#maine men phenomenon

[jeb-stuart-at-cracker-barrel]

*talking on the phone* Kilrain: Remember how I said that Tom and I were gonna have a calm night out for once? Chamberlain: Yeah… Kilrain: Well, we’re in jail. Chamberlain: *hangs up*

[openphrase123]

what are you trying most to communicate in inutile? like, what themes, concepts, emotions do you intend to convey?

so i don't want to show my ENTIRE hand with inutile. and i'm sure the mystery is part of the Fun of it. so instead of me spelling out everything one-by-one. for now i'm just going to ask You a bunch of questions :) and i hope you have fun extrapolating based on how you answer these to yourself!

(one day i will likely do a post-mortem on inutile and what Exactly i was doing. i usually do that for fics. but until then.... here :3)

weird to say but uh. spoilers for my fic below. also isat spoilers. but i feel like if you're reading my fics and isat spoilers bother you then there's another problem happening

so the first thing is just taking inutile at face value - it's a mirabelle looping fic with a few canon divergences. but also if i wanted to do that straight i could have just started with the loops. there's nothing in inutile i've brought up that couldn't be explained in a few flashback chapters, so at first glance it's like... why?what's so important about following mirabelle this far back from canon?

you may notice that siffrin in this fic is being set up with INSANE main character energy. in-game they're written primarily like they're a late-game addition to a long RPG. but in inutile it's like. ohhh you're literally a star from the sky you're so special you're cool and mysterious. you have beef with the euphrasie and the king pre-canon. and yet this entire thing is from the mirabelle POV.

it almost makes you think. why does mirabelle have to be here for this? if i'm worldbuilding the islanders as being Cool Literal Sky People what is mirabelle here for? why is she necessary?

hm. moving on.

yes, she's necessary because she's a sponsor, isn't she? but she's not a sponsor because she's special. she's the one that called siffrin down to earth. she was lonely and dragged someone out of their home to be her friend. siffrin kind of needs her to function, and because she can't help them function in the capacity she's supposed to, he's basically going through a non-looping version of act 5 in the house.

if mirabelle ever learns about this and can hold it in her head for long enough to consider it fully, how do you think that would affect her?

anyway.

so you have a Literal Star From The Sky and Some Random Girl From A Small Village. and the two of them are supposed to be friends.

mirabelle has a lot to see in siffrin. they're cool, they know lots of things, including an entirely forgotten form of craft! they're magic and they help her even if it hurts him to. he's literally here on earth to help her be less lonely. that's their job.

but what good does siffrin see in mirabelle, past the fact that he's written to be magically inclined to seek her out?

one day, this fic will have mirabelle leave the house.

blessed by "the change god", followed by a star, joined by someone who's better at changing than her, someone who's better at craft than her, someone who's better at keeping the team happy than her.

it almost seems like she's... extraneous. unnecessary.

useless.

and that's what inutile is about.

[edge-oftheworld]

when I was in high school there was a tendency whenever there was an attractive boy to simply fan over him. in a way that talked over everything he might say for himself and created a narrative that completely ignored, the fact in some cases, that he was really struggling—or if he was struggling, to pin all the blame on the girl he’s dating and completely ignore the thousands of other factors (no it can’t be mental illness or unaccommodated disability or systemic abuse or exploitation and if he is in an abusive relationship we won’t ever consider the factors that put him at risk for that)

and I’m not saying this fandom is like that. I get the need for privacy around some things and how in public conversations sometimes it’s a lot more respectful to stick to the positives (everyone who does that, I admire you) or even the struggles that are talked about publicly, show respect by not reading too far into them. there’s a time and place for that. but sometimes I feel like our only options are shitty and ableist gossip or totally ignoring the systemic and structural issues we know exist in something like the music industry until someone dies and then we’re looking for someone to blame. friends, there is a point where the respectful thing is to listen to what someone says and come together to make things better. and you can learn how to have that conversation respectfully. please do

[sukunas-wife]

the Dadkuna series is great!!! Sukuna isn’t my main character that I like in jjk but this series has me SAT and WAITING for the next upload! I’ve always wondered though what momkuna and dadkuna’s relationship dynamic is. We get that sort of in how they met but what about when their relationship is established? I get the sense that obviously dadkuna would quite literally do anything for her but what exactly goes through his mind when he thinks about her?

Oh? Guess whose back 😎🤧

Me- I’m sickly too 🤭 but! The blog is picking up 🥺 and I’ve been working on this for a good time so here you go 🤍🤍🤍

(Indentions are thoughts, things he didn’t actively say out loud 🥺🤍)

Lord Ryomen Sukuna, though emotionally stunted and constipated, loves his wife. Would level cities and kill men easily if she didn’t have such a strong hold in him.

But he’s a misogynist at heart to an extent. He wants you at home with his kids being his cute little wife that he knows he can always come home to. It was your overwhelming passion for helping women who couldn’t bear children that convinced him he could let you live your life, as long as he knew he had people there to look over you when he couldn’t.

He appreciates the fact that when he’s tired, covered in blood that’s not his own, and carrying the exhaustion of his war ridden day, there you are rushing to him when he enters his temple. Disregarding your fine silk robes and the blood partly way on his body. The way you cling to him, always so happy and relieved to see him come home.

The first time he came home after being gone for so long, he remembers how you cried and held on to him, your anguished filled cries when you cried about how you thought he was never coming back, how you were scared he’d left you alone. He remembers how his hands found your waits holding you a bit away, another hand coming to cup your face, thumb wiping away your tears when he looked at you with tired eyes, “It would take the militia of this land's greatest sorcerers to even consider preventing my way back to your embrace.” Your teary eyes softened before you buried your face in his chest again hugging him and clinging to him.

He longed for that feeling of your embrace whenever he would leave you behind, he could deny it but on his way home to you, his heart ached and longed to feel your embrace and hear your praises of how he had returned. You cried no more because you were filled with that confidence he would always return.

——————

He’s a traditional man with his one form of values, not once did he long for sexual pleasure or was he consumed with lust. Misery, pain and the screams of his victims fueled him and filled him with an immense pleasure no woman’s body could ever possibly offer him.

They were all the same, sultry, scandalous, attention seeking harlots, prostitutes and women. Thinking they could better their lives if they could slip into his bed. They were wrong, every woman who he allowed to enter his bed chamber under these pretences had walked in with starry eyes and ambition. Only to cry and scream for their life while he slowly dug his nails into their flesh tearing them all apart, slowly and agonisingly. That was until he saw you that one day, any girl of age would’ve started to present themselves to him in shy or subtle ways hoping to catch his eyes. There you were kneeling out of respect in his presence, scared you had offended your lord.

‘Oh? Is this little morsel afraid?’ Fear filled and humbling yourself before him. You couldn’t look at him, there wasn’t an ounce of “I want to sleep with this man.” And yet these feelings caused a sentiment in the depths of his chest, something stirred inside him, you head captured his interest (non sexual at this point). ‘Hmm?, this will be a fine pet to break.’

You were a phenomenon in the temple, one he wanted to study, to take into his clawed hands and mould, twist, stretch and push to the edge and then just over the point of breaking to see what would become of you. Yet, once he had you in hands reach, once you were close enough for him to graze your skin with his nails… he didn’t treat you like a common daisy or water Lilly, no he took you into his hands like a Lotus floating on the water's surface. Making elegant work and taking care of your delicate bloom. You would be his delicate lotus that no one else would ever take the joy in having.

——————

“My gratifying queen, My delicate lotus, My benevolent wife.” Words he doesn’t speak so freely, he whispers them against your skin whenever you’d sleep by his side.

Delicate words and honeyed names had never once crossed his mind in his existence. Yet here he was, allowing himself to indulge in the smallest amount of vulnerability with these words. The press of his feverish kisses against your neck and cheeks between every word.

‘My little beloved pet, so tired, sleeping away the wares of today. How could something so small and insignificant like you cause this shift in my existence hm?’

The back of his hand brushing hair away from your face, nails grazing the side of your face lightly, he held you in his embrace watching you. Two arms securely around you, one supporting his head, the other kept grazing your skin. You’d stir in your sleep when he shifted slightly away from you to lay on his back. You’d become so used to his body heat even on the hottest days you’d search him out half awake.

‘My little lotus,’ he closed the space between you, pulling you into his side again, ‘rest your weary head without worries of tomorrow, I’m here to hold you now.’

He wouldn’t admit it, he didn’t even know it at that moment, but he was absolutely smitten with you in ways he had yet to comprehend. But it showed in his subconscious movements. A hand on your lower back or waist guiding you, knowing you’re close and safe.

Bringing home little jewels and trinkets he’d usually never spare a second glance . That is until a stone sparkles in the light of his flames and he stops briefly to take a close look.

My queen would look Devine with these adorning her neck. These stones would make fine pieces for my wife.

It was a shock when he came home one night waking you when he sat on the bed. You sat up sleepily while he handed you a bag of precious stones and jewels telling you he had brought you a gift, a free hand of his brushing your hair back and bringing you closer by the back of your head so he could kiss your lips.

——————

It was your wedding, there you were standing beside him in the Ceremonial Robes. You stood on his right, his eyes looking down at you.

Hmm, What an enticing display, to have my little pet dressed up so exquisitely for all to see and admire.

Even more enticing to know soon you’ll be round with my child, what an ethereal sight you will be laid out in silk robes and swollen carrying my legacy

My delicate little lotus, my malevolent queen, my gratifying and honourable wife. Perhaps these thoughts never be spoken aloud with heavy sentiment. But I vow myself to you in this instant, that I will do all to assure our future, our health, our children and our endless lives.

I will assure your hand never be left cold nor alone as long as I can take it. nor will it ever be lifted in vain or to labour. Your stomach is never empty as I will assure you have the finest wine and a feast every night if it’s what your little human heart desires, your head will always have a place to rest even if it is only on my chest. Your nights will never be cold, your days will never be short, your loneliness will exist no longer, and your heart will be mine, and mine will be yours.

It wasn’t all he told himself, but it was in the moment you felt a warm sensation against your skin, on your chest below the centre of your collar bone but above your breast was the same mark you’d seen on his tongue very few times.

Ryomen Sukuna DID NOT enjoy the thought of staining your teeth black, instead he took your hand, as if vowing and brains you, the ring finger of your left hand, the base faded to a black band, above it a snark mark matching your chest and another thin black bank, just below your nail was another black band. That’s how your little husband decided to present you as his.

Tag List: @sad-darksoul @satorisgirl @bontensbabygirl @lupita97lm @queen-luna-007 @venus-seeks

@bofadeezs

@sakuxxi @mercymccann @certainduckanchor @najiiix @bakugou-katsukis-wife @amitiel-truth @souyasplushie @mylovelessnightmare @ynjimenez @dolliira

Broken :( @simpforyoubitch @domainofmarie @ilovemybabies378 @anyaswlrd @cyder-puff

[kerosene-in-a-blender]

There's a phenomenon I've noticed in fandom that has been thrown into sharp relief by experiencing both the Critical Role and Dragon Age fandoms at this current moment but is by no means limited to just those two, where there will exist within the narrative a white guy (and it is always specifically a white guy) who is, demonstrably by his actions, a pretty shitty person. Hurt many many people. However, this character has also been granted some level of interiority by the narrative (the narrative's reasons for doing this are ultimately not relevant, what's important is that the audience does get a peak inside this terrible man's brain), and because he is funny, or sympathetic, or traumatized, or otherwise compelling, certain segments of the fandom will latch onto this character and focus pretty exclusively on how terrible it is FOR HIM that he is evil.

These fans will focus entirely on how sad it makes how he has to hurt people. How terrible it is that he is isolated from everyone. How awful it is that the protagonists don't take the time to understand him. Any pain and hurt he causes is only used as fuel to highlight how sad he is that he has to do these terrible things, with no empathy spared for the people this man has himself hurt. And barely any acknowledgement that he doesn't actually have to be doing these things; that he is terrible because he chooses to be and any personal suffering that he does experience as a result is ultimately his own doing.

I think in some ways this is the cousin to the well known White Guy Side Character phenomenon, in which fans will take a nothing, barely developed white male side character and assign him an importance and interiority in fandom that he does not have in canon while ignoring actual main characters who are not men and/or white. Except in this case instead of assigning undue interiority and complexity to a white male character to the exclusion of others it's assigning undue empathy to a white male character to the exclusion of others, even those who have been hurt by that character, and even when the narrative is pretty directly stating that he's the villain for doing what he did.

[marzipanandminutiae]

Do you have any advice on making a living working in historic preservation? I feel like every opportunity in the field (ex. Local historical societies) is volunteer work, which I do, but I also need money!

:)

:) :) :) :)

I am so sorry but you've hit upon the main employment problem with this field: it is wildly underpaid. Especially if you want to do something with museum content/collections/preservation rather than admin.

The issue is, this system (at least in the US, where I live) started out in the late 19th century being run by people who had a lot of free time and a LOT of money already. Married upper-class women, rich men- often gay, interestingly enough -with academic turns of mind, etc. They didn't need the money, so they built a structure designed to function that way. And for many years a lot of this work continued to be done by volunteers.

Except then people came along with the audacity to want to make a career out of it. Without enough generational wealth to not need payment! Oh no!

So now there are not enough full-time jobs in the field for people who want them, unfortunately. They're out there! But you might have a hell of a time getting into one.

I'd say to look for bigger orgs over small ones, or small orgs in big cities. We love a tiny house museum in the middle of nowhere, but they often have the smallest budgets in a world of small budgets. Also, consider starting out part-time and trying to work your way up (just make sure the org has full-time employees first). Making connections is paramount- I've only had part-time museum jobs so far, but I never got a single one just by applying online. You can, but it helps a lot to have someone say "hey, the Fancyman-Spinsteracademic-Wepromisewe'rereckoningwithslaverynow House is hiring; want me to put in a good word for you?"

Alternately, learn some hands-on preservation skill like carpentry or horology (working with mechanical clocks- PLEASE learn horology if you go this route; all the horologists are 80 and they keep dying) could be a way to get specific talents that historical site museums can't function without and will therefore pay for when the budget allows. In cities with lots of historical architecture that they actually care about preserving- so not NYC, apparently -there are often independent companies that specialize in different aspects thereof. Historical window repair, historical plastering, historical brickwork maintenance, etc. Trying to get hired by one of those is a way to go into preservation without working in museums. Private auction houses or antiques dealers can also be an option, if you're more into the Collections Objects side of things.

I don't mean to make it sound bleak. My eight-year career in museums has been entirely part-time collections/interpretation/admin jobs stitched together, and while I'm sick of the "underpaid and relying on my parents to pay for my insurance" aspect (yes, I freely admit it; I'm a lowkey continuation of the Can't Work In Museums If You Don't Have Family Financial Support tradition and very very lucky to be able to do what I do, and yet even I'M frustrated and tired and over it), it is deeply fulfilling work that I consider highly worthwhile and important. And there ARE avenues to make a decent living in it!

I just want to explain the phenomenon you're seeing and give you realistic expectations.

Best of luck!

[soap-is-an-artist]

Going back to Monstrous Regiment post-egg-cracking has been so amazing. The first time I read it, I didn't understand everything, but I had this nagging feeling that if I reread it later, it would make more sense. And now it does.

For one thing, the way that Nuggan's Abominations are treated really hit hard. In the beginning, things were well-intentioned, and maybe not so bad, but they became corrupted by a fear of change and a fear of what is Other. Nugganism became a stricter, more brutal, and senseless religion. It didn't provide hope, and it didn't provide a standard for living. The only thing it could do was cause suffering and give an excuse to inflict pain on others. The Girls' Working School perpetuated a cycle of horrific abuse against young girls who had committed no crime except disobeying the meaningless babblings of a dead god. It didn't solve any problems or act as a positive force in the community. All around, the institution of religion failed.

Speaking of the Girl's Working School, I can't recall if I picked up on Tonker and Lofty/Magda and Tilda being a couple the first time around, but I sure did this time. It was magnificent. However, I do remember that it absolutely shattered my heart when Tonker finally snapped and went on her tirade about the School and how it broke everyone that was forced into it. They were all beaten and abused in other ways; Lofty was raped and after she carried the baby to term, it was taken and never seen again; Tonker is missing her "middle gears"; Wazzer fell into religious mania [although in her case, the spirit actually was speaking to her] and turned to doors inside her head. The whole thing is fucking heartbreaking.

While the situation of the main characters can be interpreted as a trans allegory, I think it's a little more accurate to say that they were crossdressing and socially transitioned for safety. For one thing, when given the choice, they chose to live openly as women rather than continuing to present as men, although some of them kept some aspects of masculinity in their presentation. However, I think the case of the higher ranking officers is really interesting. Essentially, Sargeant Jackrum goes and deadnames all of them to get them to see sense and let the titular regiment choose whether to be open about their identities. [I know personally I would be raging mad if I were in that situation. I was successfully living as a man for years, and then the guy who covered for me just drops my old identity in front of a bunch of my peers who I never wanted to share this with? I would be mad.] In the end, it got the job done, but they make the comment that they could never return to wearing dresses. I think it's possible that they ended up actually identifying as men, rather than solely presenting as them. They definitely internalized a lot of military misogyny either way. Obviously that's not a positive or universal facet of transitioning, but it is a very real phenomenon that happens. And the misogyny can be internalized whether you're trans or cis. Regardless, the idea of living as essentially a new person and leaving your old self behind is very trans, in my opinion, or at least resonates with my experience.

The way all the members of the regiment were gradually discovered to be women was a very "Oh! You're...? Me too." moment for me. We really do just kind of find each other. When you know what to look for, it's easier to see who else is like you. They became their own tiny, close-knit community, and supported each other, although they all had their own goals and priorities. And I think that's lovely.

I have more thoughts on this [so many thoughts about the depiction of nationalism and war. Like that line about "the dead are not your masters"? Loved that], but that's all I'm gonna type out for now because my fingers are tired. But now it is here for future me to read back on, because I didn't keep any written records of my thoughts when I read Monstrous Regiment the first time, so it's basically just fuzzy memories and vague feelings that I'm trying to hold onto. It's a really good book, probably one of my favorites of the Discworld series, although it doesn't top Thud! for me.

[omegalerc]

max saying I love you after eating sharl's pussy out (it's their second date)

OH IM SOOOOO excited to finally have this conversation. the chussy to me is kind of a phenomenon in the sense that it will have the most grown professional men acting down-bad.. max verstappen main #1 victim in the sense he is quite literally pussymitized to the point that the symptoms of this illness are showing during interviews. CRAZY STUFF !!!

[beautifulpersonpeach]

so just to confirm, jikookers genuinely believe that in an extremely homophobic military system and country that just reaffirmed the illegality of any form of homosexual interaction during enlistment (to the point that they can face a prison sentence), two queer individuals in a gay relationship would put themselves, their relationship, and their careers at risk by enlisting in the same camp together through the buddy system in which they will have to be together essentially at all times surrounded by other soldiers, supervisors etc for 18 months? there is no private time or sneaking off in the military so jikookers genuinely think that while already dealing with the stress and difficulty of enlistment within itself, jimin and jungkook would subject themselves to an extra stressor of controlling their emotions and actions with each other at all times for that long? like you all actually think they said “yeah fuck it we’d rather be by each others side while facing the risk of getting caught, sent to prison, and having our careers destroyed instead of being separated for just 18 months out of our whole lives”. like how do u think they’d even remotely survive those 18 months?

***

You know, when you put it that way I think you have a point. It's ludicrous to think two queer men can co-habit in the same unit without climbing all over each other and outing themselves. Jikookers must've been deaf, blind, all thinking faculties out to lunch when Jungkook talked about how Seven is autobiographical (the female subject in the song not being just a technicality). Expecting Jungkook of all people to go days, weeks, and months on end without fucking his main squeeze is kinda nuts ngl. Especially when everybody knows gay men are overly promiscuous, deviant, sex-addicted sons of Lucifer who just happen to look good in perms and eyeliner. One glance at all that cake Jimin got in the back and Jungkook will start keening like a blue-balled bonobo before jumping him in broad daylight. Right? Perhaps it's a wonder jikook survived 10 years in the spotlight while being in the most hyper-visible group in a homophobic society, even representing their homophobic country in official capacities.

What good is a relationship if you cannot have sex for any period of time, after all? Can you even call that a relationship?

Also, your point about how there's no private time in the military is a godsend because it just reminded me of a curious phenomenon that happened this year. I noticed it happened maybe two or three times this year when ARMYs and even people tangentially related to ARMYs collectively hallucinated seeing Seokjin and Hoseok outside the military base. In fact, this is what's convinced me beyond all reasonable doubt that BTS's fandom is a cult.

Anyway, I'm rambling.

Jikookers must be dumb, high, or both to think it's a good thing for jikook to possibly mean more to each other and still choose to enlist together under the Buddy program. Clearly it's unthinkable for a couple to weigh the strength they could gain by being together, as more important than the risk of being caught in an explicitly compromising situation. It's silly of jikookers to think companionship can happen in all sorts of ways even while in the military; and flat out ridiculous of them to believe that jikook at the end of the day started out as friends, have been through some of their most life-defining moments together, and are still one of the closest pairings in BTS.

Thank you for taking the time to share such an enlightening opinion with me, Anon. Your ideas were persuasive and yes, you have me convinced. It is impossible for jikook to be jikooking in the military ergo jikook must not exist.

[pragnificent]

One of the things that I find fascinating about genre horror is this phenomenon which I call "protagonist creep."

Protagonist creep is how, in a long-lived series with a lot of sequels or adaptions, the villain eventually becomes the protagonist character because he's typically the only character to carry over from film to film (or whatever type of media we're talking about). I like the term because it's got this neat double meaning: It's both the gradual process through which the antagonist creeps towards becoming protagonist, and also the end result is that you've got a creep for a protagonist.

And one of the main tactics writers use to engage in protagonist creep is by removing agency from the villain. When you have a character like Leatherface or Jason Voorhees, this is a pretty simple project because 1.) They have from the start been canonically intellectually disabled, which implies limited agency to begin with, and 2.) They tend to be acting on the behest of family members (Leatherface is terrified of his abusive family; Jason is driven - so much as he can say to be driven by anything - by his mother's need for revenge). These characters don't really need to be rehabilitated because they were never truly "bad," but rather are incapable of navigating their way out of bed situations. (This is all much truer of Leatherface than Jason, as the causality in Jason's case is incoherent).

When you have characters who are self-motivated and competent at what they choose to do, however, it gets a lot more complicated. Everyone here is probably familiar with the efforts that were made, both in the novels and NBC adaption, to make Hannibal... "more sympathetic" might not necessarily be the correct term, but it's all that's coming to me at the moment. More approachable. More comprehensible, more human. Tragic backstory that at least to some extent explains why he does what he does, heavily implied PTSD, growing focus around his desire towards a love interest, etc.

The Nightmare on Elm Street reboot played with the idea of rehabilitating Freddy Krueger, before yanking that back to say, "Nah, we made you think that he was unjustly accused and therefore became a vengeance ghost, but actually he did do all that shit. He absolutely did do that shit and we are going to tell you exactly what he did in way more detail than the original series ever did."

And then there's Mick Taylor, from the bizarrely extensive WOLF CREEK series. Who is a very strange example of the phenomenon because of the extent to which the writers, seemingly deliberately, refuse to let this particular creep become the protagonist.

Which, villain stan though I may be, I very much appreciate, because he is AWFUL. Like, he is absolutely The Worst that anyone can be in all The Worst Ways.

With one exception, the story never removes agency from Mick. They present a Mysterious Dead Little Sister, similar to Hannibal, but when the veil is finally pulled back we find that, rather than being a helpless child victim, Mick was responsible for what happened, causing that only the death of his sister but that of an innocent man.

The two season show goes in a very... unexpected direction, in that it seems to increasingly hint that Mick is supernatural in some way, and incapable of dying. This is the closest to removal of agency that we see in Mick, and it comes not only from him surviving unsurvivable wounds but also some of the things he says.

I'm paraphrasing, but particularly in season 2 he starts to say these morose things that imply that he's trapped. "We are the white men that were sent here for our crimes, and we don't get to leave until we've been punished." "I don't control what happens. Things just happen." And, above all, his framing of non-Indigenous people as an invasive species that needs to be eradicated. We also see Indigenous characters expressing the belief that he is some kind of bad spirit rather than a man.

None of this, I'll add, before I wander off, is logically consistent - either within the universe of the films or outside of it. There are two - no, three - things that are particularly fucking frustrating about framing Mick as someone forced to atone for the sins of colonialism by acting out violence against (primarily but not exclusively) other white people.

1.) He's primarily targeting tourists, rather than other Australians. Tourists, by definition, are not colonizers (although of course they can be part of the process of colonization). They are leaving - or rather, they would have left, had Mick not killed them.

2.) Women bear the brunt of Mick's violence, which is often sexual in nature. None of the people he targets deserve it, but there's something particularly galling about framing raping and torturing women for extended periods of time as some type of universe ordained balancing of the scales? Or something?

3.) He enjoys this shit. This is fun for him. He's having the time of his life.

I'm aware that the writers are aware of the tension between the story as it has progressed vs the implications of reimagining the character as some kind of ghost of colonialism, and I'm not accusing them of doing something wrong in trying to find a more complex motivation/explanation for the character's actions.

Again, I'm interested in that phenomenon of protagonist creep, and how writers might either lean into it or seek to subvert it. And Mick stays stuck in my head because the writers are definitely Doing Something here, but I struggle to parse it in a coherent way.

[transformers-synergize]

I saw Moonracer was the only femme bot on your main team, how dose she feel about being the only girl?

Well, she is not technically a girl/female, nor are any of the other bots male, cybertonains are physically, socially, mentally, and societally genderless. The cyerbtornian language does not have pronouns that indicate separate genders because gender isn't really a concept on Cybertron beyond it being known as a phenomenon common in a lot of organic alien races, and even that is not common knowledge among most bots. 

Going by specific pronouns or being preserved as a specific gender is very new to the earth-bound cybertronians, Most bots will go along with whatever humans assume they are. That doesn't mean some bots don't have preferences on what they are referred to as, but most don't care, especially the ones not invested in human/earth culture. 

It’s also very common for bots to have trouble telling the difference between male and female humans because the difference between men and women seems very subtle compared to the massive amount of variety in shape and size cybertroians have. Adding on that a nonbinary human doesn't really have any obvious physical tell and human gender is confusing even for bots invested in human culture.

Moonracer does prefer to be called she. Even if she doesn't fully understand the concept of human gender, her interest, appearance and how she presents herself would be considered more feminine by human standards so she prefers to be referred to by pronouns that traditionally reflect that.

[da-janela-lateral]

Extrasensorial Powers Genetics and Why Most Espers are Men

by Dr. Konishi Haruka

A classic question brought up by people who are just starting to learn about basic parapsychology is: “why are most espers male?”. While this phenomenon is partially caused by research bias and poor media coverage, specialists affirm that it has a concrete answer in one of the largest subsections of the paranormal studies field: psychogenetics.

The manifestation of ESP (extrasensorial powers) is influenced by several factors, which are divided into external (trauma, stress, background, culture, etc.) and internal factors (genetics, brain chemistry, personality, etc.). Although genetic inheritance is only a part of what determines if an individual is an esper, it plays an important role in making the development of ESP possible in the first place.

The genetic portion of ESP is polygenic - that is, controlled by several genetic variants, each one with its own small effect. The main genes that interfere in the presence or absence of psychic powers are commonly referred to as E gene (or expressor gene) and K gene (or key gene). The E gene is responsible for a major part of the development of ESP, by linking the nervous system with excess soul energy stored near the telencephalon. On the other hand, the K gene stimulates an abnormal cerebral development, which in turn allows the organism to awaken and control ESP.

Even though these genes are directly related, they have different inheritance modes. The E gene is located on the x chromosome and follows a X-linked recessive inheritance; this means that the mutation will only affect people who have it on all of their X chromosomes. As a consequence, it happens much more often to men, as most of them have only one X chromosome that can be affected. In turn, the K gene has an autosomal dominant inheritance, which means that any person with an active K gene will express it and pass the mutation to their children. Because these genes are only activated through a mutation and depend on each other to work, most of humankind never develops ESP.

All of this makes it harder for women to meet the biological criteria for ‘awakening’, as not only they would have to have an active E gene on both of their X chromosomes, but also an active K gene somewhere. Thus, a greater proportion of natural espers are men, while many women acquire psychic powers as a consequence of prolonged stress and social pressure.

Examples

XY inheritance

XX inheritance

-------- A test for my "Matsumoto Parapsychological Research Collection" series!

This is a small project of mine in which I'll get all the data on the ESP and spiritual worldbuilding in MP100 I possibly can, then create mock articles and infographics that both explain details of canon and make hypothesis about everything that wasn't elaborated on. This piece in particular is more of a headcanon-y explanation for the pattern of family members having psychic powers, so expect the next installations of this series to be more based on canonical information. I hope I can get to the more interesting parts soon!

[kazuko-stuff]

Love and Deepspace Pokémon Headcanons

Love and Deepspace men if they were in the Pokémon world. There would be spoilers within the headcanon, so proceed with caution. This is my first work in Love and Deepspace, so I hope you enjoyed it.

Xavier

Would be a fairy type trainer

would have Pokémon that levels up with high friendship

starts with a Ralts as his starter

Would lived at the Kalos Region

top agent for the international police and is still your partner despite him being your senior

Had done some work at PokeStudios at Unova at some point

as the prince of philos, he has interact with the legendary Pokémon of Philos at one point

As Lumiere, he and his Gardevior fight against villainous organizations

Zayne

Obviously an Ice type specialist

had also volunteered to help Pokémon center to help the injured Pokémon

started with an eevee that evolved into a glaceon

helped you out doing your starter days as the friend

Likely be in the Sinnoh region in the city but still goes to the snowy landscape to visit Dr. Noah

Helps out children who begun their Pokémon journey as a professor and the one who gives them their starter pokemon and pokedexes

Since Dr. Noah was the professor in his youth, he studied under him during his medical studies as well as other phenomenon

At his visits and research at the snowy areas, he uncovered a secret related to a legendary Pokémon

Rafayel

Has a team of Water type Pokémon as well as fire type Pokémon

they are often roaming around his place

started with fish type Pokémon such as a magikarp, Goldeen, feebas and Luvdisc because he can interact with fish Pokémon

Likely lived at Alola Region to feel the ocean’s presence

Despises cat Pokémon with passion

as a lemurian, he knows the legendary Pokémon of Lumeria and had interact with them as his role as the Sea God

he does artwork with his Pokémon and often is one of his muses

still makes connections with high society in order to gain info to use against them and as well to protect the legendary Pokémon of Lumeria

Sylus

Majority of his Pokémon as dragon and dark type

Mephisto would start as a rookidee in Sylus’s starter days

Wild Pokémon within the danger area takes a liking for him

Willing to help you out take out the severe villainous organizations despite Oynchinus’ reputation

At his place he has an umberon and a Salamance

Has a lot of Pokémon treasures ( related to mythical and legendary Pokémon) at his place

has a lot of places in different regions but his main would be the Galar Region due to business but still deals with the criminal underworld in other regions

in his long life, he has met legendary and mythical Pokémon but had given his respect to them by preventing others from exploiting them for power

Caleb

Majority of his Pokémon as physic types

Started his starter days with you as the friendly rival

Like Zayne, he had an eevee he befriended when found injured that later evolved into Espeon

Would likely either be a gym leader or even promoted to become a elite 4 member

Secretly part of an influential villain organization

As a high ranking admin, he also uses electric Pokémon such as Porygon-Z and Metagross

He still help out kids who are starting their Pokémon journeys

He would likely be at Unova region since that is his main base is located

At one point he encountered legendary Pokémon during his missions. He also met Mewtwo at one point.

[elbiotipo]

Why did medieval europeans make a legend about men that turn into wolf monsters but not about men turning into any other kind of animal-monster? What's with the focus on wolves specifically

Therianthropism, the motif of people shape-shifting into animals and viceversa, is a phenomenon that is found all over the world and in all cultures. It would be reductive to say that people always associate themselves with the top predators of their environment, but for example, much like there are werewolves in Eurasia, there are Jaguar-men in the Americas (Yaguareté-Abá in the Guaraní cultural sphere). But it isn't always a top predator, one interesting example are the fox spirits in East Asia (kitsunes in Japan, huli-jing in China), "were-hyenas" in Somalia and Eastern Africa and the Leopard Society in Western Africa... I could start listing every single case of therianthropism here and I wouldn't even scratch the surface. Humans have been identifying with animals and had legends about transforming into animals everywhere in every time. Cave paintings (the Sorcerer of Trois-Freres, though that one is controversial) and sculptures (the Lion-man of Hohlenstein-Stadel) are proof this motif is deep, very deep into our "collective unconscious", to use a controversial term which I don't necessarily believe in. Anthropomorphism in general, giving non-human things (especially animals) human features, is probably innate to us.

In the case of the werewolf in particular, I always thought that the main "origin", or at least the prototype story of the lychanthrope, the werewolf, in Europe, the Greek story of the king Lycaon (that's where lychanthrope comes from, as any wolf character named Lycaon). And yes, that's where many of our modern ideas (in Western-influenced cultures) about werewolves come from. But it's actually based in much, much older folktales from all over the place. Which makes sense as Germanic, Slavic, Turkic cultures all had similar tales with regards to wolves. Some have said they come from a common Indo-European legend but to me, there's no need to go that far.

Because wolves in particular, are in my opinion especially interesting because they are the ancestors of dogs, and dogs are our oldest domesticated animal, our oldest domesticated ANYTHING, nothing comes close to our relationship with dogs, and so, with wolves. There is a fair bit of romanticization about wolves and dogs, but do imagine that when humans first entered Eurasia, wolves were and still are some of the closest things to us, deeply social apex predators. Is it any wonder that humans feel identified with them? They are our competitors, our best friends as dogs, the biggest threat to us and also magnificent beasts, and as urban civilizations grew, the contrast between the "civilized" and the "wild". And as I've said before, the eyes of wolves, like dogs, have a human-like glint to them, perhaps because they are social animals like us. To me it's no wonder the legend of a man that blurs the barrier between human and beast, and especially between man and wolf, was so appealing and widespread. Wolves are not the only animals that display these characteristics, hyenas, painted dogs, and many others do too. But I think there are some reasons why they catched the attention of humans in Eurasia especifically. And after all, dogs were domesticated from there, and there are no human populations(!!!) that don't have domesticated dogs.

But like I said, this isn't a phenomenon limited to wolves. Both shape-shifting and anthropomorphism of animals are deep in our psyche, so to speak. You will find this phenomenon in cultures all over the world with all sorts of animals.

If you want to learn more about dog domestication with more nuance, I recommend the youtube channel of David Ian Howe which also covers lots of other anthropology topics

[themagicalwriting]

Open letter to all GL fandoms with a dive in the Thai GL History created by @Kguardian0805 on X

Each GL brings something different to the table that helps to expand the industry that until 3 years ago was non-existent, only served for secondary characters with 10 minutes of screen time. FreenBecky not only designed but also built the table and they were the first to serve the main dishes and prove to everyone that it was possible, necessary and profitable.

And I'm not eliminating the importance of Tina & Aom, their film was Thai's first success in GL, so much so that it even won a sequel, but despite the international success, it failed to open the Thai industry to GLs. Because after Yes or No sucess GL entered a limbo for more than 10 years, with GL only appearing with secondary roles and seconds on screen.

It was only in 2021 with Chen, Saint and FreenBecky that things started to change because they announced Thai's first GL series and no one I repeat NO ONE but themselves believed it would work and there was worth it do it. Producers, companies, sponsors, fans even other actors continued to say that it would be a fiasco, a disaster so they all refused to support or be minimally associated with FreenBecky at that time.

But the girls and IDF were producing GAP for the right reasons and they didn't give up no matter the difficulties and the no's. Saint used all his money and his mother's savings to produce GAP and if he failed IDF would go bankrupt along with them. And was with a that perseverence and good representation mentality that GAP, the underdog show, beat all BLs in 2023 become a phenomenon and opened up the industry to GLs.

it was due to the success of GAP's exhibition on CH3 that made the channel want to produce and invest in their 1st GL; it was the success of GAP that moved Blank's CEO to make the series happen using a direct continuation of the story on her own terms and artists; it was FreenBecky's phenomenon that proved to GMMTV that GL is worth it so they finally stopped rambling and unshelve ML and their fandom unleashing their 1st GL; and the list of impact could go on with several other names and situations like the government support bc either directly or indirectly it was the success of GAP and FB that start the GL wave and made viable and visible our needs and existence as an audience to the Thai Industry.

admitting that DOES NOT make inferior your favorite couple/GLs because now with the industry growing many fans entered the industry for other artists/series and thats is a big win cuz was always the main goal of FB/IDF see that happening when they produced GAP, but please don't try to rewrite history or erase, belittle the sacrifices made by FB and IDF so you could today have a wave of GLs to choose your faves from; being true to this fact, liking FB or not, only proves your character and respect for the GL history.

So if u are a multifandom or just a GL enjoyer, respect everyone equally without differential treatment; if u are fans of other couples/series focus on them and appreciate their work, no need to minimize FB, their importance and work to value your fave,there is room for everyone. Remember if everyone always occupies different seats at this table, making different dishes, if the artists can respect each other and support, the fandom should at least respect each other or stay, know their place.

also stop harassing artists and their companies for things that don't belong to them, dont match their profile, each duo and company works in a different way; just demand for better productions and representation, better management of artists and not about other things. Lets make this space the most health possible we will disagre in a lot of things, we will fight over awards but pls be smart about it cuz a lot ppl, especially men, would love to see us fail, so stop playing their games but just uplift the woman in this field and the GL wave.

I wish all the best to all artists in GL world with special shoutout to MilkLove and their new series and Englot with Petrichor cuz I've been following their fight, struggles since 2022 and only wish the best for them over their really difficult company. Lets keep growing, all of us!

I wish all the best to all artists in GL world with special shoutout to ML and their new series and Englot with Petrichor cuz I've been following their fight, struggles since 2022 and only wish the best for them over their really difficult company. Lets keep growing, all of us

PS: I decide to share this thread here cuz dont only I agree but the GL world need that positivity and also really know their history and real adversaries which is a industry full of men, people who make GL and woman work difficult. Within our comunity and as woman we need at least respect each other and fully protect us from a place who always use and belittle our work and value.

[sarafangirlart]

I’ve watched a video that was explaining the Shadow Daddy phenomenon in booktok (y’know the bad boys with darkness powers) it’s an overall good video but something that stood out to me is the explanation for the age gaps, like these grown ass men would be hundreds of years old lusting over 18 year old girls, yet they look like men in their 20s, basically the explanation is that it has the “appeal” of realistic age gaps and older men without the grossness and illegalness of it all, the guy has the experience and maturity of a guy over fifty while still looking like 20 something year old.

But the thing is… these shadow daddies are hilariously immature, they’d deal with their feelings for a female lead like a middle school child and bully her, they’d deal with their lust for the female lead like a rabid animal rather than an adult. So these age gaps don’t even justify themselves by making these dudes DILFs.

Which leads to another problem, booktok writers can’t bring themselves to make a single main character not look like a supermodel under the age of 30, which just leads to boring character designs that would actually benefit from a beard, asymmetrical face or wrinkles.