#and we deserve to be treated with respect

[phemiec]

Mouthwashing meta underneath the cut (tw)

What’s fucked up is that Mouthwashing’s main horror belongs to Anya. Anya is living the Shining and Alien and a thousand of anyone’s worst nightmares, in space, alone, with no one on her side, a ticking timebomb in her own body, and not any of the characters, or the narrative, or even the players, acknowledge that to the extent she deserves. Because she’s a woman she’s just treated differently.

Other people besides me have pointed out, that Anya not only told Curly, who failed her, she also told Swansea, who also failed her, and people like to paint him as better than Curly. They want to see the best in the men around her just like she does, but Swansea ALSO belittles her, calls her a “so-called nurse” and says that “even she can’t ruin [opening the storage unit] with her presence” when jimmy walks in on Anya talking to Swansea in the cockpit she’s crying, and placating and again, reacting in resigned acceptance, which implies that Swanseas response to her was something along the lines of “suck it up”. Swansea didn’t give her the axe, he did nothing to help or protect her, he kept the cryopod for Daisuke, he never considered her.

and it is very, VERY intentional on the part of the writing, that we never get to see Daisuke and Anya really interact. They could have had a friendly companionship, given their shared doodles and his concern on her being locked in the med bay, but we never actually see them talk to each other in any real capacity. and even if she had gone to him for help, there’s very little he could do as the youngest and least senior member of the Tulpar. And besides that, the only time Daisuke mentions women (who aren’t his mom), he’s talking about “hot bikini babes”. I’m not bashing him for that, taken on its own it’d feel like harmless bro low-level misogyny, but it’s part of how the writing is very intentionally alienating Anya constantly in so many little ways.

Anya is the ONLY woman on the ship, and all of the men on the ship either abuse, belittle, degrade, objectify and dismiss, if not her specifically, than at the very least her gender, and by and large we ignore that because Jimmy is so comparatively horrible. But there was no chance for Anya on that ship, she did everything she reasonably could have done, and the reason it’s so hard to conceptualize a believable fix-it for the plot, is that the men around Anya and the system they all exist in, would all have to change on a fundamental level for anything about Anya’s situation to change, and even if the ship didn’t crash, Anya, unlike the rest of the crew, would still be living a horror story.

She is the actual protagonist of the plot, she is the final girl who died first. We are denied her perspective just like she is denied agency, control, respect, etc.

[silvergreenseraphim]

“Obedient Soldier”

[A phrase uttered by Sephiroth in Scene 07-06. As this line indicates, Sephiroth in BC (Before Crisis) was regularly obedient to orders, such as defending the Mako canon and protecting Hojo. Therefore, Shinra valued the worth of Sephiroth's loyalty and treated him like a hero.]

-Keyword Collection, CC Complete Guide, p. 285

“Until then, I will be an obedient soldier of Shinra…”

He uses the term “従順な“ which is described above. He willfully submits himself to Shinra’s authority regularly in spite of inner turmoil and reluctance much of the time.

I see more of this with every update in The First Soldier. Sephiroth calls it his only job. You would say then “Yes, and he is paid for it and treated like a hero! That is why he obeys!”

First. Where is this interest in money? And who is to say he receives it? He was raised and trained by Shinra from his boyhood days. His lack of interest in money is said clearly.

Angeal might have partially misjudged him for it too in chapter one of episode 2 when Bachman asked Sephiroth’s opinion on the situation in Robio:

Sephiroth: “Search for the missing troops. Don’t interfere with the filming. Anything else is not my job.”

Angeal: “You’re a stingy guy.”

Sephiroth: “What?”

Angeal: ”There’s no harm in experiencing things. Don’t just consider profit gain and loss.”

Sephiroth: “That’s not the reason.”

Angeal: “Then tell me what it is.”

Sephiroth: “���.”

(Japanese translation) (*Note about the nuance here at the bottom of the post!)

There is another reason Sephiroth focuses so narrowly on his job but he does not want to state it. He does not want to explain why he focuses on nothing else. Why?

His disinterest in money itself was more obviously stated in episode one:

Matt: “We'll have to talk about the distribution of the reward money… fortunately, he (Sephiroth) doesn't seem to care about money.”

Money is not the reason for Sephiroth’s loyalty to Shinra then. You might then say it’s because they treated him as a hero! Like as it was said in the Guide, they valued his loyalty and dealt with him as a hero. But where is it stated that Sephiroth wants that either? No, it is the opposite.

Sephiroth: ”I don’t want to be a hero. I want to live a normal life…”

Glenn: “What did you say?”

Sephiroth: “Nothing. It’s never going to happen.”

But Sephiroth! Since you are a hero, Shinra must spoil you and treat you well? They must give you so much! Is that why you stay with that defeated resignation?

Perhaps you have authority and respect within the military! The fandom has always called him the General….

Ignore that you see the cameras he hates, the false propaganda he knows about, his low sense of self-worth, how he sees himself as a cyborg killer that does not deserve friends. He never experienced the sensation of joy and fun with others until he met Glenn’s team. Ignore that he was trained to be afraid and heartless. Forget that he has memories of Hojo’s pain and training.

And authority?

“Very sorry. We cannot follow orders from others outside of the normal chain of command.”

These are just infantrymen.

Sephiroth’s ability to refuse orders in Crisis Core was also an unofficial privilege that existed under Lazard’s generous command. If it were Heidegger, no privilege like that would have existed and Sephiroth would have had to kill Genesis and Angeal in Banora. Lazard, a man already disloyal to Shinra, had to be in command for that point in Crisis Core to exist.

“Also, there may or may not be a right to veto orders...It seems to be just unofficial though..”

-Kunsel to Zack, CC DMW flashback

Angeal Hewley is also made team leader over “Shinra’s hero” in episode 2 of The First Soldier. Years later Angeal still gives orders to Sephiroth that the hero follows. Sephiroth’s authority inside Shinra is not like a general or even a captain.

Not that then. Perhaps you are living a lavish lifestyle, hero?

….ah, but do I even need to explain why this one is nonsense when this boy was isolated and brought up by Hojo?

”Mom? Why are you in my bedroom?”

-Sephiroth, chapter one, The First Soldier Episode 2, Japanese.

A lab cell near to where Aerith and Ifalna were held as prisoners?

“I’ve never had many opportunities to interact with people.”

-Sephiroth, chapter five, The First Soldier Episode 1, Japanese.

He would not have in the environment Hojo gave him.

“I am a SOLDIER that was raised to stand on the battlefield. SOLDIERs are worthless unless they are strong in body and mind.”

-Sephiroth, chapter five, The First Soldier Episode 1, Japanese.

“You and I grew up in different worlds. The day we understand each other will never come.”

-Sephiroth to Angeal, chapter one, The First Soldier Episode 2, Japanese.

Hojo is who raised him like this! In isolation and cruelty!

“I am the only one who can speak to Professor Hojo freely at any time, who researches the limits of our SOLDIER abilities…”

-Sephiroth to Angeal, chapter one, The First Soldier Episode 2, Japanese.

Did that Halloween event not show us the deeper horror beneath these other horrors? And who they were connected to?

Hojo: “Endure the pain, Sephiroth. You’re not at your limit yet. The more you endure, the more of your hidden strength will awaken.”

Glenn: Hey! Hang in there!

Sephiroth: “I’m sorry. I was suddenly in a lot of pain, but I’m alright now.”

Glenn: “Don’t be so strong!! Rest! Rest! Don’t push yourself so hard just because you’re the team leader!! Just relax!

Sephiroth: “….I’ve never heard anything like that before. It’s just the reverse of what the professor said…”

(Japanese translation)

Who would have ingrained such deep loyalty into the world’s strongest SOLDIER so well other than his father Hojo? Sephiroth does not speak of leaving Shinra until he is close to 25 years. He was shaken when Elfe questioned why he fought and if it was for any reason. He responds to a command from his friend Genesis on immediate instinct.

He is conditioned. That is why he was an obedient soldier to Shinra and why he stayed with them even when he hated his life. He was afraid. Of them and of Hojo!

The First Soldier will only keep showing this. Sephiroth’s friends were his chain to mental stability. When they left and died, he became vulnerable again and Nibelheim was timed just right. How much grief and anger must he have felt learning about how deep the use of his body and mind had gone? Enough to hate Shinra and soon everything.

Shinra is run by greedy pigs who have their dogs and sheep. They have their SOLDIER recruits, their Turks, their Deepground prisoners, their clueless employees. You will find that among these pawns, there are many who try to leave or question the power keeping them in check and that is because Shinra was not so careful enough to condition and lie to them.

They were careful with Sephiroth though because disloyalty from him would be so dangerous. The story shows this well enough.

Out of all of their abused pawns and attack dogs, Sephiroth was the one chosen to be exploited in front of the world and decorated in hero’s ribbons to cover up the scars. He was lied to about the depth of his abuse and given false hope in his two dear friends. He was trying to claw his way to the light and find himself so that he could be a real hero and protect others but there was no hope for such things. His cage was gilded and when he became aware of it, that boy’s heart was filled with sadness and then anger and then hatred.

His life was DESTROYED by Shinra from the start. His loyalty was sown into him mostly by Hojo. This new episode of The First Soldier has brought this truth further to the light and I do not think it was will stop.

Thank you to those who helped me with this post in DMs!

Notes:

*Angeal’s words in chapter one of FS Episode 2 about Sephiroth’s “stinginess” do have a nuance that I do not want to ignore. He can be talking about money gain/loss but also a whole mindset! His words are broadly referring to a narrow-minded and “Scrooge-ish” view of things where there is not much room for anything outside of Sephiroth’s thin focus. That thin focus is Sephiroth’s assignment and the gain of completing it, which could include profit from Angeal’s perspective and would be a reason to complete a mission if we remember his scene with his parents where that is a discussion. The point is to say that Angeal is not only talking about money, but for this post I focused on that aspect of it because of Sephiroth’s response against the entire assumption and his formerly mentioned lack of interest in money.

[daughter-of-sapph0]

I can't believe we're actually having the fucking bathroom debate again

for literally the past ten years I avoided using public bathrooms in general. every time I'm forced to use them I fear for my life that I'll be harassed, threatened, attacked, raped, or killed for no other reason than someone doesn't like that I exist in proximity to them.

obviously this isn't the biggest issue in the world that I can't use public restrooms. I've lived like this for ten years, I don't care if I have to pee at home for the rest of my life.

the real issues trans women face are far greater than bathroom or sports.

homelessness for trans women is at an all time high. we are on average paid less than cis women and other queer people. I'm not even going to explain what v-coding is because it's too horrific to even mention. not to mention that access to medication and therapy is often barred for us, and getting the treatment we need is often impossible for many of us

how many more of us have to die before we finally get the respect we deserve?

how many more of us have to starve to death on the side of the road, cold, homeless, turned away by shelters?

how many more of us will end up taking their own lives because they couldn't access the support they needed to live?

how many more of us will be assaulted, raped, and murdered, only for their obituary to use the wrong name, and for people to blame us for being victims?

I'm tired of being a topic of debate! I'm a human fucking being, god dammit! I demand to be treated like one!

[inquisimer]

Eight Little Talons writing prompts

Dialogue & descriptive writing prompts taken from the short story Eight Little Talons from Tevinter Nights!

"what's a gondola ride between friends?"

"it's a necessary precaution." "that's just a polite term for paranoia."

"You. You're responsible for this!"

"Don't worry—the stabbing won't start until after dinner."

nausea is not nearly as uncomfortable as asphyxiation

"This is why you have a reputation."

"Well, that's better than your reputation."

"Nothing spoils a meal like business."

"if she knows what's good for her, she won't make a habit of it"

"Don't tell me this is the first time you've visited a woman's bedchamber unannounced."

"You know I hate being the responsible one."

"No need to tempt a starving man with low-hanging fruit."

"I didn't torture her, if that's what you're asking."

"This is why I don't visit a woman's bedchamber unannounced."

"You were supposed to lock your door."

"I refuse to look at another dead body until I've had my coffee."

the most dangerous jobs aren't the ones you don't come back from—they're the ones that stay with you.

Knots were a delicate business. Tug the wrong way and you could end up with a noose.

"It is offensive. Professionally."

"I'm more than capable of killing everyone here!"

He didn't need to be liked—only respected and feared, a little

"Tell me, why do you think you're the exception to every rule?"

"Why didn't you let me help you?" "I'm out of practice."

"I've defended him long enough."

"Men rarely get what they deserve."

She could've comforted him, but the words died exhausted in her throat.

"You should know how people are. You grew up in the dirt."

"I guess the dirt treated me better than your gilded cage."

"Unlike you, I'm not ashamed of where I came from. And I don't let it define me."

"You know, this isn't how I imagined seeing you naked."

Her expertise primarily laid in killing people—not healing them.

"How do you feel—on a scale of absolute shit to dying?"

"You clever, clever girl."

It was worth the effort to finally feel the softness of her skin against his bare fingertips.

"Still alive. Good."

In an interrogation, a little heat went a long way.

"We have standards. And you're beneath them."

"It's a definite maybe."

[luckycharming]

Not trying to be messy or bitchy on main, but why don't y'all review fanfics anymore? Why don't y'all comment on the stories y'all have read and liked? Like, deadass, as a writer/creator myself, if I slave away and put my whole ass pussy into creating and crafting these really good stories, and nobody reviews them, what's my incentive to keep creating?

And I've heard it be said thousands of times that you should do it for fun! You should do it because blah blah blah! And I get it! I really! It's not good to create solely because of x, y, and z and that's valid, but! I'm also doing this shit for free. Like, fanfic authors bust their asses writing for free. This is a free consumption, and I'm just saying, if you like or love the stories written, why can't y'all let it be known? Why can't y'all comment and review it? It literally doesn't take even a third of the effort it took the writers themselves to write the damn shit.

I remember when I first got into fanfiction and I was in awe, okay? There were so many wonderful stories and authors and you bet your right testicle I made sure I left reviews. Hell, I would even PM them and let them know that hey, I really loved that fic you wrote! This is what it meant to me and thank you so much for not only writing it, but being brave enough to share it with the world because regardless of the ship/fandom/etc., that takes guts!

And y'all won't even do the bare minimum. And then have the nerve to wonder why the quality of writing is shit or why people are leaving the fandom spaces. It makes no sense that stories that are so horribly written and out of character have hundreds, if not thousands of reviews, but the actual good shit barely has fifty, and that's me being generous.

I'm just tired of putting all this effort into shit that I'm not getting anything back from because it's not enough to love what you do. Like, why is it bad that I want people to leave long or nice comments on my work? Why is that me being greedy to want some positive engagement on my content? Or unless I write for popular ships, people won't read my shit? Which isn't bad, because if I like a ship, regardless of if it's popular or canon or so on and so forth, I'm gonna ship it, but still.

And not even that's a guarantee that people will read it, and I don't like don't gimmicky shit. I don't like feeling like I have to dim the quality of my work to get people to fuck with my shit, and it's not me being insecure in my writing because I'm a damn good writer. I know what I bring to the fucking table, but how are we supposed to keep the fandom spaces alive if nobody's engaging with shit anymore?

[fiona-fififi]

Call me homophobic, but I don't actually think it's great representation to stick a complex, dynamic, newly-realized bisexual character permanently with a flat, boring, underdeveloped love interest just because that was the first guy who showed interest.

[mxtxfanatic]

Been inundated with posts about the character descriptions in the 7seas mxtx releases, and I just wanna say that I find it the highest level of disrespect how a publisher treated someone’s serious writing that they bought the publishing rights for as a little jokey joke that’s lead to so many people’s misconceptions about said book. Tell me: why do these character sheets include publisher/translator opinions on the characters? Why do these character sheets directly go against what the actual text has to say about these characters? Why do these novels need character sheets?

[uncanny-tranny]

Part of my experience with abuse is hoping I get a kid like me so I can know how easy it can be to love them, how easy it is to not treat them how I was treated, and breaking that cycle. It was only hard for them to love me as a child because they didn't love me in the first place. They wished for me to know the hate they had, and I refuse to carry their water for them like that. It was never hard to love me.

[gloriousburden]

i think they should make a movie where the writers actually like thor and loki

[silvermarmoset]

once again thinking of the quiet grace of ghosts allowing a bunch of lonely souls who were never treated right to keep on trying, to get a second chance at being treated with kindness and respect, of patching together the holes in their lives and finding the tender recognition they never got while alive. none of the ghosts were ever cool in their lives: robin gets ignored by his caveman buddies, thomas is taken advantage of, pat gets cheated on, mary gets burned, fanny has a loveless existence and kitty is tricked by the people she trusted. humphrey tries his best to reach out and remains as lonely as ever, julian revels in cutting off everyone he loves and never gets to fix it, the captain shuts his soul down to keep doing his duty. there are people in their lives who love them but we get the sense the ghosts still aren't ever truly seen while they're alive. so to get a second chance at loving, to be a lonely person and allowed to have another go at being held—what grace. what infinite grace to live on like that, even if it's a half-life, because it's a life they were denied when living properly.

[reverienco]

Have you thought of N getting his revenge on J for all the years he has been builled by her?

i don't think he ever would. N is a naturally very nice and forgiving person, specially so to a fault. i really don't think he holds/held a grudge against her or V for the way they've treated him prior to his meeting with uzi. the most negative we've gotten was his "J, you're sometimes kinda mean to me and I wish you weren't. Just some constructive criticism!" but even then, it was prompted by uzi and he did say "constructive criticism" lol

other than that, he has THANKED HER when she stepped on him, called him worthless and terrible and she'd kill him if company allowed it; when she LITERALLY almost kills him and never complained about her bullying in the manor. he stopped uzi from throwing (presumably) an insult towards eldritch J's appearance, was completely chill when she came back as a clone????

bottom line is, N doesn't seem like the type to hold grudges or plan revenge against anyone, even if they've actively hurt him for so long. he's always willing to give everyone even a little bit of a benefit of the doubt

[capinejghafa]

One day, someone will realize Inej's dad value in her story... not today, though 😔

[morangoowada]

GET BRAZIL OUT OF YOUR MOUTH!!!

[gxlden-angels]

I cannot express the anger I experience being unable to do anything about anything while Christians salivate over the idea of the Israel-Hamas conflict being a sign of the Rapture

[tuttle-did-it]

First of all, Scotland, for passing the Scottish Hate Crime Act and trying to protect trans people, thank you. Thank you for treating us as humans, thank you for recognising our identities.

However....

fuck you JK Rowling. fuck your TERF rants that endanger our lives. fuck your Nazi attitudes.

fuck you Police Scotland for proving that you're fucks and will not take this law seriously, even when someone intentionally, repeatedly, maliciously and gleefully breaks this law in a very, very public forum.

fuck you Police Scotland for not only refusing to take action when someone is breaking this law intentionally, repeatedly, maliciously and gleefully, but also proving that 1) this new law will NOT be taken seriously by you 2) this tells every TERF and Tory out there that the law is NOT valid, and that the law does NOT include queer people, specifically in this case Trans people; and 3) this tells every queer/Trans/enby/multi-sex/hermaphrodite person that we are NOT actually protected as this new law promises, and you can and will continue abusing us and destroying our lives. Fucking thanks. Cos it wasn't obvious enough that every day gets more and more dangerous for us trans/enby people, so thanks for just making it clear to the fucking world that even when someone mocks this law openly, you don't fucking care because we are not fucking people. Got it. So fuck you Police Scotland, specifically, for doing NOTHING when someone blatantly flouts this law. Fuck every one of you ACAB fuckers.

fuck everyone who still works with you, Rowling and still even speaks to you after knowing what you are.

fuck everyone who still buys anything related to the Harry Potter franchise knowing the money is going into the pocket of someone like this. Because she sends that money back out to fucking Anti-Trans orgs that hurt us.

fuck you HP fans who plan to watch her new tv show. You cannot be a fan of a massive transphobe trying to destroy us, and an ally at the same time. so fuck you.

fuck harry potter fans who wear HP merchandise stuff knowing what she has said and done, yes I don't care if you bought it before she said it, fuck you because you know exactly what she represents. Not apologising. Yeah, I'm totally judging you if you're wearing HP merch, even if especially if you're queer. I don't care how much HP meant to you as a child. I don't care about fucking nostalgia. I care about the Trans lives that are in danger every day because of monsters like this fucking woman.

fuck you Rishi Sunak for backing and legitimising this horrible woman and her bigotry.

fuck you British politics, fuck you Tories. Fuck you all for destroying this country and making every day more dangerous for Queer people.

fuck you CEO David Zaslav. fuck you Warner Bros. for being willing and happy to work with this fucking woman for her fucking franchise so she can continue to fucking make millions and fucking fund anti-trans orgs.

fuck every single one of who who protects, excuses and funds this fucking behaviour. And fuck every one of you who doesn't give a fuck at everything that is happening.

fuck these fucking fucks. fuck you TERFs and transphobes and fuck every single one of you fucking fucks.

Thank you for trying, Scotland. Thank you.

But please explain to the fucking POLICE and the fucking evil POLITICIANS that this new law means we are legally recognised as protected under the Scottish Hate Crime Act, so they all need to stop fucking about and treat it seriously.

and the fucking PRIME FUCKING MINISTER fucking backing this fucking TERF. I'm not surprised, just angry.

This is on you. so, fuck you if you are supporting these fuckery fucking fucks.

As is EVERY SINGLE FUCKING INCIDENT a trans person has in this fucking country. Every time someone fucking deadnames us, every time someone intentionally misgenders us, every time someone threatens our safety, every time someone fucking assaults us? every single incident is on your fucking head, you fucking fucks.

[beevean]

You've probably said it before but who's your favorite Belmont

Daddy Longlegs Trevor <3

Yeah, I know he's probably the second most popular Belmont after Richter, but sometimes I too am basic :P

I call him the Sonic of Castlevania because he's effortlessly cool, has a bit of an attitude but a heart of gold, doesn't hold grudges against the people who shunned him, and is very, very friendly - you can infere this by how easily all sorts of people follow him in CV3, and how he doesn't hold Alucard's heritage against him when the poor guy was angsting about it. Yeah, so maybe you have to read the manual and really look into the events of a NES game to get an idea of his personality, but that doesn't mean he's a cardboard cutout like NFCV some fans think!

And his sassiness in CoD cracks me up lmao, he's so cocky and confident and he pulls a mean eyebrow and

i may be willing to sell both kidneys for a cod remaster, but only as long as they manage to recreate the sheer amount of raw gay energy exuding from all characters

also i'm a whole believer in the theory that he was so difficult to hector at first because he had a crush on him and was being all tsundere about it. because everyone has a crush on hector. also hevor canon

And even then he's humble when questioned about his title as the one who killed Dracula, he immediately gives credit to his friends <3 he cares <3

Also his design is just really good, the scars that mark him as a survivor, the outfit that is both fashionable and protective (kind of like Hector, but not as confusing lol), the longcoat that goes swish <3 he looks like a professional vampire hunter, practical but not without flare!

And of course,

Another thing he has in common with Sonic: his music slaps me into another dimension. (Beginning is also good! But I prefer his "ohshitohshitohshit the belmont wants me dead aaaaaa" theme :P)

anyway. trevor cool. he's shaped like a friend :)

Aside from him, Leon and Juste also have a special place in my heart! Leon is also just a noblehearted dude who threw everything he had away for the chance of saving his beloved, and after losing LITERALLY EVERYTHING HE HELD DEAR IN ONE NIGHT, he still had the strength to live on and not fall into the temptation Mathias had fallen into. Also his theme is literally my favorite CV track of all time, it's just perfect for him and the part in the game it plays in. Juste is just OP as all hell, and he has a funny personality - he's the prettiest Belmont by a long shot but he's also kind of rude and aggressive? lol - and with him you can start to see the Belmont legacy weigh on his shoulders. I also choose to see something in the way he vehemently denies Maxim the chance to explain what happened to Lydie in the best ending, as if he just wanted to forget everything. And the worst ending of HoD kills me :(