#certainly there are people who fetishize violence against us

[nonbinaryprints]

I was gonna reblog something but the tags were stuff like forced masculinization and like ??? that feels weird to me

[agent-cupcake]

Sugar

Pairing: Zenos yae Galvus x f!Reader Kink: Cockwarming Tags: Explicit, size kink, dub/noncon, blood and gore, pain, trauma, dark Word Count: 3k

In third place we have the crown prince himself in a story that took a darker tone than anticipated because more than anything sexual, I fetishize suffering and Zenos is a toughie to write. Enjoy :D

At first, you believed it was a kind dream. A gift after the horrible week you’d had. Dreaming of a man, a head against your chest with hair that was silky against your skin. A warm, solid body entwined with yours, practically a wall of firm muscle. A suggestively hard press against your thigh. Skin against skin, nothing between you.  

You should have known. You weren’t deserving of a kind dream.

But you realized that slowly. The pillow was softer than your own. As was the bed. Certainly not yours. And the blond hair and ridiculously solid body and fancy room all built up into a fragmented memory of who you had been with the night before. As soon as you fully understood that it wasn’t a dream, so too were you given a vague concept of what had happened. Blood. Terror. Violence meeting violence, life mingling with death until the two were inseparable. Instinctively, your whole body jerked away from the embrace, trying to untangle yourself from him. 

Zenos made an irritated sound, his arms flexing to force you back into place. It made you realize that the position wasn’t so much like cuddling as he was using you as an extra pillow. 

“I do hope you’ve a good reason to wake me,” he said, his voice husky from just waking up. The way it rumbled against you only further solidified the reality of your situation, absurd as it was.  

“I’m sorry, Your Highness,” you finally said, hoping that was the right answer. 

“It is too late for that,” he said, though he didn’t move, his head remaining pressed against your chest. An agonizingly long time passed in silence. You didn’t dare move again, although there was no chance you would go back to sleep. Zenos finally groaned, a low noise that went straight to your core, made you that much more aware of his cock against your thigh. “Your racing heart beats to a most enticing rhythm. What passion do I hear pounding within your breast now, I wonder. Fear? Anger? Excitement? Do you yourself know?”

“I… don’t,” you answered honestly, barely aware of his question. Shock was a drug unto itself, although you had never felt its effects so profoundly. The whole night was enshrouded in the heavy velvet of a nightmare, although not so much that you could forget the rush. Whether or not that applied only to the sex, you didn’t know. There were a lot of things you didn’t know. 

Zenos hummed, releasing you to roll onto his back. You twisted away immediately, pulling the sheet up to your chest with a death grip. Moving hurt. Everything hurt. Not to mention the way the shift caused your head to spin. There was no way to discern the time, not with thick blinds drawn over the windows. There was enough light for you to see the prince. Zenos stood out against the dark bedding, a beacon of porcelain and spun gold. He laid on his back in the center, a muscular arm curled beneath his head. Even with one leg bent up and the sheet providing loose modesty, his erection was obvious. As were the stains. Stiff globs of dried cum, and blood. 

Everything was painted in blood. A world coated in red.  

You licked your lip, wincing at the fresh split, and the memories it brought. Blood’s tangy, sickening zing was all you could taste when Zenos’s mouth met yours. Your own blood, your lip had split pretty bad when the man punched you the first time. At first you thought Zenos was giving you a kiss, but he wasn’t that type. Maybe he was some sort of blood feasting monster like people said, he’d definitely had his fill of yours. 

“I have to go,” you said, shaking your head in denial, or maybe rejection. Too late for that. “Asina will be furious if I’m late.” 

“I won’t force you to stay,” Zenos told you lazily, “although I doubt he will gladly invite your presence. Not after the mess you made of his lab.” 

Your shoulders tensed, eyes squeezing shut. The mess you left was irreconcilable with reality. A sequence of bad comedy. No jokes, but there had been laughter. 

“You need not feign regret. I have seen the truth with my own eyes,” Zenos said. 

“The truth?” you echoed flatly, keeping your eyes closed. 

“A beast was responsible for that man’s death, not a girl,” he explained in a softly matter-of-fact tone. “It was exactly as I hoped. At the climax of your brutality, there was a flicker of something… magnificent within your eyes. Rage, hunger, the desire to sink your teeth into the neck of any man who would threaten you, to gorge yourself with his blood.”

“I was defending myself,” you said, opening your eyes. Why? To convince him? To plead with him? Zenos was clearly unimpressed.  

“Whatever motivation you believe justifies your actions does nothing to change what you are,” Zenos told you, grabbing the sheet to pull it out of your hands and away from your body. You didn’t resist as much as you should have, you didn’t know if you should, or if you wanted to. “It is by your deeds that you are defined and judged.” The ruined, silken fabric pooled around your hips. Zenos’s eyes dragged over the patchwork of bruises covering your torso. Some of them were from the fight—yes, it had been a fight—and some were from him. You weren’t sure which set caught his eye, had his tongue running across his perfectly pink lower lip. “And by your deeds that the debt of consequence is incurred. By all means, tell yourself what you will, live by the rule that has failed you, but know that you will pay.”

Of all the awful things to feel while sitting naked before the prince of Garlemald, listening to him lecture you about consequence, you were overcome with awkward uncertainty. Fear was more appropriate, you had every reason to fear Zenos. If you hated him, that would also make sense. The insecurity was unexpected, and unexpectedly crippling. He had watched you fight for your life and done nothing. Why? What business did he have in the lab so late at night? Why didn’t he help? 

But maybe you knew why. 

Maybe you didn’t want to. 

“I don’t know what to do,” you admitted, meeting Zenos’s eyes. Beastly blue, void of compassion or empathy, you weren’t looking for humanity. You wanted a prince, a Legatus. “Tell me what… what I should do.” 

 “Sit astride my hips and impale yourself upon my cock,” he said, his head tilting sideways into the cradle of his arm. “Clarity did seem to come to you not long after I had sheathed myself within you.”  

A shudder worked down your spine. Even if you couldn’t remember anything at all, you would know that Zenos hadn’t been gentle. And the rest came to you in fragmented bits. He said he was pleased with you. That you were worthy. He folded you up with your knees to your chest and fucked you like an animal and you urged him on at every turn, panting and shaking and drooling like you were in heat. It hurt, it hurt more than it should have, but you relished the pain because it broke through the sharp glass in your head, giving you something. The pleasure had been a surprise then, although you should have expected it given how wet you were, wet enough to hear it, to add to the vulgar slapping of skin and helpless cries and the indecent coupling of beasts. 

You shook your head, trying to focus. Right then, you knew he didn’t care about what you felt. He was hard and you were here, you knew enough about men to understand that you were being used. 

“Okay,” you agreed, blinking fast to remain grounded. 

Zenos did nothing, simply watching you. Expectant. Swallowing down your nerves, you pushed the sheet off of him. He sprawled across the bed, completely naked with the same insouciant swagger he took to the throne room and the battlefield. Unfazed, as if it were all the same to him. Maybe it was, Zenos didn’t even move, although you couldn’t help but feel a little taken aback, your pussy clenching uncomfortably at the sight of his cock. At the size, really. It was one thing to feel the stretch, and another to see why you were so sore. He didn’t do or say anything when you wrapped your fingers around his cock, didn’t react in the slightest when you leaned down to wrap your lips around the head, getting his dick as slick as possible. It hurt your split lip and you could feel his impatience, but it was necessary. 

“I did not ask for your mouth,” Zenos snapped. You looked up at him, a strand of saliva connecting your lips to the flushed head of his cock as you pulled off. His eyes followed that, darkening ever so slightly. Like they had as he stood in the doorway, his eyes tracking a goopy chunk of something bloody as it dripped from the broken device you had used as an impromptu bludgeon. 

Then, before then, the lab was dark and you were putting files away for the night. You had no idea if the man was a soldier or a researcher when he came in through that doorway, only that he knew who you were and had sought you out while you were alone. To get rid of the interloper. Nobody liked or respected you, regardless of what you did, or how good you were—and you were the best, why else would you be suffered? All he saw when he came in with fire in his eyes was a savage who had taken something away from a pure-blooded Garlean scientist and, after the first punch, something in you snapped. 

Then, after then, Zenos stood there in the same doorway, and he laughed in delight.

Throwing a leg over his hip, you poised yourself above him, rolling your hips over the head of his cock to ease yourself onto him. But you looked down at Zenos, splayed comfortably across the pillows, and you remembered the sight of another man beneath you, his eyes bulging and face twitching as you hit him over and over again. Something had broken in his throat when you struck his neck. His screams gurgled painfully out of his chest with thick bubbles of bloody spittle, the sound wet and guttural like the creatures that gathered in dark sticky bogs. That’s what the air felt like too. Dense and humid and foul. 

You weren’t moving, so Zenos took hold of your hips and pulled you down. The pressure of his cock pushing past the sore muscles of your entrance and settling there was enough to make you yelp, your body jerking away instinctively, half caught in nightmarish memory. Zenos caught your bruised hips before you could, dragging you down a little further.

Breathe. Relax. What else could you do? 

“Sl-oh… Zenos,” you gasped, unable to be more articulate as you rolled your hips, trying to mitigate the stretching ache. 

The prince peered up at you from under those thick lashes with a smug smile. He looked so much younger like this. Not much older than you. Beautiful. Before last night, you didn’t interact with him. He supported Asina’s research, and therefore your own, but he was so far above you there was no point in considering his appearance. You slid further down his cock, jaw dropping unconsciously. You couldn’t tell if the ripping sensation was new or aggravating pain from last night, only that it was intense. Good or bad didn’t matter, there was something new within you. Need.

The man kept twitching even after all those disgusting foamy noises were silenced. You didn’t stop hitting him, even though enough brain had been battered out of his broken skull for you to know he couldn’t still be alive. Why was that? Why hadn’t you stopped? When Zenos laughed in delight, you laughed too. 

“Eyes on me, girl.” Zenos punctuated the statement by thrusting upward, using the grip he had around your hips to roll them, to grind you down more and more onto his dick. 

That easily, you cracked. It hurt too acutely, too intimately. You couldn’t help but whine openly, tears forming in your eyes at the pain of his cock cruelly stretching out your raw cunt. You met his eyes, felt his amusement. And you, ever the reactionary, met that with your pain, your fear, your disgust, your embarrassment, your despair, your need. Everything, exposed entirely. 

“There it is.” Zenos said, almost triumphant. “I knew from the moment I saw your mask of apathy crack that I would enjoy taking you. Those eyes contain such…. vivacity. You respond as if every pain were your first, every sensation a new experience. To have you stripped before me and your true nature bared, that was well worth the effort.”

There was nothing you could say to that, even if you had the capacity to form words. A little further and you could feel his low groan rumble in Zenos’s chest, feel the path the sound made before it left his parted lips. That made you tense up, your pussy squeezing his cock, soaking it a little more. Pinching, stretching, aching, you opened your mouth as if to scream, but you knew you couldn’t. Like your throat had been bashed in, all you could do was whimper.

“I don’t mind your pleasure either. If I were not able to feel it in the coiling heat of your loins, I would know it writ plain on your face.” Once he was as deep inside of you as he could possibly manage, he held you there. No grinding, no thrusting, just the disquieting sensation of your pussy trying to adjust around his length without moving. “Enjoy it. Savor it. These moments of ecstasy will fade all too soon, leaving you bereft and empty.” 

You closed your eyes, focusing on the weight and heat inside of you and not on the memory of an empty, bereft body beneath you. “Can I…?” you impatiently moved your hips, anxious for more friction. It hurt, but you couldn’t help moaning either. 

“Mayhap later. For now, you may rest your head here,” Zenos said, touching his chest. 

The intimacy of the position struck you as uncannily disquieting and you wanted movement, to not think. You weren’t about to argue with him either. Biting your lip to avoid reacting at all to the uncomfortable weight of him inside of you, you lowered yourself down onto his broad chest. When you peeked up at him, his eyes were closed, those long eyelashes dusting his cheekbones. There was no way you could rest like this, not when your entire body was hyper attuned to every place you were connected. It was all you could do to hold yourself together. 

“I envy you,” Zenos told you, his voice lower. “To feel such lucidity… Would that I could relive my first.” 

Your only response was a shaky breath. Feeling the rumble of his words, the minute shifts of his body beneath you, of your pussy squeezing and twitching around him, was more than you could bear. There was no place to go with the excess, not externally or internally. 

“It is… the purest of any pleasure. Though we do not know it, that moment is the most alive we will ever be. Hitherto, ignorance. Thenceforth, starvation.” Zenos sighed. “If not for that perfect moment of clarity, what path would I have found? What would be the purpose of this trivial existence? I recall the delicious give of flesh yielding to my sword, the warmth enveloping my blade as it sliced through muscle and organ and bone.”

His hips rolled upward. Not thrusting, just grinding into you. His cock was thick enough that even that small amount of pressure was overwhelming. You whimpered, nails digging into his chest, but Zenos didn’t respond. 

“But before that, I remember blood bursting, gushing out of wounds, creating a torrential roar in my ears. My own fear, my own pain.” As the enthusiasm in his voice picked up, so did the way he rocked you back and forth. “The pungent odor of true, deserved violence and death thickening feverishly in the air.” 

Zenos stilled, leaving you shaking—shaking hard. Could he feel that, buried so deep inside of you? Could he feel how you trembled all the way down into your rotten core? Your pussy clamped down around him and a heavy breath caught in your chest, a little sob you couldn’t let out. You had to keep and hold it all inside, to savor, to suffer.  

“Yet,” he continued in a softer tone, indifferent to your plight. “Those details are insignificant. It is the look in his eyes that I truly crave. There is nothing in the world that can be compared to a predator at its peak forced to realize the failings of its own strength. To be aware, finally, of one's life, and aware of how easily it could slip away. Mere seconds of living, framed by an endless deluge of monotony. To know, and to never find satisfaction again. Now you know as well, my poor little beast.” 

One of his hands traced down your back, his fingertips digging into each ridge of your spine until settling again on your bruised hip. A cascade of chills broke out across your sweaty skin in his wake, and another full body shiver. You didn’t respond, distracted by the weight of Zenos’s cock, the feeling of fullness, letting that center you, unmake you. His words were nonsense in your ears, although you felt like you understood their significance. You didn’t want significance. 

“Zenos,” you said. Whined, maybe, too impatient. “I want…” 

“I know what you want, girl.” His hips rocked up and you yelped, burying your face against his chest again. Zenos’s heart was beating. That was, for some reason, extremely strange to you. That his heart should be beating as any man’s would, and that it should be so steady, so firm. So unmistakably alive. “Tell me… Tell me what it felt like when you beat a man to naught more than chunks of skull and brain. Mayhap then I shall deem you worthy of a reward.” 

[listentoace]

you’re disgusting and only using this kink to justify being misogynistic

Disclaimer: This is just me setting things straight once & for all so I don't have to deal with in the future. If you're here for the kinks only and don't really care about a rather pointless discussion about this, feel free to skip this.

For reference, the Wikipedia definition on Misogyny. Highlighting is done by me:

Misogyny is hatred of, contempt for, or prejudice against women or girls. It is a form of sexism that can keep women at a lower social status than men, thus maintaining the social roles of patriarchy. Misogyny has been widely practised for thousands of years. It is reflected in art, literature, human societal structure, historical events, mythology, philosophy, and religion worldwide. An example of misogyny is violence against women, which includes domestic violence and, in its most extreme forms, misogynist terrorism and femicide. Misogyny also often operates through sexual harassment, coercion, and psychological techniques aimed at controlling women, and by legally or socially excluding women from full citizenship. In some cases, misogyny rewards women for accepting an inferior status.

Sure, label me like that just because I make fetish content. Sorry not sorry that "Be a good girl, serve me, eat, and grow fucking fat for me!" is hotter than "Hey, um, so we are equals and all and I appreciate you as a person but would like to ask you if you... um... well, would you like to gain weight? – Sorry, I shouldn't have said that, it's your body and your decision. I'll shut up". I honestly feel a bit stupid that I have to explain this, but apparently it isn't fully clear.

It seems as if you can't distinguish between me portraying a character here – Ace, the evil, male dom who likes to make good girls horny & fat – and me as an actual human being. Yes, I'm into feederism. Yes, it turns me on if a girl is obedient and submissive. Yes, I enjoy having power over a girl and controlling her in way that bring her pleasure. But no, I'm definitely not misogynistic.

From my personal, private viewpoint, I treat women with respect and think of them as equals. This actually goes beyond gender, as you're all just human to me. And like most humans, I have kinks. In my case, those kinks are about control, weight gain, acts of service, worshiping femininity, and more niche stuff like vampire & demon stuff. Yes, these kinks include acts that fit some criteria of misogyny at a first glance, such as me enjoying to spank and choke, being in control, and rewarding a good girl for her obedience. But that is only while participating in said kinks, with full consent!

The idea of actually showing violence against women, even in extreme forms such as femicide, is highly off-putting to me and I condemn people who'd even consider such actions. Even crossing a simple kink-related boundary, such as calling someone "piggy" without them liking that pet-name already makes me feel guilt, so that's already where I cross a line for myself. Whenever I talk to someone, I always ask for likes & dislikes, desires & limitations, and of course consent. To me, that is self-explanatory and just human decency. After all, we're all here to be horny, have a good time and enjoy our kinks without judgement.

I assume I don't have to do any in-depth reasoning on why I am not misogynistic, don't actually think of women as inferior beings, and most certainly wouldn't assault them. I worship women, not just for they beauty, but for the individual beings they are. So please, for the future: Try not to throw labels like that around just because you might not like some content. Just block me and be done with it and don't judge or shame people for their kinks, that's just not cool.

[demonsonthemoon]

Arospec headcanon: Daniela Velasquez from Sense8

I headcanon Dani as aromantic and allosexual. I have also always felt like the show failed to properly explore her character and how she forms relationships. So here is a very short exploration of that headcanon:

Dani clearly sees romantic attachment as leverage, something she can use. Of course, this fits well with her career in show-business, but she seems surprisingly happy to forego any romantic attachment once she settles into her friendship with Lito and Hernando. In the same way, she seems to be using her sexuality to navigate her relationships: she cheats on Joaquin as a way to try and escape their relationship, then immediately tries to have sex with Lito in order to cement their relationship and gain protection. There's some self-destructiveness in her behavior, but I also feel like this shows someone who feels in control of her sexuality, whereas she has a much harder time using the codes of romance to her advantage, even if she tries to.

I've always been sad that the development of her relationship with Lito and Hernando was never explicitally explored. I guess relationship negotiation doesn't make for good television? Still, there are some definite hints that they have a non-traditional friendship, which could be interpreted as a queerplatonic relationship. There's some ambiguity in the series about Dani's photos of Lito and Hernando, but I've always felt as though the two men weren't actually surprised at the existence of the photos, and only afraid of the risk of them being leaked. This makes me feel as though Dani's part in their sexuality (the way she watches and masturbates as they have sex), is something that's been acknowledged and accepted by the two men. They certainly make space for her in their domestic lives when they all move in together, in a way that goes way beyond just protecting Dani and all of their reputations.

I want to read Dani as allo-aro. I want to see her as someone who's been enduring what people have called “love” because she thought that was necessary to get what she wants (sex, safety, affection,...) I want to grieve for the way she's been traumatized by an abusive relationship, in which someone could call violence and obsession love and no one would correct him. I understand how, for someone like her, Lito and Hernando's relationship could be a safe heaven. Lito is someone who does not feel attracted to her, but who still acts caringly towards her and can offer her the protection she needs. More than that, Lito and Hernando's relationship is an example of truly caring love, one that can help her heal from her trauma but which – very importantly – doesn't need her to put her boundaries on the line to do so. She doesn't need to fall in love to learn that love can be kind. She doesn't need to fall in love ever, because she no longer needs a romantic relationship in order to not be alone. I think this reading is much kinder to the character, instead of the way the show brushes off her connection to Lito and Hernando as “gay fetishism” in the first season (while simultaneously also asserting that Hernando genuinely cares for her as a friend.)

In the end, headcanoning Dani as aro is important to me because she's not alone. Her relationship with Lito and Hernando goes against the narrative that it's normal for romantic love to isolate you (inside your closed off couple bubble), which leads to the idea that it's normal for arospec people to be left behind, to always be treated as second best. Instead, we see Hernando break off his relationship with Lito based on how the latter treats Dani. And I want every arospec people to get what Dani gets: relationships that are mutually supportive and which are open to intimacy even if they aren't romantic.

[niiwa-angel]

please tell me why you think that transgender people are bad/faking it. With real reasons, please

Normally, I wouldn't answer a bad faith question like this but I feel like it's a question a lot of Radfems get asked so I'm going for it. I'm going to put a cut here, because I am going to post screen shots of TIM rape fantasies and I know that's disturbing. You have been warned

First of all, I divide trans identified people into two categories. 1. People with gender Dysmorphia and 2. People with sex based reasons. For category two, males tend to be identifying into sexualization while females are trying to identify out of it. This also includes females who fetishize homosexual male relationships and think that by identifying asale, they can have that Yaoi romance they masturbate to.

So let's address category 1 first. I do not hold anything against people with gender Dysmorphia and in fact, feel quite a lot of sympathy for them. However, I think the treatments we have for their illness is not helpful. We don't treat anorexics with gastric sleeves or laxatives, we don't treat people with depression by giving them razors, we don't treat people with anxiety by telling them they're completely right about their friends hating them. So why are we treating people with Gender Dysmorphia with hormones and surgeries when they should be receiving therapy?

We also know that in young people, gender Dysmorphia is something they tend to outgrow as they react adulthood. So any treatments they get, such as puberty blockers, cross sex hormones, and surgery, are permanent "fixes" to temporary problems. Again, these people need therapy, not surgical intervention.

Now let's move on to category 2.

Trans identified males in category 2 are usually motivated by a fetish. Where men feel sexual gratification by performing tasks they view as feminine and often consume a lot of "sissy porn". Trans identified males have even talked about this at length and the misogyny really jumps out

This is a very famous "trans woman" who literally just said that the bare essentials to being female is "an open mouth, and expectant asshole, blank, blank eyes" and we're supposed to think it's not a fetish?

Moving on from that, a lot of trans identified males on this site LOVE to post about their sexually violent fantasies against real women. Let's take a look at them, shall we?

Nothing scary about that AT ALL!! Totally normal thoughts to have about your fellow humans. And for people who so desperately want to be seen as "women" the sure do like talking about violence they'd like to inflict on us. This isn't even the extent of it, this is merely a drop in an overflowing bucket of porn addicted depravity that trans identified males indulge in. If you want more, I suggest the R/FTM subreddit. You'll find lots of men discussing how they stole their female family members underwear and masturbated in them. Or how many of them have a fantasy about getting pregnant so they can get an abortion. Or how many of them have a fantasy about breastfeeding a baby. All of their fantasies are rooted in sexual gratification. By their own admission in posts they make on trans subreddits, sexual arousal and gratification are a major part of the "trans woman" experience. Look at how often they talk about "euphoria boners" on that sub when it comes to things like wearing dresses or skirts.

But let's move on from males for a moment, even though I could go on about them all day. While trans identified males are certainly the ones who pose the most physical threat against other people, trans identified females aren't harmless either, especially the ones with a gay male fetish.

Women with a gay male fetish adhere to the same level of entitlement that men with a lesbian fetish do. They are angry at real homosexuals for not being interested in them. Trans identified females tell on themselves all the time on X and Reddit, they complain about gay men not wanting to date them, they call "cis" gay men a disease, and that they wish AIDS has wiped them all out. I'm running out of pictures for this post but @capricornseason has lots of receipts on her blog. Not that I think you'll go check them out, because this is a bad faith question, but I encourage others to go see her page.

For women trying to identify out of sexualization, you'll often hear some very telling terms. "I don't feel like a woman" or "I was never into xyz". Usually, this means that they were tomboys or that they, like trans identified males, affiliate womanhood with sexual availability and submission. It's not, being a woman is just being an adult human female, how you dress, act, what career you chose, and how you spend your free time has nothing to do with that.

[thechaoticreader]

Rage Against Publishing

My thoughts on Rage being pulled from publishing and the outrage following.

Rage by Richard Bachman (pen name of Stephen King) is a highly controversial book written by a prolific author which hasn't been published since 1997 due to its subject matter. I see a TON of reviews and essays about how cancel culture got to it and the soft lefties are ruining publishing and I gotta say that I couldn't agree less. If you want to know why this book was taken out of print and Stephen Kings thoughts on the issue please please please read Guns (its on Kindle Unlimited), I'll be referring to it a lot.

Firstly, Stephen King himself asked for it to be pulled from publishing, no one called for its "cancellation" (at least not a significant amount of people), there was little to no public outcry, in fact it was a very niche novel that comparatively very few people even knew about!

On page 29 of Guns, he says "I didn't pull Rage from publication because the law demanded it... I pulled it because in my judgement it might be hurting people, and that made it the responsible thing to do." In my opinion getting mad at the decision to pull Rage shows a fundamental misunderstanding of the relationship between literature and society; as well as an apathetic attitude towards gun violence and school shootings. It is absolutely true that media does not create school shooters but it can - and does - inspire those with the inclination to commit violent acts. Rage was found in the lockers, pockets, bookshelves and minds of young people who attempted and/or followed through with domestic terrorism. Did the book cause this? Certainly not. However it happened enough times for King to decide the responsible thing to do was to remove it saying "My book did not break [them]* or turn them into killers; they found something in my book that spoke to them because they were already broken. Yet I did see Rage as a possible accelerant, which is why I pulled it from sale." (Guns, 9)

*I chose to remove the names listed because I believe too much focus and attention is put on the perpetrators and Tumblr has an issue with fetishizing and idolizing school shooters

For those who want to read it, you can, Rage is out there it's just less accessible, especially for young, hurting high schoolers. I agree with Kings decision to remove it and I find it commendable that he saw a pattern of violence in relation to his book and decided to take away a potential catalyst. In the USA school shootings are on the rise and are treated as an unfortunate inevitability and it is so easy for teens to get ahold of weapons and become inspired to use them, so if even one source of inspiration is made less accessible thats good. If I had to choose between this book being easily accessible or one kid deciding not to shoot up their school, I would take the latter without a second thought.

I will write my review of the book and its contents in another post but I'm just so tired of seeing all of the white men bitching about how the sensitive snowflakes cancelled this book. It was never cancelled. After seeing killers taking inspiration, the author decided to stop publishing it. You can still find and read it.

Lastly, for the love of every god to ever exist STOP CALLING THIS BOOK BANNING!!!!! Book banning is a very specific phenomenon that is so so serious and by misusing the term, you're taking away its significance and intentionally or unintentionally harming the cause and the marginalized voices that are at the centre.

[baiika]

My ho time taught me that evil men aren't great at sex, generally ranging from just bad to outright dangerous. Given Sousuke's track record of almost cartoonish violence, I think it's safe to say he falls on the latter end of the spectrum. Now, you COULD say I'm wrong because Tite seems to be largely asexual in his depiction, where there's only like... all of four married couples during the manga period, but no art exists in a vacuum. Even if Tite didn't intentionally do so, Sousuke still, even inadvertently, a sexual being. I think exploring that really cements how evil Sousuke is.

I cannot emphasize this enough: This isn't p.ornography; this is an exploration of the sexuality of a very evil person. Details of gore, misogyny, battery, gendered violence, relationship abuse, sexual assault, fetishism, & general adult topics are explored in depth. Reader discretion is advised.

I've explored Sousuke's fascination with hyperviolence in the past, so I won't be reiterating it here. However, it's weird how enthralled he appears to be, like when he smiles in chapter 170 after stabbing Momo, & in chapter 532 during White vs Masaki. He looks content after seeing Gin disembowel the former 3rd seat of gobantai in TBTP. I have trouble articulating the emotions I see in him, but it's definitely reminiscent of some more depraved shit I came across as a ho.

It's safe to say anguish & exploitation arouse him, which is hard for some people to believe, but let's take a look at fetish, & I'll start with something anecdotal.

My time doing sex work exposed me to a lot of fetishists. It was mostly in-person scenes until I stopped doing sex work about six years ago. In the last two or three years, I started taking commissions, & have done many fetish works. Considering I was doing in-person work as a teen for pedophiles, the fetishists I met were surprisingly tolerable, & I don't have any commissioners now from the fetish community that I dislike. I've had overwhelmingly good experiences from foot fetishists who have commissioned me. 

The most recent commission I was asked to write from a foot fetishist was for a young lady in stockers (the device) whose husband tickles the soles of her feet until she's sweating & crying. There's nothing pornographic about the imagery, but it's the context of sensuality & BDSM that makes it a masturbatory aid.

(I will not be sharing the story itself to protect the privacy of my client.)

I'm getting to the point, I promise.

There's a lot of debate on what causes fetishism & defines fetishism, but generally, I regard it as something that isn't inherently sexual such as balloons, hair, or asphyxiation causing sexual arousal or being used to cause or assist in the achievement of orgasm. 

I have known people with blood & violence fetishes.

This isn't me trashing on kink or fetishism. I don't think fetish is inherently a disorder or anything deviant. It's something that exists as an entirely neutral quality of a person. However, it's worth noting that Sousuke is experiencing sexual arousal from nonsexual situations. That is fetishism. It just so happens that Sousuke is an asshole.

I'm certainly not saying he doesn't enjoy the visage of cisgender women. Sousuke does like breasts, pussy, buttocks, etc, but it alone isn't what gets him off.

I'll explore the details of Sousuke's misogyny another time, but given that Sousuke is heterosexual & misogynistic, the infliction of violence against women is especially arousing. While a violence fetish isn't necessarily predatorial, Sousuke is a predator. Given his engagement with violence & misogyny throughout the series, it's not a leap to see he engages in violence & rape culture. The details become a matter of personal opinion, however. Communicating this is most easily done through my portrayal of AiHina.

Sousuke & Momo have a commonwealth marriage because Sousuke, accurately, thought a relationship would be the simplest avenue to manipulate Momo. Now, I don't ascribe any cluster B personality disorder to Sousuke on principle, Narcissistic Personality Disorder included, but the abuse he subjects her to is definitely narcissistic abuse. I will explore more about the details of their relationship another time.

What arouses him is causing fear in Momo, so he will scream at her over innocuous shit & hit her. Because being arrested for being a wife-beater would be an obstacle to his goals, Sousuke doesn't hit her face, but hits her limbs & torso, which causes her to a) cry from shock, pain, & emotional turmoil & b) bruises her, & potentially breaks bones, which causes her to be in somewhat visible pain depending on how astute the individual is. Sousuke isn't, so mostly, he enjoys seeing her naked & very thoroughly bruised. He enjoys strangling Momo, specifically because she'll thrash & claw at him to get air while she is crying, & also enjoys seeing her black out. Additionally, he does coerce & sometimes even forces her to have sex with him... which is longhand for rape. If she agrees, he still gets to see her uncomfortable & in emotional turmoil. If she outright refuses, he can then force her. He often pins Momo by her throat & rapes her.

Anal sex takes a great deal of prep to do comfortably, including washing the orifice of fecal matter, giving the orifice time to acclimate to the presence of something being pushed inside of use, usually done using toys, generous lubrication, & a lot of patience.

But Sousuke enjoys Momo's pain, so he forgoes all preparation. While Sousuke enjoys the tightness of the anus, that isn't what arouses him. It's her anguish. If she resists physically or verbally, he'll beat the back of her head &/or pin her down by the back of her neck, which suffocates her.

Sousuke does masturbate & fantasizes as an aid. Often, he can vividly picture slitting Momo's throat. He can see her struggling & gurgling. He can see the spurting arterial bleed. Without fail, he climaxes when blood covers her breasts. This is his favorite fantasy, but he has others.

Unfortunately, he also likes penetrating open wounds. Occasionally, he will masturbate to the fantasy or have wet dreams of cutting open Momo's breast, separating the skin & muscle from the ribs, inserting himself into the lesion, ejaculating into the wound, & watching semen & blood pour out of the entry. He fantasizes about decapitating Momo, inserting himself into her windpipe, & watching the head of his penis appear & disappear through her mouth while he gyrates. He fantasizes about cutting open Momo's belly, removing her intestines, & using them as a fleshlight.

Truly, his existence is soul-sucking.

[severeprincesheep]

Quote from trans woman Kristina Harrison: "Why is there no controversy about trans men and men's spaces? I mean, I think there are a number of reasons and sexism is one of those but, you know, are men less bigoted than women? No, of course not. The fundamental reason (why) there's no controversy is that men are not oppressed by or vulnerable to female bodied or female born people. The elephant in the room and why there is so much controversy about access to female spaces is the systematic oppression of women and girls (just a minor detail, then...) including high levels of violence by men."

A Woman’s Place is on the Frontline, Kristina Jayne Harrison, Hastings 20th June 2018

Independent Socialist and Transwoman.

“Hi! Just to give you a little bit of background about myself: I’ve marched against Section 28, I’ve stood tall and proud as an unapologetic trans woman demanding rights, dignity and properly funded services for trans people; but I’ve also demonstrated in defense of women's abortion rights, their right to control their own bodies, definitions, spaces and to direct their own fight against sexism.

Scandalously, for that I've been accused of allying with bigotry and the Far-Right. I'll take no lectures on fighting bigotry or the Right Wing from those trans activists happy to demonize Progressive women who dare to have an opinion which differs from their own.

Throughout my adult life I've fought the Right, both in terms of trying to articulate a vision of hope and solidarity over division and bigotry but also directly on demonstrations and in working for fighting trade unions and for Labor governments. Time and again I've opposed the Far-Right: in Halifax, in Leeds, several times in London including the massive Welling demonstration in 1993.

The fact that I'm opposed to both proposals for self-registration/self-recognition of gender identity and the current transgender ideology that is, I'm sad to say, seems to be accepted by the majority certainly, of the trans activists is entirely consistent with all the activism precisely because I think that these proposals and this underlying ideology is bad for women, bad for gay people who are homo-sexuals not homo-genderals; and it also plays directly into the hands of the Right Wing.

I think, ultimately, it is also bad for trans people and particularly transexuals like myself. I say transexual because it's a term that we're not supposed to use anymore, but it actually describes people who, for the most part, undergo or wish to undergo a gender reassignment surgery and have hormone treatments to complete what I would describe as a meaningful medical transition: a largely irreversible commitment that not only helps us to fit into an opposite-sex social reality - which is more than just stereotypes because women are also active agents through shape their world, so it's not just the imposed social world it's also the world that women create through their own endeavor and action. But I also argue that it goes some way to... that that transition, a meaningful transition goes some way to putting many women at greater ease of having male-born people in their spaces.

In the public imagination, certainly, this is what people think of when you talk about someone who is trans. It was never wholly true; not all transsexuals could or did have reassignment surgery but certainly now, with the advent of the broader category of transgenderism, it's less true now than ever before. So the far more nebulous words "transgender" and "trans woman" have come to dominate in a movement that's expanded its definition of trans to include full-time and part-time cross-dressing men, non-binary people, gender-fluid people who one day identify as female another day identify as male... and in fact any gender non-conforming people. So, for instance it includes people like Alex Drummond who identifies as a woman but proudly sports a full beard. It also includes men who sexually fetishize women's clothes, often copying pornified versions of femininity to satisfy their needs.

Now, people don't want to face up to that but that is a reality: there is a portion of people who call themselves trans women who will no doubt claim... claim rights that they believe according to that, who do sexually fetishize women's clothes. Many people from these different groups will call themselves trans women as Eddie Izzard now does, having previously asserted he was a male transvestite and, you know, was widely admired for that. I thought it was a very courageous thing that I totally supported; I completely support Eddie being able to dress and act how he likes, I'd happily address him how he wants to be addressed, defend him from discrimination, (defend) his right to safety and dignity. But he's not a woman and neither am I. And he doesn't have the right to be on all women's short lists designed to overcome the disadvantages of being female and the under-representation of women.

What probably most of these people have in common apart from coming under the trans umbrella is that they will proudly retain their penis and many will not even have hormone treatment and this is reinforced by a trans ideology that insists that trans identity is something that's fixed and innate and confers womanhood on anyone who says they have this identity. So, according to this theory if you identify as a woman you are one, and always have been. Therefore, no physical changes are necessary and the penis on a trans woman becomes in this thinking a female organ. So, Gendered Intelligence, for example, an organization that advises schools on trans issues, declares in their sexual health guide for young people that "a woman is still a woman, even if she enjoys getting blowjobs."

This kind of thinking is why lesbians are being accused of transphobic bigotry for refusing to accept that a trans woman with a penis is a potential sexual partner for them. Clearly, all this has a bearing on the views of many women about the rights of trans women to access women's private single sex spaces. Why should lesbians, attracted by definition to members of the same sex, have their sexuality demeaned and be abused in coercive attempts to persuade them that their natural attractions are somehow wrong and transphobic? To my mind, that is a kind of homophobia.

In a different vein, why should some of the most vulnerable women in our society - victims of sexual and violent abuse at the hands of males - have to share their most intimate and vulnerable spaces with people born male? They may be alone, undressed, or recently traumatized, along with their children; perhaps in a domestic violence shelter, supposedly a place of safety and healing. How can these vulnerable women heal when, quite naturally, they are often triggered in, you know, particularly in the aftermath of the violence, by male voices and by people who are obviously male, despite whatever gender identity they may have, as part of a completely normal post-traumatic fear response? That's not bigotry.

What's potentially even more problematic, especially with the concept of self-identity, making physical changes, even dress irrelevant, (is that) it means someone who looks and presents like a man cannot be challenged if they say they identify as a woman.

And it's already making women's boundaries impossible to maintain and many women fear that predatory men will increasingly take advantage. Lots of women understand all too well the patient planning, dedication, the sheer length that some predatory men go to, sometimes over years to gain access to vulnerable women. Why should women put up with a situation where they are told they are a hate groups and bigots for having no faith in the notion that predatory men will not exploit self-identity to access vulnerable women?

To many women, the notion that men wouldn't do that is cruelly and laughably naive. We already know some will. Christopher Hambrook, for instance, did precisely that in Canada. He falsely self-identified as a trans woman in order to gain access to a shelter and was eventually forced to plead guilty to sexual assault and criminal harassment and admitted that he wasn't in fact trans.

This brings me to a fundamental point which is glossed over or completely ignored by proponents of self-identity: why is there no controversy about trans men and men's spaces? I mean, I think there are a number of reasons and sexism is one of those but, you know, are men less bigoted than women? No, of course not. The fundamental reason (why) there's no controversy is that men are not oppressed by or vulnerable to female bodied or female born people. The elephant in the room and why there is so much controversy about access to female spaces is the systematic oppression of women and girls (just a minor detail, then...) including high levels of violence by men.

It's therefore not very reassuring to women to be told by trans activists that their concerns are bigotry, to be subject to a campaign of abuse, harassment, authoritarian and anti-democratic methods to close down meetings; (methods) that have created a toxic atmosphere of fear. The almost total absence of dissent from the parliamentary women's Labor Party speaks volumes, I think. No one has been brave enough to put their head above the parapet to clearly oppose this agenda. Yet, we know from journalists it's not for the lack of any concern about these proposals. Instead, it's been left to ordinary trade unionists, Socialists and feminists - mainly women but also increasing numbers of men and transsexuals. 

To be told there is no debate and disingenuously that the issue of self-declaration is of no concern to women and does not affect them is insulting. Women's boundaries are being demolished and they're not even being allowed the opportunity to object without being demonized.

No one can object to anyone's private identity. We defend people's rights to their own beliefs: to dress, behave and be how they want to be in regards to gender; but when such identities become social demands that undermine other people's rights and autonomy, then we have a problem. We can respect the right of deeply religious people to believe in God and the Bible, Allah and the Koran; to dress, worship and practice their religion how they choose and free from discrimination. But if religious people then demanded that we all agree with their beliefs in God and that we alter our laws in accordance with the Bible, we would have a real problem - there would be uproar! Quite rightly.

It's also concerning that for such a small population there are many trans women who, whilst claiming to be actual women, have been demonstrating behavior all too often mirroring the coercive and violently threatening behavior more typical of men. We've seen an assault, we've seen individual women surrounded by mobs shouting abuse, including a woman on her own picket line; we've seen cowards in masks trying to stop women from meeting and talking, bomb threats and innumerable threats of violence or glorification of violence; we've even seen an exhibition of trans - and I can't get my head around this - trans baseball bats, weapons to use against women they dehumanize as TERFs.

There is a sickness in this ideology and it reeks of narcissistic male rage.

Why would women not be concerned about sharing crisis shelters or changing rooms with people who glory in violence against them? Now, that's not by any means all trans people; the majority of trans people are not a threat to women, this is a minority... but it's a very significant minority. There can be no Progressive agenda that uses these tactics and tries to intimidate and silence women and there can be no Socialism of any kind that tells women - who, the last time I checked were half of the Labor movement and half of society - "you're to be redefined, all your spaces are to be opened up to people born male, move over, be quiet and submit."

When did Socialists or even just Progressive-minded people ever think that was ok?

Given that trans people themselves are oppressed as deviants for transgressing the gender role norms which have evolved to oppress women and to prepare boys for work and warfare, there certainly can be no tran liberation without a women's liberation from these norms. A trans movement that collaborates with the gender oppression of women is leading trans people to an enormous backlash. 

By denying the reality and importance of sex in a sexist world, and by codifying and raising up gender - the very thing which demeans and diminishes women - to be the preeminent social and legal category governing female spaces, political autonomy, representation... (by doing this) the transgender movement is subordinating sex to gender and therefore the subordination of any women with a shred of independence from their movement. Gender norms that tell women they're weak, passive, frivolous and valued for their looks more than for what they do in life oppress and keep women in a second-class position in society and they completely devalue and negate masculine girls, just as the male gender role devalues and often humiliates feminine boys. As long as those gender norms remain, so will women remain second-class citizens; and also trans people will continue to be discriminated against, treated with ridicule and hostility for transgressing those gender norms.

We are also a tiny and vulnerable minority. Our interests lie in cultivating solidarity with the women's movement and our shared interest in opposing male violence, in opposing the gender norms that oppresses both and not in demonizing women who disagree. It's not only just not in our interest, it's not even necessary! I've lived, worked, (have) been treated as a woman for twenty years. I'm married to an avowed lesbian, having been together for ten years; and at no point have I needed to pretend that biological sex is not real. At no point was it ever necessary to deny the unique biology, socialization and struggles of women.

Is there a need for reform? Absolutely. We need a fully funded system that is much more prompt, supportive and responsive, not demeaning and cumbersome; but we do need a system and one that women can have confidence in. That's the right thing to do and it's also the only way to avoid the public support that currently exists for trans people from being undermined.

We also need professional clinicians (to be) free to do their jobs of diagnosis and of assisting patients to fully understand their underlying feelings and motivations. Far from knowing best, children and young adults who come out as trans often get their identity wrong. Dr. James Kanter has shown repeated studies indicating between 60% and 90% of children who identify as trans stop doing so after puberty; and most of those turn out to be healthy gay and lesbian young people. 

Some people who, often after irreversible surgeries, realize that they've been mistaken about their identities and try to detransition have revealed a number of things that could have been picked up by good clinicians who were free to do their jobs. Such as unresolved childhood abuse being the actual main problem, not being transgender; suppressed butch lesbian identity; and other issues, such as primary mental health problems. 

Gender specialists should not be constrained as they are now by the fear of being accused of conversion therapy and by the NHS's Memorandum of Understanding, which also limits their ability to actually do their job. They can protect some extremely vulnerable young people from making irreversible mistakes, as well as help those who will benefit from treatment.

We need to recognize that we can live and be treated broadly like we want to be treated; but we have no right to pretend that the social constructions of gender are more important and more real than the biological foundations of our species; and we have no automatic right to access women's spaces. Instead of witch hunts and demonization, we need mutual respect and a commitment to debate and resolve these issues as equals.

Only in voluntary unity with the women's movement and the wider Labor movement can we ensure lasting and meaningful trans rights, and the kind of powerful solidarity that can win better resourced services for all; and to take on the established forces that propagate the gender norms that oppress women, restrict men and negate trans people.

Whatever you do from here and whatever your stance is on this debate, I implore you to accept that there is a legitimate debate to be had and we so very badly need to have it, in as Progressive and respectful manner as possible. The alternative is a prolonged and increasingly bitter war with women; and in the end only the Right-Wing and I actually fear, the Far-Right, will profit from those divisions. Thank you.”

[cackled0g]

{Image ID: A reply by user ikishima. The text reads: "maybe its (sic) because you can literally search (transandrophobia) and see people lay out exactly why its (sic) transmisogynistic and no one needs to spoon feed you this information. but have fun using a term coined by someone with a fetish for raping lesbians I guess"}

For context, the post this user was replying to is this one

Well first off, I think it's a rude assumption to make that I haven't researched a term that I use near daily to explain traumas that I have personally faced. I have actually, believe it or not, researched transandrophobia. I've looked at both sides of the issue, and it has consistently been the side that is against a good faith term for a marginalized group's oppression that has been lacking in good arguements. Let's go over a few of the most common ones I've seen.

a.) The coiner, Saint, has been accused of having a corrective rape fetish. I have seen screenshots to verify that he has engaged with that, but from my understanding it was a password protected nsfw blog where he engaged with it and similar fetishes with his partner, who was a trans feminine person who had said fetishes. I don't know either of the people involved and haven't found any good sources leaning either way on that situation except for one callout document that has been accused of being bad faith and factually false. Like I've said, I don't know anyone involved in that whole situation so I can't say I have an opinion on it one way or the other until I have better evidence to go off of. Regardless of whether Saint is or is not a horrible shitty person though, I don't think he has full claim to the word "transandrophobia" and certainly not the concept behind it--the specific combination of transphobia and antimasculinism that primarily transmasculine folks face. The word is just the combination of the the words 'transphobia', the hatred of trans people, and 'androphobia', the fear or hatred of men, and I know that I at least stumbled across it before I ever knew who Saint was. It's simply the most popular term, aside from transmisandry, which I also use regularly. For trigger tagging purposes and general tagging purposes, it's the most widely used term and also has the most theory and good faith debate behind it from what I've seen

b.) The term 'transandrophobia' is inherently transmisogynistic because it copies the same formula used for the word 'transmisogyny', a word describing the intersection of transphobia and misogyny that primarily transfeminine people face. I don't find this a very compelling argument personally. First off, I'm not aware of if the term was in fact based off of the word transmisogyny, as the convention of "oppression"+" oppression "= "word for combined or intersectional oppression" isn't new or particularly controversial (see: misogynoir) when applied to other forms of oppression.

c.) The idea that transmasculine people are punished for their masculinity and not only their transness is inherently transmisogynistic because ???. I genuinely don't get this one honestly. Even if it were true that marginalized men weren't punished for their masculinity, which it isn't (see: black men bearing the brunt of police violence, the way that ast Asian men are hypersexualized by euro-american women, the way that all Asian men are desexualized by euro-american people) I don't see how that "false" belief being held is an intersection of transphobia and misogyny.

d.) Trans men don't need a word for their oppression because they don't face a unique oppression. This is demonstrably false. Many recent laws restricting HRT in the UK and United States have been actively targeting trans men. JK Rowling, the TERF surpreme, wrote an essay that extensively talked about trans men, books like 'Irreversible Damage' are explicitly about trans men 'ruining their bodies'. If that isn't blatantly transandrophobic then what is?

Of course, if anyone has any sources or additions feel free to drop them below or DM me. Engaging in good faith is highly encouraged, including from the person I'm responding to. I also may add on to this post later with more common anti-transandrophobia arguments as I think of them.

[radkindoffeminist]

Hi! I know you’re not a stand-in for all gc people and don’t expect you to speak on behalf of all of us but I’ve been wondering for months now what the stance is on tifs— in my experience, I’ve tried to engage with other terfs on this allied basis against all males, but I’ve personally never really taken issue with women/females who want to transition or change pronouns, which is typically where I find a division. Obviously I think they/thems are annoying and egregious most of the time, but I’ve found it really perturbing how much vitriol I’ve seen towards tifs from some terfs, I’ve seen some calling them stupid or deranged or brainwashed, things of that nature. Have you seen this pattern? How do you feel about it? My best personal/irl (and most effective) activism has always been talking to tifs actually, and getting them to see how the trans women in their lives treat them, how they perpetuate violence (particularly as tifs are often subjected to more tw attention and fetishism, and often effectively groomed into submission under the guise of “T4T”). But I love women and I feel like tifs in whatever form shouldn’t be hated or criticized this much (yes I recognize I’m calling them women even if they would not, irl I do my best to respect how they want to be referred to as and treated). Anyway, food for thought. Hope you’re having a good Sunday!

So my view is heavily shaped by the TIFs I have been good friends with for a long while and many encounters I’ve had online. As you said, I’m not a stand-in for all GC and my views are on the more sympathetic end as things go. I’m mostly in the same boat as you and have found that TIFs can generally be split into three categories.

Internalised misogyny/Internalised homophobia/Trauma: These three categories overlap heavily so it’s impossible to split them apart. Internalised misogyny/homophobia and/or trauma has led these women to identify as NB or trans in order to become ‘trans and straight’ or to escape the restrictions that they feel as women. The sad thing is that this probably makes up most TIFs and they will never analyse where some of these feelings are coming from because the hate for their bodies and womanhood is validated by the trans community as proof of them being trans. These women are struggling and often dress more androgynously because they think that gets them further away from ‘being a woman’. I have so much sympathy for these women, even if many of them still tow the trans party line and are assholes sometimes. They’re still struggling nonetheless.

Trendy Q*eer Girl(TM): Can cross other with either of the other categories, but also distinct enough to give it its own category. The trans q*eer girl is basically just the ‘I’m not like other girls’ but instead of doing it to impress the boys, does it to impress other q*eer people because they see being q*eer as a cool trend that they want in on. Often straight and if not straight then identifies as bisexual or pansexual but has (almost) exclusively been with men. Uses things like ‘loves iced coffee and energy drinks’ as proof of their q*eer status because obviously you can only like things like that if you’re q*eer, right? Annoying as fuck but sometimes does have trauma and internalised misogyny behind it so I have some sympathy, but not a lot for the people who treat our identities as little more than a trend.

Fetishiser: Rarer but certainly becoming more common and incredibly toxic. The fetishisers are typically trans men who date (or want to date) gay men and love yaoi (or whatever it’s called) and from that have developed an obsession over gay men to the point of convincing themselves that they themselves are actually gay men. It is creepy and weird and this group, even though they can struggle and have issues which led to this, deserve to be called out to no end. These are the people who are helping to normalise ‘genital preference’ and not being allowed to reject someone just because they’re trans, but focus more of their energy on gay men than lesbians. They are deeply homophobic.

As I said, I have an incredible amount of sympathy for many TIFs who are obviously struggling and it’s sad to see other radfems attack them so harshly and so often. They should definitely be called out on their toxic, homophobic, and misogynistic views, but that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t recognise that so many of these women are just struggling and doing their best to cope with their issues. Baselessly attacking them because people want to group together all trans people as being the problem when that’s not the issue does absolutely nothing for our cause and, if anything, continues to drive women away from radical feminism.

Why does so much of our sympathy go out of the window when people disagree with us? When did we stop fighting for the rights and protections of all women and decide that actually only the women in the fight with us need help and protection?

[thedeadflag]

I’m so confused! I know it’s not your responsibility to educate me but in your post bringing awareness to the negative aspects of g!p fanfic you say

“Why do these g!p characters rarely if ever involve experiences reflective of trans/intersex women? Why are they so utterly cis and perisex-washed? Why do nearly all writers have zero idea that tucking is a thing? “

Doesn’t that answer your original question? The reason they don’t reflect those groups of ppl is bc g!p isn’t trying to represent those groups of people or else it WOULD be transphobic to limit them to one specific fetish right? it just refers to a canonically female character with the addition of a penis (I don’t argue the name “g!p” should be changed bc that’s a no brainer why that could be offensive). But the fanfic in general, how could it be harmful? I’ve noticed in my time reading it as a non binary person it’s given me great gender euphoria reading a reader insert where reader has a penis while being a femme representing person just bc that’s a reflection of my personal experience. I don’t see anywhere where g!p fanfic ever references or tries to emulate the experiences of trans or intersex people so how could it be offensive?

Sorry this is way too long I’m just very confused

I'm going to try and lay this out as politely as I can. It's after 3:30 in the morning here, so this could be a bit disjointed and rambling. More under the cut:

In real life, ~99.999999% of women with penises are trans women. Which puts us in a tricky situation of (A) being the only women with penises around for media involving women with penises to reflect back on, and (B) being in the lovely position of precious few people actually having had meaningful real life exposure to trans women, meaning (C.) all those stigmas and all that misinformation are going to purely affect us and it’s going to be uncritically gobbled up by the masses, since they don’t have any meaningful information to fill in the blanks with instead.

When we peer into the depths of femslash fandoms and see all these folks who aren't trans women writing about women with penises, and using cis women’s bodies as platforms for these penises, it’s the simplest thing.

I mean, some of those folks might actually be struggling and confused about why they’re into it, what the real appeal is, why they get off on it, why they might have some feelings about wanting a penis of their own…

…but from our vantage point, it’s really easy to gauge 99.99% of the time. We can generally see valid, legitimate yearning to have a penis pretty damn easily in a piece of art/writing, and we can also see when people who create this media are just hung up on a boatload of baggage and fetishization.

And 99.9% of the time, the creators are just hung up on a boatload of baggage and fetishization, and see trans women’s bodies as a perfect vehicle to tap into that, generally due to deeply held cissexist views that link us and our bodies and genitals directly to cis men, to maleness. As if penises are rooted in maleness and masculinity (which is absolutely not true).

And I have sympathy for NB folks (certainly TME ones who have reached out to me in the past about this) who might be struggling with that, but just because they’re non-binary, it doesn’t mean they get to appropriate our bodies and reproduce transmisogyny and trans fetishization in their attempts at feeling better. Shit doesn't work like that.

Because again, the only women with penises in this world, essentially, are trans women. Meaning any woman with a penis in media is a trans woman, implicitly or explicitly. Meaning that when people who aren’t us want to write us, intent doesn’t matter, it doesn’t matter if it’s just the writer’s fantasy, it’s still going to attach a variety of messages directly onto us.

And more often than not, due to cissexism, those messages are linking us to maleness, to toxic masculinity, etc..

While I do want to believe they're a fairly small minority, a lot of NB folks in fandom spaces like g!p characters in part because they see penises as male and the rest of the body as female and think that duality is interesting and would be comfortable, and is a nice balance of “both worlds” or a nice position “between male and female”, but that’s a wholly cissexist, transmisogynistic view to have, and it’s one that absolutely cannot be supported without directing sexual violence against trans women and invalidating our entire existence. Certainly not all NB folks into g!p like it for that reason, but holy shit a fair bit of them do and it’s weird and wrong and fetishistic.

g!p emerged from the idea that women can't have penises, and drew on the transmisogyny and cissexism of tr*nny porn to structure that frame of desire and the core patterns and trends within these works. It's always been trans women's bodies being used as a vehicle, whether or not the writers of these fics are explicitly aware of it, because the trope itself still holds true to its original patterns and cissexism. It's not the name that's the problem, it's the content; changing the name would be a surface level change that wouldn't affect anything.

g!p objectifies women with penises (trans women). A woman with a penis is more than just a woman with a penis, but the use of the term and trope is literally to (A) remind people that women don't have penises, otherwise the g!p term wouldn't be needed if people actually accepted women with penises as women, and that (B) this is a story centered on a scenario where there's a woman with a penis, with key focus on that genitalia specifically. it's the drawing point, it's the lure, it's what everything is centered on. It is a means for folks to write lesbian sex while also writing about penis in vagina and getting off to it. It's also no surprise that the penises so clearly emulate cis men's penises in these works, that is by design.

As I’ve said many times before, if you’re only writing trans women’s bodies to showcase cis men’s penises, you’re not respecting the womanhood of trans women, and this ultimately has nothing inherent to do with penis-owning women, it has to do with (cis) men and their penises, because trans women are just being used as a vehicle to emulate them. When NB folks do the same thing, and imagining themselves as those g!p characters, they are ultimately embodying cis men, their maleness, and often toxic masculinity, in a way that feels safe and distanced enough for them, a shell that they often code as cisnormative due to their own unprocessed cissexism.

And trans women don’t deserve that.

You seem caught in the idea that if something doesn't directly perfectly reflect trans women, that it can't be linked to us., which ignores the long long history of media being used to misrepresent marginalized peoples and cast us in insulting, dehumanizing lights. You show a lack of understanding of the g!p trope and the long history of its usage across a few other names, even if the content and patterns remained the same. It shows a lack of understanding of tr*nny porn and transmisogynistic stigmas, which the trope draws heavily from.

I think we can all recognize that most 'lesbian' prn that's made does not represent actual lesbians, it's overwhelmingly catered to the male gaze. We can also recognize that this category of porn has led to a lot of harassment towards lesbians from cis men who at the very least want to believe lesbians are just like they are in the porn he watches, that lesbians just need the right man. Lesbians are being used as a vehicle for a fantasy that was created externally to them, and doesn't represent their realities.

It's the same kind of situation here. The way g!p fics play out overwhelmingly doesn't reflect trans women's realities, but they are inherently linked to us regardless, as we're the vehicles for those fantasies, as unrealistic and harmful as they may be.

g!p characters are built in our fetishized image that’s based on a deeply cissexist misunderstanding of us, of the gender binary, and of bodies in general.

I mean, when 99% of cis folks don’t understand how trans women tend to be sexually intimate… when they don’t understand what dysphoria is and how it works and how it can affect us physically and emotionally…when they don’t understand almost any of our lived experiences…then they’re not going to be able to accurately portray us even if they wanted to.

And I’ve read enough g!p fics where authors wrote those as a means of trying to add trans rep, but because they didn’t understand us at all, it wasn’t remotely representative, and it was ultimately fetishistic, even if there was an undercurrent of sympathy and a lack of following certain common g!p patterns there that differentiated it from the norm.

If g!p fics were at all about reducing dysphoria or finding euphoria, then it wouldn’t be explicitly tied up in the performance of very specific sex acts, very specific forms of misogyny and toxic masculinity, very specific forms of sexual violence and exertion of sexual power, etc.

But it is.

So the notion that creating g!p fics helps NB folks? Nope. It CAN certainly prevent/delay those folks from facing a whole boatload of shit they’ve internalized, and coddle them at the expense of trans women.

Because if it was really about bodies and dysphoria/euphoria, there would be a considerable push (allying with out own) to end our fetishization and to represent us in and out of sexual contexts with accuracy, respect, and care. Because they wouldn’t care what sex acts were performed and what smut beats were hit, they’d just want to see someone with a body like their ideal being loved, being sexual, connecting, being authentic, etc. Which very much is not the case in the overwhelming majority of g!p fics. That's what we want, and it's not what g!p writers want, it's nothing they give a shit about.

Like, a ways back I started doing random pulls of g!p fics from various fandoms and assessing them for certain elements to provide some quantitative clarity. I started on The 100 here, and did OuaT here. Never finished the 100 one since the results leveled out and stayed pretty consistent as the sample size grew, so I didn't really see the point in continuing any further after about 140 fics when the data wasn't really changing much at all.

Lastly, media influences people. I've read countless posts and comments from people who use fanfiction as a sex ed guide, in essence. Which is ridiculous, but I also know sex ed curricula often isn't very accurate or extensive in a lot of areas, so people take what they can get. Representation in media can be powerful, and when it overwhelmingly misrepresents people, that's also powerful. Just because fandom is a bit smaller than televised media, it doesn't make that impact any lesser, certainly not for those whose primary media intake is within fandom.

Virtually all trans representation in f/f fanfiction is misrepresentative of us. That has a cost in how people understand us, how people react to us, and how people treat us. Not just online, but in physical spaces, and in intimate settings.

I invite you to read that post you referenced again, or perhaps this longer one which is a response to a trans guy who seemed to feel something similar to you with this trope.

All I can do is lay it out there and try to explain this. It's up to you how you handle this. All I know is whenever there's a big surge in g!p in a fandom, trans women generally leave it en masse, because it's a very clear and consistent message that we're not valued, respected, and that people value getting off on us over finding community with us.

[the1312daysofchristmas]

as you likely know, there was a series of fatal shootings in the atlanta area, injuring one person and murdering 8, 6 of whom were asian women. i dont have anything of use to add, except shock and grief and sympathy. to see the attempts to minimize this and act as though it is not racially motivated, despite the backdrop of an increase in anti asian violence in the past year, despite the members of the asian community pointing out that asian massage parlors were specifically targeted, and despite the fact that a quote unquote "sex addiction" does not preclude the fetishization and commodification of asian women and their bodies that they have been desperately trying to call attention to, makes me sick to my stomach. however, while extending solidarity is important, and i want to make it clear to all my asian friends and followers that i stand with you through this pain, this post is not just about solidarity.

in much the same way, as ive said time and time again, a nonblack person is not an expert in antiblackness, and cannot understand it well enough to explain or add to the conversation, i, as a non asian person, cannot understand anti asian sentiments well enough to explain or contribute, nor do i intend to try. while i have seen and boosted many donation posts, i would like to ask any of my asian friends and followers who are willing and able to share any resources you have– essays, explanations, first hand accounts– for me to amplify your voices and share the conversation, and for myself and others to learn and understand more.

you are not under any circumstances obligated to describe your pain in an easy to digest way to make it understandable for people who will never know what you feel, and certainly not on someone elses command. but if you would like to speak, i would like to listen, and i would like to share your message.

i love all you all, and i stand with you in the fight against anti asian racism and violence.

[darylandbethfanforever9]

Devil’s Backbone

Devil’s Backbone

Chapter 6 

Story Rating: Explicit, 18+ 

Warnings: Smut, violence, past flashbacks of sexual assault, descriptions of torture, racial hate and forced abortion. Not Tony Stark friendly.

Relationships: Bucky/OC, Steve/Natasha, Billy/Wanda/Grant, past Clint/Laura. eventual Clint/Yelena and Frank/Karen.

Summary: In the aftermath of the Blip, Bucky struggled to find his place among the world and the Avengers. However, when he is sent on a mission to Madripoor to investigate a young woman, he starts to realize that maybe his past isn’t too far behind him. Co-Written with WalkingPotterGirl14

"It was amazing, you guys. Absolutely." They had been on a video call with Bucky for about fifteen minutes now, starting to get some intake on his trip there and how everything had been going. But up until now, Steve had waited with a raised brow as Bucky described everything he had seen. "That sounds great, Buck," Steve chuckles a bit. "But there was a point of this mission." "Right, uh-" Bucky rubs the back of his neck a bit embarrassingly, chuckling. "Sorry. Sharon just knows what she's doing. I've never seen so much art and so many fancy people all in one sitting. But you're right. Sharon did direct me to the young woman that supposedly took up the Power Broker position." He pulls up photos and splays them onto the screen so they could see it. "I got some of these pictures last night before she left." Steve crosses his arms against his chest, shaking his head. "I can't believe this." "She looks just like Anastasia," Wanda remarks lightly. "See, you think that, but that's not her name – at least the one that she gave me isn't Anastasia. It's Maria Kapitonova. Interesting alias, but if it is her, she's certainly taking a different route than what I'm doing." "Did you learn anything else about her?" "Nothing that we didn't already know," Bucky states quietly. "Sharon told me that she is the one who's taken over the city, but she's dangerous, just as we suspected. She has morals and has laid down some rules but hasn't stopped herself from killing those who against them. Sharon said she's ended at least three so far. Something did sort of stand out to me for a moment though. I was talking with her and she said she moved to Madripoor to escape the cold from somewhere. If she WAS in Siberia, that would make sense." Sam rolls his eyes from where he stood. "There are a lot of cold places in the world, Bucky." "I know, I know, but it's curious, is all I'm saying." Steve sighs but nods. "Alright, at least we have that. You said you'd see her again?" "Yeah, we ah…kind of hit it off, in a way." At Steve's questioning response, he responds quickly. "Not like that, I just - I mean it seems she's willing to meet with me again outside of a party, so it'll be easier to get info." "Right," Steve chuckles, although a bit of him was curious. "Remember that this is a mission though, Buck." Bucky rolls his eyes. "I know, you don't have to remind me. I'll get the info you guys need." There was a loud meowing off screen and Bucky chuckles. "I gotta go. Alpine is being a little minx and wants some food." "Tell him that I say hi!" Wanda says, smiling. "I will," Bucky snickers before nodding at them. "I'll talk to you soon." They wave goodbye to him and he signals off the call, leaving them alone.

Ana lets out a soft sigh of content as she cooks up some dinner. While she did have someone that could cook for her, she preferred to cook her own food – usually for safety rather than convenience. She knew that there were several people who would most likely pay a chef to put poison in there. She wasn't about to let herself go down like that. As she starts to plate up her food, however, she pauses when she suddenly hears a crash from the living room. Quickly, she reaches into her cutlery drawer and grabs a knife, approaching quietly. "Hello?" She asks. No response.

She keeps her guard up as she ventures into the living room to see if anyone or something was in the living room. There was nothing aside from a card box having fallen on the glass coffee table. Luckily, it hadn't cracked the glass. She suddenly saw movement from the corner of her eye and picked up a gun that was in a drawer. Ana started cautiously walking down the hallway where the dining room was, when someone suddenly lunged at her. She moved out of the way quickly as the man jumped at her with a knife directed at her throat. She dodged out of the way as the assassin slashed at her with knife, but Ana used her ballet training to avoid being stabbed. Grabbing her by the hair, she threw him into the wall to slow him down slightly. The man glared at her disdainfully, sneering at her as he pulled out a knife that looked like it could slice her to pieces. "This is called a serbcutter, little girl. My ancestors used this knife to kill enemies of Croatia during World War II," the man taunted cruelty, lunging at her again. She kicked him in the chest, gripping her own knife and stabbed him in his left shoulder. She heard him yell out in pain, as she wrapped her legs around his neck, but he kicked her right knee, causing her to hiss in her own pain. Ana backed away from him as she saw two more of his friends had joined him. They must have come from the back garden to get into the apartment. Damn it. "Three on one…that's hardly fair," she remarked coldly, keeping a fighting stance as she kept an eye on where all of them were positioned. And then, she ran, all the way down. And they weren't that far behind in following her down into the streets.

After feeding Alpine and falling asleep, Bucky woke up to the sounds of fight from across the street. He quickly got dressed before grabbing his gun and his Da Lai knife that Steve had given back to him. It had been his when he'd been with the Howling Commandos. After locking the door, he walked quickly across the street to see what was going on. When he did find what was the cause, Bucky was stunned to see Maria fighting four people, one of whom had a knife and another man that he recognized as Diego, a Flag Smasher. "Hey, isn't four on one an unfair disadvantage?" he called out dangerously, pulling out his knife. His voice caused Maria to turn in surprise, and he sees a slight smile come over her lips at him suddenly showing up. One of the assassins tried to gut him. He kicked him in the face, causing the man to stumble back at his nose breaking from Bucky's kick. "You're pissing off our boss, Kapitonova! She wants Madripoor to be like how the country was before you arrived and started putting down all of these stupid rules for us to follow!" Axelle spat contemptuously, lunging at her with a hunter's knife. He saw Maria sigh in annoyance before punching her hard across the face, using a pair of batons that glowed dark red. They were similar to the ones that Natasha used, only hers glowed blue and not a dark crimson red. He knocked out the remaining one as Maria came over with a slightly bruised face. Her lip was bleeding, and she had a tear in her t-shirt that had blood on it. "What do you wanna do about them?" He asked quietly, nodding at two of the surviving assassins. One of the women was dead. Maria had stabbed her in the throat, severing her carotid artery and causing her to bleed out. "I'll question them…thank you for helping me," she answered cautiously, glancing up at him. He nodded and watched as she picked up their weapons off the floor. He discreetly checked to see if any of them had any identifiable scars or tattoos and got lucky. The woman had a tattoo on her back that had the words 'Elite Hunters' with roses on either side. It looked like it had been branded into her skin. He felt his blood run cold but took a photo and sent it to Steve. Maybe, they could find out who had sent them to kill Maria and why?

Steve had gotten Bucky's message and the attachment of a photo that showed a tattoo. He'd never seen that tattoo before, but Billy, Clint, Natasha, Yelena and Grant were staring at the tattoo as if they'd seen a ghost. "Do any of you know what this tattoo is? Because I've never seen it before, and I've seen my fair share of tattoos," Steve asked curiously. Natasha was the one who answered his question, surprisingly. "I do, and so do the others. It's the tattoo of a secret organization called the Elite Hunters who prey on people by luring them to holiday hotels and spas in countries such as Italy, Czech Republic, and Iceland. They revel in dark fantasies such as murder, cannibalism, and torture of many forms that include fetish pornography and amputation. Only wealthy people run the organization, and it was very secretive…until 2013," Natasha explained gravely, her face showing her disgust. No one in the room could speak. They were all horrified by what they were hearing. Wanda looked like she was going to be sick. Scott had stopped eating his slice of pepperoni pizza, while Sam looked disgusted. "Just gonna put that down," Scott mutters, lowering his slice. "So, what happened in 2014, Romanoff?" Tony asked, causing Natasha to ignore him. Steve shook his head, shocked at the revelation. "After I dumped all of S.H.I.E.L. D’s secrets, the Elite Hunters were discovered by Fury. A lot of victims that had escaped or survived killed the Elite Hunters in revenge, or they committed suicide rather than go to prison for multiple murders," she explained quietly. Clint then took over. "At least three of them escaped and went to hide in Madripoor. These are the only surviving Elite Hunters," he said gravely, as he used his iPad to pull up the images. Three images came up on the large plasma screen. One of a man with light brown hair and cold blue eyes. The next two were of another man who had blonde hair and emotionless hazel eyes that caused Wanda to shiver at his disturbing, twisted smile. The final image was of a blonde-haired woman who looked like she was a model, but she had a demented smile, one that made Steve know instinctively that the woman was dangerous. "Do we know who hired them to kill Maria?" Steve asked concerned. Before she could respond, a furious Thaddeus Ross stormed into the conference room. His hands were balled into fists, as he glared at where Steve was sitting. "Who authorized Sergeant James Barnes to go undercover as a Russian arms dealer in Madripoor!? I made it perfectly clear that the woman was to be terminated as soon as you acquired her location!" Ross shouted infuriated, causing Steve to speak up for his team and Fury. "With all due respect Home Secretary, the young woman has shown no threat to us. I personally believe, as do many of the others, that she is perhaps more like Frank Castle," Steve argued, causing Ross's face to turn an interesting shade of purple that resembled an eggplant. "You overstep yourself, Captain Rogers. As from now, you are no longer the leader of the Avengers due to your behavior as of late and your recklessness in allowing Sergeant Barnes to go on a mission without being cleared by me. As a result, Tony Stark will be leading the team," Ross said harshly, a cruel smile appearing on his face. Tony's expression was one of arrogance, triumph and smugness. "Sir, Steve did the right thing. Who else could he send undercover?" Natasha argued firmly, causing everyone aside from Clint and Sam to stare at her in surprise. Ross's lip curled, as he looked at the young woman who sitting next to Yelena. He wasn't impressed or bothered by her question.

"He could've sent you, Agent Romanoff, or Belova." Natasha's shoulders fall. "Barnes knows Madripoor far better than I ever could have. And he knows Sharon better than I ever did. He was logically the best choice for this mission besides maybe Sam, but even then, he has his duties here. Barnes didn't have further missions that were outstanding that were blocking him from going. I did, and so does Belova." Ross lets out a huff before shaking his head. "Your missions could wait for something like this – either way, it was a bad decision to send Barnes off on this. If it were up to me, I'd bring him back instantly. But that's Fury's area." He glares at him, who doesn't give a proper response, just shrugs his shoulders. "Even so, Steve's lost jurisdiction. Tony, it's your job now." He shakes his head almost in disappointment before storming out, closing the door. Steve feels himself glare at where Tony was. "You just couldn't keep your mouth shut, huh?" "Oh, stop. You're being dramatic. This is what's been going on for ages," Tony states, crossing his arms against his chest. Steve shakes his head and sits down, quieting himself as Tony started to talk, changing the screen at the front. He glances at Nat and nudges her side, to which she glances over at him. "Thanks for standing up for me, Nat." The young woman nods in response, glancing at the ground. He could see she was still uncomfortable with something sitting inside of her. He wished there were a way he could see inside her head and wonder what the hell was going on. But hey, if she were standing up for him, that had to mean something good, right?

"Wait, what happened?" After the big fight with Maria out in the streets, Bucky had instantly gone back to his apartment to tell Sharon over the phone. And she had understandably listened and been surprised when he told her about everything. "It was insane, Sharon," Bucky says, running a hand through his hair. "There were four of 'em up against her. They really wanted her gone. She ended up killing one of them but the others…think she dragged them back to her place to interrogate them." "What did you say the tattoo said?" "Elite Hunters. Don't really know exactly what they are but got a feeling that whoever sent them wants her gone." Sharon sighs from the other end of the phone. "I'll be sure to look them up and find some info – I'm sure you've already talked to Steve and the others?" He nods. "Of course." "Good. Just keep an eye out." There was a beat of silence. "Maybe you should go out and check up on her. This might be the best time for you to figure out more about her. Vulnerable and shit." Bucky raises an eyebrow. "That's a bit manipulative." He could almost her hear shrug from across the phone. "You gotta do what you have to do. Might be your best option right now." Bucky sighs a bit. She wasn't wrong. It was an option. And right now, it really was one of the best he could lean towards. "Alright…you rest up now." "See you, Bucky." He hangs up the phone after that, glancing outside. It seems that she wasn't that far from where he lived. Maybe he could walk around until he found where she lived. He saw the direction she had gone. Maybe Sharon was right. Maybe it was the best time to do it.

The sound of a knife slitting across skin was loud enough for anyone in her penthouse to hear. The scream that followed was enough to make someone cringe. But Ana didn't care. Ana wanted answers. "Now," she says lowly, pushing the man close to her. She could see it was Diego, one of the Flag Smashers from before. "Either you tell me who sent you here, or I can make your time a little more terrible like your friend over there." She points to the other hostages that were now passed out. "I'm…n-not gonna s-say shit!" He stutters. She grabs her knife and stabs it deep into his arm, to which he screams out in pain before dragging it right back up to his elbow. The blood spurts out as tears start to evade his eyes. "No, you gonna play nice?" "It-t's Melina!" he yells out, his voice shaking. She pauses. "She sent us – p-please, we were only doing our j-" She instantly brings the knife up and slits his throat, watching as he bleeds out before falling to the ground. He was no innocent man. This wasn't a job. She knew what Diego had done prior to this. The same with these two. And now, it was done. Melina…god, she was going to murder that bitch. She wipes the blood away, letting out a soft sigh before grabbing a towel to wipe the blood from her face. Before she could start wondering what to do with the bodies, however, there was a beep that came from her intercom. Her brow raises before coming over. Who on earth would be here this time of night? "Yes?" She asks as her finger hovers over the button. "Who is it?" "Miss Maria, you have a gentleman visiting you," her concierge stated from below. "A Mr. Yakov?" She had wondered why he had come out to help her like that. Seems he was a bit more than she had originally thought. But he did aid her in getting these goons…maybe he wouldn't be opposed to helping her now. "Send him up," she responds back, glancing at the mess of bodies below her. She wondered what Yakov would say to this.

She heard footsteps heading up the stairs as she grabbed a towel and wiped the blood from her face. She didn't enjoy killing people, far from it, but she was pissed that Melina Vostokoff had tried to kill her for putting down some moral laws. She was well aware that no one in Madripoor was innocent, but she wasn't going to stand by and allow rape or trafficking or any of that shit. Just because Madripoor was keeping it's lawless ways didn't mean that she was going allow the sickest people to get away with hurting people. Shaking her head, she started getting the cleaning products out to deal with the blood on the floor. She heard Yakov coming up to her soundproof room. And as soon as he walks in, he whistles at the sight of the blood before looking up at her. "Maria, what the hell happened?" Yakov asked concerned, his eyes scanning her over for any sign of injuries. She smiled faintly at his own concern for her, but she gave him a reassuring smile. "Someone wasn't happy with how I run Madripoor with a moral code…so she decided to send three Elite Hunters and a Flag Smasher to kill me. I questioned the Flag Smasher, and he spilled his guts to try and save his life," she said coldly, glaring down at the body of Diego with no emotion.

Over in Bucky's head, he felt his heart pound at her words, as his mind processed what she was saying. Someone, a woman, had ordered a hit on Maria to kill her in a violent manner, but she had fought back and killed all of her would be killers. She was definitely trained in the Red Room. He could tell that she had been trained in that facility. He just had a feeling that she had been raised in the there. God, he wished he could remember more of his time during that period. "Do you know who it was that ordered the hit on you, Maria?" he asked curiously, keeping his voice concerned. The last thing he wanted to do was to make her suspicious of him in any manner. "Melina Vostokoff, that old bitch…I was hoping she died when the Black Widow and Crimson Widow destroyed the Red Room. Well…she doesn't know if I'm dead yet and I intend on sending her a gift," she answered forebodingly, her grey eyes cold as ice. Bucky showed no emotion but privately, he knew Melina's days were now numbered. "Can you help me out here?" She asks him lightly, trying to move the bodies off of the carpet, to which he does. "You know, for someone I just met, you've been quite the helper tonight." Bucky shrugs a bit and smiles a bit at Maria. "I'm not about to let someone who's trying to at least do some good in this city die like that." "Well…thank you. That means a lot," she says genuinely. "But I don't want to drag you into this. This is my fight." Oh, he was already dragged in so deep. But for her, he could at least play it off.

[johncklima]

Friday the 13th (1980) I was trying to remember when I first saw this movie. I certainly didn't see it when it was new as I was only nine. It probably was at some point after the fourth or fifth film and my friends and I watched all the movies as a marathon. We did that every time a new Friday the 13th came out until I was a couple days late returning like nine or ten VHS tapes. The late fees were painful for a young college student. Like the first Halloween film, this also lacks supernatural elements of the killer's prowess that come to define future installments. The original Friday the 13th is also unique in that the killer that most people identify with the franchise--Jason--is not the killer in this movie. It's actually his mother who's the killer. (I'm not putting spoiler alerts in a film that's 40 years old) Jason drowned as a child when two camp counselors decided to have sex instead of watch him. When counselors finally come back to the campground, the mother continues to punish them for failing her child. I find it interesting that so many of these film makers deny that these films are a sort of morality play where people who engage in premarital sex are punished. I mean, that's literally the set up of this movie. This franchise and others never shy away from killing the young couples having sex. How else are you going to interpret that? It's so prevalent that it's lampooned in Cabin in the Woods that the last girl standing should be a virgin. The titilation via young nubile bodies is almost lazy in the way it's presented in slasher films; the film makers save their real attention for the deaths. I found this quote from film scholar Philip Dimare: "[Friday the 13th is a] cautionary tale that succeeds in warning against the sexual impropriety even as it fetishizes violent transgression." I like that quote because it really speaks to how much care and affection are given to the effects used to show violence. #shocktober2021 #klimascares2021 #peacock (at Waukesha, Wisconsin) https://www.instagram.com/p/CVAwI5ugG8j/?utm_medium=tumblr

[currantlee]

My issues with Blake’s Atlas outfit

Blake Belladonna is an ambush fighter who will avoid unnecessary combat and prefer to surprise or even backstab her opponents rather than picking an open fight. She is highly mobile, fast and can use the power of her Semblance, Shadow Clone, to make immobile copies of herself in order to distract or deceive her opponents. Her clones can be modified with dust to have different attributes, for example ice dust may be used in order to create a clone made of ice. Blake also excels at stealth and infiltrating enemy territory.

I’m focusing so much on her fighting style and her abilities because fights are an important part of RWBY. Let’s not forget that according to the fanbase, the fights speak for themselves!

However, so does character design. And if I were to show you this particular character design without you having watched the show – would you believe me that this is the same character I just described to you?

If you did,then you’re probably different than me and this character design actually makes sense to you – which isn’t a bad thing. However, it doesn’t make sense to me, not for a character like Blake and not for an environment like Solitas.

I have a love-hate relationship with RWBY. On the one hand I love the show because there are so many wonderful concepts and ideas in that show (even those seem to be borrowed from other media without an actual understanding on how the concept works most of the time). And on the other hand I hate it because it almost never uses the concepts and ideas to their full potential and prefers to do a lot of very bad fanservice instead.

That being said, I want to make very clear that everything in this post is my opinion and my perspective. I obviously dislike this character design, however, my opinion is not a universal one. If you like this design, that’s great!

Please do also keep in mind that I’m almost entirely self-taught when it comes to this topic and my primary approach when designing characters myself is practicality. This approach obviously doesn’t apply universally and it is certainly not the only way to approach designing a character.

My initial reaction to Blake’s new design

I’m not going to lie: my first reaction when I saw the V7 Artwork for Blake was: “What is this?” Not a purely negative way because there are actually elements I like, but still, the design didn’t make sense to me from the get-go, which isn’t a good thing in my opinion.

To the design’s credit, I did recognize Blake (mainly due to knowing it’s from RWBY and her cat ears) and not just because someone told me that it’s Blake. I obviously had a lot of problems with this design immediately after the reveal despite this.

Also, and I’m just going to mention this really quickly: when a few friends and I discussed the new designs shortly after the reveal, we all could agree somewhat that this design seems to be a somewhat fetishized version of Blake, despite the fact that she isn’t showing much skin. This is especially unfortunate because Blake is essentially a catgirl. You know, that type of character design which commonly tends to be fetishized. I won’t go into further detail with this however as the topic makes me personally uncomfortable.

With that right out of the way, let’s get into the actual analysis.

The Character of Blake Belladonna

To understand why I think that this character design is very mediocre at best in my opinion, I think that I should explain who I think Blake Belladonna is as a character – and not just her fighting style, which I have already described in the opening.

To be honest... It’s hard for me to characterize her. And not because she doesn’t do or talk much, but because RWBY is incredibly inconsistent with characterization, specifically when it comes to Blake (seriously, I think only RWBY can have an anti-violence character murder somebody and then jump back to the character being against violence... Without any development in between). So, I’m just going back to the Black Trailer and the first episodes of RWBY Volume 1 in order to get an idea of what she was originally like.

The first time we see Blake is in the Black Trailer, in which she ambushes a train together with a mysterious guy (a.k.a. Adam Taurus), only to leave him behind on the train at the end of the trailer after this vocal exchange:

Blake: What about the crew members [of the train]? Adam: What about them?

This established Blake as a character who, despite the violent nature of her actions, cares about others and their lives. It also shrouded her in mystery: we wanted to know why she left that guy behind. We also get a glimpse on Blake’s sass in the trailer when she tells Adam to “[not] be so dramatic”.

The first time we see Blake in the show itself is in RWBY Volume 1, Chapter 2: The Shining Beacon (Part 1), where she confronts Weiss Schnee after Ruby Rose accidentally knocked over her baggage. Note that in this scene, Blake is fairly sassy, just like she was in the Black Trailer:

Ruby: Hey, I said I was sorry, princess! Blake: It’s “heiress”, actually. Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, one of the largest producers of energy compellants in the world. Weiss: Finally! Some Recognition! Blake: The same company infamous for it’s controversial labour forces and questionable business partners.

Let me say this again: Blake is – once again – being sassy here. And the reason I want to stress this so much is because Blake is often described as shy or anti-social because she prefers to be alone, which I don’t really agree with – my approach is that she is more of an introvert, who only interacts when she wants to (which fits her cat theme very well in my opinion), something that is established within that scene.

Aside from that, the scene establishes that Blake is usually well-informed and has a strong sense of justice, which is a very important part of her character as well. She is also not afraid to speak out against injustice when she sees it.

Finally, we have the scene that is most often used in order to describe Blake as an introvert: the scene in RWBY Volume 1 Chapter 3: The Shining Beacon (Part 2), in which Ruby thanks her for coming to her help when Weiss was scolding her earlier on and the two start to have a conversation about books. Blake is established as a book lover and more of a quiet and calm person in this scene.

It should be mentioned that the scene is used to contrast Blake with the other members of the main cast: Ruby is too shy to talk to Blake at first (which is something you can’t say about Blake, because she doesn’t seem uncomfortable with the situation, but more like she doesn’t want to talk and continue reading), Yang’s flashy personality contrasts Blake’s calmness and Weiss’ egoism contrasts Blake’s display of maturity.

We later learn why Blake prefers to be alone: over the course of the first four volumes, we learn that Adam was in fact Blake’s boyfriend and that they were members of an organization that turned into terrorists (after Blake left) together. Blake ran away because she did not want to hurt people and enrolled at Beacon Academy to become a Huntress instead in order make up for the bad things she supposedly did during her time with the White Fang (again, Blake has a strong sense of justice). After Blake’s friend Sun Wukong is injured by Ilia Amitola at the end of Volume 4, the two have an emotional conversation in Chapter 11: Taking Control:

Blake: This is why I left them all behind. Sun: What are you... Wait. Where am I? Blake: I am done seeing my friends hurt because of me!

She becomes very emotional in this scene, to the point where she seemingly doesn’t care that Sun is hurt, which is something you rarely see happening with Blake. This emphasizes how important her friends’ safety is to her. Also, if you think about it, Blake’s worries aren’t empty fears. She was part of a terrorist organization – and they’ll likely not let her go just like that. In fact, the White Fang tries to assassinate her entire family in Volume 5. So yeah, her worries are far from unjustified.

It should also be mentioned that Blake alludes to Belle from Beauty and the Beast, specifically the Disney version.

All in all, Blake is a character, who...

... (deeply) cares about others and their lives, even when those people are her enemies. This holds true especially for her friends.

... has a strong sense of justice.

... usually displays a calm and mature demanor.

... often approaches things very rationally and will only become very emotional in rare instances.

... usually chooses to be alone / not interact with others unless she wants to.

In addition, when it comes to fighting, Blake is a character who...

... generally avoids violence and especially open fights when she can (even though she is capable of handling an open fight as long as she is with at least one teammate).

... is intelligent, usually well-informed and capable to use this to her advantage.

... is not a heavy hitter and instead relies on her speed and mobility, especially in the air.

... can be quite stealthy and deceptive.

... is capable of using multiple weapon types and dual-wielding blades.

This, to me, makes clear that Blake was likely supposed to be a ninja / assassin type of character with elements of an illusionist (mainly due to her Semblance). This would mean that she relies on the element of surprise, creativity when it comes to taking her opponent down (which she needs to do fast or she will lose the fight) and escaping, staying hidden for extended periods of time, and finally: information.

So now that we know who Blake actually is (or rather, what she was likely supposed to be), we can talk about...

So what about her Atlas design?

General Stuff

Where am I supposed to look? Someone please tell me where I am supposed to look here because I don’t know!

There is way too much stuff without any kind of orientation going on with this design, which is a general issue with the newer RWBY designs in my opinion. However, the Mistral designs did at least have some sort of focal point, something that immediately caught the eye of the viewer.

I struggle with this a lot myself, but usually you want to have a focal point in any picture - including a character design – and ideally guide the viewer’s gaze from there. In character design, the focal point is often a character’s hair or face, because as the characters may change their outfits over the course of a series, they can’t change their face (and usually won’t change their hair too much). In other words: focal points in character designs are often the elements that make a character recognizable.

An example of this is Tsukino Usagi a.k.a. Sailor Moon with her iconic bunnytails (it are buns. Falling into pigtails. Bunnytails! Which is fitting because her name means moon bunny). Not only do they immediately draw your attention because it is a very unusual hairstyle, but the loose part also guides your view from her face to her actual outfit. It’s also an iconic element that remains mostly unchanged throughout her various different character designs over the course of the series.

Blake’s visual signifier, the thing that makes her identifiable immediately and distinguishes her from other characters looking similar to her (e.g. Cinder Fall) is the fact that she always has something on her head. In the early Volumes this used to be a bow, in the newer Volumes it’s her cat ears. However, those do not function as a focal point in this design (or honestly – at all). Which by itself is not an inheritly bad thing (even though Blake’s design admittedly doesn’t stand out much due to the lack of a distinct, outstanding element that makes her instantly recognizable and the fact that there are so many characters with a similar design to hers).

The problem with this is that there is no other focal point. As I stated previously, there is just too much going on in the design. The cat ears are about the last thing I’m looking at, and my gaze is not lingering on them for a while. This is partly because they’re just not a very intriguing element and partly because there is too much other, potentially more interesting.

Another thing about this is Gambol Shroud. Now, I will say this, I have issues with the reforged Gambol Shroud. However, incorporating the original Gambol Shroud into the artwork rather than the reforged version (even if it had been reforged in a different way than just adding yellow superglue) was a good choice on Ein Lee’s part – and just not because it avoided giving spoilers to the audience. The cat ears are just not enough to identify Blake immediately (just going by the design), especially because they’re already rather subtle in a design that isn’t as overloaded as this one and there were so many things that were changed about her character design for Atlas, mainly her hair.

Gambol Shroud takes up more space than the ears, and especially the ribbon is interesting, so the viewer’s gaze is more likely to linger on that for a while. That’s why I think that this was a really good choice.

That being said, let’s talk about Blake’s other visual signifiers, which are...

Blake’s hair and the color black

A big part of RWBY’s design philosophy is that every character has their design, name and even traits centered around one color. In case of Blake, her color is black, meaning that it should ideally be the most present color in her outfits.

Blake’s hair is also black and speaking of it... Many shows are afraid to change the characters hairstyles. Not only is hair something that’s really personal (in real life too! Which is why hairstyle changes, especially drastic ones like cuts, are often interpreted as indicators of a huge change in someone’s personality or life), but hairstyles, especially in anime, manga or similar media, can become really iconic. Just think of Son Goku’s spiky tower or, again, Sailor Moon’s bunnytails.

I will say though that Blake’s hair, before the change, was admittedly fairly simple, if not even boring, and too similar to Yang’s hair in my opinion. That is why I really welcome this change to be honest. However, I wish they would have kept Blake’s curls because I actually really liked those, and I think an updo would have been cooler than a bob.

Another minor nitpick I have is that the bob makes her look slightly younger in my opinion, which is a common problem with short hair as it tends to emphasize the face. This is why if someone has a fairly round face, short hair can make them look younger. This especialy applies to anime as most figures tend to have round faces. However, I also want to mention that due to Blake’s unique, cat-like eye shape, this problem is not as prominent as it would be with other characters (like Yang).

Then again, Blake just went through an life-changing event (she murdered her former abuser and yes, I’m acknowledging it despite the fact that I really didn’t like the entire storyline, it felt like such a waste to me). So a haircut is definitely not out of place.

Back to black though...

This design doesn’t exactly lack the color, but it doesn’t bring it out that well either. The mostly white coat (which is ironically my favorite piece in this design) takes up much space in the design. It’s just... White is generally not considered a heavy color, but I’d say in this case it is. It is too heavy for a design with a primary color that is dark.

And with that, I’m jumping to...

The Penguin Coat 

I already said that the coat is my favorite piece in this design... Also, yes, I call it a penguin coat because it reminds me on cute little penguins for some reason... So props to the coat for reminding me on cute little penguins I guess. May I mention that this actually fits with the fact that the main characters are in a rather cold climate in RWBY Volume 7? You know, since most penguin species live in cold climates... But let’s move on from the penguins.

The flaps are likely a callback to Blake’s original design, which had those funny flaps that reminded a bit of classic illusionist outfits - it also reminds me personally on some of Zatanna’s outfits (from DC Comics). And guess what, this actually makes a lot of sense considering that Blake’s Semblance is essentially creating illusions (of herself).

Coats are also often used to make characters look more mysterious. The first use of this was in one of Akira Kurosawa’s movies, which are considered some of the most influental of all time and you should definitely go watch some of these because they’re awesome. Two other popular franchises using long coats for mysterious characters are The Matrix (with Switch wearing a white coat like Blake does) and Kingdom Hearts. So it is fitting for a character like Blake.

I know a lot of people do not like Blake wearing white coats. However, I disagree. First of all, Blake has ties with the White Fang (yes, the story arc was dropped but just because it was it doesn’t mean it never existed) and second of all, they are in a snowy area. Meaning that the coat has the same color as the environment. So it makes sense, at least it does to me.

A detail I really, really love is the black patch on the back of the coat, specifically because it creates the illusion that Blake is moving differently than she actually does. While this makes things a bit harder for the viewer indeed, it fits Blake’s theme of an illusionist / ninja crossover really, really well.

All of this being said, it should not be left unmentioned that logically spoken a coat like this restricts your mobility. Especially the flaps are constantly going to be in the way. Which is why I think that the flaps could honestly have been shorter (which would possibly have taken away the “long coat” element though). I think there isn’t really a “better” or “worse” here, so this is a very minor nitpick.

All of this being said, giving Blake a coat is not a bad idea to be honest. It protects her from the cold, it is commonly used to add some element of mystery to a character’s design and the flaps are not only a callback to Blake’s original outfit, but also a clever nod to her illusion powers.

That being said... Let’s move on to the two longest and silmoutanously most annoying sections of this post. Yes, we’re finally moving on to the worst, yet most interesting, elements about this design!

The Belts

First of all, the collar belt is absolutely unnecessary and no, we didn’t need a reference to Yang’s tryhard Mistral outfit here, at least in my opinion.

The backpack belts aren’t bothering me to be honest. They don’t feel disrupting and even though they obviously don’t have a function as well (because no, this is not how you tighten backpack straps), they add some nice detail to the straps and most of all: they are part of an element of this outfit, not a standalone element.

Let’s move on to the hip belt. That is actually a belt a really like, because it holds those pouches while fulfilling a decorative function at the same time. The belt hangs loose on Blake’s hips, which looks good (especially with Blake’s hourglass-shaped body) and contrasts the rest of her more skin-tight outfit. I also really like the idea of Blake having some sort of Batbelt (you know, the equipment belts the Bat Family usually wears in the DC comics), especially because she is a ninja / illusionist. Both usually have a lot of equipment (compared to other fighters / performers) in real life. My only nitpick would be that the belt hanging loosely on her hips could get in the way during fighting - but then again, it also looks really cool, so 9/10.

But now, let’s finally address my biggest belt issue in this design: the wristbelts.

I just don’t see a (reasonable) function with these – in fact, they are the most impractical thing about this design in my opinion – and they don’t even look cool. They just... I think they look weird, uncomfortable and just really out of place.

Some could argue that they have protection purposes. However, I am going to debunk that quickly because in fact, wearing something like that is actually very dangerous in combat. You see, belts usually have a buckle, right? Same with Blake’s wristbelts. Belt buckles are hard – if somebody hits the buckle in battle, her wrist could easily break from that

And yes, I know there is aura. However, aura can’t fix the fact that the belts are so broad that they limit Blake’s ability to move her wrists – which is important for someone who fights with swords and swings around with a ribbon a lot.

I also want to add that character designs should ideally work without the viewer knowing about in-universe logic (like aura). Simply because our brain is automatically, whether we know in-universe logic or not, going to assume that the logic applying to the design is the same logic that applies to our everyday life. Therefore, any element that doesn’t make at least some sense with real-world logic applied will feel weird, even if the viewer starts thinking about a justification with in-universe logic (which they have to do actively, while the real-worl logic assumption happens unconsciously and automatically).

It should also be mentioned that wristbelts as a concept per se aren’t automatically bad – there are instances in which they can work. Now, before I get into this, something needs to be brought up again: the CRWBY (meaning the people behind RWBY) borrows a lot of concepts from anime and video games, JRPGs in particular. However, they usually do so without understanding what makes those concepts work in the original. There is a great video by hbomberguy on YouTube that explains this in detail (I recommend the section Anime Homework in particular if you don’t want to watch a 2-hour-long video essay).

With the new character designs for RWBY Volume 7, a lot of people (including myself) have noticed that the concepts the show seems to be borrowing this time are concepts that are often found in Tetsuya Nomura’s character designs, particularly the Kingdom Hearts ones. Heck, a lot of people have pointed out that Nora Valkyrie’s new dress reminds them on Kairi’s dress from Kingdom Hearts II and Jaune got nicknamed Jauntus / Jaunxas for his new haircut (which reminded several people on Ventus and Roxas from the Kingdom Hearts franchise).

Saying that Nomura’s character designs might have inspired RWBY’s character designs isn’t a far stretch either: the new designs for the four main girls were designed by Ein Lee, who was known for her Kingdom Hearts fanart back in the day, before she started working on RWBY. So we know that she definitely knows this series and has, to some extent, analyzed the character designs - because she has drawn these characters herself. And even though blogpost by Kerry Shawcross about the redesign process confirms that Ein Lee wasn’t the only one in charge with those character designs, she was still the one who did the main bulk of work when it came to the new designs of the four main girls.

Let me clarify this: I don’t think that it’s an inheritly bad thing to take inspiration from something. Heck, Kingdom Hearts itself takes a lot of inspiration from other media! So the plain borrowing of concepts is not the problem here in my opinion. The problem is that the CRWBY obviously don’t understand what makes the concepts they’re borrowing work in the original.

Whenever you take inspiration from something, especially when borrowing concepts – like the concept of wristbelts in this example – , you should always, always make sure to understand those concepts and what makes them work at least to some extent. And while I believe that it is not possible to understand a concept or an idea to 100% – except for the person who originally came up with it – it is possible to get a good enough understanding to make the same concept work in another place. Does it have to work in the exact same way? No, and it likely won’t because if you re-use an existing concept, you’ll likely add your own ideas to it. That’s the interesting thing about inspiration (and also any kind of fanwork by the way).

So yeah, taking inspiration isn’t forbidden, even when it is so obvious where you got it from that the entire FNDM starts joking about Tetsuya Nomura having invaded RT (which... Quite honestly, I find that joke funny). However, when taking inspiration, you should also be aware that if two things are very similar, whether that’s intended or not, people are going to compare, whether you like it or not.

That being said – let’s compare, shall we?

So, here we have the character design of Sora (for those of you who don’t know Kingdom Hearts, he is the protagonist of the series and fights with a sword-like weapon, similar do how Blake does) from Kingdom Hearts III, and next to it, a 3D render of Blake in her Atlas character design from RWBY Volume 8. I picked a 3D render because I feel like it is fairer and Volume 8 gave us updated models for pretty much every single character (which was absolutely necessary because nobody looked good in Volume 7). I mean... They fixed Blake’s terrible hair halfway through Volume 7, which is something they usually don’t do, because so many people rightfully complained about it. Anyways...

Now, I don’t know what you think, but I have to say that with Sora’s wristbelts many of the problems with Blake’s wristbelts do not exist or are not as prominent. One of them is that in this case, the belts do not lack a function: I can immediately see what they’re for.

Sora wears those rather loose bracers in KH3 (which make sense since he fights with what is essentially a sword). The bracers are loose because Sora is rather scrawny and the bracers make him appear a little broader than he actually is. This is important for silhouette purposes since without the bracers, Sora’s silhouette would look fairly similar to the silhouette of another character in the same game – not absolutely undistinguishable, but this still makes it a bit easier to differentiate between the two characters.

Back to the wristbelts though: without these, the bracers would eventually fall off or constantly be in the wrong place. It should also be mentioned that Sora’s wristbelts are not even half as wide as Blake’s are, meaning that they don’t restrict the movement of his wrists as much as Blake’s do.

On top of all this functional stuff, they add a nice spot of yellow to the bracers, which not only does make the bracers look more interesting, but serves two purposes:

Designwise: the only other place where you have yellow are Sora’s shoes. If it weren’t for the wristbelts, the addition of the color would seem very random – and if there wasn’t any yellow, the design would look way more boring. However, there is another reason for the yellow.

Gameplay: Kingdom Hearts III is an Action RPG and Sora is the protagonist. Meaning that he is the playable character for most of the game. Since it’s an Action RPG, it involves fighting, which can be really chaotic. That’s where the yellow comes into play: you need to know the position of Sora’s hands and feet in order to have precise control. Yellow is a signal color (meaning that it is very bright) and the yellow Sora wears is also very saturated, meaning that it is unlikely that it appears anywhere else in a frame (even though it’s Kingdom Hearts and thus really colorful).

And yes, Blake’s wristbelts could indeed have a similar function. However, I personally feel that it doesn’t work since black is her primary color, meaning your eye is not immediately drawn to her wrists (even though the belts are a contrast against the white of Blake’s coat). Black also isn’t a signal color, so if that is what they were going for, they should have gone for an electric purple, a bright red or yellow instead.

For fairness’ sake, here is a nitpick about Sora’s wristbelts as well: the placement of the belt buckles. Because the way they are placed, the are an additional risk for injury. While replacing the wristbelt with velcro would certainly be the best option in regards to safety here, I also acknowledge that a wristbelt simply looks a bit better. That being said, to minimize the risk of injury, the buckle should be placed on the inside of the arm, next to the palm. That’s the spot where it is the least likely to get hit and cause (or worsen) an injury.

Blake’s wristbelts have the same dangerous buckle placement (which doesn’t make this any better) and are, as I have already said, pretty much non-functional. They’re unnecessary, obstructing and the only reason why they are there is because someone thought it would look cool (which... No, it doesn’t, it just looks weird).

And before someone says something about Blake’s wristbelts holding the sleeves of her coat together when the sleeve zippers are opened: why are the sleeve zippers even open? They’re at Atlas. It’s supposed to be freezingly cold! Why does she have her sleeve zippers open? It makes absolutely no sense!

The Zippers

Speaking of the zippers: why are there so many zippers in the first place?

Again, most of those zippers are not functional. Somewhat of an exception is the long zipper on Blake’s coat, which... Ein Lee herself has admitted that she shouldn’t have designed it to go all the way down because the coat is not meant to be zipped all the way down (Ein Lee, seriously... What were you thinking designing this?). So it’s basically only half-functional.

What is worst about this is that the one zipper that should be there – a front zipper for the catsuit – is not there. In other words: Ein Lee should have swapped the long coat zipper for a longer chest zipper on the catsuit. Yes, there might be a back zipper hidden underneath the coat for Blake to get out of the catsuit. But imagine the pain of opening a back zipper every time you want to pee. Which I can tell you is a pain, even if you’re more flexible than me. Therefore, a chest zipper would be way more practical (and there are ways to prevent it from accidentally zipping open, so that shouldn’t be a problem.

The rest clearly don’t serve the purpose of getting in and out of the catsuit or coat. The only purpose they could theoretically serve is ventilation.

Let me stress this: Atlas and Mantle are located on Solitas, a continent that is essentially the North Pole. It is really cold (according to Weiss in RWBY Volume 7 Chapter 3: Ace Operatives the cold of Solitas can kill you in a matter of hours without protection or aura). Even with moving around a lot, ventilation is not needed, especially not with outfits like these. I mean... They don’t look very warm to be honest. If there were thick jackets, fur and just more stuff that implies that these clothes are easy to overheat in, then yes, we could discuss about ventilation zippers. But like this? No. At least not with me.

And I’m not going to discuss aura now because of the stuff about real-world logic I already explained in the section about the belts. Also, quite frankly, aura as a concept is a mess of its own and another thing the writers can’t seem to keep consitant, but: if aura can protect you from extreme cold, shouldn’t it be able to protect you from overheating as well? Shouldn’t you rather wear warm clothing because if you run out of aura, you’re going to freeze if you don’t? It won’t hurt you because as long as your aura is up, you’re not going to overheat.

So yeah. Even with in-universe logic applied, there is no point why there should be so many zippers. The risk of overheating is technically nonexistent, so you can’t use “they’re fighting all the time, they could overheat if their clothing is too warm” as an argument.

That leaves the option that the zippers are meant to be a decorative element. Now, I will say that this can work - however, it doesn’t work in this case for multiple reasons.

First of all, if they are purely decorative, then why are the sleeve zippers open all the way? That implies a function, which, as I have established, is nonexistent because no ventilation is needed with and without in-universe logic applied. That leaves the sleeve zippers to be unnecessary because they fulfill neither a decorative nor a functional function within the character design.

Secondly, the zippers, especially the leg zippers, are obstructing Blake’s movements – again. Yeah, we already had this with the wristbelts. Logically spoken, a skin-tight catsuit like Blake is wearing needs to have a lot of stretch in order for the wearer to move properly, especially in the leg area. However, a zipper doesn’t have stretch, it’s static. And because it has to be sewn into the fabric, it also affects the fabric’s stretch. If you want to see how, I suggest taking your favorite pair of ideally skinny jeans (since those usually have some stretch) and trying to stretch the fabric around the zipper area. And keep in mind that those denim fabrics only have a fraction of the stretch that a catsuit usually has!

Third, and this kinda goes in line with the first reason, the zippers are not visually misappropriated. This might be a bit of a weird one to understand, so let me show you two designs in which decorative zippers are used, one being yet another character design by Tetsuya Nomura and the other being Blake’s original character design.

In both designs, the decorative zippers are visually misappropriated. What I mean by this is that while the zippers are there and might even work in the intended way (opening and closing a piece of clothing), they are placed in a way that makes it very clear that the zipper is not intended to function in the way zippers usually function.

In case of the left design (which is Kairi’s design in KH2) that means the decorative zippers are placed upside down. Now, that doesn’t mean that they are completely unfunctional (meaning that they might be unzippable). However, zippers are usually placed the other way around, except for sleeve zippers – which makes our brain assume that the zippers might not function in the way zippers usually do.

In Blake’s original design, visual misappropriation is handled a bit differently: the sliders aren’t visible (they’re covered up by the flaps of her vest), which also makes out brain assume that the zippers might not work. Again, there is no way to ensure that they truly don’t, but our brain will assume it.

What makes the lack of visual misappropriation worse in the case of Blake’s V7 outfit is that there are unzipped zippers (the ones on the sleeves) which look exactly the same as the other zippers. This implies to our brain that yes, all the zippers are functional.

Now, this is also the case with the KH2 design of Kairi. However, due to that tiny detail that is the visual misappropriation of turning the decorative zippers upside down, our brain will not assume that the decorative zippers are functional. In fact, it’s the other way around: due to the one non-upside down zipper being slightly opened (implying to our brain that it is functional), it contrasts the fully zipped... I can’t say up, so zipped down decorative zippers. And this is actually a great example on how much impact such tiny details can have.

Last but not least, the leg zippers are visually disruptive. Not only because absolutely no one would place zippers on catsuit legs like that, but also because they draw your eyes somewhere your eyes are not meant to be drawn to (which is an overall problem with the V7 designs to be honest).

Now, someone pointed out on a podcast that the zippers help follow the movement of Blake’s legs. But let me ask one question about that (that was also thrown in in the podcast by the way): why does it have to be a zipper then? It could be a simple seam! Or the next thing I’m going to discuss, which are...

The Kneepads

Not going to lie, many people including myself seemed to be really confused about those because from the artwork alone it wasn’t clear whether Blake is wearing boots or kneepads. Fortunately we know from the Concept Art that those are meant to be kneepads now.

That makes my main question about those kneepads: why are they black? Seriously, why are those kneepads black?! And why are they the exact same shade (because yes guys, there are actually shades and tones of black as well) as the catsuit? I really don’t understand why they did this, because usually Ein Lee and the RT designers seem to have more of a tendency to never put the same color next to each other when they create a divide in a character design. So just... Why didn’t you do it there?

As I said, the kneepads could also serve as as visual indicator for Blake’s leg movement - without disrupting the entire design. As I said, by “different color” I mean a different tone of black (maybe a bit brighter than the catsuit is), they don’t have to be signal red, white or yellow. Yes, that joke was intended.

And that marks my transition to the final thing that bothered me about Blake’s new look. I already said I’m going to talk about it earlier, so now let’s finally get an answer to the question:

What’s the deal with Gambol Shroud?

First of all, I have to praise Blake’s backpack. I didn’t want to put this into a separate section because I literally have nothing else to say than “I love it because I think it fits the thought that Blake, being a ninja / illusionist needs lots of equipment and I LOVE the fact that it doubles as a way for her to carry Gambol Shroud around!”

That being said, my happiness about how Gambol Shroud is being handled in Volume 7 ends exactly there.

As you remember (or you don’t if you didn’t watch RWBY Volume 6 Chapter 12: Seeing Red), Gambol Shroud was cut in two pieces by Adam. When this happened, a large portion of the FNDM including myself were incredibly exited for Gambol Shroud’s upgrade. In fact, my exitement for the upgrade even overshadowed my distaste for this particular scene which I am not going to include because there is a lot of blood involved.

Summary of what happened: CRWBY deliberately had an anti-violence character murder someone who was unarmed, portrayed it as a heroic action and then never talked about it again despite the fact that this event should have traumatized both of the characters that were involved into this. Which... I just want to say that even though Adam allegedly abused Blake, which was never officially confirmed by the way, it is not okay. Murdering Adam out of self-defense? Sure, that would have been an interesting new arc for both Blake and Yang. However, this wasn’t self-defense and as I stated before, it was never talked about again, so there goes the story potential. But anyways...

The exitement for the upgrade in relation to this scene overshadowed my disdain for it for a very particular reason: I believed that it might be foreshadowing to Blake wielding not only one but two dagger-like weapons in the future.

Unfortunately, this turned out to be false and all we got instead was this:

Yes... They simply fixed the blade with yellow superglue... Which is not only incredibly uncreative and lazy in my opinion, but it’s also highly unrealistic: the blade is bade of metal. Once it is broken, even a fix with superglue won’t make it last long before it breaks again.

I think that turning Gambol Shroud into two daggers, maybe connected by the ribbon, would have been a better route to go. And if you still wanted that catana (because this joke is fun), you could always design it in a way that Blake can connect those daggers to get a full katana again. It would also allow for her to still use the catmerang and the pistol as well as the ribbon and the sheath.

I also think that Blake wielding daggers rather than a full katana would contribute to her ninja image. It’s way easier to sneak a knife or a dagger into some place than it is to smuggle a sword in there. Which is why historical assassins nearly exclusively used dagger variations – including the historical ninjas or shinobi.

Finally, it would have given Blake the chance to evolve her fighting style. At this point, Blake has fallen far behind with what she can do in comparison with her teammates and this is partly because the CRWBY seems to be mostly clueless about what to do with her, leading to Blake swinging around in combat most of the time. A whole new weapon type could be a fresh start for creativity with Blake. And yes, this is me talking in good faith because we all know that RT wants to save money and that is a huge part of the reason why every character’s moveset, including Blake’s, has become so incredibly boring.

Conclusion

Dear RoosterTeeth! Please fire the person with an unhealthy obsession with way too many belts and zippers in character designs before the FNDM makes even more jokes about Tetsuya Nomura having invaded your company. They were funny in the beginning, but they’re getting old. Thank you!

And now for the real conclusion...

Blake’s new design has a lot of problems, but almost all of them come from the same source: a lack of understanding for what makes the concepts the design uses work. This goes from concepts borrowed from other media (belts and zippers) to the concept of Blake as a character overall.

Furthermore, parts of the design (especially Gambol Shroud) show a lack of creativity and an overall lazyness. I mean, why put thought into how to avoid a void (ha, the pun!) in your character design or use a creative way to fill said void when you can just add a useless accessoiry?

Let’s get concrete. Here is what should be fixed in my opinion in order to make this a better character design:

Less zippers! The leg zippers and sleeve zippers can easily go completely. The front zipper of the catsuit should be longer than it currently is. And if you really want additional jacket zippers, then make them so it are clearly pocket or ventilation zippers (meaning that they don’t go all the way down to the hem – also, don’t have skin showing underneath if that is the case).

No wristbelts! For the reason I stated above. The other belts can stay, even though I am admittedly not much of a fan of the collar belt. I’d also say to tighten the hip belt a bit because the way it hangs loosely on her hips right now, it’s going to be a nuisance at best.

Make it look warmer! With fluffy parts or just anything that doesn’t look like plain, thin fabric. They’re at the north pole and I don’t care about aura, a character design has to make sense without knowing in-universe logic.

No heels! Yes, not even wedges. They are a nightmare to walk long distances in, let alone fight. Even the show itself acknowledged this in Volume 2, so time to apply this knowledge – after eight seasons of having characters who do a lot of acrobatic stuff run around in heels.

Give Blake gloves! It’s cold and quite honestly? I love to give infiltrator / ninja / spy characters gloves. Simply because you don’t want to leave fingerprints anywhere, do you? So gloves would be a win-win.

Do something different with Gambol Shroud! I don’t care what it is – dual daggers would honestly be cool, but who knows, someone else might have an even better idea than that! I’m open to anything, as long as it’s something different, and not just the superglue solution we got in canon.

Those are the major issues in my opinion. Fixing them wouldn’t exactly make this my favorite character design ever – honestly, if I was the character designer for RWBY, I’d do the entire outfit completely different. But I’m not and I’m not going to design an alternative because honestly? I’d rather save the ideas I have for alternative Blake outfits for OCs or characters from other media that I actually care about. As I stated before, I have a love-hate relationship with RWBY and I’m not particularly fond of the way things are being handled in the show as of late (*cough* the fact that they absolutely had to show Oscar being tortured *cough* That’s not dark, that’s just tasteless in my opinion, especially when so much other important stuff gets ignored for something like this).

Anyways, if the issues above were fixed, then the design would at least make sense to me and I think I could even say I like it – because all in all, this is a bad design in my opinion. The issue is just that while this design comes with some good ideas any concepts, it doesn’t execute them very well (which is the issue with RWBY a lot of the time).

Anyways, that was my mustard on the topic. I apologize for any language mistakes since this posting wasn’t beta’d and English is not my first language. Thank you so much for reading, especially if you got through this entire thing.

[rarebritney]

hi winnie maybe this is irrelevant but i’m curious what your opinion is on bjork re: cultural appropriation of asian cultures. you are really smart i’m curious of your opinion if you have one

I don't think this is an irrelevant question, but I do think someone of east asian heritage would have more valuable insight on this! personally, I am only super familiar with the first two Bjork albums which I believe don't feature as much of the east Asian inspired aesthetic of her later work, such as Homogenic. I find the artwork/visuals in her entire catalog to be extremely beautiful and arresting, but there certainly are critiques to be made about cultural appropriation in her visual aesthetic. i have heard a lot of different opinions from people of Asian descent re: orientalism and cultural appropriation in the arts. some people think using those aesthetics if you're not a part of the culture is never okay, some people think it's fine as long as you have an understanding and respect for the culture you are drawing inspiration from. Some people don't care at all and see a benefit in aspects of their culture becoming more mainstream- as a white person it is not my place to say whether any of these interpretations are right or wrong. I think there are often instances of cultural appropriation that are clearly wrong- using important cultural dress as a cheap costume is one example, but there are many others. My only concern with the concept of cultural appropriation is when people make arguments that people of certain races should only eat/dress/consume media from their own culture because this is basically the same traditionalist propaganda often used by white supremacists. I don't think that is often the intention of people who warn against appropriation, but it is insidious rhetoric that sneaks it's way into well meaning discussions. To sum up, I don't really have an opinion besides that it's an important question to ask and engage with- for more information I'd recommend looking into the history of Oreintalism as it's a rich topic with a long history wrapped up in racialized violence, imperialism and fetishization.