#keeping up the aro agenda on this blog folks!

[pega-chan]

I posted 4,138 times in 2022

35 posts created (1%)

4,103 posts reblogged (99%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@trans-asmodeus

@oceanic-panic-panic

@compassionatereminders

@homosexawol

I tagged 2,785 of my posts in 2022

Only 33% of my posts had no tags

#aromantic - 247 posts

#self-care tag - 186 posts

#barbie - 113 posts

#turning red - 84 posts

#amatopunk - 75 posts

#dog-eared - 75 posts

#aroallo - 66 posts

#queer - 60 posts

#fave - 56 posts

#aspec - 51 posts

Longest Tag: 139 characters

#also my standards (not just for men but just in general for a partner) are pretty high and i feel like it'd be hard to find and filter thro

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

concept: river and amaya aren't actually romantically dating, they're qpps

THEY SO ARE, they give me the vibes, especially since their relationship doesn't seem to have the typical romantic milestones UGHHH QPR Amaya/River supermacy

7 notes - Posted January 5, 2022

#4

QOTD: do i have a preference for men/transmascs now or am i just a sucker for people with chunky hands and broad shoulders?

8 notes - Posted March 16, 2022

#3

i cannot WAIT until Brooklyn meets Trey

15 notes - Posted April 5, 2022

#2

Rizka Widjaya is such a typical indonesian name i can't. her surname's even spelled the old way (Ejaan Lama/Ejaan Van Ophuijsen). i'm obsessed

'Widjaya' is a Javanese name...NI ANAK ORANG JAWA

27 notes - Posted June 25, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

i related to Raven more as a kid first watching EAH, but now that i'm older, hoo boy is Apple surprisingly super relatable. aside from the obvious parental pressures, i can relate to being anxious of going through things without a set plan and especially Apple's struggles with leadership that she goes through in the EAH books. as someone who frequently takes up leadership positions, i find that Apple's leadership style is the same as mine: she keeps a cool head and a cheery personality for the people as well as uses words and confers with people to find a middle ground as opposed to using intimidation to assert dominance and control. like man, i can understand panicking when people look to you for answers but for once you don't have them even though usually you know what to say.

in Dragon Games in particular, i can definitely relate to the contrast in values between Apple and Snow; it's exactly the kind between me and my own mother. Snow cares more about keeping up appearances and the family reputation than actually serving the people with compassion, the way Apple does. credibility is important, but it shouldn't come at the cost of being dishonest to the people you're leading, imo. in her desperation to salvage her own destiny and the lives of those in Ever After, Apple might not have made the wisest choices or said the nicest things, but you can definitely understand where she's coming from. Apple is such a well-written character.

138 notes - Posted March 26, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[dappercritter]

ATOM Vol.1: Tyrantis Walks Among Us! An Honest Review

I have long waited for the chance to read William Cope’s (AKA @tyrantisterror​) giant monster mash passion project, and as of last Christmas I finally had my chance. The first volume of The Atomic Time of Monsters (AKA A.T.O.M.), Tyrantis Walks Among Us! is every bit the big fun love letter to classic giant monster movies from across both sides of the Pacific that the author has touted on his blog many times. However, although there is a lot of love that evidently went into this story, and plenty of fun to be read, I would not say it’s the best kaiju story I have ever seen, in print or otherwise. Of course, to expect perfection from anything is unfair, but it’s not perfection I’m looking for: it’s consistency. Consistency, particularly of ideas and presentation, has been one of the kaiju (the ever popular Japanese name for “strange/giant monster”) genre’s biggest problems since it first began—be it keeping worldbuilding consistent with themes, or keeping the quality of one shot of the giant juxtaposed monsters consistent with another. Sadly, readers will find that Tyrantis Walks Among Us, for all it’s charms and bravado, suffers from similar inconsistencies.

 The premise of the first entry in the A.T.O.M. series follows many well-worn tropes from the standard giant-size creature: set in an offshoot of postwar 50’s world, a mysterious earthquake linked to nuclear testing has revealed a subterranean lost world filled with mysterious radioactive crystals and (what else) giant monsters to the world. As the menagerie of prehistoric creatures make their way across the surface, gobbling up and/or stomping on the unlucky extras in their path, the government scrambles to gain control of the unprecedented situation, sending in scientists, men in black, and the military. The heroes of the story are the sole scientist smart enough to understand the gravity of the situation, their intrepid band of friends, and the good giant monsters who befriend the humans while fighting off the bad monsters to protect their world. Opposing them are crooked government men who refuse to listen to reason and more menacing monsters driven by hunger or simple malevolence. What follows is a mash-up of almost everything giant monster movies prior are made of: giant monster fights, quirky humans bouncing off each other while trying to stop corrupt governments from worsening the situation, discovering strange lost worlds and encountering the creatures that inhabit them, and even encounters with alien and robot monsters.

 What makes the seemingly formulaic Tyrantis Walks Among Us! stand out is it’s personality. The first volume of ATOM is an affectionate homage, but it’s also a something of a send-up and evolution of the giant monster movie. Not only is every giant monster trope treated with a mix of earnest excitement and tongue-in-cheek wit, embracing both the inherent impressiveness and absurdity of the subgenre in the same breadth (including more than a few references to a selection of giant monster films past, some more subtle than others), with a heaping helping of satirical edge in it’s depiction on atomic era America. Elevating this satirical edge is the colourful human cast, whose personalities, talents, and backstories make them some of the most memorable civilians you’ll ever see in a kaiju series while also giving the story its political punch. Dr. Mina Lerna, the human protagonist and paleontologist turned local giant monster expert, who grapples with sexism and ignorance in her quest to make her voice heard—a voice which is telling everyone to stop trying to kill every monster they see and listen to reason—and come out of her shell; Henry Robertson, an African-American reporter for the United Nations News Organization (a cheeky homage to the oft-maligned American cut of the original King Kong vs. Godzilla) who, with Dr. Lerna’s help fights back against the racial bias trying to keep him quiet to offer current and true coverage of the protagonist’s quest to unlock the mysterious of the kaiju; as well as Gwen Valentine, a spunky homage to activist actresses such as Marylin Monroe in her prime, who after being rescued from certain death in a monster-inhabited cavern, offers some much-needed close friendship, good publicity, and funds to Dr. Lerna and their cause. The more villainous humans opposing them also present some amusement and self-awarness, such as the mysterious vindictive government agent J.C. Clark who prioritizes secret government agendas over transparency and honesty, or “Doctor Brick Rockwell,” a machismo meathead straight out of a camp American monster movie who barely passes for a scientist hired as a talking head to perpetuate willful ignorance—as well as sexism—for the government amidst the monster situation.

Of course, this IS a giant monster story and the kaiju side of the cast deserves special mention as well. Despite being deriving from the all-too familiar archetypes you could expect from giant monsters (i.e. dinosaurs, insects, spiders, and reptiles on a giant scale), the monsters A.T.O.M. stand out from the crowd thanks to their colourful characteristics. The majority of which are “Retrosaurs”: alternate history based dinosaurs that evolved from Loricata, a group of ancient reptiles that included the first crocodylians, as opposed to birds and more or less resemble the terrible lizards as they were depicted in older illustrations such as those created by Charles R. Knight. Chief among them is the star monster, Tyrantis, a standard giant green fire-breathing dinosaur but with an out-and-out heroic complex and a goofy side, showing compassion for his fellow monster and human companions, as well as having a tendency to greet new friends and foes by boisterously charging into battle. Joining him are Tyrantra, a even more impressive red-hued female of Tyrantis’s genus, the tyrannopyrodon (i.e. the fire-breath-enabled Retrosaur equivalent to tyrannosaurs); Gorgolisk, a gigantic frilled serpentine creature who serves as the steadfast guardian of the Earth and the mysterious inhabitants of its hollow earth; and Bobo, a big pink and blue quasi-arachnid with a soft heart and a surprisingly playful disposition. The monsters opposing them are no slouches either, such as Ahuul, a ravenous pterosaur-like Retrosaur who takes sadistic delight in swooping down on smaller prey; Myrmidants, a swarm of gigantic fire ants who fight for their colony with equal parts duty and ferocity; and The Terror, a blue-tinted rival Retro  Tyrant who—without giving anything away—only becomes more of a monster as the story continues. Special mention also goes to a giant scorpion, a giant mothman-themed invader, a deadly duo of a giant wasp and mantis, and an entire island of Retrosaurs of almost every species.

 However, as previously stated, for all it’s charming characters and progressive political statements, the first volume of A.T.O.M., like its forebearers, sadly falls prey to the issue of inconsistencies. Everything from the writing itself to the logic of this world suffers from occasional dips in quality to outright plot holes. The first and most noticeable is the abundance of grammatical errors, and while the majority of the novel is tightly written in very sense of the word, I couldn’t help but notice that every few pages there was incorrect punctuation or a misspelled word, which gave a somewhat rushed impression. Another oddity is the sexuality of Dr. Lerna who develops an affectionate attraction to Ms. Valentine, despite the author confirming in a post on the author’s blog made several years before the novels completion, claiming Lerna was aro-ace (found here)—this is more of a metatextual nitpick and if the author made her an asexual lesbian, it’s still quite a progressive choice in that it offers that minority some representation shows ace folk can still pursue romantic relationships—however, it still can’t help but think think it would have been just as valuable to give aro-ace people some representation as well, rather than seemingly backpedalling on a prior statement on a character’s sexuality. Another distraction is how the story seems to be at odds with itself over anthropomorphizing the monsters, where in some scenes they are written with fairly animalistic traits in mind, wherein others they treated as if they were almost cartoon characters. (e.g. Tyrantis breaks into caveman speak in a postscript picture to advertise some more other novels—relatively harmless but jarring nonetheless.) But the most bothersome inconsistencies by far are concerned with the science of the novel. Specifically, despite possessing a narrative that pushes for embracing science and learning, throughout the novel there are numerous instances where outdated biological and paleontological theories are treated as scientific truths, such as when Bobo’s inability to swim is chalked up to the old misconception that spiders breath through their skin and would drown when but in water. But the most damning example would have to be the Retrosaurs, who despite originating from a completely different evolutionary line, largely resemble past media depictions of dinosaurs more than anything else, inaccuracies at all. It could have been fascinating to explore how familiar species such as ornithopods and sauropods would appear if they were derived from ancient archosaurs (i.e. the grand group from which crocodilians originate). This discrepancies between artistic license and science makes it hard to tell just how much of the author’s intent for the origins of these alternative dinosaurs was driven more by a desire to replicate the aesthetic of prior depictions of prehistoric creatures and movie monsters than a wholly original exploration in speculative biology.

 As critical as may be, I do not want to completely discount the author’s efforts. I enjoyed the first entry in the adventures of the mighty Tyrantis and the impeccable Dr. Lerna from start to finish. As a wholly affectionate parody of the great giant monster subgenre, it’s almost everything I could have wanted it to be! What’s more, I would like to see the ATOM series reach its full potential. However, due the author’s attitudes towards modern science and tendency towards error, I don’t know if this series will ever reach that potential. Tyrantis Walks Among Us! is good as a creative comical take on the classic kaiju story with a progressive sociopolitical punch, but as a scientifically conscious evolution of the genre that birthed it, it falls as flat as the tail of a Retrosaur, and it seems it will stay that way—sticking close to the ground and only occasionally swinging upwards.

[asynca]

Your blog gives me big lesbian loving energy + big queer loving energy when will terfs learn to sew so they can keep their lips closed + stop chugging all that ignorant bitch juice

Thank you!

Re: TERFs - I think the majority of the terfs on here (minus the ones actively trying to recruit people) are just young folks who weren’t exposed to the original movement in the 80s/90s, didn’t see the harm it did or understand that exclusionism was, just like the rejection of trans folks, a very clear part of much of the radfem agenda. 

Lesbian separatists were a branch of radfems were all about “centering lesbians” and removing any sort of association or relationship with anyone who wasn’t a ‘pure’ lesbian, and especially not allowing them to be part of any conversation about lesbians, even where the issue also impacted other queer folks. Sometimes, their ideology extended beyond just believing the best way to support lesbians was to exclude non-lesbians into actually trying to live a life where they had as little contact with men and straight women (bisexual folks were considered to be essentially straight women). I know this because in the 90s and 2000, I was an 18yo recruited in the same way by a bunch of radfem lesbian separatists and I recognise the mentality. 

I see a lot of lesbian separatism in modern exclusionists and terfs. I think a lot of teenagers and young people don’t realise how vulnerable they are to being recruited into these sort of politics. When you’re first politicized you’re SO ANGRY, you have so much anger to express and radfems and separatists give you a reason to be angry at pretty much everyone. They encouraging ‘othering’ of other queer folks and exaltation of lesbianism above everything else. After being made to feel like shit for all my teenage life being a lesbian, this exaltation felt REALLY good. It felt so good to have some authority and feel like I was better than other people and had the right to control them!

The same radfems that recruited me later called me a “sperm receptacle” to my face after learning I’d slept with a man. This sort of exclusionary politics used to be angled purely at bisexual folks, but in modern exclusionism now also is angled at ace, aro and nb folks. 

I don’t have any solutions; radical feminism and lesbian separatism are attractive to young folks because they are simplistic, black & white, angry and policing, and make lesbians feel good about themselves to the detriment of literally everyone else. They’re also pretty evangelist in that they actively, actively recruit.

I do think it’s worth not 100% blaming young folks for being caught up in this; I was super young and naive when I was a TERF and I only became one because the first feminists I ever met seemed so confident and smart. I admired them and wanted to be like them - and I had no reason to believe these very smart women weren’t right! It was only later I learnt how much bullshit that whole worldview is.