the panels, but basically, this was when Lucky Luke was catching the criminals late into the night, after he managed to escape from them.

It was very entertaining and badass, the way he hunted them down, like a predator chasing its prey, when they were the ones chasing him earlier that day. Love the colours and art as well, making for an intimidating atmosphere. Very nice.

Now, here are a few sets of panels that I find hilarious:

This was when Lucky Luke was being teased over the wanted posters that were displaying him with a flower in his mouth. Need I say more? Just look at Luke's reaction !

It's especially funny when you consider the fact that the legendary cowboy used to smoke in the past, but now he just sucks on a piece of grass like a bum.

The duality of this man, going from formidable foe in front of his enemies to a lightweight when teased, is just too funny.

And finally, these panels :

This was when the comic hit its climax. Everyone was fighting over who could get Lucky Luke, including the outlaws, the Indians, the ladies, and the cavalry. Everyone wanted him !

And speaking of the outlaws, I was pleasantly surprised to see some of the iconic villains, from the original comics, make their apparitions to do Lucky Luke in.

But I was pretty disappointed that the Daltons weren't included amongst them. However, they were still mentioned by a character named Dick Dalton, a distant relative of the Daltons. Which I originally did not like, but his presence ended up making for quite a treat.

When the outlaws caught him, Dick felt strangely familiar to Lucky Luke, who unconsiously stared at him. But he didn't care much about engaging with Dick, even after the guy spilled out his story.

It was later revealed, near the end of the comic, that Dick was the one who put up a bunch of wanted posters of Lucky Luke, to make him suffer and hand him over to Joe (who is actually mentioned by name !) so Dick could be recognised as a Dalton.

Coming up with a plan like that, it's on brand with the Daltons. However, Luke is simply unimpressed and condescending to Dick. He calls him nothing but a pale imitation, clearly implying that Dick could never be at the same level as Joe Dalton.

Which i find funny as hell.

The next thing that i'd like to talk about is the sisters' interactions with Lucky Luke. More specifically, with Cherry (the blond one).

Because you see, in his journey of trying to hide from his enemies, Lucky Luke encounters and saves a group of 3 sisters (Angie, Cherry, and Bonnie), who need to reach the nearest town with their herd of cattles, all without being scalped by Indians.

Of course, Lucky Luke volunteers to help them. And obviously, the 3 sisters end up being interested in him and are aiming for his heart. Competing with one another.

They all attempted to flirt with him, naturally with no success.

So far, no suprise, until a tangible romance subplot seemingly formed between our hero and Cherry !

I initially kind of disliked that development. Especially how there seemed to be a reciprocated attraction on Lucky Luke's side.

Because it doesn't fit with his character, as in the comics and cartoons, he never shows any interest towards women or their advances.

However, as I kept reading, I realized it made for a compelling storyline, as well as a good introspection on our beloved hero. Explaining why he may be the way he is.

One of the many reasons why Lucky Luke is a lonesome cowboy who won't form long-lasting connections is because he has never received love in the past. So he doesn't know how to receive or give any back.

To me, this panel could be interpreted as him also wanting to learn how to love from Cherry, but he refuses to give in because of his convictions.

And since he has never known love, how could he know what it's like to be in love with someone?

So while she may harbor love towards him, he appreciates her in return, but it's more of a friendly admiration than romantic love. Because he could never reciprocate her kind of love.

In the end, he still ends up leaving, choosing independance over love.

But at least, now he knows that there are people who do love him.

All in all, I quite enjoyed this comic and I recommend any Lucky Luke enjoyers to read it as well.

P.S :

-I think the name of the comic is "Wanted: Lucky Luke," not only because he was being hunted down, but also because there are people who love him. Meaning he is quite literally wanted. Or maybe I'm just reading too much into it.

-The whole Dick situation shows how irrelevant he is to Luke compared to Joe. And if i'm not reaching, this also implies how much Joe wants Luke, to the point of being mentioned in a story about wanting Lucky Luke without even being present !

So fun ! So yeah this is all pretty neat.

[comicaurora]

So, you mentioned on the podcast that you were watching some classic-era Gundam.

For the season(s) you've watched, assuming you're not planning on suddenly taking the plunge and making a Universal Century Detail Diatribe, would you mind sharing your opinion so far? Universal Century can be a bit divisive, but I always enjoy seeing people's opinions on it. I have mixed feelings on some of the decisions made, myself, but in the grand scheme of things I enjoy what I've seen so far. (Especially Unicorn, but that's not really classic era.)

Also, I'd like to reccomend watching (or reading!) Gundam The Origin, since it acts as a really good, pretty, (and in the anime's case, short) prequel series to the original.

It's interesting! I've watched the compilation movies for 1 and 2 and most of 3, and I can't tell if they lost the plot after 1 or if the writers were being really, really scathing in a subtle way.

1 was incredibly blatant about how Amuro is a traumatized kid who got strongarmed into being the gundam pilot and using it to kill people, something that he clearly absolutely hates - and it's pretty overt that the Federation Force is more than willing to mulch up as many child soldiers as they want in order to win. The movies, and I assume the show they're compiled from, go out of their way to show that there are sympathetic young people on both sides of the conflict that just want to be free of this war, and there are also right bastards on both sides that are willing to be very callous with the lives of others. You can, of course, always identify who the compassionate people are by how pretty they are, and all the right bastards by how grotesque they are. It's pretty unsubtle about that being the core of the narrative, and they really twist the knife at certain points, like when Amuro's mother is horrified and ashamed at him self-defense-killing a Zeon soldier that was actively menacing her refugee camp, and Amuro concluding that she doesn't love him and he truly has no family to go back to.

By 2, things have gotten a little confusing, and I'm inclined to assume this is because the compilation movies had to make some cuts that would've made the character arcs flow a little more smoothly. Amuro decides to leave the whole war behind, which makes sense, but he takes the gundam, which doesn't. They introduce this thread that Amuro is extremely attached to the gundam and very proud of his ability to pilot it, and he has an actual breakdown when he learns that other members of the crew are now trained in its operation and can use it just fine, if not quite as skillfully as he can. It seems like there was a bit of a lurch from "Amuro has been unwillingly dragged into this nightmare and is forced to fight again and again despite his extremely obvious PTSD" to "Amuro refuses to let go of the giant robot that tethers him TO this nightmare," and while it's very interesting in the implications, it doesn't exactly flow cleanly. In fact, this is where there seems to be a bit of a shift from "war is bad" to "wow! cool robot." Amuro goes from PTSD-catatonia every time he destroys an enemy mobile suit to counting them during fight scenes, which is kind of a chilling indicator of the mechanized horror he's becoming accustomed to - assuming that was on purpose and not just a broad defanging of the story to do more Cool Robot Fights.

But the thing is, there's this subplot sometime around 2 or 3 involving a bunch of actual toddlers that have been hanging around on the ship - because it started as a refugee vessel escaping the destruction of a colony, so there's a lot of women (who are now conscripted pilots, of course, and shockingly badass for the era it came out in) and children onboard, and they've been stuck on the front lines running from Zeon with almost no ground support because the Federation likes throwing the gundam at things too much to care about a handful of six-year-olds potentially getting mulched. But throughout this little arc, the kids are finally on track to getting rehomed on Earth by the military - something that the kids are unhappy about because they've got a whole Found Family thing going, but Amuro approves of them leaving, saying "little kids shouldn't see people killing each other," which aligns very firmly with how he is a kid who hates all the killing he's stuck in.

Except then the happy ending is that the six-year-olds get to stay on the warship because they recently helped out with bomb disposal and "they've seen things you guys can't imagine, they don't want to leave!" And this is either really losing the plot or absolutely brilliant spiteful writing on the part of the creative team, because as I understand it, executive meddling was pushing them to include newer, flashier, more colorful giant robots (weapons of war and untold suffering that our teen hero has been trapped in by a mechanized war machine that has effectively enslaved him for his talents) to push toys to the exact age demographic of those chipper six-year-olds. It's almost like the teenage child soldiers are turning out to directly face the camera and saying "what's the difference between forcing us onto the front lines and letting these precocious youngsters keep flinging themselves into the crossfire? Gotta sell more gunplas, right?"

So if that was on purpose, I really liked it. If not, it's kinda hearbreaking to see the show gradually start pulling its punches in favor of turning the Oops All Babies warship into a heartwarming found family situation.

Also they started really banging the "newtypes are the plot now" drum in 3 and once everyone started getting psychic powers I kinda lost steam tbh

[pastelwitchling]

I have a question to pose to the queer community;

(Keep in mind, I'm straight, but I'm also a writer, and I like to think of myself as a good one. Feel free to disagree with anything I say, this is all only based on what I've seen and read.)

I've realized lately that there is a criminally short list of good sapphic stories, and not just in traditional publishing either. I will say that I DNFed Written in the Stars, and I've not seen the best reviews for Delilah Green Doesn't Care, and it just got me thinking that I don't know of any sapphic story that's been on the level of Red, White & Royal Blue or something.

I also read a review for Written in the Stars that said something along the lines of, "The only reason I didn't DNF this was because it was a sapphic story not about coming out, and I really need that." It kind of broke my heart a little bit, not going to lie. Now, I've had ideas for sapphic stories, one of which I'm currently working on, but it hit me that there really aren't many sapphic stories that are on the radar like RWRB or Heartstoppers. Now, I'm not saying there isn't a double standard for sapphic stories -- as I think writing interesting and likable women is trickier than writing interesting and likable men, because women have historically followed a "formula," in which we're written like:

One of the guys (not like other girls)

Manic pixie dream girl

Emotionless assassin (I love Throne of Glass, don't come for me, but you know what I mean), and now:

the adorkable quirky girl

and it's all we get now. Women are one of these four, and that's it. My favorite female characters in books are the unique ones, the ones I have not seen a million times. Writing unique women now, and I say this as a writer, is difficult because you have to be careful not to force these female characters into one of these boxes which we have so often been forced into. It's just the facts of storytelling; female characters take more work to make likable because, historically speaking, female characters are written more to pander to audiences and be blank slates than to be anything like real people that would exist in their world. In order to keep people happy, the female characters have to be totally inoffensive, and the only way to do that is follow whatever archetype is popular at the time. What happens then? All female characters end up coming out the exact same until readers get sick of it. We don't have to like it, but at some point we have to acknowledge it if we're to get more badass and unique female characters (like; Evangeline Fox from OUaBH, Kazi from Dance of Thieves, or Avery Kylie Grambs from The Inheritance Games). I think that's why it does get a little discouraging to read sapphic stories that are popular and find them so... lacking. And all because of the characters. This has been my own personal viewpoint.

So I guess my question is: have you guys also noticed the lack of good and exciting sapphic stories? Or, perhaps, the way people are more likely to settle for any sapphic story, even when it's poorly-done? Personally, I just have not found a single sapphic story so far that does not have: a) poor characters, b) a weak plot, or c) less effort put in than I've found in so many male love stories. And this is often by sapphic writers, and I just don't get it. I go into these books wanting to like them, but that's not a good enough reason for me to actually enjoy a book without any depth.

What are your thoughts on this? Do you also feel like sapphic couples get the short end of the stick? Why do you think that is?

[toshio]

Hey, love your blog 💗Random q: if you’re into tv shows what’s your top 3?

LOOOL omg okay this is vague question. because you could either mean like REAL hollywood production stuff or like anime. i'll give you both haha. EXTREMELY LONG list of my favorite american shows (reality TV included) and some of my all time favorite anime. read below if you're interested. it's a lot. buckle up.

well for actual TV shows (like american produced i guess) i really enjoyed American Horror Story, my favorite seasons were season 2 (asylum) it's about a spooky asylum with nuns possessed by satan/demons and a bunch of other messed up villains. Jessica Lange CARRIES this season with her incredible acting.

another actress who i LOVED in season 2 was Lily Rabe, she plays the possessed nun (her character is supposed to be an innocent nun but she gets corrupted) and she's super badass while she's under control by the devil LOL. like amazing acting, she's just pure femme fatale and is a perfect villain that you actually WANT to lowkey root for because she's so cunty. UGH. i remember getting my life from her. this entire season is carried by these two characters.

and you didn't specify if you wanted regular TV shows or reality TV shows, but i am a huge reality TV fan! i'm gay/bi so i absolutely LOVE watching rupaul's drag race LMAO. season 16 is the most recent one that just finished airing, i absolutely loved every minute of it, the show is just endlessly entertaining and showcases queer people in such a vibrant and fun life that would make straight people jealous HAHA. but it's a show for everyone obviously, as long as you enjoy drag queens and expressing yourself and stuff.

and another reality TV show that i enjoyed was "flavor of love" it's a reality TV competition show where a bunch of women from the 2000s were competing to win the love of "Flavor Flav" who's this rapper who's like 65 years old now. LOL. it sounds crazy but this show was HUGE back then, and the breakout star was a contestant named "New York" but her real name is Tiffany Pollard and i LIVE for this woman, lmao. she's so iconic and has the best quotes ever, she's regarded as a gay icon within the queer community. VH1 loved her so much that they made a bunch of other spin off shows featuring her in it, just look her up on youtube haha.

i wouldn't say these 3 shows above are my absolute favorites of ALL time but they're definitely up there! just can't think of anything else, and they're my recent hyper fixations.

and i'm not sure if you're an anime watcher/fan but my favorite anime of all time is probably an anime called Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. it's literally regarded as one of the best animes of all time, you should watch it if you haven't already. i got a tattoo of it because i want to remember it for the rest of my life LOL. IT'S SO GOOD. without spoiling it, it's like action/adventure/brotherhood with some philosophy thrown in it. i think people often belittle anime/2D animated stuff but this show is a masterpiece. 11/10.

second anime TV show i recommend is Death Note, it's another iconic anime you should watch. to summarize the plot, a death god (shinigami) gets bored one day and drops his "death note" (a book that allows you to kill ANYONE in the world if you write their name in the book) and a really smart student named Light Yagami (main character) picks it up after his class in school. and he decides to use it for his own good, trying to make the world a better place, but really smart detectives eventually figure out that something is happening, and he tries to stay incognito. if that doesn't sound interesting, then hell. i really enjoyed this one, it's a classic anime that you should see.

i'm gonna give you two more anime shows because my taste level is all over the place LOL but the third one i recommend is "Akame ga Kill!". it's about a guy who joins a group of assassins who he ORIGINALLY thinks are evil people who kill innocent people, but it turns out the capital city is secretly corrupt and it's all a facade, the assassins he joins are actually the good guys (at least in their eyes).

if you enjoy fast paced anime where lots of people die, action, fighting, cute anime girls, and there's even a buff gay guy in the show (YAY) then this show is for you. the main character is really badass too, her name is "Akame". now i will say a lot of people criticize this show but since you asked for my opinion, i think this show is a 9/10. it's not perfect but i enjoy the world, the animation, the characters, music, etc. this show just really made me happy. the dub and sub are good, if you hate reading subtitles. i watched both.

the last recommendation i have is Blood-C, i know it looks similar to Akame ga Kill but i promise you it's a different show LOL. it just has two black haired anime heroine characters who use a katana/sword to kill. and they're both bloody/action packed.

this show is EXTREMELY bloody, extremely violent and bloody, there's gore guts and action. if that isn't for you, do not watch it. i however, enjoy such morbid things, and since it's not real gore/violence, i can stomach it much better.

Blood-C (first episode air date was early July 2011) is about a sweet girl named Saya Kisaragi who goes to school as a normal girl. at night, she protects her village and friends from strange human eating monsters. i'm not going to spoil much else, but if that kind of stuff interests you, please watch this one! i really enjoyed it. again, people have criticisms about this show, but i fucking loved every minute of it. it's only about 12 episodes. i have a strange love for female protagonists in anime because they're so badass and i just love strong independent women in animated things, i've always had an affinity for it. i was always that nerdy kid in school who drew anime girls and stuff in class, LOL.

alright LAST anime recommendation i have for you if you enjoy my taste, is "Claymore". again, it's about female heroes with swords who slay creatures, you seeing the pattern here? LOL. i just like badass women who can fight. DON'T JUDGE ME OKAY?

one of my favorite anime shows, i watched it in early 2018 when i was taking college classes, so this anime holds a special place in my heart. it's about female swordsmen who slay human eating monsters with their giant swords. these terrifying monsters can disguise themselves as humans, and it gets worse than that. it's set in a dark fantasy medieval type of alternate universe. again, if you enjoy badass anime women, this show is for you! who doesn't enjoy that?

if you read absolutely everything, thank you. and let me know if you watched any of these. i'd love a follow up message from you. enjoy!

[mashounen1945]

A poll for Rouge the Bat fans (and Sonic fans in general)

I just wanna do a little... "thought experiment", if you will.

Feel free to vote and reblog this poll so it reaches more people, as well as going into more detail in case you chose Option 3.

[After the Read More, I've added some summarized arguments in favour of each of the first two options.]

I've seen people making some variation of the following arguments for both options (I apologize in advance if they feel rushed, I tried not to make this a massive wall of text):

Some who assign more blame to SEGA/ST pointed out Rouge's 3D model in Sonic Adventure 2 having The Physics™ and generally looking even more provocative than the official art made by Yūji Uekawa, which would prove that SEGA/ST were fully aware of what they were doing with/to the character and shouldn't be neither surprised nor offended by all the... interesting Rouge fanart because "they had it coming". Her treatment by SEGA/ST story-wise in other appearances of the character after SA2 is sometimes compared to Samus Aran's treatment by Yoshio Sakamoto around the time Metroid: Other M was released (and the way Nintendo at large treated her when she debuted in Super Smash Bros. Brawl and re-appeared in Smash 4).

Meanwhile, others are more inclined to hold fans responsible for this. They point out that people who would be "sexy" according to society's beauty standards/conventions should just be seen as normal instead of being so blatantly objectified, in the same way that people who don't conform to those same beauty standards and are therefore labelled "ugly" (or merely "average" or "uninteresting" or "not really noteworthy") should be treated as actual human beings; as for when other fans respond to this trend by trying to convince everyone else of de-sexualizing Rouge, that would actually be a knee-jerk reaction from people with rather puritanical morals. They also posit that SEGA/ST designing Rouge like that might actually be genius and something they did on purpose, because it "challenges" the audience's preconceived ideas, makes them think whether or not their reaction to Rouge's figure is actually okay, and encourages them to unlearn some toxic behaviour when interacting with women in real life. As for the comparisons with Samus Aran, they draw a different comparison between some Sonic fans' attempts at de-sexualizing Rouge and some extreme reactions to Metroid: Other M where fans would try to make Samus less feminine in an attempt to fix the damage done by Other M; they point out that Rouge is still badass, smart and competent at her job while being sexy, in the same way that Samus was always meant to be simultaneously sexy and badass ever since the Metroid series started back in 1986, and people (both those being horny for Rouge and those trying to stop others from being horny for Rouge) should learn that –as someone else has succinctly put it– "Being attractive does not devalue as a person".

[laufire]

june reading meme!

BOOKS

The Ruby in the Smoke by Philip Pullman. The book was fine, but no His Dark Materials. And Sally is far from being half as interesting as Lyra. I had all but decided on not continuing the series, even if on paper I'm definitely down for some more girl detective stories in my life... but my edition included a few pages from the next installment. And those intrigued me lmao. I won't be picking it up any time soon, but I'll probably give it a try.

The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux. The best part of this novel, by far, were Chapoulet's illustrations. I find the concept of the story very, very appealing, but after so long anticipating reading it, I was so let down by the execution. I found the prose unremarkable and the drama underwhelming. And I fucking hate Raoul and his Madonna-Whore complex lmao. However, I liked enough of it (if most, sadly not what was in focus) that I'm still intrigued about watching the musical properly (as opposed to listening to a few songs).

Small Gods by Terry Pratchett. As good as every other Discworld novel, but there are two things that means it's never going to be among by favourites. One, I remain so, so uninterested in religion itself -as in, a philosophy, as in religious beliefs- that really nothing in it "hits" the way the themes in other novels do. And two... it needed women. It SO needed women smh.

Unholy with Eyes Like Wolves by Morgan Dante. This novella is quite a quick read, written by an indie author. It's a gothic story centered on a dishonored widow serving as handmaiden to Lady Erzsébet Báthory. It's a poly sapphic horror romance loosely inspired by Carmilla (Mircalla is the third part of the poly romance, but Noémie/Báthory was the strongest dynamic). The religious themes (specifically related to the subjugation of women) worked a lot better here, in my opinion, maybe because they felt more grounded, and they provided some of my favourite conversations in the book. The novel definitely scratched that itch I'll always have about monstrous sapphic dynamics, and I'm thankful for the recommendation ^-^

COMICS

Barda by Ngozi Ukazu. Very enjoyable! I know very little about this side of DC Comics, so I don't know how this YA one-shot fares in that sense, but it succeeded in making me want to read more about Big Barda and Mister Miracle (big badass hardcore woman/dainty trickstery soft man romances, come to me <3).

Gotham Central: "Dead Robin" (#33-36). I talked about this story arc here. It's given me brand new issues. I love it. I need to read the rest of the run.

Superman for All Seasons. It lives up to the hype as a Superman staple comic. Each issue is narrated by a different character: Jonathan, Lois, Luthor, and Lana, with beautiful illustrations and a great depiction of Clark that, were to be used now, I firmly believe it'd garner far less appreciation than it did then.

Chris Kent's appearances. I went through all of his appearances in new earth (and also the few on Earth-16; do not recommend, they do NOT get him lmao. Why the hell would he judge someone for their parentage...). He's now officially one of the characters whose erasure consist in one of the biggest fuckups of the reboot lmao. He was a great addition to the Superman lore, far better than Jon (in many ways a cheap copy that obeys to the new conventionality trends) could hope to be. *sighs*

The Legend of Wonder Woman (2016). Overall a pretty neat entry to Wonder Woman lore for modern audiences, which is what it clearly aimed to be. I'm sure if I was more well-read on WW I'd have issues with it, but overall I enjoyed it. Though I think it should've been gayer (I think Hippolyta/Philippus was made canon in the mainline after this run 👀).

[etherealspacejelly]

i feel like infodumping so here is my opinion of every new who companion!!

Rose Tyler

shes the og, shes That Girl, she is the moment! (lol, get it?) Rose was one of the best companions fr. her love story with the doctor is so beautiful and so tragic and honestly, he Needed her. ninerose >>> tenrose i said what i said. 9/10

Jack Harkness

very fun character! they kinda ruined him in torchwood a little bit. some of the earliest explicit queer rep in mainstream media i ever saw, if not the first! i loved his dynamic with rose and nine. 8/10

Mickey Smith

my sweet boy, my babygirl. he deserved so much better fr. dont get me wrong, i love Rose, but the way she treated Mickey was so mean. also the doctor hated his ass for no reason other than he was competition for Rose's affection. plastic Mickey was iconic. 8/10

Martha Jones

ICON!!! QUEEN!!!! i Love Martha soooo much. she was the only companion to Get Out and i love that for her, she deserved it. she slayed fr. however i do kinda hate that most of her character was simping for ten like. girl. stand up. 9/10

Donna Noble

Oh My God, incredible. cant wait to get her back!!!! the adipose scene through the windows???? hilarious, i can quote every word!!! she gave the doctor a run for his money and i love that for her. she was exactly what he needed after Rose and Martha, just A Mate. 10/10

Amy Pond

my favourite companion!!! eleven was My Doctor tho so thats probably why. every episode of season 5 is a banger. i love that she and Rory and River became a family to the doctor. love her. little Amelia is so cute and grown up Amy is a total badass. fish custard/10 10/10

Rory Williams

my beloved <3 hes so boyfriend fr. raised my standards as a kid. he waited 2000 years for her ;-; 10/10

River Song

hello sweetie :)

i love that her story was told backwards, very interesting narrative choice! knowing that she was always doomed to the library was so tragic. learning all of her secrets over each series was very fun and satisfying!! 10/10

Clara Oswald

hmm. not one of my favourite companions. she's ok i guess? the impossible girl thing was kinda cool but i dont really like her as a character. 5/10

Bill Potts

YESSSS! i love lesbiabs. lessbiens. women. her ending was super sad tho :(

she was cool and fun and gay 9/10

Yasmin Khan

hrm. boring. didnt have much of a personality, not really her fault the writing was just so shit. she had potential!! thasmin 4 lyfe! 4/10

Ryan Sinclair

yea. no. dont like how they made his dyspraxia a fun quirky thing that he just. magically got over somehow??? its a literal disability. my brother has it. it could have been so interesting to see how that manifested over the course of his travels with the doctor but its almost like they just. forgot about it?? also he was boring as hell. 2/10

Graham O'Brien

i literally didnt even remember his surname, i had to look it up. he was just kinda. there. a little more interesting than Ryan i guess?? but. still. 2/10

Concluding remarks

looking forward to Donna coming back and meeting the new companions!!! i hope the writing is better in this season :/ chibbers was Not It. anyway. thanks for reading my silly little ramble!! special interest go brrrr

[flares-of-arcadia]

Some messy thoughts on RE7 (with mentions of 8)

just beat RE7. I wish I had paid more attention when it first came out and I watched my brother go through it, because holy shit I fucking loved it

Under a read-more for length

After playing through 7 on my own, it's hard to believe that I didn't really get into the fandom until Village. Or, well, it does track that I saw scary women in 8 and started paying attention... I am nothing if not predictable

And honestly, a big part of why Village sunk it's claws into me is because it's flawed, or at the very least felt like it had a lot of missed potential. All of the antagonists were so interesting, and I felt like they didn't get as much attention as the Bakers did (there are so many things to look at, storytelling in the environment, AND we learned more about them in the DLC). Wanting to fill in those gaps for the 4 Lords and Miranda is what made me so invested in the fandom

(also because I'm really gay)

If you're familiar with my main blog, you might know that my biggest gripe with Village is that we don't get anything between Mia and Miranda. Having now played through 7 (and read literally every file), I feel even more strongly about what was missing. Or, at the very least, what I wanted from it.

Annnnd that's just in terms of story, gameplay is a whole other thing, but I'd want to replay 8 before getting too much into it.

But back to just talking about 7 for a tiny bit longer, as chaotic as my thoughts are:

Loved the soundtrack. Also hated it because, as a horror soundtrack goes, it was Very Effective. Didn't appreciate one of the tracks having some monster noises, tho. That was already a tense section and I hated getting false alarms about whether or not there was a Molded around the corner. And!!! Honestly the version of Go Tell Aunt Rhody didn't need to slap as hard as it does. I'd listen to that shit in my free time

Ethan is an interesting protagonist? I love him, don't get me wrong, but there are a couple kind of quirks that make it hard to interpret him. Most of the time he feels like a silent protagonist, but in cutscenes he's very vocal. It gets weird once the cutscene ends with something dramatic and he immediately shuts up.

Like, after we first reunite with Mia, we reach a dead end, Ethan goes to check another room, and while our back is turned we hear Mia scream. Ethan yells her name, we rush back to the room she was in, and then Ethan just doesn't say anything else. Doesn't call out to her, doesn't say anything about the new pathway, nothing. There are more examples but this was supposed to be quick

I love Mia. She's a badass, she's a liar with temporary amnesia, and she's a Fucking Badass. Seriously wish we had a chance to play as her again in Village. I do kinda wish we got more glimpses into her relationship with Ethan, but hey that's what fanfiction is for

I feel so bad for Eveline. I get that she was beyond the point of saving, but fucking hell, you read the files and you look at the photos (and you think about what we know from 8 about Miranda's role) and she's suddenly very understandable. It's tragic, everything that happened to her, even if she went on to inflict tragedies on others.

Okay I have more thoughts but my thumbs are tired from gaming + immediately typing on my phone. Love y'all byeeeeee

[my-mt-heart]

I completely agree with this quote. I also think it’s worth noting that most of the debates are centered around whether or not Carol’s age makes her a suitable love interest for Daryl, and AMC are the ones constantly fueling them. After establishing Caryl as one of the most impactful relationships on the show in the early seasons, they stopped being vocal about them as a potential ship as time went on and the characters got older. Whether they were trying to follow the traditional formula of the will-they-won’t-they by playing up the mystery or they were accommodating personal hangups (🤨), the discrimination still managed to show itself to viewers.

They can’t resist teasing relationships between Daryl and younger women with any hair color other than gray, but seem hellbent on reducing the only relationship that’s actually earned the big love story to subtext. They’re leaning into the idea that it’s more acceptable for older men to be with younger women rather than women their own age, and because of that, they encourage some viewers to spread ageist rhetoric on the internet, then encourage them some more by remaining silent when Melissa, not just Carol, bears the brunt of the attacks.

If they really want to show viewers that they stand up for Carol (and Melissa by extension), tweeting about what a badass she is won’t cut it. Not only does a romantic relationship with Daryl fulfill Carol’s arc, letting her find what she couldn’t in her old life, it lets us celebrate middle-aged characters getting together and exploring their lives together. So just like the original Caryl spinoff presumably planned to do, S2 of the reinvented Caryl spinoff should ideally give us that payoff plus verbal support from AMC, EPs, and the cast.

In the meantime, I highly recommend reading the rest of this article. We need more voices out there praising Melissa for bringing her own value to the character and not letting her arc get weighed down by a number❤️