#as if we're less than if we're not conventionally attractive

[bitterimp]

i know not all trans people have to be on t or e and get surgery to be considered trans, but man, being on testosterone would improve my quality of life drastically.

[lighthouseas]

girls when 1 occurrence brings back 1928282828383839 middle school memories of being excluded and bullied

[chronicsydspams]

I'm about to piss off the ENTIRE TLOU fandom but I'm SO past the point of caring. Bella Ramsey is a more accurate portrayal of a 19 year old not only in their mannerisms but THEIR LOOKS.

"They don't look mature enough" that's because Ashley Johnson was in her mid 30's playing a 19 year old, and in the game, Ellie's face Especially still carries that. AFAB people Especially don't magically change their facial structure from 14-19 unless they had work done. you don't start seeing that happen till your mid-late 20's.

You don't look OR act like "a mature adult" when you're 19, it just doesn't happen. so expecting this (even from a fictional character) is still rather bizzar to me. and saying shit like "she's being too goofy" here when we've gotten basically No clips of her after she loses Joel is also a null in void argument. Even in the game before she loses Joel, Ellie's particularly monotone; but if they're going about this the way i think they're going to, then the stark contrast between her being goofy and the unbridled rage would actually be an Improvement from the game.

and I straight up can't tell if it's been That long since people have played TLOU2, or if they're just being Purposefully obtuse because of their hate boner for Bella as to why they're acting like Ellie's mad at Joel for no reason whatsoever (this isn't towards people who haven't touched the games and don't know the story, this is towards people who know and are still whining like little crybabies about everything)

"Should have recasted like in HOD" so THAT doesn't work either because for Rhaenyra they're going from 15 to like 32. from a teen to an ACTUAL adult, not a Young adult. 5 and 15 years apart are Very Much not the same thing here.

And it really seems that my fellow lesbians have Also been perpetuating the "Bella isn't "conventionally attractive enough" for me to sexualize" to which i expected better from you guys, honestly.

"we're allowed to nitpick" no it sounds like you're crying because you didn't get your way, in What reality would they have recasted Bella as Ellie? would you be complaining less if we waited another 10 years for Bella to be in their 30's and Then you'd stop complaining about them looking so young? probably not, because Bella doesn't fit conventional beauty standards.

And if I'm going to be Remotely honest, I'd rather have someone who can Act the part rather than someone who looks "close enough" but can't act for shit, which is what I'm seeing with all these tiktok "recast suggestions"

With that, I think I've yapped enough, and am going to try and weasel my way out of enemy territory and find Bella Ellie edits 'till next Sun. thank you for your time.

[felixbobeelix]

In Defense of The Emperor (or, Ansur Is Not A Victim)

GIF credit: @mittthrawnuruodo

The Emperor is, in my opinion, one of the most underappreciated and misunderstood characters in Baldur's Gate 3, and I have spent a lot of time thinking about reasons why that may be. I honestly think it's tragic because The Emperor is such a compellingly-written character, and I think a lot of that gets lost under the landslide of abject hatred people feel for it.

I have a lot of thoughts about this, so buckle up buttercups! Lots (and lots, and LOTS) more under the cut!

I was playing BG3 again the other day, working my way through Emp's reveal, its initial withholding of the details about its escape and the nature of its relationship with Stelmane, and all the Ansur stuff, and I got fired up about this again.

There are a few really common reasons I see for why people hate The Emperor. One is its manipulative behavior, lies by omission, and the fact that if you pressure it enough, its attitude toward Tav will change. Another is the fact that if you choose to free Orpheus it will willingly return to the Netherbrain. Then there's its enthrallment of Stelmane and the implication that it led to her illness and death. And, of course, there's the idea that The Emperor betrayed its longtime friend and implied former lover, Ansur.

I also think there's a secret fifth option that maybe happens unconsciously. The vast majority of people spent a lot of time crafting their Dream Guardians into gorgeous feasts for the eyes, which is something the devs intentionally encouraged players to do. So when the game hit them with the twist and their beautiful Dream Guardian was replaced by an (ostensibly) unappealing Illithid, their sense of betrayal was amplified; they were predisposed to greater anger and hatred for The Emperor than they may have felt if it had retained the pleasant visage of their Dream Guardian.

Emp's Manipulation:

I find the argument about Emp's lying and manipulative behavior a little strange, when, for example, so many people are willing to overlook Astarion's abject manipulation of their Tavs. Personally, I think the reasons here are twofold. One, Astarion enjoys the privilege of being conventionally attractive and Emp does not, plain and simple. Two, sticking it out through Astarion's lying and manipulation will eventually lead to satisfying gain: an endgame relationship with him. There's no such satisfying outcome with Emp, so players are less inclined to put up with behaviors they endure for Astarion's sake. It's actually arguably easier to get Emp to admit to its manipulation of Tav than it is to get Astarion to do the same thing, and yet Astarion is more readily forgiven.

There may also be some degree of people being skeeved out by Emp's mind reading and its apparent ability to enthrall. But even this is a little odd, since Tav and their companions are all telepathically joined and that doesn't scare the player. The Emperor also never actually makes an attempt to enthrall Tav even when they're being combative and resistant. My only conclusion is that player distaste in this context is a product of the negative narratives about Illithids throughout the game. Which, for the record, are narratives I think we're meant to challenge as players.

(As an interesting side note, those narratives seem to be easily overriden when an Illithid is seen as helpful, as in the case of Omeluum. Despite clear evidence that it has not entirely denounced Illithid culture, and despite its membership in a morally questionable organization, players have a largely positive opinion of Omeluum simply because it tries to help them. They seem to forget that it was experimenting on Tav, and its miscalculation could have seriously compromised them.)

I think it's also worth pointing out that an Illthid in hiding is going to find particular challenge in simply surviving and remaining undetected, and even moreso in avoiding being attacked and killed, especially if it does not have the benefit of allies. Even Omeluum (who has the benefit of allies in the Society of Brilliance) has to disguise itself when it moves about the city. If you visit Omeluum and Blurg in Baldur's Gate you can listen in to their conversation, and Omeluum admits it sometimes takes the form of Blurg when it goes around.

I staunchly maintain, for one thing, that Emp is a true neutral character. It will resort to nearly any means necessary to assure its survival and freedom - though, again, it does stop short of robbing Tav of their autonomy, which I think is significant. And really, all things considered, Emp's methods are some of the least insidious when compared with the behaviors of other notable characters in the game. Even its insistence that Orpheus must be kept imprisoned is driven more by fear and a lack of real alternatives than any kind of malice. And alignments aside, when you consider the attitudes people have about Illithids, it's suddenly not surprising that Emp resorts to things like lying to protect itself and convince others to ally with it.

This concept was something I had to explore in depth when I worked with a DM friend who helped me construct a playable Illithid character, and I was challenged to run with a party of adventurers without them discovering my true race. It is NOT EASY. Almost immediately, despite my best intentions, I realized I would likely need to resort to some questionable methods to maintain my character's secrecy. The Emperor is the same. I'll touch on this more when I get into Emp's dynamic with Stelmane.

Player Influence:

Maybe the most frustrating observation I've made is that The Emperor is one of the only characters players will typecast based on the worst potential dialogue outcomes. Tav's relationship with pretty much all of the characters can be either improved or totally soured by the dialogue options they select. In most cases players are able to make the distinction that their choices are what influence the attitudes of the characters they're interacting with. But in the case of The Emperor, players will refuse to believe that any positive interactions with it are genuine because there are dialogue paths that lead to negative outcomes. I have to wonder why this standard does not apply to companion characters who break up with Tav, treat Tav questionably, or leave the party altogether when the player selects negative dialogue options.

Because of the potential for the Emperor's attitude to sour and for it to turn away from the player, it is written off as an entirely disingenuous character. However, Emp repeatedly demonstrates a capacity for veracity and emotionality, and I believe that when you foster a positive relationship with it the feelings it shares are genuine, just like with any other character. I'm guessing it doesn't help that Emp can be very matter-of-fact and pragmatic even during positive interactions, where the companion characters are often downright poetic in their regard for Tav and willing to make sacrifices for Tav when their approval is high.

I can see how this would give the sense that Emp's feelings are lesser, because it brackets those feelings with discussions about things like whether Tav is embracing tadpole abilities. But 1) Emp stands to lose its freedom again if the conflict with the Elder Brain goes awry and is, I think very understandably, preoccupied with what it believes are the necessary steps to ensure victory, and it seems anxious to affirm that Tav is as dedicated to the best outcome as it is. And 2) if this kind of pragmatism is the barometer by which people are measuring their trust of a character's feelings about them, I'm honestly a little afraid to know how they feel about their interactions with very pragmatic people IRL. 👀

Some people just are less prone to emotional expressiveness, or will ease their discomfort around emotional expression by diverting conversation to more practical matters. That doesn't mean the feelings they express are not genuine. We see over and over that Tav has a way of awakening strong, unexpected feelings in the people they meet throughout the course of the game. There's every possibility that this is what happens with Emp, and that it is taken aback by its feelings and is steering the conversation back to the matter of the conflict with the Brain as a way of avoiding being caught up and losing the plot.

I think that because the game does such a good job of playing up the idea that Illithids are soulless and inherently manipulative and evil, players are overly willing to accept it as fact. However, the game does also give us opportunities to question that narrative, and I think we'd do well to seize those opportunities. Even in raw DnD Illithid lore has shifted toward the idea that Illithids are more than the vicious monsters they started as. I think it's far more compelling and creative to consider that Emp is being genuine when you pursue positive interactions with it.

Relationship with Stelmane:

This begs the question, then, of whether the Emperor is truly upset about Stelmane's death. It certainly seems to be, but when you begin to suspect that it was enthralling her and forcing her to do its bidding you begin to doubt that it really cared about her.

Honestly? I'm not sure whether it did or not. Perhaps what it's truly upset about is the realization that it no longer has the option to return to its previous life as a major player in the Knights of the Shield. Maybe aside from the enthrallment, it actually did respect and even like Stelmane. Perhaps they had a rapport at some point prior to her enthrallment, and it is nostalgic about that. I think its feelings in that moment are real, it's simply unclear as to what those feelings are about.

In any case, I am openly and unabashedly here to disabuse anyone of the notion that Stelmane was a good person. A lot of what we hear about her we hear from Wyll, who (like pretty much every other character) is an unreliable narrator. The truth is unfortunately not as nice as Wyll would like to believe. With as little information about her as we have, this seems a bold claim for me to make, but I make it confidently, and here is why: her membership in the Knights of the Shield precludes her from being a good person.

The Knights of the Shield is an organization dealing in political manipulation, information brokering, and financial gain for its members. At the very least, Belynne Stelmane was concerned with underhanded political maneuvering and the accumulation of wealth, and at worst she was a willing servant of Gargauth, the god of betrayal and political corruption. It's unclear what level of seniority she held in the organization, though Emp's decision to have her as its avatar implies that she held significant influence. Either way, at no point was it possible for her to be involved with the Knights of the Shield and still be a good person.

And, yes, the same can be said of The Emperor. To be clear, I am not claiming that Emp is a "good" aligned character. However, its motivations are inherently different to Stelmane's and the other members of the Knights of the Shield. Rather than being strictly financially or politically motivated, Emp's involvement with the Knights was most likely born as much out of necessity as any desire for power. The Knights were a viable cover, a way for it to remain hidden and still secure a life of relative freedom for itself. To be sure, it could have attempted to ally itself with another organization, such as the Society of Brilliance. However, the Society is comparatively smaller, less powerful, and less profitable. Emp also does not appear to have any interest in the sorts of experimentation and data collection as members of the Society of Brilliance.

Based on Emp's characterization, it is not suited to a life of exploration and travel. It does not have the same innate arcane ability as Omeluum, who is able to exist and still maintain its autonomy in regions (such as the Underdark) where the influence of an Elder Brain is relatively strong. It's more likely that The Emperor's ability to maintain its autonomy is linked to its proximity, or lack thereof, to an Elder Brain. Likely, it chose to secure a life for itself in a single location far enough away from the reach of an Elder Brain that it could escape enthrallment, and allied itself with the Knights of the Shield because they were the most proximally convenient and had the best capacity for security.

At any rate, I think it's entirely reasonable to assume that if Stelmane had not been enthralled, she would have ripped the rug out from under The Emperor the moment she stood to gain from doing so. Emp stood its best chance of success by enthralling her, and while that is certainly a morally questionable thing for it to do, be assured that it was not taking advantage of some wholesome paragon of goodness. Likely as not, if the roles had been reversed, Stelmane would have subjected Emp to a similarly morally questionable form of subjugation until the moment came for her to discard it entirely.

As an aside, the game works pretty hard to give the impression that Stelmane’s enthrallment led to her illness and eventual passing, but it's also entirely possible that she truly did simply have a stroke. Or, perhaps more compellingly, her condition had nothing at all to do with The Emperor and was potentially infernal in origin, given the way that she allegedly stared unwaveringly at Wyll the last time he saw her, which was shortly before he was targeted by Mizora. She was already well into her illness at that point, and didn't seem cognizant of anyone else at the time, but Wyll was of particular interest to her. Maybe it's nothing, or maybe the game intentionally misled players into believing The Emperor was responsible for Stelmane's decline, when it was never Emp's fault in the first place.

The Emperor's "Betrayal" of Ansur:

Here is where my opinion diverges most significantly from the opinions of other players. Put plainly, The Emperor did not betray Ansur. That is an idea that is given by Ansur, and by the following passage, which can be found during the challenges in the Wyrmway:

The note preceding the author's writing gives the distinct impression that the author is - yes - an unreliable narrator. They are not only giving a secondhand account of the events, but they are dramatizing that account.

Then, after defeating Ansur, the player finds the following letter on Ansur's body:

We also have additional story from The Emperor itself about the events that led to Ansur's death.

The reality is that Ansur, motivated by his love for Balduran, saved The Emperor from its enthrallment by the Elder Brain in the hopes of restoring the Balduran he knew and loved. Despite being asked over and over to stop, despite The Emperor's insistence that it was content with its new form, Ansur doggedly searched for a way to return The Emperor to its previous form as Balduran. Rather than accept that Balduran's new form was permanent, rather than accepting him as The Emperor, rather than being happy enough that his loved one was no longer a slave and that the memories of their time together were still intact, Ansur was not satisfied. He could not look past Emp's Illithidness, he could not let go of the narrative that Illithids are monsters. His refusal to adjust his paradigm, his unwillingness to accept The Emperor as a valid friend or ally or lover, was a failing on Ansur's part, and it was incredibly selfish.

Emp's letter to Ansur is incredibly heartfelt, and focuses entirely on Ansur and his happiness. Emp clearly still values Ansur and wants him to be contented. Even as Emp draws its boundaries, it keeps the focus on Ansur's well-being. It is a really good letter, and nothing about it implies that Emp held any ill will toward Ansur. It simply wanted Ansur to give up the pursuit of reclaiming Balduran as he was. But Ansur was unwilling to do that. So unwilling, in fact, that he felt it would be better to kill The Emperor rather than accept its new form.

Therein is the true betrayal: attempting to kill your friend while they're sleeping because you can't make them fit your ideal of them is, put simply, super fucked up.

The idea that it's a betrayal for The Emperor to have killed Ansur in self-defense, but Ansur attempting to murder Emp in its sleep is somehow not a monumental betrayal, is absolutely wild to me. Ansur was the one who betrayed The Emperor, and his rage is as misguided as the hate players have for Emp. I think players are blinded by the heroic narrative around Ansur, and the narrative that Illithids - and, by proxy, The Emperor - can't be trusted undermines the explanation that The Emperor gives. Players want to believe Ansur despite the evidence that his feelings of betrayal are unfounded, because they're naturally more inclined to trust a heroic figure than an Illithid. Again, I think this was a place in the game where players were challenged to question accepted narratives.

Of course, it's entirely possible that Ansur's attempt to kill The Emperor was driven by something entirely separate from the story we're offered in the game. Maybe Ansur took issue with The Emperor's movements with the Knights of the Shield; though that would beg the question of why he would be so determined to eliminate Emp and not any of the other members. Or, maybe Emp killed Ansur unprompted in a bout of pure Illithid malice, which would be a betrayal indeed - though that seems highly unlikely after reading its letter to Ansur. Ultimately, however, without any indication otherwise, we have to take the story we're given at face value. As far as we know, Ansur was motivated to kill The Emperor as part of his cognitive dissonance around its change from Balduran to The Emperor, and that selfish, misguided act constitutes a betrayal of Emp by Ansur, not the other way around.

The Emperor's Return to the Netherbrain:

I saved this for last, because it's actually very simple. When you choose to free Orpheus, The Emperor declares its intention to return to the Brain, and true to its word it does exactly that, and fights against you during the final battle. Why, after fighting so hard to avoid the Brain, would Emp so willingly return to it?

Put simply, because it has no choice. Or, it has no choice in the context of the game as-is. What reason does Emp have to believe that Orpheus, an avid enemy of Illithids, having been subjugated by this Illithid, would be willing to extend his protection to it?

Emp knows that the moment Orpheus is free to give or take his psionic protection, he will refuse to protect it. The jig is up. The game is over. In its pragmatic way, The Emperor concedes defeat. Its anger is palpable, you have forfeit its hard-won freedom. But the cards are on the table, and it knows that without Orpheus' protection it is going to be enthralled whether it wants to be or not. So it goes willingly. At least it can make one more choice before it loses its autonomy.

Final Thoughts:

There is so much more to say about The Emperor and its feelings and motivations. Again, in no way is it a good-aligned character, and even with the best outcomes it's still clear that Emp is at least somewhat driven by a desire for greatness, whatever form that greatness takes. That was true even when it was Balduran. But I do think it's worth remembering that when you foster a positive connection with it and side with it for the endgame, it regards your parting with some sentimentality, and then just...leaves. It's all fairly benign. The player's choices go a long way in influencing how malicious The Emperor is, and I think that's important to remember.

I could go on for hours about this, it is absolutely one of my hills to die on, but I think this is enough for now lol. I just wish The Emperor were respected more as a complex, compelling character. I wish it were at least afforded the same defiant love some of the villains are given. I genuinely hate to see Emp flattened and written off when it's such an amazing character!

[ladyloveandjustice]

The complaints of the "male loneliness epidemic" or whatever are always so funny because none of them could ever survive being a lesbian trying to find someone on the dating apps, or more impossibly meeting someone who's single and down irl. Everytime I had to turn to bumble and okcupid it was months of desperation and being ghosted mid-convo and me having to swipe through so many people whose main interest was hiking, knowing we could never work.

The dating pool is small! Meeting up irl is way less likely! And that's in a city with a fairly high queer population!

I WAS SO LONELY it was bad. I needed friends too (and still do) and went to lesbian book clubs in hopes of catching someone's eye only to find they were either entirely women in their sixties (this also happened at a lesbian meetup but it was fun talking to them at least), and the club would break up immediately because everyone got busy/lost interest. but did you see me bitching about it and blaming women and society. no.

We're all lonely out here. Girls are just as desperate for companionship esp if they're introverted and not conventionally attractive. whatever. A lot of factors go into why that is and it's not a guy thing, it's just those guys who take it as some kind of gender oppression because they feel so entitled to a girl who's more conventionally attractive than they are.

[gor3sigil]

I wish body positivity was a thing for literally everyone, with the same energy people put for cis white women.

Don't get me wrong, I know we're still far away, collectively, from the end of fatphobia and that most of people treat these women like shit on the daily and/or fetishize them disgustingly.

But it seems like being a shithead to people and insulting their bodies is ok, especially when it comes to men in their 40s or 50s. As a transmasc person who is likely to have a receding hairline and a dad belly, because genetics, I really wish that it was not a trend to make fun of that because you don't know who reads and hears you. In the same way I had trans brothers say that they were afraid to call themselves men, I had some who were terrified of growing old as men because they were scared of having the appearance of a grown man.

I can't tell you the amount of times I heard transfems say “thank god for HRT, imagine balding and having a beer belly ? Ewww” and everyone be like “yas queen” (most of the times these situations didn't happen in a little group of

people behind closed doors, to be clear, it was during trans meetings at our local LGBTQIA center where transmascs and men were there too).

Well, obviously you didn't want that for yourself and I'm glad you won't live that but please, keep that for when you're with your friends not when there's people

who will, maybe, grow to be like you described in horrendous words who can

HEAR YOU.

I'd rather be old and wrinkly with a beer belly and balding, but alive.

And believe me when I say I'm terrified of growing old. But if I have the chance to do so I will take it.

I'd rather grow into a skin that's not conventionally attractive than not grow at all.

And even then, fuck it, bald people are hot, bellies are hot, gray/white hairs are hot. If I ever become a gray bearded dude with tattoos and piercings I'm gonna look cool as fuck.

I'm sorry but I'm sick of hearing “we need more older queer people representions!!!!!” and then I see how you talk about older people in general like ??? It doesn't seem like you want older queers to be seen apart from the types you deem as attractive.

Maybe you're one of the reasons why older queers don't put themselves out there.

You can be as old as you want, it doesn't become less hurtful to see fuckers find your body disgusting, no matter their age.

Don't be a dick.

[bfwooin]

Hey babess can you write an owen knight fic 😭😭 im kinda starving for owen content lol but no pressure though, idk if u might write 4 him cuz ur mostly sabbath crew focusedi think? Feel free to ignore this if it's not in ur lane, have a good day!! 💞

but girl, i'm so glad we're acquainted.

content. complicated r/s, one-sided pining but he's fully aware of it, more than friends less than lovers type shit.

a/n. hi anon!!! thanks for requesting hehe. i write for most of the charas in wb actually. but im gna be real with u,, i lowk cant stand owen LMAO but i have no issues writing for him ( ´∀｀ )b

being the second option really sucks, doesn’t it?

you’ve been friends with owen for as long as you can remember, including shelly to form the inseparable trio that lasted throughout your halcyon days. though the more time you spent with him, the more you stupidly found yourself crushing on him, hard.

it’s merely puppy love, you tell yourself. indeed, an ironic infatuation that still sticks with you till this day. there’s just something about him you can’t quite put your finger on it.

sure, he’s conventionally attractive and checks the boxes for society’s beauty standards. but it’s the way he carries himself with confidence, batting his bottom lashes as he looks at you in that specific gaze that makes you weak. cold and intimidating.

god, this man is so cocky, and you fucking love it like a sin.

but so what if he looks at you that way? you’ll never be yearned for as much as he did for shelly. his eyes don’t lie, you’ve seen it before. the way his turquoise irises give her his fullest attention, not sparing a second to blink and miss looking at her gorgeous self.

owen loves shelly.

it’s a painful fact that you have to face. but ever since she left britain for korea, owen has never been the same since.

he finds himself seeking out for you when you’ve been doing that from the beginning; asking you to accompany him on grocery runs, surprising you with very frequent visits to the cafe you work at part-time without his prior knowledge (noah told the idiot after his pestering), and even inviting you to come to his home and cuddling together. all that effort to push him away by distancing yourself after shelly left came crashing down.

you must be wondering: with shelly overseas, shouldn’t you take this as your chance to finally pursue him?

you couldn’t deny that you’ve tried to. though after noticing how he treats you differently as compared to before, noticing how he compliments you more often than before, and noticing how his touch on you grows bolder each day, you’ve come to a conclusion that you’re merely his rebound.

you’re just the girl he keeps especially close to him to fill his void meant to be shelly’s spot. love with him wouldn’t be genuine, that’s what you tell yourself every time he grabs your hand and interlaces his fingers with yours. he stares at you like you’re the most precious thing in the world, like you’re shelly.

and the worst part about all of this is that you can’t shake him off. that’s why you’re in the living room of his home, sitting on the carpeted floor as he lies on the couch sickly. you were busy with assignments when he called you, sounding so ill and pathetic over the line. “i need you here.” he says, and you find yourself shutting your laptop and booking a cab to his home on your phone with no hesitation.

he’d make a bad boyfriend, especially since he can’t even bother to listen to your concerns about him training so hard for god knows what. “i told you to pace yourself,” you remind him once again, and he has the audacity to sigh and grab your hand gently. his thumb circles over your skin idly, as if to apologise. a glance at his face and you’re met with that look of his again.

though it’s more tame, more needy, and you blame it on the paracetamol. “i want to kiss you,” owen declares boldly, making your hand that he’s holding tense up.

“no you don’t. just get some rest, okay?” you attempt to stand up, wanting to leave him to rest and recover on his own. but he manages to pull you onto the couch with him.

“please, don’t go.”

you’re speechless, but your heart says otherwise, pounding at soaring decibels. chest-to-chest with him, he wraps his arms around you, pulling you closer as if this distance wasn’t enough for him. “you smell so good…” he says with irrevocable vulnerability. you want to get up, you should get up.

but unfortunately he’s your achilles heel, and he definitely knows it.

[tangibletechnomancy]

Neural Nets, Walled Gardens, and Positive Vibes Only

the crystal spire at the center of the techno-utopian walled garden

Anyone who knows or even just follows me knows that as much as I love neural nets, I'm far from being a fan of AI as a corporate fad. Despite this, I am willing to use big-name fad-chasing tools...sometimes, particularly on a free basis. My reasons for this are twofold:

Many people don't realize this, but these tools are more expensive for the companies to operate than they earn from increased interest in the technology. Using many of these free tools can, in fact, be the opposite of "support" at this time. Corporate AI is dying, use it to kill it faster!

You can't give a full, educated critique of something's flaws and failings without engaging with it yourself, and I fully intend to rip Dall-E 3, or more accurately the companies behind it, a whole new asshole - so I want it to be a fair, nuanced, and most importantly personally informed new asshole.

Now, much has already been said about the biases inherent to current AI models. This isn't a problem exclusive to closed-source corporate models; any model is only as good as its dataset, and it turns out that people across the whole wide internet are...pretty biased. Most major models right now, trained primarily on the English-language internet, present a very western point of view - treating young conventionally attractive white people as a default at best, and presenting blatantly misinformative stereotypes at worst. While awareness of the issue can turn it into a valuable tool to study those biases and how they intertwine, the marketing and hype around AI combined with the popular idea that computers can't possibly be biased tends to make it so they're likely to perpetuate them instead.

This problem only gets magnified when introduced to my mortal enemy-

If I never see this FUCKING dog again it will be too soon-

Content filters.

Theoretically, content filters exist to prevent some of the worst-faith uses of AI - deepfakes, true plagiarism and forgery, sexual exploitation, and more. In practice, many of them block anything that can be remotely construed as potentially sexual, violent, or even negative in any way. Frequently banned subjects include artistic nudity or even partial nudity, fight scenes, anything even remotely adjacent to horror, and still more.

The problems with this expand fractally.

While the belief that AI is capable of supplanting all other art forms, let alone should do so, is...far less widespread among its users than the more reactionary subset of its critics seem to believe (and in fact arguably less common among AI users than non-users in the first place; see again: you cannot give a full, educated critique of something's failings without engaging with it yourself), it's not nonexistent - and the business majors who have rarely if ever engaged with other forms of art, who make up a good percentage of the executives of these companies, often do fall on that side, or at least claim to in order to make more sales (but let's keep the lid on that can of worms for now).

When this ties to existing online censorship issues, such as a billionaire manchild taking over Twitter to "help humanity" (read: boost US far-right voices and promote and/or redefine hate speech), or arcane algorithms on TikTok determining what to boost and deboost leading to proliferation of neologisms to soften and obfuscate "sensitive" subjects (of which "unalive" is frequently considered emblematic), including such horrible, traumatizing things as...the existence of fat people, disabled people, and queer people (where the censorship is claimed to be for their benefit, no less!), the potential impact is apparent: while the end goal is impossible, in part because AI is not, in fact, capable of supplanting all other forms of art, what we're seeing is yet another part of a continuing, ever more aggressive push for sanitizing what kinds of ideas people can express at all, with the law looking to only make it worse rather than better through bills such as KOSA (which you can sign a petition against here).

And just like the other forms of censorship before and alongside it, AI content filtering targets the most vulnerable in society far more readily than it targets those looking to harm them. The filters have no idea what makes something an expression of a marginalized identity vs. what makes it a derogatory statement against that group, or an attempt at creating superficially safe-for-work fetish art - so, they frequently err on the side of removing anything uncertain. Boys in skirts and dresses are frequently blocked, presumably because they're taken for fetish art. Results of prompts about sadness or loneliness are frequently blocked, presumably because they may promote self harm, somehow. In my (admittedly limited) experiment, attempts at generating dark-skinned characters were blocked more frequently than attempts at generating light-skinned ones, presumably because the filter decided that it was racist to [checks notes] ...acknowledge that a character has a different skin tone than the default white characters it wanted to give me. Facial and limb differences are often either erased from results, or blocked presumably on suspicion of "violent content".

But note that I say "presumably" - the error message doesn't say on what grounds the detected images are "unsafe". Users are left only to speculate on what grounds we're being warned.

But what makes censorship of AI generated work even more alarming, in the context of the executive belief that it can render all other art forms obsolete, is that other forms of censorship only target where a person can say such earth-shaking, controversial things as "I am disabled and I like existing" or "I am happy being queer" or "mental health is important" or "I survived a violent crime" - you can be prevented from posting it on TikTok, but not from saying it to a friend next to you, let alone your therapist. AI content filtering, on the other hand, aims to prevent you from expressing it at all.

This becomes particularly alarming when you recall one of the most valuable use cases for AI generation: enabling disabled people to express themselves more clearly, or in new forms. Most people can find other workarounds in the form of more conventional, manual modes of expression, sure, but no amount of desperation can reverse hand paralysis that prevents a person from holding a pen, nor a traumatic brain injury or mental disability that blocks them from speaking or writing in a way that's easy to understand. And who is one of the most frequently censored groups? Disabled people.

So, my question to Bing and OpenAI is this: in what FUCKING universe is banning me from expressing my very existence "protecting" me?

Bad dog! Stop breaking my shit and get the FUCK out of my way!

Generated as a gift for a friend who was even more frustrated with that FUCKING dog than I was

All images - except the FUCKING dog - generated with Dall-E 3 via Bing Image Creator, under the Code of Ethics of Are We Art Yet?

[themeraldee]

Hi! I love reading your notes so much. I remember more your opinion that Homelander doesn't care about the appearance and body of the woman who will love him. It's so nice, really, but I'm afraid it wouldn't be like that… Using the example of A-Train, we know that Homelander does not like fat people. What kind of women did he deal with? Queen Maeve, Starlight, Madelyn Stillwell… They are ALL slim and attractive. Homelander, as Antony Starr himself said, has the mindset of a teenager. Therefore, I highly doubt that our cutie boy will not pay attention to appearance, figure, breast size/shape and much more. It's sad, but I think it's a fact…

Hi hon! I'm glad you're enjoying perusing my blog!!!

I'll start off with your A-Train example. I had to go rewatch the scene to jog my memory. But to me the scene was less about Homelander caring about A-Train gaining weight and more just losing control of it all. He used to be the sole leader of the Seven (this scene comes straight after being co-captained with Starlight), had everything under control. Now his ego is bruised, he's no longer considered #1 and the other members of the Seven (like A-Train here) don't care to keep up their manicured image while he's doing his best to still be as perfect as everyone expects him to be. On top of that Ryan's gone, Stormfront is bedridden, clearly not doing well, so his head is all over the place. So I feel like A-Train was just an easy target for his frustration.

It's not that I think that he will be immediately attracted to a larger size. He most certainly will throw all sorts of jabs and sarcastic remarks. Until he catches feelings for whatever reason that is. It's especially then when he starts not only not caring about what his SO should look like but I can see him get very hostile and defensive if anyone did try to insultcomment on his SO's unconventional body type.

Sure, it's easier to be attracted to a conventionally attractive person but that doesn't mean they will be able to fulfil what he seeks. Like Firecracker whom he couldn't care less about.

@hom3landr's tags on the post you're referencing sum it up really well. (hope you don't mind me pulling them up, I feel that they explain it better than my entire post does lol)

All in all I'm still gonna smush Homelander and reader together like Barbie dolls no matter what they look like because at the end of the day we're here to have fun and not shame each other for whether a certain character would actually be into us or not! So really, he doesn't get a choice from my POV 😂

[darkfictionjude]

I definitely think there's sexism at play with Nia (although not quite as overt it was with Carmen), people are less forgiving towards female characters across all types of media. Especially ones who aren't humble/modest, morally good, supportive of or even subordinate to male characters (especially if the protagonist is male), conventionally attractive (I know Nia is, but just making the point generally), etc.

But in this specific instance, I think it's also because Nia is the only one with a prior positive relationship with the MC. I could see the MC feeling more strongly about Nia's actions than Lorcan's (who they never had a positive relationship with) and Imre (who they didn't even interact with or care about lol). With Nia, the MC has actually lost something, one of the few positive relationships they had. Maybe the only one if you consider Sally's to be “positive” but unhealthy.

Generally readers tend to feel protective over MCs against characters who hurt them. Sometimes to the extent that isn't viewing the situation fairly/logically, or giving the same grace to other characters as you do for the MC. I've seen authors receive hate over that for characters that are gender selectable too (e.g. Infamous). And this MC is an unreliable narrator and we haven't gotten an explanation from Nia yet or seen what she's seen firsthand, we didn't get a full conversation with her until recently. I think these factors make it harder to judge the situation and easier to view Nia negatively, because as the reader we're missing important pieces of the puzzle right now.

It also could be that what Nia did (distancing herself, ending their friendship, not seeming to care about them anymore (before the end of this chapter)) is something that's more relatable to real life and might even be something people have personally experienced. I see people hate bully characters more than outright murdering villains, because the latter doesn't feel real to most people, whereas there are a lot of people online who have experienced bullying at school. And whilst I understand that Nia doesn't actually like or respect any of that popular group apart from Imre, she's still willingly associating herself with people who are bullying Crown, someone they were friends with for most of their lives.

(I'm saying all this as someone who's looking forward to my MC and Nia rekindling their friendship. But I can understand why some people feel sour towards her, even if her actions are understandable and justified from her perspective. I would probably do the same thing as her tbh, probably even earlier on when she first witnessed a violent outburst. But even if you're being reasonable, your actions/words can still hurt someone else, and I don't think it's unreasonable for that person to feel negatively towards you as a result.)

Like I’ve said many times before I understand the anger over the abandonment, I think it’s extremely valid. My issue is with how the boys are given more grace in everything they do. It just seems hypocritical to be angry at Nia but then coddle the boys as if they’re little babies who don’t understand right and wrong

Imre is friends with those people too, he’s the king of the bully group and even though he doesn’t partake he associates himself with them willingly. Like I really appreciate you writing this all down, and I agree with it it’s just any form of media I’ve always hated how women are held to higher standards than men who are sanctified when all three of them aren’t that great. You want to say “fuck you” to Nia? Good. Deserved from the POV of Crowny. But like there’s no point in twisting the narrative to make it seem that anyone of them is worse than the others when all of them have issues and have not treated Crowny the best

[walkingbandtee]

Why does everyone so badly wish to be physically beautiful? I find the most beauty in one's mind and soul. Everyone wants to walk down the street and be seen as pretty by everyone they pass. There are those who are conventionally attractive and those who would not be seen in the same light under today's beauty standards. Let's set aside beauty standards for a second.

I don't care if you're skinny, fat, or somewhere in the middle. I don't care if you've got perfect skin and a model face. I don't care if you're tall or short. I don't care if you're as pale as a blinding white light or if you're as dark as the night. Frankly, your physical appearance bares me no interest. I'm not going to decide whether I find you interesting based on how attractive the world views you. And I'm not going to decide whether I find you attractive based on how you look.

Personally, the most unconventionally attractive person in the world could be more beautiful to me than a Victoria's Secret model. We've all heard the phrase "It's what's on the inside that counts." and I don't quite understand why it's brushed off as just a way to make the less attractive feel better. I truly walk through life looking deep into people's souls and finding the beauty within. Surface level attraction doesn't mean much. We're all human. Why would I put one person on a pedestal for their looks while outcasting another for theirs when it was only genes and random chance that contributed to their physical appearance? Inside one's mind is where you truly get to know them. Their empathy for other people and animals, or lack of. Their intelligence, whether emotional, book smart, or street smart. Their experiences through life that have taught them how to survive, thrive, and help other people through the same things. The little things that bring them joy or fascinate them. Their unique perspective that sparks your interest. All this and more is what makes someone so intriguing.

I'd rather have lunch with someone who challenges me intellectually than go out with someone just because they have a pretty face. Someone I can learn a thing or two from. I'd rather get a glimpse into a troubled mind full of morbid thoughts and find out what made them that way. I'd rather sit in silence and observe the world around us before discussing our thoughts and finding out how they differ. How we differ in the way we think and perceive the world and those around us. And we will differ. Because every human walking this earth is one of a kind.

So, I couldn't care less about your face or your body. Let me get a peak inside that gorgeous mind.

You've got a sexy cerebral cortex, and I've got an intellectual boner for it, babygirl.

[moongothic]

Seen at least one (1) person complain about Crocodile losing his "unique faceshape" (now having the same facial structure that 90% of OP men have) after episode 1086 came out and like

To be fair, yes, the shape of his head HAS changed since his first appearance in The Year 2000. The thing is, Toei's latest Crocodile Offering is frankly more in-line with how Oda drew Crocodile during Impel Down and Marineford than ever before. Like yeah he looks different, but this change isn't new

But that comment really did make me think about how FUNNY it is just how different Croc really looks from his first appearance, like. The evolution in how Oda draws the bastard is so facinating to me

These are from chapters 155, 160 and 205 respectively.

No massive changes happening here in the middle of the arc, but you can kinda tell that Oda was definitely still figuring out how this asshole was supposed to look as he got further into the Alabasta (which is perfectly normal), which just makes That First Appearance look even funnier with time because. Who the fuck is that lmaooo

But then we get to see him briefly during Miss Goldenweek's cover story, this being from the cover of chapter 413! All things considdered, bastard hasn't changed that much, still looks pretty much the same as in Alabasta. His head is maybe a little less elongated than before but still, chin is quite pointy still

And now we're in Impel Down at chapter 540. Again, dude looks about the same as he did before...

But it really doesn't take long for Oda to start reshaping this bastard's entire head at this point

Chapters 544, 546, 578, and cover of chapter 584

The chin is easily the most obvious part, but you can tell Oda kind of defaulted to giving him that same ol' evenly square-ish head most his conventionally attractive characters have during these story arcs (instead of the elongated shape he originally had).

And then we have the latest appearances, from 1082 and 1100

I do feel like comparing these to what's come before would be a little unfair considdering his health and eyesight and how those affect the artwork itself, but. They're there, for comparison's sake

But the point is still there. Crocodile's face shape has changed since his first appearance, but it's not like Toei was behind that, the change was (mostly) gradual and from Oda himself. And it mostly happened in 2008, so it's not new by any means either

So really, all Toei did was just update his character model because ⬆️ is more accurate than ⬇️ for One Piece right now

Regardless. The sheer difference between the two is hysterical to me

[thekimspoblog]

Observations from rewatching "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" (1996) yesterday:

Esmerelda has huge balls. No wonder I always liked her.

Ok yeah Jason Alexander is REALLY out of place as the comedic relief, especially when other characters are saying dialogue which is actually witty and he's just interrupting. "A Guy Like You" isn't as bad as everyone says it is (I actually think the message of "you're not conventionally attractive but that gives you personality and women appreciate that" is really cute and important), but it goes on too long and this time around I noticed how lazy the animation gets for that sequence. There are like... nooo backgrounds in that scene.

Frollo got obsessed with Esmerelda specifically because she challenged his authority. This was the most powerful, brutal, humorless authority figure in the city, and she decided to sit in his lap and flirt with him just to mess with him. Again, huge balls. And the only way Frollo's brain could handle this was to conclude that either she secretly wanted him OR she was a literal demon sent from hell to test him. Watching "Hell Fire" over again, it reads less like the hooded figures are a representation of his repressed lust, and more like if Frollo admits he could be wrong about her and his absolute power, that would open the door to being wrong about everything else, and then he'd have to face the reality of his sins. He doesn't feel judged and tormented because he's hot for her; he feels judged and tormented for literally everything else but has been able to ignore the guilt up until now.

Nobody ever talks about how awesome "Court of Miracles" is. It's only a minute long but that has always secretly been my favorite. I'll be washing dishes and realize I'm humming "Where the lame can walk, and the blind can see, but the dead don't talk..." to myself.

This is one of the few kid's movies where the fake-out death feels earned. That's because even if you've seen this movie before and you know Esmerelda is going to be alright, the scene still has stakes: Quasimodo briefly was upset because he realized she only liked him as a friend, and this is the moment he realizes he'd give anything just to have his friend survive.

A lot of Renaissance-era movies rely on the plot device of an easily-led mob, but I just don't think it works as well here as it did in Beauty and the Beast. Like ok Frollo definitely ordered that guard to hurl the tomato, but the crowd still went from cheering for Quasi to lashing him down with ropes in less than 10 seconds.

If I had to rank my favorites (and we're talking the canon of Disney movies PROPER, not just any of the millions of flicks the studio has produced/acquired) I think Hunchback would be first, then Frozen, then Sword in the Stone. Although I feel like I'm forgetting something.

[tennisdadsaficionado]

Do you honestly think Sinner and Alcaraz (or any tennis players) are madly in love or fucking like bunnies? That's weird, their just kids!

Wow. WOW. But hey, I did say anything on anon so sure, that's your prerogative.

OK so honestly no, no I don't. I fell in love with both of their tennis playing this year (I've been watching tennis since the mid-80s), and then somewhere around Wimbledon the ADHD went 'oooh new hyperfixation' (there's another long post brewing actually about it might be a lifelong suppressed special interest) I felt like I was being super annoying to my partner and all my friends and went 'oh huh I wonder if there's a tennis fandom on Tumblr', and lo, there was a tennis fandom

There were people loving Sinner and Alcaraz and Federer and Nadal and Shelton and being excited and geeking out over the games. And there were slashers. Now, I'm a slasher. I have been writing fanfiction since I was a pre-teen, I have been writing slash fanfiction since my teens, and I have been posting said fanfiction online since my late teens. We're talking the 90s here people. (proud owner of an Anne Rice C&D dontcha know?) I've also been in as many, if not more, RPS fandoms than FPS ones. It's a hobby, I enjoy it. (There's only been maybe 2 RPS fandoms in all that time I actually believed in. Sincaraz is not one of them (although the more time I spend in fandom, the less sure I am about not believing the Fedal!) - but seriously, allow me to talk about how I do believe the Jack/Daniel and McShep or the Hardison/Parker/Eliot)

And so I was curious and I went onto AO3. I was... legit quite shocked by the amount of fic. I wasn't expecting it. I started reading. It was a lot of fun. My muse, Bob!, he is a fickle creature and he likes the pretty. He's decided Jannik and Carlos are his current pretty he wants to play with. I've written and posted more fic in the last two weeks than I have in months and THAT feels fantastic.

Although, having said that, I'm not actually physically/sexually attracted to either of them. You know why? Because they are literally over half my age. I think Jannik is cute as fuck and I'm currently at 'would kill to protect', I think Carlos has a... conventionally attractive physique and I do appreciate good strong shoulders/upper arms. I legit feel kinda dirty at times. But it's nothing more than 'aesthetically attractive', there's no... anything else. If nothing else, I'm queer so there's that! (There's a whole 'nother long post planned about being demi/ace, levels of aesthetically pleasing/pretty/attractiveness and what they mean).

TL;DR no, I don't think they're fucking, I adore them both as tennis players and people, I am loving the fandom around them, slash fanfic is fun. *gives all the love to the tennisblr, jannikblr and sincaraz peeps who've graciously welcomed me to the party over the last couple of weeks*

[gauntletqueen]

If androids are valid I submit A2. And 2B I guess.

The Robot Body Scale ranges from 1 to 10 and reflects how happy I, Zoey Gauntletqueen, would be for a robot body to be my body. 5 is the base, being the same as my current human body. It does not reflect my opinion on the design as a whole.

I'll rate them together since they're more or less the same.

Like some robots I've rated before, I'm not much of a fan of their appearance, being just humans with some lines on their skin to hint at the much more interesting machinery inside. The clothing worn by these two also doesn't factor in, as that isn't part of their bodies. Neither is their hair, which somehow grows naturally like a human's and thus I could simply cut it or grow it out as I'd like. What we're left with is a purely human conventionally attractive female appearance. Could be a lot worse! But damn could it be better. YoRHa units are capable of doing human things like consuming food and drink, but don't need to. That's actually good, I'd ideally like for that to be an option. They're obviously physically much stronger and more dexterous than a human, can double jump, and have some kind of matter manipulation ability that lets them move weapons and objects around as if by telekinesis. That's very useful and cool! They can also self-destruct but I'd prefer not to.

5.8

[loki-zen]

re: hair loss, at what point as a man should you just shave it? I have/had long wavy Matthew McConaugh-hair, and I’m decently emotionally invested in the compliments I used to get. Outside of wanting to look good to women I don’t super care though, that and that my dad always wanted to grow his hair long but it didn’t work out for him, so I’m kinda doing it for both of us.

anyway, I’m on the road to approaching the “woody harrelson at the beginning of Natural Born Killers” hairline, and it’s a struggle. Been on finasteride for like 8 months, and I’m pretty sure it’s making me depressed, plus it does weird stuff to your cum, which is both gross and frightening in its implications. I had good results with rogaine, should probably start that again, regardless of what I do.

At what point does a man become sexier with the buzz cut a la Jason Statham, every Russian guy, etc?

it’s also frustrating because there’s so many memes out there about “creepy balding guys”, like it’s just this shorthand for being a coomer or a serial sexual harasser or what have you. I could live with “ugly balding guys”, there have been times in my life when I was hot and times I was ugly, I’m able to cope with that. But creepy just really sucks. I had a lot of female friends in college, and some women I’m very close to were victims of sexual violence, and so I’m probably hyper-sensitive and afraid of being perceived as predatory in any way. It’s good that I’m aware of the problems, but sometimes I wish I was more ignorant, it’d make it a lot less scary to strike up conversations with new people if I wasn’t crushingly aware of how often women are uncomfortable with men they’ve never met.

(I’m not morlock-Holmes, but I think we have some of the same dating issues)

So first off, it is obviously wrong and bigoted to make assumptions about someone's behaviour or intentions based on what they look like unless we're talking about something very specific and intentional like 'they have nazi tattoos'. If it helps any (I'm not sure it does) I don't think that these people necessarily see a balding guy and think that's a sexual predator so much as they are doing that very schoolyard thing of "we don't like this kind of people (sexual predators) and so we're going to stereotype them as being something we think is unattractive" (you see similar things with fatness and 'neckbeards').

If it is the women you actually know who say these sorts of things (that wasn't clear), it literally might not occur to them that they're making you feel this way because it's just a general-purpose insult to them that's become detached from the actual notion of a person they might know and like who happens to be male and balding.

This sort of talk is actually, if anything, dangerous to potential victims of sexual violence, because the idea that you can somehow spot Creepy Guys and they definitely look different to anyone else will tend to help conventionally attractive guys get away with it!

I don't think there are any hard and fast rules about the hair thing. Lots of guys do look cute with a buzzcut, and it is common (but not universal) in the dominant Anglosphere culture for people to find this more attractive than even very nice hair when that hair has visible male-pattern balding going on. I confess I do have this reaction myself sometimes, but I also find that the more I get to know people the more I see the nicer hair and the less I see the "but it's balding" part, but there are levels that will always look a bit odd to me (eg the shakespeare cut). Which, yknow, isn't actually a reason why people should change their hair, though I imagine you're asking because being attractive to other people is important to you.

Your female irl friends are perhaps best-placed to approximate the sort of views that predominate among the sort of women you're likely to be trying to date, and there are now decent AI tools to give you an idea of what you might look with different hairstyles - maybe try one out, see what you think and ask their advice.

Oh, also, in my personal opinion if your hair is fairly voluminous and past shoulder length you can get away with a receding hairline a lot longer - same with certain careful short but long on top looks, although they can be more fiddly.