#capitalism in generally is just evil honestly

[eorzeashan]

just watched the Thai drama Hunger and man. I've seen food as a love language but I've never seen food as a hate language before. I think i'm traumatized. wobbles

[therevengeoffrankenstein]

and what are you going to do if you overshoot the demand (maybe limit per person too to help avoid scalping, amirite?) and there are a bunch left. are you going to add them to the site (for what price exactly? the same? lowered due to the low demand at the event? or higher do to the limited supplies? any way the resale prices are going to be insane. you're going to have to limit the amount per person lest we encounter a fad 15 year anniversary scalping incident again!) or are you going to give them away. for free, you say? hm. very interesting. it's almost like the structure of capitalism itself is inherently flawed/predatory.

[i-write-boop-spoops]

Guzma Fluff Alphabet

first piece of the year ignore that it's feb

thanks for the anon who requested this! gn! reader, some mild angst and insecurity. not proofread lol

Enjoy!

A = Activities (what do they like to do with their s/o? how do they spend their free time?)

He LOVES a lazy morning together, just snuggling and goofing off in bed, drifting in-and-out of sleep in each other’s arms. He loves to make you laugh and fluster by blowing raspberries on your tummy or kissing your neck. Your slightly raspy voice and bleary eyes and bedhead… it’s just his favourite image in the world

He’s also a capital G Ganer (well actually he just plays whatever the Pokémon world’s equivalent to CoD is) so he likes playing with you or just having you watch him play how riveting. Of course, he’s up for playing sone of the games you like, your Pokémon Crossing island is so cute!!

Guzma is a bit of a homebody when it comes to hanging out with his boo, so things like just snuggling together while you binge a show or movie, or while you show each other asinine Tiktoks, are totally up his alley. It’s just a no-pressure way of spending time with you.

Also, living on the beautiful Ula’Ula island, you visit the beach ALL the time (plus it’s free!)

B = Beauty (what do they admire about their s/o? what do they think is beautiful about them?)

You are just so… kind. So kind. Not just to him, but to everyone. He’s the big bad bug man, a bully, a (reformed) petty criminal and yet you treat him so well. You’re kind to his scary bug Pokémon too, kind to the grunts. You’re just a wonderful person, too pure for this world.

Plus, you’re cute as fuck AND you got a nice booty. The total package.

C = Comfort (how do they help their s/o when they feel down? what makes them feel better?)

Guzma…. he’s not great with words. He really doesn’t know what to say when you’re not feeling great, doesn’t know what words will help comfort you. But he can give you a hug, take you into his big arms, hold you to his warn chest, and gently stroke your back with his large hand. He’ll let you wet his shirt with your tears if you need to, he’ll hold you anyways if you don’t.

And when you’re ready, he’ll make a corny joke to break the tension and make you smile again, he LOVES your smile :)

Unsurprisingly, he hates feeling vulnerable. He’s the big, bad, boss, he shouldn’t be crying. He’s ashamed of this “weak” side of himself, so he tends to lock himself away, distance himself from you. He doesn’t want you to see him like this. Of course, because you’re concerned for his wellbeing, you weedle your way into his room, and let him bury his face in your stomach and hold him.

Just talk, about anything. Distract him with stories from your work/school, funny tales from your childhood, that one Togedemaru that keeps invading your garden. Play with his hair. Make him forget.

D = Dreams (how do they picture their future with their s/o and in general?)

Before he met you, he kinda stopped having dreams…. he failed his trials, wasn’t talking with his family, was just stuck in that ol’ Pokémon-evil-team shtick.

And then you came into his life, and suddenly, he’s thinking about getting a job, one that’ll probably be minimum wage and gruelling, but he’ll work himself half to death if it means he’ll be worthy of you. Maybe he’ll even go to college.

He just wants to be the kind of man you want to spend your life with, that you can give proud toasts about at your milestone anniversaries. Whether said life involves you two getting married and/or having a couple kiddos or not, he doesn’t mind either way.

E = Equal (are they the dominant one in the relationship or are they rather passive?)

Despite him being the big boss and all, he’s actually the more passive one. Honestly, he’s more into being chill and casual and cosy with you. So, you have to be the one to drag him out of the house to do something. You’re the one who suggests activities and food choices and all sorts.

F = Fight (how quick are they to forgive their s/o? what are they like in an argument? who says sorry first?)

Unsurprisingly, Guzma has a bit a lot of a temper. So, it means he’s quick to anger, and he’ll get quite thick. A lot of it is due to his insecurities, so seemingly innocuous things can set him off.

He’s very accusatory in fights, loud and in-your-face. Even a little mean :( (but he will immediately crumple if you start to cry)

He’s been working on himself though, so he will own up to his mistake. He’ll slink over to you, hunched over, hands buried in his pockets, gaze tilted downwards as he mumbles a “Sorry baby…”

He’s not embarrassed to say sorry, he’s embarrassed he got so emotional and angry in the first place. He NEVER wants to make you feel upset or unloved by him.

G = Gifts (what kind of things do they gift to their s/o? are they spontaneous or do they stick to special events like anniversaries?)

SNACKS. snacks. s n a c k s.

You will NEVER go hungry dating Guzma! Every time you see him, he’s at least got your favourite candy bar or fruit slices on him. He’s got a little basket in his room full of crispy corn snacks and chips for you two to munch on while you’re hanging out. When you tell him you’ve had a bad day, he WILL buy you a pint of ice cream for you to cry into.

Other gifts he likes to give you tend to be cute but small. Little plushes and keyrings and knickknacks. He likes picking out quirky things that he thinks suits you from thrift shops and markets and such.

For birthdays and such, he’s more likely to do a little collection of smaller gifts than one big gift. He’s always way more into giving you a memorable experience than anything else.

He’d really love to spoil you with diamonds and designer goods, but he ain’t got the money for that.

H = Heart Eyes (what are they like in love? is it obvious to others? how do they express their love? do they brag about their s/o to others?)

Guzma is so. fucking. happy. Like, genuinely on cloud nine. He’s sure of himself, cockier than usual, always having this smug grin on his face because he knows he’s caught a baddie.

The real question is, when is he not bragging about you?? He’s already boastful as is, so with you in his life. It’s practically comical how much he brags about you.

I = Impression (what first attracted them to their s/o? how accurate was their first impression to how their s/o actually is?)

Typically, when Guzma sees someone he’s attracted to, it’s all horniness on his part – but with you, it was different. You were just so beautiful, cute and pretty and kind and lovely. He was in awe.

He, of course, still thought you were incredibly hot and sexy, but he was feeling more than that for you, even at first sight.

J = Jealousy (do they get jealous easily? how do they deal with it?)

Very jealous. As cocky as he is, he’s deeply insecure, and is convinced he doesn’t deserve you… but that manifests as possessiveness. He’s terrified of losing you, especially to someone else.

When a love rival is about, he has an arm around you, using his large frame to shield you from whoever he’s worried about (whether it’s warranted or not). He’s all over you too, kissing you, touching you, making it obvious to everyone that you’re his.

And if anyone does try make a move on you? It’s gonna be a battle and not necessarily a pokemon one

K = Kiss (are they a good kisser? what was their first kiss like? where do they kiss the most?)

Oh, Guzma loves to kiss! He’s a playful, but passionate kisser, who loves making you smile with his smooches. He also can’t just give you one kiss, it has to be a flurry of kisses. He just loves having his lips on you.

His favourite place to kiss, other than your lips and neck, is your tummy! It makes you all giggly and squirmy and it warms his heart. He really likes your abdomen and he thinks it deserves all the attention!

more guzma kissing headcanons here!

L = Little Things (what are the little things they love about their s/o? are they attentive?)

omg when you hit him with that cute little smile of yours? His heart melts. And if you giggle too? Something get this man into heart surgery, his heart can’t TAKE the cuteness!

He loves your hands too, they’re so small compared to his, so delicate. He loves the way they fit in his hands, he treats them as if they’re delicate (which he has never done with anything before)

M = Marriage (do they want to get married? how do they propose? what would the wedding be like?)

Guzma would die if he got the chance to be your hubby. Spending the rest of his life with his boo, your love cemented and recognised by all AND a sick-ass party with CAKE? he’s sold.

Well, he would be, if it weren’t for his pesky insecurities getting in the way. He’s not good enough for you, he tells himself, you deserve better. You deserve the big white wedding and the stability other men can provide.

Of course, you knock him upside the head with the biggest reality-check of his life, and he finally comes to realisation he needs to marry you

Saves up to buy you a nice ring, and to take you out on a real night on the town (well mainly, that really nice Paldean place you wanted to try, and some ice cream afterwards). He takes you to the beach then, to watch the sunset. He’s sweating buckets the whole time, and when he finally gets down on one knee, he fucking forgets his whole speech and after a whole minute of awkward silence he eventually just says;  “..Marry me?”

You say yes of course, and later that year you tie the knot at that very beach. It’s cute and a little casual, there’s a buffet, one of the grunts are DJ-ing (your relatives are requesting 80s classics he’s never heard of). It’s genuinely just a really fun, amazing night, made even better by the fact that YOU’RE MARRIED TO GUZMA!!!

N = Nicknames (what do they call their s/o? what do they get called?)

Does he ever even call you by your actual name? In sincere, raw moments maybe. But most of the time, he’s calling you “boo” (his personal fave), “Babe/baby”, “cutie”, “cutiebug” (don’t let the grunts hear him call you that, he’ll never live it down) or some play on your name.

He even hits you with the “bro” sometimes.

You call him things like “Guz” or “Big guy” (He likes that one, makes him feel big and protective). Occasionally you’ll call him “Ma” which gets a chuckle outta everyone.

O = Open (do they have secrets they hide from their s/o? is it easy for them to share?)

Guzma puts on the big bad boss front a lot, it’s to protect himself. He is deeply insecure in himself – but he doesn’t want anyone to know that, let alone you, the person he loves so much.

But he can’t hide it forever, and as you become more and more serious about each other, those walls are chipped away by your kindness and your understanding nature. You start getting glimpses into his vulnerable side, into parts of his past that he’s not fond of. Soon enough, you’ve pulled away all that chitinous armour, and found the insecure boy beneath, who you love with all your heart nonetheless.

P = Pancakes (are they a good cook? how often do they cook for their s/o? breakfast in bed or fancy dinner dates?)

Guzma’s not bad at all… he just needs a little more practise, and a little more variety. He tends not to cook for himself, mostly eating takeout and ready meals. Sometimes he just has an energy drink instead of breakfast. He does cook for you though, because he wants to treat you right (and also because he doesn’t want you to think he’s a slob)

He can make a standard pasta sauce, a curry sauce, a toasty, pancakes and a chilli. As the two of you continue to date, he starts to up his culinary catalogue (sometimes to disastrous effect oops)

Sometimes you two are lazy, or just have cravings, and he’ll buy you takeout too. He tends to stick to pizza, but you can convince him to expand his horizons (he ended up really enjoying sushi!)

When bringing you for a night on the town, he mainly just brings you to fast-food places – he’s broke – but every now and then he’ll bring you to a nice restaurant to wine and dine you.

Q = Quirk (a random quality/ability that is beneficial to their relationship.)

You have scary dog or scary mon?  privileges. Absolutely nobody is gonna mess with you when you’re out with the big, bad bug man.

also you two lovingly recreate the “he asked for no pickles” meme all the time

R = Romance (how romantic are they? are they cliché or creative?)

Guzma is surprisingly romantic. He thinks you deserve the world, and while he doesn’t think he can give it to you, he tries his best. He likes to get you flowers when he can or take you on cute (but cheap) dates.

He’s bad with words, he’d love to wax poetic about your beauty and the love he has for you, but it never really comes out how he’d like. You get the sentiment though.

S = Sleep (who falls asleep first? do they need their s/o close to them? do they have any bad habits?)

It really depends, sometimes he hits the pillow and he’s out like a light, other times he likes to stay up and watch your cute face as you drift off.

Whenever you sleep in the same bed, you always end up with your limbs tangled in his, or with him enveloping you as the big spoon. You’re his teddy bewear, through and through. He needs to snuggle you to get a good night’s sleep

He snores SO LOUD and drools

T = Thrill (do they need to spice up their relationship with new things or do they stick to a routine? how often do they do new things?)

Personally, he’d prefer to just be chill and hang out – but he doesn’t want to bore you, or make you think he doesn’t care, so he does try and bring you on new and fun experiences, even ones he totally doesn’t have interest in, just because he thinks you’d like them. In the early stages, he brought you to things that neither of you enjoy, just because they were popular, and he was afraid he’d look like a bad boyfriend if he didn’t bring you there. He grew out of this once he became more secure in himself and in your relationship.

U = Unity (did their s/o change them somehow, or the other way around? what traits do they share?)

The introduction of you in his life is like a pivotal branching point in the timeline. From day one he wanted to be the kind of man you deserve, and he starts to fill that role little by little. If you’d ask him today, he’d still say you’re too good for him, but both of you can see the metamorphosis he’s gone through. He’s kinder, gentler, more patient, more understanding, more generous, and more confident in himself.

V = Value (how important is their relationship to them? what is it worth compared to other things in their life?)

You are Guzma’s number one priority. Nothing has mattered nor will EVER matter more to him than you. If you asked, he’d steal the moon for you. Your smile is the most precious thing to him in the world, he’d do anything to keep it.

W = Wild Card (a random fluff headcanon.)

Totally up for getting matching tattoos or piercings… or even just getting the ink by himself to honour you!

X = XOXO (do they like to kiss and cuddle? are they upfront about their relationship or rather shy when in public?)

The real question is… when is he not touching you?

He always has a hand on you, holding your hand, stroking your back, smacking dat ass… in public, in private. There is absolutely zero ambiguity whether you two are dating, because his displays of affection do not dwindle under the eyes of others.

Sure, he loves to cop a feel, but he’s also really big on hugs and kisses and cuddles. Having you in his arms just makes him feel whole, y’know?

Naturally, due to his body type, he is an AMAZING hugger.

Y = Yearning (how do they cope when they spend time away from their s/o? do they miss their s/o?)

Guzma does NOT take your absence well. You are his sunshine after all, his cinnamon applin, the cream in his coffee, the chocolate sauce on his ice cream. A day without you is a lifetime of misery for him.

When you’re apart you text all the time, and facetime in the evenings. Not being able to feel you physically hurts him, but being able to see your cute face and listen to your sweet voice definitely lessens it somewhat. You fall asleep on facetime with each other often.

Z = Zoo (do they have pets? do they want some in the future?)

Bugs, bugs, bugs, bugs. So many bugs! Small ones, big ones, cute ones, scaey ones… all the bugs!

[hello-from-the-night-archives]

hello from the hallowoods dashboard simulator

😈 valerie-meme-stone

I'm not ready for my spotify wrapped to just be stonemaiden. like i get it spotify i know i'm gay

53 notes

📝 the-poetry-panopticon Follow

Unfriendly reminder not to sign up for a Dreaming Box subscription! The Botulus Corporation is not to be trusted! Here's an article explaining the language in their contract and why it's concerning! In addtion, they use AI generated images in the Prime Dream, which we should all know by now is unethical.

14,034 notes

🥗 bisexualranchdressing Follow

dang this is crazy. i thought wildfire smoke was bad but what the fuck is this????

🌅 nerdy-tragedy-theorist Follow

well according to color theory

🌅 nerdy-tragedy-theorist Follow

never mind i've got nothing

739 notes

⚡ evil-electrician Follow

friendly reminder to stop spreading misinformation about the black water! people are saying that it brings people and animals back to life but that's not exactly true! although their body may be back, they're not the same person and they will likely become violent and dangerous. please stay inside and be really careful what you and your pets eat or drink.

🐈‍⬛ cats-not-capitalism Follow

fuck you op i'm keeping my undead cat

⚡ evil-electrician Follow

good luck keeping your fingers

48,230 notes

🐧 morally-grey-penguin Follow

1,383,248 notes

eccentricelina-deactivated04232030

i must not go to sleep in the lake today. afternoon nap is the mind killer

eccentricelina-deactivated04232030

mmmmmm cozy

eccentricelina-deactivated04232030

where is my skin

eccentricelina-deactivated04232030

going back to sleep honk shoooooo

635 notes

🌮 mysteriously-crafty-nacho Follow

reblog this post to go north with the person you reblogged this from

54,092 notes

🧊 botulus-corporation Follow

The Botulus Corporation is with you during this difficult time. Join our happy dreaming family where you and your loved ones will be safe from the rain. Tumblr users get 30% off on a Dreaming Box subscription!

🐨 chief-koala-typhoon Follow

73,932 notes

🌿 shiny-wolf-tragedy Follow

it fucken rainny

🐼 dreamland-panda Follow

love that they'll be a literal apocalyse and tumblr users will just make memes. never change tumblr

72,138 notes

👁️‍🗨️ the-magnus-brotocol

choosing between the irl amazing digital circus or probably fucking dying was not on my 2030 bingo card but okay

👁️‍🗨️ the-magnus-brotocol

at this point i just gotta expect that if the year is divisible by 10 then something terrible will happen

94 notes

🐺 werewolves-are-hot

hey do you think i can get a real werewolf boyfriend now that monsters are real

🐺 werewolves-are-hot

any cute werewolf boyfriends in this part of the woods

429 notes

🌷 pleasant-arcade-land

oh man it's been a couple months since I last updated this fanfic huh! so I just drank some black water by accident and now I have a few extra fingers, and honestly that took some getting used to, but it's actually pretty convenient now and is really helpign me get more words in lol im still here writing homestuck fanfic in 2030 hehehehehe anyway new chapter here

38 notes

🌑 the-void-whispers Follow

so, it looks like tumblr might be dying soon due to, well, *gestures wildly.* You'll have to kill me before I join Twitter now that the Botulus Corporation bought it (and no, I am not calling it B, that is just stupid) so if you want to hear from me you will simply need to look out for passenger pigeons. in the meantime, ill be here until tumblr straight up dies and i have a crying session about it

🦌 gamer-guy-bath-water Follow

we do not grieve ice when it melts, or celebrate the sapling when it rises from the soil. they just are. life and death and rebirth are one constant state. and without change, there would be nothing to watch

⚔️ sword-lesbian-enthusiast

add that to the list of banger quotes from tumblr memes

82,362 notes

[that-house]

I would love to hear more about how you run The Feywild and your stageplay rules

(the primary inspiration for my version of the faewild is the webnovel A Practical Guide to Evil, though I took things in a slightly different direction).

the rules of the faewild in my setting are as follows:

think of the faewild as an enormous stageplay, running the same old hackneyed fantasy stories over and over again. the farmer finds a magic ring, the king is betrayed by his closest advisor, so on and so forth ad infinitum

every fae has two sides, the actor and the role. the actor is the constant essence and intelligence behind the fae, while the role is the function they're currently fulfilling in the faewild's narrative

many fae tend to resent their role, because, you know, they're fully sapient entities that nonetheless have extremely limited free will. it doesn't matter if the actor is a kindhearted person, if their role is to be a murderous monster they have to do it

when acting in the capacity of their role, fae are nearly unstoppable.

any organism native to the faewild that isn't being played by a fae is essentially a philosophical zombie: they don't have sapience or instincts, just a programmed set of actions they follow. a faewild wolf isn't actually a wolf, it's a collection of atoms that are good at acting wolflike. (the difference this makes from a practical standpoint is ultimately pretty meaningless)

one seasonal court of the fae exists at a time, reflecting the state of the material plane (spring: prosperity, summer: war, autumn: upheaval, winter: stagnation)

it's the same fae every time, but each court uses different roles and different stories

when the courts shift, the faewild locks in its new status quo: any fae who gained power over the course of their story keep it. fae who died are demoted to background extras, and mortals who were stuck there are also "promoted" to being fae background extras forever.

mortals in the faewild have additional privilege, because they can take on roles but aren't necessarily bound to them. they're simultaneously audience and actor, and the risk of audience participation is always that they'll fucking ruin it for shits and giggles. like a bad GM, fae are generally pretty bad at working around mortal disruptions to "the plot."

the faewild itself is an ever-changing dreamscape of platonic ideal reflections of the material plane. time and space don't mean much: there's always exactly enough time to dramatically resolve the problem at hand, and distances are short enough that you make it juuuust in time.

honestly the best way to describe the visuals of the faewild is, like, those early dreamlike stages of AI art back when it was really bad at cleanly delineating between different objects. the capital city is simultaneously a city, a grand hall, and an enormous fucking throne.

whether hags are separate from the actor/role system or just have total synthesis between the actor and role is unclear, but they're doing pretty well for themselves and specialize in fucking with stories in ways that go against "the plot"

every fae in at least a marginally important role has a noble title of some sort. in my autumn court, for example, the three highest roles are the Autumn King, the Prince of Waning Sun, and the Princess of Rising Moon

i think that's about all there is to say. it makes for a really fun setting to run an arc in

[iwonderwh0]

Spoilers for Network Effect (5th book of the Murderbot diaries)

Murderbot is honestly so cathartic to read, as it provides and explores the things and topics so many other sci-fi promised to but embarrassingly failed to deliver. Main character not striving to be human nor being determined to destroy humanity, but in fact being grossed out by the concept, is already such an amusingly unpopular approach it really feels like a breath of fresh air. Murderbot not "falling in love", but being so devoted to its Transport friend to the point of being ready, and insisting on being used as a part of the malware to help it get back something that is really important to it? You're kidding me, this is so cool. And in general, the infiltration in Network Effect, the way it goes through becoming basically non-physical entity. FINALLY, oh my god, YES, finally I see someone utilising non-human characters in the narrative in a way that actually takes into consideration their nature and uses the insane potential of it. Already the fact that processing multiple inputs at the same time is consistent part of the narrative that is used a lot and isn't forgotten about. I'm just so glad that I finally found media that is about entities that are partly or entirely digital that ISN'T some kind of fear mongering story about humanity with the insistence on making it into some kind of moral lecture, like it's so fucking difficult to find an example of sci-fi around this topic that wouldn't fucking try to do that. Murderbot is ironically being better at being a caricature too though, by actually focusing on a story and using critique of the capitalism to be a part of a world-building rather than focusing it into a one single place, single Corporation of Evil™ or something like that. No, it's everywhere and it's casual. So casual, in fact, that you can recognise it as something that really much exists today, and not just in an abstract future.

I love this book series. It's finally a sci-fi written by a person who genuenly loves the topic of non-human characters and grants them freedom to be what they actually are, and isn't just using them as some strawman argument in some completely unoriginal tropes and ways that were done too many times with little to no diversity.

[whereserpentswalk]

You live on a planet where humans have been forced to have only one biological sex. You're at the edge of human space, and early in colonization you planet was under attack from an outside source, for survival you had to switch to artificial breeding, which is more effective in mammal species if there's only females, as male reproductive cells are easily synthesized.

You're the only humans in the region. Most alien species you interact with just think of humans as a single sexed species that has artifical reproduction. Though you understand that humans used to have two sexes you barely actually interact with that concept. You don't really think of yourself as having a gender identity or anything, you're kind of just a person. The last male human on your planet has been dead for generations.

You first saw a photo of human male in a history class when you were a teenager. He looked so odd to you. He was deep in the uncanny valley, something that felt very familiar to you, something you evolved to interact with, but something so unfamiliar. Illustrations of males, especially outside of academic sources, always play up unfamiliar features to make them into something almost like a fantasy race, but you find something almost charming about the one in the photo.

That photo sticks with you in a weird way. It's kind of scary. Especially the idea of living at a time with actual male female dynamics. The idea of a man being inside you, however that must work, seems so viscerally horrifying to you. You've known people who've had sex before, it's controversial in your society for people to have sex with eachother, but it's legal, but it seems so diffrent then whatever you'd be expected to do with a male human.

Time passes. You end up living your own life. You major in music once you get to college, and end up with a semi successful career as a guitarist in the capital of one of your planet's countries. Things go well for you. You live your life thinking slightly more about men then most people do, but it's never that important to you.

One day there's word that ambassadors from another human planet are visiting. They're from several systems away, and very culturally diffrent. And it's most likely that they'll have men with them. It's strange to think you might actually be able to see one. You think of them as this strange race of monsters, so clearly linked to you but unlike you. Everything people say about men, that they're violent and warlike, that they're superior yet evil, that they're weaker yet more honest and good natured, rushes through your head.

You sign up to be a musician in the welcoming band to the ambassadors. It's scary but you enter. You win, partly because you're local and talented, partly because most other musicians were too afraid.

When the ambassadors from another human planet show up its on one of your city's largest streets, with cheering crowds and flashing lights. You play a song you realize your entire planet is going to hear. Then for the first time in your life, after about two and a half decades of being alive, you see a male human.

The males in the ambassadorial mission are mixed together with normal people. But you can easily spot the males. They're strange looking to you, the way they walk, and speak and move. Though you realize their foreign way of dressing is honestly more alien then anything biological. Despite your expectations, the males look oddly human, they are human, they're just more like you then you'd expect, they look a bit diffrent, but they're honestly just normal people. It's almost anticlimactic.

When everyone is talking to eachother later you're meant to interact with the musicians of their world, most of whom seem to be male. It's so strange to think you're actually talking to someone whose male. You were kind of worried some sort of mating instincts would set in, but after a lifetime of being raised to never expect to have any sexual experiences that involve more then one person, your mind doesn't really go in that direction, even if you did have those instincts.

You end up talking for awhile in your only shared language (a long dead one) to another guitarist. He's male but it's weirdly not a big deal, he's less obviously male then some of the others, and he seems like a nice freindly person. You realize his voice is deep, but it's not distorted in monstrous like you expected it to be. You realize you shouldn't talk about his sex, so you talk about music. You end up really interested in his culture's musical traditions, and kind of ignore his sex. You almost forget he's a man. Since he'll probably have to stay on the planet for at least a few months he tells you he'd like to meet again mabye. He shakes your hand, his skin doesn't feel diffrent then anyone else's, you don't know why you'd expect it not to.

[anakiinhighwalker]

How they react when you’re injured please? Thank you!

evil laughter. i woll make a part 2 if asked….

— Obi Wan Kenobi

Poor Obi Wan. First it’s Anakin getting blasted and now it’s you in the medical bay getting patched up. He can’t help it at this point; he immediately assumes the worst. It’s second nature for him to worry about the people he cares about at this point. I don’t think there’s a day where Obi Wan doesn’t worry about something, which is both sad and kinda impressive for the old man (affectionately).

He has a bad habit of holding his breath before he sees you. It just adds to his feeling of being suffocated of hearing you get hurt. Is it melodramatic? A bit. But it just makes his love for you all that blatantly obvious; he literally can’t breathe if you’re not okay

Honestly, I don’t think it depends on the severity of the wound—Obi Wan will worry. He’s seen someone as powerful as his master get killed by a simple stab (although it was with a lightsaber). Obi Wan knows that any wound, regardless of how small or miniscule it can appear, can bring unseen consequences with it. Better safe than sorry is his motto, for anything really.

Constant testing, constant checking. I swear by the time Obi Wan’s done inspecting you himself, he’ll have a PhD.

It’s tough for Obi Wan to conceal his worry. He attempts to mask his worry with frustration towards the situation at hand but it can only convince so many people. You don’t know why, but Obi Wan always lets his professional Jedi mask slip when you’re any type of injured. He can’t ever seem not worried over you and there’s been too many close calls where Yoda raises an eyebrow at Obi Wan’s tenderness towards you.

He vents to Yoda that you shouldn’t be getting hurt and that it’s not fair. But he does it in his own, poised manner of venting. He’s very subtle when he’s venting because he doesn’t like to yell nor complain outright; It’s a quiet, seething type. Maybe there’s some untapped anger deep inside of him sitting about, piling up at the very fact someone had the opening to hurt you.

“This is ridiculous. How can the fleet expect to protect the capital if they can’t even protect them? They’re in the infirmary now and it’s because I was too distracted with droids.”

He’s just feeling too many things. Any anger he feels is stemming directly from the fact he wants to so desperately protect you from everything and anything bad. Don’t hold it against him if he’s moody or in a bad mood. Obi Wan loves you deeply—more than a man of his status should—so the aspect of harm coming to you unsettles him to a disturbing amount. That and mixed with his unresolved emotions towards his master’s death? The way the war has shaped and molded him? :(

Please please please reassure General Kenobi. He needs you to straighten him out so he can work properly.

— Anakin Skywalker (Deftones Liker)

It’s like Anakin adapted Obi Wan’s worrying but then added his little Ani twist to it and now it’s Anakin worrying AND being livid. This man has destroyed and mauled droids for blasting too close to you and I’m pretty sure if he could, he would’ve beat the shit out of the senator who messed with you. I don’t think Anakin has a chill button when it comes to you.

He’s too worried, in fact. He can become overbearing very quickly if you don’t check him. I’m talking Obi Wan’s checks but combine that with constant questioning and no chill at all. Anakin will very quickly overwhelm both the nurses and you with his frequent checking. So much so that you’re not sure if you’re secret relationship will be so secret afterwards (not that it was hidden that much in the first place tbh).

It’s even worse if Anakin can find the person or thing that hurt you. Whoever let Anakin roam free with his lightsaber and no therapy is the TRUE menace to society. Because the DAMAGE he will do if he’s unrestraint, oooh Lordy. I’m not even sure if I can say Anakin won’t kill a man for hurting you. You’re way too precious to him to care about someone else’s well-being, and especially if that person hurt you? Bye. They’re goners.

Obi Wan doesn’t panic, he silently worries. Anakin does panics and probably gets overwhelmed from how much he panics. He makes Ahsoka and Rex worry with him unknowingly with how he paces about. He, like his master, also has a habit of constantly checking your wounds and injuries to reassure himself that it’s not that grave. I honestly think Anakin puts a fairly decent amount of guilt on himself since he feels like he couldn’t protect you despite being such a highly regarded Jedi.

Would cry a little in all honesty. Anakins very emotional and he needs you to tell him to relax and to calm down because I really think Anakin can’t do that himself. He puts so much time, effort and love into your relationship that if you were to leave in any way, I don’t think it’s too far off to say Anakin would be shattered.

Angry venting to Obi Wan and Rex. If he doesn’t vent, he paces and overthinks and scowls. Honestly, at this stage is when Anakin could be really be tempted by the dark side if he’s not reassured your recovery. I think ROTS speaks for itself lol.

Once you’re safe and healthy, the way this man is so relieved and he always reminds you how much he loves you.

— Ahsoka Tano

Old trauma flares up. Ahsoka saw so much as a teenager during the Clone Wars and she’s still seen so much now as a leader for the Rebellion. The fact you’re harmed? What’s she suppose to do? Like her master, Ahsoka feels self pity and guilt at the fact she could not stop blaster fire from hurting you.

Ahsoka was never a crybaby when someone got hurt or died, she only has a faded memory of crying a little when Obi Wan was fatally ‘shot’ by a bounty hunter she doesn’t even remember the name of. So she won’t cry when she hears of your injury. But the way any Force sensitive person could feel her sorrow. I honestly believe Ahsoka’s guilt and deep melancholy would have a domino effect on people.

She’s learned to keep her cool and to be refined like a Jedi in combat because if she’s not, she could end up like him. Ahsoka, both with time and with becoming a leader, has learned to remain calm and quiet during tough times. Her quietness is both for good and bad. Good for others, who assume their leader is not afraid and unmoving at the Empire’s threat. But bad for herself—she becomes recluse and guards even the most deplorable, horrid feelings with mental guards.

Sort of pushes you to the back of her mind. She has to focus on the success of the Rebellion and how to undo everything the Empire has done; Ahsoka doesn’t have time to grieve or feel sorry for herself. She has to step up as the leading command of the biggest revolt against the Empire.

Silent over-thinker who really needs a break. She mimics Anakin’s nervous habits without even thinking. Pacing in her room, overthinking, scowling, it’s so ironic how she can be so similar to Anakin when she doesn’t paint herself as a wise, strong and sort of ethereal leader.

When you’re okay, Ahsoka asks everyone to leave you to be. And she finally lets her guard down and hugs you tight, so afraid she would have lost you to whatever battle you were fighting. She was so ready for the pain of the loss that it always gives her a happy surprise you’re always bouncing back better. It’s kinda sad to say, but Ahsoka has been surrounded by loss her entire life so the possibility of you leaving isn’t as frightening as it should be. She doesn’t know if thats healthy.

You kiss her cheek and she stops dissociating. You clear her blurry, rushed thoughts and soothe her sorrows and traumas. :)

— Luke Skywalker

This boy is human disaster Anakin Skywalker’s son. He’s practically BESTIES with worrying and overthinking! He doesn’t mean to worry, since Luke believes the Jedi way is one with mental stability and without struggle of overbearing emotions. But tuen again, Luke’s also a Skywalker. He attempts to appear this graceful Jedi who won’t freak out but we all know Luke is worrying his bowl cut off thinking about you.

I dont know if it’s a Skywalker family thing, but Luke really worries himself horribly thinking about the fact you might, even for a split second, die. That grave idea of death haunts him even if it doesn’t show behind his cool attitude and collected persona. He just deeply cares about you; he adores you beyond measure so the lingering thought in the back of his head of your demise is something that just—frightens the poor guy.

Although worried, he will put heavy amounts of trust and huge amounts of pressure (unknowingly) onto the doctors and medics doing everything they can to ensure you don’t pay an early visit to Luke’s hot dad. Like he’ll put a gloved hand onto the medic’s shoulder, tighten his grip a bit and go, “They’ll be okay, right? I don’t have to worry, right?” with his imposing stance and intense stare. I swear Luke sometimes scares people without meaning to.

Fighting himself a little bit. One side is like, ‘your feelings are valid, Luke. You have every right to be concerned over them—what if they pass like aunt and uncle?’ but the other side is like ‘No Luke, you need to be the Jedi that your dad and that Ben Kenobi wanted you to be.’ so often Luke is between the rift of wanting to feel as selfishly as a human feels but also feeling as selflessly as a Jedi would. What an unfair world, unfair circumstances too. Neither of you deserve this outcome.

He loves visiting you anytime he can, he loves having Han bug you to check up on you even if Han does tease you a little because your leg is broken. (Thank Luke for getting you stuck with Han Solo for the next few days. Fyi, Han is not the greatest bedside nurse. He’s probably the worst bedside nurse. He won’t even put on the hot nurse skirt, either!)

Not much else. If you get better, Luke recovers from his limbo of constant infighting in that noggin of his. If you don’t, well, we don’t have to go down the rabbithole that is Luke’s easy susceptibility into long periods of depression. Stares HARD at older Luke.

When you get back and moving, it’s just a relief for him. :)

— Padme Amidala

Eerily calm, like very eerily calm. I don’t know how she can stand to be so calm but it’s honestly very just Padme for her to not outright show so much explosive emotions; that’s not how she was raised, afterall. Even in her most dire moments, Padme can cry yes but I don’t feel as though she’s the type to have earth shattering outbursts although she does experience. She’s just never displayed them.

It eats at her though, no matter where she is. There she could be listening to some senator go on and on about their trade routes and how the Separatist scum have crested rifts in business and all Padme can think about is you. Just you. Your well-being and recovery is the only thing so very valuable to her in those moments.

She visits often and her aura of calm and poised position comforts you. At least one of you has the ability to remain so level-headed even during such difficult times. Her lessons and etiquettes in manners really kick in, her back sat straight and her gentle hand on yours everything but out of place. Padme is so gentle and softspoken with you that it shocks you she can be such, well, a princess even when shit hits the fan. She really is ready to be a professional senator, isn’t she?

Will argue with nurses and doctors to see you. I don’t care, that woman is doing everything in her power to constantly check up on you. Even if it’s getting Anakin to get up from his couch to check on you or getting 3po go make the journey into the medbay. You’ll either grow exasperated with her persistence to check up on you or you’ll find it incredibly attractive.

Her handmaidens make sure you’re okay too after you’re discharged from the hospital. Sabé stays with you throughout your whole recovery when Padme can’t be with you. And when she is with you, I dont think I can explain how caring she will be. How simply and utterly devoted Padme will become to taking care of you—it will probably make others jealous that such a beautiful woman loves you so much.

Chats with senator Organa about you. Discussing your situation and Organa being the amazing person he is, comforting Padme’s each and every worry. He also just kinda likes the gossip Padme tells him. Not to mention, you and Padme are cute together lol he loves to see y’all thrive.

Kisses. So many kisses. She sneaks in cheek and direct kisses whenever she can; Sneaky kisses, gentle kisses, adoring kisses and apologetic kisses. Padme will do all she can to see you smile, because your smile is the most precious thing to her.

— Mundi

idk but he’ll prolly hit the california girls dance on u lol for getting hurt

ditches u for one of his other wives (is that still canon???)

[3hks]

MY Hot Takes on Writing

I like to think that when it comes to writing, there's a lot of general opinions floating around, and occasionally they don't agree with each other. So, just for fun, here are my "unpopular opinions" when it comes to this topic!

1. Romance Cliches Aren't Bad

We get told to avoid popular cliches, but honestly, I don't see any harm in romance ones. Let's be honest here romance enjoyers, we LOVE those unrealistic yet heartwarming, classic, cliched situations more often than not. And this is not to say that there are zero negative cliches or that not using them is bad, it's simply the fact that they can still be appreciated despite their frequent use!

2. Predictable Characters Can Be Good

A character being predictable is a common criticism, but that doesn't necessarily mean that you failed at your job. When you establish a character well, the audience will naturally start to understand them much better. Because of that, they have a better idea of your character's actions, emotions, and thought process, allowing them to accurately guess what they might do next.

So yeah, maybe someone states that your character is too predictable but that could mean that you did your job right!

3. Bigger words ≠ Better

Some people love showing off their huge vocabulary and others are significantly less confident about it. Regardless of which side you're on, I simply want to bring attention to the fact that using bigger words (like seriously complex ones) doesn't mean your writing is better. Maybe it matters in academic essay and whatnot, but that's not entirely true for creative writing.

The thing is, if you use many words that you KNOW may trip up most of your readers, then there isn't much point in using them. After enough confusion, they're bound to quit quickly. Don't get me wrong, I love fancy words, but they don't define the quality of your writing!

4. Grammar isn't a Dealbreaker

Are you self-conscious of your grammar? Well, the thing is, besides the basics (capitalization, spelling, ending punctuation, etc.), grammar is not as important as you may think it is! Missing or extra commas are hardly a dealbreaker when it comes to a good book--I've read books with not-so-good grammar but a solid storyline. And guess what? I read until the end!

If your grammar is not perfect, that's definitely not the end of the world.

5. Not All Villains Have To Be Justified

In some movies and shows, you see that when they explain what the villain is trying to accomplish, it's not exactly a bad motive and they're just approaching it from a different, "wrong" way. Does this gain more respect for the antagonist from the audience? Yes.

However, I think that even if they aren't justified, it doesn't take away the effectiveness of the villain. Of course, they need a reason, but it doesn't have to be a good one. Why? Because a sinister purpose fully demonstrates that your character is actually evil. No, they might not get as much respect, but they can genuinely intimidate.

Alright--that's it! Now I'd love to know if you have any "unpopular opinions" about writing, so feel free to share!

Happy writing~

3hks ^^

[solarpunkpresentspodcast]

There Is No Perfect System

There’s no dipping one’s toe into the solarpunk stream without noticing that although not all solarpunks are anarchists, there is a strong sense in solarpunk that we won’t be living happily, freely, and sustainably until we dismantle both capitalism and the state.

Ah, but if only it was only capitalism that is capable of social and environmental savagery. And, hey, hang on a second. It’s not as if even democracies can only be stifling and oppressive.

I will admit that for decades I too have dreamed of living in a society where we didn’t need the police, prisons, or laws because we all just voluntarily treat each other decently and all personally make sure to commit no crimes against the environment. But the older me has become skeptical that such a systemless system could ever work. Are we going to ship all the people who can’t play well with others to Mars? Look at how much trouble we’re having already, especially now that so many people (and politicians) have figured out that they can pretty much get away with murder by ignoring the social norms that keep society functioning by filling in the gaps in between the laws.

I’m 100% with you when you say that capitalism has been terrible for people and the planet. The less carefully regulated capitalism is, the more it is a race to the bottom where 15 people on Earth have all the money, the natural world has given way to soy bean fields, palm oil plantations, and toxic garbage dumps, and the rest of us are living in misery and vastly reduced life expectancy in hovels or in prison.

But—honest question—is there a better alternative?

Communism, as it was practiced in the 20th century, was also terrible for the environment. Often egregiously so. My better half grew up in East Germany and it’s tons less polluted now than it was under communist authoritarianism when, honestly, nobody cared one bit about the damage they were doing to people or nature even when they weren’t under pressure to make profit. Today, under capitalism in a still at least somewhat social democracy, there are rules and investment directed at preventing, among other things, factories and powerplants from dumping their waste or sending it unfiltered out through their chimneys.

As much as it’s easy and not far off the mark to rail against the evils of capitalism, it actually isn’t capitalism—or communism or any other -ism—that treats the environment as nothing more than a repository of resources for human use. It’s the people operating within the framework of capitalism (etc)—or at least a pretty good chunk of them. And if that is the case, why should we expect that anarchism and its lack of a state will magically delivery us from the human selfishness, laziness, shortsightedness, and greed that lies at the root of the cruelest, most unjust, most environmentally damaging, and most unsustainable aspects of capitalism?

No matter what, we will never escape ourselves. Wherever we go, there we still will be at the heart of any system we use to order ourselves and our economies.

It is as my friend Don, the now retired librarian that I talked to in Season 2, Episode 2 of the podcast, was telling me the other day. It’s comforting to think that we just need to set up the perfect system and then everything will be utopian. But there is no perfect system because systems are created and administered by people and every single one of us is flawed. We are all to some degree—although some of us to more degrees than others—clever but stupid, short–sighted but wise, fair but unfair, greedy but generous, hard working but lazy, clear thinking but delusional, and honest but mendacious.

So why are we dreaming of the day that we finally have a perfect system when instead we should be working on ourselves and how we work together to get things done?

This isn’t to say that some systems aren’t worse than others. I mean, who wants anything as lacking in counterbalancing measures as monarchies, repressive authoritarian regimes, or dictatorships?

In the name of the sensible aspects of solarpunk, let’s work with what we have on hand: the the democracies that, at least as of the time of this writing, we still have. Let’s put our dreams of anarchistic perfection on the back burner and get down to the very real, very urgently needed work of shoring up our democracies against the corrosive attacks undermining them.

I don’t know about you, but given the upcoming elections and all the hatred people seem to have for each other, for the first time in my entire life, I’m worried about what the near future will be like. And I feel like that by the time we all take to the streets to rail against the rise in authoritarianism, it may already be too late.

[the-cat-and-the-birdie]

hello! I really liked your character analysis, especially Hobie and the interactions with Diane (she´s very groovy and beautiful n.n) so, I wanted to ask you if you think Hobie could make good friends with someone with a symbiote and the symbiote itself, my spidersona (symbiotesona?) is one of those. I know there´s some story between Hobie and symbiotes in his universe but I couldn't find the comics where it is explained.

You're amazing and keep going!

Oh absolutely!

Especially for Hobie - He has a symbiote dog!

Hobie is accepting of everyone (he's the best I love him) even symbiotes!!

In his universe, V.E.N.O.M was used in his universe as a weapon for President Osborn's police force - but I think Hobie would see the underlying greed and cruelty of the cops as the problem, and not the symbiote.

If anything I think he'd really respect your sona -

Cause that takes a lot of mental fortitude, and moral and strength in general so he'd be like 'That's fucking metal.'

If there's side effects, or conflict between your sona and the symbiote - I think he'd always want to help, and would like, speak to them as separate people lol

He knows that sharing the same body doesn't make them the same person, and that your sona was full person before the symbiote, so he would see them as a Duo - like two partners in crime.

He'd be really careful about his music playing and volume cause he wouldn't want to hurt your sona, so he would always give a heads-up.

Diane would be SO interested - and she'd probably have to think about SO MUCH, get prepared for a lot of questions!

Diane is pretty clever - but a little naive, so she'd be solidly in the 'All Aliens Come in Peace.' Star Trek started in 1966 - so Diane basically grew up with it around.

A symbiote is something alien, so it can't be murderous and evil - even if it eats people. It's not from here!! Don't be mean to them!!!

If your symbiote eats people, or needs meat, Diane would..honestly not be that freaked out. She'd have to think about it.

"So, Do you eat people on your planet?"

"Well, I guess that's not too bad. I mean..some people have a pet pig, some people eat pig, some do both. So it's like..the same, right? Not that you see humans as pets, you know -"

If humans can not snap and eat their pets and stuff, maybe this symbiote knows food from friends like them! If anything, Diane would be upset if people rushed to judge your sona OR the symbiote.

Her defense : "They didn't ask to come to this planet!" or Hobie's favorite -

"Why are you shaming them! They're not the only immoral ones. There is no ethical consumption under capitalism!!"

Hobie knows she is just repeating something she heard him say one time - and that is NOT what that phrase means, but he thinks its funny, so he lets her say it.

The three (four - actually) could have so much fun!

Hobie would probably get them hearing protectors so they can hang out backstage without getting hurt.

And y'all can deck it out with cool stickers and punk marker graffiti!

And although beef and stuff probably doesn't compare, Diane would still try making stuff like beef tartare, koi soi, or other raw meat dishes, just to see if they like 'em!

She LOVES sushi, so sashimi is a must to try - She'd want everyone to feel included at the potluck - it's only right, nobody leaves hungry!!!!

[Also thank you so much for the sweet words!!! I know I take literally forever to go through my inbox (it takes me very very long and im gonna point at adhd) but these things really brighten my day and give me the inspiration to keep sharing. It means a lot, thank you!!]

[cecenyss]

~spoilers below~

Okay so the Heian Period that Sukuna lived lasted from 794 to 1185. Getting rid of the time after 1018 because that no longer qualifies as 1000 years ago and I’m petty like that means that the time when he lived at some point between 800 and 1018, so probably ninth or tenth century.

That still leaves two hundred years of time for him to have lived, and this is under the assumption that he even lived a human lifespan, which he absolutely might not have considering he had four arms for some unexplained reason (seriously he was a human being before dying right? I didn’t imagine that?).

The Fujiwara family was clearly important, though it’s hard to say whether that’s a new, sorcerer thing made up by Gege Akutami or if it’s actually meant to represent the Fujiwara clan of actual Heian Period Japan. Honestly it could be either but I’m fairly certain it is meant to be the same because otherwise that’s just confusing and I choose to believe this universe makes sense on some level for my own sanity.

We know the Fujiwara clan battled with Sukuna in some way because in chapter 219 in that flashback with Yorozu the gossiping people said that he defeated two major elite warriors of that clan’s northern forces, the one that Uro led and the one that Yorozu defeated and later got “recognized” and moved to the capital for.

Now I did some basic googling and the Fujiwara clan was founded in the year 668, but the Northern Fujiwara were founded in 1087 and disbanded in 1189, which completely discredits what I said in the first paragraph. Great going, me.

Sukuna is well established at this point, meaning he’s been doing… whatever conquering evil curse users do, for a while. Unfortunately we can’t use his appearance to learn literally anything because again he has four arms so he very well might not age.

Anyway in keeping with the Heian period and the founding year of the Northern Fujiwara he had to have been active between 1087 and 1185, which is just under a full century of wiggle room for him to do all his evil Sukuna things.

I don’t know if there’s any other evidence that could help narrow things down because this is a spur-of-the-moment, research rabbit hole type thing I decided to document on tumblr as I went along for no particular reason, but other individuals I know for a fact were alive at this point were Kenjaku, who Sukuna clearly knew; Tengen, who Kenjaku clearly knew; Uro, who led the elite force Sukuna destroyed; Yorozu, who was obsessed with and wanted to marry him; and Uraume, who served him.

Tengen and Kenjaku could very well be older than him, but Yorozu and Uro definitely are not, as they were mortal when they died. Uraume could go either way.

I did some other rabbit hole research and found that the Gojo clan was an actual clan that split off from the Sugawara clan, which was founded by Sugawara no Michizane, who Gojo says is the ancestor of him and Yuta.

If we assume that this is meant to be the Gojo clan of jujutsu kaisen, which isn’t an assumption I’m quite as comfortable making as other assumptions I’ve made here, it was founded some point in the 13th century, though I can’t really find the correct date. This is after the Heian period, despite the Gojo’s saying they were well established during that time.

But regardless of this, they could have existed in some hidden form within the Sugawara clan beforehand, and only became official during that time. After all, that tentative date is public, and I can think of several reasons why curse-wielding sorcerers would want to keep certain things about their family history private from the general public.

This works with what Tengen said about the Six Eyes, Star Plasma Vessel, and Kenjaku being intertwined in fate. Even if my assumptions about the Gojo clan are not correct, the Six Eyes probably predated the Gojo Clan in some form anyway.

Anyway there wasn’t a point to any of this, I’m just bored and rambling. If anybody else has anything more specific about the time period or just wants to talk about jjk worldbuilding and background please do I love headcanons and fleshing out already established worlds.

[spelllingandthemysteryschool]

hi! :D i love your blog, so i wanted to ask, why do you think the barbie movie was bleak? i love hearing people's opinions on the film, and i thought that was an interesting adjective to describe it. you don't have to answer if you don't want to, ofc! hope you have a nice day!!! <3

oh you’re so sweet, thanks so much! ❣️ honestly i don’t know how intelligible this will be considering i spent a few days after watching the movie hashing out my thoughts with various friends and have mostly said my piece privately, but i thought it was bleak because it just… was…

like i did have fun because it is spectacularly produced & i guess in some ways it’s like oh, well it’s literally the BARBIE movie, what did you expect, but in other ways i was just like. oh my God, the faux criticism of barbie as a product, mattel as a company, and capitalism as a concept this film presents… i couldn’t stomach it! like how much of this are we supposed to believe is greta gerwig’s genuine artistic vision & how much of it is mattel indulgently financing a tongue-in-cheek critique of its own contributions to consumerism knowing it will only generate MORE of the same? i found myself reminded of a particular excerpt from chapter two of mark fisher’s capitalist realism: is there no alternative?, where he writes:

“…anti-capitalism is widely disseminated in capitalism. Time after time, the villain in Hollywood films will turn out to be the ‘evil corporation’. Far from undermining capitalist realism, this gestural anti-capitalism actually reinforces it… We’re left in no doubt that consumer capitalism and corporations… is responsible for this depredation… The film performs our anti-capitalism for us, allowing us to continue to consume with impunity. The role of capitalist ideology is not to make an explicit case for something in the way that propaganda does, but to conceal the fact that the operations of capital do not depend on any sort of subjectively assumed belief… So long as we believe (in our hearts) that capitalism is bad, we are free to continue to participate in capitalist exchange.”

i was so reminded of this passage while watching the film that the first thing i did upon leaving the theater was go through my copy to locate it.

there were also a number of scenes i found, ironically, to convey rather insidious anti-feminist messaging despite the movie’s reputation as (and attempts to live up to the title of) a feminist flick, but i won’t go into those in detail because i’m sure there are people reading this who want to see this film & haven’t yet. in the same vein, i found it to be massively spineless/inauthentic/confused? in the stances it takes because, in an effort to appeal to an audience so broad as to include Basically everyone on the planet, it… doesn’t really commit to any of the stances it presents at all. a lot of the points it tried to make about womanhood, feminism, capitalism, motherhood, and the patriarchy either fell flat or were completely undone by the movie’s end, which is why i found it very funny that some people thought this movie was TOO feminist when i thought it was, frankly, toothlessly feminist.

the sets and costumes were beautiful, the acting was genuinely solid, i liked a lot of the referential pastiche-y moments that cropped up throughout it and i laughed lots at its cleverness because it WAS very witty, but when the credits began to roll i did think, um. maybe we’re in hell. i’m sure some people loved this movie, but sadly i really could not! also mattel now has a Toy cinematic universe planned which is um… great! and doesn’t make me feel a horrible sense of despair or anything

[transmutationisms]

hi caden, i love your blog. you completely changed my understanding of succession when i first stumbled upon your writing. i wanted to ask what you thought of the use of pete seeger's 'which side are you on?' in season 1. it is one of the only overt gestures towards anticapitalist politics in the show and maybe the only one that comes to mind where the show calls in in other media (because one of the only other times that i can think of is ewan's anticapitalist lawyer) so it feels more 'real' to me, if that makes sense, because 'which side are you on?' has had a real-world role in anticapitalist politics in a way that ewan's lawyer has not lmao. i was wondering what you thought of that choice narratively/stylistically/etc. thank you! hope you're well.

hi! honestly, i read that as one of the most cynical moments in the entire show. the whole premise of the seeger song is that there's an inside and an outside to capitalist class interests: you'll either be a union man or a thug for jh blair. so, choosing a side makes an actual difference: are you defending or opposing capitalist class interests? with kendall and the vote of no confidence, obviously, there is no analogous choice. kendall and logan are both fighting for the same thing, namely control of the company. picking one of them over the other does nothing to alter the underlying power structures the way unions do, or are supposed to. the song pokes fun at kendall for having styled himself a revolutionary in order to make his media conglomerate power grab.

narratively and stylistically, i find this scene intensely satisfying. lines like "come all of you good workers" playing over footage of a billionaire wandering wall street are an extremely effective way to convey both how removed kendall's world is from that of struggling kentuckian miners, and how kendall is trapped by his own outrageous wealth and inability to imagine an escape from the company or his father. it's not an entirely unsympathetic sequence, but it's certainly not a flattering one. the joke here is that kendall wants to engage in the picture-book heroics of taking down the big evil boss, but he has no interest in why that boss exists in the first place. so, unlike striking miners, he's simply trying to maintain the same class structure but with himself at the very top of the hierarchy. even being logan's son and very much a member of the capitalist class isn't enough for kendall; he needs the actual ceo position. that he sees this as a way out of his father's abuse and control, rather than an avenue to his own perpetration of the same things, is indicative of how little he thinks of anyone besides himself and logan as a person with interests and needs.

the contrast between the shiny new glass and bustle of manhattan, versus the old-recording sound of the song, also points to some way in which union politics from the 1930s tend to falter when confronting the labour laws and practices of the 21st century. gig economies, cyberspatial capital, &c don't speak exactly the same language as unions modelled on organising tactics of nearly a century ago; kendall thus looks doubly absurd, trying to fancy himself not just a rebelling worker but one whose strategies simply seem incommensurable with the functioning of a modern media conglomerate (in deleuzian or foucauldian terms, the labour union is an effective strategy when dealing with a disciplinary society with disciplinary workspaces, like a factory; if it is to achieve anything in the control society with its corporations and neoliberalisation, it needs to update its tactics).

politically this is a good example of how the show typically leans more on satire of capitalism than on active or positive engagement with anti-capitalism. i also remember that the first time i watched the show, this was one of the moments where i felt like it was clear how the general trajectory for these characters is going to go. kendall is always going to pursue logan's empire; he's never going to seek a way out, and his actualisation, which is loganification, will always come at the expense of countless unnamed other people. he will never get the victorious moment he dreams of because his narratives for understanding the world are extremely limited and simplistic, and he can only cast himself as a few heroic archetypes that don't exist and that certainly wouldn't be him if they did.

for me this sequence is emblematic of both the show's strengths and what many leftists ultimately find frustrating about it, namely its refusal to engage with anti-capitalism beyond using it to mock the capitalist class. the song ends up telling us a lot about kendall and his relationship with logan, but isn't really trying to link the show up with actual alternatives to the capitalist systems of control that pen kendall in. it's a gesture toward awareness of proletarians (like the shots scattered through the show of domestic workers, event staff, &c) but is ultimately limited by the pov characters' own refusal to think about such people in any sustained capacity. again, i think this works incredibly well and succinctly as a piece of character work for a billionaire; but for people who want the show to engage more directly with labour politics and anti-capitalism, rather than such character study (& i can certainly understand that position), it's also a moment that sums up the fundamental problems of the premise and the writers' overall approach to politics.

[dragonnarrative-writes]

hi dragon!! hope you’re having a good tuesday ☺️ wanted to stop by to talk shop for a little

I absolutely adore Autumn Embers, genuinely one of the au’s that feels the most “real” to me. I’m really curious to learn more about how you fleshed out the world politics for this AU?

It’s one of my absolute favorite parts of the AU truly from the relevance of the 4B movement, to tampered beta suppressants, and even the courting cakes?? Adore it so much!!

-Kiko

Hi Kiko!

I'm going to offer a content warning for general discussion of reproductive health, complications, and freedoms below the cut.

The omegaverse is really interesting as a concept, but I really wanted to answer the question: What about Omegas that can't have children? And then that spawned the question, what kind of genetic conditions would make an omega not be able to have kids? There are so many real world reasons why pregnancy and childbirth are complicated and dangerous, what would estrus/heat and rut contribute to that? And, unfortunately, how would capitalism impact those complications?

It's kind of tricky to come up with the exact reasons why I asked those questions. I'm a Black US American, so the US Supreme Court striking down Roe v. Wade and subsequent war on reproductive freedom is part of it. The climate crisis and capitalist contributions to environmental destruction, and the health impacts thereof, are also a part of it. Honestly, my own queer identity and the experiences of intersex loved ones also contributed.

Whatever the case, the answer I came up with was: Omicron conditions. A classification of congenital developmental issues impacting but not limited to issues of presentation and reproduction.

All of Autumn Embers is based on this concept! We haven't explored it in depth yet in the fic, but Wildfire has an omicron condition. It's why her scent is so fucked up unique.

From there, I just wanted to make a world that feels complete. Of course someone surrounded by a world of "Heat and Rut!" and "Scents! Mean! Everything!" would be sensitive to their own reproductive experiences. And omegaverse fiction is (almost) never far enough from our reality, in my opinion, so of course there's going to be some conflict about reproductive health and rights, impacted by the Ever Present Evil (capitalism). And of course it's going to be global, this whole fandom surrounds an international task force.

This is way longer than I intended, so I'll just admit that I came up with the sex cake because omegaverse is inherently horny and I also want to do weird horny stuff in the middle of my examination of gender, sexuality and reproduction.

I want to give a shout out to Scents and Sensibility: The Working Assassin's Guide to Supersoldier Seduction, a Captain America fanfic that rewired my brain when it comes to omegaverse fiction. And another shoutout to I Shall Not Live In Vain, a series from The Witcher fandom that actually got me thinking about scent compatibility.

Thanks for the ask @mikichko!

[perfectlovevn]

hi boss! absolutely loved Perfect Love and you did such an amazing job with the entire game's execution! i loved how you were able to so clearly portray eris as f-ked up and the main instigator for everything, pulling the strings behind the scenes instead of the usual "i didnt do anything wrong" or "im just trying to survive" type of MC (which isnt bad at all, but im so happy with the freshness and utter depravity eris brings) i love your art and the intentionally messy style that highlights the disorganisation and chaos in both eris' and milo's mind, the recurring motifs of eyes, red, blue, god i can go on and on. really your vn is so well crafted with how intentional every creative decision taken seems, im going crazy with the amount of love, time and effort you put into perfect love.

ive read every single name easter egg you put and the references to other yandere vns/media (jd <3) AND went on to give us more with adding little quips later in the game depending on the nickname eris gives milo. i was literally going crazy with how i couldnt decode the 2nd type of cipher you scattered throughout the code until 2 days later when i was ready to give up and ask you hahaha

from there, if it isnt too spoilerish, is there reason you used the nihilist cipher that removed the letter J instead of the usual Z ? and ! i loved the snippets with the friendship gang, tysm for leaving in your writing process and brainstorming products in the game files i had so much fun <3 im so sorry for the rant and thank you so much for the game! 1000% looking forward to your next one if youre working on something!

Hello! Thank you for your kind words!

Yeah, one of the main reasons I made Eris like that because because of how much I really wanted to see more evil MC in visual novels (or just yandere media in general). While there isn't anything wrong with having a yandere who is just there to survive, there is something very fun about being the one who causes the yandere to become worse than he initially was.

I'm glad that you found such meaning in the art style! Honestly the biggest reason I drew it like that was because I was trying to get it done for the 2023 yanjam and I didn't want to overwhelm myself so I just made mostly everything black and white. That and it's supposed to symbolize more of the darker aspects of the game. Did you know all my assets were drawn with one brush?

Thank you so much! I hope you enjoy the details because I really did try to put as much as I could in there. Since I think it would be fun for people to see the neat details people put in the game (I know I sure do when I play visual novels), I tried to make everything very catered to what was going on in the story. It did take some extra work, but I think it's good for the game and my general learning experience. I'm also glad you enjoyed the easter eggs I put in for names and nicknames. I was very sleep deprived when I did it and I kept adding them in because I don't have good attention span (or at least, that's part of the reason).

For the cyphers inside of the code, I put a hint at the very top relating to each of the code. Each of the four types is represented of the three Milos with the one in English being from Eris. The Nhilist cypher is specifically for Manipulation and the key is in the second line based off of the capitalized letters.

Yeah! I'm glad you liked it. I'm still in the middle of writing the other ones (I'm working on the one with Poison in it, which recounts what Eris did to get Poison to fight Violent in his route). I always like leaving my drafts in there because I always find it fun to see people's thought progress in code and games.

No, no, I love your rant on it! I think it's really fun seeing what other people like, dislike and thought about the game in general! My next game will be a lot more light hearted, but still have a yandere character in it.