#an upper hand in that situation

[doctahchang]

equinox 👩‍❤️‍💋‍👩

[serpentface]

In WHAT context is public nudity “briefly utilised for deflecting curses”. Please explain

Basically through flashing. A brief, controlled exposure of genitalia is the nuclear option of apotropaic gestures.

It's specifically connected to a basic rude gesture- this is to stance yourself with one leg facing the target, and in one FAST, forceful, continuous motion clasp your dominant wrist with your nondominant hand and lift up the hem of your skirts to expose your thigh, and then let it drop. This basically says 'fuck you' (in terms of harshness, does not have the sexual implication of the word 'fuck').

It's considered a masculine expression, but not considered outright gender nonconforming when used by women/akoshos (displays of aggression and disrespect are just treated more harshly when not performed by men, ESPECIALLY when performed Towards men).

Looks like this:

(I promise it looks much more aggro in motion. I gave myself a bruised wrist once by doing it repeatedly in front of a mirror to get the gesture down)

The "public nudity briefly utilised for deflecting curses” most commonly involves doing this gesture in such a way that actually EXPOSES the genitals (usually requires some premeditation, as most people will be wearing full-coverage loincloths under the skirt).

The appearance of the phallus and vulva is ascribed apotropaic properties- this is mostly used in art and amulets because personal nudity is tempered by modesty standards/body taboo. Quick, controlled exposure of the actual genitalia is an intentional transgression that utilizes the apotropaic power of the genitals while avoiding spiritual harm or general public indecency (you aren't running around naked, you're briefly exposing yourself in an aggressive, premeditated fashion).

The exposed version of the rude skirt-lifting gesture works both to deflect curses and to say 'fuck you'. You'll most commonly see this as an AGGRESSIVE means of deflecting the evil eye while also insulting the perceived caster, though it's also used towards inanimate objects (objects believed to carry a curse, effigies of evil spirits, etc).

This is not 'socially acceptable' in the sense that it is Exceptionally insulting to do to a person and you might get the shit beaten out of you if you don't have the upper hand in the encounter, but is Acceptable in that the exposure is believed serve a SPECIFIC curse breaking function (rather than being purely inappropriate barbaric public nudity).

[shinelikethunder]

so for the record i fully blame you for the fact that i'm watching supernatural for the first time in 10 years or so, but ALSO one of the things that is fundamentally crunchy and compelling about sam and dean's relationship, imo, is that it's a constant, unceasing power struggle that they are to varying degrees aware of but mostly won't admit to

(sam, particularly, i think most desperately wants to /win/ the power struggle for good while also being the least likely to admit that it's actually happening. dean's investment feels much more situational - he wants sam to go along with his plans in the moment but isn't necessarily that invested in Being The Boss Of Sam Forever, whereas i think one of sam's deepest and most shameful unrealized desires is for dean to submit to him permanently, and the place where i depart from most wincest shippers is that imo what makes that really juicy is that dean doesn't want to do that.)

anyway! some thoughts on a fandom i haven't really interacted with at all since 2011, just for you lmao

yes! tbh it's one of an entire subgenre of ships that hit real good for this exact reason: an equality that comes, not from both of them being wholesomely egalitarian and refusing to ever seek the upper hand on one another, but from them constantly being in a billion little squabbles and wrestling matches both petty and consequential, even as they're earnestly trying to negotiate conflicting needs. and none of it is ever even going to settle into a single fixed pattern, let alone result in a permanent and definitive "winner." they both have their expected roles in this dynamic, and they both constantly shift between chafing against those roles and embracing them and instrumentally leaning into them to get something else they want.

it's so pleasingly crunchy... yet another reason i cannot vibe with whatever's in the water right now that's driving people to stan either the ship or the characters by picking one brother to be The Woobiest Victim Forever. like. that's not just getting carried away with a temptation i otherwise understand, that is actively sucking the fun out! even when it's my favorite little rat in the Blorbo Studies Lab who's the designated woobie, the static designation is less fun than the sharp-elbowed version where they both get to #Transgress against each other.

(i think dean is subby in the sense of getting a HUGE kick out of situations where he can safely hand someone else the reins, and/or stop agonizing and just get an A in being the goodest boy in the world by finding out what will please someone else and doing it. but oh my god, any attempt to extend that dynamic into situations of genuine conflict or threat? yeah no, the exact constellation of responsibility issues (and free will issues, objectification issues, self-worth issues, etc) that make those kinks so potent also mean that if the fun game turns into a real encroachment... best-case scenario, he snaps into Amalgamated Macho Archetype defensive panic and is probably a blustering shithead to reassert control. if he initially goes along with whatever it is, for sam's sake or because lol what are boundaries, that is Much Worse. because it sets up this ticking time bomb, resentment buried underneath compliance, and that is going to very specifically bring his thermonuclear John Winchester Issues into the fray.)

[wimbledon2008]

so i just finished the captive prince series about a week ago and am rereading it now. just finished the hello lover scene and honestly im still so confused over what's going on in laurent's head lmao like??

was he previously compartmentalizing his resentment so well that real feelings developed, but now he finally has a chance to truly let his anger out, he's locking down the positive feelings?

was he being truthful about manipulating damen the whole time (highly unlikely to me)? or was the cruelty in and of itself a play, either to push damen away despite not actually wanting to, or some other convoluted reason? bc damen really would have done anything he asked, trying to outmaneuver him like that was unnecessary.

my first theory feels the most right to me, and he just needed more time to process and purge his desire for revenge but idk im a taurus and very akielon coded. i love laurent but i do not understand that man lol

okay, disclaimer, i haven't read the books in quite some time so this probably isn't the fullest or deepest analysis. i welcome any additions or corrections from those who are better at meta than me <3

so the hello lover scene is incredibly complex and nuanced, a standard of pacat's writing that makes his works so infinitely re-readable. based on my personal understanding of the scene, there are a few key things that help to explain why laurent behaves the way he does in the tent scene:

1. laurent needs damen and the akielons to win against his uncle, which he very much wants to do. charcy didn't go how he'd originally planned, and he knows damen is pissed about it and probably thinks the worst of laurent right now - that he intentionally abandoned the akielons at charcy for his own purposes. so laurent is being manipulative; he is trying to outmaneuver damen. because what damen says is true: laurent has no allies, no friends, he's ruined his reputation by aligning himself with akielos, etc. we as the readers know that damen cares deeply for laurent and wouldn't just abandon him, and if laurent simply explained what happened and asked damen to help him, damen wouldn't hesitate to stay at his side. but laurent doesn't think damen has any reason to trust him, so laurent can't trust damen either. so instead of being honest, he chooses to be cold-blooded, to assert control over the situation and force damen's hand to ensure that the alliance he worked so hard to establish stays intact. he could've just asked, but this is laurent, and there are other factors at play, such as the fact that

2. laurent is already in love with damen by the tent scene, or at least most of the way there. but laurent can no longer pretend damen is anyone other than the person who killed his brother. damen walks into that tent as prince damianos, in full akielon regalia, covered in blood, with a sword. laurent has been doing some aggressive compartmentalizing, especially in order to have allowed himself to sleep with damen. who killed his brother, which was the inciting incident that made laurent's life a living hell. laurent has not forgiven damen for auguste, and he's having to really confront that hatred and anger for maybe the first time since the first book. and laurent is also punishing himself for caring for and sleeping with damen, his brother's killer. can you even imagine? it's better not to. laurent probably hates himself as much as he hates damianos in that moment. so he shoves all those glimmering, positive feelings down because he wants to hurt damen, and himself too. and none of this is particularly rational because

3. laurent is very upset at the beginning of king's rising. this is an understatement. he's still reeling from nicaise's death, which he blames himself for, he's losing damen, the only person he trusted, he was recently stabbed, and everything is spiraling out of his tightly held control. and when laurent is upset he's cruel. he's not at his best in the tent scene. he's clinging to his own self-preservation, and he's making it up as he goes along because whatever his original plan was got blown to hell, which is clear because he's saying shit that doesn't even make sense. see, e.g., this post about him allegedly enduring damen's "fumbling attentions" to win a battle he didn't even know about at the time. while laurent is being cold and ruthless to secure his position as best he can (see no. 1), he's also acting from a place of emotion instead of strict rationality, which is how he typically operates, and how he prefers to act. he's on the defensive, he's deeply confused and unable to cope with all of his conflicting feelings about damen, and he's lashing out - protecting himself before damen can hurt him first. and then damen literally sticks his thumb in his stab wound. basically: our boy laurent's going through it in a major way.

going back and re-reading your message i realize i've essentially just reiterated everything you initially said but with a lot of extra words. so i guess the long and short of it is: you're right. honestly there are so many ways to interpret the tent scene and everything else laurent says and does, which is what makes him so fascinating! so thanks for giving me the opportunity to dive back into his psyche for a little while <3

[amelikos]

I love when they casually reveal that Spinel hasn't stopped tracking the main trio once in this arc.. retroactively makes some of the past lighthearted episodes of this arc have a worrying edge to it, because you just end up wondering how long he's been watching, or if he was already watching at that point etc.

He is also even apparently keeping an eye on the Brave Asagi being repaired. He followed Friede around without his knowledge a while ago too. He just knows everything, and could act but just doesn't strike until the time is right.

I wonder if he is the one orchestrating Liko being separated from Roy and Dot in HZ064. The preview mentions that she is separated from them. And next ep will be exactly fifty episodes after HZ014, which was also when Spinel lured Liko away from the RVT to steal her pendant. He used her kindness against her by sending a fake ad about that one spice Murdock wanted. He spied on their conversation in that episode and used that bit of dialogue against Liko because he knew she would be exactly the type to want to go get that spice because it would make Murdock happy. Maybe he is creating some kind of diversion to separate Liko from her friends in the next episode. It wouldn't be the first time he messed with people's phones or other devices.

[rain-shoshana]

Watched Mystery of the Spanish Chest last night and somehow I had forgotten that Poirot gets held AT SWORD POINT???? Like???

This is erotic???? Excuse me????? Anyway watch this space for a forthcoming fic lololol.

[sophieswundergarten]

Thinking about how painfully vulnerable it is for a character to scream "Please, stop hurting them!" because it usually means they are helpless to do anything else

[floorpancakes]

im having thoughts about gay people again

[weregonnabecoolbeans]

What I would give to see a conversation between maul and loki

[daz4i]

you ever think how petty fyodor is. like he could've drowned and burned dazai and sigma and just keep going and escape and win the game but no he had to give them multiple gay ass speeches while standing in the same room despite having POISON in his body. bro? what's up?

[wildstar25]

My brain whilst getting ready to head off to work: so what if that "sweet, two cakes" meme but the cakes are arsay and yshtola comparing one another and then kea shows up going "sweet, two doms"

My brain must be stopped.

such an image has now been brought to reality (to the best of my abilities) (a slight remix in that I added g'raha cause lets be real he'd also be equality excited >w<)

[vullcanica]

Silas being so large and strong and refusing to use any part of it for violence is The Whole Point, i think

[the-kipsabian]

[neroniiii]

Still one of the best takes I've ever heard was that Midori targeting Keiji as he did in 3-1 was fueled by how Keiji and Shin were attacking each other in chapter 2

[heyitslapis]

In the spirit of Pride, I made a pride icon feat my gay ass OCs :3

[faggotryandtransjesterism]

if i was a necromancer i would resurrect people from the memories i beat to death in my head just to ask what was going through their head. why was there an awkward silence here, why did you say that, what did that facial expression mean. the main problems with this are 1. i keep forgetting those people aren't dead, and 2. they probably wouldn't remember any of those conversations