#and that's fair

[fubuwu]

Seeing people call jc an incel will always confuse me because like.... do they understand what being an incel means?

---

Incels despise women because they think they owe them sex and consider themselves too ugly and inferior to be pursued by the opposite sex.

---

Jc has never shown any desire to be with the opposite sex. He reads as being ace if anything. He's always been repulsed by the notion of love, romance and pdas and has never once proclaimed that women owe him sex. He doesn't seem interested in pursuing women at all, nor does he blame women for the worlds problems or treat them with disrespect. He blames most of the problems on wwx. He's wwx-ist if anything XD (jk).

---

Honestly, I'd say he's voluntarily celibate. He could realistically get any girl he wants and knows it, but he simply doesn't choose to. I honestly don't think he has any interest in getting wed tbh.

---

As for the marriage requirements, loads of men had those at that time and honestly, they weren't that unrealistic. Plus, I'm pretty sure they were never a main part of the text and just a joke mxtx came up with as to why he's still single. I find it infeasible that a handsome, powerful, rich man like him is single when arranged marriages exist in that universe, as seen with jfm and madame yu. A woman hating, incel would no doubt use that to their advantage and force marriage on any women they desire. Jc has the ability to do that giving his status and yet he doesn't. He doesn't even seek out comfort from women in brothels. Therefore, I can't see him having a hatred and disrespect for women when this notion also exists.

---

Incels also have zero respect for women in general including the ones in their lives. Their hatred often starts with their own mothers in fact. Jc obviously doesn't hate his mother or his sister. He cares deeply for them, in fact. Why else would he mourn them and be willing to stick up for his sister whenever people bad mouth her if he was a vile woman hater?

---

Idk I just think the incel claims are completely baseless. He is not angry and displeased because he is alone and single nor is he angry at women. His anger is all solely on wwx, the wens and dc in the book. It has never been towards women.

[sillygoofyqueer]

RAAAAGGHHHHGHHHHH

YOU GUYS AREN'T GOING TO BELIEVE THIS AT ALL, BUT I HAVE JUST SPEED WRITTEN CHAPTER EIGHT ALREADY. Losing hope - Chapter 8 - I_cant_think_of_a_name_right_now_340 - 魔道祖师 - 墨香铜臭 | Módào Zǔshī - Mòxiāng Tóngxiù [Archive of Our Own] BOOM. BAP. POW. ALAKAZAM AND ALL THAT SHIT. REAAAD IT! (context here)

[shadowsageingempress]

"I do not exist to be viewed, to be considered sexy, desirable. I am but a vessel for pasta. And that is valid."

-Sephiroth Crescent

[cinamun]

A HOT MESS !! and a rolling stone at that. But I guess my question is did Jackson even really love Mercy ?

Not cause of Roberta but like was it even real... it feels conditional but not unconditional if that makes sense. I can Def be wrong though

Its messy alright but let me set the record straight:

Jackson was madly in love with Mercy. He loved her with his whole self. His love for her was a beautiful thing to witness and was very real.

.... or was it?

[dykerory]

again. still on that coach ben is alive in the present day timeline train. i just think it'd be so funny for him to have gone through ALL that, made it back, probably blackmailed into silence forever about what he saw, and is just bitterly being gay and bitter in paris with a string of boytoys

[paperstarwriters]

(you don't have to publish the ask but make sure it's anonymous) please please please don't worry about the anon I think it might be the same person who made a harrass discord group...of course it's good to acknowledge wrongdoings of creators but it doesn't make anyone obligated to stay away from fandom. If you don't support the racist mess that happened it's totally fine if you stay in arcana fandom. Don't worry.

of course, of course. I'm not feeling pressured to leave the fandom right now don't worry about that. I know seeing it can cause a bit of anxiety, and for a little while it did make me feel anxious, I recalled why I wanted to write a lot of the fanfics I make in the first place, I didn't like how they wrote Muriel's ending, and I didn't like how they represented him a lot, so I wanted to make something that fit the image I had of him instead.

Anyways, I was much more curious about the note they made about the problems with Julian being a bird or the various bird motifs and that being antisemitic. I was wondering how or why that was the case, as when I tried searching it up I wasn't really able to find any definite explanations, so I was wondering if they could point me to a resource or something on the topic. I've heard that a merge between an owl and a human can often be antisemitic especially when that owl is presented as an almost demon-like entity with feathers forming horns like that of a great horned owl, and their beak being presented as a large hooked nose. That much, I do understand, but I'm unclear if it applies to the wider range of birds as well, or not.

In my initial search I found a story called Jewbird written by Bernard Malamud, an American-jewish author, and while it serves as the allegory of antisemitism not only coming from outside but inside as well, the nature of the intelligent bird being representative of an older more traditional Jewish individual (according to another source who were likely more able to draw the parallel than I was), presents him as a human-merged with bird individual and the whole point of the text seems to present it as the pure opposite of being antisemitic.

Of course, I can see the possibility of it, that he was presented as a bird in order to subvert the initial expectations and stereotypes, in the same way that Maus by Art Spiegelman does, but I would still like to be better able to understand the bird-antisemitism connection. Does it apply to specific birds? What kind of bird-like representation causes issue? Would the image of birds flying freely over the sky be considered problematic imagery? Why and how? is it the caged bird that is problematic? Why and how? Is there any possible way that this birdlike imagery can spread into other spaces and cause issue? Should Julian never be given feathered wings, regardless if you're creating a bird image or not? is his bird familiar problematic as well??? this is like telling someone unfamiliar with racism against African-american individuals that cotton is not good to them without telling them about the whole history about slavery and cotton picking, leading them to believe that they just take issue with the material of shirts or something.

I know I probably sound kinda nit-pickey, but I am genuinely curious and would love to avoid making any antisemitic mistakes when including Julian and Portia in my works. I wish to avoid this all the time, of course, but most especially now, as discussion on Palestine has spurred a lot of antisemitism due to the cultural genocide from Israel. And while it's clear that what Israel is doing, it's also clear that not all Jewish individuals support that, even though some news groups or people talking about it frame it as if it is.

Of course I'm open and eager for discussion on the other LIs as well and the intricacies of their problematic representation and how that must be handled corrected or re-framed, especially since in the early more.... hostile days of this fandom, I tended to stick to Muriel's route since I hadn't played the other routes in a while/all the way through so I'm a little unaware of all the other characters' misrepresentations (so if you're mentioning Muriel I probably have heard about and considered that one before—this man does not leave my brain lmao)

I can see the possible issues on Nadia being constantly represented as domineering failing to recognize softness in her (which I belive, though correct me if I'm wroing, is about dark skinned women being seen as violent and tough instead of soft or kind), and Asra being represented through Orientalism (mystic, but lesser other with messy foreign traditionalistic magic that must be corrected through the western logic and science—this partly originated in ancient greece so not entirely western as in America)

But yeah, I'm just really curious about it, cause my initial search only brought up news articles about people apologizing for being antisemitic, or the history of antisemitism. Rather than some of the various possible forms of antisemitism or it's possible relation to birds.

[that-starlight-prince]

Not all machines want to fuck me. A lot of them do though

[momordique]

EXACTLY

The rest of the thread is here.

tl;dr: Don’t monetize AO3, kids.  You won’t like what happens next.

[monsieurenjlolras]

you've heard of "quiet quitting," now I'd like to introduce you to the next level, The French Work Ethic:

Do exactly what you're paid for and nothing more

Absolutely refuse to be available to contact when you're off the clock

Never prioritize work over your own health, wellbeing, or family because that would be insane, it's just a job.

Have a little glass of wine

Take as long as you feel like for lunch

Deeply understand that work doesn't matter

Make sure your boss knows they're always your second priority ❤️

[bumblebeebats]

Every time i purchase a moderately expensive item the Karl Marx on my shoulder is like "For shame... you purchase yet another pair of jeans when you have 5 already at home, you despicable commodity fetishist? In my time, a man with five outfits would consider himself blessed beyond measure, and yet you want for more, while there are children starving in the world??" to which the second Karl Marx on my other shoulder says "Objection! Those 5 pairs of jeans all wildly uncomfortable or have holes in the ass, due to the decline of clothing quality driven by the fast fashion industry, unfortunately making this purchase a necessity... Plus, by purchasing a slightly more expensive pair of jeans from an independent brand, seeking quality over 'brand recognition', they are deliberately trying to avoid engaging in conspicuous consumption!" to which the third Karl Marx clinging to my back like that beetle from Doctor Who says "Remember, my friend; the less you eat, drink, buy books, go to the theatre or to balls, or to the pub, and the less you think, love, theorize, sing, paint, fence, etc., the more you will be able to save and the greater will become your treasure which neither moth nor rust will corrupt — your capital. Buy the jeans," to which I say "I don't know if any of you have actually read Karl Marx"

[one-time-i-dreamt]

I was at a ren faire with my mom and I saw a belt with cool leather pouches on it for $3759 and I whispered to her, “You know, if it weren’t for the price tag I’d totally get that,” and she was like “Go for it! It’s only $3000! That’s nothing!” And I was like *surprised pikachu face*.

[askshivanulegacy]

I think it's also about the context and perspective.

RPs and D&D, etc., are explicitly all about self-inserts, or OCs which inherently carry pieces of yourself. So are most computer games, whenever you're not playing an established character. When you RP in the SWTOR fandom, 99% is ALL OCs, which might or might not be full self-inserts, and it's glorious and nobody minds and it's what people WANT.

Circumstances are different in other fandoms. Self-insert/Mary Sues are perfectly fine and you should write exactly what you want, because writing is always for yourself. But most often, people are interested in reading about the canon fandom characters. OCs serve just fine to fill needed story/plot gaps, but when the story focuses on the OC is when many readers look for something else (whether or not the OC is a self-insert).

I wouldn't be surprised if that's the driving force behind the "cringe" perspective. Self-inserts have always been fine for the writer. All the criticism is from the reader perspective. Not to say that it's justified - self inserts are really a different genre, so if you're looking for canon characters, you just don't go there. People are misattributing readership wants as valid criticism of writing and character development.

But fandom writers also need to understand that, as encouraging as people may be to you writing your OCs, your audience might be very small. That's just something you have to accept.

It's only when you break away from fandom that your OCs/self-inserts gain visibility as "real" and "valid" original characters. That's literally the only difference between "OC" and "real character." It's fandom vs non-fandom. Because, of course, all canon characters in every fandom ever are somebody's OC, and you will never know if that OC was a self-insert or not. Even your "Mary Sue" is more a product of fandom than an original story.

So perspective is key. Write what you want and enjoy it! Know that readers will read what they want, too, and those might be different things.

people are so weird about self insert ocs actually. like why wouldn't you want a made up little guy who's like you except cooler and they get to live all your fantasies? what are you afraid of? having fun? free yourself

[the-forest-library]

“You should be at the club.” No, I should be at the scholastic book fair.

[skipppppy]

Watching Star Wars was a mistake. For years I’ve derived so much pleasure from seeing discourse on my timeline that’s like “it’s actually a pretty good writing choice that Glimbo Knutts manipulated the imbledimbians in the force to make Darth Freeble his personal jedi froogler. It gives the original trilogy more depth” and not knowing what the fuck anybody is talking about. But now I do and it’s ruined. I understand what you freak ass dorks are saying and it isn’t fun anymore. Glimbo Knutts making Darth Freeble his jedi froogler DOES give the original trilogy more depth. This sucks man

[sticksandsharks]

In wisdom of matriarch and of mother.

Sacred Bodies is a 55-page story about the marriage and relationship between Dualayim and Tolpan.

The peoples residing on the peaks of Spire unto Sky, those who live under the Light, have overcome great struggle to live in prosperity and in peace. Their hard fought-for sanctity and dignity is maintained through the Sacred Body and the tenants of its preservation.

Sacred Bodies explores the topics of desire and deviancy, and the cultural lines drawn between that which delineates one and the other.

Now available as part of the ShortBox Comics Fair 2024!