#It was supposed to be like...anti body shaming??

[superchat]

I think ive posted it before but remember that #DontJudgeChallenge from like 2015 or whatever

That shit was so awful

[aly-cat-universe]

As a active duty member of the United States Navy I feel it is my duty to make it clear that I do not in anyway shape or form support the current genocide being undertaken in Palestine. It is terrible and awful and has no possible excuse.

Aaron Bushnell, active duty US Air force, age 25, self-immolated in front of the DC Israeli embassy on Sunday, February 25th as a act of extreme political protest against the genocide. In his words "My name is Aaron Bushnell, I am an active-duty member of the United States Air Force and I will no longer be complicit in genocide. I am about to engage in an extreme act of protest, but compared to what people have been experiencing in Palestine at the hands of their colonizers, it’s not extreme at all. This is what our ruling class has decided will be normal.”

Do not make the mistake of belittling this act. News articles today are flashing suicide hotlines or trying to shame him for wearing his military uniform because you aren't supposed to protest in uniform. The headlines do not mention it was an act of protest despite him making that very very clear.

I guess they could court martial his ashes if they wanted for protesting in uniform since he passed in the hospital this morning, however the uniform was part of the point. Maybe you aren't supposed to "engage in partisan activities" in uniform but having to act in support of a cause you are profoundly ethically against isn't exactly nonpartisan either.

Self immolation is a time honored historical act of extreme protest with a very high cost used for anti war and anti genocide. It has been used for centuries. Most people have likely seen the photo of the monk Which Quang Duc's self immolation during the Vietnam war. Aaron Bushnell isn't even the first person to do so in protest of the genocide in Palestine. An unidentified woman self immolated in Atlanta not long ago, though there was significantly less news coverage.

The genocide in Palestine has killed 30000 people so far and displaced 80% of their population.

Self immolation is shocking and horrifying but that is the point. Take care if you watch the video it is upsetting and disturbing- but it is supposed to be. That is the point. Bringing home the shock and horror of a fiery death as so many experience when their cities are bombed. It does not take long for a human body to burn. And every single one of these deaths, both Aaron's and every single one in Palestine was preventable.

He has been described as "extremely principled" and very kind. Rest in Power Aaron.

[princess-glassred]

Alright hot take incoming:

Beverly Marsh in it 2017 is a terribly written female character and i'm tired of pretending like she's not.

As a woman, I love Bev in fics, I love 90's bev, I love fannon Bev, and this is no discredit to Sophia Lillis as an actor, or even 2017 Bev's personality, but it 2017 Bev is a perfect example of a character being fine but everything else about her being incredibly anti feminist (in my opinion).

First of all there's all the slut shaming, now don't get me wrong, i'd get it if this was just greta and henry and her dad. They're antagonists and it makes sense for the time period, BUT Bev is not jusy slut shamed by the antagonists, she's indirectly kind of slut shamed by the narritive. When Richie first meets her he tells rumors about her sleeping around, especially with Henry Bowers and he faces almost little to no pushback. Yeah eddie tells him to shut up, and Bill says "they're just rumors" but it really shouldn't matter if they're just rumors or not. The movie seems to think that the slut shaming is bad because she isn't sleeping with anyone, when slut shaming should be bad just because its a fuckin mean thing to do. Even if she did date Henry, who the fuck cares? It's literally her life, obviously she doesn't like him now. Also the way Richie words it as "Bill had her in the third grade" is 🤢.

In the bathroom scene they take time out of cleaning just so she can clarify to Bill that he's the only one she's ever kissed so I guess Bill can feel like a real special man. Even though she doesn't owe Bill really anything, let alone reassurance that she's only kissed him once. I'd absolutely understand if this was Bev reacting to her CSA, assuming she needs to make them men around her feel special by having a low body count, but the movie portays this scene as really sweet and romantic so i doubt it's the case.

The movie sexualizes Bev so much, and again, i'd understand if this was supposed to be commentary about her CSA but a lot of it is genuinely meant to further the plot or played off for laughs. Almost every single scene she has is about her sexual history or which guy she ends up with. Even Ben, who's entire thing is he's hopelessly in love with Bev gets more of a personality than just that. She's called a slut by greta keene, flirts with ben outside, """flirts""" with Mr. Keene to steal his shit, leaves the pharmacy to get oggled by Bill in slowmo, gets slut shamed by richie, gets oggled at the quarry, ect.

The movie also tries to act like she's a much stronger female than she really is, it reminds me a lot of in the 90's when they'd have those tough bad ass women who could sword fight and stuff but they'd always inevitably be kidnapped because of gener roles. I do admit that the scene of her jamming the fence post through pennhwise is cool, and so is the scene where she hits her dad, but her badassness is incredibly underminded in a lot of ways. First of all when they're asked who wants to go in she's the only one to raise her hand but she STILL doesn't go inside. Why? What possible reason could the narrative give as to why she stayed outside? To comfort Stan??? God forbid a girl helps save the boys unless it's in the smallest way possible. And then she gets kidnapped and essentially used as a plot device just for the boys to get back together. We can't just have them work things out and apologize and show up for each other because they're friends, they all need a woman to go rescue.

Having Beverly say "I am not afraid of you" is just lip service when you still have her be a damsel in distress, which she is officially rendered right after pennywise puts her in the deadlights. And now we come to the worst part of this whole thing, which is the deadlights kiss. Now, i'm some one who will defend snow white and sleeping beauty with my life, because i know how fairytale curses work and with sleeping beauty phillip is out right told that's what he has to do. This is not what happens in the movie. Ben and Bill see Bev dangling there, and after like half a second of trying to snap her out of it decide kissing her is the only way to get her out of this. Ben even sees Bill do it and fail but instead of trying literally anything else he thinks "i love her more, maybe it'll work with me!".

Guys I do not give a shit about how much Bill and Ben care about Bev, if anything that just makes kissing her while she's out of it worse. You may try to justify this by saying it really was the only way for them to do it, but that still doesn't change the fact YOU wrote it that way. YOU decided the only way to save bev was to kiss her without consent. Which you actively contradict with richie getting caught in the dead lights and snapped out it in it chapter 2. Stephen King didn't even write that shit, say what you will about the child orgy, but at least Bev was awake for it. She consented about as much as a girl her age could given that she's only 11. That's way more problematic than this but at least it was her idea, at least she conciously decided this was worth doing. All you've done is take a creepy sexual act that was at the very least consenual and displayed some sexual agency in the character, with a creepy non sexual non consenual act that took away agency. How girlboss is it that her first kisses with her love interests weren't even while she could could consent? She is kissed three times, once during a play and twice while she's unconcious, neither of which are her idea. I'm not saying a woman always has to instigate things romantically, but if you spend your whole movie talking about how she's a slut, maybe you should give her some free reign over her love life.

This is why I love 90's Bev so much, she's just a little fiesty tomboy who saves the boys asses with a sling shot and an epic blow to the head. She doesn't get damseled in distressed (the only time she gets saved are when Ben defends her during the rock fight), the boys aren't overly horny over her, the only people who really treat her like her gender defines her are her father, Tom, and Henry she's just great. And that came out in the 90's! I don't think the 90's miniseries is necessarily better than the 2017 movies, but I think their treatment of Bev is just inherently more feminist given that they don't constantly try to define her by her body counts. Yes she loves ben, but she has more to her than that. Even if you bring up things like body count to try and say she isn't a slut who's obsessed with boys, it's still not feminist because you're still constantly equating her value to who she's with. The only proper way to adress slut shaming is by acknowledging it's none of the characters business what she does and that if you do it at all you suck. But IT 2017 doesn't do that, because Bev's sexual maturity is explored only through the eyes of men, and that includes the narrative.

Her promiscuity is explained through Richie when she's not even there (who i will give the benefit of the doubt here and say was being mysoginsitic to try and compensate for his queerness, but even then, using a woman's sex life as a tool to make yourself feel better is awful no matter your reason), she only consents to anything until the very end, and this movie tries to act like it's not doing any of it by giving her a few measily crumbs of strength outside of being the guys girlfriend. I never felt like IT 2017 was one of the guys, because the movie would never let her be that. Fuck.

If you are a woman, or even just AFAB and disagree with this you are free to, I do not speak for every woman in the world and if you feel differently I will not try to change that. I can only speak my truth though, and my truth is that it 2017 Bev pisses me off.

[gatheringbones]

[“In addition to the gender imbalance of societal perceptions of anger, dads partnered to women also need to consider that because they are not usually the primary parent, the cultural expectations for them are drastically lower than they are for mothers.

Motherhood is touted as the top of the mountain for women, “the best job in the world.” With that kind of pressure to not only become mothers, but to love it and do it right (or at least perform the role of happy, perfect mom to continue the scam of Motherhood), raging at our families feels like the ultimate taboo. It is the opposite of what we were taught mothers are supposed to be like. Raging is not gentle, not kind, not nurturing, not affectionate, and not supportive. In essence, raging is anti-Mother. But raging is not anti-father. In Western culture, fathers get to be anything they want. They can be kind or domineering (or both!) because fathers aren’t wholly defined by their fatherhood. It is not considered their highest calling. Fatherhood is a side gig. Dads are not in the midst of the greatest identity battle of their lives, disoriented and flailing as they become new selves. Fathers get to stay who they are when they have kids, whereas moms are just Mother.

So, if raging is anti-Mother, and Mother is all we are, then all we are is bad.

Under the patriarchal institution of motherhood, all the visible and invisible labor mothers do (picking the kids up from school, meal planning, researching summer camps, scheduling the dad’s next colonoscopy) is in service to the interests of men. Each one is a tiny gift of freedom the mother grants the father. Because she has done the labor, he doesn’t have to. While fathers may have their own laundry lists of personal gripes, their entire lives have not been usurped to serve the interests of women. If dads could take in these nuances, and understand that mom rage is an experience rooted in misogyny and the disempowering gender dynamics of patriarchy, they would see that mom rage is much more complicated than moms getting “too mad.” And, hopefully, this understanding can expand dads’ compassion for the mothers they love, minimizing the distance between them. A father who gets it might even reach for the mother’s spinning body, pull her from the shame spiral, and rock her gently, his body a safe mother place.”]

minna dubin, from mom rage: the everyday crisis of modern motherhood, 2023

[honey-crypt]

Hear me out Elliott and Farmer getting spicy in a library where yk you’re supposed to stay quiet because it’s a library 😍😍😍😍😍

And he’s just telling you to stfu while he’s roaming his hands all over your body 😍😍😍😍😍😍 (I need to be hit by a train I’m so down bad for Elliott it’s not even funny)

a/n: finally out of my anti-horny writing mode so this is kinda short but... enjoy :3

word count: 681

warnings: exhibitionism, groping, dom!elliott, sub!farmer, elliott living up to the vampire headcanons, gunther is a cockblock

summary: an unprompted romp with elliott in the library has you in a lust-driven tailspin.

★ no talking in the library - elliott x farmer ★

You merely were reaching for a book on the top shelf. That was it, just a book on gemstone properties! Sure, you may have forgotten that you were wearing a cropped shirt, and sure, your chest had been somewhat exposed while you were struggling to grab the book, but you were at the library. Surely, no one in their right mind would indulge such a temptation in the library of all places. 

Yet, here you were, in a forgotten corner of the library, with your boyfriend’s hands under your shirt. Elliott’s hot breath tickled your neck, as his calloused hands eagerly roamed about your torso, “Darling��” he purred, “You should be more careful,” he groped your chest and enticed a small moan from your lips, “You’re lucky I caught you in time before anyone else saw you in such a scandalous state.”

You were too stubborn to use the step stool, you were oh so sure that you could nab that silly book by standing on your tippy toes. However, one wrong move sent you falling backwards, landing on your ass and nearly taking the whole bookshelf down with you. By the interference of fate, Elliott had been the one to discover you, after being alerted by a thud and a familiar “shit!” that followed while he was pursuing the non-fiction section. When he tried to help you up, a series of bumps and poor hand placements soon lead to the current situation at hand.

You squirmed under Elliott’s grasp, it was a surprise that he could overpower you so easily. After all, you spent most days doing manual labor while he remained at his writing desk, perhaps you wanted him to play- no, toy with you. Your legs wobbled like jelly, as your boyfriend had his way with your body, your bottom lip quivering while you let out a harmony of whimpers and moans. 

Suddenly, a hand clasped your mouth, tight enough to suppress any noise you could make. Elliott leaned in close, his front pressed hard up against your back and his growing boner nestled perfectly between your ass cheeks, “Now, now, little one,” his tone was hypnotic as a siren’s song, “You know the most important rule that libraries enforce,” the writer’s lips barely grazed your neck, “Silence,” his canines abruptly sunk into your skin and pierced the supple flesh. Your cries of pain-fueled pleasure were muffled by Elliott’s iron clasp around your mouth, your mind on the fritz from being dominated in such a public space. 

The sound of approaching footsteps interrupted any further motions from you and Elliott, the redhead quickly releasing his hold on you and brushing himself up to avoid suspicion. The one responsible for the interruption, Gunther, poked his head around the corner and smiled at the two of you, “Oh, good afternoon, Elliott, (Y/N). Are you two doing alright?”

“Oh, yes,” answered Elliott, returning the smile with a carefree one of his own, “I was helping (Y/N) tidy up after they took a small tumble, trying to reach a book,” the librarian eyed you and let out a small sigh, “(Y/N), you know there’s no shame in using the step stool, even I have to use it on occasion.”

“Y- Yeah, thank you,” you replied, face flushed. Gunther looked down at his wrist watch and announced to the two of you, “I do have to close up shop soon, so please vacate the library within the next thirty minutes or so.”

“We shall,” the redhead responded, snaking his hand around your waist and pulling you close as to conceal his boner. Gunther gave a thumbs up and bid you farewell; once he was positive that Gunther was out of sight and hearing range, Elliott flipped positions and pinned you against the bookshelf, the spines of the books pushing lightly into your back, “It seems that we have to continue this unplanned rendezvous at my cabin, don’t you think so?”

“I think so,” was all you could muster up, too taken back by the thrill of risque intimacy.

“Good answer.”

[katsona-the-katsequel]

ALRIGHT, BREAK'S OVER. TIME FOR...

P3 Q&A (Part 1)

The epic world of Persona 3 is filled with mysteries that only lead to more mysteries. The familiar P3 characters will answer any questions you may have!

Shuji Ikutsuki (from now on "🤓") and...!

Aigis (from now on "🤖").

🤓: So, here we have me, the leading expert on shadow research and Chairman of Gekkoukan High and...

🤖: I am an anti-shadow suppression weapon, and we will answer all your questions. However, Ikutsuki-san...

🤓: Hmm? What is it, Aigis?

🤖: I believed you fell from the observatory and died.

🤓: Don't be rude, Aigis. This me is a commentator character for the Q&A, not the me in the main story. So anything can happen if I comes back to life, and my personality is a little different. I hope you don't worry too much about that.

🤖: Ah, our personalities are different... so, please stop making puns.

🤓: (Says a pun)

🤖: Ah.

🤓: Ah, Aigis...she wasn't the type of girl to click her tongue like that...

🤖: Ah, enough with the nonsense, let's get started. Otherwise, this 5-barreled Medusa will start breathing fire.

🤓: Hmm, if a bullet like that hits you, it's terrible, so it can't be helped, just kidding.

Well, let's ask a question!

Q: So, what is Nyx's true identity?

🤓: To explain, we must first tell a story. In the distant past, there was a gigantic, celestial-sized lifeform that was floating dormant in space. This lifeform, also known as the "star eater," one day crashed into Earth, where life had just begun to emerge. The probability of this happening must have been one in hundreds of millions, or even trillions. This was the first contact between life on Earth and Nyx.

🤖: Was Nyx born in space? How is it possible that the Earth would not have collapsed in that state?

🤓: The matter that makes up Nyx exists under different laws from the physical laws of Earth. However, the impact of the collision was still intense. The shock caused the pieces of the broken Earth to become the Moon, and Nyx's vibrational spirit resided on Earth, while her physical body resided on the Moon. The problem was with the spirit. The vibrations emitted by Nyx's spirit were enough to negate all life on Earth and nullify it. Naturally, the creatures on Earth, who instinctively desire life even though they were primitive, resisted the vibrations of death. As a result, the creatures on Earth evolved explosively and acquired weapons to fight against Nyx. This was the shared information domain of all life on Earth, commonly known in psychological terms as the "collective unconscious."

🤖: But... why would it be a weapon? Was it defeated by some kind of supernatural power?

🤓: No, no. Life on Earth had sealed the spirit of Nyx within its collective unconscious. The driving force behind this suppression is the power of "repression'' that comes from the fear of not wanting to die or being afraid of dying. There's no irony in the fact that life on Earth has evolved to the point where it has a complex mental structure thanks to Nyx, who is supposed to be the embodiment of death. People may have subconsciously known the truth based on the fact that Nyx in Greek mythology is depicted as a goddess, and in a sense, she is the mother of life.

🤖: It is very profound.

🤓: Come to think of it, it's also thanks to Nyx that I can make cool puns...

🤖: I will never forgive Nyx.

🤓: That's terrible, Aigis... But that aside, as long as living beings, especially humans with strong and complex mental structures, fear death, Nyx was meant to remain subconsciously sealed away. In the main story, it was a shame...oh, just when she was close to being revived to a dangerous point, she was resealed by the power of the Universe that the leader had obtained. Truly, it's a shame.

🤖: He's a man who never learns his lesson, even in death. By the way, what happened to Nyx's body?

🤓: After it merged with the moon, its body, which was damaged in the collision, continued to automatically repair itself. By the time of the main story, the repairs were probably almost complete. However, since it was just an empty shell, it was simply waiting idly until its mind was released from the seal. During the battle with the Nyx Avatar, she was called down to Earth. After she was resealed, she became a quiet moon again.

Q: What exactly was the end of the world that Nyx brought about?

🤖: What was it?

🤓: As I said before, Nyx's spirit, which had been sealed in the subconscious, will be released from its restraints and become free. Furthermore, it will re-fuse with its body, which has become the moon, and regain its true form. This will be the destruction and end of the Earth. In fact, this destruction has come close to happening many times in the history of Earth.

🤖: Is that so?

🤓: For example, when a major war breaks out or an epidemic spreads, apocalyptic thoughts begin to take root among people. People start to hate living. When this happens, the power that holds back Nyx, in other words the fear of death, weakens, and Nyx's release, or the end of the world, approaches. The "prophecies" that I mentioned in the main story are books that describe the end of various eras, and using them as a hint, I found a way to free Nyx. Amazing, right?

🤖: It's amazing, but it's no good.

🤓: (Sob, sob)

🤖: But... how did people in the past, when there was no SEES, stop the apocalypse?

🤓: Yes, that's a good question. In the first place, even if 100 or 1000 people wished for the end, it would only weaken the seal slightly. There are so many humans, after all. It's unlikely that all of them would want to die at once. Moreover, humans unconsciously created a conceptual entity to oppose Nyx, and used it to strengthen their own minds.

🤖: It's difficult.

🤓: To put it simply, that's what we call mythology. It usually depicts a good god defeating an evil god and preventing the destruction of the world, right? The existence of this god stabilized the repressed subconscious and played a part in strengthening the seal on Nyx. However, this has become less effective in modern times with the development of science and technology, and conversely, some people are turning to apocalyptic ideology due to religion. Especially in a society with advanced information technology, a movement towards the end of the world that should only be a local phenomenon, but which is only happening in a small area, can spread across the entire world in an instant. The end of the world in the main story was triggered by Kirijo's experiment, but even without that, the end may have come in the near future. Yes, the end is coming this weekend.

The end is...

🤖: …The Kiss of Athena in my right hand is breathing fire, see?

🤓: Uruuru, how cold. Shall I call Nyx again?

Q: What are shadows?

🤓: It's the road that cars drive on.

🤖: It is a roadway. (Bam!)

🤓: …That hurts, Aigis. Umm, in all seriousness, shadows are part of Nyx.

🤖: Are you sure you're not one of Nyx's minions or a child?

🤓: On the previous page, I explained that Nyx is hidden deep within the collective unconscious of all living things. This means that Nyx is located deep within the minds of all living things, even below the unconscious.

🤖: That's what happens.

🤓: So, imagine if a creature, say Iori, says, "I got a zero on the exam, I don't have the will to live anymore," and unconsciously stops resisting Nyx. What happens?

🤖: I'm sure Nyx will emerge from within Junpei's heart.

🤓: That's right. To be precise, a part of Nyx escapes from the subconscious. That part of Nyx's mind is actually a shadow.

🤖: For a member of Nyx, it's pretty pathetic, isn't it?

🤓: It's just a very small part of it. Other than having some special abilities and the fact that they are basically spiritual beings and normal attacks have no effect on them, they don't have all that much power. However, for the creatures that contain it, the existence of shadows is extremely important.

🤖: What do you mean?

🤓: First of all, because we are destined to carry shadows, fragments of Nyx, deep in our psyches, all life on Earth today has a "lifespan."

🤖: Normally, living things are thought to have a lifespan... aren't they?

🤓: That is common knowledge on the Earth today. The primordial life forms that existed on the ancient Earth. For example, something like an amoeba can multiply by repeating cell division, and will not die unless it is eaten by another organism. I explained earlier that Nyx promoted explosive evolution, but I guess lifespan is the compensation for that. Another important point is that the Shadow that is incorporated into the mind of a living being becomes an important part of its mental structure. The loss of this creature would be equivalent to losing a living being, especially a human being with an advanced mental structure, one's own spirit.

🤖: Ah, perhaps...?

🤓: Yes, the reason why Apathy Syndrome victims are also known as the Lost, is because they become like empty shells due to having lost the fragment of Nyx, or the Shadow, that was contained within their psyches.

🤖: I see.

Q. What exactly does it mean to be "devoured" by a shadow?

🤓: You can probably figure this out by now. In fact, shadows don't eat humans. Humans create shadows, and as a result, the empty shells of the Lost are created. However, as a phenomenon, humans are drawn into the Dark Hour → a Shadow is observed clinging to the person → the victim becomes apathetic. When you see this, it just seems like the Shadow is eating their mind. In the previous chapter, Yamagishi's best friend Natsuki hears something called the "shadow's call," but that is also the voice of the Shadow in her own mind. Those who forget the death that lurks within them and live vaguely will enter the Dark Hour as the Shadow in their mind desires and become an empty shell... it's scary. However, in her case, her experience in the Dark Hour made her prepared to fight death again, and so she was able to avoid becoming Lost, which is a special case. Although very rare, people like this do exist. Wow, humans are... wonderful!

🤖: ...Oh, is that done yet? Let's move on to the next question.

🤓: I'm going to take it back to the lab and disassemble it. Seriously... (tears)

Q. What is a shadow's purpose?

🤖: I can understand this too. They are aiming to revive Nyx. But, according to Ikutsuki's explanation, shadows are also Nyx itself, right?

🤓: That's right. To be precise, their first goal is to return to their original Nyx. As they become small new fragments of power, they first try to combine with other fragments, that is, other shadows. Each time a certain number of shadows combine with them, they gradually regain their original power as Nyx.

🤖: The large, powerful Shadows that appear during the full moon were, by the way, artificially gathered shadows and created in Kirijo's experiments.

🤓: That's right. Even if you don't force them together, if the world becomes filled with anxiety and thoughts of the end of the world spread, it will take some time, but a large Shadow will be born, and then it will gather together and Nyx will be resurrected. That's why they exist.

🤖: And it is in order to defeat these shadows that we exist. Ahem.

🤓: That's what's annoying to shadows. I said earlier that shadows don't eat humans, but there are exceptions, and they attack Persona Users. They have intelligence, and they know that Persona Users will prevent Nyx from being resurrected. Another exception is when a person who gets lost in the Dark Hour is attacked. This is because the person is trying to forcibly combine with the Shadow that is suppressed deep within that person's mind.

🤖: That's quite clever.

🤓: Right? When you think about it like that, don't shadows start to look cute?

🤖: Ikutsuki's eyes are blind.

Q. What do the different Shadow Arcana mean?

🤖: The Shadow Arcana classification refers to the Tarot cards from number 0, The Fool, to number 12, The Hanged Man.

🤓: I'm sure you all learned in class that the Tarot represents human growth, right? The Shadow Classification is similar, it represents the Shadow's mental tendencies.

🤖: The higher the number, the stronger it is, or something like that?

🤓: Hmm, maybe it's a little different? The higher the number, the more mature and advanced it is, but each one is an important aspect that makes up Nyx. When all the Shadows with tendencies from 0 to 12 combine, they transform into the 13th Arcana, Death. This Death Arcana is special, and as its nickname, the Herald of Doom, indicates that Nyx is ready to be resurrected.

🤖: You're talking about Ryoji-san. It's a bit of a shame that we've lost such a great person.

Did you call for me? (Ryoji Mochizuki, from now on "💀").

🤖: Megido Fire!

💀: Ouch, ouch, so hot! Heavy weapons don't suit a cute girl.

🤖: Just die quietly.

💀: Well, well, let me explain from here. The special thing about Death is that I share the will and powers with the spirit of Nyx. I am the incarnation of Nyx, that is, the Nyx Avatar. Now I am the Grim Reaper. I will summon a body that has been assimilated with the moon and become one with it, and then I will become a "star eater" that will cause destruction on a planetary scale, sadly. However, my friend used a trick called the Universe and I was once again sunk to the bottom of the collective unconscious. He is really impressive.

🤖: Are you happy that you managed to avoid destruction?

💀: Well, I guess I'll say nothing about that. See you later.

🤖: Ah, he's gone... He's a surprisingly nice guy. By the way, Ikutsuki-san, what happened?

🤓: (Sob sob sob sob sob) The best part has been explained...

Q. Tartarus, Dark Hour, potential, transmogrification, it's so difficult I don't understand it! Please tell me all about it!

🤓: That's a pretty rude question. It tells you something about the intelligence of the person asking it...

(Junpei Iori, from now on "🧢"): Sorry, I'm stupid! You're always making puns, so how could you possibly be so bold as to say something about other people's heads?

🤓: H-how cruel, Junpei-kun... You don't have to deny me one of the few sources of entertainment in a world where I'm always tormented by emptiness...

🤖: That's right. Junpei is terrible.

🤓: Ah, Aigis~ (tears of joy)

🤖: My most important thing is to give a harsh remark to Ikutsuki-san. It's cruel to take someone else's turn.

🤓: Is that the point?!

🧢: Well, that's fine. Just tell me the details.

🤓: Well, let's get back to the point. (Cough) Some of the items I mentioned in the previous question are closely related to certain abilities of shadows. I'll explain them all together now.

🧢: Certain abilities?

🤓: That's right. It's an ability that can only be used when a certain number of shadows combine. It's the ability to interfere with space-time. As I've already explained, the shadows want to gather together and take back Nyx's power. However, unlike normal living beings, shadows are spiritual beings and cannot act normally in normal space. So they wanted a place where only they could move freely, and they used their space-time ability to create law in the gaps in normal time.

🧢: Is that the Dark Hour?

🤓: That's it! The Dark Hour created in this way is a special space-time that is not interfered with by normal space. Conversely, the shadows cannot interfere with things in normal space. So, this is an explanation of transmogrification, and it is thought to be a visualization of the phenomenon where people who are in a place outside of the Dark Hour are not interfered with at all. The hard metal-like appearance is a symbol of the fact that they cannot be harmed by shadows.

🧢: Hmm, it's difficult after all. So, what is different about people like us who can enter the Dark Hour?

🤓: I'm talking about potential. People with potential simply suppress the Shadow deep in their hearts and basically turn a blind eye to it. Of course, you don't want to be constantly thinking about death.

But there are some people who can face death head-on and yet not be obsessed with it. And among these people, there are some who are able to control the Shadow within themselves, even if unconsciously, and acquire that ability.

🤖: In other words, someone who has gained the power to interfere with space-time, just like shadows, has the potential, right?

🧢: So what about Tartarus? That's the one I don't understand the most.

🤓: Well, that's like an antenna, if you like. Tartarus is the landmark that Nyx's spirit uses to call her body on the moon. So all the shadows that escape from humans in the city gather at Tartarus and try to regain their power as spirits by repeatedly combining with them. As their power increases, Tartarus gets higher and higher, and eventually the body (the moon) descends to reach it, and when it has grown large enough, it merges with the spirit.

Q. Why are only some machines, like Mitsuru's bike and Aigis, able to move during the Dark Hour when time has stopped?

🤓: A certain mysterious substance plays a major role in this, a substance that does not actually exist on Earth: Plumes of Dusk.

🤖: That's the continue item when playing on easy mode, right?

🤓: That's right. In fact, that plume is a thin layer of Nyx's body that was peeled off after it was assimilated with the moon and fell to Earth. In other words, it is a part of Nyx's body. It is called the Plumes of Dusk because it looks like a bird's feather. It has an intermediate property between matter and information, and although it is a part of Nyx, the incarnation of death, it has a vibration closer to that of life. At the same time, it has the ability to interfere with space-time, just like shadows. Therefore, machines that have these Plumes of Dusk built into their core can operate even in the Dark Hour. Kirijo's bike and the Evokers that everyone uses all have these Plumes of Dusk built into them.

🤖: Then, maybe...

🤓: Of course, the Plumes of Dusk are also incorporated into the core of Aigis. In particular, the one inside Aigis is two feathers that have joined together to form an X shape like a butterfly, and is the largest of its kind, called a Papillon Heart. This also allows Aigis to have the same spirit as a human, and is also a source of power. However, it is inside a black box, and the detailed principles behind it have not been made clear.

🤖: It's kind of complicated.

🤓: To face a strong enemy, you need to be cunning enough to even use the enemy's powers.

Q. What was the purpose of the experiment that the Kirijo Group conducted 10 years ago? Tell us about Strega!

🤓: To begin with, the reason why the Kirijo Group started researching shadows was because Kouetsu Kirijo happened to get his hands on a Plume of Dusk, which I explained earlier.

🤖: Was that the case?

🤓: At first, he probably wanted to unravel the mysterious power of the plumes and use it for some purpose. However, as his research progressed, Kouetsu Kirijo became aware of Nyx's existence. This is also mentioned in the main story's scenario. Eventually, he became possessed by the idea of ​​the end of the world and carried out the work to bring Nyx down. That was the experiment that was carried out 10 years ago. To be specific, the destruction that would have required a large number of people to be possessed by the end of the world was supposed to be realized by artificially gathering shadows, forcibly combining them, and creating Death.

🤖: I resolved that issue in an undesirable way, by sealing Death within him.

🤓: Right. That's where I came in, even though I was just a low-level employee. By proactively taking on the task of cleaning up the failed experiments, I was able to raise my status within Kirijo and eventually become able to speak on an equal footing with Takeharu Kirijo. At the same time, I also worked hard to establish SEES in order to search for the lost Death, and even became the squad's Chairman. And then, finally, I found the man who would later become our leader.

🤖: It's absolutely awful. So how did the Strega members come about?

🤓: Oh well, let's just pretend that never happened.

Takaya (from now on "🤡"): It won't be enough to just pretend that it never happened.

Jin (from now on "💣"): Seriously! If you say something stupid, your molars will chatter!

🤓: Oh man, you guys...

🤡: Let me explain for you. In the research on shadows, the existence of Personas that could counter shadows had already been confirmed. However, it seems that the conditions for obtaining such powers were not fully understood. So Ikutsuki gathered children and repeatedly conducted inhumane experiments, trying to create artificial Persona Users. Of the dozens of samples, only a few, including us, survived...

🤖: Why did they bother to use children?

💣: I guess it's because the first Persona User Kirijo saw was that girl called Mitsuru. Anyway, we were failures who couldn't live without relying on medicine. Well, there are people like Aragaki who are unstable even when awakened naturally.

🤡: Anyway, we gave up on Kirijo and escaped with a large amount of the suppressants. The remaining test subjects that didn't escape were all lost during the first expedition to Tartarus. And so, all evidence of the plan to artificially create Persona Users was destroyed and sealed away. But I don't hold any grudges against them. Thanks to them, we were able to get closer to destruction.

🤖: It's truly tragic. As an apology, Ikutsuki-san will be taking care of you.

🤓: That's not true, Aigis...

● Next ->

[hungee-boy]

Feel free to ignore if you’re uncomfortable with or just don’t want to answer but how would you change isebela to not be caricature without changing the whole character? Would it be more fashion changes or physical or something else?

Kinda like: how would you change her if you were her character writer/designer for the new game?

isabela at her core i think is a very compelling character and is relatable to a lot of romani experiences, especially with her doing whatever she has to to survive

i would definitely keep her stealing as castillion's responsibility, him making her steal the tome of koslun under threat of death for example would be fine because if he wasnt in the picture, chances are she wouldnt have stolen it in the first place

other forms of thievery besides just like looting bodies and picking chests (as those are gameplay mechanics for all characters) shouldnt be for her enjoyment or greed, only for her survival or just not done at all

her staying a pirate is fine imo and i like the idea of her being an ethical pirate (like her freeing the slaves castillion had her transport) but we all need to look at how pirates are depicted in fantasy and how much of that is anti-roma racism and caricatures

her being so sexualized and her comments on "life back home" are where i have the biggest issues honestly

like romani women have always been targets of fetishization and sexual violence, as well as many women being sterilized without consent to prevent more romani children being brought into the world

getting some damn clothes on her would be a great start, like some pants at the very least. i would like to incorporate more romani clothing in her design tho like maybe a traditional blouse instead of her usual top

maybe a romanced isabela can have her replace her blue dikhlo with red, since wearing a dikhlo is usually reserved for married women of certain vitsas (most common with eastern european roma if im not mistaken) or giving her a red hipcloth (again specific to certain vitsas)

romani dress is usually modest and loose fitting, with women commonly wearing long skirts and blouses with jewelry and adornments to symbolize her wealth and status and im not saying isabela should be covered head to toe, shes an open person and not every romani woman should be expected to dress one way over another, its just her look is way too impractical for the sake of being sexy and again romani women are very often sexualized regardless of what they wear

isabela's attitude towards sex and being open to intimacy is not an issue on its own, what is the issue is how the writers make fucking jokes of her sexuality at every chance they get (like the std joke in anders' clinic, aveline's slut shaming, etc. etc. etc.....) and this is just my personal opinion but there are times that she comes on too strong to like hawke or carver or fenris that seems unrealistic and just like an attempt for the writers to further hone in on how horny shes supposed to make you feel

like yes have her be open and not ashamed of being intimate but put more love and respect on it. i love an isabela that is repressed in her own feelings and the only way she knows how to have meaningful connections is through sex cus thats what was expected of her. like oh my god do you know how many people relate to that, if its done right it could be a very compelling arch to her character and maybe something she learns isnt concrete the more platonic/romantic meaningful time she has with everyone in da2 and beyond

as for her comments about rivain and the people there, like the phrase "even deny a fortune teller and theyll run you out of town" to merrill, just makes rivainis out to be greedy and shameless swindlers and that projection is obviously also put on romani people since that is a VERY common stereotype

like the phrase "getting gypped" literally means to be cheated and comes from the word gypsy. theres no denying the intention the writers had when they wrote that line for isabela

and honestly i love the idea of rivain (i say the idea cus we only hear accounts of the nation, we havent seen it in person yet) i love the idea of a matriarchal society that is religious and spiritual but does not tolerate the chantry's bigotry and openly accepts society's outcast such as mages and qunari

romani culture irl is patriarchal and often anybody who is not romani is typically not trusted, but if rivain was treated as an idealistic fantasy romanistan, where our values and traditions are implemented and we make a better world for ourselves and other outcasts then it could be very compelling

thats the thing with representation, sometimes it doesnt have to reflect reality 100%, but it still requires knowledge so that you can make new ideas based on the facts and reasoning of the group youre representing

[anarchocuntboogaloo]

The reblogs are turned off, but fuck this anti-women, porn-brained bullshit.

That is not how vaginas work. You are not ruined for using your body as its intended purpose. Those muscles are made to accommodate babies. They heal and return to normal. And like all the muscles of your body, they AGE and change. You know what doesn't heal properly? Cutting your goddamn abdomen open.

The virgin-tight bullshit is made to shame women and mothers. Your vagina is supposed to relax and accommodate your partner. Being anxious or unprepared is what the tightness is, and society wants you to think you're broken or wrong for working correctly. For what? Fucking aesthetics? To conform to some porn-brained youth-obsessed idea of femininity? Shut the fuck up.

The idea of "preserving" your vagina from the natural intended function of childbirth is one of the most woman/mother hating, retarded takes to see from women in 2024. Get your shit together.

[lol-jackles]

do you really believe that jared is a better actor than jensen?

specially in the l few seasons?

his name is the first on the call sheet” you guys go around with this like it’s his saving grace , jennifer aniston’s name was the first but if it weren’t for characters like Monica and Chandler no one would have watched that show .

I don’t have anything against jared , but his fans are so bitter and they can’t praise him without belittling jensen,his acting, his looks, his wife, or even his a*s

body shaming him won’t make jared better.

I’m sorry you had a rough time with jensen’s bitter stans , but boy oh boy try seeing jared bitter stans talk about jensen (without engaging) with them , you could physically taste their hate

Jared is a character actor. People like to say character actors are "better actors" than personality actors, however there is a reason why character actors are usually not leads in movies or tv shows because most people actually prefer personality actors, which Jensen is good at. Jared is a character actor trapped in a leading man role.

Jared's first on the call sheet isn't a saving grace, it's facts, and it gets brought up more by Ackles Army than Jared fans. Why? Butthurts, Anon, all butthurts. You got to read this treasure. In the early days of SPN, AAs tried to downplayed first billings ....

AAs 2005: “The only reason why this Jared guy has first billing is because the ‘a’ in Jared comes before the ‘e’ in Jensen.”   

AAs 2007: "Jared only got first billings because he was better known thanks to Gilmore Girls."

AAs 2008: "Jensen is the real star, this credit order business only happened because of their agents, and Jensen's agent was asleep at the wheel."

AAs 2009: "Billing order is of no importance, both Jensen and Jared have top billings."

AAs 2011 through 2017: “Jared has top billings only because the ‘a’ in Jared comes before the ‘e’ in Jensen.”

Newbie fans: "But doesn't Ackles comes before Padalecki in the alphabet?"

AAs: "Shut up Jared stans! Why do you hate Dean so much?!"

AAs 2021: "Dean was originally supposed to die by the end of the 1st season, that's the only reason why Jared's name was first".

The bitter AAs hate that the first billing t hing because it was evidence of Jared’s success at an earlier age than Jensen’s.   The only reason why Jared’s fans bring up his first billing because they know how much it needles and aggravates the AAs who just won't let it go and keep bringing it up, if not more than the Jared girls do.

Jared fans stay in their lane when they're on a bash bender and don’t actively tag actors and their fans their hate. AAs (and Destiel hellers) aggressively and relentlessly tag Jared and his fans their hate. See the difference? AAs, minions, and hellers would go into Jared’s SM to send threats of violence and even death. Jared fans don't return the favor and stay out of actors' SM. Sure they’ll take screenshots to laugh about it in their own TL or blogs and tag it “anti”, but again they’re not sending their hate directly to Jensen. See the difference?

I've never body shamed Jensen what the hell are you talking about?

Whenever Anons tell me that Jared fans are just as bad as AAs and hellers, I always ask for receipts. I'm still waiting for them to pony up the receipts years later. Anon, you could be the first! I'll be right here waiting for your receipts of Jared fans sending public threats of violence and death to Jensen on twitter, intagram, and tick tock. You know your mission, now go!

[justheretoposttrash]

day 11 of endhawks returns: electric boogaloo:

from hawks being a groomed spy who, if not well-versed in murder, is at least well-prepared for it, to endeavor's abusiveness and creation of quirk babies, these characters could have had straightforward downfalls to serve showing the dark side to hero society. hell knows that a bajillion super hero stories have supposed "good guys" in the public eye who actually uphold corrupt systems or have self-serving agendas, and these types of characters often serve as anti-examples---people not meant to be identified with and for whom the audience is usually meant to feel some schadenfreude when they fail. of course, mha doesn't do this, instead telling the story of what it takes for someone who made a wrong decision at one turn, or even someone who's been on the wrong path for nearly all of their life, to walk it all the way back. a different story might have dwelled on "bad heroes", or "phony" heroes---and mha skims this idea, but mostly turns it around in the cases of hawks and endeavor. it implies that, perhaps ironically, these characters' efforts to address the harms they've inflicted---to undo the most unheroic aspects about them---constitute the most heroic act they could take on.

"but how does hawks address killing twice?" unfortunately mha is equal parts an unwieldy story as it is an intentional one, and for every heart-on-its-sleeve piece of closure it gives, there's a loose end that it doesn't tie up outright. a lot of this allows for ambiguity and invites fans to speculate and fill in the gaps, and i'm under the impression that is intentional, though it leaves some things to be desired. long story short, hawks's thought process on killing jin is a whole roller coaster of a mess (too lazy to summarize so here's the evidence:)

week-to-week time crunch pressure, the way that being a mangaka erodes the mind and body, genuine lapses of judgment, etc. aside (again, all doylist factors), in-universe i enjoy the exercise of connecting the scattered dots of what's already there in canon (and inevitably, all roads lead to endhawks), so let's get into it! when enji urges himself to go back to his origin, he confronts the weakness and the monster within, but also his *why*---why he did what he did, why he's going to do what he's going to do. when hawks confronts his origin, he also confronts his why:

there's a throughline in this scene (besides the obviously stated one) between killing jin and standing by endeavor despite the truth of what kind of man he was. hawks wanted to save twice, but utterly failed---in fact, did the opposite of what that little kid holding the endeavor plushie would have chosen to do. his regret and remarks of how jin was a good guy are not narratively enough imo, and that this doesn't get much further development is uncharacteristic and a bit of a shame---but i would argue that, in the very least, his decision to double down on hero work, helping izuku, and standing by endeavor are actually indirect ways of addressing twice's death. endeavor is the one who made hawks want to save people, and staying by his side is almost a reclamation of that fact. he doomed jin rather than saved him, but at least he can save others. (flavor-wise, it understandably might feel sour to some fans that hawks's thought process here doesn't dwell on the villains he spent time amongst, particularly the fact that the LOV were the friends at the core of twice's heart and are what drove him to act. i also 100% agree with those hoping hawks would have saved toga to bring the twice/saving people/redemption thing full circle, and i do think that would have created the far better story.) there isn't nearly as much as a lot of us would like to work with in-story, but at the same time, the stuff that is there is still nuanced and fun to analyze (and gay, as usual, somehow).

circling it back to fallen heroes (geez, remember when that was the topic of this post? neither do i, apparently!), a ton of other superhero stories also tend to have the morally gray "bad hero" character clash with the pure-hearted protagonist, usually to be persuaded back to the side of good or to be soundly defeated. this is what happens in-story between nagant and deku, for instance. but interestingly, while hawks and endeavor do interact with deku significantly, they don't gain their motivation from him. instead, they largely seem to turn to each other, though a lot of that is left unstated/up to interpretation. and though the support they receive from the other most important figures in their lives--tokoyami and the todofam--are what end up defining the very end of the war, they are far less comfortable getting help from people who aren't each other. being the maladaptive loners they are, both hawks and endeavor have to be pursued into receiving this support, and try to push these other people away (not without good reason, to be fair), even giving similar reactions of dismay (and receiving similar reprimands):

(they never have this issue with each other, though. for some reason. 🤔)

so in short, in a story that redefines herodom over and over again through every character---such as following your passions á la hatsume, or finding your confidence like yaoyorozu---it also redefines herodom through the very characters who have, at one time or another, failed to achieve it. and said characters, turning to each other implicitly or explicitly, help each other find what it means to be a hero again.

[jerzwriter]

Body Positivity:

TW: body shaming, fatphobia, skinnyphobia, eating disorders, and the like.

I'm so fucking angry and triggered right now, and I need to vent. I was at what was supposed to be a fun family event, and because I didn't want to completely blow up, I stepped outside. But I am SO PISSED that I need to get this out. While trauma dumping on a toxic website is probably not the best idea, I literally have to vent, or I'm going to explode, and I REALLY HOPE someone will read this and learn something.

I think the body positivity movement has been great—and I wish we had something like it when I was growing up because, trust, it was non-existent. But, like many things, it's great on the surface, but a certain segment has morphed it into something that is as destructive and hateful as the behaviors/actions that led to the need for such a movement.

Some background, so you understand my perspective. I've struggled with my weight my whole life. I've been everything from a size 6 to a size 22. I'm very tall, and when I was at my thinnest (mostly because I was starving myself), people came up to me constantly to tell me how amazing I looked. I'm talking friends, family, co-workers, people at the club, and strangers on the street. I was literally dangerously underweight. My family doctor, who had treated me most of my life, was begging me to get help.

I wound up getting help for what turned out to be an eating disorder and moved past that as much as I could. Since that time, my weight has fluctuated from average, to "a few extra pounds", to very overweight. While I am usually OK with myself and try to be positive about my body, it can be hard. I don't like the way I look right now, and I’m ashamed to say that because I don’t feel that way about others. Beauty is not a number or a size, and I know that, but I am my own harshest critic. It doesn’t help to have the voices of many people, people who were supposed to love me, in my head constantly at these times.

“Do you think you should wear that?”

“Oh, that dress is so becoming on you!” (Meaning: it hides some of your fat!)

Or my favorite, coming home in an outfit that I felt so good about that I thought I looked adorable in, just to have my mother (and later my husband) say something like:

"Perhaps you should retire that until you lose some weight." or "You actually went out in that?"

(PS - I am divorced and barely speak to my mother)... I'm doing so much better, but I know I'll never be 100% comfortable, and, as with most things, the voices seep in when I'm at my lowest. So I GET IT. I get it big time.

But - on to today.

We have a wedding taking place later this week, so the family has descended like the buzzing locusts they are. The ten women in the bridal party, of all shapes and sizes, are at my house for a get-together, and they began complaining about how ugly the dresses are. (They really aren't the nicest dresses.)

The eight anti-dressers were commiserating when one, we'll call her Obnoixous Bridesmaid (OB), loudly announced that another bridesmaid had to shut up and leave the conversation because she's thin (we'll call her Thin Bridesmaid—TB), and therefore has no business being there. I should point out that TB's contribution to the conversation was the dresses were cheaply made and "is so damn shiny" and, for the record, OB is not thin but not overweight.

So another bridesmaid, who is extremely close with TB, jumped in to defend OB, going on and on about how much she "hates" TB for complaining when "everything" looks good on her. TB looked like she was going to burst into tears but stayed silent. It morphed into four grown-ass women bullying TB, so I stepped in and told them all to shut the fuck up. Minutes later, TB left the room, and I found her in the bathroom in tears, saying she wanted to go home and skip the rest of the events - up to and including the wedding.

I went back to the room where the 4 were still mocking TB, and I told them I was appalled by their behavior and they could shut the fuck up and apologize, or they could leave my house. I was told I should understand because I'm a "big girl," too, and therefore should be on "their" side.

Are we fucking kidding me here?

I should point out that 3 of the 4 asshole bridesmaids are well aware that TB has dealt with a serious eating disorder that stems from being body shamed by grown-ass men in her family when she was a mere child. She's dealt with outright abuse and trauma, and they know how bad it's been. She doesn't walk around mocking other's bodies or bragging about how "good" she looks; in fact, she struggles to feel positive about her looks at all.

Body positivity should be about everyone loving their body, no matter its shape and size, and never subjecting ANYONE else to shame because of theirs. When the fuck did it became "fat chicks have to stick together and fuck them skinny bitches."

I'm so on fire I had to step away before I ended up on the evening news. On a micro-level, I'm disgusted with these people, and this has put a total damper on the wedding events this week.

But on a macro level, I have seen this time and time again. Yeah, our society is fucking horrible when it comes to how it treats fat people, especially fat women, and that should change. But it's as fucking wrong to be skinnyphobic as it is to be fatphobic. Perhaps, ESPECIALLY AS FUCKING WOMEN, we should be uplifting and supportive of one another. PERIOD. Don't we see that the obsession to be thin and eating disorders stem from the same fucking toxic place that shames fat people? That's where it is BORN.

I'm so sick of seeing this trend in everything. Every movement I'm involved with is dealing with this... YES, be proud of YOU, ESPECIALLY if you're in a marginalized or maligned group. YES! DO IT! I've got your back in every way! But don't fucking turn it into an us vs. them... even with people you supposedly love! Don't become the fucking monster you profess to hate.

Is asking for human decency really too much? I'm literally shaking.

We really, really have to do better than this.

[finniestoncrane]

Donations

Dano!Riddler, word count: 560 trade: the whole point is that he's against the corrupt elite who waste their money, so why on earth would someone think to tip him like this... 🐀💚 request info • prompt list • send me a request • kofi • masterlist minors DNI!! 🔞 cw: sex toys, threats

Sitting as comfortably as he could on his chair, Eddie spoke into the voice modulator, covering up the trembling as best as he could as he tried to return to his lecture. The masses were waiting. They needed to hear him.

He watched the comments tick by on the side of the screen, his information pinned to the top, where he studied it again. The varying levels of strength for the Lovense toy detailed for anyone who was willing. A strange offer, but a couple of people were already taking advantage of it.

$20 for 10 seconds at low strength. $40 for 15 seconds at medium strength and $75 for 15 seconds at high strength. Out of curiosity, and to try and be humorous more than anything else, there was also the option to send $1’000 for 30 seconds at your choice of speed and strength his way, something that would really help fund his research into what his next target might be. Though that had been something of an ambitious concept in his mind.

Or at least he had hoped it was, or would have remained that way. Because the torment and arousal building within him was far too much for him to cope with. Not to mention how much it infuriated him.

“So you have this kind of money to AH… ah ha… ha… waste, and you’re will-ING GOD to spend it on thi-i-i-isss…? Shameful!”

He’d tried to dissuade them, issuing a sharp insult their way when the first $1k had been donated. He’d though it was a joke. A comment on his anti-capitalist and anti-wealth statements. But the money had kept coming, and with it came the powerful sensations that pulsed through his body, the low rumbling in his abdomen, the sweat forming on his brow below his mask.

“D-do you even – heh – know what I’m doing he-ERE? Or are you just ge-e-etting off to this?”

Nothing in the chat, at least nothing to suggest the reasons behind why he now had almost $15k sitting in his pot. Plus $20 dollars extra, he noted, as another alert pinged up.

“See! That’s normal support. That’s… hng… that’s how you… ah… do it… no one with money like you should… should… should…”

He was biting his lips, his cock twitching aggressively, leg muscles tensing as he strained against the inevitable orgasm that was building up within him. He had to stop this, as soon as possible, lest he look like the pathetic whore, the play thing of the wealthy in yet another arena.

His fingers moved quickly, frantically, typing and clicking as he traced the location of his ‘anonymous’ donor. In stunned silence, he gritted his teeth, eyebrows furrowing as he palmed at his cock, trying desperately to press down his erection. The slick spot of precum that seeped through his pants felt cold against his palm, but he let it lay there, too angry at the revelation to bother himself with the discomfort.

“Your beach house!? You have a beach house!?”

The chat went quiet, but one message came through.

Several, actually. I’m at my fourth. And I suppose you have figured out where that is now?

Into the microphone, he spat his retort.

“Of course I do. And when I get my hands on you, you’ll be the first of the money-grabbing scum who are wiped out.”

Perfect. It’s a date.

[hirsuteandcute]

It is so so hard and sad to have a conversation with people who wont or can’t confront their anti–female body hair bias/socialisation esp re cleanliness. I feel like I might actually scream if I have to hear “but it just FEELS cleaner/I just FEEL dirty with body hair” one more time. I know we’re not supposed to police people’s decisions especially regarding their body but tbh statements like that shame women who DO have body hair whether they’re intended to or not.

You’re admitting you believe there is an inherent dirtiness to WOMEN’S body hair specifically. Even if you believe you’re talking about your own feelings, these assumptions don’t exist in a bubble. And quite frankly its so bizarre to me how many women will saying this whilst sleeping with their boyfriend who may or may not wipe themselves after they urinate, wash their hands regularly, have flakes of shit in their butt crack hair etc. Men sweat more too, so shouldn’t it be even more vital that they shave their body hair to “feel clean”?? But no, its just assumed their hair is the norm, in fact people find it weird when men shave.

I truly believe it’s because a lot of people believe women’s bodies have an inherent dirtiness, and have a severe lack of understanding of how women’s bodies (including their own) actually work and so have a lot of shame towards their body. This girl was saying to me how she just feels ‘cleaner’ with no pubic hair and I didn’t want to argue with her or anything, I was just trying to understand what the logic is and in my head I’m thinking - i know why. You think its gross because its hair on a vulva and therefore must be gross because vulvas are gross because women’s bodies and their functions are gross (obviously this isn’t what I actually believe, but I believe a lot of people are encouraged to feel this way).

I said to her, is the hair on your head gross then? Because it gets exposed to more pollution, dirt, germs, etc, so wouldn’t it “feel cleaner” to shave it? And she was like “nooo i could never!!” In fact women are encouraged to grow it as long as possible and even shamed for cutting it short let alone shaving it! I shower every day including washing my body and pubic hair, but I only wash my hair three times a week and most women I know do the same. So what is the logic there? There is none because this thought pattern is so stupid. How is my freshly washed body hair and soft skin any dirtier than shaved skin with ingrown hairs, whiteheads, and shaving cuts?

Anyway, there is no real point here, just to say that when you look at the structure of so many of the beauty standards enforced on women they really are so dumb and misogynistic. I honestly pity women who feel this way but it’s agonising as a hairy woman to constantly feel like you have to defend your hygiene, especially to people who seem to make up hygiene standards on the spot lol.

[thebluestbluewords]

anti-Valentine’s Valentine’s date

I tried SO HARD to write the adorable Jal prompt that I received for Jalentines day, and instead of cute all my brain wanted to write was angst. Set in approximately D2, it’s a 3k lead-in to a longer Jal fic that I’m probably not going to finish writing.

*

Mal kicks the door of the boy's dorm open with the heel of the stupid, impractical strappy sandals she's been wearing since before dinner. 

Or at least, that's what she tries to do. Instead, because her life is a curse and the very existence of high heels is a prison, the delicate silver heel of the shoe that Evie spent hours sourcing for her snaps off. 

Great. Perfect. This is just how she wanted the night to go. 

Mal pounds on the door with her fist instead. "Open up! I brought misery and disdain for the institution of love!" 

A thump. "And chocolate?" 

"No, I didn't steal any chocolate at all from my date with the king of Auradon," Mal says, as sarcastically as she can manage with one shoe on and the other broken to pieces in her hands. "Just let me in already." 

The door pops open. "You're late." Carlos informs her. "Evie already went back to your room." 

Wonderful. 

"I don't care," Mal informs him right back, and shoves her purse, which is tiny and lilac and stuffed to the brim with all the chocolate she could fit, into his hands. "I need this princess shit off my body yesterday. I am not cut out for valentine's day, that's what I've learned, and also Ben's going to dump me and I don't care."

"Woah. Uh. Maybe you should care--" 

Mal spins around to glare at him, and Carlos immediately throws his hands up. "I MEAN, your judgement is impeccable and we all hate Ben now!" 

Ugh. 

"I don't hate him," Mal snaps, yanking her earrings out and throwing them sort of in the direction of somebody's dresser. There's still enough empty space on the top for her to recognize it as a dresser, so signs point to it belonging to Carlos. "I hate love. And valentine's day. And dating."

"You said you hated froot loops yesterday." Carlos points out. "Because I took the last of them. So like, I'm gonna take this with a spoonful of salt here. Did your date not go well?" 

Mal rips the pins out of her hair with so much force that one of them flies into the mirror. It doesn’t shatter, which is a fucking shame. She would have liked to make an awful mess. "I hate love, and I'm going to die alone surrounded by the bones of my enemies. No, it did not "go well,”” She stops ripping out pins long enough to add air quotes, which are essential to the dramatic effect of it all. "He asked if I love him back, and I told him, again, that I don't know how to love people, and he made this horrible face and was so kind about the whole thing, and just-- ugh!" 

Carlos is hovering. "I’m…sorry?" 

"I'm sorry we ever came here." Mal spits, yanking her other shoe off and throwing it somewhere in the direction of Jay's shoe pile. "I don't-- I can't be a princess. I hate that I just-- I don't know how to do anything, and I hate when people look at me like I'm supposed to know what I'm doing, and there were all these cameras, and--augh!" 

"Jay's in the shower," Carlos offers. "If you want to bother him about it." 

"I want to hit something," Mal admits. It's not a perfect solution, but she's already feeling a little bit less like her skin is on too tight now that she's got her hair loose and wild around her shoulders and her earrings and stupid, uncomfortable, impractical shoes off. "I think-- d'you want to spar with us?" 

"Can't. Homework." Carlos gestures to the textbooks he's got spread out on the neater one of the boys’ beds. "I've got a test tomorrow and if I fail I'll have to retake the class." 

Mal leans over so she can see the textbooks. It looks like history, maybe. Something with a lot of dense text and no visible math problems. "I can't imagine you failing any test, furball." she says, meaning it. How well they thrived on the isle of the lost isn't a perfect gauge for how well they're doing in Auradon, but school is school no matter where they are, and Mal can't remember her little nerd ever failing a test.

 Carlos goes even tenser at her attempt at reassurance. "First time for everything." 

"Still, you failing?" Mal scoffs. "We're in Auradon, not Wonderland. Not everything is upside down and inside out and topsy-turvy. Or whatever Allie’s sayings are.. You'll be fine." 

"I'll be better if I study. Sorry. No sparring for me tonight." 

Ugh. Mal rips another pin out of her hair and throws it towards the mirror with the others. "Suit yourself. I'm going to go bother Jay into letting me beat the shit out of him."

Carlos flashes her a little half smile. "Have fun."

“Oh, I will,” Mal assures him, and spins around to go invade the sanctity of the boy’s showers. 

The short, barefoot walk down the hallway to the boy's bathrooms gives Mal critical time to think about her plan of attack. She's wicked and awful, naturally, but she's also not especially interested in getting shouted at by a teacher for being out of bed and in the boy's showers tonight. She's had enough of being shouted at by adults who think they know better than her. She's not some Auradon girl to be controlled, so she's simply not going to get caught. 

Which means she's going back to the boys room. 

At least she'll remember to grab some different shoes this time. 

"Fuck off, Mal," Carlos calls through the door when she knocks a second time. "You can't steal my shoes." 

"I can steal whatever I want, actually," Mal corrects him, opening the door and barging in, as is her right as their fearless leader. She is Mal of the Isle, and she's not a prize to be won or a princess to be wooed. She's going to steal whatever shoes she likes. "Jay's shoes don't fit me right." 

Carlos throws a pen at her. "Neither do mine, you're just delusional about the size of your own feet. At least take my sneakers if you're going sparring. I hate when we have to dig out the poison kit after hours." 

Mal sticks her tongue out at him. Her shoes are all perfect, and she's also perfectly aware of the size of her feet, which are currently half a shoe size smaller than the one Carlos wears.  As such, their shared approximate size gives her the right to steal his shoes whenever the princess ones she's been dressed in are too much for her to manage, physically or mentally. . "I'm taking the ones with spikes." 

"Are not." 

"Are so," Mal says, diving under the bed to where he keeps all four pairs of his shoes lined up. "I'm going to add more spikes while you're not looking. Poison-tipped ones. Razor-sharp." 

"Use porcupine quills, they're barbed." Carlos says helpfully, making absolutely no motion to get up and defend his shoes.

Mal shoves aside the fallen textbook, grabs the hoodie shoved under the bed for later, and ah. There’s her prize.  Boots (with spikes), dress shoes, cleats (more spikes), and there at the end, sneakers. 

"Fishhooks," Mal suggests. "The giant ones that rip holes when they come out. And I'll dip them in bleach powder so it burns the whole time they're inside." 

Carlos shudders. "Gross." 

"You're gross," Mal rips her dress over her head, and does not wince at the popping noise the shoulder seam makes. Evie can fix it again later, or they can burn it. Whichever. "I'm taking your clothes too."

"Wash the bloodstains out before you put them back." 

Shirt. Pants. Hoodie. Sneakers. 

Ill-gotten disguise on, Mal flashes him a thumbs up on her way back out the door. 

“Hey,” Mal calls out, keeping her voice intentionally low. She’s got the hood of Carlos’s stolen hoodie pulled up over her hair, and she’s relying on the sight of a familiar size-shape-color-scheme to deter anyone from looking too closely at her. Not that there’s many students around the boy’s bathroom at 9pm on Valentine’s night, but still. She’s not exactly looking to get caught. “Jaybird?” 

There’s no noise in the bathroom except for the irregular drip of a shower head that hasn’t been turned off quite hard enough. All the money in the world, and Auradon Prep still doesn’t have showers that actually work how they’re supposed to. 

It’s ridiculous. If Mal were in charge of the school budget she’d be putting all the money into showers. A hot shower and a  fireplace in every dorm, so that none of the students have to feel cold if they don’t want. That’s the budget priorities Mal would have. Warmth, and then food. The dining hall could stand to leave leftovers out longer after meals. 

…princesses don’t think about food. She’s been around Evie long enough to know that one. Princesses are tiny and perfect without even trying. Princesses eat salad and fruit and don’t order fries with anything. Princesses are the sort of people the king is supposed to be dating, and Mal is never, ever going to become that sort of person. 

“Mal?” 

Mal does not jump. She just— startles. Just a little. “Hey.”

There’s a smile playing at the corner of Jay’s mouth. “Hey yourself. I thought you’d be out with Ben still.” 

“You know price charming,” Mal waves a hand. “Had to have me home by midnight or else he was afraid I’d turn into a pumpkin.” 

“It’s nine thirty.” 

“Localized curse. The younger you are, the earlier it thinks you should be home. We picked nine, just to be safe.” 

“You can just say you had a bad date, killer,” Jay says. “I’ll be your alibi. You need a shovel?” 

Mal snorts. “It didn’t go that badly, give me some credit. I just freaked out when he started talking about love. While we were on a date to talk about love.” 

Fuck. 

A lot more of the evening makes sense when she frames it that way. None of the bullshit they’ve found online talks about dating the king of the entire country, but there’s a lot of website with mind-numbing names like psychology today and buzzbees news that make it very clear how important Auradon brats think nonverbal communication is. 

She went on a date. On Valentine’s Day. 

With Ben. 

“…Killer?” 

Focus. 

“Fuck off.” Mal snaps reflexively. “I’m fine. Just. Plotting.” 

Jay dodges around her for a pile of fabric, which reveals itself to be his Auradon-blue team hoodie. “You wanna plot somewhere a little better?” 

“What I want is to go home, but I’m not going to get that,” Mal says thoughtfully. “I was going to ask you to spar with me, but if you’ve got any better ideas I’m open to hearing them.” 

“Breaking and entering.” Jay says immediately. “We should blow this place. There’s that all-ages club in town—”

“If I have to touch another human being I’m going to scream.” 

Jay touches her arm deliberately, a sustained pressure that doesn’t even read as touch, just comfort. Mal drinks it in like he’s pouring the comfort directly onto all the jagged, awful pieces of her soul. “I’m not a human being?” 

“Shut up. You’re mine, it’s different.” 

“You’re mine, then.” 

There’s a piece of her heart that fits perfectly again the broken edges of his. Mal couldn’t let go of Jay if she tried, not for anything in the world. Not for her mother breathing fire at them, not for Fairy Godmother insisting that it’ll be good for them to make other friends, and not for a stupid holiday that says she’s only supposed to be tied to one person, and not even the one holding on to her right now. 

“Sure.” Mal agrees, because she can’t put words to the enormity of feelings she’s experiencing. Villains don’t have feelings, but she’s reformed now, and it’s harder to describe the feelings with words than it is to have them. “We can sneak out, see what trouble we can find.” 

“You’re all the trouble I need, killer.” Jay says, too honest. “I’ll take you out of here whenever you need. Wherever you want.” 

“Sap.” 

“Princess.” 

“Do I look like a princess to you?” Mal leans back to gesture at herself. The sweatshirt she stole isn’t Auradon-blue like Jay’s. It’s an old one, ratty in the way that all their old isle stuff is, and nearly transparent at the elbows. The seams are held together with Evie’s neat machine stitching, but the thread is three different shades of red and grey all mashed together, and there’s a hole in the edge of the hood that’s exposing the soft inside of it. Her sneakers are a size too big, and laced tight to compensate. Her hair is still a mess from the violent undoing that she’d subjected it to, and she can’t be bothered to try and tame it, not when her chest is bursting with feelings that don’t have any place to go except for out of her body, in tears or screams or whatever violence she’s able to inflict that will drive the awful right feeling out. 

“The prettiest princess in all the land,” Jay says, and jumps back before the words are even out of his mouth, out of the range of Mal’s swipe. “C’mon, killer. You’re the fiercest baby dragon I know. Come out with me. We can find trouble somewhere better than this.” 

"You're trouble already," Mal grumbles, but there's no bite to the words. She wants, wholly and completely, to be somewhere else. "The gates are locked for the night, you know." 

"No problem. Besides, you can just say you're on an important errand for the king and get through all the school security." 

"I could," Mal agrees. It's not like she's afraid of a little misplaced power when she can wield it. "But it's more fun to sneak out." 

Jay's grin is a bright flash in the darkness. "Hey, I've got a stupid idea." 

Mal grunts. "Shoot." 

"I could toss you over the fence." 

"The twenty foot fence." 

Jay shrugs. "It's more like twelve feet. At least according to the build specs." 

"Which you came across..." 

"Totally legally. They're in the library, if you know where to look for 'em." 

"You're impossible," Mal sighs. "Okay, once you toss me how are we getting you over?" 

"I'll jump." 

Over the twelve foot fence. "Sure, and when you break your leg falling back down?" 

"You'll magic me back together again. Humpty-dumpty this shit." 

"I don't think you actually know that rhyme."

"I know your rhymes," Jay shoots back. "You've got magic for levitation in the spellbook, yeah?" 

"I don't have the spellbook with me, wise guy." Mal points out. "I'm not even wearing my own shoes right now, what makes you think I memorized magic that'll get us over the fence?" 

Jay's eyes are too bright. She's going to have to use a spell just to hide him, and the magic will burn her out, and they'll get stuck on the wrong side of the fence, and-- that's what she would think, if she were Jane, or someone will less awesome magic powers. She's Mal of the Isle, and she's got this shit under control. 

"Dragon magic," Jay says cheerfully, like it's not late and they're not doing something totally against all of the rules they're supposed to be learning by sneaking out to the city. "I trust you, killer." 

"I could kill you," Mal grumbles, but she raises her hands and lets the magic gather there, blue-green sparks catching on her fingertips as she pulls the spell out from her mind. "Make this boy as light as air, hop the fence without a care." 

The magic falls over Jay in a net of shimmering sparks. They absorb in after a second, but the look suits him. Mal spares a thought for her sketchbook, which is tucked away in her locker with the rest of the books she hasn't had the time to touch in weeks, and the drawing her fingers are itching to make. "You can hop it now. You'll be light enough to jump over the fence with a regular leap." 

"Sweet!" Jay turns and drops to a knee. "Hop on." 

"Piggyback? Seriously?" 

"No better way to hop it together. Unless you'd rather I throw you over."

It's dangerous, and not just physically. Mal's been doing a pretty fucking good job at squashing down the feelings she's not supposed to have for her best friends, but this... 

She's emotionally illiterate, but Jay's offer to take her out tonight is like a picture book. Or one of those furniture instructions that doesn't even have language, just pictures to follow. 

He cares about you, Mal's traitorous brain whispers. More than your boyfriend does. 

Ugh. 

"Don't do anything stupid," Mal says, even as she's the one climbing on. "The spell should be good for a few leaps, but--" 

"Can't hear you, too busy blowing this place!" Jay grunts, pushing them both upright. "Let's fuckin' go--" 

"Don't--" 

"Hup!" 

Well. At least they're on the other side of the fence now, even if they crashed directly into the school holly bush on the landing. 

"Oww," Jay groans. "Might need a little more practice on that spell. I think there's something wrong with your magic assist on the landing." 

Mal yanks a leaf out of her arm. "There is no magic assist, dumbass. I tried to tell you, but somebody decided to go full steam ahead without listening to my warning. We're over now, and that's what matters." 

Jay mumbles something unintelligible. She can only assume it's rude, given the circumstances. Ugh, holly leaves are not the hot new accessory of the season, not even when they're doing a levitation act and sticking with a single thorn into her nose.

 "Speak up or shut up, jaybird." 

"I said--" It's impossible to tell in the darkness, but it looks like he might be blushing. The school grounds are supposed to have automatic lights, but a little wire cutting took care of that for them, and they're sneaking out under cover of darkness tonight. Mal's good at knowing her crew, but she can't be sure. "I, uh, you're important. To me." 

"Don't get mushy on me." 

"I'd never. Just. We're sneaking out together, and I wanted you to know, I'd never commit crimes and misdemeanors with anyone else." 

"Liar." 

Jay flashes her a smile, but he's doing the thing where he's got a hand tangled up in his hair, and it makes him look heart-wrenchingly sincere. "Yeah, but not to you." 

Oh, gods. "Don't go having feelings on me," Mal says, swallowing down the wobble that wants to creep into her voice. "I can't handle it. Not tonight, please." 

Just like that, Jay's posture melts into something different. Not quite his usual confidence, but something closer to normal. "Sure. No feelings. I can do that." 

"I don't--" Mal scrubs a hand over her eyes. "I didn't mean that you can't have feelings, just. I can't be the one to handle them tonight. I'll do whatever you want tomorrow, just-- can we just go be somewhere else tonight? I can't handle all this lovey stuff." 

Jay's shoulders melt even further. Mal can't look him in the eye, she can't, she won't-- 

He's smiling. His hand is so, so warm in hers. "Killer." 

"I'm sorry." 

He shrugs. "Whatever. You're allowed to have a bad night. I'll take you out, we can forget this ever happened tomorrow. Easy." 

"You should have someone better," Mal cries, and the horrible realization that she's crying sets in. "I don't want feelings for you!" 

"shit," Jay whispers, so quietly that Mal is sure she wasn't supposed to hear it at all. "Dragon, we don't have to do feelings like the Auradon brats. You can just be mine, and I can be yours, and we don't have to do any of the mushy shit that's freaking you out. We can just run away." 

"Together." 

"Yeah. Unless you spelled somebody else over the fence while I was distracted." 

Mal wipes the sleeve of her stolen hoodie across her nose. "Ugh, no. I don't use magic for just anybody." 

"See, there you go. I'm honored to be worthy of your magic, your royal evil-ness." 

“Fuck off,” Mal groans, and then before she can lose her nerve she steps close enough to cup his face in her hands. There’s no magic this time, but Jay’s skin is hot and soft under her palms, and it feels like there should be magic between them. “I’m the worst girlfriend in the world, so I won’t ever put you through that. I’m selfish, and I’m flaky, and I can’t say that I love you, and I can’t ever promise that I’ll be able to say it.” 

Jay’s face is a thundercloud. “Did Ben say you needed to say it back?” 

“No, but— Ben’s not here right now. That’s the point. He’s not the person I run to when everything in the world is too much for me to handle. Ben’s sweet and all, but he’s not who I want to be with when I’m upset. Can you imagine what he’d say if I suggested running away from the grounds?” 

“What ho good chap, let me summon a car to escort you from the venerable grounds of our fine institution,” Jay picks up her thread, mocking. “And yeah, I guess when you put it that way, it’s pretty silly to think about Ben taking care of you.” 

Mal sucks in a breath. “Exactly. He’s sweet, but I don’t know how to deal with sweet, and it feels like the pressure of it is killing me. You know how to push back when I’m being a monster, and I don’t know how to fit that into one of the relationship boxes I’m supposed to use here.” 

Jay tips his head into her hands. “We could make our own box.” 

“We could.” 

“I wouldn’t ask you to be my girlfriend.” 

Mal leans in. “I know,” she tells the space between Jay’s parted lips. “I know.” 

[levyfiles]

Since it happens a lot less frequently now, I have less cause to say it but one train of thought hits me every time an anti decides to start a misguided crusade all "hurricane in a box" style. The train of thought follows the memory of all the fans in the past who made it their most important mission to shame, bully and harass anyone who participated in fan spaces for themselves; not the creator. Who didn't follow a subset of rules they just made up.

What I think about is how content must have seemed to them, the deeper they got into it. Every time Ryan or Shane would do something particularly fond for each other, I'd see at least twenty comments spread out on the video, in the tag, or even in the Twitter mentions going "Ahh, the shippers are going to be SO ANNOYING about this".

And were we? I mean if I were an anti, and I was thinking that and my first thought is to hate-scroll through my blog. I remember posting on my own blog, reblogging from the shyan tag, posting in the shyan tag, cackling in group chats. There was a while there when some antis liked to screenshot things we said on our blogs or on servers (some who were lurking in group chats) declaiming how annoying and twisted and creepy we were. It didn't really get anything done. It annoyed a few people but we moved on because the content continued to be fun; the guys kept doing their thing and having fun doing it.

My point is that every time one of these righteous crusades bombs, I catch myself thinking about what it must be like for that anti. To watch something and to be thinking about how someone else is receiving it, how that someone else is someone I have an irascible hatred for is probably somehow going to have more fun with it than I ever could. Because I'm so busy receiving each moment, teeth clenched that it might vindicate someone having fun in their own spaces when I've explicitly said It's Wrong.

And it's like? Yeah, of course, I'm not having fun. Every time Ryan or Shane makes some dumb joke about how close they are or their body language shows fans just why these two started a company together, that would be intolerable to me because I'd be thinking so hard about how much a stranger online probably liked that more than they're "supposed to". Work husbands??? Why did they say that? Now the shippers are definitely enjoying the content and I'm uncomfortable because I gotta think about the implications of the phrase "Work husband" and between my irl responsibilities, have to craft some reasoning as to why homosocial male friendships are a bitter victim to the love spectrum.

I'd get so bored; the content wouldn't bring me any joy. So imagine how that person who decided to make a second blog to craft a 2017-era "breaking my silence" call-out post about Simone is going to experience content now. They won't be able to so much as make it through five minutes of a video without thinking of every single damn fan who told them their post was dumb and how much more fun y'all are going to have as the social media posts get all the more funnier; how Simone's fandom origins give her a good and easy insight into why we enjoy Watcher. Every time there's a promo and it becomes obvious that thanks to Simone's hard work editing clips she knows we'd like, the bloopers are a fans smorgasbord lol.

In the end, is it ever really a surprise why vocal antis leave fanspaces? They dive bomb into spaces to start a fight instead of making friends and end up with a bitter scar that ruins the content for them.

Best I can say is RIP, ya know?

[rametarin]

"Baldurs Gate 3 proves the west finds sexuality in Japanese games appalling"

No. You aren't really understanding what's happening here. It is not a matter of the west approving its own sexualization in media and disapproving of Japanese because it's Japanese, just Asian, or foreign. This is a misreading of the situation.

It's actually the opposite. Anime and Japanese game FANS that have always been fans, HAVE ALWAYS LOVED that Japanese works were ALLOWED to have subject matter and themes without some angry radical feminist picking them apart, either demanding the companies themselves adhere to THEIR social standards, or trying to get the peer groups to shame consumers of the product and ostracize them so the individuals self-censor and don't freely and openly exchange this bit of culture with one another.

We used to have this freedom in the US, but then radical feminists swarmed in, decided certain things had certain meaning in accordance with their ideological viewpoints, and that if you ran afoul of their principles, you were a thought criminal and enemy of women by your own refusal to obey their beliefs. And so, even simply having bare breasts in a movie meant that at any time, academic feminists could write the equivalent of academic vagueposts talking about how one director and writer's decision to feature shitty dialogue and porn tier story was tantamount to the anthropomorphic loa of SOCIETY rubber stamping making women second class citizens, because a fictional woman was used for fun and profit for a story.

So to deal with the braying and hysterical nattering of the grass roots that actually listened to these ideological friends, as if these negative views were, "just their friends opinions" (more like the views of their new religion) to keep the peace, writing changed a bit to avoid invoking the subjects that'd get the angry radfems screaming and pointing at things to rebuke them for their supposed crimes.

And we lost the innocence of boob jokes, nudity, the assumed harmlessness and benignity of liberal sex and body humor, and had to add that dogmatic baggage about all men being craven abusive manipulators into how they were depicted and the "proper" way men and women should relate in fiction.

You know, the exact things that were missing in our diet of mainstream media in the west, that we consumed Japanese media to get into our mental diets, because the sheer stupid harmless and innocent FUN had been gatekept and freeze dried out of our media over here with endless discourse and antagonism by slanted critics that hated a work because it didn't carry water for their ideological beliefs, or exist as a ruinous slag for its defiance to that totalitarian bullshit.

The only overt sexuality that the Capital P Progressives would tolerate, was sexuality that "subverted the status quo." AKA, sexuality that works and media dominated by THEIR ideological principles owned. Sexuality that was dominated by LGBT themes and subjects. Sexuality that translated and interpreted heterosexuality through a 'queer' lens. That was the only sexuality allowed in games, because it was the only sexuality that wasn't "harmful, anti-feminist, cisheteronormic patriarchy." And so they reserved the right to shit on any work with sexuality in it that didn't fit their views of what was good and right and moral and "progressive" in their particular way.

Baldur's Gate 3 and before it, Dragon Age and its sequels. They were constructed from the ground up to adhere to the sometimes arbitrary principles and absolutely biased interpretations ("Our sacred thing, their shit.")

It's not that the games are Japanese. It's not that they're from Asia or Asian developers. It's not that Baldur's Gate is western, American, or 'white.' These are easy detours to make but they misunderstand the crux and true sinister behavior at play here.

They hate Japanese games that feature Japanese sexuality in media, because that media does not conform to their very exacting views of what "proper" sexual representation is. They hate Japanese games and media, because unlike their power base in the west, imping and co-opting things ala Sweet Baby Inc runs interference to make games more, "diverse" and "inclusive," they have no power to make the creative decisions that alter the entire game, its tone, its themes, its writing, its casting, its world, or the makeup and formation of the companies, the unions, or the national policies that tie them and their values into the industry at the fundamental level.

They hate Japan and its industry and its culture and its media because they see an opportunity to move in and start dominating the industry, or natter and nag it and make it seem like the west is grassroots rejecting or criticizing it from the perspective of a westerner. It's not true.

These people have taken over games journalism and the representative voices of the medium and industry and are effectively astro turfing the consumer base with their own disgusting interpretations of shit, to make it SEEM like the consumer and fanbase doesn't like it or are complaining about Japanese media in this way. When in fact, it's just a much more well obfuscated version of when the Moral Majority of the right wing/religious members of society tried to co-opt comic books, rock music and set moral and ethical standards for content that could be depicted, and to what age group.

It's THEM that create entire stupid ratings systems for games based on how "inclusive and progressive" they are, deducting points for women not being lead characters, deducting points if a work of literature features sexual violence at all, deducting points if there's no queer people visibly queering queerly as part of the main story you have to interact with, preferably queerly. And THEM that are trying to simultaneously maintain an aire of, "white people shouldn't be allowed to criticize not-white/foreign cultures and literature," and "Japanese society and culture is patriarchal and shit and wrong tho."

These people exist in the west, but they do not REPRESENT the true opinions of the consumers and people of the west. But they're effectively a group of charlatans we can't get rid of or wrangle in. They were taught guerilla cultural warfare, subversion tactics, and conspire to get in on the ground floors and board rooms of entire industries before making themselves visible, with people acting as mycelium agents from inside other businesses clandestinely to make that association seem organic.

It's them causing this disturbance and shit. Not "the west." It's a conspiracy of assholes. It's them trying to be the gatekeepers that get to then put their guys into place as voice actors, markets, editors, and localizers, based on those principles.

So a real life woman in a Japanese game greenscreened, a sexy and conventionally attractive woman, gets called some sort of neotonous underaged oversexualized doll, while they deliberately try and go for the most androgynous to gender ambiguous depiction of femininity in the west on purpose, due to beliefs that will somehow "lower western expectations of femininity to be more realistic."

It's just unfortunate that Japan has to deal with this without really understanding just how bad it is a problem to deal with. We can't even really contend with it because proving these people are conspiring on an ideological basis is very difficult, even if they do slip up every once in a while.