#a lot more to say but I am tired

[bean-spring]

Hot take and not to be a killjoy or the shipping police but people treating Viktor or Jinx's aroace headcanons as if they were canon is not the revolutionary take people think it is.

Headcanons are always all right but we have to acknowledge that they are somehow damaging when they apply to stereotypes. It might not be the case for everyone but most of the time people unconsciously assume that disability/mental illness=asexuality. These headcanons erase the freedom of attraction from people who are already seen as unable to have sexual/romantic experiences/desires, when it's completely untrue and harmful.

You can headcanon Viktor and Jinx as aroace, but I have seen people changing their minds once Viktor is no longer disabled (s2 with all of his other forms) and Jinx is no longer as mentally ill (alternate universe Powder). And it speaks wonders of how people see these characters.

"I never thought about Jinx being able to feel romantic/sexual attraction until s2!" To believe she's actually only capable of that when she's not "damaged" is incredibly disturbing. Especially since Jinx has always had a bit of a flirty personality too.

"I've always seen Viktor as asexual, I don't know why!" That's fine. You can headcanon him as ace. But I believe there is a reason behind it, most of the time, if for some inexplicable reason the "vibes" of the disabled character are making you think he's ace.

I say all of this being aroaspec myself, by the way. Headcanon all you want but going to people's posts commenting how "it's weird for you that they have romantic/sexual plots when they're clearly aroace" is not a win at all. It's a headcanon, after all, and it should be treated as such, and that's fine. But it also is damaging to spread stereotypes like these.

Of course the disabled character is asexual. Of course the mentally ill character is aromantic. It's not as revolutionary as you might think, tbh.

Fandom is not activism and it's all right to have any headcanons you want BUT some of them are filled with damaging stuff and perhaps we should look into ourselves more before treating these assumptions as something canon.

[apostaterevolutionary]

Okay can I be a bitter Anders fan for like. Just 2 minutes here lmao

Cause bioware released some game stats for veilguard and apparently 72% of players redeemed Solas which is like. Okay yeah the game kinda pushes you towards that. But when I think of all the shit I used to have to put up with just for enjoying Anders like at all and…

(This is not me being anti-Solas, I do not care if you love or hate him, but I am gonna say what he’s done is like. Objectively worse than literally every other companion so lmao. And that’s fine! You can still enjoy him! I’m not saying you can’t and it’s important to me that people understand that! I’m just saying he did in fact do objectively morally worse things in game than Anders did and I don’t think that’s really debatable. And I can’t really make my point here without saying that but I do want to make it clear this is not some moral condemnation of Solas enjoyers cause it’s not)

Getting anon hate on the regular, being told “oh you’re allowed to like Anders as long as you regularly talk about how much he sucks”, people gleefully describing how much fun they have killing him ON your posts about the fact that you like him, the devs making jokes about shitty fates for him when fans asked innocent questions about him, the absolute audacity of his writer to say half the shit she did in interviews (about bisexuality and mental illness, most critically), and then being beaten over the head again in inquisition about how Anders is the worst character to ever exist and there’s no redemption for terrorists who lie to you one time in the entire game and he deserves death or worse and that’s it

And now… 72% of people are down to redeem the guy who lies to you for 2 games straight and who did a lot of questionable things that includes creating the fucking blight and. Like. I guess I’m glad that Solas fans can live in a world where they aren’t constantly harassed and can give their ship like. A pretty damn good ending all things considered. And that the devs love Solas and actually give the option for that happy ending and have characters go to bat for Solas throughout the game and the most annoying thing they have to see are people making scrambled egg memes. I would not wish anyone to have to deal with the shit Anders fans had to put up with back then cause it sucked. It really sucked. And I’m glad it’s not being repeated with a different character, if nothing else

But like. Man there really is a difference when the writers actually like the character who does the thing, huh

[castielsprostate]

breaking the sign in two by how hard im tapping it

[kitty-pelosi]

Something that helps me is that, under the model of creation all of us are familiar with under capitalism, there is a distinction between Who Gets To Make and Who Should Make that I find valuable to apply to any work I am consuming. It helps me have less empathy for the author and take work as it exists itself divorced from the context of its creation. I also recognize that a lot of folks don’t believe in doing this and that’s fine too, it’s just what I do.

Because in the vast majority of cases, Who Gets To Make is really not Who Should Make. I mean of course there are countless examples of marginalized people who speak true to their own experiences and are able to distribute their work through some combination of luck, skill, and persuasion. But it is more often than not that this is a classed role behind the barriers of time, money, and energy. And I will always maintain that the best philosophers, artists, and writers are at the present moment the folk that are bagging your food at a restaurant, cleaning up vomit from kids in a school, or even harvesting the crops you and I eat - and these are not people who have the privilege of enough time, energy, or money to be Makers themselves.

In the model of society that we are born into and coerced into reinforcing, knowledge is made from the top and distributed downward. Makers are then often people who find themselves part of a system that thrusts them to the top, from there they can then go on and make things. This is to say that Makers are not really in the position to be saying a lot about what they are making! Typically they are divorced from it.

And I take this awareness of positionality, and I couple it with Death of the Author, and also the infinite monkey theorem (or should we just call that one a large language model in today’s world?) and I use it to justify pretending like the author doesn’t exist, ever. And it helps me not feel guilty for having loved things like Harry Potter or Coraline or half the philosophers that have ever written anything.

And so when I open some text written by Michel Foucault, and I want to reference his understanding of power interrelations, it helps me to imagine that not only is he a white French man talking about North Africans, not only is he dead, his work is not particularly that eminent or valuable as an extension of himself because it is statistically possible in fantasy that a planet full of a trillion monkeys could type up some books, come to the same conclusion, or even do it better. Or that an AI could be prompted by experiences in such a way as to type down the exact words he once wrote. And this helps me engage with the knowledge ‘created’ by him without associating it with the fact that he would regularly visit Tunisia to rape young boys in complete contradiction to the value sets and power interrelations he staked his career on. Not to mention that in many instances what people write down is not necessarily true to their moral, ethical soul - but it is true to the argument/paradigm/story being argued/observed/told.

Because when we form parasocial relationships with Makers under capitalism it is not with the Makers as people, but the Makers as a career. We are interacting with an abstract concept and not an actual person with thoughts. Capitalism makes idols of Makers because it is how we market things, but the idolatry isn’t innate nor material. The words on a page are material. The actions of people are material. They exist simultaneously and frequently in contradiction!

So I try to keep it material. Not moral, not ethical, just what is and what is done. And I suppose it is narrowing but I do recognize one more caveat - the affect the Maker and I have on eachother. If they are dead, I will do what I please. But if the maker is alive I apply my own principles in consumption. JK Rowling and Neil Gaiman will not receive a cent from me if I can help it. I have my Harry Potter discs and Coraline will soon be burned on to a CD to be played on my boyfriend’s PlayStation. Foucault is dead and he does not matter, the legacy of dead men should be lost on everyone.

Ever since I realized anyone who's made art I loved could turn out to be a monster I've tried to preemptively interrogate how many preconceptions and biases I've formed towards creators just because I've bonded with their work, and think about what I'd do if that axe fell on my own most beloved books and music and shows (I mean it already has on many of them. Millennials can't have shit). I've squared it with most of them but ngl, in the full knowledge that I didn't actually know the man from my left elbow, if Terry Pratchett turns out to be a shitwipe I'll probably just lay down and die. I'm the first to encourage engaging much more critically with his work than his insufferable fandom will ever do, but I cannot contemplate someone whose blistering rage against social injustice I can feel so keenly in my own blood could be a racist or a piece of shit like Gaiman. Maybe he'd have disappointed the fuck out of me by believing Gaiman until he became indefensible, because whiteness and man-ness and ego sometimes calcifies in people's twilight years and undermine all they were in their youth. But actually being party to, or knowing about and accepting of that kind of abuse, especially at the time of writing Good Omens, when the characters of Vimes and Granny Weatherwax were beginning to unfold in his imagination? I don't want to live in a world where that's possible. I can't.

I mean, if allegations like that did come to light I would believe the victims and shut the fuck up about my own turmoil until the dust settled. But I'd also just fucking give up on the world man.

[warmfuzzyanimal]

it's here! the cow base!! it's done!!! EASILY the biggest base i've made so far, and i'm really really proud of it!! now............................... go forth and bring more beautiful cow furries to this beautiful earth

[bunnyboy-juice]

NO MORE ASSOCIATING THINGS WITH FEMMES ONLY BECAUSE THEY ARE PINK!HYPERFEM FEMMES ARE GREAT AND I LOVE YOU CAMPY FEMMES WHO EMBODY PINK BUT ALSO JESUS CHRIST CAN YOU GUYS NOT GO MORE THAN ONE DAY W/O TRYING TO SHOEHORN FEMMES INTO BEING ONLY PINK UWU BABIES. I AM FEMME AS IN GRASS AS IN DIRT AS IN TREE BARK AS IN WEEDS SPROUTING THROUGH THE SIDEWALK CEMENT. FEMME AS IN GENDER NONCONFORMITY AS IN FUCK YOU MY FEMININITY IS WHAT *I* SAY IT IS. FEMME AS IN DEPTH AND DARKNESS AND WARMTH AND TERROR. FEMME AS IN CAVES. FEMME AS IN LIGHTNING. FEMME AS IN AN AMALGAMATION OF TRAITS THAT I HAVE DECIDED ARE FEMININE REGARDLESS OF WHAT SOCIETY SAYS. FUCK IS IT THAT HARD TO UNDERSTAND?!???

[buwheal]

Why does the orange Addison's mannequin kinda resemble you?

[mossy-paws]

Sword PHIGHTING! period cramps moodboard

Gods mightiest warrior…….

Og image:

ANYWAYS EXTRA BITS!!!! So. Yeah. I wasted exactly 27 hours and 29 minutes of my life making this over a period of like. ~a week and a half LMAO????? I THINK IT WAS LONGER?? Yeah all of these are completely redrawn from the Og “panels”, replicating the dungeon meshi style is. MISERABLE I don’t know why I did this to myself holy fucking shit, all of you blame @squiffer-salad for this monstrosity she’s the reason why this exists in the first place /silly

anyways, I highly recommend looking at the panels individually because I put a lot of fun extra bits in them and just. A LOT of effort in general, any likes, reblog’s, or comments are insanely appreciated since this did take such a long time :’DDD, everything in these minus the backgrounds are completely redrawn/shaded/and colored by hand, this includes mid/screen tones as I used specific layers for those! anyways thank you for coming to my period cramp projection ted-talk I’m going back into my Everglade hole.

[synthe4u]

masterlist

A wave of nausea hit you, sending you reeling back from your papers. You grasped your stomach, willing the pain to go away. There was a deadline set for this work and of course you being you had to wait last minute to finish.

You glimpsed at the time, 1:03am, the paper was due at 6:00am and you were hoping to get some sleep before then.

A knock sounded before the door opened, "Hey love, you okay?"

It was your husband, John. You had forgotten he came back from a mission two days ago. You've just been too busy with work.

"I'm alright."

"You sure?"

He raised an eyebrow at you. Maybe it was the way you were hunched over or the papers scrawled all over the office desk. Or the time...Time.

You had to finish this paper now. For both your mental and physical well-being, but none of it was making any sense.

The words started to jumble on the pages.

You didn't know when, but John came back with a plated sandwich.

"It's not much, but you haven't any yet."

You mumbled a thanks before going back to writing. Your lover watched over you, waiting for you to pick up and eat the sandwich he made.

"Gonna eat, love?"

"Yeah, yeah," you mumbled, too focused on thinking of what to write. So focused that you didn't realize when John started tapping his arm in impatience.

It was only when he stood right behind you with his hand on your wrist, pulling your arm away from what needed to be done.

"You need some sleep."

"But I have to finish this!"

He grabbed your arm, pulling you away from the desk and chair. You wouldn't fight him. You didn't have the strength to do so because you were too tired.

He laid both of you down, wrapping an arm around you.

"Goodnight, love."

"Goodnight," you laid awake with your eyes wide open. Your thoughts were too big for your head and it felt like you needed rest, but you couldn't.

"I didn't eat the sandwich you made me."

"Huh?" He was confused by your statement.

You repeated yourself, "I didn't eat the sandwich you made me."

You could imagine him closing his eyes again while he spoke, "You can eat it in the morning."

A moment passed before he sighed and pulled you closer into his arms. The married couple snuggled together for both warmth, love, and comfort. They understood one another and that was all that mattered between them.

Sometimes moments of comfort like this makes one want to dream.

[instantpansies]

life is hard for us oz fans who are only meh about wicked. have half a meme.

[thevegetablewhichnoonedaresname]

no one FREAKING understands jo march and friedrich bhaer the way i do

[non-un-topo]

More cishet observations from the past month at work:

- They really fucking buzz off of the TERF wizard book series

- Their favourite place on Earth is Florida (why???)

- If you tell them you're an artist, they will ask you if you've ever "tried out AI"

- They will joke about OCD a lot

- They absolutely hate their bodies and will take any opportunity to talk about food in a toxic way (bonus points if they compare their body/food to yours)

- They hate their spouses and think that this is funny

- They. Do not. Have interests. (Besides the TERF wizard book series)

- They don't watch movies or TV??

- If they have kids, the way they talk about them makes it sound like it was genuinely the worst decision they ever made

- If they don't have kids, they will still fucking talk about having them

- They don't like cats??

In other weird news, I'm gendered correctly at work and I pass to the point that cishets actually talk to me like I'm a cishet guy.

[sonknuxadow]

also i just have one more thing to say about the movie and then ill probably shut up for now but im really annoyed with how certain people keep going "omg its not supposed to be a sonic adventure 2 movie stop expecting it to be exactly like the game" to shut down any criticism of the trailers... like don't lie to me regardless of how many changes they make it's still very obviously supposed to be a sonic adventure 2 movie theyre taking a lot of plot points from that game and they keep referencing it in the marketing for the movie you have to have never played the game to think its not an sa2 movie

and like. yeah people who were expecting it to be an exact recreation of the game were probably setting themselves up for disappointment but just because it's not supposed to be exactly like the game doesn't mean that every change is justified or that fans of the game aren't allowed to not like it ..?? it's not unreasonable for fans of the games to want to see the stories and characters they love done justice in an adaptation . whatever man

[blluespirit]

Zuko's official defection post-DOBS

I made a post about this here, but I NEED to talk about Zuko defecting more, so here's a deeper dive into Zuko's desertion post-the Day of Black Sun and the crazy impact it could have had on the narrative if only we'd had more time:

In the series before the day of black sun, Zuko had been labeled a traitor, even if he'd not fully committed to the cause yet, but the reason that this is so different and should have had far reaching consequences is because of two things:

Zuko returned home. He was a great propaganda story for Ozai to use in his continued campaign. Despite years banished, ordered to do the impossible, Zuko actually did it. He 'killed' the Avatar and returned home to take his rightful place at his father's side. It's a version of a 'rags to riches' story (except riches to rags to riches and all of it is a lie lol).

The uhhhh... incredibly suspicious circumstances of Zuko leaving. To the outside it looks like this: Zuko 'kills' the Avatar and returns home a hero. Then, when his nation is at it's weakest, the Avatar reveals himself to be alive and leads an invasion right into the capital. Zuko escapes at the same time the Avatar and his companions do. So... Zuko obviously didn't kill the Avatar, and mysteriously disappeared before any consequences could befall him. So, there are several burning questions that people would be desperate to know: What did Zuko do to convince Azula of all people that he really did kill the Avatar? How much did Azula know? Did Aang and Zuko plan for this so they'd have an inside party during the invasion? Did Zuko come home always intending to defect? Regardless of it being true or false would quickly become redundant. The point is that people will talk and react according to what they hear if they see him; most likely it won't be a positive reception with few exceptions.

With all of that, the Gaang must navigate the Fire Nation: the place that hates Zuko the most right now... which says a lot, considering he's the son of the man trying to destroy the world.

Building on what I said in point 1; the smear campaign against would have been dialled up to a thousand. The literal Crown Prince of the Fire Nation defected. You cannot get a more high-profile defector than that. Jeong Jeong's leaving was a big deal, now lets take that and make it so much worse. Ozai would understand that such an event is undoubtably going to stir conversation and thought; and he wants that conversation to be directed in a very particular way. He and his council/generals would know they need to squash any potential rebellion before it can breathe and use Zuko's actions as a reason to become even more patriotic. They'd be doing everything they can to stir up anger, to make them out as the victim - Zuko was corrupted by the Earth Kingdom people since he spent time living among them, eating their roof, wearing their clothes, sleeping in their beds. He can no longer be seen as Fire. Truth would become redundant. Zuko has committed the ultimate betrayal. (I think to Zuko and Mai's interaction at the Boiling Rock prison;

MAI: The warden's my uncle, you idiot. [Zuko facepalms and sighs; Mai shows him a letter.] The truth is, I guess I don't know you. All I get is a letter? You could have at least looked me in the eye when you ripped out my heart. ZUKO: I didn't mean to - MAI: You didn't mean to? [Reading the letter.] "Dear Mai, I'm sorry that you have to find out this way, but I'm leaving." ZUKO: Stop! This isn't about you. This is about the Fire Nation! MAI: [Sarcastically.] Thanks Zuko, that makes me feel all better. [Throws the letter at him.] ZUKO: [Stands up.] Mai, I never wanted to hurt you. But I have to do this to save my country. MAI: Save it? You're betraying your country! ZUKO: That's not how I see it.

Mai's complicated and misguided feelings are all tied up in Zuko, because she's right. She doesn't know him. She thinks he's betraying them all; Zuko is trying to save them all. She fundamentally does not know who he is. When they last knew each other, they were just little children. They're older now, and there's an abyss of experience between them; one of them staying in comfortable familiarity of the Fire Nation, the other falling further and further out of that sphere until eventually he realises the truth. Mai doesn't really love Zuko - she can't, because she doesn't know he is (and vice versa).

Rant aside, I think this energy can be placed to many civilians in the Fire Nation. Although only gone for three years, he was so young when he left, it's unlikely anyone had much of a conceptualisation of him. Now, all people know is this: Zuko was banished for disrespect, he's lack of honour. He 'killed' the Avatar and returned home, only to disappear soon after the Avatar appeared, leading an invasion. That's not much to base an opinion on, and when your surrounded by propaganda, it might be impossible to see through the lies.

We can also some healthy inferencing here to how the Fire Nation would feel about Zuko's action as well by remembering what Iroh and Zuko's first wanted poster read: “Permission is granted to kill them on sight" and that was in Book 1, when Zuko's in-denial treason was pretty tame compared to this. I'd wager the bounty on Zuko's head would be... large. Whether he'd be worth more alive or dead is up to you. I can see the lines falling either way (he's committed an egregious act against his nation: there's either np other option but to kill him, or they want him alive as a big power-play).

Regardless, a bounty on his head makes him a target and not just any target, he's the target. What is he wanted for? Treason of the highest order, that is consistent. The details? Well that depends who you talk to and what poster you read. The point is that each detail creates fear and loathing until only two things are certain, capturing/killing the traitor prince will reward you with a lot of money; helping the traitor will cost you your life.

Lastly; Zuko was the crown prince. Now, he's the traitorous ex-prince allying with the Avatar to overthrow his own country. He's dangerous in a whole new way. Even though Ozai would remove him from the line of succession, it would be clear what the Avatar's ploy here is. Zuko is not just his Firebending teacher, but who he intends to sit on the thrown after he disposes of Ozai

All of this to say, navigating the Fire Nation should have been harder and navigating it with a newly traitorous Zuko should have been terrifying.

[mabaris]

no youre completely right - im a gay (trans)man and i legit wanna see so much more about the women bc There Is So Little. I wanna make a lesbian oc who gets bent in half by taash. im very normal.

i’m just tired man!!!! it feels so obvious how disproportionate it is when you’ve got. a cast of characters that we know almost equally little about. and a few of them explode in popularity and it’s like spongebob sticking his hand out the curtain. literally all a character needs to do numbers is to be a light-skinned man

[that-foul-legacy-lover]

Imagine imitating Legacy's noises (chirps, purrs, etc) to see how he reacts

ohh that is SO CUTE i do this with my own cats

the first time you mimic Foul Legacy's chirps, he has to do a double take- that sounds like him!! except not him, at the same time- uniquely you, your voice softer and less guttural than his. he nudges you insistently- do it again! - and when you let out the same quiet chirp he starts trilling delightedly, nuzzling and pressing his face against your cheek; delicate Abyssal kisses. his arms wrap around your shoulders and squeeze you tight, able to feel the rumbling coming from his chest as he purrs. when he chitters, you chirp back, and he trills again, and you have an entire little conversation! even if you're not saying anything you can understand, he still glows with joy at this simple type of conversing

Legacy already thinks that you purr! it's when you hum in satisfaction, or let out a contented sigh or exhale in relief- but to hear you try and imitate his deep, rolling purrs makes him unbelievably happy. Abyssal monsters actually don't purr that much unless they're feeling safe and comfortable- but Foul Legacy always feels at home around you, and he purrs constantly as a way of conveying that. to hear you purr in your own way shows that you're comfortable near him as well, you feel safe around a monster such as him. he loves you and you love him, and he couldn't be more delighted