#but in human culture while it's accepted it's still not the norm

[inexplicably-spookified]

diversity win! this witch is bi... lingual?

[ilovedthestars]

A thought I’ve been having: While it's important to recognize the long history of many current queer identities (and the even longer history of people who lived outside of the straight, cis, allo “norm”) I think it's also important to remember that a label or identity doesn't have to be old to be, for lack of a better word, real.

This post that i reblogged a little while ago about asexuality and its history in the LGBTQ+ rights movement and before is really good and really important. As i've thought about it more, though, it makes me wonder why we need to prove that our labels have "always existed." In the case of asexuality, that post is pushing back against exclusionists who say that asexuality was “made up on the internet” and is therefore invalid. The post proves that untrue, which is important, because it takes away a tool for exclusionists.

But aromanticism, a label & community with a lot of overlap & solidarity with asexuality, was not a label that existed during Stonewall and the subsequent movement. It was coined a couple decades ago, on internet forums. While the phrasing is dismissive, it would be technically accurate to say that it was “made up on the internet.” To be very clear, I’m not agreeing with the exclusionists here—I’m aromantic myself. What I’m asking is, why does being a relatively recently coined label make it any less real or valid for people to identify with?

I think this emphasis on historical precedent is what leads to some of the attempts to label historical figures with modern terminology. If we can say someone who lived 100 or 1000 years ago was gay, or nonbinary, or asexual, or whatever, then that grants the identity legitimacy. but that's not the terminology they would have used then, and we have no way of knowing how, or if, any historical person's experiences would fit into modern terminology.

There's an element of "the map is not the territory" here, you know? Like this really good post says, labels are social technologies. There's a tendency in the modern Western queer community to act like in the last few decades the "truth" about how genders and orientations work has become more widespread and accepted. But that leaves out all the cultures, both historical and modern, that use a model of gender and sexuality that doesn't map neatly to LGBTQ+ identities but is nonetheless far more nuanced than "there are two genders, man and woman, and everyone is allo and straight." Those systems aren’t any more or less “true” than the system of gay/bi/pan/etc and straight, cis and trans, aro/ace and allo.

I guess what I’m saying is, and please bear with me here, “gay” people have not always existed. “Nonbinary” people have not always existed. “Asexual” people have not always existed. But people who fell in love with and had sex with others of the same gender have always existed. People who would not have identified themselves as either men or women have always existed. People who didn’t prioritize sex (and/or romance) as important parts of their lives have always existed. In the grand scheme of human existence, all our labels are new, and that’s okay. In another hundred or thousand years we’ll have completely different ways of thinking about gender and sexuality, and that’ll be okay too. Our labels can still be meaningful to us and our experiences right now, and that makes them real and important no matter how new they are.

We have a history, and we should not let it be erased. But we don’t need a history for our experiences and ways of describing ourselves to be real, right now.

[sunsents]

Tsu-tey - The Age of Arrogance (1)

CHAPTER 1

MINI SERIES MASTERLINK

➵ chapter summary: Despite your best efforts, being rejected by the clan Olo'eyktan to be is painful and infuriating. Yet, what happens when you rescue him from death? Will your clashing worldviews finally be set aside?

➵ pairing: enemies to lovers, tsu'tey x fem!reader(no use of y/n)

➵ word count: 3.1k

➵ warnings: descriptions of war and injury, near-death experience, cursing, angst, pining, tsu'tey is an asshole but he redeems himself later :/

DON’T REPOST MY WORK

On your first encounter with Tsu'tey, he pointed an arrow at your head, threatened you with a rock during the entire ride back to Hometree, and then proceeded to ignore your existence for the rest of your stay. 

It was comical how the sight of your face immediately triggered his sneer. His scowl had become infamous amongst your peers, and Dr. Augustine had even gone out of her way to print 'TSU'TEY IS WATCHING YOU' posters to hang around the science outpost.

Ever the hard-headed warrior, becoming accepted amongst the people was not enough for him to acknowledge your presence, let alone an ounce of your skills. He laughed hysterically at you during your Iknimaya - which, you admit, wasn't a very graceful sight, however, you were still better than Jake, who barely made it out alive. During your acceptance ceremony, he stubbornly refused to extend a hand to your shoulder, until Moat, the clan elder, gave him a good smack.

It wasn't like you craved the future Olo'Eyktan's approval, and it didn't matter when the best warrior in the clan scowled at you when you acclaimed the largest play during your first hunting party.

At first, you thought it was a gender issue until Grace and Norm intricately explained that gender roles didn't exist in Na'vi culture. Now, you were certain Tsu'tey hated you.

When the tall, majestic blue man with lithe muscles and glistening skin does nothing but sneer at you, insult your wonky bow work, and talk smack about your human features, you have no choice but to stop trying to get his attention. A woman could only go so far, you had to remind yourself.

Now though, as you run away from the whizzing RDA machine, you wish Tsu'tey was here to fend it off. His skills never failed to raise goosebumps– he would surely collapse the robot in one swift move. Dodging burning trees and giant leaves, your legs ache for some rest. You heave a breath, collapsing on your knees when the buzzing sound of the engine fades away. Your body burns in painful throbs, but you're safe for now. You take this opportunity to get up with a grunt and push your earpiece for some reassurance.

Your plan is simple; locate Jake and Neytiri, kill Quaritch like a badass, win the war (and maybe gain the favor of Tsu'tey).

The painful moan that echoes off the earpiece makes you freeze. Chills run down your spine at the prospect of someone being hurt, or worse, dead.

"Help, agh - Sooly, Neytiri?" the voice croaks, pained and muffled. Your heart drops further down - all of the pain you previously felt diminishes in an instant. Tsu'tey was hurt and calling for help.

You raise two fingers to your neck and press, slow and cautious. "Where are you?"

When silence meets your ears, the thumping of your heart fills the space. After a long pause, Tsu'tey whispers, "Near cave Kelkuk'tel. Quick,"

As adrenaline surges through your body, your objective echoes loud in your head; find Tsu'tey. Your legs, once in pain, become numb while you sprint through the tall trees. Tsu'tey, Tsu'tey, Tsu'tey.

The view that meets your eyes makes your blood run cold; He's lying on the ground with his head propped on a rock, a bullet wound on his chest and blood drizzling down his intricate accessories. You quickly kneel before him and examine his wounds.

"Don't," he heaves for a moment, wide eyes darting around your face. "touch."

Your vision blurs with tears. You always regarded Tsu'tey as strong, beast-like, untouchable, and undefeatable. Seeing him in such a vulnerable position causes you to falter in your determination regarding the ongoing war. 

Quickly wiping under your eyes, you chuckle to hide the pain in your voice. "Fucking hell, Tsu'tey. You're unbelievable,"

He pinches his face, signature scowl decorating his features. You smile fondly, keeping a hand on his chest. "I will die here, it is the way."

"No, I'm not letting you die."

"No!" he grunts with gritted teeth. His pain is etched on his face as he struggles to breathe.

"You're so goddamn stubborn," you chastise, breaking off one of the large leaves that surround you and carefully wrapping his wound. It will have to make do for now until you get him to Mo'at.

Tsu'tey struggles to stop you, trashing around with the little remaining strength he has left. "Just let me save you, you utter asshat!"

"I do not know this," he starts, about to attempt the alien words when a coughing fit overtakes his chest. You panic, springing to action. You wrap his arm around your neck, position yourself so he's on your side, and pull him up with a raspy heave.

"Come on big guy, you're gonna be fine," you reassure, sweat running down your forehead. He's heavy, which was expected. You thought you could handle it, but as you struggle to walk through the heavy foliage, it becomes painful to ignore just how heavy he is. You push through though, groaning and moaning with wobbling legs ready to give out. Your entire body aches as you take a step - your back hunched and your face in a painful grimace.

"Ma ____?" the voice of Neytiri speaks through the earpiece. You curse under your breath, letting go of Tsu'tey's leg that you had perched on your waist for extra support.

"Yes, Neytiri. Do you copy?"

"____, we are victorious. We won against the sky people!"

The joy in her voice washes away all of the pain and exhaustion that held you captive moments ago. With a huge smile and surprised chuckle, you simply gawk at the surrounding forest.

"He's dead, ____! The bastard got what was comin' for him."

Jake's voice accompanies your earpiece and his smile is evident in his voice. With newfound motivation, the walk back to Spirit Tree feels all the easier. "Did you hear that? We won, big guy."

Tsu'tey makes no noise, you realize he passed out. Wincing, you quicken your step, the burn of your legs coming back to haunt you.

Living in a community where traditions are drastically important, saving Tsu'tey meant you snagged a title on your own; the privilege to be a member of Olo’eyktan’s right-hand soldiers– commandeered by yours truly, of course.

Yours truly, who is still passed out cold.

It has been exactly two weeks since Jake decreed that humans were to leave Pandora, and life has been nothing but peaceful. You accompanied Jake in his body transfer and were now a full-fledged Na'vi. You even had a kelku of your own, high in the trees. Jake insisted that you be neighbors.

The flow of life still seemed strange to you. The people would say you've adapted well to your duties and established a routine for your everyday life. However, whenever you closed your eyes, you still expected to wake up in the cold pod with the lingering blue lights and the muffled whizzing noises of the machine. It made you lose sleep, which was a problem because life started early in the Omaticaya.

In the crack ass of dawn, you would be in the nearby riverbank, washing your body for a fresh start of your day, and stretching your muscles for the upcoming work. The work, assigned to you by none other than the clan's tsahik, Mo'at. Saving Tsu'tey also meant that his recovery was partially your responsibility. The Na'vi believed that lest he didn't survive, you would have failed at saving him and shamed his honor. It was harsh, but it was the life of the most important warrior in your alien hands.

This morning is no different. Your responsibility is snoring softly next to Mo'at as she grinds some herbs into a fine paste.

You would rather be anywhere else than here, truly. However, Mo'at insisted that today was the day Tsu'tey would wake up. Not only that, but he would 'most definitely' want to thank his savior.  You firmly argued against the idea, because Mo'at hadn't seen you two interact.

Apparently, the Great Mother is an avid enjoyer of Tsu'tey's disinterest towards you, and she insisted to Mo'at that you be near him when he regains consciousness. Not being able to argue with the stubborn woman further, you complied.

Mo'at gently rubs the paste below Tsu'tey's nose, then chants some sort of a prayer. To your surprise, Tsu'tey's flat nose wrinkles, and after a pained groan leaves his body like it's been stored in there and irking to get out for weeks, he slowly cracks his big eyes open. They're still the same shade of beautiful amber, you note, like honey and gold. Calling them yellow eyes did him no justice.

"Couldn't you have done that earlier?" You say to Mo'at, gesturing the paste.

Tsu'tey sniffs, eyes darting around the kelku. Seemingly picking up a scent, your scent, his eyes land on you. You scramble towards him, kneeling beside his body and touching his arm, "Morning, big guy. How are we feeling?"

"Not bad, healed." He grunts, eyes darting to your palm encasing his shoulder. His muscles have deflated only slightly, but it was an easy fix for Tsu'tey. His body's warmer than usual, pliant under your fingertips.

You look at Mo'at and raise your brows. "Well, that's good to hear. Right?"

Mo'at nods once, then sits down next to you for some checkups. She asks him all sorts of questions and all the while he answers them, his eyes never leave you. You have no choice but to shy away from his gaze, the eye contact beginning to prickle your insides and cause your ear tips to grow hot. Tsu'tey still keeps looking though, burning your nape with nerves.

"You will rest for the next four days, no physical exercise - but you're free to go to your kelku."

Mo'at's all-knowing eyes survey you, "_____, help him."

Both you and the warrior’s eyes widen at the obscurity of Mo'at's request. Tsu'tey finally snaps his gaze away from you and gives the elder woman an incredulous look. "No! I can go on my own."

"The man says he can, who am I to argue?"

Tsu'tey scowls. "Finally, something we agree on, tawtute."

Your ears fold against your head when you hear the nickname. Mo'at notices and is graceful enough to intervene. "Arrogant child!" she chastises with a firm tone. "She is not a tawtute, but an important warrior of the people. Her effort will not be in vain by your rivalry - you will do well to acknowledge this."

Tsu'tey's head lowers as he mumbles out an apology. You've never seen the man look so small before, it feels weirdly satisfying. "It's fine, tsahik. You should've seen the-" You quickly stop, not wanting to dig Tsu'tey into a deeper hole. Mo'at narrows her eyes as she looks at the two of you, then ostensibly reaches a conclusion and ushers for you to leave.

You have no choice but to throw Tsu'tey's arm over your shoulder, contrary to his never-ending complaints. He insists that he can walk by himself, but when you let him, his legs wobble and he holds onto a nearby plant. 

"You'll recover eventually," you tell him, holding onto his arm that's over your shoulder again. "There's nothing to be ashamed about."

"There is," he hisses. "You do not get it. I should have been left to die an honorable death."

"Oh, I'm sorry," you faux innocence. "I must’ve misheard your cries for help."

Tsu'tey grumbles; a low sound in his chest. "I do not know what you speak of..."

You scoff, gently nudging his hip with yours. The expression he wears almost makes you snort, he looks deeply offended. Gritting his teeth, he nudges you back, though a little more harshly. You scoff all the same and nudge back once more.

The walk back to his kelku reminds you why you decidedly stopped acknowledging him. The childish hip nudge game between you never ceases as you try to heave him to his home. The man who’s leaning the entirety of his weight on your much smaller frame seems to have forgotten all the shame he was feeling moments ago– all too comfortable in your arms and determined to make you stagger.

Fumes of vetiver and smoked leather hit your nose when you enter through the flap of his home. Quick to direct Tsu'tey towards his unmade bed, you try your best to not glance around the interior and intrude any further. You're most likely an unwelcome guest in his intricately designed house, yet the itch to explore becomes almost unbearable.

Self-restraint has never been easy for you, but you manage to hold your head high and immerse yourself in the wellness of Tsu'tey. He's sitting on his nest, cross-legged, and gulping down the medicinal herbs Mo'at pre-admonished he drank. Your heart squeezes in your chest at his complete lack of decency. While you expected some sort of gratitude from the Na'vi man, he doesn't even look in your direction as you stand there.

The Na'vi prided themselves in their manners, and a proud Na'vi like Tsu'tey seemed to abandon all tradition when he was with you. You huff out a breath and put your hands on your hips. Tears threaten to spill, "You're horrible, Tsu'tey."

The crack in your voice alerts the man far more than you've expected. He's looking at you now, bandaged up and entirely too arrogant with his wide-eyed expression. Seeing him taken aback calms your aching chest, but his disapproval of you has already settled into your bones and has been eating away at your insides.

"Eywa, are you going to cry?"

Your lip wobbles when you hear his soft tone - a tone he never used with you before. The unfamiliarity of it all feels painful. "No..." you mutter, but the hot tears are already streaming down your face. "I saved your life and you didn't even thank me."

"I didn't ask for you to do that," he grunts, his scowl resurfacing again

"Yes, you did." You point a finger at him, gritting your teeth. "If it was Jake or Neytiri who saved you, you wouldn't be pulling this bullshit, would you?"

"I do not know this word, bullshit." his thick accent is evident when he attempts the unfamiliar word. In any other situation, you would laugh and make fun of him just as he had when he was teaching you Na'vi. Now though, your anger's consuming you - starting from your chest and growing until your blood turns a deeper shade of hot red.

You scoff, "You're avoiding the question."

Tsu'tey has the audacity to scoff back, standing up with a grunt. He makes no inclination to need your help, ever so stubborn-- so you merely watch him struggle. The visual is disturbingly satisfying. "I'm not wanting to answer." he answers in English.

You gawk at him, absolutely aggravated, and seconds away from wrapping your hands around his throat. It would be much easier to choke him out without his accessories...

In the earlier days of your Na'vi training, Tsu'tey wouldn't speak Na'vi with you unless it was completely necessary. It was his way of rejecting you amongst his people, and the action hurt much more than his scowls and hisses of discomfort. Reluctantly accepting you in his clan prompted him to abandon this habit, but it seems old habits die hard.

You swallow down the lump in your throat then take a deep breath to hold yourself back. "Will you stop being stubborn and act like an adult!"

Tsu'tey relents back to Na'vi. "Ha! Look who's talking."

The noise of frustration you let out makes his ears flicker. A smirk adorns his face, and the remains of his scowl make his expression seem devilish. 

He's proud, you think. He's making you angry, which is exactly what he wants.

"I'm talking, and you'll do well to answer me! What the hell is your issue, man?"

It's Tsu'tey's turn to gawk. He looks deeply offended that you're questioning him, yet impressed by your bravery. Nonetheless, he's angry. "How dare you take that tone with me! Do you not know who I am?"

You grimace at his pride -  it didn't matter to him that you saved his life and took care of him because his ego will always be in the way of his gratitude.

With this realization, you remove your filter of cordiality. "At this point, everyone knows who you are. You do well to remind them every single fucking day."

"Gah!" Tsu'tey stands up, but his wounds are a quick reminder of why he shouldn't. Stubborn that he is, he strides towards you and stops when your breaths intermingle intimately. "Watch what you say, it almost sounds like you're insulting my pride." he seethes.

"Wow! You're so smart, Tsu'tey." you say sarcastically.  "That's exactly what I'm doing." you finish obnoxiously. Tsu'tey hisses and you fight the urge to flinch.

"I was going to thank you ____," he spits your name like it's venom on his tongue. "But I've changed my mind. I don't thank immature girls who throw tantrums."

The irony of the situation makes you scoff and turn your head away. You bite the inside of your cheek, fighting back tears. "I don't want your thanks, asshole. You know," you face him again, gritting your teeth. Your frustration makes your voice crack. "You're not all that. You don't get to insult me just because I wasn't Na'vi before."

He seems to be brooding, turning your words over and over in his mind until the edges are dull. "If you weren't Na'vi before, this wouldn't have happened." he points to his wounds, voice low.

"That's not my fault and you know it!" you poke a finger into his uninjured pectoral. It's firm and the action makes Tsu'tey's oh-so beloved scowl return.

"Watch where you touch girl," he warns, grabbing your hand.

You fight against his hold, squirming and desperately trying to break free. "Ugh, you're so frustrating!"

He grunts at your struggle then pulls your hand until you stumble upon his chest. The proximity of his face makes you gulp, you can smell the vetiver, the woody musk, and the medicine. All working together to dizzy your senses - the anger, the sadness, the yearning. His tone is hissed and low as he speaks. "Ever since you came to our clan you've been a constant aggravation."

"Good.". You stare back at him just as fiercely. "Re-dress your wounds yourself, since you're oh so resourceful."

With that, you turn on your heel and sharply close the flap of his marui. A much-needed breath enters your lungs and dizzies your head. You needed to clear your thoughts, ASAP.

You run to your kelku to grab your bow then stomp deep into the woods.

[theunfortunateplace]

"I was thinking about a neteyam x fem!human!reader. Reader is a short girl, maybe 4'11 (1.48) and Neteyam takes advantage of it and corners her to the wall..."

This was my request. Sory for misunderstanding

oblivious

Paring: Neteyam X Fem!Human!Reader

aged up Neteyam(26) Reader(22)

Word count: 5K

Synopsis: You’ve been sent to Pandora as a researcher. Constantly having your head in the books, swabbing cultures, and learning more about the world you’ve been sent to. Grace would occasionally mention the different Na'vi, but you had no clue who anyone was. Little did you know someone had been watching you this whole time. 

word bank: Lawr=melody

Warnings: no use of Y/N, smut, Dom!Netyam, semi-oblivious reader, size kink, teasing, slightly possessive Neteyam, P in V, cock warming, creampie, breeding kink, hair pulling, male receiving oral, 

a/n- This definitely took longer than I thought it would, but I finally got it done. Nonetheless, I hope you enjoy.

“Can you get that for me?” You asked while letting out a sigh accepting your defeat. Grace raised her brow and shook her head. “You know there should be some sort of high requirement for these job positions.” You playfully rolled your eyes and took the stack of books from her. “If they did that it would be discrimination! And thank you.” 

“Mhm, you’re welcome.” She started walking away but turned back on her heels. “Oh, Neteyam and Lo’ak are stopping by.”  You placed the books next to the microscope, looking up with a confused face. 

Grace scuffed. “Do I need to make a damn PowerPoint for you? Come on quark!” You rolled your eyes at the nickname she gave you. It was the name used once protons and neutrons are broken down. Making them the smallest particles. 

“Are they the ones that come in here with spider?” She nodded her head and lit her cigarette.  You weren’t too familiar with the Na'vi… You tried to speak the language but only managed to grasp a couple of words, phrases, and some sentences if you were lucky. 

But most of the time when the men came through you just minded your business and stayed to yourself. 

“Yes with Spider… seems like he’s the only one you remember?” 

“Weeell he’s the only one who’s here often.” She shook her head “What are they stopping by for?” 

“Not sure. Anyway, I’ll be in the village.” 

You’ve seen pictures from when Grace was in her human form but that was many years before. She talked about the war many times and it still shocks you how she survived….how anyone survived. 

You nodded my head and started pulling out the necessary agar dishes and instruments for culture dishes

Many scientists passed by not paying you any mind. It wasn't until you heard Norm logging on his tape recorder that you finally looked up from the microscope.  He noticed he was looking and waved while finishing up.  “Hey, how’s it going Quark?” You let out a sigh making him chuckle.  “I'm sorry, I'm sorry, but you have to admit the name catches on fast.” 

‘At least it wasn’t an insulting name I’ll give Grace that’ you thought. “Yeah yeah yeah. I heard Spider and his f-

“ NORM! What’s going on!” You turned your head quickly hearing his loud voice bounce off the walls of the lab.  “Never mind it seems they have arrived.” You said 

Spider looked at you and instantly ran almost tackling you! “Umph… dude, we talked about this! I’m not a damn target stop tackling me like I’m a runaway!” 

“Shit- I’m sorry” he pulled away and fixed your hair…. Well, I attempted to fix it. You swatted his hand away and properly fixed it. The other scientist always would comment how you two were meant to be siblings with how you interacted with each other. The two Na'vi men were in the back watching the whole thing. 

“Spider is that your girlfriend? You sure ran to her like she was.” 

Spider spun around and gave the slightly shorter one the finger while the tallest one watched the two banter….until you felt his eyes on you. Your breath hitched causing a smirk to appear on his. You watched as he looked away and walked towards Norm. 

“Oel ngati kameie olo'eyktan.” Norm said while bringing his hand up to his forehead and extending it. This was a common greeting they used but of course, you struggled with it.  The really tall one returned the gesture and began speaking the language you struggled with the most. 

“What’s this you’re working on?” Spider asked causing you to jump. You’d been so caught up in staring at the man you forgot the name of to notice Spider was next to you along with the other man. “Shit! Spider, you have to stop doing that!” You clutched your chest and let out a huff of air. “And it’s swabs from the animals on Pandora…then once they are incubated properly I’ll be able to see the different bacteria that live on them.

The pair chuckled. “He didn’t do anything you were distracted by my brother.” You raised a brow and looked back between the one talking to Norm and the one standing next to you. 

You hummed and nodded your head. “ I see the resemblance.” 

He scoffed and shook his head while fiddling with the various books on your table. “Resemblance my ass! You’ve met us about a dozen times yet forget what we look like and our names.” 

You huffed and placed your hands on your hips. “Well, I’m sorry smart ass I have things to do and complicated names that I have to remember for reports…..and I do remember now you’re Lo’ak you always come in here and talk rather loudly if you ask me.” 

He scoffed and knitted his brows together mimicking your hand placement. “ I do not talk loudly you should see a doctor if your ears are sensitive you mouse.” You gasped and picked up one of the books getting ready to throw one at his head. 

“Oh, so you want to throw insults at my height?” 

His eyes widened “ n-no no that no-“

“Listen here you damn giant take another jab at my height and I’ll make sure to knock some inches off of you!”  You went to go throw the book as his mouth opened again but you were stopped by a large hand. You looked up to see the man called Neteyam smirking down at you. 

“Looks like you got yourself in some trouble brother.” He let out a deep chuckle sending chills down your back. The Na’vi accent was very thick on his tongue but you understood him clearly. Neteyam looked down at you again and let your hand go. You slowly let your hand drop and he smiled. 

“ I’m sorry Lawr, my brother tends to make trouble everywhere we go.” He said softly while squatting down. I took a step back surprised by how close he was. “Allow me to make it up to you…. I’m hosting a party well it’s more of a celebration for a hunt we had earlier this morning.” 

‘A celebration? How…what would I even wear’ you thought. “ I-I well I don’t really-“ 

“Bro look at her she can’t even speak properly,” Lo’ak said. You knitted your brows together gripping the book, and swiftly threw it at his head. Of course, he didn’t see the coming so it got him right above his eyebrow. 

Lo’ak let out a loud yelp and held the injured area. “ I have several more books if you want to keep talking ass hat!” Everyone started laughing and I turned back to Neteyam. 

“ I’ll take you up on that invitation thank you… Is there anything I should wear?” He smiled giving you a once-over. 

“You can come as you are or you can wear something nice, but I think you look beautiful as is.”  He smiled, making the heat rise to your cheeks. “Gosh ha-well I’ll wear something nice. It’s a celebration I don’t want to look raggedy.” 

I let out a small chuckle and sat back on my chair causing him to do another once over. He smirked before my attention turned back to Spider. 

“So no candy?” Spider chuckled and dug into his pouch. “If I didn’t bring any I’m sure you would have thrown a book at me.”  You playfully rolled your eyes as he placed the candy in the drawer on your research table away from your swabbing one. “No that’s only for people who have smart mouths.” You said taking a jab at Lo’ak who was still rubbing his forehead.  You heard Neteyam chuckle as he stood up. 

“Well, I will leave you to your work. I have duties to tend to until later….I’ll see you then lawr.”  You bit your lip subtly noticing his eyes not leaving you. He smiled before walking away.  You felt a little jab to your arm and it was Spider. You looked over to him and shook your head as he winked and wiggled his brows. 

“Will you stop? Now go, I’m sure Kiri needs help with something!”  Lo’ak gasped bringing your attention to him.  “So you remember my sister's name but not mine!” You laughed as you pulled out more agar dishes for swabbing. “Yes, because she is nice and I enjoy when she comes in!” It was the truth. Kiri truly was nice to have around and occasionally would bring little snacks. Most of the stuff on Pandora you couldn’t eat but some stuff you could. 

“You’re ridiculous you know that right? Am I not nice to have around?” You looked up at him and got up from your chair, you couldn’t help but feel a little bad for throwing the book at him. You went into the first aid freezer and grabbed one of the ice bags. 

You walked back over and handed it to him. “Here… and yes sometimes when I don’t have work to get done and you're not being loud.” He hesitantly took it and muttered a thank you before putting the ice on his brow. 

“Hm, maybe I’ll consider being quieter…or maybe you can take a break from work and come back with us.” 

You hummed while sitting back on your stool. “ I’ll think about it.” Is all you said he accepted the answer and nodded his head. They said their final goodbyes and you finally could go back to work…well at least you tried to but all you could think of was how intense Neteyam's gaze was.

-

After many hours of working you finally made your way back to your room to get ready for this ‘celebration'. This was the first time in months you’d gone to any sort of party so you were going to go all out and by all out it meant putting on some lipstick and mascara. You let your hair drop to your shoulders from its previous hairstyle so there was no need to spend unnecessary time with that. Especially when it was already curly.

“Maybe this is too much?” You said while looking in the mirror adjusting your outfit. You settled on a hip-hugging long skirt and the matching tube crop top that was practically a bra on you. Maybe it was too much especially with you putting your belly piercing back in. Maybe it was too much or maybe you were being super self-conscious knowing Neteyam would see you. 

You bit your lip and shook the unwanted thoughts from your head. “No! I haven’t been out of the lab in months I’m going as is!” You turned off the light and marched out of your room, only to be followed by a loud whistle from Norm who was now in his avatar form. 

You looked up and shook your head. “What are you doing here?” He chuckled and gestured for me to start walking. 

“ Neteyam insisted I be here to walk you to the village and sent his apologies for not being here instead.” You looked up shocked by what he just said but only nodded your head and hummed in response. ‘Hm he’s a gentleman I see.’ You thought 

“Also I’m sure I don’t have to give you the talk… but it’s best you don’t… how do I put this? Lo’ak tends to mess around so just a heads up.” You let out a loud laugh and shook your head. 

“That’s hilarious that you think I would even let him try something. I’m sure he got the message earlier today.” Norm chuckled and ducked as he walked out the building. 

In the past exopacks were needed for humans to breathe but after the war Grace and some of the other scientists developed a shot that would make it possible for you to breathe Pandora's air. That’s not your specialty so you had no clue how they did it but it was cool. 

With norms help it wasn’t a far walk and the music could be heard for a distance you’ve never been to one of these events before. A smile

 appeared on your face seeing grace in the distance dancing with other people. A sight you’ve never seen before. 

Kiri spotted you and instantly walked over with a wide smile on her face. “You made it! You look fantastic.” You did a little dance while turning around showing her your whole outfit.  “Come come let’s dance we can’t let this outfit go to waste!” 

Your eyes widened ‘Dance?’ You thought. You had no clue how to do their dances much less if they would look good on you. “ I-“. Kiri chuckled and leaned down to gently push you to the dance floor. “ I’ll show you now, stop worrying.” 

You looked around seeing couples dancing rather sensually. You hadn’t realized the music changed… and of course, you’d danced to similar music but it was nothing like this. You took a deep breath and followed Kiri’s lead and once you got comfortable you followed and put your own twist on it.  

You lost track of time with how many drinks you consumed and the music flowing through your body. You didn’t notice Neteyam watching you all night. But anyone who he conversed with sure noticed how his attention was elsewhere. 

It wasn’t until you managed to wander off that you were taken away by the various glowing flora. “Gosh, I should have brought my kit. I have to come back out here and get samples.”  You said admiring the plants, letting a gasp out seeing a strange animal fly up from below. 

“Not without me I hope.” A low familiar voice said causing you to jump. He let out a deep chuckle and held his hands up. “ I didn’t mean to scare you lawr” You tilted your and continued walking. 

“So you were following me?” You said as your hand grazed one of the flowers you passed by. “And what does that word mean?” 

The sound of the music was growing faint with every step you took but the further you walked the more things around you were illuminated. “You could say that yes. What kind of leader would I be if I left someone like you alone? And it means-“You spun around and knitted your eyebrows together. 

“ What is with you and your brother commenting on my height? I already know I’m short, okay!” You huffed out 

“ I can’t speak for my brother but I find your shortness cute.” You rolled your eyes letting out an annoyed grunt shoving his hips back in the process. But of course that was the wrong move on your part. The devious smirk on your face slowly faded as you watched his face morph into something you’d never seen before. 

It was as if your feet forgot how to walk forward and instead walked backward. The cold rock wall against your back caused you to let out a gasp. ‘When did we walk into a cave?’ You thought. It wasn’t until now that you realized the details in his face let alone his body. You bit your lip trying to look past the groin that was rather close to your face. You exhaled deeply and tried to move to the side but his hand pushed you back up against the wall. You looked up to find him staring down intensely. You watched as his head tilted. 

“Now what would happen if someone were to corner you like this?” He slowly lowered himself and you tried reaching out to trace the glowing dots on his abdomen but your hand never reached. “Someone as little as you wouldn’t be able to defend yourself against someone like me.” His hands grazed your cheek causing you to lean into it. “But you're not a wild animal or-” You felt his hands grip under your arms and swiftly pick you up pressing you back into the wall. 

Your breath hitched by how close his face was. “You clearly lack skills that would be vital to protect yourself out here.” He said, looking dead straight into your eyes.

“And how would you know?” He chuckled sending chills down your back. “Because I’ve been watching you ever since you started working here. I never saw one of your kind so small before.”

“ I didn’t know a leader could be a stalker.” He raised a brow.  “If stalker is what you call it then I guess but could you blame me? You had me intrigued,” he said with a smirk on his face as he moved closer to yours. Making your heart beat faster than ever. ‘What is he going to do? Is he going to kiss me?’ You thought. “We should get back.” He said pulling away from my ear and setting me back down.

“ hu-what?” He chuckled and gestured for you to walk in front of him. “ I said we should get back I wouldn’t want anyone thinking you got lost.” You felt his smirk burning in your back and all you could do was walk back to where everyone was with a frazzled mind. ‘What was that? I could have sworn he was going to kiss me! Then he pulls away. Get it together why the hell would he kiss me? I’m sure he’s betrothed to someone.’ And it didn’t help having those thoughts race through your mind. 

You felt his hand graze you back causing you to look up at him looking down at you. You gasped feeling one foot make its own decision to stop mid-motion. You yelped feeling the impact hit your knee. He cursed and swiftly picked you up. Not sort of wines coming from you. “See… I think it’s best I carry you.” He said turning in a different direction. “Maybe the second bowl of alcohol was too much…” you said gripping onto him. You heard him scoff. 

“No the first bowl was enough matter of fact. You shouldn't have drank any at all. I’m surprised you are still talking.” He said in an amused tone as if the alcohol was something not to be messed with. “And why is that? I can handle my liquor quite well!” You huffed.

He laughed and shook his head “Well my ass! You just fell and hurt your knee.” You rolled your eyes. “Yeah because you touched me!” He didn’t say anything but kept walking… It was like that for a while. He said nothing and you stole long glances at him. You gripped onto him tighter feeling like you would fall. Making your face accidentally end up in the crevice of his neck. You cursed to yourself, smelling the addicting aroma coming off of him making you look up. He looked down briefly muttering something you couldn't understand. “Where are we going?” you asked resting your head on his chest. “Back to my place I need to examine your cut.”

He pulled back the flap on the door opening and sat you down on the woven carpet. You looked around as he walked off somewhere. It was lowly lit but lit enough so that you could see all the little details. ‘He's neat....and it doesn't smell in here. Well, why would it smell? He obviously knows how to clean especially himself. Gosh, he smelt so good. Did the Na’vi have cologne?’ Once again you found yourself distracted by all these questions and thoughts. You didn't notice he was sitting in front of you until his large hand touched your leg. You let out a gasp and he chuckled. “And you're easily frightened…I’m not letting you go out there alone.” You rolled your eyes and he let out a surprised scoff as he applied whatever it was on your knee.

“You know you have one hell of an attitude in you.” You grunted, “ especially someone for your size.” You reached in front of him and pushed his leg. If he wasn't so tall you would have pushed his chest. “See, my point is proven. Now sit still before I make you I need to finish doing this.” You raised a brow and looked him in the eye. “And why would I do that?” He let out a chuckle removing his hand from your knee. “Because I said so now don't move.” You huffed and stayed still until your eyes leaned back on his chiseled abdomen. Every part of his body had a different stripe. Without realizing your hand inched closer to touch the ones near his belly button. 

“If you keep touching me like that Lawr I don’t think I’ll be able to hold myself back.” He said jokingly but deep down you wanted it to be real. Unknowingly the sexual tension that had been building from this morning had come to a violent boil, and truthfully, you wanted him to do dirty things to you.  You looked up doe-eyed “Then don’t.” He looked shocked for a moment but smirked your comment off. “ I don’t think you know what you're talking about.” He said lowly 

He moved back now finished with your knee you bit your lip trying to decide what to do next.  You felt his thumb graze your lips dragging you out of your thoughts. “Don’t do that I’ll have another thing to fix.” He said but this time he wasn’t joking. This time his eyes were locked on you and his finger still pressed against his lips waiting for you to release the hold. 

But you didn’t instead you parted your mouth slightly letting his thumb fall in and swirled your tongue around it. Imitating what you would do to him if he would give you a chance. 

He let out a deep grunt when sucked on it but eventually let it go with a pop. “Please”, you asked, lust lacing your voice. You reached down at his loincloth waiting for him to protest and say no even looking up for approval. But the only look on his face was a smirk. “What are you waiting for my little Lawr? Put that mouth to work and show me how much of a good girl you are.” You bit your lip moving back to his loincloth swiftly untying it. 

You let out a gasp once faced with his large thick uncut cock. Your mouth was just watering at the sight ‘Gosh I need this in my mouth right now! Is this even going to fit in me?’ You thought as you took him I. Your hands bringing your mouth closer. 

You licked up the dripping pre cum on his tip making him let out a groan, bringing his hand to the back of your neck.  ‘There's no way this is going to fit in my mouth’ you thought as you quickly tried to figure out how to tackle it. You looked up and he let out a chuckle. “Is this your first time?” He asked in a rather cocky tone. You rolled your eyes. Took the tip of his cock into your mouth doing what you could do in the position you were in. 

A slew of curses spewed from his mouth as you tried to take him deeper but to no avail you were a coughing gagging mess. He huffed out as his hand caressed your cheek. “You gotta relax your throat, pretty girl. I know it’s big but if you want to take me you gotta relax it.” His smooth lust filled voice made you clench around nothing.  He suddenly let out a low grunt as his hand wrapped back around the back of your neck.  causing you to look up while still sucking on. 

He pulled you back by your hair. Making an unexpected moan to escape your mouth. “Enough of that on your back now.” He ordered. Without a second to spare, he picked you up putting you on your back. Your breath hitched feeling his fingers graze your clothed clit. He let out a mischievous chuckle. 

Resulting in your skirt getting yanked off along with your top. Leaving your chest exposed and your panties, which did a horrible job concealing how turned on you were.  Before you could even reach to cover your breast his mouth was already latched onto your nipple. “Fuck” you moaned out bringing your hands up to his head. You could feel him smirk against you. You gasped hearing a rip causing you to lift your head up in surprise only to find your panties ripped and thrown across the room. “Neteyam!” he chuckled. “You don’t need them anyways”, he towered over you revealing his cheeky smirk as his braids fell over his face. He took his cock in one hand stroking it slowly, clenching his fist as he rose to the tip. You watched yearningly, “Are you going to jerk off to me all night or are you going to fuck me?” You cursed out feeling him tap the thick head of his cock suddenly on your clit. “This is what you want?” he asked teasingly while looking at you wholly overtaken by lust.

You whined gripping his forearm as he lathered your wetness on his cock. “Yes” you finally spoke. He teased your entrance slowly trying not to hurt you, but it was hell holding back from plunging deep inside you. “You’re gonna need to breathe for me Lawr and relax. I can't do it if you don't do that for me,” he said softly. You nodded your head lazily still gripping onto his forearm, and as soon as your breathing became someone regular he began to enter.

 It was a burning pain at first that had you clenching your eyes shut even letting a few stray tears slip. “ I know I know I’m sorry Lawr it will feel better soon- fuck I promise.” He planted sweet kisses all over your face while whispering comforting words in your ear but soon the bearing feeling faded and your grip lessened. It was as if someone flicked a switch and now all you felt was pleasure. “Please” you mewed out as he started to properly thrust into you. He looked down wiping the stray ears from your face and smirked at your newfound pleasure. “See I told you… All you had to do was trust me.” He let out a deep gruntal moan as you clenched around him. 

It’s a shame he couldn’t fit all of him inside you. But that was okay because as the seconds passed inch by inch he was filling you up almost knocking the air from your lungs as he pounded into you. You bit down on his forearm moaning into him. 

He let out a breathy chuckle while rutting into you. “Marking me already hm?” He brought his hand down massaging your swollen clit. “You don’t have to worry I’m not going anywhere I’m yours.” You couldn’t process what he was saying or even begin to translate it. All you knew was that with the way his hips were moving and how much he was stretching you out you wouldn’t last long.  

He pulled out suddenly flipping you over, and pulling your hips up. “Wa- what’s going on?”  He leaned down kissing your back making your head droop low. “ I’m sorry I can’t hold back anymore.” He said in a tone you weren’t familiar with.  Your head spun around to see him lining up, but before you could ask what he was saying he dove back in making a scream of pleasure rip right through your throat. 

His grip on your hips was sure to leave a bruise the next day, but it was worth it. It was all worth it. You were ass up face down with Neteyam plunging deep in you. With your pussy relentlessly cleaning around him trying to pull him in deeper.  “shi- FUCK, you drive me crazy. You know that  fuck I’m gonna cum if you keep clenching around me like that!” The tears that were once on your face from pain were now replaced with tears created by pure bliss. 

No man has fucked you like this before. The orgasm that was brewing deep within you was fast approaching and if his brutal pounding didn’t put you on your ass by the end of the night the orgasm sure would. He reached under rubbing your clit again causing you to try and crawl away. He let out a chuckle yanking you back. “You’re not going anywhere. Take this fucking cock like the good girl you are and finish what you started lawr.” You cursed out as he continued to massage your clit not granting you any mercy. “No no no FUUUUU-“your screams fill the room around you as your orgasm ambushed its way to the forefront. 

A strong gush of fluids soaked the ground below you. “Good girl, look at you”, he cooed as his thrust got sloppy. He moaned out resuming the hold he had on my hips. “I'm gonna cum- fuuck I’m gonna fill you up so good. Is that what you want? Hm” you whined at the thought of his cum spurting into you.

 Despite you just cumming you clenched down on him hard. “Shii- I'm gonna fill you up- breed you so good. Make sure it fucking takes and if it doesn’t don’t think for a second I won’t have you bent over again.” His voice was strained. You turned back locking eyes. “ I want you to cum in me.” You mewed out. You watched as he came undone, feeling his cock twitch in you as his hot seed filled you up. Flooding your pussy to the point it was spurting out while he was still deep in you 

“Fuck.” He let out a breathy chuckle while rubbing your back. Your head dropped pressing against the floor, but he refused to let your body fall. Spinning you around and laying you on his chest as his back met the floor instead all whilst making an effort to keep his cock stuffed in you. “We have to get back to the-” he chuckled softly rubbing soothing circles into your back. “I'm sure they knew from the moment we left we weren't coming back.” You lay there on his chest believing every word he said, even if it wasn't the truth. You were too tired to question it and way too cock drunk to care

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

One massive difference between the western vs JP TWST fandoms that I haven't seen anyone else talk about is that the Japanese fandom seems to dwell in "grimdark" territory while the western one tries to see the best in these characters. From my glimpses into the Japanese fandom, they seem to see these character's darkness as the main appeal. That's reflected in their fanworks, since yandere works or things that dive into their dark sides are more popular there. While there is plenty of yandere content in the west, it seems more like a niche than the most popular way to portray the characters in fics where as in Japan that seems to be the norm on Pixiv. The JP seem to LOVE their grim dark fan theories WAY more than the western one. The western fandom seems like the opposite. Works seeing their humanity, them being decent partners, etc is the norm. Thought?

“I can fix him” vs “I can make him worse”—

Mmm, I have many thoughts on this but before I get into them I want to clarify some things. This is so everyone reading is running with the same definitions and thus can better understand (and perhaps contribute to) the discussion.

Firstly, “grimdark” can refer to any and all materials which people may find disturbing, amoral, and/or violent. Grimdark is NOT just yandere content. Although yandere content is an example of grimdark, not all grimdark is yandere.

Secondly, I want to dispel the notion that “grimdark” and “seeing the best in the characters” are opposites. They are actually not mutually exclusive; it is entirely possible to have the two overlap. For example, it is common for assassins to be after Kalim’s life (which is dark). However, Kalim himself is very cheery despite being cognizant of this (which is not dark, he is able to see the nest of this situation and is often praised for being a spot of sunshine in the cast). There are also much darker takes while staying true to Kalim’s caring nature, such as fandom works which portray his big heart (a strength) as a detriment, causing him to fall into deep paranoia and/or guilt. For the purposes of this discussion, I will still refer back to those two original viewpoints, just be aware that they are not truly “opposites”.

Lastly, the ask is phrased such that it suggests that dark content is “the norm” in Japanese circles. In actuality, the content you see is dependent on personal biases and what the algorithms feed you based on your likes and communities. While it’s true that perhaps Japanese fandoms have more dark content than the western fandoms, that doesn’t necessarily mean it is “the norm”. It is still considered niche, it is just that the fandom culture of Japan is more open-minded about these depictions, as well as fans’ choices to filter out dark content if they do not wish to encounter it. Western fandoms are very different in this regard. Rather than ignoring content they dislike or find disturbing, western fans tend to adopt an attitude of openly renouncing that which they dislike and, at times, calling out those that do enjoy that kind of thing. It is this social stigma and pressure within western fandoms which creates a less welcoming space for dark content to exist and to be publicly shared. Rather than saying one type of content is “the norm”, I think it’s more accurate to say certain types of content are deemed as being “acceptable” or “unacceptable” depending on the fandom culture.

Now then, as to why the western fandom in particular tends to favor works that show the TWST characters in a favorable light rather than focus on their darker aspects? There are many possible explanations for this:

Cultural differences in fandom spaces. I already mentioned this in the opening paragraphs, but it warrants repeating here. Japanese fans are much more reserved in how they express themselves and tend to keep quiet relating to content they dislike or don’t care for. Western fans are more outspoken and may actively “call out” what they dislike. This is typically observed in collectivist vs individualist countries, as conformity with the group/not causing disruptions to the group harmony and standing out and being one’s own individual are opposing ideologies and values.

Japan’s culture is one that stresses the importance of politeness and being proper. The country has strict social expectations of people and especially women (which makes up the majority of TWST’s fanbase). It is only in the realm of fiction where Japanese women are able to freely express themselves and to explore subject matter deemed socially inappropriate, however dark it may be. Fandom is their creative outlet. Meanwhile in the west, it’s the opposite. Overt uniqueness is more acceptable overall, but there is also a present effort of policing online content, often in the name of social activism and inclusion. This makes sense for western countries, many of which sport much more diverse populations than Japan.

Going in with the certain expectations of the game. Many western fans mistook Twisted Wonderland for a dating sim when its marketing materials first released, maybe due to a language barrier. This set them up for the wrong expectations about romancing and potentially “fixing” a villain, even when the game finally came out (due to residual feelings; I know for a fact there are still a handful of fans who want TWST to have a dating sim spinoff or wish the game had been a dating sim from the start).

Changes made in the localization.

I’m not sure what the ratio of westerners playing EN to JP, but the official localization made several changes which “blunted” some details or changed the context of some characters’ stories. For example, Jamil is no longer a “servant” but an “employee”, Kalim is his “employer”, not “master”, and Jamil complains that his parents will be “so mad at him” when he is asked why he doesn’t rebel against the Asims whole the consequences are made much more explicit in JP (his family will be thrown out onto the streets). Cater, Floyd, and Idia have also notably gotten a lot more memey dialogue that was not there in the original. These softened versions the characters may make western fans more likely to see the a less severe backstory or have goofier interpretation of certain characters.

Popular western media’s interpretations of villains. A lot of western media nowadays tries to redeem the bad guys. For example, in many young adult and adult romance fantasy novels, the love interest is often presented as a misunderstood bad boy that has a change of heart because of the protagonist. Disney themselves is also guilty of “softening” many of their more recent villains and giving new backstories to older villains to make them more sympathetic (Maleficent, Cruella, etc). Compare this to “classic” era Disney villains, who are just evil for the sake of being evil. These will naturally inform the general public’s views on villains. (It is also to be noted that Disney villains and specifically their evilness are extremely popular in Japan. They are adored for being fun characters, not necessarily admired for being bad.)

Disney’s reputation, especially in the west. The company is closely associated with fairy tales —and, more importantly, with magic and happy endings. This, too, may contribute to western fans wanting to look on the “bright side” of things and wish for happy endings for characters that are, in fact, part of the Disney brand. The Disney message is perhaps strongest in the west due to having its origins there:

The age differences between the Japanese and the western fandoms. The western TWST fandom skews young overall whereas the Japanese TWST fandom is older (which is why a lot of TWST merch you’ll see is expensive household goods and fashion; this is to appeal to working Japanese women). As I mentioned in the previous point, this means younger audiences in the west may mostly encounter media which presents villains in a more sympathetic light, or at least much earlier (which leaves a stronger impression). This makes them more inclined to view other media in a way which is more flattering for the villains even when they are dark or morally ambiguous in canon.

Younger fans may also be not as informed and thus lack some perspective, which means they may have more limited views. A 15 year old wouldn’t have as much life experience as a 20 year old—that’s not a bad thing, it’s an objective truth that has an impact on their perspective. They may see things more simplistically or see easier solutions to complex problems. Younger fans may, for example, be able to identify circumstances as being traumatic or unfair (such as the case with Jamil’s past and Leona’s desire to introduce new technologies to his home country) but may not understand the full ramifications (ie why Jamil cannot just leave or have Kalim to speak with his dad about it, how difficult Leona’s plans would be to implement as well as the social pushback due to the harm the advances could pose to the environment). This leads to more of a lean to positive content, as dark content would inherently mean problems are much more difficult to resolve and have more factors to them than what was originally considered.

I want to also point out that younger fans are especially concerned with what their peers may think of them, and so they may feel too embarrassed to dabble in darker content. Some dark content may also not be perceived as appropriate depending on the fan’s age. Alternatively, some fans may just not feel comfortable exploring those ideas (and that’s totally fine!).

Western fans project onto/relate to the characters they love. I’m not saying that Japanese fans don’t do this, but I feel like western fans tend to do this to a VERY strong and sometimes parasocial degree (which has its roots in comfort character and kinning culture, things which largely do not exist in east Asian fandoms). Like… western fans can relate to a character so deeply that any criticism of that character can feel like a personal attack on them, the fan. Likewise, if that character is presented as having flaws or doing questionable things (even if it is canon), the fans that are strongly projecting onto the character may feel that they themselves are flawed or somehow “bad” too. This can lead into trying to defend or justify the character’s flaws or actions. Maybe a fan that has shared trauma with a character sees them as a proxy and want to see the character (and thus, themselves) in a positive way or in good situations. In eastern fandoms, it is more appropriate to consider the character a separate entity rather than relating to or projecting onto them.

The western rise in moral justification for the content one consumes. This is a big one, and it has been alluded to in some of the other points. There is this belief circulating in western fandom spaces that “the content you consume reflects your real world values and morals”. So… if you believe that (or are in a social space where it is believed) and happen to like evil or morally grey characters, what does that imply about your own character? Does that mean you are morally bankrupt or that you condone bad things? Personally, I don’t think so but I understand why this way of thinking could make people feel ashamed. They may avoid looking at “dark” interpretations of a character and instead focus on wholesome feel-good content so that the content they consume reflects “well” on themselves. In other cases, fans may try to twist the bad points of a character to make it “morally okay” to like them.

That’s everything I could come up with off the top of my head!! I hope this was interesting to read and maybe helped you see the international TWST fandom from a new perspective. With that, I’ll leave you with this relevant Wreck-It Ralph quote: “I’m bad, and that’s good. I will never be good, and that’s not bad. There’s no one I’d rather be than me.”

[phantazesthai]

Thoughts on aqun-athlok in the context of DA Veilguard...

The qunari are incredibly fascinating, but they are so shoddily written across the DA games, which is such a shame since there's so much potential there. Out of all the cultures of Thedas, the Qun is the most disparate in terms of tone and normativity. We get tantalising tid bits in each game, particularly from the Iron Bull, that humanises the Qunari, but Veilguard obscures a lot of that world-building work by making the lazy choice to position the Antaam as one of the default Baddies. The fact that the Qunari are the least "human" in appearance of the DA races makes this choice all the more disappointing.

And unfortunately, although I love Taash's character, their storyline didn't do much to make the Qunari more relatable, since the primary point of conflict is how foreign the Qun feels to them, and their struggle to reconcile this within themself. How the aqun-athlok term is utilised in their story feels especially half-baked because of this.

While the multicultural conflicts of being the child of immigrants will always be an important topic to highlight and explore in media (something reflected fairly well in Taash's relationship with their mother), I couldn't help feeling a little disappointed that the Qun was once again made into something players were implicitly discouraged from relating to, as though it's not a way of life past DA games have established is the norm for an entire nation of people in Thedas.

This may be why so many DA fans still remember Sten so fondly, because he was written to be our introduction to the Qunari: a fish out of water, unashamedly himself, cultural norms and all. Your warden had to empathise with his different cultural view-point in order to understand him. While Sten wasn't perfectly written, befriending him was still a cross-cultural exchange in true fantasy world fashion.

Taash's struggle with their identity is where this dissonance of relatability really chafed for me. It's established that the Qun doesn't have a term for a person who feels they are neither a woman nor a man (aqun-athlok is very binary), so Taash naturally feels drawn to the non-binary identifier they come across in Tevinter because it fits them so well, which is absolutely fair in their case. But I couldn't help wondering about Qunari who live under the Qun and feel the same way Taash does about their identity, who also don't relate to aqun-athlok as a descriptor? Do they just try to ignore the awful discomfort of being misgendered constantly by their assigned role? Do they rebel and become Tal-Vashoth? Do they disassociate themselves from the gender they've been assigned, because it's tied to their role under the Qun and not to who they are internally? Who knows, Taash never asks and Shathann never elaborates!

And while aqun-athlok is the Qunlat term Bull and Shathann reach for to understand Krem and Taash, it doesn't apply to either character well, as it's incredibly black and white. Krem would still be a man even if he wasn't a warrior, and Taash doesn't hold a Qun-defined role that their identity is in contrast to. Aqun-athlok, according to Bull and Sten, refers to a person whose gender, man or woman, is in conflict with the gender tied to their role under the Qun: thus "living" as another gender. Taash is a warrior, but certainly not one Shathann is accustomed to, or surely she would have assumed Taash was a "man" as soon as they took on that role when they joined the Lords of Fortune. This reasoning is what helps Bull accept Krem, after all: Krem's a warrior, so Krem's a man, easy! Except, every other warrior outside of the Qun he comes across, who is a woman, are a little weird but fine with him? Cultural differences, right? Hm. The aqun-athlok term falls apart pretty quickly if you think too deeply about it (or have read a bit of intersectional feminist theory about gender identity and societal conditioning, oops, turns out it's all interconnected and nebulous!)

What makes gender under the Qun all the more confusing is the lack of information we're given about how gender is expressed in daily life under the Qun. Aside from gendered traits and behaviours (care-taking is feminine thus Tamassrans are women, for example), it's never suggested (from what I can recall) that Qunari women must wear dresses. Dresses are stereotypically feminine for the rest of Thedas' cultures, however Qunari fashion rarely includes billowy clothing like dresses if in-game Qunari armour and concept art is anything to go by, but it's apparently something Shathann wants Taash to wear, because she perceives Taash as a woman and dresses are womanly. The Qun gendering behaviours and personality traits is one thing, but clothing? A little odd for a cultural belief-system that is a triple threat (a philosophy, faith and political system) built on pragmatism!

Taash embracing their non-binary identity is a wonderful character arc; sure, it's a bit on the nose, but so was Dorian's entire personal quest where your inquisitor discovers his family is ashamed of him because he "prefers the company of men," which also felt a bit ham-fisted back in 2014. Frankly, the presence of LGBTQ identities in big AAA games like this is always great, even if it lacks subtlety: in these cases, the writing is juggling a lot of goals, one of which is trying to reach players who are in dire need of expanding their horizons (i.e bigots), which may result in players who are already in the know finding characters like Taash a little lacklustre - but ultimately, I can forgive the well-meaning simplicity in the pursuit of increasing representation.

So, Taash's identity is a great aspect of their character, but what I would have loved to see in their story was expanded lore for the Qun, so we could fully appreciate the implications of their identity as someone between two cultures (don't get me started on how strange it was that the game insisted on having Taash prioritize one over the other, with one clearly being the more "freeing" choice than the other; multicultural identities exist, they never had to choose a side!) Shathann should have been the vehicle for this, and they did attempt to use her for this purpose, but we don't get more out of her than the already established aqun-athlok term.

The thing is, the Qun isn't perfect, it's strict, hierarchical and obsessed with categorization, it sounds oppressive to any outsider looking in. And yet, as Bull points out in DAI, its people are ordinary: a baker in Par Vollen's day is the same as any other baker's day elsewhere in Thedas. In a real world context, throughout history and across cultures, even without having all the words to describe ourselves, we've always been here. There are real world cultures in which being LGBTQIA+ can be a uniquely oppressive experience, but for those who belong to these cultures, their gender or sexual identities are as much a part of who they are as their cultural identity is, even if these elements may clash - it all exists together.

It would have been something so special to have a Qunari character echo this real world complexity of loving their culture even if other members of said culture don't fully accept them. A humanised character like this could have remedied so many of the terrible writing choices made for the Qunari by introducing a fresh, unique experience of the Qun, is all I'm saying.

[teslacoils-and-hubris]

that fucking. slasher movie but the slasher is a vampire hunter post has it's grip on me and I need to get it out of my system so I can get shit done

I can see the plot going two ways, one a more traditional slasher plot and one a more modern take on the genre

In the more traditional version, our final girl character is a human who was brought into the vampire's nest to be the night's meal. She's your traditional good girl who's friend (a newly turned vampire trying to prove their worth to the group) has convinced her to come party with all their new weird goth friends. The final girl has no idea that the goths are vampires, but there's some hints for the audience. We see a few vampires get picked off by the hunter while the tension is building with the main group, with the head vamp trying to get final girl to like do drugs or strip or something before killing her. The hunter gets into the main area and starts killing vampires in front of the final girl, who has no idea whats happening and still doesn't know the goths are vampires. In the climax when the hunter has the final girl trapped, he does something to test if she's a vampire and when it comes back clean he just. leaves her alone with the corpses of all the vampires confused and alone. Sure the hunter saved her from the degenerate goth vampires, but the final girl never really understood what was happening. This is your classic teens are punished for having sex and drinking type slasher, where the final girl is both spared from death because of her 'innocence' and is saved from the degenerate life of vampirism by the killer. The sort of movie where the intended twist ending was that the slasher was the good guy all along

The more modern take would have the final girl being a freshly, accidentally, turned vampire as the rest of the group tries to welcome her into her new life. We are shown the group as good people who just happen to be vampires (still visually goth though this is important to me) and therefore othered by society. They drink blood but they don't kill people. They're just trying to survive, you know? In this version the killer represents how society punishes those it deems as others, as the hunter comes in and destroys this little community. We see the hunter as representative of the normative, dominate culture punishing the vampires for something they can't control. In the end the final girl gets control of her new vampire powers, the culmination of her arc as she struggles to accept and control them in the start, and kills the hunter. Which both turns her into the monster the hunter thinks she is (in normative societies eyes) and proves that no matter how hard society(hunters) try to wipe out the marginalized other(vampires) they will never be victorious.

really feeling that last one tbh might design some characters for it when I have some free time

[unknownnullified]

Uttara-Ashadha Nakshatra

Part 5: Uttara-Ashadha and The Complexities of Male Sexuality Pt. 1

The spiritual ethos encapsulated by Uttara-Ashadha compels these individuals to traverse the intricate landscape of human experiences and sexuality, fostering an awareness that transcends mere physical attraction. While they may still gravitate toward biological vessels traditionally recognized within societal norms and for creational purposes, the essence of Uttara-Ashadha invites a deeper contemplation of the complexities that characterize external human existence. In engaging with these contemplative practices, male natives are empowered to embrace the fluidity of the universe and the cosmos at large.

This journey prompts a transcendent realization: to penetrate the veils of illusion surrounding corporeal existence and recognize that all entities, regardless of their form, contribute meaningfully to the tapestry of change—both within oneself and in the broader collective. Such an understanding cultivates a holistic perspective on sexuality, wherein each interaction becomes an opportunity for growth, transformation, and a deeper connection to the shared consciousness that binds all beings.

In essence, the teachings derived from Uttara-Ashadha and its solar counterparts illuminate the path toward a profound acceptance of the intricate interplay between individuality and universality, urging male natives to embrace the myriad expressions of love and identity that enrich the human experience and foster collective evolution. When men liberate themselves from the constraints imposed by external constructs, they gain the capacity to perceive the true essence of their chosen partners in a more profound manner. This introspective analysis transcends mere physical appearances, allowing them to connect with the soul—the true occupier of emotions that we outwardly manifest. The soul, being formless in its absolute state, engenders a presence that is felt energetically, transcending superficial classifications. Conversely, those characterized and inheriting the title Venusian Ruled Men often find themselves ensnared by superficial allurements, lacking the profound teachings that encourage a deeper appreciation of the intrinsic equality of all beings. This fixation on external facades undermines the concept of unity, fostering divisions based on arbitrary standards. Within the Venus-ruled Nakshatras, the indulgence in physicality amplifies the tendency towards fragmentation and classification, leading to an exclusionary mindset that dictates who is deemed acceptable or desirable or allowed to be in society’s domain. Historically, such phenomena have manifested in various forms, including racial segregation and the marginalization of sexual fluidity and beauty standards to even genocides during its many predecessor timelines. The colonization of indigenous realms exemplifies this dynamic, as colonial powers frequently disregarded and sought to extinguish native beliefs and practices. In this context, eunuchs and transsexual individuals, who held unique cultural and spiritual significance within their societies, were rendered invisible and disempowered. Colonizers imposed their own belief systems, systematically diminishing the sacred roles that these individuals occupied within indigenous cultures. The historical erasure of transsexual women in modern narratives and eunuchs in past narratives serves as a poignant illustration of how external constructs can distort perceptions of value and identity. By relegating these individuals to the margins of society, colonial narratives contributed to the perpetuation of division and inequality. The repercussions of such actions continue to resonate, highlighting the necessity for a transformative understanding of identity that transcends superficial classifications and embraces the rich multi-facets of human experience. Ultimately, the journey toward recognizing the intrinsic worth of every individual necessitates a departure from the superficial allure of the physical realm. It calls for a commitment to fostering unity, where the recognition of shared humanity prevails over divisive standards, and where the unique contributions of all beings—irrespective of their gender identity or expression—are celebrated and honored.

The notion that a masculine male native may find himself enamored with a marginalized individual, particularly anybody who are not conformed to the external norms of society, can evoke the archetype of the "White Knight" trope. This archetype encapsulates a narrative in which a man is drawn to a marginalized figure out of a sense of obligation or savior complex, often stemming from historical legacies of colonization that have perpetuated systemic inequalities across generations.

The "White Knight" Trope

This trope reflects the dynamics of a hero or rescuer, who, motivated by a desire to rectify past injustices, seeks to champion the cause of those deemed vulnerable or oppressed. While the intention may initially appear noble, it frequently underscores a paternalistic approach that risks objectifying the marginalized individual rather than fostering an authentic, reciprocal connection which Births the Anti White Knight Archetype. In the context of contemporary relationships, the allure that male natives may feel for transsexual women—rooted in a historical lineage of colonization and systemic marginalization—can often stem from an inherent sense of guilt or obligation. This dynamic mirrors the "White Knight" archetype, wherein the male figure perceives himself as a savior or protector, motivated by the desire to alleviate the burdens imposed by societal injustices. Such an attraction, while perhaps arising from a place of empathy, can inadvertently perpetuate a narrative of dependency rather than fostering genuine partnership. Thus, the inclination towards transsexual women among these males can be interpreted through the lens of a well-intentioned yet potentially reductive impulse, wherein the complexities of identity and shared humanity may become overshadowed by a simplistic desire to 'rescue' those who have historically been marginalized. This not only complicates the dynamics of love and attraction but also necessitates a deeper understanding of the importance of mutual respect, agency, and equality in any meaningful relationship. But in a more progressive narrative of the white knight trope invokes the concept of standing up from the constructive adversities presented and usually a white knight tends to support or be in the battlefield which invokes a sense of romanticism to occur. Here’s some notable movies that have the Anti White Knight Trope

Wicked (2024)

A prominent cinematic illustration of this trope is the film "Wicked," featuring Cynthia Erivo (Purva-Ashadha Sun, Ashwini Moon) and Ariana Grande (Purva-Ashadha Sun, Hasta Moon). In this narrative, Glinda adeptly leverages her societal allure to navigate the intricacies of social programming. Conversely, Elphaba embodies the antithesis of this phenomenon, facing marginalization due to her skin color, which renders her perceived as inferior to the elite class. Glinda, under societal pressure to conform to established norms, employs her aristocratic demeanor to cultivate a sense of self-worth and honor. However, this facade masks her false genuine-ism and ultimately leading a lack of connection with those around her. In contrast, Elphaba, driven by a sense of moral duty, permits herself to allow Glinda to wield a wand who herself has no magical powers, thus illuminating the dynamics of their transactional friendship that Glinda actually predisposes to then undermine and destroy the reputation of Elphaba as the adaptation of the movie goes.

Fight Club (1999)

"Fight Club" offers a compelling exploration of the "anti white knight" trope through its protagonist, known as the Narrator. Initially, he embodies the characteristics of an everyman trapped in a mundane existence, seeking meaning and identity in consumerism. When he meets Tyler Durden, he is drawn to Tyler’s charismatic and rebellious persona, which appears to challenge societal norms and advocate for freedom. Tyler presents himself as a savior figure, promising liberation from the shackles of modern life. However, as the narrative unfolds, it becomes clear that Tyler's methods are not altruistic; they are rooted in chaos, destruction, and nihilism. The Narrator's admiration for Tyler gradually reveals the darker aspects of his philosophy, showcasing how Tyler manipulates the disillusioned to serve his own agenda. (aka His Alter Ego)

The film illustrates the complexity of the "white knight" trope by highlighting how the desire for empowerment can lead individuals to follow a figure who, while initially perceived as a savior, ultimately embodies a more dangerous and self-serving ideology. The Narrator's journey culminates in a realization of the destructive nature of Tyler's influence, emphasizing that the allure of the "white knight" can often mask deeper moral ambiguities and personal conflicts.

American Beauty (1999)

"American Beauty" delves deep into themes of dissatisfaction, the search for identity, and the moral complexities of human relationships, particularly through the lens of the "anti white knight" trope embodied by Lester Burnham. The film serves as a critique of suburban life and the societal norms that constrict personal freedom, ultimately revealing the darkness that can lie beneath the surface of seemingly idyllic settings.

The Illusion of Freedom and Authenticity

Lester's journey is sparked by a desire to break free from the mundane and oppressive nature of his suburban existence. Initially, he seeks authenticity and liberation through a superficial infatuation with Angela, believing that by pursuing her, he can reclaim his lost youth and happiness. This quest for personal freedom, however, becomes increasingly misguided. Instead of achieving genuine self-discovery, Lester's actions lead him down a path of obsession that blinds him to the consequences of his desires.

The film highlights how the desire for authenticity can sometimes manifest in unhealthy ways. Lester's transformation is marked by a rebellion against societal expectations, but it also reveals a troubling self-centeredness. His fixation on Angela is less about her as an individual and more about what she represents for him—a chance to escape his responsibilities and the discontentment in his life. This creates a disturbing power imbalance, as Lester's motivations are not rooted in a desire to uplift Angela but rather in his own longing for fulfillment.

Ethical Implications and the Tanner Stages

The ethical implications of Lester's obsession with Angela are significant. As a young teenager, Angela represents a stage of sexual development outlined by the Tanner stages. This framework categorizes the physical and emotional maturation of adolescents and underscores the importance of understanding the vulnerabilities associated with different developmental stages. Lester's predatory behavior raises serious concerns about consent and the exploitation of innocence.

By objectifying Angela, Lester not only disregards her autonomy but also embodies a broader societal issue regarding the romanticization of inappropriate relationships. The film critiques how cultural narratives can sometimes normalize or sensationalize such dynamics, presenting them in a way that obscures the potential harm involved. This is particularly poignant in Lester's interactions with Angela, where his desire is framed as a kind of infatuation rather than the predatory obsession it truly is.

The Consequences of Obsession

As the narrative progresses, the consequences of Lester's actions become increasingly apparent. His obsession leads to a series of destructive choices that ultimately impact not only his life but also the lives of those around him. The unraveling of his marriage, the alienation from his daughter, and the tragic events that unfold in the film all serve as reminders of the cost of pursuing selfish desires without regard for the feelings and well-being of others.

The film also explores the theme of disillusionment, as the characters grapple with their own desires and disappointments. Lester’s quest for fulfillment, instead of leading to liberation, culminates in a tragic realization of the hollowness of his pursuits. This serves as a cautionary tale about the dangers of allowing obsession to cloud judgment and moral responsibility.

In essence, "American Beauty" is a multifaceted exploration of the human condition, examining the complexities of desire, identity, and morality. Through the lens of the "fake white knight" trope, the film critiques the ways in which individuals can mask their true intentions with a facade of heroism. Lester Burnham's character arc serves as a powerful reminder of the need for self-awareness, empathy, and respect for others in the pursuit of personal happiness.

Ultimately, "American Beauty" challenges viewers to confront uncomfortable truths about human relationships and the societal norms that shape them. It encourages a critical examination of the narratives that glorify or romanticize harmful behaviors, emphasizing the importance of recognizing the fine line between genuine heroism and self-serving obsession. The film's lasting impact lies in its ability to provoke thought and discussion about the moral dilemmas inherent in the quest for identity and fulfillment in a complex world. At the turning point of the film he became aware after knowing Angela is vulnerable and has insecurities which allowed him to not engage on the final act. In the climax of the narrative, Lester exhibited remarkable restraint when presented with the opportunity to pursue his obsession he yearned desperately. As he approached the moment of unveiling her, he suddenly recognized her vulnerability, in a moment of moral clarity, chose to halt his advance. This pivotal decision evokes a sense of sympathy from the audience, yet it raises a profound question: Had she not articulated her vulnerability, would he have proceeded further in his intentions? At the end the character was killed.

So in essence, the soul is inherently pure and intended for higher realms speaks to a higher belief system that emphasizes the notion of spiritual evolution and the divine purpose of existence. In this context, the soul is seen as a perfect creation, imbued with the potential for growth, love, enlightenment and creation. However, the journey through life in the material world can expose the soul to a myriad of external influences that may distort its original intent and purpose.

The Role of External Influences

As individuals navigate life, they encounter various societal, cultural, and environmental factors that can shape their beliefs, behaviors, and values. These influences can range from familial teachings to media portrayals and peer pressures. When these external factors promote immoral or negative behaviors, they can lead the soul away from its intended path. The concept posits that the soul, while inherently aligned with higher virtues, can be swayed by the experiences and teachings it absorbs throughout its physical existence.

The Allure of Immorality

Powerful forces, often characterized as demonic or malevolent, may exploit these vulnerabilities, enticing individuals to engage in immoral behaviors. This manipulation can create a façade of freedom and choice, where individuals believe they are exercising free will. However, this perceived freedom can lead them into a cycle of moral degradation, gradually distancing the soul from its original purity and purpose. The idea here is that what may seem like harmless exploration can ultimately trap the soul in a web of lower-dimensional experiences, leading it away from spiritual enlightenment.

The Demonic Pantheon and Spiritual Capture

Demonic hierarchy of malevolent forces seeks to capture souls and control the powerful essence. These forces may thrive on the chaos and suffering that result from individuals straying from their higher purpose. By promoting the normalization of immoral behavior and creating a culture that celebrates vice, these entities can ensnare souls in a cycle of spiritual stagnation or regression. The more individuals become entangled in this web, the more difficult it becomes for them to recognize their true nature and the divine potential that lies within.

The Path to Redemption

Recognizing the influence of external factors and the allure of immorality is crucial for spiritual growth and redemption. There is an emphasis on the importance of self-awareness, critical thinking, and a conscious effort to align one’s life with higher principles. By seeking knowledge, cultivating virtues, and surrounding oneself with positive influences, individuals can navigate away from the traps set by malevolent forces. Ultimately, the journey of the soul is portrayed as one of reclaiming its original purity and purpose, breaking free from the constraints of lower-dimensional influences, and striving toward a higher state of being. This journey involves a commitment to ethical living, self-discovery, and a continuous effort to ascend beyond the limitations imposed by the material world. In summary, the soul is a perfect creation meant for higher realms serves as a reminder of the potential for spiritual evolution inherent in every individual. By understanding the impact of external influences and the manipulative tactics of malevolent forces, individuals can take proactive steps to protect their spiritual integrity and pursue a path of enlightenment. The ultimate goal is to align with one's true purpose, fostering a life that reflects the higher virtues and deeper truths of existence.

Uttara-Ashadha serves as a profound guide for navigating external adversities and emerging victorious. As we have previously explored, its deity and associated shakti empower individuals with the fortitude to surmount all external challenges and achieve moral triumph. This unique energy enables them to embody the essence of the True White Knight archetype, in stark contrast to the Anti White Knight trope we discussed. This nakshatra exemplifies the qualities that define the ideal masculine figure in societal perceptions, showcasing what authentic masculine energy should represent, unlike the manifestations of weaker masculine expressions. It resonates with the themes we previously examined regarding the Vishvedevas and their shakti. Furthermore, Uttara Ashadha transitions into the Abhijit nakshatra, signifying "Unconquerable." This progression underscores the notion that with this energy, one becomes impervious to destruction or deviation from their noble duties. When an individual embodies the traits of Abhijit, they become shielded from any external influences that seek to undermine their integrity. This is exemplified in the figure of Arjuna, who was deemed formidable, especially under the tutelage of Lord Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita, reinforcing the idea that true strength lies in unwavering adherence to one's righteous path.

Uttara-Ashadha, Krittika and Uttara-Phalguni Nakshatras Engagement in the LGBT Community

So now moving forward and what I have written in my previous post about attraction, you see that a lot of these natives have been sighted or been seen with transsexual women that are either influencers or courtesans. We see these natives outspoken about their involvement in advocating all sectors of topics.

Notable Mentions

Tyga (Uttara-Ashadha ASC): Mia Isabelle a Transsexual Pornstar was the first to publicly confirmed that Tyga actually had a fling with her in a interview in 2016, then the later timestamps he was linked to have had more numerous encounters with trans-influencers.

Luke Worrall (Uttara-Ashadha Moon): In 2011, the renowned star of Fashion Police, Kelly Osbourne, endured a deeply humiliating separation from her male model fiancé, Luke Worral. Kelly uncovered allegations of infidelity, discovering that he had purportedly betrayed her with Elle Schneider, a transsexual individual who was in the process of awaiting her gender reassignment surgery.

Lamar Odom (Uttara-Ashadha ASC): Seen and took a selfie with an Australian transsexual model who he was spotted in a romantic ambiance.

Hasan Piker (Uttara-Ashadha ASC & Moon): who has a queer dedicated following, brings awareness of the trans community and who actually again advocates this particularly as well as world issues combined. Here’s a video link on how a true Uttara-Ashadha native mindset functions and what we touched based so far.

Ray J (Uttara-Ashadha Sun): where he hoists and directs a reality show based off solely about transsexual women.

Hugh Hefner (Uttara-Phalguni ASC): Added his first transsexual model Ines Rau (Swati Moon) to be in the front cover of playboy magazine when it was rostered to only include biological female due to men being the top consumer during its first launch, after his death Ines reported that he was first to choose who will appear in the front cover and Hugh Hefner wanted Ines to be in the front and his son fulfilled his promise after taking full ownership of the Playboy Enterprise to include inclusivity and diversities. Which later of the year Kim Petras (Transsexual Musician) was added on a later issue of playboy magazine (his son has Purva-Phalguni as one of his luminaries.)

Dwayne Wade (Uttara-Ashadha Sun): Who has a child that transitioned and due to his solar supportiveness he allowed the fruition of this transformation for his child, he issued a statement that because of his trans child he was inspired to be an advocate for the affected marginalized communities.

Malik Yoba (Uttara-Phalguni Sun): has made a statement of his attraction and love for transsexual women.

Richard Gadd (Krittika Sun): A UK actor who created a show based on his real-life experiences outside the celebritorial comedian lifestyle, In Richard Gadd's real-life narrative, he confronts the challenges posed by a stalker while involved in a romantic relationship with a trans woman named Teri, a character inspired by one of his actual ex-girlfriends. Throughout the show, Gadd's character initially conceals the nature of his relationship, hesitating to publicly acknowledge or defend Teri. However, as the storyline progresses, their dynamic evolves significantly, culminating in a nuanced portrayal of trans identity, masterfully brought to life by Nava Mau.

Jon Dore (Uttara-Ashadha ASC): Did a skit with Nina Arsenaut a transsexual public figure who catered to trans-amorous men. As the progression of the skit goes from providing occasional questions to Nina, lead him to admire her and giving her compliments to the point of Flirting while airing.

Jack Harlow (Uttara-Phalguni Moon): Haven’t made any statements however his support to Lil Nas X who is a marginalized musician and together create a duo for one of the following track-song , even was seen taking pictures with Nikita Dragun. (which shows how supportive these solar natives are.)

The Chainsmokers: Andrew Taggart (Dhanistha Moon) and Alex Pall (Uttara-Ashadha Moon) made a duo tracklist with Kim Petras, Alex Pall and Kim Petras were linked with rumors that they are dating either for a stunt to promote the song but of course it had to be a Uttara-Ashadha Man in the mix of the rumors.

Was even more shocking that majority of a lot of trans-dating sites to trans servers from Discord channels I’m in as well as dating apps, I’ve accumulated copies of men’s birth charts from them and it was shocking to find out that out of all of the Nakshatras, each of the trans-attracted men had primary placements within these 3 Nakshatras Uttara-Ashadha, Uttara Phalguni and Krittika respectively ranked exaggerating-ly high, the next runner-ups and of course the sign of Leo (Simha) who is ruled by Sun himself was second runner up with the most birth charts I’ve collected that are trans-attracted for it was Purva-Phalguni and Magha nakshtra as the top second runners. Makes sense due to Purva-Phalguni Nakshatra associated with the Satyr/Faun Archetype and Magha as the Regal King Archetype, both Nakshatras are associated with the Regal nature of the Sun.

Notable Mentions

Hank Baskett (Purva-Phalguni Sun): Who was outed by his late ex-fiancée Kendra from the Girls Next Door VH1 Classic Reality Show whom he cheated on her for a transsexual woman while having children and one that was coming in physical creation.

Mister Cee (Purva-Phalguni Moon): Expressed his attraction for Transsexual Women in last year interview before his passing.

Christian Shearhod (Magha Sun): He is linked with a Trans-influencer Eden the Doll whom he married while already has a child from another previous ex-girlfriend which highlights the influences of the 5th house placement and Leo’s house rulership in their.

Adam Levine (Magha ASC): Who released a music video for his Title of his song “Girls Like You”, he added Trace Lysette (Transsexual Influencer) in his video that is an empowerment for his love for femininity.

The Rahu Nakshatras prominently featured in my collected astrological charts include Shatabhisak, Ardra, and Swati, with Shatabhisak emerging as the most prevalent. Following closely behind is Ardra. This dominance of Shatabhisak can be attributed to the unique qualities of its male natives, who often embody the archetypes of The Casanova and the Charming Spy. Shatabhisak is characterized by its fluidity and adaptability, earning it a reputation as a highly mobile nakshatra. This inherent dynamism contributes to its association with sensual pleasures, as the stars are metaphorically referred to as the "100 Watchers" and, in a more intimate context, the "100 Lovers." Moreover, the connection of male natives of Shatabhisak that have trans-attraction can be traced to their embodiment of the Casanova and Don Juan archetypes. These archetypes represent not only a charismatic allure and charm but also a profound capacity for emotional and romantic exploration through a less conventional sense. Their fluid identities and openness to diverse forms of attraction often lead them to transcend conventional boundaries, making them particularly magnetic to those who identify as trans or gender non-conforming. Thus, Shatabhisak men are not merely followers of these archetypes; they are living embodiments of a more expansive understanding of love and desire, drawing in a wide spectrum of romantic interests. For the ruling deity Varuna is the occupier and hold the deva title as the Dark Midnight Solar Sun it underlays the concept of the Solar Dominant Men in its Light Divinity form and Dark Solar Dominant Men in a dark divinity form. Hence again, all of this is chart compiled by the male commonfolks who were also in a lot Trans-Dating Sites and a lot of them had Shatabhisak Nakshatra as their primary placements as well.

Side note: Varuna rules the taboo underground scene, and rules the night.

To be continued… if you guys want a version for those who are strictly cisgender I can provide the same insights for you guys as well :)

[sol-consort]

The relationship between humans and turians just as a collective always has frothing at the mouth because there so much potential. Humans and turians are the type of opposites that perfectly complement each other, the types that fill in the gaps the other has. Order and chaos are perfectly balanced concepts and one cannot exist without the other.

Both species believe in service over self, but humans understand that you have to take care of the self a little too. We understand that a little selfishness is okay and healthy even.

And type of public service humans value are the small things like feeding your neighborhood, watching someone’s kid for the night so they can have time to themselves, picking up trash in the public parks, building community gardens, the tiniest action of putting your shopping cart in the corral.

Humans have the ability to show turians how to be individuals and turians can in turn show humans how to be a better collective. Match made in fucking heaven imo

It's a beautiful sentiment, but both species should be allowed to keep their flaws and make mistakes. Humans will be humans, and turians will be turians. Time after time history proves that it is a flat circle and each lesson must be relearnt.

Species don't have to balance each other out into a semi-symbiosis . Turians shouldn't attempt to fix humanity's impulsiveness and egotistical strives, humanity shouldn't attempt to change turian's militaristic lifestyle just because we don't get its appeal and view mandatory military training as a dystopian concept.

It's not the turians job to discipline us or make us a better collective. Neither is it our job to get them to ease up or teach them how to be individuals. If Turians only want to indulge in humans for fun, so be it. If most humans only go after turians out of intrigue and curiosity for the unkown, why stop them?

Radical acceptance of each other is far better than attempting to change one another, that's just the synthesis ending with extra steps, isn't it?

Could different alien species get along if they were alike and learned from each other? Yeah duh, of course they could when they are so similar.

But could they get along while holding drastically different values? The core idea of humanity is that you can not put humanity into a perfect mould or fit it into a box, we are far too different from one another. A human might relate more to an alien than another human. Atypical becomes the norm.

The core idea of turians is that the betterment of their species is above all.

And maybe that's okay? to be different and still get along or not get along, people can just mind their business. Because turians and humans aren't two random people that can kiss and make up, those are two entire civilisations.

Human civilisations themselves hold very different and often opposing beliefs, yet you don't see people attempting to get them to learn from each other. Because that's not the point. We shouldn't be trying to become like one another; we should embrace our differences.

What's "better" for each species is far too subjective. Where do you draw the line? How will you ensure that we don't just end up gentrifying turians into humanity 2.0 because that is the only point of reference we have for how a species should behave. We—humans—do not even behave like that. It's a fantasy, an idealised version of the perfect species.

Most of your thoughts—my thoughts, everyone's morals and beliefs—are a byproduct of our time-period and environment. Who knows how these values will hold up 1000 years into the future? Hell, who says they'll still be relevant 100 years from now.

Every utopia is another's dystopia, extend decency and respect to different culture and things, even if you don't understand them, even if they might contradict your own beliefs. To get comfortable with being uncomfortable.

Plus, turians and krogans work better as opposing forces ngl. Now that is true order and chaos. Humanity just happened to be the one to strike the turian hornet's nest and get most of the heat. We're far more similar than we think, much like we are similar to krogans as well, asari and salarians too! Even drell and hanar at times—because that's the point. We are the most diverse species, we can connect to everyone on some level, jack of all trades, master of none.

[yet-another-heathen]

[ Answering in a new post because I don't like Tumblr's "no edit" ask glitch. Thank you so much for sending this one in, @venusski! ]

---

The ifrit have a specific custom of naming through laqabs! For example, Yeezumon's full name:

Yeezumon al-Taasharaih ibn Ramnawa bint Khesha bint Modreya al-Quasim

...is more than a random jumble of middle names and surnames. I know it looks incredibly overwhelming, but do me a favor. Read it once more, slowly. Sound it out in your head. Actually follow every single word.

Yeezumon al-Taasharaih ibn Ramnawa bint Khesha bint Modreya al-Quasim

This is more than a name. It's history—of so many people more than just him.

The rough translation:

Yeezumon the Star-Mapper; son of Ramnawa; daughter of Khesha; daughter of Modreya the Divider

Yeezumon earned the honorific "the Star-Mapper" through his lifelong dedication and renowned skill as a navigator. There isn't an easy way to impress on you just how profound that title is. Not only did Yeezumon learn to read and write (as exceptionally few ifrit or humans in this time do), but he has charted every single star in the night sky over his centuries as a navigator. And, in a time where doing so is both incredibly challenging and dangerous, he alone has mapped out huge swaths of the desert and its surrounding "coastlines" where greenery and life follows the winding rivers at its edge.

It is because of him, and the few other people like him, that sandships are able to transverse the deserts at all.

Yeezumon's great grandmother also has an honorific that gets carried along in his name. There was a massive famine during Modreya's lifetime (just after the ifrit were freed from Solomon), and she was the city official whose responsibility was to divide food rations amongst her people. "The Divider" was a title given to her in honor of her dedication to making sure EVERY person, regardless of poverty or class, had enough food to survive. She was incredibly well loved, and her name is still remembered to this day, almost three thousand years later.

After their honorifics, something else might stand out; ifrit bloodlines are solely matrilineal. There are a great many reasons for this, but the biggest is how common polyamory is in their culture. True monogamy is almost unheard of among ifrit, and relationships that even come close are exceptionally rare.

"The Husbands" earned their title because it is outright bizarre for two ifrit to have been together as long as they have. When you live to be a millennium old, it's accepted that the people you're closest with will eventually grow and change so much over the centuries that you're no longer compatible. And there's nothing wrong with it! That kind of growth is seen as a good and completely natural thing, and animosity between ex-lovers is far from the norm. People stay together for as long as they fit, then make their own way apart when they no longer do.

That being said, Yeezumon and Ifyaa are weirdos. Not only have they been together for most of their lives, but these two literally get married to each other over again every time they come across a culture that does it a different way. They've been married about thirty times and counting, with no plans to stop. Even THEY aren't monogamous in the modern sense—they still have other partners both alone and together. [Sorry Nadi, you're still out of luck.]

But lineage is matrilineal because frankly, not only would be it nearly impossible to keep track of who the sire may be, but to the ifrit? It simply doesn't matter.

Ifrit have such an impossible time conceiving children that when one is born, entire cities erupt into celebrations that last for DAYS. Every child is raised with their entire community as a family. While they'll travel with their mother if she ever moves to a new city, the need for more detailed lineages just don't exist. After their mother, they belong to the People as much as to their sire. And on that note....

Ifyaa's full name follows the same pattern:

Ifyaa al-Mantiqi ibn Aisara-Qshek ira Yareya bint Watlai

Ifyaa the Healer; Son of The People; heir to Yareya, daughter of Watlai

Though the ifrit don't have an equivalent of such a word, Ifyaa was more or less what humans would consider an orphan. His mother left when he was a very young boy, and the people of his city all took him in as one of their own. The entire city became his family. He carries their name in reverence, and will often shorten his own name to Ifyaa al-Mantiqi ibn Aisara-Qshek unless the need otherwise arises.

---

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to go into this! I truly love the world and culture building of An-Nadr, and I'm delighted every time I get to scratch the surface.

[aroaceconfessions]

cw: religion, specifically purity culture in evangelical Christianity and the miserably inadequate sex ed that comes along with it

Being an aroace teen with no libido in the midst of purity culture is WILD, because the youth pastor will be going off about saving yourself for marriage and only dating fellow Christians and not looking at porn and whatever, and meanwhile I'm just sitting in the back of the room drawing on notebook paper and wishing I had more snacks.

Like??? In hindsight it's GLARINGLY obvious that I am and always have been aroace. But back then I legitimately didn't understand how anyone could possibly feel romantic or sexual attraction. I never felt "broken" or anything -- I thought other people were the weird ones. I thought that having crushes or being sexually attracted to someone was largely made up for the sake of adding drama to books and movies, and that people couldn't possibly be that way in real life, because I wasn't that way and I was totally normal, right? I just kind of assumed that one day I (afab) would fall in love with a man and we'd get married and have kids and ride off into the sunset together, because that's the picture the church always painted for me.

I'm an adult now. I've deconverted from my parents' religion. I've accepted my identity as a childfree aroace person who may or may not be cis (still working on that part). I've actually EDUCATED myself about other peoples' sexualities and gender identities, as well as things like basic bodily hygiene and pregnancy, which nobody ever taught me about in any meaningful amount of detail. Fuck the system that kept me ignorant and made it easy for me to judge other people for having basic, perfectly natural desires. I feel like I've FINALLY woken up to the fact that I am an individual, who's allowed to have opinions and interests and wants and goddamn emotions. I can be an ally to my queer friends and use their correct names and pronouns and such without feeling like I'm sinning or betraying God or whatever bullshit that religion wanted me to believe. Literally just finding that one little label for myself led me down a path towards FEELING LIKE AN ACTUAL HUMAN BEING. And while I've definitely still got a ways to go, I am so incredibly grateful for all the progress that I've made so far.

Education on these topics is so fucking important. For EVERYBODY. And I desperately hope that someday it'll become the norm, so that no more kids are failed as badly as I was.

Submitted July 8, 2023

[radical-aurin-care]

How would you describe the middle class and how would you identify someone belonging to that demographic liek what are some tell tale signs besides being pretty and white with nice teeth and patagonia jackets and $7 chai lattes?

I might not be the best at defining the middle class, but for the purposes of this blog, this is roughly what I mean:

middle class is a loose group of people who don't necessarily think of themselves as having much in common with each other, plus they like to either deny their privilege and/or aspire to higher status, depending on what benefits them most in each situation.

they are of course first and foremost an economic class, but that doesn't mean that they all have a specific amount of money, possessions (like houses or cars (and definitely not superficial stuff like brands and coffees)) or income. there is some sandwich discourse here where the more factors are met, the more likely someone is considered to be middle class and act like it and be treated like it and function like it in the broader systems of power, hierarchies and oppression. Just like two slices of white bread with pb and j are more likely to be considered a sandwich than a burrito.

middle class, as the name implies, is somewhere between lower/working class and upper/ruling class. often they see themselves as "the backbone of society", as the norm/normal, as the "everyday person". they also derive quite a lot of entitlement from this view.

typical "ingredients" of the middle class sandwich are: being an employee, middle management, small/medium business owner, doing desk/office jobs that still make enough money to not have to worry where food and shelter will come from. being suitably educated and knowing how to talk, dress, behave "politely", expecting it from others.

you can see, there are lots of exceptions and edge cases already. middle class is also a very wide range, from people who do struggle financially or are actually poor for a while, to people who are rich and go to elite schools but still aren't ruling class.

and of course there are other axes of marginalisation or privilege. so, no, not all middle class people are white and the assumption that BIPOC can't be middle class is racist. that's why I often specify "white middle class" when talking about that particular (racist) mindest that we white middle class (or ex middle class) ppl have as part of our background noise. being marginalised in some way or in several ways does not mean someone's middle class privilege is irrelevant.

having a particular political opinion, like being anticapitalist or anarchist, also doesn't erase middle class privilege.

I do want to talk about middle class culture though. I feel like that's often overlooked while at the same time being at the root of a lot of problems. it starts with a mindset that puts following rules and often unspoken rules, especially rules about social hierarchies, above pretty much everything. to a truly ridiculous and illogical degree.

it's a particular set of values, that comes through in how they talk and act and in pretty much everything they do, especially in how normalised and entrenched discrimination is. discrimination really is a core part of it.

middle class culture is berating a two or three year old for asking for food when they're hungry because they didn't say "please and thank you".

it is dismissing a Black person's right to live in peace and free from attacks, because they got angry or were using "bad" (ie Black) language when under attack.

it is getting offended at people wanting to be seen as and connect to you as a living human being instead of as the subservient kind of being their lower status marks them as.

it is holding form over substance. like when it is acceptable to say the most vile racist or otherwise inhumane shit in polite language and a calm tone but absolutely scandalous to argue back against that in "improper" ways.

it is denying someone basic human decency, looking down on them and mistreating them (usually in superficially nonviolent ways or by having someone else do the physical violence like cops) and subconsciously seeing them as less than human, or not seeing them at all, acting like they don't exist, for being lower on the social hierarchy.

this is very context dependent. it hits other middle class people in some contexts, often hits working class people and lumps entire groups of people together as below the threshold of consideration. those outside of society or below working class, sometimes called the lumpen proletariat (including sans papiers, beggars, sex workers, homeless ppl, drug dealers and certain users, thieves and others doing illegalised work or coping strategies or activism (unless it's white collar crime)).

it is having immense double standards without a shred of self awareness.

it is practically worshipping hypocrisy and insincerity. that's what all the double standards and respectability bullshit boils down to. you can't mean what you say and can't say what you mean, that would be rude and uncultured, childish, threatening, embarrassing, confusing, stupid, uncivilised etc etc etc.

honesty is, in effect, a hindrance to being heard, accepted, supported our even allowed to exist in that culture.

just imagine going up to your middle manager and showing them what you really think and feel. or teacher. or your bigoted or just plain annoying relatives. or anyone middle class when you are trying to be accepted by them or are even dependent on them.

and by showing how you think and feel, I don't just mean talk calmly. that can already be dangerous. but expressing feelings includes things like crying, shouting, having trouble speaking up, being choked up, struggling for words, rambling, laughing shrilly or raucously, stimming, putting on a hood and earphones, running and jumping and fidgeting, sitting down on the pavement, dissociating, refusing to talk, refusing to listen, refusing to shut up, demanding answers, refusing to apologise when you don't think you should have to, demanding action.

demanding action, or just acting for yourself, is I guess the main thing that all this hypocrisy is meant to stop.

you're not meant to change the status quo. you're not meant to just do what's right and reasonable and just and necessary. because that would dismantle class. it would dismantle injustice and inequality. it would mean actually redistributing wealth and things and houses and land back to those it belongs to (actually belongs to, NOT legally!) or who actually need it. it would mean holding white collar monsters accountable.

it would mean protecting Black and all BIPOC people and disabled and crazy and queer people and women and children and fat people and all other oppressed people from harm, including economic exploitation, being unhoused, displaced, locked up, starved and denied their needs. or being molded, pressured, manipulated, forced into narrow acceptable boxes of how to be and how to look and act.

I could go on, but this is already long. I think one thing that I almost forgot as a now lumpen person who was never close to the upper class is the relation middle class has to the upper classes. there is envy but also mockery and disgust. the essence of middle class is to be subservient to the upper classes and being simultaneously drawn to them, wanting to be them or like them, but also knowing one's place and rejecting the idea of being like them.

we're not decadent and frivolous like them rich people! we hate billionaires! but we also love celebrities and in some places literal nobles and monarchs.

to your last point, no, I would not try to identify someone as belonging to the middle class or look for tell tale signs. what would be the point of that?

it's a CLASS. which means it's not about individuals having or buying certan things.

I don't judge people based on stuff they have little control over or on irrelevant things. I judge people based on the impact their actions and words have in context. and yeah sometimes I get super frustrated with middle class bullshit!!!

not because of white teeth or expensive beverages, but because of patterns of harm, discrimination and oppression that middle class people are part of and further and do and support to exist into the future (perpetuate).

[anothermoirafan]

VAMPIRES AND THEIR NAILS

Ok so I've been thinking abt this 4 a while and I came to a conclusion that if there is a true united and connected (no matter how badly) vampire society then there must be norms? Some sort of rules or traditions. Now unfortunately Castlevania doesn't tell us much here, except tidbits such as having philosophy and a general sense of who is and who isn't in the community. So let's use logic instead. So usually, in the animal kingdom and human culture, norms and expectations, especially of beauty, were based on proving oneself to be succesful and therefore of the ability to afford luxuries that stand against reason of need. Take exotic birds for example; the show off of colors shocks and appeals to females (usually) but also makes it easier to be spotted as prey. The takeaway is ofcourse, that the beadzzled male can simply, by strength and intelligence, afford to be bedazzled. During human history, at least for most of, it was a signifier of wealth and class to be chubbier or even obese. The unspoken context was that even though most couldn't afford to feed their family, you were able to eat more than you needed or even wanted. Similar thing was for nails. Famously, in China, during the Warring States period (around 475-221 BC) long nails became a status symbol; a symbol of not doing labour, therefore not needing to have nails cut short for said labour. An added bonus was definately that healthy nails require a good diet, oils and frequent washing for good appearance; and can be decorated for extra measure.

Now back to the vampires. Considering the long nails of every vampire we see, and the knowledge that they can even be used in combat (see for:Raman) we can safely assume that linger nails are part of vampire signifiers and naturally occur afzer the transformation aling with fangs. Even characters who we would describe as practical (Dracula, he's dramatic but a scientist goddamit he knows what could be under) have them. I checked but unfortunately we don't see much of Tera's transformation but it'll definately be cool to find out if it makes it into her new design. Now we could assume that maybe nails are results of age but I feel as if that were the case again they wouldn't be that common.

How do vampires see their nails? Similar to humans, one would think, but i feel like there's more philosophy in there. Many vampires see their nails as as proof and extension if their animalistic side, cue trying to cut them and keep the human-short (great example is Lenore, who out of all vampires seems culturally very much still human or at least she tries to be) or embracing it and having literal claws (Dracula). But I want to talk about the detail of Carmila having red nails. With no knowledge of vampire technology I'm gonna say she used a formula way back from the Zhou dynasty in China at around 600BC or the Ming dynasty. Either way nail polishes of the time were limited in color but we knew they had red and adored it.

Why did I have this rant? Because I believe vampires use nails as virtue signaling.

Think about it. Vampires as a species are very cruel and deceitful so it's hard to know where somebody stays. But nails? Immediately u get the picture. Carmilla didn't just look good in red, she was the only general with colored nails, even Raman kept them natural (prob for combat but still). Think of the implications? She saw her vampirism as an extension and addition to her greatness. The color? Symbol of passion and prosperity. And upkeep? Probably expensive and rare, I mean she is a war general, I doubt that leaves time for manicure, but she did it anyways, probably HIRING HUMANS for it too. AND it matches her outfit. So u have these old vampires who keep their nails long as they accepted it, and think "yea this works" when all of a sudden a Bad BitchTM walks in and how do they know she means business? Colored nails.

And what does that leave the rest with. Think of all the times Styria hosted parties, galas and meetings with other vampire nations, putting up a good face, just for Lenore to cut her nails. Imagine the outrage and pity. She's the diplomat!! And yet, in company, she keeps her nails short. She already looks like a young girl, probably turned against her will, and the nails? Knowing Morana and Carmilla that had to be a constant fight. How could she represent them like this? Does she hate the gift of eternal life they've all been gifted with?

I imagine she tried to keep them long. For some time, probably an important politics season. Maybe she liked them, maybe she was waiting to cut them off, when she accidentaly cut herself. The pain. Anyone who has longer nails can tell u this is more often than u think, and considering vampire length and probable strength those cuts are good and deep. She cries. Of course the wound is already healed, ofcourse Morana and Carmilla yell how it'll pass but what they don't get is that the pain still happened. And it will again. And nobody understands.

She probably likes Hector's hands. He kept his nails short, he's a man of work, and thinks she likes the possibility of what he can do. But she just likes the nails. She even sometimes tells him to cut them shorter, since she wants to see how long and gradual human nail growth is. She enever tells him that, she lies and says "claws are for vampires" and she hates it. When she kills herself, Hector goes through the quartet's rooms for things and information and finds so many nail upkeep sets, hell even Striga has them. And Lenore has. Well a clipper. She never kept more. She couldn't.

[accio-victuuri]

sharing this article from today about HB. 🤍

Nominated for "Best Feature Film" at the Golden Rooster Award: "Hidden Blade": a hidden arrow that breaks the unspoken rules of box office for literary and artistic films

A classic is a kind of work,

It continues to give rise to clouds of criticism of it,

And keep getting rid of it,

It never completes what it has to say.

Hidden Blade, whose global box office is still rising, is the box office ceiling for domestic literary and artistic films. The background of this performance is that serious films have encountered an era of shallow reading, the industry and the public have been torn apart, and box office has become an undercurrent sweeping everything. However, because literary films do not conform to the shallow entertainment psychology, their niche nature is predicted by bloodthirsty and crude evaluations, and they are ahead of schedule. They are killed by film placement rate.

The true mission of film︱Making culture visible

The turbulent clouds and red color in the broad field of vision are somewhat incompatible with the festive atmosphere of the Lunar New Year. Released on the first day of the Lunar New Year, it is a kind of performance art in itself... It is very cliché, and it is exactly the same as the self-deprecation of super commercial films. As a spy war literary film, "Hidden Blade" has achieved a breakthrough in innovative expression of Chinese films, and its heterogeneity is unique among domestic films.

The dramatic tension of too many movies relies entirely on scenes and special effects, which disappear once they leave the theater. "Hidden Blade" creates a huge psychological magnetic field, which is still exciting even if it is separated from the audio-visual environment. The tone threshold of "Hidden Blade" is not some kind of contempt for the audience, but the ultimate respect for the audience, history, and movies.

Literary films are a type of film relative to the concept of commercial films. They focus on artistic expression and cultural connotation, and try to pursue higher aesthetic values ​​and cultural significance. Their production is also different from commercial films: commercial films pursue commercial interests or mass entertainment, and take the movie box office as the main goal, while literary films focus on the artistry and cultural connotation of the film.

Transgressing norms and offending common sense, art films are pioneers of film. They often fail but expand the boundaries of film. There are two literary classics in the history of world cinema, "The Shawshank Redemption" and "Westward Journey". They failed miserably at the box office when they were first released. However, they accumulated a large number of die-hard fans through the later dissemination of images. After years of accumulation, they became indelible classics.

The core of the value counterattack between the two works is still that gold will always shine.The former's exploration of human nature and social systems has created a milestone in modern cinema, while the latter's postmodern deconstructive stream of consciousness has won resonance in an era of subversion of tradition.

As a cultural carrier, movies are the most intuitive and transparent value expression of the thoughts of the times. Although most of the classics handed down from ancient times are not the true understanding of the thinkers' era, they have been accepted by the public after years of precipitation. As a result, classics continue to increase in value over the course of history. This is the power of classics and the reason why we respect classics.

As early as in "The Death of Romance", Cheng Er used lines to express his feelings, "Movies are made for the audience of the next century." Look, for artists who break through the context of their times, the feedback they receive from the times is often lagging or misaligned, although this misalignment itself is precisely the connotation of the avant-garde. Yes, art films have always been a disadvantaged group in the industry that suffers at the box office.

In contrast to the tragic box office situation, the ambition and strength of literary films in film art awards. This is also the reason why "Hidden Blade" recently swept the 36th Golden Rooster Awards, with 8 major nominations and caused controversy among public opinion.

The existence of "Hidden Blade" is indeed an isolated example of a domestic literary film. With a box office of 931 million, it is not only the highest-grossing film in director Cheng Er's career, it is even several times the total box office of all his previous works! It's so stunning that "Hidden Blade" has always been criticized by the public, expelled from the art film camp by default in the name of "removing the highest score"!

"No one knows your name, but your achievements are immortal." The grand proposition of the unknown hero in "Hidden Blade" is more sentimental about family and country than any of Cheng Er's previous works. And does this main theme of "greatness, light, and justice" fit in with the art film's original understanding of "the world, society, and life" for individuals and the authorial expression of film language?

"Hidden Blade" is not the first of its kind to draw on commercial marketing for a literary film. At that time, "Fireworks in the Day" was announced as a romantic suspense film, and it received similar reviews and received double box office revenue. It can be seen that only true literature and art dare to joke about "super commercial films".

Cheng Er responded to this joke in an interview with "China News Weekly", "I was editing the film that day, and then they came in with their mobile phones to show me, and said that everyone still thought it was too literary, and I said let's just type a line. Come out - a super commercial film. This is a joke, and indeed no one put such a slogan in the trailer."

He said that he just found it interesting and that there was nothing to rebel about and it was not worth rebelling against. Confidence and relaxation are often qualities of an artist. These qualities make people stand out like fireflies in the dark, allowing the public to quickly pick them up from the crowd. And Cheng Er slowly titled a serious film "super commercial film" because of his humor.

Movies are not just an art of light and shadow | they are also an art that can cultivate people

Low box office is not the standard for art films. “When art is dressed in shabby clothes, it is easiest for people to recognize it as art.” However, this is not an essential representation of art, but the quality of the audience that needs to be improved. The complaints faced by "Hidden Blade" are the same as those faced by literary films as a whole, which is the contradiction between the film's authorial expression and public acceptance.

But does literature and art have to be a niche? Does it deserve to be obscure and slow-paced? Come to think of it, no one is more qualified to answer than "Hidden Blade", who has boiled the black water into a world of wealth and led the public's aesthetic appreciation with niche art!

The most representative narrative style of Cheng Er's films is "flashback narrative", which established his unique creative and imaging style. It invites the audience to participate, rely on brain supplements to build together, and gain the pleasure of decoding. It is a true "understanding", and it is easy to be confused if you don't understand. Such films pursue aesthetics and reflection, and are usually aimed at more mature and artistic audiences.

Movies are products of the cultural industry and are essentially consumed cultural products. In the context of the influx of capital and hot money into the film market and the industrialized mass production of film culture, commercial films are certainly high-return cultural snacks tailored for audiences. Even the creators of literary and artistic films are hard-pressed to avoid being judged by box office success . "The concept of influence or even kidnapping.

It is common for literary films to sell less than 5 million yuan. From Chen Zheyi softly asking the sky, "Why are elegant and gentle people scolded?" to Huang Xufeng angrily choking netizens, "I have no merit but hard work." There is no antidote in the world. The reason why literary and artistic films are criticized is often because in the fast-food era of shallow reading, literary and artistic films have to embrace the sinking market and attract non-target audiences in order to pursue box office.

But movies are just products? No, it is still a cultural expression and a carrier of social values. Comparing movies to products, then literary and artistic films are obviously not fast-moving consumer goods. When facing capital and the market, how can they be in line with the public while not losing their authorial nature? Cheng Er said, "Good-looking art films are also good commodities, and excellent commercial films are also a kind of art."

When it comes to art, most people may think that art is highbrow, aloof, and far away from daily life. And this is not the case. Yu Hua said in the roadshow of "The Mistake by the River", what does it mean to understand? In fact, it is whether it can overlap with our own life experience. If there is overlap, you can understand it. If there is no overlap, you can't understand it. That's normal.

In this explanation, understanding or not understanding is not profound. And Cheng Er has always said that the audience should not be underestimated. People who watch movies are influenced by their own likes and dislikes. Whatever they feel is what they have. Whether they understand or not is not that important.

The audience should not be too demanding to understand, and the artist should also be down-to-earth. Art for the sake of art is not true art. "Hidden Blade" is not only a literary film, but also a literary footnote to Chinese films, because it truly expresses the cruelty of history but is still full of artistic beauty. Cheng Er is very familiar with the history of the Republic of China and knows the intricate relationships between characters.

"Hidden Blade" is composed of real historical details as fine as twists and turns. When I say I can’t understand it, I’m not expressing disdain, but living in China, it’s difficult to understand the history of 5,000 years of civilization, but there is absolutely no threshold for mastering the history of the Anti-Japanese War! It is understandable that one cannot appreciate the narrative technique due to aesthetic differences, but the Internet atrocities of selling one’s soul for five cents and tainting the theme of the film are unforgivable.

There is no universal set of aesthetic rules in the world, but artists try to legislate aesthetics. Every era has its own branded dogma, until the next generation of artists establishes their own profession. Therefore, Gombrich exorcized art and said, "There is no art, only artists." He hoped that the world would stop enshrining art in shrines and use mystery and sacredness to Feeling separates oneself from the work.

There is also a similar "death of the author theory" in the literary field, which means that the author is as if dead when the work is born, and the interpretation and evaluation of the work are left to the readers. That is, there are a thousand Hamlets for a thousand readers, and there is no standard answer.

Just like we cannot require every movie to go straight to the international film festival awards, but also to hit the hearts of the audience and be a classic that will be passed down forever. We cannot require every movie viewer to have high film literacy from the beginning, and to be able to get the spiritual resonance of the creative intention. The growth of movies, filmmakers, and movie audiences requires more tolerant soil and space.

Of course, there is really little space left for literary and artistic films in theaters now! No matter at home or abroad, when the public unanimously agrees that "artistic films deserve low box office", please understand that the industry should leave some room for exploration for artistic films. Allow them to be ignorant of the customs, and only on the soil of tolerance can viable artistic flowers bloom.

Social aesthetic value orientation︱The purpose and driving force of movies

"A lame dog walks through the bombed street scene." One day, Cheng Er took a pen filled with ink and wrote this sentence on the paper. At that time, no one, including himself, knew it, but it was becoming the starting point for a movie called "Hidden Blade," and this moment of brutal aesthetics became the famous scene of the movie.

Personal aesthetics are free, but social aesthetics has a paradigm. Education and social culture will influence and standardize aesthetics and shape aesthetic orientation. Different eras and different environments have different aesthetic orientations, and different aesthetic orientations make people make different value choices. That is to say, no matter how free the aesthetics and how diverse the values ​​are, as long as the rice is sown, it will never grow into tares.

Art and commerce are the two legs of movies. Art movies are full of vitality, and commercial movies are lively. When the leg of literature and art is lame, it is not unfair that Chinese films have been reduced from regulars on the awards podium at international film festivals to regulars on the red carpet.

Yes, there is indeed a "silver-like pewter tip" in the name of art. When artistic conscience is marginalized by desire, the so-called art becomes only a barren and pale flower shelf that cannot withstand scrutiny and argumentation. But "Hidden Blade" allows us to see how an exquisite literary film is polished and shaped, and even simple film layouts contain shooting skills.

Generally, it is the director's habit to record the scene first, then the actors perform, and the cameraman follows the camera movement, but this is not the case on Cheng Er's set. Wang Yibo once mentioned that the crew respects the actors very much. The filming scene is very quiet. Once the mood enters the state, the photographer shoots directly. After the scene is finished, the filming will be finished. The filming will never interrupt the actors' brewing emotions.

In the later stage, Cheng Er slept directly in the studio and only did one thing every day, cut, cut, cut! Thanks to his almost fanatical work status, Cheng Er didn't even get exposed to the sun last year! It took seven years to sharpen a sword, just for a different Chinese movie. Incorporate the main melody into genre movies, and use the language and audio-visual rhythm of genre movies to achieve innovative expression of the main melody theme.

"A truly good movie must be more commercial than commercial and more artistic than art. For me, what I have always wanted to do is to be more commercial than commercial and more artistic than artistic." Cheng Er said this and did the same.

Cheng Er's images are full of subtle metaphors. Puppet Manchukuo, Shanghai, and Hong Kong, the spiritual narrative about the city in "Hidden Blade" permeates the architectural language of Rongzhai, No. 76, No. 567 Xiafei Road, Central Market, and Man Mo Temple; it is hidden in Japanese, Shanghai dialect, The mixture of pidgin and Cantonese arouses emotional resonance and deep thinking in the audience.

The Puppet Manchukuo, which only exists in the dialogue between Watanabe and Mr. Ye, is like a ghost with the chill of a daydream; the isolated island in Shanghai, which occupies the main part of the film, exudes luxury and inconsistency in its exquisiteness; and Hong Kong, as the hub of the international anti-Japanese united front, is full of human fireworks, revealing a simple and soothing world.

Dark clouds are pressing down, devastation is everywhere, and at the end of the tunnel, the historical information in the image of the current situation is compressed into a minimalist narrative, waiting to be decompressed. Until the dark wormhole of the theater, the historical words in the spy war narrative rushed towards us...

The anti-Japanese drama consumes misery, the anti-war themes are reproduced in large numbers, and the massacres cause psychological discomfort... In the past, expressions of the history of national suffering often followed the rules of exposing cruelty, exposing blood, and even exchanging violence for violence. What is shocking about "Hidden Blade" is that it uses beauty to overcome ugliness. It is amazing: It turns out that suffering can be interpreted calmly, with warmth and depth! "You can't get involved in the frame," is the domineering determination of the man behind the scenes.

Light and heavy, cold and warm, it completes the unfinished soul judgment on a country's sin of aggression in reality. In the sense of cultural export, "Hidden Blade" integrates the isolated history of China's anti-Japanese resistance into the world narrative of the great history of World War II.

It is a message from the times to the times. In the theater, "Hidden Blade" makes us feel the power of literature and art. After walking out of the theater, you will naturally understand what the merits of the unknown are!

[themonotonysyndrome]

omg i keep thinking about how castin would look while fighting UGH.

but also i keep thinking about soft and worried castin. he’s been so open with us and pushed through emotions to tell us such deep and personal things before, i can’t wait for the baroness to do the same with him.

could we maybe get some headcanons on how castin would react to hearing about some trauma from the baroness for the first time? nothing specific in terms of the trauma so that it’s interpretable for each person, but how would he react? anger, sadness, etc etc?

hope you’re doing well, i love your writing so so so much!!!

Castin in a fight? Well, at least when he's sparring?

Shirtless. Sweaty. Serious. Growly voice when barking out orders. His eyes are hard as he scans around.

You know it, Anon!

But a soft and worried Castin, eh? Sure! Let's give it a go! Also, I'm very happy that you enjoyed my writings. You made my day.

Emotional headcanons where the Baroness reveals a traumatic scene to a worried Castin

Let's set up the scene first: Castin and the Baroness have adapted to each other well, the communication between the two is growing stronger with every passing day, and they understand each other a lot more now.

But the stark difference in cultures and upbringing between them is still unavoidable, so when the Baroness casually shares how 'rigid' her upbringing was (think of cruel diet control by her governesses at the age of 10 & etc) while the two are walking through the gardens, Castin suddenly feels chilling. Despite how warm the day is.

Our man is lowkey in distress as he stares at his wife, who is distracted by freshly bloomed flowers.

"Babe... that's... that's not right. You know that right?"

"Hmm? Oh my. Why do you look so spooked Castin?"

Castin can't believe what he's hearing; can't bear that his wife is comforting him. He should be the one doing so!

He gently grabs her hand so they can sit at a nearby bench among the trees. Somewhere quiet and private for a much-needed talk.

"Castin, please. Why do you look so sad?"

"I've heard a lot of stories from the soldiers. Do you know that one of the ways that people cope with traumatic events is conditioning themselves to accept it as the norm? It's horrifying, but I guess that's human nature."

"An apt survival method if I ever hear one. But what is this about, husband? Is one of your soldiers struggling to adjust to civilian life?"

"No. No, baby. I'm talking about you."

"Me?"

The Baroness is genuinely surprised and confused. What traumatic events did she go through other than she became a hostage during the siege of the palace?

Seeing her expression honestly breaks Castin's heart. He had so many support groups, and so many people who loved him. People were there to help him pull through after the death of his mother and during the war. To now realise that his wife doesn't have that privilege? It's tragic.

"I'm really sorry to be the one who say this, but, sweetheart... you were abused as child."

"Abused? Don't be absurd, Castin. Every children within the Imperial Noble Households went through a set of rigorous upbringing. It's tradition. It's just how it is."

"Starving a child shouldn't be a lesson! That's cruel; simple as that. And I hate that the Empire normalises that."

The fact that the Baroness still couldn't grasp how horrible that was just made Castin burst into tears.

He'll cry for the loss of her childhood innocence. He'll lament for every time the love of his life was abused and isolated all in the name of traditions.

Because from now on, Castin is not gonna let her or any of their children suffer the same way and he'll fight against traditions themselves if he has to.

[bluegekk0]

does hallownest have pride parades?

Oh that is a pretty interesting question, I'd love to ramble about this. I'm going to say that no, they don't, but not because their society would be against it. Quite the opposite, actually.

The way I imagine it, their culture is far more animal-like than ours in many aspects. They do have morals, obviously, and more complicated social structures and views that distinguish between those who break the law and those who follow it. That being said, it's far from what you see in our society - they don't have an elaborate justice system, so for example, a murderer will simply be executed for their crime without an extended trial, and killing someone in a fair duel doesn't raise any eyebrows. Death is a part of their life and it's not as big of a deal as it is for us, humans. Though things like murder and other serious crimes are frowned upon. The laws are in place to maintain order and peace between different species that coexist, and embrace progress, even if many of their values do not overlap with ours (for example, in some cultures, eating other sapient bugs isn't even considered a crime, though naturally that wouldn't fly in most places).

I mention this, because those kind of animal-like views also contribute to how they see concepts like gender or sexuality. While reproduction and having offspring is an essential part of an animal's life, individuals that engage in behaviors outside of the norm aren't ostracized, discrimination simply isn't really a thing. And I think this aspect would carry over to those living in Hallownest and many other lands in their world. Relationships between different species are generally widely accepted (as for how that even works when it comes to producing young, I won't get into the biology. "It just works" as Todd Howard would say) And similarly, a same-sex couple or someone who explores their gender in ways that go against their biological sex would not be frowned upon, it would simply not be a big deal for most.

I say most, cause I do imagine there are some species/cultures where such behaviors would be questionable at best and treated with hostility at worst. Perhaps some of them put great value in relationships that result in offspring, maybe their mating rituals are so essential in their culture that couples that can't perform them the way it's intended are seen as outcasts and shunned. As an example, I actually have lore that touches on similar concepts with my Lurien interpretation - his species is extremely rare, encouraging relationships only within its kind that can produce children, and its quite unique wedding traditions put a massive emphasis on their sexual dimorphism, which unfortunately leads to discrimination against those who don't fit those norms.

But those would be a minority, and I think most of the communities living in Hallownest would have a much more accepting view on same sex couples and so on, in many ways thanks to FPK's accepting and open nature. Ever since he became the king, he encouraged peace between different communities and believed in a united society, where bugs reject their brutal beastly instincts and instead live as one big community (though unfortunately that part backfired, leading to hostility towards those deemed as "beasts", propagated among the upper class of the City). A naïve view, perhaps, but the bugs still followed the ways of their king.. While he himself struggled with his own sexuality for many years, primarily due to his lack of experience with relationships, he's always been supportive of those who openly embrace their identities.

And because their society has never dealt with substantial discrimination, there was also no need for events such as pride parades - to them, love is love no matter what, so there is no need for specific holidays. If there is a day dedicated to love, then love of any kind is celebrated.

I hope this makes sense. I think their society being so much more accepting than ours despite its animalistic ways is quite interesting. Not to mention, there's a lot of comfort to be found when exploring a world that simply welcomes queer identities as part of life. You might get stabbed and robbed by a bandit in the City if you're alone at night, but at least you can hold hands with your partner and not get called a slur. Love wins ♡