#like for example i understand the choice i am making as a woman can and likely will have a negative impact on any future children i have

[ruraljew]

i haven't been able to stop thinking about something my "friend" said this past friday night. she and i were supposed to go to service together but missed the memo that there was no service that night, so we went to dinner instead.

we talked for a while and eventually got around to the topic of knowing when you're ready to officially complete the conversion process. she and my rabbi keep telling me that i am the only one who will know when i'm ready, and it's my job to let him (rabbi) know that i am ready. and since i am (that's why i reached out to him in the first place after four years of deep consideration and now four months of active study and practice) i tell this friend, "yes, i am ready"

but she tells me, "no, you're only just now ready to even consider commitment." telling me that i'm still in the honeymoon phase and this choice is something i have barely contemplated

keep in mind we have only actually met twice, and she barely knows me. it kind of floored me, stunned me. she keeps calling me a jew as if im already part of the tribe and then turns around and tells me how i feel as if she has any clue in the world about what this means to me. telling me that i only think that im ready. she hardly ever lets me get a word in through her presuppositions about my commitment simply because ive only been able to actively practice for just four months.

i suppose the only point of this was to rant since i don't really have anyone in my life who could understand the situation.

it just makes no sense - "only you will know when you're ready" "okay you're right i'm ready" "well no actually you're not" "okay then what does 'ready' really look like then? since my 'ready' doesn't fit your 'ready'" "see, since you're even asking that question at all it means that you aren't ready" LIKE WHAT HELLO

[she-is-ovarit]

Identifying as.

This is Rachel Dolezal, who legally changed her name to Nkechi Amare Diallo. Dolezal is a white woman who identifies as black and insists that she is transracial. Growing up, her religious white parents adopted four black babies, claiming that they "saved them from being aborted", and routinely delivered strict punishments to their kids including Dolezal. Dolezal does not seem to have a good relationship with her parents and, based on interviews, wanted to distance herself from them and distance herself from rural white culture.

"I've never questioned being a girl or woman, for example, but whiteness has always felt foreign to me, for as long as I can remember. I didn't choose to feel this way or be this way, I just am. What other choice is there than to be exactly who we are?"

She apparently "passed as black" for several years before her parents came out and said that she was white and is identifying as a black woman, and she was asked in a TV interview if she was African American and responded with "I don't understand the question". She taught Africana Studies at Eastern Washington University. She crafted a fake story in growing up as black and has argued that she experiences race-based related hate crimes. She darkens her skin and gets perms and started using hair products she observed her adopted black sibling to use. She lied about her father being black and lied that her black adopted brother was her son.

I hope that as details of Dolezal's story are read about, we are able to understand that tanning white skin does not make someone a black person, that blackface is wrong and racist. I hope we recognize that what makes someone black isn't a collection of racial stereotypes, isn't based on feeling a kinship with black people more than with white people, and that being black isn't based on not feeling a connection with white culture. I hope we understand that a black person cannot identify out of racial oppression, and that a white person cannot identify out of white privilege.

Jewel Shuping, age 38 now, was born healthy but dreamed of being blind since age 13. She stated her mother would tell stories about finding her walking down dark hallways at age 3, and mentioned that by age 6 the thought of being blind comforted her. When she was a teenager, Shuping bought a white cane and learned to read braille, becoming fluent in it by age 20.

She claims to have asked a psychologist to pour bleach in her eyes so she could fulfill her lifelong dream of being blind, and that the psychologist "understood her" and agreed to do so after giving her numbing eye drops to help with the pain (which was not ultimately helpful). She deliberately waited to seek medical attention so doctors were unable to save her eyesight. Gradually, over the course of six months, she became blind.

What Shuping has is considered a real mental health condition called Body Integrity Identity Disorder (BIID), a rare condition in which people who are born without disabilities believe with conviction that the should be disabled. There is another name for this in political activist circles, termed "transableism".

"I went blind on purpose, but I don't feel it was a choice."

Several other people with BIID are pretending to be paralyzed to use wheelchairs, with many not being driven to the point of causing harm to themselves to become disabled but instead living full lives faking being disabled.

I hope that as details of the stories of people pretending to be disabled are read about, we are able to understand that feeling like oneself should be disabled is an incredibly serious mental health condition and does not really mean that a person is "disabled inside". I hope we recognize that identifying as disabled does not make someone disabled, and that feeling a kinship with disabled people or a comfort in the thought of being disabled does not mean a person truly is or should become disabled. I hope we understand how people with mental health disorders claiming to be disabled can place further strain on resources and accommodations provided to disabled people. I hope we understand that inflicting pain, disfigurement, or physical altercations on healthy people to "help them physically match how they feel" is an inhumane way to treat a mental health condition.

Paul Wolscht, who changed his name to Stefonknee Wolscht, was married to a woman for over 20 years and fathered 7 children before deciding to live life identifying as a six year old little girl. Living as a six year old little girl allows Wolscht to escape depression and suicidal thoughts because Wolscht gets to now play - even when in jail in solitary confinement for nine days for an undisclosed reason.

“If I’m six-years-old, I don’t have to think about adult stuff.”

Wolscht still drives and drinks coffee, but does so feeling and identifying as a six year old.

Emile Ratelband, age 69, petitioned the courts to allow him to change his age to 20 years younger because he "does not feel" 69 years old. Ratelband has argued that he did not feel comfortable with his date of birth, that age 69 did not accurately reflect his mental state, and that at age 69 he experiences limits.

“When I’m 69, I am limited. If I’m 49, then I can buy a new house, drive a different car,” he said. “I can take up more work. When I’m on Tinder and it says I’m 69, I don’t get an answer. When I’m 49, with the face I have, I will be in a luxurious position.”

Ratelband even asserted that doctors have told him he has the body of a man 20 years younger, and he said that he was willing to renounce his right to a pension. He argues that if people are able to legally change their sex on documents, there is no reason why he should not be able to change his age.

I hope that as we read these stories of people identifying as a different age, we are able to understand that feeling like you are 20 years younger or 40 years younger does not really make you that age. I hope that we understand that even though identifying as a different age might help avoid suicidal thoughts, being discriminated against on dating apps, or denied resources, it does not really change biologically what is. I hope we understand that there are also broader societal and legal consequences to being able to legally change one's age. That an adult might identify as a certain age to trick kids into trusting them so they can sexually abuse them, and/or that allowing an adult to legally consider themselves a different age would make it easier for adult predators to gain legal access to kids in environments in which they would normally be socially and legally discouraged from being in.

[yingdu-lover]

Cause I got nothing to lose : Xia Fei, my new hero in Link Click

before any serious shit wrecks havoc I want to ramble a bit

oh my god, I love xia fei. I mean I knew I would love him but that was for a different reason. He is probably gonna die in the near future, probably lu guang's action triggering his death (or he may not die at all! maybe he survives in this timeline, changing a major node! I hope, I hope), he is already a struggling student economically helpless abroad, his 'Emma' vibes are strong, he assures his worrying mother even though he goes through financial hardships. He is smart enough to know he is being exploited (and tbh the theme of surveillance and making him the 'morbid' object of gaze, I say morbid because in the last scene of his pv, it's a dead shot, his eyes look so dead, the camera's battery is dead. But yk what remains? his face card. The like button continually popping with likes made me very uncomfortable. The cinematography, symbolism and metaphor- link click's visual storytelling just never ceases to amaze.) Also how him being a model is not due to his passion, he desperately needs this money to survive (sounds familiar?)

But really...link click was really link clicking when we got xia fei's first appearance. Subtle social commentary at its finest. Not a woman, but a man is being made fun of for his astronomical career growth in exchange for supposed 'sexual favours'. Those ladies were not, in fact, subtle about it. I'll dive deeper into Xia Fei's psychology later but this encounter shows the harsh reality of the entertainment industries, mostly for those who did not join for passion but rather who had no choice.

Also the scene where his roommate. Man. It's important to address how 'casually' harassment can happen and an AMAB person can be a victim too. Anyway when the roommate tells him about ' the gig that pays quick money and they would like a hottie like you!' I couldn't help but flinch, I understand his rage. Of course, it's again insinuated to be something sexual. That's the first impression Xia Fei also has.

His pv is translated as 'lending body' or 'lending skin', ik it may have multiple meanings but one of them is very prominent.

Selling your face. Or maybe selling your body.

The way the camera fixes its gaze on Xia Fei continually, it's not really for fanservice merely. He is this object people ogle at. (and the way liu xiao and vein ogle at him in his pv makes me sick nvm). Even though it's his own body and beauty that makes him famous, he has no autonomy whatsoever. He realises it. That's why he says

Cause I have got nothing to loose

I don't really think link click is about time traveling. It's that archtexual exercise that constantly subverts genres at its level best. You know what, defamiliarise, many people do not like uncool stuff, for example : issues struggling young people actually face in real life, in this late stage capitalism. That's why link click should not reach that demographic of people. I hope it never does. I hope it gets famous within a community who actually understand and resonate with this show.

Also Xia Fei's story talks about another important theme of the donghua; photo! How photos taken in private spheres are meant to preserve memories of the loved ones, loved encounters. How you capture someone you love in that still image, alive with the emotion you associate with them, giving it an afterlife. The photo becomes the literal and metaphorical medium through which Lu Guang can rewrite history. Forget-me-not, remembrance. It empowers him.

On the contrary, for Xia Fei, it is the panopticon seizing his life and rendering it absurd. The emotive power and affect for lu guang changes into viscous institutionalised power politics for Xia Fei. Brilliant! 😭

I can't help but quote a few lines from a poem by Ama Codjoe

On Seeing and Being Seen

I am touching the photograph of my last seduction. It is as slick as a magazine page, as dark as a street darkened by rain.

When I want to remember something beautiful, instead of taking a photograph, I close my eyes. Desire made you beautiful. I closed my eyes.

.... Tonight, I am alone in my tenderness. There is nothing in my hand except a certain grasping. In my mind’s eye, I am stroking your hair with damp fingertips. This is exactly how it happened. On the lit-up hotel bed, I remember thinking, My body is a lens I can look through with my mind.

Lmao I didn't want to write all of this I'm so sorry 😭

So yeah, that was all the impressions hmph before yingdu ep 3. Now.

I want Xia Fei to be my bestie and go with me on friendship dates. Don't get me wrong, I love Cheng Xiaoshi, but he personally feels to be more like a brother to me, who is infuriating at times and that dumb bitch I'll protect at all costs. I want to befriend Xia Fei and it's serious 😭.

Also I would want, in another timeline, Cheng Xiaoshi and him being complete besties, two dumb twinks twinking with each other. Dumb gays basically. We have got INTJ nerd in Lu Guang, it's refreshing to see ENFP nerd in Xia Fei. Xia Fei could effortlessly be the best regular visitor of the time photo studio. I do not want to tear up thinking about him right now but I really want him to be happy...in another timeline. Blooming with happiness, close to his friends and loved ones, content and safe...

talking about loved ones...

I want an AU where he

fixes this mf

I want Vein to experience at least 1/5th of Lu Guang's anguish and melancholy for Xia Fei. I know, I know maybe Vein will kill Xia Fei when he defects, he is just using him from the very beginning but my love, that's what I am saying! In that AU, they will start off all toxic yaoi shit but at the end it will be...he was a cannibal and he was just a guy, their inter-timeline love will change your perception of love!

I mean no sorry, Xia Fei deserves to be loved and why Vein? because that's his punishment. Melancholic love can be the greatest punishment for someone who goes like a vendor and asks random people " would you like some punishment?" no, sir, thank you sir, would YOU like some sincere human emotions that chomp on your conscience? It's called love, it's limited edition but I'll arrange some for you!

Ok, I have got another fic to write 😭

returning to this post because @whispersoflullaby and I were discussing Xia Fei's body dysmorphia which seems specific to AFAB people and queer people. He isn't someone who is proud of his 'beauty', welp, that's odd for a typical handsome cishet person? His 'beauty' is turned against him. Ngl he reminds me of Ash Lynx a bit. You might say that he had a history of abuse and that's why he assumed the 'gig' his roommate mentioned as sex work. But there is more to it. He is definitely not a typical cishet boy, he is not projected to be one either. Even in the short span of ep 3, it's established that Xia Fei has some intimate connections to Vein, irrespective of whether Vein is using him or not. His anger at his roommate's remark feels very close to violating his identity as a queer person. The assumption that queer people are naturally 'lecherous', and they have no morality or anything whatsoever. But when Xia Fei is well established in the industry, this body politics is slightly changed. Money talks in the entertainment industry and money is the power in capitalist business. So those girls gossiping about the rumour that Xia Fei sleeps with the director for his career growth doesn't bother him like before. The most important thing is, he doesn't deny any rumours. He straight up says "Unlike some people, I always go for the best, whether it's a project or connection, isn't it right, boss?" His reply actually reinforces those speculations...it's giving " Yes I am a sugar baby, but ykw I can cry in my Tesla when you can't afford therapy". It's funny how at the end he says, "Right, boss?" to Vein! Link click...when I get you Link Click... *kowtows*

Also, I really wanna know what exactly did Vein say through the phone to get this reaction out of Xia Fei and cancel his plans to return home.

he is pleasantly shocked! You can see his eyes...that's some sincere emotions and then after the shock subsides, a soft look overcomes his expression. He softy sighs.

And also, idk if I am hallucinating but there is a little blush visible near his eyes (it's no longer there when he sighs)...I want to know what Vein said to him 😭 that interaction is shot in a very *jabsjksksdjnd* way, you can't deny it's intimate.

[sophsicle]

Okay, I understand hating Snape as an adult. He's a bully. But as a kid? As a teen? The result we see of Snape, him as a shitty adult, is an imperfect victim. Someone who had a bad life, made bad decisions, and was impacted by everything that happened to him. Not everyone can be abused, bullied, grow up in extreme poverty, and then pull through to be amazing people. SOME people can, and that's so amazing, but I don't think it's healthy to look at a child/teen with literally every social determinant of health against them and say 'well, they should've been able to do better'.

Does Snape suck as an adult? Yes. Did he also make decisions which saved Harry's life and allowed them to end the war? Also yes. Does he ultimately sacrifice his life for Harry? Yes. Does young Snape have a lot of potential, especially in spaces such as fanfiction, to explore the effects of one's upbringing and subsequent choices/life path (which you have explored so beautifully, carving out a life for a character in your stories with the very same themes)? Definitely.

I'm not saying he is a perfect person, or even a good guy, but a lot of people can and do relate to him as imperfect victims of bullying and abuse. Sometimes you can't rise above life's circumstances on your own, and you aren't this 'amazing' person. And that's okay. It's okay for victims of things like abuse to struggle, and it's good for people to acknowledge that things like bullying AREN'T okay and have lifelong consequences for their victims. Snape is a good example of what happens to a lot of people who aren't able to 'rise above' the things that happen to them and make mistakes. I think blind hatred for him is a very narrow-minded view, and ignores a lot of his story and nuances.

So two things a) I think perhaps you are missing some of the silly fun spirit I was attempting to infuse into my hatred of snape who is a character not a person

b) listen, I think snape is a super interesting character to play with because he offers a counter point to the marauders especially where issues of class are concerned, even the insults the marauders use against him, about him being "dirty" have clear class connotations and I think that allows you to critique the biases of the "heroes" of the story so to speak and that’s something I really like, so I’m not trying to suggest that he should just be dismissed because I don’t think he should be necessarily

What I am suggesting, is that JKR writes a grown adult teacher who abuses his students consistently and brutally for seven books (students he knows are already traumatized because the group he was a part of tortured or murdered their parents) and at the end of the series we are meant to forgive him because he loved a woman one time kind of maybe I guess

Now, fanfiction can do whatever it wants and make characters whoever it wants

But I have a fundamental problem with the way that snape is used in canon and the way that people accept that narrative

His behaviour as an adult towards the children he is in charge of is gross and unforgivable, but is absolutely forgiven by the narrative of the original text (without, I would argue, any of the nuance you are suggesting)

So I just find it less compelling to use fanfiction to continue to forgive this character

And like maybe if JKR didn’t explicitly write him as someone I was supposed to love I would feel differently, but because she does I don’t

I think you’re giving this character a lot more depth than he has

Which you totally can do with any character you wish, but for me, personally, not universally, cause there is no universal truth about a fictional character who does not exist, he deserves to be hated, in my opinion, again, cannot stress this enough, I’m not saying there is a right way to feel about this character because I don’t think you can say that about characters , but this is my way and I hate him and these are my reasons

Like you can hate characters without being narrow minded

I fear this is a thing you can do

[microknifeyuri]

A lot of the neg claims about II are really just making a problem really big/treating it as , or taking things out of context, so let's talk about some of them, ESPECIALLY because of a certain someone(s) lately. Let me clarify that I know that II's writing ISN'T perfect, but nothing is perfect really, and most of these issues are misinterpretation, the choices of the fandom and/or even AE TRYING to fix the writing of a character because a certain SOMEONE was fired on early stages of the writing of said character.

So.

Let's talk about Inanimate Insanity Invitational, and the usual claims that come with it.

1. Cabby's Writing, Interpretations of Her Relationships, and ableism.

Cabby is one of the most... "controversial" characters when it comes to talk about III's writing, which it really shouldn't be like that at all, although I get where people are coming from expressing their concerns when it comes to the writing of her. Let me clarify something. Yes, I am aware that Cabby's writing changes A LOT and that it isn't perfect by any means, but I think that what people fail to understand most of the time is that Taylor was the one that started the Cabby-Test Tube storyline as a whole, and at some point as early s3 was being made, Taylor was fired from the team due to. Well, you guys know it. Pretty bad stuff. So of course, they had to figure out what direction they could go with Cabby as a whole, and to giving her character more depth than her just using her files for the game.

Now, it is obvious that they didn't plan from the start to have Cabby as a disabled character, but again, writing isn't always perfect. They had to somehow make things work. And even IF it wasn't planned, you guys have to remember the other factors that came with the writing on general. So of course her writing isn't as consistent as the writing of the other character on s3, but on later episodes it does get more better. I can see why people don't really like her arc, but those factors really matter when criticizing a form of media.

Cabby's writting and her disability isn't bad. Yes, it could've had better ways of execution, but it's not bad.

When it comes to relationships, I have seen someone seeing Cabby's relationship with Test Tube as a canonically sapphic thing because apparently Cabby's VA had that sort of intent, and therefore even claiming that Cabby suffers from lesbophobia(via claiming that she had a crush on Test Tube) and misogyny.

And that's not true. First of all, Cabby's and Test Tube's relationship is pretty much an example of friendships that don't work, and Test Tube pretty much exposed Cabby to the world and made her feel bad about herself for the rest of the episodes. A headcanon doesn't mean that the whole thing changes on canon, it's just that, a headcanon/interpretation, and claiming that what they did to her was lesbophobic is. Pretty weird. Since it is shown that Test Tube hurted Cabby a lot. As well, just because the Voice Actor had an intention, IT DOESN'T mean that the writers had said intention.

When it comes to the claims of misogyny, I still don't quite get why people try to see what isn't there.

The thing is that there isn't a lot of femenine characters on II and such, but Cabby isn't treated like that because "she doesn't do anything for men", she helps everyone on general, she cares about people. But she isn't put as a bad woman because of this. What you guys tend to forget is that. Cabby WAS kind of a prick on early s3. She DID commit mistakes and wasn't a great person, but that doesn't mean that misogyny is there just because for that. Just because people treat a fem character badly/not great BECAUSE OF HER PAST ACTIONS, doesn't mean that there's misogyny. The cast on general didn't like Cabby at all until she "redeemed" herself/changed/was true to herself. So that claim is. Pretty out of nowhere.

Now... with the ableism. I do get where you guys are coming from, but if you look into it deeply, they genuinely did have other intentions. The thing that people usually tend to forget is that the II characters aren't all white and black, they're gray. They do messed up stuff when they don't understand things. What the characters do to Cabby before she becomes more open about her disability is NEVER glorified and they always end up learning about it one way or another. Is it reasonable? Yes, was it ever justified on canon terms? Nope! People can be assholes without knowing that they're assholes and THEN learn! Things like that happen all of the time. Writers don't condone the actions of the characters.

Let's take an example at the scene with Bot and Cabby on episode 14. The main problem here was Bot giving fake information to Cabby, which yes, I agree that was a very bad move to do and you should NEVER do that to a disabled person (especially taking in count that Cabby suffers from a sort of memory disorder), but they didn't have an malicious intent whole doing so at all. Bot was still figuring out themselves and didn't want to be written down by somebody (because. THAT'S WHAT TEST TUBE AND FAN DID.), and Cabby doing the file thing was also easy to take on a bad light, but after Justin's explanation, it makes sense.

Could've it been treated on a better way? Yes. And YET, Bot apologizes for what they did to Cabby and DOES the disability aid themselves for her, and apologizes on EPISODE 15, just a few hours later probably or some days later. And on the same episode, Lifering tells Cabby that she shouldn't be ashamed of using her aids and that she shouldn't feel bad about those. Test Tube RESPECTS Cabby's space once she gets that she was wrong about her too. She knows she messed up too badly.

Later on, on episodes 16 and 17, everyone finally gets Cabby's files and respects them, because they finally saw that she actually needs those and that hey, she changed a lot. They treated her good. Characters can be human and can make mistakes, but they can also get better and learn. Although Cabby's arc is not flawless, it is still good. And all of the issues are easily explained just like that.

2. Bot's creation, and how it's never justified by them.

One of the main points that some people tend to bring on "III's poor writing" is the fact that Bot was pretty much built based on a parasocial relationship of sorts. However said people dare to say that AE portrays it as something good/thought that it was okay, and never did anything else to show Bot being uncomfortable by it, but this is NOT TRUE.

Ever since Bot found out that they were a replica of someone, they knew it was pretty fucked up coming from Test Tube and Fan. Meanwhile it is not explained the loss these two went through (The Shimmer egg probably does not count, since traces of "Bowbot" have been seen on early-mid s2), we know for a fact that what happened was pretty bad for the two of them. But, Bot never really forgave Test Tube. "What about the chat they have where Test Tube apologizes to them?", Bot is willing to give her another chance for the fact that Test Tube offered to help them to be themselves.

Even then Bot explains on their interview that the main reason they acted poorly towards Cabby, was because they got attached to Test Tube, the "only" person that could've helped them to change at the moment. However, again, III doesn't justify what Test Tube and Fan did. Sure, Bot considers them their parents, but they just created them and even when Bot was discovering themselves, Test Tube was. Still pushing the fem terms on them.

So, Bot is fully aware about their existence being fucked up, but they're just trying to live their life as well. These claims do not make any sense despite it being the easiest part to look into.

3. Invitational's writing. (And how The Bright Lights not being themselves is part of the fandoms fault, but also what happens when you try to expand an character who's arc is over).

Ah... one of the most... complicated points here. People tend to absolutely want to kill AE over the writing feeling weird or unprofessional on S3, but I think that all of you just kind of forget many factors at hand that came with it.

The reason as to why the most of the main Bright Lights were there IS because of viewer voting. The Bright Lights had their arcs finished on s2, and trying to have an story where something is going on with characters that are pretty much done in their stories is VERY difficult, and should not even happen at all. The only characters that did have something going on were Nickel, Balloon and Yinyang on s2 terms. Even OJ was just not having it.

So of course the viewer voting getting those 3 Bright Lights there kind of made things so much more mid on a building up relationships term. Other characters had a lot going on that needed to be solved, not them. I do think that AE should NEVER let the viewers do anything anymore because that's one of the weakest points of s3: most of the s2 characters. When you try to develop characters who's arc is closed, you kinda pretty much go nowhere with it. But you can't just have them sitting doing nothing till their elimination.

However... it's not bad when you forget those 3 characters (Fan, Paintbrush and Test Tube) and have the remaining s2 guys and the new characters. It isn't bad at all. In fact, their arcs are pretty consistent for the most part (except for Cabby's if we count the start of it), and the arcs of Nickel & Balloon AND Yinyang show some real growth and ARE proof that AE does know how to write characters. As long as they ACTUALLY HAVE something going on for them.

As well, something that people forget a lot when it comes to III's writing, is that it is more lighthearted on comparison to S2. Which I can get to an extent, but then, let's remember this: AE made S3 because they were burnt out from S2's writing.

They wanted to make something more fun, something that was more S1 like, and meanwhile I do get people not liking S3 at all because of this, please do remember that S3 is meant to be more silly. More funny. Less serious stuff. Until the last episodes dropped that is, but it is still it's main intention.

4. ...Transphobic? Allegations/accusations.

This point makes me feel so SO tired at this point and it's how people say "AE gets the trans characters out just when they came out" and get so SO tired of people missing the point with Bot's design, but also missing the whole Paintbrush thing.

The reason as to why they get eliminated is because they get closure to their arc, and they have to get growth off-screen. On both of Paintbrush's eliminations, they were gone as a way to have closure, because the competition wasn't a healthy place for them, and Paintbrush's growth off screen is subtle, but it is still there. Back on s2 they were scared of saying their identity, but after they got eliminated, they got comfortable enough to the point of having the non binary flag on their shared room with Fan, and are pretty respected by the whole cast afterwards.

On s3, their elimination is pretty much the same, but it's them knowing that they don't have it on themselves to keep competing in the show. They get closure with Mephone4 instead.

When it comes to Bot, I have genuinely seen people complain about AE getting rid of the "fem traits" because Bot is... nonbinary. But. That's. That's fucking dumb at this point. The pink and the EYELASHES are FROM BOW. Bot's whole arc is about finding themselves and showing their true self to the world, and Justin has confirmed that Bot still DOES like those things, but that they're trying to find themselves! Trying to be their own person! And them getting out was also them getting closure because they finally know who they are, and they know that no matter what, no one can change that for them.

And for the last part of this... it is pretty obvious that s1 and early-mid s2 had quite some poor humor regarding Painty's gender, but this can be explained by two things: 1- They were still quite young when these seasons were made, 2- Taylor was still on the team (and he was the main reason as to why there were slurs on II, please do correct me if I'm wrong), but they ended up getting treated with respect and decency despite all things. Again. It wasn't perfect. But they managed to fix it and make it work.

Now, are those factors worth pointing out? Yes, they are, but are they arguments to try and say that AE is transphobic on actual times? No. They showed growth and tried to fix their mistakes. And meanwhile it isn't flawless, it's still pretty good.

5. Nickel's Writing Is Actually Good, You Guys Are Just Too Convinced In Your Own Headcanons

Oh boy, now, if you are quite familiar with the plots I usually analyze here, you must know already how strongly I feel about Nickel as a character and his arc with Balloon as a whole. Because everyone gets them so so wrong and misses the whole point of it. You may know this but people complain a lot about Nickel's arc taking "too long" or "being way too rushed", and both of those takes are pretty much wrong. Some also say that Nickel was worthy of a big villain just because, oh, what was his crime? Sucking at communication and trying to protect his alliance from someone he saw as dangerous at the time? That's called being a complicated character. That's literally it. Some even complain about him "not getting what he deserves" but he pretty much does get called out on the series, but also yelling at him and telling him to die won't help.

That's now how it works. Nickel's arc makes sense and it was long because he had to solve a lot about himself and about learning how to be a good, genuine friend. He became soft because he ended up having people (ex: Box) that told him to get his shit together and to stop putting his petty feelings first to focus on the team. Nickel's whole arc is about knowing what you did was wrong, and wanting to become a better person despite all odds. Even if those who you care about might never forgive you. It was necessary for The Grand Slams arc to make sense and to keep on growing.

You guys want a character to get better, but then complain when one character does become a better person, a more genuine version of themselves. And no, Nickel's actions were never justified by the show or by himself, although he did excuse his actions with fear at some point, but even then, he fully recognizes that his actions were terrible and understands if Balloon won't forgive him.

Just because you hate a character it doesn't mean you can just mischaracterize them and or forget the whole point of their arc. Nickel's arc alongside Balloon's MAKES sense and it's pretty much the best arc on s3 all factors considered.

6. Is Invitational a bad season overall?

It isn't a bad season. Yes, I keep repeating myself, it is not perfect, but that doesn't mean that it's a bad season. It doesn't stand up to the point where s2 is, but that's the goal, it's meant to be a season made for fun and to chill, and meanwhile I can agree that there are things that can be better or could've been executed on different ways, and it got way better on later episodes due to better structure.

I can get people not liking s3 because of it's flaws but it's not the WORST THING THAT EVER HAPPENED AND A MOCKERY, it's genuinely just something made for fun. And people tend to forget that.

There is not a media that is perfect. Inanimate Insanity isn't by any means.

But man. Isn't it a good show anyway? Isn't it a show that made you feel for the stories and it's characters? Isn't it imperfectly perfect on it's own way? Isn't it made with care and love? Isn't the fact that it has flaws makes it feel more genuine?

I personally think it is. But that's just me.

Thank you for reading.

[evidence-based-activism]

I wish the women jumping on the 4B bandwagon would understand these points: 

https://www.tumblr.com/femtoscooter/766688743202684928?source=share

https://youtu.be/b3KswFqFwt8?si=bidXJHUHJ32v5YcH

Anon, you are the one with a fundamental misunderstanding of 4B.

The post and video you sent me both cover the same topics, so I'll simply address them as one.

First, the author of that post is genderkoolaid. This is the same individual who posted a factually incorrect, misrepresentation of abuse statistics, in opposition to women's separatism. After my thorough explanation of how and why they were wrong, they chose to block me rather than admit to their misrepresentation.

All of this is to say, I am entirely unsurprised at their misrepresentation of another female separatist movement.

Sex strikes and 4B

Both posters erroneously compare the 4B movement to a sex strike. This is a fundamental misunderstanding of the movement. A sex strike is a transient protest meant to induce political or social change. For example, women may organize a sex strike to be concluded only once particular abortion protections are passed. (Like all protests, historical sex strikes have had mixed success.)

The 4B movement is not transient. Women who commit to 4B do not stop and later return to men. It is also not designed to directly induce a specific political or social change. The 4B movement was fundamentally a reaction to the intensely patriarchal culture in South Korea. The women who joined this movement did so because they believed that a life without men would be better than a life with men. They are not "withholding sex" until South Korean men stop being misogynistic; they have taken stock of their reality and decided that completely separating themselves from men is the only feasible reaction to their circumstances.

Yes, this focus on women's lives and circumstances, and the mass social rejection of the status quo, is likely intended to bring about social change (i.e., make men stop acting as they do), but this is a byproduct of the movement, not the origin.

All of this is to say: the 4B movement is not a means to an end, it is both the means and the ends.

But American women aren't doing it this way

Some are, some aren't. I'm entirely unsurprised that in a culture steeped in postmodernist theory, some women are attempting to distort the meaning of the movement. While I do not read Korean, I imagine this is frustrating to the woman who created and committed to 4B.

The continuation of this postmodernist pattern is unfortunate, and I truly wish the women who meant "sex strike" said so, rather than co-opting another movement. That being said, the mainstreamed discussion of female separatism is still positive as it brings women's attention to the possibility of alternate choices. (And having men's typical, misogynistic, violent reactions on display to the mere suggestion of such an action have been, as always, enlightening.)

Comparison with political lesbianism

Again, this is a misunderstanding of both the 4B movement and political lesbianism.

Political lesbianism is a practice where heterosexual or bisexual women falsely claim to be homosexual.

This is not the same as bisexual women practicing female separatism (i.e., only forming relationships or having sex with other women) while still indicating they are bisexual. It is also not the same thing as heterosexual women choosing to forgo all romantic and sexual relationships (e.g., major parts of the 4B movement).

The issue with political lesbianism is the homophobia inherent in intentionally claiming you are homosexual when you are not and the associated sentiments (e.g., claiming you can "choose" your sexuality).

The "male" loneliness crisis

The video repeats the misinformation concerning the "male" loneliness crisis/suggests men are uniquely affected by social isolation. Again, this is patently false. There is a general loneliness epidemic – one that affects women and men equally – not a male-specific crisis.

General rejection of female separatism

The rest of their commentary is the standard rejections of female separatism (sprinkled with pseudo-liberal buzzwords).

I'm not going to re-hash every defense and benefit of separatism here, but here are a few highlights:

The same post from above using data to show how female separatism would result in an unprecedented reduction in violence against women

Someone else's post about the difference in segregation and separation

Someone else's post about the framing of separatism as an option

My post about how many men are misogynistic

My post about the fatal effects of misogyny

Actually just the entirety of my #male violence tag and #patriarchal culture tag

In any case, the 4B movement is a form of female separatism. (And notably, not a conservative movement. It is specifically designed to disrupt the current status quo and prioritize women who are marginalized under conservative ideology.)

Conclusion

So, no, women do not need to "understand these points", because "these points" are either factually inaccurate, a misunderstanding of the terms and movements involved, or a simple rejection of feminist principles with a pseudo-liberal veneer.

References below the cut:

The history of sex strikes. (2019, May 16). BBC Three. https://www.bbc.com/bbcthree/article/1fc04f3e-3128-4be7-a78a-28ea31db4101

057. Lysistratic nonaction. (n.d.). Global Nonviolent Action Database; Global Nonviolent Action Database. https://nvdatabase.swarthmore.edu/category/gene-sharps-198/057-lysistratic-nonaction

Palmer, O. (2022, January 31). Political lesbianism remains a contentious debate in lesbian feminist circles—Is there a generational divide? Feminist Current. https://www.feministcurrent.com/2022/01/30/political-lesbianism-remains-a-contentious-debate-in-lesbian-feminist-circles-is-there-a-generational-divide/

Kuk, J., Park, H., & Norma, C. (2018, November 8). Radical feminism paves the way for a resurgent South Korean women’s movement. Feminist Current. https://www.feministcurrent.com/2018/11/07/radical-feminism-paves-way-resurgent-south-korean-womens-movement/

Lee, J., & Jeong, E. (2021). The 4B movement: envisioning a feminist future with/in a non-reproductive future in Korea. Journal of Gender Studies, 30(5), 633-644.

[feministdragon]

every once in a while a discussion flares up on tumblr:  separatism vs activism reading through the various arguments I find myself agreeing with both sides in a lot of places.   the activism side argues that without it, we wouldn’t have the right to vote, bank accounts, property ownership, financial independence, sexual harassment and abortion laws, a lot of practical structures that free women in concrete ways.  i completely agree with this. the separatism side argues that women need a space away from men to experience themselves as human beings, to experience freedom and to experience female solidarity, and to develop networks of mutual aid.  I also completely agree with this. and then everyone starts fighting, which i really don’t understand.   We need both!  Both is good!   There are more than enough women in the world to do all the projects!  We can have some women creating separatist spaces for women to take shelter in, and we can have some women banding together to create practical change that free women in the short term.   What is there to argue about? I mean, maybe the background of this is the whole lesbian vs straight women thing?   Which tbh i also don’t understand why we have to fight about this.  I’m a lesbian, and the majority of my friends and feminist collaborators are straight women.  just by looking at the women around me I’m very very aware of how being partnered with a woman saves me an incredible amount of bullshit in my life, and yet I’m equally aware of why women choose to be het-partnered. for example in our organization there’s one women whose job title includes the word ‘responsible’.  Her husband began a campaign to undermine her participation by telling her that because her job title said ‘responsible’ that when our organization ‘inevitably bankrupted’ she would be left holding the legal debt which then (his main point) would impact him.  So she was scared by him into wanting to leave her position, when we really don’t have anyone else who can fill that right now, and so it would have caused a huge strain on us, but also, she’s perfect for this position, it’s very good for her, and she likes the work.  We were able to show her that he was just fucking with her, that the legal responsiblity for the money actually lay with a different role in the org, but it was yet another example of how men could reach into our private business and stir us about, because of how women are so financialy and emotionaly bound up with their legal male partners. so, do I cut off my friendship with this woman just because her husband is a danger to us?  Obviously not, because her husband is even more of a danger to her, and I’m trying to support her until her children are old enough that she can safely choose to leave him.   Is it irritating that her husband can just reach through her and fuck with us like that?  Absolutely.  Am I angry that women are constantly misled into marriage and find out too late that they are trapped?  Of fucking course.   Do I then conclude that all straight women are bullshit?   Also of course not.   But am I going to be cautious about who joins the group in future, and only let in lesbians?   Also of course not.  Because every set of hands is valuable and necessary, and we do other things to protect ourselves (like not let any man have a position of power in the org).  so what I want to ask is,  what is the separatism/activism divide about? why are people making it a choice between the two things?  is the foundational problem just either-or thinking?    if you are separatist why do you side-eye male-involved women?   if you are a male-involved woman, why do you side-eye separatists?

(crossposted on the Cloven Hooves forum if you want to comment on it there)

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

Hey have you broken down Marinette's crush on Adrien and the ways in which it

A) misrepresents how teen girls get crushes on people they actually know and

B) sets Marinette up to seem really weird in a way the show literally cannot address because the universe thinks it's fine?

I know you can't prevent people from misinterpreting your show, but i think at the point where a significant portion of your audience and people with secondhand knowledge think of your main character as a stalker, that's a breakdown of communication on the writers part.

I've mentioned it offhand a few times, but I can go into it in more depth because it is a pretty massive writing flaw for reasons we're about to get into.

Marinette is not written like a teenager with a crush on her friend. She's not even written like a stalker. She's written like a teenager with a celebrity crush or a crush on a fictional character. In fact, if you go read fics from when the show first started airing, then you'll find that a lot of people assumed that Marinette's crush came from before she met Adrien or that it was rooted in a love of his professional work. That she was a fan who suddenly got to meet her idol and didn't know how to handle that.

I completely understand why that read was so popular. It's the only thing that makes sense! I assumed that was the case, too, until we got to Origins and her crush suddenly went from "obvious celebrity crush" to "crush with actual depth that's just been badly written."

While I'm ace, most of my friends are not, so I am very familiar with the experience of teenage girls getting crushes. I'm also deeply familiar with the experience of teenage girls getting crushes on celebrities and fictional characters. I, unfortunately, also know quite a bit about stalking. The three experiences are wildly different. For now, let's focus on the first two.

Celebrity crushes and crushes on fictional characters are experiences rooted in fantasy. You can be as over the top as you want because you know that nothing will come of this. You can go to a concert and scream the cute boy's name or have his posters all over your walls or publicly squeal about him with your friends without caring if people overhear because you don't expect him to ever care or even learn about your behavior. You know that you will never actually date him. He's a dream. A fantasy. A thing that will never be. That's the fun of this kind of crush. There's freedom in it. (This isn't unique to hetero crushes, btw, this was just an example based on my lived experience.)

I have strong memories of my best friend acting like Marinette, but only when it came to fictional men. When she was crushing on guys that she actually knew? The experience was wildly different because it was real. This could actually be a thing. She's not the only woman that I can say that about, either. I had many friends who had a celebrity or fictional crush and none of them ever carried that behavior over to their "real world" crushes. The stakes with the "real world" crushes were far too high for that sort of freedom.

Writing Marinette like someone with a celebrity crush is a terrible call on multiple levels. The most obvious issue is that it makes her look unhinged and creepy. While I don't agree with this take, I'm not surprised that people label her a stalker because celebrity crush behavior feels really creepy when it's applied to a person that you actually know. Whenever stories do the thing where someone meets their celebrity crush and actually gets to know them, there's normally a noticeable shift in their behavior as the character mentally goes, "Oh shit, you're real now." They lose the freedom that came with this being a mere fantasy.

The other issue with this writing choice is that it makes Marinette's crush feel superficial. The show spends hours letting her fantasize and obsess over Adrien, but rarely lets her actually spend time with the poor guy! It's incredibly awkward writing. You could have Adrien be a celebrity that Marinette never met and a lot of the episodes wouldn't change. That's not a great choice if your goal is to write an actual romance. Romances generally let the romantic leads interact.

As creepy and awkward as Marinette's writing can be, I will stand by my statement that she's not a stalker. She's nowhere near that unhinged. She's not stealing Adrien's things or following him home every day or breaking into his private spaces because she knows that they have a "special connection". We're never once made to feel like she's making him uncomfortable or harassed. Those are the kinds of things that stalkers do. They're delusional and divorced from reality. Do any of you really believe that Marinette would keep pursuing Adrien if he told her to back off? Hopefully the answer is "no" and, if so, then she's really not written like a "true" stalker because true stalkers just get dangerous when you say "no." They don't respect things like firm boundaries or restraining orders.

Watching Adrien's public appearances isn't violating his privacy and that's mostly what Marinette does. The rare occasions where she follows him somewhere private mostly revolve around someone else doing something questionable first, making Marinette's actions less "I want to see Adrien" and more "I'm worried for Adrien's safety and I'm doing something questionable because of that". The first is the behavior of a stalker, the second is... well, I'm not going to call it good behavior, but it's certainly not straight up bad behavior because the show isn't treating these moments as wrong so it's less Marinette being wrong and more the writers making really questionable writing choice. I mean, one of her break-ins was literally forced on her and orchestrated by her friend group! (See: Gabriel Agreste)

In fact, most of Marinette's creepiest behaviors fall under the "questionable writing choice" category as they're often just very obvious jokes of questionable quality. For example, I've seen people freak out about her having Adrien's schedule and it's like, guys, you do realize that was literally impossible, right? She claimed it was his schedule for the next three years! Nathalie doesn't even have that! You don't schedule things that far in advance unless it's a major event. It's impossible to take this claim seriously if you think about it for five seconds.

If you wanted to treat this schedule claim seriously and have it match the show's tone, then you'd have to tone Marinette's claim down, too. It would go from having his schedule for the next three years to just being aware of what he does on a weekly basis because they're friends and in the same class and you just sort of learn this stuff if you pay attention. How does Marinette know that Adrien has fencing on Wednesday? Because he has fencing every Wednesday. That's how this stuff tends to work.

I don't blame anyone for disliking the way that Marinette's crush was written. I don't like it either! It leaves a lot to be desired! The show would have been much better if they scrapped using Marinette's crush as the main source of comedy, but then they would have had to let Marinette and Adrien become close and we can't have that because it breaks the formula. The simple truth of the matter is that Marinette is written the way she is as a stalling tactic, which the episode Simpleman straight up admits:

Marinette: What am I doing, honestly? The truth is, I'm scared that Adrien will reject me if I tell him how I feel about him. That's why I over complicate everything, so that moment never comes.

In this scene, Marinette is claiming that this is a her thing, but it's really more of a writing thing. Miraculous is a formula show. Part of the formula is the akuma/sentimonster of the week and part of the formula is Marinette trying and failing to confess her crush. The show makes this pretty obvious, but if you want a more official source that this is what's going on, then here you go:

[The writing director] sold the Miraculous series to broadcasters as a formula show.... [This is why] Marinette tries to confess her love for Adrien in every episode, but is unable to do so.

They made Marinette's failure to confess part of the weekly formula which means that there can never be any romantic progress, thus Marinette being written like a fan obsessed with her idol instead of a teenage girl with very real feelings for her kind sweet friend. The first makes for an easy formula, the second won't work in that model. It requires there to be progress and a planned endgame. I'm not against formula shows, but this is a terrible element to make part of the formula!

The same issue plagues Adrien, too. It's the main reason why Chat Noir can come across as overly pushy. He's not allowed to move on just like Marinette isn't allowed to confess her feelings because they're the endgame couple. But we keep pushing back the endgame by adding seasons and so it's all become a total mess with terrible pacing and awkward, unhealthy relationships dynamics that really aren't suited to the genres or audience that Miraculous is clearly aiming for.

[dedalvs]

I don't think that any of your conlangs are progressive enough to express being trans, but if they were, how would they? What about other gender/sexuality things?

That first clause is quite a thing to say. Languages aren't progressive. Their users may be, but the languages aren't anything. They're just languages. If you mean they're not modern (i.e. a lot of the languages I create are for cultures that are somewhat antiquated compared to our world), this is true, but that doesn't necessarily mean the languages won't have terminology for different gender identities.

There is a major assumption here, though. My understanding (and please do note: I am a cis man; please feel free to correct), cis and trans individuals, as opposed to nonbinary and genderfluid, are similar in that neither have any doubt about what gender they are, identifying with either male or female. So if any language I've created has a word for "man" or "woman", then there's sufficient vocabulary for a trans individual to express their identity that way.

However, there is a terminological difference, and it's both an individual choice and societal preference: Whether to identify as one's chosen gender identity, as trans, or both (e.g. "I am a woman", "I am trans", or "I am a trans woman"—and then preferring to use one of those or all of those, or some other combination of the three). My personal language preference (as a user and language creator) is fewer distinctions are better (why have three third person singular pronouns—or four or twelve���when you can have one?), because it's less to memorize, less work to use, and demands less specificity of the user—and allows the hearer/reader to make fewer assumptions. Unless the situation calls for it (e.g. the gender system hard-coded into Ravkan in Shadow & Bone), I prefer lumping rather than splitting. This is especially useful as I'm often not in charge of the culture I create languages for.

For example, the languages I've created for A Song of Ice and Fire were for cultures created and maintained by George R. R. Martin. Whatever cultural innovations I have made in creating the languages are, at best, pending—that is, true until George R. R. Martin says otherwise, which he is free to do at any time, as it's his world. As a result, I don't feel confident enough to say what life is like for a trans individual in his world, and how that might be reflected in the languages there. There's simply not enough information.

Where I might be in charge of the culture, you do know my preference now (i.e. fewer distinctions), but, as I am not trans, I'd prefer to leave it to the trans community to decide, and then do what I can to support those decisions linguistically (i.e. to make it work within the language). Any term chosen highlights some aspect of the experience while downplaying others. In English, trans, coming from transition, highlights the change from one identity to another. Other ideas for how to come up with a term might be using a root that refers to "true", highlighting the transition to one's true gender expression. Perhaps another root to look for would be "choose", framing it as one's chosen gender expression—IF one wishes to look at it that way.

In many ways, both the term and the experience are highly individual, and it's difficult to come up with a blanket term and say "this is the term". It's especially difficult since this isn't a life experience I share. It feels both disingenuous and a bit icky to come up with a term to describe an experience that is decidedly not my own.

My own preference in this regard is a twofold approach:

Allow trans users of whatever language to figure out what term works for them, and then support them in creating a term that obeys the various language rules (i.e. the phonology is correct, derived words are derived correctly, etc.). Those users, however, will be operating under the same "rules" that I operate under, e.g. the one who's creating the culture has the final say, if they care to weigh in, and so the result may end up not being canon, at which point it's up to the user to decide whether they care or not. (Note: I shouldn't have to explain it here on Tumblr, but, of course, you don't have to care if the creator of the canon says something isn't so, no matter how many billions they have.)

Allow polysemy. There will never be a term that is THE term. It may be an individual's preferred term, but someone else may like another, in which case it should be allowed.

A very important language-specific note (and the same is true of fandom, generally). By agreeing to work within a language, we're essentially agreeing to rules of a game. The rules can always be broken. When rules are broken, the question language users have to answer is if they've been broken so egregiously that they're no longer playing the game, or if it's fine. For example, if you look at fanfic, there's plenty of fanfic with gender-swapped characters, or the same characters in a radically different setting. Some readers may decide they don't want the characters to be gender-swapped. Others may decide that if it's not in the same setting they're not interested. And that's fine! Both the writers and the readers are deciding which rules of the game can be broken while still calling it the same game. This works very, very well so long as no one gets mad at anyone else. If someone says, "I don't enjoy this because it breaks the rules in a way that ruins my enjoyment", that's perfectly fine. If that same person says, "You're not allowed to break the rules in this way", that's not fine.

So hopefully this all makes sense. And, furthermore, when I say I want to support those who wish to create their own terms, I do mean it. If anyone has suggestions or needs help coining a possible word, feel free to message me! But do bear (2) above in mind. I'm not going to say any term is THE term, and have that be the end of it. It'll be one possibility amongst a rainbow of possibilities.

[moirindeclermont]

Why am I fascinated with Dark!Colin?

There is a scenario I did not explore much in past posts, but it deserves some space. I like to place characters in scenarios and situations where their worst traits take over. The concept of Dark!Colin is familiar, as many people explored it in fanfiction, but I want to play with it because it tickles my brain in the best way.

Disclaimer: These are not traits to look for in reality, IMO. I do avoid people with these traits in real life. But in fiction, we can engage with those fantasies safely. If it is not your cup of tea, I do understand; please take care of yourself. Furthermore, I love the Colin we know, the sweet, empathetic man we embraced and celebrated for all the right reasons. While the show will probably continue on that route (which is good, IMO), I want something darker today.

Jealousy is one of the first things that comes to my mind. People have said that Colin would never share Pen, and while I disagree on principle (but that's another post), in this particular version of Colin, he does not share, and he is jealous of every interaction Pen has with other men, especially now that everyone seems to have open their eyes on her beauty.

Right away, there is possessiveness—fierce, blind possessiveness. Pen is his (as much as he is Pen's), and you know that a darker version of Colin would go to unhinged ends to mark Pen as his. Bites and hickeys are mostly in places where no one can see, but sometimes he does leave some small token of his affection when they have to go to social events so no one can get the wrong idea.

Is Dark!Colin capable of unspeakable things? Absolutely! Pen writes in her diary, "There is something to be said about the desire and love of a man that is used to do the worst things", and while there are certain boundaries, Dark!Colin would not pass - he considers himself if not a gentleman, at least a man of honour when it comes to his family - those are very few. Forcing a woman is the fastest way to get to the wrong side of Dark!Colin very quickly, for example.

But the part that interests me most is that show!Colin could quickly go under this road if the armour were to rust, for example. The fact that he has the flaws of being a Dark Character, but he is not, speaks to me about choice and intentionality. Being kind, empathetic, and overall good is a very intentional choice real people make every day. Colin is a good person because, in the show, he chooses to be one.

I like flawed characters who choose to be better, to be good. Show!Colin is primarily good, but I like the cracks that I see. They make me wonder... what if? And that's one of the most fascinating questions you can explore with a character. What do you think of Dark!Colin? Does it tickle you?

If you have fics, please link them; I need more Dark!Colin in my life

[yanderes-galore]

Yandere! Self-Aware! Markus/RK200 (Detroit: Become Human) with gamer darling. It can be depicted as romantic or platonic. Always enthusiastic with the choices made for him and doesn’t mind if darling made some mistakes either. However I’d like the darling to be female, of course if that doesn’t bother you.

The cool thing is this doesn't really require much knowledge about what happens on his route. I'm mostly focusing on how he'd react in this so no need for many spoilers or anything :)

I'd love to experiment with this idea even if I am not the best with Self-Aware yanderes!

Yandere! Self-Aware! Markus (RK200) with Player! Darling

Pairing: Romantic/Platonic

Possible Trigger Warnings: Female Darling, Self-aware yandere, Obsession, Yearning/Pining, Dubious feelings/relationship, Game character comes to real world, Protective behavior mentioned briefly, Isolation, Delusional behavior, Slight worshipping yandere behavior, Slight possessive behavior.

Honestly, with a game like DBH a self-aware yandere actually seems very interesting.

Why, you may be asking?

Compared to other video game characters, games that require you to make choices like DBH affect the outcome and the character.

Essentially, a character in DBH is dependent on their player to develop themselves.

Sure, many self-aware yanderes feel guided by their player.

In DBH it feels more intense because your choices actually develop their personalities.

Although it would only be this intense if they're a player character like Connor, Kara, or Markus.

These characters are ones you play as in DBH, which means you as the player shape their story.

You shape how they act.

You shape them.

These three as self-aware yanderes would be intense due to this.

Like in this example;

Self-aware! Markus can either be a pacifist or choose violence in how he deals with people.

His darling chooses that for him.

Honestly, Markus was already one of the most self-aware player characters in the game.

He was the first to go deviant, funnily enough he'd be the first to grow self-aware too.

It's an experience for him.

Not only does he learn he can be much more than an android, he also learns he's in a game.

He feels he has control, yet you're the one making decisions.

It's a conflicting feeling but he begins to not mind it when you guide him.

He actually... likes it when you shape him and his personality with your choices.

When he does see you he's intrigued by this woman who guides him with such wonder.

Markus does accept every choice you make with slight excitement and curiosity.

He understands if you make a mistake but for the most part he looks forward to what you'll say in certain situations.

Part of him wonders if the others, Connor and Kara, know your presence.

Part of him is actually jealous of the thought and hopes they don't.

Markus accepts the fact that you two need each other in a way.

In order to play the game, you need him.

In order to find just who he is, Markus needs you.

Markus assumes the personality you shape for him is to your taste at times.

Did you want him to be a pacifist? Did you want him to be violent?

He assumes you're shaping him to your tastes... he finds it endearing in a way.

Markus, like most yanderes in a video game, would want to meet his player face to face.

Markus feels he wants to meet the partner who has shown him many paths.

You've shown him kindness, you've shown him violence, what has he learned from all of these choices?

In the end, he is yours.

He actually doesn't mind it too much.

For the most part Markus would watch you through a camera on your device or accept the fact he can only adore you from afar.

Yet let's get... hypothetical and unrealistic.

Let's say by some means, Markus came into the real world.

He'd be curious on finally meeting you and would look you over.

You're a female human as he's seen before briefly... you look about as adorable as he's remembered.

He can't believe you've been guiding him all this time.

He greets you like you're long time partners, which works for platonic or romantic.

He wants to be close with you, he wonders if you can still help each other in this new world....

You may be panicking but Markus tries to reassure you that everything is okay.

He's experienced in taking care of humans, he'll take care of you, his player.

Markus would treat you with care regardless of how you shaped his personality.

He owes it to you, after all.

He... he's indebted to you after everything you've done together.

You made him this way, he's yours.

Markus hasn't seen other humans like you and would probably isolate you.

You're his whole world.

He doesn't care about the other humans in this world, or the fact he's the only android, all he cares about is feeling you in his arms.

He's protective of his yandere but depending on the route you took with him he'll either be violent or calm with it.

Markus wants to keep up the idea of you just relying on him.

He has only ever known you as his partner... the same should be with you.

When Markus enters the real world, he begins to isolate you.

He feels it should just be you and him.

You could be a girlfriend or just a close companion, Markus dedicates himself to you either way.

Markus may even think of ways to bring you back to his world.

He doesn't ever want to part from you again.

But, why do you look at him with so much fear?

There's no need to be scared of him...

Markus is your partner... your host in the game... yours...

You're his partner... his player... all his until the end... aren't you?

[lorynna]

I hate how much radfems don't even bother to understand nuance when it comes to hetero and bi women's experiences or life choices. Like they instantly jump to them being male obsessed or pick me or weak minded or evil.

Trust me - I get you.

Some of them aren't better than ordinary male misogynists, going around and calling women cum-brained, cum-bucket or dick-lovers. I can promise, you will never find this shit on my blog. I don't care if you date a man or don't date a man, I will be here for you regardless because that is true female support.

Being hetero you don't have women as a dating option and if you're bisexual you will still suffer from the lack of lesbian representation that makes it hard for you to imagine a relationship with a female partner - additionally the dating pool of potential male partner is much bigger + more socially acceptable and the easier option if you family was for example homophobic.

It's just so hypocritical of them to pretend that they simply "don't want you to get killed" by a male partner and are therefore giving you "tough love" whenever you mention being in a het relationship or even slightly mention your male partner in a positive light. But they are not helping though, they genuinly aren't. By opposing the woman they supposedly want to help and insulting not only her but also the people she loves - let's take her boyfriend for an example - she will only be more likely to steep her feet into the ground. Tough "love" gets us nowhere. Acting like they're on some moral highground and a better person for being a seperatist also doesn't get us anywhere. It's just disgusting behavior.

I also feel like so many of those radfems fail to recognize/consider environmental influences that other women base their decisions on. I think that a large majority of radfems on tumblr are US citizens and i think we all know what's going on down there regarding women's rights.

For example, I am not a US citizen. I live in Europe but I feel like a lot of american radfems when engaging in a discourse with other radfems are often automatically assuming that the other woman is also american and therefore might be quicker to judge when they learn that she isn't seperatist for example. And I tell you, if I weren't living in a country that was allowing me to get an abortion when I needed, or was stripping me of my rights, I wouldn't engage in sexual relations with my male partner due to my own safety and if I hadn't met him years ago and was single - I wouldn't date a man either.

PICTURE

PICTURE

These all are responses I got when I criticized this issue regarding radfems bashing other radfems for being in het relationships and/or even slightly mentioning their male relatives or partners in a positive light.

They come to eat you alive, simply for stating your subjective reality. It doesn't matter that you are talking about it on your own, personal blog, detached from everything else - not a reblog where you are trying to take the focus off of someone else's rant about males - not intending to argue with other radfems meaning to disregard their negative experiences - simply by stating your subjective reality.

Then they go off with their assumptions, instantly telling you that for saying such things you must be throwing all other women under the bus for your 1st priority, your owner "Jakey" who is a walking UTI dispenser and because they know your relationship so well they also add on that you treat him like he's the best thing that ever happened to you while at the same time he doesn't care about you as a person. Since they also know very well about your finances and took a good, thorough look into the fortune telling ball, they are also able to point out that he's going to be unemployed in a month's time, which will pull you down alongside him.

And there we have it again, the "tough love" and "i know i am insulting you right now but trust and believe, we only want the best for you!"

Oh, shut up. You're not helping at all with your hateful rhetorics. If we are being completely honest to each other, we both know that what you are doing is not helping women at all and might even make them abandon radical feminist theory altogether.

Because honestly it's insane projection. There is no middle ground for some radfems, no layers to non existing differentiating opinion, it's either the one or other extreme. Either you are a cum-brained incompetent slut that loves her jakey and would immediately sacrifice all her fellow women for a drop of his attention or you are a good, celibate seperatist that would never touch a man and regularly blogs about #killallmen.

They say love women more than you hate men. These radfems still haven't gotten the message.

[captainleviswifee]

Treat you better...

Tags: Modern AU Levi, established relationship, fem reader, reigniting the spark, low key anxious Levi, argument, overthinking, jealousy, OOC or IC Levi? 😭idk Please reblog and follow if you like this content!

Edit: you can use extensions, or apps to replace y/n with the name of your choice. I personally use interactivefics extensions, but let me know if you know others!

The darkness blankets the sky, the neighborhood quiet with muffled noises of a party some walks away. Having just parked his car in the garage he get's out taking a bag of take outs for dinner.

Walking up to the porch of his and your door, he unlocks the door with ease. Keys clanking as he fiddles with them with a tired sigh. Work is well work as usual. It's not the mundane challenges of work he's sighing for. Likely it's the increasing monotonous routine he goes with it at the office everyday. It doesn't help that his relationship with you is reflecting how gray and dull his everyday work is.

Opening the door, the living space welcomes him. Not you, you're not at home yet. You're at the office, either working overtime or being asked out by your friends for a night out. He drops his briefcase on the sofa, as he takes off his coat. Hanging it on the coat rack beside the now locked door.

Now loosening up his tie, he picks up his phone to check the time, it's nearly 10 pm. "It's Friday...then it must be her hanging out with co-workers tonight." He says to particularly no one but himself. His gaze frowning at the screen of his phone. "Or her damn boss," He grumbles.

And that's the problem. Your relationship with him either progressively turns to dull and gray because of his increasing workload, or if it's dull and gray because of your increasing workload and constant late night parties.

But Levi understands you better.

The parties were to distract you from this monotonous routine of your evenings with him. Can be a bad or good habit depending on the act you entertain yourself with. And Levi knew better than to push you to ask when you're in this phase of taking a sort of break.

Or it could also be he's afraid that he'd make things worse and drive a deeper wedge between you two. It's likely the latter.

And that's precisely why he discreetly asked two of his female coworkers for advice. Hange and Petra. Hange had advised to open a table with you for discussion. Basically sit and talk. Meanwhile Petra, advised you to go an extra mile to know what a woman wants. For starters, read a book.

A romance book for example. And she had just the perfect recommendation in hand.

Levi sets the reheated take outs, then preparing a plate of rice—his favorite, on the table. He then walks to the sofa, picking up his briefcase to find a certain book from Petra this morning.

"Huh," Levi could not even read the title, his eyes scanning the book. "Damn, sappy shit." He flips the cover to read a random chapter and sees a specific sentence that nearly killed him from cringe.

But if it would help him get tips on how to reignite this spark between you two, he'd grit his teeth through the cringe. Pick out the good ones, and yeet out the overly cringe ones.

With the book in his hand, he walks back to the dinner table, sitting down to a meal while he takes a spoonful of a bite or two.

After eating, he continued to wait for you at the living room, sitting with his arm resting on the armrest, his other hand propping up the book he's reading close to his steel blue gaze.

The hours tick and you're not home still. It's already 1 am, and you're still not at home. It was then that he finally decides to check his phone. And oh, he finds a message from you in his notifications.

Clicking it, it reads,

"I'm sorry love, I'll be home in a few. Just a 'lil late."

Sent at 11:45 pm. He sighs, texting back,

"Do you need me to fetch you?"

He sends it and returned to reading the book.

He'd hate to admit it, but it became a bit more tolerable for his eyes to read the book after a few chapters. He's mind whirrs at the kind of man most women would want.

Crossing out the unrealistic standards, there are things he might find worthy of taking note. Like getting a little more creative with giving you flowers, or how he should better care for you for when you have period cramps. Basically just be there for you more. Levi had thought he was doing just fine, doing everything to be there for you. But now basing some things he may have missed in comparison to a 'what would most women want,' is that he may have appeared a little too distant or cold. Especially when he's at work.

He sighs, deciding to find a way to strike a proper balance between work and his personal life.

You're an amazing woman, flawed may be, but you're the woman he loves to see everyday.

Sighing, he flips open the book again to continue reading, "Hoh, what do we have here?" He smirks, immersed in his reading although he'd deny that he is.

The pacing of the story just got to a sensual, lightly steamy part. And he couldn't help but think, 'Is this too what most women want?' He ponders, 'I guess not too different to what most men wants, except this has more steps in this. More foreplay it seems,'

His eyes scan the forbidden text, his mind wandering if it could be him and you. Or what could be your reaction had you be reading this instead? Levi imagined you reading this with a flustered expression made him think of other forbidden things he'd do to you.

Flipping the page, he continues, still sure he's reading to get insights on how he should treat you than for the story of the text he's reading.

Then as if he was stricken with lightning, he hears a warm breathy whisper right behind his ear, "Oh? What you reading?" Your playful tone snaps him from his deep thoughts.

"Oh, you're here," His face momentarily stiffens, lips opening slightly, before returning to his nonchalant expression. He then adds, "And you're late," His gaze now frowning. "Sorry," You scratch the back of your head, "We just finished overtime and my boss thought to bring all of us to a short late snack at a cafe." You explain, studying his narrowed blue-gray gaze, before your eyes landing on a specific book. "Didn't know you'd be reading this genre though, Levi." You reply in a teasing manner. His hands swiftly, and casually moving the book away from your view as a response, "Your boss?" One of his eyebrow arches, his expression remaining nonchalant yet the undercurrent of his threatening tone betrays the calm exterior he maintains. "That stupid blond bastard again?" He grumbles, now standing up to meet your eyes, the book still in his hand.

'Stupid, and bastard. Well that's rare,' You smile, Levi adding two insults in a single sentence for the same person speaks just how much this is pissing him off.

"Listen, we need to talk," He then takes your bag placing it on the table before holding your shoulders down to have you sit.

"Levi," You say with a flat and tired expression, "There's nothing to talk about—" Before he cuts you off, "Oh yea we do. Don't think I didn't noticed how you're avoiding me the whole month, and how I see you're spending more time with your work friends and that stupid boss of yours. Again."

Then it's your turn to cut him off, "Levi, you're not jealous are you?" "Fucking no." He says flatly, he then combs his hair back before talking again, "Look, it's just. We're both busy recently and I'm sorry I couldn't be there to listen how your day went or that I couldn't pay attention to you more. But that doesn't mean you should entertain yourself with people outside the problem of our relationship." He then mutters the last bit, "Especially not with your boss." And that's where you stop him, "What are you talking about? Are you saying I'm upset at you because you're busy?" You scoff.

"Yes?" His expression, suddenly forming a puzzled look. His face became even more puzzled after hears you laugh, "And that's why you're reading that book hm?" You tease him, "What-fuck, no." He then places the book behind him. You already know that it's a romance book, and with the few pages you saw of it earlier, it has some smut scenes.

"C'mon, let's see what's it about." You quip, your hands reaching for it, but he's faster and was able to keep it off your grasp.

"Forget it, so you're saying that you're not upset at all?" He asks you, his narrow, blue-gray irises gazing deep into yours. "No, I'm not," You reply with a smile, "Why would you think that?" He then looks down on the table, his gaze falling to your bag on the coffee table as he searches his own mind. "I don't know...maybe it's just because I miss you." He sighs, "Yeah, maybe it's that. You think it's because of that?" He replies more like a sentence of him just rambling and asking the truth he already knows.

You gave a light chuckle before pulling him to a hug. "Gosh you're so adorable," You mumble to his neck, appreciative of his efforts and his feelings. He momentarily stiffens, before accepting the embrace. "Shut it," He rejects the compliment, but you feel his heart beating warm and fast against yours, his hands wrapping around you in return. Embracing you back.

"I miss you too," You whisper to him and you just feel him nudge his face to your own neck. As if hiding his face from view by deepening the embrace.

You pull away, and you give him a light kiss on his lips, his lips lingering for a moment before reluctantly pulling away. Maybe it's because his heart was beating too fast, that you also feel it pump blood to the lower half of his body. A something else entirely beating against your warm body as he tells you in a low gruff voice. His breath hot against your lips, his arms pulling you closer in place. "More,"

[humanpurposes]

maybe you're interested in what i have to say, maybe not.

I feel really disheartened that someone expressing their dislike and skepticism for a trope managed to spark such a volatile few hours on here.

For Em's original point, liking or not liking the bimbo!reader trope is a matter of preference. Calling it anti-feminist can still technically be an opinion, and if you disagree that's fair. For me, bimbofication can fall into the illusion of Choice Feminism, that being a woman and making a choice does not make that choice inherently feminist when it could be contributing to harmful stereotypes or unrealistic standards. For example, the pursuit of beauty standards. Me bringing this up isn't to say that wearing makeup, spending a lot on skincare, or making physical alterations to your body is morally wrong, but we don't exist in a vacuum. We should do what feels right, but we can still question why it feels right. I'm a woman. I like to think I'm intelligent. I also like to think I'm hot as fuck. None of these contradict one another.

I would still hope that we as writers can critically assess what we're actually putting out. And most of us are operating in the HotD fandom where problematic tropes are kinda the norm, but then when I read a dark fic, I am under no impression that what I'm reading is healthy, acceptable or empowering outside of fiction.

Characterisation and accuracy is something I have a lot of thoughts on but we've already seen how well that conversation goes on here. All I'll say is that I personally think that Michael Gavey would hate a bimbo character, especially because he seems to value intelligence (or academic performance at least) over visual appearance or social status. But we all have our own interpretations of the character, and it's Ewan Mitchell in glasses, that's the main reason why most of are writing for this character.

Anyway, the really cool thing about freedom of expression is that we get to like and dislike things. I can understand that if you're someone who enjoys reading or writing this trope that the original post might have made you feel angry or upset, but we as adults can control how we react to people who disagree with us. Some people on here take Tumblr way too seriously and take it way too personally when someone disagrees with them. I've said it before, but "don't like, don't read" can be applied to opinion posts. Someone posting an opinion about a trope on their own blog isn't an attack on anyone, but condemning people for that comes across as very hypocritical to me. Write what you want, no one is stopping you.

[agust-june]

Let's talk about KIM DOYOUNG...

I just came here to say if I CATCH yall defending Doyoung out here it's blocked on fucking site. I need yall Ncitzens and Kpop stans to STAND THE FUCK UP.

Out here posting pictures of ugly ass snowmen with MCDONALDS BS. GFTOFH. I saw this yesterday but Koreaboo pissed me off and these tweets of these fucking weirdos made me mad. So imma talk about it here.

Imma post screen shots of tweets and for those of you that are clearly not assholes or not delusional, let's point and laugh.

Fuck the first tweet bc though he is not supposed to be making political statement. That's what he's doing. And I will drop that man like a trash bag into the dumpster. The SECOND TWEET FUCK KIM DOYOUNG'S FEELINGS. Fuck him what about the feelings of the Palestinian fans that he has? What about the people you are actively dying from bombs? starvation? Dehydration? What about them? Out here actively making SNOW MEN using McDonald's shit FUCK HIM. AND FUCK YOU TOO WEIRD ASS BITCH.

The first tweet here. It's not about his family or friends. Doyoung is in the public posting pictures of McDonald's snowmen. He's fucking weird. And if we find out about his family and Friends they can get the smoke too. They ain't special. The last tweet on the bottom...yall spend too much online into kpop. I need people to be educated and up-to-date in the world bc what do you mean does that country exists??? I need people to WAKE UP GO TO FUCKING SCHOOL OR GET HOBBIES OUTSIDE OF KPOP PLEASE AND THANK YOU.

We knew SM wasn't shit. We knew. Doyoung, I am not shocked he's in SM. I like to give people chances but once you fuck up you fuck up. And THIS??? Oh baby you lucky SM needs you for they check which is why I will not be supporting Doyoung and I will give you the Wendy treatment bye bitch.

Hell isn't hot enough. That's all imma say.

On that note, I want to add that as a K-pop fan and Ncitizen, I am greatly disappointed, but I am not surprised. I had a FEELING someone in NCT was gonna do this bs. For once, I was hoping to be proven wrong. But that hoes to show you... we don't know these groups. He isn't the only one supporting these companies. Other idols are, too.

Here's some links to other idols

I also want to note that I will be taking my Doyoung post down even though it had Johnny in it. I'm clutching my pearls like a southern white woman and leaving. I can't get rid of the merch I bought, especially my DoJaeJung albums, but I won't be buying anymore. I understand some of these idols are under contract. For example, New Jeans they have a contract with Coca-Cola, and they just had a meal with McDonald's. That I completely understand. But ACTIVELY spending money to McDonald's and Starbucks and posting it!?!? Nah, you gotta go. Idc who you are. I don't care you have godly teir vocals you're done. It's not that hard to TRY to do something good. I am actively avoiding Starbucks, McDonald's, actively staying up to date on what's going on in the world. It's not just Palestine. It's Congo. Sudan. Yemen. If I can do all of that work a job. Go to school. Watch One Piece (an anime that actively talks about corrupt governments, genocide, war, propaganda, etc). Kim fucking Doyoung and other kpop idols can do it too. They just don't care and want to keep rolling their checks (he probably need to with that pocket change he probably getting). I AM BEGGING yall K-pop stans who still don't get it to STAND UP. Get a life. Read a fucking book. Because yall look dumb as hell, and I'm sorry, but my EGO MY PRIDE will not allow me to be dumb and continue to turn a blind eye when I know people are dying in a genocide. And for those of you saying "well just educate the idol." Baby, there's a reason why college is for adults, and it's not a mandatory if grown adults want to make the choice to learn they'll do it. These idols are GROWN it's not my job to educate adults who are older than me, and it shouldn't be your job either, especially FOR FREE.

I hope yall have a good day today, and I hope yall stay safe out there!

[notdefendingtaylor]

hey so genuine question here. I don’t like TS at all, and scrolling thru ur blog you seem like someone who is both well educated and well articulated and is very mindful about nuance. I was just wondering if you had thoughts or opinions about when antis (from my perspective at least) seem to aggressively bash Taylor’s looks? Bc on one hand, I understand how much Taylor has weaponized and twisted feminism to benefit herself and protect herself from any criticism. But on the other hand, as a (kinda lol, gender amirite?) woman, I can’t help but feel a bit u comfy when I see ppl only posting about how she looks worse with the work she’s had done cosmetically, or how she “must be so insecure” in this relationship given how much Botox/filler she’s gotten. Like, it’s not even that it can sometimes feel (to me) misogynistic, but it also feels,,, pointless? Like, she’s a billionaire which is inherently unethical, there are tangible actions she’s taken and problems she’s created or fed into that we should be discussing and criticizing, and instead we’re comparing her eye sizes? And how puffy her cheeks are? Idk, again this could be me having an internal bias/being influenced by white feminism/falling for how TS and pop culture have co-opted feminism, but I just have found myself feeling torn when I see those posts and feel the way I do when reading them. Idk I thought maybe this would at least be a productive discussion to have? See if others have similar or different views that could help me gain perspective? Ah I hope this makes sense lol

yes, anon, I feel the same way. I think there is being observant about someone and there is being spiteful. It's generally not my thing to use looks as a way to criticize someone's character. take for example when lizzo got widely panned after being accused of misconduct, suddenly it was open season to leverage her weight against her (as though fatshaming ever went away). so, was the dislike of her about her behavior, or her weight all along, since that's what people were shouting the loudest...?

for taylor, i think it's useful to talk about the ways she has conventional beauty privilege, being a body type most girls can easily see as an ideal. clothing brands have probably never refused to dress her for red carpet events like some of the stars who are a dress size 12 or higher. her distinctive eyes have been an iconic feature so an asset rather than a problem, like renee zellewegger's. it's good to acknowledge all of that. she's also taller and that can have challenges as far as not being perceived as taking up too much space, which she's written about fairly well.

for the botox discussion, i personally think work has been done but it's her life and her choice. i am deeply saddened by younger stars who haven't even cracked 30 yet doing huge amounts of surgery, that concerns me more because, like, do you even have your final developed adult face shape by then anyway?? taylor is well of an age to make those kinds of decisions and i neither feel the need to protect her or glory in anything in particular about it. i tend to notice more when her style courts punk looks with harsh makeup, which never sits that comfortably with me as she doesn't look comfortable to me either. and unpopular opinion but i liked her lil beanie look at a recent chiefs game, she looked like herself to me, or the taylor many of us grew up with.

i think tone and intent matter and it's not always immediately evident what those are, but there is a fair amount of obvious looks shaming. people WANT someone they don't like and perceive as lacking character and being fake to also look bad and look fake. so yes, i personally back away from intense looks shaming, but i think i know what's behind it. realistically i don't know why she gets work done and speculating about it feels pointless to me too. ttpd reeked of insecurity and instability so maybe others' explanations make sense, or there's an argument to make there. but pretending she isn't still someone the red carpet will dress and style happily doesn't work for me, i won't say she's ugly or anything like that.