#making fun of something people have no control over and society sees as a moral failure for failing to measure up to beauty standards?

[friendly-neighborhood-wizard]

if you ever tell someone with acne that their forehead/chest/neck/back/face looks like pizza i genuinely hope your death is as painful as humanly possible <3

[deepestuniversallove]

Hey I literally logged in just to give you support. Don't listen to these idiots telling you that you're gross for loving Mewtwo.

Because if loving Mewtwo is gross then the entire monster-fucking community should also be shamed but they aren't hmmmmmm I wonder why.

The degenerates in this fandom are perfectly fine with Ash fucking Latias, and men fucking Gardevoir, Vaporeon, or whatever slutty monster girl bitch of the week, but nooo you self shipping with Mewtwo is apparently cONcERnING or whatever.

(I love how no one calls the Hatsune Miku guy names lol, do I smell double standards? )

But this doesn't surprise me because the Pokemon community is full of hypocrites and these are the same no - life losers who shit their pants because Ash isn't in the anime anymore, their parents truly failed in raising them.

Lord knows I faced enough trouble for loving Steven and that too, from an Eevee fucker.

Monika, sweetie you are doing nothing wrong, your love for Mewtwo is so innocent, sweet and pure. I think it's beautiful how helped you with depression and escape your narcissistic mother.

People on this site love to preach mental health support but the very minute you do something different yet harmless suddenly it's

"OH NO YOU DARE TO LOVE A "FICTIONAL CHARACTER"

Keep on giving them rectal bleeding and draw more of you and Mewtwo ;) I love to see it.

AHH thank you so much for this message!! 🥹 That is so sweet of you!

Yeah, I dunno why it has always been like this. Even 10 or even 20 years ago, I often got messages chastising me for selfshipping with Mewtwo, calling it "nasty" and "degenerate", when really, i am not doing it to specifically be a degenerate, but because I honestly love Mewtwo. In his story, he too had to fight against a narcissistic "parent" (Giovanni), just like I had to against my own. How can it be seen as a crime to want to believe? Or has it been wrong to say "Mewtwo, please teach me to be brave like you" in my mind during the hard times, especially back when I was a lonely child?

Haha, I doubt anyone could ever shame the monster fucker community out of what they are doing. Or the furry community for that matter. 🤣

There always seems to be some sort of underlying misogyny happening. Women are expected to get an IRL husband/boyfriend to serve as soon as possible, so seeing a woman openly rather selfship with a fictional character is threatening to them, because how dare a woman not be in the kitchen and make sandwiches for a man? How dare a woman prefer to be single when there is a "male crisis of loneliness" happening?

Then again, I don't think I owe society anything. Where was society when I was abused? Where was the help or the community when I needed them most? I was left to my own devices. When a fictional character like Mewtwo brings someone like me more hope than any IRL human, that's how I know we failed as a society. Even sicker is that other more destructive forms of coping mechanisms are more encouraged. Somehow selfshipping is seen as more evil by the "moral police" than dying from a drug overdose on the streets or having alcoholism.

Anyone who ever complains to me about "ruining Mewtwo" or whatever - no, you aren't "concerned", you are just using that word to camouflage that what you really want is control over me and what I put out there. And i can tell you it is futile. I haven't survived so far just for some snotty brats to tell me what i can or cannot do in MY online space. Don't like what I post? Tough titties, use the block button. No one is forcing you to look at my "cringe". My cringy stuff brings me joy and makes me happy, and I feel I deserve some happiness in this shitty world of ours. You do too, so just..go and have some fun yourself. Don't waste your only life on policing others.

So yeah, you are right, dagdasgoddess. I will keep giving people "rectal bleeding". 🤣 No one can stop me from loving Mewtwo, my guardian angel that even visits me in my dreams at night, and loves me even when I absolutely despise myself. He will always be a bastion of love for me, a symbol that life is worth living regardless of hardships.

[thebunniesgrim]

helluva boss’ humor really trips me up sometimes  

(long post like really long post i go off)

Because sometimes it plays with hell's society and makes funny jokes like the HR joke in Spring Broken. One thing that sticks out like a sore thumb is when it makes jokes or points fun at prudes in the universe. Which btw I don’t think this bad or anything it’s just something that pulled me personally out of the show. It’s still funny at the end of the day but!  

Like the normalcy of death, swearing, sex, innuendos and all that. like jokes that would make you or me pause for a second wouldn’t be such a deal to them and vice versa is funny. Honestly the M&M’s being in a loving relationship in hell as a joke is funny  

But the thing that trips me up is the way some demons in universe react to the jokes doesn’t make any since. I understand their reaction is a joke, but why did they have that reaction anyway? for example  

In the LooLoo Land episode a good joke was when Octavia said she was going to be sick then Moxxie panics going through different medications and pulls out a bunch of syringes full of morphine just to casually throw them into a baby stroller when Octavia says she wasn’t really sick. Hilarious and it shows the human and demon side of moxxie love it. Although in the same episode Blizto says he isn't a day hooker and the lady walking by judges him and he calls her a prude. Funny yes! But why does she care like girl he has a whole gun and that’s what you choose to be concerned about? Ok. I understand her being shocked is the joke but why is she? In a place where being a hooker is possibly the most normal thing to them as being lawyer is to you or me. Why such a strong reaction?  

(Stolas has green screen arms lol)

Even the newest Mammon ep in Fizz’s “two weeks' notice or whatever it's called” song when he say “spending life bent over with your fist in my ‘A’” and the crowed is like shocked or put off by it like sure maybe they just weren't expecting it but he literally says bent over and even shakes his little imp ass at them while setting up the joke. It could have also been that they were surprised he censored himself. I don’t know, do you know?  

Also, I must say hell born demons don’t have to be always ok with sex jokes. A little verity never hurts anybody. just Like Moxxie not very violent or having his limits is fine and also Striker being uncomfortable or not liking that everyone makes sex jokes at his expense is kind of funny it's of the same caliber of funny that the M&M’s gimmick has. I also think he doesn’t like the sex jokes because he doesn’t have control of the situation (or Stolas, Moxxie, and Fizz just aren't his type who knows lol) he was more than ready to diddle Biltzo’s holes if it meant he’d join Striker. Also, he didn’t seem to mind the other imps fawning over him even if he did kick that one girl in the face. Kind of like a you can look but don’t touch kind of thing. He likes or deals with the jokes until he can't control the situation and it's like come one dude, I'm trying to kill you cower before me plz :( you feel me? Like that makes since because it can be explained away with, their character but seeing as it’s not a social norm so when others who we don’t know and are supposed to show the status quo do it, it’s a little bit weird you know?  

This also applies to Helluva Boss in general not just jokes. It’s honestly hard to tell what's allowed in hell and what isn't sometimes even for jokes because you know how a lot of people were weirded out at the kid being at the clown pageant and everyone is like “dude its hell they don’t have the same type of morals as we do” but also have people in the show react to sex or taboo stuff like it's weird you know? Like yes, I expect hypocrisy in the world of hell like a whole “rules for thee but for me” kind of thing. It is hard to stay true to that when the rules aren’t enforced?  because one second, you’ll have Loona and Blizto making fun of Moxxie for being “fat”, but you also want me to care when Mammon calls Fizz fat. I'm supposed to take Loona beating up Blizto as a joke but once Stella raises a hand to Stolas, I'm supposed to be like oh no abuse! 

Speaking of abuse. Mammon is just Blitzo cranked up to eleven. They are practically the same character given what the show tells us. What Blitzo does to Moxxie is the same thing Mammon does to fizz only cranked up to nine. Mammon says things that make Fizz worry I.e. “ready to reclaim your win another year... I saw your competition and it's pretty stiff, right? You are going to have try extra hard” remember in “The Harvest Moon Festival” ep where Blizto says “now just remember your rep with the in laws is on the line here so, no pressure at all you totally will not make an ass of yourself in front of everyone important in your life” he totally did that on purpose. How about when Mammon calls Fizz a “a bit chungo”? blitzo in seeing stars “you know it wouldn’t kill ya to put a salad in your body every now and then” and he says it meaner. He even encourages Loona to also call moxxie fat so while it’s still Loona doing it Blizto not telling her to chill out or something and there by condoning it, but he has the nerve to clutch his stupid little pearls (also blitzo isn't Wareing his mom little necklace thing in ep) when Mammon does the same thing.

The fuck is that face for you slimy little bitch?  

Mammon says sexually charged stuff to Fizz that is very obviously making him uncomfortable but disregards it like its nothing? “The more they’ll want a piece of you they can home and fuck! Don’t you want that Fizzy? to be fucked?” Then Fizz said no, and he disregarded it. Blizto in Murder Family, Harvest Moon, Truth seekers, Ex's and Ohs when he makes a big deal about someone having sex with both Moxxie and Millie and then making a big deal at the fact that he, Moxxie and Millie have had sex with the same person also maybe Ozzie's when he says he watches the M&M get it on but it's hard to gaze if Moxxie’s reaction was surprise, disgust or both. Mammon calls Fizz a “a stupid little [HONK]” Blizto calls Moxxie “a fucking disgrace” in Unhappy Campers but to be fair I make it an active effort to forget that ep is canon so. Mammon puts Fizz in a situation he can't handle, which leads to a panic attack. Blizo in the first ep Murder Family where Moxxie doesn’t want to kill Martha because he doesn’t want to kill a mother and ruin a family and is openly hesitant and uncomfortable about it causing him to have a small panic and mess up the mission at first. Mammon tells fizz to get his shit together with the underlying threat of firing, terminating, or worse. Murder family Blitzo says “But if you ever pull a stunt like this again, I will fuck you and your wife”. Both BLizto and Mammon treat Fizz and Moxxie all buddy buddy when they do stuff, they want but when they don’t comply or might not do something they don’t like they get mean or aggressive. They only main differences is that Moxxie can talk back to Blizto in a way and fizz can't. Also, Fizz actually quits, and escapes his horrible boss.  

I know that the pilot isn't cannon but it’s the blueprint of the characters and Blizto being abusive to moxxie sexually and verbally being a constant throughout the pilot and the canonized show is just... icky 

The show will tell me that imps and hellhounds are at the bottom of society but also have them stand up to the deadly sins like it no big deal. Loona tried to fight Beelzebub, Crimson tried to bribe and blackmail Asmodeus, Fizz stands up Mammon (as he should but Mammon could have literally tuned him into a smoothie) like the deadly sins are the next things to gods and these low-level nobodies are trying to square up. Not only does it make the deadly sins look like total wusses, but it also makes hellhounds and imps look more powerful than they are. Striker saying royals' step all over imps and treat them horribly and other than stella literally throwing Pringles and referring to him as “this one”

but Stolas literally uses Pringles as like a phone stand in Seeing Stars so.... 

The only ones who we’ve seem treat the imps like that on a regular basis are other non-royal hell born demons like the twins in Mammons ep. The lady and her kid in the doctor's office in western energy, the hellhound bodyguards in The Circus and even other imps like how Millies family treat Moxxie because he’s traditionally strong, or how striker thinks that he and blizto are far better then they’re own kind. Sure, the imps are butlers, purse accessories, and work on farms to feed the other rings. Other than the farm thing other demons do too from what we’ve seen. Also, from what we have seen, the royals are so detached from imps it seems like Strikers’ biggest problem is other demons themselves. The only royal we see talk down to imps is Stolas. Stella, Andrealphus, Paimon, never says much about them or even addresses them in any kind of way that’s outright negative, it’s more or less just plain indifference. I mean even the 7 deadly sins (that we’ve met so far) don’t say anything about imps in a derogatory way mammon doesn’t, Bee calls Blitzo “Imp boy” but not in a mean way, and Asmodeus call Moxxie “little imp” which seems more teasing than mean.  

Ok look if I'm to take the hell hierarchy seriously then please play by your rules. I-ok so like are the sins a force to be reckoned with or not? Because they just seem like regular demons but bigger. You're telling me the second blizto get nabbed by the DORK agents Stolas is out here cracking necks and summoning himself in blood to save him 

But nothing was done to save fizz?  

“It was hostage situation” ok and? Asmodeus is a sin he could have pulled a Stolas and posseted one of Crimsons goons and shot or incomposite striker and crimson. You have almost infante power and you can't save your boyfriend and work colleague? And if demons can't be possessed then send Stolas in exchange for the crystal. Crimson doesn’t know about Stolas, and it would surprise him stolas can turn into his big bird form in hell and did in Seeing Stars. ALSO why is everyone just standing up to and trying to pick fights with the Sins? Like guys I get it I really do but please realistically you're going to get smooshed like bug 

I'm constantly being told that Stolas and Blitzo can't be together while Beelzebub and Asmodeus can be with Vortex and Fizz. With no real in show reason as to why? You can address its hypocrisy all you want but you still never gave a reason as to why one is ok and other isn't. Stolas is Royality and can't date outside his rank? And the 7 deadly sins are of a different rank than him so it's different. How so? Why does Asmodeus need it to keep him and fizz a secret? if a god was dating a regular person, what could you possibly do about it? Also, if Asmodeus needs to keep his relationship a secret, then why doesn’t Beelzebub? If it because Beelzebub’s relationship corresponds to her sin how so? How is dating someone not of your rank gluttonous or indulgent? Unless Bee is a serial dater, and I don’t think she is how so? Also, Asmodeus dating Fizz does correspond to his sin he’s the over seer of lust and lust doesn’t stop at rank or class. If them being romantic is the problem, then they could lie and tell everyone that him and fizz are just fuck buddies or they're in an open relationship where they are ok with each other sleeping around but they don’t do it. They’re already business partners; it wouldn’t be a stretch if the literal ruler of lust would want to sleep with someone regardless of their rank and whether or not they work for them. Plus, they do openly say they are fucking each other while Ozzie's workers are near so them having sex isn't the problem.  

Ok so like ya’ll know the live action Grinch movie? And you know that one part where the grinch is the holiday chair mister and the who's are giving him a bunch of food even after he's full and his face is full of food, but they keep shoving more in his mouth? Yeah, that is what watching helluva boss is like sometimes you know?   

It's like a barrage of information or nothing 

Anyways  

this show is ride and then some lol granted this doesn’t really make or break the show for me honestly, it's just that the more the show tells me one thing it’ll go through hell (heh) to make it, so it doesn’t matter anymore, and it only brings up more questions. Like if something isn't allowed then make it so don’t just tell me oh that’s not allowed but is but it’s a problem but I'm not going to tell you why or what the problem is just trust me look at the cute couples don’t look anywhere else don’t worry about it  

I know you’re probably asking yo why are you questioning it I'm just a confused fan and I want the show I like to make since is that such a tall order? 

[dirty-bosmer]

~Writerly Thumbprint Challenge~

Rules: look back on your work, both past and present, finished and unfinished. what are five (or more!) narrative elements, themes, topics or tropes that continuously pop up in your work?

Thanks to @thana-topsy for the tag! I was admittedly a bit intimidated by this one, but it was so illuminating. It's been a long time since I've taken a step back to evaluate my stories through a critical lens, and sometimes I forget what I've written 😅 I know a lot of people have already been tagged, so I'm tagging: @wispstalk @atypicalacademic @thequeenofthewinter @chennnington @rainpebble3 @justafoxhound @dumpsterhipster @skyrim-forever @sylvienerevarine @gilgamish @burningsilence

I'm a baby writer. Only two fics, both TES. Here is what I came up with:

1. An Inner Darkness, A Downward Spiral — Most of my OCs have a secret (sometimes not-so-secret) viscousness that's always simmering under the surface, threatening to ooze free. They're not necessarily mean, but they're not good people. They may not be evil, but they all do very bad things. Why? Because 1) thieving and necromancing and murder for hire are kinda fun in-game, and if our Hero is doing all of that while saving the world, it needs to be explained with something other than whimsy lol, and 2) I like the challenge of writing morally grey characters who are flawed and fucked up and unforgivable while simultaneously asking readers to root for them. I've found it quite difficult to make them likable and deserving of sympathy while not overlooking their wrongdoings or writing them inconsistently, but it makes for such interesting conflict.

2. The Pursuit of Knowledge — My protagonists and their close friends are mage-nerds because I am a nerd, and perhaps this is a case of it's easier to write what's close to home?? I love University settings and the looseness of the elder scrolls magic system. There is so much great lore to work with but in many cases it's not so rigid that you can't also twist it and grow it and shape it to your own desire. Knowledge is power as the Telvanni say. Most of my protagonists are not physically strong and rely on cunning and/or magic for defense. In that way, knowledge is the primary avenue by which they assert control over the world around them, which facilitates a lot of conversations surrounding the ethics of magical use cause well... given the way my OCs use it, it deserves to be questioned.

3. Identity — How does a character perceive themselves? How does this compare to what is perceived by those around them? I love exploring the discrepancies between these two and often write arcs that involve a character breaking through the facades they've constructed to conform to what is expected of them and/or shield themselves from the discomfort they feel in their own skin.

4. Loneliness, A Desperate Need for Love — I write characters who have been placed or place themselves on the fringes of society, yet long for acceptance and a place to belong. This leads to a lot of unhealthy and messy relationships, both familial, platonic, and romantic. Often times they hurt people they care about. They let others hurt them too, but it's okay as long as they're not alone, right? It's angst all the way to the top baby.

5. Romance is not the End Goal — Yeah, my work features ships. I'd say it's actually a huge part of the stories, but mostly because the relationships my characters are involved in "fail." People break up or they die tragically. They become incompatible and move on (sometimes lol). Maybe they endure, but romantic love is not the only kind nor the highest valued, and most importantly, I want to write characters whose self-worth is not tied up in whether they're loved by someone else.

Bonus is Awkard Bisexual Losers because all my OCs are cringe-fail and have no game.

This was such an informative exercise! I encourage everyone to take a stab at it. Please tag me if you do. I'm so excited to see what you come up with :))

[aspd-culture]

When you say pro social instincts, what do you mean? /genuine. Because I’m autistic (and I know you have it as well so maybe this would help me) and I’m not quite sure how to.. I suppose.. distinguish between pro social but autistic, just socially inept, and antisocial and autistic.

Prosocial instincts are all those things that come naturally to prosocial allistics that keep society both together and functioning. This is in no way an exhaustive list, but some examples are -

The desire to be around other people/be in packs, picking up on and internalizing the emotions of the people around you to survive (if they’re afraid, there is probably something that is a danger to all of you around somewhere), contagious yawns and vomiting, the desire to heal other’s wounds, the desire to feed/clothe/house/protect the youngest, oldest, and sickest of your pack, the desire to “pack bond”, sharing for no reason other than to share, passing down knowledge/stories/etc, mating long term/for life without interest in cheating, feeling responsible for not just your own children but all children, the natural pull to aid someone in emotional distress, “mating rituals” like dancing, social games like being polite, the desire to fit in, the fear of wronging and/or upsetting another member of your pack (which once upon a time could have ended in death as humans are pack animals who are not made to be self reliant in the wild), internalizing the morals/politics and culture of your pack, strong attachment to your pack over anyone else (the innate pull to protect people from your community - even if you have never personally spoken to them - over people who live elsewhere) - this is why if a prosocial finds out they went to the same college as someone else or that someone else is from near their hometown, they immediately feel camaraderie with that person even if they have literally never spoken before, the desire to sing and laugh and dance and make stories with people you know, the desire to breed specifically for the purpose of procreating vs just for the fun of it, the need for touch from other humans all throughout life (being “touch starved” in a non-sexual way), the need to feel and be understood/heard/validated, etc. etc. etc.

These are the things that make life… life to prosocials. It’s in every fiber of their being to find a community to belong to and then live and die by that community and it’s rules/customs/etc. It’s what makes living worth doing for many of them. pwASPD work to find our purpose elsewhere, and many of us honestly end up feeling like we are just surviving until life takes us out rather than “living” in that sense, but prosocials find their purpose in each other. Prosocial instincts built communities - by creating this weird setup of behaviors and rituals and such, they can see who is like them and they can surround themselves with people like them so that they can feel content at having a pack which would have been vital to live in the wild. This is why ableist prosocials think pwASPD don’t have a soul or aren’t really human - they think that we must be defective if we don’t want to be around people. To some degree this is difficult for prosocials to control because their biological instincts are telling them that if they were to foster relationships with us, any kids we have would be more likely to end up dead because they wouldn’t have a pack to protect them in the wild. It’s hard for some of them to think past their instincts to realize those packs are no longer required the way they were before we took over the entire damn planet and became the dominant species. It’s not justification, but it’s the reason it happens. Some prosocials - the ones who are ableist and spout eugenics towards pwASPD - are just weak and cannot think beyond the literally thousands of years outdated instincts.

For prosocial autistic people, many of these things may not come naturally, but they *want* to learn them. They *want* to fit in and be liked and have these close bonds where everybody “gets” them and they “get” everyone through the set of subconscious behaviors, chemical releases, social games, etc that are built into allistic prosocial society. The largest difference between a prosocial allistic person and a pwASPD as far as I’ve seen/heard is that a prosocial autistic person may not understand the language the rest of the world is speaking, but they are *trying their damndest* to figure it out - which is where masking comes from. pwASPD who are allistic often completely understand these rituals and customs but actively choose not to participate either because of disinterest or outright disdain for this very illogical set of expected behaviors, and autistic pwASPD often both don’t understand them and don’t care to try to learn. I am an autistic pwASPD and my view on it as a child was that if they enjoyed their weird rituals and games and such, then that was great for them - and all the more reason for me to stay to myself because I didn’t get it and I didn’t have any interest. It’s like seeing people get excited about football when you aren’t interested in it - it’s not hurting anyone and you mind it, but you also don’t get it and aren’t going to try to learn because it’s just not your thing. They can just do that and you can just not and everyone can be happy with that. Basically, autism causes you to not understand these instincts, while ASPD makes you not care about them or actively dislike them.

[dogsliampaynedoesntinstagram]

Did you watch that Niall reading fan fic video? Did you watch it to the very end? After he finished reading the fic, he laughed and said "that was some online Tumblr shit right there"...yeah that was dissapoiting to hear. I'm not a writer or have my own Tumblr blog but I took offense to this. To just laugh like that at your own fans, the ones who take the time to write the fics and those who take the time to read them. Not ok.

It is OK to laugh at people anon - it's a very common human reaction to the world. I'm sure you have laughed at a lot of people in your life. Fandom culture also involves a lot of laughing at people. You may not like that Niall laughed at tumblr - but that doesn't make it not OK.

I do think it's actually worth asking the question - what principle could possibly make Niall laughing at fans wrong in a moral sense? (As opposed to a reasonably normal thing to do that people can like and not like as they see fit). If people want to share their answers I'd be really interesting in hearing them. But I am going to take this question perhaps overly seriously (particularly when my basic response to the video is that it's pretty trivial), because I do think it's important to articulate and maintain the difference between 'I don't like this' and 'this is wrong'.

One of my basic beliefs is that saying something is wrong , as opposed to just something you don't like personally, is a pretty big deal. That a moral code is something pretty serious, it's necessary, obviously, but invoking morality just to express preferences has a quite significant history of doing incredible damage.

There are I think two basic strain of answers people might give to justify the idea that there's something wrong in a broad sense with what Niall did. The first is that it's wrong for Niall to laugh at fans, because they support his career in some way. That there is some sort of obligation or boundaries that a musician owes to fans that they don't owe to other people, beyond the contractual obligations of things they agree to do.

I actually think that's a deeply fucked up and controlling worldview that must be actively opposed. You can't buy control over another human being, no matter how much you stream. Most musicians have very complicated thoughts and feelings about fans, because fandom is a weird and complicated relationship. It's up to individual musicians to navigate that however works best for them, including laughing at people.

The other broad justification comes from some sort of analysis of society and one that argues that in some way Niall has power over fans and therefore it's wrong for him to laugh at them. My other anon phrased it as 'punching down'.

I think it' worth spelling out all the power Niall doesn't have over fans, he can't fire people, or evict them, or deprive them of ways of getting their needs met in any other way. He doesn't have any structural power to evaluate people - like teachers do. He can't grant or withhold necessary services from people. He can't deprive people of their liberty or cause people to be deprived of their liberty. He has no special access to violence. I think it's worth explicitly acknowledging the many ways people have real power over other people to put these discussions in context.

When fans suggest that other people have power over them and therefore it's wrong to mock them - they never mean any of these actual power structures that shape people's life. They usually mean something much more amorphous - it's a logic like 'fans are mostly women, therefore any mockery of fans is mockery of women, therefore its wrong'. (I think it's worth noting that a focus on fans as a category of people who should not be mocked, is very different from a formulation that suggested that particular forms of mockery were based in misogynist ideas and spelled out what they were. I would have a lot more time for something that framed this as making fun of women's sexual desire and expression. But I don't think that's how the discussion has been framed).

There is a real tendency within fandom to cast fans as a group of people who are inherently powerless and whom any form of criticism is wrong. This comes alongside a complete denial of the power in numbers and the ways that fans can and do exert power over people through their numbers. It is very tempting to position ourselves (both individually and collectively) as someone who can only ever be harmed, but can't do any harm to others. But it is a temptation that absolutely must be resisted - it is an anathema to solidarity and it is also an anathema to building strong relationships and treating other people as fully human.

One of the reasons I'm personally so resistant of the idea that fans are a group of people who must be protected and can easily be harmed - is because I see such a deep vein of denial within fandom about fans ability to harm. In fact if a family member, someone they're pretend to date, or someone who has interacted with 1D in any form in the world, says that they've been harmed by the number of people who have responded to them and the things that they've said, fandom's response is to treat this as an unreasonable attack of someone who has power over them - even if that's in no way true.

There may be something I'm missing - if anyone has an explanation for an underlying principle why they think it's not OK that Niall did a segment that contained an element of laughing at a culture that was built by fans I'd be interested to hear it.

But in the meantime I'm going to advocate for there being a difference between 'I don't like this' and 'this is not OK'. There are many reasons people might dislike that video of Niall - but that doesn't mean it's not OK.

[floatinginzerogravity]

Murder Drones Episode 4 Analysis:

... How do you even drive a school bus like a horse? And there's not any driver visible through the window, so it's not just this guy being eccentric. Just... how?

Braiden, after weeks of his head being on fire, has finally decided to do something about it

Wow, they can be the worst together. (Not to mention that Rebecca immediately hits on N after this.)

Porple...

And Thad (+ Lizzie) are confirmed in episode 7, aka the Nori episode, who, if you recall, is also purple. Not to mention, Liam said Thad was at home playing sports, but here he is, not safe at home. Liam is confirmed liar.

I think this is actually the first time we've seen them together, and we only get one more shot until episode 7. (Lizzie being 10/10 girlfriend by not noticing Thad was missing when they got on the bus/s)

Yeva and Nori's collars respectively. Just interesting to see the difference in design.

Yeva and Nori appear to be the only ones with ID's

Text: [Happy family memories, BEFORE NORI WENT KOOKY AND INSANE] I want to discuss Nori's characterization for a moment. There's some argument passing around right now on whether or not Nori was willingly with the solver or not. As far as I understand it, the Disassembly drone's purpose was most likely to create more solver mutations by killing as many workers as possible, hoping a few would develop the solver. (Obviously, the DD's weren't aware of this, not even J.) If Nori were with the solver, she'd want them to assist in their plans, which would contradict with her pleading for the colony to be protected. There are multiple scenarios with which this might play out.

a. She was always against the solver's control and all its actions (except for the core collapse, possibly. 'Kill all humans' seems to be a common rhetoric among drones, Kahn referring to it as a normal teen faze he also went through, and something most drones would be not too freaked out by, considering how they were treated) b. She was manipulated by the solver, deciding the core collapse was the best course of action for her people and the solver not disclosing its full plans. The line about imploding people from Alice was a morally gray moment for Nori, probably believing it would be for the greater good. She realized the Solver wasn't the good guy when it didn't stop at the core collapse, and instead furthered its goals of taking over the planet despite it directly harming the WDs. She defected the moment she learned this plan and went "Kooky insane"

c. Nori was evil and all for taking over the planet, putting on a charismatic facade over her desire for power. Her relationship with Kahn was false, and simply something she did to blend in. She felt wronged by the universe, and jumped at the chance to have some fun, no matter who got hurt. Probably intending to have Yeva at her side for it, her being the only person she truly cared about Then she got closer to Kahn, and, one day, after they had Uzi, she realized she didn't care about power anymore and simply wanted to be a family, Yeva, whether she was with Nori's original plan or not, felt the same way. In a panic, she went "kooky insane" and tried to prevent the oncoming disaster. This can go in either a, "learns to care for WD society as a whole," direction, or a "Only wanted to protect her family and everything else was just a happy side effect," direction Obviously, there are more combinations and possibilities than just these, but these are the big 3.

Rebecca and Darren together, Emily holding her book, Thad and Lizzie having an interaction (Thad, noticeably, having a purple glow on his hand)

Braiden not remembering Uzi is made even more insane by the fact she literally possessed him and caused his head to set on fire for weeks on end To be fair, considering he hasn't been shown to be the sharpest knife in the rack (notably the fact he only just now had the presence of mind to put out the fire)

Emily makes a "slit throat" motion here, foreshadowing her death?

silly how N and V didn't go on the bus with everyone else. Probably because they needed time to find the "proper attire"

N looks mildly concerned by this drone's death (Though he recovered quickly)

Campers are terrified, but the moment they hear they're friends with Uzi they swarm

Lizzie stealing his watch lol

Bold words towards someone your looking up at

Can we acknowledge how much of a miracle of V's restraint it is that she didn't murder this guy

Heh, heart tail

V's trying to get the campers to like N. She glanced at Uzi directly before these two lines. Is it more so because she's intentionally trying to drive her away by poking at her insecurities (V has been shown to be aware of Uzi's insecurity surrounding friends based on her "And the purple one will let us in, because she has no friends," line in Prommening) Or more her trying get N some new friends to soften the blow? Based on how cheeky she's being, I'd put my money on it being mostly the former, with the latter having a more subconscious influence

Uzi ignoring her fears towards losing her friends in favor of encouraging N

I initially thought the lock was simply torn off, but it's undamaged, suggesting that it was phased-through/ teleported instead

Seramorris- I found a thread on reddit by u/zeropoint70 translating it Sera= Evening and morris = morte = death (Italian) Text: [Why you leavin this dawg hanging? day] [national good heccin doggie day] {National I wanna pet that frikken dog day] [EVACUATE ALL DOGS: Just in case something back happens, idk] [ Talk to this dog in a silly voice day] [COOL, WE DID THAT. THAT'S CANNON. ALSO, ALL DOGS ARE IMMORTAL NOW, THANKS TO SCIENCE!!] [Doggie day (dog) (excellent)] [national AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA]

HEH

Oop ghost Tessa I find it strange she's not censored off, considering that seems to be the default setting on drones. A solver thing or a ghost thing? Also, she's standing behind a chain here, this being the second association Tessa has had with chains, the first being when she was chained up in her room Based on the interior of the cabin, I'd guess it was probably a living area for humans + drones. (I don't think it was entirely for drones due to the fridge seen in an earlier shot)

N's posing-

He is getting really into his camper roleplay, isn't he? Braiden's on his phone while Emily is the only person rowing

Nice to see V having fun :>

[enigmasong]

As much as I enjoyed watching that trainwreck, god, I mourn Overwatch.

That was a game I had so much fun with for so long, years even, and the first game I ever got that into.

It had a great and interesting cast of characters that were mostly fun to play and swap between; what seemed at the time like a potentially engaging epic story (big RIP there); beautiful maps that were... definitely video game levels but they gave a very good impression of a fully realized world; and just a very satisfying casual gameplay loop that just worked very well for me.

Yeah, it had its problems back in the day - loot boxes were a bitch, but take away the push towards gambling addictions it was an ideologically acceptable game mechanic (it's basically the same kind of mechanic that is one of the core Animal Crossing gameplay loops and I like Animal Crossing) - but nothing that truly detracted from it until matchmaker fucked me over a few years in.

And I was on the Xbox version, so you know I didn't have to deal with the toxic side of the playerbase.

And to watch it go down in a Greek Tragedy, sacrificed on the alter of the bottom line, yeah, it's been entertaining as I'll get out, but it's also deeply painful to watch. The broken promises, the kowtowing to authorian governments, the abuse all the goodwill: it hurts. It hurts more than Harry Potter (for me).

And what hurts most of all is knowing that it's us, the people who had no control over the game's murder - the players who poured their time and love into it, the actual game devs whose hard work made the actual game and side content people enjoyed, and the characters themselves (yes, I'm counting this) who may never truly get to have their stories told now - are the ones who suffer over this and the ones who sunk the ship - the investors and higher management who only serve their mindless, soulless god of wealth in disconnected hope feeling something - will get to cash out their checks before the boat they were never even on to begin with and go buy their fifth mega-yacht to pretend their happy.

So pour one out for Overwatch: a pretty good, if sometimes controversial PvP video game that met a terrible fate at the hands of the very system it sought (at least by some interpretations) to unmask.

May all the missteps and disasters it fall squarely under the legacy of Activision-Blizzard, the villains who actually made this shit show happen.

And may Overwatch's own legacy, the one the hard working people who actually made it wished to give us, be its core philosophy:

Never accept the world as it appears to be, dare to see it for what it could be.

That one line truly impacted me when I first heard it. And despite my struggles with my personal life and my inability to crawl my way out of the heap of unwanted toys this twisted society threw me in, those words are still locked into the core of my personal philosophy.

And the world I can see is one where people aren't forced to give their creativity to the lowest bidder and be worked near to death with only the strained hope of their hard work being loved by strangers they'll never meet only see that blood, sweat, and tears left abandoned on the cutting room floor, deemed 'unprofitable'.

A world where everyone can experience art on this scale and every other, and everyone can make it and freely share it with the world without stress.

Because I can see a world where people are allowed to exist as people who can eat and work and love as they please and actually build their communities as is beneficial to them and not just be tools to run a machine that's only function is to keep its tools working.

And as bleak as things look from my lonely bedroom, I know if we can find a way to come together, that world is still very much in grasp.

Yes, we are entering desperate times for it. Yes, at the end of the day, we will likely have to sadly forsake necessary personal morals to depose the cruel cultural morals that rule over us.

But we have nothing to lose but our chains and a whole world to gain.

So I have just one thing to ask:

Are you with me?

[somehowmags]

absolutely!! im a die hard vil stan who likes to break his character down so i can definitely see why people dislike him, but sometimes i get the impression that people who dislike him, dislike him for the wrong reasons. people tend to harp on vil for his strictness, but i don't often see people criticize riddle for the same thing when it's arguably one of the focal points of riddle's character and his ob. while vil's control over epel did create some discrepancies during the vdc, he learned to ease off epel and be more open towards epel's achievements. so yes, there was fault in vil's actions and epel's anger is very much justifiable, but i don't think it should be viewed just through the lens of the initial problem when both characters realize things later on and the characters morality in this game are often more complex. not to mention, people tend to overlook the fact that epel eventually becomes determined to follow in vil's form of strength and charisma as his protégé, so it's not like he's continously being used by vil as a conduit to live through. also, people tend to sympathize with leona more over vil when their core struggles have many similarities (never being able to just be no. 1 no matter what they do. leona and vil are constantly being overshadowed by others because of something utterly and completely out of their control; leona is a higher ranking member in society compared to vil too, so it wouldn't be hard to understand that vil wants to just win when they understand leona so badly wants to be king) and it just saddens me to see how much they overlook vil for the same thing they love others for because vil is such a beautiful, tragic, and inspiring character.?? for a gacha game, i learned quite a lot about resilience and effort from him; it even gave me an incentive to monitor my health better. like i can relate to the notion of just-- no matter how hard you work, no matter how talented you are, no matter how objectively better you are in every single way, it will never be a guarantee for your dreams in a world that so easily squanders it AND ITS MAKES ME INSANE!!!! I WANT TO BE HIM, I AM HIM, I WANT HIM, I WANT HIM TO EXPLODE, VIL MAKES ME MENTALLY ILL!!!!! like yea you're deranged about him and i am too and i am so glad because vil fans who are balls 2 tha walls about him are lowk hard to find

- same anon raving about vil from before

yessss this is so so true i am shaking ur hand so much rn...epel and vil's relationship develops in a really fun way the moment where epel like, Gets what vil is trying to tell him in book 5 after vil promotes the apple juice is one of my favorites in the whole game! and epel trying to be more like vil and trying to get him to tell him more about himself in book 6 is soooooooo! their relationship is so good. vil really genuinely wants epel to succeed, theyre just not good at communicating with each other at first and people tend to take that as the end all be all of their relationship

but honestly bold of you to assume that people understand leona LMAO i have seen. some takes. i would honestly say more people sympathize with vil over leona but ive already hit my quota on discussing fandom racism for the month so that will have to be a post for another time ANYWAYS him and vil really are similar...that's why theyre so divorced lol recognition of the self through the other (derogatory). but theyre also really good leaders in their own right, like now that i'm reading portfest for the first time im really impressed at how leona handled jack's situation! (rook was like "i can see im not getting through to you maybe you should talk to someone you respect" and i was like omg is it gonna be leona. and then it cut to the greenhouse and i was like YESSSSS YESSSSSSSSSS!!!! ruggie and jack imagining leona's reactions to their concert was also super cute. i love the savanaclaw guys' relationships sm lmao) akjsddfhlaksdhfh riddle and vil are also super similar true, i think people just excuse riddle more since we've had more time to see him develop and his overblot was less extreme than. everyone elses lmao

in conclusion ive GOTTA put this guy through the pasta machine

[annabell505]

The Monster: Jeffrey Dahmer

Part 3.

What contributes to serial crime?

Perhaps there is one aspect that somehow occurs more often in serial killers than anything else, and that is Pornography.

There are thousands of videos floating around freely available that contain elements of rough sex, raunchy, lashing, physical abuse, strangulation and other rado humiliation.

Our children, very young minds, who have not formed their own opinions, easily stumble upon videos of this nature.  

And as we know - our personality absorbs everything we see, especially when we are young.

Often in porn is traced humiliation of women, their coercion, for satisfaction. 

Here, as they say "who is stronger is on top", the image of violence in sex is enticing, it and generates the first thoughts of "Take it and get it".

Many movies where girls who do not know pleasure fall into the hands of rapists and experience wonderful pleasure - orgasm - ejaculation. 

All this destroys moral values!

No, our morals are not being destroyed by gays, or lesbians - the only problem with society is the misrepresentation of pornography.

Violence to satisfy one's sexual needs is poison.

For many centuries people lived like animals, they grabbed people a class below and made them their property.

For centuries women have been considered expendable, men have thought they can just offer a girl sex.

But no, a woman can say no. 

A woman, as it turns out later, can do anything, and that certainly hurts a man's ego.

No problem going to work, no problem running for president of the United States.

The Internet, aside from its wonderful qualities, aside from its convenience, is the destruction of morality in young heads.

That's not an old conservative opinion, that's reality.

Black market, murder, child abuse, adult abuse...It's on our smart phones, and if you put a little effort (and kids love to play investigator) you can find it.

Jeffrey Dahmer has probably seen hardcore porn, but nevertheless, his life has always included regular pornography and other monstrous horror movie type material.

Little Jeffrey couldn't pick out a costume for a children's party, he had no control over his life, no way to get rid of his parents' scolding, no way to keep his beloved dog Frisky around. 

He had no control over his life, even when his father would break into his "lab" and smash jars of dead animal skeletons.

Everyone always judged him, called him weird and laughed.

The worst part was that his parents did the same thing.

-You're always talking nonsense!

-No, Jeff, you're ruining it again! -So you're ruining it! -Says the father and takes the rosebush away from his son so he can plant it properly in the ground.

The kid wasn't ruining anything, he was just learning how to live, mind you.

When Dahmer grew up, his life was still a mess, he couldn't find a place for himself, he couldn't admit to himself that he loved men, which is why he never had a steady sexual partner.

Jeff kept people away, he didn't want to open up to them, he didn't want them laughing in his face and judging him.

Sure, he could have become a recluse, but the animal urge took over and so Jeff goes to the most famous gay club.

Did he have a clear goal in mind?

At first he went there just for fun: to look at men, to drink, to find a companion for the rest of the night, to make love and release the accumulated sexual energy.

But the more encounters he had, the less enjoyable the ordinary sex was.

Jeffrey couldn't relax, couldn't forget and give himself to the process, because he expected a "trick" from his partners

In his fantasies the boys did everything he asked, they loved him and were silent, but in reality they all kept saying something:

-Would you stop fiddling with the drinks? I want to taste you soon, my sweet baby!

Everyone was evaluating him and that was the hardest part.

It was only when he drugged his victims with sleeping pills that Jeffrey could relax and become intimate with them.

The supple and calm body was completely in his hands, he could do anything he wanted with it: bite, kiss, listen to the beating of the exhausted heart.

When Jeffrey clasped his hands around another man's neck, he felt he was worth something.

He felt a lot of things in those moments: he felt important, important enough to have power over a person, over their life or maybe their death.

 He wasn't being looked at and that was important.

Did he want love? 

We're talking about lasting love, with trips to the movies, with nights in the park, with gifts at Christmas.

I think yes, definitely in our hearts each of us wants to find a man who will give ( and receive our ) sincere love.

But here's the problem - complexes filled him, any attention he received was received cautiously.

Jeffrey Dahmer felt unworthy of love and relationships.

And do you know where it all started? Elementary, Watson! Parents and their inept parenting.

I'm not going to put all the blame on them, but the right way to put it is: they're the reason their son started to feel inadequate.

Jeffrey Dahmer is to blame for the murders, to blame for not keeping his dark ideas in his head as fantasy.

We can argue about this, but before we argue, we need to give ourselves an answer to a couple questions:

When raising a child is it normal to constantly fight and stress him?

Is it okay to deprive him of his favorite animal that was his best friend?

Is it okay to criticize him all the time? 

Children should not be allowed to grow up on their own, they need freedom - they can decide what café to go to, what color to dye their hair. Children can choose their friends and their soul mates.

But in addition to freedom, children need guidance, they need to understand what "life" is, what respect for themselves and others is.

[virtualduckbrigade]

i think the thing that gets me the most about stupid ass internet discourse about the moral purity of using the objects that are fictional characters as meabs and modes of sexual pleasure is that the excuses that people who are against it and think thought crimes are a thing are so *fucking ablist about it*. Like let me be clear, a solid 95% of people who are into that kind of shit are trauma survivors/victims. We get into it sexually as a way for our brains to cope with the traumatic events that happened to us. To make things that WERE and ARE *fucking terrifying*, things that keep us up at night in fear, not only palpitable, but pleasurable. AND SINCE ITS ALL FICTIONAL-- no one is actually getting hurt!!!! we can recontextualize our feelings in a way that is safe to LITERALLY everyone! and guess what! as long as you can still enjoy sex without the need to think about your fucked up kink, youre actually fine!! in fact, youre normal and healthy!!

Now, dont get me wrong. I DO think that if you make art about it, it needs to be tagged and posted places where minors cant get at it, because some people do get into certain things because of a minor(as in small and not underage) trauma around having unsupervised internet access too early minor(as in underage and not small), and thats what we're starting to see pop up around now with a lot of folks; but either way, if it is tagged and filterable, YOU, yes you, are the one responsible for curating your internet experience and if you dont know how to, frankly you shouldnt be anywhere outside of a search engine online. digressing from that too, if you filter out the things that you dont want to see and are triggering to you because you healed in a different way, you are 100% valid in doing so, so long as youre not screaming at the people who are healing in other ways that theyre "doing it wrong" because then, really what that says is that youre NOT healed. Because if you were healed, you wouldnt care what other people do if no real living person/animal was getting hurt.

You are not entitled to anyone elses personal information, when you go online. Some people might even be doing things to make it look like whatever is wrong with them ISNT wrong with them. You saying "anyone who does this is a freak and a pervert and a pedo who needs to be shunned from society" isnt helpful. it doesnt stop it. The only thing youve done is assert that "hello. i am an ablist and absolutely NOT a safe space for ANYONE who has any desire to heal from their trauma-related disorder. In fact I hope you die instead. You should be absolutely nothing but ashamed of what happened to you and the well-documented psychological responses it left your developing brain with". Like i get it, its fun to shit on Freud because 95% of the time the things coming out of his mouth were batshit. But Freud Was Right about A Lot Of Things. Specifically about Developmental Trauma and things people find uncontrolably sexually arousing down the road. AND AS LONG AS YOU CAN RECONTEXTUALIZE THAT AROUSAL TO *ONLY FICTION*, YOU ACTUALLY HELP *SOLVE THE PROBLEM*!!

and dont even get me STARTED on people with OCD who LITERALLY cannot move on from fucked up intrusive thoughts after they have them, or after someone makes a comment like, say, this post. All youve done is make them feel horrible too, over things that arent true and arent hurting them. Or the folk who suffer from delusions, who will believe more people are out to get them than the amount they thought prior.

Youre not "proctecting kids" or whatever the fuck, because if you WERE, you'd be lobbying for not only more therapy and better sex ed, but also better control over our collective internet experiences including advertising-free safe spaces for kids, and more massive archives of free well-tagged and correctly-tagged sometimes pornographic art something similar to ao3! but youre NOT. Youre projecting a belief not dissimilar to the religous trauma some people experience growing up that is only going to serve to blow up the issue and get more people to look at more fucked up shit online, earlier.

Youre not "taking a stance and stopping pedos", youre in the denial stage of your own minor(as in small) traumas because theres no safe spaces on the internet anymore since social media and capitalism fucked all of us, and the people with Major traumas dont have anywhere else to recontextualize that shit in a safe way anymore.

[kudzucataclysm]

gimme the crash course on maya neow 🔫

IS THE THREAT REALLY NECESSARY…..☹️

Maya Fontaine is the 32 year old CEO of Fontaine Industries, a research and development company that primarily focuses on robotics technology and weapons research, and high level Promethean Society member (as well as one of its first). She’s the one who invented mechas in the world of SE, and due to her lack of morals she’s pretty much willing to sell her products to anyone willing to buy them which…if she worked for the DUSA government, then she’d be long dead lol

She’s also a combat cyborg and was initially raised inside the Promethean Society to be a super soldier of sorts but the people in charge (ie Lupe) found that she was a lot smarter than actually given credit for and was given a chance to become a scientist of sorts. She was best friends and classmates with Carson Keller and the two dated for a bit before they both had a bit of a falling out regarding the future of earth and shit…in which, Maya became something that she hated (ultra capitalist and detrimental to human society) while Carson is willing to subjugate large numbers of humanity itself to save it. among other things, etcetera

Maya stole Dez away from Carson btw. He was meant to be Carson’s mentee/protege when he got into Prometheus but Maya went “NU UH” to the board of directors over it and now that’s ignited a whole new spat between them, along with some controversy/rumors about Desmond. the poor boy can’t catch a break huh

other things:

megalomaniac

one of the richest people in the world

deaf!!

wine connoisseur

sort of Carmine’s boss but the two have a weird kind of hateful symbiotic relationship that’s so fascinating. like they’ll take any chance to talk shit on each other or sabotage each other but by god they wont rat each other out to the police or let the other person die. it’s so funny writing them interacting

bi/pan but honest to god prefers dating women when she can. wnv she finds a guy hot it’s like short term memory loss, “whoaaa i never usually find guys hot…” (<- says this every single time she finds a guy hot)

^on the same note. serial dater and/or one night stand haver. she’s too busy with work to properly date (and her personality is shit so 💀)

her god complex is entirely self constructed. it’s false but she’s deluded herself so fucking hard about it that it’s seeped into her very psyche

extremely controlling and manipulative, even more than Carmine. would be executing people daily for fun if she could

she knows Friday! they were both trained by Hammond but haven’t seen each other in YEARS

always wears pajamas in the lab. wears a lab coat over said pajamas and attends meetings with bunny slippers on

knows that Carson still has a crush on her and makes fun of her for it every chance she gets

Francis sees her as an insane person and keeps her distance/never says anything to her. which is tough cuz Maya hires Francis a LOT

always forgets what year it is when asked. her most common answer is that’s it’s 1994

and that is She!!

[corsairlafitte]

If you're engaging with a piece of art as a moral expression you are not engaging with art right. The point is not to determine who the best person is and pay them. You should be analyzing the ideas and assumptions, the ways different people think and the things they believe, what they value, the mistakes and madnesses and how they can lead us astray.

For instance, complaining H.P. Lovecraft was racist is boring and lazy. First off, that only appears in his works in representative ways (de-evolution through crossbreeding usually) so racists aren't even drawn to his work. People like his work more for the reasons people like Van Gough paintings; we're seeing a dissection of madness. The man went through terrible trauma over and over, was raised by controlling and manipulative racists, and he spent his adulthood horrified by his past beliefs and trying to overcome his own racism with the help of his many friends and wife who were minorities he was learning to accept (these are those contemporaries that thought he was too racist usually; his friends) but he never managed to break the underlying thought process that made him believe a group of people could have something fundamental to them that corrupted them (this changed from race to culture as he actually got to know minorities) and that's a concept that comes through very clearly in his work. He isn't a raging Nazi (whom he despised for their dogmatic obsession with generic race as a means of judging people), he's a poor little meow meow who just wanted to be better than he was and his story is fucking sad.

And we can take a peak into that kook's head and see what made him tick.

JK Rowling is different because she wrote mediocre children's books that were mostly fun for the social engagement, became consistently more disturbing as the many plot threads turned to horrifying conclusions (the slaves love being slaves, actually!), and she goes out of her way to keep making the books more political.

You could do a very interesting reading of Harry Potter examining the lingering mentalities of British austerity and noble-servant culture; modern neo-liberalism and it's growth from post WWII politics; the use of fantasy and children's lit to hide racist, sexist and classist ideas; and how fucking weird it is that a supposedly feminist woman wrote such a confusingly sexist book that is obsessed with male points of view and treating women as accessories; but this isn't what the fandom clinging to these dumb books talks about. They just want a sense of belonging from their chosen houses and they don't see how that means the propaganda worked on them.

It would be better to look at, say, Ayn Rand. Ignoring the quality of her writing (or lack of) she is an interesting figure and her books can be plumbed for telling clues to why right wingers got that way. Her cartoonish notions of socialism and how they developed from the abuses of Stalinism in her childhood, the misguided fable of inventor and industrialist being the same person (like Elon Musk's cult), the fetishization of technology and misogyny as expressions of heroic individualism and how they reject feudalist ideals... It's fascinating how and why she sees society the way she does and how her use as a tool by McCarthyist conservatives shaped the modern right wing.

I obviously don't like Any Rand but I'll read what she wrote to try and understand the people I disagree with. But there's a whole group of people, those afore mentioned right wingers, who treat her books the way fandom treats Harry Potter, like their scion has imparted a perfect vision of rightness to them. Be critical of how people engage with artists and discourage this worship of creators. And maybe read Death of the Author, it's pretty short.

“I don’t know how to reconcile that my favorite piece of media was made by someone awful.” Because they’re a shitty person who made something good. It’s not that rare of a phenomenon. Shitty people make good things everyday. A piece of art being made by a terrible person does not make its effect null and void and making good art does not redeem a terrible person. People who are irredeemably nasty can say something true and honest on occasion. To reevaluate a work after finding out more about the artist’s horrendous biases and actions and still find things that are honest and true even when consuming it through a critical lens, that is a beautiful thing. If the artist’s actions and words completely destroy it for you and distort the meaning you once found, it’s okay to feel a sense of mourning and loss at that.

This is not to say that you should continue to lavish social and financial capital on the artist because you enjoy their art but to say that enjoying art made by horrible people does not mean you are in some way unclean.

[a-sky-of-diamonds]

which “at first i thought it was an idea” character are you (ft That One Anti-Villain Guy)?

a uquiz I made a while ago for fun, but seeing as these characters are in the group oc tournament, why not post it here?

https://uquiz.com/quiz/n8mof0/which-marinverse-character-are-you (all results for those curious and tags under the cut)

Results:

Marin Reaves

You're logical, grounded, and a little bit stuck in your ways. You can sometimes seem controlling, but that's only because you feel a need to be able control of every aspect of your own life, and you hate the idea of destiny because of that. You'd trust your head over your heart any day, and can get annoyed at those who don't, often seeming self-righteous. You care deeply for your friends, but you sometimes feel like you're the only sane person in the room...

Zaida Verdine

You tend to gravitate towards lively places and larger groups of people. Doing the right thing is very important to you, but you often feel as if you're not capable of doing anything that could actually help your friends or society as a whole, especially as you're keenly aware of humanity's worse nature. Because of this, you dedicate a lot of time to trying to improve, whether that's in skills or as a person. However, to those who don't know you, you may seem optimistic and carefree, and although you might have been at some point and maybe still are a little, you wouldn't use those words to describe yourself.

Caelan Katsaros

...Admit it, you're a bit of an adrenaline junkie. You're highly competitive and love to take risks, but are also genuinely brave, and willing to do whatever you have to to protect the people and things important to you, no matter the cost. You may be seen as a bit of a prankster, and love to joke around and (affectionately) tease your friends. You like to think you have a great sense of humour, but whether you actually do... well, sometimes.

Ayla

You're endlessly curious, often to an unhealthy extent, and seem to have an innate need to know everything – everything – there is to know, no matter how useless that knowledge may be. You can always seem to find interest in anything, no matter how mundane, and this ability makes you able to see some good in even the worst of situations. However, you don't cope well under pressure, and often feel insecure in your own ability to cope in a world you feel unprepared for. You throw yourself into everything you do, and often seem lively and even hyperactive, but time to yourself is also important for you. You value your own morals highly, but you recognise that they are subjective, and so don't try to push them onto other people.

Even Ulberg

You're very cynical and often insensitive, treating yourself as the priority. You're extremely confident in yourself and your abilities, often disregarding others on the basis that they'd only hinder you, not help. You tend to distrust people, as a rule. However, in the rare occasions where you do grow to care for someone, you are exceptionally loyal and will  unthinkingly extend them into your policy of protecting yourself first. You live in a world where chaos is the default and where despite your efforts, things are always out of your control – but deep down you desperately want to have at least some sense of stability and control over your own life, and hate living in that chaos.

Ayumu Alaya

You're casual and laid-back, and people would possibly consider you a bit lazy. However, you’re simply comfortable in your life right now. You tend to be creative, whether that's in music, art, (attempts at) writing, or your own appearance. You can act as something of an emotional sponge, seeming to feel what everyone else is feeling at the moment, and this can stress you out a lot. This is somewhat unfortunate, as you are often seen as someone who can be trusted and confided in, which may lead to others expressing their problems and asking you for advice. You'd love nothing more than to curl up under a blanket with hot chocolate watching a feel-good animated film, but are willing to step out of your comfort zone if you need to to protect the ones you love.

That One Anti-Villain Guy

You probably hold radical views, but believe that the major change that comes with them is the only way a good difference can be made in the world, something you strive to achieve. Despite that, you often hesitate in implementing your plans if they mean actively hurting others, which can make others see you as ineffective. You believe everyone should be treated fairly and given equal chances, and are often driven to action when you witness the injustice and inequality present in the world. However, you’re not one think about the logical consequences of your own actions, no matter how big they are.

Happy group oc tournament!

@group-oc-tournament

[not-even-nostalgia]

Ramble about Casper’s Scare School:

(in which I talk about a largely run-of-the-mill episodic children’s show like a piece of fine literature because I can and I will)

Okay so there’s one thing about CSS that always stood out to me that I really enjoyed:

And that’s how Casper’s no-scaring attitude is treated by the series.

[Now obviously out of context, intentionally scaring people regularly isn’t a good thing, but considering the show’s universe and how a lot of the ‘scaring’ is done by these guys just… going up to humans and being there it doesn’t really hold the same moral implications. So going in with that-]

Like, Casper’s attitude is definitely treated as a good thing, and overall a strength on his part. The series shows that Kibosh’s logic of ‘the balance’ isn’t flawless, but the show also makes it very clear that choosing not to scare people isn’t the default only/best way to be, at least in the setting the characters are in.

They never have an arc/episode where Casper.. idk revolutionises their world by showing everyone how to be kind therefore changing the setup forever and have him be a hero and whatnot (which would have been a safe and predictable route to go given the setup) at least never completely.

Sure, he stands up to bullies when it’s appropriate and is very openly against scaring but it’s made pretty clear that the latter is mostly a him-thing, and not an everyone-if-they-just-opened-their-minds-thing. In fact, one of the closest things we ever got to that kind of story actually showed it as a bad thing, as Casper’s overly controlling stance on everyone being 100% nice just lead to him over correcting people out of having any fun.

As well as that, Casper’s closest friends Mantha and Ra, who are protagonists the narrative sides with along with Casper, have very few issues with scaring, Mantha especially. In fact Mantha says to Casper something along the lines of ‘Just because you don’t like scaring doesn’t mean no one does or that no one can participate in it’ multiple times and this isn’t admonished by the narrative.

Casper doesn’t change the world he’s in and he doesn’t need to. His manner makes him different from other people yes, but it’s treated more as a character quirk and not as a moral truth. And I love this because it adds so much depth to Casper’s character. His good nature is treated as a positive trait definitely, but it’s paired with the very clear negative trait of expecting/wanting everyone to follow your morals, which definitely is admonished by the narrative. And that’s so refreshing in a setting like this.

He’s not the saviour main character trope, he’s just a guy who’s different than his peers and is facing that and all that comes with. And in a show about a guy being different it’s really nice to see that it shows the merit in different attitudes and levels of participation in aspects of the Underworld… society (if that’s what you call it). It celebrates the other characters’, again particularly Mantha and Ra’s, individuality as well as his own. And it’s great.

Different is different and the story is chill about it.

I love it, and that’s probably why this show sticks in my mind so much.

[brainscrems]

I mean the difference between coercion and not coercion isn’t enthusiastic consent, because that simply is not remotely near the definition of coercion. Like I said, the standard of consent doesn’t change. I’ve personally consented non-enthusiastically and it was not traumatic, not rape, and it was a mildly fun time. I felt no pressure. I viewed it in a similar light as a favor. Was I there for the sex? Not really. Was I making my partner happy? Yea. Was that enough for me to be onboard? Yea. Would I use the word enthusiastic? No. Cause enthusiasm is a level of excitement I did not experience. It was also not sex work and I’m not trying to claim first hand experience with that. But it is a place where I can firsthand say the model of EXCLUSIVELY enthusiastic consent being consent breaks down. If it breaks down in any instance, then insistence of it as an absolute model is wrong, and it likely breaks down in more instances than one. If you are trying to call my own consensual experience rape, i just. Idek what to tell u except that it’s a happy memory that I’m glad I have and you trying to define my own experience as something it’s not to fit ur narrative is beyond fucked. Enthusiasm is not the requirement you seek for consent.

Anyway, I’m well aware of the coercive practices within the industry. I’m well aware of the trauma experienced by sex workers. I’m saying that labeling EVERY experience of sex work rape because it wasn’t enthusiastic does not actually help sex workers and I’ve seen plenty of sex workers say much the same. I’m not naïve enough to think that most sex workers are there because it’s the profession they wanted to. I’m well aware of the definition of coercive. Financial coercion is, of course, rape. I’m not saying it’s not. I’m instead saying that if we take a definition of coercion to be broad enough such that all exchanges of goods and services in our society are covered under that word, other important standards start to break down. Let’s break down one of these scenarios. I would argue, and I’m sure you would agree, that you are not morally obligated to hold to an agreement entered into under coercion. If we take the idea that all labor is coercion and continue to apply it let’s see the world we get.

So. Let’s say ou go to a doctor for life saving treatment. You enter into an agreement to pay the doctor for their services. You are being coerced bc u’ll die otherwise and not obligated to pay. But. The doctor, too, is coerced. Doctors need money to survive and eat just like the rest of us and under your framework, this doctor is being coerced. Coerced people are not required to hold up their end of an agreement. Ergo the doctor is not morally required to save your life. I think we can both agree this conclusion is bullshit. However. Given the assumptions we made, this leaves us two options. We could say, “at least some agreements made under coercion are valid.” This option is possible, but it requires creating a new framework for when you are morally bound to deals under coercion and when you are not. I think being able to find a consistent standard for this which accounts for situations in a way that reflects the practicalities of reality is going to be impossible. If you have one feel free to pitch it, but I’m doubtful of its existence. So for now I’ll move on to the second option. Redefining coercion.

We both have a working idea of what coercion means. I’m not 100% certain what yours is, but I’ll lay out my counterproposal here. A solid definition is complicated, but I would give an approximate definition of coercion as the use of personal power over someone to make someone do something they would not otherwise consent to. This makes labor not inherently coercive. Your offer of money is not INHERENTLY personal power over another person. Personal power is direct control over their life. A refusal to shop at a small business damages the person’s livelihood. Telling the business you won’t shop there unless they do something is not coercive because you do not hold direct personal power over them. Sex work DOES have more consequences than other forms of business. But, that just makes the standards of consent and coercion more important to observe carefully, it does not fundamentally change them. Consent in a medical setting is ALSO severely more consequential than in regular businesses. This does not change the nature of what QUALIFIES as consent, it simply changes the nature of the consequences. As such reputable medical facilities are supposed to be extremely careful in ensuring your consent. The standards should be and are the same for sex work. There certainly exist instances where people are coerced into sex work, and you CAN use your money to gain direct personal power over someone you intend on hiring for sex work, but the hiring itself is not direct personal power more than any other business exchange.

And, to the point of cherry picking voices. I’m really, really not. The people leading the cry of “sex work is work and deserves the rights and protections of any other job” and that it is not inherently rape ARE sex workers. In fact, places that institute policies to support that have been shown time and again to improve the quality of life and work for sex workers. This isn’t new news either. The best thing we can do, quantitatively, is to treat sex work like any other profession and give it the same respect and protections.

I think this messaging that sex is just the same as any other activity, that there are no special social conditions or statuses or emotions attached to it and that it’s just something you do has rotted people’s brains. In your attempts to normalize a human activity in the face of conservative shame mongering you have so removed the social complexities of sex that you have run right back around into the embrace of rape culture.