#bc i was assumed from birth to end up a certain way

[oatmealdaydreams]

Just because an experience is common doesn't mean it's a good experience.

[lesbinewren]

I’ve learned too much about the Ahsoka show against my will (haven’t watched it and fighting the urge to) and the more I learn about Sabine’s plot there the more I wish they’d never touched on Rebels characters in live action. What are your thoughts on Sabine through the Ahsoka show, having seen it?

i think what stands out for me is that i didn’t hate it as much as a lot of other sabine fans i know, my gripes are more just the way that her story sometimes scrapes so close to being really really good, but never quite makes it all the way there. a big part of this i think is how they strayed away from a lot of overly-specific references and spending too much time on things that would need to be explained to non-rebels fans, which i appreciate from the perspective of making the show accessible (esp bc i have met a few people now who watched rebels for the first time BECAUSE of ahsoka), but i do think weakens certain aspects as far as being a spiritual successor to rebels

i think the broad strokes of what’s there could be really good, they just need more fleshing out. a lot of this is something that could be “fixed” for me in future seasons/stories assuming a certain amount of care is taken.

i’ll start with what i liked: i did warm up to natasha’s performance a lot quicker than i thought i would. the intro she has in the show had me captured pretty quickly, both because i think it’s a well-written character intro and how natasha sells it. i still prefer tiya’s iteration of the character, but natasha was really great at capturing the mix of soft kindness and attitude, plus sabines specific blend of insecurity and confidence. i think some of her best moments also come from how well she nails the chemistry between her and other ghost crew members (as sparing as those scenes are, which is a major gripe of mine). her and eman’s ezra are so electric to watch, and her one scene with hera hit it on the head (that scene also did a ton of heavy lifting as far as selling me on LA hera). you can FEEL the love she has for both characters and immediately get a sense of what their relationship is like, even if you don’t know all of their history. i genuinely think all of the LA rebels were at their best when they were interacting with each other, because those relationships all hit the nail on the head and i hope to see more of that in the future, especially with her and hera (and PLEASE bring zeb in, i miss him so much you can’t show me that you can make him look good in live action for a cameo in a different show and then not let him see his family!!!)

i liked the attention to detail the set design team had when it came to her apartment on lothal, i liked that they gave her a cat, i liked that they outright stated her sibling relationship with ezra. i liked her back and forth with huyang, i liked that they let her keep her more masculine style armor vs re-casting bo-katan armor, i liked that the show did not hold back on seeing how she’s been struggling with the loss of ezra and her birth family (though i don’t really like how the off-screen killing of the wrens was handled). i liked her rivalry with shin, i liked the scenes with her howler, i liked that she got a poncho for a bit, i liked the way she treated the first noti that she met. i liked the way she got to be selfish and messy and yet still we see that she’s a good person, that she learns from her mistakes and makes the right choices in the end even when it’s hard. i like that she cares, she cares so much it gets her in trouble and despite this she still gets to be sassy and snarky and have all of these pluralities that make her who she is.

genuinely, though everything below is way more long winded than what’s up here, my feelings towards sabine in this show do lean more positive, my criticisms are just more complicated and wordy than my likes lol. i think there’s a lot that’s done right (which i think majorly has to do with natasha’s performance), and so, so much potential. there’s a nonzero chance that season 2 could address most of my issues in a way that satisfies me and turns around my feelings on this, even if ultimately i think i will still always prefer and wish for more animated sabine

criticisms under a cut bc this is longer than i thought

the two big issues i have are the way her mandalorian heritage is handled and the way her jedi arc is handled.

when i say the way her mandalorian heritage is handled, i guess the better answer is the way it ISN’T handled. sabine being a mandalorian is so nonessential to her character in this show, that if you took her armor off you wouldn’t even know she was mandalorian. hell, keep her armor and just don’t have her helmet (which i also think she should have worn more without CONSTANTLY GETTING KNOCKED OFF ARE YOU KIDDING ME) and i bet you a lot of casual viewers wouldn’t have even picked up on it! compare that to her in rebels- being a mandalorian is so integral to her identity, even when she isn’t on good terms with any other mandalorians. she references it herself, other characters reference it about her. this is a character that wielded THE DARKSABER for crying out loud, and her mandalorian identity is erased? in an era where a show called “the mandalorian” is a disney+ flagship that this show itself is essentially a spin-off of, it boggles my mind as both a storytelling and a marketing decision.

any criticisms about mando s3 you may have aside, the last live action show before this one was about the reunification of mandalore. one of your leads in this new show is a mandalorian with a personal connection to the co-lead of that show who once possessed the macguffin you revolved a subplot around there (and is actually the one who handed it over to said co-lead in the first place, kicking off the shows whole backstory). and you just… don’t think about at least letting mandalorian heritage be a bigger part of this character? and not even that, but actively ignoring how important it was before? i understand wanting this show to stand on its own, but it feels like such a waste. sabine loving her mandalorian heritage while also rejecting certain parts of it is a huge part of what makes her character so cool and interesting, and i actually think could have worked really well in tandem with the jedi arc they have for her.

my hope is that now that they feel they’ve done the legwork to establish her as a jedi they won’t have to put quite as much focus on that and in season 2 and wherever else she shows up we’ll be able to see more mandalorian-focused aspects of her, but we’ll see how that goes.

which does bring me to the whole jedi thing. i don’t hate it- i completely understand why people do, but i did warm up to it by the end of the show. i also am not opposed to the idea of anyone being able to connect with the force, it just being a lot harder for those who aren’t naturally force-sensitive, to the point that it’s a non-issue for me. while it wouldn’t have been my preferred direction for her story to go, i actually do like the idea of sabine being a nontraditional jedi, blaster in hand yet following their teachings in her own way because they resonate with her as someone with a desire to help others and do good, and as an extension of how she loves and honors kanan and ezra as her family. we do see inklings of this in rebels, where she rejects certain violent parts of mandalorian culture in favor of “sounding like a jedi” based on what she’s learning from kanan (again a reason to focus more on her as a mandalorian, but whatever).

the problem is, it doesn’t really feel like the show’s jedi arc for her is actually following up on those things. the show doesn’t really address why sabine wants to be a jedi, outside of maybe it being a way for her to find ezra with ahsoka. but now she found ezra. so why does she care about being a jedi? is it because she believes in the code? because she wants to connect with the jedi in her life? because after all she’s been through, she’s searching for peace and balance within herself the jedi path can provide? the show doesn’t really bother to bring this up. i can fill in the gaps with my own fanon, but it feels odd to essentially be told “this character, who showed no interest before, wants to be a jedi now.” this is again something that can be explored in season 2 to satisfy me, but as it stands right now i struggle with it. because right now, the answer feels like “why does sabine want to be a jedi? so ahsoka can have a padawan”

especially because the closest we get to an answer isn’t actually a jedi thing at all- if anything, it’s dark side mindset. the most consistent thing we see with sabine wanting to be a jedi in the show is actually wanting to yield the power of the force. especially when it comes to her attachments (specifically ezra here)! nothing to do with selflessness, with inner peace, any of the core tenets of the jedi philosophy- it’s just about that power. i don’t think it was the intention, and if it was i think sabine struggling with the dark side is entirely natural to her character after all she’s lost at this point, if it was portrayed that way. but her triumphant moment of finally unlocking that power is not one where she realizes she has to find calm within herself to feel the force around her, but one where she is able to access it purely out of fear for her own life in a panicked moment, and then again out of fear for ezras life.

and maybe this is part of the story! the season does end with her rejecting her attachment and instead of going home with ezra, going back to help ahsoka because it’s the right thing to do. so it’s headed in the right direction in that regard. another hope i have for season 2 is that we’ll see sabine struggle still with using the force when she’s at peace and not in a life or death situation, and the frustrations that come with that. maybe she starts relying on strong emotions like anger or fear to wield the force, and ahsoka has to guide her now on not just finding her connection, but on finding it without relying on emotions that could lead her to slip towards the dark side, even though it’s much harder. i think it would create some really great tension considering how sabine’s initial apprenticeship with ahsoka ended, and we then get to see how “ahsoka the white” handles these problems differently than she did before. but who knows?

i also think i said pretty recently i would instantly be 100% more on board with this arc for her if she was allowed to at least talk about kanan. she was close to him, she loved him, he was a huge part of her life and her arc in rebels- and her relationship to him is ignored. are hera and ezra’s relationships to him (which do get acknowledged) bigger parts of rebels? absolutely. but there are several entire episodes revolving around the relationship between sabine and kanan, and other moments between the two of them throughout. i understand the show wants to be accessible to people who haven’t seen rebels, but it feels odd to have the entire scene where ezra builds his lightsaber dedicated to his relationship with kanan, while sabine’s relationship gets ignored. sabine gets to have a nonverbal reaction to huyang bringing him up, (which natasha plays well) but then… that’s it? the shift is then immediately focused again to her relationship with ahsoka.

and even that connection isnt explored to its full potential. like, how does sabines relationship to kanan affect her one without ahsoka? and not just “kanan and ezra were master and padawan and now me and ahsoka are.” like, kanan was, in a way, her first jedi master. and she witnessed him die tragically, saving the life of her and two of the people she’s closest to. has she built kanan up in her head as an ideal ahsoka doesn’t live up to? is she guilty that she didn’t have as much an interest in being a jedi while he was still alive? does she compare the way she saw kanan teach ezra to the way ahsoka teaches her? do things she learned from kanan ever conflict with what ahsoka teaches her? i don’t necessarily need the show to spell out answers for these questions for me- i like getting to write my own headcanons in the margins of the series. but i feel like it’s such a missed opportunity to not even acknowledge it.

and my final smaller issue is that a lot of the trademark elements of her character no longer exist in this show. while the set dressing does a great job of showing her artsy side, we don’t really get to see her draw or paint or even talk about art. we dont get to see her knowledge of or affinity with explosives. i say it’s smaller because i dont have as much to say on it, but tbh i missed these parts of her as much as i did her as a mandalorian. while sabine in this show has a lot of her personality, relationships and style from rebels, which i appreciate, the interests and background that not only make her unique but make her who she is are missing, and it is honestly sad.

in a way, i love when a lot of these things are left open. i love getting to fill in gaps like this and create some of those emotional connections in my head, that’s a huge part of the fun of fandom for me. it’s also why i don’t mind that we haven’t (yet, i’m sure it’s coming eventually in some form lol) seen all of the details of sabine and ahsoka’s initial attempt to find ezra, and them parting ways because of ahsoka fearing sabine is veering to close towards the dark side. i like getting to write it in my head a little bit, i think that particular info is enough to build on for the shows purposes for me.

and frankly, i don’t need every single one of my questions here directly answered. in fact, i would say i DONT want the show to outright answer all of these. rebels didn’t feel the need to hold our hand through every single character arc and relationship dynamic, and this show shouldn’t have to either. i like my room for headcanons! but there’s a point where they all build up to a point where it feels a little bit careless, like the writing sabines arc in this show often prioritized ahsoka’s arc and what needed to happen there before her own, even if it meant leaving out major parts of sabines character.

a lot of it i genuinely think couldve been fixed with just a couple more episodes of this show (8 episode season my beloathed) and perhaps things will be explored and fleshed out in season 2 to satisfy me- we are technically looking at an incomplete story with this show, so things could happen next season that make a lot of my points moot.

again, i think that this show had a lot of legwork to do regarding sabine as a jedi and catching us up on her relationship to ahsoka, to the point that it didn’t necessarily have time to fully dive into a lot of issues with this first season- and maybe now that that’s established, they will be able to do a lot of these things! i think the show is headed in the right direction based on the ending, with both sabines choice to help ahsoka and also how the show does make a point to show sabine picking up her mandalorian helmet and when she could have left it behind. that last bit especially felt very pointed considering how little her mandalorian heritage was brought up in season 1, that maybe it will play a bigger role in season 2. we now have a sabine that they don’t have to show being out of practice, so maybe we’ll get to see her be the incredibly competent fighter/pilot we know she is! maybe now we’ll have time to explore exactly why she wants to be a jedi, how being a mandalorian is important to her and interacts with her jedi beliefs. we’ll have time for her to do art, maybe she’ll get some opportunities to blow things up again! maybe now that she knows huyang knew kanan, she’ll get to talk about him. maybe she’ll get to reunite again with hera, chopper, zeb and ezra and we’ll see those relationships shine.

but until we have a season 2 in our hands, these are my current thoughts

[humbledragon669]

S1E1 - In the Beginning Write Up P1 - Introduction and The Garden

If you haven’t read it yet, I would encourage you to read my intro which covers a few points about my write ups. Otherwise, enjoy!

Where else to start than at the beginning of In the Beginning?  There’s a lot of information being fired at the audience from a really early stage here – we have God as a narrator, God being (or at least sounding to be) a female figure, names of actual historical figures, and the confirmation of a date that will be referred to multiple times over the course of both series (4004 BC aka “6000 years ago”).  However, the first thing that stood out for me here was the use of the Tadfield Advertiser and its headlines:

It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that any time there’s something to read on the screen in this show, it’s worth stopping and taking note.  In this instance, there’s a slight contradiction – if we are to understand that the newspaper is the one published on the day of the Earth’s creation, we should all have some pretty serious misgivings about R P Tyler’s background!  Personally, I am interpreting the use of this particular newspaper as an opportunity to provide a couple of Easter Eggs to attentive viewers, rather than a literal representation of the daily news for the day of the Earth’s birth.  What I do find interesting is that we have two headlines here that give a nod towards the maintenance of Tadfield in the condition that a certain Antichrist will come to know and love, and they might even go so far as to suggest that it’s his doing that the village is saved from having a motorway run through it in the same way that the weather is always perfect there. And who visits the runner up village of the year anyway?  It’s a nice title but won’t exactly be drawing the crowds (or housing developers…) in for a closer look.

Moving on to something more obvious…

GOD: It starts, as it will end, with a garden.

…at which point we are presented with an overhead shot of the Garden of Eden. So we have the “starting” garden. The “ending” garden will presumably become obvious at the end. Which brings me to the next puzzling element of God’s statement. What exactly does she mean by “it”? This story? Life on earth? Warlock’s 11th birthday party? I think we can safely assume that “it” (in this context at least) isn’t the last of those options. Spoiler alert - the book’s final scene does indeed play out in a garden but the same cannot be said of the show (yes, I know there is a scene in a “garden”, and that Crowley makes a direct reference to it whilst sitting in it, but that isn’t the final scene of the show. More on that scene in the episode 6 write up), so what exactly is “it” in this context? Does it suggest that there is something yet to come that will end in a garden? Honestly I’m not convinced that there is anything in this other than it being a nice way to start a show with the idea that the audience would have a nice rounded finish to the series (and given that there was no promise of a season 2, let alone a season 3, at the time the first series was made, that’s not out of the question), but it does provide the Sherlocks amongst us to claim a potential Clue for what’s to come in later seasons.

We are now presented with the only time we ever see Crowley as an actual serpent, despite the number of times he is referred to as a snake.

I suspect this was done for two reasons:

To form part of Crowley’s story and character arc.

For the audience to understand that his eyes, which will later become a pretty important characteristic, are modelled on his serpentine form.

The latter point amounts to a matter of aesthetics at this point in time of the episode.  Expanding on the former point, the introduction of Crowley as THE original temptation and the cause of the “downfall” of humanity should have the audience paint him with quite a heavy tar. However, we see very quickly the conflict he feels at the consequences of his actions, which not only provides comedy but allows us to form a bond with him from the outset. As far as he was concerned, he was only going to “cause some trouble” but perhaps more importantly for his character, he believes people should be given a second chance (“Bit of an overreaction if you ask me. First offence and everything.”). This response could be seen to tie directly into his own personal downfall (aka Fall), particularly when combined with his opinions on having knowledge (“I can’t see what’s so bad about knowing the difference between good and evil, anyway.”) – we will come to discover later that he considers his asking questions of the Almighty (seeking of knowledge) to have contributed heavily to the reasons for his Heavenly expulsion.

I have also considered the huge amount of responsibility that Hell would have placed on him in giving him this task. We will see that happen multiple times across both seasons – Crowley is given jobs that have immense consequences (destruction of Job important enough?  How about delivery of the Antichrist?) but he appears to have little importance in the hierarchy of Hell – we will later discover that Hastur is a Duke of Hell and outranks Crowley. This does strike me as strange but I am not (yet) at the point where I think that there is anything in this other than convenient story-telling. Note: Crowley’s Angel status (prior to his Fall) is another matter and will be discussed in a later post.

As this scene plays out, this would appear to be the first time of meeting for the angel and demon, and on first watching, there’s nothing inaccurate about this.  With the full knowledge of series 2 however, we are presented with some notables about their first exchange.  If we are to understand that both Aziraphale and Crowley were sent to Earth at the time of its creation, this would likely be the first time these two beings have met in their opposing angel and demon forms (I cannot see how they could have seen each other after Crowley’s Fall). Is Crawly/Crowley so unrecognisable in this scene from his original angel form that Aziraphale wouldn’t remember him? It’s possible, given that millions of years could have passed between their starlit meeting and this exchange on the garden wall. Perhaps Aziraphale only asks for Crawly/Crowley’s name because he doesn’t know what his demon name now is? After all, we have no idea what his angel name was prior to his disgrace. Personally I feel like the latter is more likely – the talk between these two seems far to congenial for this to be a first-time-of-meeting conversation, particularly given that they are supposed to be adversaries (and that’s without taking into consideration the exchange we see play out in the first episode of season 2 – I think it’s made clear that Aziraphale will not be forgetting that angel any time soon…). Despite the friendly tone of the conversation, it’s made clear to us that Aziraphale’s opinion of Crawly is pretty black-and-white – he automatically believes that Crawly will do bad things purely because he is a demon. This serves well to lay the foundations for his character development. That said, we see Aziraphale looking to impress the demon with his knowledge and, what he appears to hope, is an impressive grasp of language.  This is also the first time we hear Aziraphale use the I-word – we heard God using it during the philosopher-palooza of the introduction and its placement in this scene shows that as an audience we should understand that Aziraphale is following his script quite nicely, thank you.

And so we move into what I believe, and many others I think, is the first hint of flirting between these two.

It’s pretty obvious that Crawly is doing all the work here, whilst Aziraphale seems pretty oblivious to the attention he’s getting.  I’ll discuss parallels and contrasts with the beginning of season 2 when I get to that episode. What I find interesting about Crawly’s interactions here is that he’s clearly been watching Aziraphale prior to this meeting – he knows about the flaming sword. Not only does he know about it, he seems downright disappointed to see that he no longer has it. I totally read that as a sign that the sword, at this point at least, has contributed pretty heavily towards Crawly’s attraction. I’m not going to go into the fairly obvious double entendre possibilities that could be explored through the use of a “flaming sword” here – I do not wish to descend into smut (yet) - so I’ll just leave this here:

If Crawly’s attraction starts with a flaming sword, it’s cemented with the knowledge that it was given away. Crawly’s expression when he discovers that the angel gave the sword to a needy young couple, acting of his own free will and putting their needs (or humanity’s) ahead of Heaven’s rather hollow wishes is priceless – surprise and amusement and not just a hint of smitten.

I like to think he’s already placed the angel on a pretty high pedestal here, not least because he might actually have found another being that thinks along the same lines as him – different from the other beings, and having something that resembles a conscience, which Aziraphale shows with his discomfort at the potential consequences of God’s actions in throwing Adam and Eve out of the Garden. But he’s not done with the flirting just yet – there’s still one last opportunity for him to pay the angel a compliment with an undertone of sarcasm that goes completely over Aziraphale’s head.

I love the way David delivers this line – the tone he uses and the little hint of a smile that plays around one side of his mouth. It’s just a second or so of film but for those of us paying attention, you can’t miss the playfulness in it. I don’t mind saying I’d give my right arm (or maybe someone else’s…) to have a man that looked like that speak to me like that! Too bad Aziraphale is totally oblivious to the undertone and just gives him a heartfelt thank you.

And so to the end of the Garden scene. I don’t think I need to dwell too much on how adorable the wing shelter is. What I will say is that it’s notable Crawly doesn’t ask but Aziraphale knows he needs it and gives him what he needs without argument or dissent. This hidden communication thread will run throughout the series, in varying degrees of obviousness and I do think it’s interesting that we are introduced to the idea that the couple can understand and interpret each other’s thoughts and needs at the appropriate time so early on.

[s-aint-elmo]

on your post about how destiny actually works in ever after i wanted to share some of my thoughts!!!

firstly, (ive had this one in my mind since i watched the show as a kid) they introduce the characters as "abc, daughter/son of xyz" and their stories are continued through the generations, so, for some, wouldn't their forever after partner's parent, be their parent too??? like okay there's apple white, daughter of snow white and daring charming, son of king charming LIKE HOW DOES THAT WORK???? when snow white was fulfilling her destiny wasn't it king charming that woke her up???? like how does that work

also, it's only daring and apple who are (at first) set for each other, everyone knows daring will wake apple from her sleep but the rest of the princesses don't have their princes what about briar? ashlynn?

then, it seems only the first born has to follow in their parents' fairytale footsteps like in the case of holly and poppy so what do the younger siblings do? what's their destiny like dexter charming, he had a page in the book of legends but had no story to go with it

this is a lot but im really awestruck with how destiny is such a fickle thing, apparently your destiny can be taken away from you just by signing in the book of legends, it's not even confirmed i suppose, it can change like how daring ended up with rosabella and not apple, etc etc

destiny in ever after high has so much untapped potential i love rotating it in my mind so thank you so much for this ask!

first off, eah has confirmed that there are four unrelated charming clans from which fairytales draw their sundry heroes so it's logical to assume that all current kings charming serving as their famous fairytale wives' arm candy come from different clans as the princes charming slated for their daughters' destinies. briar's prince i always assumed to be unknown due to the fact that she won't meet him in another hundred years. apple's prince being determined from the beginning i've always chalked up to the snow white tale being so important that grimm, snow and co. all felt the need to lock the details down as early as possible. pair the most eligible princess in the land with the most eligible prince in the land and chain their destinies together before fate gets other ideas and all that.

also YES, the birth order aspect of fairytale inheritance itches at my brain soooo hard. does the destiny go only down the line of the eldest? if the protagonists of the tale are siblings, are the next protagonists their respective firstborns and thus cousins? or does the destiny lineage go to whoever in the birth order has the most important role? can you be chosen randomly for a tale that wasn't in your family? and it's made even more confusing bc eah canon says "both! all! yes!" the rapunzel destiny falls to the eldest twin. the current hansel and gretel destiny falls to cousins. the dancing princess destiny goes all the way down the line of the youngest daughter. the charmings are all expected to fill in as either heroes or damsels for whatever tale needs them. it's WILD.

my personal interpretation is that just to cover all the bases, grimm keeps the school open to all descendants of the major players until they know for certain who destiny has the most affinity with. case in point: justine dancer only being confirmed as the twelfth princess when she started sleepdancing in the webisodes despite all eleven of her older sisters having been chosen beforehand. it makes one wonder if there's a method to knowing which sister needs to have the full dozen (the eldest? the youngest?) or if ALL the madames try to get all the way to twelve Just In Case. could you imagine the family gatherings? hell.

(i love thinking of the dancing princess eldritch nightmare family orchard. one of my eah ocs is the seventh daughter of the seventh dancing princess who's only here bc it would have looked unsporting if nobody from their branch came, despite all signs pointing to justine, and she didn't really have alternative plans. she's just chilling. at least until miss mabinogion crashes into her life and she finds herself playing co-conspirator to a certain flower-faced adulteress's Operation Goodbye Earl.)

i think bc of the sleepdancing there's a lot of flexibility in the line-up of the twelve princesses, so they can be siblings down the line of whoever married the soldier, or they can be firstborn cousins, or they can be first daughter of the first daughter, second daughter of the second, etc. etc. no matter how hard grimm et al. try to hammer down destiny, every retelling still finds a way to veer off the rails. so every contradictory version of every fairytale you've ever heard? probably happened at one point. it was never gonna be science.

another thing i'm really interested in are destinies where the protagonist has to become their child's villain. you ever think about how the juniper tree cycle would necessitate the butchered child eaten by their father to become the parent that eats their child? eah never went that hard but i can. i will. (miss juniper tree rounds out my eah oc roster and she is appropriately furious about it.) cyclical destinies where happy endings don't mean jack are sooo good.

also yes!! that whole thing where destiny doesn't even play by the rules of the people who try to corral it (darling is apple's prince, daring is the beast, raven is one of the seven dwarves, etc. etc.) even when the Book is in play is just !!!!!!! really makes it feel like destiny is a much larger and more powerful force than anybody can really reckon with.

[technovillain]

i love jameela to death so here’s some questions:

-after “fuck giving rich people dangerous technology” does she distance herself from technology entirely or does she keep making personal stuff and/or stuff that’s much harder to exploit? i think she could make some fucking awesome animal monitoring tech (like keeping track of individuals of endangered species, citizen volunteer data collection on bird populations and stuff)

-what’s her flavors of queer and/or neurodivergent

-does she ever end up doing missions or is she not super duper into the agent stuff

-is her dad a rich asshole or just oblivious and ignorant or a mix of the two

-how do you think she’d get along with some of the junior agents, especially norma, gisu, and sam

HI THIS ASK IS ANCIENT BUT I'VE BEEN HOLDING ONTO IT THINKING ABT IT MEANING TO ANSWER IT SO HERE WE GO. ALSO THANK U SOOO MUCH FOR ALL THE INSIGHTFUL QUESTIONS I LOVE THIS.

After that, she pretty much makes a vow to herself to never make a psychic invention again!!!! (....) and then time passes and she goes "Well just one little thing for myself." (....) "Okay just another for just myself." (.....) "Okay it's fine if I'm only making things for myself, even if it's a lot of things. I need technology." What you said there is Exactly the kind of stuff she'd be making too! While she takes a very loud approach to her activism, her approach to saving the world by trying to prevent the horrible future she saw is much more under the radar...mostly because she's still using the psychic technology that she built for herself but pretends that she didn't build at all because she said she swore it off! (She is constantly fighting herself in her own head about this lol.)

I haven't fully decided on this! But I would say that she is asexual and has OCD.

She really kind of functionally.... leaves the Psychonauts after a certain point. Like in a "You're always welcome to come back" kind of way. This is something that I still need to do more thinking on because I need to decide how I think the Psychonauts, being a government funded organization, would feel about psychic activism entering the public sphere.... But anyways yeah I see her leaving for an extended period but coming back when there is suddenly a mission that requires her assistance specifically (one involving Gusty and Veranda.)

I'd have to say he's definitely a mix of the two, leaning more towards the second one. I can't remember exactly how much detail I went into on her story and how it might have changed since I last posted about it (bc tumblr's tag search feature is functionally useless rip) BUT Dallas Delmarro is indeed a tech guru so while his concepts were birthed from those "childhood dreamer with a lot of big ideas" mindsets you always see in people like him, he ended up really focused on his company's bottom line. Business school changed this dude. He is still a pretty good dad considering everything. But considering he's a single father and his job pretty much consumes his life it is pretty easy to see why Jameela felt a strong need to get good at inventing things from a young age (cough cough so she would feel more important to him)

I like to picture these characters existing at the Motherlobe a few years after the events of Psychonauts 2, just so I don't have to think too hard about where they're at in regards to the plot of PN2. Just assuming that most of the big things regarding that plot have died down at this point. So all of the interns/junior agents from the game would be a few years older than Jameela when she gets there. I think she would probably like Norma okay from afar, but not really have any desire to become friends with her...because she can see how she gets. I think she would not know anything at all about Sam and be a little put off by her and not able to read her at all. She would totally be jealous of Gisu though. Because I see Gisu in a few years as working alongside Otto. And in Jameela's story, she came to the Motherlobe to work with Otto but something urgent came up regarding developing some sort of technology, and Sasha and him and Gisu were all working together to develop it. So Jameela doesn't really care for Gisu or Sasha just because they're interfering with her track to success.

[fabaceous]

okay i watched the episode i ate some lunch i read some posts and here are my “quick” takes

- i liked the unreliable narration aspect of shauna hallucinating/dreaming that the baby turned out fine bc i love unreliable narration/hallucination and even though it was not hard to guess that it was not real, i dont mind that kind of thing bc im a pretty easygoing tv/movie watcher. BUT i, like many of you, thought it was weird and surprising that she ended up saying(/dreaming/hallucinating) that she loved the baby. if i were to try to explain it away in a way that makes sense to me personally id say maybe she’s subconsciously imagining/hoping that she could love the baby bc she feels like its what she’s supposed to do and she’s afraid she wouldnt be able to when the time comes, but if so, the writing should make that clearer, so instead im forced to assume they really chose to write her as being enamored with this baby immediately which. well... is it too much to ask for her to at LEAST have complicated/conflicted feelings, even if they didnt want to commit to her actually not wanting the baby? it feels like a bit of a wasted opportunity in a show that prides itself on going to dark/twisted/taboo places. and im just generally weary of this idea that, like, every woman just instantly falls in love and magically develops maternal instincts when she has a baby. i dont know. ive never given birth, maybe its true. but it feels like that’s the messaging i’ve gotten from EVERYWHERE, from the world, from my own mother, from mommy bloggers, whatever, and i guess just once i would’ve liked to see something a little more complicated

- personally i thought/hoped that the baby hallucinations were going to go in a very different direction, especially when adult nat took the goldfish out of the water, i thought shauna was going to like, mercy-kill the baby or something bc she’d realized he didnt have a chance if they were all starving and she couldnt even make milk. BUT THATS JUST ME

- akilah and her emotional support mouse... so cute but i cannot be the only one who was dying a little at the thought of her delivering the baby after freshly petting a mouse 😭 like please wash ur hands first pleeease

- congrats to the lottienat girls who just keep winning... must be nice! and the taivan road trip brought me a significant amount of joy i have to say

- i share the concern that it is starting to feel a bit retcon-y and inconsistent. like as soon as they were done with the jackie arc they said “i dont want to play with you anymore” despite setting it up in s1 as THE defining moment of shauna’s time in the wilderness. its the blessing and the curse of multiple timelines...they can be soooo rewarding but you have to be REALLY sure of what happened in each one and you have to stick to it! (dark did this well! i think they had pretty much everything planned out right from s1 so there were certain moments in s1 that you still didn’t fully understand until the end of s3, it was very intricate and most importantly it was internally consistent. but i digress...) i guess it sticks out to me the most with this particular storyline bc it’s the one i was most invested in, but im sure there are some other examples too

i guess the bottom line is that in a well-done dual timeline show, the information you learn about the earlier timeline should enhance and enrich your understanding of the later timeline. and in some of cases it did, but in some cases it’s falling flat...i dont know i could probably rub together a few more brain cells and come up with some more thoughts but other people have already said it pretty well and unless i have a brainwave i dont think i have much to add!

[thepolyamorouspolymath]

Having a mental illness does not entitle you to make judgements of 'tragedy' towards people that have a condition you don't have. You have the notion that non-verbal autistic people can't communicate, even though they've been arguing with you on the internet for the last few hours. You are oblivious to the harm your views cause, and you think you can do no wrong. Just ridiculous arrogance and ignorance, no disabled solidarity, nothing.

Actually I said I felt bad for those who couldn't communicate, not those who couldn't speak. Reading comprehension is your friend. Dictionaries are very available for the words you don't understand. And that I felt for their parents, who could not communicate with then, after growing up with a cousin who could not communicate in any way -- we were almost 17 before she learned even the simplest of signs. I felt fir her then, bc I could the frustration abd I felt for her parents bc I could see their pain at being cut off from their child.

No, I do not think all disability should be treated as this wonderful thing, that there's nothing wrong with any of us. If it causes pain to those who have it, then there is something wrong with it. The difference is that I see them as human beings to empathize with as best I can, while you see them as conditions you wish to champion, ignoring that there are a thousand different factors.

Again, I said I found it tragic to be cut off from communicating, though not having that problem, perhaps it did not bother some -- clearly no one arguing with me is incapable of communicating, even if they are non verbal and therefore THEY DON'T KNOW EITHER.

I'm not advocating wiping out autistic people, I'm not advocating forcing treatment on anyone who doesn't want it, my views are that for a social animal -- such as a human -- to not be able to communicate (as I did not limit that to speech if you had read carefully instead of assuming) -- to be cut off from communicating with others fully would be tragic, as it would be to any social animal. And I also find it tragic -- AGAIN -- for parents who do not get to connect to their child in that way.

And I do not seek solidarity with people I find to be making flawed arguments, akin to X Men saying mutants don't need a cure to the girl who causes death with a touch.

I also know for a fact I can do a great deal of wrong, as my mistakes and misjudgments are wide and varied and a very long list. The minute one of you makes a persuasive case instead of a condescending attack, with actual facts and data to back you up, you'll find I'm very open to changing my mind. But none of you do.

And once more with feeling, if you have conviction enough to confront someone, then fucking confront them instead of hiding behind anon, you coward. Until then I shall continue to treat you as if you are nothing more than an ignorant child with no concept of nuance or context, as you have demonstrated none.

Now, for the record let me state my FEELINGS on the matter, once more, publicly. I find the possible pain (as I have already admitted I cannot know the minds of others) of those who cannot COMMUNICATE tragic, based on my own experiences with people who could not, one from birth and several in the end stages of life. I do not find the fact of ANYONE'S existence tragic, though I find many do live tragic lives, and my heart breaks for them. I find the possible pain of families who cannot COMMUNICATE (again, not speech) tragic bc I know what a loss I would feel not being able to communicate with one of my children.

I do not and will not apologize for having empathy for those who may be suffering. I did not claim to be certain of their own feelings, which should really be the question rather than yours or mine. I did not advocate for any policies, though I will now -- I'd like better research in how to help those who want it to communicate, though it should not be forced but voluntary treatment, and I would like the world to be made more accommodating to neurodivergent people as it is rarely that difficult, and to people's natural rhythms and needs in general, and I would like disability to pay a reasonable cost of living for an urban setting, as well as a reasonable caretaker allowance for those who need one.

I'm terribly sorry that we can't seem to find an understanding between us, and it's unfortunate that you are offended. Might I suggest you channel that in productive ways, such as volunteering or lobbying efforts rather than trying to bully people for the sin of not agreeing with you. I can assure you, whatever you hope to get out of this is pointless. I do not feel guilty bc I've yet to be convinced I've done any worse than offending those who are operating in bad faith anyway. I certainly am not shamed or intimidated, or God save me, hurt that someone on the internet doesn't approve of me. There's 8 billion people on earth and I'm pretty sure at least 6 billion of them don't approve of me for one reason or another, I've long gotten over it. I suggest you do too, and that you either save your time bitching bc people don't agree (the bitching won't change that) or learn to make persuasive arguments of varying tactics and the tenacity to not stop until you've convinced them to your side. I truly hope you'll choose the second and succeed bc we can always use more people of passion fighting for their beliefs even if they are not mine. There is honor in the loyal opposition.

[nathank77]

4/13/24

12:18 a.m

Talk about driving me fucking crazy. Can you just tell me? Cause I want a retest if it comes back positive.

At this point I'm just accepting I have HSV2. Do I know for sure? Absolutely not cause quest won't finish the fucking test and I've had absolutely no symptoms but- pretending it's a positive will make a positive less traumatic.

I haven't talked to my mother yet but for some reason, I know damn well if I have it, it's from her giving birth to me vaginally.

How do I feel about this? Well if I pretend it's def positive, even though I know I have HSV1....

1) Well I've been asymptomatic for 16 years to 33 years depending on if it was from my Mother or my two sexcapade so who really cares when it comes to my body? I'm not going to ever get symptoms.

2) Obviously I'll be worried I'll get symptoms one day bc they can be a horror story but I have to use time as a reference and psychosis as the most traumatizing event cause it is and then all my other shit that didn't trigger it.

Also there are treatments for it, if you end up being someone very symptomatic that can stop infection frequency. Katelyn had to do it cause she had many outbreaks.

I can avoid certain things that cause outbreaks and otherwise I can just assume I'll never have symptoms and only worry about it if I do.

And if I ever do I won't be surprised bc I'll know.

3) I feel bad for all my exes. Cause I'm telling 2 or 3 out of 4 of them. If I can reach Cecile. I mean I'd want to know if it was the shoe on the other foot so I could get tested. I can't tell Jon cause he won't talk to me but I would if I could.

They'll also low key hate me-its not my fault planned parenthood only tests for HIV, syphilis, gonorrhea and chlamydia..

I've gotten all my tests done at planned parenthood after every partner since I was like 18 years old and I was over here thinking they screened for everything but they don't. They do not do a full panel like my primary care did. They don't even test for Hepitas for christ sake.

-I'm over here thinking I only have two things, one that isn't even a std:

1] HSV1- My cold sores make it undeniable and I've told everyone I dated.

2] I have Pearly Penile Papules, I've had those since I started testosterone. They aren't sexually attractive, they line the head of my dick and they are ultra tiny. However they increase sexual pleasure and they aren't contagious. They don't do anything. They just exist. They are harmless. I've always told my partners about them bc everyone freaks out about bumps down below and I actually went to Planned Parenthood and had them look at my dick and diagnose it years ago, so it's actually what they are.

3) My main concern is that no one will date me bc I will tell everyone that I get serious with. Not right away but well before sex.

- I wish she hadn't done the blood test. They say needless suffering for a reason. Cause they aren't very accurate and I'm over here saying, "Nathan idc if it's in progress you have HSV2, in order to soften the blow if it comes back positive."

- Either way I wait. I'm mostly concerned that no one will date me. I can't blame someone for not wanting it.

- I mean I'm a transguy. I'm disabled. I'm very mentally ill. I'm a low life. And If I have HSV2 good bye to any chance of me finding a partner.

-Either way it's still in progress. It could come back negative, I just got to prepare for the worst case scenario. And if it comes back negative I'll be happy as a pig in shit. If it comes back positive, then I'll feel all the things I wrote above and I'll get retested and I'll start looking at test accuracy rates.

[freckledjoes]

I feel a little alone in this fandom cos I really really love stancy lol 😭 but when the show was on there were soo many posts like "UGH NOONE WANTS STANCY STOP" and I was like noo pls I do!

Like I understand people's hesitance but it's been years, they're both older and very different to the naive kids were when they got together first.

Maybe i just really like the 'second chance romance' trope idk. But it also always confused me how everyone seems to think Nancy hates the idea of having a family? Like she doesn't wanna be in a loveless marriage, but most of the family anxieties come from Jonathan (understandably) I feel like people project it on to her.

Also I really hate that people interpret Steve's speech as him saying "give birth to six of my children as you are a sperm receptacle and it is your place" like. That's soo people projecting again bc Nancy is a Strong Woman TM with no other qualities (in their eyes) and marriage and kids would RUIN her!!! (Though they usually don't care if its with someone not Steve lmao...) and also Steve is not asking her that!! He's sharing a dream, and likely only chose that number so there could be a 'haha mama Steve with the six kids' joke cos there are six kids fandom likes to say he adopted. There were way too many bad faith takes on that scene imo.

Also I remember seeing a few "I'd rather him die than get back with nancy" and I can't help but think do they even like him lol???? Like come on. I respect everyone's opinion but I also wish they would respect mine yknow?

Aww I know for a fact that there are quite a few people out there who do ship stancy!! You're not alone <3 I'm a steddie trooper but considering the way canon is going I definitely think you've got a fat chance at getting your endgame.

I get the appeal of a second chance romance! Outside of my arguments that I left in the previous post about this I generally just don't see their appeal but that's a matter of taste.

Gonna add a read more thingy because... I always write essays lmao.

I think most people think that Nancy's not really feeling the family life due to her reaction to Steve's nuggets speech? That's how I took it anyway, it didn't feel like she was too keen on the idea. But for all we know that could just mean that she's aversed to it right now, or the idea of 6 (I mean it is a lot - but the pick of the number was obvious too) sounded like too much. We can only assume and we will all have our own ideas. And maybe it's also just how people interpret her character, like perhaps it's an assumption based on other things they've seen throughout the show. It's fair for you (or others) to interpret it all differently :) I suppose we will find out (unless they give it an open end) in the last season.

I also never interpreted Steve's nugget speech as him saying Nancy's some kind of baby machine at all. He was literally just sharing his dream like you say, there was no misogyny going on there. And yeah! It was just them writing that narrative in there for the sake of conversation for the viewers.

I think people who say they'd rather see him die say that because they don't believe he would be happy with Nancy in that case. It's not so much about liking him or not, rather just really not wanting to see the alternative. Which I don't judge, but I get why you feel a certain way about that.

I've never been a fan of shipping wars and they are everywhere. I do think that it's up to you (not you in particular) to consume what you want to see. There's always the option to move on and scroll if someone has an opinion that you absolutely disagree with. Sure, you can start a discussion, I get where that passion could come from too, but when both people are very passionate about their ship, or even just a character on its own, it's rarely going to end well.

Every ship has seen commentary from other shippers, hating on their ship. It's how it goes. I personally wouldn't go out of my way to destroy a ship with my mighty words 'cause I'd much rather spend it on the ships I do ship :) Like why go out of your way to explain why the ship you don't like doesn't work? It shouldn't matter then, right? Just focus on the ship you do like.

Of course I'm fine with sharing my opinion if asked, but I really try to stay out of discourse over it because that's just suuuch a waste of time in the end. Like even if I state that I'm not a fan of stancy, I'd never want a stancy shipper to think that I'm shitting on their ship. I'm happy we can all enjoy and relate to characters and ships in such different ways. It's what's supposed to make it fun. :)

[auroracalisto]

for the first time

summary: the reader finally sees her life in a new point of view, thanks to carlisle, who has helped her with her abusive husband, her baby girl luna, and her life in general.  

pairing: carlisle x female! married/widowed! abused! reader

word count: 1.6k words

warnings: female reader, married and eventually widowed reader, reader is abused by her husband, reader has the surname Wolf in this bc comedic reasons, reader has a child named Luna by said husband, mentions of murder, no depictions but carlisle definitely did the stabby stab (at least if that’s what you wanna assume he did), uhhh reader got them widow benefits by the end but that’s a story for another time, ALSO for some reason i put this in the year 2005 and it goes on to 2006/2007?  so this would technically be the same timeline as bella and edward meeting.  so first movie.  yes.  i love the technicalities of everything.  honestly didn’t mean for it to happen but it did so 

a/n: i have no words

Carlisle first had the honor of meeting you at your then-husband’s Christmas party.  It was December 20th, 2005.  Your child was most definitely due by the end of January.  You were quite literally glowing, and Carlisle believed you were the most beautiful thing he had seen in some time.  However, most of the beauty was because of your skill with makeup.  Without it, bruises galore would be revealed to the outside world, and your husband would not be too happy to find out that you showed off the newest shiner he gave to you. 

Even while pregnant, he did not care for your wellbeing.  Hell, he made it quite obvious that he would never care for the little girl growing in your midsection.  But even if he was a terrible prick, you decided to have this child.  Of course, maybe it would have been better for you to end the pregnancy early on.  However, a part of you didn’t want that.  A part of you wanted to have the baby and leave your husband.  Whichever order it came in would be fine.  But knowing now that it would be the latter made you nervous.  

The second time Carlisle saw you was in the middle of a grocery store, calming down your newborn baby.  Your husband had sent you out in the middle of February, just a month after giving birth.  You were alone, and everything was upsetting.  Your baby’s little cries caused your own tears to well up in your eyes.  

When the two of you made eye contact, you finally broke.  You didn’t want anyone to see you like that, and yet, here you were with your husband’s co-worker, crying in the middle of the bread aisle.  

“Mrs. Wolf, please.  Let me help you,” Carlisle softly said, leaving his buggy on the other side of you.  He came over, looking at your baby.  “I’ll get her to calm down.”

You took his word for it, allowing Carlisle to comfort your crying child.  “Please.  Don’t call me that.  [Your name] is fine.”

He watched you with soft eyes and nodded.  “And who is this?” he softly asked, looking down at the fussing infant.  Her eyes were shut and she never once had actual tears—one thing that never sat right with him was how babies couldn’t form tears until they were about two months old (sometimes even longer).  

“Luna,” you softly spoke, watching as your little girl started to calm down in his arms.  You sniffled softly, wiping your eyes with the back of your sleeve.  You should have been more careful, but you didn’t care at this point.  It was getting harder and harder to do this; if someone saw a bruise, someone saw a bruise.  

“That’s a beautiful name,” Carlisle spoke, looking back at you.  “She is very lucky to have you as a mother.”

By the third time Carlisle had properly talked to you, your husband had died.  Under mysterious circumstances, but he was gone.  And you couldn’t have been happier.  You had an idea of what had happened.  Especially when you once opened your eyes in the middle of the night to see a flash of blond hair.  But you drifted off back to sleep, not thinking anymore of it until the morning after when your husband was missing.  However, you never once said anything.  

Weeks after he had passed, you had hired a babysitter for the evening.  Carlisle’s two girls.  

And for once, you did not have to worry about the makeup covering your bruises.  In fact, you wore your makeup how you liked it instead of having to wear it to protect your dead husband.  You found yourself sitting in your car, in front of the hospital.  Alice had informed you that her adoptive father was currently at work—that he was constantly working, and he never once took a break.  

Maybe you should have just turned around.  Maybe you should have just left Washington, altogether.  But your legs started moving before you could stop them.  And once you saw Carlisle, you knew that you had to speak with him.  

You didn’t even have to say hello to him for the man to walk in your direction.  He smiled kindly at you, and you wanted to say something.  You desperately wanted to thank him for saving you, even if he never admitted it.  

But the words never found your tongue.  Your arms wrapped around the doctor, your face buried deep in his blue dress shirt and his white lab coat.  Carlisle had never been more grateful for not carrying his clipboard around.  He wrapped his arms around your body, holding you close.  

Although the two of you never said anything, one thing was clear; you were both grateful for each other’s existence.  Even if you lived vicariously through passing glances and thoughtful actions.  

Luna was nearly one by the time you decided enough was enough.  You were a widow, now.  You did not have to worry about what your husband would say.  And one thing was certain; the blond-haired doctor had your heart in more ways than one.  

He was so kind to you, always offering help and joyful smiles.  His conversations carried you through your long days and kept you awake at night as you thought of how you could tell him how you truly felt.  

But now, you knew enough was enough—you knew that you were not getting any younger, and neither was Carlisle (of course, because he was human—of course, you wouldn’t learn that until later).  You needed to talk to him.  You needed to take a course of action.  

You grabbed your keys, walking to your door.  Luna was babbling in her car seat.  You sat it down to get the door open, nearly jumping out of your skin when you saw Carlisle standing there, prepared to knock.  

He had a bouquet of your favorite flowers in hand and a rather awkward smile.  

“My apologies... are you going somewhere?”

Your cheeks began to burn.  You sat your keys on the table beside your door, shaking your head.  “I was going to see you, actually.”

Luna giggled up at the man when he came into her line of vision.  She adored Carlisle.  

“Oh, that makes this easier then,” he let out a soft laugh, hesitantly holding out the flowers to you.  “These are for you.  I... I had asked Alice what your favorites were.  I hope you don’t mind.”

You smiled.  “No...  No, I don’t,” you said, clearing your throat.  You moved out of the doorway so that he could come into your house.  “I was hoping that.. well, I am hoping this now.  I’ve needed to talk to you.  For a while now.  I really, really need to just get this off my chest, you know?  I just—”

“—could I be of any assistance?” he chuckled softly.  “Perhaps I can find the words that you are searching for.”

You rolled your eyes, unable to keep your smile from forming.  “Carlisle, I’ve... loved you since before my husband died.  I know that for a fact, now.  And I... hope that you feel the same way.  About myself.  And Luna.  We’re a package deal, you know.”

He chuckled softly and nodded.  “I know that you are a package deal.  I... am very glad you feel that way, too.”

“Too?”

“Yes,” Carlisle smiled at you.  “I have loved you since the first time I have set eyes on you.”

You snorted out a laugh, crossing your arms over your chest.  “That long, huh?”

He just smiled, watching you with kind, golden eyes.  “There are many things I need to tell you, [Your name],” he said, finally shutting the front door behind of him.  He looked down at Luna and got her out of the carrier, especially when she happily reached for the man.  “Perhaps we can take this evening to talk?”

You smiled, nodding.  “I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about, but yeah.  I’d like that.”

All of you made Carlisle’s beatless heart skip.  He could only hope that it was the opposite for you (he could definitely hear how fast your heart began to beat the closer he got to you).  Luna entertained herself with the buttons on Carlisle’s shirt while the two of you talked until she fell asleep against him.  

Perhaps it was that moment that you truly knew that you were in love with Carlisle.  No—that action only fortified your love for the man.  You knew you had loved him just as long as he had claimed to love you.  And for once, you were not afraid of what love could do. 

Because you believed you loved your deceased husband, you married him.  You slowly watched him become a horrible person.  And then you had Luna with him.  Of course, that was the one good thing that came out of him.  Perhaps the chance of meeting Carlisle as well.  

But you knew that now, the love you felt for Carlisle was as real as the infant in Carlisle’s arms.  And it would never burn like your last loveless love.  

For the first time, it felt like you were seeing yourself in a new light.  You were seeing everything from a different perspective.  And Carlisle allowed that.  Carlisle helped you find that.  

Even if he hadn’t have been there, you would have still found it.  However, you knew that he made it so much easier than it would have been.  

For the first time, you knew real love.  With Luna, and now with Carlisle.  

Despite everything that had happened to you, it seemed as though the universe was finally connecting the dots.  And you couldn’t wait to see what she was going to give you, next.  

[harrypotterfuryroad]

okay so. we assigned the words “male” and “female” to the two sexes of humans, the fertilizer and the birth giver. we then proceeded to push that label onto all animals and plants. there are physical differences between them in the sense that the fertilizer needs to evolve to fertilize correctly and vise versa, therefore we have secondary sexual characteristics like wider hips and breasts and stuff. eventually we realized that yes, there’s a difference between gender and sex. gender is based completely on how our brain feels most comfortable fitting into the gender binary thats been presented to us by the people who colonized the world centuries ago, when they were still so stuck in gender essentialism bc thats like how life was in Ye Olden days. had the colonizers not been so deep into their view of the binary genders that they forced them on everyone they came in contact with, we couldve been seeing indigenous people who dont ascribe to the gender binary for centuries. anyways now the whole world is colonized and has adopted a gender binary based once again on the very basic part of humanity that is physical sex. which is literally only relevant in medicine and reproduction. and i guess thats where my issue is. why do u feel the need to add all these extra words to say “female identifying as a man” when u could say “trans man”. thats 3 whole less words and in everyday context thats all anyone needs to know. when that person goes to their doctor they can then discuss their physical sex characteristics. or if they decide they want to have a baby. and in specific medical situations it can definitely be better to say “people with uteruses” or “people who can have babies” bc a) it is much more specific to the situation and b) its making trans men and women who have had hysterectomies or are infertile feel better. and like idk maybe thats a shallow reasoning but personally i like when other people arent sad. anyways im kind of rambling but ur the first blog ive found w this rhetoric who seems to actually be able to have genuine discussions on this so id like to hear ur thoughts. but also this ended up longer than i thought so feel free to ignore lmao

i can see where you're coming from generally but there are a lot of things that you're still getting tripped up on

we didn't "push a label" of male and female onto animals and plants, we observed that sexual reproduction was common in other species

we didn't realize that gender was different from sex - we created gender based on sex

gender isn't "how our brain feels most comfortable" based on some internal essence - gender is taught and externally enforced, or in other words, it's a social construct. a person can have their own feelings about that, but it's not a reflection of their true inner self or anything

gender essentialism is alive and well, it's not a ye olde days thing

you're kinda getting stuck in this noble savage thing, where you're assuming that non-european cultures had no notions of gender roles before the 1400s just because they didn't have our notions of gender roles. "indigenous people who don't ascribe to the gender binary" still upholds an idea of The gender binary. if there was some undiscovered civilization somewhere where let's say women all drove trucks and men all took care of babies or something that would still be a gender binary, just not the one you're familiar with. if you're referring to third genders in certain cultures, most of those are explicitly built to contain people who don't meet very rigid gender roles in one way or another. in other words those genders tend to uphold a binary by having a label for those who fall outside of it

sure i guess you can say that sex is "literally only relevant in medicine" but i think a lot of people would say that medicine is pretty relevant in their lives. and it's not contained to medicine - look at the way most of our society has been built with male as a default and female as an afterthought. so yeah sex is actually pretty relevant

"people with uteruses" and "people who can have babies" still fall under one wider category. i know plenty of women who have had hysterectomies who are still very active in the fight for access to birth control even though they personally won't need it, because it's understood that the issue isn't about making themselves feel better. women without uteruses are still negatively affected by legislation targeting women who do have them, just like how women who identify as men are still negatively affected by legislation targeting women, because the point of the legislation isn't the uterus itself, it's control. this is the biggest split here i think - people who treat gender stuff as an individualist platform and people who fight gender stuff (as a whole, not just in the context of trans issues) because it negatively affects women as a class

hope this was helpful but also i promise that lots of us around here are very open and genuine about this stuff and there are lots of much smarter people than me so don’t be afraid to ask around

[the-hopeless-haze]

Oh, My Precious Whore

A/N: didn’t really think I’d ever be posting fic on here again… but I am tired and need a distraction so… have this as a treat

Pairing: Claire Underwood x f!reader, implied Duncan Shepherd x f!reader

CW: derogatory pet names, implied smut (will not occur in full until the next part)

Description: idk this is just pure filth bc there’s a severe lack of f!reader fic and… Robin Wright is hot af. Also had to throw in some Duncan in there bc I love Cody Fern

Maybe you should feel worse right now about what you’re doing, but you don’t.

You, at the very least, should feel scared. The Underwoods, or well, Underwood... she was a powerful woman and if you stepped a millimeter out of place your life was likely in danger. Or so they said. Your in-laws were wary of her, you know, but she was wary of them, too. You think. She’s a difficult woman to read.

The rumors concerning the crimes her late husband supposedly committed are lengthy and convoluted, but you suspect they hold some truth to them. Most rumors usually aren’t based totally in fiction. Her husband was truly a ruthless motherfucker. Claire... Claire doesn’t seem to be ruthless. Nor does she seem to be what you would describe as a motherfucker.

No, she’s a cold hearted bitch. A bitter, sociopathic cunt.

But you never wanted what was good for you.

Sometimes, you swear you love Duncan and you wish it was easier to convince yourself. He a good husband, all things considered. Perhaps a little too focused on work, but... he treats you well to make up for it. He is loyal to a fault, if anyone ever was. You met him through a friend, and though it makes you feel guilty you used him in a vain attempt to get closer to Annette.

But Annette didn’t swing your way, as she told you in not so many words. Or, rather, she said, “Just be a good pet and marry my son. You on his arm will do well for everyone all around. Your dalliances on the side are no one’s business as long as you keep them secret enough that not even Duncan finds out.”

So you agreed, and accepted his proposal you figured she no doubt hounded him into. It’s not so much that you don’t like men, you do, and Duncan is such an attractive man, and he’s a thorough lover... it’s just you suppose you have a preference for women. Older women. You used to joke in high school that you wanted to be a high-end escort for rich older women getting away from their CEO husbands for the weekend.

But your parents would have never approved of that plan. So you went to law school instead. Which was fine. You make decent money without Duncan, but with him you’re somewhat of a young, hot power couple. You’re not really interested in policy the way his family is - you just like ingratiating yourself amongst these people with influence. You get off on brushing shoulders with the powerful. Parties don’t mean much to you. Everyone is truly an evil son of a bitch, no matter what they say when the cameras are on. No one cares about progress, not unless it’s self-serving.

The first time you met Claire, you thought you might die. She barely gave Duncan a second glance but you? She stood and chatted with you about your latest case your firm had taken - how she knew about it among all the other things on her mind, you don’t know - but it was a pleasant conversation, all things considered. You know her and Annette used to be close. You wonder how much Claire does know about you.

You know you can’t trust her. At all.

But after that incident, Duncan grinned and shook his head. “Wouldn’t want to give credence to those rumors. She might have it out for you.”

“Rumors?” You asked, panicking already. Did he know?

“That Claire is a lesbian. It’s been floating around some circles, that that’s why she wasn’t truly upset at her husband’s death, that that’s why she’s pushing so hard for female rights. It’s interesting. It is the first time I met her, but having done so it wouldn’t entirely surprise me.”

You can tell. That woman probably isn’t a lesbian, or if she is, she’s very good at utilizing her charm to make it seem as though she’s not. If anything, you’d peg her as asexual. She uses sex as a weapon. Fair enough. You’ve seen even weaker women feel the need to use it.

You wonder if she’s ever had sex purely for herself and not for manipulation purposes.

You wonder if she could even do that. You reckon you don’t really care if you found out the hard way.

It’s a few weeks later that you receive a message stating the President required your audience. And you know you should tell Annette, or Duncan at the very least, but you don’t. You know you shouldn’t show up at all. But Annette said to keep your dalliances secret. So secret they will stay.

“How loyal are you to the Shepherds?” Claire asks when you arrive. Straight to the point. Good.

“As loyal as I have to appear,” you tell her.

Claire smiles a little. “Why did you marry Duncan? He doesn’t seem quite your type.”

“And what do you presume my type is?”

“Perhaps more feminine. Older.”

“Mm. And what is your type, Ms President?”

“Why did you marry him? Did Annette threaten to out you?” she repeats.

“Not in so many words,” you say.

“Hmm. Interesting. He has no idea, I presume?”

“Why did you call me here?” you ask, your anxiety getting the better of you.

“I need information on the Shepherds. And I believe I have something you’d want in return.”

Your head starts spinning, but no, spinning is an understatement. It’s fucking doing somersaults. You cannot believe what she’s proposing.

“You want to prostitute yourself to me for information?”

And Claire does the last thing you ever expected the bitch to do. She walks across the room and slaps you across the face. Hard enough to sting, but not as hard as you bet she could. You feel the cold metal of her wedding ring press against your cheek as she grabs your chin, her cold blue eyes piercing through to your soul. “Don’t you dare fucking accuse the president of the United States of debasement, and don’t ever assume you have the upper hand.”

“Claire—“

“Are we on first name basis, slut?” she asks, her hand slithering down to your throat. Holy shit, you think. This bitch might actually fucking kill me. You think you’d care more if this wasn’t possibly the hottest thing that ever happened to you. “I didn’t think so. Now. What are your loyalties? Who are you closest to?”

“Duncan, obviously. Annette lets her guard down around me because she likes that I think she’s hot, but she still doesn’t like me. Bill and I don’t get along.”

“Interesting. How much does Duncan know?”

“I know more than Duncan.”

“Really, now? Are you just saying that? Because if you don’t prove to be useful...”

“What? You’ll kill me?”

Claire laughs. “No, you’re much more fun to me alive. But tell me… do you know where Duncan came from?”

“I mean, I truly don’t know how Annette’s cunt could birth anything, given how much of a bitch she is, but…”

Claire smiles. “Yes. Much more fun alive. Duncan is not her child.”

“Well, that’s a relief I don’t have any chance of keeping the Shepherd bloodline alive,” you snicker. “Where did he come from, then?”

“I’ll tell you… in time. But you have to tell him, too. In front of Annette and Bill. I want them all to know.”

“They’ll skin me alive if they knew I was here.”

“Do you want to fuck me or not? These are my terms.”

“So that is why I’m here?”

She only smirks at you, the wrinkles around her blue eyes crinkling as she does. “Your attraction to me is far more interesting than... well, men are pigs, right? I’m sure you are well aware. But you, you look at me like you want to fuck me, sure, but you also know your place. You respect me, even if you try to talk back. Men don’t know any better.”

“Have you ever slept with a woman before?”

She only smiles. “Does it matter?”

“Just wanted to know if there was credence to the rumors.”

“Rumors? You’re quite bold. I’m the one with my hand...wrapped around your throat.”

“It’d be pretty messy for you if you killed me right now,” you retort, wincing and rubbing your legs together as she increases the pressure on your neck.

“You’ll learn not to talk back, whore. To think you’re a married woman...”

“Yeah? Did you hold your marriage sacrosanct?”

There’s that smile again. She’s beautiful, ethereal, but there’s something so inhumane about the way her lips move upward to smirk at you. Maybe you should learn to shut your mouth, but you always were a brat. Besides, it’s more fun this way.

“I did.”

“Liar,” you accuse, smirking at her as you do, and she lets go of your throat and before you can miss the feeling too much she slaps your face again, the right cheek this time, much harder than the first time. You let out a startled, strangled moan on impulse, stumbling back a little against the wall.

“Oh, did that hurt?” she coos at you condescendingly, fixing a piece of your hair that fell out of place as you stand back up, pressing your back flat against the wall for stability. Claire crosses her arms and stands directly in front of you.

“I can take it. I can take more than that,” you say boldly.

“Oh? What else do you like, slut?”

“You name it, I’m game.”

“Anything? Handcuffs? Whips? Knives?”

You nod at everything she comes up with. Jesus, you would let this woman carve out your heart if she wanted it.

“If I make you bleed?”

“Better.”

“Interesting. Does Duncan play these little games with you?”

You laugh. “No.”

“You only want a woman to do these things to you?”

“Precisely. Are you kinky, Madam President?”

“Whatever my partner requires... I make certain I provide.”

“But what do you want?”

“I’m a hard woman to please.”

“Oh. Is that the kind way of saying Frank wasn’t good in bed?” you ask, feigning sympathy. She only smirks again. “I’m surprised you didn’t slap me for that. He must have really been awful.”

“You think you could do better?”

“Women do everything better,” you laugh, earning perhaps the only genuine smile you’ve gotten from this woman the whole time. “That’s why I wanted to know if you’ve been with a woman...”

“No. But I’ve thought about it. Never had a woman as interested as you.”

“I find that very hard to believe. Maybe you just never noticed. What gave it away?” You’re aching for her to touch you again, give you anything, even pain, but she stands still in front of you.

“I can just tell. Besides, I was interested to meet you. You’re the Shepherd’s weak link. I knew Annette didn’t vet you carefully enough.”

“Are you saying me being gay is an issue?”

“Are you so naive to think it wouldn’t be, given the state of this country?” she retorts. “But that’s not all. I can tell you don’t like them. I could tell you were easy... on more than one account.”

You roll your eyes. “I fucking hate Bill. I mean it’s awful to say, he’s not doing well physically, but he’s just made life a living hell for me.”

“Why?” she asks, tilting her head to the side.

“I don’t know. Maybe he hates gay people. Maybe he hates women. Both. Don’t know.”

“So everyone knows but Duncan? Funny how he’s kept out of all the good family secrets that concern him.”

You sigh. “See, sexuality’s a funny thing. I like Duncan. I do. And sometimes sex with him is good if not great. He’s a good partner. But I just prefer women.”

“Must be nice to have it figured out. Your generation did have it easier.”

You look at her questioningly. You never thought someone like her was human enough to struggle with such a thing, but perhaps that’s an unfair assessment.

Or she’s playing you.

Still. She’d have to be quite a good player - not that you should underestimate her skill - to talk about something as personal as her struggles with sexuality. Straight people just don’t get it. Would she really be this easily well versed if it was a game?

“There’s still a long ways to go,” you say.

“I intend to rectify that.”

“Of course you do.”

Her eyes narrow at you and she tilts her head. “Do you think I should be doing better?”

“Yeah. Come out, for starters.”

“Says the woman in a sham marriage.”

“It’s not a sham. I love Duncan,” you protest.

“Then why are you here, selling out his family just for a chance to fuck me? You’re not much better than I am.”

“I don’t think I’ve told you anything yet. Besides. It’s not his real family… as you say.”

“No. You haven’t told me anything I didn’t already know. But I haven’t fucked you yet either, have I?”

“Touché.”

“Come over here,” she beckons, leaning against the desk and once again it strikes you where you are - the fucking Oval Office. Are you seriously going to have sex in the Oval Office? Conservatives would be disgusted by this (although it wouldn’t be the first time this office was defiled). “Don’t look so scared now. You can’t back out at this point.”

You nod, trying not to look as nervous as you feel and walk the few steps over to her, your legs inches from hers. God, you’re practically dying from the anticipation alone.

“Does Duncan ever tell you how beautiful you are?” She asks. You’re absolutely shellshocked. There’s no trace of sarcasm in her voice.

“Sometimes,” you murmur.

“Just like men to not appreciate what they have.”

“Mm. Frank didn’t appreciate you, Claire? Didn’t make you feel good? I would. If you were my wife I’d make you come every fucking day,” you say, and boldly you decide to punctuate that statement by pressing your lips to hers.

Mistake. Or maybe not, you don’t know.

Her hands tangle in your hair and you feel her stand up, press against you firmly before backing you into the desk, pushing you onto it until your back is flat on the wood, and she’s hovering over you, her lips ghosting yours.

“I’m a hard woman to please,” she reiterates and you realize she never fucking lost her breath while you feel like the wind was knocked out of you. “I’m ambivalent about attention in general. But look at you, whore. You crave it, don’t you? Just want someone to tell you that you’re a good girl... oh, look at you squeeze your thighs together. Are you wet for me, slut?”

“Why don’t you see for yourself?” You ask, spreading your legs slightly for her.

She shakes her head, her straight platinum locks shifting as she does so, brushing against your face. “See? You’re not a good girl. You’re a dirty filthy whore and you just don’t know when to shut that whore mouth or close your fucking legs.”

You stay silent - you’re not sure what to do now. Do you antagonize her, push her further, see if it will rile her up again? Or do you try and kiss her again?

Claire has other ideas. “Beg,” she hisses in your ear. “Get down on your knees and beg for me.”

—- and I am evil and ending it there! Plz let me know if I should continue this!

[notyixiangs]

also the fact that all of this is inexcapable (because scientifically you can’t Not Have a Body) is insane to me. like i didnt consent to having a body. i was born with this and now i’m stuck with it forever & now people can see it and think shit about it and DO THINGS TO IT & there is literally no way to get out & no amount of effort can turn me into that floating cloud of thought and i think that’s so unfair… i want to share meaningful ideas with people and form deep connections based on our interests but to get to that point there’s this ineradicable barrier of The Body that everyone has to overcome & theres nothing i can physically do, like it’s a giant trap i physically can’t cut myself out of without some sort of divine intervention because whatever the fuck ordained that conscious beings should have a body also made it into a thing they can’t survive without… it’s like they (god or some random stochastic process of the universe or whatever) caged u in a box without asking and threw out the lock idc it’s horrific

actually yeah this makes me rly pissed off idk my perception of my body is fucked up on so many levels i don’t want people to take one look at me and automatically assume im something that i’m not (a girl) so i want to remove my tits or whatever but it’s not like i want to be a man either. it ends up manifesting as me being “agender” but it’s more like i want to be a blank slate. & i mean being invisible sucks but id rather be invisible & go entirely unperceived than be perceived as something i’m not… but then since being an invisible cloud is impossible i’m also more inclined to want to appear masculine purely out of spite (bc i don’t want to have the body i’ve been given, i’ll go to the other extreme just to prove a point even if its not something i necessarily want either if i had total choice). it’s actually so icky because it ties into my ED wherein i’ve tried to just make myself as grossly unperceivable as possible as well as use it as a way to shrink the feminine features i have. & then it ties into me being aro/ace / pretty sex repulsed because i don’t want to be seen as attractive. ever. especially not to straight men so i want to get rid of any physical part of me that even makes me remotely appealing to them

i wish we would form less opinions based on appearance but i can’t even say that bc i’m a culprit of it too so id be hypocritical but i feel like thats also inevitable bc the human mind will automatically form connections based on what it sees, which is what makes this all the more annoying to think about. it all just adds to the inescapability, & even if i want to say “let’s be more lenient to each other and not form so many judgments on someone based on first/surface-level impressions,” it’s not really a behaviour we can wholly control & fully remove ourselves from. (especially given that nothing’s in a vacuum & we live in a society that has conditioned us to believe certain things since birth. like, i think we all have bigotry it’s just that a lot of the times it’s unintentional/subconscious & sometimes you aren’t even aware of your own prejudices, & the brain will inevitably form associations based on the patterns it’s been exposed to/the environment it’s been raised in)

just the mere fact that i have a body is actually such a horrifying concept if i think about it carefully, because i want to be a collection of thoughts or a floating cloud or just a jar of ideas wired to a network where i can connect with other jars of ideas… why do i have to have this painfully tangible & visible sack of meat and flesh that people can see and make (often incorrect) judgments/assumptions about. it’s the first thing people would notice about me whether i like it or not, even though i wish people would form opinions about me based on my thoughts and not how i look or what gender i look like or how attractive i am or how “disciplined” i appear (iykwim by this)

[phoenixfire-thewizardgoddess]

So, I always wanted to know a bit more about Wands in the harry potter universe. Given that they are so central to life, it would be nice to have a bit more info.

The wood - we know there's like 4/5 different types of wood they choose, and they're all things they can get in region. Does that imply then that aussie wizards could have wattle, eucalyptus, or other local trees?

What about trees native to the region, JK? TELL ME

How do they choose the tree. Do they have to come from a specific place, or do wandmakers need to wander through magically inclined forests until a branch falls off into their hands, or what?

Is there like commercial plantations of these trees, to feed the constant need for all the children constantly coming into their power?

What does that look like? What are the hazards? Can the place get infested by bad magic or what? Pesticides or no?

So they find the tree, next step? Is it just like 'yes, dibs that branch' and that's it, or do they take the whole tree? What are their conservation policies?

Or do they need to do a spell, or use a ritual or something before/during/after harvesting?

Crafting... how do they know what length and shape to make for each piece of wood? Like, is it like when artists make statues and they can already see what is inside the marble/wood, etc.? Or do they just make as many randomly shaped wands as they can for each one... is there a magial equivalent of a lathe? Or is this all by hand?

How do they choose designs, assuming the wand isn't calling out to them? Like, some are delicately patterned, and the elder wand was straight up a**l beads???

Are there variations based on the shop, the wandmaker and the region?

The core - apart from the main question of how they get the core in there (drill a hole and slip it in? make it into a potion and soak the wand? lay it on the crafted wand and it disappears in a show of magic?), and if this is done before or after the wand is shaped... You have to think it's a little fucked up the way they go about it, right?

Standards are like, Unicorn hair, Phoenix Feathers (Rare) and Dragon Heartstring, right?

Well how the fuck do they get these things without unethical commerical farming? Unicorn hair is easy enough, you have a herd of them on a ranch protected from bad guys or whatever (and centaurs are lobbying against it bc what the fuck magical people) and most of the strands can be picked up from where they catch / fall out by fences, in the paddock, in the barn at night, etc

But what if they just pluck them. I mean, there are places that live-pluck birds for the feathers, which is fucked up, and we know magical people see any magical creature or half-human as lesser...

Assuming things are totally ethical, best case is that the unicorns lose a bit of mane or tail hair every so often and it is sourced from the field. Worst case, they are trapped in stalls all day every day and shaved beyond acceptable (look up horse tails, it's not all hair) to the detriment of the animals...

Ideally, but more impracticably, the wandmakers could wander through the forest and meet at a certain place with wild herds. They bring the carrots, the unicorns hand over a few strands once a year...

\I know unicorn cores are meant to be harder to turn to the dark arts but like... what if the unicorns are upset, stressed and angry? You'd think that would turn on them, right?

Phoenix Feathers... well they're rare. I think they probs have to get it willingly, or it doesn't work. Wasn't that in the books somewhere? But it wouldn't have to be. I mean, they're an immortal resource... even if you mistreat a phoenix, it cant escape in death.

You just have to wait a bit for it to regrow, and there's probs spells to help speed that up. I mean, look how the world treats chickens (caged), would it be that hard for magical society (with fewer animal oversight committiees and laws) to pull some nonsense...

The dragon cores are the ones that always used to stress me out, as a concept, as a child. Like, there's a LOT of dragon heartstring wands, its common... that implies a lot of dead dragons.

How many hearstrings does the average dragon have, in this universe? Assuming at least four... that's only four wands, maybe eight if they cut them in half and it still works.

So, are they commercially farmed? Is Charlie Weasley complicit in dragon farming with the goal of harvesting the animals for parts? What happened to the dragons from the Triwizard Tournament? Is there a first year with a Special Dragon Heartstring wand?

Also, would they need to prep them specially?

What variations are there, as well? Like these are the main 3, but other countries and places have to have others, or have tried other magical things?

Do you think there are houself ears, or Centaur tendons, or mermaid fins, or kraken tentacles, or niffler claws, or goblin teeth, or redcap blood, in their wands? And it only phased out of common production recently as new protections came in for magical races?

Is there a blackmarket trade for illegal cores and if you have enough it can be 'verified' as a legal core...? There are implications here.

So you have the core, you have the wood, you have the wandmaker who slapped it together and imbued it with magic... you have a wand. Does it do a little sparkle or something when it works?

Are there wands that get to the end of the process and just... fail to work? How do they dispose of them?

Do they put resin or a protective potion/agent on it? They have to last for years, right?

Longevity - So you have a wand your entire life, unless it breaks or it is taken for being a Bad Naughty Little WizardTM... for one, how does the wand choose the person? Even if we slap a 'magic' bandaid on it, there are still more questions about it.

Do you lose your wand if you become impaired? Like, would a magical doctor remove your wand if you got dementia and 'lost capacity'? But then, how would it control your innate magic? The stuff you can do wandless? Off topic.

So you pass away, is your wand typically buried with you? Is it given to a family member? If so, then how does that work because the info the author gave was it was one wand = one person, pick each other etc. Assuming it does bond to that other family member, who is probably young enough to not have their own wand yet... does that mean their perfect wand will never be bought?

If not, what normally occurs? Does the wand get taken by the council Dept of Births, Deaths, Marriages and Magical Incineration to be checked over and reset to 0? Does it get returned to the Wandsmith shoppe who made it, so they can check it is fine to be reused? Does your wand choose another person, who will never know how well it once fit into your hand? The atrocities you committed with it?

How does this system work? Is there magic recycling, or is it all waste...?

Are cores from animals who did not consent at greater risk of turning the bearer evil?

What if your wand breaks... like Ron's did? Like... he had an older relative's wand, so he got a proper wand that matched him. But what if your Perfect Match of a wand is damaged? Why is there no option to have the wand repaired properly...

If humans today would rather die than get a replacement roomba, you have to assume people would be pretty damn attached to their wands... maybe more than usual. Is it about profit? Or can they just not fix it? What are the limitations on fixing a wand, or is it just not considered at all?

Is there... wand insurance?

Like, it feels like there was a lot to talk about...

[writingwithcolor]

White Villainous Cult Leader Uses Fascism to “Correct” Colonialism

The primary antagonist of my series (who is white) is a cult leader who eventually forms a political party that takes over the United States. While in power, he begins targeting specific groups of people; including people with English, Scottish, Welsh, Irish, French, and Spanish ancestry. His hatred comes from colonialism and the atrocities committed against Native Americans. (Other groups he hates are Democrats, Republicans, people with disabilities, and elderly people over 80 for various reasons.)  

My question is, could that be offensive to Native Americans? The first novel takes place in Indiana specifically, the town he was raised in which was once a sacred sight to the Potawatomi Tribe. The Native American characters I introduce will mostly be from the Potawatomi Tribe. I plan to have them all be against the antagonist since I didn’t want to make it seem like Native Americans would support someone like that. 

I don’t want to make it seem like being angry over the treatment of Native Americans is wrong, so I might change why he hates those groups. 

Finally, what are some good websites for information on the Potawatomi people? I found a few online already, I’m just uncertain if they are good or not. 

Thanks for reading :) 

Preface: this submission came without a title. I have chosen this title very specifically because this is what fascism looks like: it does not allow people to thrive, all based off what is in many cases a situation of birth (what ancestry you have, your orientation, your age, many disabilities).

That out of the way.

He is a villain. The Native characters are against his type of “championing”, and he’s seen as wrong. He is shown as a deeply hateful person, and that is good.

What I would suggest:

Have Non-Fascist Decolonizers

The point about how you don’t want people to see decolonizing work as wrong is fairly easy to fix: make it that there are heroic people who want to do decolonial work without falling into fascism.

You’re basically going to have to do this, because you are going to need decolonial work to defeat this antagonist. I’m not sure if you intended it, but this villain is still working within the confines of colonialism and using that power for ill ends. He is, in the end, reinforcing the settler state, instead of decolonizing it (because decolonizing it would mean he didn’t have power anymore, and cult leaders can’t have that).

Make the Fascism Extent to Native People

This one would actually be surprisingly easy to accomplish, because Native identity in its legal sense was designed to wipe us out and is very ahistorical, but someone with his mindset would see it as a gold standard.

Have him outlaw inter-tribe marriages (or even white/Native marriages) because they’re “impure.” Have him forbid cultural diffusion/exchange because that “isn’t how it was” (it was, but try getting white people to listen to that). Have him enforce a bunch of rules based off Noble Savage and the assumption our cultures stopped evolving in the 1700s. Have his understanding of Native peoples be incomplete, based off white supremacy, but masquerading as “helpful.”

Alternatively, or perhaps at the same time, look into the literature around how mixed children will save everyone (The Moonies are a cult with that basis), all the while simply amplifying racial fetishization. He could, for example, encourage everyone to marry into Native tribes to increase the population, so long as they give up their culture… but only certain kinds of people, who won’t “taint” the line.

Basically, make him even more racist, but in ways that look positive but in practice very much are not.

Have Him Appropriate Culture

This might be a little kick-the-dog, but in my experience with cults, they often assume they know more than the peoples they’re taking the principles from. It is extremely white saviour, extremely self-gratifying, and extremely accurate for societal villains.

This would require you to do enough research into the tribe in question to know what the appropriated vs real version would look like, and would require sensitivity readers, but it would be a great way to show that “championing a Native cause” can be for white saviour ends.

But trust me, cults will absolutely do that. Anthropologists do it all the time (I have seen an anthropologist studying BC Natives be upset that sacred symbols were changed because an artist in a different region took artistic liberties with his own culture to make what he felt was accurate), and cult leaders would be even more fanatical over not letting Native people exist as people, instead of dioramas.

On the Potawatomi

So long as the sources are tribe-authored and/or come from scholars that had a known connection with the tribe, you should be alright. Unfortunately I can’t provide much more than that, because I’m not in the region.

All In All

Villains are allowed to be evil, and nasty, and the whole trope of anti-villain exists for a reason. Good motives are still possible to execute wrong, and so long as you have people who accomplish the goals through less hurtful ends, you would be condemning fascism. 

Nothing says he has to actually do right by us, and it would make me more comfortable if he did wrong to us in the name of helping (his ego > actual helping, basically). Part of his villainy is assuming he knows how to do right by us, and that’s an interesting thread to explore.

Others are welcome to share their opinions. 

~ Mod Lesya

[halfrest]

* kaylee bryant, nonbinary + she/they  | you know airi miura, right? they’re twenty-two, and they’ve lived in irving for, like, all their life? well, their spotify wrapped says they listened to blue moon by billie holliday like, a million times this year, which makes sense ‘cause they’ve got that whole aged brandy in a chipped-peter-rabbit-illustrated mug, lipstick stains placed like open wounds, and deeply ingrained guilt in the form of lingering eau d'hadrien thing going on. i just checked and their birthday is february 7th, so they’re a aquarius, which is unsurprising, all things considered. 

pinterest.

born to surgeon-extraordinary dr. asa miuri and his wife, katherine, airi grew up in the huge, elegant home a little far off from town, close to abernathy creek. it was a bit of a lonesome childhood. her birth was unplanned….a mistake really. the miuris already had a son, many years airi’s senior, who was their pride and joy. the only other occupant of the house was asa’s father who liked things a certain way and most of the household was under his watchful eye. 

emotional abuse tw / katherine was a homekeeper, restricting certain rooms, which were guest-only or adult-only places. there was a certain resentment she held toward airi and it was a sort of prevalent feeling throughout airi’s life. in a way, you could probably view it as jealousy, like katherine saw airi and was like...here’s this girl who has her whole life before her and she’s getting all the things i could’ve never done...either way, it was a fucked up dynamic and their relationship was always cold. / end tw

her dad didn’t provide much emotional warmth either, although he was less in your face -- he was always working at the hospital and was often late. when he came home, he would just drink his wine, get quiet and watch television. her older brother, ren, was off to college, coming home only to be lauded for his accomplishments. 

illness tw, death tw / as for her grandfather, airi doesn’t remember much except that he would lecture on end about various topics, always going on about rules, and then after that, she remembers him tied up to various iv lines and heart monitors in a room located in their home, taken care of by in-home nurses until he passed away. then, things became more lonely because now she didn’t even have him to talk to her at home, at least. / end tw

that being said, airi did live a privileged life. she was given music lessons, could go off to summer camp, and do all those sort of things rich kids do that i’m too lazy to list.<3 they even had a housekeeper so it wasn’t like she was expected to do any chores. airi’s isolation at home did kind of transfer over to her other social prospects unfortunately. she was never the warmest presence and it was simply bc she did not know how to be that kind of person...the way people would hug as they greeted each other...take pleasure in each other’s company n other normal forms of human interaction were just uncomfortable for her. she wanted it so bad, but just didn’t know how to do it. ofc people didn’t know the reasoning behind her distant nature and just assumed she was a pretentious rich c*nt that thought she was just better than everyone else. airi let them think that bc you know...what else was she gonna do. </3

a lot of airi’s life is her trying to figure out where she fits. like she just desperately wants to find her niche but feels like she’s just not Right...she thinks she’s broken in a way </3.... and doesn’t know how to fix that. a part of her thought she’d find herself away from irving and that’s when she went off to college. 

anyway, this year she has been guilted back. her father’s sick, soon to be bound up to ivs and monitors just like her grandfather was (according to her mother). it’s a strange adjustment. these past few yrs airi’s been getting over the sort of fucked up childhood she was put through on one hand but on the other hand...she still hasn’t shaken things completely. let’s see what connections she still has and what’s changed. xoxo gossip girl