#again. fandom isn't praxis. i know.

[darthlenaplant]

Well, I will just say it loud and outside the tags: Fat characters should be the object of carnal desire and especially in the understanding of them as a bottoming partner more often. Severely underrated dynamic and all that jazz.

Sometimes you have to read pornographic fanfiction about a middle aged British man who is not conventionally attractive and/or ugly. For the soul

[velvetvexations]

apologies for not having links but i blocked everyone on the whole thread and i don't care to willingly seek it out again but on the subject of dropout discourse – i saw someone say there needed to be a list of which dropout members were white vs poc in a similar vein to the tme vs tma trans people stats list and........ do.... do you not see how that's literally tokenizing real life people and their identities.... do you not see how sorting REAL people into groups to determine if a media company is diverse enough is.... not exactly the leftist praxis you think it is? maybe instead, idk, support & uplift comedians of color instead of argue about identity politics online? maybe do antiracist work in real life instead of just infighting? or even actually write to Dropout and articulate any worries you have with regards to diversity & inclusion?

(and if you want to make it worse someone on the thread said they weren't "sure if some people (specifically Zac Oyama) 'counted' as people of color" like?????? 1) if you admit to not being sure if someone counts as a poc then maybe you, a stranger on the internet, is not qualified to make a list about real people's identities which can be both fluid and personal 2) maybe such a list isn't actually as useful as you think it is 3) there was literally a College Humor sketch about parodying the idea of being Asian 'enough' featuring Zac *years* ago)

it also just feels like such a clear example of taking the latest queer discourse and trying to justify it by going "well WHAT IF we apply this to race??" when 1) it's usually white people drawing those comparisons (though idk if these people were white or not) and 2) as such is usually a gross misunderstanding of racism and 3) often makes the original point *much* worse.

his last name is Oyama what do these fucking people want

no, you know what? I hope they do it, please Dropout fandom, make the racism version of the tee em ay stats, I dare you

[anghraine]

Tumblr posting isn't the hallmark of activism and no one is obligated to talk about Palestine on here. That being said, it sure is interesting that you never mentioned Israel's ongoing genocide until you decided to make a post about how antisemitic people who do talk about it can be (and provided no example, so it's vague enough it serves no purpose whatsoever, can't be argued with of learnt from).

I did wonder if that would be someone's takeaway (and even that it would likely be on anon), so this response was already largely prepared.

In any case, my fandom account is not the totality of my existence, even online, and particularly not at the moment (I used to talk about politics more here, but don't tend to use this account for that kind of thing these days; I've also barely acknowledged the Trump/Harris election that will directly and drastically impact my own life and which I'm following closely). I mentioned the grotesque antisemitism directed at Jewish people regardless of whether they're Israeli or not, mainly coming from people who have no more stake in what happens in I/P than I do, because it's become so common over the last year in fandom spaces and conversations, and is therefore relevant to this account. There are no genocides happening specifically on Tumblr, but there are people here using Israel to present their pre-existing antisemitic ideas as leftist praxis and to air them more openly.

In addition to that, I don't generally feel the need to Be Seen Having a Take on matters I'm not especially familiar with—particularly as a US American, since we tend to be too quick to share our super important center of the world opinions on other countries' geopolitics regardless of how much we know or understand about them—until I've had time to think, research, and phrase what I want to say. Once I was more familiar, I wanted to be clear that I consider Israel's actions horrific and that, simultaneously, I find the increasingly regular fandom antisemitism I've seen intolerable and unjustified (and I did feel these needed to be in the same post to avoid being misunderstood even in good faith). I kicked my post out of drafts because at that point I'd seen enough to feel equipped to do so and felt it was sufficiently clear about where I stand, and because (as I said in my tags) of a specific and particularly abhorrent display of antisemitism I saw on Tumblr yesterday.

I also did not feel the need to duplicate and broadcast specific instances of antisemitism (much less that one) in order to dunk on it or whatever. Broadly though not universally, I prefer talking about overall patterns that bother me more than litigating isolated instances, even when it's ... like, annoying trends in Pride and Prejudice fanfic or something, but all the more when it's a systemic social problem. And given that I have a number of active Jewish mutuals who would see my post, I didn't want to inflict it on them all over again. If you think I would find something grotesquely antisemitic that's actually totally fine, then you're free to find someone else to follow.

[crumblinggothicarchitecture]

tbh it's not just insinuation of you doing some class discrimination that is gross, other things listed by them as accusations towards you are at least equaly as disgusting, if not more. "ableism, classism, racism" i'm sorry, i didn't know swift is disabled, poor or non-white, oh wait, she is neither of these. yes, grammar policing can be used to discriminate, but when it's used to punch down people, who actually belong to these categories.

also there are literal college courses focused solely on swift's writing, but you as someone with english lit degree can't do some grammar analysis on your private blog? is other anon as offended about these courses and sending them emails about how discriminatory it is to pick apart someone's writing? of course not, because the only people, who would spend money an that type of a course are rich ts fandom cultists, who wouldn't say anything, that might be actually critical about swift. also anon doesn't actually care about picking apart someone's writing, they only care about swift's writing being put under some criticism, because otherwise they would be sending offended emails to every school or critic for the crime of literary analysis.

it's almost as if swift trained these people with her never ending victimhood and copying, to look in her name for any struggle to steal whenever she is being criticized. not an ounce of critical thinking or just common sense to look at it for a second and realize that these don't apply to swift. "so yeah not a good look" yeah, but not on crumblinggothicarchitecture

Sorry, this took a minute for me to get to <3. I appreciate this perspective. I didn't even mention that in the ask, but it's so weird to accuse someone of being racist, ableist, classicist just because I analyzed Taylor Swift’s poor grammar. Swift is the one who calls herself a writer and claims she one of the best writers on the planet right now. So, it stands to reason that I would use my English Degree to analyze her grammar if, for any reason, I felt she actually wasn't a good writer.

If I say that someone isn't a good writer. I'm not going to just state that and leave it there. Obviously, it's on me to effectively argue my point. I do, however, have ways to argue my point. So, naturally, I will get into some linguistic or literary criticism of Swift.

I'm not sure that Grammar-Anon really understands what I am trying to do here. Besides, I think you're right about them not knowing that linguistics is an actual academic discipline. Are the people who dedicate their whole lives to studying and teaching grammar also being racist, ableist, and classicist? LOL.

The English language is such a beautiful medium for expression. It's one of my favorite languages, among many, to read poetry in because it has such an amazing breadth of vocabulary words with which to express emotion. In most linguistic study, it is the mechanism of language itself that scholars pull into study. Fascinating stuff- and people study it all. There are scholars whose life's work revolves around understanding AAVE dialects, or understanding Louisiana Cajun dialects, or understanding mid-Atlantic dialects, or Jewish-New York regionalisms. This is just a short list of regionalist dialects I've personally read about in the last few months- however, the list is expansive and covers much more than just the American continent. For instance, there is a whole subset of academic study centered on the post-colonialist use of English Language in India. Scholarship in this field often takes into account feminist theory, Marxist theory, or Post Colonialist theory. (Again, I just listed my favorites, but there are many more theoretical lenses through which people study the impact of grammatical praxis).

This is something people make into their whole life's work- it's not somehow offensive to participate in low-stakes grammatical analysis of Taylor Swift.

You're right, some people just can't handle the idea of putting her work under the microscope because it would impact their narrow-world view if someone said actually Swift is a bad, unoriginal writer. Imagine the meltdown if twitter Swifties found me :O

I've been giving Swift a pass for years, mostly because I would dismiss her music as simple pop-music. It's meant to be fun. I would listen to it, because it was an easy break from the dense, challenging stuff I would read for classes. However, now I'm going to tear apart Swifts work. It's the principle of the matter now because she seems to think she's the greatest American poet to ever live. I am both bored, as summer approaches and I have nothing else to work on, and frustrated that she's pretending to be a poet.

She's not a tortured genius. She's a trust fund baby who got as far as she did on mediocrity because of her parents' money. We "wouldn't last an hour in the asylum" where they raised her- Ha. She wouldn't last a second working a part-time job after school to pay rent. I get upset when people accuse me of some type of classist's attitude purely because I use my education when they know nothing about my story. I got a lucky break.

Education is my road out of abject poverty. Nothing else was going to save me. I did it all on my own, with the help of a bunch of scholarships, lucky breaks, and really wonderful teachers. Now, in my real life, I am the teacher now. I want to root for people. I critique for the sake of wanting people to improve their skills.

Taylor Swift's arrogant attitude and unwillingness to face criticism just gets under my skin. So, what do I do? I'm not fond of ad hominem attacks. Instead, I will make some good arguments about her bad writing and have some fun in the process. :)

So yeah- I guess it's not a good look.

[animalcopingnewhorizons]

I've been on Tumblr now for over 1 year. 🎉 I thought it might be time to (re)introduce myself and how I've been handling this account.

My name is Layla. I'm almost 42 years old. ♑☀️♒🌙♓⬆️ I just started a personal Tumblr that you're welcome to follow if you want to learn more about me. @trauma-tits (Named after my weekly newsletter. I write a few other places on the internet too.)

Animal Crossing New Horizons is the only Animal Crossing game I've played. I love it so much that I can't move on to other video games because I'd rather be playing ACNH. I've only had one island called Praxis, but I hope to start a new one very soon! (In full disclosure, I've been saying that for months and life keeps getting in the way.)

I usually have my finger on the pulse of fresh posts, but you'll never know that because I reblog everything to the queue which hovers around 300 at all times. I use reblogging in real time to indicate when things aren't from the queue as opposed to marking everything that is. On Fridays, I hit "shuffle queue" and sometimes tweak the times and number of posts.

I've been sharing screenshots from my island Praxis with acnh praxis, animal crossing, animal crossing new horizons, acnh, acnh screenshots, acnh life, & animal crossing creations, and the vacation homes I've decorated in Happy Home Paradise with happy home paradise, happy home designer, happy home dlc, acnh happy home paradise, and acnh exterior or acnh interior as relevant.

Other tags I use:

ac [villager name] and acnh [villager name] because I couldn't remember which one I started with so to ensure I can go back and find things I do both on each post that highlights a villager to remain consistent.

If there is more than one villager showcased, I usually try to tag each one individually. However, if I am in a hurry or I don't know all the villagers and don't have time to look them up, I will use the general acnh villagers. I try to also use acnh [species name], especially if the post is solely one species.

Anything regarding dialogue (photo edited or organic) I use acnh dialogue or ac dialogue if it isn't New Horizons.

acnh codes, custom codes, and acnh custom design for the codes. This is not my strong suit, so any custom stuff you see in my screenshots someone else created (unless otherwise specified). I do not usually share the codes in each post since they aren't mine, but if you ask for them, I'll share.

For dream address posts I also use the tag i really need to start dreaming again because I haven't done it in awhile.

acnh inspiration is for anything that I see that makes me go, "Wow, I wish I was playing right now because this has INSPIRED me!" I never use this tag on my own posts, only rbs of others. If I rb your post with that, you should take it as the HIGHEST compliment. 😘

If there is crossover content between AC and other fandoms, I use when worlds collide, and sometimes I even share crossovers where I am not familiar with the other one.

I love it when people like, reblog, comment, and use my ask box. I love talking to strangers (because a stranger is just a friend you haven't made yet) and I love answering questions. I really like the animal crossing community, and I love making new friends. 💞

I'm still trying to figure out when I should be writing my commentary in the body of the reblog and when it should be a tag instead. If there are other tags you think I should be using to get posts on your dash, lmk. Oh, and I also love it when people go down my page and like a bunch of posts, so don't hesitate to pop over to this account anytime you have the urge. 💕

Thanks for reading this novel of a post, and I hope you're having a day! 💟

[radlymona]

(Don't post off anon) Your fandom artist reblog reminded me... I admit to being a loser & joining lots of fic exchanges and other fan creation event Discords lately, and I do NOT know how you can brush up against these spaces and not face the glaring reality that kids are picking up trans identities like emo fashion or sparkledog OCs. There are always places to pick your "pronoun role" and they're ALWAYS 50-60+% they/neopronouns. And as for the huge selection of "he"s? Sorry not to stereotype but I highly doubt a cis guy in his 20s is joining hyper fandom events to write slash fanfiction.

(Oh and also they all love to make characters trans and rape fic is progressive praxis. Of course. I feel like reading/writing porn of trans characters is its own fetish, but since they're armed with 'he/they' pronouns, it can masquerade as representation.)

(Ctd):

I completely get what you mean here and I wanted to expand about something related to this widespread gender crisis for teen girls.

While I don't want to oversimplify why there's been such a massive increase in female teens adopting trans identities, I think part of it is that it's essentially a substitute for being a part of subculture. Today's nonbinary xie/xir is yesterday's scene kid, is last week's goth kid.

The way that coming out of trans seems to spread rapidly within friend groups (I personally witnessed a version of the ROTG effect while in high school with former friends), feels like how one person would come out as goth (usually the 'leader' of the group) and then rapidly the rest of the friend group would come out as such so they wouldn't be left out of the group. It goes back to what you were saying about wanting to fit in. This isn't to say that everyone stops being goth after school/uni, but obviously let's be real - most do.

Moreover, the new names trans teenagers adopt often sound like the silly nicknames teens would use with each other in these subcultures like "blood" and "raven". I've lost the post but there was a trans activism insta page with a list of trans teens protesting the ban on puberty blockers in the uk. The list included names like "coven", which again sounds like something a 14 year old would go by in 2007 chat room. The difference is that 14 year olds now believe it's a legitimate name because of the online TRA slop they've been ingesting. It affects interests too, "Gender" was an interest a former friend of mine suddenly had, replacing all her other hobbies like writing and other creative endeavours. And I think this is reinforced by the isolation of the online spaces you've discussed above.

But the difference between becoming trans and becoming goth/scene etc. is that the former involves way more life changes, especially if you've medically transitioned. This of course promotes the sunken cost fallacy, because it's a lot more embarassing to change back to she/her pronouns after forcing your family to call you he/they for four years. A photo with a bad scene hairstyle is something you cringe at in your 20s, and laugh about in your 30s+. It's a lot harder to laugh about the time you thought you were a boy or a special genderless being.

And I have to wonder if this mass gender crisis would be as widespread if teens still had proper irl subcultures, not just online spaces to interact with other strangers who reinforce their delusions rather than naturally growing out of phases. Figuring out your identity and rebelling against social norms as an awkward teenager by adopting a dramatic fashion sense is a perfectly normal thing to go through. A 14 year old girl genuinely believing that she's a boy named Kai who needs to go on puberty blocks and cut off her breasts otherwise she'll kill herself is not.

[theshiaxartistwrites]

Heir to Eco

Fandom: Jak and Daxter Rating: Mature Tw: Violence, Abuse, Torture AO3 Link

Chapter Two

To be honest, Sig was more than a little disappointed that Jak was most certainly not the boy he was looking for. Sure, it should have been obvious, given Jak's age, but everything else had lined up so perfectly. Blue eyes, green hair, sun-starved brown skin, mute, and he had survived the Baron's eco experiments with barely a twitch. Not to mention how Jak had been the Baron's 'special guest'. It felt so right, yet Sig had to live with the fact that he had failed to find little Mar and now had to start over in his search.

When Sig first arrived, he learned that the Baron had rounded up all the children in Haven. Even now his patrols stole children off the street. "To keep them safe" is what he told the citizens, but Sig had seen the bodies. Even now, whenever he'd see a little face in a window or hear the soft cries of a babe, Sig would have done everything in his power to drive any other KG officers away. His search for Mar was not going to result in more children going missing on his watch.

Still, he didn't feel too bad about saving Jak from the clutches of Baron Praxis and his horrible prison. Sig felt a chill run down his spine, thinking back to how Praxis had just stood there and glared as Jak, a teenager, a child, had screamed and squirmed in excruciating pain. He swore if he saw Praxis or his crony again he'd shoot first and deal with the consequences later. The only regret he felt was not acting in the moment.

A rumble in the pipes pulled Sig's attention away from the pot of yakcow stew he was stirring, ears twitching as he listened to the guttural sputter overhead. A minute later and a small knock on the door caught his attention, Jak stood there in the simple white shirt and tan trousers Sig had left him, looking distraught and still very wet from his shower.

"What's up, ki-uh-Jak?" Sig put a lid on the pot and stepped over, frowning as Jak tugged on his hair and signed something.

"Er…" Sig really needed to learn PSL or they were going to struggle. Jak frowned and moved to the sink, turning on the faucet. No water came out, but the pipes overhead repeated their gurgle and the faucet sputtered out a watery black sludge. Jak turned it off after a moment, wrinkling his nose at the rancid smell that came with it.

"I see," Sig sighed, looking at Jak's extremely concerned face. "Don't fret, chili pepper, you didn't use it all up." He teased, holding back a laugh when Jak seemed relieved.

"No." The pair turned to face Torn, who stood in the doorway looking grim. "But the Baron just shut off water to this part of the city."

"Shit." Sig growled.

'How do we fix it?' Jak asked firmly, a look of surprise crossed Torn's face.

"Only way to fix it would be to slip out an old drain pipe in the security wall, make it outside the city to the Pumping Station, find the main valve, and turn the water back on."

"Sounds like a cakewalk." Sig said confidently.

"Sure, except we've got reports of metalheads patrolling the area en mass and The Shadow doesn't want anyone doing solo missions anymore…not after what happened with-"

Sig held up a hand, seeing how upset Torn was getting.

'We can go.' Jak signed, even Sig seemed to understand.

"You wanna tag along?" Sig asked in an amused tone. Jak nodded.

"Not a chance," Torn shook his head. "You've got no training, no armor, no weapon-"

'And I can still fight better than any of the Baron's men.' Jak smirked.

"If your face is anything to go off of," Sig put his hands on his hips. "I really do need to learn Sign." He laughed as Torn dragged a hand down his face.

"It's out of the question." Torn doubled down. "We don't even know if you CAN hold your own, let alone if we can even trust you."

"Oh come on, Torn, you're really gonna test the poor bastard? Surviving maximum security isn't enough?"

"Not anymore." Torn sneered, turning on Jak with a serious look.

'Bring it on.' Jak met his eyes with a steeled look of his own.

"Dead Town, out the north eastern gate. Steal the Baron's banner from atop the ruined tower and bring it back to me, survive, and then we can have our little chat."

'Fine.' Jak turned for the door, stopping when Sig put a hand on his shoulder.

"Cool your jets, chili pepper, you ain't even got shoes on yet."

Jak looked down at his feet. He'd removed his wraps when he'd showered and hadn't bothered to put them back on since they were filthy. Still, Jak's feet were rough and calloused from years of wear and tear, he'd kicked lurkers in the jaw with naught a scratch and run circles around guards on steel floors for two years. He could handle running around town.

'Don't need them.' Jak said, looking up at Sig, though it was Torn who responded.

"So you're stupid as well as stubborn? Fine, but if you want them later, you get to find a pair yourself." Torn warned, honestly a little irked by how Jak waved him off dismissively.

"Alright, but you're still eating first," Sig spun Jak around and pointed to the table. "No dangerous missions on an empty stomach."

20 minutes and a bowl of watery stew gulped-down-like-he-was-dying later and Jak was climbing onto a zoomer behind Sig, who had just finished a debrief with Torn behind closed doors. Jak had put the tattered jacket back on, sleeves ripped off to make it a vest, and had found new clean wraps for his hands and feet. The red scarf he'd had before was now draped loosely around his neck. Jak took a moment to admire the larger man's strange bone-like armor.

"Metalhead skulls," Sig said proudly, when he noticed Jak's entranced stare. "Bagged 'em all myself, got a gal here in Haven who makes the best armor. Maybe we'll get a few for you while we're out there."

Sig was absolutely joking, but the way Jak grinned and squeezed his waist made him consider it. Torn stepped outside with a small device in his hand.

"Here," He held it out to Jak. "This is a polydroid communicator, it also has a map, camera, and tracker. If you die out there, remember to give it back."

Jak rolled his eyes, but took the device and tucked it into his vest.

"And you," Torn put his hands on his hips, narrowing his eyes at Sig. "I'll catch up shortly. Do. Not. Help. Him. Am I clear? If he can't do this, he'll just end up getting someone else killed later."

"I've got it." Sig said firmly, nose wrinkling in distaste.

Torn watched as the pair hopped into the air and zipped off, a short ride just a few blocks away to a narrow space between two buildings and an odd little drop off that led to a half-sunken and muddy door. Sig did his best to ignore the wanted posters with Jak's mugshot on them. They left the zoomer tucked beside the door, hidden from the street by the drop off. Just approaching the door was enough to start the whir of mechanisms, opening to a tall, cylindrical room with another door on the other side. Sig followed Jak in, the door closing behind them.

"Lowering outer shield." Came an automated voice from above as the opposite door opened. Jak's face pinched in disgust, the air was practically putrid.

"Yeah, smells great, don't it?" Sig gave Jak a good smack on the back, walking out ahead. "Avoid the water, it's polluted enough to melt skin."

Jak followed, but paused when his toes squished into the muddy ground. God. It felt so good. Jak stood there, squishing his toes in the warm mud for a moment, grinning ear to ear. He'd spent so long walking on concrete and steel, he hadn't realized how much he'd missed the feel of real earth.

"Having fun, mudpuppy?"

Jak looked up and felt his face heat up all the way to the tips of his ears.

"Don't look so embarrassed, kid, I've done it too." Sig was still grinning at him, looking beyond amused. Sig was from the wasteland, a dry desert island, he knew how wonderful fresh mud felt underfoot. Sig once again took the lead, Jak slapping along behind him. The entire area was in intense disrepair, broken walls and crumbling buildings, all half sunken in the muddy black water. It looked a bit like a crumbling city trying to rise out of the center of a lake. The ruined tower was easy to spot at the center of it all, standing tall with a sun bleached banner waving in the wind at its peak.

"Oh look, you're already making friends." Sig chimed, pointing to a different little chunk of land where a few Glubs, green dog-sized bipedal reptiles with large toothy mouths, were standing and staring at Jak. Jak seemed unfazed, switching his attention back to the tower, eyes scanning around to find the fastest way up. Sig turned his attention back with him.

"Torn must think you're crazy if he thinks you'd actually climb that thing." Sig shook his head. "It looks like it could come down at any second. Hm," Sig stroked his chin. "If ya wanted, I could loan you my-"

Sig blinked.

Jak was already speeding ahead, running across the little bits of, mostly, dry land. Using floating wooden debris and protruding chunks of rubble to cross the muck without taking a dangerous dip. Sig tensed when he saw three Glubs crawl out of the water ahead of Jak, only to watch them fly right back in when Jak punted them like Blitz Balls. There was no hesitation in his movements, all confidence and agility.

Then Jak reached a different problem. Between him and his goal stood a Znorkle Tooth. The larger, orange cousin of the Glub, the reptile was a much bigger threat. Jak approached in the same, unabashed way he had the Glubs, aiming to run right past it. The Znorkle Tooth opened its maw, a strange sound in its throat before Jak had to dodge backward to avoid its tongue snapping inches from his face. Sig's trigger finger twitched.

Jak shifted his feet, changing his stance as the creature lumbered forward, maw open and snapping dangerously. With a small hop back and a graceful little spin, Jak brought his leg up and then swiftly down, his heel cracking down on the beast's head. It collapsed in a heap, unconscious, and Jak continued on with a happy little bounce in his step.

Sig moved closer to the end of his little piece of land, watching Jak jump and clamber his way up until he finally reached the little stone bridge that connected to the tower. Jak paused to look back at Sig, waving and grinning back at the man, who did the same.

Jak marched confidently onto the bridge.

Sig saw the crumbling of the supports before Jak did, the bridge falling away in front of him. Sig didn't even have time to call out a warning, Jak springing off the ground and rolling through the air, landing safely on the other side as the bridge fell in pieces to the toxic water below. A loud C R A C K echoed the area, the massive tower rumbling under Jak's feet as Sig watched it heave and tip, its decades of delicate balance thrown off by Jak's miniscule weight.

Sig wanted to yell at the kid to turn his ass around and get off that building, but Jak was already rushing around to the top. Sig heard the automatic door open behind him, turning his head for only a second to double check who it was before turning his attention right back to Jak. Using protruding pipes to swing higher and rebounding off of crumbling platforms, Jak went up and up and up, weaving in and out of sight, narrowly missing plummeting to his death, until he stood beside that pale old flag.

"Damn," Torn spoke up as he joined Sig at the edge of the murk. "I didn't think he'd make it."

Jak grabbed the pole and yanked the flag free, a crumbling of rock under his feet made both men on the ground suck in a breath, the ground collapsing from underneath him. Sig had to resist the urge to look away. Jak fell with the rubble, but seemed almost calm, poised as he aimed himself head down and swung the pole outward.

Snagging one of the many old eco power lines that crisscrossed the area, Jak managed to use the pole and wire like a zipline. Sig and Torn watched as Jak rode it right over their heads, letting go and landing safely on dry land. They all turned their heads up to watch the old tower fall apart, large chunks splashing heavily into the murk. Waves of toxic sludge crashing over the broken and decayed walls, Glub and Znorkle Tooth alike diving for cover from the falling debris. When the dust settled it was little more than rubble.

"Shit." Torn ran a hand over his head, still staring at the destruction. "I guess you're in."

[sithis-has-no-balls]

“why is fanon like this?” it's so weird here. I wish to believe that most people mean well, but I see a non-insignificant amount of fans relishing the opportunity to cosplay oppression and revolutionary heroism while simultaneously 🙈 🙉 🙊 any of the blatant racism within the lore with 0 critical thought. Or worse taking the flattest, laziest bits of the world building (including the race essentialism) and thinking it's free real estate. I'm not asking for anyone to single handedly dismantle the problems within the canon. In fact, you can write a story that ignores it entirely because you don't have to address anything you don't feel equipped to. But acknowledging these depictions and being unwilling to interrogate them in any deeper capacity is how we get fic in which some fans feel comfortable throwing around a term like “Sand Fuckers” and saying it's an Orcish term of endearment 🙄 Such worldbuilding. So yeah, regardless of what is written in the lore, the pattern @wispstalk pointed out exists. Why? And why are some so keen to gobble it up? It's a question worth asking and asking again because the fanbase is always growing and shifting, and it's heartening to see so many voices speak up and say "hey actually, I don't like where that's going."

While fandom is obviously not praxis, conversations like these are really important to have and what I believe this discussion has highlighted more than anything is that it's not just the canon we should be concerned with but also the negative space it has created, negative space which can and often does take on rather ugly, pernicious shapes that will grow if we let them.

So thanks guys. I know the internet isn't always conducive to discussion but I enjoy finding these posts on my dash and knowing people out there care.

Love it when the TES writers think they really did something with the worldbuilding and all they did was some pith-helmet-colonial-governor anthropology bullshit that was already a decomposing carcass a century ago. Terminal Empire Baby Syndrome.

ANYWAY this is incorrect, it's just that the word for gentleness is an inflection on a word for strength that implies precise control and dexterity. Ever packed around a toddler for an extended period of time? That shit takes some muscle. Hammering the shit out of a dagger will only make it likely to break at a critical moment. Grace and flexibility are considered high callings, both bodily and philosophically.