#long rant TLDR women love me

[kn11ves]

idk what it is with me and women but they just flock to me in my time of need. 5 seconds ive been in a room and they want to tie my shoelaces for me they wanna help me do things they want to give me advice and make sure im okay i what

[itsanotheridiot]

Alrightly as someone who owns LiS, BTS, LiS 2, and TC. I also had given the benefit of the doubt to DeckNine but after seeing multiple clips and leaked information about development from a confirmed ex employee of DN I am officially not buying double exposure.

For anyone in the unknown or don’t want to read my long rant. TLDR: Life is Strange felt victims to Corporation greed ruining game franchise and character alienation

Also side note I do have to be vague about specific of the leaked content due to post with it getting taken down. Also DO NOT HARASS THE VOICE ACTORS OR DEVELOPERS BLAME DECKNINE, SQUARE ENIX, NARRATIVE TEAM AND EXECUTIVES

First thing first the narrative team did not give a fuck about the game from the starts and didn’t do any research and never attempted to understand the characters or their stories so yup just bringing max back for one big old cashgrab and due to their egos of a executive producer and the lack of media analysis and literacy from the narrative team they decided to cut Chloe from the story all together but should we be surprised this is coming from the DN the company that had a controversy about one of their developers trying to sneak into racist symbols into the game and DN who fought against their team from having Alex be the first confirmed bi lead in LiS (saying this cause it’s obvious the male love interest Warren, Elliot ,and Finn was there to appeal to audience but their interest with the lead isn’t as flesh out as the women love interest Chloe, Rachel, and Cassidy)

Anyways How did they write Chloe out you may ask? They had Chloe tell max “she can’t move on so I has to go” and broke them up like that is the most OOC shit ever Chloe the girl who journal entries from 5 years in the form unsend letters to Max. Chloe who canonically in the comic waits 2 years for max to come back to her.

There is a reason they are called partners in time their relationship is crucial to the story and their characters arcs they are linked to take away one of them fundamentally breaks the story because the relationship is at the center of it all

Now I am aware some argue the sacrificing Bae is the moral choice but canonical max by the time of episode 5 wants the town to burn and everyone in it she doesn’t care anymore max is more fucked up then people allow her to be cause she is quiet but while we would sacrificed the bae. Max would never. And trust me this is from someone who also sacrificed Bae but I still understand how important Chloe is to Max’s character

These are a few canon max journals entries these ain’t even all the evidence max has dialogue expressing disgust and hatred for Acadia Bay.

While yes LiS handles heavy topics and tells stories about children with supernatural powers that’s what it is a story and what makes a good story is characters relationship that’s what we connect with not the that’s what makes these heavy topics more personal or easier to handle

LiS wouldn’t be what it is without Chloe and Max’s relationship

LiS 2 wouldn’t be a good story without the wolf brother relationship

BTS expanded the amberprice relationship to make the reveal in the original game hit harder

TC was a interesting case because Alex didn’t have any connects but throughout the story she builds some

LiS is about outcasts craving and finding connect in extreme situations chaos was happening but love still prevailed (romantic, platonic, familial) 

Now away from all the shipping stuff for the moment. The writing in DE from the footage I seen is something like the way they try to make the game seem mature is by making sexual jokes targeted at max but it feels like they are trying to be adult like it feels like jojo siwa’s rebrand the being super sexual because that’s adult like no that’s not (also I’m aware people who experience sexual violence could become hyper sexual due to the trauma but from what I seen in the leaked footage this ain’t it) The pacing is also wonky from what I seen stuff that needed time to set in didn’t get that or they breeze by quickly.

Like comparing DeckNine’s LiS games (BTS and TC) to DONTNOD (LiS and LiS2). BTS to me kinda feel like a fanfic they had a whole game to build off of and expanded on the complexities of the Amberprice relationship which I did really enjoy while having Rachel father be a DA was definitely a writing choice it was vague enough where we can ignore it and it didn’t break the base of LiS too much just made little plot holes Now TC I do think TC is a decent game but is also the blandest out of the LiS games there was a lot of missing potential I feel like they could have done but it does work enough and gave us some nice lore like explaining why Steph and Mike wasn’t in the original game they were out of town or wasn’t at the school. Nice little story moments without stepping on the original too much.

Making a sequel with a beloved character like was a super risky choice one they could have achieved if they had actually cared about the stories and characters. I genuinely thought DeckNine was just hiding Chloe and we was going to get the memorable detective duo again and we could have had a very interesting story about a traumatized max regretting her decision all those years ago and exploring different timelines to revalue if she made the right choice that could have been a good way to expand of how the OG story effect the characters while still respecting both ends but also respecting who the characters are at their core

My last point is also how disrespectful the oversexualized and axing of pricefield is. I would like to remind you that LiS came out in 2015 this was around the time female gaming and female characters in video games were started to be taken seriously JMax and Luc even revealed how at the time Square Enix who gave the game a chance with a female lead that looked like a normal teenage

Also because this game came out in 2015 It was a massive achievement for the LGBT+ community a video game with explicit queer content at the center of the story won 3 categories at the game awards. At the global game awards it won 2 categories and came in second for globe game of the year. life is strange won 6 awards at the golden joystick. That was massive process in 2015 especially since LiS came out January 30, 2015. Gay marriage wasn’t even legal then gay content was barely anywhere this was a important game to people at the time and still is. It’s hard to imagine that now considering how much progress and content we have now.

Double exposure had so much potential I feel like there was so many interesting ideas the fandom has only to learn the game never stood a chance from the start because of a bunch of greedy egocentric executives that would rather destroy the hearts of their story than make a good game

I guess the only bright side is that alternate universe exist in life is strange in a different universe we didn’t get this shit cash grab game we actually got a game that how real love and care put into it the characters weren’t alienated and the heart wasn’t torn out in alternate universe pricefield is thriving after everything romantic or not

[sofoulandfairaday]

do you think the blacks had sexist beliefs? Do you think Sirius and Regulus did?

This is a very interesting question, especially because purebloods are often portrayed with very Victorian beliefs in fanfiction, which can only be partly inferred from the original books. I think that it was in the author's intentions to create a more equal society: there have been several female Ministers for Magic, for example, and in general magic would naturally be an equalizer, since it does not manifest differently in men and women in the books. However, the single female characters portrayed in the books, especially the adult ones, do not lend themselves well to this interpretation. Most of them exist inside very domestic settings - be it a school or a household - and the books promote Being A Mother as the pinnacle of womanhood.

(Which is coincidentally one of the reasons why I don't really love the existence of Delphi outside fanfiction. Bellatrix's sort of love is portrayed - in most literal, on-the-nose way possible - as the antithesis to maternal love. Making her yet another mother in the story undermines her character to me. But this is a whole other post.)

On top of that, the Blacks are very obviously conservative and aristocratic. So. As for the older Blacks (Walburga, Orion, and that whole generation), yes. Definitely yes. Perhaps in different ways, I think the wizarding world's brand on sexism would very much be interwoven with blood supremacy and seeing witches as the keepers of the blood, and the morals of a household, and that it is their very duty to marry and especially to produce heirs (pureblood babies! especially since those families seem to be fairly infertile). A woman who tries to escape that would be seen very badly, in my opinion.

As for Sirius and Regulus. Regulus' politics - sorry Reggie girlies - were very much conservative. And I refuse to believe that he didn't have mommy issues. I hc him as gay, honestly, and it is for the best because he would realistically be a bad boyfriend/husband. I cannot imagine him ever standing up to defend a possible wife to Walburga (or even Bellatrix) in a family dinner setting or the like - and any wife of his would suffer hell. Imagine marrying into the Black family as a woman and having them as in-laws. You would never be good enough. His wife would be chosen for him - pure of blood, someone worthy of producing heirs, and he probably wanted someone to take care of him in the way mommy never did. This poor hypothetical girl would have an additional child. In general, I think his views on women wouldn't be incredibly backwards but not even progressive. He'd be okay with you as long as you were the right kind of woman.

As for Sirius. He was a man born to an aristocratic british family in 1959. Make of that what you will. Sexism was just another of the prejudices he tried to unlearn during his lifetime - and meeting women like Lily, or his other non-pureblood female friends in Gryffindor, that would have definitely heard of the Women's Rights Movement and would have probably been feminists themselves - would have definitely helped. But it's hard for anyone (women included) to let go of all internal biases. He'd definitely still be the type to call a woman he dislikes a bitch, for example. Did he stand up of the common room table and give feminist rants on reproductive rights? Probably not. Did he fundamentally believe in equality and appreciated/supported strong women? Definitely.

TLDR: yes, in an appropriate way for age & setting. They were complex characters and their views on women probably reflected their overall politics. Regulus is part of a group of people who see society as divided into classes, where everyone gets assigned a role. Sirius was the opposite. Also, most people hold some sexist beliefs nowadays, in 2023, and I don't like imposing that sort of morality on fictional characters living in the 1990s.

[drinkthemlock]

under the cut is an “amor e medo” essay on álvares rant because it pisses me off but tldr: oh! years of untreated mental illness and looming inevitable death by consumption (on top of going through the ordeal of living in 19th century Brazil) took a toll on a young man’s abilities to relate to people? extremely shocking.

most ridiculous thing about that homophobic essay written about álvares saying that his writing was effeminate and “unvirile” and he was afraid of women and sex because he was “raised amongst skirts” is the fact that he absolutely was not raised amongst skirts. he deeply respected his mom and loved his sister greatly yes but he also went to all boys’ boarding schools, university, students’ lodgings, etc. basically navigating all-male spaces his entire life (despite the fact that spaces in Brazil at that time were not as gender segregated as we may think, esp. in Rio). like there’s literally zero evidence (that I know of) that he even had any female friends besides his sibling. also, to pathologize even the few relationships he had with the women he was related to is not only lame but feels really sexist in its core as well? like god forbid this sixteen year old boy be friends with his sister and trust his mother! he must secretly want to fuck them! and maybe, just maybe they played such a constant role in his writing because he… loved them? his elevating of his kinswomen with the purpose of tearing other women down and his possessiveness towards them is not necessarily evidence of oedipal inclinations, but of being misogynistic. which he definitely was. “oh, but there’s brother-sister incest in noite na taverna!” for god’s sake……. noite na taverna is the fucked-up-people-doing-fucked-up-things novel. the incest itself is not even romanticized! it’s rape! the sister kills her rapist later!

most of his writing is indeed about longing and love and unconsummated relationships but that’s because he’s a romantic poet. his style is unique in its execution, not in its themes. and not to play armchair therapist with a long dead teenager (but since the author of the essay already did), his personal letters reveal a difficulty in his relationships with people, full stop. women especially, yes, but most people in general as well. there are letters of his to Luís during his stay in São Paulo which are exactly about how he could not get close, how cold and unfeeling people think he is and how that makes him feel even more alone in the world. azevedo from rosaura (a book by one of álvares’ São Paulo friends that includes him and other law students as characters) is so bitter and cruel you would think the author hated álvares. how can someone who loved his friends more than nearly everything in the world (he literally says as much in the “my dearest” letter to Luís, which I’ve translated here if you’d like to read it) feel such an all-consuming loneliness? because he’s depressed! here’s the crux of it: his poems are all about those things i’ve mentioned earlier because 1. he’s a romantic poet following the style of the time and 2. because he was The Saddest Boy in The Whole Wide World. that’s literally it.

[tragically-jane-doe]

Hi srry having big feelings bout Alma and need to rant

ALMA MADRIGAL ISNT A VILLAIN

Look is she the best mom? No. But is there a actual best mom that exists? No! Because moms are human, humans make mistakes even well meaning mistakes.

Was she severely traumatized by seeing her husband and God knows how many more people murdered mere hours after giving birth to triplets and also by other unseen horrors that weren't shared in the movie cause ya know Disney but most definitely happened cause they placed it during a actual real event in history? Yes.

She truly never meant to hurt her family, she's a woman who had to be strong for 3 newborns and later on kids and whatever problems occurred after the forming of encanto. I don't think she ever had a moment to properly grieve her loss only times when she couldn't ignore it and by the time her children and encanto had grown she probably didnt know HOW to grieve and process everything that happened after putting it on hold for so long.

I keep thinking of the lines "Bruno didn't care about this family" "Bruno loves this family"

I feel thats the same for alma she truly loves her family but her actions can be seen that she doesn't care for them. But She truly wants her family to be happy!

Sadly her trauma bleed down to her children who watched their mother put her feelings aside as best as she could and learned to do the same. Imagine your mom who most of the time is this unbending force towards everything and then you see her have bout of raw pain and true sorrow (because it's impossible not to have break downs after something so horrific) and how terrifying that would be to see, I think the triplet would end up hiding their feelings from her because their fear of these bouts and a fear of causing them. Also seeing the fear around them and the uncertainty of growing up is the beginning stages of encanto would leave a mark on them.

And of course the trauma bleeds to the grandkids. They see their mom/tia/tio and their anxieties and their most likely attitude to put off their own feelings and such. See their abuela and her tendencies to say everything is fine and ignores emotional problems and they learn from it cause it would be hard not to. They also would have picked up on the adults hiding things from alma so not to upset her and you cant say they don't isabela is legit gonna be engaged to a man she doesn't love because she doesn't wanna upset alma.

Also again it's a Disney movie so we aren't gonna get the icky gritty stuff but like she wasn't the the villain of the movie ya know. She was a woman whose story we didn't know/understand until the last 5mins. Yeah she's unlikable in the movie but we are only seeing a few very stressful days of this family.

I also wanna say this isnt me endorsing Alma's actions. She says fucked up stuff and does fucked up stuff. But this is me saying there's a explanation on why she did the things. I'm saying that to this day there is real life generational trauma that effects ppl. There's generational trauma that goes back so very far in time and can never be truly healed. But can be learned from and built upon so hopefully it won't hurt the future.

Also thinking about another line " I thought I'd be a different woman" what if she was a different woman if Pedro never sacrificed himself, if there was no threat to them. Life is full of I thoughts and what ifs.

Again alma was never the villain. She wanted the best for her family she just couldn't understand that her best was hurting them.

Alma had a dream of what her life would be and it stayed a dream.

TLDR

Alma was never a villain only a traumatized women who never dealt with it properly and ended up hurting her family and I hope more people understand that

[finer-k0alateez]

tldr: scattered thoughts on barbie with a quick rant on hetero relationships. from a queer dude

my thoughts on barbie(for those who haven’t seen it) is you should go in expecting the leggo movie, not don’t look up. it is funny and does come from the perspective of women(which in this society makes it political) but it’s not a political satire in proper. it’s a movie for kids about toys. it’s for girls specifically so the themes are aimed at their beliefs. like if you’ve had a conversation with a woman about gender relations in the past three years. it’s a kiddie version of that.

maybe i was expecting a thinkpeice just because i haven’t seen any other barbie media(and didn’t really consider the implications of matel making a movie about barbie and it not just being sum sweet for the kids) but idk like… not only the promo but also the initial reaction was very political but again i guess it’s just cause “woman bad”

margot robie crush is definitely getting worsaa

yeah just expect a silly little girl power movie

(for those who have seen it.)

(there’s no spoilers, and nothing to spoil- cuz, again, silly little movie, but i’m gonna make points that are informed by having seen the movie)

i think the themes are really cool. i think getting this glimpse into women’s views on society and gender relations and men has been really interesting for me. not only the makers of the film but also the core audience and fanbase talking about the film i’ve just seen heard the perspective of women in really fresh way

as far as society and patriarchy, women think it sucks, that’s not news.

but the thoughts on hetero relations and men were interesting to me.

i saw one person draw the parallel that in patriarchy-Ken’s “perfect world” they dominate and women are given tasks and jobs whereas in Barbies perfect world men just don’t matter. highlighting the difference in cruelty of forced dominance verses toleration.

i think this really hits home. one of the main themes of the movies is that the kens are like stupid and sad and insecure. which is definitely a lot more progressive of an idea to have of men then evil so i just appreciate the attempt made there.

though i think that line about how kens don’t matter to barbies and are not needed gets at a key feeling that incels hold and that’s that most men do not feel intrinsically valuable or wanted.

common incel recruitment phrase is “only women and children are loved unconditionally. men are only loved if and when they provide something.” and it just represents the subjectification of men that comes along with the objectification of women.

in patriarchy and capitalism boys are raised to be doers, good little worker bees who provide their whole nuclear family’s income on their own. while women are raised to please a man and raise his children.

in patriarchy’s eyes, women’s value comes from being. being pretty, being a warm hole/baby factory, being a wife, and while domestic labor has always been expected, it hasn’t always been understood by misogynists to be real work in any capacity. men on the other hand must do. they must make money, or make good sex, or make the giggles, or make the first move.

i think this objectification/subjectification difference has a lot of bearing on our ability to understand and be intimate with one another. women long to be subjectified. this is what barbie represents. the woman who can do and be anything. the ultimate subject. in her perfect world everything is done by her to her liking, leaving kens without purpose. in kens perfect world he is the ultimate object. the horses, the cars, the dumb movies, all things to be observed and admired. “the horse is an extension of the man.” under patriarchy the thoughts, beliefs and being of a man are inherently more valuable-inherently more important. to draw meaningful breath in kentopia one needed only to be ken.

this shows up in women’s relationships with other women and men’s relationships with other men. women do things for one another. gifts, acts of service, and more importantly they show intamacy by sharing secrets, helping each other cope with things, and providing support in hard times, this is often seen as a failing of male relationships but i’ve always seen it as a difference in values between men and women. male intimacy isn’t about being needed or useful or helpful it’s about being wanted. it’s about ones presence in the other’s life being valued including and especially in the absence of purpose. men watch tv shows and baseball games they could’ve watched alone, together. they buy video games they aren’t excited about just to play them with one another.

these differences (i think) lead to the riffs we see in hetero dating. women and men speak different languages of intimacy. women put forth the effort toward being a true confidant and dependable ally and are disappointed to find that men won’t put forth the effort to pursue and earn the right to be with them and enjoy those benefits. but men put forth the effort of unconditional love and acceptance and desire for their partner and are disappointed to find that women often view them as one option of many who will need to earn and keeping earning his place in her heart.

i think the the most honest part of gretas portrayal of kens and barbies is that the happy ending for the barbies is regaining their sensibilities and capabilities(their power to do) and for the kens it’s learning how to find value in themselves(their right to be).

[6-of-november]

The last worry of moving-in, me, ig. That's how it feels when my girlfriend has inadvertently (but on a few occasions admittedly purposely) talked down to me about being polyamorous/sexual.

In a super-abridged timeline: when we first hung out before any bits of a relationship (48 hours after introduction) I told her I was poly, when we met she was poly but not okay with me being poly bc she liked women & "it's different" that she wants a female to female connection than me wanting another female-male connection. It was less than a year into us being together when she tried justifying her gender double standard & I told her, "go fuck yourself." It came up in conversation, she genuinely doesn't remember this entire day. In the time that followed, I didn't behave polyamorously first bc I was at college, it wouldn't be fair to her if I found someone IRL & left her alone, then bc it was the pandemic & it's just not practical, then the whole threesome thing occured & that fallout so I didn't behave polyamorously to re-prove my commitment to her.

Well, it's been two fucking years, since that incident & it's about to be 2 fucking years since she asked me to take her back after she left me over the whole threesome thing. At every one of these summary life phases I have been given a different excuse why I shouldn't be allowed to be poly. I'm not some filandering ass hiding behind words, I feel my crushes, I've cried out my complicated emotions in this realm, & I've tried everything I can think of to become un-poly to please my partner. If it didn't bring me more joy & deep fulfillment than anything else I would love to just get rid of that part of me but I can't. Yesterday marked one year clean of all the drugs & habits I quit cold turkey just because I could, so know, that if I could make this change in myself I would & that the effort was there.

My partner has said some awful things about me being poly in the past, "you're just a boy," "you're never doing that," "Fuck you, what is wrong with you," "I have to be special, me, no one else," & the most recent (bad) thing, "well that's what it is isn't it." That last one seems odd, but that was her response to me venting about my parents anti-poly rant which I concluded with, "this is a real thing, I'm not just a horny ass hole." "well that's what it is isn't it." "A horny ass hole?" "Yes" I was mad, I left about five minutes after that exchange & saved my yelling & crying in the car. There's been good parts over the years like when we cried together that we couldn't change for the other in this regard, when she promised she understood I am this way & it's something I can't change, or recently when she asked me if I need love to have sex, (tldr, I'd suspected for years she was demi-sexual & she's just starting to give this thought), & I said 'no' to which she said she will bring it up in therapy after she gets through everything else (I have serious worries about being a non-priority in her backlog of 'everything else') but that she'd be more open to things then. Issue is, I think she's building an image where we have a few spicy nights with a booty call before we die whereas I'd be down for spicy nights but I'd love to go on dates with her & love interests & optimistically find long term partners who I may someday refer to as my husbands or wives for convenience (& to piss off conservatives).

Now, my parents who I live with are fervently monogamous, & my mom in particular has talked at length about how gross & awful she thinks any form of polyamorous/sexual is & it hurts to hear, so admittedly I don't want to be poly while under their roof, but if I'm not under their roof I think I'm done being treated like dirt in this regard.

I've been poly for 9 goddamn years, I've turned down people & experiences I would have cherished & mathematically had to have missed opportunities I was actively avoiding for someone else's happiness at the expense of my own. I don't want to live in the past, I want to live in the present. nothing would make me happier than to see my partner happy, but, if I'm supposed to find happiness for myself, nothing would make me happier than asking my crushes out on dates, & getting a positive response.

The night of the almost threesome was the best & worst night of my life. Even with the third's limited participation, it was the best, most exciting, & fulfilling sex, every minute felt like a massive emotional hug, it was all better than I imagined, (even compared to my second time having sex when two of my female friends who had a weird love quadrilateral with me watched me & my ex & we made jokes & commentary)- all that overwhelming joy & I stopped it from reaching higher heights bc that would cross lines not already crossed, that's why I blurted out my crush before kisses & hands became more irreversible alternatives. My GF now agrees, my actions make complete sense, miss third wheel set me up to fail, & while I made that night awful & the next 3 months, what I did made it possible for us to get back together at all & she loves & respects that.

What I wouldn't give to feel that again without worries clouding my mind. Like, if gf would just accept me & trust me, (bc ultimately, (from thinking it over & talking to more experienced people, she has her self confidence & anxiety issues but those are her issues) she doesn't trust me & that's more of a blender blade to the heart than a knife tbh) I would ask out Mr short & cute, then theres Miss green who frankly is a picture perfect bff for my gf if they could meet (not just me who said this, & float some openness around extended friend group & apps.

Everyone knows I'm poly, everyone respects me but her, & at this point I'm so tired of having been belittled, talked down to, & made to feel so awful I don't even want to live with myself that I want to be me finally. When we got back together I promised myself that I was going to be unapologetically me, that she wouldn't stop me from living. But, here I am mincing my words, getting put down, & still in forced monogamy. I'll never cheat bc I cannot respect betrayal (shout out to the women I've almost injured when they didn't take my no for an answer, I won't cheat on my gf), but It's so hard to vocalize my frustrations. I know her mental health is rough, I don't think she's a villain but I'm in my head a lot & it's just a lot of hurt & I don't feel like I fit in anywhere, I want to be accepted. So much is out of my control I'd like to have my fucking emotional & sexual autonomy back.

If we move in together she's the only practical barrier to me finally being myself. I don't want this to be our first big fight,but, if it is, I'd be so happy if it was productive. If we split bills like we're talking (it's very much in her favor) I would have enough in my discretionary budget to actually spend more in every category I normally do (bc I have been so extra frugal) & to spend money on dates (gas, dinner, little gifts, etc.) for her &/or other cuties (I refer to love interests as cuties in my head).

I have typed too much

[caelumsnuff]

This fandom knows how to suck the fun out things sometimes lol like telling artists that they shouldn't draw the *listener* characters as femme (when they are *self inserts* lol and can be anything including femme) or getting mad at people for headcanon or rambling about the possible death of characters (like people know it's not gonna happen, but it's fun to talk about sometimes! and if they don't know it isn't gonna happen then who cares?? let people talk about whatever, it's not hurting you). Sometimes I feel like responding, but I don't and just block people instead, but I just don't get what's up with people telling others how to have fun in fandom.

Okay so i really ranted on this one idk i felt i needed to address some random thoughts that are like maybe barely tangentially related to this ask???

TLDR; i agree with you, we should just let people have fun in this fandom for fucks sake.

And thank you so much for this ask it actually felt really good to word soup all my thoughts on this, even if they’re semi-incoherent. I hope you have a lovely day anon💕

Oh yeah for sure. Fun that is even slightly outside the bounds of what is considered “normal” here is ostracized and punished.

I generally see people making OCs to act as the listener characters, or making self inserts, and thats so cool! Its a very unique aspect of this fandom tbh, and i genuinely love that!

Though I said (like a year ago) that i find it strange that sometimes people assert something about the listener characters themselves. Not their OC or SI, but the character. I think asserting specific illnesses or disorders or specific backstories onto characters that are barely characters is a little weird??? Its not like i have a problem with it persay, i just don’t particularly understand the thought process behind it. Cause like in my mind, theyre blank characters for a reason so asserting something about the character as they exist on the channel doesn’t make sense to me. I feel reading too deeply into their behaviors outside of what is explicitly stated and explained in canon kinda defeats the purpose of their place in the story to me. Like the difference between going “my Cutie OC was abused as a child and used their telepathy to read others minds and moods to keep themselves out of harms way from their abusers, and it is now impeding their relationship with Geordie as their coping mechanism is manifesting as abusive behavior” is different from going “Cuties [canon] behavior is because they were abused/autistic and dont understand social cues/relies on telepathy to navigate relationships.” Like one is a headcanon talking about your version of the character, and another is asserting something onto the canon character that isn’t there???

Idk i just dont understand this specific version of headcanons (directly onto canon listener characters as opposed to speaker characters who are actually fleshed out to one degree or another). But that is, still yet, just me complaining LOL. Aside from vague side eyeing that i do on this blog, i aint about to bother anyone or be confrontational about something i just find strange (though i guess “strange” or “weird” are loaded words to use, i really do just mean i dont understand it). Anyways! I still believe people should do whatever the fuck they want, so long as they’re having fun and not harassing others. I feel like a hypocrite to state that i find asserting things onto the canonical listener characters is strange, but i really dont care any more than i care about other perspectives/behaviors i am incapable of empathizing with/completely comprehending.

I think the idea of getting mad that someones self insert or OC is a specific gender is just….. childish??? Immature???? Some people are going to be men, or women, and getting upset that people make their self inserts the same gender as themselves is WILD!!!! Equally as wild to get mad that someone didn’t make their entire OC cast one gender…..

Its also equally as childish and self-centered to assert that the listener characters are canonically anything other than nonbinary people who use they/them, because all of Erik’s content is M4A and uses gender neutral pronouns for ALL listeners. Like going in someones inbox and screaming “THE LISTENERS ARE CANONICALLY ALL FEEEEEMALE!!!” (actual real example btw 💀) Is, aside from being idiotic and quite frankly embarrassing, just straight up wrong.

Let people treat their listeners how they wish to treat them, not everyone is going to imagine them the same way. Myself for example, all the listener characters are me. Its me with slightly different hairstyles, powers, and expressing different aspects of my personality. Im the spiderman meme every time theres a video with more than one listener present.

As for the death of characters thing, thats so wild lol. I’m gonna keep imagining a world in which the Redactedverse holds actual consequences and people die in it. Permanently. I will hold steady in my opinion that Milo and Lasko should have gotten slaughtered during Inversion and no one could even pry it from my cold dead hands.

Do what you want, use websites functions to your advantage to curate your experiences, and have fun.

And for the love of god dont harrass other people over this shit. How the fuck are some of these adults acting like 16 year olds 😭 dont they have bigger things to worry about??? I know for a fact i do

[appeypie]

alright i’m curious, what’s your cinderella hate essay

i got 2 asks for this and i dont want to disappoint The People…

also im putting this under a readmore because it got too long. im sorry for ranting about jojo's bizarre adventure. can you forgive my sins....

TLDR; cinderella (stand) is a love potion, love potions are nonconsensual and not compelling. it rips koichi of his free will, and yukako is able to manipulate him, without any pushback or consequences. there's no growth!!! araki still cannot write women!!!

also aya sucks too. cringe episode. cringe arc.

im so sorry for this incoming text wall

i think the first thing that's really important that i need to get out of the way first is that cinderella's ability IS a love potion. like straight up. and obviously love potion stories are creepy and unconsensual

when i say this, people tend to push back against the idea but its true. how else would you categorize it? koichi would not give yukako the time of day pre-cinderella, even for a second, and in the anime was even seen RUNNING AWAY FROM HER in fear when he saw her on the streets 😭.. and then, suddenly after yukako visits aya once, he is being kind to her. even worried about her. and willing to go to the cafe with her alone.

he is apparently so 'in love' with yukako that he decides to potentially GO BLIND FOR HER??? HUH??? these kids know NOTHING ABOUT EACH OTHER BTW!!! they have no common interests. in their first interactions, yukako thought he was a lying cheater who she needed to fix. and koichi literally hated her, and was terrified of her. she stressed him out so hard that he thought he killed his own stand

like, koichi is incredibly kind and forgiving, but literally nothing in their relationship changed so that he would be comfortable even being near her. its just too sudden. last time they were interacting, koichi was telling her that he hated her and complaining that she "never listens to anything [he says]". she has this pattern of ignoring his opinions and feelings... and it obviously didnt end in yukako falls in love.

also this line:

[Image ID: a picture of diu's official manga translation. aya tsuji is saying, "you're mistaken. in his heart, i'm sure that koichi has fallen in love with you. but his rational mind is still resisting you" /.End ID]

girl "his rational mind"??? you mean the mind that isn't attracted to her in any way.. who remembers the abuse, and how unwilling to change she is 😭

the existence of this arc erases any interesting character growth that yukako could have had. she goes from telling koichi that "i will make you love me, if i can't have you, i'll just kill you, you belong to me" etc etc etc, to "ok, maybe i don't need him after all" at the end of her initial episodes. and then suddenly she regresses back to "actually i do want him" and then she gets him, with no substantial growth on her end.

she isnt kidnapping him this time which is good i guess, but she continues to ignore koichi's free will and agency by "bending fate" so that they can be together. that's just not ok to me

but i think the reason why im so reactive to yukako's situation, and not someone similar like rohan, is that irl mangakas DON'T steal your memories for manga material (i'm pretty sure). but people ARE abused by their romantic partners. yukako's abuse is cartoonish, making koichi eat paper and erasers and building him an electric chair, but its still uncomfortable (especially considering she ends up with him in the end).

[Image ID: a cap from the jojo manga. yukako says, "and you'll thank me. you'll realize that you need me. you won't be able to go on living without me." koichi is sweating and looks shocked and angry /.End ID]

i also feel like people don't seem to take domestic abuse as seriously with women perpetrators. we girlbossify them instead. it all just feels so icky to me, i cant shake it.

everything is made worse by the fact that araki CANNOT!!! write women or f/m relationships well in early-mid era jojo. rohan, tamami and others in the koichi fanclub have clear character arcs, they get better. yukako just doesn't. or at least it isnt enough

aya tsuji is also a flop of a character as well.. i've never heard anyone talk about this, maybe just out of discomfort, but she seems like a predatory lesbian trope. there are a few scenes where she is touching yukako inappropriately or ogling her (and i know with araki's art, it's hard to remember, but she's 16!). it's honestly just so uncomfortable i hate it lol. it's a shame bc i love seeing stand users who aren't attacking the protags, and instead just use their stand for their jobs… but again. araki cant write women. at least women can actually have stands without dying now. but we are far from stone ocean... we'll get there eventually....

ok tbh i have more thoughts but i think for all of our sanity im going to end it here. also my browser glitched and deleted some of this so i wanna be done with it

listen. if you ship them thats fine, really i cant stop you, though i'd recommend thinking about the implications a little harder. yknow. maybe you could rewrite canon so its not incredibly creepy. bc araki flops sometimes and it is perfectly moral to correct him (i do it all the time!!!!!!!)

and for the people who make abuse jokes with them: you get no bitches. also tell your dad to stop calling me and sending me money, its really desperate and i already have enough boyfriends. its embarrassing

[still-a-morosexual-help]

Regarding the new characters in obey me; im super happy their giving us more gender diverse characters. We love that representation

However… to be blunt about it- While i like how the mc can be imagined to be any gender, ethnicity, sexuality, appearance, etc; if they were really going for inclusivity and diversity, they shouldve already had female, non-binary, trans, etc characters from the start and not just adding them in later on. It just feels cheap to do that now. There are characters in the cast that couldve been female or non binary or even trans and the story will be unaffected if not even better. Hell, it would make so much more sense if asmo was gender fluid or enby.

I can understand how some people who didnt pay attention think that this was just any other otome game targeted to a mainly female audience because the entire cast is composed of all cis males. (Unless canon states otherwise and i missed it) but its not. It really infuriates me how petty some people become with just seeing a feminine silhouette. We dont even know much about the new characters and their role in the story yet.

Tldr; solmare should’ve given us the women and enbys from the start of the game. This drama couldve been avoided. But its better late than never i guess.

Sorry for making you read my rant, Thank you and goodnight

Ps: I dont know if this is a real hot take or i just need to chill. But oh boy do i have alot of grievances to the story and gameplay already

Okay so about Solmare not giving us nb, female and trans LIs from the beginning- I completely understand your frustration and I would have loved that However:

Look, I'm not trying to defend Solmare or whatever but you gotta consider their side of things too:

1.) I genuinely don't think they had a concrete plan to add more LIs than the brothers. The game advertises romancing the 7 brothers and that's it. Usually an otome game would advertise their large variety of male LIs. I don't think they expected OM! to grow so popular in such a short period of time (specially considering they have loads more games that never reached this level of popularity). They probably did have a plan of maybe making the side characters dateable but I feel like 13 and Mephisto were both (relatively) rushed jobs?

2.) I don't what the situation is like in Japan - ik being gay is not illegal but I don't know what the actual situation is like there when you're creating lgbtq+ media. I do however live in an Asian country and I do know that getting any type of lgbtq+ media that isn't all awfully stereotyped is hard. I do know that even in Western countries where things are supposed to be generally more accepted that creators can struggle to get lgbtq+ relationships out there. That (though this is somewhat outdated) they had to fight to let Asami & Korra hold hands, or to let Ruby & Sapphire get married (& that in certain dubs Ruby was voiced by a man), that they had to keep hints of Catra & Adora and Marceline & Bubblegum subtle until the last episode. That the producers of Gotham (the tv show) kept referring to two female characters who were canonically in a relationship and who had slept together on the show, as "best friends" despite the writers insisting they were girlfriends, that they had a canon gay character and his possible love interest referred to "as brothers" within the show itself. I have no idea who heads Solmare or who greenlights these games but I can't imagine it wasn't an uphill battle.

3.) Look at the end of the day OM! is an otome game and they are known for having a tiny fair skinned MC with long brown hair. Anime itself is not really the most inclusive of lgbtq+ relationships (and though this has changed recently and there have been more realistic portrayals of them - for the most part they have been either a.) completely ignored b.) used as the butt of a joke c.) grossly fetishized d.) weirdly noncon/dubcon for no reason). So OM! first of all giving us a MC without a confirmed gender who uses they/them pronouns within the game is huge!? I played this game thinking it was gonna be about another petite girl and that I would delete it after about a month and when I realised MC used they/them pronouns within the actual game it felt like I got hit by a speeding train? It was amazing. And now they're adding a nb character with a feminine aesthetic as a LI????? Like hello??? Is no one else impressed? If OM! keeps getting popular they may follow wizardess heart and add more LIs (after all Michael still isn't there yet) meaning potentially more diverse characters. Maybe it's because of what the situation is like where I live (aka being gay is still illegal and - though the law has never been implemented - punishable by 10yrs in prison) and so maybe I have low standards but to me this is a lot and I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt and let them have their slow start (specially considering Solmare has never done anything like this before and they're breaking their own mould and I'm generous enough to let them stumble and take baby steps. Hopefully other new otome games will see om! and its popularity and follow in its footsteps while also improving and picking up OM!'s slack)

Yeah I've been annoyed at people too cause of how they're reacting to a feminine silhouette but I don't really think you can blame anyone else but those people if:

a.) They have no reading comprehension when the game clearly states in the description that it was for all genders

b.) They can't read the note next to the silhouette which says the new character is for people who would prefer them and that they're not there to steal away the other LIs

c.) They're facing some weird internal misogyny/bigotry and are now demanding that anyone who wants a variety in the LIs' gender should get their own game. <- Look if someone is saying this I AM NOT gonna blame Solmare or the OM! team. I'm gonna blame that particular person for being a grade A asshole

Here's a link to a post I made about people feeling anxious about 13 and reasons why they don't have to be, it also touches on some of the stuff I said here -> here

EDIT:

Tldr: all my points basically add up to this ->

[popsiclemania]

2021: My year in kdramas

2021 has to be the year that I watched, re-watched and dropped the most of amount of dramas. Up until 2020, I mainly lived in the romance section of dramaland until the disappointing offerings of last year inevitably pushed me to expand into sageuks, comedies, legal dramas, murder mysteries, thrillers and everything in between.

tldr: watch inspector koo, run on, diary of a prosecutor and the school nurse files.

This is less a drama review and more a review of my drama watching feelings:

Romances— Starting with this to ask, man, what was in the water this year? Tasted like a particularly strong distaste for women in the one genre that usually gives them the most room to breathe. My viewings are mainly a list of what I dropped when: She Would Never Know (dropped halfway), Anti-fan (watched for Sooyoung, no one else needs to endure this), My Roommate is a Gumiho (dropped, I don’t care about more Gumiho trauma, didn’t we already do Tale of the Nine-Tailed), True Beauty (for a hot second I was very taken by a very hot Hwang In youp in this Korean Student of the Year, dropped at ep 14) Hometown Cha Cha Cha (dropped at ep 12, I’m wrestling with a long rant about this which I will post when it’s readable, but it’s a strong NO from me), Yumi’s Cells (dropped halfway, read the webtoon so it was fun to see how they transplanted the cells but the romance is SO MUCH UNIMAGINATIVE HETEROSEXUAL CLICHE and in defiance of everything that makes a great Kdrama romance, I just couldn’t). 

My biggest disappointment was probably Nevertheless. It’s in this section but I refuse to call it a romance. I really enjoyed the first half of this show despite having my guard high up and then it inevitably floundered what it had to say about young love and toxic relationships by overriding what the webtoon maker intended and what the show itself was laying out. And for what? Literally no woman on this gets any respite except for the two BFFs who fall in love. This show could benefit from pretending the last episode does not exist.  

To all these makers, I ask, why would you do this to our heroines? *shakes fist* I’ve worried how Netflix and expanded international viewing could erode Kdrama storytelling, particularly in rom-coms. And it’s not because I don’t want them to experiment or flip the trope table. It’s just that past a certain popularity threshold, Netflix stories seem to get washed out, slicker in visuals but flatter in narrative. And I so don’t want Kdrama rom-coms to lose what makes them so delicious. Alternatively, I’ll dig back into older shows and hopefully keep finding more treasures. 

I thought the romance in Dali and the Cocky Prince was pure cotton candy in a very makjang-y plot and I loved it except for one very questionable Kim Min jae dialogue. I’ve been waiting for lead role Kim Gyu young and I only say more, more, MORE.

But really the one drama that actually saved this genre for me this year was Run On and I’m glad I waited to watch it when I could really take it in. It is so well-written, performed and made. Smart and warm is rare and not easy to do and writer Park Shi hyun deserves everything for this. What’s done so well is how the story, its themes and character relationships are developed through language and movement. (The FL is a translator and the ML is an athlete.) Every Kdrama trope is probably in there and the writer is very clever about how she uses them. Love it! May eonni FTW.

Best dramas — Kooky, fun, smart and feminist, I think The School Nurse Files and Inspector Koo are the rare dramas that actually deserve a second season but I’d gladly go back to revel in all the absurdity of the one we have. Also, I literally do not know how to describe them beyond basic plot, so I just go around whispering them as recommendations to possible converts.

D.P. was hard to watch. Jung Hae in, Koo Kyo Hwan and Kim Sung hyun make it slightly easier to get through this ugly vortex of masculinity, power, obedience, compliance and duty. I’m jealous of how this industry gets to make a military drama like this. 

I was so surprised by how good Diary of a Prosecutor was. On the surface, it shares elements with HCCC in that a purportedly snobby, smart woman unwillingly comes from Seoul to the countryside for work and is at loggerheads with the easygoing, son-of-the-soil hero. Except unlike Homecha, DoaP takes this tension and conflict to its realistic conclusions, doing justice to where these characters come from and where they end up. I enjoyed it so much. I particularly enjoyed the treatment of Cha Myung joo and how Jung Ryeo won played her. I thought it very fitting how much insight we are and are not offered into her. (Finger hearts for the writer!)

Age of Youth is not from this year but from the same writer who has quickly become a favourite of mine. I love how she sprinkles horror elements in a comedy drama about young women. The horror being the missteps/mistakes we make and how they haunt us. This combination of actresses was great. Han Yeri and Park Eun bin, please reunite! 

Sageuks — This genre were a real eye-opener for me in how much they can encompass. I thought I was in for boring historicals, but they can be fun? Shin Hye sun is a walking theatre company unto herself in Mr Queen/Queen Cheorin and I think everyone should watch her run the show in this. Similarly, I think The Crowned Clown deserves a watch for Yeo Jin goo’s performance but unlike Queen Cheorin I wasn’t fully sold on the politics of the show because it’s a little wishy-washy about what exactly it is beyond the defiance of an existing system. That said, the plot did keep me engaged throughout.

Rookie Historian Goo Hae-ryeong was excellent and cemented my love for Shin Se kyung. Cha Eun woo needs to do more unconventional heroes because he clearly has fun with them. Fantasy sageuks have fun in a way that even regular dramas don’t. And the fantasy is in not sticking to only that which is plausible.

I love Park Eun bin and for her I wanted to love The King’s Affection just as much. I mean she’s great in this, the problem is that the plot itself waffles on where to go and what to foreground when. I never thought I’d ask for more court politics over romance but I think this show shines in ep 11 and 12 when it balances both along with scenes of lightness and heavy drama. The second half of the show is stronger for it. But I really wanted more of Eun bin’s court and her political journey, the plans and contingency plans she was making for the many ways her future could unfold. Many points for being gay.

Bossam, on the other hand, was great fun for a while, including its politics and palace intrigue. Post episode 12 though, you realise the fun was in how much of the show takes place in villages or with the leads on the run and once that goes away, so does the fun. But all of the countryside shenanigans I craved, I got in Secret Royal Inspector & Joy. This show just lets its characters run wild and do anything they can or want, occasionally fall into traps, wrestle out of them and go back to more shenanigans. I love Kim Hye yoon as the loud, street and book-smart, divorced woman. Ok Taecyeon is literally a cartoon and my prime example for how much fun and range actors can have if they choose roles that are not inscrutable heroes/placid beauties. I still haven’t finished watching this but the general lesson for a good sageuk is to have the heroine’s active participation, don’t phase them out from all that intrigue. Bonus points for sexy Lee Joon hyuk cameo

I haven’t watched the sageuk of the year Red Sleeve. I’ll probably leave it for a binge in 2022.

BLs+web dramas — Light on Me and To My Star were the only BLs I watched, and the latter was super cute. If we must have mythical creatures fall in love with humans, let it be Kiss Goblin.

Comedy — I don’t think I’ve laughed during a kdrama as much as I did in the first half of Welcome to Waikiki. No character knows what they’re doing and everyone’s out of step with regular life. It falls into the trappings of the stereotypes it flouted and becomes more predictable in the second half, but it was still fun. 

Blockbuster shows— I haven’t watched Squid Games and will probably come back to watch it when the world has forgotten about it. The weekly experience of collectively watching Vincenzo was very fun and I maintain that it is what it is because of how Jean Yeo bin plays Hong Cha young and the director-writer’s love for the Geumga plaza family. I devoured fan fic of this for a while (recommended). 

Despite some quibbles, Hospital Playlist season 1 was such a warm cocoon for me that I was really looking forward to the second one. HP 2, however, turned those quibbles into huge disappointment. What S1 did really well was build background, relationships, character dynamics and motivations episode by episode, keeping us invested in the choices they made and the connections they developed. S2 didn’t build on any of that and instead gave us more of the same but with uneven plotting, pacing and a moral ground so high, I have a crick in my neck.

Dramas— Law School, for me, was half intriguing and half grating. I wanted more of the women and less of the posturing men. I will always love Ryu Hye young. Devil Judge played me with its facade of something substantial to say and then set it all on fire to stay nothing means anything *eyeroll*. Jeong Seona is queen of everything. 

Watch Mad for Each Other for Oh Yeon seo and Gil Hae Yeon. I love every character (except the hero) but they, in particular, are amazing. Longer notes on the show here. 

I binged Stove League in my love for Park Eun bin. The show itself was alright.

Murder mysteries/crime dramas — These were my go-to for high stress weeks. I found them very cathartic for peak anxiety. But I wouldn’t recommend everything I watched. Beyond Evil’s characters were compelling and its shock value was a great stress buster for me but I’d recommend reading these two reviews if you want to watch it critically (here and here). I watched Good Detective in a post vaccine delirium, perhaps the only way to watch it. 

Two dramas I can recommend are Stranger 2 because Cho Seung woo, Bae Doona, Jean Hye jin and, maybe, everybody? He is Psychometric is what happens when murder mysteries are made fun. The strange thing about this show is how delicate it is about character feelings, failings and how accepting of neurodivergence, and how frustrating when it plays so fast and loose with medical terms. Still worth a watch.

Speaking of worth a watch, I finished watching Signal this year and finally understood what people were saying about its plotting. It was very watchable for that and for Kim Hye soo, despite a surprisingly overwrought Lee Je hoon. I thought Kim Eun hee was one of the few writers coming through for me this year. I raced through all the Kingdoms in one weekend. And then she said hold your horses and gave me Jirisan. All of this is basically testament to how much her writing is also subject to the  right treatment and the right director to elevate it. I have so many feelings for Jun Ji hyun and Ju Ji hoon in Jirisan and the show tried its best to stomp on them. Don’t watch, read these instead.

This year confirmed that the dramas I’d live in are Coffee Prince, Her Private Life and Flower Boy Next Door. I rewatched them all. *more finger hearts*

Honorary J drama mentions — Keita Hatsukoi which seems to be the Cherry Magic of this year. Alice in Borderland was fascinating to me for a while. I may have more solid feelings about this after season 2. But it’s part of a disheartening pattern in dramas taking strong source material and then flattening the women to inflate male feelings :/ Less of this in 2022 please.

Edit: Also, adding The Way of the Househusband here because how could I forget!!! 

[babybinxxx]

1 & 5 bestie! ❤️

omg the literal goddess, Alpha, Omega, Queen, and everything in between of Fezco/Lexi fics in my ask box? What did I do to deserve this? Your writing is everything to me. Also, you probably don't know this, but I am the one who offered you my firstborn in exchange for the Daddy chapter. Even if you NEVER write the chapter, the firstborn is STILL yours, no refunds. You can call it Ashtray junior.

Anyways, I will stop fangirling to answer the question: 1. What writing projects are you currently working on?

I am working on my Soulmate/Soul mark AU: Words that Tie, Ties that Bind. It's my passion project. I have a Fezco/Lexi fic that I want to write but I will talk more about it in the NEXT question. 2. Which story is your favorite? Least favorite? My current favorite does have to be Words that Tie, Ties that Bind purely because of how much the idea speaks to me. I'm 200k words in, 38 chapters deep, and I'm still writing. My ADHD mind doesn't understand how I'm doing that. Hopefully, I can keep going.

I don't want to say my least favorite because I still love it it, it’s the fic I have called Doin' Time. But I say that one because I know I could have made it better. It's a Disturbia/Rear Window AU that I will 100% go back and touch up. I wrote during the lowest point of my life, aka after my Abuelo died of COVID. I poured all of my angst and heartache into that fic that I didn't really take the time to make sure it was SOLID. At least in my opinion, anyway. I know other people will disagree but I think I could always improve it. That being said, I do think the AU/idea would work amazing for Fexi.

Okay, imagine this: Gus's life takes a downward spiral and he dies of an overdose. Lexi (despite being hurt by her father's drug addiction was still very close to him) begins to act out in school and subsequently gets put on house arrest for assaulting someone who mocks her father's death. Just as Lexi is beginning her house arrest and beginning to process her grief and trauma, two things happen, 1. Marie O'Neill moves in next door with her two grandsons and 2. Cal Jacobs, who had long since moved into the house behind Lexi after divorcing and leaving his wife and sons, has many dark secrets connected to local missing men and women. TLDR: Lexi falls in love with her seriously hot neighbor Fezco while also dealing with the discovery that Cal Jacobs has been entertaining men and women who happen to go missing after he brings them into his home. And things really take a turn for the worst when Lexi is spying on Cal only to find her best friend's crush, Jules, in his living room. It's perfect, it's got murder, sex, lies, deception, mystery, hurt/comfort, and crime.

ANYWAY~ LONG RANT OVER. Thank you so much for your asks, bby. I love seeing you on my dash.

[thechangeling]

Ok so a conversation @littlx-songbxrd and I were having made me remember something I was ranting about to a friend of mine once.

Brace yourselves this is going to be long. I'm sorry.

The sexism, homophobia and racism of the shadoworld straight up doesn't make sense and here's why. So if we start chronologically with the infernal devices. There is sexism towards Charlotte right? People don't want her running the institute and they don't want her becoming the consul because she is a woman. But the Clave has no problem letting women train and fight. This doesn't really make sense in my opinion.

Now you could argue that it's because they believe woman can be string capable fighters just not rational thinkers. Which is weird because in my experience you don't meet a lot of people who are "partially sexist" in that way. Like if a man believes a woman can't do high profile, high paying jobs then they usually also don't want them in the military. Anyways moving on, there aren't any mentions of homophobia in TID, mostly because they're arent any queer characters except Magnus and Woolsey.

But something interesting to point out is that none of the characters who know about Magnus and Woolsey ever comment on it really. And following this point, none of the mains display any signs of misogyny either really. (Except for what Will says to Tessa at the end of CA but that was because of the "curse.") You could argue that this is because they're the protagonists so they are supposed to be better then that. But accidental microaggressions are pretty common especially during that time period. More on that later.

Moving onto racism, this is the interesting part. Jem says to Tessa that shadowhunters believe that you are a shadowhunter first and your nationality or eace second. Actually Jem doesnt mention race but he says this while talking about being half Chinese so it's kinda relevant. Shadowhunters rarely tall about race throughout the books in general except for a few instances. When Jessamine criticizes Jem to Tessa, she calls him a foreigner and says some other racist shit that I can't really remember. Something about the yin fin and calling him lazy. That directly contradicts Jem's statement about them all being shadowhunters first. Also Will and Jem actually constantly talk about being Welsh and Chinese in the books so that statement is kinda bogus in general.

And if CC didn't want her mains being sexist or homophobic to show them as good people then why was it ok for both Jesse and Gabriel to say questionable shit about Jem? Anyways moving on to TLH. Sexism is still running rampid with their cultural customs and people being shitty about Charlotte being consul. Bots have to ask the girls to dance, girls cannot have sex before marriage or else they will be ruined or whatever you know the drill. But again, they let the girls fight. Cordelia is allowed to carry around a giant ass sword but she can't get some????

IT DOESN'T MAKE ANY SENSE CASSANDRA!!!!!

Sorry I'm losing it. Anyways. Regarding racism. Alastair and Cordelia have experienced micro aggressions from the mains (Matthew and Anna) but it's never addressed. I'm pretty sure if memory serves, the inquisitor makes a nasty comment under his breath about persians when the Carstairs family sans Elias arrive. And then we have the whitewashing of Ariadne/Kamala by her parents.

But none of this stuff ever gets brought up really. Exceot for Kamala talking about her past and who she was before and sharing her original name, but she still doesn't talk about how it effects her potential coming out. Alastair doesnt mention race when he talks about the bullying he went through at the academy and none of the white characters ever stop to think about how Kamala and Alastsir's races play a part in their crappy situations.

There's probably more I could discuss with this but I'm moving on to homophobia. It's a thing in terms of the heteronormativity and people's judgement of Anna but it's not illegal like in mundane societies at this time. But all of the mains are totally cool with it which brings me to, I'm sorry but fucking bullshit! There is no way every single adult would be totally fine with it in this time period. Like I'm not saying outright homophobia but maybe some questionable comments you know? (CC is perpetuating this idea that good people never commit microaggressions which is untrue and harmful.)

I don't think there's any mention of whether or not gay marriage is allowed in the shadowhunter world at this point. Because the issues surrounding Magnus and Alec getting married were about Magnus being a warlock right? Because Helen and Aline got married before them in TFTSA because she was only half fae. So that brings me to when was gay marriage legalized in the shadow world?????

Is there any mention of this because I don't think there is? Anyways moving onto TMI. This is where everything goes to absolute shit in terms of world building with the standards for these things. Misogyny isn't really a problem in tmi anymore from what I remember. Nobody has issues with Jia as consul (from what I remember,) and that's that. But homophobia is still rambid throughout shadowhunter society so much so that Alec is terrified to come out because he believes that he can't be gay and be a shadowhunter in peoples eyes. Also there is pressure to "carry on the family name" which doesn't make sense because if the sexism has died out then women can have babies with whoever and not even be married and carry on their family line. And not everyone needs to have children, ergo there is less pressure on the sons to carry on the family name or whatever. This also doesn't make sense because homophobia literally cannot exist without sexism!!!!

This is because of colonial gender roles being forced on society. And men being with men and women being with woman totally smashes the whole gender roles, "woman do this and men do that" idea. There's more that I could say on that but this is already so freaking long so please just look it up. And speaking of gender roles it's literally mentioned that Maryse didn't teach Izzy to cook because she didn't want her to be forced into a housewife role like she was (although there's no evidence to suggest she was?) But then Maryse is lowkey homophobic?

It doesn't make sense Cassandra!!!!!

CC doesn't get that you literally don't have homophobia or transphobia without sexism. Indigenous societies pre-colonization didn't care about any of that stuff. Literally two spirit people were revered and respected and no one gave a fuck about gender until my ancestors literally came along and ruined everything. (I'm so sorry.)

But anyways there's no mentions of racism amongst the shadowhunters in tmi. Just Maia talking about her experiences with mundane society as a black girl. When Clary confronts Valentine and basically calls him a n*zi, he laughs at her and basically says that shadowhunters don't see race the way mundanes do which yikes @ CC. Granted this was 2007. This kind of sounds like what Jem said in TID. Only it clearly wasnt true.

Anyways I'm just super confused at this point. In TDA there was basically nothing in terms of all the isms and phobias. (Oh we arent even discussing ableism because my fucking head will explode!) But we do discuss transphobia a bit with Diana. But again it doesn't make fucking sense because transphobia exists because of sexism and clear gender roles (and homophobia.)

Society is still shown to be pretty heteronormative though which I guess makes sense but the Blackthorns have multiple queers in their family! You would think that they would be less so. When Livvy mentions all the reasons that Annabel could have a forbidden love she doesnt even think to mention that it could be a lesbian relationship. When Mark finds out that Jaime was in Dru's room he freaks out but I guarentee you, he wouldn't have if Jaime was a girl. I mean you could argue that it's an age thing and not a gender thing but idk. That scene always bothered the fuck out of me. Because Mark is literally half fae like why is he caught up on bullshit "boys and girls can't just be friends" hetero bullshit.

In QOAAD we see Dane Larksoear being sexist so randomly for no reason. Like it's so strange because CC literally created a caricature of a sexist villian with him. And it makes no sense because no one else seems to feel the way he does. Like Zara is basically the leader of the cohort right? And nobody gives a fuck. It makes no damn sense Cassandra!

And finally, why is the faerie world sexist with gender roles WHEN EVERYONE IS LITERALLY BISEXUAL AND THEY'RE FAERIES CASSANDRA!!!???? THEY'RE LITERALLY FAERIES WHY IS THERE A CONCEPT OF GENDER AT ALL CASSANDRA????!!!!

Ok lol now I'm done. Sorry this is so long. But yeah I'm so confused.

Tldr: CC's world building in regards to sexism, homophobia, racism and transphobia is very inconsistent and contradictory and it makes no damn sense.

[maxdemianfangirl]

So...Lilith

So I did not think my responses would be reblogged by @veiledlight-blog and @ohmourningstar but I want to continue the discussion on Lilith which isn’t a reblog chain but instead a full post.

So, why not use Lilith in your practice?

Because you’re not Jewish. Lilith is Jewish. You are not. Judaism is a closed practice for a reason. You aren’t supposed to use the stuff there if you aren’t Jewish. Maybe I have to explain why it’s closed.

Anti-semitism is a big issue. It’s everywhere all around the globe. Closed practices are closed to keep the practice how it is without being colonized, and Judaism is no exception. The Jewish people are often discriminated against. I could go on a full rant on how.

My Sunday school classmates have found nazi symbols spray painted onto walls near their homes. My Jewish friends have been made fun of for being Jewish. I’ve personally been threatened with violence and possible death for being Jewish. It’s caused a long issue with my self identity and my religious beliefs which I still struggle with now. I have often not wanted to be Jewish because I felt so ashamed and bad about it. I didn’t want a Bat Mitzvah in case others found out because I knew telling my friends might bring up a side of them I had no clue about or letting others who would also harm me know about my Judaism. It worsened my mental health which was already not good. And guess what? I was a kid. Not even thirteen when this all happened. No kid should go through that. No kid should hate who they are and what they believe because of others and their hate.

Judaism at its root is meant to protect its people from those who want to harm those who practice it. The whole book of Exodus was about escaping the Pharaoh who enslaved us and finding a new home. We have countless stories about it (the Prague Golem is an amazing one). We have the Holocaust. We’ve been taught by the world to keep closed to ourselves. Its figures like Lilith are not for those who are not Jewish. 

Now, Lilith has become so popular because her whole concept has been changed from what it once was. Lilith was a high figure, not to be messed with and a literal demon who could and would harm babies and their mothers. Now she’s all succubus queen empowering women. While I am very happy that women, especially young witches, can feel empowered, there’s many, many ladies in other pantheons who are more appropriate for goyim (those who are not Jewish). Honestly, if i were a non-Jewish witch I would love Eve and even as a Jewish witch I still love her. Like your free will? Thank her. Stay away from the lady who was written to eat babies. 

Also, young witches are also a big problem when it comes to this. You're naive. Hell I’m still young I’m definitely still naive. But I’m learning. You should be too, learning what you shouldn’t use in your practice because it’s appropriation. 

And I mentioned before in my responses that some people have deities and entities come to them, not the other way around. I’ve dealt with this situation with another involving Lilith as said deity/entity before. Let’s have a hypothetical situation. You see Loki in your dreams. You’re not a Norse Pagan. He talks to you. When you wake up you feel this connection between you and him. You research. You find out about Norse Paganism and since you feel so connected to one of its deities, you study more of it and eventually become a Norse Pagan. People can get involved in certain religions or practices because of such experiences. Why can’t the same be done with Liltih and Judaism?

Now, Norse Paganism is an open practice. With closed ones it’s different, especially with African and Native American practices. But I say the underlying concepts and ideas still apply in concerns to Judaism. You’re free to join us. If you actually really feel connected to her, then I bet you 9/10 you’ll feel connected to Judaism and its concepts as well and end up converting. It’s a long process and yes, it’ll require a lot of work. But if you really want it you’ll do it. Getting into studying magic in itself is a massive undertaking. If you want it, you can do it. And if you want to become Jewish you can do it if you really want it.

I know many young witches who want to work with Lilith will say “but I’m too young I can’t convert!” Well guess what? If you really want it you can sit down and wait and when you’re 18 you can convert. Study Judaism in the meanwhile. Help out your local Jewish community. Be an ally to us. We’ll greatly appreciate it and it’ll help with the conversion. If it’s too much of a hassle to wait, hopefully you’ll learn you made a mistake as your young naive self and have more wisdom for your practice, because we all make mistakes and we all should learn from them. And definitely still stand with us as an ally against anti-semitism! And if you still work with and worship her after all that without the conversion, then you’re just an approperiating asshole. Why she would want to work with you is beyond me. Even being “against anti-semitism” is a futile effort because clearly no you’re not. 

Also, please do not work with Lilith while you’re converting. Wait till after. You made it so far doing it all right only to ruin it by doing that. Plus by doing so you’re honestly just showing 1) you only converted for Lilith 2) you don’t actually respect the rest of Judaism and 3) Honestly you’re just an asshole trying to cover your tracks.

For any witches who do fully convert or those thinking on it: you can still be a witch and do pagan things as a Jew! Look at me. Look at my mom. Look at @will-o-the-witch. Nobody will judge you for it (you’ll find we’re a very open-minded and accepting community). Even rabbis will be open to it and might give you resources! So don’t be scared. We’ll welcome you.

One big thing, don’t just do nothing when you are officially Jewish. Attend services at a synagogue. Help out at your local JCC. Celebrate the holidays. Don’t just turn Jewish because some kid on Tumblr told you to if you wanted to work with Lilith. If you’re just going to ignore all of it when it’s done, then why even bother? It makes you another asshole just covering their tracks. If this is what you’re gonna do, don’t do it.

Also, please note my whole ramble on conversion is meant for people who genuinely feel a powerful connection to Lilith which should extend to the whole of Judaism. Don’t convert or even consider it if you’re only vaguely interested in her and the religion. Research is fine but active practice is a whole new bucket of worms. You’ll waste your time and everyone else’s time with a conversion if you’re not fully involved and into it. Attend or watch (with the pandemic and that) a service or two and see how you think of it. Research research research as well and decide after you’ve done the two. It’ll likely be a no at the end if you are not genuinely interested. Or you may end up genuinely interested in Judaism by doing those things. Just always make sure you’re 100% confident in your choice for this if you’re going to actually convert. It’s a big move and not one to be taken lightly. 

So, TLDR for the whole conversion thing: you either end up realizing your mistake and growing as a person and witch, you reveal yourself as a true asshole, or you end up in a community you’re happy in. Think hard and long. Question your interest and connections. Don’t not get involved in Jewish things if you do convert.

I didn’t expect this to end up mostly about conversion at the end but oh well. I hope this helps or provides some insight. For any questions please just dm or send me an ask. Any anti-semitism or hate will be ignored because I don’t have time for your shit.

[skunked-up-kicks]

Sometimes I’ve wondered if the sexualization + hyper feminization of Neil exists because people figure if they write something sexualized about andreil as a duo they could be called gross or fetishizing for sexualizing a gay male CSA victim, so they lean on heteronormative roles to only do that with Neil so they feel less problematic (this is bc of something I found on Twitter that went like ‘objectifying Andrew bad :/ objectifying Neil good ;)’ I just think… you could find a middle ground

whoever that person is on twitter i would like to personally tell them how wrong they are, how does someone go about thinking like that??

(this got long so. i spend most of the time ranting) TLDR: while i think anons suggestion is partly true. the issues surrounding why neils character gets treated this way is a much deeper rooted issue as the evidence suggests and it's a problem that infects all fandom.

anyway, anons idea-

the thing is, even in fics where neil is a csa/sa victim ppl still seem to have little issue making him more feminine and always shove him in the role of the bottom. which is why i think its bs when someone points out how ppl rarely write andreil switching and instead keep the heteronormative top/bottom stereotyped dynamic and then someone defends that by saying ppl are uncomfortable writing an csa/sa victim bottoming. it might be true for some, but when ppl are still insisting neil bottom even when he himself is an csa/sa victim then clearly it goes deeper than discomfort. even when neils history is more extensive or sometimes is even ongoing at time of andreil sleeping together... ppl will go to insane lengths to keep neil as a bottom and i think that says something.

besides, when it comes to ppl being scared of getting called out.. it begs the question: if that's so, then why despite that ppl in this fandom are more frequently called out for making neil hyper feminine and sexualized do the ppl that do this never seem to rlly give a shit for longer than 5 minutes cause this attitude still prevails? these depictions of neil continue? ppl also have no issue sexualizing neils scars... i think it's disgusting really.. people seem to generally feel much more comfortable and unproblematic doing this than they would making andrew bottom or making him more feminine. and it's just... it's insane to me...

even in art where andrew is wearing skirts... they're black and often have chains or belts, andrew still has a apathetic face and still looks intimidating. hes still andrew. neil on the other hand... he's put in pastel coloured skirts and posed to look sexual in nature, and usually given a seductive or bitchy face to match. or he's posed in a cutesy way and is blushing...

if it's fem!art, neil has long hair and more obvious eyelashes. andrew has short hair and more stern looking eyes... if it's not fem!art, andrew has broader shoulders, bigger muscles... a six pack.. where neil has a flat stomach, a small waist, long legs, less broad shoulders and less obvious muscles..

when it comes to this in particular, ppl often say this depiction is due to andrew being a goalkeeper and therefore needing to work on weights more. which is all fine and dandy until you acknowledge that even though kevin and neil are both strikers, kevin is usually drawn much more closer to andrews physique... why? if it's all about the positions, why is this the case? furthermore, ppl usually aruge aaron is buff like andrew cause he's a backliner... NEILS SECONDARY POSITION IS BACKLINER. if people rlly based it all off of exy positions, then neil would be drawn more masculine than kevin. but he's not.

i have no issue with ppl drawing andrew this way, and i love ppl acknowledging that andrew is buff and big but for the love of god.. that doesn't mean neil is fucking fragile and dainty. HES A DUDE. AN ATHLETE. HES GONNA HAVE THE BODY OF ONE. it seems this has honestly turned into just another way to make neil look more feminine...

neils thoughts in the books of "andrew is someone i can lean on and depend on" has somehow turned into "neil likes to be manhandled by big strong hands on small limbs" and i just... i fucking.... i don't even know what to say...

THE MAIN ISSUE. is that there's a culture in fandoms- which are often dominated by women. to put male characters into these dyamics, the top and the bottom, the masculine and the feminine, the dominant and the submissive, the u-🤢 uke and the seme🤢. (i hated myself even as i typed that out). and i doubt this will go away anytime soon, particularly because we do have this idea of letting ppl create/consume and hc what they want- and i do agree!! but i just wish there wasn't such a demand for this type of content.

idk what a middle ground would look like so im not sure if i want that... if that means theres still this type of content but its even for neil and andrew... i don't think i want that. i just wish i could wave a magic wand and eliminate all heteronormativity- which should take the hyper feminization and sexualization along with it. (AND infantilization might i add- someone put this in the tags of my other post and they were so fucking right).

[oof-big-oof]

I have shit knees and sitting posture or my experience being queer, desi and a dancer

Saw a post a while back asking for queer Bharatanatyam dancers? And it got me thinking about the way traditional songs and javalis in particular perpetuate a norm of heterosexuality that could be terribly alienating for many, and trying to sort out convoluted thoughts about male dancers who dance from the perspective of her women to her male lover, and if that was beneficial, and then to teachers I know that refuse to dance or teach their male students songs from the perspective of women.

But most of all, it got me thinking about the fact that my experience with dance was more liberating than freeing, especially when it came to discovering and coming to terms with my sexuality. Disclaimer that the two ways in which it did this is personal to me, is heavily influenced by my upbringing, and is not universal.

1. Desire - Not only did Bharatanatyam give me talented, stunning, intelligent, funny dancers and choreographers and singers to have bisexual panick talking to - it also described desire and love in ways my relatively liberal family would not have. I have read love - and lust - being described as intoxicating, of all-consuming - and danced those items and portrayed those who felt those things.

What that meant was that when I started feeling these desires, I hated myself less for it. I did not try to ignore it, but instead tried to learn more about the way I was feeling more about it. When I listened to sexualised descriptions of the goddess’s hips, the way she walks like an elephant in rut, her valour and skill in battle - I was able to access the sort of things that would help me figure out my sexual orientation.

2. Mythology - I think all religions tend to filter down myths to better suit their agenda for that era/time period. It is obviously harder to do this when the person you are attempting to brainwash knows the topic well. All my time dancing exposed me to newer and newer stories: the tale of Chitrangadha and Arjuna which is queer coded as fuck, Krishna and Arjuna who are queer coded as fuck, Arjuna who is bi panic as a person and I will fight those who disagree - what these myths thought me was that I was not alone, that I was not a product completely removed from the values of my community, family, and those I hold dear.

TLDR; I am gae and Bharatanatyam actually helped me

(and I will most likely feel instant regret after posting this cause most of this is just one long rant)