#i clearly need him in a way that's concerning to feminism

[andy-clutterbuck]

The Ones Who Live | 1x03 - Bye

[piastrella-rotta]

completly normal about this, i'm not about to bash my head against the wall or anything else related to being morbid

[daydreaming-in-letters]

Against the wall

05/24/2024

Pairing: Hozier x fem!reader

Word Count: 1,917

Warnings: rpf, alcohol, pining, naughty thoughts, fluff

Summary: Sometimes all it takes is a room full of people to figure out you want nothing more than to be alone with that one person.

A/N: Guys, this was written in a fevered frenzy. Haven't felt the muse in months and don't know whether she did a good job, but I am so happy she is not dead.

Picture is a screen cap from this video

Dividers by @firefly-graphics

If you enjoy my story, you are very welcome to like, comment or reblog. No permission is given to copy, repost or share my work on other platforms.

She had forgotten how much she loathed being in a room full of people. Maybe it was a condition that came with age, to appreciate silence and solitude, or maybe, just maybe, it was entirely his fault. 

Her back leaning against the wall, his hand was splayed out right next to her head, supporting the weight of his body as he leant in slightly so he could focus on her voice above the noise of the bustling room. He had never been this close to her, so close she could smell the intoxication scent of his body, and in an instant the chatter was drowned out by the wild drum of her heart, which in turn made it one of the most challenging tasks she had ever had to face to string her words together into meaningful sentences. 

But it seemed she had somehow succeeded, against all odds, as he turned his head to look at her, his face so close now that she could feel the heat of his breath on her face. And as if that had not been enough to clear every coherent thought from her head, he chose to turn his lips up into the most dazzling smile upon her silly joke. 

It made her dizzy, combined with the sparkle in his eyes it was an almost deadly combination, impossible to resist. It had captured her completely. He had captured her completely, occupied her every thought in a way that was bordering on concerning, for her sanity, maybe even for the idea of feminism she lived by, but even more so for the very essence of her existence. 

She had seen it all so clearly, a happy future, no one to bother her, especially no man to cause her even more worries than she already had. Just her, the path in front of her clearly mapped out. And then he had crossed her way, and it had dawned on her that what she had deemed the perfect life would seem like nothing but a cheap substitute next to a life with him. Certainly, she could still be happy without him—if she needed to. 

The problem was, she didn’t want to. She didn’t want to live a life without the sound of his laughter, without his twisted sense of humour and the way he looked at her when they were engaged in a conversation, as if there was no one else in this world, as if it was only him and her. He made her feel secure in a way no one ever had. When he entered the room, she could feel her shoulders relax, her breath going more easily and the galloping of her heart slowing in pace. And when she talked to him, it was as if she had never done anything else in her entire life. There was nothing of the usual unease or urge to appeal between them that might, under different circumstances or with a different man, lead her to a point at which she had either moulded herself into a completely different person or where everything meaningful she had wanted to say and that had been phrased so clearly in her head became lost somewhere on the way from her brain to her mouth. With him though, she could just be herself, safe in the knowledge that he would not judge or tire of her at some point. 

If only she knew with the same certainty if he felt the same. Obviously he did enjoy talking to her as well, or he wouldn’t be standing here right now, choosing to talk to her when he had a room full of people to choose from. But did he also hang on her lips like she did on his? Did he also wonder if they were just as soft as he imagined them to be? And would he like her to step closer, or pull him closer to her instead? And when her hand rested against his chest then, would she feel the same thunderous beat that drummed behind her own ribs? Would it start to flutter as soon as their lips met and refuse to fall back into its regular rhythm until their bodies lay sweaty and spent, their desire finally sated? And in their blissed out state, would he hold her? Would he pull her that impossible inch closer and press the softest of kisses to her forehead, telling her all she needed to know without uttering a single word? Would he still be there in the morning to see her tousled hair and sleep-wrinkled face and look at her with the same affection she thought to find in his gaze right now? Would he—

“There you are! I’ve been looking for you everywhere.” His back still turned on the intruder, he gave her the most dramatic roll of his eyes she had ever seen, making it very hard for her to hide a snicker. “Come, there is someone I need you to meet.”

She wanted to protest, wanted to do whatever it took to keep him close, but before her brain had even been able to form a protest, he was being dragged away from her, his lips forming a silent apology. 

This social engagement was tedious. The thought came as somewhat of a surprise to him. There had been a time when he had truly enjoyed this kind of event, but tonight something just was not right about this party. Well, not ‘something’ as in an unknown factor that made this party different from other parties. It was not unknown to him at all. In fact, this evening had been perfectly enjoyable up until that moment he had been so rudely separated from her. 

She was still leaning casually against that wall, the only difference being that he was too far away from her now. To be fair, any distance that exceeded an arm’s length was too far for his taste. She on the other hand did not seem to mind his absence much, as someone else had already taken his place by her side to engage her in what appeared to be a most entertaining conversation. Not one glance did she spare him, while all he could focus on was the ludicrous attempt to will himself back into his old position, close to her. So close that her breath would waft across his neck again as she spoke, the heat of her body crawling over his skin. Maybe her hand would find him by accident—or intentionally, which would be all the better. After a moment he would return the favour, finally giving in to his longing to feel the smoothness of her skin against his fingertips.

Instead all he could feel was his mouth opening as she brought the glass to her lips and took a sip of champagne. Would he be able to taste it on her tongue if she allowed him to kiss her? He almost hoped he would not be, because what he really desired to taste was her, the exquisite, singular flavour only she possessed. 

And still, that would not nearly be enough to sate his hunger. He wanted to taste all of her. Her lips, her skin, the moist heat at the apex of her thighs. He wanted her so much he could feel his mouth drying up upon the ardor of his wish, no, need for her.

What would it be like to have her? He had imagined it a thousand times over and yet there were so many questions still left unanswered. Would she voice her pleasure or enjoy in silence? Was it her wish to be the director of their passion play or did she want him to lead the way? Would his name glide over her lips in a soft moan or would she scream in ecstasy when they had finally reached the peak? Would she stay serious, caught up in desire, all the way through or would there be giggles and laughter? And what then, after they had given themselves to each other completely? Would she leave, seeing this as an experience best enjoyed once only? Or would she stay, her naked body resting against his in peaceful slumber, and allow real intimacy to begin? 

If it were his choice to make, he would know exactly what to choose. But he could not blame her if she opted for something different. Commitment was tough, and there had been times when he had thought that he, like so many others, was simply not built for it. But watching her now, he could not recall how he had ever been this blind about himself in the first place. 

It had been strange at first, that sense of belonging that always befell him when she was around, completely unexpected. But ever since he had felt it for the first time and realised its true meaning, it was as if he had discovered a law of nature, complex and yet so easy to understand, as if it had always been an inherent part of him.

Once again, the dryness he had felt earlier returned to his mouth, more demanding this time, until it had managed to push every other thought aside for a moment. Instinctively he set the glass to his lips, his eyes not once leaving her until he had lifted the bottom high enough to block his view. It had only been for the blink of an eye, but now he found himself almost choking on his final gulp when his eyes returned to find her spot against the wall empty all of a sudden.

Leaving without a goodbye was childish, she knew, but she just could not shake this nagging feeling that had befallen her out of the blue, that being in the same room with him without talking  to him or being able to at least be near him without looking as if she was running after him like a duckling was far worse than not being here at all. 

With a sigh she set down the glass on an empty table she passed on her way to the exit. What a waste, as it was almost half-full, but somehow it did not taste quite right, and so she left the rest of her drink behind, like the dream that she would ever be to him what he was to her. 

It was dark as she entered the hallway and the air felt uncomfortably cool in contrast to the air inside that had been heated by all those bodies. Their chatter was still following her now, echoing from the walls left and right. 

It must have obscured the noise of his steps, or maybe they had not made any sound at all. Otherwise she would have recognised their rhythm from a mile away. But instead, she only realised that he was there as his warm hand closed around her wrist and gently brought her to a stop. And despite the fact that she had halted her steps almost instantly, she had not expected him to be this close now as she turned, so close that she could see the startled expression of her eyes reflected in his own. So dark, so green. 

He did not utter a single word. He did not have to. She knew when his grip on her loosened and his fingers softly glided between hers. She smiled, and so did he. And then, slowly, they began to walk.

taglist:

@rosecentury

@lowkeysimpinloki

@fightmespideyboy

[weebsinstash]

more valentino PLEASE 🙏

How does the saying go, "i want this man in ways that are concerning to feminism"?

I was thinking of how Angel used to live in V Tower and, how fucked up would it be for him to receive a good morning text from Val to head up to his room, and AD is thinking it's a booty call, but it's ACTUALLY Valentino being a manipulative piece of shit

Angel comes into the room and Valentino is already half or fully naked but like, he's not hard or anything and Angel is confused? The moth is just, chilling naked smoking with this satisfied look on his face? And Valentino just, gives him some menial command to run him a favor, and he pauses mid-sentence to turn and call out YOUR name before regarding his Fizz Bot, "Kitty, why don't you make my baby a drink?" and you're just like, slinking out from under the covers, ashamed that Angel now knows you slept with the Overlord, let alone someone you know uh, treats him pretty fucking poorly (although I imagine not like, the entire entire brutal extent of it, also, Angel Dust using Reader as a shield against Val because they're both calmer when you're around)

Could you imagine some scenario, platonic romantic it doesn't matter, where like. Angel is talking to Valentino and he sees you in the corner of his eye and he just stops mid sentence, does a double take, looks at you half naked in his boss' bed, and Val forces him to focus and carry on the conversation while he's crying. Angel is just all but sprinting out of the room by the time he's dismissed and Valentino may even play fucking mind games to make him like, MARINATE in how horrible this makes him feel. Valentino is dragging out the conversation and putting on his nail caps or doing his skincare routine at his vanity and making Angel sit there and wait as he's deliberate dragging on his sentences and constantly pausing but if Angel moves to leave Val snaps IMMEDIATELY. So Angel is just. Forced to stand there.

VALENTINO TALKING TO Y O U, MAKING YOU ACKNOWLEDGE ANGEL AND THE REVERSE. Valentino being manipulative and awful and shitty and doing shit like "so Angel baby, I was gonna take a trip to the spa tomorrow, mhm, and also hey you're coming too *looks at you* so Angel what do you think we should get my other amorcito over here done?" the evil bastard is making you two talk to each other, about each other, when you're both like, IN TEARS

Angel, trying to hold on to the last shreds of his sanity: s so... h have you... ever had a facial before

Valentino pausing from doing his mascara with the biggest shit eating grin on his face: oh yeah, someone just had a really, really BIG one

Reader, happily getting drunk off the drink Kitty brought you because it helps take away the pain of this entire interaction: a. .. a massage or something might be nice

Valentino, doing his contour: but baaaabe, I thought you told me you were shy about who puts their hands on your body. Are you trying to make me jealous?

Angel, desperately trying to ignore Val blowing you a kiss and you clearly having bites and hickies alllllllll over you like there wasn't a single inch of you the moth didn't put his hands mouth or otherwise on: uh huh! Cool! So! Guess we can! Decide later right! :)

Valentino, doing his nails: wrong 💅 I also need you to

And the mf is just doing that shit for like 20 minutes straight which doesn't SOUND like a lot but when you're standing there just talking and waiting and, especially having a moment like THIS, it's just DRAGGING ON, and when Angel finally leaves, you're crying, and here's Valentino, "awwww, pobrecita, come here, what's wrong?" and hugging you and you need the comfort and you're drunk and, now maybe you're just a little scared he's the only person you have left....

Also. Bonus round for the angst. Can you imagine. Angel runs off and it's you sleeping with Valentino that finally hurts him so much he's finally RUNNING running away, meeting Charlie, having another place to live. He's still working under contract but the second his shift ends he's out of the studio without another word because... he can't protect you anymore. He feels like this is his fault. He failed Molly and now he failed you and he's worthless and trash and an addict loser-- meanwhile you're beating yourself up because you've lost your only friend down here and also your biggest supporter and Valentino all but lovebombs you (and the worst part is, it's genuine and if you reject ANYTHING, he's getting Offended Bigly)

Ugh. Ok. I'm sorry. Finally finishing the post with one more thing. Valentino is definitely the type to give you expensive gifts and he doesn't actually care about the amount of money he spends on you BUT, will use the fact he's spent so much money on you to manipulate you IN A HEARTBEAT

And also. You're not allowed to reject gifts because it sets him off in like 5 different ways. "Oh so my gifts aren't good enough for you?" "Do you have any idea how much I spent on this?" "I TOOK THE TIME to get this for YOU" God forbid if it's something custom. Could you imagine he offers you something and he doesn't immediately tell you it's custom, like he's got sketches in a notebook somewhere, this is MADE WITH LOVE ableit his creepy obsessive love, and you could literally have a very polite "oh my gosh I couldn't that's so expensive I, I don't deserve it, wow" where you're obviously very happy but just shocked and feeling guilty, like a FLATTERING rejection that is obviously an insult to YOU, NOT him, and he's just. The switch fucking flips. His head tilts. He lets out a hum as his smile pulls way too tight. Lashes out within seconds. Grabs you. takes that jewelry or watch or expensive thing he bought you and literally forces it onto your body, and he's not screaming or raising his voice, he's getting right up in your face and growling out the deeeeeetails of how he got this for you until you're crying and apologizing for your ingratitude

Ugh he's so cunty and mean and awful UGH WHY WOULD I LET HIM HIT, he would use that heart shaped belt he has to put heart shaped welts on your ass and then set your cute bruised heart covered butt as his phone wallpaper and your icon in his contacts and save your name as Ropebunny or something rhfkcsbfkhdxkfh

[tiredandoptimistic]

Fresh off a rewatch of Geothermal Escapism and feeling emotions (this turned into an overlong Troy Barnes analysis post and I'm inviting you on the journey)

The thing that really sticks with me, especially when you consider the rest of season five (and also the show as a whole), is how truly I'm convinced that Troy did need to go on that voyage. He went from a guy who wore his letterman jacket to college and bragged about being prom king, to somebody who was unapologetically himself and content with being judged for it. Despite all this growth, Troy still wasn't his own person; not entirely.

I keep thinking about the bit in Repilot, where Jeff argues that Troy's life was ruined by Greendale because he now revolves entirely around "another man." Putting aside the blatant homophobia, Jeff is kinda right. When asked what he's doing with his life, Troy excitedly talks about what Abed is up to. Now, there's nothing wrong with being supportive and it's clear that Troy feels content with putting Abed's goals first, but it is concerning when you think in context of his arc. In season three, there was the pillow and blanket war as an extension of Troy's frustration with always being the sidekick. Even though they work through a lot of their issues and have an honest discussion about how Abed never saw Troy as lesser, there's still clearly some level of fear that one day he will. We see this in season four, during Inspecticon, when Troy is genuinely afraid that Abed will leave him for someone who (in Troy's mind) is a better match for his intellect. Once again Abed proves that he wouldn't want anybody else, but that's not the end of it. By the start of season five it's great that Troy is comfortable playing support to Abed's goals, but he still hasn't fully resolved the base issues. Yes, he's confident in his worth as a supporter rather than a leader, but he's still never figured out who he is alone.

Looking back at Troy's season one characterization, it's clear that his main struggle as a person is not knowing who he is or what he wants. He defines himself entirely as a quarterback and prom king, even when it's clear that nobody else actually takes that seriously. Even Annie, who knew Troy as the untouchable king of the popular kids and is seriously crushing on him (in a comphet way but that's another post), sees his jock identity as something that's holding him back. In the pilot, Troy has a chat with Jeff about his letterman jacket; expressing how insecure all the jokes make him. It's clear from this that he has no confidence in his own identity. He wears the letterman jacket because he's Troy The Quarterback, doesn't know how to handle that being seen as a bad thing, and goes to Jeff for advice because he needs someone else to tell him what version of himself to become. Whatever choice Troy makes for how to dress, it's about finding the quickest way to balance likeability with the illusion of his own convictions. Like Jeff tells him, "either way, it's for them."

Throughout season one, Troy struggles with his own identity through his friendships with the entire study group, most notably Abed. Despite his meathead persona, Troy's silly side starts to come out in the very second episode, when he and Abed do their iconic Spanish rap during the end card. After that, we see their friendship gradually develop through these short comedic bits. During this time, in "Football, Feminism, and You," we see Troy caught in a conflict between Jeff (who wants him to go back to football) and Annie (who wants him to become more academic). In the end, Jeff and Annie both feel bad for trying to warp Troy to fit thier ideals, and Troy settles on playing football purely because he enjoys the game. After that, Troy and Abed's friendship finally comes out of the end cards and into the show itself. The example I wanna talk about is "Environmental Science," when Troy is once again forced to choose between what he wants to do and how he wants to be seen. At the start of the episode, he embarrases himself in front of his science class by freaking out from fear of Fievel the rat. For the rest of the episode, Troy is unwilling to commit to helping Abed find Fievel by singing their romantic duet because he's already admitted weakness and that highlights his insecurities. He's been getting more comfortable goofing off with Abed, but suddenly he feels all the ways in which his expressions of his actual personality have opened him up to ridicule. Of course the episode ends with Troy joining Abed in their duet to save Fievel, and he even faces his fear of touching the rat to get him back to his cage. From that point onwards, Troy and Abed's friendship is more or less firmly established. I could go into all the ups and downs, but this post is long as hell already and I've still got more to say.

During seasons two and three, Troy almost entirely gives up the tough guy act and accepts that he's a big softie who thinks Abed is the coolest guy in the world for being so unapologetically himself at all times. He's always denied his interests for the sake of appearing likeable and tough, so meeting Abed and seeing that it's possible to be happy and loved a weirdo who never pretends to be anything else is kinda groundbreaking for him. He still has his ups and downs (like when he ditches their matching costumes for the sake of attracting girls in "Epidemiology"), but for the most part he's found a comfortable new role as Abed's Best Friend. Hell, during Shirley's wedding in "Urban Matrimony and the Sandwich Arts," Troy is the one who decides it's not worth trying to be normal when they can be themselves. In "Early 21st Century Romanticism," Troy gives up a date with a girl (something he supposedly really wants) because she won't accept Abed's weirdness. What I'm getting at here is that Troy has given up his high school identity and adopted a new one, but that brings with it some of the same old problems.

By the time season five rolls around, Troy is not an individual. He is one half of a pair: TroyandAbed. This isn't an inherently bad thing; we are a communal species and it's normal and healthy to embrace the fact that you can't function independantly of others. The problem is that he transitioned so smoothly from Prom King Troy to Abed's Best Friend Troy that he never had time in the middle as just Troy. It's wonderful that Abed helped Troy discover one way to express himself and be genuinely happy, but he still only really learned how to do that on Abed's terms. The only thing we see Troy do without Abed is build a blanket fort, which is still fundamentally about Abed. He also dates Britta, but that feels more like Troy trying to prove that he can have an adult relationship and Britta trying to prove that she can stay with a guy who isn't the fucking worst (I love you Britta but your taste in men is rancid). It's clear that both of them are more in love with the idea of a stable relationship than with each other. For their entire relationship Troy is more invested in Abed and Britta is fine with that. He may be sleeping in a separate bedroom, but he's still living in the blanket fort, y'know?

This brings me back to Pierce's will, and his final gift to Troy; a chance to become his own man. Pierce may have the worst opinions on everything, but I still think this opportunity is what Troy needed at that point in his life. He finally gets a chance to explore everything the world has to offer, entirely detached from other people who can warp his opinions. Troy is a mirror, he reflects what's around him. He needs some time on his own to figure out what it is he really wants for himself. Plus, getting to dock in places all over the world gives Troy the chance to be whoever he wants without fear of meeting expectations. He can do anything, try anything; comfortable in the knowledge that he's not impressing anyone. And, at the end, he is able to look back on everything he's experienced and decide once and for all what his happiness looks like. I choose to believe that it's going home to Abed, fully informed of the alternatives and aware that playing support doesn't mean giving up your own identity.

[askinkiskarma]

ᴋɪɴᴋᴛᴏʙᴇʀ ᴅᴀʏ xxɪ - ᴛʜʀᴏᴀᴛ ᴄᴏᴍᴍ ꜱᴇx

pairing: recom!quaritch x human!reader

➽ a/n: the time has come, my first time writing for quaritch. i need this man in a way that's concerning to feminism, and so the reader is very me coded in this whole drabble. enjoy x

➽ words: >600 words

➽ warnings: it goes without saying, but all of these works (kinktober-related) are smut and therefore minors should NOT interact with them. other warnings include: fingering, tiny little degradation, tiny bit of praise, masturbation

➽ taglist (x) ➽ kinktober masterlist (x)

“Touch that pretty little pussy for me. I want to hear you, sweetheart.” 

You almost keen in your quarters at the sound of the rough, gravelly voice, the slight southern twinge of his accent so immediately recognisable, it made the growing wetness in your panties almost unbearable. He knew where you were, what you were waiting for. He knew how much you were waiting for it, desperate and panting almost every night as he snuck past the rest of the scientists in the RDA to show you in first-hand experience what it was like to be fucked until you passed out. 

Were you proud of it, little miss perfect-schooling, outstanding-outbringing, sheltered-life girl that you were? Is this what you expected when you won a highly prestigious job straight out of university, looking at all the ways you could be integrating human life onto a new, foreign planet? Well, no. But… the hours were long, and the days were lonely, and if your dad taught you anything when he left your mum for a 20-something year old model, is that men love sweet, sensitive, young girls and well, it seems you loved to be fucked by an almost 10 foot tall man with no manners, no decorum, but who knew exactly how to turn your legs to jello and your your mind to mush with his tongue, and his lips, and his fingers, and his c—.

“Come on, cupcake. I know you’re waiting for me. I know you’re wearing one of your nice little frilly thongs, like the little good girl you are. I know there’s a growing spot in them from how needy you are to be fucked over and over until you cry on my cock. Daddy’s gonna run a little late today, so you’ll have to get yourself nice and ready for me, yeah?” 

You barely touch the little button nestled comfortably in the crook of your neck, your other hand already following his order, parting the pink lingerie to the side and sliding two fingers in between your soaking folds. 

“Y-yes, sir.”

There’s a distinct smirk in his voice when he speaks, clealry satisfied with the outcome.

“Attagirl.” 

You moan in the radio, continuing your ministrations, trying to remember what he does and how he does it, because fuck, does he know how to work your body just like he knows how to work one of those guns he clearly loves so much.

“Fuck, doll, making me so fucking hard with those pretty noises. Such a good slut. C’mon, two fingers, in-and-out, in-and-out. Slowly… take your time, like daddy does.” 

You slow down the erratic movements that match your intense impatience, because the quicker you do it, the quicker you’ll cum, the quicker he’ll come, the quicker you get to see stars and feel yourself getting split open and filled to the brim. It was obscene, feral, almost certifiable, how desperately you needed him, the extent to which you’ll go to continue feeling the way he was making you feel every night. It was messy, and loud, your arousal dripping from your fingers into the mattress as you continued fucking yourself with your delicate fingers, never as good as how he did it, but good enough for the opening act of what you expect will be a long, long play. 

“S’wet for me, aren’t ya? So desperate to take my cock, huh?”

His words push you over the edge, the orgasm satisfying and intense, heightened by his cruel words and leathery, seductive voice and the promise of what's to come. 

“Don’t move a muscle, sweetheart. Daddy’s coming.”

taglist: @pandoraslxna @sulieykte @blue-slxt @eywaeveng @neteyamsikran @elenamoncada-ibarra @spicymayyo @itsjazzsworld @daddysmurfslefttoenail @eyrina-avatar @iameatingmyhair @hadesbabygurl@linydoll @the-mourning-moon@kasai-https @dvxsja (if your tag doesn't work pls check your settings x)

[mcdevinpants]

Barbie Movie thoughts

Saw The Barbie Movie tonight, and I liked it. I thought it had interesting and subtle things to say, and I want to put some of these thoughts out there, but not spoil anyone, so I'm giving plenty of warning, putting it behind a cut, and tagging.

This is your first warning.

This is your second warning. I'm about to get into spoilers. If you're on mobile and seeing this, this is your warning to scroll past.

The movie seemed to me to have very interesting things to say on Barbie and feminism and capitalism.

It also did some very interesting things with narrative structure.

This is your final warning before I start actively getting into spoilers.

I don't think the movie really had a villain or an antagonist. The closest thing it had was the Matttel executive board led by Will Ferrel, but they were only mild antagonists. What the movie had was Problems that needed addressing. And those problems were (as I saw them) the Patriarchy, and to a lesser but still very real extent, capitalism.

It grappled with the complicated relationship Barbie has always had with feminism, and the Patriarchy, and its successes and failures. I think I would have been much less satisfied if the movie had come down solidly on one side or another. Instead it acknowledged that it has been empowering in being an alternative to baby dolls that focuses on a woman herself and the roles she can fill in the world, while at the same time hurting women with unrealistic beauty standards.

I very much appreciated how in the Real World the Patriarchy was highlighted as still being extremely oppressive, but knowing how to paper itself over as more progressive. See the businessman Ken spoke to when trying to get a corporate position, and see also the all-male board of Mattel sitting in a pink boardroom at a heart-shaped table, and highlighting the one female CEO of Mattel (maybe two, but highlighted even more by the fact that Ferrel's CEO couldn't remember when she was there or give any names at all). And not to put too fine a point on it, but they literally wanted to put Barbie in a box instead of allowing her to wander around the world having agency of her own.

I also appreciated how enticing the Patriarchy was shown to be to those who only see the potential benefits to themselves and are either unwilling or incapable of understanding how it harms literally everyone. It was very meaningful to me that when Ken brought the Patriarchy back to Barbieland, even the Kens weren't getting what they wanted, or at least seemed to have wanted at the beginning of the movie. They were clearly unhappy with the way things worked in Barbieland, but they weren't resentful towards Barbie until they were told they deserved to be on top. I think this showed really nicely the idea that one kind of supremacy or another isn't the desired goal, the desired goal is equality.

The Capitalism aspect seemed to be a bit more limited, and was more confined to the executive board and Mattel. They were at no point really concerned with the message they were sending as much as the bottom line. They had no qualms about churning out Ken's Mojo Dojo Casa Houses because they were making bank. The CEO thought Gloria's idea was terrible until someone ran the numbers and showed him it would make them a ton of money. The message on Capitalism was more brief, but no less apt. Capitalism is nobody's ally but its own, and will champion any cause it can ride to higher profits.

In the end, neither of the two problems are solved, nor is Barbie's relationship with feminism in the Real World, or even Barbie's story, all of which I find more satisfying than the alternative. If The Patriarchy or Capitalism had been Defeated, I would have found it just as unsatisfying as a sitcom's All Problems Are Solved In Slightly Less Than Half An Hour phenomenon. I think it would have felt too self-satisfied. I liked the ending a lot, grounding Stereotypical Barbie in the real world, having to grapple with a Real Life situation that would be completely alien to anyone in Barbieland.

I also found Ken's "ending" to be poignant as he grapples with defining himself not in terms of Barbie and his relationship to her, but in self-actualization. And it seemed to me that Barbie, in helping him towards this new definition, helped herself towards a more self-focused-actualization than she had been privy to before.

Is Barbie a feminist movie? I don't know, and I'm not sure I'm one who should be making that call. I do know that I like a lot of the messages I took away from it, including that all of the problems faced are complicated and difficult. But what I can say for sure is this is hands down my favorite Michael Cera role. I have never enjoyed him more in a movie. Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling also knocked it out of the park.

[consumer-of-media]

Barbie (2023)

I’ll admit: I thought I knew everything about this movie before it came out. It was going to be a feel-good, “summery” movie that would promote Mattel and encourage people to buy more Barbie products. This movie was going to make people forget about the controversy surrounding the concerning, and hopefully unintended, effects that Barbie had and still has on girls today. As it turns out, this movie clearly had effort put into it, already setting itself apart from movies created just to be cash-grabs. Barbie was entertaining to watch, but it was nothing to write home about.

If you continue to read any further, you will BE SPOILED. Though, the movie has been out for a couple of months, so...

Strengths

Really Funny

Most of the time Ken, as well as the other Ken’s, served as hilarious comedic reliefs, which is expected seeing as they tend to be melodramatic at times and portray a comical version of the patriarchy. Seeing the main Ken, who I shall refer to as Stereotypical Ken, rename things into something way too long and ridiculous (“Mojo Dojo Casa House”) before then seeing him get into a dance number with Rival Ken following the Ken War was a joy to watch. Basically, Ken is funny, but really, what else is new? (Also, that last scene with Gloria’s husband unintentionally saying something that is “a political statement” on accident is also extremely funny.)

Promotes Self-Acceptance

The scene where Barbie meets an old woman at the bus stop, sees her for her beauty despite her old age, and call her beautiful, only for the woman to reply with “I know” is amazing. Age doesn’t degrade a woman’s beauty, and this message is more important than ever with the anti-aging culture in today’s society. Plus, Barbie—essentially the “flawless woman”—is made up of multiple women of color!

Aesthetically Pleasing

Obviously, Barbieland is very pink and pastel, which I personally love. I’m pretty sure someone has used Barbie’s Dreamhouse in their Pinterest board as inspiration for their future dream house of their own

Points Out Societal Contradictions

More specifically, it points out contradictions upheld by the patriarchy. An example provided by the movie concerns dating men. You can’t accept them easily or else they’ll think you’re a “tramp,” but you can’t deny them or else you’re a prude

“Don’t Think, Just Watch”

If you’re looking for a movie that you don’t need to think over, Barbie is your movie. You simply need to turn off your brain and bask in the “feel good” energy of Barbieland. This movie is extremely refreshing if you watch it after Oppenheimer (which I might review later)

Additionally, the Matrix reference was delightful! I loved the parallels with the blue pill (the pink high heel) and the red pill (the Birkenstock sandal).

Explaining the Patriarchy to Men

This is an experience I'm sure a lot of women has dealt with. You're trying to explain your experience as a women in today's society, but the man, or men, you're talking to always come back with a "but these women" or "that can't be true." It's frustrating, and no matter how many times you try to reword it, they simply don't believe what you have to say.

Barbie is able to make it easier for them to understand by literally reversing the roles!

The Kens are mostly seen as accessories. The Barbies don't even know where they live, or if they even have a home. The Barbies hold all the positions of power whereas the Kens are simply their arm candy that make them shine all the brighter. Put it simply: "She's everything, and he's just Ken."

It's no doubt that the treatment of the Kens are similar to that of women of the real world, though I'd argue the Kens are treated somewhat better since the Barbies are simply ignorant to their struggles rather than actually looking down on them.

If men are offended by the blatant injustice towards the Kens, congratulations! You got to feel a fraction of what some women experience throughout their lives!

Flaws

“Feminism”

Barbie tries to toe the line between being a shallow, fun movie and being a socially critical movie, but it fails in this task, resulting in a confusing mess.

Of course, this is my opinion, but once you start continuously alluding to the patriarchy, you don’t have the luxury to not treat it seriously. This is opinion is further reinforced when Sasha called Barbie a “fascist.”

To continually refer to the mistreatment of women under the patriarchy yet not address why it exists is the equivalent of slapping a band-aid on a bullet wound.

The patriarchy, or misogyny in general, is supported by multiple systems. Among them, capitalism is a big one. After all, how else are you going to market your beauty products and overpriced clothes to women if they’re not shamed into having to dress nice in order to please men?

Yet this is never mentioned throughout the film. Instead, they portray the executives of big corporations (corporations that have a habit of exploiting women in factories where men verbally abuse them) as silly, goofy, harmless guys. They suffer under the patriarchy too guys!!!!

And before I hear "But the movie would have to be several hours longer if that were to be the case," that argument also applies to the movie's constant mention of the patriarchy. Why not explain more about Barbieland instead of bringing up the patriarchy for the nth time?

Referring back to Sasha and her wildly incorrect statement of Barbie, it felt like it was shoe-horned into the plot. In fact, the addition of calling Barbie a fascist made me confused as to message that Sasha’s speech was supposed to convey.

At best, it’s meant to characterize the tween as a “stereotypical Gen Z middle schooler” that throws around buzz words without knowing what they mean, which takes away the credit from actual valid points she made. At worst, it’s meant to portray people who have an issue with Barbie, like those criticizing how Barbie promotes unhealthy beauty standards, as foolish virtue-signaling individuals who don’t know what they’re talking about. (Her friend admitting to like Barbie before being shamed into claiming otherwise could also be a nod to the nature of cancel culture, which is something I appreciate.)

If Barbie is really a fun movie meant to watch with no deeper meaning, why bring up the patriarchy and the very real consequences of it every 5 minutes?

Final Judgement

Would Recommend: ✓

Good to watch if you...

Simply want to see a lighthearted, feel-good movie

A smidge of social commentary doesn't bother you

Enjoy a movie all about girl power

Want to see a movie affirming that you are a person, not a sexual object

Like Barbie and/or the color pink

Love participating in trends

Just watched two extremely uncomfortable sex scenes in a historical dramatic movie and need something to get your mind off of it

Bad to watch if you...

Want a serious look at the patriarchy

Believe whatever Andrew Tate and his fellow believers spew

Hate giving money/support to big companies such as Mattel

Literally and unironically think that Margot Robbie is a 2/10

Dislike women

[galaxyshine24-7]

So The Barbie Movie, Let's Talk💅

Well, I never thought in a million years I would ever write something like this, but here we are. I saw the Barbie movie, and it was not what I expected. In some cases that was good, but in others it was not. Since I have many thoughts I decided to write them down.

Spoilers

Tw (Assault, Oppression, Misogynism, Misandry)

First off I’m a girl who has grown up with Barbie. She has inspired me in many ways and can be a good role model to girls and boys. Barbie is kind, creative, determined, and faces problems head-on. That is how I always saw Barbie and still do.

When I saw the announcement for this movie I was beyond excited. I have adored Barbie since I was little and I love Margot Robbie. She is amazing at acting and seems like a nice person. So I was engaged in the production of this movie the first time I heard about it. It was advertised as more of a self-discovery comedy movie in the trailers. So that is what I expected when I sat down in theatres to see the movie. In many places, it is, however, the heavy messages of patriarchy, feminism, and existentialism were not expected. I knew Barbie had always meant a lot to women and the feminist movement so that part I expected. The other topics didn't get as much care as I would have hoped.

Like a lot of things in this day and age, it could've been handled better.

Never in a million years did I think I would hear someone call Barbie a Fascist. (P.S. People need to stop using that word. They clearly don't know what it means.)

So let's talk about the major criticism I have seen. Is this movie anti-man? Well, most of the male characters are not portrayed in the best light, and their problems are pushed to the side and played for laughs, unlike the problems of the female characters.

So it doesn't look that good in my eyes.

Growing up with the Barbie franchise I have grown fond of many of the classic Barbie characters, especially Ken. He has always been a considerate and kind character to everyone he crosses paths with. Not to mention his profound love for Barbie, and how they are a team.

In this movie, Ken's portrayal is concerning, to say the least. In the first part of the movie, Barbie Land is shown as this perfect utopia for women and they all have these amazing roles, but the Ken's are just Kens. I found that strange since the movie showcases Barbie through the ages. Ken has also been able to showcase professions just like Barbie has. Has the movie goes on it is shown that the Kens seem to be pretty neglected and do not have much say in Barbie land. No Kens in important roles, and Barbie doesn't even know where they sleep since their houses are nowhere to be found. (Until they take the Barbie's houses that is.)

The main Ken is seen time and time again trying to get Barbie to notice him and he's ignored or treated like an annoyance. I found it sad when he expressed that in the real world, he felt respected because someone asked him to tell the time. I started to see that the Barbie land utopia is not really a utopia in my opinion.

So when the Kens revolt and take over Barbie land I can understand why they didn't want to be overlooked anymore. The main Ken only turned to learning about patriarchy so he could be seen in a world that never gave him acknowledgment. I didn't believe the Kens hated the Barbies it's really the opposite as shown in the movie. I could understand their frustrations of being cast aside, only being treated as an accessory, and I thought it would lead to both the Kens and Barbies acknowledging each other's problems and working them out. However, it leads to an off-handed joke about the Kens only receiving a voice in decision-making at the lowest level in Barbie land.

This movie had a big theme of man vs. women and the women's issues were explained, their voices uplifted, along with being dramatically and beautifully displayed. Barbie's emotions are always put on full display and treated seriously. When she cries it's a dramatic sequence since she is showing raw emotions. Ken starts feeling sad way before Barbie, but it is brief or it's just Ryan Gosling throwing himself around dramatically.

Yes, this movie does show both sides of men's and women's issues, but it's how it's treated that makes people question if it's anti-man. To be honest I'm not surprised if men walk out of this movie upset.

Another issue is how they separate the hardships that women and men go through. Men can feel unsafe when walking in public. Men can also be assaulted just like women can. So why when Barbie and Ken first get into the human world Ken portrayed as being okay and not cautious.

Now don't get me wrong Ken in this movie is not the sharpest tool in the shed, but Barbie is shown in the movie to represent women. So that means Ken is to represent men, and not having the same emotions Barbie has is not truthful and more importantly glances over the fact that a lot of the feelings men and women share are universal.

I like The Godfather and thought the Snyder cut was important what’s wrong with that? Why was it show has a purely man thing when it’s something both men and women can enjoy?

The speech that America Ferrera had during the climax of the movie about being a woman, many of those feelings can also be the same with men. They touched on this, but again women's feelings are treated seriously unlike the men's. That is the problem I have with this movie its treatment is not equal and when it tries to be it's just shallow.

Barbie and Ken should have gone on this journey of self-discovery as a team where men's and women's issues can be represented in the same way as each other. That is the movie I wanted to see if the writers and directors just had to go down this route, but instead, we got a confusing and existential movie.

Now I know I said a lot of criticism about this movie, but there are parts that I thought were done very well. When it delves into the true purpose of Barbie and brings in why she was made, those are the best parts of this movie. The talk between Barbie and Ruth is wonderful, and beautiful in so many ways. When they shine a lot on how inspirational she is that is where the movie shines.

I just wish it did a better job of trying to give detailed voices to all sides of the spectrum.

I wish the characters could've been written better as well. (America's daughter in the movie is pretty terrible, to be honest.)

Would I recommend it to people? No. Are some parts well made and done well? Absolutely. Could it have been better? Yes.

As always see the movie for yourself to form your own opinions instead of listening to one rando on the Internet.

[lookwhatilost]

film critics are also completely complicit in this too! when you write these think pieces or articles in the nyt or vulture or vanity fair and are getting hundreds of dollars from disney or warner brothers to write out of your ass, you're the generals leading this culture war.

like. i'm sorry but look at this shit. "Star Wars: The Last Jedi Offers the Harsh Condemnation of Mansplaining We Need in 2017"

That Holdo is kind yet dismissive of Poe only enrages him further. She urges him, for the safety of all concerned, to “stick to your post and follow my orders.” He doesn’t; as a result, many rebels die. Speaking about her character’s stylish-yet-firm leadership, Dern told Vanity Fair: “[Rian is] saying something that’s been a true challenge in feminism. Are we going to lead and be who we are as women in our femininity? Or are we going to dress up in a boy’s clothes to do the boy’s job? I think we’re waking up to what we want feminism to look like.”

One might argue that if Holdo had filled in Poe on her plan—to evade the First Order fleet long enough to get within range of an old base on Crait—Poe would have listened and fallen in line. But to borrow a phrase from Poe himself, this mission was a “need-to-know.” And as soon as a frustrated Holdo and Leia let Poe in on the plan, he blabs about it over the comms to Finn loud enough that Benicio del Toro’s D.J. can hear—and, later, sell them out. If Poe had just listened to Leia and Holdo from the start, the rebel fleet wouldn’t have been quite so decimated by the end of the film. Poe does clearly learn his lesson by the final frames of The Last Jedi—and only then do his admiration for Holdo, his respect for Leia, and his realization of just how much he doesn’t know position him to finally become the leader these powerful women hoped he’d be.

It’s clever for Johnson to have put this story on the very likable Poe. (Both Leia and Holdo are careful to reassure audiences that they, too, like the guy.) We expect dismissive sexism from the First Order (how many times do they refer to Rey as “The Girl?”), but to see it from a friendly face is even more instructive. Any female boss in 2017 or American still nursing the hangover of the 2016 presidential election can tell you that even nice guys often have trouble taking orders from women.

This message—women being largely right, and men being mostly wrong—extends to most but not all aspects of The Last Jedi. Rose Tico was certainly right to insist that Finn stay and fight, and right again to save him when attempts to needlessly sacrifice himself. Rey and Leia were right that Luke should join the resistance. But Luke still has some things to teach his young student. When they fight on the rainy cliffs of Ahch-To over her desperate hope that she can save Ben Solo, Luke is correct in telling Rey that “this is not going to go the way you think.” And in the end, no matter how Poe and Finn may have stumbled—or Holdo, Leia, Rose, and Rey may have triumphed—it’s still Luke Skywalker who gets the film’s big damn hero moment.

why is she making this stupid ass dig about luke skywalker getting a big hero moment? it's one of the few meaningful and interesting things that happens in this movie! "big damn hero moment" is literally a tv tropes phrase that comes from a line from firefly. is she aware that she's making a joss whedon reference lol?

[faustocosgrove]

this is less of an adventure than it is an episode of “please reassure Fausto that he’s not fucking crazy”.

So uh, most of my coworker’s spouses do not show up at the job site. Yesterday, the one girl’s husband shows up and she introduces him to the Boss and me. but the way she introduces me was “this is Fausto, you’d like her, she’s a real good cook.” and the husband didn’t look particularly awake while talking to teh boss but as soon as his wife says “cook” his eyes shot open and he says “oh?” in the strangest tone. i don’t know how to describe it. it was as if i was going to whip a tray of hors d’ourves out from behind my back. like i was suddenly assigned wait staff status and was about to serve him. he then said “i like to cook and eat” in the most “i am a boring white man” voice you can imagine and the concern i had from the way the wife said “you’d like her” was washed away. still think that was a weird way to get introduced. she could have said “this is the one co worker i was telling you about who always packs really tasty looking lunches.” and not have made it sound like she was trying to pawn her husband off on another woman.

then today the same girl announces first thing when she walks in the door is that last night her husband gave her a back rub and it was the first back rub she’s gotten from him in the last 40 years. and then several hours go by and she notices me doing a shorter version of a task that both of us were doing last week that involves crouching down and doing bullshit on the ground. to which she states that i’m going to be the one who needs a back rub tonight.

so there’s the background info, and here’s teh question. is this some southern dialect i'm unfamiliar with that’s coming across wrong or is this lady trying to get me to sleep with her husband or am i just crazy and making connections that aren’t there?

anyway today’s second adventure was me giving the “why we have black history month” lecture to a gaggle of christian conservative mothers/grandmothers. things escalated into police profiling and then the history of the post slavery era. i think i actually made some headway with the one gal when i told her that slavery is still legal for convicts. the rest of them weren’t listening to anything i said and fucking whatever. pretty impressed at how quick the one turned around though. y’all know how there used to be a bunch of really basic anti racism, feminism, anti capitalism posts floating around circa 2014? y’know what those posts were very good at being? refreshers for how to talk to a conservative who finally questions their own biases. like clearly i only had an effect on the one who was wiling to take on new ideas, but i was so out of practice. like today i feel like i know more about white LGBTs’ racism and nazi dog whistles than i do about the kind of racism that affects the people i bump into on a daily basis. like ten years ago i feel i would have been better equipped to shut down the crazy old white lady yammering on and on about most crime being committed by black people. i wasn’t even on my game enough to say “i don’t know if that’s true or not, we should probably google it.”

third adventure: watched the movie Everything Everywhere All At Once. y’all were right, it’s ADHD as a movie and it’s good. and that’s all the review y’all are going to get because i am fucking exhausted send tweet. …wait twitter send tweet… tumblr send tumb. there we go send tumb.

[bellaaldamas]

I wish I was as open minded as the OP and was able to accept Atreus/Sigyn ship at least in theory but I don't. As discussed before, she's neither foreshadowed nor would contribute to any character/story development because Gow is only loosely based on myths. It references mythology to an extent it needs to in order to explain psychological (or in some cases physical) metamorphoses of the characters and give them extra challenges and bonding points (like Angrboda and Atreus "creating" the World Serpent through performing a ritual together, with Angrboda guiding Atreus despite complete lack of guidance in her own life, just moments before her only surviving family would once again brutally denounce her; it's an unique to the in game world psychological context despite also being a reference to mythology where the Serpent is one of Loki and Angrboda's children).

The writers clearly placed extra value on Angrboda and her interactions with Atreus (down to intertwining their musical themes) to backpedal on it in a way that would be organic. Or reduce his and Angrboda's relationship to a fleeting teenage crush and "two young people who affected each other along the way but then went separate routes" trope.

Trolls using manipulation when they first complain about the lack of mythological accuracy and then in the same breath ship Atreus with a stereotypical girlboss Thrud (despite the utter lack of basis for that in either myths OR GowR context) because "Gow never stuck to myths anyway and anything can happen" is transparently ridiculous and hypocritical. Thus, I'm not one bit concerned the developers would actually give those comments a second thought. Here comes the "but".

But I've always been cautious with popular media and try not to make a cult out of a creator/studio, even if I enjoy their work a lot (we all know how "well" making a cult out of Whedon went for everyone - though I wasn't necessary in that boat as I've been considering him an overrated simpleton for years - from the consumers of his content to the long suffering cast he mercilessly terrorized and exploited).

I appreciate SMS for going a revolutionary route with Angrboda's characterization - she has to be the first female character in about 10-15 years who was allowed the full measure of agency in every aspect, including potential romance. Instead of being a yet another "girlboss" (for all my infinite love and adoration of Freya I admit she is not as revolutionary as Angrboda because she does fall under the stereotypical "strong independent woman broken by a man in the past" cliche), the writers let her openly show Atreus how comfortable she was with him. How much she didn't want for them to part (even though she let him go both times because she'd never manipulate or pressure him) as well as how much she needed him around. And it was not presented as her being "weak, pathetic or dependent" as it would have in any other modern pseudo-"feminist" media (because these days media has completely lost the sight of what feminism and empowerment actually are; as such, it romanticizes woman's brokenness and emotional reservedness as to build woman's character through pain and loss - the most ancient patriarchal type of storytelling).

However, SMS is still a producer of mainstream content and as such are not immune to bending to mainstream trends. I'm not going to discuss the matter of racial representation and stereotypes as I have no moral right to do so and it is not my place at all, my being white. But speaking strictly of the aforementioned tropes and trends, one of the common ones is throwing loving and vulnerable girls and women under the proverbial or literal bus in order to A) prop up a girlboss character type (hence the Atreus/Thrud ship some are hoping for) or B) make women/female characters interchangeable in man's story (which is how it's going to look like if Sigyn is introduced in the next game as Loki's love interest whereas Angrboda is forgotten). Whenever media does not settle for those stereotypes they get backlash and "unacceptable" female characters get more hate.

When "Uncharted" series' narrative made it clear it was going for Nathan and Elena as an endgame ship rather than Nathan and "girlboss" Chloe, Elena started getting extra hate because she wasn't "girlboss enough". Even though out of the two of them it was precisely Elena who self-made herself and didn't need men for validation. Whereas Chloe, much like Thrud, was repeatedly reduced to a filler/plot device in the arc of Nathan and the male villain and her entire storyline revolved around her role in male characters' lives.

Now, the chance for Atreus/Thrud "ship" to happen is less than zero (especially with Thrud and Skjöldr being clearly foreshadowed as a potential couple). However, SMS might play it safe by bringing in Sigyn because they would have a convenient "mythological reference but with a twist" excuse with her. This way they can get away with the lack of foreshadowing while also adhering to mainstream cliches because Angrboda's characterization and her relationship with Atreus, as mentioned above, are in itself a deconstruction of cliches; which might be too risky for popular media creators.

Which is why cautious optimism is the only way to go, from where I'm standing.

Honestly- I don't mind Sigyn and the Logyn ship itself. I just found it eye-rolling whenever I see her as a typical white woman while she's paired up with Atreus in this fandom. Understandable, since Sigyn is usually shown as a white woman throughout the media in Norse retellings.

Just feels like they preferred Atreus with a white girl instead of Angrboða, and overall made it difficult for me to like Sigyn as a additional character. Even if they made them as a throuple to add into possible poly ships in GOW, Angrboða would still be written off considering that Giants aren't entirely immortal to begin with.

And due to my experience with this fanbase, I know for sure if Sigyn were included in GOWR, those kinds of fans would have relished the romantic pairing between Atreus and Sigyn just as they did with him and Thrúd (and not to mention it would put Angrboða as the "Disposable Black GF" trope in the narrative).

It sounds like it doesn't matter if it was accurate to canon mythology or even to Sigyn, when it's hard not to feel like it mattered more for them see Atreus have a white love interest be there for him like arm candy. Funnily enough- It feels like they forgotten that Atreus isn't entirely white, but biracial/multiracial who passes off as white from the start. So their bias against Angrboða being Atreus' love interest made no sense whatsoever.

[therealvinelle]

I've always wondered this, but what do you think the Cullen's political viewpoints would be, given their individual backgrounds? if vampires don't change after they turn, then surely they would all be extremely racist (especially Jasper). would this not come up at some point? they aren't like the Volturi because the Volturi are too old to care, but the Cullens are young enough that they have been brought up with opinions on stuff like sexism, racism, homophobia and the like.

Oh fuck.

You get an early answer because otherwise I'll just chicken out and delete this one, pretend I never saw it.

UMMM.

Since I'm guessing you meant American political viewpoints, we need a disclaimer. I am not American, and not too knowledgeable about your politics. Not just in the sense that I don't follow the day-to-day drama, but as I am not an American citizen there are several things I don't know, can't know because I've never lived in your country and therefore can't know what the effects of living in a country ruled by American policies is like. What I do know is based off of the news in the foreign section, social media (by which I mean tumblr posts), and Trevor Noah's Daily Show.

I am an outsider looking in.

Which is really rather appropriate, since the Cullens are too.

The Cullens go to high school and college, Carlisle works, they pay taxes, they own real estate, and submerge themselves in American culture. Esme, Edward, Rosalie, Emmett, and Bella are young enough that this is in many ways their world, and apart from timeouts they've more or less spent their entire lives, human and vampire, integrated into American society.

Not fully integrated, mind you, they do what they need to to fit in and get to school or, in Carlisle’s case, to work. They go no further. No extra-curriculars for the kids, no book clubs for Esme, no game nights for Carlisle. They walk parallel to humans, not among us.

In addition to this they're obscenely rich, which puts them another thousand miles from the experiences of your average American. They won't deal with the health system, which means healthcare is a non-issue, they're not going to need welfare or other social programs, unemployment is another non-issue. Name your issue, and the Cullens don't have personal stake in it. Even the climate crisis won't be a problem for them the way it will for us.

What I'm trying to say is, American political issues are a concept to them, not a lived reality. Just like they are for me. So hey, you made a great choice of blog to ask.

I'll also add here that you say the Volturi are too old to care, and I agree- from an ancient's point of view, racism is a matter of "which ethnicity are we hating today?", and it all looks rather arbitrary after a while. Same with every other issue - after a while it all just blends together into "what are the humans fighting over today? Which Christian denomination is the correct one? Huh. Good for them, I guess."

I can't put it any better than this post did, really. The Volturi are real people, humans are nerds and tumblr having Loki discourse. Aro thinks it's delightful and knows entirely too much about Watergate (and let's be real, Loki discourse as well), but the point I wanted to get at is that politics really don't matter to vampires.

And I don't think they matter to the Cullens either.

So, moving on to the next point while regretting I didn't put headlines in this post, I'll just state that I don't think vampires' minds are frozen. Their brains are unable to develop further, and they can never forget anything, but... well, this isn't the post for that, but in order for this to be true of vampires they would barely be sentient. They would not be able to process new impressions, to learn new things, nor to have an independent thought process. Yes, we see vampires in-universe (namely, Edward, who romanticizes himself and vampires) believe they're frozen and can never change, but there is no indication that this is a widespread belief, or even true. Quite the contrary - Carlisle went from a preacher's son who wanted to burn all the demons to living in Demon Capital for decades and then becoming a doctor and making a whole family of demons. Clearly, the guy has had a change in attitude over the years. Jasper, in his years as a newborn army general, slowly grew disenchanted with his life and developed depression. James initially meant to kill Victoria and hunted her across the earth, then became fascinated and changed his mind about it.

Had these people been incapable of change, Carlisle would still be hating demons, Jasper would be in Maria's army, and James would still be hunting Victoria.

It goes to follow, then, that they are able to adapt to new things.

The question is, would they?

Here I finally answer your question.

So, we have these people who don't really have any kind of stake in politics, who keep up to date all the same (or are forcibly kept up to date because high school) and are generally opinionated people.

Where do they then fall, politically?

(And this is where you might want to stop reading, anon, because I'm about to eviscerate these people.)

Alice votes for whoever's gonna win. She also makes a fortune off of betting each election. Trump's 1 to 10 victory in 2016 was a great day to be Alice. MAGA!

The actual policies involved are completely irrelevant, she does this because it's fun. Election means she gets to throw parties. Color coded parties for the Republican and Democratic primaries, and US-themed parties for Election Night! (Foreigner moment right here: I at first wrote "Election wake" before realizing that's not what y'all murricans call it.)

Alice loves politics. Doesn't know the issues, but she sure loves politics.

Bella votes Democrat. She actually knows about the issues, and cares about them. This girl is a Democrat through and through.

Carlisle doesn't vote. I can't imagine it feels right. Outside of faked papers he's not a US citizen, this is meddling in human affairs that he knows don't concern him.

More, this guy has never lived in a democracy.

In life, Carlisle lived under an absolute monarchy that, upon civil war, became an absolute theocracy. From there he learned that vampires live under a total dictatorship.

For the first 150 years of his life, democracy was that funky thing the Athenians did in history books thousands of years ago, no more relevant to him than the Ancient Egyptian monarchy is to me. Then the Americans, and later other European countries started doing this.

Good for them.

There's this mistake often made by those who view history from a... for lack of a better term, a solipsistic standpoint. A belief that the present day is the culmination of all of history. “My society is the best society, the most reasonable society; all the others had it backwards. Thank god we’re living in this enlightened age!”

The faith in our current system of government is one such belief. We (pardon me if this doesn’t apply to everybody reading this post) have grown up in democracies, being told this is the ultimate form of rule, and perhaps that is true - but remember the kings who have told their subjects they had were divine and the best possible ruler based on that. Remember also that most modern democracies haven’t actually been democracies for very long at all, America is the longest standing at some 230 years (not long at all in the grand scope of things) and they have a fracturing two-party system to show for it.

Every society, ever, has been told they’re the greatest, and their system of government the most just. Democracy is only the latest hit.

This is relevant to Carlisle because he’s immortal and decidedly not modern. Democracy has not been installed in him the way it was the rest of the Cullens, Jasper included. To him- well, it’s just not his world. He has no stakes in our human politics, and as he is older than every current democracy and has seen quite a few of them fall, he’s not going to internalize the democratic form of rule the way a modern human has.

I think the concept of voting is foreign to him.

It requires a level of participation in human society that he’s simply not at. He does the bare minimum to appear human so he do the work he loves, but nothing more, and I find that telling.

As it is I think he'd be iffy about his family doing it. He won’t stop them, but in voting they’re... well it’s kind of cheating. They’re not really citizens, none of this will affect them, and by voting they’re drowning out the votes of real human voters. He does not approve.

Edward votes Democrat. He's... well he’s the kind of guy who will oil a girl’s bedroom window so he can more easily watch her sleep without being discovered, justifying it to himself as being okay because if she were to tell him to get lost he’d stop immediately. Same guy is so sure that he’d leave and never return again if she wanted him to, except this is the man who returned to Forks to hang around his singer, knowing there was a significant chance he might kill her. To say nothing of his Madonna/Whore complex, or of the fact that he tried to pimp out his wife twice, and was willing to forcibly abort her child.

This guy is very much in love with chivalry, with being an enlightened and feminist man who supports and respects women, while not understanding the entire point of feminism, which is female liberation.

He votes Democrat because he’s such an enlightened feminist who cares about women’s rights.

Emmett doesn’t care to vote, but if he has to he votes Republican. The guy is from the 1930′s, and has major would-be-the-uncle-who-cracks-racist-jokes-if-he-was-older vibes.

Esme doesn’t vote, that would require getting out of the house.

More, I just... can’t see it. I can’t see her being one to read up on politics and The Issues, period, but if she has to then I doubt she’d be able to decide.

Jasper doesn’t vote. Alice can have her fun, he does not care.

There’s also the whole can of worms regarding the last time he went to bat for American politics.

I imagine he stays out of this.

Renesmée doesn't vote. She has no stock in the human affairs. Who would she vote for, on what grounds? When Bella tries to pull her to the urns, she points out that she's three years old.

Rosalie, guys, I’m sorry, but that girl is definitely gonna vote Republican. Perhaps not right now as it’s become the Trump party of insanity, but the Mitt Romney type of Republicans? Oh yes.

And for the record, yes I imagine she does vote. To step back from politics would be another way she was relinquishing her humanity, and that’s not allowed to happen. So, yes, she goes to the urns, less for the sake of the politics involved and more because like this, she’s still a part of society in some way.

Now, onto why I think she’s Republican, I think it’s both fiscal and social.

This girl was the daughter of a banker who somehow profited off of the Depression, and who then became part of a family with no material needs that would soon become billionaires thanks to Alice. Poverty to Rosalie is a non-issue, as it is I imagine she views it as a much lesser issue than what she’s had to deal with. The humans can pull themselves up by their bootstraps, Rosalie’s infertility is forever.

Rosalie’s empathy is strongest when she’s able to project onto others, and she won’t be able to project onto the less fortunate at all.

Then there’s the fact that the Republican party is all about traditional family values, and pro-life.

Rosalie, a woman from the 1930′s who idolizes her human life and who‘d love nothing more than to get to live out this fantasy, is down for that. And as of Breaking Dawn she’s vocally pro-life, so there’s that.

This all being said I don’t think Rosalie cares to sit down and fully understand these politics she’s voting for, the possible impact they’ll have- that’s not important. What’s important is what voting does for her.

TL;DR: I bet anon regrets asking.

[o-fantome]

The Feminization and Fetishization of John Laurens in the Hamilton Musical and its Fandom

In this I will be talking about a few things:

The whole “turtle boi” thing

His role in the musical

The feminization of him in the fandom

The fetishization of him (and his relationship with Hamilton)

The shredded bits of personality he has in the musical

His historical personality being taken from him and instead added to Hamilton’s character

I will not be putting any art of him in here to respect the artists’ privacy, but if you’ve been in the Hamilton fandom or at least heard of the issues I’m talking about, you’ll probably know what drawings I mean. Also, no hate to anyone or any artists who I may indirectly mention, or to anyone in the Hamilton Musical fandom. I understand that not everyone in the fandom is like this, but I will just be using the broad term “the fandom” for simplicity. 

[cw: mentions of alcohol and alcoholism]

“UwU Turtle Boi John Laurens”

This image of him likely stemmed from the one drawing he did of a softshell turtle. But how the fandom took that and blew it up into him being obsessed with turtles and other sea creatures is beyond my knowledge. A lot of art depicts him with turtle stuffed animals or riding turtles or just general turtle-lover stuff. Not only are these wrong, but they’re also pretty weird. They often tie into the strange feminization of him, which I will discuss later.

His Role in the Musical

Laurens in the musical acts like Hamilton’s sidekick. He follows him around most of the scenes where they are together. He is almost always at Hamilton’s side, and when he is not or he is at the side of another character, he ends back up at Hamilton’s side fairly quickly. This seems like it makes sense, right? Hamilton is the main character, of course, everyone else is going to be behind him or beside him in some way. But it feels very forced, like Lin-Manuel Miranda purposefully made it so Hamilton was above everyone, no matter the cost. Laurens’ character suffered from this, and any kind of standing or power he held just from his personality alone was gone. What he is to Hamilton is like what Patroclus was to Achilles; a sidekick, overshadowed by the other’s glory and popularity. 

An example of this is the Laurens-Lee duel scene. Historically, Laurens was the “trigger happy” one. When the first shot was fired between himself and Lee, he wanted to go again. Hamilton was not very happy that the duel was happening. When both sides (Hamilton and Laurens, Lee and his second Evan Edwards) arrived, he and Edwards tried to get Laurens and Lee to just apologize and be on their way. Laurens refused. When Laurens wanted to shoot again, Hamilton prevented him from doing so. In the show, however, the roles seem reversed.

The Feminization of Him in the Fandom

In almost every Hamilton musical fanfic or story I have read (and I have read quite a bit from my time in this fandom) Laurens is so feminine-- especially in lams fics. He acts feminine, he dresses feminine, he is described in the fics as feminine, he carries around his cute uwu turtle stuffie wearing his cute feminine uwu turtle pyjamas. It’s sickening. John Laurens was a brave soldier and a talented artist and this is how the fandom sees him? As some freckled gay baby twink?

Not only is this disrespectful to John Laurens, it is also disrespectful to Anthony Ramos, who played him in the OBC. 

The Fetishization of Him and His Relationship with Hamilton

This, the feminization of him and the “UwU Turtle Boi” character are all very similar. You could argue that this and the “UwU Turtle Boi” character are the same, or that this and the feminization of him are the same. You wouldn’t be wrong; they are all very similar and overlap a lot. Because I covered the “UwU Turtle Boi” character already and have no more to say here about it, I will talk about how the fandom treats his relationship with Hamilton.

There are two very opposite sides of the “was lams real” spectrum: “it was not real, shipping founding fathers is gross,” and, “they were gay!!! Laurens was gay for Hammy!!! Read the letters!!!!” Both sides’ beliefs are valid; you are allowed to think what you want about this topic. It is a somewhat controversial topic that has no clear answer, and therefore is always being discussed. However, just because your belief is valid, doesn’t mean that the way you chose to phrase it is necessarily okay. I get that most of the people who say the second opinion tend to be young girls who may not know better, but the way that something is phrased is very important.

Read these two different phrasings of the same opinion, and think to yourself, “Which one sounds more fetishize-y?” 

“I believe that Hamilton and Laurens were in a relationship based on evidence from the letters they sent each other.”

“Hammy and Laurens were gay! Read the letters! He says ‘I love you!’ They were super gay!”

Too many fangirls have called Laurens things like “gay boi” or “smol gay cinnamon roll.” I’ve also seen a very concerning amount of people call him their husband or hubby or dead boyfriend. I don’t think I need to explain how disgusting that is.

His Terrible Personality and Character

His entire character can be boiled down to “tyranny bad, alcohol good.” He’s loud and rowdy and a very boisterous person, shouting and running around and causing a ruckus. It is unlikely that the real Laurens was like this. Seeing as he came from a family of wealth and standing, he would have likely been taught to behave properly and be polite. He was rash at times, especially during battle, but other than that he seemed very professional. His rowdiness makes sense in some scenes when he’s in the war, but other than that part of the show, it doesn’t fit him.

Alcohol is a very big part of his personality for some reason. In his first (real) scene in Aaron Burr, sir, he’s talking about alcohol and drinking and even bragging about how much he drinks. At the very beginning of Satisfied, he’s offering drinks to other people and is very clearly drunk. As far as we know, the real Laurens was not a heavy drinker.

His lack of character can be explained, though. While writing the personalities of the characters, whoever was doing it took Laurens’ historical personality and gave it to Hamilton instead, leaving Laurens with almost nothing.

His Historical Personality Being Added to Hamilton’s Character

I’ve already talked about the Laurens-Lee duel, but I have yet to bring up what happened after it. In the show, Hamilton is brought into Washington’s office and Washington gets into an argument with him, which ends in Washington sending Hamilton home. Besides the fact that the timeline of these events is incredibly off, this is not at all what happened. After the duel, Hamilton wrote up a report on what happened to be given to Washington either the day of or after the duel. When Washington found out what happened, he was furious. Not at Hamilton, but at Laurens. Lin-Manuel Miranda took this from Laurens and changed the story so that it was Hamilton who got chewed out because Hamilton is the main character, not Laurens.

Conclusion

Lin-Manuel Miranda just tore up Laurens’ personality, leaving him as a rowdy alcoholic who eye-fucks Hamilton for the entirety of Act I. The fandom then took this empty shell of a character, combined it with random historical facts about him, and created a turtle-loving twink. Disgusting. Everything about this is so gross.

[eurofox]

I remember reading those redpill cesspools years ago, like I was an alien observing a new species, and the difference between the women's and men's subs was depressing.

Redpillwomen :

-always have sex the way he likes it, even if you don't feel like it. You'll learn to enjoy it

-stfu (they literally put it like that). This was from anything to telling about your day, talking about your job. Anything really

-always give him the last word. They called their men 'captains'. They could only give their advice but they always stressed to follow his leadership.

-doll up. They said this incessantly. Look very feminine, unlike those ugly Jean and t-shirt wearing women with feminism rotted brain.

-always remember that he is more rational and logical than you and at the end of the day your worries and problems are petty.

-never ever critique his masculinity. But this doesn't apply to him and your femininity. Of course.

-don't keep male friends and get rid of any 'jealous' female friends who think your relationship isn't healthy.

-support and encourage him always. Make any sacrifice necessary.

-your male children should spend mo st of their time around him when he's a teen. Redpill men didn't seem to bothered about daughters except when it came to reminding them that they will expire at 30 and to not be evil harpies to the men they encounter. And not to be sluts and settle down early.

Redpill men

-you are the rational and logical sex, women are children mentally and should be treated as such. Ridicule her any time she has concerns or attempts to stand up for herself.

-if she has concerns they like to 'agree and amplify'. Taking any concern, wildly exaggerate it (while smirking, redpillers LOVE smirking) and then making it seem ridiculous so she feels like an idiot for even bringing it up.

-they LOVE the term 'caveman sex'. Where they are basically as rough as they want. Any concerns about it on her end are simply Lmr (last minute resistance) and should simply be ignored. But of course, false rape accusations are rampant and the number one evil in the world.

-constantly remind her that she is replaceable. They called this dread game. Done by flirting in front of her with other women and criticising her appearance in comparison to other women. Sure she probably just birthed your kids but the bitch is getting fat! Remind her constantly.

-keep reminding her that women as a whole are lesser than men in everything except child rearing (though plenty of redpillers believe men are better at hat as well) and any ambitions outside of being your partner are laughable. Any examples of women she can come up with are outliers. Maybe tell her they died alone with cats or something.

-if you hate women but still want to to fuck them, remember to use lots of feminist buzzwords. Then you can coerce them into bdsm, anal, or whatever you like.

-the golden rule. Your partner must be reminded that at 30 she will 'hit the wall ', will no longer be attractive with a 'tight fit body' (gag) and she needs to reminded of this. You however will age like fine wine so don't worry about it.

____------___----------__-----

I don't recommend looking at this shite for your own mental health. But at least be aware of some of the tricks they pull.

The women seem determined to turn themselves into doormats for men who clearly don't have the slightest respect for them and it honestly baffles me.

They have a married redpill sub as well with me pulling this shit on their wives who are trapped with them. Sounds like a nightmare. They even talk about introducing their kids to the content, sons and daughters.

Some of the redpill women are so misogynist that I can't even pity them however. They can lie in the bed they made.

[nestable]

Feminism in ACOTAR

(This is a bit long so bare with me)

As a politics student and general member of the public who's curious about feminist themes, I've read a lot of feminist writings which have informed my opinion in saying that none of the acotar books can be described as feminist.

I've noticed that the big motivator behind describing the books as feminist is feyres appointment of High lady. Though that may be pivotal in prythian history, we cant ignore the fact that it is still a fairly patriachal society. Having a few women in places of power like mor, amren, feyre etc. Is not enough because women don't grow up on an island and are also influenced by patriachal views or mindsets. In short, just because someone is a woman and is in a position of power, doesnt mean that they will cater to the needs of women or are feminist. Women, especially white women(this is important because sjms writes white feminism) have often gotten into positions of power and actually ignored women and done the same that their male predecessors have done and often threw other women under the bus in order to retain their tokenism status. And the main flaw of white feminism which is the reason why it coined the term 'white feminism' is that it doesnt encompass all the intersectionalities that women reside in and only focus on a western model of what it means to be a woman and anything outside of that is backward and 'barbaric. We see this in the judgement and disregarding of POC's experiences and outlooks on life because they are different to theirs. There are more than enough examples of the white women in the series judging the illyrians which are seen by the fandom as POC's and how they maliciously drag their customs through the mud. Instead of getting these views from illyrian women themselves, we get them from white women who arent connected to that culture whatsoever and who have nothing to say except judgement and critique instead of actually helping.

We see this with the white characters views of illyrian cultures and their conclusion of the condition of women without even having a single conversation with illyrian women. Illyrian women in this set up have no agency and no voice and that leaves the women of the IC to speak for them which is counterproductive. This is wrong in that many western cultures have misinterpreted different cultures and ignored the women in those societies as being disenfranchised and have used this as an excuse to invade and colonize under the guise of liberating women when in actual fact they dont care about the women at all, and are only concerned in reaping the benefits of that culture and keeping them under their control. An example of this is rhys ignoring the treatment of illyrian women but reaping the benefit of having illyrians fight in his wars.

Feyre as high lady

It's unfair to judge feyres actions as high lady as yet because we've barely seen her act, but from the little that we know, she follows Rhys' every action and decision without question. And rhys hasn't done anything for the improvement of women's position socially or economically at all (we all know the state of the illyrian camps) in all the 500 yrs he's been high lord. Apart from Rhys, the inner circle has 2 women in the highest leadership positions and even they havent done anything and have even ignored the plight of women under their jurisdiction, (mor with Hewn city) I dont even think amren cares about anything besides her jewels tbh. So it's fair to assume that feyre will follow in those very footsteps. She already has biased and low views on the illyrians and people who reside in hewn city to the point where she participates in the 'pimp and whore' act that she puts on t deal with them. And we've never seen her speak to illyrian women so to her their voices and autonomy dont matter.

Male feminism in the IC

The only male who can be seen as being feminist in the series is Cassian because aside from simply declaring that wing clipping is illegal, he actually does the ground work to ensure it doesn't happen by offering the women to train with him. Though this is a weak cure for the issues the women face in Illyria, it's a start and far more work than anything the other characters have done in the name of women empowerment.

Another so called feminist figure in the series is rhysand. Why he's described as such defeats me, but I'll go through some points to prove that hes nothing of the sort.

1. He created a library for sexual assault survivors.

Though this is a nice effort, it can't be described as feminism because he doesnt extend the same courtesy to the other women in his territory and is only concerned with women in Velaris. Supporting women who worship you isnt feminism isnt feminism either and we know that the entirety of Velaris see the IC as blameless gods. Based on mors history, its obvious that the women in hewn city are suffering just as much if not more but hes forsaken them to live under mors parents/abusers rule. And creating a safe house for sexual assault survivors isnt as much feminism as it is human decency. Especially considering how much money hes got.

2. Banning illyrian wing clipping

Wing clipping is still a pandemic in the illyrian camps meaning that he didnt put enough provisions to ensure that it stops. Passing a law and ensuring that it is followed are two different things and rhys clearly dowsnt know the distinction. An additional point regarding illyrian women is that it was mentioned in acofas that they were joining the men in rebelling, and if that doesnt say anything about their feelings with him being high lord and how he doesnt cater to them, then I dont know what does. This also speaks to the point of the assumption that women of color dont have agency in their own societies. He said something like the men 'manipulated' the women into joining their rebellion, which insinuates that they can't think for themselves and are completely voiceless and this is a factor of whit feminism, the belief that WOC colour cant speak for themselves and are meek and susetable to being controlled or manipulated. It is a huge possibility that the women can't really express their opinions because they are suppressed by their men, however we dont see rhys interacting with any women and getting their opinion on things. He assumes that they are forced into everything and though we havent gotten the book yet I'm gonna say this is false. The reason being if rhys was such a good high lord and cared for women's issues, why would the women side with their 'abusive' men instead of their so called benevolent high lord?

3. Rhys appointed women in his IC

First of all, appointing women based on merit and qualifications is feminism, not appointing family members and you underaged bride just because 'you love her'. Though mor and amren may be qualified, and that's a massive 'maybe', they haven't done anything to improve the lives of women. Like their high lord they are complacent and Hewn city and illyria are more than enough to prove this. What rhys has essentially done is nepotism and corruption and no one can convince me otherwise.

Going further on the inner circle women, rhys was willing to sacrifice these very women to achieve his goal and this is self serving and anti feminist. The first being abusing feyre UTM and then using her as bait for the attor, then later making a deal with eris even though he knows his history with mor. If anyone believes that these actions are remotely feminist or excusable, then feminism is not for you and need help because its abusive and patriachal.

In conclusion rhys isnt feminist, mor isnt feminist, amren isnt feminist, feyre isnt feminist, azriel isnt even in the conversation and cassian is the only one scratching the surface. Also, white feminism is an exclusive and limited way to portray and execute feminism, women getting leadership positions based on their proximity to men just advances the false notion that women can only succeed if they 'sleep' their way to the top and just because a woman is in a leadership space, thag doesnt make that state of affairs inherently feminist because women are also carriers of patriarchy.

I tried to sum up my points but for more on white feminism, feminist intersectionalites and how being female doesnt make a person feminist, I advice you read Bell Hooks' writings because she touches on these topics in far better ways than I can.