#it really is a gender war

[butteryunlikelylady]

decided I should see what the dating advice is like on the men’s side so I went to YouTube. It is WAY too easy to fall into the red pill manosphere with a simple “dating advice for men” search. I’m truly horrified at the kind of men this rhetoric is churning out

[hadesoftheladies]

masculinity is 99.9% grooming boys to be the bestest toy soldiers ever. the violence it is characterized by, so that oligarchs can always have bodies to throw at the territory they want from their competitors. “you are savage” “a meat-eater” “such a strong little boy” “buy another shooting video game” you are being bred for a war that will never end because the greed of your overlords has no limits. war wouldn’t happen if men didn’t start them and hinge the global economy on them. they want men to identify with the role they want them to play. and it’s worked so brilliantly. they really think they’re heroes. male identity is so steeped in violence on a peer and societal level. and it’s been happening for ages.

[morgenstern16]

I'm surprised I've never seen anyone talking about "oh my god I can't not fuck him" Fem!Shuro. Imagine waiting for ages for your daughter to return from her journey to the Mysterious Occident and she comes back and tells you she wants to have children with the biggest freak imaginable.

[galactic-rhea]

Hear me out, fluffy Rexwalker AU with Fisherman Rex and Mermaid(man¿) Anakin.

Padmé can be the local marine biologist advocating for better healthy environmental practices.

Palpatine is the local towns' mayor that always gets in between marine biologists, always giving way in pro- of invasive and extensive fishing,

Padmé probably is already aware of merfolk, and probably already knows Anakin, since they both were smol! But keeps it secret for obvious reasons.

Also, if Anakin is ever trapped (it can be kinda Rex's fault or not, your choice if you want it more angsty) Palpatine intends to use him for turism, or then to allow shady scientists to practice awfully horrible turturous experiments, yayyyyyy

Rex, Padmé and other characters if your choice team together and rescue him!

(Palpatine dies by drowning, to fit the Aesthetic.)

[visenyaism]

rhaenyra in the afterlife watching her great-grandson boldly and correctly declare that it’s actually totally fine for a bastard to sit the iron throne as long as they are cool

[neon-junkie]

Wolffe letting out a soft chuckle whenever your sarcasm and wit comes out in full swing.

Wolffe crossing his arms against his chest and laughing proudly when you tumble over after attempting to pull a silly move.

Wolffe smiling so happily that the corner of his eyes crease whenever he's speaking to you.

Wolffe being teased by his boys because it's so painfully clear that he has a soft spot for you.

Wolffe forming a warm and welcoming sensation in his chest when you compliment the paint job on his armour.

Wolffe receiving subtle signs of approval from Master Plo after seeing the way that you two simply are around each other.

Wolffe staying up late every night, unable to sleep, blissfully haunted by your character; a ghost who wants nothing but the best for him, and hopefully, his love in return.

Wolffe who feels sick with anger the second you're injured, even if it's just a scratch.

Wolffe refusing to remove his helmet, shielding his glossy vision and held back tears as he holds your unconscious body close to his chest.

Wolffe pacing back and forth along the medical wing corridor, knowing that he has to keep himself occupied, or else he'll drive himself insane over the thought of losing you.

Wolffe whose words fall silent the second that you wake up. A lump in his throat, clouds in his brain; he's no poet, far from it, and he curses himself for not being able to speak plainly.

Wolffe who fails to meet your gaze as your weak hand comes up to cup his jawline, followed by a soft, "I know."

Wolffe, who is neither bark nor bite, because he's so overwhelmed by the positive and wholesome feelings that you flood him with.

Wolffe in love.

[cosmichahn]

LOVE GROWS

Din Djarin x GN!Reader —☆

ִֶָ 𓂃⊹ ִֶָ about: Grogu wanted to see you, and frankly, he isn't the only one who does.

ִֶָ 𓂃⊹ ִֶָ warning/s: none that's disturbing! (no canon typical violence) this oneshot will include love confessions, so yes. (was listening to love grows by edison lighthouse while writing this.) a few mando'a words, but the translations will be shown at the end!

ִִֶֶָָ 𓂃⊹ ִֶָ word count: 2.2k

ִִֶֶָָ 𓂃⊹ ִֶָ note/s: hello! it takes a while for me to finish writing, and it's my first time writing for din djarin. this might be a little out of character, but i swear i'm trying to write properly for him.

The distant cooing of Grogu echoed around the ship, pointing at a small crown made of dried and preserved flowers that hung near his hammock. His big black eyes pleading.

It's a free moment anyway, and it's just little Grogu and his dad lurking through the galaxies. Only the engine of the ship functioning is heard, along with his little coos, begging for his father's attention.

Din looks behind him, leaving the controls on autopilot for him to go to his little one. He stands up, seeing Grogu patiently waiting for him to get closer as his little hands wave over the flower crown that felt as if it was protecting him from his nightmares; seeing as it's hanging by his bed.

He can't resist the little bundle of joy's pleas, and he of course will bring him to one of the places that bring the two of them that feeling of home and comfort, adamant that Din refuses to admit it, Endor.

The Mandalorian loves seeing his child happy and comfortable; if Grogu was happy, so was he. Just the two of them against the world… but lately Grogu seems off. Din stressed over not knowing what was going through his mind that sometimes he hoped to have the ability of a jedi to communicate and at least see Grogu's mind.

On the way to Endor, Din welcomes Grogu to sit on his lap, even leaving a little seatbelt for him so he wouldn't fall. It's a quiet journey with only the little one humming a tune that showed his excitement. A tune you once sung to him as he slept in your arms.

Soon enough, the two touch down at the Forest Moon of Endor.

Grogu starts to race Din to the exit, his little feet being too fast. Beneath the helmet, he just smiles. The twinkle in his little Grogu's eyes made his heart swell.

It's evening as they arrive, so patiently, the little one waits for Din outside of the ship. “You're too excited, kid." He chuckles, following behind as Grogu heads for the familiar little cottage that felt like home. It wasn't their house per se, but the person who lived in it was what made it feel like home.

“Grogu?" The warm and familiar voice greets, opening the door before he can even knock with his little hands. 

You. A Jedi.

Wind chimes echo and twirl through his big green ears as he swiftly hugs and tugs on your leg. You carefully pick him up as he snuggles in closer. “We've not seen each other in a while, little one. D'you miss me already?" He nods, tapping on your cheek, engulfing in the warmth.

“Sometimes I think he likes you more than me." Din jokes, crossing his arms afterwards. Somewhere lingers his smile. You can feel it. But you've not seen it, sadly.

“Mando, Mando… He just missed me." You shrug, inviting him to join you inside.

As you hold Grogu in your right arm, the first place you head to is the kitchen, remembering that you just made a batch of wildberry pie. Surely this would satisfy his appetite. A body so small, an appetite so big.

You sit him on one of the chairs, placing the plate of pie in front of him. His smile grows, making his little teeth visible. Before taking a bite, he looks at you happily, giving you a thanks.

While he is busy eating and enjoying his meal, you sit beside Din who was quietly sitting on the couch. 

“So," You give him a suspicious but cheeky look. “this is the third time this month. Odd, isn't it?" Usually they would go here once a month, or sometimes rarely as bounties were always happening.

“Grogu just wanted to see you." Din replies, feeling an invisible lump in his throat before handing you an envelope with little drawings on it that was definitely Grogu's doing. “I have something for you by the way. Well, we." Indicating him and Grogu.

You take it carefully, appreciating the fact that the crayons you gifted the last time they were here got well used. Grogu tried to eat it once, leaving you and Din in a panicked state.

“You sure that's not the only reason?" Teasing him as you poke his armored side a little bit.

“...Yes."

“Ok." It's soft how you said it, and you actually do miss him and want to see him. You miss him everyday which was an overstatement, but you love it every time he and Grogu were here. “Well, it's never too bad to miss a friend."

Remembering the scraps you found when you were looting a couple of abandoned places, you stand up. “Oh! Wait here, I have something for you too." He gets surprised by your sudden movement, but he just waits patiently for you anyway.

“It's a music thing that I found, you just have to insert it in your ship's radio thingy… If you have one of those of course." It looked like a port that could play telegrams like the ones he gets from reports from Karga or Cara. “I designed a little music box to enhance its sound and liven up a room." Ok, you are psyched to let Din see this item you made, and frankly he isn't complaining. It even catches Grogu's attention as he was about to finish his entire plate.

From a random storage room, you pull the music box out then insert the port, the beat of an unfamiliar tune playing. “I don't even know who Rosemary is." You say, seeing Grogu start to sway to the music.

Oh, but love grows where my Rosemary goes…

“So, Din, what do you think?" Questioning him as you get all excited. “Is it nice? It's nice, right?"

“The kid likes it. It's nice." He crosses his arms, the distant light glinting from his helmet as he nods.

The little jedi walks to your leg as he lifts his arms up, wanting you to carry him. Upon shaking your hips to the beat, Grogu looks at his dad.

“No," Din says, crossing his arms. He makes an attempt to intimidate the both of you, but instead, you and Grogu look at each other then giggle. “I will not dance."

Grogu can feel a small, sly smile that begins to grow on Din's face.

A couple of moments pass with you constantly having to carry Grogu because he wanted to dance in your arms and teasing Din when the two of you saw him shake his hips a little bit. Those couple of moments left Grogu tired after a whole day in the hyperspace, longing to see you then relieving that longing shortly.

Din carries Grogu in his arms, leading him into your bedroom where a small hammock hangs beside your bed. Just for him. For Grogu.

Afterwards, you and Din talk in the kitchen, sitting across from each other in the dining area.

“So, that was fun.” You smile, looking at the cup of juice swirling in your hand. It was an exhausting whole day for you, running around doing errands, and ending your day with a surprise arrival by the two people you would trust your life with when this whole galaxy arrived, was the best way of resting from a draining day.

Din knew that when he got Grogu, he knew little to nothing of becoming a father, let alone that of a child who was to only be a bounty for him. But when time passed, the longer he spent moments with Grogu, he knew that he could do it. Or at least try to. The Child wasn’t the only one who benefited and learned from the situation and days they’ve been together as Din also learned in ways which he kept mostly to himself. He wasn’t alone. He’s not alone anymore.

Meeting you was an accident to him, but it was a good accident. It was an evening a couple of years ago where the Razor Crest landed near your house, obviously disrupting your peace. It was a tiring day like this and you just wanted to rest, but it was pouring heavily. You kept your guard up, of course, upon hearing a knock that you assumed was from the recently crashed ship.

You looked annoyed, but still asked him of his intentions. Apparently his ship had a couple of malfunctions where he needed a few parts. Luckily you had extra scrapped stuff that you were about to give out to some Jawas that would visit the place in a few days. A couple of the pieces were what he needed, and you just sold it to him.

He left you that same evening, meeting you accidentally once more at one of the bars where he actually was about to catch a bounty. The rest was a loop of meeting each other in surprising places and somewhat unconventional places until the two of you became friends. Not close friends, but still friends.

“It was fun.” He nods, seeing a glint from his helmet, the kitchen light reflecting on his beskar. He’s quiet, primarily keeping his words short even after knowing each other for quite a couple of years now.

No one says anything after that. It's a comfortable silence between you and Din, like always. You just look at him and wonder what he's thinking of right now. Tilting your head a little on the side while you settle your cup on the table, you furrow your eyebrows.

“Why are you looking at me like that?" Din asks suddenly, tilting his head the same way you tilted yours.

“Nothing."

There's a sense of longing that always went around your head. A longing for him, for some reason. You want him, although for certain he does not want you the same way. You already settle with an early heartbreak, and yet you want to risk every year you've spent seeing him, wanting him to be aware of what you really feel.

“There's something I have to tell you." If now is not the time, then surely that time will never come. It's a risk you're willing to take. “Follow me."

You lead him behind your house where a big tree sprouted in the middle with evergreen leaves, a couple of blue and violet leaves. The atmosphere looked warm, lights illuminating from your house.

“What is it that you want to say?" Din stands near the tree, you follow to stand opposite of him. He anticipates on what you have to say, truthfully he wants to hear such things from you.

It's never common for him to experience such attachment the way Grogu has, but something about those years of meeting you felt as if though he never wants to stop seeing you. He doesn't want to lose you in spite of the fact that he never was yours, nor were you his.

You're a Jedi. He's a Mandalorian. No amount of judgment could withhold such a partnership. Unless he's willing to risk it, unless you're willing to risk it.

Din can't shy away from the fact that his love grows. It continues to do so, and it blooms everyday. He is not admitful of this. Perhaps the vulnerability he is to display to you would give you a sign. You, to him, are different from the rest; with the exception of Grogu, of course. Din knows you would understand that.

“Din, I would go through the deep and dark undergrounds of Mandalore's ruins if it meant that your happiness would be the reward." You clear your throat, feeling that invisible lump that you want to cough out. “You know that, right?"

He grew silent. You immediately regret this. Under all of that hard exterior, that stoic stance, his covered face, is a soft, gentle person.

“I-" The flame in your chest is about to burst, each pump of your heart is firing your body up. Palms sweaty, skin tingling, you don't notice the slight yet noticeable trembling of your body. “Din, I-"

“Cyar'ika," Your eyes grow wide at him, your breaths still unkempt, your eyebrows filled with worry and shame. “Ni kar'tayl gar darasuum."

A slight chuckle of nervousness left your lips, your eyes a bit panicked, relieved, but why? “Din, you know I don't understand Mando'a."

“You're lying." He's right. You've been secretly studying Mando'a ever since he gifted you a box of tools after one of his bounties. It's not the most romantic or symbolistic gift, but Din knew what you liked; he kept mental notes of every detail about yourself that you've talked about.

Although you were learning the language in secret, you've slipped a few times. He's heard you speak in Mando'a at times where you've fallen asleep in his ship whenever you joined him every now and then. Din found it cute.

“Yes, I learned Mando'a." You admit, a little embarrassed. Your hands start to cover your face. “It just…It made me feel closer to you."

You feel his hands touch yours that cover your face. “Cyar'ika, every memory of you makes me feel as if I'm just a step away." It was true. Din felt closer to you with every scene of your beautiful smile, your natural self that had grease and dirt all over from fixing things and scavenging. He adores you.

Din pulls your hands away from your face, holding them both gently as his thumbs circled your palms. He tilted his head to you so as you did, your forehead touching his helmet.

“Ni kar'tayl gar darasuum, Din." (I love you, Din)

[morethansky]

***THE ACOLYTE SPOILERS***

Oh my god, absolutely FEASTING on fanboy tears tonight as I repeatedly rewatch not only a sexy, well-choreographed and performed fight between an Asian man and an Asian Canadian but also one between a nonbinary person and a woman (who's even playing her character as queer), holy shit!!!

And, like, do you understand what it means to me to have an evil Asian character who's not a racist caricature??? Like yeah, in Star Wars, but also in Western media in general! Also very important to me is that he's ACTUALLY HOT. Asian men never get to be hot on screen in Western media, especially Asian diaspora folks. It's not only shitty in a racist way but also a travesty for hot people enjoyers such as myself!! (And I mean like one of the few times they attempted to give it somewhat of a shot, the role went to a former incel ffs.)

This is also important because Qimir getting to be hot means people are thirsting after him!!! That's an important part of representation people don't talk about enough. Just reading posts and chats where people are seeing him as physically attractive and salivating over his body makes me so emotional??

The casting director, the costumers, and the hair and makeup teams on this production, my god. First Mother Aniseya and now Qimir. They're just casually dropping some of the hottest characters in Star Wars into this show, bless.

[angryducktimemachine]

OC Shenanigans. You just know it was all Matthäus Idea.

I also thought it'd be quite the fun exercise in drawing people interacting with each other - and it certainly was!

[ID: a digital drawing of Jeremy, Friederick, Matthäus and Machuriel, the artists OCs. Jeremy is in the upper right corner, leaning out of a window, grabbing Friedericks right hand with both of his. He's a Halfling with light brown skin and dark hair with lighter ends. He looks worried. Friederick is a gnome with light skin and brown hair in a long braid. He's holding onto Matthäus ankle with his left hand and doesn't look happy about it. Matthäus is a three headed Ratfolk with brown fur. He's dangling by his ankle and has his tail wrapped around Friedericks leg as he's curiously looking at Machuriel. Machuriel is standing on ground level so that they are at eye level with Matthäus. They are a Diathim with white glowing skin and blonde, curly hair held back by a headband. They are smiling and booping Matthäus nose with their left hand. The background is a light beige with black borders that are broken up by the characters. /End ID]

[lady-quen]

...I was joking about Mael being mildly below average height (in gw2 at least) but @missbadafker blessed me with the height calculation post and it turns out he's 5'10", everyone else is just a tree I guess.

*audience laughter sfx at yet another bad pun*

I was also testing another thing because despite what the post says, it really seemed to me that fem! Sylvari are taller by default (taller at each respective tick) but this must be a camera zoom trick in the character creator, then. Anyway, have this cursed thing that happened when I previewed Mael as a woman.

I don't know where the random pink comes from, of all races I'd think sylvari wouldn't be big on "she's a girl! QUICK, SLAP PINK ON HER" but I guess Anet and their various bugs were feeling trollish. Also, they sheared his leaves. All his leaves. His glorious emo haircut!! That he spent so long maintaining for personal flair, symbolism and all the "being a plant version of Essek Crit Role" allegations!

So, I guess now we have the one and definite reason Mael will not transition: hair loss issues.

[5-7-9]

Tom King’s collaboration to the Robin WAR with other writers cannot be understated. Their plots will have to intersect, so I do not blame any of the writers for having to include Tom’s portion in their beats. But i will unfortunately have to dismiss Dick’s involvement almost entirely because i know Tom wrote his characterization which clearly derived from his plotline in Grayson #15. But the writing is so bad it severely undermines what Dick does and thinks in this entire situation, and ruins other characters in his radius. This unfortunately includes the Court of Owls “Grayson” plot. However, there is lots of room for speculation as to how he could’ve reacted hadn’t Tom written Dick.

(This originally started out as a deconstruction of the batfam’s relation with Duke but I’ve split it up so now I’m just bashing Tom King here).

Tom re-establishes Tim’s neutral and non understanding stance, but interestingly enough he also makes Dick Grayson agree with Tim. Tom believes Dick does not understand why the WAR movement wants to exist, and calls what they do a “job.”

Ironically enough, despite Tim’s wish to understand, he does not personally address anyone in this room. He doesn’t even respond to a WAR Robin’s banter.

Here is the only time Tim tries directly speaking to a WAR member, during a sneak in. Apparently he couldn’t have done this during his time training the Robins, but doing it while working is fine. His terrible conversation starter gets interrupted, and that is the last and only time Drake ever tries connecting with WAR. Apparently monitoring their private lives was not enough information, all he knows is somebody can play the piano. So much for trying.

Tom King writes Jason Todd contradicting himself previously, saying “You can throw whatever you want at these kids, but none of them are going to be Robin. I mean, you can’t have Robin without the Bat. He picked us. he trained us. That’s what makes us us.” As if the prior comic in this very same storyline did not just establish Jason’s enthusiastic support for Robins without Batman, and consider fighting as what Robin is all about.

“Kids should get together, figure out how to fight this. It’s what real Robins would do, no offense.” Then Tom contradicts himself and makes Jason state Robin is about confidence.

I can understand contradicting someone else’s writing, but contradicting yourself? In the same story?? Within the same panel???

Tom also makes Dick agree with this writing of Jason. Rather unquestionably loyal to Batman. I believe there is much evidence to suggest otherwise. As Dick left Batman to join the Teen Titans because of their disagreements, and Jason disagrees with Batman’s method so much so he became Red Hood. This is a rather complimentary perception of Batman, “Who among all of us is as good as Batman?” And a rather lesser perception of the Robins as a concept, similar to the popular idea that “Robin is just Batman’s sidekick.”

I do not know if Damian is consistently written to believe in blood or genetic theory regarding strength, but that is closely aligned with the previous establishment of Damian’s distain although it is not mentioned specifically before.

Then Tom directly contradicts his own writing again. Here he writes Damian explicitly stating that suffering is what makes a Robin means to be a Robin. So is it his blood or is it suffering? Which is it???

I am confused as to what Tom’s point is at the end. Is “they” the WAR Robins? Is “you” Tim, Damian, and Jason? Does Tom believe Dick to think WAR is trying to be better than the Robins (under Batman) but the Robins (under Batman) are still doing their “job” correctly??? Or is this stuck on the example (“they” being the crooks and “you” being Robin and Batman) and just implying that crooks are being effectively scared because Batman’s method is good????? That is my interpretation of the dialogue but I am unsure if that is the intended reading. Either way, it implies that Batman is right to do what he does.

This entire section is so illogical it messes with the foundational theme of the entire story. It heavily, severely, scathingly undermines the entire premise of We Are Robin. WAR does not wish to strike fear into criminals, they simply wish to protect their neighborhood when the system is not working. It is entirely dismissive of Gotham’s civilians right to self defense and to make their own choices. WAR cannot rely on Batman all the time, that is the very foundation as to its existence. To simply hand-wave WAR because Batman or the four Robins can protect the city when it is proven throughout Duke Thomas’s narrative that they can’t is SUCH AN INCREDIBLY IGNORANT UNDERSTANDING OF PEOPLE.

So Tom likes to undermine WAR’s importance a lot. What a swell guy /s

Edited: So i rechecked and I somehow missed the part about the Teen Titans 2014 tie in, so I change my previous assessment about why Tim Drake may feel neutral. I thought Tim really just didn’t care, but turns out Tim had his own part in another convoluted run. So i feel it’s unfair to judge Tim’s reaction as he might’ve had editorial issues.

Tim Drake not only does not believe in WAR, the plot proves Jason wrong just so Tim can be correct (because of course he is 🙄) by making Izzy randomly shove a police officer wielding a firearm 🤨

Izzy only a few months ago just experienced seeing her brother drive by Duke and then immediately get killed by a scary masked stranger right in front of her, all while being broadcasted on television and ruining the WAR reputation even further. She even got a quick gun violence kills PSA, so I think she’d know how dangerous a fucking gun is. Admittedly, they did kick ass then got their ass handed back to them and needed Alfred’s help in the end. But under all that duress? I wouldn’t blame them for reacting the way they did in the moment.

But nOoOo, Tim has to seem superior and correct 🙄 so Izzy and Dax just had to jump right at a cop’s gun barrel for no reason, because of course they’re that incompetent. (Apparently Lobdell wrote this chapter? Sounds familiar but rn I can’t remember why that was important… something about him wronging Jason tho i think?). Tie-in over, back to Tom’s writing

After Dick sells out his team and WAR, he had the double nerve to tell Duke that he’s a leader??? The guy that empathizes “we” so darn much that it’s in the title? The guy that works together as a team? He’s the important one??? As if WAR doesn’t have their own goals, opinions, and motivations????? Don’t get me wrong ✋, Duke would make a good leader, but it’s not about who’s in a position of power at all. WAR has always been about being equal to each other and moving as one. They are all leading themselves in unison, that’s what it’s all about. Collective power!!! ✊ Also i dislike the “guts to glory” phrase, way too militaristic for a youth movement.

I have no clue who wrote this part, or how collaborations affect the story. Like whether or not all the writers agree on one story, or they write their bits and try linking them together after seeing what the other person is doing, or whatever! I assume the artist sticks with their current writer, so this art style doesn’t seem the same in Grayson. All i know is, Tom King was apart of this story.

Hot take: What if I told you Tom King made Duke “The Signel” because he didn’t want Duke to be Robin? 🤔

Tom 100% confirmed wrote this part. According to Tom, Duke hasn’t seen the whole mansion yet (true, it’s huge). And seems well integrated enough to know Selina and Jason’s past. I’d add in finish each other’s sentences but Tom is only ever positively known for his comedy, so I’m not sure if he did it because it’s funny or because Duke really does fit in. Anyway, according to Tom, Duke ONCE AGAIN doesn’t consider himself Robin. It’s official now! Duke isn’t Robin anymore 🤪😒 I bet Tom’s real happy about this.

[alangdorf]

(sorry for leaving y’all in suspense I was grocery shopping) Surprise!! I accidentally got into Len’en like two weeks ago. Whoops! I got ideas for cool drawings to do with each of the BPoHC shrine team members (and you-know-who, ofc, but that one might be… weird lol), but Tsubakura gets to go first cause theirs is the simplest; just greyscale + red color scheme with a split background and the pose is mostly random (maybe they’re squishing Tsurubami’s little eye thing? Idk). Very pleased with how everything worked out; the line for the eye is exactly where the dividing line for the background was and the way I managed to make the vest corseted while not changing the ribbon placement is just perfect. Although I did make their hat smaller out of the aforementioned cowardice also that thing is hard to draw

[rxttenfish]

Pardon the question, but how do the reimagined merfolk reproduce? In MP I recall them saying that merfolk reproduce in a similar way to seahorses (may be a throwaway joke, but in any case) but the reimagined merfolk are obviously different from how they are in MP in many ways.

ah yes, one of those things that i've had worked out fully for forever but never made a dedicated post on it over here... at least partially because im suspicious of tumblr and its ability to nuke anything even frankly talking about sexual selection and reproductive methods of various animals, oops.

which is why this is going under a cut, oops. like i said, lots of frank discussion of sexual selection and the processes of it. im a nerd when it comes to this.

-

the first thing most humans would notice when looking upon a group of merfolk (of the same species), is a notable lack of dimorphism. there's no dramatic color shifts, no difference in size beyond usual distribution among a population, no odd behaviors, nothing to really sort them out from each other. this is a consistent theme among merfolk in general — while they continually get larger as they age (at a much slower rate than they did growing up, certainly, and not as dramatic as pop media might suggest this to be), it's still fairly close along the existing curve of height distribution, and usually the only real "tells" for an adult merfolk's age is that they get pitted and worn, a little like a statue slowly wearing down, or similar to the age of crocodilians.

which might be a little odd for these hypothetical humans looking onwards, even if they were already familiar enough to be able to tell merfolk facial features apart. even moreso because as frank as merfolk cultures usually are about sex and nudity taboos seem rare, all of their applicable anatomy is internal, so even seeing one entirely in the nude isn't enough to sex them.

the truth has to do with merfolk as a secondarily aquatic tetrapod. i've mentioned before that the early ancestors of merfolk were temnospondyls that responded to environmental stressors in their freshwater environments by being able to take advantage of a wide variety of environments. they have lungs and gills, meaning they can breathe on land very well if they need to move between pools and ponds, and they have gills to optimize their time spent underwater and not have to surface if the going is good underwater. even more than that, they developed both external gills and internal gills, meaning they could reap the benefits of both fast-moving and slow-moving water.

all of this is relevant, because to be exposed to all of these different environments and to be able to move between them when the going gets tough in one, means they had to make longer and longer treks over land. some were dependent on specific vernal pools that they would travel to to raise their young, but this also limited the areas in which they could live, and if those vernal pools dried up then they could not reproduce.

so these early-line temnospondyls made the same switch that other tetrapods have made, and switched to internal fertilization. this meant that, if they were to find another one of their species during their land-travels, they could mate and continue onwards, even being ready to lay eggs right at the moment they found the vernal pool, limiting the amount of time the offspring needed in the water.

however, they did still need vernal pools and water, and were very vulnerable in these stages. and with the existing push towards shorter and shorter time spent in the vernal pools, well, what if they just didn't bother with them at all? it'd put more stress on the parents, but they were already primed to be able to survive through these periods of stress, so it wouldn't be such a huge jump.

so the line that would eventually lead to merfolk and the leviathans both made the switch to live birth fairly early on in their history.

the rest that happens from there varies. this was a more diverse group, back in the day! there were many different species with many different methods for that live birth. some would continue just carrying the fertilized eggs to be dropped off in the next suitable pool they found, some developed them into tadpoles, some went through metamorphosis in the womb and popped out into the world as mini adults, some left spermatophores for others of their species to pick up, some developed evertable genitalia and went at it that way.

but another shift also happened early on in their evolutionary history. them being able to spread out so far and wide meant that there was a very low density of them in any given area, and these low numbers made them vulnerable. if there was high disparity in the proportion of sexes in any given area, they'd feel the effects of that quicker, and when they were already in competition over the same niches as other temnospondyls, crocodylomorphs, marine reptiles, and later early cetaceans, etc who dominated these niches, they were often kept at these lower population numbers.

which was about when these early-line temnospondyls also made the switch to a trioecious mating system.

this happened because sex determination in amphibians is already weird, so it wasn't too far of a leap for a mutation to arise which created fertile dual-sexed individuals. and these dual-sexed individuals had a lot of success under the niche they had already carved out! now, whenever they did find another member of their same species, it was guaranteed that they could mate with them, which meant that their populations were self-sustaining and stable on much lower numbers. due to how their dispersal already worked, inbreeding wasn't as much of a negative factor, and they were even more capable of making it through the disasters and ecological strain that had the other non-lissamphibia temnospondyls going extinct. they could eke out a living wherever they found it, make long traversals over land if they needed to seek out greener pastures, and they were able to sustain themselves in the background without needing as high of a density of themselves in any given spot.

like i said too - this was a diverse clade back in the day! and you ended up getting different variations on this. some species didn't have any dual-sexed individuals. some species had only dual-sexed individuals. some had only males and dual-sexed individuals, and some only females and the dual-sexed individuals, and all in various different proportions and numbers.

what matters here is that merfolk were a part of the line who had evertable internal genitalia, and who ended up entirely composed of these dual-sexed members, making them an entirely unisex species in the modern day.

(this is also where i butt in, to explain from an authorial perspective, this is me kinda... being sneaky with canon and how it tends to phrase things. yes, technically it is the male who gets pregnant with merfolk! but, also, so would females. because they don't have "male" or "female" in these strict terms, and any given individual to them has the potential to do both. this is something that i do a lot with the usual facts given to me by canon, where it's technically true, just because i like to be contrary about it and not take things in the most literal way. it's just what i find fun, i know some other people do it differently, and that's fine with me!)

what this means is that merfolk don't have a conception of "gender". it checks out with their social structure too, because if a merfolk's miivt'ia have a child, then it doesn't matter who actually physically created that child, said merfolk would still consider themselves their parent all the same. the reproductive unit is larger than a singular merfolk or even two merfolk, and at that point, even if they were bisex, then each grouping still has the same reproductive potential as any other.

what this means is that, when miranda describes herself as a princess or a girl or that the king is her dad or she has sisters — these are best seen as translation errors. to a merfolk, the concepts at play aren't gendered. they would not immediately identify themselves as male, they would not immediately identify themselves as female, they'd be very confused and would only get more confused as you tried to explain it to them. miranda describes herself as a princess and uses she/her because she was told that, for landfolk, everyone had to pick one of two and she had to just choose one. she picked "princess" and "girl" because one of the first things given to her as a way to learn english were fairytales, and she really ended up latching onto the princess characters in them.

in fact, this is why merfolk seem to be a little... reductive? when it comes to gender? as in, if you do take the time to explain it to them, you will have to explain it all. which means starting with gender relating to the different genitalia, and you have just told this hypothetical merfolk that it is important to landfolk, who will now operate under that assumption. they will not innately understand why landfolk care about this or all the distinctions thereof and certainly not the nuance of it, so they end up just going "okay, when this landfolk tells me this person is a girl, that must mean she is like this", and potentially getting frustrated when you tell them that that's wrong.

it can't even really work for royals, who do simplify parentage down to two people, and care a whole lot about who is related to whom. for royals in the current merkingdom, its primarily about attempting to preserve a specific lineage. because merfolk lineage is its own can of worms, they simplify - they take the current heir (one who has been groomed and taught how to behave as though emblematic of that lineage and has been guaranteed to have the strongest claim to it), and will find a suitable non-heir of another royal house, for whom they will forbid either of them to make kids with any other merfolk. this agreement is less like a marriage in the traditional sense, and more like the heir's house is briefly sponsoring the non-heir's house, sending extended political and economic benefits to the latter through this connection, in exchange for reinforcing the lineage of the heir and making it more potent, reinforcing their political ties.

this is to ensure that absolutely no other genetics can be involved and to contain the process. because this occurs by who-was-born-where, it also means that only the heir really matters in this ordeal. if the heir dies while the non-heir of the couple lives, and they already have had children, then the non-heir is "locked in" and cannot remarry, obliged to stay within the heir's house in their current position to ensure the current holders of the lineage are brought up and cared for properly. if the heir dies while the non-heir lives, and they have no children, then the non-heir is sent back to their prior family with no benefits, and the next heir is named as though the marriage never happened. if the non-heir dies while the heir lives, then they can remarry as they please, existing children or not. this is not especially popular, as the non-heir's family can accuse the heir's family of being unfair or snubbing them, but it is still perfectly legal and accepted.

for instance: the king, miranda's father, had to marry into the royal family. it was the queen, miranda's mother, who was the crown princess before miranda, and who is seen as passing her inheritance down onto miranda and the other three sisters. when the queen died, the king could not remarry. he was secure in his position as king, but any other marriages would not carry the lineage of the royal family, and at best he would be seen as trying to "dilute" that lineage.

in this setup, it's not all that important who is the donor party and who is the carrying party. either the inheritor or their partner can be the one carrying, so long as it's certain and guaranteed who the baby comes from and that this can be assured with certainty. usually it's agreed between the two of them for whatever reason, though the carrying partner does have a benefit in being a surefire way to prove that they are one of the parents, with zero doubt. inheritors will do this mostly to make their kids look the most "100% royal line, no doubts", but this can also go the opposite way, to cement it down to it being a specific line who carried them and to reinforce the political benefits their prior family enjoys from this arrangement.

which brings me back to merfolk genetics, and why this is so important for the royals to ensure they know exactly who made what!

which is to say, merfolk never opted for traditional sexual competition, and instead erred towards sperm competition.

early on in their lineage, they didn't have a lot of sexual dimorphism to begin with. they were already fairly widespread, and while gatherings around early vernal pools were a pressure towards sexual competition, after they stopped relying on vernal pools, the differences between the sexes became more of a hinderance than a benefit. why would they bother with any colorful spots or being extra big and bulky when you're not even around enough of your species for choice to be an issue? if you can find another one to begin with, then that's really all either of you need, and challenging each other just puts another bind on that low-population issue. they were all function, minimal fuss, beyond some general traits that were seen as markers of health.

even when the ancestors of merfolk first started forming their colonies along the coasts, they didn't change this. there wasn't an initial hierarchy laid out, they were just a large group of the same species arranged in the same area for the same purpose, and also maybe some protection by numbers. they did start to form the early groups that would later lead to the modern miivt'ia, and they started to primarily associate with those groups and socialize with them, which meant that when they wanted to find someone to mate with, that hunting group was always the first and the easiest to access.

why fight over mates in that situation? why compete? the health of the group starts to become directly correlated to the health of the individual, and you've already determined they all have good genes, or else they wouldn't be this beneficial to helping you hunt and survive and evade predation.

but this isn't to say competition isn't happening. there is still the slight edge that natural selection adds in, and with multiple matings between different individuals, the thing that gets selected upon is the sperm itself. faster sperm, ways to kill competetor's sperm, ways to suppress the immune system of the mating partner to ensure that sperm will take, more output, ways to remove competetor's sperm to begin with, etc etc etc. their internal genitals start to get bizarre, both for the sake of excluding saltwater intrusion as they get more and more aquatic, but also for the sake of this sperm competition. this system also means, not only do more matings occur right after each other, but more partners involved. the "default" evolutionary position for merfolk starts to look more and more like a clump of noodles, writhing around and over each other. sexual contact becomes a way to bond and to connect with someone primarily, and a means to reproduce secondarily. it's an easy way to solve problems and to get merfolk to make up, by them simply fucking it out and everyone feeling better for it.

which is where i can get into the actual mechanics of it all!

unfortunately this is also where i run out of steam (also am sick. that will do it too), so i'll absolutely have to make a part 2 to this... and also i'll make another post sharing a few old writings of mine on this topic.

someday i'll make like. a masterpost on merfolk reproduction and what's going on there, but like i said. sexual selection is one of those things my brain goes ham for and i looooove talking about all these additional little facts. like how merfolk pregnancies last 2 years (to match with other large marine predators), and that they're based off of both tiger sharks and the alpine salamander, the latter of which has the record for the longest pregnancy on the planet at up to five years :3

also read Bitch: On the Female of the Species by Lucy Cooke if this sounds interesting to you! and maybe listen to the episodes the Common Descent Podcast did on Live Birth and Milk!!!

[shinobicyrus]

Reblog if you're a threat to humanity.

[kylosbreedingkink]

The big takeaway from Hyperspace Stories is that Kylo still feels the light so strongly that it completely blindsided him and beckoned him to go help someone he barely even likes.

He was so hyper fixated on this Force presence he felt that he was ready to kill for it, just for the Force to intervene and give him the sense that someone he was supposed to be working with was in danger.

This isn't the first time this has been shown to happen. It is also the only thing that Snoke can be referring to as the Light distracting him. If we go by the idea that the Light is inherently selfless and the Dark is selfish - him stopping what he was doing due to go help someone is a very Light sided thing to do.

Which is exactly what we know of Kylo. Someone struggling between the Light and the Dark, feeling it tear him in two ways. So much of his life had been given up for the Light, that selflessness in helping other, doing what others want for him, that his constant desire to do what he wants for himself (or believes he wants for himself, at least) is the only rebellion he has, and is his link to the Dark.

But despite being so entrenched in the Dark, despite being so strong in it, the Light still beckons him and he can't help but follow its call.

I also wonder a bit on this exact scenario - he used to teach at Luke's school. No doubt he went off on trips with students and no doubt he learned to keep a general feel of where the students were, making sure they were safe and not in trouble. Exactly the sort of skill that a teacher of the Force would use. This ability is probably so well honed that he can't turn it off, so Hux's ego-driven bullshit and that inherent Light sided selflessness dragged him from his desire in this moment.

The comic ends how this post begins, Snoke commenting on the Light in Kylo. Though interestingly, despite telling him he should have focused more on his own desire in the Dark and found out what the Force presence was instead of the Light sided need to help a comrade, Snoke is not aggressive about it. He seems accepting that this is a part of his student, almost resigned to it. Many times Snoke has used violence in his training of Kylo, but in this instance where Kylo has used the light, he simply tells him to try and snuff it out.

There is no anger here from Snoke at Kylo for not succeeding due to the Light, when Snoke has shown anger at Kylo for many other things.

[the-blazing-light]

Pride month is just around the corner so I'm blasting you with transgender cat