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daydreamodyssey · 2 years ago

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This ended up being longer than I planned, so I'm sorry beforehand. It was about a whatever video of a girl using heightism, saying something stupid but possibly insidious, and me reflecting on our culture toward smallness, particularly with men and how it deals with gender.

(There's a fun present for those who read the whole thing, I promise!)

I saw a tiktok of a girl candidly and cheerfully saying she'd never date a short guy (5'8 or below, she was 5'2) because of a Napoleon complex.

Standard stuff, though still crossing into prejudice.

But then she goes off, in a chipper mood, about deleting them. That really stuck with me.

Best scenario, she just means deleting them off dating sites. Which is still crass and wouldn't fly if she said something similar about other attributes.

Worst scenario, which wouldn't be the first time I heard it, she means literally and physically delete them. She was talking to a guy out on the streets too, so this isn't done terminally online jerk. A lot of women saying they want men dead isn't cute or funny.

I hope people understand that having a preference or having a bad history with whatever group are different than this rhetoric. Even if that person can control something, as opposed to the near permanence of height, it shouldn't mean this group is inherently bad. The issue is the personality, not how long your limbs are or what genes you have. It's a really weird bioessentialism that says if you look different than your gender norm, you are a suspect and a creep in waiting.

There's also this other connection with many men smaller than (the US) average being men of color, which can have a racist and nativist tone. And since height can be affected by the environment, along with making many short people less likely to have high paying jobs and roles, there's probably a classist element, too. A lot of trans men are also short if you want to include transphobia, who already get barely any acknowledgement about how they're treated.

With a lot of women saying "it's in our genes or brains," and one I saw saying for short men to Stay In The Gym, there is this unspoken rule that men MUST be large and dominant or they're not seriously men. With the whole obsession over genetics and strong men, there is a dangerous overlap with trad and fascist ideals, especially with how radical right wing propaganda works (in the 30s/40s and now with the Chad Trad shit).

I don't think a lot of people, men or women, consciously think about this stuff. They could just be shallow assholes. But smallness is almost always seen as infantilism or criminality with no nuance in humanizing, let alone respect as lovers and workers. Maybe there's some taboo part of our private brain that still latches onto "big = strong against predators and rivals" and we don't want to admit and question it like with women and how we judge their looks.

When people say Napoleon complex, it's always vague, like it can mean anything from being aggressive to just being confident to someone taller. It doesn't mean anything and it just causes a Catch 22; you either accept your place on the arbitrary social ladder or you're insecure and in the spotlight. You can't win because you're not supposed to win.

For every short jerk, there's also a tall jerk. A tall jerk who has popularity, fans, girls, money, and literally more weight to throw around. Am I surprised there's a preference? No. I can still be upset about it because I'm human and I'm naturally going to be mad at things that feel unfair and need leverage. And I'm going to be upset when it feels ignored or derided because people don't want to admit they have biases that are more socially acceptable. I'm going to be upset that I and others who are around my height or even shorter have to push limits every day just be treated equally. I can't imagine having dwarfism and seeing these videos or hearing others on the street.

I hear pretty much everything from "short men are rapists for wanting women to be attracted to them" to eugenics and wanting us just dead. There's definitely other traits that compound the toll on a person (weight for myself) that can be greater or lesser, but it's definitely consistent and I've been seeing it rise over the years after some acceptance in the mid '10s.

We need to have honest conversations and reflections about our relationship with size and what it means to be a man. If you want to abolish the patriarchy but still insult a guy because he doesn't look as big and strong and dominant as other men, then you're playing the same side as the men in power or manosphere chuds. The amount of radfems I see hating short men is honestly funny. Like there's no tall misogynists or abusers out there.

If short men, or just A short man messed you up, I'm sorry you had to go through that. But it wasn't like he was infected with the Small Virus, he might've been just a jerk, the same way tall people might be jerks. Just understand that you're overlooking many people because of a bad experience and how dangerously close that mentality is when applying to other people, or toward yourself.

If you read long enough, I congratulate you, and I offer you this one hell of a title I saw in a flea market the other day.

#heightism #short men #social justice #toxic masculinity

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theworldasiknowitnow · 6 months ago

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The World as I Know it Now; Blog post two.

I missed a day, whoops. However today I'm back with something I learned about yesterday. Like yesterday I will be covering two days (Today and the day I missed yesterday.) I'm thinking about making this a weekly blog instead of a daily one. It would be easier to manage but the posts would be longer. Anyways. Today is January 23rd, 2025. Trigger warning: opinions. If you don't like them, please scroll.

Elon Musk at the T. inauguration did the Nazi salute. There is no way to put this politely. He stood up there, on that stage, in front of millions, and did a gesture that is banned throughout many countries. He stood up there and did that just for his supporters to say it was the “Roman Salute” or him “giving his heart to the crowd.” Who gives their heart to the crowd with a tucked thumb and a down facing hand? The most common way I’ve seen someone give their heart to the crowd is with two hands, palm up while they are being spread to the sides. Not palm down, up and to the right. “Oh, but he’s autistic!” Oh, and you’re making excuses for a Nazi. Forgive me for not jumping for joy that we have a Nazi helping to run this country. Day by day we are seeing our rights disappear and we are seeing the government embrace fascism. They are banning books, banning history, banning religious texts. All these T. supporters wanted to be all “he’s just the Christian choice!” What Christian choice? All I see is a man who wants to ban freedom and take control. He’s already started doing it, and one of his first steps was putting Elon, one of, if not, THE RICHEST man on the planet, in power. Made up a fake roll for him to take and everything, just because Elon is willing to eat the little orange Cheeto puff that nobody wants.

T. is going after Greenland, the Panama Canal and Canada. He is going to throw us headfirst back into a world war, and we won't even have enough soldiers because he banned trans militants. We don’t need more land; we don’t need a president getting cocky and taking unnessecary risks. Every empire falls, and with the way this Cheeto prick is acting it might be within these four years. It might even be sooner than that. Why are we taking so many risks? Canada controls our power grids. If we piss them off, they could shut down our power. They could plunge us into darkness just as fast as our president is prepared to plunge us into a war. In an interview he was asked if he could promise to use nonviolent tactics to take Greenland, Canada, and the Panama Canal, and his response was chilling. He said he couldn’t promise that, and that he would use any means necessary to take these places, and yet he hasn’t explained why he wanted them yet. This oligarchy, if left unchecked, could be the downfall of the American empire. The average empire lasts a mere two-hundred and fifty years. America is two-hundred and forty-eight years old. We are two years away from that potentially crucial point and we have an orange who doesn’t know what he’s doing as president. He is trying to play Monopoly and Battleship when he doesn’t have a Clue. He is appointing random inexperienced people for positions they aren’t suited for. Elon is Administrator of the Department of Government Efficiency. Elon. The Nazi. Is in charge of basically controlling how modern our technology is. This man shouldn’t even be in a government position, the only qualification he has is money! You know what that sounds like? Say it with me now, oligarchy. Olee-gark-ee. We don't need an oligarchy if we already have a democracy. Actually, we just don't need one in general.

T. pulled us out of the WHO (world health organization) and he got rid of the thing that says that companies need a diversity hire. He framed it as making America a “colorblind nation.” The likelihood is though, without that, people who aren’t straight white men won't get hired as much anymore. Speaking of straight men, legally they don’t exist anymore. T. redefined what a male and female were, the only problem is, he defined a woman as someone who’s embryo was female when they were conceived. Which isn't the whole problem, it’s actually great news for the trans girlies. Congrats, you guys are all now cis women!!!! The problem with that is, that means that men are defined as anyone who was conceived with a male embryo. Now this is the funny part, all embryos at conception are female. All of them. We are all legally females in America. I’m so glad that MADAM president was brave enough to come out. I bet she is so happy that she made herself cis!! Now, it gets funnier, not only was she the first female president, she's also the first LESBIAN president! Maybe now that she is out, she’ll stop taking our rights! No? She’s still gonna be taking those? Well damn, worth a shot I suppose. But yes, basically they didn't consult anyone in the scientific field, and not only are we all considered legally female, but the entire intersex population has also ceased to exist.

#activism #government #politics #lgbtq

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jade-curtiss · 2 years ago

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NGL if there's really one thing I have no sympathy for it's exactly the kind of detransitionners who really had it all, but I have no idea what made them transition in the first place since it's not, contrary to what these clowns will try to make you believe, as if HRT and gender affirming care was that accessible to begin with. If they claim it is, it's simply because these morons are just completely lacking the self awareness of their privileges. Like boofuckinghoo hormones didn't turn you into some extremely androgynous cgi looking person of your dreams. Boohoo you now have to confront your unaddressed cissexism (the fucking irony). And of course, of course, the average discourse about how they project that most people who decide to transition do so to satisfy a kink or something (and they will often use themselves or throw their own acquaintances under the bus by using them and themselves as the samples for that kind of reasoning, not exactly the most outstanding move, rather embarrassing actually) anyways, what I'm seeing here is just that these people, at least those I had the misfortune to see in the wild, were mostly the kind of people who believe that everything the status quo frown upon should be censored to an extend because they're easily enabled and it seems they were all born without a backbone, because they break in two if they face the smallest form of adversity, they have no self awareness and if they misbehave it's only because instead of training their own discernment the only thing they can do is whine they were "manipulated", everyone was "toxic" , they didn't knew any better and suddenly they have no longer any responsibility over anything, or at least from their own perspective I guess.

That doesn't mean I have no sympathy for all detransitionners. There's a lot of valid reasons to go back. But to detransition only to throw every trans people under the bus because of their own personal regret often founded in actual transphobia and misogyny. The whole "HRT destroyed my feminity, now I have balding patterns and facial hair, look how attrocious I am now" as if there wasn't already ton of women struggling with the perception they get for something not even inherently bad looking, so yea, that's far uglier than 2-3 hair on anyone's chin. Sorry you didn't turn out like a Genshin Impact character, but it would have been ugly anyway.

#well the thing is I never heard anyone complain of the aftermath of dropping off estrogen but testosterone it's like...#did these people wanted to look like men or they just wanted to look like some stylized plastic looking thing assigned as male?

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elfchewtoy · 17 days ago

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you seem to be under the impression that male privilege = perpetuating or being able to perpetuate misogyny. as you have mentioned yourself, cis women are also misogynistic. nobody here is saying that trans men can't be misogynistic. or even that they are "less likely" to be misogynistic than any other man due to some innate female essence (which would be transmisogynistic as well as transandrophobic). however, if women, cis and trans, are also capable of being misogynistic (often to other women who they have social power over - for example, mothers to their female children, white women to women of color, rich women to poor women, etc.), it doesn't make much sense to define male privilege as "being misogynistic." does everyone have male privilege? obviously not.

you are also tying manhood to having male privilege ("[saying trans men don't have male privilege] is just repackaged fucking 'you'll never be a real man'"), which i don't like. as you've said, men's access to male privilege waxes and wanes depending on circumstances and other factors like race. if manhood is irrevocably intertwined with having male privilege, white cishet gender-conforming upper-class able-bodied (and so on) men would be "The Most Man" on account of having the most access to male privilege - men of color, gay men, disabled men, etc., would be "less man." this is already how the patriarchy views men who do not live up to hegemonic masculinity. by equating manhood to male privilege you actually end up reinforcing the status quo.

this is not to say marginalized men do not have access to male privilege at all. especially comparative to similarly-stratified women, they can and do have privilege. i think this is true in the trans community as well. just because trans men do not have unconditional access to male privilege in wider cissexist society does not mean they don't have access to it within the queer and especially the trans community. (this also doesn't mean that trans women do have access to male privilege - i am not doing an oppositional sexism here.) it would be kind of stupid of me to say that if a white het etc. trans man and a white het etc. trans woman were having a messy breakup and both accusing each other of being abusive that they would definitely have equal support on both sides when people are conditioned to see trans women as predatory. within the trans community, given that a trans man's manhood is actually respected (which does not always occur), he does in fact have privilege over a similarly-stratified trans woman.

finally, i've noticed you are very focused on social benefits that trans men may receive when they are passing and being respected as men. those benefits do exist, to an extent - for example, within the trans community, or among cis people who believe he is also cis. these social benefits are actually not what i was even talking about in my original post. i was talking about rights - as in, legal rights. trans men simply do not have the same legal rights that cis men do. in fact, they lack many civil rights, period. in places where abortion is illegal, trans men who are able to get pregnant cannot terminate a pregnancy that occurs, whether as a result of consensual sex or (sometimes corrective) rape. in many us states now, trans boys can no longer access gender-affirming care that cis boys generally do not need. in many places worldwide, trans men must either undergo surgery or become psychiatrized (i.e., diagnosed with gender dysphoria) to even be considered legally male, if they are able to change their legal gender marker at all. other systemic injustices that cis men do not face also exist: trans men are paid 70 cents to a cishet man's dollar on average (which is lower than the average for even queer women - most of whom on the higher-earning end are probably cis), are sparsely represented even among the few transgender politicians that hold office in the us, and have exceptionally high rates of experiencing sexual assault (p. 205), among other things. you'll probably notice several of these sources indicate that trans women also experience these things or even "have it worse." this is because i have been comparing cis men and trans men, NOT trans men and trans women.

it does not surprise me that of the four opinion pieces you linked, all four authors are white. it does not surprise me that one of these authors states outright that he "hit the genetic jackpot" when it comes to physical changes from hrt, or that another says he passes as straight. another is a trans woman, and i will go out on a limb and say she has not experienced transitioning from female to male (which is, shockingly, a different experience than transitioning from male to female). you're cherry-picking the most privileged, most passing trans people and saying all trans men go through life like this. (by the way, i've read "trans male privilege" before - have you? he talks at length about how his trans masculinity is used to silence him in a way it never would be if he was cis. sure, he ends the article by saying he prefers the word "anti-transmasculinity" over "transandrophobia," but this is a semantic problem, not an ideological one. this kind of thing is exactly what people theorizing about transandrophobia have been saying for years at this point.)

anyway, since actual, honest-to-god MRAs found this post before you did and have tried to pick fights with me on it, i do feel comfortable saying people talking about transmasculine oppression are not "Mens' Rights Activists with a spash of cotton candy." are there bad actors within this discourse who act as if trans women play a significant role in trans men's systemic oppression? of course. there are bad actors all over the trans community who act as if trans men play a significant role in trans women's systemic oppression, or as if binary trans people play a significant role in nonbinary people's systemic oppression, or as if nondysphoric trans people play a significant role in dysphoric trans people's systemic oppression, etc. and there are trans people who are transphobic to individuals who are not "Trans Like They Are." this is not an issue unique to trans men. it's an issue rooted in sticking a bunch of hurt and marginalized and severely traumatized people in a community together before they've healed enough to recognize that lashing out at other people will not save them.

you do know "MRA" is a right-wing dogwhistle because cis men already have rights on the basis of their gender, right? you DO know trans men DON'T actually have rights on the basis of their gender, right? you DO know "TMRA" more closely echoes "TRA", a term used by actual, GENUINE TERFs to compare trans liberation to a right-wing misogynistic hate movement, RIGHT?

#i didn't address the scientific papers you linked because they don't seem to contradict anything i'm saying

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dogsliampaynedoesntinstagram · 1 month ago

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Out of genuine curiosity, how do you go about choosing which asks to respond to, and are they representative of all the of asks in your inbox? Most of the anons I see you responding to seem - for lack of a better word - worse, than the average fandom take I see (more angry, more conspiratorial, less tethered to reality). That said, I don't go on Twitter or Tiktok, I actively curate my own dash, so I'm curious if your asks are actually more representative of the fandom average, or if you mostly choose to respond to people where you want to articulate a strong point of disagreement, or if there's something else leading to a skew.

When I'm answering anons I usually start at the top. The lovely anon with a cute kid was number one in my inbox today and this one was number two. That doesn't mean I post in that order though. I'll often write answers to several anons at once and skip backwards and forwards. I can also leave a half answered anon open in a tab for days (I currently have one about the pictures of Louis and Zara that I've been answering for a few days).

I sometimes skip around - but mostly I skip the ones that I'm most interested in and most agree with. It takes me longer to write if there's something I'm trying to work so they take a bit longer. My inbox is currently just over 100 messages and that goes back years. There are lots of interesting anons that I'm still hoping to answer one day.

I do delete messages, but I'm not quite sure how that would skew it. I've deleted about 5 anons out of hte last 30 I've received (I haven't answered all of these)I deleted an anon which was arguing with another anon - which seemed to me to totally miss the point of what the original anon was saying and I wasn't into going deep in the weeds on the topic. I often have a limit of what I'll post when anons are arguing with each other.

I've deleted a couple of anons with very different views about how gay Louis seemed in the photos with Zara. The framing wasn't something I could embrace - and I would have had to spend a lot of words addressing that. I have had enough anons about it so I could say what I wanted to say - so I didn't bother. I also had an anon that responded to my political ranking misunderstanding what I was saying, I thought was pretty wrong and also boring. I might have replied if it had been quieter, but I've got quite a lot of anons at the moment. (I also got one anon that told me not to post so I didn't).

So I'm slower to answer anons that I have most to say to - and the ones I delete are the ones that I have least to say to. I think in general that might mean that angry, conspiratal and untethered to reality anons are probably less likely to fall to either of the poles of interestingness. But if there is a skew it isn't much.

My anons aren't representative of my dash either (which is very curated). But I don't think either is representative of fandom as a whole. You have to be actively motivated to send in anon - it's already skewed.

But I do find it interesting to hear about views that I'd never known. Some of the whackier anons - like the one that suggested that it was most likely true that Louis was trans - I would be curious about where they came from. Is there a part of the fandom that normalises that? Are they just playing around and not taking any of this seriously? Are they trolling? Are they disconnected with reality? I never do know.

#It's a really interesting dynamic #and I really like it #I'm not sure that's entirely complimentary about me #Ultimately you have all the control when answering anons

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sublimeobservationarcade · 2 months ago

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Liberal Party Finally Finds A Female Leader

It only took them 81 years, but in Australia, the federal Liberal Party finally found a female leader. Of course, they only make these calls on merit and getting pantsed at the last federal election had nothing to do with it. I find in Australia, the Anglo-settler psyche only turns to women as a last resort and there are numerous examples of this over the recent journey. This is all about power and traditional blokes believe that they are best served by one of them holding the reins, so to speak. Peter Dutton made a meal of it but just about every recent Liberal leader has been turfed out of office by their own electorate in recent years.

Sussan Ley & That Glass Ceiling In The Libs

People who go around thinking that gender equality is already here are sorely mistaken. Look at the Catholic Church, how long have they been operating and treating women as second class citizens? Millennia! The new Pope Leo XIV may well be a moderate but he aint a woman. Sussan Ley is the new leader of the Australian Liberal Party. The Libs have been decimated at the last election and have less than half the amount of seats as Labor. Australians rejected the Trumpian hard Right divisive style of politics and policies promoted by Peter Dutton. Temu Trump did not fly when push came to shove downunder.

Liberal Party Full Of Right Wing Cavemen The average Liberal voter is a bloke in his 70’s and the average Australian is a 37 YO woman. Good luck squaring that equation Sussan Ley. The neoconservatives inhabiting the Liberal Party want to turn the clock back to a time when white men were the only real consideration in the power stakes. They think that diversity is a dirty word. They love the anti-woke, anti-DEI messaging of Donald Trump. They attack those that dare to ask for equality if they are not the same as them. Trans folk are continually under fire for their very existence. Immigrants and refugees are blamed for every problem. Indigenous Australians should give up their heritage and assimilate according to the Dutton led No campaign during the Voice referendum. Aussies piled on the negative disinformation spread under the auspices of the slogan –‘if you don’t know vote No.’ What kind of dumb praising BS was that! “The Liberal Party of Australia have won no metropolitan seats in Adelaide and almost none in Sydney and Melbourne. Where does the greater part of the Oz population reside? In the cities, of course. Modern Australia no longer represented by Libs. This once popular political party is no longer representative of the modern Australia and Australians. Peter Dutton led the Libs further Right and has taken them into the smaller territory of that extremist category within the political sphere. It features a male dominated, Anglo-settler white is right, ethos which regularly attacks multiculturalism, refugees, LGBTQI folk, renewables and climate change, and ‘woke’ – which is really an attack on smart women and diversity. Inspired by Trump in the US, the Libs want to turn the clock back to an Australia where patriarchy and white men rule the roost and others know their place at the back of the queue.” - (https://wordsforweb.com.au/modern-australia-no-longer-represented-by-libs/)

Libs Are The Self-Interest Party Self -interest is the most apparent message to emerge out of the Libs over recent decades. They are the political party of the selfish voter almost entirely focussed on their own hip pocket concerns. ‘What’s in it for me!’ Howard and his ilk normalised greed over community values. The tax changes he initiated slashing the capital gains tax by 50% and all the superannuation tax law modifications widened the gulf between haves and ‘have nots’ in Australia. Property and capital are immunised from tax, which means workers paying income tax have to carry the burden for the nation, whilst the wealthy divert their wealth into super boltholes and property with negative gearing to boot. Privatisation has seen public assets transferred into private hands. The public good has been robbed of wealth and popular appreciation by the Liberal Party over decades. Dutton coming out with attacks on the civil service was the last straw for voters sick of the corruption and jobs for the boys which have thrived under neoliberalism. “The closeness of Sussan Ley's win over Angus Taylor — 29 votes to 25 — suggests the games are far from over. Three of Ley's votes are outgoing senators who leave the party room on July 1 when the new Senate begins. That makes her a notional one-vote winner of the leadership ballot.” - (https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-05-13/liberal-leadership-party-room-meeting-sussan-ley-angus-taylor/105286624)

Photo by Photo By: Kaboompics.com on Pexels.com Real Change Is Demanded I cannot see the Liberal Party reforming much beyond window dressing under Sussan Ley. Their basic values are morally bankrupt, in my opinion. Australia desperately needs to rebalance the wealth and power dynamics which have seen millions locked out of home ownership and paying unaffordable rents on housing. This will not occur via tinkering around the edges, it will take bold changes to taxation laws. We will have to see who has the heart for such legislation, as generational change continues in Australia amid the electorate. Younger Aussies are sick of bearing the financial brunt of inequity downunder. Robert Sudha Hamilton is the author of America Matters: Pre-apocalyptic Posts & Essays in the Shadow of Trump. ©WordsForWeb

Read the full article

#Australia #election #federal #Labor #LiberalParty #Libs #moralfailure #PeterDutton #politics #power #Trump

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wickf0rd · 2 months ago

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#IFTTT #Your Online Friend

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zorilleerrant · 1 year ago

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the Bechdel test post is back and I'm mad about it again. like the notes are literally just women talking about a thing that gets yelled at them a lot and. the OP making fun of women for objectively reasonable takes

"the bechdel test is just a way to police what women talk about" objectively true. men who write books and scripts and songs etc. almost never have it applied to them. it's women who constantly get it talked about to prove they're unfeminist or bad people and no one should engage with their work. doubly true when it's women writing romance, a genre people already mock and try to get people to stop writing all the time, in an attempt to prove that in all circumstances a woman talking about being in love with a man is an anti-feminist act, and that the writer is a bad person for saying it. again, only when women write this; when men write it it's ignored.

"the bechdel test is pretty shitty" yes it is. see above. especially given that people insist on referring to the originally designed test (can I pretend they're lesbians) as the bechdel-wallace test, leaving the bechdel test to unambiguously refer to the terrible thing that's used to police women's writing. especially given that people want to treat it as some sort of be and end all measuring stick of feminism, and think no feminist work could lack it and no work that meets this criterion could ever be unfeminist. its prevalence in discussions, with the way people typically use it, is absolutely shitty. in both the sense of 'inadequate' and the sense of 'used in a mean way'. people can know very well where it comes from without that actually impacting how it comes up in practice.

"what if you measured the movies where two named women talk about their male love interest" you see. when the comic was written. it was very common for two women to talk, but only about male love interests. at the time the tag was left, it's no longer common for two women in a movie to talk, even about male love interests. the tag is a joke and the joke is that increasing the parameters wouldn't actually increase the number of films that met this criterion. the joke is the patriarchy. just like the original joke, the joke is the patriarchy. it's a super obvious joke how obsessed can you be with feeling superior to everyone you missed that joke

the thing about the bechdel test is. only women have any opinions on it, basically. it's women and it's trans people who identify with the experience of relating to a woman on screen. so when you want to get mad about people's commentary on it... maybe be careful not to be more insulting and dismissive than you would be with the average comment you dislike.

#look i said something #actually probably every time you think “you're the dumbest motherfucker alive” you should assume it's satire

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tallysgreatestfan · 5 months ago

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You put it into words better than I could.

Didn't really mean that they work as a one on one metaphor, and that is why the end is kind of disturbing, just that it adds to that.

That is also the same spot where the Specials as a metaphor for being neurodivergent and unmasking breaks down, too. They're othered, and dehumanized, and instrumentalized by the regime, and create identities for themselves outside of what is deemed right and normal - but they are also, first and foremost, created to be much more dangerous than the average citizen, unlike trans people, or neurodivergent people, who are actually much more likely to be victims of violence than the average person. And all of the neurodivergence and genderfuckery is either just a side effect or part of making that system work.

It is so interesting how they are both victims and perpetrators of the system.

But yeah, that would be so interesting to explore how they deal with the aftermath of that. Another dark thing I realized: Given that the average life span in this world is about 150, and Dr. Cable is relatively young considering that, something between 50-60, and already with Special Circumstances for at least twenty years, there will be people who were working for them even longer and for most of their lives. They will definitely not get as old as civilians, but still, how do they deal with that?

"which is that someone made you feel like this was the only good way to live"

Yes, this part so much. Don't even really have much else to contribute to this, but this is such an realistic, for the lack of better terms, and harrowing part not just of being a Special, but this whole system, how this is in large parts not even enforced from the outside, but by the people themselves, because this is what they learned to be the right way until they truly believe it, and later even have ingrained in their brain structure. That resonated so hard with me, both in a queer/gender way, and in a neurodivergent way.

I love the idea of them questioning all the different "parts" of their androgyny, and other body modifications.

For Tally, I also kind of think she will be mostly stuck with how she was made to look after the Special surgery, because with all that trauma I can't really imagine that she could bear any surgeries other than maybe really small things she can be conscious during, or, like, treating battle injuries she would otherwise straight up die from.

For Shay, maybe, I mean she temporarily did surge her eyes from purple and red heterochromia to green during that party in Youngbloods, but I also can't see her doing any major changes anymore.

Obviously, for others accepting their bodies and themselves can look like lots of specific surgeries, but for them I kind of feel it would look like just leaving their bodies as they are, also with additional scars, or in Tallys case a bit of fat (before the movie imagined her going from female body builder to absolute tank of a woman a la highland games, but even imagining her being played by Joey King I still like the idea that she ends up gaining a bit weight), and focusing more on clothing, jewelry and hair. Not even as in accepting and loving every bit of how they were altered to look, but more like body neutrality.

Which I am not sure how to connect with my headcanon that they're both not cis, but maybe over how my own gender exploration and going from trying to look like a woman should be to butch and feeling mostly at peace with how I look? Which had pretty much nothing to do with my body, other than some minor body hair stuff, and everything with changing my clothes and cutting my hair off and buying some badass ear cuffs. Not the same environment at all, but maybe it could still work.

For the "I wish you'd write a fic where...": Tally/Shay post-canon genderfuckery (the inherent genderqueerness of being a cyborg)

I know people usually like to fill the transness blindspot of the Uglies worldbuilding with "it probably just kind of happens, surgery obviously doesn't scare these people" but I think you could do something more interesting with post-specials "now you can become whatever you want" and choosing to un-learn what society has told you, and the relationship with bodily integrity and both harming or healing yourself on your own choice. The inherent genderqueerness of having to take every piece of yourself, body and mind, and maybe also pieces of something else! and ask yourself "is this who I am or is this what was made of me?"

I wish you would write a fic where...

#thought about rereading all of the books too #not just Uglies Series but Impostors Series as well #but I don't think it would be smart of me to go even deeper in after how horrible the movie was received #Uglies #Tally #Shay #Dr. Cable #meta #Scott Westerfeld #queer reading #neurodivergent reading

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daughter-of-sapph0 · 3 years ago

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the guy on twitter who says he hates that he's bald after starting testosterone and is blaming trans people:

started balding before he started t

says he will not be detransitioning or stopping t

heard from at least a dozen of his doctors "hey taking t will accelerate your balding" and either just didn't listen and didn't do any research on it, or knew that taking t would make him unhappy and did it (and is still doing it) to have a reason to be mad at trans people.

following that last point, how fucking stupid is that? it's like going to a restaurant and ordering a poop burger with extra mayo, and then giving the restaurant a bad review when you don't like the food you ordered that you knew you would hate. but instead of one meal it's your entire life.

he also follows only terfs and fascists and far right figures and Matt Walsh and Ben Shapiro on twitter.

he apparently didn't realise that getting your breasts removed would mean you can't breast feed? which... yes, that obviously to literally everyone with more than one braincell

he's not some "detrans" cis woman who went by they/them in middle school and decided they didn't like it and became a violent transphobes. he literally went through years of therapy, doctors visits, informed consent, spend years on waiting lists, waited years to get t, and then waited even longer to get top surgery.

60% sure that he's actually just a cis man who's blaming his below average appearance on any marginalized groups he can. he's just spreading hatred on twitter just because. dude's probably a fed

~~~

I hope people realize that when detransitioners say and do stuff like this, they aren't actually making it any better for people who regret transitioning. that's not their intention. they only want to make life a living nightmare for every single trans person. and they will not stop until we're all dead.

for every one detransitioner who regrets the choices they made themselves, there are five hundred trans people who are suffering because they aren't seen as human.

detransitioners are a very very small community. only about less than one percent of all trans people "detransition", and about 95% of those people are just putting a pause on their transition because they don't have a safe environment or the support system they require. but once those people actually have the support and care they need, they complete their transition.

so it's less than 0.05% of an already very small marginalized community who want to have that entire community dead or ruined, and they pretend that their excuse is that they don't want anyone who may regret transitioning to start their transition. but that's a lie. they don't actually give two shits about detrans people. they just put them on a pedestal and use them as an excuse to say they wanna kill trans people.

#dostxt

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bitches-who-write · 4 years ago

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Short Stuff

Word Count: 1,450

Warnings: Foul Lanugage, Deragtory Names, Offensive Terms, and One Sexual Phrase Implied

Description: Female reader is really short so the guys tease/ mock her for being so small.

This story was requested by @10v3ly. Thanks for the fun idea we hope you enjoyed this imagine.

We haven’t forgotten about all of our other request. We are working on them as we speak. We are trying to make them as detailed as possible so it may take a day or two to get them posted.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

My alarm goes off, reading 9:30 AM. It’s Saturday morning so that means naturally the guys are going to want to hang out today. After taking a quick shower, I picked out a pair of black leggings and a loose grey t-shirt. I figured I’d just dress casually and comfortably because I never know what the guys have in mind for the day. Plus, it’s probably best to not wear something tight-fitting around them, especially Patrick. Unless you feel like getting groped~

I sigh looking for a decent pair of shoes to put on. Majority of them have those little hidden wedges inside to give me some extra height. My height is something I am always teased about since well.. I’m below average in the height category. Being so short makes normal tasks a chore for me. I need a step stool for reaching dishes in the kitchen, I have to climb the shelves in the grocery stores just to reach the top, and people always assume I’m way younger than I really am. Here I thought I was being teased a lot before, but that was nothing compared to what the Bower’s Gang puts me through now.

Hearing a loud car horn outside my bedroom window pulls me out of my daydream. I quickly grab a pair of black wedge sneakers and hurry it along, knowing if I make the guys wait any longer, Patrick will scale alongside my house and physically bring me out. Walking down the pathway to the car, I keep my head down. I begin to feel a little self-conscious knowing they are all watching me. Henry was the first to make a comment. I don’t even have to look up at him, I can practically hear the smirk already. “What the fuck took you so long? Did you fall in the toilet?” Of course, everyone laughs at this, until Vic chimes in next. “Nah man, her step stool tipped over so she got stuck.” This caused everyone to erupt into even more laughter, making me blush.

Henry opens the door to the Trans Ams, pushing the passenger seat up and allowing Patrick to climb out next. Being so tall, he has to duck down just so he doesn't hit his head. You climb in, taking the middle seat with Vic in the left seat on the driver’s side and Patrick filing in on your right. Once everyone is in, Henry climbs back in, slamming the door shut. Reggie takes off down the street, making small talk with Henry about his beloveded car while Victor looks out the window. I get comfortable in my seat, bending my knees so my feet are resting up against the center console. Meanwhile, Patrick does not take his eyes off me. Out of all the guys, he's definitely the most observant in the group. He focuses on the little details about people, things most people would overlook-but not Patrick. Being the perv he is, I see him in my peripheral vision, looking at my legs. I begin to stiffen a bit, but don’t move from the position I am in. I then see Patrick slowly begin to smile, tilting his head as his eyes zone in on my shoes. I grow more and more uncomfortable knowing he’s about to make a comment and embarrass the shit out of me. His smirk becomes even more arrogant looking as he begins to say in the most condescending tone ever, “Cute shoes Y/N. I didn’t know you still shopped in the children's section.” Everyone immediately turns their heads to look down at my feet. Reggie glances in the rearview mirror then quickly down at the console beside him, wanting in on the joke even though he’s busy driving. I quickly put my feet down on the floor, trying to avoid their eyes. Vic puts his arm around my shoulder, pulling me in close as he still continues to laugh at Patrick’s joke. I felt relieved for a second thinking he was trying to comfort me and would tell the guys to lay off; but damn was I wrong. “You don’t have to hide Y/N. Considering your height, you don't have to play so hard to get when you’re already so hard to notice.” My jaw just drops, not even knowing how to respond. How dare that blonde fuck say that to me! I shrug my shoulders to get him off of me, leaning away from him but trying not to get close to Patrick either. Henry begins to mock, “aww stop pouting, you know it’s true!” He says as he reaches back trying to grab at my legs playfully.

Finally, after what feels like the longest car ride ever, we arrive at the junkyard. Why do we even hang out here again? I ask myself. Belch begins to line up beer bottles and cans on a crate as the other guys take out paintball guns, getting ready to just mess around for fun. Good thing I brought my book with me because I have no interest in ‘target practice’. I turn the page of my book, about to continue reading when I notice Belch hovering over me. “What? ...you're making me nervous.” I say nervously chuckling. Belch just smiles and bends his knees, looking at me as if he’s an adult talking to a child. “Let me see what you’re reading Y/N.” His facial expression looks like he has a hidden agenda. I hesitantly pass him my book, asking him to be careful not to lose my place. Belch flips through the pages with disinterest but just happy he has the book in hand. Vic waltzes over with a smirk, taking the book from Belch. “Heeyy what’s this?” Vic tosses the bookmark out and throws it over his shoulder. “I told you to be careful! Now give it back” I say, standing up now, trying to grab it from him. Vic purposely turns his body away from me. Henry and Patrick look over at us and the scene they are causing. Right away they smile and come over, wanting to join in on the teasing. “Hey Henry, quick, catch!” He throws my book, Henry catching it and hiding it behind his back as I approach him. “I said, Give. It. Back.” I try to sound stern but he only laughs at my attempts. “What? I can’t hear you from down there midget. Ya know, on second thought- while you’re down there, how ‘bout you suck my dick.” So many emotions are rushing through my mind now. It felt like everything was spinning but I can see their mocking faces so clearly. My blood boils from being annoyed and embarrassed all at once. Henry proceeds to throw my book, now tossing it to Patrick. I turn towards Patrick with a pleading, defeated look on my face. However, pleading looks do not affect Patrick; it only encourages him to up his game, getting off on your emotions. He holds my book high above his head. I go on my tippy-toes and try to jump in order to reach it but it’s no use. They continue to laugh at me especially when Patrick tauntingly leans down and says, “Does everyone have to lean down and give you a hug?” The others just keep adding to the predicament, mocking me further. I attempt to shove them back out of frustration but they barely budge. Vic doesn’t let up on teasing me either. He finds it hilarious when I get angry. “Always choosing to be upset..ya know I hate the things you chose to be...your height being at the top of the list.” Since I was distracted by Vic’s comment, I hadn’t noticed Patrick threw the book to Henry again. Henry dangles the book in my face, giving me false hope of grabbing it when he quickly pulls it away. “Vic is right, how can someone so small be so hugely irritating?” I finally give in and sit down on the ground as they remain standing, circled around me. I tried my best not to blink knowing I was about to cry. That’s when Belch chimes in, “Okay, okay, here’s your book back.” He helps me back up and puts an arm around my shoulder as we walk back to the car now. “Y/N...I pray that in your next life, you won’t be as short.” I look at him playfully, smiling at me. This time, I actually laughed with him… “I’ll give it to you.. that was a good one, Reggie.” After settling into the car, Patrick gives you one last smirk as he pats your head like a child, making you roll your eyes and sigh.

#headcanons #henry bowers #patrick hockstetter #belch huggins #victor criss #henry bowers x reader #patrick hocksetter x reader #belch huggins x reader #victor criss x reader #bowers gang #bowers gang headcanons #request #imagines #it #it movie #it 2017 #horror #horror movies

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interact-if · 4 years ago

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Welcome to Mod Appreciation Month!

This event is a lowkey one, designed for us to take some time to catch up on asks, rec lists, and other blog pages that happen mostly in the background such as the masterlists, database, and post tagging.

This blog is a lot of work! And we're happy to help out with promoting authors and exposing readers to new and interesting stories based on their interests!

That being said, we need a break!

This is why we are closing the inbox for July.

Please refrain from sending asks for rec lists through submissions. We’re leaving that line open specifically for new authors to submit their projects.

We are going to utilize this time to try and clear out our inbox--we have over 100 messages, most of them asking for rec lists, which take a few weeks at a time to properly curate, tag, and put in the queue.

We will also be working behind the scenes on other projects we hope to show off soon!

We're thrilled y'all are eager to read more, and we'll be back in August for sure. For now, if you need to get in contact with us, feel free to reply to posts, DM one of the mods, or get in contact with us over on our discord.

[Discord] [FAQ] [Ko-fi] [Reddit]

Below the cut are our rules, guidelines, and FAQ for recommending or suggesting games as well as general practice and etiquette.

We'll be back in August! <3

Now, to get into some of the details. (This applies regardless of the event to every ask sent, even if the inbox is currently closed.)

RULES WHEN SENDING ASKS

If you can and it is relevant, please tag your asks with content warnings in the beginning. Such as (cw violence) or (cw death), this is an extra precaution to keep both our mods and our readers safe and well-advised. This will also make tagging easier!

Please keep your asks as brief as you can! Any asks that are more than two asks long may get eaten by the Tumblr machine and/or may not be answered due to length.

If your ask hasn't been answered, it may be because it already has been! Be sure to search the tags and FAQ before sending in an ask.

Please don't spam! We won't respond to inappropriate asks or asks that have already been answered.

Recommendation lists

If you are submitting an ask for a rec list please be aware that these lists take a lot of time and effort to make! In average, it might take us up to two weeks to fully finish and queue a rec list, sometimes even longer. We’re happy to put them together but we ask for patience and understanding.

With that in mind, here are some guidelines:

Please look through the #interact-if asks and #if: rec list tags before sending and ask.

Constantly looking out and keeping track of IF projects takes a good chunk of our time among our other responsibilities as mods. For this reason, we came up with a tagging system that makes it easy for our audience to look through the blog. Unfortunately, it gets overlooked most of the time.

And for this reason, we get repetitive asks, which we ignore and delete.

The tagging system is there for your and our convenience. If you’re not sure whether you’re asking for a rec list of the same theme/genre that has already been posted, please consider looking through the aforementioned tags before sending an ask.

As much as we love entertaining the rec list asks, it does tend to be bothersome having to constantly reblog and link new asks to the posted rec lists, as well as reminding people to use the tagging system.

Please make your ask neither too broad nor specific.

This isn’t to sound finicky we promise! If an ask is looking for fantasy IFs without specifics we cannot properly curate a list of what you’re looking for. Is it modern fantasy? Medieval? Non-Eurocentric? Do you want fae fantasy? Supernatural? Fantasy is one of the most popular genres and asks like this example we cannot properly answer.

This is why we ask for rec list requests to be not too broad.

As for narrow–too narrow an ask will likely return a very short or non-existent list! At the end of the day there are only so many IFs and very specific niches may not be filled. We will try our best to answer, but likely your list will result in games adjacent to your request that we think best kind of sort of fit your request. We’re doing our best with the IFs that are out there.

Please be patient!

We often spend several days working on a single list. If your ask hasn’t been answered yet it may still be in the works or in our queue! If it’s been a long while and it still has not been answered, it may have been ignored for a variety of reasons including: Too broad an ask, too similar to previous rec lists, contains NSFW or offensive materials, etc. Please refrain from sending multiple check up asks

On the topic of NSFW asks/content…

We have received some inquiries regarding NSFW (like smutty scenes) recommendations in IF recently, and believe it best to clarify the stance Interact IF has on the matter.

We will be refraining from answering questions about explicit sexual content in IF. We as a team do not feel we have the expertise to help with this, nor have we been on the lookout for explicitly sexual IFs.

As well, it is not entirely suitable for the blog, as Interact IF is for all ages and there may be minors following it.

We would like this blog to remain as SFW as we can manage, with games properly tagged for their age groups and limiting asks and rec lists to non-sexually-explicit content.

With that in mind, feel free to get in contact with us anytime and we’ll do our best to find what you’re looking for!

Game Recommendations

Before sending in a game, please keep these aspects in mind:

The game must be interactive fiction–the reader plays a character (either customizable or pre-determined) and makes choices that influence the game in some way.

The game can be text-based or a visual novel.

The game does NOT violate copyright (i.e. A published for-profit IF that is using the Star Wars universe. If it is not-for-profit (it’s free to play) then this is fine)

DON’T

If you play a character and can physically move them (walk, run, jump, attack), we consider this a video game and isn’t currently a niche we are supporting.

Recommend a game produced by a company–we are here to support individual authors or games written collaboratively by a group of authors/artists/etc.

Don’t recommend games that glorify violence, sexual violence, racism, sexism, and so on. Or which has (an) author(s) who also have a history of having engaged In aspects like these.

If your rec is good to go, here’s what you have to do! If you are able please provide a link to the post to reblog - this makes it a lot easier on us!If the game is 18+What language/program the game is in (Twine, Choicescript, Ren'py, etc.)If the game has a currently playable demo. If you would like your game reblogged/recc'ed, let us know with the same info/more if you like!

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Can you recommend games that are finished or complete?

We have a tag for that! Check out #status: complete, though you can also check out COG, Hosted Games, and search for complete games on Itch.io.

I can’t find a game and can’t remember the title, help!

If you’re struggling to find a beloved game and can’t remember the title–go to our Reddit and see if it’s there at the Lost & Found! If not, you can ask our community on the Reddit to help find it, or join our discord and ask there!

I noticed you failed to include x game on a list, so I will inform the author about it.

Please, don’t. The mods here are nothing but human, so we do our best to include as many games as we can remember, and frequently ask other people for help. However, this doesn’t mean we will include every single game in existence. We will forget, things will slip, so the least we ask of you is to leave a reply or send an ask and we will add it in. We promise we always keep a close eye on those.

The extra step of informing the author about this is unnecessary. The only thing you’re causing is either making the author feel left out or having them reach out to us to be added, which is essentially the same thing we ask of you to do. There’s no need to get a third party involved within something that can be easily tackled, so please respect us instead of putting our blog in a bad light.

The only suggestions we ignore and might erase are the ones we realize don’t fit the theme of the ask, or ones that don’t fit the guidelines specified in the question right below this.

What we do not promote.

Trans-exclusive radical feminism

Gratuitous sexual violence (This includes pedophilia, domestic abuse, r*pe, etc.)

Racism, including cultural appropriation, stereotyping, whitewashing, brown face, etc.

Any and all versions of sexism

Religious phobic rhetoric (Islamophobia, belittling indigenous religions, etc.)

And so on.

We also do not promote authors who have aligned themselves with these rhetorics, whether or not they are exhibited in the author's playable content.

#mod appreciation month #if: events

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palmett-hoes · 4 years ago

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i said in this post that i have original characters and backstories for neil's extended family. it took me,, a really long time to write it all down. it's been a full month since the original post, and this is still just a run through of things, not full prose, which i might be interested in doing one day but not anytime soon

now, some things to note about what i'm writing, why, and how. methodology, basically. this might not have come through yet in my posts, because i just don't post about my half-finished ideas, but i research a LOT. i like to base what i write about on real life, even if it's just headcanons and fanfic

also, i love helping people with research, so if anyone wants help with research for a fic or just their personal headcanons or anything hit me up!!

as a white person who wants to write characters from different ethnic backgrounds, i feel i have a responsibility to really do my due diligence and research as much as possible to consider things from every angle. and part of that for me is making sure that every character of color has a backstory. they don't just appear somewhere, i have to give them a reason for being there and a story for how they got there, even if that's not what i write their STORY about. people, come from places, basically. i follow a lot of demographic census information and population averages, as well as a lot of history, from as general as transatlantic trade in the last 500 years to as specific as the changes in a single city in a certain year

talking to other writers in the fandom i know i'm a little overzealous, but this is what gives me peace of mind to feel like i am putting the effort in to get things right

so anyway, as for what that means here:

i like writing neil as mixed black/jewish. it works well thematically for his character, as well as just what FEELS right for how i visualize him in my head

only, that can't simply come from nowhere. we know who his parents are. they need to also be poc for neil to be one, and they're a complicated pair to handle in that lens

one choice i made about that, for multiple reasons, is that everything about neil's parents' backgrounds should mirror each other. it can't simply be that one if them is black and one is jewish, or even that mary is both and nathan is white, because that says something i don't want to say any way you slice it. additionally, i want both facets of his ethnicity to be important to neil, and i feel as though he would want to ignore the half of himself from his father.

so: they both have to be mixed, giving them a sort of,, ideological equal footing, as it were. that way, i can also write three different experiences, rather than accidentally implying that This is what being black is, or This is what being jewish is, or This is what being mixed is. and that's also important to me, even if it's just in my head or not even directly addressed. it's still a big consideration of mine anytime i write about any of them

now, finally, onto mary and nathan! i'll put it below a cut because this is already long enough, the under-the-cut is much longer, and i don't want to wear out your thumbs if you don't care

mary hatford

canon timeline, neil was born in 1988. as a tentative number let's say mary was around 30 when he was born, meaning she would be born in the 50s. say her parents were roughly the same age, so they were born around the 20s

like i said, what's happening where in history is very important to me for building these backstories, and major historical events tend to have a lot of influence on population shifts. and well,, jews and europeans in the early-to-mid 20th century? there's no getting around involving world war II. nothing explicit, but it is mentioned and part of the story

mary’s paternal family are the hatfords. they're from the british west indies, largely jamaica, but they've been involved with shipping and trade all over the trans-atlantic region for generations.

they have a complicated relationship with the british empire, having both worked for them and against them at various points, sometimes both at once. similarly, they've tried multiple times through the generations to relocate the family to england permanently, but have been turned away or pressured out

they associate england and the british empire with power, and they both disagree with and desire that power in degrees which vary person to person. they do have a general idea between them though that living in england is a sign of status and authenticity, and while they don't want to leave jamaica permanently they do want their center of power to be in england, and there is a deep resentment against the anglos for not allowing them to stay permanently despite their wealth and influence, the fact that their work will always be looked down on and seen as lesser

i did come into building the hatfords with the primary idea of them being black british, and looking into the organized crime connection second. them being jamaican/west indies is a reference to the jamaican posse, who have a large presence in the london crime scene, although that's really the only connection. the hatfords aren't really yardies in any sense

the hatfords' status as organized crime is a little iffy. mostly they skirt the line between legal and illegal, owning legal trading companies and doing plenty of legal shipping. their main business in the criminal underworld is being middlemen moving supplies for other groups. they have a lot of contacts, and they serve an invaluable role in international smuggling, but they rarely get their own hands dirty. they move things from one place to the other and don't question too much what it is, though they don't deal in people

mary's father is named samuel hatford (first name in reference to samuel bellamy, the gentleman pirate king of the early 18th century). he was born in England, raised largely in Jamaica, then moved back to England as a teenager/young man. he's light-hearted and a bit idealistic for someone from a crime family, seeing the best in people even when they're cold and often believing in principle over profit, which at times put him in conflict with what's best for business

he almost enlisted in world war II, but instead convinced the family to work as weapons and supplies runners supporting the Allies and guerilla resistance groups

mary's mother is named cima ben nahman (ladino/judeo-spanish/sephardic names, doesn't really reference anything or anyone in particular). She's is an algerian jew. Born in algeria (city undecided, though algiers had the largest jewish community at the time), she moved to france for a few years as a young woman, probably for education. she joined anti-fascist organizations which became resistance groups once germany invaded

she's stoic, and has a ruthless mind for strategy. like most algerian jews, she's caught between her home country and its colonizer. the french empire played the algerian muslim majority against the jewish minority as a way to create infighting and distract the algerians from uniting and turning against them, but the algerian jews also then became reliant on the french for protection. (it's a really, really complicated situation)

cima sort of hates them both, both algeria and france. her only allegiance is to being jewish

(contrast this to samuel, who feels that he is BOTH british and caribbean, even when those two identities may be in conflict)

cima and samuel met when samuel provided weapons and supplies to cima's militia group. he took particular interest in them and went out of his way to help, above and beyond the other groups the hatfords were supplying

in the waning period of the war, cima was seriously injured, i'm currently thinking a land mine accident. she survived, but her recovery was slow. she lost an arm and had burns across half her torso, neck, and face. samuel brought her to england supported her through her recovery. in the hospital, they spoke a lot about why they each chose to fight, and the ways they did because neither were formal soldiers fighting for a country. samuel was in many ways fighting for an ideal, while cima was fighting for her people. cima also talked to him a lot about judaism and religion during this time, which samuel took an interest in. eventually, cima decided to stay

they got married. samuel converted, which was somewhat controversial with his family. however, cima agreed to join the family business, where she became an integral but sometimes ruthless member. after algerian independence, she brought some of her trusted family and community into the fold as well, some moving to england and others to france

both cima and samuel believed very heavily in responsibility, though what it meant for each of them was different. cima believed in preparedness and follow-through, samuel believed in family and protection, doing what's right outside of the bounds of the law. this contributed a lot to how they raised their children

when they were born, mary and stuart were raised in england (and i like to think they have an oldest brother). the hatfords were a big family, and influential, although careful about balancing the legal and less-legal sides of their business. the ben nahmans were smaller, and most of them were in france so mary and her brothers saw them less often. they were raised very religiously and culturally jewish, though close with the caribbean side of their family too, as well as being the first generation who were born and raised in england. this put them at a cross-section of three very different cultures, and was where mary first learned about changing and blending in with different groups

mary was the youngest and a little bit spoiled by her father, aunties, and uncles. her mother however was much less tolerant of her. clearly very affected by her time in the war, cima became extremely distrustful and suspicious, and tried to instill in her children a similar sentiment of secrecy and self-sufficiency, avoiding attention and casual relationships. she could be harsh on them, especially mary, who was the most resistant to this

growing up, mary was irresponsible and fun-loving, goading her brothers and cousins, getting in trouble, and starting fights. she didn't understand the tenuous balance of being organized crime, and at times put the whole family at risk by overestimating their sway. her mistakes affected the whole family but it was usually her mother who confronted her about them first and most harshly

she resented her mother's control, and didn't understand the reasons behind it. she also couldn't differentiate between the boundaries her mother sets as a result of her own trauma, and the necessary boundaries she set for the safety of the family, viewing them as one and the same, and leading her to hate any kind of control exerted over her

really, a lot of cima's character is just who mary ends up becoming after being married to nathan and being on the run. i like the story of a child becoming the parent they once hated. rather than learn from her mother, both her failures and her successes, mary becomes her, doomed to make the same mistakes. this is also why cima is wounded by a landmine, because mary dies in fire

---

nathan wesninski

nathan was HARD to come up with a story for, mostly because,,, WHY THE FUCK DOES THIS GUY WORK FOR THE JAPANESE YAKUZA

wesninski is a VERY polish name. the japanese-polish connection is,, not super strong

so anyway, working off the idea of the wesninski family being a polish jewish one, WHERE is he going to meet a japanese crimelord to get into a multi-generation debt/business arrangement with?

turns out, the answer is brazil

brazil actually has a large jewish population (roughly 10th largest in the world). it began with its colonization by the portuguese, but the 19th century to modern population largely comes from central and eastern europe. brazil ALSO has the largest japanese population outside of japan

also this story ended up being WAY more detailed and prosaic than samuel&cima's story, which is basically just bullet points. there's no reason for this i love both stories very much just for some reason the words flowed for me here and not there

to avoid having a second jewish story where wwII is prominent, the wesninskis get a page out of my own family's book: nathan's grandfather (neil's great grandfather) came to the americas fleeing the russian pograms around the turn of the 20th century

Wesninski came to brazil (city undecided, have a lot more research to do about individual cities in brazil). he had waardenburg syndrome(a hereditary genetic condition that can affect eyes and hearing) which runs very strongly in his family (his son, nathan, and neil will all inherit it), and he is completely Deaf. while he came to brazil alone, in his new home he connected both with the local jewish community and the local deaf community, and eventually marries another Deaf Jewish woman

eventually they were able to establish a kosher deli and restaurant in the city, one which became a common hangout for the Deaf community. then one day (probably around 1915), a group of japanese men came in, and kept returning

these were the moriyamas, recently arrived from japan, in a place with very few japanese people and businesses. they liked the wesninski deli because they didn't share a language with anyone in there, couldn't even be heard by most of them, and it would also be difficult for the authorities to question them. two layers of protection for a crime family in a vulnerable place

wesninski and the moriyamas were amicable to each other, but as they didn't actually have a way to communicate that was the extent of it. but the moriyamas were polite and payed well and didn't bother the other customers. als, as a jewish establishment, they had a lot of education resources, which were helpful to the moriyamas in learning about brazilian society, including beginning to understand portuguese

now, in japan, the moriyamas were a small yakuza family. they got driven out by their bigger and stronger and more established competition around the time when japanese immigration to brazil was just starting, so that was where they went. though they had little option in where they ended up, they also had little competition in establishing their business

i still have a lot of research to do about the moriyamas. about both how the yakuza operate and about how brazilian organized crime works, and about life in brazil for early japanese immigrants. so a lot of the moriyama details are pretty vague

now the wesninskis had a son, meyer (nathan's father. name in reference to meyer lansky, famous american jewish mobster of polish descent) who was around 14 when the moriyamas arrived. he himself was not fully deaf like his parents, though was hard of hearing and raised in the Deaf community. as he goes through his rebellious teenage years, well, the gangsters are right there

in the early days the moriyamas were still more concerned with mostly the japanese enclaves, but they had aspirations of expanding. meyer wasn't japanese, but he was helpful to the moriyamas who came into the deli to study. he was perceptive and bold, could keep a secret, knew his way around knives from working in the deli, and knew the city. he was a good asset to them, and he was interested in causing some trouble

over the next ten years or so, meyer got increasingly more involved, alongside the moriyamas becoming increasingly more established throughout the city. he goes from someone who helps out occasionally and relays information beyween parties to getting involved with minor shakedowns, bribery, evidence disposal. by the time he's in his 20s he's thoroughly enmeshed

his parents were older when they had him, and his father died relatively young, leaving meyer the store and his mother to take care of. they were vaguely aware of his connections to the moriyamas and didn't approve of what he did with them but he also kept the worst from them, and was always a diligent son, and the only one they had. he assured them no matter how far he went that he wasn't "really" part of the gang

"yakuza have tattoos, and see, ima? no tattoos. i'm still a good jewish son, not a gangster"

now the problem arises when meyer falls for camara da machado, a young Deaf woman who frequents the store

(based on/inspired by/FC yaya dacosta (where the name comes from) and rutina wesley)

she was a Deaf girl born to a hearing family who struggled to give her the support she needed, maybe even just a single mother, and she'd spent a lot of time alone at the deli from a young age (12-ish?). she was shy and quiet and a little bit of a shrinking violet, but the wesninskis became very fond of her. she started tentatively helping them out around the store which became a job. she was often included in family meals and holidays, and always had a bed in their apartment above the deli if she needed one, and more than once had helped patch meyer up after he got in trouble to hide the extent of it from his parents

she was a couple years younger than him but he'd always been sweet on her. and she'd had a crush on him from basically the moment she'd layed eyes on him. they'd known each for years and camara was basically family, and then one day when they were both in their 20s it just suddenly clicked for them

so meyer and camara fell in love. meyer was head of the house, had to keep the deli running, and had his mother, camara, and possibly camara's mother (undecided at this juncture) to worry about and he decided he didn't want to continue working with the moriyamas in case it dragged his family into danger. being a gangster was a fling of youth and he was ready to grow up

when he informed the moriyamas of this though, they,,, did not agree.

while MEYER might not have considered himself part of the gang, THEY didn't think he just got to walk away. he'd worked with them for too long and knew too much. there might even have been a desire to tie him to the family permanently through marriage. and well,, one man against a growing criminal empire can't do much

it was a huge shock to him, and made him truly realize how naive and reckless he'd been. he'd been a dumb kid who wanted to start some trouble, the moriyamas were career criminals. they expected that once you were in, you were in for life, and they did not take kindly to meyer disagreeing with this

he didn't know how to explain this to his family... so he didn't. they'd all told him they wanted him to stop, but he'd meant for the announcement to be a surprise. after learning that he would not be permitted to walk away, he chose to just hide it and continue with business as usual

it worked for a while, maybe a few years, a time during which the moriyamas were getting a lot more brutal as they got more established and increasingly looked to expand, putting them in competition with other gangs and greater law enforcement, until they were a true crime empire spread across whole regions of the country. meyer had lost a lot of esteem in their eyes by asking to leave, leading them to put him under increasing scrutiny and giving him more incriminating tasks, to ensure that he would be incriminated if he ever tried to turn them in. it's during this time that he first had to kill for them

then camara got pregnant

and meyer was terrified. he didn't know how the moriyamas would deal with a kid. the only marriages and children he knew of within the family were endorsed by the boss, many arranged by him, and he knew his wouldn't be approved. yakuza wives were heavily involved with the business too, and he absolutely did not want that for camara

he broke down and told her everything. she's horrified, and furious that he kept it from her, but she didn't want to give up her baby. it would be hard, but she believed they can keep it hidden, and if the moriyamas found out, maybe it wouln't be so bad?

(spoiler: it would)

they have a son, born natan da machado, under his mother's name

meyer and camara never got married. meyer was going to propose after he left the moriyamas but that obviously didn't happen. marriages were supposed to be blessed by the boss, and meyer never dared to ask. they already lived together, anyway

but with natan, they decided that meyer couldn't acknowledge him as his own. in the deli or in the streets, he didn't acknowledge natan. he was camara's bastard son, and meyer didn't want anything to do with him

it was a flimsy disguise at best. natan was mixed, but there was a strong enough resemblance to his father. even if his hair was a darker red or he had brown skin, they had the same eyes

they tried to keep him away from the moriyamas as he grew up, hoping they wouldn't see him and make the connection, but they also kept him very hidden in general, just in case. he spent a lot of time inside, with his grandmothers

and that was how natan grew up, feeling like a secret, his father cold and distant, only acknowledging him in their apartment. cut off from other kids his age. a hearing boy in a Deaf family (natan himself was HoH but still had most of his hearing. meyer and his maternal grandmother could both hear, but they had gotten out of the habit of it and mostly communicated through sign)

natan developed a deep feeling of resentment towards his father and shame about himself from a young age. he felt like a mistake, defective somehow. so wrong he had to be hidden away from everyone

there's only so long that you can hide a child, though, and when natan was around ten the moriyamas found out about him, and they were not happy.

they didn't like split attention or loyalty. they kept children and family under very tight wraps. they should be one hundred percent enmeshed in the moriyama empire, raised to be loyal and helpful in whatever way they were needed. the fact that meyer wanted and was willing to leave for this family, and then hid his son, was a huge betrayal

still, they gave him an opportunity to prove his loyalty: kill camara or the moriyamas would kill them all: her, natan, meyer, and both their mothers

but meyer couldn't do it, and instead he told camara to run and hope they didn't actually care enough to chase her down. and she did. and she couldn't take natan with her. (i haven't fully fleshed out why yet, currently thinking that meyer was given this ultimatium when they already had natan)

so camara left her son, and got away

i built the story of mary's mother as a reflection of mary's story if something had been different, and i built nathan's story the same way. his wife takes her son and runs away with him when the moriyamas try to take him from her. nathan's mother was in the same situation and left him behind

over the next forty years of his belonging to the moriyamas he gets to marinate in that resentment. from the father that ignored to the mother who ran away from him, he internalizes it as being something wrong with him, not the circumstances. the more he's taught to torture and kill and the more he excels at it, the more this belief gets cemented. he's good at killing, he was meant to kill. he's twisted and broken and wrong inside and he always was and his parents always knew

and then when it happens again but differently this time he throws away a decade and millions of dollars and his standing with his boss to hunt down his son and his wife because he didn't get to run away so why should they? why does mary love nathaniel more than camara loved natan?

from here, the exact detail's of nathan's story aren't quite solidified. whether he was raised by his father from then on or by his grandmothers (or whether his grandmothers left with his mother) or whether the moriyamas put him somewhere else entirely, but from then on he lived under the moriyamas' direct supervision, and they taught him how to turn a knife on a man

they took his mother's name from him, though, so he's natan wesninski, not natan da machado, because they own the wesninskis now

and when the moriyamas decided to expand beyond brazil when natan was a young man instead of a child, and settled on the east coast of the US, they renamed him nathan, because it sounded more "american"

---

so that's it. obviously there are still a lot of unfinished details in both stories, but they're strong enough at this point to stand on their own and i haven't changed or rethought a lot of the major details in a long time

i've become extremely attached to these OCs and their stories, and i hope they interest other people too. some day i'd like to write them out in prose properly, along with the story of nathan and mary meeting, but that'll be a while away considering the pace i move at

so until then i just wanted to put this out there

#aftg #tfc #neil josten #nathaniel wesninski #mary hatford #nathan wesninski #txt #my fics #my writing #my posts #black neil josten #jewish neil josten #cw gangs #cw organized crime #cw ww11 #cw wwII #long form post

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manifestoonmoralmanlove · 4 years ago

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What will be in my bag? Pre-ordered Manga. Straight and Lez edition.

Here’s a list of English-released manga I’ve currently got on pre-order, and manga series I ordered before but won’t be continuing with the series.

As a note: Some of these titles have been released but I have not received them yet due to a issues with covid backlog effected how things are released. I personally find that if you pre-order it tends to get you manga quicker. It seems there is more pressure to keep up with the new release schedule than chip away at the backlog.

I’m starting with the stuff I’ve already read some of and confirmed enjoyment, then stuff I’m shooting in the dark for, and finally series I have tried recently and have discontinued.

Heteros

My Androgynous Boyfriend

Story & Art by: Tamekou Publisher: Seven Seas

It is rare for straight shit to end up in my library but My Androgynous boyfriend is an exception that will surprise no-one since it’s pretty queer adjacent. This story is mostly a couple being lovey-dovey between jokes about sexuality and gender but (so far) isn’t problematic at all. The female lead is quite enjoyable as she’s well-balanced and has agency throughout. There’s even ace representation! It’s very low-stakes, wholesome, and sweet so far. (Volume 3 is set to release in November.)

My Excitement Level: The gentle about to sink into a bubble bath variety

Yuri/Lesbian

Even Though We’re Adults

Story & Art by: Takako Shimura Publisher: Seven Seas

Takako is also the creator of Sweet Blue Flowers and Wandering son. I have dipped by toe in to both those series. I overall find their writing kinda meandering and tepid (might just be me) but technically pretty solid. I am hopeful for this series since it features adults....if the title didn’t make it obvious. I was intrigued by the one character being married but the man finding out about the affair quickly and reacting more realistically and interestingly than the average male love interest in a Yuri. I also found myself relating at bit to Akari’s angst about being unlucky with relationships with women. I also do enjoy the artwork! This one is the most likely of my followed series to be dropped at some point. (Volume 2 of this manga was set to release in June this year.)

My Excitement Level: Cautious Optimism

For more click the jump!

Kase-san and Yamada

Story & Art by: Hiromi Takashima Publisher: Seven Seas

This is a series I keep going back to. While it is the very typical low-stakes bubbly, cutesy School age Yuri...it is a very good version of that. Just warm bubble bath vibes. (Volume 7 is set to release in February of next year. I think it was originally supposed to be released this May but was bumped back.)

My Excitement Level: The gentle about to sink into a bubble bath variety

NOW ONTO THE SERIES I HAVEN’T READ BUT I’M TAKING A CHANCE ON!

Adachi and Shimaura

Art: Moke Yuzuhara Story: Hitoma Iruma Publisher: Yen Press

This, as I understand it, is a slow-burn romance about two delinquent girls. I have heard good things about the novel and the anime series! However I prefer manga to novels and don’t have a funimation account so I went to snag it in manga form. (Volume 1 was set to release in February this year and 2 in September)

My Excitement Level: Cautious Optimism

The Girl I want is so handsome!

Story & Art by:Yuama Publisher: Seven Seas

The premise is a young lady has a crush on a handsome older girl who’s oblivious to her advances. When she tries to confess she instead gets roped into being the club manager of the basketball team that her crush is a part of. So it feels like it may end up cycling through 2 jokes and be so deep in the stereotypical manga bullshit you can easily-predict its beats volumes in advance. HOWEVER that is also a premise that is similar to Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun which is legitimately a hilarious series. Also I fucking love butch/stud/masc-presenting women/AFAB people. So I’m willing to risk “The same Anime bullshit” for good jokes and a cute lezzy romance with a beautiful butch. (Volume 1 is set to release of December of this year.)

My Excitement Level: Pretty nervous actually. I hope it works out!

Monologue Woven for You

Story & Art by: Syu Yasaka Publisher: Seven Seas

A woman gives up on a career in theater gets tangled in a relationship with a woman passionately pursuing theater. Since it is set between college age women, and appears to be about more personal and mature themes I am interested. (Volume 1 I BELIEVE is supposed to be released in February of next year.)

My Excitement Level: Cautious Optimism

Mizuno and Chayama (No page yet so far as I can tell.)

Story & Art by: Yuhta Nishio Publisher: Yen Press

Two daughters of feuding families meet in secret. This is by the same author of After Hours. I read a bit of After Hours and found it fine but boring since it seemed without conflict. Conflict doesn’t seem to be in short supply with a story like this! While I enjoy the sugary-sweet high school lesbian romances...those are not in short-supply. So I am always hungry for something darker, meatier, more mature. (Volume 1 is set to release next February)

My Excitement Level: Cautious Optimism

5 Seconds Before The Witch Falls In Love

Story & Art by: Zeniko Sumiya Publisher: Seven Seas

It appears to be a playful fantasy about a Witch and Witch-hunter who’s antagonism turns romantic. This may end up one note and stupid...but I’m always hear for queer romances set in high-fantasy and I haven’t read a Yuri where rivals turns to lovers. (Volume 1 is set to release next February)

My Excitement Level: Low-key

Catch These Hands! (No page yet so far as I can tell.)

Story & Art by: Murata Publisher: Yen Press

A former delinquent runs into her high school rival. After losing a fight to her she agrees to her terms...her terms being to go out on a date with her. I mean the title alone makes me want to pick it up! It may run afoul of bad anime humor, but I’m hoping with the fact that it’s full of gay adult delinquents that it’ll be a little different. (Volume 1 is set to release next February)

My Excitement Level: Medium-key

Series I have discontinued:

I’m in love with the Villainess

Art by: Aonoshimo Story by: Inori Publisher: Seven Seas

A woman gets reborn into her favorite Otome game but she wants to romance the villiain! I had heard a ton of great things about the novel but I picked up the manga version. (If the novel is totally different I can’t speak to it.) For me, the writing is ham-handed, the jokes flop 90% of the time, and the fact the lead’s only personality trait seems to be ~obsessed with a bully~ really dampens this title. Her advances are so aggressive and unwanted I honestly started feeling bad for a spoiled rich bully. I will say it’s saving grace is the fact that the lead is masochistically into the villainess’ tsundere abusiveness. For me I hate tsundere romances if framed like, “I like you DESPITE your insults.” It is only tolerable if it’s instead, “I like you cause you tell it like it is. I’m a dirty little pig. Please step on this bad little piggy!”

Our Teachers are Dating

Story & Art by: Pikachi Ohi Publisher: Seven Seas

Well one reason I stopped the series is that cover you see up there. The sex in this series is fade to black but FOR SOME REASON the 3rd cover has them both butt naked. But on a less superficial note, the story is about two teachers who start dating. And while cute at points, I was just underwhelmed. I think a part of it, is the fact that this behaves like a stereotypical high school romance...and while set in a high school...these are grown ass women not 15 year olds. So I have less patience with the, “Gosh when will I get to kiss my girlfriend?” bullshit. I mean, I would hesitate to call it bad...but it’s just not a good version of it’s brand of bullshit.

Breath of Flowers

Story & Art by: Caly Publisher: Tokyopop

Absolute train-wreck, this is hands down the worst Yuri I have ever bought. The story is nonsensical and all over the place. There is a love rival who’s trying to break the two of them up so she can get with Gwyn...but then switches mid-gear to put in a lot of effort to bring them together intentionally...but she also still wants to hook up with Gwyn...it’s very ???????????? The main conflict of Gwyn is hiding their gender so they can play basketball on the boy’s team (not well explained) is built up hugely and resolved with a hand flick. There is a melodramatic moment where a school nurse says more or less, “GIVE IT UP YOU’LL NEVER BE A BOY!” And it’s like “OH SHIT! The fact that Gwyn is on the basketball team is cause he’s a transboy trying to live life as a boy! Oh gosh it makes so much more sense now!” But the author seems to not even know that trans people exist cause the story bumbles along as if that scene never happened. The closest we get is at the end Gwyn is like, “Look I’m learning to do make-up on myself to make you happy lawl!” Which is I GUESS supposed to be, “NO NO DON’T WORRY ALL OF GWYN’S GENDER STUFF WAS JUST THERE TO MAKE THE MAIN CHARACTER SEXUALLY CONFUSED WHEN SHE DISCOVERS GWYN’S TRUE GENDER! HER TRUE GENDER IS 100% CIS WOMAN CAUSE SHE DID MAKE-UP ONCE! IT’S FIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINE!” Like whaaaaaaaaat? And it ends on a very random scene which doesn’t really fit in with the rest of the story. Ugh just very bad do not interact!

A White Rose in Bloom

Story & Art by: Asumiko Nakamura Publisher: Seven Seas

At an all girls catholic school a young woman falls for a mysterious foreign student. I grabbed this cause it’s gay and I overall like Asumiko Nakamura’s work (she also does Doukyusei, double mints, and others.) However I was just not grabbed with this title. I just felt like I wasn’t getting what was making the MC pants on head obsessed with Steph. Also the lead’s mother tells her that she’s getting divorced and therefore will no longer have money to pay for the university and she’s framed like a super bad person for this. Like I get why the MC (a teenager) would think that something like that is THE END OF THE WORLD! But I remember them really framing the mom like a selfish bitch for this...when like...it’s well established that her mom and dad’s relationship has been toxic for YEARS and that they TRIED SO HARD to fix it. OH WELL! This might be good but it just didn’t grab me in the 1st volume.

I’ll make a post on the BL titles later! Take care and Stay Rotten!

#preorder #my androgynous boyfriend #kase-san and yamada #even though we're adults #Adachi and Shimaura #the girl I want is so handsome #white rose in bloom #our teachers are dating #breath of flowers #catch these hands #I'm in love with the villainess #Mizuno and Chayama #monologue woven for you #5 seconds before the witch falls in love

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