#but like do I actually like men that I conceivably interact with

[d-1hater]

I <3 having a sexuality crisis at 3am

[bride-of-shadows-if]

[It begins with your end.]

The prologue of Bride of Shadows is a ten-minute read that paints a grim picture. You have no body and no clear memories of who you are or how you came to be drifting in a void. The only thing you have to latch onto is the voice of a mysterious deity.

The goddess holds up a thread with several knots, slowly untangling them. With each knot that's undone, memories cascade into your mind. Passage by passage, you piece together the tragedy that was your life. Half-human, half-creature of the night, you were abandoned on the steps of a temple shortly after your birth, your body burnt and deformed from exposure to the light.

From there, you begin to shape your unique backstory as you recall growing up in the temple, becoming a priestess, and venturing to the arctic continent of Nazralt to proselytize to indifferent outlanders. Did you spend your youth obsessing over scripture, or secretly poring over scandalous tomes? Do you truly believe in your religion, or did you take your vows because you were too afraid to be in control of your fate? Have you ever been tempted by impure urges?

As you work your way through the prologue, your profile takes shape, crafting the base stats and personality with which you'll begin your epic romance. Maybe the most tempting route will be the bookish romantic who is quick to fall head over heels for the beguiling rogue, Serax. But it's also quite fun to be the prudish zealot who's always ready to lecture the darkly handsome Valdricht on the nature of his many sins.

But all of that comes later. As the story of your first life comes to a brutal and untimely close, the goddess offers you a choice:

Eternal oblivion, or rebirth.

She'll return your soul to the mortal realm. Your body will be healed, not just from the ravages of your death. You'll be made whole and beautiful, and you'll be granted immortality. All she asks for in exchange is that you serve her for one winter. Do as she says until spring and her gifts are yours to keep. Resist her will and your life will be forfeit.

It doesn't sound like much of a choice. But then, you're not accustomed to being in control of your own life.

Upon accepting her offer, you'll choose your name and your character portrait. As your soul rises to return to the mortal realm, the hammer drops. You're given your first orders. They begin cryptically, and then become dreadfully precise.

"When you wake, you must stay where you are until you are found. The ones who find you will want to be rid of you. Do not allow them to cast you aside. Find a way to make yourself indispensable to them. Make them value and cherish you. Or, if that proves too difficult a task, open your legs and be an eager bedmate. However you accomplish it, by winter's end you are to lay with one of them and conceive a child."

It's a surreal command. You've only ever interacted with men from behind the mesh wall of your veil. Why would a goddess want you to defile yourself, and what are her intentions for your child?

As your shock ebbs, you'll resolve yourself to carrying out the task. You've been ordered to do something that goes against your nature, but at least it should be easy enough. After all, you are pretty now. That's all it really takes to seduce a man, isn't it?

Next week, I'll be posting illustrated character sheets of our enigmatic male leads, along with some story snippets so you can get a feel for their personalities and my writing style. The demo version of Bride of Shadows will be out on January 10th. A playthrough of the demo will be around the length of a novella, give or take depending which choices you make. You can also replay it, make different choices, and then watch in awe as the story is actually different and not just the same passages repeated over again, making you wonder why there even was a choice if it didn't matter at all? Is it obvious that I've been burned by interactive romances? Anyway, the demo is just the beginning. I write like I got my keyboard at crossroad bargain. We're going on a journey.

-Mortish

[thecolorblockcurator]

A month ago I asked you to send me some journal prompts to dig deeper before I start testosterone- because I felt like there were things I was still pushing down

And here is the list I compiled!

Imagine yourself as an elder queer person - who are you? What are your values- what does your life look like, what do you look like

What beliefs do you have about love- where are they rooted, are they limiting? How have you challenged them?

Write about what you’re attracted to, traits, physical appearances, moments, experiences. (sexual or platonic)

Write about your love language- how you show love, and how you want to receive love.

How do you show vulnerability in your love life? Where do you need to push yourself to be more vulnerable? What are you afraid of sharing

A childhood moment of feeling queer/trans and feeling joy

A childhood moment of feeling queer/trans and feeling fear or confusion

Moments when you felt like you were close to recognizing/accepting your gender or sexuality but repressed it instead.

What does masculinity mean to you? How does it show up in your life. What parts of masculinity appeal to you? What doesn’t?

What does femininity mean to you? How does it show up in your life. What parts of femininity appeal to you? What doesn’t?

What are your thoughts on gender? Does your gender fit within the gender binary, or is it something else entirely.

What parts of your gender, if any, would you *like* to feel one way about, but actually feel differently about? Why do you think you would like to/should feel this way about that part of your gender

Does your gender affect or influence your sexuality? Is there anything that you feel like is a contradiction between the two- is that something you embrace or feel uncomfortable about.

How are your views about your gender influenced by others in your life? What are you holding onto because of a fear or anxiety about what others will think

Do you have unexamined negative feelings about men and masculinity/women and femininity that may be affecting your decision to transition? Have you delayed/repressed your desire to transition because of this?

Are you able to conceive of the kind of man/woman/enby you want to be? Do you know any people like this? If the answer is no, is this impacting how you feel about your transition?

Do you have fears about living as a man/woman/enby that you haven't examined? Am I afraid of being treated differently/ losing access to certain spaces? Am I afraid of how my interactions with others will change? Am I afraid of people's reactions to my transition?

What small thing can you do right now to affirm and express your gender

Do you want to take hormones? List all of the possible changes you could expect. Sort them into columns. Want, Don’t Want, and No Preference. Spend some time reflecting on each change, what is the underlying reason why you put them in their respective columns.

Do you want gender affirming surgery? Invision yourself after the procedure - what emotions does that bring up, is there anything holding you back?

If you went through puberty already - How did that affect you physically and emotionally. How did you feel at the time. What would you have liked to happen?

Create a visual gender moodboard. Collect outfits, accessories, style icons, favorite movie & tv characters. Things that make you feel euphoric.

Is there anything you would like to try out to express your gender that you’re afraid of doing? What is the motivation behind that fear

Have you worked through any internalized transphobia. Are you afraid of being less desirable after transition?

Are you afraid of being less queer or less visibly queer after transitioning?

[legobiwan]

It's 2024 and I've decided to make a Gravity Falls fic rec list. Because I do what I want, even if I'm showing up to the fandom a decade or so late. All fics are Gen unless otherwise noted, warnings can be found at the end of each description.

Birthday Dinner by Fordtato

A post-series short story featuring our two favorite old men out at sea, this work is wildly in-character in terms of their bickering and sometimes-competitive-to-the-point-of-self-sabatoge sibling relationship, but in the best and most hilarious of ways. Warnings for lighthearted discussion of cannibalism.

i know exactly where my blood is by strawberrybiscuit

There are a number of works that delve into Stan's possible suicidal ideation tendencies, both in his drifter years and post-Portal Incident. I find this to be a wholly conceivable notion, given both the absolute shit hand he was dealt in life and the hints we are given throughout the series that his self-esteem was pretty much in the gutter. Of the stories that explore this theme, I find this one to be one of the most grounded - Stan's borderline dissociation/gallows humor is very in-character, as is Ford's genuine horror when he learns the truth of the situation, which is rightfully emotional without delving into melodrama or transforming into a Saturday afternoon special. Warnings for intense talk of self-harm and suicide.

By Any Other Name by Zeragii 

I, like many of us, am fascinated by the tantalizing tidbits we've been fed as to Stan's decade or so existence as a drifter. We know he's failed at somewhat more legitimate attempts at entrepreneurship (the dodginess of the actual products notwithstanding), we know he was living out of his car for a large majority of those years, we know he's been to prison three times in various countries, and we know something happened in Colombia. All this is to say, Stan's probably made a lot of enemies, and that his map of "States I'm Banned In" is more likely a summary of places in which he has outstanding warrants and/or a price on his head.

What happens when that past catches up to you?

While this isn't an uncommon theme in Gravity Falls fics, what I love about this story is the complexity of the interactions between Stan and Ford here, given this is a post-series fic. Yes, they've mended their relationship, but old patterns die hard. Neither twin ends up as the "damsel in distress" (a worrying recurrence in many GF fics), despite the fact they are thrown into multiple dangerous situations and the OCs/Pines family extension are well-crafted and three-dimensional.

The People That We Always Hoped We Would Be by SharoScylla

A Christmas Carol, but make it Gravity Falls. The section of this story that really sold me was Stan's climatic scene in a bedbug-ridden, hovel of a motel room in New Mexico. Guest appearance made by the infamous Jimmy Snakes, who I learned recently was going to be a real character (and essentially this universe's answer to Ghost Rider) until that whole bit about Stan's past biker life was cut (regrettable). Embracing both the humor and darkness present in the original show, this story sees a Research Era!Ford come face-to-face with his own proverbial demons (real demons not included) as he is visited by a familiar cast of future past. Warnings for suicide attempt.

O Brother by Obsessive_Reader

In progress. A timestuck AU with the Mystery Twins 1.0 being catapulted into the 1980s, a young Ford landing with an increasingly desperate adult Stanley as young Stan tries to navigate the thorny, icy adult his brother Stanford has become. Probably one of the most realistic timestuck AUs out there, as fences are not mended immediately between the adult twins nor with their children counterparts. Also, Fiddleford finally has a chance to shine!

Orpheus Descending by Sir_Thopas

Unfinished. Which is a damn, damn shame, as this is probably one of my favorite Gravity Falls fics of all time. Read it anyway. Yes, you'll swear vociferously at where it leaves off. ResearchEra!Ford goes to incredible lengths to bring his brother back from the dead as Stan's demise is not exactly what it seems. What exactly happens with Stan is incredibly realistic, given his circumstances, and the local color written in by this Georgian native just adds to the Gothic feel of the whole tale. To what lengths would you go to bring your family back? At what point do you cross the point of no return in order to survive? Warnings for graphic description of a decayed corpse and prostitution scene.

Journal #4 by Percival_T_Honeybee

To be honest, this story stops being a Gravity Falls fic a couple of chapters in, instead featuring characters we know and love in increasingly out-of-universe (in all ways imaginable) situations. This doesn't matter, though, as the world- and character-building of this swashbuckling, sci-fi epic are superb and will have you on the edge of your seat until the final chapter. When both Stan and Ford go through the portal, their futures become something they never could have imagined.

Turning by BrandyFromTheBottle

I've mulled over this conceit on more than occasion and truly think it's something that begs further exploration. What if Stanley Pines pulled a Saul Goodman and, after the world was saved, turned himself in, willingly going to trial, and eventually, prison as self-inflicted recompense for his past deeds?

And now for something different...

Entanglement by Haley3

Ford/Bill (to be clear, Triangle Bill. Accept no substitutions). I realize Billford is not everyone's cup of tea and I rarely, rarely post shipping stuff, but in full transparency, I find their relationship fascinating and the idea of their having interactions that may have seeped over the boundary of purely (well, not pure. Ford built a damned shrine and became a one-man cult while Bill was manipulating him the entire time) platonic is not out of the question. In other words, I'm not wholly immune to Billford, but I am rather picky about how they are portrayed.

This fic checks all my boxes. Bill remains a triangle throughout. Bill is unredeemable. Ford and Bill have a relationship whose complexity would rival the equations of the dimensional physics they debate. And, of course, Ford is lying to himself and those around him, deeply, deeply in denial as to the nature and profundity of his emotions towards his tormentor. Warnings for explicit sexual scenes, manipulation, emotional abuse. I mean, it's Bill, we all know what that means.

[victimsofyaoipoll]

Round 2

Propaganda Under Cut

Allura

Lots of people (myself included tbh) ship klance (Keith and Lance). In s8 the creators made Allura/Lance canon (but then they killed her off and left the ending ambiguous it was weird). Anyway the fandom treats her like she's the most terrible bitchy woman ever but all she wants to do is end the war and avenge her destroyed home planet. Yeah she wasn't always the nicest or always the best, but you could argue some other characters in the show aren't either and they aren't treated near as bad as allura. people really just hate her bc Lance liked her. I don't think allura/lance are good together, but I still liked her as a character and thought she was interesting and had a lot of growth during the show. she DEF is not evil like some people portray her as in fic or talk about her in captions on posts. I've seen people say that they HATE her and that she's the worst and I'm like ??? let her live (well sort of ig she is dead now). lots of fic writers use her as the villain which is so interesting to me bc the show literally has villains like use them. anyway allura so perfectly fits the bracket description she deserves better.

I hate to acknowledge my time in this fandom but I hate the way the fandom treated her more. Allura was treated like shit no matter what side of the Great Ship War you were on because she was always a threat to the biggest ships (klance and sheith). At best she got put into Background Lesbian or Consolation Prize Shallura (Space Mom-zoned) (She was not a motherly figure btw. She was just Black). At worst she was violently demonized for being ~racist~ (kinda not cool with the alien race that blew up her planet for a few episodes), complete with misogynistic language hurled at her (she got called a bitch sooo much). Allura was a good and cool character and the show did her dirty but the fandom was somehow worse.

i apologise for speaking the dark magicks, but amidst the voltron fandoms many, many transgressions, there were a particular subset of people who just hated this girl. the infamous klance wars of the 2010s kept this perfectly fine childrens cartoon character in the sights of shippers everywhere, and she (and her voice actress im sure) were subjected to years of petty squabble blown up to global perportions. ive seen hate, ive seen rants, ive seen fanfics that made her homophobic. girls been through the ringer, and even though voltron was never the show its fandom wanted it to be, i believe allura deserved better

Mary Morstan

a controversial one i know, but it’s tumblr. how could i not? anyway shoutout to the writers for CANONICALLY killing her off for the non-canon ship. she was so cool honestly poor girl

Oh god where do I start? Constantly being turned abusive? Killed off (in canon!)? Constantly being removed from fic? I cannot stand the way she's treated, but it's 100% impossible to find Johnlock fic without the "umsympathetic Mary Morstan" angle. It's infuriating!

The fandom insulted Mary at every conceivable turn, refused to acknowledge her narrative importance or impact on the other characters, called for her death repeatedly, and even SENT DEATH THREATS TO HER ACTRESS because she had the AUDACITY to be a morally gray female character who was married to John (they did not care about the moral grayness of the male characters, but she was irredeemable, apparently-presumably because she was a "threat" to the main fandom ship). And though she was definitely sacrificed on a SPECIFIC mlm ship altar, she was still tangentially victimized by OTHER mlm ships too! For example, this fandom was willing to make up a character WHO LITERALLY DID NOT ACTUALLY EXIST to ship with different male character (who was morally...way worse than she ever was), as well as create swathes of content about two men who had maybe one canon interaction in the whole show, before even thinking about the possibility of making content for this character or even just talking about her in a way that wasn't overtly misogynistic and degrading. When Mary died in-story (in what, in my opinion, was an unnecessary, bullshit way), her death was, to this fanbase, not actually about her and was just seen as "proof" that the two male leads would now get together (they didn't). And this STILL continues to this day. People reduce her to "selfish bitch," completely ignoring any of her complexity by claiming that she's incapable of caring about anyone (despite helping to save lives on more than one occasion, as well as dying in an act of sacrifice) and insisting that any of her positive qualities MUST be completely fabricated. I've seen a lot of female characters get mistreated by fandom for a mlm ship's sake, but I don't think I've EVER encountered an example as bad as this one.

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

trips and falls flat on my face BABY HOWL SIBLINGS MY BELOVEDDDDSFDD TEEHEHE))

''Hi guys! Do you think I can come with you? I heard from your big bro that you two are very skilled in snow sports. Where I come from there's no snow at all so I'm very unfamiliar with these kinds of winter activities. I would love to see and participate a bit in them if you don't mind!'' (but bear with me, I'll be a disaster.)

(Turns to the little sister.) ''As much as you're adorable now, I'm sure you will grow up to be a beautiful, powerful wolf beastwoman. Maybe even stronger and taller than your big bro, who knows? Teehe.''

NRC Family Day was originally conceived as a blog event to celebrate Mother/Father's Day, which usually takes place in late spring to early summer! But just for this interaction, let's pretend Family Day's in winter ;p

I made Jack's brother kind of a jerk because Jack describes him as someone who always mouths off to him 😅 whereas I wrote his sister as more of a sympathetic girl that's frustrated with her brothers leaving her out because of her youth. Again, tried to work with what little canon we have to write them!

Family means Nobody is Left Behind or Forgotten.

WHUMP!!

In your mad dash to nonchalantly approach the two young Howl siblings, you slipped on the ice that coated the street and fell forward, faceplanting in snow. Concern shouts and frantic footsteps followed, the children approaching.

"Are you okay?" Jack’s sister asked. Her voice was close—she was likely crouched down to check on you.

“Of course they aren’t,” his brother grumbled. He was more distant—standing. “Humans don’t have fur like we do. They’re probably freezing their butt off.”

“No, I’m better than okay! I’m great,” you insisted, lifting your snow-encrusted face from the ground. In spite of the unceremonious fall, your eyes were sparkling, your entire face warm with enthusiasm. "Actually, you think I can come with you guys? I heard from your big bro that you two are very skilled in snow sports. Where I come from there's no snow at all so I'm very unfamiliar with these kinds of winter activities. I would love to see and participate a bit in them if you don't mind--but bear with me, I'll be a disaster."

The Howls exchanged confused looks with one another.

"There's really such a thing as places that never have snow...?" the sister wondered, her nose crinkling. You saw bits of Jack in that expression--the fluff to her brows when they pushed together, resulting in appearing unintentionally fierce. "You're built different."

"Well, they handled a face full of snow just fine, so what the heck--let's let'm join us," the brother sighed. "We could do with the extra manpower."

"Yay!" You cheered, springing to your feet. "What's the game, captain?"

"Snowball fight. You ever heard of it?" Jack’s brother pointed to the imprint you had left on the ground. "Make balls with snow, then chuck it at your enemies. It's as simple as that."

"Enemies? You make it sound like a blood sport," you joked.

"It's serious business!! Only the manliest of men rise victorious,” the wolf boy insisted. “Today’s the day we’re finally gonna beat Jack aniki!!”

"He's being competitive again," Jack's sister said with a roll of her eyes. "He always is!"

"Maybe I wouldn't have to be if you did your part," he grumbled back, bending to pack together some snow.

Her fur bristled with annoyance. She stomped her foot and pouted, crossing her arms. "I've been helping!! But if you run off, how am I supposed to know where you went? You don't even wait for me."

Your ears piqued. “Hey now, it's not cool for your brother to do that to you.”

You knelt to meet the girl at her level, resting a hand upon her head. Her hair was softer than freshly fallen snow, and stuck up from between your fingers. Through damp eyes, she stared up at you curiously.

''As much as you're adorable now, I'm sure you will grow up to be a beautiful, powerful wolf beastwoman! Maybe even stronger and taller than your big bro, who knows?” You grinned impishly, tone warm and reassuring. "Then you can show both of your brothers what for!"

“E-Eh, you think so?” The girl’s face heated, her wolf ears flattening shyly.

“Yeah, for real!” You nudged her on the arm, then offered your hand. “Come on, let’s show your big bros what you’re made of.”

Jack’s sister perked a bit at your offer, slipping her hand into your own. Her tail, too, stood up, wagging happily in spite of her stoicism.

“Th-Thanks,” she started to mutter—then stopped, her muscles stiffening. Her brother, too, had gone quiet and still, a half-formed snowball in his palms.

Every strand of fur and hair on them stood on end, as if frozen in place by the frigid weather. Their ears twitched, sensing something shuffling closer and closer.

Suddenly, the Howl siblings violently tore away. Jack’s sister broke her hold on you as she barreled into a nearby bush, the brother abandoning his snowballs join her.

“G-Guys?! Where are you go…”

SPLAT!!

Something cold and wet collided with your face. Ice. White. They exploded across your vision, caking your lashes in a healthy layer of snow.

The force of the hit sent you stumbling back, your bottom meeting the frosted road. Pieces of the blue-grey sky above peered through the snow nestled upon your skin.

Your arms blindly extended before you, wildly grasping for the world, for something tangible. You found solace in the snow pooling around you, letting your fingers sink deeply into it.

Footsteps came, heavy like a blizzard but as brisk as a winter chill. Definitely not the same footsteps of the far smaller Howl siblings.

There was a huff, and a puff, and a voice low and gruff hit you. Not breathy from exhaustion, but with concern. You automatically recognized who it was.

"Oi, you good? Didn't mean for that snowball to hit you like that, sorry," Jack apologized--a little blunt, perhaps, but entirely earnest. "I was aiming for my kid sister, and... uh, looks like you got caught in the crossfire."

You spat out a chunk of ice in response.

Through a crack in your mask of snow, you could make out Jack flinching, guilt in his golden eyes. He was usually so tough and standoffish--now he resembled little more than a puppy whimpering after being chided for having an accident on the rug. A rare moment of vulnerability for him.

"Do you need to see Professor Crewel?" Jack asked, kneeling before you. With one hand, he wiped snow off of you, and, little by little, your vision was restored.

“Oh, thanks.” You smiled sweetly at him. “I’ve got a good look at you now.”

"Wha..."

SPLAT, SPLAT!

Fisting as much snow as you could in both hands, you threw your clumsily crafted snowballs at Jack. He fell back in an effort to avoid them—but he was too close, and caught off guard. His face caught the projectiles, turning the same fuzzy, silvery white as his hair.

Blink, blink.

His golden gaze shone through the snow, staring into the depths of your soul. Wide, and vaguely amused.

"Did you just...?!"

SPLAT, SPLAT, SPLAT, SPLAT!!

Jack yelped and buckled forward, pelted by a barrage of snowballs from behind. In the confusion, you sprung up, scrambling off the main street and ducking behind a tree trunk. Protected from the incoming fire, you dared to peer back at the chaotic scene.

Jack had gone from wolf to abominable snowman, covered head-to-toe in snow like a new coat of fur. He directed a glare and a growl over his shoulder. The Howl siblings had emerged from their hiding place, excitedly squealing as they high-fived each other.

"Hah! Did you see that? We totally got you!" his brother jeered smugly. "Good going, decoy!"

"Grrrr..."

Jack expertly shook off the cold like a dog drying itself of rainwater. He was left with clumps of wet hair and fur sticking up and out. His grumpy frown was indignant, like that of a pet forcibly bathed--and one that had struggled every step of the way.

You giggled at the thought. When Jack whipped his head in your direction, you were quick to conceal your mouth behind a hand, hoping he hadn't seen.

"That's how it's gonna be, huh... Alright,. I'll take you all on, 3 on 1!" Jack declared with a rebellious grin. "It's time to get serious."

Crouching, he scooped up massive mounds of snow in both arms, roughly shaping them into one massive sphere. Jack easily lifted the giant snowball over his head, casting a foreboding shadow over him--and you and the Howl siblings alike.

"H-Hold on a second," you clumsily stammered, "isn't that going kinda overboard...?!"

"Eeek, run awayyy!" Jack sister squeaked, hurriedly tugging on your arm. (His brother was already making a break for it.)

A visibly sinister glint dancing now danced in Jack's eyes. Something there that wasn't there before. His laughter rumbled softly, warning of a coming storm.

"Ready or not, here comes the big, bad wolf!"

[starsarebleeding]

HELLO I want to say something about age gap relationships, because the amount of sanctimonious vitriol they get (often irrespective of how old the younger party is) is, I think, a concerning symptom of something else that's JUST as sinister as purity culture.

Now look: there is & always will be conflict between generations. It's the way of growth and evolution, fine. What's different in current society is that how we conceive of generations is based on marketing tactics.

That is: the grouping of ages helps to create a clearer target audience that corporations can sell to. The more you stay in your generational box, the easier you are to pigeonhole in a boardroom, and the more your consumerism perpetuates the actual hell of capitalism we're in.

This would just be another way to take advantage of you EXCEPT: remember a few years ago when Gen Z waged absolute war on Millennials for virtually no reason? Like yeah fine Millennials are earnest, and goofy and less ironic than Gen Z in their humour, but at the core, we're actually quite similar (or were, at the time, before the alt-right radicalization of Gen Z men -- which is part of my point) in our beliefs and core values of progressiveness. We're also the generations most harmed by capitalism, and most at risk as a result of all the bad decisions made by those that come before us.

Man -- sure would suck if Millennials and Gen Z, both extremely online and therefore globally connected, teamed up to start a real revolution, wouldn't it?

Man, what's this new TikTok thing taking off?

I'm not saying the Millennial-Gen Z war was a conspiracy (okay secretly I am lol) -- what I AM saying is that: the further away we get from interacting with other generations for stupid dumbass reasons like style choices and bad memes, two things happen:

1) we fit more and more neatly into the boxes the ruling class wants us to (this is where the altrightification of Gen Z men fits in: the question to always ask yourself is -- who makes money off of your online presence & content consumption, and what are their motives?)

and

2) we isolate ourselves from learning about the (much deeper) similarities we have with previous generations, and we lose the opportunity to learn from them

So.

When I hear someone saying that "an age gap of 10 years is creepy no matter what" or whatever -- what does that actually mean? Take that to the logical conclusion. Does that mean the younger person cannot be expected to be an adult and hold their own boundaries, regardless of their age? Friendships can be intense and manipulative too, sometimes -- so does that mean friendships that cross generations are also creepy? Wait, does that mean any interaction across generations is suspect and weird?

No, it doesn't, like I'm not dumb I get that the antis are just stressing about grooming or whatever and don't understand the definition. But, for any antis that come across this: no one is saying pedophilia in real life is acceptable. But if you keep raising the age of actual adulthood, not only do you infantilize actual adults -- you are effectively arguing that actual adults should not learn from, connect with, or mobilize with previous generations. You would prefer to force adults into the boxes that corporations have put them in. And that lack of intergenerational learning and exploration is nothing but bad for us.

Only power can be found in generations working together against the ruling class my bros, please don't ruin this for us by creating a culture where younger people feel so weird about connecting with older people that they just don't do it.

[tobiasdrake]

I just got done reading a series of posts from a few other users about how Tears of the Kingdom is actually full of imperialist propaganda, and I am currently having an existential breakdown.

Do you think there is any merit to that assertion? And even if there isn't, is it not still kinda racist based on the ethnic coding given to Hyrule and the Gerudo?

The users I saw talking about this were gay-jesus-probably and rawliverandgoronspice, so feel free to take a look if you don't know what I'm talking about.

The Gerudo have been a sore spot for Legend of Zelda for a long time, ever since their introduction in Ocarina of Time. Like. They were originally conceived as a race of thieves who kidnap light-skinned Hylian men to use as breeding stock. That's a pretty gross thing to write about your only dark-skinned characters.

The Gerudo of BOTW/TOTK are certainly a much more fair depiction than the Gerudo of OOT. They've come a ways.

But improved doesn't mean the same thing as good. They're still a mono-gendered race of exotic women whose interaction with other races is strictly sexual. They're no longer kidnapping white men to use as breeding stock; Now their job is look sexy and attract white men who will breed with them of their own accord!

They've gone from "Insert Minority Race is all thieves" to "Exotic Savages".

And just about every Gerudo you meet is more than happy to remind you of this. It's not just a minor detail in the background; It's practically all they ever talk about. Their whole culture seems to revolve around their relationship with "voe".

It's also not great that, at the end of the day, no matter how much the Gerudo might be improved as a concept, their main representation will always be main franchise villain Ganondorf. A wicked black man trying to steal the kingdom of Hyrule from the light-skinned, blonde-haired, blue-eyed Zelda and Link is baked into the franchise.

So. Like. What we have now is less offensive. But there's still a ways to go.

Personally, I think they could alleviate a lot of problems by letting go of Link's iconic design. Link isn't really supposed to be a significant entity within the world of LOZ. He's just the player avatar. It's only in recent years, as people have started to get upset about right-handed Link and as people have started asking for a female Link, that Nintendo's gone hard on "No, Link's identity is super important and he HAS to be this one specific character design because his race and gender and handedness are all CRITICAL PLOT DETAILS FOR HIS COMPLEX ROLE IN THE STORY!"

But he doesn't have a complex role in the story. Even to this day, it doesn't really matter who he is, only that he is. So I think Nintendo could alleviate a lot of growing frustrations with this character and his franchise by introducing a character creator.

Let people pick which hand he uses. Let them pick his skin tone, his hair color, etc. Let them decide if he's even a "him"; There is absolutely no reason Link can't be a woman. Hell, go crazy. Why can't there be a Gerudo Link? Or a Goron Link? Or a Zora Link? Why should Courage be a virtue exclusive to Hylians?

I think giving up on the idea that Link needs to have an iconic design and just letting each player decide what their link to the game should be would be a huge step forward. It wouldn't solve everything. But it would offset a lot of the frustration.

[horrorlesbians]

your take on rust developing a bond with amma is interesting. I thought with his background he'd be especially repulsed by a killer of little girls, so what made you conceive of this relationship?

I wouldn’t say they develop a bond, if rust could get away with never interacting with amma he would do so. I found it realistic for amma’s character to have a fixation on him- she flirts with older men canonically, and I think she’d be both jealous of him for his proximity to camille and she would also want to try to steal him from camille due to her entitlement. I’m trying to decide if rust is going to figure out it’s amma or if it will play out like the show/book, but I think her being a killer would actually interest him bc her motive is fascinating (imo).

[wawamouse]

Hello, I would love to hear anything on "In the Course of Destiny" or "In The Blink of an Eye" but if you don't want to give commentary on those: ⭐star⭐ Any commentary on any of your fics would be pretty cool! If you don't want to do this anymore please ignore. Thank you

Heeeeheeee "In the Course of Destiny" (-_- God, why'd I give it such a long title)! I'm actually working on this wip again after getting a bunch of other fics out of the way, so yay! Hopefully there'll be a chapter update before a year has passed lmao. So close to finishing, yet so far! I've mentioned before I'm pretty sure, but I started this fic completely intending to just write a quick crack fic to palate cleanse coming off writing the "Something Deranged" series. UMMMMM… Yeah, first of all, aside from Miguel crawling through a dryer to escape into another world, it's not really crack at all LOL. (But I guess the dryer portal is very strange if you stop to think about it).

Also, as I've mentioned (whined) before in a wip wednesday post as well as in the author's notes, when I initially conceived of the idea of Miguel hopping to a parallel universe, I was just going to have him hop over, hang out with Carmy for a bit—literally just follow him around after he gets off work—have a yaoi moment, and hop back (+some mild spoilers for ch.6). This seemed a bit too random to me, and because I love plot, I decided to add a robbery element to it last minute. Here is literally the moment I was deciding how to end ch.1, from a DM to a friend who hasn't seen the show lol:

I actually like that I went with the adventure plot, although it forced me to nix some stuff that I'd originally planned to write. In an earlier version, Alonzo works at the pawn shop with Carmy. Their relationship is interesting to me in this series; I think Chico and Torquemada don't think very much of each other in Miguel's original universe and hardly interact, but on the Other Side, Carmy and Alonzo are friends of sorts. I jokingly (to myself up to this point I am sharing it with you all) refer to the Other Side as the Gayer Side also bc one of the things I headcanon (without really writing it that way) is that Carmy—compared to Chico—is more attracted to men (still bi tho). When Miguel shows up out of nowhere, Carmy really just humors him because he's hot.

“This is going to sound crazy,” he says, “But I know you, Chico.” There’s a beat, and then Chico licks his lips, briefly glancing past Miguel like he’s checking for anyone else before he crosses his arms and shifts his weight back on one foot—This shit oughta be good. “Oh, you do?” he says, playful. “‘Cause as far as I’m concerned, you were hiding in the merchandise for the last two hours, and I’ve never seen you in my life. But you know me, huh, chico?”

^ Carmy at this point thought he was being hit on by a hot weirdo.

Also (I don't mention it outright but) the Consuela in this fic is a lesbian, hence Carmy being like "??? She's my what??"

Other tidbits... I talk about it here but I had to physically storyboard the scene where Miguel meets Alonzo because I am so bad at imagining spaces and I was really struggling with keeping that moment in his POV, description wise.

Mentioned this elsewhere as well, but originally, I was going to have Carmy either just go by Carmen on the Other Side or go by Melo (from Carmelo). But that felt somewhat too removed, plus then there'd be two M names to deal with.

Oh, one of the very specific-to-this-fic writing choices I made was to include Miguel's thoughts in parentheticals throughout his chapters. I did this to represent moments he's more lost in his own anguish—maybe you noticed, maybe you didn't, but there's a lot less of those parenthetical interruptions near the end of his day on the Other Side, and at the beginning of chapter 4, when he's completely at ease. To that end, ch.5, which will be from Carmy's POV, will have no parentheticals. Another thing that I wanted to do throughout Miguel's POV was still flash back to the primary universe, having the stuff that happened there still affect him and torment him lol. I actually really enjoyed writing the angst of all the flashback scenes (writing the Other Side is actually really hard lol).

I think this fic's Miguel is the most tortured post-canon version I've ever written? Mostly because he's so lonely at that point. He's misses Chico a lot and feels more vulnerable to Torquemada while also being incredibly disgusted with himself for exchanging sexual favors for D-tabs (in other fics, I kind of hand wave it and think Torquemada doesn't actually want to get involved / his whole thing is keeping a distance, but in this fic, that's not the case). This fic is also, I think, the most negatively I've written Torquemada? At least from Miguel's POV. He straight up hates him and is creeped out by him, which creates to him the greater contrast of Alonzo, on the Other Side, who is just kind of offbeat but overall friendlier and doesn't cross boundaries.

It's basically thinking about Chico that pulls Miguel into the Other Side, and thinking about Chico that takes him back (not to be gross LOL but I made sure to make the rules of that magic such that the portal opens and takes Miguel if he is in contact with Chico fluids while thinking about escape) (yup, that's the logic) (the blood stain in the concrete counts). He experiences roughly 12 hours on the Other side while several days have passed in the main universe.

Hm, I think Destiny's gotten so big at this point that I don't really know where else to commentate. I'll probably post some more deleted scenes or other tidbits in the future when I've finished it!

But that's a bit of the inside scoop for now!

[escherstrange-ffxiv]

#24: Freetalk [Nonfiction]

I'm always fascinated by how others perceive Isillud and how he's developed.

(Proto-Izzy trawling Gaia DC photo studios, circa 2020. Notice the different face structure.)

Izzy was first conceived as a way to practice ERP AND poke into nightclubs (remember that Escher can't take alcohol and so has no reason to be in one), which shaped his personality. He needed to be someone who approached others. Flirty, forward, sexual. Knows exactly what he wants.

In other words, the complete opposite of me.

Making him on EU also meant I wasn't awake often enough to join nightclubs FOR the ERP. I'm a genius, yes. These combined factors just meant 95% that made Isillud *Izzy* happened in writing or off-screen, which just was the idea of him sleeping with lots and lots and lots of men.

It's okay to say it: He's a slut.

What happens after is the interesting part.

The description turned people off from his character. Ew, slut. Ew, he's only about the sex. No substance. When I finally brought him out for RP, other characters pegged him as a prostitute/someone with STDs just because he was looking for hookups.

I'm sure that comes from our personal biases: That someone sex-positive is a slut who doesn't care about protection, or that they must be doing it for the money. They're unclean from sleeping around, catching STDs left and right. It's an occasional IC joke to those who have interacted with Izzy, though limited to those who, again, knew him as a slut first.

(Proto-Izzy with new hair and specs, the main reason I didn't put glasses on him for the longest time)

Izzy wasn't a major RP chara until he met Seloix & Etienne and had an actual character arc DUMPED onto him. Suddenly I had to think of things I hadn't considered: Was Izzy using sex as a coping mechanism? (Partly) Can his arbitrary powers I pulled from my obsession with Vagrant Story be a bigger part of his character? (Very yes) Is he commitment-phobic?? (Yes LOL)

From there it snowballed into him getting blackmailed by a Garlean and to the crowning achievement of my RP career: Using sex to counter-blackmail a fae prince working for said Garlean into revealing his name, binding him to Izzy's command forever.

I did it, I finally used Izzy's defining trait to get the upper hand in a situation and it felt good. Suddenly Izzy wasn't just a slut, he was smart and resourceful under that horny twink veneer. He can fight, but he's more than an archer who sits in trees for days. He negotiates and talks his way out of things. He doesn't lie but withholds. His mouth is his strongest weapon (hurhur) yet the power of his words accidentally got a man pecked to death by crows and blew up a house (ask for details).

One day I bumped into the people who knew his initial character and they just made the same old jokes about his promiscuity. Slut. Diseased. They didn't bother asking what he'd been up to nor want to know. Disappointed, but I'd given up at that point. I knew Isillud was more than that; their loss.

That's on us as people: We fall back on stereotypes without bothering to learn about someone the minute sex is mentioned. A few RPers were genuinely surprised that I used ERP as a honey-trap plot device (really? Y'all that boring?). The people who interact with him enjoy him as a character even when he's trying to come on to them. I acknowledge it takes a lot for some to get past the "I'm interacting with an ERP puppet" because when *I* talk about him his sexual appetite is what comes out first, but seeing others willing to look past the term and liking him is...nice. Heartwarming, even.

I hope cross-region travel comes true because there are places on NA I want to take Izzy to, like a ✨Regency-era Ishgardian gay men's club✨. A Bee Club. A Brume dive bar. Just...everywhere. The potential for Izzy's interaction is wide, and I'm excited where he'll end up.

Keep shining brightly my beautiful slut; the world will be your oyster yet.

[lifeforms]

something really special about lana, to me, is that she's Unspeakably Entrenched In the whole ... comic worldview of people having destinies. she can't get away from it, first because of what happened to her and then later because of her enmeshment with clark and lex. like, even before anything went south there, they were both obsessed (very much in their own ways, of course) with knowing they'd be important. and the thing is both of them already knew that they would be. it was never a real question, in that sense: lex's wealth and clark's abilities literally guaranteed it. the only unknown was, obviously, what they'd do with the power they had.

and she just... didn't have any of that. she's been WORRIED about it for way longer than either of them --- simultaneously trying to prove that she's more than That Little Girl and that she's worth the space she takes up (while not entirely believing that herself, survivor's guilt being such an eternal theme here) --- but lana's never had anything even resembling a guarantee that she'd be anything special™. she works her ass off in pretty much every conceivable sense. constantly. her whole life. and the thing is, she's not even doing any of it with a concrete end goal. she doesn't care about fame or money or being the best at anything. she just wants to be a part of something! she wants to know she did what she could, where she could. she wants to feel like she belongs somewhere. she wants to give back to the town that raised her. and, you know, as Resident Major Depression, she wants --- more than anything in the world --- to know, really know in her heart, that it's worth the effort she puts in. that she's gonna be okay and that maybe she won't even hate it.

so, anyway, what happens, after 7+ years of constant torment / existential angst / consistent character development in All The Areas, is this: some guys from the future show up to stop some drama from going down. naturally, they're like, "oh my god, it's superman! it's really him!" and clark gets a bit caught up in the implications of everything (i mean, of course he does, he's like 22 years old). and they're talking to lana, you know, hinting around about how She has a Destiny, too. even going out of their way to be like, "your importance has nothing to do with these men, btw, we all just think you're REALLY cool".

and she just... walks away. she doesn't let them tell her anything. she basically decides it's not important, when actually given the choice, if it would change the way she lives her life. if it would cause her to play to some perceived notion of how she's 'meant' to be. and i think a lot of that is, yeah, she's seen firsthand and longterm what that kind of pressure does to a person --- any person! --- but i also think a lot of it is just that she's... not quite Gotten Excited About Living, but that she's started to see the potential in it. she's getting to know herself removed from her relationships (romantic or not) for the literal first time and she's kind of like, "hey, this girl makes some good points". it's a big deal for her. it's a huge deal for her. it's actually the best ending i could have asked for for her. and there's a lot of narrative pollution from the obligatory Tragic Cl*na Ending, but --- other than that mess of priorities --- i actually really do think the writers felt that, too. like, i think they're genuinely proud of her and generally in tune with her and want to see her thrive. the s11 comics did VERY MUCH have her go off to murder child abusers / be a literal human shield for endangered kids and then end on this interaction (with lois) (i do not think that was accidental lmao).

idk i just think she's neat. i like her. in a way, she really is The Hometown Hero of [my necks of] dc comi/cs. i think she should be allowed to unapologetically do crimes onscreen, too but. i guess we can't have it all 🥺

[grim-echoes]

Hi, apologies in advance if my memory is failing me, but was it you who shared insightful opinions critical of Lisa? If so, would it be alright if you'd share them again? I'd like to hear them if only to feel less ridiculous about my disillusionment toward the new game. No pressure ofc -- I know how fandoms can get on here and I'd rather you don't get hassled! 🙏

you're likely thinking of my partner who made these two posts a while back and presented any points i could make more cleanly than i can. however i also despise lisa for these same reasons and have my own points i'd like to make, especially since the remaster is undoubtedly stirring up discussion of the games again;

regarding the point of the gender essentialism that is an undercurrent of the game's narrative, i've genuinely had to argue for the legitimacy of the claim that it's also deeply transphobic--it's a point i don't make lightly, and the amount of shit i've gotten for it is actually concerning and illuminates the complete lack of thoughtful, critical engagement lisa fans have with the games' narrative framework. "what if one day there were no women" is already a "what if the world was made of pudding" question to ask, but as my partner pointed out in their posts: what lisa determines makes you a woman is evidently the ability to birth a child, which further raises issues with the moral quandary being presented to the player: 1a. if the social problem that the characters in this world face is the absence of women, and the absence of (presumably entirely cis) women means not only no new children being birthed but a loss of a sexual outlet for (presumably cis) men, then this heavily implies that the ability to conceive a child is what determines a person as a woman in the world of lisa. this is a notable point to make because of how "sacred" women are to the game's narrative--not because the only remaining women in the game's world (only one of whom is actually living) are considered important, human, and sympathetic, but because their identities as (cis) women are source to the games' central conflicts and traumas inflicted on the various male characters you play as and interact with, with lisa herself a victim of intense, horrific sexual abuse that is written as the entire catalyst for any of the games unfolding the way they do (hence why the games are named for her--she is not a person, she is a concept of a woman in a world where women are both vilified for causing problems in the lives of men, and deified for their sexual usefulness to them). 1b. if the ability to conceive a child is not what determines a woman in this world, then this has strange implications for both cis women who are infertile, and trans people across the entire spectrum and is where my point of transphobia comes from: there is no hyper-specific identifier of what makes a woman aside from who the developer austin jorgensen believes to be a woman; when you write what is essentially an anti-woman beam into your social apocalypse narrative, you shoulder the burden of explaining to your audience precisely who you believe those people to be, and when your answer to this cataclysmic event is accompanied with "all men become sexually ravenous, animalistic deviants upon the imbibement of a drug that strips them of all their inhibitions because this is an immutable quality of manhood", the only possible conclusion that can be drawn is that you only consider cis women to be women (and only cis men to be men), which means that you believe there must be a crucial biological element to determining not just womanhood, but also manhood, and therefor it must be a conservative idea like chromosomes or the ability to conceive. based on this tweet by austin from june 5th 2016 (i'm aware of the age--we'll get to that in a bit), i'm inclined to believe it was in fact a completely nebulous biological element that triggered this international de-womaning. there are no trans people at all across any of the lisa games--queen roger MAY be interpreted as a trans woman if you squint very hard and align yourself with the rotational axis of jupiter during a harvest moon, but taking both these games and the above tweet into context, he is a physically large, hairy mlm who crossdresses in a way that comes off as blatantly transmisogynistic. he is also a joy addict and was a murderer even before the apocalypse, something that is typically characteristic only of the men in this series. whether you interpret him as anything more than a drag queen is ultimately your choice, but it's not a coincidence to me personally that he is perhaps the closest austin ever gets to answering the question of what happened to trans people after this gendered apocalypse scenario.

a recurring point of praise i've come across for lisa that continues to be parroted among the (mostly cis male) fanbase is that it's a grim, soul-tearing story about the thanklessness of trying to be a good person. while i do believe this sentiment comes the closest to what the game was trying to say with its themes, i fundamentally disagree that this is what was accomplished in the end, nor do i believe it was as poignant and thoughtful as many claim. lisa has never come off as anything more to me than a product of its time where indie video games were a novelty in a much edgier social climate where people wanted games that were demanding, tedious, and player-unfriendly. lisa's entire draw back in the day was that it was brutally difficult, and the story utterly despised both you and the characters that inhabited its world, and this is the exact reason that i've never liked it ever since it first dropped and started gaining traction within the wider gaming community because it is completely inept at actually using difficult gameplay elements to tell a compelling, meaningful story that doesn't hinge on mishandling its treatment of men, women, and topics like sexual abuse. for all of the ways the game finds to be unnecessarily cruel and unsympathetic to its characters completely removed from any narrative purpose, it's utterly bizarre to me that people attempt to pat it on the back for telling a beautiful story about goodness in a cold, uncaring world while also repeatedly describing brad as intrinsically selfish for his protectiveness over buddy; it loops back around to women being either antagonized or deified in these games based on their ability to procreate, i.e their usefulness to men (nevermind the fact that the "repopulate the entire human race using one woman" thing is completely fucking absurd). lisa is completely incapable of telling a heartfelt, philosophical story about a life in this hypothetical situation because it's completely disinterested in treating the people within it with even a sliver of humanity, and i haven't yet walked away from a discussion with a single one of its fans that hasn't essentially been writing fanfiction in their head the entire time of what they perceive this game to be (and who also hasn't been convinced of the rampant misogyny and victim-blaming the writing desperately wants you to feel justified in participating in, which is genuinely horrifying).

i would also like to note after this that austin has since stated that he no longer agrees with his previous stance on transgender identities and appears to have become quite progressive (i would post proof of this in the tweet that i saw, but googling isn't helping me and i can't view his twitter main page without creating an account and logging in, thanks elon), but it illuminates an important thing of note regarding the original lisa games and the new definitive edition--the rampant misogyny and transphobia are baked into lisa's identity. the narrative and the characters and their motivations and their traumas cannot exist without it, and to rewrite lisa without these elements would be to erase lisa entirely and everything the series was built from. whether austin truly leans left in his political and social stances now remains to be actionably evident, but it does not change the fact that these unempathetic and conservative ideas were the foundation for the original games, and continue to be present in the remaster. the best thing austin could do in a situation like this is to openly condemn and criticize these ideas that once represented him and how they manifested in lisa; a lot of older fans are going to have new ways to engage with the series, but a lot of newer fans are likely going to be introduced to lisa and it will ask them to earnestly meet it halfway on the horribly toxic, hateful ideas it presents with no nuance whatsoever. frankly, with all of my grievances laid bare, i'm shocked that more people don't take severe issue with the game and what it says with its mishandling of all of these topics.

[wellnoe]

Maybe this isn't necessarily how you conceive of Jean (or Emma), but who do you think would make a good rival for Jean besides Emma? Like who do you think could most confidently challenge like jean's ethos on a team. I think her and magneto being at odds on a team would be so fun, but like because jean has such a power gap over people and experience gap this scenario doesn't arise, especially since jean is not prone to conflict and accepts ideas from new members like synch and stuff. Sorry if this doesn't make sense but I think characters being at odds can be very fun. Either way I really enjoy reading your meta about jean a lot it's really made me appreciate her in a way I didn't before

i also think characters being at odds can be really fun! i think that jean and emma can be really good rivals but often aren't, because their conflict and rivalry tends to occupy this fairly shallow dimension without getting at any of the deeper ways in which these characters see the world and each other and disagree.

i think one of the reasons its hard to find a rival for jean is that i think jean really values team cohesion? she tries to navigate disagreements and tense social situations on the team so that everyone works together.

that said i do think your idea of her and magneto being at odds would be really fun! jean missed pretty much all of magneto's positive interaction w the x-men. she was dead (or in x-factor) when he taught the new mutants, and she was dead when he joined the x-men on utopia. i could see his presence being weird and disconcerting to her, as his closeness to people like scott and ororo demonstrates the extent to which she might not really know them anymore.

i also think jean's closeness to xavier, and the extent to which she was present for the beginning of the x-men and the development of those ideals and that idea could really interestingly play off of magneto. jean really bought into a lot of xavier's ideas, but she also has a different relationship to xavier than someone like scott did, where she was very aware of his flaws and hypocrisies, and could confront him about them (i also think jean tends to identify herself as a partner or confidante of xaviers, along the lines of moira, even though she was a child at the time. her and magneto navigating their relationships to charles in that context could be really interesting, imo).

finally i think jean is less willing to like. consider political violence (as opposed to personally motivated violence) than magneto is. that conflict between them could be really fun! especially if ororo and scott are there also. like i think for jean to actually have a rivalry w someone she needs to feel bad, and she needs to think she knows the other person and the way they're fucking w her. and i think magneto could fit the bill on both those fronts, though ig it is less a rivalry and more just. interesting conflict between two characters.

[gamingavickreyauction]

I'm not particularly interested in metaphysics. Which is weird because I'm very interested in philosophy and in physics.

What it comes down to is that other areas of philosophy seem to me, in a sense, practical: ethics, of course, tells us how to govern our lives, epistemology can tell us how to learn about the world around us or how to organize society to produce the most fruitful research, even aesthetics tells us how to make good art. But there doesn't seem to be any way to get anything out of metaphysics.

This concerns me because I think that a lot of arguments people have end up not being meaningful—just being miscommunication or empty signifiers all the way down—and I don't trust that something is actually talking about something real until I can see there is a way it applies to the real world.

You can ask a question like "how long is 'now'?" which seems to be talking about the real world—it's a well-formed question, and "now" is a real concept that we understand. But what does it actually mean? "Now," after all, is a word that we made, so in that sense, it is as long as we decide it to be. You could interpret it as asking about what time frame the parts of the human brain interact on in order to form the subjective experience of being a unified thing. You could interpret it as asking if there is a minimal discrete time-step in the universe. You could interpret it as asking what our error bars of uncertainty are about whether something is in the past or the future. Because you can come up with these different interpretations—and two people could conceivably argue about this question without realizing they have different interpretations—it's unclear whether argumentation about this question means anything at all.

But moreover, I think this is more than just linguistic ambiguity—I think any of my three interpretations would have the same problem if you looked hard enough and tried to actually argue with someone about them. And if you split those up into interpretations, many of those sub-interpretations would have the same problem. I don't think at the end of a chain of more precise interpretations you get to something where everyone can agree on what is being asked. In which case, it's not a meaningful question at all. A lot of philosophical questions look like this to me (not all, by any means), but particularly a lot of metaphysics does. I'm not sure if that's just because I lack understanding, though.

I've heard people try to give examples of metaphysics mattering, like through arguing about what social constructs are you can argue that trans men are indeed men and it is wrong to socially treat them as if they are not. But I don't think that's a valid argument—it's trying to use an 'is' to prove an 'ought'.

You don't need to have an idea of what trans (or cis) people 'fundamentally' are to treat people decently. In fact, ideas of what they 'fundamentally' are are completely irrelevant to the question—it informs you neither of the consequences of your actions nor whether those consequences are good. If the answer to your metaphysical question tells you facts about the world, hence what the consequences of your actions will be, it is those facts that matter, not the metaphysics, and you can investigate them directly because they are real.

I suppose metaphysics could inform your ethical axioms, but anything can inform your ethical axioms, and we aren't generally arguing about these when we argue about what we should do in the real world. But maybe this is a weakness in my view here.

So is metaphysics mostly meaningless? Are there good examples where it can be applied to real questions to show that the questions metaphysics discusses are meaningful?

[pyreo]

I don't think anyone should be happy with deniable representation. The easy kind a company can make gifs out of or reference in a single offhand moment and then pretend it isn't there. Or the kind that gets hints but never becomes explicit.

Real queer people are a whole bundle of experiences based on their identity and it doesn't disappear to avoid ruffling feathers on command.

What I mean is there's a difference between intentional gay subtext, and the pretense of queer rep to appeal to young people who know that seeing gay shit is good, but are primed to pick up the most miniscule clues without the writing ever having to actually commit to it. I'm talking about games where two men are always seen together but when asked if they're a couple, the answer retains deniability and makes it a joke. Or uninteresting background NPC dialogue where a woman acknowledges her wife that nobody really had to find. Or two ladies whose relationship never extends beyond platonic, but there's a rainbow coloured thing on screen while they interact.

I think we deserve better than that! Companies know their fans are so starved they will hold up tiny scraps as evidence that THEIR product is Good and Woke. They'll drop in two minor hints and word of mouth will carry the rest. We don't have to fall for that. Make queer relationships exist on-screen. Have gay characters express their attractions. Use they/them in dialogue. They aren't pandering to you. They aren't doing anything that could conceivably enrage their Average Male Gamer who will throw a shitfit if he senses anything 'woke', while dangling the idea of portraying someone like you over your head. Unless they commit and make it unavoidable, stop giving them the time of day.