#i was debating posting this or not but y'know fuck it

[princesaltines]

squish

[trans-leek-cookie]

listen I'm not gonna be a Curly apologist he did Fucked Up as captain but I genuinely recommend ppl watch a playthru that goes thru the game in chronological order. It kinda helps clear up the events and gaps between them, bc even tho u See the times, you still experience it out of order.

The stuff Anya says definitely sets off alarm bells but it doesn't seem like he Fully Understands what she means, and I'm going to be 100% honest I think she was trying to repress it herself. This isn't to say that she is AT ALL "at fault" for what happened after and she should've gotten help even if she wasn't ready to fully discuss the issue but I genuinely think she herself was still coming to terms with things, so she didn't necessarily process the full impact before talking to Curly, and a lot of what happens occurs after they're laid off- like this delves into personal interpretation but I genuinely think Anya only registered Jimmy as a serious danger after his outburst towards Curly. Ofc my interpretation is limited bc of the limited pov in game and not having gone through what she has, but it personally reads more akin to coercion over time than a singular Obviously Violent incident (like. Not to say that Sexual Assault isnt violent in nature, just that coercion often specifically works to obfuscate the fact it is a form of violence.) The layoff is a Massive catalyst for her bc of Jimmy, in that she now has a very clear understanding of his capacity for aggression.

To extrapolate a little from the "Dead Pixel" conversation, she starts by saying she Likes The Screen (even though it's fake). While Curly has his quotes about the pixel "not ruining the illusion" which. Y'know is Symbolic Of His Flaws. She doesn't say the pixel ruins it, just that she can't get it out of her mind.

If we take the pixel to represent her Or jimmy, either way the way she talks about it kind of downplays things, like it's a Minor Thing that's Slightly Upsetting, but she's still okay with the big picture. Idk I could be 100% wrong but that is my take

Besides that, Anya tells curly she's pregnant 2 days before the crash, and it isn't until she outright states it that he starts Putting The Pieces Together. I want to note, he says "I'd do anything" and "this doesn't have to go on our performance evals" 1. Before he knows shes pregnant 2. Under the assumption she might attempt suicide, and I doubt he even thought about her using the gun on anyone else before she brings that up. He says literally before the line where she tells him she's pregnant that "being laid off isnt a reason to hurt [herself]". Like I've seen ppl talk about the performance evaluation thing like it's about her and jimmy, but I think he's referring to (his belief) that she might attempt suicide or similar which might genuinely be a consistent thing he's seen her struggle with, given she's able to go through with it. Also just to note: assuming their society is like ours (hellish) reassuring her he won't blab Abt her mental health is like. Genuine reassurance- lots of mentally ill ppl will Not Open Up bc it could have long term consequences (like. For example. On employment) ANYWAYS I hope it doesn't come off like "Curly never failed Anya" but rather "Curly approached this specific situation without the context of why Anya is panicking and (possibly validly) assuming she's dealing with a very different issue"

Also let me say again the time frame is 2 days. We don't Really see what happens, but we know Anya tells Jimmy without Curly knowing. I genuinely believe he maybe didn't do a Great Job in those two days (the fact he says Anya should've talked to Him before telling Jimmy is uhhh. Mm. 1. Your job to create an environment where she comes to you my man 2. Weird to tell her what she should do with HER OWN PERSONAL INFORMATION) but like.

I get a lot of ppl want immediate consequences but consider that they can't really get rid of Jimmy (co pilot. Which is. Y'know it's Own Problems) but also like. Curly knows Jimmy, and we know that Jimmy tends to lash out. Curly should probably Not Confront Jimmy Unless He Knows Exactly How To Keep Him From Hurting Anya. Like I'm not an expert but this is something genuinely important- when confronting an abuser you NEED to take into account the impact it can have on their victim, and sometimes for the victims safety you need to wait until you have a Solid Plan. It sucks but it's important.

And theres discussion to be had about Curly kinda going along with Jimmy saying "well what if we all died" and like. I do believe he Didn't Realize What Jimmy Said. Like he was just processing/trying to keep the situation under control (and failing because he underestimated how willing Jimmy was to hurt everyone including himself).

Like he's definitely an enabler but I would say his problems are mostly before he understands the gravity of the situation, in that he's friends with Jimmy and assumes the best of a man with abusive tendencies, and fails to create an environment that can keep Anya and the others safe. Like, he definitely doesn't handle in game events perfectly (psych evaluation for one- he does do it instead of Anya which is actually helpful, but he still treats it like. Weirdly.)

Idk I have a lot of thoughts about this game and I don't necessarily want to defend Curly but more like. Anya's situation is very delicate (and light on details) so sometimes the way ppl talk Abt it feels like they aren't actually focused on what she wants and what it means to prioritize her safety y'know?

Edit bc I just now figured out kinda how I want to word it: curly is an enabler and making things worse bc he doesn't put a stop to Jimmy's BS, but in the specific scenario we see in game I think he's trying to use his Skillset of like, people pleasing not for Jimmy's sake but for the crews (like "if I nod my head and say I sympathize he won't lash out and hurt them") which like. There are situations which that is unfortunately the safest option (on an individual level yes, but sometimes it's also necessary to prevent abusers lashing out in response toward ppl who are more vulnerable) but it was the Wrong Choice.

It's like. I think Curly was trying and had good intentions, and understood that he needed to protect the crew, but he didn't have the toolset/experience to realize he can't Just go along with things and that he needs to be able to set hard limits, even for ppl he likes and trusts. Like he failed but the failure was "for want of a nail", where it began way before what we see (for want of an understanding of power dynamics I guess.) Again, don't think this makes curly more forgivable or whatever, I just think he's a good example of trying to make the right choices when you never realized you'd have to make these kinds of decisions and therefore are unprepared and/or unaware

Second edit: personally I don't think you can really incapacitate jimmy without there being serious risk (again he's the copilot) but curly should've given Anya the gun when she told him Abt the pregnancy

[moongothic]

[arosnowflake]

The most annoying thing about the Gerudo in BOTW is the orientalism, racism and misogyny. The second most annoying thing about the Gerudo in BOTW is the way the orientalism, racism and misogyny directly tank their worldbuilding.

I'm not gonna talk about why the Gerudo are orientalist, people smarter and more informed than me have already done so extensively and I don't have anything to add to that discussion. I'm here to bitch about how it affects the worldbuilding to the extent where Gerudo society, as portrayed in BOTW, does not make much of any sense in-universe.

Let's be clear here: the worldbuilding would be trash even if it made complete in-universe sense because it's orientalist and misogynist. But it doesn't even make sense in-universe and it's pretty much entirely because of the orientalism and misogyny.

Two things are true about the Gerudo at once: 1) they do not allow men into Gerudo Town, and 2) they are absolutely obsessed with finding husbands. I don't want to guess at percentages, but a truly ridiculous portion of the dialogue the Gerudo get is somehow related to finding husbands, being in love with men, etc. It is baked into their culture, most obviously exemplified in the love lessons that occur in Gerudo Town. But, more important than lessons or whatever, is the fact that leaving Gerudo Town to find a husband is considered a coming of age rite of passage for young women. It is an integral part of Gerudo culture to leave on a journey to find a husband.

And let's be clear: the goal here is absolutely, unambiguously long-term marriage. Many Gerudo you meet lament the shallow nature of the men who try to pursue them, we see Gerudo who reference husbands they currently have, and just generally the way the Gerudo talk indicates that they are not looking for a one-night stand or a summer romance: they are looking for something permanent. They are looking for marriage, and a good portion of them succeed.

So. Uh. Where do their husbands live?

The only time see any Gerudo who permanently lives outside of Gerudo Town is in Tarrey Town, and you're the one who brought her there. All the other Gerudo you meet outside of Gerudo Town or Kara Kara Bazaar are travelling. There are no Gerudo residents in Kakariko, Hateno, or Lurelin, or mixed Gerudo children.

This is very, very weird when you consider that married Gerudo would not be able to live with their husbands in Gerudo Town. The 'no men allowed' rule has no exceptions, so if a newly wed couple wanted to live together - and they almost certainly would - they would have to do so outside of Gerudo Town. And yet, we do not see them, despite demonstrable evidence that married Gerudo do exist.

There is another option, of course: that Gerudo culture normalizes long distance relationships even for married couples, and that the husbands live outside of Gerudo Town whereas the wives live within it. This is theoretically possible, except we never get any real in-game hints indicating it. It's still the option that makes the most sense, but it's a fanmade band-aid solution, not a real element of the worldbuilding.

Either which way, the inherent conflict between 'men are not allowed in Gerudo Town' and 'a big part of the Gerudo Town culture is to get married to men' should logically be causing tension. While the guards take the rule very seriously, most of the people you meet inside Gerudo Town don't really care that you're a man, and we know there's a thriving black market supplying men's clothes. This indicates that, already, in canon, most Gerudo play fast and loose with this rule to begin with, and don't have much special attachment to it.

Which makes it even more glaring that nobody seems to be arguing against it. Logically, there should be conflict between the Gerudo who value the tradition of an all-women Gerudo Town, and the Gerudo who want to be able to live with their husbands in their hometown. With how incredibly centered the Gerudo's culture is on these two things, this should be a major political problem that's going to singlehandedly turn Riju grey before she even comes of age. There should be discontent and unrest from newlyweds and long devoted wives who don't want to leave their home behind to be with their husbands, and don't want to leave their husbands behind to be home. Who would want to, at the very least, be able to show their husbands their childhood home.

But even if there wasn't, there should be a larger Gerudo presence outside of Gerudo Town. Either Kara Kara Bazaar should be a lot larger and more populated than it currently is, or there should be one or more smaller towns around Gerudo Town where the married Gerudo live with their husbands, or where the husbands of the Gerudo who live in Gerudo Town reside. You cannot tell me every single Gerudo would be okay with abandoning their culture and moving in with their husbands; even if they could not bring their husbands back to Gerudo town, they would frequently like to live somewhere close by. And if we take the long-distance approach, there would be plenty of couples who wouldn't want to be separated too far, and therefore there'd be husbands moving closer to their wives, even if they could not live in the same town.

But say, for the sake of the argument, that this also didn't happen: then, at the very least, we ought to see Gerudo in other Hylian settlements. We ought to see Gerudo who live in Hateno, Kakariko, Lurelin, and maybe even at the stables. We ought to find populations of diaspora and mixed race Gerudo who have grown up outside of Gerudo Town, and have maybe even never visited it. We have circled back around to the first point of argument.

If the Gerudo are getting married, we should see evidence of their husbands, somehow, beyond dialogue references and quest objectives.

The reason we don't, of course, is obvious: orientalism. The Gerudo are an orientalist idea of a harem, exotic women out of reach yet practically begging to be conquered by Western men. They want to be with men, are searching for men, yet are very rarely shown to find one because doing so would pop the fantasy being sold to male players: that they could be the one to get them.

So to successfully sell this orientalist, misogynist fantasy, the worldbuilding becomes completely and utterly nonsensical.

[HAS NOT PLAYED TEARS OF THE KINGDOM DISCLAIMER]

[galaxyhybridscentral]

So I've only spent a little time playing pokerogue right, like at most, 6 hours collectively? (I'm not great at time.) And it's difficult, I'll give it that, yes, but a good kind of difficult imo.

all this to say that, at the moment, my furthest run started off with a Lele and an Eevee (and because I don't know how evolution trees work in the game yet, I'll say I was lucky enough to get an Umbreon)

Floor 115 as of writing this, and the team looks like this: Tapu Lele, Umbreon, Pawmot, Corviknight, Stoutland, and Torterra and I'll be real the synergy (to me) is crazy /pos

also im now biased towards sand rush Stoutland this guy beat the daylights out of a Tyranitar :] (granted the Stoutland was low health and used Reversal with no buffs but still!! I'm proud of him!!! Pawmot was fainted iirc so. Had to be him and he did so well <3)

Edit: the team made it to 145, my rival decimated my team... Still the furthest I've gotten!

[olderthannetfic]

Until I read the comments on that one post I had no idea the Bechdel Test was a joke and wasn't supposed to be a serious measuring stick by which you gauged if something was feminist or not. Everywhere I'd ever heard it brought up, it was brought up as a very serious thing, and it was a failure of media if it didn't pass it. I remember the debate about Mako Mori from Pacific Rim and if she was a character you were "allowed" to like as a progressive person despite the fact that Pacific Rim doesn't pass the Bechdel Test, the discourse, the discussion of if the director was sexist for not writing in another woman for her to chat with about non-men related stuff, the camp of people trying to insist that having a fully realized character arc and being as developed as any of the male leads = good writing even if she doesn't talk to another girl...

And I've also had the remark about my writing not passing the test, just not to my face. I searched my fanfic's name once, curious to see if anyone was discussing it outside of tumblr and AO3, and found a Tiktok complaining about it not passing the Bechdel Test. The top comment was "motherfucker YOU don't pass the test but we still watch your ass". I cackled and moved on, but neither the commenter, poster, nor I had any awareness this wasn't Feminist Media Critique 101 theory and was, in fact, a goof.

Right now there's a segment of fandom debating if Blue Eye Samurai is feminist since when Mizu and Akemi talk, they do bring up men, since, y'know. Women aren't considered people with rights in their era in Japan and thus it's something they mention instead of only talking about being cool girlboss badasses who never bring up gender. If something doesn't pass the Bechdel Test, a smug segment of the internet high-fives itself and congratulates one another on being More Feminist Than Thou.

They then get really angry if you disagree, even though by this metric, Sleeping Beauty (the original animated one, where Aurora has only 16 lines of dialogue) is more feminist than Blue Eye Samurai.

--

*DYING*

Okay, so, nonnie....

Dykes to Watch Out For (1983-2008) was a long-running comic and major piece of lesbian media. I grew up buying compiled volumes at the bookstore. To be honest, that kind of 90s-ish lesbian culture isn't really my scene despite me being bi, but it was very nice to have this slice of life-y somewhat realistic, occasionally somewhat parody, look at the queer communities around me. It's up there with Tales of the City for me in terms of being a window into a particular culture and time and place.

If anybody is interested in queer history, in addition to looking up factual info, I think a read of the complete Dykes would give a really good overview of how people were thinking about things and what issues came up a lot. You'll see things like Barnes & Noble increasingly putting feminist bookstores out of business in the 90s, attitudes towards porn in lesbian circles—all kinds of cultural issues of the day.

I drifted away as I got later in my teens and found more genre fiction I cared about, but at one point, this comic was a very welcome antidote to the glurgey coming out stories that made up a lot of the more realistic media.

Anyway, here's the comic itself, reproduced in its entirety because I think it's important to actually understand the context.

This is from 1985, so the era of Rambo, Conan, and Death Wish, each of which you can see being made fun of here. It's based on Bechdel's friend Liz Wallace's actual rule for seeing movies.

That's it. That's the origin of this whole stupid test.

"LOL, fuck 80s action movies". That's it. That's the joke.

The fact that blockbusters still routinely fail to pass in the 2020s is shameful, but that was never the point of the strip.

[ddejavvu]

sorry if this is repetitive but id love this prompt with spencer reid x reader? only if you feel up to it! thank you sm!

https://www.tumblr.com/ddejavvu/726638874644856832/i-keep-thinking-about-hotch-with-a-reader-who-is

this post is 18+, minors dni.

Spencer looks angelic when he's tired. There's something divinely beautiful about the rosy tint to his cheeks, the way sweat glistens at his hairline, his lips swollen where they rest against the pillow. His face is pushed into its soft surface, eyes with beautiful long lashes fluttered shut as his chest heaves slightly.

You observe all of this with a brain still addled with lust, and his otherworldly beauty, frankly, makes you want to top him. You want to straddle his waist and drag his weeping cock in and out of your cunt, you want to cum against his abdomen so that your release leaks down his waist. You want to tower over him and bury his pretty face in your chest, only adding to the heat that inflames his cheeks.

"Spencer," You croon, leaning forwards with much more energy than he possesses, "Spence, can we go again?"

His eyes flutter open in what you hope is just surprise, and not alarm.

"What? I- I'm tired," He supplies, but tries pushing himself up off of the mattress anyways, "But if- I mean if you want to, I- I can-"

"No." You place a hand on his chest, and you don't need to apply much pressure to get him back down to the mattress again. "Spence, it's okay. You're tired, you can rest. I- uh, I need one more, though. So I'll use a toy, it's okay."

"No," He mumbles in a hazy panic, "No, angel, I- I want to, I want to do what you need me to do."

"I need you to rest." You insist, putting more weight against his chest as you lean over him on the bed, "Spence, it's fine. Using a toy isn't a bad thing; I'm not replacing you with it."

"I know," He pants, but you're not sure he really does, "I just want to- y'know," His cheeks flush even hotter, "Fulfill your needs."

You gnaw on the inside of your cheek, debating: "Maybe you can."

He moves to get up, but you hold him down, "You can use the toy on me, Spence. I'll sit like this," You sling a knee over his torso, tucking them into his underarms so that your aching, needy cunt hovers over his chest, "And you can fuck me with the toy."

"Okay." He breathes, his doe eyes shiny at the sight of your cunt beginning to leak some of his cum, "Get me the- angel can you grab the toy?"

"Got it," You mumble, delving your hand into Spencer's bedside drawer and withdrawing a vibrator. It's mid-length but the controls make up well for the size it may lack, with an extra prong that fits against your clit to buzz at the sensitive bundle of nerves. Spencer leans up to kiss at your stomach before switching the vibrator on, and your cunt stings in anticipation.

"Thank you," Spencer breathes, his lips leaving a sticky mark on your lower stomach, "Thank you, angel. For letting me take care of you."

[penncilkid]

Been thinking about my experiences as a POC within fandom while also being an artist and how much that sucks sometimes. This is primarily in regards to the Redacted fandom, but could be applied to any other fandom honestly.

Proper "fussing" under the cut (for those who would rather not see):

Sometimes, I really stop and think about what it must be like to be a white person in fandom, especially when you're an artist. To see yourself reflected in the spaces you exist in all the time. There are some exceptions to this, of course. For example, lack of body diversity is just as much of a problem in my opinion (Like fat people exist. Disabled people exist. Fat, disabled people exist. You can draw them, y'know? /rhet) But generally speaking, it's not difficult to find designs that probably look like you. There will be blondes, brunettes, redheads even— It's everywhere you look.

I don't think most people realize how isolating that ends up feeling though.

Because it's not just the fact that most of the art/designs you'll stumble upon won't resemble you. It's the fact that the prevalence dictates how everyone else interacts with fandom too.

Do you know how much it sucks seeing a post saying "So we all agree that Asher's blonde, right?" and knowing that most people are thinking of a white guy and nothing else?

Or noticing how Alexis, a generally "hated" character in the fandom, is the only vampire most people are willing to make visibly brown?

How about the fact that Gavin, the "thrilling" and "sexy" incubus, has so many black and brown designs— But I can count the non-white Lasko designs I've come across on my hand?

People can do whatever they want. I've said it before, and I'll continue to repeat it when I make these rambles. If you want to make every single design you have varying shades of white and never stray from that, that's your prerogative. But for the love of god, I wish I didn't feel like I was fucking crazy for talking about how much that shit sucks to see as a person of color.

On top of that, do you know how frustrating it is to watch white artists get praised for generic diversity when POC artists have been consistently bringing forth such compelling, stunning designs to table? Like I see the kind of shit that gets praised in this fandom and what doesn't. Racial ambiguity or the slightest addition of a curl gets treated like it's revolutionary— And that's only if it's the "correct" character. It has to "make sense", right? The same way Sam has to have sun-kissed, golden skin even after he's been turned, or the way Guy has to be white because there's no way someone with that personality could be anything but.

Do you know what it's like to be filled with such a sense of joy because someone made a design where a character had your skin tone or hair texture or facial feature? Like, I genuinely have a strong reaction whenever I find a black or brown design in this fandom because they're so rare in comparison to everything else. And when I really stop to think about that, I realize how fucked up of a phenomenon that is.

I love the designs that I've made, but I've also noticed which ones "do better" comparably. I don't change much of anything with how I go about posting or promoting them. The only difference is that some of them fit what is considered widely "canon" in fandom. And the others... don't. I go out of my way to make every design POC in some regard, and you can usually tell visually even without the addition of colors. I'm not gonna stop doing that because I know why I started in the first place. But fuck, it does start to hurt seeing white artists with the same general white designs get hyped up endlessly while I internally debate if I should even make another character look like me or not. If it'll even matter to anyone but me.

Some days, I just really wish it didn't feel like shit being black in this fandom. I hate knowing that I'm gonna post this, and I'll probably get responses for other people of color primarily.

But maybe putting this out will help that pill get easier to swallow.

[aqours]

i've shared my thoughts on this in dms with like 3 people so i wanted to put it on paper so i can always get it

so i think one of the biggest questions that goes around tcoaatl is regarding it's incest, asked in both good faith and by annoying antis: "so is the incest... actually like portrayed as bad? or is it just hot and fetishized and romanticized?" and y'know, i think the most genuinely HONEST answer regarding that is this: "it's both." (the later mostly romanticized)

the Graves siblings have a horrifically co-dependent relationship which even the steam page is very happy to make you remember, multiple characters acknowledge it, it's a fucking awful terrible thing and you can make decisions that acknowledge it and its obvious to anyone with two eyes and a brain capable of basic critical thought that realistically while you can do w/e you want in a fanfic in a canon sense there's no way gravecest cannot result in what will ultimately be a lifetime of suffering even if both parties don't want to admit it. you're condemning them both to a chance of ever finding real genuine happiness that can exist without the other

that being said? they're both conventionally attractive and the game doesn't really shy from making its physical intimacy look hot and it's clear that nemlei doesn't want that physical intimacy to be disgusting or something that will make you feel ashamed if you intentionally pursued

i feel like this is the aspect of tcoaal that is debated the most on all sides of the fandom and i just wanted to post my own two cents in that i think the answer is "its both." the extent of how co-dependent these two are is very clear that it's not good and that most likely in the final release the best outcome for these two will probably involve acknowledging it

but also if you were to approach nemlei and just told her "listen i just think it's hot i don't give a shit about any of that other stuff i just wanna ship them." i think nemlei herself would nod and respect your decision completely. probably feed you even more if anything

you're free to disagree with me, i just wanna state my own thoughts somewhere, so i think the answer is a very solid "it's both" when it comes to this. tcoaal portrays the incest as horribly psychologically damaging for these two but also at the same time it's obviously not gonna judge you for liking it and if you find it hot nemlei would never judge you for it i think

but i just cannot in any capacity really take the argument it's a hard one or another seriously. i think if tcoaal wanted gravecest to only be seen as bad and horrifying that nemlei would've made different decisions in writing it bc it's obvious she COULD have if she wanted to, but also it's not fair to say it just makes incest look hot and sexy when it does show how fucked up it's characters are because of it

so... just wanted to say yeah- i think it's both

[dk-ghostmachines]

i gotta talk about FourDogs

I really do. 'Cause I posted a lil' passive-aggressive hot take a few days ago, but this is Tumblr not TikTok. Here we can have our 60-second hot takes and eat our long essays too. Kipperlilly Copperkettle was introduced as a rival in episode 3, after which there were a number of posts criticizing The Bad Kids' response to her, labeling it disproportionately mean at best and bullying at worst. I think that's an unfair reading of that interaction and I'm gonna talk about why.

Now, I'll be the first to admit that it's parasocial as fuck over here and The Bad Kids are my personal best friends actually, so where necessary I'll do my best to separate the ((loyalist ride-or-die-bad-boys-for-lyfe emotional reactions)) from the actual points I'm trying to make.

((That being said, the fuck was FourDogs talking about? Y'know? Like what was she on about, for real?))

Here's what's true: over the course of their time at Aguefort, three adults directly related to The Bad Kids - Jawbone, Gorthalax, and Gilear - have been instated as faculty or staff. And if I'm a third-party, especially another student, then for sure. It's giving nepotism, it's giving cronyism, and I'm drinking my Haterade about it every morning. But favoritism is about treatment. It's about actions, rewards, benefits - and ma'am, if you're gonna levy a charge like that, I'm afraid you're gonna need receipts!

What actual benefits have The Bad Kids received from the school that is not available to other students? In freshman and sophomore year, The Bad Kids get detention like anybody else, they don't make it on the Bloodrush team, Gorgug in particular was always not doing great in Barbarian class, they take their midterms, they have to complete the big 60%-of-the-grade spring break project, etc. And now this year, Fig is getting punished for not going to class, Kristen is getting consequences specific to being a kid with ADHD who doesn't live at home anymore, Gorgug's still getting the literal opposite of favoritism from Porter, and Riz, Adaine, and Fabian are all getting the treatment from professors that is proportional for historically successful students in good academic standing.

((And someone else brought this up but, re:that 60%-of-the-grade project, miss ma'am, what were you doing in the Far Haven Woods?? In addition to saving the world again, The Bad Kids endured borderline psychological torture for their final grade, while the Buttcrushers got to step on bugs in the neutral zone??? But they're the privileged ones, no, for sure))

Whether or not saving the world is as big a deal in-universe as it would be in our real world is up for debate. Brennan said it was an outstanding feat in the scope of student adventuring at Aguefort to consistently complete Class B and C quests, but then, when TBK comes back from Hot Yorb Summer everyone acts like they went on a class trip to Six Flags. Either way, unearned success is the wiiiiiildest claim to lay at the feet of consistent world-savers.

Freshmen year it was the Helioic Fundamentalist Apocalypse and the Emperor of the Red Wastes. Sophomore year it was the Nightmare King and the Night Yorb. They've saved the whole school, they've saved specific students at the school. They My Little Pony-ed Ragh, one of the biggest actual bullies Aguefort had, and then Fabian killed toxic masculinity! Even if the favoritism was in the room with us, would it not be the natural result of all this hero shit??? Aguefort hasn't done The Bad Kids any favors he wouldn't do for the rest of the student body, but even if he had I'd get it because KRISTEN APPLEBEES SNUCK HIM INTO HEAVEN AND THEN BROUGHT HIS ASS BACK TO LIFE.

Again, maybe not remarkable in a world where Revivify is just a thing you can learn, but y'know! Shit!! Diamonds aren't free!!

Also FourDogs' whole tone of disdain for the "eccentricity" of Arthur Aguefort's administrative decisions truly boggles the mind, because we found out in freshmen year that he has some kind of mass Power Word over the government of Solace that allows the students of his school to do crimes, AND in sophomore year he has that auto-call-ex-machina that students can evoke when they're in danger overseas. His "eccentricity" is the reason the school can function at all, put some respect on man's name.

Now, let's get word-perfect.

That's the American Psychological Association.

And that's StopBullying.gov, which is managed by the Department of Health and Human Services.

Here's what's true. At moment 00:00 of their relationship, Kristen said something pretty freakin' mean to Kipperlilly for an audience of her friends with like, no provocation.

Kipperlily then revealed that she has based her entire campaign around addressing the perceived privilege that "some students" have under Arthur Aguefort's rules. And THEN, Jawbone revealed that Kipperlilly had been snooping around asking questions about Kristen's relationships with her god and trying to get general dirt on The Bad Kids. BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE, in the preview for episode 6, we get Murph's line of "Kipperlilly's team is trying to get us kicked out of school".

Does that excuse the thing Kristen said ((yes it was hilarious)), no. Not at all. She didn't know that stuff, Kipperlilly just failed a vibe check. In the moment though, that's all it was. The Bad Kids met someone they didn't like and perceived as a threat, and Kipperlilly had something mean said to her by people she already didn't like and already wants to see brought down. While she was not threatening them in that moment, Kipperlilly is a threat. She's not a victim, she is an equal with opposing goals. And now that Ruben has the song of the summer, The Buttcrushers are probably just as popular as The Bad Kids. There is no greater imbalance, they're just adversaries.

Ultimately, Kipperlilly's got them fucked up. But she's a kid. Kids are allowed to get shit fucked up and misdirect their anger at systemic unfairness. TBK are also kids and well within their rights to feel what they felt when Four Dogs walked up with self-righteous vibes and started yappin about academic privilege in what is already the most academically stressful year of their lives.

As the audience, we not only know all the shit TBK has gone through that Kipperlilly does not, we also are aware of how Brennan is introducing her in the story. As soon as he brings her into the scene, you know what's up. The voice he gives her, the tone, the actual things he's saying - if you watch everyone's face after the line about favoritism gets dropped it's the culmination of the whole interaction. Oh, she's our enemy, like our specific enemy and her team is coming for us, specifically.

So what do we gain from ignoring all that? From ignoring the JUICE of this rivalry and flattening it into "the bad kids were mean :/". I actually love Kipperlilly, the rivalry is giving and I love feeling big emotions and getting to use angry, feral, fandom language. FourDogs, can't wait to see you next week, and I can't wait to read the 40k word, FourDogsxKristen, enemies-to-lovers fics. And y'know, shout out to all the people who kin her because she found the rogue teacher, it's pretty goated, I won't lie.

But also. Bad Kids Supremacy. Buttcrushers, stay mad.

[wedriftlikelonelyplanets]

The WIP Post

Literally just want people to torment me about my writing because it gets me motivated, so I'm listing my current wips here and you can torment me about them

Charlos - falling in love again during the divorce (this is au-y but they're still drivers and there's y'know a hint of bdsm)

Piarles - they broke up and charles will always be pierre's only love, and they find their way back to each other

Charlos - a/b/o, carlos feels like he's always chasing charles but his biggest rewards come when he wins (omega charles x alpha carlos)

Landoscar - At least two more fics planned in the series, one with them talking through things, one more that's filthy smut. Depending on how the rest of the season goes will depend on how much more i write

Lestappen - Charles wins a WDC and also falls in love fic (debating one shot or multichapter)

Lestappen - 2005 Warped Tour AU (this is my fucking BABY i have feelings about this PLEASE message me about it)

Lestappen - WAG Girl!Charles (not married to Max) and Driver Max ft infidelity and eventual happy ending probably

Charlos - inspired by "Casual" by Chapell Roan with a happy ending bc well yeah

[arosnowflake]

IDK man I feel like "in a capitalist society labor should be compensated by money because it's necessary to survive and thrive, and therefore artists deserve to be paid for their work" and "the fact that access to art is paywalled is completely fucked up actually" are statements that can and should co-exist I think.

[nyaskitten]

Y'know what? I'm done! I'm done with all the hate, negativity, and all the other generally bad things we as artists, writers, music composers, etc say about ourselves!

This post is an us appreciation post because FUCK what the back of our heads is telling us!!

It doesn't matter if what you draw or write or compose or edit or ANYTHING isn't "as good" as someone else's, or you feel you're not skilled enough! ALL that matters is you're having FUN and enjoying yourself and that YOU take pride in what you make!

It doesn't matter if your anatomy is a bit wonky or the way you write feels a bit odd or the music you make isn't 100% or whatever you edit is a bit lackluster! What matters is having fun, and enjoying what you make! Your art should be for yourself first and foremost, and for others if you feel like sharing!

Keep those drawings and fics you want to yourself for however long you desire! You owe no one on the internet literally ANYTHING! (unless you're doing commissions and were paid, in which case you do owe them something there's no debating this</3)

AGAIN, all that matters is you have fun making whatever it is you're making! No one else's opinions matter! You are good enough! I am good enough! WE are good enough with what we make, and you should never forget it!

Make what you want, not what others want! Write what makes you happy! Improve however you want, but stop comparing yourself to others! What they have, they practiced and worked hard for, and what you have, you've ALSO practiced and worked hard for!!!

Please, never forget to have faith in yourself! Love yourself, and love your creations! Stay creative and proud of yourself forever and always!

[unbidden-yidden-deactivated20240]

Once again, I am torn about posting a thing that is really upsetting me about the situation in Gaza, but I just know that if I do it's gonna get taken up by the people who just hate Israel and want to watch the world burn.

So I guess I'll just say this as a prelude: I believe in Jewish self-determination in eretz Yisrael because that is where Jews are from and all of our most sacred sites are there and our rituals and calendar are based on that land and have been for literal thousands of years. It's nice that Israel exists as a backup for when things inevitably heat up again in the diaspora and y'all goyim just can't stop yourselves from trying to kill us en masse. But even if antisemitism and Jew-hate of every kind stopped tomorrow and was guaranteed to never return, we would still have a reason to be there and that would be good and right and just. The exact form that would take is open to reasonable debate, but the baseline assumption should be that Jews have the same rights to self-determination in our ancestral homeland and responsibilities as a nation as everyone else and should be judged according to the same standards.

And in before anyone takes any of that to mean that I don't think Palestinians should also live free and well in peace and have their own self-determination: yes. They should. They should have all the same rights and responsibilities we do.

Ok? Ok.

WITH THAT SAID, holy fuck am I disgusted by the tactic of "flushing" the terror tunnels out with seawater. There are so many things wrong with that that I don't even know where to start and I'm just praying to G-d that it's a lot more limited and localized than it seems from reading about it. But I know it's happening because even the Zionist sites are talking about it like this is normal and not, y'know. Literally salting the earth and fucking up the water table for years, possibly decades. If that's not collective punishment, I don't know what is. That's punishing children who aren't even born yet for something done by a terrorist group. Again, it's unclear to me how widespread this is and I'm just hoping and praying it's a lot more limited and controlled than it sounds in the news.

[dalesramblingsblog]

I don't know if it's just me, and maybe it's just my asexuality showing, but I generally find the way a lot of guys talk about porn and porn addiction (setting aside the debate over what even classifies as "porn addiction," and no I don't want to read the latest evangelical Christian think tank-funded "research" paper on the subject) to be... so very strange.

Like don't get me wrong, do some men have unhealthy relationships with porn? Yes. But some of you guys, I dunno man. I've seen guys say, with their full chest, shit along the lines of "Yeah I saw 0.01 pixels from a porn video and I spontaneously lost all capacity for empathy and the ability to see women as human beings."

And I'm gonna be real with you, I don't think that's normal, but I'm also... not sure that that's entirely the porn? Like if your ability to conceive of other human beings as human beings is *that* fragile, I think there's something else going on as well.

It's weird because I mean, I was a teenage boy. Quite recently too. I grew up in the 2010s. So to a certain extent... I get it, I guess? And again I think in retrospect at least part of this was my asexuality affecting my thought processes without me realising it, and simply not experiencing sexual attraction in the way most people do (i.e. at all, really).

But this idea that the slightest exposure to pornography will totally and utterly obliterate your ability to be normal about women just never really made sense to me.

To a certain extent I think it's just that I had countless close female friendships to begin with, so I just... continued to be normal with them, even on the off-chance that I developed an unrequited crush or whatever.

And of course, in a rather bleakly hilarious post-script, in catching up with friends from high school years later I've been told "Wait I thought you were gay?", which I guess was the going gossip about me. Which is amusingly indicative, I think; the fact that the only *possible* reason a boy could have for not being aggressively horny around girls 24/7 is that he's gay.

(Then again my overdramatic, slightly exaggerated persona probably didn't exactly do much to cut against the stereotypical "gay" image that these folks no doubt had. But fuck you that's just my personality, I can't help it if you're a presumptuous ass.)

It's not even that I take objection to being assumed to be gay - though, y'know, speculating on people's sexualities is kinda weird, particularly if you're gonna treat it as some "answer" to the mystery of "why isn't he perpetually, obnoxiously sexual around women" - but it's all just so revealing of the extent to which "being a man" is defined by "having nothing to do with women, unless you're horny about them, and never ever on a screen because that's just devious women conspiring to lower men's testosterone and keep them in the friendzone (because ofc women are wholly to blame for any ickiness in porn and sex work, makes perfect sense) and by the way could I have another helping of Catholic guilt talking points."

And like, yeah, no shit you're miserable, my guy, if that's how you define yourself.

[synthetic-anon]

the radio demon's nightly furby organ concerts!

The first time he hears it, Lucifer genuinely thinks he's going insane. He's in his workshop when a chorus of disembodied voices softly belts out, "Waaaa . . ." He freezes. He puts down his sketchpad and pencil. He stands up and looks around. The voices echo, quiet, tickling just at the edges of his hearing. No matter how he turns his head, he can't make out just where they're coming from. The droning "waaa" fades out slowly. A few seconds pass. Lucifer starts to relax. "Waaa aa-aa-aa waaa aa--" "What the FUCK." or: alastor likes to play his beloved furby organ in the middle of the night - y'know, for shits 'n' giggles. lucifer suffers.

dipped my toes in writing some funky (hopefully humorous!) radioapple fanfic! figured i'd also share it over here, just under a day after posting it since i was debating with myself whether to make a new sideblog or not first. reblogs and shares appreciated if you enjoy my silly lil creation!!