#anyway I'm normal about fictional characters

[sitronsangbody]

Warning: this gets grim

I'm up at night thinking about an episode of Supernatural and how it demonstrates some really heinous public attitudes toward fat people.

Mild spoilers for Supernatural season 6 I guess:

Dean Winchester has to take on the job of Death for a day, meaning he has to go to those who are supposedly destined to die, witness their final moments, and give them the touch of death, thus claiming their lives and sending them to the afterlife. He soon struggles to live up to his responsibilities as he's required to end the lives of a sick child and a young nurse. His first two victims, however, don't bother his conscience at all. The first is an armed robber who threatens to shoot a little boy and gets killed by the boy's father. The second is a fat man who has a heart attack.

When I say fat, what I really mean is fat-coded; the man is simply not stick thin in the way that nearly every character on the show is, so he counts as fat and his storyline (minor though it is) is tied to his size. He is in his 50s, maybe early 60s. We first see him wolfing down a cheeseburger, and Dean says "this looks like a heart attack situation", before the man indeed clutches his chest and dies. When he asks why he had to die, Dean's reply is: "you think maybe it was the extra cheese?"

His death is not portrayed as tragic in any way. He himself is only mildly distressed. We don't get to see anyone grieving for him. His death is there to be one of the Easy ones, an unsurprising, almost comical and even deserved(?) death to make Dean think it's not that bad of a gig, ending people's lives. And we, the viewers, are supposed to agree. We're not invited to feel sad for this man in the slightest, even in retrospect. Everyone who created this scene and decided to keep it in the show, believed this to be a normal way to think of a fat person suddenly dying. This came out in 2010.

It just encapsulates so much stuff - really fucking dark stuff, I might add - about how fat lives have been viewed through the years. That scene (and scenes like it) says:

- when fat people die, it's because they brought it on themselves. They are ticking timebombs and their death is expected.

- when fat people die young, no they don't, because being fat means living on borrowed time anyway, so a fat person dying way earlier than the average life expectancy is not tragic the way it is if a thin person does.

- when fat people die, it's definitely because they are fat (and they are fat because they make bad choices).

- when fat people eat what's considered unhealthy food, it's depressing and stupid and they're out of control. Dean Winchester is canonically a big fan of fast food and eats burgers all the time on the show. Because he is thin and fit, this is portrayed as fun, relatable and manly.

- when fat people die, it's not sad.

And like, I wish this was exclusive to fiction, but there are real people who act like this when real fat people die. Like they know why, even if they have no clue, like it shouldn't be shocking, like it's self-inflicted and therefore deserved, and like it probably wasn't much of a life anyway so it's just not that tragic, really.

This stuff is, just for me personally, one of the roughest sides of anti-fatness. When people deny us dignity in death. Partly because it's so ghoulish, and partly because it's so ubiquitous it appears in media like this, without controversy. I'd like to believe there would be stronger reactions had this plotline come out today in 2025, but I am not confident.

[communist-hatsunemiku]

this might be a strange take but as someone who was groomed and who had what i would call an "elitist" mindset towards it, zako really seemed like it was about that mentality. of knowing you were playing with fire but feeling like you were above it. and for that i was really attached to it for the 2 hours it was out. the more logical side of me KNOWS its more likely a play off mimukawa nice try but i would love to believe it was meant to cater to a different audience than loli-cons. what's your take on the fiction vs reality of it? do you think westerners are just overreacting

I think you're interpretation of the song is valid, and pretty interesting tbh! I had not thought about that at all, and it's a case for letting people interpret the song in their own way. Instead of kowtowing to the loudest, most offended people. I also think the fact the creators literally took down the song amid backlash is pretty strong evidence they didn't make a song "for lolicons". They obviously did not anticipate this reaction, Channel admitted to having reservations, and tried to make Yuuki somewhat older-looking in the video. Whether you think she does or not, is up for (good faith!) debate. I do think she does not look like the literal box art version of the character, but that's kind of beside the point.

there is no fiction vs. reality debate because there are no real human beings harmed in the making of this song. Like, full stop. The "well kaai yuuki has a child VA" shit doesnt hold water cuz that person is an adult now anyway, and there are plenty of other songs featuring her that go wayyyy beyond this one. Like it's just something people reached for out of convienence. Same for "it violates her TOS!" like no one gave a fuck about Kaai Yuuki's TOS before it became a convenient cudgel in this particular situation.

The thing is, no one can have conversations about stuff like this in good faith because you are immediately labeled some kind of monster for trying to have any kind of nuanced opinion. Any dissent from "this song/movie/book is irredeemably evil and your sick for defending it" is taken as proof that you are a pervert monster. It's such a clear example of people, willfully and gleefully, diving into reactionary thinking without a shred of thought.

When really, I do think having an actual conversation about lolicon causing you discomfort is totally normal, and it's a pretty reasonable response to this stuff! But people can't just say that, they have to burn the whole thing to the ground, in the name of "protecting kids" or whatever bullshit they come up with. I don't actually like a good portion of Miku art for the same reasons people didn't like Zako! There was art going around on twitter of Miku with a literal binkie in Her mouth like a baby, and that shit was kind of weird! But I just didn't engage with it, that's it. People whipped each other up about the "harms" of this song, when simply not liking or engaging with it at all would have been the normal thing to do.

Freak outs like this do not protect anybody from anything. My big hot take is that having a moral panic about literally anything has more potential for actual harm than whatever it is people are panicking over. You simply cannot make rational, thoughtful decisions that prioritize protecting people from abuse when you are in a panic, or listening to people who are in a panic. You just can't!! It's not how shit works!

I know I have other asks about this, but I'm kind of trying to answer here, definitively, and let the topic dissipate. I'm glad I got the video downloaded, and we'll see what they release to appease all the weirdos who freaked out about the song. People objected to both the video and the lyrics themselves, so I don't know how they're going to come out with a new version that isn't radically different than the original. We'll see.

[absolutelybatty]

The rumour comes out: Does Larry Johnson Is Trans?

Happy (early!) TDOV, everyone :)

[avephelis]

every time someone mischaracterises jay ferin as the therapist friend a fairy loses its wings btw. put some respect on her emotionally-constipated ass.

[tyriongirl]

Genesis 4:1-5, translated by S. R. Driver, from The Book of Genesis, 1905

A Clash of Kings, Prologue - Maester Cressen

Emanuel Krescenc Liška – Cain (1885)

Claus Westermann, Genesis : a commentary, 1984

Arthur Segal - Kain und Abel (1918)

A Clash of Kings, Prologue - Maester Cressen

Natalie Diaz, A Brother Named Gethsemane, from When My Brother Was an Aztec

Lovis Corinth - Kain (1917)

Genesis 4:6-9, translated by S. R. Driver, from The Book of Genesis, 1905

A Clash of Kings, Chapter 33 - Catelyn IV

Odilion Redon - Cain and Abel (1886)

A Clash of Kings, Chapter 33 - Catelyn IV

Genesis 4:9-14, translated by S. R. Driver, from The Book of Genesis, 1905

A Clash of Kings, Chapter 31 - Catelyn III

St. Omer, Benedictine Abbey of St. Bertin; c. 1190-1200

A Storm of Swords, Chapter 36 - Davos V

S.R. Driver, The Book of Genesis, 1905

A Clash of Kings, Chapter 42 - Davos II

Lazzaro Pisani - Death of Abel (1885)

S.R. Driver, The Book of Genesis, 1905

A Clash of Kings, Chapter 42 - Davos II

A Clash of Kings, Chapter 42 - Davos II

Cain and Abel - City of Zeven - 2015 (source)

Genesis 4:14-16, translated by S. R. Driver, from The Book of Genesis, 1905

[lakesparkles]

Okay, now a sillier vent because I can't take it out of my mind. First of all, I'm totally aware this doesn't make sense!

I kinda miss Gideon. I want to draw him again. But, at the same time, I feel bad to do so because I feel... I'm not allowed to. Like Gideon "isn't mine anymore"

Like I said, it's totally silly. I wish I could stop thinking like this and treating fictional characters too seriously... but I can't

[0xeyedaisy]

Aw man...

[bigy-bigley]

i'm obsessed with the ORAS character design sheets that were discovered in the Teraleak

SPECIFICALLY this image of the TEENIEST TINIEST SILLIEST little roxanne you have ever seen in your life.

literally just a mipy. a little blorbo. bouncing her around in my head like a tennis ball in a gymnasium

[seriousturd]

Ellis Mayfield is giving you a Thumbs Up!

[vexedmilky]

DNI currently sobbing over fictional characters and their genders (which aren't even fully confirmed and just depend on headcanons)

[shikai-the-storyteller]

There are SO many cool interactions and lore things we can look forward to now that Rubius says he'll come back to QSMP (not only as an angel / demon, but potentially as a human too!), but that little detail reminded me of something:

Even though q!Vegetta and q!Rubius were mutually interested in each other wayyyy back in the beginning of the series, as an Angel / Demon, Rubius said he can't have relationships with humans because it's against the rules.

But a bit ago on stream, Rubius said that he's thinking about having a "human" side so he can build and do more things on the server as a regular player. I'm excited because this means he can have more casual interactions with people and we can see him interacting with his friends more (and he can experience The Horrors), but also...

I think we're in for some very interesting drama in the next few weeks.*

* ( Assuming Rubius doesn't get harassed off the server by toxic shippers and weird fans of the Eggs again. Please be nice to Rubius and welcome him back kindly, he's a very cool guy and his character is SO interesting )

[falderaletcetera]

feeling inordinately soft at the realisation that at the end of the Father Brown cult ep (really not my favourite), when sid and susie say they've heard that mrs mccarthy stole her strawberry scone recipe and mrs m (quite fairly) takes their scones back and has to chase sid off-screen for his, father brown quietly offers his one to susie.

context is that susie is officially hired by them to clean the presbytery and she has a rough time in this ep, and father brown generally takes any and every opportunity to have sweet things (good for him dot png.)

inordinately soft about it

[sorrowveined]

I AM SO INTERESTED IN LIKE, HOW THE AFTERLIFE WORKS AND THE CONCEPTS OF THE DIFFERENT GODS/BELIEF SYSTEMS CO-EXISTING IN CASTLEVANIA BTW.......... like how does it all work? i'm gonna be taking notes while watching the first castlevania series too as well (starting that tomorrow!) but i'm curious about you've all interpreted what's presented in the series so far re: all that??? idk.

[navree]

gonna be entirely honest the ten shitmillion 'can't believe they abandoned adding queerness to alicent because she has sex with a man' takes accompanied by all the screaming and crying and throwing up absolutely REEK of biphobia, and that's not a good look for y'all during pride

[taamlok]

deleting my vent posts when i clock in for the regular tumblr shift

[adhd-merlin]

I wanted to finish my Bliss & Blunder WIP before going on my trip tomorrow but I don't think I'll manage, so have a snippet (because I need to feel like I neglected work for something)

it's mainly about Wayne's weird ménage à trois since it's Green Knight season (aka creepy bisexual adventures season. yes there are ghosts) <3

‘What exactly is the deal between you and Vern?’ Mo asks Wayne once, leaning conspiratorially over the bar. He’s an inquisitive boy, Arthur’s son. More perceptive than you'd think. ‘I work for him, he pays me a wage,’ Wayne says as he pours Mo’s beer. ‘It’s called having a job. I can see why the concept would confuse you.’ It's a snippier answer than those Wayne would usually give Mo, but the boy’s lips twitch in amusement. He rarely takes offence to anything. Or at least he doesn’t show it. ‘You know that isn’t what I meant.’ Wayne puts Mo’s glass in front of him. ‘I have no idea what you’re talking about, Mo.’ And then, eager to change the subject, ‘Shouldn’t even be serving you. We could get fined, you know.’ A laughably empty threat. Lou chooses that moment to come in from the beer garden. Tea towel slung over her shoulder. Notepad and pen in hand.  Wayne and Mo both turn to look at her as she walks to the till. She sticks her pen behind her ear, starts clacking away at the keys to work out someone’s bill. She's not the kind of woman who turns heads, but she's still easy on the eyes. ‘Well,’ Mo says. Wayne turns back to him. There’s a sly smile on his face. ‘We all do things we shouldn’t. Spice of life, innit?’ He glaces pointedly at Lou before picking up his glass and taking a sip. Too perceptive, sometimes.