#feedback rocks

[darlakane]

Abso-fucking-lutely! Just got two comments in a row by two people and it made my day. It really does mean the world to us fanfic writers. ❤️ And often also helps to keep us motivated.

It really is crazy how getting comments on a fic makes you want to kiss them on the mouth with tongue

[surfedoutbrainwaves]

baby u were my picket fence!!

[anyamaris]

Oh my goodness....firstly thank you SO MUCH for reading and commenting on this...it means so much to hear what you thought!

Mingi hands are...oof ... And yes....the idea of Mingi going weak with all that power? (And yeah facial was definitely the right choice, thank you for loving it)

I don't normally write sub stuff so this one made me nervous but your response to it makes me feel a little more confident! Thank you so much!!!! 🤍💜🤍

TskTsk

Word Count-1366

Summary-Your boyfriend needs to be punished after a social engagement.

Pairing- Sub!Mingi x F!Reader

Trope-Established Relationship AU

Warnings-Vulgarity, smut, D/s dynamics, preestablished safe words and consent, bondage (hands tied), Minors DNI, 18+++ I think that's it?

Requested by- @lemonhongjoong I hope this is kind of what you wanted! You're one of my first requests so I am nervous putting it out. But I loved doing something like this. Enjoy!

NSFW below cut

"Aww Mingi, your girlfriend is so sweet." You hear Yunho say and Mingi tosses his arm around you. "Isn't she? So cute and sweet." he says back and laughs. He proceeds to pinch your cheek and coo down at you before looking back to Yunho. His friend is just smiling at how happy Mingi is.

If he only knew, you think.

You glance up at him as he continues to talk and you shake your head. His knowing smirk tells you everything you need to know. He knows what he's doing and he's completely aware of the consequences.

That was a few hours ago, and now, in the confines of your spacious open floor apartment, he was facing them. "Y/n...please...you know I was just having a conversation!" He's whining and you shake your head, turning with soap all over your hands.

"Oh Mingi...are you talking back to me?" You ask, raising your eyebrow. Mingi opens his mouth to say something, then closes it, his dimple poking out as he looks out the wide open picture window.

You'd stripped him down and tied his hands behind his back. "Aren't you enjoying the view?" you ask and he whines more audibly. "I'd enjoy it more if..." he starts and his eyes flick up to look at you. Drying your hands, you saunter over to him. His eyes travel over you, wearing nothing but a kitchen apron that barely covers your breasts on the top.

Kneeling down, you take his cock in your hand and squeeze it gently. He gasps and you tsk at him. "Mingi, are you not turned on by me? I swear you were begging me earlier with that little smirk to punish you. But now..." you say, frowning down at his length in your hand. He'd been rock hard when you'd first tied him up. Maybe you'd left him to himself too long.

He's so large and girthy, your hand looks tiny wrapped around him.

"I'm sorry, baby...but you are-" he winces as you cup his balls and his cock jumps. "Cute, huh?" you say, running your hand up him as you massage his sack. "Well, your dick is cute too." you say and give it a little kiss, right on the tip. He cries out and wiggles a bit in his bonds as you stand back up.

"Baby...where....what are you doing?" he asks and you turn to look at him with a pout. "BABY, I'm doing the dishes. They aren't going to do themselves!" You say and smile at him, continuing to your chores. You ignore him as you finish up and he is whining again.

"Aww, is my poor little boy upset?" you ask, walking over and plopping down on his long legs, enjoying his big thighs against your bare ass. You wrap your hand around him again and he pouts at you, nodding his head. You give him a kiss on his cheek and he looks up at you with pleading eyes.

"Please..." he whines and tries to lean forward to kiss you. You put your finger against his lips to stop him. "Bad boys don't get kisses." you say and he sighs heavily. Standing up, you reseat yourself on his lap, straddling him. You let his thighs hold your weight as you wrap both hands around his length. As you slowly stroke upwards, you look at his face, his eyes falling closed and his lips parting.

"Mmm, does my big boy like that?" you ask and he nods, breathing out audibly. You continue like that until he is moaning, picking up speed gradually and you feel him start to shake under you.

"Oooh is my boy going to cum?" you ask in a whisper and he whines out, his breath hitching. Then you stop, taking both hands off of him abruptly. His eyes fly open and he cries out your name.

"You think I'm going to just let you cum when you want to?" You ask with a smug look. You rake your fingers through his hair, grasping the strands and pulling back on his head. The flash of lust in his eyes has you smiling and you position yourself so that you're able to rub the head of his cock against your wet entrance.

"You're going to make me cum first, baby boy. Only then will I consider allowing you to have your fun." he moans and his hips lift, trying his best to push into you. "Now now, darling. Good boys are very patient. Hold still while I use you." you whisper into his ear as you sink down onto him.

He's so large that you can't help but cry out as he stretches you. You feel like you're going to rip in two as you settle completely on him, completely sheathed inside of you. He's letting out little mewling sounds as he clenches his jaw and his head tips back.

"Such a good boy," you pant and then you grip his shoulder as you work your hips in a circle, allowing yourself to adjust to his girth. His groans, little cries and obvious agony have you soaking him, and his eyes open up to watch you.

"Fuck baby..." he manages as you start bouncing on him. You don't hold your cries back as you fuck him, his complete willingness to let you use his body for your own pleasure driving you upwards into a fast, quick orgasm.

He tightens his jaw as you clamp down around him and he's trembling underneath you. Tears leak from his eyes and you wipe one away as you recover. "Aww, is my baby ok?" you ask and he cries out, his head shaking back and forth. "No! NOT OK!" he cries out and you smile.

"Aww would you like me to stop? Just say the magic word..." you manage as you start moving your hips again. He just looks at you with a pout and tears rolling down his face and your breath hitches.

"You've been such a good boy, I think you deserve a reward." You say and you reach behind him, untying him. "Now show me how strong you are, darling. Pick me up and fuck me until I cum again. Then you can cum allllllll over me."

Mingi wastes no time gripping your ass with his big hands, hoisting you up without withdrawing from you. You revel at the strength and power he has as you wrap your legs around him, hands holding onto his shoulder and neck as he presses you against the nearest wall.

"Oh fuck baby, yes. Pound me with that huge cock." you cry out and he's grunting and groaning, thrusting into you hard and fast. "Cum for me, dear god please cum....I don't know how...long I can-" he's panting out and you grip his hair again, yanking his head back and smashing your lips onto his.

Then you are clenching around him again, moaning into his mouth as you crest another wave, your hips and legs shaking helplessly as he holds you. He pulls back to watch your face contort with your orgasm and then he's panicking, crying out your name.

"Baby...Y/N! FUCK...CAN I-!?!?!?!" he's whining and you nod. He drops you down as he withdraws, and you press your tits together, opening your mouth up at him. He starts to cum on a long moan, the hot spurts landing on your chin, your face, your chest. He has to lean forward and hold himself against the wall with one hand as the spasms slow down and he finally breathes out.

You reach up and take him in your hand, pumping the last of his release into your mouth, running the tip of his cock along your lips, sucking the bottom lip in to taste him.

"Shit. Fuck." he says, smiling down at you with that cute little dimple. "You ok?" he asks, his hand going into your hair. "Mmm, yes. So messy though." you say at him with an eyebrow raised.

"Don't worry...good boys clean up after themselves." he says, picking you up in his arms like you weigh nothing. "Good boy," you coo at him, looking forward to bath time.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(I normally post then edit so Ill update)

@cultofdionysusnet @lemonhongjoong @wooyoungmybelovedhusband @shinestarhwaa @babesindestroyland

[postpunkindustrial]

Neil Young & Crazy Horse – Arc

I'll let Wikipedia handle this one:

Arc is an album by Neil Young and Crazy Horse, recorded early 1991 and released in October 1991.

The album consists of feedback, guitar noise, improvisations and vocal fragments which were recorded during various live shows on the 1991 US tour, and then re-edited into a 35-minute composition. Arc was originally released with the live album Weld in a special-edition 3-CD set called Arc-Weld. Separate releases of Arc and of Weld soon followed.

Agnostic Front shows up in that article. I did not see that coming.

You can get this from my Google Drive HERE

[kuni-loves-me]

This is just a little clip of the first chapter from a Velvet x female reader/OC (idk yet) that I'm making.

Tell me about what you think!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Loud Cheers.

That's all that could be heard. The sound of screaming, clapping, stomping. It rang in your ears. The shouts of fans screaming their idols name in hopes of being noticed.

It hurt my head...

But in reality, I was just like them. I was screaming and jumping in excitement. I was pushing people out of the way to get better views. I was waving my hands and shouting their name... I wanted to be noticed.

A crazed obsessed fan.

But it was useless. It always was. To them, I was nothing more than another background character. Another person handing them money only so they could continue to ignore my presence and miss me every time.

God, it wasn't fair. I'd do anything to have their attention... To have her's. To have her beautiful blue eyes locked on mine. To hear her beautiful voice directed to me, and me alone. To be the reason she smiled...

Was that too much?

Probably. But what did I know? I was only 17. A silly, love-sick 17 year old willing to do anything to get the attention of the woman she loved.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It's just a small clip. I wanna continue but I wanna know what everyone thinks first.

Is it bad, good? A good intro? Any mistakes? Yada yada. Js any kinda feedback would be nice.

Thank youuuu. 🫶🫶

[countrymusiclover]

14 - Taragaryn’s and Lannister’s

Part 15

The Lion Knight and Dragon Princess

Tags- just send an ask to be added @cdragons @kmc1989 @starkleila @noirrose21-blog @lover-of-books-and-tea

“Gah - seven hells!” Shooting awake one morning I grabbed my swollen stomach feeling severe pain shoot through my lower back and belly.

Jaime quickly woke up laying beside me in the bed till he heard me wake up with a scream. “Vaella! What’s wrong?”

“I - I think it’s time. The baby is coming.” I shakingly responded, baring my teeth when a wave of pain shot through my entire body.

Jaime leaped up from the bed throwing on some trousers heading towards the chamber door. “Lady Jane, we need you immediately!”

“You called for me, my lord.” Her footsteps entered the room with a quick haste throwing her light brown hair around in its bun. I had assigned her to be my lead handmaiden because she reminded me of my best friend Amber.

I attempted to speak, throwing my head back against the pillows. “My baby’s coming - ooohhh!”

“I’ll fetch the midwife and a few more ladies.” She curtsies before rushing out of the chamber. A few minutes later she returned with three other ladies in waiting and an elderly woman following their heels.

The older woman noticed Jaime had helped shift me around on the bed and hadn’t moved away from my side. “Lord Lannister, you must now leave this chamber.”

“What, no!” I squeaked out a noise in fear clasping his left hand in mine.

The midwife sent me a weak look. “It is not the proper tradition, my lady. It has been believed that if the husband is in the chambers when the baby is near being born it or the mother may not live to see their next day.”

“To hell with such worries of old stories!” I spat in her direction feeling my chest tightening at the thought. Jaime had told me of the age he had lost his mother and I remember receiving a Raven telling me of my own late mother’s death. “Jaime and I lost our mothers from this type of battlefield and I refuse to face the same fate alone.”

Jaime watched my eyes before I grasped his hand tightly, feeling a few more waves of pain course their way through me like a thousand thieves. “You heard what my wife has to say now, do something or I’ll find someone who will.”

“Jaime…” I laid my head against his arm and he kissed my forehead, feeling me beginning to sweat.

The midwife turned to prepare what we needed with the help of some of the handmaidens. I was told I had to sit up with my legs open and then start pushing. The contractions started coming closer together when I gave my first few pushes. My heart started banging against my chest and I already felt tired. "It's starting to come out, my lady. Just a few more big pushes."

Jaime winced sharply when I squeezed his hand even tighter. My freehand was turning white while I gripped the handle of the dagger. Sweat was sticking to my forehead with the white hair falling over my shoulders appearing to be a mess. "I can't do this, Jaime…I can’t!"

"Don't say that, Vaella.” Jaime’s gaze focused down on me, his wife hating to see me hurt and not being able to do anything to help her.

Turning my head in his direction I felt some tears falling down my cheeks. "No I…."

"Yes you can. Vaella, you are a fierce dragon of house Targaryen. You have lasted longer than many believed you had so you will make it through this." He replied, squeezing my hand in his even though I had nearly broke his hand at this point.

Nodding my head slowly I bared my teeth doing one final push that took the last of my energy that I had left. An infant's cry filled the room where I threw my head back onto the pillows. Gulping a lump down my throat I slowly controlled my breathing while the midwife wrapped the baby in a blanket handing them to me once I had sat up again. "Congratulations my lord my lady, you have a baby girl.”

“Can I hold her - ahh something’s wrong.” I raised my hands and Jane nearly placed the babe in my arms until I suddenly felt another wave of pain crawling inside my body.

Jaime turned my chin so I was looking into his eyes. “What’s wrong, dear?”

“I don’t know -“

Jaime raised his voice to the midwife. “Don’t just stand there. Do something!”

“It appears you are still dilated, Lady Lannister. There’s another baby still inside of you. You must push.” The midwife checked underneath the blanket over my open legs.

Sucking in a sharp breath I felt my eyes getting heavy already tired from the first one. “Jaime - What if this one kills me. I’m - I’m afraid.”

“Please don’t think like that, princess. I lost my mother. I - I refuse to let the gods take you from me. Just focus on me and me being here.”

The midwife nodded, instructing me. “You must begin to push if you wish to have this baby live.”

Baring my teeth I clutched my eyes tightly closed using the last bit of energy and strength that was left inside my body till suddenly another infant cry filled the chambers. “Ohhh. It’s a boy, my lady, my lord.”

“You’re my fierce dragon.” Jaime cupped my face in his left hand bringing me in for a long kiss.

Jane came over carrying one baby in each arm smiling at us. “It appears they are twins. Have you thought of names for two babies perhaps?”

“For the girl it should be Luciya. Jaime, you should name the boy. He's your heir after all.” I cradled our daughter against my chest seeing she and her brother had blonde hair but bright purple eyes.

Jane helped Jaime shift his golden hand so he could hold his son in his arms. “Rhaegar.”

“W-what did you say?” I questioned him.

My husband stared down at me with a proud grin across his face. “We should name him Rhaegar in honor of your brother.” I parted my lips, leaning up and kissing him where he understood that I was completely on board.

4 Years Later - Esso’s

Daenerys was standing outside on the balcony overlooking her city of the slaves she had recently free'd. She could hear footsteps coming up behind her where she turned slightly around to face her father’s former Kingsguard Selmy. “Everyone looks happy enough from up here.”

“What I was thinking about was all the times your brother made me go down with him from the Red Keep into the streets of Kings Landing.”

She asked him with curiosity. “Why?”

“He liked to walk among the people. He liked to sing.”

She smiled. “He sang to them.”

“Yes. Rhaegar would pick a spot on the hook or the street of seeds then he’d sing just like all the other minstrels.”

She asked him sitting down in a chair inside her chamber room. “And what did you do?”

“I made sure no one killed him. And I collected the money. He liked to see how much he could make.”

The more she learned about her brother the more she realized how wrong Visreys had talked about him. “He was good?”

“He was very good. Viserys never told you.”

She shook her head no. “He told me Rhaegar was good at killing people.”

“Rhaegar never liked killing, he loved singing.”

“What did you do with the money?” She questions him.

“One time he gave it to the next minstrel down the street, one time he gave it to an orphanage in flea bottom, one time we got horribly drunk where your sister had to drag him up the stairs and put him to bed herself.” Ser Selmy chuckled, picturing Vaella who wasn’t as tall as her eldest brother up the stairs as best as she could manage.

Daenerys chuckled, deciding to ask about her sister now as well. “What do you remember about my sister exactly?”

“What did Viserys tell you about her?”

She sighed leaning back in her chair. “He didn’t have much to say except that she teased him a lot when he was younger. But after my father knighted a boy of only 16 she basically spent time with that particular knight all the time. Is that true, Ser Selmy?”

“Your brother wasn’t wrong. Vaella and Jaime became very close over your father's reign.”

Daenerys knitted her brows. “Viserys would joke and say they were bedding each other.”

“Oh I’m not sure about that, my queen. They were very close from what I remember. You’re mother even approved of him.”

Her gaze lifted up to his. “What was my sister Vaella really like?”

“She appeared to be just like any proper princess or high born lady at least to the common people. But inside the castle she became rebellious at times. One time I remember her and her friend snuck into the kitchen and kept eating all the fresh cookies that were made the kitchen staff had to make more until of course they ate those. The chiefs began to believe an animal had managed to get inside, until the two girls came down with stomach aches the next morning.” Daenerys couldn’t help but laugh at the very thought when he went on to tell another story. “She could sword fight, ride dragons and also was a master at keeping down her alcohol when she drank a bunch.”

He kept going on about her sister bringing up the knight's presence again. “There was one thing she didn’t like being called though by the knight who protected her and that was her title of Princess. She was like Rhaegar in wanting to just be treated like one of the citizens of Kings Landing rather than royalty. The problem was Jaime knew that and he would call her princess just to annoy her sometimes…hmm I wish she was still alive. She would have made a good queen like you, Daenerys.”

“What was the full name of the knight who served her?” The dragon queen asked the knight before circling the conversation back.

“Ser Jaime Lannister.”

Her smile dropped from her face at the name. “The man who murdered my father?”

“Yes, my queen.” The knight watched her bring a hand to her mouth giving him a cold look needing time to process what her sister was doing with a man like that.

[teddybeartoji]

would you guys kill me if i still ended up reposting the first prince!gojo x knight!reader piece without having the other ones ready..............

[alcinity]

i'd really like honest feedback on this, it's my first song

[yourworldiseternallycomplete]

i have such an irrational gut dislike of the phrase "dudes rock" i think mostly because it is an extremely annoying and pervasive form of gender essentialism that really fucking irks me like it just gets me real mad i guess this is the definition of a pet peeve idk

[aeolianblues]

I've finally caved in and upgraded my phone, after 6 years, some apps were refusing to work on my phone and they were the crucial ones: banking, Uber, the works. While watching Fontaines D.C.'s Glasto set with my friend, I blurted at that in honour of their fantastic performance, my new phone's wallpapers, breaking a nearly decade-old tradition of using artwork from Muse's The Resistance, was going to be Fontaines-themed. That was also when I realised there weren't really a lot of Fontaines motifs and designs out there, and I didn't just want to use a picture of the band, that's not wallpaper material, that's a photograph!

So I've decided to make some, I think some are better than others, but I'll share them all. Here you go, Fontaines D.C. lockscreens/wallpapers!

Suggest other lyrics I could work on without drawing stuff by hand, I'm out of town and don't have any tools on me

[bandsandwristbands]

Your art is life giving to me. Personally.

Aaadhsgjvfukkk I love you for that I'm happy to provide! have a silly haha doodle for the road😘 💖

[crispycreambacon]

Cliché Then and Now

An analysis of the Fraggle Rock episode "Mokey, Then and Now" and how stereotypes permeate our perceptions

Disclaimer: I am not calling for a disavowal of the show, nor am I implying the creators were intentionally racist. I am also not African, so there are likely things I got wrong or missed out on.

Special thanks to @jazzyjuno for contributing to the essay and @madamegemknight for helping me compile screenshots!

— ☆ —

When I first watched the Fraggle Rock episode “Mokey, Then and Now”, I laughed at the usual wackiness and welcomed the surprise of a dynamic between Mokey, Boober and Wembley. However, a strange discomfort lurked at the back of my head once they traveled to the past and met their ancestors. I couldn’t understand why at first when the episode seemed to radiate nothing but the fun I’ve come to expect from this show. Then, the first song came on.

I looked up the lyrics to confirm what I had heard, and to my disappointment, I didn’t mishear. This is one of many examples of pop culture’s reference to Vodou, a widely misunderstood religion from Haiti that garnered an unfair reputation for being “dangerous” and “demonic”, and like a lot of media back in the day—even still today—Fraggle Rock utilized this to create a mystifying atmosphere with a sinister undercurrent. While the portrayal is not as negative as the caricatures surrounding it, it is still a questionable usage of an already stigmatized religion.

(From the first verse)

Who do you do? We do voodoo

(We do voodoo)

Who do you do? We do voodoo

(Who do you do?)

(From the chorus)

Eye of bat, ear of toad,

Hoppin' down the dusty road,

Lizard, gizzard, beetle stew,

These will bring good luck to you.

It's true... True Voodoo!

Caterpillar, caterwaul,

Crawling up the garden wall,

Song of shadow, air of rain,

These will make you strong again.

It's true... True voodoo!

It wasn’t just the lyrics that caught my eye. Funnily enough, I went to the comments section of the music video, and I saw someone say this.

This person is not the only one who made the connection. So have I, and that is because the instrumentation sounds like an amalgamation of different African music genres. The beginning shots even showed the past Fraggles playing drums which look similar to the djembe, a percussion instrument from West Africa.

I had originally thought the instrumentation derived solely from Afrobeat, but my friend Juno pointed out how the creators had blended music from different cultures together to create what was commonly identified as tribal music, making it difficult to pinpoint a specific genre it was emulating. She even caught similarities to music outside of Africa, namely the Axé genre from Salvador, Brazil.

Once that link had been established, I realized why I felt uncomfortable with the past Fraggles. The creators of this episode likely meant to play on generic caveman stereotypes, but in doing so, they accidentally emulated elements of African culture and their stereotypes.

• African Influences in the Past Fraggles' Culture

Take a look at the clothing that the past Fraggles wore. Their accessories and colorful patterns allude to tribal African clothing, specifically Maasai bead necklaces from Kenya and Tanzania, and other jewelry they wear are made from natural materials such as stones, plants and hay.

Covering hair is a very common practice in many African countries such as Nigeria, Ghana and Zimbabwe to the point the clothing they use to wrap their heads has its own name which is a headwrap. While the hats that the past Fraggles wear aren’t explicitly headwraps, the past Fraggles demonstrate a reverence of covering their heads to the point when Mokey accidently cited a word to force them to take their hats off, they cried out in despair.

Moreover, when people depict Africans in media or simply imagine them, Africans are often imagined as bald which is a consequence of the generalization of an important part of ancient culture and the spread of ideas propped up by eugenicists. Guess what happens when the past Fraggles take their hats off.

The past Fraggles operated under a monarchy under the “Great and Wondrous leader” Fishface Fraggle whose presentation screams of what an average person may think of when visualizing an African king. His sceptre is carved like an Asante linguist staff—which, while not held by the king, is closely related to the king—and his throne has a loose resemblance to a palanquin which, while not exclusive to African culture, is used in Ghana. To add onto the African king imagery, the past Fraggles briefly showed off fans in the first song which are associated with the king’s fan bearers in Egypt.

• The Poor Implications

On its own, the past Fraggles having African influences in their culture isn’t an awful idea. It only becomes a problem when those influences are being used in a context which further perpetuates African stereotypes.

With all of this in mind, Boneface Fraggle suddenly takes on the “savage caricature” image which depicts Africans wearing bones in their nose and speaking in “broken” English.

It wasn’t just Boneface who spoke like this. There were multiple instances where the past Fraggles didn’t follow General American English and chanted caveman speech which has been associated with Africans to imply their lack of articulation and therefore inferiority.

The savage and uncivilized stereotypes are pushed further when the past Fraggles act in an unsavory way. For instance, they have outlawed laughter, even though it is a completely natural act, and imprisoned a Fraggle for breaking this law.

When Mokey is proven to not be Blundig Fraggle as she claimed to be, they immediately called for her, Boober and Wembley to be imprisoned and tied to a rock for what is implied to be eternity.

• Why Should We Care?

After all, the creators likely didn’t consciously draw inspiration from African cultures, nor did they intend to enforce these stereotypes. In fact, I proposed they were likely focusing more on caveman imagery.

That’s the thing though. Stereotypes, especially racial ones, are ingrained in us so deeply that we can subconsciously be influenced by them when we create and enjoy art connected to their subjects. Caveman stereotypes have a lot of overlap with African stereotypes, so in the creators attempting to portray one image, they accidentally invoke another.

In spite of my speculations on them drawing from cavemen, we cannot be completely sure of the intentions of the creators when trying to portray the past Fraggles as from what I can tell, they had not made them public. Regardless of what they intended, that doesn’t erase that the culture of the past Fraggles can be interpreted as a cumulation of African stereotypes.

We may not even remember where stereotypes originate from as they are a gross oversimplification of observations from our ancestors, yet these stereotypes stick with us and our culture even if we aren't actively thinking about them. Believing and passing on generalizations is a lot easier than thinking of all the nuances of a subject and researching where these generalizations came from.

Let me make it clear: you are not a bad person for not noticing before. The creators are not bad people for unintentionally perpetuating these stereotypes. This isn’t an issue with individual morality. Stereotypes are, by their design, meant to go unchallenged for literal centuries, and people aren’t meant to ponder over their validity. They are presented as simple truths so that we won’t have to think about why they factor into how we treat and think about other people, and we won’t have to confront the prejudice that they can cause.

This is why we have to actively call out stereotypes when we do notice them because how else will we ever stop believing them so easily? If we never question why we believe and enforce them, how can we undo their harm? Even something as small as pointing out when stereotypes are used in a TV show or calling out someone who uses them for their tasteless jokes can lead to bigger changes such as dismantling the racism which benefited from stereotypes.

• So What Do We Do About It?

Moving forward, we need to be more mindful about how we portray subjects in our art to ensure we can explore them with the nuance they need and to ensure that marginalized groups aren't harmed by our art. We also need to be aware of when the media utilizes these stereotypes and how they are presented in the media’s context. Recognizing harmful portrayals in others’ work can help us stay vigilant when making our own art, and we can also help each other realize our own shortcomings and minimize the harm done in the future. We live and learn then, we can live and learn now.

[fr00tbats]

cant stop thinking abt this episode where wembley goes "aw, rocks 🫤" & i keep saying that to myself now

[wholelottatransbians]

This idea has been in my brain for a while now, so now you get it!

Hero Time: Kanna unlocks Shock Rock during the second round of the Sports Festival.

Despite having no idea what this form does at first, she still ends up in the top four.

Shock Rock is a very strong alien. Electrokinesis, Energy Absorption, Energy Manipulation/Shaping, literally no UA student could stand up to that.

Would probably save them for a bit later on, but I agree the mental image is hilarious.

[batsplat]

btw at le mans 2013 some vale fans had a huge (cringey ofc) banner which went like

yzr-m1: someday my prince will come

vale badly photoshoped as a prince: sorry babe

here’s how we can tie this to rgu and the whole prince&princess theme

also remember how in rgu the movie utena turns into a car and all? well what if valentino had some weird (vaguely erotic) dreams in that vein…….

(x, x) kermit at that poster not at the ask, to be clear!! weird ass sport

anyway, let's talk more about how to apply surrealist anime rgu to motogp! and yes, again, we are kinda stripping rgu from a lot of the stuff it was Actually About, but y'know on the other hand it'd also be flattening that particular artwork if your stance is that the 'only' things the story is relevant to is like. cycles of abuse. structural patriarchy. on-screen depictions of sibling relationships designed to make you extremely uncomfortable. all that stuff. so we are taking it as read for the rest of this post that rgu deals with more serious stuff than competitive sports and work from there

the car stuff!! anthy's prince literally turns into a vehicle to allow her to escape! it ends with both of them like... intertwined on the remaining husk of that vehicle, riding off into freedom. also the car looks cool

this isn't super relevant, I was just thinking about how much fun they made that car. like they made sidepod-wings into horsies. eat your heart out, ducati

now, in the film this is basically a metaphor for growing up, right. anthy is finally breaking out of the school and embracing her revolution by quite literally freeing herself from the prison she had both been entrapped in and had continued to entrap herself in. and isn't that... isn't that basically what valentino is doing when he's leaving honda for yamaha. well, no, obviously it's nothing like that. but say that it was like that, and that essentially this is the process of growing up, coming of age, growing into his own or whatever you want to call it. self-actualisation. a spiritual journey to a different bike manufacturer. valentino does think he's like... imprisoned in honda, it's his whole theme that year, he does a cute callback when he's won the title. brno 2003 is both the prisoner celebration and where he signs for yamaha, like he's not really being subtle about this. and the only way he can fully become himself is standing on his own two feet, thrive or fail, at yamaha. because now he's no longer following the path that's been set out for him. honda was comfortable in many ways, it was a very pretty prison - even if he felt underappreciated, he was still the golden boy at The Most Successful Manufacturer, he'd inherited doohan's team, he was building up a dynasty of his own. he was leaving behind basically... a completely guaranteed title for 2004 and most likely years beyond that for something far less secure

there is a kinda. obvious point here. and it's that according to this framing, valentino is implicitly being cast in the role of the princess. and the bike is the prince, who is being ridden to safety. which fits into the idea that there's like,, a deeply possessive element, of the bike towards the rider, and that's basically the key prince trait beyond lip service commitment to 'nobility'. I think that does kinda... work, not just because the contrast with the expected gender roles makes it more interesting, but also because 'seeing a vehicle as a symbol of liberation' inherently feels like a very valentino thing. the thing about anthy is that it's always a bit unclear how much power she has over what's happening, but when you rewatch the show enough times you do increasingly go 'huh has she been psychologically tormenting all of these characters for over thirty episodes as a diversion from the horrors of existence'. and the film very much then becomes... her version of events, if you will, where her brother the devil (that guy sure keeps cropping up in these asks) has become this defanged parody of himself,, and it really becomes more about her using utena to make the final step. or something!! obviously this is only one interpretation etc etc. but idk I think there's a fun element of this dual role of 'princess' and 'witch' where you've got a character who increasingly exerts autonomy over their own narrative and plays god a little bit and can also force other characters into slightly sadistic mini-arcs where they get turned into cows and who eventually brute forces their own vision on the world. because they do have power, and they are the instigator of the entire plot

so. so. I think one of my favourite things about valentino is... okay, so I don't actually really like when athletes are that good. with both valentino and marc, I have a very begrudging attitude towards just how successful they are, because that level of dominance is extremely 'meh' to me as a sports fan. they're really the exception here as far as I'm concerned, I'm very tenuously okay with their title count but it is also A Bit Much. but the thing about valentino, right, is that he mostly gets around that bit of my brain by also seemingly have a bit of an issue with dominance. the way he progressed through the ranks to the premier class is like,, nowadays, doesn't even stand out as notable because that's Just How Feeder Series Work, but back then it wasn't as guaranteed because they weren't feeder series!! it's not necessarily like clearing a level... you can just stick around to win more than one of these titles, and valentino was seriously considering doing as much but decided to move up anyway. I think there's something fun about how he kinda needs a certain difficulty level to get his brain into it. he's flirting with depression after 2002, writing in his autobiography about how AWFUL it is that winning isn't FUN any more, does his insane little yamaha switch which somehow worked out for him, got really into his f1 flirtations until quite literally when he starts losing again... he needs a bit of drama, he needs enemies, he needs MEANING!! I think inherently he's very suited to any role that casts him as a quasi-malicious storyteller, especially one that's searching for like,, some kind of Growth and progression. and also playthings. which then regularly feeds into a set of callous behaviours towards The Competition when it's seen as necessary. or just satisfying

the way this works when you. y'know. personify the bike into the prince,, is that inherently the prince's pov on this is also quite selfish, right, like it's a saviour complex and thinking you are The One who can claim the princess as your own. the prince can keep the princess safe... who can be used by the princess/witch as a tool to bring about world revolution, and so on. the prince attempts to control the princess, and the princess is devoted to the prince. and also, they can make each other worse!! it's kind of... eventually as a duo they can become so dedicated to this sick game they're playing that basically any act is excusable as long as it helps them win. anyway crucially I do think if you did a surrealism on valentino's brain, some blue haired girl personification of the m1 rocking up to save him from his shackles and allow him to finally attain revolution by turning into a vehicle and literally carrying him to safety... does sound about right, yeah. weird erotic bike fantasies and all