#but also the culture of making your own stuff being the norm ? kinda right

[samaspic31]

im so fucking mad about capitalism's devaluation of manual labor (especially financial, hi raise the fucking wages) and expectation to outsource labor, leading to dire exploitation (everyone is exploited, but manual workers especially AND don't get compensated for the toll on their body AND get looked down on unlike white collar workers, all that because making intellectual products is worth 10 times more money i fucking guess). The average person used to have so many more practicak skills and we used to know how make so much more stuff, having people cook, clean, take care of your children and sew for you was the height of luxury for a wealthy woman, depending so much on buying to substain your lifestyle was reserved to the extremely wealthy. People were expected to hold more basic skills outside of a hyperspecific field of their career like today and were allowed to spend time on broad and practical knowledge, and today schools do not even out the playing field because it's still mostly theoric regurgitation (which great, but give all the youngsters a cooking, crafting and sewing class and teach them accounting im begging) making people into highly specific tools relying on buying most of what they don't even think they can make, because disempowered. (this is linked to capitalist shaming of perceived failure and beginners and imperfection but that's a whole other can of worms)

Like for example it was just a given painters made their own paint (or started by making it for their mentor, any way they were taught how), it was considered a necessary first step, a way to understand your medium, and a way no to depend on anyone else or a corporation, and i think a lot of artists are missing that step of having to spend effort on the medium itself. I don't know how my graphic tablet works and i can't make acrylic paint and that's a shame

Like it was always normal for the already rich to leave all physical work to exploited workers but today it's everyone else's case too (at least in the economic north), making your own stuff is a counterculture thing, and even poverty or being an exploited worker eats so much of time that it makes it so buying is necessary and stuff made with exploited labor the only affordable option, fucking vicious cycle

there were deep inequalities with how the teaching of those skills were segregated, which was for which gender and social class, im not saying it was universally good, and women were expected to accumulate way more skills just to do all the managing of a household AND get that labor devalued, just, urgh, it was considered important to know at least i guess

also the birth of packaging and the rise of single use plastic+ worldwide transport of goods is heavily linked to this and a consequence of a global economic boom but it's still a fucking disaster-

anyways buy a s little new shit in as little packaging as you can and fuck corporations

[moonyasnow]

Additional thoughts about that Oiran!Irina AU

bc I know way too much about the lives of women in the red light districts of the Edo period of Japanese history (and I'm also close to falling asleep and that seems to be when all the motivation and good ideas come)

[ original post here. Would have just reblogged it with this new stuff but I'm about to go to bed and only have my phone and wrote this in drafts before I had that idea ]

First thing's first, I wanna educate some people bc this is a genuinely super fascinating topic to me:

Patrons were basically always LONG-TERM— at least if you were a courtesan and not the kind of sex-worker who was hired for one-time things

Because it wasn't only the obvious aspect that the men who were with courtesans were paying for; it was also basically a 'relationship' experience. They payed not only to sleep with the courtesan— and that usually didn't happen until at LEAST the 3d date— but also to come and basically have dates with them, spend time with them, flirt and stuff, and for them to listen to your troubles. It was also assumed to be monogamous— at least for the Patron. The courtesan was, of course, a courtesan, so it was literally her job to be with multiple people. But the Patron was only allowed to be seeing one courtesan at a time

And back to what I wanted to say

There was a thing where, a courtesan cutting off a lock of her hair to give to one of her patrons was seen as 'proof' of her love, since the hair was considered very valuable to a courtesan and to her beauty. (Some courtesans even payed someone to get a lock of hair from just— wherever, and pretended it was their own)

And I started thinking about Malleus, slightly misunderstanding the intricate, unwritten social rules of this whole thing— it was typically only the courtesan who did it— only seeing the 'a lock of your hair is a proof of love' part, and one day he cuts off a lock of his own hair and gives it to her, saying something about her now always having something to remind her of him, even when they can't always be near each other.

And, there was also a more extreme version of the hair thing, which involved the courtesan cutting off her pinky finger to give to her patron. This was most likely faked most of the time though, and it was more about the intent of it if I remember correctly— so it was normal, and actually expected, for a courtesan to make a big deal about how she was going to do it, maybe even taking out a knife, and the patron stopping her right before she actually did it.

And Irina, having grown up in this world* (I'll explain this more at the end of the post bc I caught myself infodumping again) has kinda come to romanticize this.

So I imagine that she actually tells him that she'll give him her pinky finger— just because she'd have grown up with that being what was expected to do to show your devotion to someone— but instead of the response she expected he looks really sad. And he kisses her fingers and tells her that he would never want her to hurt herself for his sake, and that it broke his heart to hear she would even think of doing something like that to herself. And also that it will always be infinitely more beautiful still attached to her.

Irina, having grown up with all these weird social rules (that were ONLY 'the norm' in the red light districts— and most of the really out-there stuff more in Yoshiwara) and— she, at least, given her mental state— seeing them as the norm, as 'just what one does' felt a bit confused by his actions.

She's the kind of person who would genuinely buy into the 'proof of love' stuff, especially if it was just a thing in the culture she grew up in, so she sees it for exactly the gesture he meant it as. And she's never been the one who had someone wanting to show proof of their love to her.

So it kinda made her go

Irina ended up cutting a big lock of her own hair to give to him, as well— not bc it was expected of her, but because of his own sentiment, of having something of the others for when they missed each other

Oh oh also—

A thing that could add angst in this AU is that, in general, a courtesan wasn't actually allowed to fall in love, even with one of her own patrons, bc it might risk her wanting to run away with that person or refusing to see her other patrons entirely. A courtesan's job was to pretend to be in love, but never actually be in love

But maybe one day she'd lament how she wished she could be with only him

And then Malleus says he'll just double whatever the combined sum all her other patrons are paying is so it wouldn't be something her Madame could complain about

Irina, probably not realizing he's actually being 100% serious, would say it would be nice if he could

Then the literal next day she finds out he actually fckn did it

*Women who went on to become high-rank courtesans were almost always purchased by brothels from starving or sick or indebted or otherwise not well off families when they were still very young, between the ages of 5-9. At first they were made basically the 'little sister' of a woman who was already a courtesan. So the girl's big sister would care for her, feed her, clothe her, etc. And the girl would basically be her way of communicating with people. Because a courtesan couldn't just DIRECTLY go up to a patron she liked and ask him to spend more time with her bc of a bunch of those aforementioned unwritten social rules. So instead, the little sister would find him and ask him to come see her big sister.

They also did things like run errands, accept gifts on their big sister's behalf, and tell their sister about any news or gossip they heard

Courtesans usually had one or two little sisters. And I don't remember exactly when, but at some point, if one of them showed promise in music or some other art, was particularly pretty, and socially skilled, she began to be considered a courtesan-in-training herself, until she was considered old enough to become a fully-fledged courtesan (which was usually still very young by today's standards— I've heard around 14-15 was a common age— though I could be wrong, it's been a lil while)

[mistressemmedi]

hi may i’m a delusional nascar/f1 fan and just wanna drop a few paragraphs in your inbox: 😊

first off, it’s really interesting the different mindsets among racing fans when it comes to back-to-back races. in nascar this is basically the norm and instead of saying double or triple headers, we literally call the weeks without nascar “off weeks”. there is quite literally a nascar race almost every weekend (including some months where every sunday is filled by a nascar race) and not having a race one week causes fans to be “bored” because there isn’t an event.

it also makes me laugh when y’all talk about how hard double and triple headers are on the crew (and drivers, but mostly the crew) considering they have to transport a whole race paddock to the new place in like three days. but in nascar, teams’ haulers/trucks go from wherever the race was, back to charlotte north carolina (where basically all the teams are HQ’ed), and then to wherever the new race is. i do think the “west coast swing” (basically three races in a row on the west coast) is the only exception, although i could be wrong. so a hauler could go from alabama to charlotte, load up on all the stuff for the new race weekend, and then go onto delaware in the span of sunday after the race to thursday. (possibly wednesday but i’m not sure) although, i do understand that sometimes double headers in f1 aren’t super close together and cover a lot more area. it’s just interesting to me in the context of thinking about the crew member’s well-being. (and also the f1 likes to make schedules weird due to contracts with circuits)

it’s just interesting to me considering i was a nascar fan before i was an f1 fan, so races back to back are kinda the norm for me. (rip me) so to now be in an environment where people frown upon back to back races is kinda similar to culture shock for me. (where something is completely different to how i’m used to it being)

but yeah, there’s some differences in scheduling/mindsets among f1/nascar fans but it’s all in good fun! just wanted to put some of these observations in your inbox ☺️

Always love the input of a different point of view :)

I think one of the factors that is different from F1 to Nascar is the fact that the same crew is flying around the world 🌍 to different timezones with very little rest.

The first double header we have this year is Azerbaijan to Miami. So you have crews flying from the homebase (let's say UK), to Azerbaijan, to then back to the [homebase] to review what went right/wrong with the past race, to then hopping on transatlantic flight, to then race again. Rinse and repeat etc.

I don't know about you but I am an absolute write off whenever I fly - I'm quite literally a zombie lmao. Plus add the different timezones 💀 I'm sure there are crew members that feel the same as well. (When I refer to crew, I'm talking about mechanics/engineers etc.).

The flyaways for the Americas have them back-to-back for three weekends in the US / Mexico / Brazil. Which means that's also an entire crew that is away from families (and home in general) a month, and you're basically on the clock the entire time you're away (sure they're "off" Mon-Wed but have you ever traveled with coworkers? You're never really off lol). Add the fact that your cargo plane may be late, so you're working until 2 am to set up the team's garage and then you're back the morning after at 7. Rinse and repeat for three/ four days straight.

On a personal level, I think the hustle and bustle of the paddock is different between F1 and NASCAR, which also mentally affects crews. NASCAR has a bit of a more relaxed element to it (I'd say IndyCar is similar in a sense as well), whereas F1 is more "stiff".

Anyways, this is not me say NASCAR is easy and F1 is difficult - they're both challenging motorsports in their own unique ways ☺️ which also means it challenges the teams and crews in different ways.

[kimyoonmiauthor]

Korean here with a minor in Comparative Lit and a degree in Anthropology. I also did a series of posts on Worldwide Story structures... the largest notable one being: https://kimyoonmiauthor.com/post/641948278831874048/worldwide-story-structures

I think I can answer your question from knowing the basics of US history fairly well, UK History really well (after all those BBC and Channel 4 docs and History Hits) , European history loosely, and of course knowing East Asian history.

I think you accidentally answered your own question.

SAO may take place in a game world, but it doesn't care much for game mechanics - it cares much more for the vibe of playing old MMOs than tracking the characters' strength.

The individual is much less important to the feel of the game. I covered this previously about how Koreans in storytelling tend to think thematic storytelling is the holy grail.

And while The Gamer cares a lot more about tracking individual skills, it's honestly more of a urban fantasy thing - the protagonist's game mechanics stuff is pretty subordinate to that (though prevalent enough that I wouldn't rec it to someone who disliked LitRPGs.)

Emphasis is my own.

Again, you're saying the feel of the game and the themes are more important than the character.

Yeah, I know, blah, blah individualism, blah, blah, thematic storytelling and so on. But I kinda think you're more asking the cultural roots of why individualism v. thematic storytelling rather than doing a podium lecture on what everyone knows.

The individualism is pretty easy to explain.

The US pushed it into the storytelling sphere with individual rights. Also the conflict narrative is from Percy Lubbock, but long time followers of my blog know that. I still think that the culture of boot-straps-individual-excellence still is a very imperialistic mindset. Because then it pits people who "worked very hard" against "those who failed" which has odd ways of justifying imperialism.

But on the flip side, South Korea has always been under the thumb of at least one or another culture. So the imperialism mindset makes no sense, nor the individualism. What people usually do when they are being oppressed is to gather community. And South Korea is fairly group-minded still. (Though there are some growing pains with the growth of incels and rising misogyny)

What Korea does instead is called Thematic Plotting/Storytelling through the Giseungjeongyeol story structure (Came from qichenzhuanhe, which I also covered) with a center of usually some kind of self-discovery or realization.

Some people might attribute it to the large population of Buddhists, or the older religions like Mugyo, or some of the newer religions on the peninsula like Donghak, but I kinda think this is shallow thinking, since the acceptance of religions is often to reinforce the societal norms, rather than create them out of thin air. Religion is more of a justifier than a creator. People will bend their religion to their norms rather than change their belief system completely to fit the religion, which is often far more rare.

Thematic storytelling, I would personally assert is easier to use for social justice themes and Oh Boy, South Korea loves, loves a good morality story driver thrown in with it's realization. Usually the character is realizing something about social justice theming which then moves the story forward. This isn't just with the new swath of dramas, BTW, it's also in much older works. If you want to dissect a philosophy, then often chasing after Thematic storytelling is much easier and choosing your plot points that way.

What better way to resist your oppressors than to tell them what they are exactly doing wrong, which freaking more than half the planet missed with Squid game to the point people were whining to me as non-Koreans that I was "reading too much into it." Shut up. I know what I'm doing as a Korean and as someone who actually bothered to read more literature than them.

Korea, unlike the US, neverever had this separation into Literary v. Genre fiction because the bookshelves are mainly separated, even in the physical US stores into demographics and fiction/Nonfiction. That's it. This is true of Chinese and Japanese bookstores too. (Because I like going to foreign bookshops.)

which is why inventing new genres, subgenres and basically saying genres don't exist is much easier.

Generally, also, oppressed groups liked more of the Modernist philosophies worldwide (say in Lebanon, etc) than did the Imperialist US who saw it more as a commercial prospect to push into colleges. (I have a habit of tracking Literary curricula and the publishing industries of other countries). Which probably tackles some of your other questions you kinda half posed in this. But excuse me for using nunchi, because often US and UK people think using nunchi is rude and I've been hearing that line since I was five. "You can't KNOW that." "That's extremely invasive" but this might help you understand some of the game mechanics as well since Koreans also LOVE inserting nunchi everywhere. It's a part of children's games and a long treasured cornerstone of Korean communication. (Nunchi and Jeong my therapist, who isn't Korean, thought were very psychologically entailed.)

Other things you might want to track is how Koreans don't separate emotion from thinking as much. They are considered the same thing. The logic v. heart discourse that came from the Enlightenment thinkers of John Locke and Jean-Jacques Roussaeu mainly isn't in Korean discourse as much. Maeum and Meori might be talked about, but not as separate from the mind. The mind and heart are often considered the same thing.

So truly hoping this helps break it down nice and easily without the usual stock answers and sophistries.

I've seen multiple people doing retrospectives on the LitRPG genre claim that the two major works that kicked off the rest of the genre were Sword Art Online and The Gamer. And I don't deny that those were definitely super influential, but I do wonder why those two get raised above all the others?

In specific, I definitely think The Legendary Moonlight Sculptor should be credited way more. And like, its not at all an obscure name - the site that most people associate with LitRPGs in EN spaces, Royal Road, is named after the series!

Especially because, when you look at that series, it's definitely way closer to what later litRPGs would look like. SAO may take place in a game world, but it doesn't care much for game mechanics - it cares much more for the vibe of playing old MMOs than tracking the characters' strength. And while The Gamer cares a lot more about tracking individual skills, it's honestly more of a urban fantasy thing - the protagonist's game mechanics stuff is pretty subordinate to that (though prevalent enough that I wouldn't rec it to someone who disliked LitRPGs.) Meanwhile LMS is exactly what you'd expect from the term litRPG - detailed discussion of character classes, stats, upgrades, levelling up, what have you.

And it came out in 2007 - far preceding the 2013 debut of The Gamer and the 2009 release of SAO's first volume. (Though technically SAO originally existed as a webnovel as far back as 2001; but I think at that point it was way too obscure to influence anybody).

I feel like in terms of influential pillars of the genre, between preceding basically every other major name, being super popular for it's time, and exemplifying a lot of the elements people both like and hate about the genre, it definitely deserves a mention in the genre history, right?

Though, the fact that both LMS and The Gamer are Korean works does make me wonder if they were working within an existing literary tradition that I am unaware of - as someone who doesn't speak the language I can only really talk about what was influential in EN spaces.

[woodsfae]

Babylon 5 S01E09: Deathwalker

First

Previous

ToC

Kosh does not have any human socializing skills, and Talia seems kinda scared of him. Unnerved at the least. I want to know the etymology behind “the hour of scampering,” hah.

Na’Toth really does not like Deathwalkers. How many kill-on-sight species are there? We’ve had two so far in S01 and there’s half the season and idk how many more to go! Also I’m excited to see more Na’Toth!

[intense music] - really, I’d say it’s just heavy on the trumpets.

The Narn costume contacts are really cool.

Ah, it isn’t the SPECIES, it’s the specific person (maybe). A war criminal who murdered most of Na’Toth’s family and resulted in her grandfather’s painful, terminal decline.

“Understanding is a three-edged sword,” I love how incomprehensible Kosh is. And they’re happy that their business person with the funky hat (I want one) has no thoughts.

Well maybe her species is longer lived than you think. They throw around the I word (impossible) a lot for people who’ve never seen a member of her species before and have no idea what their norms are.

omfg. I continue to love G’Kar’s interactions with Na’Toth. “Your blood oath and blind rage is valid but girl, we gotta do this a little differently than most Chon-Kar. For politics. It sucks, but politics suck.”

Yeah, the Senator definitely knows that she is, or could be, the war criminal. But it’s so obvious that she might not be, I guess. 

So much new terminology being thrown around. Wind Swords, being the newest.

Ah, and she outright claims being Jha’dur, Deathwalker. She invented an universal panacea. I wonder if justice or medically induced immortality will prevail.

“You seek meaning? Then listen to the music, not the song.” Thanks, Kosh. I’m as confused as Talia, but far more amused. But then again, I’m also not having weird telepathic stuff going on.

His hat is so weird. And I don’t know why I want one so badly. But I dooooo.

Love the exposition dump by asking a history buff about a subject. Ahhh the Wind Swords are Minbari. And the most militant! That’s...pretty scary, really. The Minbari are so pleasant but so secretive. They definitely intimidate me more than the Garns’ bluster or the Centauri *waves hand* everything.

What a fucking dick. Chop off Na’Toth’s head and I’ll go with you to Narn instead of Earth. She’s the Aginor (Wheel of Time) of the Babylon 5 universe. She’s broken every single bit of the Geneva Convention. She probably instigated new Geneva Convention rules with her depravity. I say chop HER head off and spend the years of R&D trying to figure out her serum.

And yeah, this is absolutely the sort of thing that would cause heads of government to go fuckin nuts. If anything, they’re underplaying the furor that would be going on.

“It was Earth who turned the tide against my race. Thus, it is fitting that you benefit from your conquest.”

That’s a unique line of reasoning. Gives a glimpse of a very strange culture. I think the monument to her vision is more accurate, but she likely has all sorts of rationals floating around in her brilliantly fucked up head.

Full assembly demanded, yes! This does seem to imply that there are lots of other ambassadors here, though. Are the four main ones thusly, since they’re from empires? That would also make sense. What doesn’t make sense is that the League doesn’t have their own Ambassador with voting rights.

“What is need compared to the path?” Kosh remains completely inscrutable, and his thoughtless business associate continues to cause strange telepathic effects in Talia.

The League is absolutely correct in that the war criminal should be tried ASAP and by the representatives of the people she’d harmed the most.

Londo, you shit. You can vote for her trial even though she hasn’t harmed the Centauri personally. Also G’Kar you shit. You can vote for a trial even if your people won’t directly benefit. JESUS the Minbari too? Wow this is gut wrenching. This is how it feels every day that I consciously remember that Kissinger is alive and not in prison.

Well done, League. I support their withdrawal from the Assembly. That was foul. Where’s Delenn? I’m fine with seeing more of her aide, but where is she? (Side note, I’m seeing gifs of her with HAIR?! And she doesn’t look the same at all. Did they change the Minbari design and also change actors? IDK if I actually want to know now or not but I am EATEN UP with curiosity.)

Shit’s heating up. League ships are pouring in and I support them.

Poor Talia, these nonsense phrases are somehow wreaking havoc on her psyche. Is thisparticular  job worth the compulsory hallucinations? I’d say no.

This is so strange. Brain uncovered, data crystal out, weird hat on, he’s out. And Talia is traumatized.

League of Scientists to go R&D with the war criminal on earth then League of War Crime Trials.

These graphics are really illustrating that whenever possible, you should use practical effects. LMAO.

This brazen asshole is wearing her war crimes uniform to strut out of the station. Shit, and now I gotta quote this whole speech.

You and your kind take blind comfort in the belief that we are monsters. That you could never do what we did. The key ingredient in the anti-agapic cannot be synthesized. It must be taken from living beings. For one to live forever, another one must die. You will fall upon one another like wolves. It will make what we did pale by comparison. The billions who live forever will be a testimony to my work, and the billions who were murdered to buy that immortality will be the continuance of my work. Not like us? You will become us. That’s my monument, Commander.

Like, for real. She’s Aginor but without the Dark One backing her up. She’s just doing these crimes for shits and giggles.

Wow, Vorlons! Just fuckin nerfed her! “You are not ready for immortality,” have they sent an ambassador to babysit the less advanced species for reasons very like this one? And how many not-Deathwalker people did they kill along with her? The Vorlons clearly believe that, at least in some cases, people can be expendable.

Talia’s getting it rough lately, although so is everyone to some extent. I don’t think anyone’s horribly scarred Garibaldi (or the ambassadors) so far? But I assume it’s coming.

Scanning the mind of a serial killer sounds horrific. And to have the memory of it be deliberately provoked is awful, and to do it as a future weapon against you, when you’ve done nothing? The Vorlons really are enigmatic and are quite clearly working on totally different operating systems than the rest of the known universe.

-

So Babylon 5 is like, unrelentingly focused on moral quadaries, moral grey areas, fascism, nationalism, racism, and otherwise navigating a brutally imperfect universe. TBH I could use some light filler episodes.

-

uhhh next episode which was even darker

[dreamties]

Slashers W/ a Punk S/O

T/W- q*eer is used a few times- in a positive, self affirming kind of way. But I can add other trigger warnings if needed. :)

A/n- Literally no one asked for this, but I wanted to make more HCs like the soft pastel one...so I just went wild and made them. 

I included a little bit of punk culture into this as well, because it’s not just about the fashion, but since there’s such a vast variety within punk culture I mostly stuck with my experiences in the community, and some bits and pieces from documentaries(mostly live footage from “The Decline of Western Civilization”).

Characters: Billy/Stu, The Lost Boys, Norman Bates, Michael Myers

Will make one(s) for Brahms, Amanda, Helen or Daniel if asked

Billy Loomis + Stu Macher

so early 90s, the Riot Grrrl movement emerges

bands like Bikini Kill, Bratmobile, Heavens to Betsy or Sleater-Kinney

it’s a very female-powered oriented movement, but I notice that a lot of minorities tend to be drawn to this music and community (LGBT folks, people of color, etc).

both boys, and yourself, being outside of the norm and all (polyamorous relationship, gay/bi) are sort of drawn to it!

and sure there’s a lot of really great queercore/homocore bands, and there’s probably a good LGBT+ punk scene out there somewhere, but in a little town like Woodsboro? Hell no. Sticking with this fem punk movement, while again mostly a space for women in music- it’s the most accepted the three of you have felt outside of you’re relationship. 

you’ve always been pretty into the music, stuff like Dead Kennedys, Black Flag, or the short-lived Germs- but it wasn’t until you stumbled upon Riot Grrrl that you really got into it. 

the music, making zines about local-ish political issues(probably not so much Woodsboro stuff, more Cali in general and neighboring towns) and a few ones with queer themes and hand-drawn illustrations of your partners, and DIYing all your clothes

since you’re so experienced with DIYing your clothes and sewing on patches, you’ve helped repair the Ghostface costumes on numerous occasions. they kind of adore this(Stu is the only one that will- and does, frequently- admit that)

Let’s face it, the three of you do everything together- but you especially enjoy when Stu tags along for thrift dates. 

he’s the more fashionable one, and he makes the whole experience more enjoyable- cracking jokes and just being his all-around goofy self.

Woodsboro is a very little town, so they don’t have much...but they do have a few small stores- usually you’ll make a whole day/date out of it though. driving to the next town or so over, since they have more stores and a better selection, and spending hours looking for cheap, old t-shirts, belts, clothes with funky patterns. heading out for pizza after.

Billy’s more likely to get into the music and everything with you(he’s kinda,, angsty, no offense to him)- will definitely go to shows with you.

just- imagine Billy in ripped jeans. and he’d have like one or two patches sewn on to it- one of them is your all time favorite band, and the other is a band that he found on his own time, and actually really enjoyed.

Stu is dragged along with you guys, you can’t just leave him at home- he’s gonna feel left out and sad. :(

He’s mostly there to keep y’all company- he really likes the energy of the shows though!

the two of them are such a chaotic duo though, so much so that you have definitely been kicked out or banned from a few venues. all for varying reasons. good grief these men can not be tamed.

The Lost Boys

as we all know, these vampires are total punks. so they’re gonna appreciate having a s/o who’s also into that whole scene.

How you meet:

you’re a baby punk, and it’s your first show ever, and you look so nervous. you’re dressed up in pretty plain clothes, a single homemade patch for your favorite band barely hanging to your jacket side(you were mid-way sewing it, when you realized you were gonna be late if you didn’t leave asap).

it’s a few local bands, ones you’d never really heard of really. you look anxious. but when they start playing? you look so unapologetically yourself, you’re so in the moment dancing- it’s completely mesmerizing to the boys. the music isn’t even that good, but you seem to be having the time of your life.

they greet you after the show, and you’re a tiny bit flustered- cause gosh, heck, they saw you. dancing. so embarrassing. 

David is the one that introduces himself and the group, and initiates conversation. Dwayne’s a pretty quiet guy, so he just listens to what you have to say. 

Marko’s pretty excited about you, and initiates in some small conversation, he may have complimented your little patch(Marko- patch jacket KING, complimenting your jacket?? more likely than you’d think) 

and oh, oh- Paul is out there being a total chatty-cathy, and is absolutely bombarding you with questions. like, okay, Paul is pretty talkative, but the other vamps are a little worried that he’s scared you off. and you had seemed so cool :(

you end up pretty engaged in your convo with Paul though, even if all the attention is overwhelming. He ends up snagging a date for the five of you the following week.

once you start hanging out/dating:

y’all just hit it off so well those first few days. they all love how sweet & shy you are- but also how much of a badass punk babe you are.

Marko helps make your patch jacket(collecting ones for bands you enjoy, how to make your own, sewing them on, etc). you probably could have done it w/out his help, but my gosh- you weren’t going to pass up this opportunity. Marko gets really soft around you sometimes, since he doesn’t really do this activity with anyone else, it’s saved for you. 🥺🥺

Dwayne likes listening to you talking about the local scene(outside of the shows you go to- mostly about stuff he can’t attend, protests and meetings during the daylight.)

all of them(especially David) are very protective of you. I mean, generally. but also when you go to shows. they let you do whatever the heck you’re gonna do, but the mere second that someone even thinks about starting shit w/ you?? well, y’know. those vampire instincts kick in.

the four of them obviously share a lot of similar tastes in music- but they all have different favorite bands, & fave parts of the community. which, they can’t even fully participate in,, but it’s okay.

they, individually, introduce their favorite bands to you. and they get it in their head that oh, they said they liked it. they must like it as much as I do. and awkwardly coming out to the four of them, as they argue about your favorite band, “Well, actually- this *insert band they’ve never heard of or barely listen to* is my favorite.” and their just kinda like, oh, okay. please tell us more about them. 

so it’s sorta like,, you’ve been learning all this cool knowledge from them, now you get to share cool knowledge with them.

idk. I think it’s cute. 💕

Norman Bates

so first off- let’s just pretend Psycho was in at least the 70s/80s for a moment. because realistically- the punk subculture didn’t really exist back then.

baby boy is absolutely fascinated by the way you dress (mother is less thrilled though)

imagine your jacket is getting a bit weathered, and needs some repairs- so he helps you to sew edges closed, and make sure the patches aren’t on too loose, etc

he enjoys hearing your stories of all the past shows you’ve gone to. you always get so excited about them, and he finds that so endearing. But he pretty much leaves the actual punk scene to you because of these stories.

he was already worried from the stories, and made sure you were well prepared for any trouble every time you left for a show.

but one time, you were able to get him to join you. never again though. he was so nervous!

the music was too loud! and he could hardly understand what they were saying- it was so confusing!

you stayed with him most of the night, standing near the back, holding his hand. he’d gently bob his head to the music occasionally. 

but you accidentally found yourself swept into the crowd, but you looked so blissed-out in the moment, that he figured it would be okay for you to dance* over there for a little bit...right?  

*Norman is still unsure if you’d even call that dancing.

Thankfully, nothing bad happened in the mosh pit.

you gotta give him lots of attention and reassurance afterwards though- you almost scared Norman half to death D:

He’s happy enough helping you out and listening to you though- and that’s okay for you, too. you still love each other lots, even if this particular interest doesn’t overlap.

Michael Myers

he thinks you’re outfits are pretty interesting. 

he’s a little worried at first, when you start experimenting with putting things like safety pins in your ears. cause like- that’s not supposed to be in your ear, Y/n, what the fuck

if you make zines at all, Michael really enjoys watching you make the illustrations for them(not that he’ll admit to it though), and helps to find newspaper and magazine clippings to incorporate into the spreads.

you always show michael the final booklet before distributing it

he doesn’t talk a lot, so he doesn’t ask questions- but he often does the little head tilt once you give it to him. since he’s not very privy to current events, and a lot of your zines are political, you spend a lot of time explaining them in depth.

he has no use for any of this knowledge, but he listens on, intently.

Important note:

dear god do not bring this man to concerts and local shows with you.

it is a nightmare, to say the least

Michael is sort of,, emotionless sometimes, doesn’t really care for people at all, and if he does? definitely not in the same way most people do. 

so imagine combining that part of michael, the fact that he’s also a giant stabby man, with super loud, energetic- almost aggressive- sounding music and a bunch of strangers that aren’t respecting any personal boundaries. 

you need to keep him at the back of the venue- lest your local scene may go missing.

[partytilfajr]

Salaam! My question is that since I'm in my mid-twenties and I'm starting my marriage search soon (I'm a woman) I want to know if i can ask the person I'm getting to know about their previous relationships? If they're a virgin? All of that stuff basically. I read that if they've repented for their sins they don't have to answer these questions or they can just lie and say no since they've repented, but as a potential/future spouse isn't it my right to know?

Wa alykum as-salaam!

So, Dar Al-Ifta Al-Missriyyah has written about this question, extensively, though it must said that the question they are answering is about a man asking about a woman about her status. You can read that answer here.

They write something that is important to note, as I want to underline that many times we fuse the rationale of larger society with the opinion of our Muslim leaders. In the opinion, they write this to conclude:

As for the claim of some men that they have to know if their future wife has fell into a sin or not is a corrupted opinion as it promotes declaring sins, revealing what God concealed, pursuing people’s pitfalls, and thinking ill of people which are all prohibited in Islamic law. As a matter of fact, there is no relationship between the loss of virginity and between adultery as this relationship only existed due to some cultures which do not see any problem when the man commits adultery whereas when the woman commits the same crime she is stained with shame and disgrace.

I just wanted to highlight that this double-standard that exists for women underlines to problems of our societies, and that Islam does not seek to enforce or encourage the hypocrisies that pervade society.

So, in short, yes, you should not be asking people about their status. The only time that people should be disclosing those sorts of things is if it impacts you. So, if someone has an STI, that will impact their partner, and so it should be disclosed.

I am quite aware that the standards for men and women are different, to put it kindly.

Boys expect their future wives to be virgins, while girls hope that their future husbands don’t have something. This is the double standard within our communities (Muslim or not) and it’s exhausting and annoying. I get it.

So Dar Al-Ifta, again, gives you the legal rationale, and again, they are writing about protecting the reputation and the value of a woman, since cultures have used sexism and misogyny to control women’s bodies and to stigmatize women for mistakes that they turn around and applaud men for.

My sense is that we have used this ruling as a way to protect sisters, but that we do not expect to use these same rulings for our brothers. I get why we do that, it’s an Islamic ruling that retorts and slaps away the sexist-fueled obsession with women’s bodies and the double-standards imposed upon women.

If I’m honest, I think most men tend to disclose these sorts of things, and many of them are not aware of this ruling--not anywhere close to the awareness of our sisters. I understand why sisters expect virginity, they’re like “hey, I waited, so should you.” I’d like to underline that there are more brothers that have waited, I’m not going to lie to you, I did not think it would be that high. Which is kinda sad, but I think you get what I’m trying to say.

Now, again, I think most people tend to disclose their pasts, both men and women, and I think they do this out of trust and love for the person they are talking to. I would counsel Muslims to not only take this sort of disclosure as a trust that they should keep to themselves and understand that whatever happens between you two, that you keep that information to yourself. I also think that both men and women tend to write people off for making mistakes.

First of all, we all make mistakes. The issue here is that we only have sympathy for people who sin the way we do. To be a “good Muslim” among Muslims, you don’t drink, don’t smoke, and don’t have a (public) girlfriend/boyfriend, and you’re a good Muslim. Our concern is centralized on discovery, so as long as people don’t know we do these things, we are fine.

We all make mistakes, the thing is, we are not defined by our mistakes, but what we do once we make them. Do we seek to rectify them? Or do we allow them to fester, do we seek help, do we try to fix what we’ve done?

The problem is that we fixate on sins that deal with our concerns vis-a-vis our place in society. The Prophet is reported to have said:

O those who embraced Islam with your tongue and its flow did not reach your heart yet. Don’t inflict harm on Muslims, don’t belittle them and don’t pursue and dig for their pitfalls as whoever digs for the pitfalls of others, God will dig for his own pitfalls and declare it before people… [Tirmidhi]

Now, I know you feel it is your right to ask this question. The ruling I’ve linked above. Just to speak plainly, I tend to believe people disclose this fact, regardless of the ruling--that’s just my sense in dealing with this concern quite often. I’d underline that you treat a brother as a human being here. Our world is filled with prejudices, sexism, misogyny, and all sorts of inequities too innumerable to list here. Of that, there is no doubt. When you are sitting across from another person, they are a human being--and yes different people benefit from these inequities and have various privileges--but I suggest that you treat the person across from you as that: a person.

We cannot abstract human beings. Our boys benefit from double standards--in that they are able to get away with things socially--but those double standards condemn them to facing the reality of their sins. Brothers cry to me about their mistake, it’s not just sisters, and yes, the brothers (if discovered) will face far less than if a sister was discovered, I am not questioning that, nor am I even debating it, I’m saying, just treat the person across from you as a human being.

People are going to ask and people are going to answer, but I ask you to show compassion for someone who is offering you a window of their vulnerability. We often look at potential spouses as products, with check-lists, like we are comparison shopping for a car. They are human beings. I’ve seen the dumb stuff boys write on Twitter, with their dumb jokes, talking about trust issues over a girl wearing makeup or whatever, and yes, they are cringe. I will try and petition Al-Azhar to make corny bro jokes haram, or at least makruh.

You are going to ask regardless of what I write here, and people are going to answer regardless of what they read, because they want to be honest, and it breaks my heart. People just want to be loved. That’s why they are reaching out. It’s why they laugh at dumb jokes. It’s why you stalk people on social media, because you want to reach out to someone else, to have someone love you and accept you, for, well you.

So I get why people respond and answer these questions, I know why people ask them, and I think the Islamic answer is there, and while the central framing of the Islamic answer is to protect women, their honor, and their place in societies that do not treat them with the respect and understanding that they should get for simply being a human, and that disconnect is violently enforced through sexism and misogyny--and Islam seeks to protect women from that human-made reality that contravenes the dictates of Islam. It is a failure of the test by God, on our collective society, that we create these inequities--for God demands justice, and our social norms are reflections of whether we truly believe in God or not, and when women face these barriers and prejudices, it means that our society has failed that test.

After writing this much, I asked myself: ‘why are you writing this much, Osama?’ I think because I have seen such a lack of compassion in our community, and I feel like we have taken religion and twisted it, but we are only aware of our rights and not our obligations, and that creates a very twisted way in dealing with religion and God--and then I thought about how consumerism fuels that self-centered understanding of God, so that religion really only has value as it pertains to our personal desires, rather than in improving our actions, softening our hearts, and in introspection so that we may work to improve society, starting with ourselves.

Anyway. My point is this: regardless of the rulings, you’re probably going to ask, they’re probably going to answer. If you can’t forgive someone because they made a mistake, then ask yourself why.

[the-reaper-of-maidens]

Arrival

YEET, some Alcina x OC stuff, because I’m horrible with x Reader stuff. I suppose chronologically, this is the first in my Alcina x OC stories, since this is how my OC met the tall vampire lady~ It kinda ends a bit abruptly, but I wanted the smut to be its own chapter, lol. I know I have the good lady far nicer in this than she really is, but she’s kinda mentally flipped upside down with this nutty OC~ I hope I did the tall vampire lady justice with this, regardless!

TW: mentions of self harm, homophobia implied

The diminutive woman arrived at the castle grounds. Her brown eyes were weary and showed her depression. Her brunette hair was long, flowing freely in the cold breeze, and her jeans were doing a poor job keeping her legs from freezing. She had some nose and ear piercings, so they were especially cold. She shivered and pulled her bomber jacket tighter as she went in, adjusting her duffle bag. She was a bit of a horror blogger, though she ironically was scared easily. Recently, she ended her blog, figuring it was best to end while she was at her peak, so she didn’t tell anyone about her trip to this haunting castle that was reported to be sites of vicious attacks.

Really, the blogger was hoping for one more fright before moving on from her fame, or maybe she wanted to end her suffering, so she hoped to see a monster. Though she was well-liked online, her personal life was… awful, to put it lightly. The blogger certainly felt unsettled, taking a look at the foyer. She thought it was weird that the doors were totally unlocked, though she figured it was different cultural norms, since she was American.

And then… she saw one of them. The blogger started sweating as the witch stepped towards her, she didn’t think anyone still lived here. The tiny woman stepped back, trying not to wig out as the witch continued her creeping. She whipped her head around when she heard another door open, and that was when she started running, dropping her bag.

She didn’t know where she was going, she just wanted to get away from them while trying to explore what the castle had to offer, despite her better judgement. Maybe she should have just turned tail when she saw the witch…

“Well, well… what an interesting visitor we have here,” a low, but darkly alluring voice called out, its owner crouching through a doorway.

The blogger froze like a deer in headlights as she saw what seemed to be an enormous woman towering over her. This woman must have been twice her height. Great, she thought, I have that creepy woman after my tail and now there’s this… hulking piece of… hotness. The blogger blushed a bit, this woman was just stunning, and she couldn’t help but get the hots for her despite being pretty terrified right about now. “S...sorry,” she finally managed to croak out. “I just got curious is all. I’ll just grab my stuff and leave now if you want.”

“How adorable, thinking you can just break in and enter someone’s house willy-nilly,” Lady Alcina Dimitrescu giggled charmingly and sinisterly as she eyed the petite woman, baring her claws. Of course, she felt it was a bit unfair for this especially tiny woman to go down easily; she usually liked giving her prey a fighting chance, it made the hunt all the more exciting. “I’ll give you a chance to run. If you make it out the door before my daughters or I can catch you, you’re free to go~”

Instead of running, though… the blogger just screamed and went down on her knees, cowering in fear. Her stomach was in knots, and she almost felt her breakfast wanting to come back up as she prepared herself for the worst.

The mutant tilted her head in curiosity and retracted her claws. Normally, most people took the chance to run off, but this one thought giving up and staying was a good idea. Alcina was suddenly interested in this strange human. “Hmm… you know what, I’ll call off my daughters. You pique my interest, how about we chat over lunch?”

The blogger was still shaking, though she mustered up the courage to open up her eyes. Though still anxious, she did relax a bit when she realized she was still unharmed. “I… yeah, sure. Lunch sounds good,” she stood up on shaky legs, unzipping her bomber jacket a bit. The adrenaline really heated up her body. Her stomach still felt a bit nauseous, though, so the thought of food didn’t sound appealing to the blogger at the moment.

“Trust me, I’ll make sure my daughters won’t bite. How about you go make yourself… comfortable in the meantime?”

Naturally, the blogger was still on high alert for the next few hours. She looked at her phone, tempted to make a blog post about all that happened, but she decided against it. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to be back in the limelight again… if she wanted to be criticized by her family again. She didn’t have any friends, really, so it wasn’t like she had anyone that would worry about her. She sighed, and Alcina caught the pained look on the blogger’s face.

“So… what brought you to my humble abode?”

“Oh! Sorry! Sorry…” the blogger fretted a bit. “Like I said, I got curious. I also used to run a blog about all sorts of scary monsters and stuff.” Of course, this was all lost on the vampire lady, so the blogger explained more. “A blog is kinda like a digital journal entry, you see. You write it up on your computer and post it up and everyone gets to see what you wrote. Kinda like a bulletin board, but it’s on the Internet.”

“And you… used to?”

“I… yeah. I just wanted to scare people about the things I write about, I didn’t want to be famous. But it happened, and I felt like I had to go along with the ride. Eventually, my folks found out. They’re… not the most supportive,” the blogger divulged. “So ending the blog was a little bit of panic and mostly my choice, because I knew I can’t handle juggling family issues and the blog.”

The mutant woman tsked a bit, feeling an odd sense of pity for the blogger. “How shameful of your family. Do they not have their own business to tend to?”

“Like hell that I care. I cut them off after I stopped blogging. I’ve got enough money to travel around as I please, so… if I’m stuck where I’m misunderstood and demonized, I can just fly off,” and the blogger had anger flash in her eyes for a second, which surprised the mutant vampire. “Imagine being in hillbilly hell, where everyone is a churchgoing fanatic, and you don’t fit what they want you to be. I don’t have friends. My family hates me because of who I love… the guys laugh, and the women? Well, they’re grossed out because I’m a woman and I’m... I’m not supposed to love women.”

“Ah, so you escaped when you finally had the chance,” Alcina wasn’t stupid, piecing together that the smaller woman was waiting for the funds to get out. It was admittedly rather admirable to the vampire, knowing that someone freed themselves of their shackles.

“It took a few years… but you can bet I hauled ass the second I reached my goal. Still, though… I wake up every day, and I’m dragged down by my self-hate. Like my demons follow me wherever I go, and it’d be nice if I can escape for real.”

Alcina shifted a bit, and she grinned mysteriously. “I know a way, if you’re willing to stay for the night,” she offered, hoping the blogger would accept. Perhaps this woman could give her her fix, since it had been a long while since Alcina had any fun in her private quarters. Though she had her witches, she really did see the three as her daughters… she just couldn’t see herself doing such an act with any of them.

The blogger blushed a bright red, trying to decipher what this extremely tall vampire lady meant by that. “...Are you asking me to sleep with you?” she sniped in. She wouldn’t mind it, per se, but she was certainly surprised at the proposal.

“I can tell in your body language, you’re in love with me~ Luckily for you, I don’t care what’s in someone’s pants or how they identify as when I put them to bed. All they need to do… is be a good plaything for me,” Alcina giggled seductively, tossing away any subtlety she might have had.

“I… hold on, just a sec,” the blogger ran off to the nearest bathroom to compose herself. She felt herself flush with heat as she took off her jacket. “Don’t… do anything stupid,” she told herself in the mirror as she washed her face with ice cold water. She was wracked with nerves, but she just couldn’t pass this up. Well, what’s the worst that can happen? It’s not like anyone back home cared about me, she thought to herself. The blogger took a deep breath to compose herself as she zipped her jacket back up and she went back out, her emotions put into check for now. “Sure, I’d like to stay for the night,” the blogger grinned awkwardly when she returned, fidgeting a bit.

“Trust me, you have nothing to fear,” Alcina purred, putting a hand on the blogger’s cheek. Of course, decades of experience meant she knew how to not crush the poor thing during their fun. This woman must have been half her size, if the height difference was anything to go by. “When you’re as tall as I am, you simply have no choice but to... adapt.”

“Hehe, lucky me. I’ve never… did any of that, obviously,” the blogger admitted, blushing as she shifted her weight between her feet.

“Oh? So you’re saying that you’re a maiden?” Alcina was definitely hooked now, leaning forward a bit. Having a new fling was always nice, but having a potentially new source to make another batch of Sanguis Virginis was always even better.

“What? You’re not gonna like, sacrifice me to some demon or something, are you? Or gut me with those huge claws… right?”

“Oh, no, not at all. It just has a rather poetic ring to it is all,” Alcina hummed casually, debating whether to get the blogger’s blood or enjoy the night with her. Then again, there was no hiding from the tiny woman that she was a mutant vampire, so she had to come clean. “Though,” she leaned back in her chair, “I’m admittedly not sure whether to ravish you or turn you into my wine. We need maiden’s blood for the wine, you see, since it’s just so... delectable.” Normally, the countess would have no issue deciding to turn someone into wine, but given the events from earlier that day... the blogger could make for a good plaything instead.

The blogger swallowed nervously. She had a feeling that whatever she would say, Alcina would manage to have her way. “...How much blood? Are you gonna… turn me? If not, can you not… like, kill me? I need my blood to live.” So many questions raced in her head, she was almost regretting accepting the offer. Almost.

“Charming. Don’t you worry, I won’t drain you of all your blood, should you end up being my pet instead~”

The blogger spent most of the day just relaxing in her room after lunch, thinking about her future. The money won’t last forever, after all, so she needed to start planning. So far, her hostess seemed amiable enough, despite the initial scare. “Ugh, think, think, think! What can I do for Lady Dimitrescu to make her enjoy my stay if I have to come back?” Or, perhaps, she could forgo her travels, instead staying at Castle Dimitrescu for the rest of her life in service to Alcina. She felt a cold in the air, the hairs on her neck standing on ends. She slowly turned and her eyes met with Daniela’s, who she learned earlier was one of Alcina’s daughters.

“Mother says dinner is almost ready, plaything~” the witch giggled, a strident laugh that made the blogger feel a pit in her stomach.

“I… thanks,” the blogger gulped in fear, following the witch for what seemed like forever. She still wasn’t sure what to think about Daniela, truth be told. She eyed the mutant vampire, and realized the mutant was still inhumanly tall, though not as tall as Alcina. She gulped nervously, wondering if she’d be tossed to the witch if Alcina decided she wasn’t good enough.

“Ah, our little guest. Thank you for fetching her, Daniela,” Alcina nodded, a smirk revealing her fangs a bit as she waved Daniela off to take a seat. The blogger looked around, watching the maids hustle and bustle, setting food out to the table. She saw two other women similarly dressed as Daniela sitting at the table, and she assumed they were sisters. That still didn’t make her less uneasy.

The blogger’s mouth watered a bit, smelling the food. If lunch was anything to go by, dinner would be spectacular. “Thanks for letting me stay for the night, Lady Dimitrescu. Tonight’s pretty cold, or so it seems,” she took a seat.

“Oh, it’s not an issue at all, and please… you may call me Alcina,” the vampire mutant purred, trying to get a bit more emotionally close to the blogger. She rarely had any romantic emotions, she usually felt they were in the way of the real action, but… she didn’t mind it when she did have romance flare up in her heart, if someone truly was interesting to her. She frowned a bit when the blogger didn’t take her bomber jacket off, even as she started eating. “Oh, come now, how long have you worn that jacket today? Surely, you must be sweating buckets in there!”

The blogger blushed a bit, mid-bite into her chiftea. “Oh, um… you don’t need to worry… Alcina. I’m not hot at all, trust me,” she tried to dodge, knowing the lady wanted her to stop roasting.

“Well, if you get it all over your coat, you’re going to have to wash it anyways. I’m amazed you didn’t do that at lunch earlier.”

The blogger just cast her eyes downward at her food, fidgeting a bit. She knew she was locked in; one wrong choice, and she would be dead, and she’d rather be alive and uncomfortable than dead. “You’re right,” and she took off her jacket, revealing scars and tattoos on her arm peeking out from the rolled sleeves. She shivered in the brisk breeze, but kept eating.

Alcina leaned back a bit, realizing why her guest refused to shed her coat. “Who did that to you? The scars, that is.”

“...I did,” the blogger clenched a fork, her eyes still downcast. “...Most of it, anyways,” she finally looked up and made eye contact with Alcina. “Some of it was from my dad.”

“...My apologies,” Alcina truly meant it. “I had no idea.”

“It’s fine, the scars are all in the past now,” the blogger took a sip of what seemed to be wine, perhaps a merlot or a cabernet. She coughed, she hated alcohol… “Sorry… I get that wine is good for dinner, but… I prefer tea,” she admitted. “Dad was an alcoholic, so… stuff like that makes me uncomfortable. I think maybe an Earl Grey tea with some cream and sugar would be nice?”

Alcina nodded and called for a servant. “Prepare a tea kettle for our guest here. Earl Grey with cream and sugar,” the vampire lady commanded. “My dear guest… I really am sorry for making you uncomfortable. I’ll take note of that next time you come here.”

“Um… actually, about that… I’ve been thinking, Alcina. The money I’ve got won’t last forever, so I was thinking of just staying here… working for you,” the brunette woman rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly.

Each and every hour, the blogger became more and more interesting to Alcina. It was rare for girls to come and willingly work here, unless they had some sort of death wish. “I see. Well, in that case, I will spare you, my dear... if you can tell me what you can bring to the table.”

“I can make music, and I can do art. Think of all the beautiful paintings I’d make of you~” the blogger cracked a grin. “But more importantly… I can help you bring maidens into the castle for your wine.”

“Oh?” That definitely rules out making her into wine now, Alcina thought, though she decided hours ago she likely wouldn’t do such a thing to her little pet.

“If you can turn me into one like yourself and your daughters, I will. I promise. I’ve… when I was twelve, I wanted to become a vampire so badly,” she admitted, snorting a bit. “But... really, Alcina. The maidens I’d hunt for you would be my rent payment, so to speak.”

Alcina seemed to consider it, sipping her wine, and smiling in amusement at that confession. The blogger seemed multi talented, at least, so it would be nice to have some entertainment if she wanted, though it was new that someone wanted to be turned, and she was tempted, though she’d have to talk to a certain Mother Miranda. “You’ll get your chance, my dear. Patience is the key here,” she reached over and gently grasped her guest’s hand. “Perhaps not now, but you can say goodbye to your past… to the pain… soon.”

Dinner was accompanied by lots of talk, mostly of the blogger telling Alcina all about herself. Soon enough, dinner was done, and Alcina invited the blogger to her bedroom. “A deal is a deal~ I promised you that I’d help you escape your self-loathing, and I will,” she offered a gargantuan hand to the blogger.

[thejustmaiden]

Why do you think Sunrise did that event in with Sesshomaru and Rin's VAs mirroring InuKag? They have already done that CD Drama, do you think they did that to give hope to the shippers? What if after so many hints, if they reveal in the anime that Sessrin isn't canon, aren't the shippers gonna be disapointed? This may be a dumb question and your answers are always smart and well-articulated, but i seriously don't understand their marketing strategy, do you care to explain for me?

Oh, hey there! I appreciate all the love you've been leaving on my blogs lately. I really hope I'm able to give you an answer you're satisfied with. Sorry it took some time to get back to you. I hope this makes up for it. 🙏

I'm not gonna lie, I'm up and down about how I feel about that livestream and what it means for the future of this ship. My brain has been on roller coaster mode since basically the moment the sequel was announced. We're in the home stretch now, and we better get the answers WE WANT the second that sequel comes out. Since it's evidently not going to happen anytime sooner- welp!

Before the livestream aired, I really thought us fans were on the verge of discovering the mom and that it was going to be Rin. We still had hope she wasn't, but at the same time most of us antis were "bracing for impact." lol

Then nothing happened.

We were pretty shocked but obviously relieved. The days before it came out, I was telling others (as well as myself lol) that just because Sesshomaru and Rin's VAs had a livestream together doesn't confirm anything. Besides, why does that have to automatically mean that both pairings need to be romantic? We all know how integral these characters are/were to each other's storylines, so these pairings make the most logical sense, wouldn't you say?

In the previous livestream with the voice actors who play Inuyasha and Kagome, they discuss the new character Moroha and introduce her as Inuyasha AND Kagome's daughter. Now let's compare that to the other livestream with Sesshomaru and Rin's VAs. When they described Towa and Setsuna, they did so as Sesshomaru's daughters NOT Sesshomaru and Rin's daughters. That to me is the most telling piece of evidence.

Like how could they not use that prime opportunity to tell us Rin's the mom when her voice actor was literally sitting right there??! We were all expecting it and they still insisted on giving us nothing! What this tells me is that it's possible this mom is a new character, and it even appears she is quite pivotal to the new series. I keep changing my opinion on that part though to be honest with you, because sometimes I think she won't be important at all in the grand scheme of things. (See what I mean about being up and down? lol) Idk about you, but it seems to me like we haven't even met her character. If it was Rin, why keep it a mystery? It's not like Sessrin's popularity is exactly a secret in this fandom. Why wait until the big reveal if it's "so obvious" in the first place? How does Sunrise benefit from hiding this information?

If it does end up being Rin, it would've been better to just come out and say it. If this ain't just pure fanbait like some of us still hope it is, why hold back? Give 'em what they want already and let us antis be at peace. If they hope to think that I'll change my mind and give this sequel a go just because I've waited this long so might as well, they're sorely mistaken. If anything, I'm going to be pissed they kept us in the dark this long when they could've just saved us all the trouble. I imagine that goes for a lot of us, shippers and antis alike. Whatever way you look at it, I won't be invested in this sequel if Sessrin goes canon- period. I cannot and will not be on board with a series that promotes such a harmful and insulting dynamic.

Which brings us to Sunrise's marketing strategy. Well, I definitely think they have been catering to the fans of this ship for quite some time now. Because, ya know, money. Whether that's because they plan to make this ship canon or not remains to be seen. "Show meee the moneeeeyyyy!" *yells in Jerry Maguire*

There was first the drama cd and more recently that calendar which included art of adult!Rin with Sesshomaru, but neither of those are canon first off. Also, does anyone know if it was actually confirmed to be pro-Sessrin fan art? I mean, I know it doesn't look very good when the artist who made it is a Sessrin shipper and certain fans are fawning over their OTP, but that doesn't necessarily mean the calender automatically is either last I checked. I wonder why it can't simply be Rin as an adult visiting with Sesshomaru. I believe in one picture she's seen giving him a flower, much like little Rin would've done, or just as any child does for a loved one. So if Rin is still bringing him flowers as an adult, I would assume that means their relationship dynamic hasn't changed at all. That's what's supposed to happen, too! If an adult's relationship was established with another person while they were just a child, then that adult will always view them as a child no matter what and vice versa. Even when those children become grown-ups, that won't change. That's just how things are, or how they're supposed to be rather. In other words, a normal healthy adult-child bond does not resemble one like Sessrin.

Both Sessrin fans and antis agree there haven't been any romantic implications between Sesshomaru and Rin in the original series. That's why I can't understand for the life of me why we're even having this discussion. Alas, here we are. This is what happens when society has conditioned us to believe that the only proper (aka "best") way an adult male and a young female's closeness can evolve is with romance. So maybe it's not obvious at first (because that would be illegal), but we should EXPECT their relationship to shift in that direction. Why, you ask? Well, simply because sexualizing young girls is the norm so why not, right? No clues or foreshadowing required! Because like I just said, that would be illegal. Fiction has loopholes for this kinda stuff, so problem solved?

Nope! Aging her up counts too, folks! When you look at a girl character and the first thing you think is, "I can't wait till she grows up so she can f*ck" then, yeah, you're a part of the problem. You may not realize it, but you are. That's not to say you're a bad person or that it's even your fault, just saying that there are times in all of our lives where we start to question some of our beliefs. If you not only support but desire the idea of a romance eventually forming between a grown man- yes, 19 is an adult- and a young girl, then you should probably ask yourself why that may be and re-evaluate. Please stop using cultural differences and history that dates back almost a thousand years to justify this so-called tradition.

"You all shouldn't think too deeply about this, it's just fiction! Ugh, you're ruining the fun! Antis should all just shut up! Only we can have problems, but when you do it's just complaining!"

Right....

And by the way, most of us are not even complaining. We're being critical of the content we're watching. Criticism isn't always pretty unfortunately.

If Sunrise and Rumiko do decide to go through with this, then I will disappointed, sure, but not surprised. Romanticizing these sexualized images of young or pre-pubescent girls has been happening for far too long, after all. We've become desensitized to it sadly enough, especially when the media continues to glorify it. I wish we'd realize how many young girls- or minors in general- we're putting in danger by sending messages such as this.

To you young teenage girls and even boys reading this, you may not fully understand right now, but it's never okay for anyone to tell you that your body being sexualized is a natural and beautiful thing. It's going through through a lot changes at your age, yes, but they should never use your curiosity to satisfy their sexual needs. Don't allow some of these stories to be an example of what is acceptable to occur in your own life if you were ever to encounter a similar situation, especially if fiction is all that you have to compare it to. It is not in any way, shape, or form okay for an adult to say or do sexual/romantic things to you. Even a conversation that may seem harmless at first could have dire consequences. No, not even if you trust them and they're one of your favorite people in this world are these things ever appropriate. What they're asking from you or showing you is dangerous, and even if it doesn't seem like it they are very likely taking advantage of you. If you're ever unsure about something, don't hesitate to come to me. Or maybe you have a loved one that you can go to, that works too. 😊

Idk if I even gave you a definite answer, but perhaps it's because I'm still figuring it out myself. If I ever do, ha! I hope by allowing you to get inside my head for a little bit you got a better idea. Or maybe not, and I just made it more confusing for you. Oops! lol Feel free to hit me up again, dear, and have a nice day/night!! 👋

[piduai]

You live in japan, right? but you’re not asian or am i wrong? do you feel any sort of special treatment there, be it positive or negative? my friend used to live in japan for a couple of years for work, and she’s a blue eyed blonde girl, and men at her office were kinda weird... during the day they were all polite etc but if they went drinking at the end of the day several men always tried touching her hair, told her how she’s a “rare beauty” and shit like that... she stopped going to bars after work eventually because such things happened too often and made her really uncomfortable. most women were nice to her, but there also were a couple of girls who were either jealous or whatever and were giving her the silent treatment. i’m wondering if it was just a shitty workplace or if it’s something cultural for foreigners in japan? my friend ended up transferring and never wanted to come back cause even with all the things she genuinely enjoyed in japan, all those relationships with her colleagues left a bad taste in her mouth...

that’s right, i am eastern european. if you’re a foreigner (looking) you’re going to stand out a lot no matter where you go regardless of race but each breed of foreigner has its own stereotypes and attitudes, and men and women of the same ethnicity are treated very differently. 

i do get special treatment, both negative and positive. i can get away with a lot of stuff that japanese people couldn’t, you know rule-breaking, failure to adhere to norms, being individualistic, being ignorant, i’m extended the benefit of the doubt a lot and even if i do something blatantly stupid or wrong and a lot of people will just shrug and be like ‘well she’s foreign, it can’t be helped’. i work in an ultra traditional company with ruthless subordination and overwhelming corporate abuse but if i decide to use my legal days off, for example, i probably won’t get turned down or fired (tho i also get much more exploited than the locals). i sometimes get stuff or random small gifts for free (like in small locally owned cafes i got free coffee a couple of times, people gifted me veggies from their gardens upon seeing me walk down the street, co-workers sometimes bring me coffee or other drinks or snacks unprompted). people are generally kind, understanding and very helpful.

but yeah there’s the other side of the coin too. i am tall and very beautiful thus always attracted attention, but here it’s tenfold. for japanese men, white women are a p*rn category. my first 4 years here i lived in a tiny town in a prefecture not far from tokyo with a lot of old people and yakuza-owned businesses, the only other white women living there were employed by them, and if you’re a woman there’s only one way to make money for the yakuza. i’ve been approached by men during regular ass activities like walking or shopping asking me if i’m prostituting myself and if they can buy me. finding a (regular and non-teaching) job as a non-western foreigner female is difficult, and sexual harassment is pretty much guaranteed, i am extremely familiar with what your friend went through. my boss commented on my appearance during the interview which yeah was a red flag, but it only escalated. as i said my company is extremely traditional, there are very very few women, and most of my co-workers are men in their 40-50-60s. bossman routinely makes me go drink with him and his henchmen making it so i’m the only woman in a company of 5-10 dudes older than my father, one time he made me go to an important dinner with partners and seated me to his right so i can pour to him, and referred to me in front of the partners as ‘his beauty of a slave’. i’m often used for decorative purposes. there is no touching though because anti-sexual harassment laws were fortified in the last few years and he’s very wary of lawsuits, plus as i said i’m not small. 

women mostly avoid me, though. i’ve always been told that i’m extremely intimidating and look difficult to approach, and i guess here it’s the same... back in uni a friend told me that she initially was terrified of striking up a conversation with me because i seemed so intimidating, but again i don’t know how much of it is me being a foreigner and how much is just my natural energy because people told me the exact same thing in my uni in europe. doesn’t save me from unwanted male attention, though. i’ve been stalked to the point of involving the police, followed, harassed, assaulted, roofied a couple of times (long story), barely escaped being trafficked once (long story x2), my intimidating aura doesn’t stop them from hitting on me any fucking where including the gay district (there wasn’t a single time some dude hasn’t tried to hit me up there. like why do you even BOTHER coming here if you’re str8, i ask them this every single time and they’re all like ‘well, it’s fun’. good for you but why are you trying to pick women up here?????? go to shibuya or something), trying to approach me on the street, on the train, in stores, in lines, on the escalator... men are annoying in general but when you stand out like this you simply become a walking target lol. 

note that all of this and what your friend went through didn’t happen because we’re foreigners, it happens because we’re women. not that japanese men respect their women at all, most are proudly misogynistic unconditionally, BUT if your only encounters in your whole life with a particular category of people happens through p*rnography where you witness them being raped and humiliated on screen, it’s pretty damn difficult to consider them human when you meet people like them in flesh. because of that we have an ‘easy’, sex-happy, slutty image. white men aren’t told they’re ‘rare beauties’. white men don’t get groped on the street or asked if they’re willing to suck someone off for 10k yen. oh to be a white man here, most of the doors are open.

most people are still nice, though. as a foreigner you’ll be a foreigner for the rest of your life, an outsider, an alien, different, strange, unfamiliar, you’ll never be truly accepted or treated as one of their own, and it’s ok, it’s something that you’ll never be able to change and better come to terms with at an early stage. but people are nice. i absolutely love japan and am willing to put up with its negative aspects because to me the ones that i like outweigh them, but i do not blame your friend for choosing a different path, this really isn’t for everyone.

[whattaloser]

Why I’m a Leftist

I know I’m probably just some dude who reblogs cool stuff to most of my followers but I’ve got a nice long story/rant about my political beliefs here that I’ve been wanting to write for awhile

I am a leftist first and foremost because I value human life. Everyone matters. No person is inherently more important than another person. Everyone has inherent rights that should not be infringed. People who infringe on other’s rights are morally wrong to do so. In essence my leftism is based on doing what is right. Obviously everyone has their own opinion on what is right but what is vitally important is knowing why your moral code is right. This is why so many people become liberals or conservatives or otherwise rather than leftists. They simply do not know enough about how the world works. There are a lot of reasons they don’t know, not the least of which is intentional covering up history and preventing education. I don’t believe people who aren’t leftists are stupid, but I do believe leftists know more. It’s kinda fucked up but it’s the only way you can explain inconsistencies in other’s values.

My path to leftism was full of cringe. When i was 7 years old Al Gore was running against George Bush for president. I did not know enough to have a real opinion on it but I am happy to say that I wanted Al Gore to win. This thought was based on very little if any logical reason. I basically flipped a coin in my head I think. Or maybe there was some outside influence that I wasn’t aware of, like my older sister who I looked up to might have said she liked Al gore. Either way, from then on I was in favor of democrats and did not like George Bush. When 9/11 happened I remembered thinking how dumb it was that people lined up around the block to get gas. Even as a child I knew that some buildings going down wasn’t going to end the great nation of the United States. In general I thought the United States was a great country. I knew from movies and tv as well as elementary school history that the United States was the most powerful country in the world. 

I recall in Sixth grade my teacher mentioned she liked George Bush because he was against gay marriage. Somehow at the time my opinion was the opposite despite being raised Catholic. I believed in god until I graduated high school and suddenly my desire to be religious slipped away and so did my belief. I do not consider this a great loss. 

Sometime in middle school or early high school I had solidified my opinion that the war in Iraq and Afghanistan was pointless and George Bush was a bad president. I was heavily influenced by movies and somewhat by video games that had imparted plenty of anti-war messages. Talks with my dad about nuclear missiles, watching History channel shows about world war 2, and playing Metal Gear Solid which had explicit nuclear disarmament messages, all informed me on the horrors of war. This was not enough to make me totally anti-military. In high school I wanted to join the military because I thought it was an easy way to get life experience and eventually pay for college. I was attracted to the Marines because of how cool movies like The Rock and video games like Call of Duty made it seem to be a Marine. I thought they were the best of the best. I was simultaneously against war, against veteran worship, and very pro-military. I was indoctrinated by years of government propaganda but also disillusioned by all forms of media including the book All Quiet on the Western Front which was about a soldier becoming disillusioned by witnessing horrors of war and the negative impact it had on everyone in his country. I spoke with a recruiter during my senior year and expressed my desire to be a Marine but I told him I wanted to wait a year after high school so I could get physically fit enough. The recruiter did not care that I was underweight and out of shape. He didn’t even care that I was very enthusiastic about joining, he was still putting on his best salesman demeanor which made me incredibly uneasy. The experience is supposed to pressure people into signing up on the spot, I think they even had forms for me to sign (i can’t really remember though) but I was not ready and was aware enough how I was being manipulated although not entirely cognizant. After that I no longer wanted to be in the military.

I also have to point out that I grew up in an unstable household. My parents were both loving but they were flawed and made mistakes and had problems. My dad was a typical Gen x man’s man. A little bit too emotionally repressed, but actually really good with kids when it came to play time and still is. He worked a lot because my mother couldn’t. My mother has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder as long as I can remember. Her medical bills related to her problems combined with other financially bad decisions by my parents caused my home life to be fraught. I lived in varying degrees of poverty until my parents separated and me and my siblings moved with my mother to her parents’ house away from my father. Prior to moving though, we endured great financial difficulty. We were unable to afford school lunches but could not apply for free or reduced lunches because technically my father made a lot of money, however it was all garnished for medical bills. My father always tells about how he bought a car that had hidden frame damage and when he attempted to sue the dealership for selling a bad car he lost and was garnished for that as well. Despite making over 25 dollars an hour in 1999, my father could not afford school lunches for three kids and couldn’t afford to pay the gas bill. Without going into too much more detail, life sucked and continued to suck until I graduated, at least financially. I still found plenty of joy and it wasn’t always that bad. We still found ways to have good things like video games and we could always rewatch old movies but there’s a lot of psychic weight that comes with being that poor as a child and I’m sure it affects me and my ability to empathize with others who in bad conditions. 

So i watched a lot of movies and documentaries, read a lot of books growing up, discovered internet forums at the age of 11, played video games, moved to a town that had a very large Hispanic population, and I even grew up poor. All of this life experience turned me into a very average liberal upon graduating high school. I was a very optimistic 18 year old. I thought science could save the world. If I was 18 today I would be an average redditor stereotype probably. The point here though is I still wasn’t a leftist. Only vaguely progressive and full of optimism. This is when I got sucked into the anti-feminist pipeline.

I can’t remember what exactly what I had going on in my life but I remember it was around the time of Gamergate. Everyone on the internet, celebrities, and pop culture were saying “if you believe in equality between genders you’re a feminist” an did not like that. And there was a ton of people online to tell me I was right in not liking that. They all said feminism was not necessary anymore because legally you couldn’t discriminate against women and I agreed. Gamergate made it worse for reasons too complicated to get into in this already long post but suffice it say I was “pro Gamergate.” This put me at odds with my closes friends who thought feminism was great and had no qualms with it, and were already embracing the idea of being a “social justice warrior.” Despite reading all kinds of anti-feminist think pieces and reveling in the discourse, I was still very progressive and liberal minded person. Still thought the military was bad, that black people were discriminated against etc. But so many aspects of anti-feminism were appealing to me as a white guy who tried their hardest to do what they’re told is right, had low self esteem, undiagnosed adhd and depression, and a fundamental misunderstanding of what feminism was. Two things got me out of anti-feminism though. The first and most important thing was having friends who were patient with me about it. I didn’t reveal how into anti-feminism I was because I was ashamed but they could sense it and pushed back when they could. The second thing that got me out of it was actually finding feminists online and reading what they had to say, staying away from poorly written clickbait articles that fueled misogynist tirades against feminism. After reading and learning from feminists it finally clicked. Our society is patriarchal and that affects how people interact with each other regardless of what is legal. Many of the complaints of anti-feminism talk about how men have it in society, so how can society be patriarchal. It’s because of patriarchy that men are put in bad positions. Some of the more self aware anti-feminists had retorts against these ideas but they were emotionally charged. There’s still some anti-feminists I have respect for because of how well prepared and logical they were when it came to disputing feminism. But when it came down to the fundamental tenants of feminsim all they could respond with was anger or outright denial of reality. (If you’re like I was and don’t understand how anyone can thing modern feminism is good please feel free to ask me more, I just can’t get into specifics in this long ass post) Anyways, once you understand patriarchy and how it affects an individuals actions then you can start seeing how other institutions and cultural norms can affect an individual. This is basically fundamentals of leftism. I’d say about 90% of my path to leftism was just naturally absorbing cultural and historical information through consumption of media. The most conservative people I know are people who haven’t read very many books or seen very many movies. I’m not saying watching Austin Powers at the age of 10 will make everyone a leftist but constantly recontextualizing the world by learning something new, even if you learned it from some dumb comedy movie, can give you better grounding in a shared reality.  Don’t know how to end this but I want to say when I was a teenager I thought “communism is good in theory but it doesn’t work in practice” and I had almost no historical basis for it other than the vague notion that USSR = bad despite having consumed a massive amount of media. None of it taught me what communism actually was, I didn’t know who Karl Marx was, and I had no clue why communism in the USSR failed. You can know a lot without knowing the truth so if you’re struggling with a loved one who is mind poisoned by conservative keep in mind that they know a lot but they’re missing something important to give clarity. 

This has been my Ted Talk

[tonyglowheart]

This entire thing is a rant, feel free to ignore it, but I saw your post about how destiel fans can’t win in this context, and yeah. So have some rambles.

I’ve been thinking about the fact we (current spn/destiel fans) can’t win all night... I’ve seen so many people talking about how homophobic it is - and while I would very much like to argue, as every point I’ve seen made by a non-spn fan has been wrong so far, if I did everyone inside the fandom would agree and everyone outside would either call me straight or pity me for believing it’s okay.

(Cas wasn’t even sent to hell lmao. He was sent to angel death (the empty), a place he has escaped in the past. Other points, like that meta about spn has been predicting exactly this for months, that Dean ended up sobbing on the floor because he was so upset, like that death means next to nothing on spn, like that there is two episodes left, etc etc. you feel me right? I just don’t want to post wank to other spn blogs atm, we’re getting enough frustration as it is, no need to add to it.

It’s also worth pointing out that the bar is very, very low. Spn is a prominent TV show - not a Netflix show, or indie, or whatever - and it just said “main character in gay love saved the world”. [insert gif of ghostfacers dude saying that gay love can pierce through the veil of death and save the day here]

I just saw someone saying that spn having Naomi try to brainwash Cas out of loving dean makes spn homophobic (it is a conversion therapy parallel). My first response to that is that Naomi was the villain lmao? I guess we can’t write villains doing anything homophobic because having villains do homophobic things makes, uh - checks notes - villains look homophobic, and clearly we can’t have that.

There certainly are legitimate things to criticise spn about, but this isn’t it lol.

Also now some people are unironically trying to cancel Jensen because “his acting was homophobic, and so he’s clearly homophobic”, nevermind that he’s an actor and his character struggles with understanding his emotions (which I think he played excellently, myself. That scene had a very Dean delayed emotional response), nevermind the support he’s given to us queers in the past. Like. Idek man.

We would have been laughed at if we got no destiel, too.

It would have been worse, had the writers pulled a dumbledore. At this point I also trust the writers not to pull a GoT - they have explicitly criticised that ending in spn’s canon.

Spn’s writers did that by making the main villain of this season, Chuck / God, say GoT had a good ending. To reiterate a previous point I had: villains do bad things because they’re bad. And the bad things they do make them bad. For the people out there not still following, if someone does something in a story and it makes them a villain, that is explicitly telling you the story (and probably the writers) thinks that thing is bad. In this case, Chuck likes to write things for him, and we the audience have been shown and told that is bad.

Apparently thinking a gay confession is good in 2020 makes me straight. Seems unlikely, but whatever. Sorry for the length, I guess I went overboard, I’ve been holding it in lol. Anyway, DESTIEL IS CANON 💚💙 hope you have a good night

Helloo supernatural anon I hope you are living your best life right now. Yeah I’m like..... skeptical and leery myself but having lived through some absolute garbage discourse that is general purity wank, as well as the C/QL greater fandom here and on Twitter I find myself... much more wanting to question the “general wisdom” of things esp in terms of negativity, bc a lot of the time I find.... it’s wrong? Like so wrong. Or at least presents such an incomplete picture of the whole situation and also presents it in such a removed context that words that have meaning and are operationalized in a certain way for a reason, no longer have meaningful usage.

Anyway I don’t... know too much about the specifics of Spn but someone I follow is into it and talks a lot about the Gnostic stuff and that all was very fascinating to me, and I also have been grappling a lot with cultural Christianity bc of cmedia and the way ppl just *clenches fist* unthinkingly or uncritically slap some Christian norms on it and call it a day 😩 help I’m Tired. My thing here being... I actually got tired of the uncritical “superhell”s at some pt bc I am, in fact, incredibly exhausted with cultural Christianity, and because it does seem like, even possibly(?) without the Gnostic stuff it’s different from a “hell” or other Protestant-derived afterlife concept, and also yeah that it wasn’t seeded out of nowhere, it was set up to happen, which then... lends credence to the idea that whatever the current era of Spn is doing, the current showrunners are doing it with purpose.

And idk I just... refuse to believe the concept that ALL of the fans of Spn - esp the ones who have been following it still, or got back into it and are following it currently, are acting under delusion or are fooling themselves into liking it or thinking it’s good or whatever. I personally find that kinda infantilizing and patronizing and playing into issues of dismissing things women and/or other marginalized identities like.

Plus I find the concept that (from what I think I’ve been seeing Spn fans say) that the current era of the show is quite actively grappling with itself, its past, its legacy. to be very interesting and compelling; it hearkens back to like an old lore kind of feeling, of a thing that has grown into a nigh undefeatable monster and realizing that, also realizing that the only way to defeat itself is through grappling with its own nature and transforming and transmuting itself into something else. I personally find that more plausible and compelling than “Supernatural has been actively and continuously queerbaiting for 15 homophobic homophobic years., so right now we’re all very sorry for you because this maybe is no longer queerbaiting but it’s still homophobic and it can never be anything different ever.” I’ve been sort of tangentially aware of Spn thru the years and didn’t we agree, around the time of that in-universe play about Spn and with the lil Destiel shoutout, that Spn has come a ways as far as coming to terms with its fandom and working to treat its fans better? Why the sudden regression into “oh no, Supernatural is and forever will be homophobic and a hate crime”? 🤔 

The rest under a cut bc the ask is already long and then my rambling will get longer-

But yeah I mean..... I get that the legacy of Supernatural has been certifiably Rough, but I think people also forget how different of a time 2005 was? Hell, how different of a time 2015 was, even, prior to, say, Obergefell v. Hodges. Now I’m not saying that to blanket-excuse Supernatural, but like, you look at mainstream shows from the era and... there’s a lot of shit lmao. The fact that Supernatural has existed this long seems to me like.... maybe we CAN look at how it’s developed through the years vs just insisting it is what it was 15, 10, hell, 5 years ago. Especially since, to my knowledge, there’s been showrunner changes? Which seems to me like it would... affect things? I mean honestly, I remember back when I got into Spn for a hot second because of Castiel, I remember watching panel, Q&A, etc vids thru the years, and like... I thought we agreed that... it was the fans who were going a bit far pushing the shipping question like literally ALL the time to the actors, who are not in control of the show and.... like at the time.... that could have had personal implications for them? And yes homophobia bad, and people can still be allies despite that, but again like.... I do feel like - from what I’ve seen - that these guys were NOT ready to deal with a lot of that but they’ve (okay Jensen I’m talking about Jensen here) genuinely grown and learned? Also how many years ago was the essay autograph thing that people keep trotting out, like what year was it in and what year of spn was it, and what were the prevailing opinions on LGBT issues and bisexuality then.

I’ve been seeing some murmurings of identity politicsing surrounding ppl who enjoy Supernatural, and I’m sorry that that’s happening to you, it really fucking sucks and it’s also the dumbest way to “make” or “win” an argument because it shouldn’t ever be a final determiner, just factors to consider when considering what life experiences might have informed someone else’s PoV and views as well as maybe how you can better communicate with them. Instead of it being a “weapon” or “tool” to either dismiss someone or de facto validate an argument.

Also yeah I get it that you don’t want to send discourse to spn blogs bc I imagine you guys ARE actively grappling with all the bs rn and it’s a lot. Even just from like, the stuff I see around, I’m like tired of it. I’m genuinely having more fun with ppl who are having a good time with Supernatural than the ppl who are hating on it, even in this sort of backhanded “oh we’re not clowning YOU we’re clowning the writers and showrunners who think you should be satisfied with this,” when... yeah? the people who HAVE been watching the show and therefore... know what’s up.. DO seem to be? And all this based on *fake gasp* context. And that’s where the backhandedness becomes kind of poisonous to me, because it implies that it IS bad, and that you SHOULDN’T be satisfied, but poor little you are but don’t worry, we’re not making fun of YOU for liking garbage, you’re just the hapless victim who is consuming the garbage bc... idk, whatever reasons ppl are coming up with ig.

idk man it’s 2020. Fandom isn’t activism, performative or otherwise, it’s okay to let people enjoy things even if you think they’re “objectively” bad, and like... I don’t know if people can call something bad when they’re not even working with the whole context and instead are dealing with rumor and reputation. 

[positivityforlesbians]

Just wanted to add even more on the asexual thing :D I also considered myself asexual from about 16yo to 18yo. I always feared even the thought of having sex with men, and because in the homophobic society I live in I didn't even consider the possibility of gay sex. Even though I literally had a crush on a girl before that, which for some reason I decided to repress 🤔 So, if I don't want to have sex with men, then I must be ace! It all makes sense!! /s (1)

(2) It honestly took me a while to realize I wanted sex and romance with other women. And, in my opinion, some of the things I've heard in the ace community aren't really helpful. Things like demisexuality, "if you don't feel sexual attraction by x age you are certainly ace!" and stuff like that. Lmao, and the thing that actually made me realize I was a lesbian is the whole "sex positive ace" deal. I just COULDN'T for the love of me understand what the fuck it meant lol. (3) And eventually I just came to a realization that I wasn't ace at all. Because like, how can you not experience sexual attraction yet desire sex? I couldn't wrap my head around it, as it made me even more confused about what I was going through. And maybe even solidified some of my internal lesbiphobia surrounding my sexual desires for women, but I'm still reflecting on that xD Anyway, yeah. I can kinda relate to all that. I wonder how many young gays and lesbians are falling into that trap?

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Finally i can respond to your message. You’re right, the ace community is absolutely not helpful most of the time because they do address teenagers and young adults as if their sexuality is matured already, and as if heteronormativity wasn’t a thing. Hell, the ace community itself is full of teenagers who are just too young to have experienced sexual attraction, who are “late-bloomers” and not aware of the fact that the culture around us shapes how we view our sexuality. I wish it wasn’t the case but it is and it can cause damages, there’s definitely a lot of young gays and lesbians falling into this trap, though way more lesbians than gay men. Women’s sexuality revolves around men, we’re taught that our pleasure is secondary, we’re often not even taught about our own pleasure, according to many all that matters is that women satisfy men. Given that information there’s two scenario that can true for women who think of themselves as ace when they’re not : 

- Lesbians in deny, like you used to be, they are not picturing themselves with women because heteronormativity exists and it made it so that it didn’t cross their mind, they only see themselves in straight relationships because that’s the norm to them. They feel like their lack of attraction for men must mean they are ace, if they have warm feelings for women they think that all straight women feel this way, that it doesn’t mean more than admiration for them.

- Women attracted to men but (legitimately) afraid of sex with them because of the way women are seen nowadays, meaning more and more objectified, used during sex, degraded, etc, which created in them an aversion to sex, though they want intimacy with men (holding hands, kissing, being cute together, marrying each other, etc) they don’t want the sexual part - not because they’re disgusted by penises and their bodies - but because of the reasons mentioned before, porn culture normalizing violent heterosexual sex. So between that and hookup culture they will either identify as ace or demisexual (I used to identify as such myself, though not for long) because they think that their boundaries are somehow abnormal, when they’re pretty common.

If people cannot talk about these two points honestly and abundantly before putting a “oh you’re ace” diagnostic then like you said, a lot of people will realize that they were mistaken. And this isn’t even touching the topic of teens not feeling sexual yet, which again is perfectly normal, it doesn’t equal actual asexuality. Anyway, thanks for your input anon, surely this will help young ppl who feel lost because they’re in that situation right now ! Xx

[moondeerdotblog]

On Dragons

A brief note for short attention spans: stick around if you wanna see how I manage to seamlessly (and I do say so myself) tie together dragon mythology, weaving, and politics into one giant point about worldview diversity and problem solving efficacy (even got a Trumpian meme for y’all towards the bottom if that is more your bag).

I have always been fascinated by the common thread stretched about humanity that links up our narratives. The similitude with which humanity engineers itself by independent means.

Take dragons for example. Damn near everyone thought up dragons.

They thought ‘em up in Egypt, where Apep was the very embodiment of chaos.

Egypt also thought up my personal favorite, Ouroboros, who was a manifestation of the snake god Mehen.

They thought ‘em up in Mother Russia where it would appear three really is a magic number. One would assume their mastery of weather and water source got ‘em the gig at the bow of this Russian Viking ship.

This handsome three-headed fella, who goes by Zmey Gorynych, is from Russian folklore. He liked taking human form and seducing him some laadiees.

In Greece, dragons were hurling up namesakes. Here we see a depiction of Athena watching as the Colchian dragon, guardian of the Golden Fleece, disgorges Jason.

Greek dragons were also being raised solely for the purpose of slaying Heracles (pictured here failing miserably is the Lernaean Hydra).

The Greeks also liked stickin‘ ‘em in mosaics, as with this depiction of a sea dragon or cetus.

In China, where dragons were thought to bring good luck to those worthy of such fortune, you’ll find them carved into walls. I mean … be kinda awkward not to find dragons at Nine-Dragon Wall … am I right?

The last imperial dynasty of China, the Qing dynasty, chose to stick one of the dragon gods, the Azure Dragon, on their flag.

It wouldn’t be long before the Chinese dragon would make its way to Japan, as evidenced by this Hokusai painting,

as well as to Korea, as evidenced by the murals found at the Goguryeo tombs.

The first known portrayal of a fully modern, western dragon may be found within a medieval manuscript.

Native Americans painted dragons on bluffs. This fearsome piasa bird craved human flesh.

So what is the point of my little dragons of the world presentation? I believe it worth considering the discrepancies and commonalities amongst such cultural invention.

Let us begin with commonalities. The nearest I can tell, the single common thread among these narratives defines a dragon as a serpentine, legendary creature. Let me paint my point metaphorically.

We often speak of storytellers as though they were spinning yarn. It would not, then, be much of a stretch to reimagine them as weavers, and their creations as tapestries such as the two below.

We might think of the universally common as the warp threads running through these tapestries. Something structural. Not the good stuff.

What they all saw the same way isn’t really the interesting bit, is it? Seems to me the good stuff is what each culture thought of a little bit differently, the weft threads of the tapestries.

That which makes the Chinese dragon on the right something entirely different than the Celtic dragon on the left. Different … but no less beautiful … and the world is richer having known them both. Having known them both, what might one weave next?

Consider, then, what invention becomes possible with all things considered.

What might I be able to learn from someone with whom I share nothing but warp threads (were we each provided our very own babel fish … obviously).

What might he learn from me? After we have finished feeding our fish and gone our separate ways, how might we be affected? What ingenuity might we have unlocked for future endeavors?

Not enough? Not yet convinced of the beneficiality of discrepant embrace? Another example, then.

What must this untouched Amazonian tribe have thought possible that they hadn’t only moments earlier?

I don’t want y’all thinkin’ I only value discrepancy. We value the shared human experience, that which binds us as a species … the things about our lives, about the human condition, one finds to be as true beneath the canopy as they are in my backyard.

Without such warp threads we might find those outside the purview of our particular worldview entirely un-relatable. We might consider children one such thread. Entirely relatable.

What I find to be most valuable, however, are those weft threads … the good stuff. The stuff that tells us not who we are, but who we might be … who we might become. It is the unique that drives us to want to try out something new … that has us saying, “huh, I never thought to do that,” or “I haven’t thought of it that way before.”

It is the unique that allows us to glance up at the sky and say to ourselves, “I never knew that was possible.”

Thinking about folklore and mythology in this way got me thinking about world-views, and the current political climate in our country.

When Trump was first impeached, I became deeply invested in the plight of our nation. If I was awake, the television was tuned to MSNBC and I was absorbing all of it. The reality rejectionist platform pushed by the GOP, the militia grooming, the election theft, the fascist coup, etc., etc. You all know the story.

The things is, I was getting there weeks, if not months, before anyone I was seeing on my television (or Twitter for that matter). I began wondering why. I mean … me … a guy with a political knowledge gap the size of those Texan power bills.

Then there seemed to come a moment at which point everyone caught up. Biden was declared victorious.

I was caught up in the jubilation

and felt as though, perhaps, the whole divergency irritant had been flushed.

It hadn’t been. Coinciding with the beginning of Trump’s second impeachment trial, even more so than before, my read diverged from any other I could find. Maximum dissidence was reached immediately following the Senate’s vote to acquit, when Mitch stepped up to the podium and began speaking.

Wait … wait … that wasn’t Mitch.

Okay, that’s Mitch. So Mitch got up there and did precisely what I feared he might … he pivoted away from a doomed reality rejectionist platform. My surprise was in how everyone else responded. I have yet to find anyone anywhere not surprised by Mitch that day.

“So what, then, is your point?” you ask. “It seems as though that vuvuzela isn’t all you’ve been blowing,” you say (in a rather accusatory tone I might add). Here is my point with regard to my power to prognosticate.

I have grown convinced that I have uncovered the force at play here. It is precisely that political knowledge gap which has turned me amateur prognosticator. Without the knowledge of political norms and precedents pressing into my mental map of possibility, my imagination would not be limited to what has come before. My expectations were unflappable when met with a world that no longer made sense, while so many clung to a pre-Trumpian set of expectations. They, consciously or subconsciously (mind is tricky that way), feared the unrecognizable now.

I want to return, briefly, to that Amazonian tribe, staring up at that plane. No doubt you had a similar reaction to my own upon seeing that image, postulating what magic they must invent to explain that which they have seen.

I want you to consider something that perhaps you wouldn’t have thought to consider. Let’s reimagine magic. What if Trump were piloting that plane? (Nailed it, right?)

Of course the plane crashes. It was held aloft by norms and precedents. Say everyone survives the crash. Which group, the planites or the tribe, now possesses the most accurate view of what surrounds them?

Politically, societally, pick-your-ly … who among us has the most accurate view of what surrounds us today?

Well … I mean … you’re not wrong. We have a hell-of-a-lotta problems (and thanks for participating, couldn’t pull this off without ya) … problems requiring masterful weavers work together in fabricating solutions.

Let us, then, consider carefully whom we shall invite to sit down at our table … with which unique perspectives we shall be outfitted.

What might discrepant world-views or experience engender as we begin weaving? What might we see in the weft threads of our tapestry that we never knew was possible?

[clownishh]

i agree w a lot of your points but saying ATLA’s white people free universe means that there’s no colonialism or imperialism is false. have u forgotten about imperial japan? Bc as someone from one of the countries they imperialized I sure haven’t. also chinas past (and present)of cultural imperialism ? also i see nothing wrong w setting AUs in white countries bc there’s a huge Asian diaspora who lives in those countries & their experiences are valid(& my uni has equal amounts of white&Asian)

I wrote that post at 5 am in the morning absolutely crying when I got so mad at everything being so white ppl centric in this fandom. So yeah, I could not express that point clearly.

You're right, asian countries have been imperialised by other poc. (the fire nation basically did that to a other nations, esp the air nation? didn't the end up losing their culture to imperialism?). And yes that leads to a massive loss of culture and heritage and in retrospect I should've considered that earlier, I apologize.

But there's no chance of westernisation, still. There's no chance of these poc cultures adopting white traditions. (For instance vegetarianism isn't considered weird in south asia, a lot of times it's the norm and it's pretty easy to find restaurants that are purely vegetarian. And...I've seen fics making fun of aang's vegetarianism...that's just so disrespectful. That's literally so disrespectful and you'd know that if you read like one line of how buddhism works.)

Setting aus (exclusively) in say, america and canada is kinda iffy to me because those are the only things that are acceptable here as a modern au. Kinda implying that modern = the west. Is that not racist? (I mean it's only countries I've ever seen modern aus ever set in. That points to a problem)

Of course there is a lot of asian diaspora in the west and yes their experiences are valid. But write about those experiences, cuz those are so unique and of course the world needs to hear about them. But please...give me one good reason why you want white characters in a fic about a universe having no white characters. One.

And in a way there's absolutely a possibility that culture similar to diaspora exists in the atla universe itself (the refugees in ba sing se!) So maybe incorporating stuff like that is a great idea to tell your story as an asian diaspora without incorporating too many western elements into your story.

Obviously I know as an asian diaspora yourself, you'd be able to capture it's experience. And that would actually be a great analogy for say, aang. (being out of touch of your culture and feeling like you're the only one representing it? god that's diaspora culture)

But, many of these other characters are totally basking in their own cultures. if you write that without taking away their blatant asian-ness, that's cool!! (you CAN write a story without paying much attention to where it's set and all) but why. why do you want to take away their Asian cultures and their pride in it and make them give up Asian clothing and festivals and food. What's the reason???? Isn't it refreshing to see an Asian character not hating their heritage? Write about diaspora culture of course, but it's again sensitive because I cannot begin on the amount of hatred you internalise because of that, so as long as you're aware of that and write it with that awareness, it's perfectly fine.

Obviously as an asian person who has been to western countries I've always seen me and my families hiding our cultures and adopting western cultures, so that's the problem in setting a story in a western country. Because in the atla universe you can be unabashedly asian, in asian countries, yeah (unless you take into account westernisation) but as an Asian in a western country??? not really.

But if you end up not taking away that unabashedess, it actually could be a really good story. Setting doesn't matter too much as long as you delete the racism that exists in that setting maybe and let these characters be unashamedly, unequivocally asian.

(Of course I mean this all for inuit culture as well. For instance, I've seen this a lot, do not take away kataras hair loops when it's mentioned in the show that she's isn't herself without them)

(Honestly in one au post someone had the name of a teacher as 'ms smith.' that's the kinda stuff that made me snap, not really what you're saying.)

[soulvomit]

When I look at how people are raised these days, and the attitudes that come from that, I have total whiplash, and the whiplash isn’t that it wasn’t like that when I was growing up.  I was around right at the beginning of cartoons being used to sell toys, consumerist fandom, etc.  It’s that so much of that *missed* me because of how I was raised. I was so much outside of what “other young people were doing.” I didn’t have every new thing, I didn’t watch anywhere nearly as much network children’s TV, and I was an advanced reader. But also, I had a *lot* of independence growing up. I was a fairly streetwise kid. I ran into middle class families whose kids didn’t have anywhere near the ability to just go anywhere. Just like now. There seemed to be a social status thing about planning out every minute of your child’s day, they had to “stay out of trouble” and be around the “right” people. Whereas I pretty much just ran more and more of my own life as a tween and teenager, I picked out my own friends and social spaces. My parents talked to me like I was an adult and they wanted me to keep up in conversations. They hated when I used teen slang, but I suspect that’s... kinda normal.    And whenever I *did* try to do the “trendy teenager” thing, I ran into conflict with the fact that I helped my dad with his business, and spent a lot of time around his day job. Also, body stuff. I started wearing “adult” styles early.  Basically, from early on, I was expected to live up to adult expectations, not peer expectations.  It wasn’t easy to make friends as a child. But as a teenager, I often had a lot of friends, and my friends tended to be older than me. Middle class kids my own age? What a joke. If you weren’t into all the same things they were into, you weren’t accepted, and the stuff I was into was generally above my age level. Part of why I was into geek/nerd culture so much, *was* that it wasn’t so consumerist, and it wasn’t so into being “age appropriate.” Geek/nerd culture is where the kids were who were into adult fiction. (Can we talk, too, about how much 70s through early 90s adult genre fiction, featured teenage and young characters? So I liked stuff ABOUT young people... but not necessarily FOR young people.)  There is some weird gender stuff - because being gender-appropriate and among middle class kids, meant a norm of seeming coddled and protected, or even infantilized. If you didn’t act like this, it either meant you were gender non conforming (I feel like there’s such a class thing in who was allowed to be a tomboy) or you were somehow broken or just mean. Not liking stuff other girls were into was ALWAYS constructed as “you think you’re better than me.” I spent a lot of time traversing tough neighborhoods by myself, and you learn the rules. Don’t go down this street; don’t go down that street. Don’t walk down Sepulveda by yourself, that’s the red light district, you could get grabbed by a creeper or a cop. Don’t walk on the side of Van Nuys with the apartments, where the drug dealers are. I knew this stuff at 10. And even when we were living in a somewhat less rough neighborhood, I learned, don’t bother this or that specific person. If it’s a diverse region then you also learn some intercultural etiquette, you learn at least some things that specific people find offensive. Because offending people has real-world consequences. I started taking the bus all over town at 12. I was taking the bus from Panorama City to Westwood, or to the beach. I went shopping for my family, I went to the mall by myself. Thing is - I’m not sure it’s JUST that kids today are so much less independent, because I think I was unusually independent. I had friends who weren’t allowed to take the bus at all, or who didn’t do a single activity that wasn’t something their parents signed them up for.  But then there’s the social thing, and I feel like I had to learn to be offended. Giving a reaction or seeming thin-skinned, was a way to get bullied. I had to just let a lot slide and say nothing, a lot of the time, and there is a lot of stuff that just wasn’t at my notice level. I'd been bullied mercilessly as a child for being a crybaby and that was something that I had to overcome, and eventually I stopped being easily rattled. But then, as I got older and into middle class spaces, people thought that my not being easily rattled by other people saying stupid things to me, meant *I* was the mean one. I was supposed to crumple. It wasn’t enough simply not to be a bully, I had to give the right display of delicacy when bullies did bother me. Adults were not going to come to my rescue in many social situations and I was not going to win against a higher status, more “delicate” girl, especially if she seemed like a “good Christian girl.” Ever. I’m also from a generational space and social class background where bullied kids were still being encouraged to give as good as they get. My parents were actually upset when I just took it and they were accepting if I got suspended for fighting back. They were strange, I guess. They wanted me to be tough and they wanted me to be self-sufficient. And when I talk about what the norms are with anyone, it’s clear to me that I’m not even sure what norm I ever fit.  I have no point of reference for “normal middle class childhood,” aside from the fact that my parents got me lessons and tutoring as they became financially better off, and put me in Scouting.