#PEOPLE WHO AREN'T KNOWN FOR BEING SEXIST

[volixia669]

So apparently twitter folks are doing a, “Sell Snyderverse to Netflix” thing and 1. I’m begging people to understand how corporate IP works and 2. I’m begging fans of Superhero movies to watch more films.

I say this as someone who enjoys comics, superheroes, and even some of the films btw. In fact, it’s because I love these characters and worlds so much that I’m just kinda in disbelief there’s so much hype for Snyder’s work. (Not to say I agree with how whats his face is taking DC either, but that’s a different matter)

But right, first, corporate IP.

Zack Snyder was a director who had various ideas for how a DC film verse could work, as DC/Warner Brothers was trying to copy the success Marvel had with the MCU. He does not own the characters within that verse. He can play with them, and people can identify the characters as Snyder’s take on them, but he does not own them, or the movies he made. DC/Warner Brothers does.

Now, could they sell the rights to Snyder’s take on the verse to Netflix? Eh? It’s complicated. Primarily because it requires differentiating Snyder’s version of the characters from what DC owns, and that brings into question if DC owns the takes that other writers have done, and it’s a whole mess and a half.

That said, they could potentially license the characters to Netflix, and Snyder could make films that way. However, given how DC didn’t want to give Neil Gaiman John Constantine for Sandman, a character Gaiman HAS written for btw, because of a seemingly now canned live action show, that seems HIGHLY unlikely.

Also, none of this makes sense for either Netflix or DC/WarnerBrothers/HBO. Netflix is just asking to lose money with all their “reducing password sharing” nonsense, and while they’ve spent a good chunk of money on other IP, the cost to license the fucking Justice League would be astronomical.  And they’re definitely not going to sell the rights to their blockbuster movies to Netflix. Turn them into tax write offs? Sure. Nix them from streaming platforms? Absolutely. But sell the rights to something that would also include toy & other merchandise sales? Never.

And now the second, extremely inflammatory, point.

Please watch more movies.

And this isn’t me being pretentious. I’m not even saying it has to be good movies. I love a good Rifftrax myself, and I regularly watch random scifi schlock I find on Hulu or whatever.

But like, the more you broaden your horizons, the more film you consume, the better you’ll be able to recognize certain tropes, understand certain styles, and may even find there are films you enjoy outside of the mega franchises.

Personally I find Zack Snyder movies to be fairly...mid. They’re flashy, sure, and can have decent moments. But his takes on the DC characters just...don’t even feel like the characters to me, which is a failing in itself, and overall, his use of lighting, CGI, and pacing are meh.

His films are popcorn films, and that’s fine. But by watching a wide variety of films, both popcorn & deeply innovating, it’s easier to understand where the flaws are. It’s also easier to appreciate films by other, smaller, studios and directors who don’t have the budgets he does.

Because y’know what? This megamonopoly corporate monster that has consumed the film industry is stifling creativity. It favors bland, mediocre, by the book films, while directors of marginalized genders, races, and/or sexualities are left by the wayside unless they manage to come into some once in a lifetime opportunity. So many stories are being ignored as corporations believe they won’t make a profit.

So maybe instead of demanding Snyder get a fifth chance to make more DC films, demand more funding be given to indie film studios. Demand to hear more from marginalized people. Demand these streaming platforms stop removing items in a bid to avoid paying residuals, and demand there be better protections for those working on their content.

And yes. Watch more films.

[medusa-fem]

Not all trans women are innocent bystanders to the patriarchy

My trans girlfriend from highschool used to complain that I didn't want to sleep with her because "I didn't see her as a real woman". This was a coercion tactic, used against me as a traumatized female who simply did not want to have sex often.

Another trans woman I knew adamantly defended lolicon, stating that "they aren't real kids". Of course I later found out she got off to "legal loli"

Same trans woman as before adamantly defended the movie cuties. Did not give two shits about the exploitation of young girls. Even said that bullying maps online was wrong because "pedophiles need support to not act on their urges"

I have also had a run in with a male who clearly did not even care to be a woman, simply called himself one as a sissy to get a pass to get closer to female people. Absolute fucking freak. Abusive towards a younger female coworker using sexist slurs, kept touching me when I explicitly said to stop and said I lead him on after getting kicked out of my home, even used his fake label to try to get head from a trans woman he had known for 3 days who showed no interest.

I knew a trans woman who kept dating people younger than her. Saw a freshly 18 trans girl as a 23 year old. Consistently talked about how immature she was, which makes it clear to me she knew the power dynamic.

I had a trans woman I was hanging out with get permission from the other trans woman in the room to strip down to nothing, but did not ask me if I was comfortable with it. Then asked me if I wanted to see her botched circumcision scar. (I had only met her twice prior).

I had a trans woman use love bombing to manipulate me into jumping into a relationship with her. Once I realized how manipulative and mentally unwell she was I was going to break up with her. As soon as she figured out she drove to my house drunk to "get her things". She screamed at me and kept balling up her fist like she was going to punch me while I sobbed. I texted all of my nearby friends that if I didn't text them by x time the next day to call the cops, because I thought she was going to assault me.

I know of a trans woman in the area who was a friend of a trans man for about 6 months. He described them as something close to platonic soul mates. She raped him when he was too intoxicated to speak.

I knew a trans woman who would fully strip at any given opportunity while hanging out with a group of friends. Everyone was uncomfortable.

An abusive "friend" of mine from highschool began labeling himself nonbinary to sleep with traumatized trans men and nonbinary afab people who did not want to date men. He didn't do anything but use the label. He falsely accused me of rape because I began telling people about his abuse. He made comments about trying to get a trans male partner pregnant to trap him. Last I heard of him he was trying to sleep with my trans man friend, being extremely coercive, while I had to tell him to get the fuck out of there so he wouldn't get raped.

This isn't even all of it. I know some radfems who do not associate at all with the trans community may not realize it, but this is common place for trans men and nonbinary afabs. I have faced so much at the hands of trans women who were not held accountable for their behavior because no one wanted to hurt the reputation of trans women as a whole.

The concerns about bathrooms don't strike a cord because the trans community doesn't see it happen, that is actually rare. Please use the stories of the regular victims of trans women's actions, because these are stories I hope the lgbt community can take seriously. I'm not saying trans women as a whole are "men" or "just faking it", I'm saying they need to be held accountable just like other male individuals who harm female people.

[brucewaynehater101]

I miss the feeling I had when I first joined this fandom, I knew virtually nothing so everything was correct and I loved everything, even if that stuff just isn’t true, i was like

Bruce is a bit emotionally constipated but loves his kids? Hell yeah sounds legit

dick is a silly happy flippy man who is a bit promiscuous? Love that for him

Jason is a mega feminist literature nerd who is also buff and takes care of the street kids? Perfect man honest

Tim is a nerd who never sleeps and is queer and has never known the touch of a man nor woman? Sweet

Steph is waffle obsessed goofball? Well I prefer pancakes but right on

Cass is a mute badass who loves her fam? I love her

Duke is a normal dude? Well someone has to be and he seems neat

Alfred can do no wrong? Aight, I love old perfect tea men

Damian is a little prick? So are all middle schoolers give him time

But then I had to go learn about the characters and now I have complex opinions about them, and can see the inherent racism and sexism in how they are portrayed

You know before I joined the bat fandom I did not use the exclude tag in ao3? Like tmnt and dp have some bad stuff but usually I could just scroll past.

but now I am having to avoid fics where whole ass adults are bullying and/or oversexulizing a child

Im constantly on the look out for untagged batcwst

I struggle to find fics that don’t describe dicks ass

I have been in this fandom for probably about two years now and y’all I swear

sorry for ranting, and don’t worry I love all your stuff and I know the just back click don’t leave mean comments rule

I’m just tried bc most of the stuff I thought was true turned out to be false

Mm. I do find it a little exhausting trying to navigate the lines of what's canon, what shouldn't be canon (but is due to racism/sexism/homophobia/etc.), and just having fun.

I'm also trying to cultivate the mindset of what I've seen on Tumblr about not policing other people's ships/ideas. I am highly uncomfortable with some (particularly underaged people and adults dating), but I'm also not leaving hate comments. Like you said, the backspace exists for a reason.

Idk. There's a toooon of takes/ideas about the batfam that are inherently false, but as long as they aren't racist/sexist/etc takes, I don't see the harm in them. So what if someone wants a coffee obsessed Tim? So what if Jason's kill code is very strict? As long as they don't claim it's canon, let them be

But yeah. I have a mile long exclude list for fics on AO3. I used to use it only for triggers (I can not do stockhold syndrome, my lords), but now it's got other weird ass shit I've stumbled upon (I saw a fic where the batkids were spanked as punishment??? Like I said, not gonna leave hate comments or single anyone out. Just not my cup of tea).

I also am usually not a fan of romance/sex. It's why the batfam intrigued me so much (found families usually don't have that in it). I like exploring dynamics outside of romance and thus love the batfam. They've got so much going on that romance/sex is not needed. They are such a mess without that dynamic being added (talking about the Bats getting with a third party, but, again, trying not to yuck anyone's yum).

However, I agree. There's a ton of misinformation within fandom. I like how complex canon gets with the characters, but there's also widely different takes with them (mostly talking about Bruce here. He can either be trying or just a straight up horrible dad).

[sysmedsaresexist]

To the anon asking about my username...

There's a bit of confusion here, I'm going to answer many of your questions but I may not post the ask itself, hopefully it'll make sense :)

When I started my blog I was heavily anti endo and I specifically posted bad pro/endo takes, debunking or just laughing. To this day, most of it is still pretty hilarious. I wasn't focused on cringe, but totally crazy, out there claims that made zero sense and were flat out wrong. Check out my tags #shit endos say, #shit singlets say, and my newest tag, #shit anti endos say, I hope you have a laugh at a couple of them.

In my pinned post, you'll see the thing that started it all. A pro endo saying that sysmeds are sexist.

I would also like to know how they came to that conclusion. I'm right there with you. Also like you, I still have many issues with the pro/endo community. I believe CDDs are trauma based disorders. I post research pretty much weekly about it (check out #debunk and #research). I think endogenic plurality and CDDs are completely different things.

And you know what, my pro endo friends support me. We're all learning. I'm kind with my opinion, I'm open to talking about it, we debate, we share resources, we change our views and adjust based on new info.

This blog corrects misinformation from both sides, now. Some of it is worse than others. Antis can and do spread just as much misinformation as pro/endos.

What I would encourage you to do is start with the multiple selves theory. It actually developed right alongside Freud's theories on hysteria (which included early versions of CDDs at the time), and if Freud hadn't been such a perv, it might actually be much more well-known. It's a nonpathological theory on consciousness and philosophy. People have been describing this phenomenon for a very long time, "endogenic" is just the newest term for it. Here's a couple examples.

2015 - at any given moment in time, one or another of our subselves is in control and determines how we think and act.

1987

2012 - this one has so many links to other people talking about this theory

2023 - These results suggest that the normative principles by which agents have adapted to complex changing environments may also explain why humans have long been described as consisting of “multiple selves.”

2020

2010

Like I said, though, you can find this stuff as far back as the 50s with ease, anything older might take a bit more digging, but it's not a small or new theory.

I think an overlap in language has created a lot of confusion, but it's really not out of the realm of possibility for people to be more in tune with these parts of themselves. It's been documented for over a century outside of psychology, in other areas of research-- anthropology, philosophy.

I'm going to be honest, I don't think a single one of the headmate sale blogs are real. I think they're antis trying to start shit. Like maybe one out of every ten is actually someone misguided behind the screen.

Even CDD systems still incorrectly believe in core theory, endogenics picked it up from us and don't know any better. System resets aren't real, but there are real experiences that can FEEL like a reset-- try being patient and educating people. Ignore the others, because some people just can't be helped, and you're better off spending your time spreading good, accurate posts than arguing with people who don't want to learn anything.

I forget what I was saying.

Anyways, I'm a pro endo sysmed.

I hope you'll stick around and see what's going on.

[racketballz]

Hope u don't mind another perspective about the spit scene, but I actually saw the reddit comment that kickstarted this discussion. It was a deeply annoying argument (that was left on a post about aku/bloss of all things??) to the point I actually left a long reply before thinking better of it n just deleting and blocking

Just for reference, in response to someone disagreeing, they asserted something along the lines of "He's still holding her down and violating her using fluid from his body, it's WEIRD that you're ignoring that just to ship them" and that level of stretching words just. Did not signal a productive conversation to come

I really feel like people want to overcorrect for the early portrayal of the boys by the fandom (made up of mostly children, who obviously would not have known how to write a character) by like... treating them as adult men almost? It's super weird because they always end up using extremely specific, modern types of adult misogynist (like cryptobros or Andrew Tate) to illustrate their point regardless of how little sense it makes for their canon personalities

I also think people conveniently forget what kind of show they're watching sometimes because PPG is still like, a kid's cartoon where the MC's have superpowers. Everything the girls do are normal kid activities cranked to 11 because they're superhuman, and when I look at it from that lens then the boys' episodes really don't strike me as very sinister largely bc they're all just kids on an even playing field (obviously the dynamic was really lopsided for most of TBABIT, but even then I mean. We already discussed how the girls retaliated)

Idk maybe I'm biased but it's kind of obvious that the boys are super archetypal snot-nosed, sexist brats and ime, characters like that pretty much always grew out of it. Like if the girls could destroy the entire town for no good reason more than once, Harry Pitt could pull what he did in the cooties episode, and Mitch could torture a hamster without being considered monsters for it, then realistically there's ample hope left for the RRB (and even if there wasn't, I don't think just projecting the worst guy anyone has ever met onto them is guaranteed to fit their characters, but I digress)

Also to be real I don't think people take the boys' actions as seriously as they make it sound a lot of the time. Like if we're going by their logic, then it should also be questionable to portray them as friends or close siblings to the girls, but I've never seen pushback against this idea off the basis that the boys have hurt them too badly in the past. It's pretty much always leveraged against ship content, which makes me think concern about the boys' characters aren't what's actually driving this criticism, but that's just me

1000000% brother this is not my first rodeo I had a feeling thats what was happening. To demonize a ship to uplift their own favorite ship people will pull out anything and everything to misconstrue the shows intention

[femsolid]

So the french police killed a teenage boy during a traffic stop. They asked for his identification papers and he refused to give it to them. They shot him in the head and he died on the spot. They later claimed that he was charging at them when they shot him, but someone recorded the scene on their phone and it showed no such thing.

This caused a lot of upset, especially in all the "sensitive" neighbourhoods where they pile the poorest people, typically people of colour, and where the police is known to be harassing and assaulting people a lot. Men and boys manifested their anger by rioting, burning cars and garbage bins or destroying and looting shops all around France. It isn't very smart as they are typically destroying their own neighbourhoods or their neighbours' property, who are just as poor as them. And who comes when that happens? The police.

The french police has built quite the reputation during the yellow vest protests, it's notorious for being the most violent, racist and sexist police in Europe. They typically use rubber bullets against protestors which are still dangerous weapons: they aren't supposed to be used at close range nor to be aimed at the head and obviously shouldn't be used on people who pose no threat. That's not what the police does with it of course, during the yellow vest protests we used to count how many people were loosing their eyes, some had their hands ripped off, and there were countless videos of policemen aiming at random protestors who weren't doing anything, and aiming at close range too. So what happened next should come as no surprise.

During the night of the riots a young man was shot in the thorax and died. Another lost an eye. More than 30 people have registered a complaint to the police of the police (not very efficient, as we've come to understand) for assault and injuries caused by the police during that night. But one specific case shocked the nation, that of a young man who was just passing by and was assaulted by the police, who didn't ask for any sort of identification and left him for dead. They took him to a back alley and beat him senseless, broke his jaw and shot him in the head. He lost a part of his head, literally, it had to be removed. He's now blind from one eye. They did this to a young woman during the yellow vest protests as well. She also was not a protester and was just passing by. In both cases the police is not looking to make an arrest, they are lashing out, like a rogue militia, and leaving the person for dead. It's up to us, the civilians, to help the dying person and call for an ambulance. The person is left with permanent disabilities and trauma. In fact, in recent years a lot of people have developped trauma reactions towards the police, some were first time protesters, peacefully marching on a sunday afternoon and did not expect to be charged by a mob of policemen, to be insulted, gased and shot at. The population's trust in the police has plumeted.

But in this case, one of the policemen involved in the assault was identified and is currently in jail pending investigation. As a result, the police, nationwide, is going on a strike. Yes, apparently when one of them is temporarily jailed for an obvious and extremely violent crime, they get outraged. Their unions called for a strike to show their support to their incarcerated colleague. Policemen support each others as they commit crimes, publicly, with the director of the police saying that a policeman's place is not in jail if he hasn't be trialed yet. Since policemen are not allowed to go on strikes, not legally, they went to the doctor and asked to be put on sick leave. It's not really a strike if you're still getting paid but they aren't used to protesting so we'll excuse them, maybe shoot them in the face to show them how it works? The police unions are asking the government to create a special status for police officers preventing them from being jailed while they are investigated for crimes committed while on duty. I guess they really think the law shouldn't apply to them. They also ask that policemen become anonymous, impossible to identify. Make it more obvious why don't you?

All the french racists are in full support of the police right now, saying that, yes, shooting "thugs" is totally acceptable (thug = arab = french guy with north african parents or grandparents). Someone on twitter counted how many men with arab names had been participating in the riots and thought he was making a point against immigration. But the fact that it's mostly black and brown people who are poor and live in ghettos says more about France than about "arabs".

Anyway that's the state of things in my country.

[whateverimcurrentlyobsessedwith]

ABO!au

Suryong is an omega in both lifetimes. But, of course, Suryong isn't your typical omega.

The stereo type omega smell sweet and is very docile. Suryong on the other hand does not smell sweet and is not afraid to pick fights with alphas.

Due to his atypical behavior there are a lot of misunderstandings. After all, suryong is a rude alpha that can't control his instincts to fight with other alphas that seems slightly threatening to him.

And then he goes into heat. Now I imagine heats aren't that bad in the dirty factor till their mated, just fucked up hormones and pheromones.

He has tried asking multiple times on the procedures around heats with teachers but has been shut down repeatedly 'because why should an alpha like you get to know that?' Not to his face of course, but it does leave him very confused and frustrated. So when he wakes up in heat he resignes himself to going to work in heat.

His students however are aware of his omega status. Getting a whole lecture about the importance of nutrition after forgetting breakfast ones(1) will do that. When they noticed their teacher was in heat they could anticipate the chaos about to unfuld at the academy and made their way to school as fast as possible.

At the academy Suryong had met up with his grandfather who sadly couldn't say he was to surprised to see his grandson come to work in heat. He knew most thought he was an alpha, mostly because they were prejudiced so he had to admit he was looking forward to those sexists get punched in the face.

He was however aware of his grandson's beauty and the effect his pheromones would have in some alphas. He knew Suryong could handle himself but he would keep an eye out just in case. This resolve was strengthened by Suryong complaining about being harassed on the way here as if it were an inconvenience that happened to take place multiple times in a row.

At lunch Suryong is fed up with all the stater he's getting. When he complains about it, his friends inform him that most including them thought he was an alpha at first. Yeonho knew he was an omega but that's because they traveled together for a while and received a death glare when he suggested they take a one bedroom at the inn. Back to the current situation.

Suryong stares at them for a few seconds and then yells 'WHAT MADE YOU THINK I WAS AN ALPHA?!?' They don't know how to reply to that without sounding incredible rude and sexist. It is one of the other teachers who answers.

'You don't exactly act like an omega.'

Suryong looks at them with an eerie smile that doesn't reach his eyes. 'And how should an omega act'.

When the other teacher is about to reply when in principle intervenes. He apologizes to Suryong for the misconception and offers Suryong to stay home during his heat. But Suryong being a petty bitch in heat refuses. So now the azure dragon academy gets to deal with a Suryong high on heat hormones.

Meanwhile, Namgoong Su is avoiding Suryong like the plaque. He had known for a while that Suryong was on omega. Mainly because his alpha side wouldn't shut up about a worthy mate. He does not know why he does that, Suryong is one of the most infuriating people he ever had the displeasure of meeting.

Stilll, no matter how hard he tries, instincts rarely listen to reason. He can ignore it most times but now Suryong is in heat and at work every single day. His instincts getting hard to control when he catches even the faintest traces of that hypnotizing scent.

He's sure he isn't the only alpha effected. After all, suryong looks like he came straight out of a painting, no that would still be an understatement.

He looks like a god of beauty come down from the heavens. He's like a glass crystal so beautiful yet so fragile, except it's not glass it's diamond, a crystal so strong yet beautiful and clear it could pass as glass. Only this crystal is unbreakable. His every movement flowing like water yet able to strike any time. And his scent so mesmerizing he couldn't place it even if he tried it's as if Suryong's scent itself represents deathly beauty. It is as if-

Okay what the fuck alpha brain. Why is he suddenly being so poetic. He had hoped his alpha would eventually calm down and get over it but it seems Suryong's heat had intensified it instead. So he avoids him best he can but it is kinda hard with the way Suryong's acting.

The next month is filled out with Suryong being overly dramatic, death glaring anyone who doesn't take care of themselves, trying to castrate anyone who tries to touch him, dragging his grandfather into his nest to snuggle(he knows Suryong can't control it so he let's him be) when his father arrives a few days later he alternates between the two. Maybe next year he'll drag his students in too but but this heat it'll just be his direct family.

When his heat is over the whole academy briefs a sigh of relief. Suryong is not sorry for anything although. He does however want confront Su on why he had been avoiding him so relentlessly....

[a-cloud-for-dreams]

If people could hate on Lane and Lou, they could do the same to Devi too. I wonder why if the MC weren't like Vicky/Agatha/Laia personality-wise, why some fans would hate them? Saying Lou is too masculine and Lane is b-word. I'm replaying PSI and HSR back-to-back just to make sure I didn't miss anything because I thought they have feelings?? They just don't tend to show it?

You're right anon! Everyone has the equal potential to hate on any of the MCs, which makes it clearer when certain MCs are hated more than the others because it implies there's a collective underlying aspect of their character that fans view as unlikable. Of course, the answer is just plain misogyny but here is my guess as to what's going on internally.

Two main things (that definitely go hand in hand) I've noticed people want from a female MC is for them to be nice (very vague I know but just an overarching word including selflessness, caring for others, vulnerable with their emotions, etc.) and feminine. They can't be too much of either of those things or they're deemed too weak (that's a whole other discussion). The MCs have to be layered and complicated but to them, if they do not include the two aforementioned traits somewhere than they are "unlikable" or "too masculine."

Vicky, Agatha, and Laia can be described as feminine MCs (based on their wardrobe and how they're described in their books) who are known for being kind and putting others before themselves (Agatha can be more morally gray from what I've heard but y'know). Lane can be described as feminine (serving cunt in Siberia like a queen 💅🏽) but the reader doesn't have access to her emotions like they do with other female MCs even though that's an intentional part of how she's written??! My guess is that because society expects women to act a certain way, when women or female characters in this case deviate from the norm, it's seen as ~unsettling~ or unpredictable. And some fans don't like that.

Lou unfortunately has the more obvious answer. I will be honest and say I know less about PSI than I wish but based on those other confessions I read, people think she's "masculine" because she's more of a tomboy and because she has traits most people associate as masculine (assertive, ambitious, not depending on another man, less emotional/more rational). On the surface, she doesn't fit into the traits I mentioned earlier and ig fans don't like that and ignore the rest of her character 😭😭 Maybe they're the reason why one of the endings makes Lou have a kid, like a last-ditch effort to "compensate" for how drastically different she already was in comparison to other female MCs idk.

Going back to the first thing you mentioned. Devi is both feminine and is clearly written as someone with noble intentions who cares about the fate of other people. Sure, she might have been somewhat reckless when younger, but we can see where she's coming from given her backstory (something we don't have with Lane and something people ignore for Lou because wawawa she's not talking about her feelings all the time as if there aren't bigger things happening in the plot).

I do want to conclude by saying you're not sexist just because you don't like a certain female character and you're not exempted from being sexist just because you like a female character. That's surface level talk and gets us nowhere. I'm just saying that if you notice you inexplicably dislike a female character(s), I implore you to dig deeper to find out the why.

TDLR: you didn't miss anything when rereading those books (I can speak for HSR more than for PSI) people just don't like female characters they can't fit into a box. Also, if you made it this far, ilysm <33

[sexhaver]

Howdy friend! I feel like that meme with doctor eggman that just walked in on rouge and shadow having a spirited discussion on something I have no pretext about. But it sounds important and I do wanna educate myself if there's a lacking somewhere, genuinely. From what I understood from scrolling down to a screenshot poll and other screens, it's trying to figure out if people are automatically taking frat boys (the classic stereotype kind, btw, genuinely players) in good faith by queer-ifying them because they have been fortunately unfortunate enough to not have the life experience of being used by this type of person that will take their good faith and hurt them?

Because I do think that there *could* be a cishet aro man out there, if it's defined very explicitly as: a man (born with a penis and identifies as he/him) and likes women (including trans women) and is aromantic. Face value wise, that is.

Because the question wasn't if the hypothetical man was superstraight (and don't count trans people at all) or just pussy-seeking (i.e. looking to have sex with ciswomen and trans men who haven't had bottom surgery, is explicitly Not transphobic). Or if this hypothetical man wasn't also, say, a "friend" met at a party/tinder/hookup/through mutuals/etc that is really just an acquaintance with little of substance genuinely known...or if this man was actually what one would consider a genuine friend. Or if this hypothetical man was poly (and/or if you were poly honestly, this feels like this is being framed in a mono mindset, which is okay! But poly adds extra details to account for). Also if he was out as aro.

The point is, I am aware of cheating. I am aware of using terms to get around cheating. Or trying to justify it. But aromantizim by itself isn't cheating. Poly by itself isn't cheating. FwB by itself, or hooking up by itself, or sex work by itself, isn't cheating- if there is informed consent on both sides with all affected parties, which includes all other partners. Wanting to sleep around isn't a crime, regardless of who or where or what gender.

I know there's plenty of men that aren't allies, that are homophobic or transphobic or sexist, but that wasn't the question. You aren't making that distinction or posing a scenario, just a screenshot without any added distinction other that the consent (after it was asked for by voters). It's taking the assumption that practicing genuine safe sex ( not that bullshit abstinence thing schools and "god fearing Christians" teach), is limited to only cishetero men... And not something to practice with everyone.

It shouldn't matter my gender or background or beliefs or sexuality, since these are simply opinions and all opinions come with grains of salt, but I know if I don't add context of me being the one giving these opinions, I'll be discredited.

I'm a cis-women (so very petrifiyingly aware of that Fear/wariness of being approached at night by strangers, or followed. I don't like ANYONE strange coming up to me, regardless of gender, a woman can stab me as much as a man can rape me, but I feel like I know the mindset extreme examples being presented here so there were go).

I'm demi-omnisexualromantic. Everyone's free game once I get to know them on a genuine emotional level. We HAVE to be besties (or we have to never ever see each other again if I'm gonna sleep with you and you're not a friend, oh gOD WHAT IF I FART OR THEY'RE A SERIAL KILLER OH GOD).

I'm poly. The first thing is with my girlfriend and our paramour, since we are the "oringal polycule" is had a sit down discussion about what we agreed upon what being in a relationship is like (we happen to be romantically and sexually attracted to each other btw). It was Poly from the start and Open from the start. We are all okay and open to each other going out to bdsm clubs or kink parties or sleeping around, or if asking out cute people..... BUT we have to ask permission/inform the other partners in our polycule. There's nothing to hide and they consent. They can say no, and that's okay!! Because then!! We can have an open and honest discussion as to why (lonely, conflicting plans, insecurity, safety worries, etc). Also also, anyone new that's meant to become a fwb or a pet needs to know about and meet our polycule, and it's a one-no situation here. If *anyone* is uncomfortable, nothing goes forward.

Sex is nice, sex is great if you're a freak like me and into that sorta thing; and sexual safety awareness and stranger danger awareness and informed consent awareness is MAJORLY IMPORTANT AND CRITICAL AND EVERYONE SHOULD BE TAUGHT THIS IN SCHOOL OH GOD but in my humble opinion the execution has spiraled into something messy with rampant misunderstanding and accidental invalidation of aro-spec men, poly people, and our allies,,, as well as anyone trying to be open-minded even if they dont understand.

Telling people that they're naive and ignorant isn't going to teach them a lesson you appear to feel strongly that they need to learn, it only shames and makes them not likely to actually follow the good advice (?) that's being presented in a not-clear format.

And it also earns you a buncha people getting angry because they don't understand the question actually being asked because the context wasn't clarified or what the actual answer is in a no patronizing manner/delivery,, and I'm sure you're feeling very much harassed and exhausted for answers that have little to nothing to do with your actual question, and I'm really sorry for that because I've been there and I hate this for you because it's exhausting and dispiriting to find people who never got taught how to keep themselves safe... But I'm also happy that they haven't had to learn it the hard way *yet* and that I can still help, or even that the people I was so stressed over not having the lesson... Actually DO know the answer but just misunderstood the question or that I just asked it confusingly!!

Anyway, sorry for the extremely long ask, double sorry if I misunderstood anything you were trying to say or explained anything that you already know. But if you could clarify in your own words and time, I would be very grateful! If not, that's still okay and I hope you take care of yourself out there, friend! Also, I'm on anon less because I'm ashamed of my opinion, and more because I don't want anyone else randomly messaging me back because they don't like me for my views online and I happen to really like this account dghjfedhjfdsjk

oh my god i thought there was a character limit on anons. what am i even being asked here? i literally just woke up and opened my inbox and made this face

[rosegardenofeden]

Wow trans men suck HARD.

Look the thing here is that I wanna clarify something. I have known a lot of trans men in my life. I've went to school with a lot of them, and a lot of them have been my really good friends. I've shared clothes and classes and community with trans men. And this statement I'm not gonna lie makes me feel a tad weird.

I'm not here to do some "not all men" bullshit. Trans men are as susceptible to the societal trappings and impulses of the patriarchy as cis men. I'm also not here to deny women their feelings to say "I hate men." Hell I think I said that to myself earlier today, I'd be a damn hypocrite if I did.

However. I think it can be a little important to remember that men CAN do better! A lot of them don't. The pickup article is a clear indication of someone who is using his relationship to transness to manipulate and be sexist to women in his community, and it's a really good indication that having had a different-gendered experience growing up does not exempt someone from being a misogynist.

The article in question flattens all trans women into a series of archetypes, treating them like flat caricatures. It does not read like someone who regularly interacts with trans women on an intimate or deep level. A man who bothered to meet and talk to trans women and didn't just look at memes and social media. Someone whose relationship to trans women is honestly shallow. All the pat allusions to "listening to her" unlike "cis men" right next to implications about having gotten her into bed (because it's way easier for trans men to manipulate women into sleeping with them, apparently) read as the type of nonthreatening feminist boy bullshit we all were making fun of years ago.

It's fine, I think, if you as a trans guy wanna woo a trans girl. I think it's good, even, as long as you treat her well, and care about her, and don't act like a goddamn pickup artist around her. It's very possible! It has been done tons of times! T4T relationships are a common thing and can be healing and lovely and wonderful. Just don't use the fact that T4T is "safer" to manipulate people.

Trans men have been my friends far more often than they have been my oppressors. My experience with that is not universal, even though I deeply wish it was.

I don't know if I have some big overarching throughline to end this on. That's my piece I guess.

Post Script: What's with this thing I've seen of like, people who aren't other trans women calling us dolls? Where the fuck did this come from? Is it 1925 again or did I miss that it became acceptable to go up to a gal and call her doll out of nowhere. I'm dating multiple women who are actual dolls and this still weirds me out

[dodgeballstuckonthegymceiling]

Hello! This is gonna be a weird, abnormal request, just a heads up, 'cause I'm in need of human interaction.

So I'd like to ask for literally anyone you choose (and I mean anyone. I don't mind if they're a character I don't know from a Fandom I'm not in, as long as it makes sense for the reader to exist in their world and the interactions are fun, I will be happy) with a reader who is a socially awkward and anxious jorogumo (a golden orb weaver spider yokai, typically known in mythology for shape-shifting into a beautiful human woman and luring human men into her home so she can eat them) who just wants to live life. Maybe they don't like the idea of eating people, but as a spider are an obligate carnivore and can only digest meat? Maybe they only eat violent criminals and creeps? Feel free to take your time!

Did you know that orb weaver silk is considered "exceptionally strong"? I read a few articles on orb weavers and they are pretty cool spiders!

/⁠╲⁠/⁠\⁠╭⁠(⁠•⁠‿⁠•⁠)⁠╮⁠/⁠\⁠╱⁠\ <- spider

Eyeless Jack and Slenderman x jorogumo Reader

Eyeless jack

★ First off, nether of you understand social cues. You can both be blunt. If there's a problem in your relationship or something that needs to be said you both just say it.

★ You eat people? He eats people! Honestly he's glad that you aren't creeped out with his diet, as most people would be. It's one less thing to worry about in your relationship.

★ If you don't like eating human meat he can try to find some kind of substitute. Don't ask me how I know this but according to real world cannibals, human flesh has a similar texture to beef.

★ Jack gets extremely pissed when someone makes fun of you for being shy. Some people *cough* Jeff *cough* do this to get a reaction from him. But jokes on him because your lovely boyfriend later stole his phone and hid it.

★ While normal orb weavers venom is not strong enough to kill a human, I like to think that yours is. He might ask for a few samples for "resurch" if you're able to. (Iykyk)

Slenderman

★ Slenderman is well aware of what a jorogumo is. He is in love with the spider features because like you, he has some inhuman traits. Do I even need to say that he prefers your spider form?

★ When you get anxious in public he holds your hand. He even lets you do the whole holding arm thing that cringey couples do in highschool, idk what it's called.

This ⬆️

★ None of the pastas are really good socially so your good 👍 no one is going to bother you. Especially since you have him as your lover.

★ Slender finds it amusing how men are drawn to you, only for it to be their downfall. Your hunting stradigy is really effective. Either that or most men are dumb. Actually it's probably a little bit of both.

★ Not trying to be sexist here! In mythology jorogumo make there nests in caves, forests, or empty/abandoned houses. They should have known better :/

[mechadria]

I'm watching Todd in the Shadow's evisceration of James Somerton and - I'm sorry, I'm gonna have to slightly disagree with a general sentiment.

I know a lot of Somerton's audience is apparently young, and a lot of them took it all at face value. HOWEVER. After seeing some more clips from Somerton, I'm disinclined to agree with the sentiment that it's really not viewers' fault and they couldn't have known. (And it's fine if you disagree, but I swear I'm going somewhere with this).

Some claims in these videos are too shocking for /anyone/ to just take them in, shrug and move on with their lives. Hbomberguy's video had quite a few clips, but from the way it was edited, it wasn't quite as glaring as it is to me now, with Todd's video, how little Somerton includes any quotes or evidence of any of his really wild claims.

I'm sorry, did I somehow miss a period in history where you stopped learning at school that sources are a thing? Did teachers stop being jerks about using Wikipedia as a source despite its lengthy citations and the fact that we know it's pretty accurate nowadays??? Anyone who makes so many fact-based videos (those aren't opinion pieces in the slightest) should be quoting left and right and providing sources by the truckload. If you fell for it, I'm sorry - it has to feel terrible, but you have to take a long, hard look at yourself and consider how exactly you consume information and how you deem a source reliable. That's something that's learned, and you have to make the effort - otherwise you'll be very vulnerable to propaganda, and most likely harm people along the way.

And that's without even mentioning the /content/ of the claims Somerton makes. I'm sorry, you heard a guy say pirates were leftist philanthropists who built schools and just accepted it? When that goes against pretty much anything you might have heard about pirates, even in sources that severely deviate from "the norm"?

And finally- how could you listen to a gay man call AIDS CRISIS SURVIVORS "boring" and not stop in your tracks in shock and disgust? How could you listen to that man talk about the AIDS crisis and subsequent queer efforts for marriage equality and just accept the vitriol he was vomiting??? How could you listen to his sexist rants, badly disguised as complaints against "white" or "straight" women and not start to maybe, i don't know, think for yourself and doubt whether he was a credible source??

There's a time where we have to stop, look at ourselves and wonder what information we consume, how we consume it, and how thoughtless consumption might be harmful to both us and others. No matter what excerpt of Somerton's I see, I see blatant lies, shocking bigotry and a hard-on for literal Nazis. If you need someone else to tell you that it's bad and not trustworthy, then you need to stop consuming so much media, and start learning a little more about media literacy, media consumption and fact checking.

If you fell for it and you felt bad reading this, I'm sorry, but it doesn't change the fact that the lies and bigotry were poorly hidden at best, and that simply feeling sorry for yourself is neither going to stop you from falling for another James Somerton, or stop other James Somertons from gaining an audience. Mistakes, and even ignorance, aren't some lifelong sentence with moral currency that you can never change and have to carry all of your life - but you have to put in the work yourself if you want to change that.

[hello-nichya-here]

How do you feel about Monica and Richard's relationship? Do you think he was her soulmate instead of Chandler?

I think they were a pretty great, adorable couple (Richard trying to find a neurosis of his own to make Monica feel better about her OCD lives rent-free in my head), had a lot of things in common, did their best to work through their relationship issues and the actors had fantastic chemistry. Richard was THE perfect guy for Monica in my eyes... until I saw her fall in love with, date, and marry Chandler, her actual soulmate.

Now, I know a lot of people are creeped out not just by their 21 year age gap, and, more importantly, by the fact that Richard knew her since she was a child because was best friend's with her father (they even say they're like brothers, and at least here in Brazil she'd have absolutely grown up calling him UNCLE Richard).

However:

1 - They're not real, so who cares?

2 - I'm a degenerate and I'm into it.

3 - They did spend years without having any contact (to the point that he doesn't even recognize her at first) and it's very clear that Richard only ever started feeling attracted to her when she was an adult - and not in a "He was waiting to get on her pants the very second she turned 18" kind of way, but rather as "She's literally 27-years-old, she's been a fully grown, adult woman for a LONG time."

And even though Friends, like any sitcom, is known for having the characters in very unrealistic situations for the sake comedy, drama or both (and that's a feature, not a bug) the way Richard and Monica's age difference was handled was pretty realistic.

Monica clearly likes that Richard is this suave, cool older man - but unlike with the rich guy she dates after him, it's obvious that she actually does like him for who he is beyond the superficial stuff, and isn't just giving this relationship a shot because she wants to get married and have kids, and needs a guy to achieve that. I felt soooooo sad for Richard when he was feeling like "one of the guys" then Joey and Chandler let slip that they like hanging out with him because their DADS were not as cool, and Monica was super sweet to him after.

The entire episode of her parents finding out about them on her dad's birthday was freaking amazing, mainly because the writers took full advantage of literally every opportunity for a good joke. Monica is asked if she'll tell them that night, and replies with "Yeah, for my father's birthday I decided to give him a stroke." Their mother asks if they thanked Richard for the ride, innocently just acting like a mom making sure her kids are being polite to their father's friend, and Ross just says "I'm sure Monica thanked him for the both of us." And, of course, everyone awkwardly singing happy birthday right after they had a falling out.

And that episode was also an exemple of Friends, a show that both fairly and unfairly described as very sexist, actually being pretty ahead of it's time when it comes to pointing out the full on misogyny that people often give themselves permission to engage on the very second a girl dates someone much older.

All of the guys are talking about Richard banging a younger woman (that they don't know is Monica) in a really gross way, with her own father even comparing it to the time he bought a cool, expensive car to deal with his mid-life crisis, and, much to both Richard and Ross's horror, suggesting they trade for a day. Sure, it's painting Richard as at least a bit of a loser for dating a younger woman after a long marriage that ended in divorce, but they're still expecting him to brag about it, seeing it as something cool and worth envying him for, and quite literally treating the "mystery younger woman" as an object instead of a person that genuinely cares about him, and that he cares for as well.

The women at the party aren't any better either, making wild assumptions about how Monica is probably just a stupid slut with nothing to offer, and that maybe she's even ugly and the only reason Richard is into her is because she is "Just young enough that everything is still pointing up." They literally know nothing about her beyond "She's younger than him, met him after he got divorced and started dating him" and are all still acting in such a spiteful way that, hearing one of them talk without any context, people could easily assume something like "Oh, she was with Richard first, and this story about him meeting this younger girl after the divorce is bullshit. He met while he was still married, had an affair, filled for divorce, and now the ex-wife hates this girl"

Even Monica's own mother gets all condescending the second she hears her daughter say the word RELATIONSHIP. It all makes for great television because it's a conflict that is not at all forced, makes you really root for the characters' romance to last, and, again, the writers took ALL the opportunities to make jokes about it.

But more importantly, when it was time to make their age gap be the real why they broke up, they didn't do it by turning Monica into an immature moron that was not good enough for him, or retconning Richard's characterization to make him all condescending, arrogant and assuming he knows better just because he's older - or worse, adding a cheap twist that he actually IS a creep that only liked her because she was an adventure/trophy, would cruelly toss her aside the second he got bored, and that he had secretly been screwing younger girls all the time behind his ex-wife's back. NOPE! None of that.

Instead the writers did the smart thing and acknowledged that both Monica and Richard wanted to get married and have kids... but Richard already did it. He got married, had kids, had grandkids, and then got divorced. If he marries Monica now, even if she turns out to be the love of his life and his absolute soulmate he is simply not gonna do all of that again just for her sake, nor should he, because he is in a different state of life and just wants someone to grow old with. It would not be fair of Monica if she tried to force him to have kids again - and it would not be fair of Richard if he expected her to just skip a whole stage of life that she had been super excited for, all because HE already got to have it, enjoy it, and reach the stage where HE was done with it.

And sure, during the drama when Chandler is pretending he will never be interested in marriage and kids, just to surprise Monica with a proposal, they kind of retcon that a bit by having Richard say he regrets that decision and WANTS to have children with her, but I accept that writing choice because:

1 - Literally no one else could fit that role as Chandler's rivals for that storyline without it feeling completely, and it was one of highlights of the last seasons of Friends, aka part of why I'll defend said seasons forever despite the drop in quality.

2 - Richard doesn't seem to have had a truly serious relationship with anyone after Monica because he's clearly not over her, so the pain of seeing her happy with someone else could easily make him start seeing the absolutely correct, but still very difficult choice he made in the past look like THE biggest mistake of his life. When he hear of him later he is not becoming a dad again, so I'll just choose to headcanon that once he found the right person he realized he dodged a bullet when Monica chose Chandler.

3 - Monica did, in fact, choose Chandler. Over Richard. The guy he had been all insecure about, for good reason because Monica would have clearly married him if it wasn't for the not having kids thing, and they had lingering feelings for each other for a looooong time. Her being given the perfect chance to go back to him, and not doing so, is the best way to show to the audience that no, she's not just settling for Chandler because she couldn't have Richard.

4 - Chandler and Richard's talk in which Richard agrees that he already had his chance and that he needs to step aside now because what he is doing isn't fair, Chandler calls him a good guy, and Richard then brags about AND says he hates that is adorable and very funny.

So there you have it. Richard is not Monica's soulmate, but in an AU in which she never met Chandler, or in which they remained purely platonic forever, Richard would be the ONLY acceptable endgame for her because That. Storyline. Was. So. Fucking. Good.

[wordsandrobots]

IBO reference notes on . . . the Turbines, or 'Tekkadan done right'

In my notes on an act of unspeakable cruelty, I described the Turbines in Iron-Blooded Orphans as an example of having one's cake and eating it. Pun very much intended, I stand by this assessment: the Turbines are a great example of writing justifying a genre trope; to whit, an anime aimed at teenage boys featuring a group of attractive women in a relationship with a lone man.

Whether that's a worthwhile exercise or not will depend on the viewer's tastes. Personally, I think it would have worked fine without overtly 'cheesecake' designs, though I don't take that as an argument against including them when Tekkadan are walking around shirtless half the time.

And indeed, it's the wider comparisons between the two groups I want to talk about today. There's a clear parallel established throughout the series, which I summarised in that previous essay as 'the Turbines are a successful version of what Tekkadan aspire to be'.

So let's dig into that a little, with full spoilers as usual.

Who are the Turbines?

When they're introduced, we learn the Turbines are in charge of the transportation division of the Jupiter-based Teiwaz conglomerate – an organisation that provides the Japanese-Italian fusion mafia representation sorely lacking from much of popular sci-fi media. Teiwaz is a supposedly reputable enterprise, yet is widely known to be functionally yakuza. Likewise, while the Turbines are described in terms approximating an above-board logistics company, they know how to circumvent official shipping lanes via highly suspect detours.

Of course, this is hardly unusual for IBO, where fine and permeable lines between legal and illicit activities are a fact of life. The Turbines are as legitimate as most people get in this setting and can't reasonably be called criminals (not without being aggressively framed, anyway), yet they aren't wholly 'above-board' either. There is no such thing in the Post Disaster timeline.

Now, the most important detail I want to centre about the Turbines is that they have over 50,000 members. Fifty thousand. Teiwaz is not some nickel-and-dime set-up; they're one of the most powerful (if not the most powerful) organisations in the outer-spheres and their transport subsidiary is correspondingly massive. We don't get the precise number until midway through Season 2 but we are told repeatedly what a huge deal it is for Tekkadan to be in cahoots with them; quantisation simply underlines the point. Naze's 'threat' to split the boys up such that they don't see one another again is far from idle.

This scale is the result of unifying a large number of individual shipping companies under one banner. Specifically, all-women groups that had previously been on the bottom rung of the solar system's transport ecosystem. The society Teiwaz exists in is depicted as a deeply sexist one. None of the high-ranking leaders are female and we are told outright that women forced from their homes have to turn to extremely dangerous work in order to survive. At least prior to the formation of the Turbines, this involved running cargo along pirate-infested routes, cheaply, with minimal defences.

Here is our first big parallel to Tekkadan. Like the child soldiers of the CGS, these women (and let's be realistic, girls) were rendered vulnerable by their social position and exploited for their labour as a result. I think it's commendable the writers chose to present their situation in this fashion: as easy – and correct – as it is to feel moral outrage about people being exploited for sex, this is a subset of the work dispossessed people are forced into. It would have been easy to give the Turbines a more lurid origin, particularly as this show is not shy about depicting actual sex-trafficking. To focus on something more 'mundane' reinforces that societies run on exploitation are literally that: even innocuous industries like freight haulage are driven by underpaid, under-protected workers.

It is into this situation that a young and ambitious Naze Turbine stepped and via him that at least some of these women found a better position in life.

A family business

We largely see the Turbines through the lens of their flagship, the Hammerhead, and its crew-slash-polygamous-family. When we talk about 'the Turbines', this is usually who we mean, rather than the wider transport company, which mostly exists in the background of the show's events.

The Hammerhead's pursuit of the Isaribi marks the arrival of the Turbines into the plot, first via Lafter's delight in the chase (in a scene leaning heavily on the overt sexualisation of her design) and then with Naze announcing himself to Tekkadan directly, initiating a brief battle between the two groups.

Naze's moral character is established in his reaction to Maruba dismissing Tekkadan as a bunch of 'space rats'. His disgust is aimed squarely at the perpetrator of the risky implantation surgery, setting him apart from the likes of Gaelio and, by extension, the Earth-based taboos against augmented people. We can assume Naze is familiar with both the Alaya-Vijnana system and the consequences of its use, and his ire switches immediately from what he had been told were a bunch of thieves to the man they've 'stolen' from.

With the conflict resolved and Naze willing to negotiate, we begin to learn about the Turbines as a group. Notably, while he refers to his crew as his harem, his agreement with Kudelia that they are his wives is a 'sure, let's go with that' kind of deal. The English dub states 'they are sworn to me' while the sub has him describing them as 'my women'. In either case, the legal status of the arrangement is left ambiguous. But the gist of the matter is that Naze openly presents his crew as a harem, in line with a playboy persona he presents to the world.

In Season 2, we jump back to see how this arrangement came to be. Amida describes him as a 'maverick trafficker' who hired her for protection on a dangerous gig (we never do find out what he was transporting). They got along well and fell into bed together, but Amida wouldn't make the arrangement permanent as she'd promised her services to an all-women freighter company tackling even more dangerous work – a choice implied to stem from having once in their situation. On hearing this, Naze asks the question that distinguishes him from his eventual blood brother, Orga: 'how can I help?'

Orga never asks this aloud, despite everything he does having the stated aim of helping his comrades. It's not hard to see why when his point of reference is Mikazuki, who places absolute faith in his ability to provide solutions to their problems. This fundamentally unfair expectation screws with Orga's sense of responsibility, especially once coupled to the top-down structure of a military unit and an absence of people pushing back against it.

But Naze and Amida meet as adults, not children. They've already grown-up and learned who they are. They engage from positions of mutual respect, each appreciating how the other's skills can help with their goals. Rather than declaring some nebulous, far-off dream, Naze offers assistance to solve a specific problem Amida was already working on. He provides the ability to make connections between disparate groups of exploited woman and a face to present to a misogynistic world.

On top of having the luxury of pre-existing social capital, he can afford to invest years of his time in growing the Turbines to the point where they bring something to Teiwaz's table. This slow, careful approach puts them in a much stronger position to deal with the big dogs, all while aiming for the same things Tekkadan will later rush to seize: security, legitimacy and respect.

This last item bears some scrutiny, because it illustrates the importance of being precise about your goals. We know nothing about Naze prior to meeting Amida, so we don't know why his sexism (because it is still that) eschews looking down on women in favour of elevating them above men. But he feels no shame about achieving business success via a women-only organisation, freely admitting to have gotten where he has thanks to them and holding Amida back from defending him from insults against his manhood that ensue. Naze knows who he needs to impress and it's not loud-mouths like Jasley Donomikols but men like McMurdo Barriston, who value results above all else. Where Tekkadan insist on making as big a noise as possible to establish their credentials, Naze can shrug off disparaging remarks. Why start a fight when he's gained the confidence of the most powerful man in the Jupiter-sphere?

Besides, he adores being where he is. He's actively unrepentant about having enough 'wives' to crew a spaceship and if this partly works to downplay his shrewdness, it's also just who he is. The narrative presents him in an entirely positive light for it, too. Of all the authority figures in Iron-Blooded Orphans, he's easily the kindest, going out of his way to support other people, often irrespective of personal gain.

Tekkadan's recruitment over the course of the series is characterised by radical acceptance. Human debris, repentant murderers, Teiwaz pen-pushers, ambitious college kids – they're all welcomed and placed on equal footing. In light of this, I find it significant that when we see Amida pre-Turbines, she's dressed in a rather understated manner, masking past wounds and presenting in a stereotypically 'professional' fashion – likely to offset the concerns her clients have about hiring a woman mercenary. After years living with Naze, however, she's adopted a much more revealing outfit and attitude, no longer hiding who she is in either words, actions or appearance.

Amida's design is one of the most cheesecaky of the set but it's positioned as a sign that she – like everyone in Naze's orbit – is loved scars and all.

A ship of wives

Gundam has a history of featuring men surrounded by a faithful cohort of women. Starting with Paptimus Scirocco in Zeta Gundam (a decidedly evil example, though oddly enough, also hailing from Jupiter), through Chibodee Crocket in Mobile Fight G Gundam (a much closer match to the Turbine's model), and all the way to Shaddiq Zenelli in Witch From Mercury (where, like a lot of G-Witch's secondary details, it feels like a call-back for the sake of itself), the 'harem' trope is one the franchise has made use of time and again. Rarely, however, has it been as explicit about dropping pretences as with the Turbines. To dip into crudity for the sake of succinctness: yeah, they're fucking.

We are left in no doubt over this. Not only do we see the many children that have resulted, Naze's wives make it clear they expect and enjoy him exercising his spousal responsibilities in the bedroom. And here is where I wheel out my media literacy soapbox because whatever you personally feel about this as a concept, the text presents it as consensual and as free of coercion as it can possibly be.

Yes, there is an inherent power imbalance with Naze being head of the organisation and, quite literally, the man who saved these women's lives. Yes, some of them were clearly recruited to the Turbines as teenagers (as we see in Lafter's backstory). And yes, it's a fantasy that often extends out of sexist perspectives, ones the presentation here does not work especially hard to refute.

However at no point is there any suggestion in the text that Naze pressures anyone into having sexual relations with him. The opposite, if anything. Amida is the only member of the Hammerhead's crew he initiates with – his partner, in every sense of the word. Lots of the others come on to him and he doesn't remotely discourage them, sure. But you've also got Azee, who explicitly choses not to act the same and is just as much part of this core family (while this doesn't rule out her being sexually involved with Naze, it shows there is no expectation of uniform behaviour). Furthermore, when Lafter starts developing romantic feelings for Akihiro – as contrasted with familial ones for the Turbines in general and sexual ones for Naze – literally everyone encourages her to follow them, treating it as perfectly natural and a sign of maturity.

(To head off a rather trite misread, Naze describing his wives as 'like his daughters' in some respects does not invoke literal fatherhood. His 'paternal' statements are in line with the attitude he takes to Orga as his 'little brother' – that of someone with more experience taking responsibility for a more naïve dependent – and I think it's really worth stressing that non-nuclear family dynamics do not map to those of nuclear families. Though unquestionably a patriarch figure, Naze is happy Lafter going to go get what she wants and proud of her choices. The literal opposite of infantilising her.)

Thanks to the Urdr Hunt mobile game, we get a canonical glimpse into how Naze interacts with members of the Turbines beyond the Hammerhead's crew as well. Tamami Rakou is leader of grey-ops team the 'Rakou Pirates', who handle missions it would be better weren't directly associated with the Turbines (yes, their flags is the Turbines' logo with a skull painted over it, why do you ask?). When she reports to Naze halfway through the game, their relationship is revealed as one of friendly mentorship; again not a million miles off his attitude towards Orga. Tamami explains to another character that the Turbines took her in as a hot-headed youth and trained her in business matters. She seeks to repay what she perceives as a debt, with the ultimate goal of sharing sakuzuki cups with her boss. Naze, by contrast, already firmly recognises her worth (that's why he put her in her current role) and cautions her against taking too many risks.

Naze and Amida gently rib the junior captain over the course of these scenes, while Tamami tries way too hard to impress them. The joke is that she's presenting herself with loud, military seriousness in the face of the couple's customary informality, and it hinges on her having nothing to worry about. Naze already values her and cares about her safety. They even end their meeting warning each other not to do anything to make Amida sad, indicating shared affection for Tamami's 'Big Sis'.

All this is positioned without any hint of lasciviousness. When Naze looks forward to hearing stories of Tamami's exploits over drinks later, there's apparently no expectation of anything more. I bring this up to highlight the boundaries in the Turbines' living arrangements. Naze expresses admiration for women as a category, but he's no skirt-chaser. The polygamy is not mandatory and his support and generosity are not predicated upon it.

Also, and I fully appreciate this is its own brand of male bravado, the sexual side of the Turbines is mostly described as Naze pleasing his wives rather than the other way around. The story goes out of its way to make clear how OK everyone is with the arrangement, including an obligatory 'harem strike' joke to underline that while Naze may have institutional power, they outnumber him.

It should scarcely need stating that Iron-Blooded Orphans is not depicting relationship dynamics one should aspire to. Then again, I'm posting this on the internet, where reductio ad absurdum is treated as winning, so let's state it outright: pretty much every relationship in this show is some level of borked. From Shino and Yamagi's teenage inability to communicate, to McGillis indulging Almiria's childish fantasies of adulthood within a marriage they've been forced into, to Mika and Orga's entire deal, everyone is doing the best they can while setting each other up for a lifetime of therapy they're not going to get.

The flip side of this is that those same relationships are a source of support and joy for characters experiencing extremely harsh, miserable lives. In almost every case, the toxicity is intertwined with genuine love, and for the Turbines, the toxicity gets firmly minimised, counteracted by Naze's personality and by how his wives interact with him.

I am not going to stand up and say the Turbines are a model of healthy polyamory. Being married to your boss is rarely a good thing in reality. Within the show, however. it's presented as wholly positive and supportive to a degree that the other entanglements can only aspire.

Sunset

Nothing lasts forever though. Isn't that the saying? Part reproach, part reassurance, it asserts that all is ultimately impermanent, no matter how much we might hope or fear otherwise. Orga sets his stall out in the name he gives his newly-liberated band of fighters: an iron flower, never wilting and never dying. Something impossible, that is ended prematurely by his rush to ensure its existence.

The Turbines are firmly established by the time they enter the story and as I've discussed, their rise is depicted as a cautious, time-consuming process. They have a fierce reputation – nobody messes with them, at least not without some high-ranking Earth bigwig offering plenty of money – but it's one tied to Teiwaz as a whole and that coupling of fortunes is both strength and weakness.

When the hammer comes down and Gjallarhorn begin interdicting Turbine ships, Naze wonders if McMurdo himself might be responsible. This suspicion comes after half a season of internal politics following Tekkadan's unexpectedly rapid ascent within Teiwaz. Their victories reflect well on Naze, since he brought them into the fold, but also cause the other high-ranking members to fear what they perceive to be his ambition. Things come to a head when Tekkadan align themselves with McGillis's attempt to seize power. With the youngest, upstart members of the organisation promised sovereignty of Mars (and its lucrative half-metal mining operations), a target is painted on Naze's back.

Of course, it isn't McMurdo who acts against him but Jasley, envious of Naze's position as the boss's favourite and wanting nothing more than to seize control of the transport division. There's no doubt he'd have sent the Turbines back to square one, exploiting them for his own gain. Jasley is very much in tune with the ambient misogyny and a conniving bastard to boot. He imagines by inciting Iok Kujan to destroy his rival, he will become next in line for control of Teiwaz itself.

He doesn't get away with it. The damage is done nevertheless.

When I say 'the Turbines are Tekkadan done right', it is a statement regarding success at their shared goals. Providing marginalised people with safety and security, enriching them through employment on their own terms, and establishing their long-term legitimacy – these represent the aims of both groups. The Turbines, however, achieve them at scale. Over 50,000 members! Operations from Jupiter to Venus! The ear of the head of Teiwaz! And, via groups like Tekkadan and Foundling (who Tamami is still mentoring at the point of writing; the survival chances of doofy gremlin children may go down as well as up), the opportunity to guide a new generation in a changing world.

But – and of course there's a 'but'; there was always going to be a 'but' – 'done right' does not mean 'perfect'. It does not mean 'forever'. For all the benefits the Turbines accrue for themselves, theirs is still a dangerous business. The risk may be reduced by solidarity but it doesn't go away. They still have to fight pirates and undertake jobs of dubious legality. Furthermore, as Jasley proves, they amass enemies as well as allies. Disruption to the social order creates ripples even – especially – when done with the best of intentions.

Above all, there's the question of whether their methods are sustainable. Throughout this piece, I have consciously centred Naze because that's what the Turbines' strategy is. Using him as a focal point around which to gather and an acceptable representative to men who wouldn't otherwise give them the time of day. While they might have achieved much simply by cooperating and are implied through Tamami to have retained considerable autonomy, it is Naze personally who allowed these women to escape the bottom of the heap.

This leaves them with a hideously dangerous vulnerability. The Turbines are inextricably tied to Naze's personal fortunes and those plummet in a second the instant Jasley shops him to Iok. By the rules of Teiwaz and his own sense of honour, Naze cuts ties with McMurdo to prevent Gjallarhorn pressing charges against the conglomerate. He expends all the good will he has accrued over the years to beg his now-former boss to take his people in. And then he and Amida sacrifice themselves in a nearly-vain attempt to safeguard their immediate family.

Worst of all, the catalyst for this is the very generosity of spirit that got Naze involved in the first place. He gives Tekkadan a chance and keeps doing so even as the cracks begin to show. He indulges Orga's ambitions out of the sense he's looking at his family's younger selves. As a result, he ties himself to them and is sent to his death by the wider consequences of their actions.

Amida describes Naze's love for her in terms of food: it is better to share a fine meal with others than to settle for average fare kept to yourself. That Naze was willing to share himself with so many people is laudable. But it is also his downfall and marks the harsh limitations of using the systems of the Post Disaster setting to imrpove a situation.

When you make deals with tigers, you have to remember what will happen should they get hungry.

A future even so?

Officially speaking, the Turbines end with Naze and Amida. The survivors are folded into what we might call Teiwaz-proper, directly under McMurdo's authority. When we next see them, they are clothed in drab black jackets, save for Azee who has traded her pink jumpsuit for a version of Naze's customary white suit. As the last remaining member of Amida's mobile suit squad, it seems leadership of this rebranded fleet has fallen to her, a position she uses – with McMurdo's blessing – to rescue Tekkadan's own dwindling numbers in their time of need.

Here we find the two groups paralleling one another once again. Lives are spared at the expense of identity. A leader who truly cared is lost and the outcome is decided by a pragmatist. We don't see much of what happens to the Turbines now they've been consumed by Teiwaz's male-dominated hierarchy. What we do know is that, in the short term at least, they have been forbidden from carrying weapons and doing the kind of escort work the Hammerhead excelled at. This alone marks a steep reduction in their power.

While McMurdo certainly looks favourably on his new subordinates, he is no replacement for the man who saw them as the sun. His decision to cast Jasley to the wolves was motivated as much by heading off a rival as by avenging his preferred 'son' – and he's clearly not getting any younger. One can only speculate where a few years might land everyone in this new arrangement (indeed, one has).

The Turbines' story contains remarkable achievements and at the same time showcases the fragility of any achievement made within an unjust society. It took Jasley a single phone-call to annihilate everything Naze and Amida built. Many good people died and the happiness Naze's wives found with him did not last. His children can hardly be considered orphaned but their fate is left up in the air, albeit weighted more kindly than their parents' lives began.

Which is something that should not be dismissed. Iron-Blooded Orphans reflects a lot of harsh, miserable realities about what happens to those unfavoured by the world's structures. But it refuses to downplay the steps they take towards a better future. Amida was already fighting to protect those left in the cold and Naze followed her lead. Even if the very things that enabled him to do so much eventually turned into a trap, it still matters that he did what he could. It still counts.

There may not actually be a way to 'do Tekkadan right'. Its context is flawed, harmful and frequently vile. In a just society, nobody would need the strategies the Turbines use to carve a place for themselves – there would be no ladder for anyone to fall to the bottom of. Yet in its absence, there are and have always been people who try their best to rebalance the scales, resisting the narratives they are fed in whatever ways they can. That needs to be valued. I'm glad IBO does so.

Because fleeting joy is joy all the same. Love exists under the toughest conditions. And, in the end, Azee and Eco follow the example of those who've gone before, stepping forward to ask:

How can we help?

Other reference posts include:

IBO reference notes on … Gjallarhorn (Part 1)

IBO reference notes on … Gjallarhorn (Part 2)

IBO reference notes on … Gjallarhorn (corrigendum) [mainly covering my inability to recognise mythical wolves]

IBO reference notes on … three key Yamagi scenes

IBO reference notes on … three key Shino scenes

IBO reference notes on … three key Eugene scenes

IBO reference notes on … three key Ride scenes

IBO reference notes on … the tone of the setting

IBO reference notes on … character parallels and counterpoints

IBO reference notes on … a perfect villain

IBO reference notes on … Iron-Blooded Orphans: Gekko

IBO reference notes on … an act of unspeakable cruelty

IBO reference notes on … original(ish) characters [this one is mainly fanfic]

IBO reference notes on … Kudelia’s decisions

IBO reference notes on … assorted head-canons

IBO reference notes on … actual, proper original characters [explicit fanfic – as in, actually fanfic. None of them have turned up in the smut yet]

IBO reference notes on … the aesthetics of the mobile frame

IBO reference notes on … mobile suit designations

IBO reference notes on … the Gundams (part 1)

IBO reference notes on … the Gundams (part 2)

IBO reference notes on … the Gundams (part 3)

[egg-emperor]

Has anyone ever tried telling you "eggman probably isn't as evil as you think" If so, how did you respond?

Side note. I really appreciate your account. We need more people who embrace Eggman as the irredeemable monster he is.

Yes, often and well they're either coming from a place of not being knowledgeable enough about Eggman and overlook all his crimes, or it's a case where they turn a blind eye because they don't want to believe he's actually that evil because it's not to their tastes and makes them uncomfortable. And I get it but it doesn't change the facts. I enjoy getting to help people learn the solid unbiased facts about game canon Eggman, by bringing up all the canon examples of what makes him such a terrible person and try to note as many of his actions as possible that prove he really is that evil.

Being a totalitarian fascist dictator who wants to own the world and strip freedom and free will away, a war criminal who causes mass destruction and is willing to commit genocide, will try to kill anyone who gets in his way even children as young as 6-8, has been sexist, will manipulate/gaslight and abuse people and animals in various ways and enjoy it, wants to build intentionally dangerous theme parks that can kill people in brutal ways as we hear all about in Colors, and knows he's evil and acknowledges it proudly and revels in it is the most evil of evil!

We've seen many examples that show just how low he'll stoop and he hasn't been known to have a single limit in canon, besides things that get the entire planet and himself destroyed so he can't rule it, obviously. Besides that purely selfish reason, he isn't shown to have any good morally based limits and doesn't show any hesitance or remorse for his actions, despite clearly being fully aware that he's the bad guy doing the bad thing, calling it evil with glee. He's ranged from completely apathetic towards the evil he commits to downright sadistic as he smirks cheekily and laughs through it!

Those aren't actions to be downplayed or overlooked, they're important traits that define his character and are involved by countless significant plot points, including his whole motivation and methods in his plans. They're the very things that establish him as a villain and a threat in the first place. It's what puts the "evil" in "Ivo (ee-vo)." He's not the villain and not the Eggman, or even the same character at all without it, I'm not even exaggerating. But yeah point is, if someone is to deny or ignore all these intentionally or not, then they're not gonna think he's as evil as I say he is. XD

From my experience, they haven't been able to provide solid proof and evidence, nothing I couldn't disprove with my own stacks of evidence taken right from the games, if they do have any they claim to be at all. Because a lot of the things I see that they tend to try to use are things that actually prove my own point instead, when looking at them in actual context and what they really mean. So what I'd also do is debunk anything they try to use to attest to the idea that he's really that evil of a guy, using those very same things they're trying to use for their statements and much more.

I really like having sensible discussions and debates where I get to put all my heavy passionate research and analysis to use but I don't really get the chance very often because people take it the wrong way. I think if people didn't take disagreements as so hostile, we could be having some really interesting discussions. Like sure, when someone says "Eggman isn't as evil as you think" I'm like "ah hell no, no way lol" but I'm not angry or insulting, I'd just like to discuss why I disagree and share some of the reasons why, which are based in fact. I encourage others to do it to me too.

Anyway, these are usually the points I bring up when I do get the chance. Then I ready all my tons of excerpts and sources right from the games explicitly written into the text, and with some further analysis adhering to that knowledge, and sometimes additional creator commentary that's solidly backed up by the game canon as a bonus. People I've talked to have been upset by being asked for sources but I'm always passionate about gathering all my sources the second someone asks because I'm like finally I get to do something with all this information lol

Thank you so much! I'm really happy you enjoy my stuff. :D I'm just super passionate about gushing over, analyzing, and educating over how Eggman is a lovable nasty evil bastard man and I'm really happy that I'm not alone, I have so much fun making the posts and to know that y'all enjoy it too makes it even better. Here we love and embrace this handsome horrible man always and I'm delighted for you to join me in it. We make fine loyal members of the Eggman Empire for it hehe 💜

[spock-smokes-weed]

Okay okay one plot point for my One Piece Sound AU is that Zoro is a kendo instructor, and works at the dojo he grew up going to as a kid. Meaning he still works with his sensei Shimotsuki

What I can piece together with Zoro’s early life (I’m still in early one piece idk anything about that gets added to his backstory later) his parents died before the events of the story, so in my AU im going to take that to mean his parents died in some kind of accident when he was a junior in high school.

Shimotsuki took Zoro under his wing cus their families were close and Shimotsuki knew what it was like to lose family. He gave Zoro a steady job at the dojo, set him up with an apartment, and supported his passion for Kendo past high school.

but shit goes south when Zoro finds out he's pregnant and has to notify his work. So again I'm in early one piece, idk anything really about this Shimotsuki guy or what's in his soul, what I do know is that he's a sexist who told his own daughter she couldn't fulfill her dreams. So I think Zoro telling him that he's pregnant with no plans to get married or mate, he'd get on a moral high horse about it. Idk if it's close to canon but I'm okay with bending the personalities of minor characters for my own stories

Essentially, he tells Zoro he would have to give up his dream of being a competitive Kendo fighter if he goes through with this, and that he wouldn't support Zoro and his "lifestyle" so he fires Zoro from working at the dojo. Pregnancy discrimination is a very real thing, and like small tourists towns aren't exactly known for being supportive of unwed pregnant ppl.

Zoro's side of the story is all about his ambition and masculinity, while he goes through something where he'll be judged and made vulnerable, and I think something like this would be a massive hit to his ego and emotional state. It makes him bottle up more, while also making him lean more on the straw hats and Sanji.

When Sanji learns Zoro is now jobless, he offers to let Zoro live with him. They have a whole posturing match about it until Zoro agrees, but ONLY until he finds another job. The plot, as one says, has thickened.

I would say there are about like two months in between when Zoro finds a new job, and I do have some plot ideas as to what will happen in that time span, but rn the important thing is that he gets a job with Mihawk. Who's a fencing instructor and another strong male omega. Mihawk takes Zoro under his wing and lets him use the fencing space to practice his kendo but also shows him some things in the ways of fencing. I like the idea of Zoro having a strong role model to look up to. Like this male omega who's comfortable in his skin and strength and would never let anyone walk over him. Also, someone who doesn't coddle him just because he's pregnant and doesn't assume he doesn't know his own physical limitations.

this is a sidenote tangent: but it really pisses me off when ppl assume people shouldn't be doing anything physical while pregnant. sure avoid stressers, but if you were incredibly physically active before getting pregnant, it's fine if you keep being that level of active, and decreasing as your pregnancy progresses. exercise is great, and it's not other people's place to tell someone what is too much, it's their body!!!! sure Zoro probably couldn't do all-out kendo matches, but there is probably a lot working out he still does, and I already know he's annoyed by people assuming he's doing something wrong by working out.

anyway post over. goodnight