#but I am just so disappointed at how much they've fucked up this aspect of the season

[opossumanon]

Asexuality in fanfiction (Please read tags for warnings yall)

The awkward thing about asexuality is that when reading fanfic about a character who's ace, usually the fics I read will either

Make the character not asexual

Has the character be asexual and despises sex (Which leads to that character basically being raped by their romantic interest; seriously this trope happens WAAAAAAAY more often than I'd like)

Maybe occasionally has the character's ace-ness be nuanced, but it only goes as far as "I'm bored by sex but I'm chill with doing stuff to my partner" which only shows one other way to be asexual

This particularly annoys me because I'm asexual. I probably fall into the sex-positive category. The reason I am still ace is because I do experience arousal, I would like to have sexual experiences with others (Wouldn't be the end of the world if I didn't but it's still something I'd like to do), but I don't get "turned on" by other people. Basically if someone who's hot were to walk up to me naked I wouldn't be guaranteed to have a reaction but sometimes I can just be sitting and then suddenly have the urge to do the horizontal mambo. (I know there's probably a micro label for this, I just don't give a shit)

I know my case is rare, I know that aces like me are only brought up to try and excuse asexual erasure (I fucking hate it), but I still can't help but be disappointed that the only options for asexuality (In fanfic) are being 100%, being 0%, being some version of a stone, or being raped.

What about aces like me? What about aces who aren't like me but are still different than the three types listed above?

It's funny too cuz I remember this one fic that had smut between two characters (Consensual and both parties actually enjoyed it), one of which is ace in his original/comic book form, and the writer was all "I feel bad cuz [character] is ace in the comics and us aces get so little rep already" and I'm wondering how the author, who's ace themself, forgot about how asexuality is a spectrum?

You can have an ace character who gets horny and likes sex but just doesn't get turned on by people!

You can have an ace character who doesn't want anything to do with sex 99% of the time, but every once in a blue moon decides they want to roll in the sheets with their partner that night!

You can have an ace character who only gets aroused in specific circumstances, such as how long they've known the object of their arousal for!

Asexuality is such a wide spectrum that includes so much nuance, and seeing fic writers basically spit on it is so disheartening as a writer myself. One of the main ingredients to being a good writer, in my personal opinion, is to be able to take an aspect of your character and explore it/redefine it/expand on it in a way that satisfies the story!!!!

I don't know how to end this post tbh, I just wanna say that asexuality is more than three subtypes and you're allowed to narrow in on certain parts of the spectrum for your character, regardless of how "well-known" that part you're focusing on might be.

[khaopybara]

first and foremost if anyone sees namtanfilm can they please give these to them 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 heartbreakingly beautiful performance 👏🏽😭

I’m not really sure what to say. There were tears. There were tears that were just falling down my face. The entire time.

The two main hits were:

May going to see Ben and then getting on her knees to ask for forgiveness!?!? 😭😭😭😭

THE ENDING WHEN THE TRUTH COMES OUT!? Niagara Falls on my face. 😭😭😭😭😭

I just want to give them all hugs! Get in here oom 🫂 (they’ll never make me hate you), one for you too may 🫂 AND DOUBLE FOR AI 🫂🫂😭😭

sorry i am unable to form any real coherent thoughts over this weeks ep.

-🤫

Wait actually I do have some extremely random thoughts 🙈

-the sibling in me shouted “SMACK HER IN THE BUTT” when oom tried waking up ai to talk with her

-I doubt that oom has ever looked bad a day in her life, just going to see Jan she looked fucking gorgeous 🫠

-no pimpangjan this ep was real bummer

i've always knew gmm has some of the best actresses in their line up. personally, and at least when it comes to qls, i would say they have the best female performers and that became clear to me in 23.5 when i saw milk acting, when i had only ever seen her in bad buddy as ink, and there wasn't much space for her in there, but as ongsa, she really showed what she's capable of. same thing with love, though i had glimpses of her in home school, and ciize who we always see as the funny best friend of gay friends. i don't think i even need to mention view who was fabulous as aylin and won everyone's hearts, too. and even godji who we often see playing cameos or joke characters, and as teacher nida, she just shinned.

i'm really glad we're getting more gls from gmm because these is their chance to showcase how amazing their actresses are. i think that both in pluto and 23.5, both casts talked about how nice it was to be on set where the majority of the cast is female, and just the other day i saw the pluto bts where film asked for namtan so she could get in the mood for an emotional scene and they didn't even need to say a word. she just looked at namtan and just like that, she was into it. these women know their craft and they trust each other.

i want them to get so many awards for their performances bc it's 100% well deserved. they are amazing in this show. and though they've had many scenes that were amazing acting wise, that last scene with may and oon, where they are both crying so much and genuinely sobbing stuck with me the most, too. that was something. i have the impression they weren't supposed to cry as much, but namtanfilm remind me of firstkhao in that aspect, especially when they were in the eclipse, where they couldn't hold back tears if the other one was crying. emotions flows and transfers to the other that easy (and i must say, too, as someone who enjoys both gls and bls, my dream would be to have these four in a project together, but i know for a fact the fandom experience would be hell).

this episode was a lot indeed. i also don't think i have a lot to say other than they made me feel a lot of things.

though i have to say, as someone who also has siblings, i was disappointed at oom's lack of insistence with oon. "oh, but she just woke up from a coma," honey, that's no excuse to not beat your sibling's ass. you're confused and need answers, annoy your older sibling like your life depends on it.

i have a mad crush on oom. idk what that says about me exactly, but maybe i'm attracted to the mean and dangerous types (see our brief conversation about gen). that woman is so pretty regardless if she's at home chilling or going out seeking for answers with her bestie. and namtan has two different types of beauties when playing the twins, it's actually crazy. i love her and i hope she gets many awards for her portrayal of ai-oon and ob-oom.

i really missed seeing throuple shenanigans this episode, too. i thought we'd get them at some point in part 3, but they didn't make it. which only brings me to the conclusion that the pang kissing pim while jan watches will happen next episode bc i can't see them pulling that off in the last episode of the show (though i'd be down for that, i mean, i wish i could see their reactions when they watch it with fans for the last ep fm)

[transpathfinder]

veilguard thots

[massive plot spoilers]

ok i did say i was gonna write up some brief thoughts after i completed but first of all before i start, as a lucanismancer i just want to say any lucanismancer who hates neve kys. you are not affiliated with me don't even speak to me or breathe in my direction. and bioware, idk when u will realise i have 2 hands. 1 is for lucanis 1 is for neve and my spare dick is for spite so just get with the programme

alright that being said... yeah i didn't really like the game much. i think it's easily the weakest DA game, which i consider a pretty big failing since i am not someone who thinks inquisition is good. i had a lot of problem with inquisition's main story and open world, but somehow veilguard's story is. Worse. i don't even have the energy to get into supervillain evil blighted elvhen gods, turning the old gods as stupid little dragon thralls, because obviously, again, nothing pagan or elemental matters, they're not real, they're not godly or saintly or divine, just stupid animals. making the antaam breakaway into this crazed faction you keep fighting cos they absolutely had zero ideas or interest in tying positively into qunari culture you can have a relationship with, it becomes an easy excuse - ''they're not reeeeaally qunari teehee'' first of all, crafting both the antaam and venatori into easily siding with supervillain elvhen gods who want to bring the blight to the world is fucking weak and pathetic excuse for it cos it doesn't even make sense with their goals/ideologies. a very, very cheap entry into the lore, i think lazy and diminishes the world as well the utter thinness of companion background and conversations. i know there's no dialogue wheel, but to me that's a basic aspect of getting to know in-depth background lore about factions, status of the worldstate, different parties' political ideologies and leanings, in standard video game infodumps cos yes this is still a video game, you need to write for it rather than focus on the realism of how conversations play out.... u can't even call solas a monster without morrigan attempting to school you like you're 5. this game wants you to suck solas' dick so bad as if the rest of us from inquisition didn't already peg him as a person who wants to cause genocide. veilguard only told us he already caused it once and now wants to do so again, but in 2 entire games, he is constantly made to be this sympathetic and deep figure that i'm supposed to be enamoured and intrigued by and want to save. why would i want to save this thousand plus year old mf who eradicated a race knowingly!! this game doesn't even give me the opportunity to kill him, i was so disappointed by my 3 choices in the end with him, of which 2 are literally functionally the exact same. there's no way i was gonna redeem this piece of shit even though i had mythal's essence peacefully or whatever the fuck yeah this other abuser piece of shit is also a hero now that morrigan carries lmafoo give me a break. all da2 did was demonise anders over and over again, and again in inquisition. these chars are not even in the same universe of ''crimes they've committed'' and yet, the disparity in writers sucking one dick and trying to get u to hate the other is crazy. i hate white liberals soo much fuck all of you!!!! bitchass mfs

which brings me to why i think this game is so thin and written so childishly - it's desperate to be liked. it wants to be liked by the masses sooo bad, that it becomes nothing to me. everyone is sweet, everyone is lovely, all factions are uwu heroes, even antivan crows, who torture and abuse children but hey nvm they're cool heroes now with no nuance. i loved all the crew, but the game makes it exactly so. no difficult stances to combat, nothing akin to any previous DA game, where there's at least a companion or 2 people would find their nerves fray over, which is the point. this is the only game that feels so typically found family where everyone loves each other, because it's deliberately made to be that way. a child's idea of big threats and saving the world and everyone happy in traditional hero centric journey with a team.

BUT EVEN THAT... it doesn't commit to it fully, because it so desperately also wants to teach u a lesson on how not everyone can survive this. so... yeah... harding died in my pt, and u know what? i felt nothing until the credits rolled. cos i straight up thought it wasn't real and we'd just get her back later. like she got stabbed and fell into the pit and i felt zero emotion cos i was like o okay she's injured we'll wait for this cutscene to end and next bit we'll look into a new sub-quest for finding her or something cos ofc i had already completed all personal quests, there's no way she would die unless the player didn't do it. and until the credits rolled i didn't believe she had cos i was just so stumped this game even pulled that... imagine the heartbreak and betrayal players who romanced her would have felt? it's soo shitty wtf... no idgaf how ''unrealistic'' it is everyone survives. this is a video game built off fun rp-ing and romances, which is a core bioware feature. you don't write romances and entice people on that front and then turn around and pull this shit. my god i'd have been livid but by then i was ready for the game to end so i already found myself semi-exhausted by the experience since i was maxed out at level 50 and already clocked in over 120++ hours taking my time with it slowly. certainly not something i binged through

it's not a horrible game... i do think the linear playstyle and the no death toggle was critical in my getting through it. i love the deviation from open world, and obviously, the lucanis romance really carried me through cos i adore the character and very much fell in love with him and the romance... and while like i said, i do love the crew as a whole, i can't shake the feeling away that it's an empty game void of classic DA mannerisms of choices and conflict of prior entries that i have strong memories of. i don't hate it and i'll still replay it in future if i do a DA run, but it hasn't captivated me enough. i may sound very angry in this write up but honestly i'm pretty chill in my explanation and thoughts about disliking this game. it's nothing to me. this DA game feels so bitchless and sauceless with no identity apart from ''wow i hope everyone loves this game i'm making this as palatable to for mass consumption as possible'' from hero to weak basic story to lack of imports from earlier games to classic hack-n-slash combat. definition of mid.

[ncutii-gatwa]

i share your thoughts completely! the sambecca and the tedbecca, oof. just, why? why do this? i am kinda okay with none of it being truly canonized at the end but not within this type of context they presented.

and jamie... oh, our poor jamie. i refuse to accept that last part as canon, i do not care, it just does not fit into anything else they've set up for him as a person. i am closing my eyes and covering my ears, i do not take input from the ted lasso creators on jamie any longer. also, when roy saw jamie and keeley talk and hug, and then he immediately invited jamie to out to get drinks, jamie so happy they're friends (!), only to then ambush him with this dumbass demand to stay out of his [roy's] way... and then the video mention... like they put so much time into building this royjamie friendship, and keeley has always been an aspect of that due to their past. but they've resolved respectfully ages ago! it just felt shitty to the characters and their friendships, honestly.

i understand your feelings on roykeeley <3 somehow the execution of their breakup and aftermath fell so flat to me that i somehow lost interest in it immediately at the start of s3?? i know it was hinted at the end of season 2, but i thought we would actually get to see them have problems and at least try to work things out for a bit? their talks have been so strong in the previous seasons... simply the fact that it was not even really explained why they broke up until much later threw me off emotionally. and how keeley did the same thing with roy that she did with jamie – break up, sorta move on from him to somebody else, have one last one-night-stand, and then remain friends. idk. especially how she talked to rebecca afterwards, about how you have to feel really low to get back to an ex who treated you badly etc, and it was all set up to say that this is essentially what keeley was doing with roy? because she was down about her company. not sure if i'm making sense but it did not feel hopeful or emotional and deep anymore, and i was so disappointed... when shandy was first introduced as one of the many friends who married football players, i legit thought that the season would end with a roykeeley marriage LMAO. oh, how wrong i was.

sorry for rambling sksksksks i also had no chance to really let out my thoughts, pls ignore this if it's too long! i send a hug and blindfolds for everybody who is in the ignoring canon era <3

again i totally agree with you! i did ship tedbecca a little but i dont care that much that they don't end up together. i feel like they're good as friends or partners. it doesn't really matter to me which cause they work well together and have a good relationship between them. kinda annoyed the writers faked us out with it though.

i thought more was going to come of shandy tbh. i liked her and thought we were going to get more of her and maybe a whole revenge thing that went through the season but apparently not.

really in my head roy and keeley never broke up and roy was already going to therapy, jamie doesn't forgive his dad cause fucking hell why should he (another thing the writers did jamie wrong on), and the team won the league. but that's too boring i guess.

dont be afraid to keep talking to me more about the show if you want to id love to chat about it too :) xx

[laveyanist]

Final Fantasy XVI Ramblings~! (spoilers)

I'm not done with the game yet, a little over 50% of the way through so I might mute this in case someone sees it and feels a need to say 'so and so dies at the end' or anything like that because people are incapable of just letting people enjoy things on their own but- (here's your warning, this has started to get long as I'm writing it. Basically a disorganized essay.)

TL;DR w/o spoilers - the game has heavy left-wing political themes that I'm enjoying but really hoping they don't undermine in the late-game.

This game has been absolutely fucking insane. Like, in all the best ways, but first and foremost has been how HEAVILY political it is?? And unapologetically communist to boot? Holy fuck. I don't know how many games in the series were this political, the only one I've ever finished was XV so I can't speak on this being a prescient theme throughout the entire franchise or just a part of XVI and VII.

Having a literal commune run by a violent anti-imperialist who they very cleverly turned into a direct reference to the Punk subculture as a main character? Genius. (There's a line of dialogue, maybe it was his actual nickname as well, where Cid refers to himself as Cid The Vicious... Y'know, Sid Vicious.)

The very direct killing of the planet by the mass exploitation of its resources is nothing new to the series, VII being the first to come to mind, but it's definitely interestingly more prescient than ever, but also a lot more on-the-nose this time around. Normally I'd criticize that aspect of it, but it's pretty necessary with how media illiterate I've noticed people becoming... Plus I'm really looking forward to whenever it is the game sends me into an area that's succumbed completely to the Blight (I think that's what it's called) because it established early on that magic doesn't work there, and that sounds like foreshadowing.

I'm a bit worried that by the time the game ends, it'll undermine the revolutionary spirit it seems to foster by turning Clive into some form of 'look at this everyone, he's going to be corrupted and lose his way, iPhone Vuvuzela 100 trillion dead' communist caricature. It'd be pretty disappointing to build this narrative about revolting and breaking the shackles of exploitation by the ruling class and undercutting it at the last minute. Clive's dialogue sometimes feels like it's a potentiality, as they've made a point to engage with the reality that before anything get's better it's going to get much worse for the exploited class during this revolution, but it could also be used to vilify him in the narrative as well.

"Though every soul in the realm may judge my actions heresy, I am certain my cause is just." - a line that sent a chill through me and honestly can be read as foreshadowing a brutalist reign, or just accepting that he'll be viewed as Guevara or Castro or any other revolutionary who the west vilifies for the struggles of their countries after we sanction the fuck out of them.

(Also, this is a bit of theorycraft but the abilities map being a big circle that's slowly being surrounded by each eikon I gather the problem from, and the nickname of Mythos given to Clive has me speculating that Clive's eikon isn't Ifrit. Clive is gathering power to become the Knights of the Round. I really really hope that's what their going for and if so they did a really good job setting up that reveal!)

[rose-m4ry]

˚ ༘♡ ⋆｡˚ ❀ September 2. 2024.

"Cause when a dog eats dog, it's a serious thing! For a material girl with immaterial swing."

Done ˚ ༘♡ ⋆｡˚ ꕥ

♥︎ Filipino: summarized two folk tales

♥︎ Other: Read Chapter 4-6 of The Setting Sun by Osamu Dazai

I hadn't finished much, if anything at all today, but I did work on my Filipino notes for about 2 hours, so despite not having crossed anything off my list, I consider today well-spent. I felt good and I'm just trying to move along and work with time instead of against it. I'm probably overestimating myself and setting my goals too high, which is what's leading to my constant disappointment.

With the suspension of classes, I have more time to catch up and finish my notes. I took a different approach and started from the hardest thing to summarize from the list of folk epics, since I figured that doing it when my brain was most active and awake would help me tackle it better. It felt much easier to go through it first rather than the other way around, so I'll be doing that a lot more often.

Contrary to my last update about trying out illustrations on the side of my note-taking, I couldn't find the opportunity for it since I'm very space efficient with my notes. It feels wrong not to use the available space for the text, but who knows, maybe I'll find it in myself to do soon. There's also the aspect of not knowing how to do it in the first place, so maybe in my free time, I could figure it out? :]

I know I talk a lot about studying and school work on this blog, but I barely speak of the things I've learned— which I feel like should be important, especially if I'm proving that I really do care and haven't just been mindlessly writing it all down. It's unnatural for me to speak in-depth about personal things at all, but if I end up being uncomfortable, then I'll just private this and never do it again.

The current things I'm learning from my Filipino subject are on the various "Awiting-Bayan," which are Filipino folk talkes. A good portion of them weren't properly recorded due to Spanish colonialism, being replaced with Spanish literature in an attempt to prevent the natives from developing their own literature, and in turn, independence. Things like this are what reminds me of how important literature is for revolution.

It's relevant with what I've been hearing lately about parents pulling their children out of school, isolating them and having full control over their education in fear that they'll develop critical thinking and go against them. Depriving someone (or a group) of knowledge makes it easier to manipulate and condition them, which is fucking terrifying in the context of what I'm seeing today.

It's getting late, so if the rest of this entry is incomprehensible or choppy, then I'm sorry lol.

Some other things I've wanted to mention are how folk tales can reveal certain things about the time period, culture and area from which they've emerged from. The ones inside my Filipino textbook are confusing so I tried to find out if there's any more explanations on other sites, but have only come up with more questions and confusion!!!

I am very curious as to what inspired these stories, particularly a Bisayan folk tale I've found most vexing (Buod ni Labaw Donggon) because the story came off as chaotic, and the moral was much harder for me to figure out than the rest. I have a feeling that the author of the textbook had also begun to lose the idea of the plot as well due to the questions becoming increasingly simplistic. (Example: What was the role of X character?)

There was another folk tale that was a bit more vague, but I enjoyed nonetheless, and it's "Buod ng biag ni Lam-ang" which is an Ilocano story about a man who avenges his father's death. The ending where he bathed in the river and killed all the fishes from the sheer amount of blood that resulted from his battles was chefs kiss. He ends up destroying a mountain and the house of the girl he'd been in love with with his magical dog and rooster, and yes, he does rebuild the house with the magical rooster, but I feel like it's such a cool story on how Lam-ang then switched to using destruction for everything after spending his whole life avenging his father's death.

But aside from the stories in my textbook, I read an interesting article a while back on Tricksters in Philippine mythology being a product from the fantasy of overcoming colonial rule through wit. I feel like that perfectly encapsulates the idea of how mythologies- and generally, stories, relate to their time periods and contexts. I hadn't fully read the article as it was paywalled (if I remember correctly) but it was such an interesting thing to think about.

There is also the matter of folk tales being written and told before the emergence of Science as a way to explain the mystery of the surrounding world, and this is something I've heard of in Greek Mythology and certain myths about celestial bodies and islands.

I think it's a massive fucking bummer that most Filipino folk tales weren't properly documented, I always get frustrated thinking about how little there is on pre-colonial Philippines due to erasure so that is something I'd like to research when I have the opportunity.

I wanted to talk more about The Setting Sun, but it's getting extremely late so that'll have to come in the next entry. I'm not sure if it's just me but I have a tendency to type and yap for too long, this entry took me over an hour to finish? Wild. Well, that's about it. I'll yap again tomorrow.

[zzoomacroom]

"I am vaguely afraid that if the show takes any darker turns, the fandom will revolt because the characterizations have strayed so far from some aspects of the canon."

Oh god, I hope this doesn't happen. Please, we can't let this turn into another Izzy Canyon situation, you guys!

But while we're on this topic, I just want to recommend an older fic where their characterizations are much closer to what they're like in the comics, and it actually addresses some of the uglier sides of the characters and the fucked up things they've done:

I'm not sure if the author is on tumblr, but I know they have been shipping them since long before the show came out so they have a lot of amazing fics that characterize our boys much differently from what we're now used to seeing in this fandom. It's refreshing to go back and read stuff like this that isn't influenced by all the fanon/headcanons that have built up over the past year, and I think it's a good starting point for any authors who are trying to get away from that.

Don't get me wrong, I love the headcanons and the fluffy AUs as much as the next person! But you're right, it is easy to forget how different and how much darker they both are in canon, and I think it's important for us to keep that in mind so we're not disappointed the next time Hob shows up on the series and doesn't act like our soft bisexual blorbo boy.

A cursory glance at the current makeup of Dreamling fics coming out this day shows a preponderance of AUs that range pretty far from the source material, human AUs or stories where otherwise Dream and Hob aren’t “Dream of the Endless, eldritch being” and “Hob Gadling, immortal medieval peasant”.

That sort of AU is not really the sort of thing I personally enjoy reading (except in rare circumstances, like by a particular author), I’m more of a “slight canon divergence at most” person. But I completely understand that a year out from the show’s release this is sort of the natural evolution of where fandom tends to go with a ship in search of fresh material to explore.

But I’m a perverse and contrary creature, especially as a fandom writer. I see a popular trope and can’t resist trying to do the opposite or turn the assumptions involved on their head somehow, especially if they begin to calcify as sort of “accepted fanon”.

So skimming over some of the latest summaries enough to get a sense of these trends really makes me want to return to the source material and then some. I’ve been fascinated by the idea of trying to pull a bit more of Dream and Hob’s rougher, more stoic energy from the comic into my fics. I want to give the sense of physicality of a Hob who knew life as a medieval soldier and bandit. I want some of the forbidding otherworldliness of a Dream who is truly the god-king of a shadow realm of nightmares, his power over mortals unquestioned save by his own scruples and certain unknowable cosmic laws. And for them to be insanely into each other because of this, not necessarily in spite of.

Don’t get me wrong, I love the softness and fluff as much as anyone and I read the heck out of it. But I think for my own part because I gravitate towards writing softness and affection between them even in spite of my intentions to write a more historically and eldritchly informed characterization, it will be an interesting challenge to mentally set the bar a little further back into their rougher more forbidding comic selves as a starting point from which to get there.

[inmyarmswrappedin]

Saw a gifset where Mailin's mom asked who Mailin thought she was that she thinks she can sort out literature, and just ughhh. I hate the way this plot has been handled, beginning to end. I think the topic is relevant and I also feel like the renewed attack on "political correctness" (which was also a big topic in the 90s) is another sign of the recent rise of fascism and reactionary politics.

The thing is, the storyline was introduced under a faulty premise, because Mailin chose to analyze the Goethe poem for her final exam. And then she acted as if she'd been forced to or there was no other option if she wanted to pass the exam. And after this, it's been lacking in nuance and dialogue at every step of the way. I actually don't believe there's enough room in what's left of the season to introduce a proper discussion into the topic, but even if they did, what would be the point when everyone's positions (Mailin's, the school's, the mom's) have been so inflexible up to this point?

I am generally of the opinion that cultural objects (books, movies, music...) shouldn't be disposed of wholesale, but rather:

discussed in their historical context.

provided with additional context. Let's say you've assigned Robinson Crusoe, a dreadfully racist text. You can bring historical sources to help the students understand why the portrayal of Friday and the Savages is racist, help humanize them, help put their behavior in context with sources that explain their customs and culture.

discussed from our vantage point and through within post-colonial, anti-capitalist, intersectional feminist, queer, anti-racist(, etc?) frameworks.

However, there are times when a cultural object isn't appropriate for certain audiences, like, say, high school students, and that is also a valid option. Before the internet, it was seriously difficult to find a copy of The Anarchist Cookbook, a book that encourages middle America to learn to manufacture explosives, weapons, phreaking devices and drugs such as LSD, in order to bring the USA back to 18th century conditions. I believe this book has value when it comes to understanding the mind (and strategies) of far right US militias, but does it need to be studied at a high school level? Uh, no.

I think my opinion on this issue is fairly nuanced, even though I haven't touched on the topic of trigger warnings (which brings with it issues of access to education for students suffering from PTSD and other MI) in this particular post. And yet I'm sure other people have things to add, points in which they agree or disagree with me. As I said, this is a very complicated, yet hugely relevant topic today.

But you wouldn't know from watching Druck. The positions are: destroy the books Mailin doesn't like, do the final exams exactly as we prepared for them in class, or we have already sorted books into appropriate and inappropriate and Mailin(/teens) have no insight to offer on this topic.

It is hugely frustrating and I wish the writers hadn't touched this topic if they didn't intend on fostering discussion (which they clearly did not because the positions they've portrayed are so unmovable and uncritical). I genuinely believe that the storyline as portrayed this season is only going to make viewers be less interested in analyzing media, less interested in listening to other people's perspectives, and less willing to question mainstream values and culture

[high-pot-in-noose]

Aaaaand I am once again seeing AO3 hate on my dash. Because of their donation drives. Apparently, people should be giving money to that person rather than a volunteer-run free public resource. Oh, and AO3 peddles CP, too (*sarcasm)! So that person "hopes everyone who donates to AO3 fucking dies"!

One of my mottos is 'don't expect anything from people other than what they've already shown you; that way you'll never be disappointed', but I still find myself inexplicably let down.

Listen, y'all. It's okay to make posts requesting some funding when shit in your life gets expensive. That's understandable, and no one should look down on anyone who does so — world's fucked right now. There's no shame in asking for help.

What isn't okay demanding other people spend their money on you rather than something they want for themselves because you think you're more deserving and morally-correct. Tokenizing aspects of your identity (announcing you're a certain race and/or some variation of queer) like you're a rare Pokemon rather than a person that should be treated like another person as anyone should be for the sake of some abstract 'deserving' standard and to specifically induce guilt is demeaning to others who share your aspects, and is just straight up insulting to everyone involved. And then to also say a charity-funded, public-access, community-run library is less deserving than you? Because it contains things that any library worthy of being called a library contains? (Which is still not CP and never will be, no matter how much you scream it!)

You are an insult to everyone who's ever supported you, to every innocent bystander who happens to be somewhat similar to you.

[fallingnebulae]

sorry to all but the like three people who follow me for minecraft but here's some mc live thoughts because holy shit

this is all off the top of my head btw so if i miss anything that's not my problem

the deep dark

holy shit. like i don't even have words for this just holy shit? the abandoned cities overgrown by the skulks and whatever... genuinely horrifying, i love it. and like? all the ideas of stuff to do with noise sensing blocks? the fact that you can break blocks for xp? i'm genuinely so overwhelmed by all of this and particularly with the warden incredibly excited for the whole new aspect this adds to minecraft - vanilla minecraft has never really had a sort of "this area is dangerous and everything wants to kill you and you need to be super super careful" area - even the nether and end are pretty chill if you have gold armour and have killed the dragon

but this?

the deep dark is like, endgame content. you can have all the gear in the world and you just need to be super super quiet and sneaky, and even with endgame items you're fucked if you wake up the warden. it's horrifying and stupidly awesome and i am really really excited for it

and smth else is that the cities have loot in them, and tbh? i'm a little bit disappointed by what was shown, iirc it was very similar to what you'd find in like a regular dungeon? i could be wrong but i feel like bastions and definitely end cities have far better loot for, really, less risk - but idk that could be wrong

swamps

so with swamps we're getting new trees, new wood & leaves, mud blocks (including bricks) frogs (!!!!!!!) and chest boats

the trees? super cool, but honestly there's something that puts me off with them - they don't seem really that vanilla. something that annoys me with a lot of plugins that allow for "custom world gen/realistic world gen" is that it makes worlds look, well, cool, but really difficult in a survival situation. in mc the simplicity i feel like is a core part of vanilla mc, the ability to go to a desert and just dig up a fuck tonne of sand without crashing into bits of sandstone and cobble that are there purely for aesthetics, and in forests trees are easy to cut down and simply shaped. mangroves are going to be a pain in the arse, i feel like, to cut down, and i think they've kind of sacrificed the simplicity of vanilla mc for aesthetics here - all well and good for mobs, but i'm not a fan

the wood itself is just ugly - it's a mix between acacia and jungle and i'm really, really not a fan of it - honestly i wish we'd get more colours of wood that are like, a wee bit less realistic. my favourite wood of all time is willow which i think is in biomes o plenty? and idk i think a green or a white one, while not necessarily realistic, toe the line pretty well between minecraft's realism and lack thereof, while also giving us a block that we've not actually had before. i'm pretty meh on the leaves though, they're whatever

mud!!1 oh my god i LOVE the mud blocks and bricks, i love how they'll fit in so well with so many colour palettes - soul soil and mud at the bottom of a river would look incredible, and the new renewable clay mechanism is sick as well, and could probably make getting terracotta a lot easier if you don't have a mesa nearby. the mud bricks on their own are awesome but the different texture to normal stone bricks makes me feel like there's going to be some amazing pathways bc of this addition

frogs??? i don't have much to say about these apart from Oh My God I Am In Love, but they also kind of make me wish that mojang would go back and update some of the simpler mob textures just a wee bit - i feel like there's such a stark difference between like polar bears and frogs and foxes compared to cows and zombies and pigs. idk though they're awesome and they eat fireflies!! jsdfhsdhdf that's a) v cute and b) oh my god lighting??? the lighting you'd be able to do with possible firefly jars??? and candles? i could cry

chest boats are pretty cool i don't rly have much to say on them tbh

also as an added end note i wasn't there at the start of the live but i do like the new generation in the world of caves and mountains and stuff, and i don't rly remember what was said about this but the concept art shown of birch forests was also rly cool but yeah not much thoughts on that just thumbs up

[alrightsnaps]

Re your last answer, I agree. I didn't even care about bton before SA was casted. I'm not a fan of the show, I like kanthony (I like the dynamic of the characters, I find the book a tad unbalanced but I like their banter, in general I find the shows writing lacking under many aspects but thank God for fanfictions authors, right? ) but it's not like I am a fan of jb so if they aren't giving SA nothing to work with well it's not like I'll keep watching. I can accept having "crumbs", a little scene here and there but after yesterday well...they are really showing how much they care not about a fictional character but a real person. And it makes me sad because she was always so gracious and seemed genuinely excited and they kept using her as a "bait", look how different is our show! We have wocs as leads! And like someone said before me the other actors/actresses continuously posting and reposting that video, and SA's radio silence is telling. Manifesting an announcement of sorts from her team ... Rege style.

There was a big influx of fans with Kate's casting and it only grew the closer we got to the premiere (not to mention afterwards!). I'd constantly come across posts or asks by people who either watched s01 and weren't much into it or hadn't watched the show at all and wanted to give it a go because of Simone, asking if Kate and Anthony's story was any good, if their book can be read as a standalone etc

Getting to experience all the stages of excitement in the fandom (waiting for Kate's actress to be announced, celebrating Simone's casting and seeing how much it meant for woc fans to have two darkskinned Indian girls as Kate and Edwina, getting the first paparazzi pics and then the tudum clip)... there was so much excitement I'd never have guessed we'd end up here

I don't know if it's just me because I hadn't watched any Shondaland shows (minus still star crossed) but before s02 pr began I fully trusted the production with TVWLM. Seeing what they'd done with TDAI I thought we'd get something similar– some changes sure, but maintaing the basic elements of the story, centering the protagonists and the romance etc. And with the blueprint of Phoebe and Regé in mind I was sure we'd get this with Simone and Jonathan.

I still can't believe how the hell we went from Simone being announced as the female lead of the most popular book in the series to her being treated like a side character. And I should be used to disappointment by now but damnit, how do you see the huge success Kathony became on socials and the attention Simone has been getting on Hollywood and double down on erasing her?!

I hope she keeps being silent about the s03 video. She's been nothing but kind and humble and all they've done is disrespect her time and time again.. Since she probably can't speak until she's off the show the least she should be afforded is not having to play cheerleader to people who are hellbent on sidelining her and her character.

I can't wait to see her booked and busy and I wish she could afford to tell Shondaland to fuck off (not sure how the show's contracts work but if it happens it would be GLORIOUS).

[protagonistheavy]

Hmm thoughts about anime culture and porn addiction.

Im facing some reality checks lately and yeah, Ive really developed a distaste for loli culture that Im going to have to distance myself from lists of characters I used to like. It's plainly hard to harbor affection for characters that are, ultimately and unfortunately, being directly designed to appeal to pedophiles -- even if my interests are innocent enough, if its an aesthetic appreciation of the character or whatever, there really is a line where I have to be an adult and admit that Im turning a blind-eye towards a very gross culture.

Recently one of those wake-up calls was the newest Koume content on Idolmaster, which features her as a bride. I wish my disappointment could be felt through the internet because I really did sigh sooooo hard lol. Just... what whiplash, the excitement of realizing a favorite character is getting new official art and content or whatever, only to quickly see that it's depicting them as some sort of child-bride. It grossed me out, but even grosser honestly is seeing everyone else just... uncritically admire the art. The same way I probably would have a few years ago.

It's really gotten me to wonder a lot about the anime community, just how deep this goes. I think there's a culture in anime that's very proud about deviancy, and not entirely unlike how you see deviancy be embraced in other adult sectors -- like LGBT+ communities and furry communities. For many people, it appears to be an outlet to "let go" of normal social restraints and immerse oneself into fantasies that are otherwise repressed. And these fantasies range far and wide, not just fetishes or wanting to fuck monster girls, but also nostalgia, which is very powerful with the anime community. So much anime appeals to the nostalgia of being young again, but this time, being important and wiser, or asking the girl out, or having sexual romps that you thought everyone else was enjoying in high school -- an entire genre is dedicated to people, often "losers", dying in the real world and being reincarnated in a fantasy world full of hot women. In the anime community, there's so much interest over even the most mundane interactions, no stone left unturned to sexualize. Cleaning a classroom? Make it sexy. Reading a book? Make it sexy. Clocking into work? Make it sexy. And I understand why people are drawn to this appeal, when so many people within the community feel sexually repressed, unloved, they feel like they've already "missed out" on their best years, they "missed out" on the chances to have crazy harems and make outrageous friends-with-benefits.

... It's porn addiction. It's a culture of porn addiction. And within anime, it has seeped into everything. And so with that considered, it's very difficult to continue even indirectly supporting the most blatant pedo behavior. Like, lol, who can convince me that the child-bride Koume was developed with innocent intent? How can anyone tell me with a straight face that the implication is anything but the fantasy of marrying a 13 year-old? I havent read any of the related dialogue, but I cant help but guess that it only confirms my point, that the appeal is obviously directed to tickle the kind of people who would be okay marrying a middle schooler.

I've had my ups and downs with justifying this kind of stuff with underage characters. I tried squinting and telling myself theyre older, or that whatever Im looking at is fine because I appreciate the aesthetics, not any childlike aspect of the character, or I try to over look the more blatantly nsfw art even though theres plenty of sfw art with implications just as bad. But Ive got to be honest with myself in admitting that this isnt who I am, this isnt what I want to be supporting.

And it sucks, I guess, and it also sounds stupid that I'm "moving away" "from anime" but it really is so simple: there's no way I can trust anime or its extended mediums to not be benefiting pedophiles whenever it has the chance. It's why I can't be assed to even consider watching something like that spy anime, because god knows that pink-haired toddler is getting peoples rocks off -- not just fans, but certainly also the official artists and animators, any storyboard directors, I cant trust any one of them to not have sick intentions behind their handling of a child character, not when its developed in a culture that is unabashedly favorable towards sexualizing children. They dont have to draw anything explicit, it can just be the way they pose her for a scene, or a dialogue bit they make her say, or a dream sequence they insert a fetish into. Like, Im so sick of this lol. Im tired of wading through anime and thinking "oh, well, this scene is definitely written for the porn addicts, I just have to sit through it."

I'm left looking at the SJW-side of anime enjoyers and wondering where theyre going to draw the same line, though. I cant help but think of how widespread this culture is, and how contradictory people can be. Some folks will obviously be disgusted by loli porn, but then happily participate in shota content... Some people will blast your ass for reblogging sexy art of a 17 year-old, but then have their own 16 year-old blorbo that they do fetish RPs with... Some folks would never, ever sexualize a 15 year-old from a Disney cartoon, but are more than fine with 13 year-olds from anime being drawn in bikinis. There's so little consistency, it has always felt like a free-for-all with this discourse. I truly was burned by the fact that so many SJW-types were a-okay with Dragon Maid and its depiction of toddlers engaging in blatant fanservice, so much applause for a cartoon created by an unabashed lolicon just because it had some gay characters -- that told me everything lol, it told me the truth, that pedophilia can just be considered acceptable by anyone, at any point within the community, so long as its to that individual's tastes.

There really does need to be an EXACT discussion about this part of anime culture, but no one wants to engage with it, because virtually everyone would be guilty of having been enamored with an underage character at one point or another. Think of all the porn made of pokemon characters that are implied to be 10-13 years-old canonically, think of all the high school anime characters that rarely go to high school in the first place, think of all the legacy characters from any given person's childhood that they might think is fine to sexualize because it's been 20-30 years. There's so many points and arguments to make, but it truly is a discussion that will just never happen and never be resolved, because ultimately, deviancy is one of the biggest appeals to the anime community -- its a pillar of what "anime culture" is, its why ecchi and hentai are intrinsically linked to most anime spaces, its absolutely a major reason why anime is so popular as it is. To call out deviancy and its implications within the anime community is to prod at one of its base appeals, one of the very core reasons people are into anime to begin with.

I feel like any debate about this topic eventually hits this wall: "why are you trying to take away someone's fun? why are you trying to make something gross?" Thats the strongest virtue of the community. "Just dont take it so seriously" "dont worry about what other people are doing" For so, so many people, it feels like the "point" of anime is to fantasize about all the things youre not supposed to do irl. And I guess Im at a point where I cant keep buying into that lol. I think for many people, their critical awareness has been almost completely dulled down by an addiction to deviant porn that's made them numb to creepy behaviors. Add in a dose of irony poisoning and you have people who openly jerk off to incest loli/shota porn, but tell themselves theyre not ACTUALLY into pedophillic incest because uhh its just anime lol and apparently not at all a reflection of any true self or interests. A culture of porn addiction and unaccountability -- do you see why I just dont want to be so associated with that kind of people?

[browncesario]

i haven’t gotten the chance to listen to Younger Now yet but i really should, i almost feel like a disney channel poser at times cause it’s like “oh i didn’t know that” but you have extraordinary taste so i trust you

i know you’ve probably talked about it before, but if you could how would you write/ direct camp rock 2? are there any elements that remain the same? would it be a complete scrap? would you want to just move on to a third movie and pretend nothing in the second one happened? would it be a shane gray prequel? i want to know all your thoughts! - 🐻

omg thank you?? and yeah the thing about disney channel is that it's like. a tv network. a corporation. so there's SO much and i've cut myself into a very specific niche and know very little about everything else so you are valid.

and this is such a good question pls see under the cut

i've never thought seriously about it before but i am now and i think like. while i think a lot about a shane gray prequel i want it to be a lot edgier than it could be realistically (i have this image of a montage of him partying in different hotel rooms with an ever rotating group of people we've never seen before and another image of him coming back to his hotel room completely trashed after something fucked up happens and jasons there disappointed and resigned like. just go to sleep shane.)

but like a realistic camp rock 2 that actually fits the tone and consistency of the first film i totally think you could do without it being too hard. i think like if you make it mitchie and shane have spent the year trying to spend time together around his schedule and they've done the best they can and have had really good moments and a solid relationship so far but the whole year has been like leading up to it's ok we'll get to spend 6 weeks together uninterrupted and it's very good at first but shane gets some really good offer for somE career thing like that would either require him to leave camp early or maybe he'd decided not to tour again after the last year's one where it was them having to make up the one that was cancelled in the first movie and he's deliberating between this work-life balance before ultimately deciding that the life part is what makes him happy and healthy and for the first time in so long he just wants to Live in all senses of the word.

because like the whole thing with shane in the first movie was the poor little rich kid trope like he's miserable because he has this public life where he's beholden to everyone but himself and he tried his best to escape it while in it and couldn't do it??? and to have it be "no he's fine being famous now <3" when the problem was never actually resolved is unfair to him.

one of the things i really stand by in canon camp rock 2 is mitchie's development since we last saw her. her confidence and radiance is so impactful and absolutely what she deserves. and in the first film she showcases that confidence primarily when she's with shane because the two of them bring out the best in each other partially because the other person needs that aspect of them. but mitchie getting to camp and having a project (unknown. will think. not saving the camp.) and having said project be working with her friends who she barely even talks to in cr2. building on mitchie and caitlyn's relationship through that??

i'd also write tess and caitlyn a lot closer and like taking the time to contrast them and their experiences and caitlyn kinda leading tess to accepting that she doesn't need her mother's approval because she has the approval of her friends.

i like jason working with the junior rockers but you'd have to establish that suddenly there are children at camp when there weren't before. nate i think could join in on whatever mitchie and co. are up to because i think nate and mitchie could be very real friends and especially if mitchie's spent the last year with shane in whatever capacity she'd know him fairly well by now.

i really love the closure to brown's arc in camp rock 2 where he comes to terms with the fact that rose colored glasses lie when he's confronted with what life was actually like when he was in the music industry and i'd like to keep that, so maybe he's part of the shane arc where he's kinda pushing shane to do it in a not heavy handed way bc that isn't his style, but when shane decides to let it go he's like. damn. yeah ok. would probably have him in contact with whoever is offering shane said opportunity (like literally two phone calls throughout the thing, one where he calls shane and one where brown talks to him and could even give the "that's fine i don't want to be in your business" line.)

there's the whole thing with children's media where they respond to a majority of kids polling with "i want to be famous when i grow up" but i think that's unfair to the characters, and i think further that showing that it's not all it's cracked up to be is really valuable. i'm going to keep thinking about this for sure thank you.