#Like I'm... actually not a mean person... I'm not going to verbally assault someone for interacting with me in good faith...

[a-small-writer-in-a-big-world]

headcanons for ghost, soap, or könig with a plus size reader? 🥺

Yes lmk if anything's wrong and I'll change it. I'm not super good at writing König but I tried.

Plus Sized reader with Ghost, Soap, and König

Ghost

He loves your body because it's you. He loves you.

He has a hard time expressing his love with words and he doesn't want to touch you in places that might make you uncomfortable, so he tries his best in other ways

Always gets you clothes that you need in your size and knows exactly what you patterns you don't like

Don't you dare tell him that any of the clothes you want are expensive (let's face it plus size clothes are stupidly expensive sometimes) he will just buy if for you anyway and say that you deserve it

On days where you might feel a self conscious about the way you look, he'll try his best to show you that he thinks you're the most beautiful person he's ever seen

He's going to pick you up if you let him. He's a big guy and he's strong.

Might actually kill somebody if they make some nasty comment about you or you two being together. He tries not to get too mad but he definitely sends them a death glare

Soap

This guy gives me like absolute devotion for the person he's with vibes so get ready for the best treatment you'll ever get

Always kissing you and has his hands on you, though if you get uncomfortable with him touching in certain places he'll ask permission

Like Ghost, he always makes sure to get you the clothes you want, in the size you want them too. He'll go out of his way to get whatever you want and won't even give you the chance to complain

Number one supporter. He just loves you a lot and he makes sure you never go a day without knowing that he loves you, especially on bad days if you have them

If you dare to say he can't pick you up, he's going to prove you wrong. He's in the military, he's strong (i mean look at those muscles on him)

It takes a lot of self-control for him not to physically or verbally assault somebody who makes a nasty comment. Not only will he get in trouble with Price, but he doesn't want to make it seem like you can't take care of it yourself

(if you give him permission though that's a different story)

König

Though he's not plus size, he has some knowledge on how mean some people can be about how others look, so he tries his best to combat that with you

He compliments you often and tells you that he loves you a lot too

Knows the struggle that comes with buying clothes or getting anything that's in your size so he's very patient with you when things just aren't going the way you want them to

(always buys you what you want though, says you can pay him back, but never accepts it)

His social anxiety makes it a little difficult for him to comfort you in the way you need when you need it, but you tries his very best . He's just awkward sometimes

Speaking of his social anxiety, most of it disappears when someone disrespects you but he'll only be extremely outspoken when you want him to.

Otherwise, he's giving death glares like Ghost and they're can be pretty scary since he's massive

He picks you up on the regular because he likes having you in his arms

A/N: Hope this is okay!

[wildpeachfarm]

yesh i totally agree i think people are not wanting to compare cases for that and bc some feel Bad comparing two different cases but people are not comparing to Say beau is like caiti. Some are doing to show what Even Beau Said if i remenber correctly that he would be a good person if he ackwonledge her hurt and offered an apology. I don't think it's SA just like what happened to caiti but his reaction to her hurt and his Friends reaction are the differences that make them shitty.

I general i know people on social media have difficulties being calm about anything bc being on apps that wants US to feel strong emotions and being online 24 hrs fucks up out ability to take things slowly, that's why i thank people like You for keeping the calm and being reasonable

Yes I definitely think emotions will always take over people in these situations and people will never learn to just sit back and look at the facts and lay everything out.

And I don't think people are comparing Beau to Caiti at all (at least I'm definitely not lol) but I do think the similarities in situations need to be talked about because this is yet another situation of mixed signals, and perceived consent, and a claim of SA that I'm not sure is entirely accurate to the facts of the situation (although again, I will reserve my opinion until we hear from all sides because there is always three sides to a story: person A's side, person B's side, and the truth)

Again, this all centers around a lack of communication from either side in the moment and, in this situation specifically, his inability to accept that he did hurt her even if it was unintentional and his lying about it and isolating her was probably the worst thing he could've done in response. That doesn't make him look like a good person.

I think overall we need to be rid of the black-and-white thinking about defining SA when you are making public accusations like this because not only does it muddle the definition, but it doesn't take into account well-meaning individuals who got incredibly mixed signals (like beau saying she had dreams of kissing him and that they should act them out which /could/ be a signal of wanting this guy to kiss her). We are completely removing "innocent until proven guilty" in the eyes of twitter by saying "it's SA and I won't hear otherwise" which is ....not good at all lol (because as soon as that's the normal standard, we are truly fucked and marginalized groups WILL be the first target of this- as they have been repeatedly in the past)

Also, I'm going to take a page from Britanny Simons on this because it's always an important disclaimer to add to discussions about consent and verbal consent in romantic situations: most of the world does not ask for consent before kissing someone. That's just a fact of life. It's a very "online" concept to ask for verbal consent before giving someone a peck on the lips.

Would it be great if people thought of consent more in dating culture? yes of course! But that's just not the reality of where we are in the timeline of society right now. So I think some people also need to be more realistic, and understanding, and give people the benefit of the doubt more instead of assuming malice and assault right off the bat. It does no one any good. It actually just leads to more emotional and mental distress in the long run.

[dissociacrip]

this turned into a long adhd rant whoopsie

it really does suck how people seem to downplay autism and adhd now lol. autism has been reduced to people who can mask and have low support needs and adhd hasn't really changed from its status as a joke.

i don't talk about adhd much but it probably gets in the way of me being able to function just as much, if not more than autism does (in my personal situation) when it comes to mental disability. not showering enough. not cooking. not cleaning my living space properly. forgetting to brush my teeth. dishes sitting in the sink for so long they start getting moldy. only being able to maybe do 1-3 tasks a day maximum because my brain can't organize itself enough to do more than that. difficulty committing to things and being consistent in overarching ways. being late to things a lot. highly impaired verbal recall so i forget things people say to me, forget verbal instructions, etc. on top of the other acutely stressful situations that come with memory and regulating my attention span (e.g. locking my keys in my car or locking myself out of my house when i have a very limited support network to remediate those situations.)

my meds barely touch this stuff for me and i'm not especially inclined to increase the dosage after bordering on psychosis when i was taking 40mg of vyvanse. i've just become so accustomed to living the way that i do (because my case is pretty bad afaik) so i can't just will myself to be another way. any efforts i make to change or be more organized and routine and consistent end up getting dashed away because i just cannot do it lol. my shit just doesn't work. adhd is a massive barrier between me and being a functioning person or being able to take care of myself. i'm pretty sure would still be a "gross" and unpalatable disabled person even if my muscles worked and i didn't have POTS/etc. that also get in the way of my hygiene and the cleanliness of my living space.

that doesn't even go into how other people react to it. a good chunk of physical and verbal abuse i faced from my family as a child was related to my adhd symptoms. i was diagnosed at a young age but my parents "forgot" it happened and it was never addressed otherwise. i got constantly called disgusting for my hygiene problems and was threatened with violence over it (on top of the times where i was actually getting assaulted.) people take my impaired verbal recall and lack of impulse control irt accidentally cutting people off or interrupting them personally, accusing me of not caring enough when it's something that is extremely difficult to be aware of or manage when adhd is a condition that distinctly involves impaired awareness of your own behavior.

so when i see shit like "just set alarms" or anything else that amounts to "you're not trying hard enough" or adhd not very much being a disability, especially when it's coming from other people w/ adhd, it kinda makes me wanna stab things with knives.

sure, it's not the worst condition ever, but just like most other disabilities, the way it affects everyone who is it is different and some are gonna be able to manage it better than others. sure, there a lot of really fucking annoying people (usually able-bodied) w/ adhd on social media that have large platforms and who very often profit from or encourage liberal pop psych bullshit when it comes to adhd, but it's still very much a disability. it can affect hygiene. it can affect employment or otherwise means of earning an income. it can affect our social lives and whether we have a support system. it can affect whether someone can keep their house from getting infested with bugs or mold. it is very much something that causes dysfunction in ways that aren't nearly as cutesy as the little comics you might see on instagram are drawn.

just remember that.

[glitchyk]

The dp oc/Sona crew as my girl scout troop’s quote book in like the past year

Kay is as my quotes— that’s shit I’ve actually said lmao

Alsobdnshsjksks I wanted to keep it consistent with who everyone was quote wise, and the person who I have Calem the same quotes of is someone of darker skin so that’s why I tried to make it someone of a slightly darker color so like- shhsjs please don’t mind the somewhat skin color jokes they have

SEPTEMBER

Lilith: are you seriously texting when you're four feet apart?

Kay: we're at least seven feet apart you absolute fucking swine

you look like a make a wish kid combined with a weed dealer… wait I figured it out, you look like a make a wish kid whose wish was to deal weed -Hope

it's like the ocean but tall -Kyle

Lilith: amputation materials, in case we have to go through a saw torture room

Hope: With the Frizz? no way!

What in the H-E-Double fuck are you talking about? -Kay

*Asher completes a Pringle circle*

How does it feel to have finally accomplished something after 17 years of life? -Lilith

You know what’s racist? NASCAR. -Kay

OCTOBER

White Mountain girls? One of them's black!! - Calem

Camila: I'd be eating people's faces off in the corner

Lilith: We'd have a totally normal civilization going except for Camila

Camila: I'd be totally fine living in a dungeon as long as I get food… once a month?

Lilith: Garett don’t kill yourself!

Asher: I think that’s the first time I’ve ever heard a ‘don’t’ in front of that sentence with this troop.

Asher: *holding oggie boogie* We're expecting

Lilith: Whose paying the oggie boogie child support?

Asher: Not me, I'm dipping

Hope: oggie boogie custody battle

Camila: You're just like your father!

Asher: Jokes on you, I love my dad!

Camila: I'M NOT PROJECTING!!!!

NOVEMBER

"I'm going to have post traumatic stress reactions to gay people now" -Camila

"I'm so excited to get assulted" -Camila

Hope: Little known fact; Camila has wet hot dogs for fingers.

Camila: That one tickled me maliciously!

DECEMBER

Asher: They grill children, I get to grill children!

Kay: Camila! Stop being a privileged homosexual!

Danny: You’re a homosexual?!

Asher: I got suspended for fistfighting an elf

Hope: You weren’t suspended, you’re on Santa suicide watch

Danny and Camila: We’re not gonna physically assault him, we’re gonna verbally assault him.

Asher: I’ll also be Hope’s stand in

Clay: You’re also not allowed in 12 states

FEBRUARY

Lilith (about Asher): I know how it feels to be like you now!

Kay: Is it because you’re on the floor, or because you’re on your knees

Calem: Doesn't my nail polish look like Hitler's mustache?

Heather: So it's like a ranch cruise ship?

Asher: A PACKAGE!!!

Lilith, Camila, Calem: So David Tennant.

(Talking about someone tall)

Kay: “Well, we know it’s not Napoleon.��

Asher: It's 6’2

Camila: David Tennant is NOT 6’2

Asher: I’m talking about an object!

Camila: It's the cardboard cutout of David Tennant, isn't it?

(Danny has the flashlight of his phone on)

Kay: “Stop flashing people.”

Danny: At least if I get kidnapped they’ll know facts about Thailand

Kay: You’re not gonna get kidnapped, are you seriously telling me that someone would look at a person with red hair and think “yeah that’s someone that people would pay to get back”?

(Everyone talking about the lack of American Folklore)

Mr.Lancer: Don't forget about Florida Man!

Hope: It's either the Insane Clown Posse or the Senile Clown Posse (about the presidential election)

JUNE

"I'll grab my tummy and I'll say, 'listen buddy, you can do it,'" -Calem, as JFK

“A good American always knows when to pull out” -Calem

“So what I’m hearing is that we could survive oven temperatures for up to 5 minutes” -Asher

Asher: the tits are coming out

Kay: whelp it's pride month

Heather: that doesn't mean you can be a whore

Calem: A good American never backs down, but always knows when to pull out

Heather: Well, clearly not because you’re here

Calem: Good thing my parents are illegal

“Isn't your major ‘rock’?” -Lilith (about Asher)

“I’m reclaiming this month, somebody find me a guy to obnoxiously make out with” -Calem

(about Black Jack, the cat)

Hope: That means he's a clan leader

Calem: not clan with a “k”, right?

Hope: he's literally black

“If you let go, you lose a life.” -tube guy at RHR

“I was thinking HAGS but I thought MAGA” -Calem

“I’ll be honest, she barely lets my dad sleep in bed with her, there's no way she’s letting a little shit with dyed hair and mental illness anywhere near her” -Kay

July:

“I no longer have a concussy bussy!” -Lilith

“Why are you looking at the stars, do you have a thing for other women?” -Lilith

[icyrambles]

i typically have two forms of analysis when i talk about certain characters. i call them meta analysis and canon analysis.

meta analysis is when i take into account author, fan, and personal interpretation and intention when writing a character. this can be things like biases on the author's part (intentional or not), fandom headcanons and general opinions that are widespread, and finally my own personal opinions and beliefs on the character or media

canon analysis is when i ignore everything above. it's when i take things that are said exclusively through the text and conveyed to me as a reader. these are analysis formed exclusively (or at least as much as i try) through what is told to me via the text

like take pharma as an example. i personally hate how his character is treated both in canon and in fandom. within canon he's reduced to the crazy doctor who harvested his patients organs and in fandom i've noticed he either gets babied to all hell (typically by shifting the blame of his actions onto tarn) or just demonising him. i dislike this from all angles because pharma for me is a multifaceted character who, while causing a lot of harm, was forced into a situation where he really did not have a choice if he wanted to keep his staff and himself alive.

like yeah, i think pharma should punished in some way for the deaths he caused, but i also think that he should be viewed through the lens of someone who was essentially being blackmailed into killing his patients less himself and his staff (one of whom was a defected decepticon) be serious harmed or just outright killed. and that these actions caused massive damage to his mental wellbeing which caused him to spiral into madness.

or like take ratchet. he's got this thing in fandom where he'll throw wrenches at people and he's a fucking rebel who hates the government. but he doesn't do either of those things ever, in any of the continuities i've read/watched. like he's not even remotely violent unless he's actively being threatened? and even then he's more liable to go for verbal assaults rather than physical ones. where are you people getting these interpretations from?

he's a snarky ass who enjoys arguing with people sure, but ratchet would not fucking destroy the government. he fucking threatens to dismantle megatron on several occasions throughout the comics. there was a tweet from alex milne a while back that basically called ratchet an abusive partner and like, listen, fandom interpretations are always going to be a little off, but i'm sorry mr. milne, but ratchet is not an abuser in any sense of the word. there is nowhere, and i mean nowhere in the comics that proves that he would do that.

idw starscream is also a character who i have complex feelings about when i try to write about him.

because on the one hand i despise the way that idw starscream is treated by the fanbase. he's not a good person, that is the whole point of him. he's a terrible person, who has done terrible things, and i think he should be treated as just as bad as megatron. and i think the fandom constantly babying him because of what megatron did to him is stupid.

he's a genuinely cunning, manipulative, and overall shitty asshole who is more than willing to doublecross and backstab to get what he wants.

but he's also a victim. megatron's treatment of him throughout the war is inexcusable. under no circumstances do i think that starscream deserved to be kept around as a punching bag to keep the other decepticons in line and i also am of the belief that megatron should've gotten more flack for what he did to starscream.

like pharma, starscream is a character who has a lot of different layers. he fucks up and relapses into more toxic behaviour because it's quite literally the only thing he can rely on. he's expected by the people around him to be a backstabber and a liar, so why on earth would he act any differently?

it's not until bumblebee appears that he actually starts to change. and i think it's very important when discussing bee and starscream's relationship that people remember that starscream does not think of bumblebee as a ghost. he views bee as a literal manifestation of his guilt and consciousness. he did genuinely seem to view bumblebee as a good leader and a good person before his death in dark cybertron, so when bee shows up as a ghost and starts encouraging starscream to do better for his people and his planet, starscream listens because he did trust bee.

the point of starscream's character, is that people can only change if they truly want to. bumblebee wants starscream to change for the better but starscream only starts to change when he actually believes he can. and even then he often relapses into more negative behaviours because he's not perfect. the fact that he does this honestly makes him even more believable to me.

if you were treated as nothing more than a liar, coward, and manipulative asshole for 4 million years you'd probably fuck up on the road to recovery too.

it's why megatron's redemption at least works for me within a canon lens. he only starts to change his behaviour when he actually begins to understand that his actions and ideology were wrong. that's why it works. the lost light as a ship is about new beginnings and fresh starts for everyone, so having megatron, literally the most hated guy every join the crew works to further that theme of rebirth.

out of canon analysis though, starscream and megatron in my opinion were done very poorly in terms of writing. they were very clearly meant to be cartoonishly evil characters with no redeemable qualities during phase 1 of the comics. so when phases 2 + 3 roll around and try to develop these characters as more than just evil assholes, it falls flat because you have to sweep all of the terrible shit they've done under the rug.

and it doesn't work well from a narrative perspective to have murder mcgee megatron and his former second in command be the leaders of not only the planet they fucking destroyed and the ship that legally doesn't belong to them. and this is coming from someone who loves idw's portrayals of megatron and starscream. i think they're some of the best versions out there beyond maybe the originals.

i also think that fandom falls into a weird zone when it comes to these characters. i call it fandom flanderization; where fandom will take a certain character trait (like starscream being a liar) and conflate that trait to be their whole character. like is starscream a liar? yeah he absolutely is. but he's also a genuinely caring individual when he actually trusts someone.

it's a shame because i think that idw, despite having relatively weak writing in terms of overall storytelling, actually has some really interesting interpretations of the characters.

[ if you liked my work, please feel free to give it a reblog and leave your thoughts in the tags, reblog box itself, or replies. i adore seeing what other people have to say about my thoughts ]

[justatalkingface]

Bakugou and Izuku's 'Friendship'

Or, what the fuck do you think friendship is?

For the purposes of this post, we're temporarily ignoring... their entire backstory, basiclly. For all intents and purposes, these two met in UA, there's no childhood trauma, no assaults, no demands that Izuku commit suicide, none of that. We're trying to take a look at the current 'friendship' between Izuku and Bakugou.

And, in that spirit, I want to say this: why, in the the name of burning fuck, do you call this a friendship?

No, seriously: I see these posts, here and elsewhere, with clips of, like, Bakugou yelling at Izuku so hard his hair is being blown back. Or hitting Izuku. Or insulting Izuku. And these posts say, unironically (unless I'm missing some weird ass trend) that these are 'Dawww' moment.

You know, like you would go when you see a cute kitten or something.

But it's worse than that, because the manga itself seems to support this; I'll never forget that picture of All Might smiling at Izuku and Bakugou fondly as Bakugou yells his head off, absolutely losing his shit like a bratty five year old, while Izuku is just patiently trying to fight through the torrent of verbal vomit and get to the other side.

Dawww.

Bakugou screaming his head off less than a foot from Izuku's head, probably causing permanent hearing loss? Adorable. Look at what great friends they are, you love to see it!

...I'm sorry? Is... is that what you think friendship is? Do you have a friend that just spends all their free time belittling you? No, I'm being serious: do you have a friend like that? Because, in all seriousness, if you do, I really want you to reassess that relationship.

But, I can almost hear someone say, me and my friend mock each other all the time! Or, maybe, my friend calls me an idiot or some such, but they mean it affectionately!

....Alright, let's break this down a little. A good, healthy relationship, a friendship, whatever, is give and take. You get something out of it, and the other person gets something out of it. It's built off connections, something that bind you together, and mutual trust.

Let me put it like this: let's say your friend calls you a name, and because of your history, that name, that may or may not seem insulting, is in fact not insulting, but instead references your history together. Do they use your actual name? Or does using it cause them almost physical pain, to the point they've only used it once in literal years?

Or this: you fight with your friend. Or berate them. Or something like that. Do you... stop? Do you do something with them other than that? Do you yell at them, just... flat out scream at them, on the top of your lungs? Is all that you do yell at them?

Do you hurt your friends? And I'm not talking about friendly punching: do you throw frozen snowballs at their head? Do you impale them with sharp metal objects?

Yeah... that's the thing with Bakugou's 'friendship' with Izuku: there's no actual friendship to it. Bakugou insults and attacks Izuku, and in response he.... puts up with it. All friendships are different, sure, but there is a line, where things cross over into cruelty or abusive behavior: I have a friend who I mock, and I would never do to them what Bakugou does to Izuku all the fucking time. Ever. I hope with all sincerity that if I did what Bakugou does? That someone would slap me, because that is not OK.

More than that, though, is the fact that a good friendship should be more than that: even good hearted ribbing can be hurtful if it happens too much. When does Bakugou stop? When has Bakugou interact with Izuku in a healthy way? When have they just had a conversation, one where he isn't yelling, that's not loaded with hurtful subtext from the past, or with Bakugou demanding something from Izuku, anything like that? When do they.... play video games, or engage in some sort of activity together? And, before anyone says something, that is not part of the training they do as part of their school, as ordered by their teacher, because that doesn't actually count (not that he does that then, either).

And, on that topic.... 'But Bakugou saved Izuku's life!'. Well. First off that entire situation, as I've said before, is stupid forced bullshit to railroad Izuku into needing to be saved at all, while somehow giving Bakugou enough time to save him (even though Izuku could... save himself in that situation, since Bakugou had all this time to fly over?), all while making him act OOC, in that 'He's totally redeemed, guys!' way Hori loves, to make him save Izuku at all!

But let's ignore that. Let's say that, actually, Bakugou just saved Izuku in a normal way. Here's the thing: saving people is, in fact, his actual job. It doesn't matter if it was Izuku, or Bakugou's mom, or some random scrub off the street: Bakugou's actual job, as a hero, is to save people. Him doing it is something that deserves acknowledgement, sure (if only because of how wildly out of his usual behavior patterns that is), but it's not a sign of friendship. The entire point of that, as Bakugou's 'growth', is that he grew enough to get past his ego to help other people like a hero should.

And, I swear to fuck, if you try to tell me Bakugou 'apologizing' to Izuku, insincerely by his own admission, after attacking him, is a sign of friendship? I really, really, really, want you to sit down, picture your friend leading a mob of people you trust to attack you, after you've spent days alone, fighting for your life against people trying to kill you, only for them to promptly apologize while saying 'it changes nothing'.

Think about that, and think about how that would make you feel.

[attorneys-against-court-violence]

Alright sit down I'm ranking Dual Destinies culprits. Spoilers abound!

Just going to list my thoughts on all 5 culprits in order of beloved to beloathed. Expect me to be mean.

Marlon Rimes

Easily the most nuanced and sympathetic of them all, and a well-written one to boot! His grudge against the orca is understandable, yet flawed in a very human way. He had no intentions of harming anyone - in fact he wanted to save his co-workers from what he saw as a dangerous animal. When Sasha was arrested he went out of his way to lie in order to get her off the hook. When push came to shove, he accepted his sentence to save her and punish himself for unintentionally setting up the Captain's death. It's all the more heartbreaking that Azura wasn't even killed by the previous orca, rendering all of his hatred and actions resulting from it irrational and unfounded. He sort of reminds me of both Simon and Aura in a few ways; taking the fall to save a friend, trying to enact revenge on someone he saw as a crazed, emotionless animal... his plight has plenty in common with both. 5-DLC gets a lot of praise in my books for its parallels to the main conflict (not that the other cases lack them) and Marlon is no exception.

The thing that makes Marlon so compelling is that he isn't a monster. He doesn't even have much of an ego, calling himself too weak to save anyone. He's a man who acted on his rage and made a dreadful mistake in doing so, trying to right his wrongs and eventually being forced to give up and admit that he had no right to do what he had done. Even agreeing that he had no right pruely on the basis of it causing someone to die inderectly. Him being rehabilitated at the end is the feather-on-the-cap to show that he's someone the characters genuinely care about and wish to do better in spite of his flaws. It took a while and plenty of evidence, but the Captain's words finally got through to him and he's a lot better for it. His animations are wonderfully creative, by the way! Turning the spyglass into a faux microphone, re-using the bucket of fish for a Popeye-esque transformation, the name-tag turning into a rapper's gold chain, his breakdown turning the witness stand into both a helm and a set of prison bars - so much visual creativity with this guy! It's such a treat.

The worst I can say about him is that the rapping is a bit of a stereotype. Yes, this is the same game that body-shames the one fat character, has no idea what a trans person is, and... well we'll save that part for later. No one enjoys that. That said, I'm willing to say the good far outways the bad here. It lead to one of the funniest witness testimonies in the series so I can't be too mad!

2. Ted Tonate

What a peculiar character... semi-verbal, anti-social, obsessed with explosives, and overall a strange specimen to behold. It doesn't feel like he has a specific quirk more than it feels like everything about him is off-beat, ranging from uncomfortably still to absolutely feral. I like it!

More importantly - while he did commit murder and assault - he does serve an important role in the plot and is not completely incompetent or heartless. That courtroom would have become a graveyard without his warning, after all! He's a bit like Frank Sawhit where he'll resort to physical violence under pressure but doesn't seem to have intended to kill necessarily. Difference is Frank was a common thief, while Ted's a bona-fide member of the police's bomb disposal unit who - black market deals aside - actually carries his duties out and does a good job. Nice little misdirection there too. That opening monologue fits the phantom better than Ted but we don't figure that until near the end. It doesn't erase the fact he's done some terrible things but at he's not a monster. Just a woefully anti-social guy who doesn't respond well to being called out.

Dual Destinies gets a surprising amount of mileage out of its Case 1 antagonist and it's a treat to watch. There's plenty that case does to give the game a bad first impression, but Ted's not one of them. He can stay!

3. Aristotle Means Aaaaaaaand we've nose-dived. Prepare for snark.

Means is emblematic of a much larger issue with Dual Destinies; it doesn't seem interested in treating the main conflicts of its cases as much more than generic good vs evil despite having an abundance of material to make things more interesting. Yes, I know Ace Attorney culprits aren't the most 3-dimensional bunch - usually the character conflicts they cause are the most interesting parts. Though they usually make things fun by being smarmy bastards. Means is just repeatitive. It's one thing to be a shallow bad guy, it's another thing entirely to beat you over the head with a single catchphrase without putting any spins on it. Manfred has the same one-track mind in his philosophy but he never felt this aggressively tedious about it. There's also the fact that, well... the ends DID justify the means in the end. Dual Destinies' main conflict would not have been solved without Aura taking extreme measures to save Simon. Having that while saying "doing bad things is bad no matter what!" with this guy makes him feel all the more flimsy and misguided. Him wanting to save Juniper and honour her wishes by any means necessary is a nice way to add flavour to the conflict but it's grossly overshadowed by him being a flat cartoon for the most part.

I feel like there's a sorely missed opportunity here for him to point out that Phoenix Wright also exercised that philosophy at times. Yes I'm talking about forging evidence in 4-1, it would have been a nice way to make his conflict with Athena more interesting. Pointing out that her boss is an exemplar of "the ends justifies the means" - especially with Apollo in the same room - is an idea that fills my brain with thinks. Might have even been the reason why he invited Nick to the academy too... oh well. It takes a lot to bouy a one-track villain like him up as it is without actively adding more baggage through redundancy and lack of presence. He doesn't even do much of anything or have a chance to BE evil before his hair stands up like other villains. He's just. Annoying. I know I keep comparing him to Manfred, but imagine a version of him that didn't do anything until the tail-end of the last trial and with none of the backstory and gravitas. That's the level Means is at.

A crappier Manfred. Joy to the world!

4. ???

YOU COULD HAVE BEEN SOMEBODY! YOU HAD SO MUCH POTENTIAL! Hell, he arguably does have dramatic weight as-written. He's the embodiment of the distrust and denial of ones true feelings/identity that has caused this racket in the first place. Dual Destinies as a whole is a game about people who put on masks to do what they feel is right or necessary, then being forced to take the mask off, confront themselves and their actions for what they truly are. Having a villain who's hidden his identity this entire time is such a fitting choice! It's just a shame that he, oh you know, it's small thing it doesn't really matter... DIDN'T HAVE AN IDENTITY WORTH HIDING TO BEGIN WITH!!! Dual Destinies beats you over the head about how scary this guy is for having no personality. And that's exactly the problem. When you spend that much time telling people the villain isn't worth caring about then that's what people are going to take away. Nevermind that his personality for most of the game was a goofy detective man who valued JUSTICE! above all else, a man who is willing to question his own definitions of it despite what others may think but still allows it to justify doing awful things like zapping Simon. Maybe that could have been the answer! That he allowed his perception of JUSTICE! to warp so much that he became this ghoulish ghost who kills and commits acts of terrorism without remorse. His life being threatened when his literal mask falls acting as a metaphor for how he is unable to confront himself for who he is and what he's done; he, in his own eyes, would be the least justified of them all, and so he has forsaken his identity to avoid that truth. A truth that would spell the end both within and without.

But no. The game does everything in its power to tell you he's a hollow, empty husk of a human being. More importantly, even if the above was the case it doesn't do anything at all with the concept. It just comes across that his main conflict is "who tf am I?" Which is... oddly sad and worrying? Yes, I do think the idea of letting your true self go leading to awful, terrible things and the horror of realising that that's exactly what you did - even denying it or using it as a point of strength - is an interesting and befitting idea. They just don't do anything with it before he's already carted off to the pile of characters we'll never hear from again. There's nothing there by design to the point where it doesn't feel like there was anything he COULD have discarded in the first place. His lack of identity feels less like a concept the writers wanted to explore and more of an excuse to get a twist villain who could pretend to be anybody.

It's a diservice to both the story and to the false identity he had before this. "Bobby Fulbright" somehow ended up a more interesting character and he's the one who's chastised by other characters for being a simple idiot! And he was discarded for this guy! "Bobby" should have mattered more, both to the characters and to the phantom's identity. Not get an unceremonial "he was dead the whole time" reveal and be completely divorced from the phantom's character in every way the story can think to do. Erasure in more ways than one... no wonder people felt betrayed. In a bad way. You shouldn't feel betrayed by the writing if it's any good and that's how plenty - myself included - felt. Oh, and having the only character who's low/no emotion be the shallow bad guy is not a great look... I'll say it again; the problem isn't that he's the antagonist. It's that he's not a well-written one. A psychopath would be fascinating as a character in ANY role in this psychology-focused mystery game if Dual Destinies had the gall to make one that's actually interesting. Remember what I said about Means crushing the conflict into something too simple for the concept behind it? The phantom does that on a wider scale and it deals a massive blow to Dual Destinies to have its overarching villain so infuriatingly empty and disposable. It makes themes of trust and masks I mentioned fall flat.

I'd rather Athena kill Metis over this. It'd be a similar concept with more justification behind it without completely dismissing the players emotional investment or cheapening the themes of the game. Or at least execute those things in a better way than this. In justice we trusted...

Sidenote: I was torn between ranking Means or the phantom here. While Phanty is definitely more interesting to talk about than the living staute, him sucking hurts more than Means due to his status as the main villain. It's easier to get away with being a shallow puddle when you weren't meant to swim much in it to begin with.

5. Florent L'belle

You'll notice I didn't put an emotional marker on this guy. That should tell you everything you need to know. At least the phantom makes me feel something, even if it is abject despair at how much of a gaping hole he leaves in the story. Florent just... I mean he's... His breakdown's creepy, that's kinda fun... I got nothing, he's just sort of there.

Lick a toad, you inferior Redd White. I'm going need to borrow Bobby's Jolt of Justice next time you show up.

At least I'd feel something that way.

[ifuckingloveryoshu]

Bleh. Not really tagging I need to un-blorbify Ryoshu in my head but also, I want to be selfish and keep thinking self shipping thoughts. What a hassle. I already tell people that I write her or characterize her too nice. That is my bias, (not that I am writing anything at all even, its all just imaginary again) and what have you. The rest of this post is more about my thoughts on what I've read about the book Violence: A Writers Guide by Roy Miler, and vaugly rambling.

I have a pdf of the book, Violence: A Writers Guide. I still haven't set the time off to read it because I am infamous for managing time and acting on impulse. Anyways.

I feel when people do dislike Ryoshu or just see her as only sadistic murderer, they are here. I guess. Contrary to the name, I can understand why people not like Ryoshu. Honestly, as long as she continues to be written well, I will keep loving her even if her views don't align with mine. I'm prepared for if Ryoshu turns out to be the greatest artist of all the lands but ends up not the greatest mother. Hard to vocalize but you can dearly love your child so, so much, but activly be hurting them. I never want that to be forgotten because LOVE itself is a double edged sword. Never the end all be all. To open youself up to others and to live loved and loving means opening yourself up to getting hurt or hurting them. Someone else who has more life experience then I do, more experince with living, and one who is more sure of themselves could explain it better. I am not in the right place. Oh, but it is still varying from person to person, as lot of things dealing with humans tend to do.

Its too late to be typing so much but, from what section of this i've read are the levels of agression as followed: Nice, Manipulative, Assertive, Agressive, Assaultive, and Murderous. Nice are pacifist who don't use any agression. Manipulative takes advantage of nice people by passivly getting their way (maybe think blackmail or just good 'ol manipulation.) Assertive will set bounderies and use soft power to inforce those boundaries, Agressive will make threats of violence and yell out (think heavy verbal abuse.). Assultive will actually hit the aggressive person and feel justified about it. Murderous is just good ol murder.

Ryoshu is murderous but all the people on that bus have to be knocked down to the assultive level by default. They can't activly go around murder hoboing all the time. Outis is the only other sinner who I'd put in murderous because she can openly advocates like a professional. To quote the book, "A professional does not fight you, doesn’t even think about fighting you. He takes you out." And I think that fits Outis well if she weren't just stuck to Dante. Or I'm overestimating Outis' capabilities. Meursalt just doesn't apply to this scale at all. He is a special case that just does as hes told with little to no fuss. Hes not suggesting murder but he'll just do it if hes told. Even if hes not told, even before the bus, I still haven't read his book but come on. We kind of know the sun in the eyes thing.

Side Tangent: Hong Lu, Gregor and Yi Sang are in assertive. Hong Lu, im skeptical about because he is confusing. I have no idea what's going on in his brain, he has lived in an enviornment of high violence probably while being in a Nest which is strange. He just acts so care free, but there's something else there. We all know. Sinclair is just being forced gradually up there to assultive. Yi Sang has been persecuted but violence is not his first answer to things. Even if Gregor was in the Smoke War as a war veteran, his attitude does not strike me as assultive because he tries to talk things out, he was more of a PR boy, and what his bug arm does unvoulentarily is diffrent from what Gregor himself wants to do. Sinclair just keeps going from agrressive to assaultive, then to murderous with Kromer. He's developing and breaking out of his shell so he really isn't set.

I'm going to bed but

GMD: Not Limbus but uninvited guest in uhh Library Of Ruina

EBD: Virgilius and Don Quinnote scene. Virgillius just to any sinner. Maybe N Corp and Kromer and Sinclair to teach Sinclair a lesson. Uh. Erliking Heathcliff to Heathcliff roughly.

SSS: Anything sydicate related honestly.

Predatory Violence is just The City. It's just the way of the City, at least the areas outside the Nest.

There is a lot more intresting stuff in this book. Maybe when I decide to read more, ill just screw around I guess. uh. Thank for reading.

[butterfly-apocalypse]

Mild vent post about inter-aro/ace community friction and ace discourse under the cut:

Saw a post just now that rubbed me the wrong way really badly (I had OP blocked, but I was visiting someone's blog and they reblogged it so I saw the post anyway [shakes fist at sky]. It's kind of nice when your choice to block someone is validated though!).

The post was talked about how aces who choose to engage in sexual relationships are making an effort to be fight misinformation and to be accepted, which usually comes in the form of acknowledgement that some asexuals may choose to have sex when discussing ace experiences. The post also discussed how aces who have been affected by being pressured to conform get rubbed the wrong way by seeing so many discussions about the asexual experience acknowledge that aces can still have sex. The overall point of the post was that "everyone gets annoyed at each other when it should be peaceful."

And like yeah! I think the post hit the nail on the head, I think that's exactly what's happening. However there were like. Two things about the post that PARTICULARLY rubbed me the wrong way: 1) Framing both groups as equally valid in their irritation and 2) describing the effort to include the experience of sex-favorable aces as "don't worry, aces can still conform!"

Because for 1) a group being annoyed and speaking against the fact that experiences other members of their community are being represented and acknowledged (and sometimes even emphasized to combat a history of a severe lack of representation and acknowledgement) are doing harm to their fellow community members. No community is a monolith and PARTICULARLY not the aro/ace community. The experiences of aces who choose to engage in sexual relationships matter SO MUCH and have almost no mainstream discussion that I've seen. It is the MORE INCLUSIVE and more responsible thing to do to acknowledge the many many many different "asexual experiences" if you're going to discuss them at large.

I think the irritation at other people being included comes from a lack of understanding other aces lived experiences and a heightened concern over how other people using the same label differently as you do affects people's impressions. Visibility and acceptance are not a pie. More visibility and acceptance for sex-favorable aces does not mean less visibility and acceptance for sex-repulsed or otherwise celibate aces. Regardless of how much more common acknowledgement of sex-favorable aces has become on certain online spaces, I think it would be hard to argue that the experiences of sex-favorable aces has come anywhere close to overshadowing other ace experiences.

It's COMPLETELY FAIR to have different spaces, different discussions, etc. specific to difference experiences! But when discussing asexual experiences AT LARGE, it's Not really fair to be upset that different experiences are acknowledged.

For 2) framing aces who choose to engage in a sexual relationship as "choosing to conform" feels so unfair. Like, yes, you could say that by engaging in a sexual relationship, they are following societal expectations and are therefore conforming. But that's SO FOCUSED on what external impressions of the relationship are when SO MUCH of the asexual experience IS INTERNAL. Are bisexual women who choose to date men "conforming?" You might say so from the outside, but what is that accomplishing?

Anyway, I just....sigh.

I've been verbally assaulted in real life by a fellow queer person who insisted that I would abusing and lying to my then girlfriend if I choose to be sexual with her OR that she would be abusing me OR that if I actually WANTED to participate, then I wasn't allowed to identify as asexual. I have been in so so so many conversations with other aro/aces where I say something and the response is "Well, I'm ace, so I don't [thing that I just said I do or enjoy]." It feels deeply invalidating! It feel straight out of 2nd grade hearing people say stuff like "I'm a girl, so I don't like superheroes." or "I'm a boy, so I can't wear a dress." and so also "I'm ace, so I don't like E-rated fanfics." and "I'm ace, so I can't write smut."

Furthermore, I've seen more and more of an unholy mix of treating aro/aces as a monolith with purity culture. Ace Discourse did so much damage to the community and the community growing back is so steeped in sex-negativity. "I'm better because I'm not bogged down by sexual attraction" and "Sex scenes in shows and movies should all be removed, there's never a reason sex needs to be included," are VERY UNDERSTANDABLE and VERY VALIDLY ill-received by the rest of the queer community and people who have fought so hard for sexual liberation. (These were not random examples or exaggerations, they were from a conversation I had less than 24 hours ago in real life.)

SO MUCH of the queer community relies on sex-positivity/sex-neutrality and that genuinely does actually include aces. Sex-positivity/neutrality takes sex from being some All Important Arcane Sacred Ritual that is either Blessed or Evil into a natural activity that's part of life that many people choose to engage in or not engage in for a variety of reasons. It removes the "inherent significance" from it as well as the taboo. It removes ANY expectation, including the expectation that sex is necessary.

Anyway. I think that's all I have to say for now. I'm getting off my soap box.

Tune in next time for rant about how Ace Discourse primarily relies on cisheteronormativity and conflating sex-negativity for asexuality!

[cauqhtz]

Romantic Rant

Why is the romance so recycled today? It's like everyone sticks to one mold when it comes to romance in any capacity. Whether its in writing or on screen.

Unless its gay romance but we'll get into that later.

There are so many tropes that are collecting cobwebs. COMPLETELY untouched. Hell barely even explored.

So many interesting tropes I'm ITCHING to see.

Why are there no romance pieces about a mc villian. Who's a villian for the hell of it. Not because they need an excuse like childhood trauma but because they want to. and the love interest could be a hero or a bystander. An important one. Whether its in strength or connections.

And they fall in love with eachother. and the hero slowly converts to a villian. WITHOUT THE VILLIAN HAVING TO SEDUCE THEM OR COHOARSE THEM. THEY DO IT BECAUSE THEY LOVE THE VILLIAN SO MUCH. Okay.

Maybe they hide it from the villian. in fear that the villian would not love them anymore since they fell inlove with the hero side of them. but the villian finds out and reassures them that they care.

Like for example Black Fire and Connor from Titans 2018. It was blackfires (villian) dream and plan to go back to her home planet and be queen, but connor (hero) didnt want her to leave him after they'd just agreed to be a duo. So he sabotages her ship and only way back home.

She doesn't scold him or shows any hint at anger towards him. In fact she defends him against star fire who was pissed at what connor just did.

(When I say hero and villian I dont mean in the literal sense with capes and super powers. Just in general a good and bad guy.)

What about a reverse stalker trope? Kinda like the tv series YOU.

Except the mc is a sweetheart. Cries when they step on a bug types. Easy going and soft hearted. hard to please but when they are pleased. they fall hard and get obsessive. To which they admit to, though no one takes it seriously.

Love interest comes into the picture. They could be a complete nobody. A emo. Someone who's easily forgotten in a crowd. A weirdo that people tend to stray away from. been accused of murder but other than that actually pretty normal... other than the fact they've been stalking the MC and slowly inserting themselves into their lives.

They fall in love. Yada yada yada. eventually the LI finds out that the MC is connected to the murders the LI was originally accused of. So they question the MC and the MC not trying to hide it admits to everything. THe murders and eventually admitting to being the stalker and kind of manipulating the LI into thinking they were the stalker. etc etc. the MC goes onto saying it's too late to have second thoughts. it's me or death. etc

I feel like that'd be such an interesting romance show. From romantic to straight thriller.

Why are there like ZERO femdomxsubmale romances? And I'm not talking about sexually. Strictly domesticated. Like A fem character with a dominate personality dating a nerdy frail guy. Like erica and stiles.

Or Wednesday and the guy she kissed at the camp in the the addams family movie!

Or like jade and beck from victorious. (Jade was the toxic one and I dont want to here shit abt it fr.)

I literally have an original story about a queen pin x rookie cop.

Why is it that the majority of the straight romance stories with fem MC... Write them as the biggest damn red flag ever.

Why is she physically, mentally, and verbally assaulting the male love interest with the excuse of daddy issues...

This is another reason why I didnt like the enemys to lovers trope until i realize that the ones that i read werent written correctly.

This is another reason why I dont like tashiki from one piece. One of the first things she said to zoro was unbelievably offensive and unacceptable. Not to mention the fact that she likes to excuse her being WEAK because she's a woman and they are men. Talk about offensive.

I have so many on screen couples/movies/tv shows I want to talk to people about! Like:

Interview with the vampire THE SERIES. NOT THE DAMN MOVIE.

Shameless. Specifically Ian and Mickey bc they are the greatest written couple in history and the most healthy believe it or not.

And shit talk how toxic tami and lip were.

Red, White, & Royal Blue.

And literally so many more! Dm me!

[acourtofthought]

I'm so tired of the fact that FEYSANDS (!!!) want for Lucien to die or smth bad happens to him and never ends up with Elain... I mean I completely ignore E/riels for this bc its obvious why they want this to happen.

But Feysands who are mostly also Feyre stans would blame Lucien for the things that happened to her in Spring Court and that's it... they don't see what happened to him as well!! Like Feysand is my fav ship of all SJM couples but I still saw (and still see) Lucien and his situation, I don't want to get into details bc we've already been through it hundreds of times.

But if you can forgive Rhysand for his deeds why can't you forgive Lucien? Yes Rhysand had a reason for everything he did but also Lucien he's not the bad guy here lol he never was! They can put themselves in Rhysands place and listen to him telling his stroy from his point of view but they can't do that for Lucien. They don't even want to hear his story!!! And the little we know from his past everyone ignores it...

They're morally gray characters FFS you can't tell me you can forgive Rhys and can't do the same with Lucien wtf

For whatever reason I assumed that most of the Lucien hate stems from those who prefer E/riel rather than it being Feysands and Feysand alone (more like Feysands who also like E/riel).

But anyone accusing Lucien of this that or the other thing is a pot calling the kettle black situation. I love Rhys. I love Feyre. I even like Amren. Az is fine too even though he's an idiot right now when it comes to women. I did struggle a bit with Nesta because the constant disdain and verbal abuse were for selfish reasons. With Rhys's questionable actions, his reasons were multi layered. He did benefit from them, yes. But he was also trying to save their entire land and help Feyre. With Lucien it's more of the same. Of course every action (or inaction) had a note of self preservation, I'm guessing he didn't want to risk Tamlin's wrath considering he knows for a fact what Tamlin is capable of. But he also told Feyre that it was important to the land and it's people that they present a united front. That those people were struggling after being held captive for 50 years. He also realized Tamlin was struggling and not coping well. There were bigger things at play than one females depression (sad as that is it was the truth), and Lucien was never going to be able to do what was best for all the people who looked to him to do what needed done especially because of the conflicting interests. Back to Nesta, her vitriol and hatred were a protective mechanism for the hatred she had for herself and her father and as a result, Feyre (for doing what neither Nesta or her father would do) and while I do understand that, her reasons were pretty much 100% selfish and all about Nesta versus characters like Amren, Rhys, Lucien, etc. who, while having a small percentage of their own interests coming into play, often were looking out for the greater good and the bigger picture.

Lucien again... People are doing the reading equivalent of selective hearing if they can forgive every other character and move on from the mistakes they made but not Lucien.

The more responsibility someone has, the more difficult it is to do what's right for everyone and it's impossible to handle things in a way where it only really benefits one person when multiple people are looking for their needs to be met.

Sure, he could have done more for Feyre but.....would that really be fair if it meant Lucien himself would be physically assaulted? Would that be fair if it meant Lucien would be causing more distress for a High Lord who was going through his own PTSD while trying to help the land of Spring to recover after Amarantha? Would it be fair if by causing more issues for Tamlin, it meant the people of Spring would suffer? Whatever action Lucien took, he'd be bringing about struggles for someone. We're meant to empathize with Feyre because it's her story but when you stand back and actually look at what was important at that time, I have to say, it probably wasn't making the needs of a 19 year old who had only been in their world for a few months the priority over an entire court of people who had been tortured and forced to do unspeakable things for 50 years or even Tamlin struggling to get everything back up and running.

That doesn't mean I'm a Tamlin fan or anything or that his inability to control his temper was excusable, but I am saying the entire situation was impossible and the only reason Rhys was able to give Feyre what she needed is because Rhys's people were not rebuilding in quite the same way since he kept them hidden and he was her mate, therefore she was his priority.

And when ACOMAF ended, Feyre knew she had Lucien by the balls because she was using Elain as a pawn against him. She used Lucien in her revenge against Tamlin.

To me, that's actually a worse offense because again, Lucien struggled to help Feyre more because he was worried about the state of Spring, he wasn't purposely trying to hurt her. But Feyre actively chose to hurt him with her schemes.

Do I hate Feyre for it? No, I understand why things happened the way they did. But when people claim she was a better friend than he was I cringe because he never sought out to use her, he was actually worried for her throughout the series (even when he tried to "kidnap" her back to Spring, he legitimately thought Rhys had brainwashed her which is valid considering Rhys wanted people to believe those things about him, he was under the impression she was being tortured) though his hands were a bit tied.

[solardragun]

v7/v8 made me dislike ruby a lot but v9 made me really side with her. i've been in her shoes, with having to put on a strong happy face for everyone because their problems always seem to be bigger than mine.

but to see yang walk ahead of blake to shield her from ruby really broke me. like?? do you not know your own sister?? do you genuinely think she'd harm her own teammate??

blake doesn’t need protection, and it’s weird how yang tries to shield her like ruby is about to hurt her. i get bumbleby's whole thing is "we're protecting each other"

but that doesn't mean go and protect blake (who has shown she can hold her own in a verbal argument anyway) against your own sister, yang!

sorry for the rant, i just am in shock that this was written and executed this way with no one thinking of how ruby would feel from this. ruby was somehow more effected by jaune's rant (which, while valid, doesn't change the fact that jaune basically held a whole town hostage for 10-20 years) than by yang shielding blake.

i also grew to dislike ruby in v7 and 8 because of her hypocrisy (that got half addressed before dropped) and her attempt to talk down all the adults and take over before making situations way way worse. however i do agree that i also began to sympathize with her in volume 9, and it felt like her actions were finally being addressed while also showing that maybe she isn't suited to be the leader like she and everyone else thought.

the whole yang vs ruby thing angered me. i'm sorry, but YANG? the actual hothead who trashes clubs, assaults grown adults, destroys government property, charges into battle headfirst. that yang? meanwhile ruby is the kindest, sweetest person, who despite being socially anxious, tried her best to make friends and impress others. the kind, quirky girl who loves cool weapons and adores the adults in her life and wants desperately to be like the heroes in fairy tales?

yes, as I addressed, she started fumbling as the weight of the world finally started to get to them, she charged through situations half-baked, thinking she knew what was best because it's what everyone expects of her. but at her heart she's still a kind, simple soul who is meant to see the light in every situation, and yet the moment she started losing sight of that, wondering if she truly made mistakes, the friends that propped her up as the best leader and someone they looked up to, they let her fall.

yang, who grew up with her sister, who knows her inside and out. yang, who went into this FOR ruby, insisted she only took part to make sure her little sister was safe. that same yang turning against that said sister she fought so hard to find is astounding to me. her sister is falling apart at the seams, having panic attacks and an identity crisis and struggling with guilt and shame and the horrifying thought that she made the world worse and helped salem grow closer to victory. and yang instead steps up to defend blake.

ruby has never been a threat, not like this. ruby screaming and crying and having a reasonable and justified meltdown after everything she's been through should not be met with yang putting herself between her sister and girlfriend, nor should it have been brushed aside.

it bothers me because the show and fans insist adamantly that yang is the greatest big sister, but then say that yang doesn't have to always be there for ruby and that she's allowed to make time for blake. nobody said that yang wasn't allowed to spend time with blake, the issue was this. the issue was that yang sensed her own sister as a dangerous threat and stepped between her and blake as if ruby is the one with anger issues who flies off the handle and attacks anyone and anything with said anger. it's ridiculous.

yang sat there while her sister fell apart and did and said nothing beyond limp "are you okay?" the person who actually tried to be there for ruby was weiss, despite the flawed writing of her character. i'll give her credit there. but imagine your team partner trying to comfort you over your own sister who is too busy making googly eyes at her girlfriend or defending said girlfriend against you.

i didn't watch the last two episodes so i'm not gonna touch on that, but yang throughout this volume showed where exactly her priorities lie.

[canageek]

Okay this is going to be shorter because I immediately sat down to read Anthesteria. And I want to give it a write-up like I did Destroyer of Light, but there's a pro trans rights protest I want to visit in half an hour. Of all of @a-gnosis 's work this is my second favorite story, following the family party. Unfortunately as I recall that was sold out when I purchased these volumes.

I think her art has gotten a bit better at this point, I kept noticing small details that I don't normally notice, I'm a very verbal person so I usually it just pay attention to the writing, so I think the fact I kept noticing the art is a testament to the skill that was created with.

In particular something I've noticed for a long time is that I'm clearly able to interpret the facial expressions in her comics, which is often tricky for me due to my autism. But there's so many moments when I can clearly read characters faces in this volume and I absolutely love it, it really works well with the bold art style.

I seem to recall on her blog, and forgive me if I miss remembering this that she's sad this chapter wound up being more sexual than she was really comfortable writing, but I've got to say she did a very good job with it and I do think it adds a lot to the story while also being pretty damn hot, I mean the comic isn't Alfie or The Rock Cocks, but it's got some really good portrayals of sexuality and it's done in such a way that it really resonates with how I'm learning and exploring my queer sexuality over the last few years.

I would really love to hear someone who's demisexual's thoughts on this volume, because that's where I'm getting Hades view from, and I'd love to know if his depiction resonates with them as strongly as persephone's resonates with me. I mean I know she's straight but the way she expresses her sexuality and how much power it has over her it feels very familiar to me.

This has the same issues with the layout as the previous one, but the artist messaged me saying that she loved to improve it and it doesn't exist in the Swedish language edition, but someone else is doing the layout for these so she's not sure how to get it fixed. I do wish her best wishes and improving that for future printings, it must be really frustrating. I didn't actually find it to be quite as bad this time, I think the increased page count made it easier to hold open, and the cover has warped a little bit but not quite as severely.

There's probably more to say but I really need to get moving, just go buy it already.

Oh right the content warnings here would be incest, sexual assault, discussions of fertility and the expectations of women with regard to childbirth, mother/daughter conflict, and I guess snakes and insidious frogs?

[posts-for-when-im-high]

Tried redownloading Instagram recently and I have some thoughts....

I originally deleted it because of the endless void of pointless, time-wasting, brain-rotting Reels. I finally realized it was actively harming my (admittedly, already terrible) mental health. It's the same reason I don't have, and never will have Tik Tok. If I have endless content to scroll through in my free time, I'm going to. I'm bored easily and full of Mental Illness™️. Yes Tumblr is my home and I have dedicated far more years to this hellsite (affectionate) than any human should. Look at the way I type, for fuck's sake. But I have curated this hellsite over the span of quite a few years to cater to me: Blacklisting/filtering tags and content I don't want to see. Unfollowing and blocking people LIBERALLY, and without the burden of knowing them in real life. Only following juuuust enough blogs to make it so I can scroll and catch up to where I had last left off without wasting too much time. There is no """"algorithm"""" to speak of.

In less than an hour, I had inadvertently turned my Instagram "Explore" page into an infinite, hate-spewing, emotionally distressing flood of Reels.

It started off innocently enough. I was watching a video of a woman with a service dog listening to a mother teach her young daughter about why she couldn't pet the dog ("he's working, sweetie; his vest says 'Please Don't Touch'"). Then it started showing me videos of some not-as-friendly people interacting with service dogs; harassing, petting, disregarding the owner's pleas and nervous explanations about why their dog can't be distracted on duty. This progressed further, to videos of "Emotional Support Animals" who were CLEARLY not trained in any professional capacity, barking at/attacking actual service dogs. And if this wasn't upsetting enough, the videos then began to depict rude strangers harassing people in public about anything and everything. In roughly 43 minutes, I had a brand new, clean-slate algorithm actually PROMOTE TO ME a video of a self-titled TERF verbally assaulting a trans woman in a restaurant.

Many people have said it before me in a far more eloquent manner than my current brain can muster, but this is why people are able to transition so quickly into hateful individuals. It is APPALLING how little time it took for me to want to throw my whole phone in the garbage. I've worked so hard to truly curate my online experience into something I enjoy, and can handle on a regular basis. I tell everyone I know: "Use the Block button FREELY!!!! Filter out content you don't like!!! Blacklist tags you don't want to see, even if it's because you don't like spoilers, or you don't know your mutual's current hyperfixation Blorbo of the Week!!!" It should be NATURAL and EASY to unfollow content you aren't comfortable with! Even if I erase my history on Instagram, or delete and then redownload the app, it doesn't mean this won't happen again!! It happens all the time, all around the world, to the MILLIONS of people using Instagram, or Tik Tok, or Twitter, or ANY social media site without proper community guidelines.

It makes me really upset to think about how easy it is to turn someone into a cruel, uncaring person, and how hard it is to turn them towards kindness instead.

[bolshefem]

The logic that saying that women are adult human females is reducing women to their bodies is honestly ludicrous. Females are full humans and people just like males, with values, interests, intellects, internal lives. They are not just bodies. A female body does not determine women as people. Saying that women are human females does not mean “saying that all women are”/“reducing women to” “a vagina with tits” “just uteruses/baby-makers” “walking fleshlights.” These are all verbatim things I have seen in response to the “adult human female” 2/3 are on my blog. If that is what a female is to you, someone whose only purpose is making babies or being a sex toy, that is revolting. When I say a woman is a female I make no claim about who she is or her personhood. In fact, it is the only definition that separates women entirely from patriarchal expectations from them, does not define them by their femininity and their adherence to their oppression. Femaleness has no innate relationship to who you are, who you can be, or your role and purpose as a person — it is entirely patriarchally imposed. And is defining a lesbian as a homosexual woman reducing lesbians to their sexuality? Is defining an AFAB person as a person that is biologically female reducing them to their sex?

"Now, about defining woman as a person, I'll phrase it as such "a person identified as being of the gender woman". This might be a bit strange of a way to express myself, but the important part is there. Woman is a social concept, if a man is perceived by everyone as a woman, for that social interaction, he'll be treated as a woman, I'm including, deliberately, this in my definition." This means all non-passing MtFs are men and all non-passing FtMs are women. Do you believe this? I don't necessarily dislike this definition, in specific interactional contexts I think perception is crucial. Female oppression is sex-based, however, if someone is identified as of the female sex, regardless of biology, they can experience it. However, sex-exclusive facets of oppression outside of even physical presentation, such as medical + reproductive oppression, socialization* are extremely important. Socialization, for example, has massive empirical effects from an extremely young age, girls are traumatized, they are trained in submission, self-sacrifice, passivity, they are trained to be quiet, not vocal, not aggressive, they are trained to allow people to violate and abuse them, their inferiority is instilled in them, they are trained to view themselves as weak and stupid (see MHFH problem*), they are trained that their only value is their beauty. Sexual abuse is also extremely sexed. Even after bottom surgery, transexual biological males retain at or above male statistical levels of committing violence and sex crimes. (Dhejne et. all, Ministry of Justice statistics every year since at least 2018, haven't looked farther, Biggs.)(AFAB trans or nonbinary people on the other hand face enormous levels of sexual assault and abuse). I don't and never have pretended that fully passing transsexuals are not socially perceived as men and women, although they objectively do not have the same lived experiences. I'm generally okay with this definition in a lot of contexts. Let me point out that this is also based on "bodies" / physical appearances You seem to recognize that defining “womanhood” by patriarchal conceptions of “femininity” is misogynistic, degrading, and oppressive, but you go in verbal/rhetorical circles around this without actually making it clear what you are saying. Are you saying that womanhood isn't actually defined by femininity? (which I agree with) A reversion on your earlier take, but what is it then? How can you be innately a woman if it is defined as being perceived as a woman (as you said earlier). Correct me if I misunderstand you on paragraph 1, I apologize if I did.

*happy to point anyone to some studies because the effects of socialization are genuinely startling *(this pattern of sex differences in self-estimated intelligence is so universally found across different samples, ages, ethnicities and cultures that it has been termed the male hubris, female humility (MHFH) problem))

Serious request for trans rights activists

I will rescind my critiques of gender ideology immediately if you can define “woman” for me without defining it by the word “woman” (tautology) or without basing it on misogynistic stereotypes constructed for the domination of women

I doubt anyone is going to take me up on this but worth a try.

[mswyrr]

#the bear*#you're right!#its been said to death but the thing that irks me about richie#is that he always falls back on the “uwu im the working class loyalist underdog and you yuppies are being mean to me”#its so gd annoying because that just how a lot of older white men ive met act#like someone on here said carmy and sydney have a tendency take the low road with him#during arguments amd honestly yeah! they deserve to! because either way hes going to act like the victim#anywhoodles i do enjoy richie as the king asshole amongst the asshole crew

@catgoesmeuh

Yeah, no - he's a good character narratively and psychologically. But half of his screen time should belong to Nat imo and that annoys me the more I write her. The character and actress deserve more. And he has that -- constant pose of being aggrieved and so wronged that you mention here that grates. And yeah - Syd and Carm will strike back hard eventually, but only after Richie had physically assaulted (Carm) and verbally degraded (Carm & Syd) them for weeks as well as specifically sexually harassing and degrading Syd.

But - isn't it people who feel like the biggest victims who are often unaware about what bullies they can be? Like, psychologically he makes sense.

And he has grown as a person. (Though I find it hilarious when people say he's a "better man" than Carm or "more of a man" when all of Richie's growth is due to Carm looking out for him and being patient with his bullshit until he can take the opportunity Carm used his connections to get for Richie to grow. Like.... sometimes the way people talk it just seems like they think he's "more of a man" because his mental health issues aren't as obvious as Carmy's symptoms and it annoys me a lot). I'm not trying to make him a villain; he's not. And I was rewatching his scenes to write him better when he pops up in Lucky. I was watching him with Donna specifically to work out exactly what is going on there - *does* he know what it's like to be one of her kids? And the conclusion I came to is that he doesn't. He has no gd clue what it's like for her actual kids when they're alone with her. I want to be able to write him well. But that's just the text of the story imo.

He is "good with people" from the point of view of someone clinically ill in ways that have left him extremely socially stunted (lol) -- but he's actually lacking in insight in into other people in some pretty deep ways, warped by his own yawning emotional needs and biases.

rewatching 2x06 and noticing how richie flirts with donna–up to the point of “tickling” her–and he thinks he understands what relating to her is like for her sons. he thinks the things he’s done for her in anyway resemble the experience of being one of her kids lolololololol this fuckin nimrod

you’re an attractive younger man flirting with her – she is not going to behave toward you the way she does with her kids??? are u clueless???