#never claimed it was comparable to other prejudices and will never compare it

[lucysweatslove]

I told my best friend about some of the school shit and how I’ve felt a little micro-aggressed and discriminated against bc disability.

Her: “I will fucking slap a bitch.”

Me: “At least I have two friends who actually care and value me for me and don’t suck and aren’t performative and just like, value being a good human.”

Her: “I mean, I try. It’s hard when others suck and you want to punch their face.”

☠️☠️☠️

[wonder-worker]

people really do not know what they're talking about when it comes to Elizabeth Woodville's social status, huh?

[ilovetoxicfictionalmen]

IN SICKNESS & IN HEALTH

KINKTOBER DAY 30 - VICTORIAN AU WITH ROBERT FISCHER

Pairing.| Robert Fischer x fem!reader

Summary.| You visit your sister who’s health is dropping, you find out a sickening truth from her husband.

Warnings.| Noncon, rough, fingering, innocence taking (given era), implied murder scheming, betrayal, infidelity.

Word count.| 1.8k

Notes.| Okay I actually wrote this today because 31 stories is actually draining. Very rushed as it was actually meant to be another prompt but had no motivation. Pride and Prejudice inspired me actually for this.

His bright blue eyes always felt dark, that much you knew. Even though your sister’s husband was dashing, you couldn’t help but to be heavily intimidated in his presence. Every time Francesa would tell you that he is a loving man, you held back to call her bluff. As she claimed, he was only so stern on the outside due to his demanding and harsh late father. But there was always this facade on her paling face, she’d hold her shoulders high even though it took all of her strength. 

Many times had you invited her back home, everytime she declined. Your large family home was lonely, especially with no suitors coming to visit. The back and forward letters weren’t enough to ease your sadness, you hadn’t seen her since their last ball. Even then, that was only for a short amount of time, she was feeling too unwell shortly after it commenced. 

But her husband on the other hand, Mr Fischer, would not rid his sight of you that evening. Every time you looked in his direction, you felt his piercing gaze. For what many ladies would find flattering, you found uncanny. Because Robert Fischer never said many words to you and those he did, it was dript in bitterness. 

You had traveled down to visit your charming sister in their estate. You’d never seen your sister look so weak, so dead on the outside. You expressed your concerns immediately. But she still had that unfeigned smile on her crusting lips. Every hour you spent with her, you could feel your heart crack more, you feared a gruesome future. She needed a doctor, you brought this to Robert’s attention, but he brushed it all. A doctor visited every few days and claimed that nothing else could be done besides taking the medicine and praying. 

When the room fell silent after you slammed your hand down in anger, Robert’s eyes widened. It was disturbing the way that his eyes were speaking to you. Franseca remained quiet, she could never get in between her beloved sister and dear husband. As Robert’s mouth shrugged, he strided out of the sitting room. Immediately you apologized to your sister, but she only recommended that you did so to him. Like he deserved your kindness. 

Now, you silently walked the dark halls, a candle in hand as you searched for him. He never slept much, she confessed how she would always fall asleep alone and wake up alone. Sometimes the side of his bed looked to be untouched. You heard movement in his study, so with a gentle knock and a swallow of your pride, you pushed open the door. 

The room was dimmed, a few candles flickering around the room painted the dimness with sunflower tones. He sat at his desk, with that same smug look on his face, eyes locked on you as per usual, your stomach tightened painfully. You approached him, your teeth in between your lips and sight low.

“My dearest, why are you awake at such a late hour?” Robert murmured, his eyes narrowed as he admired the white gown you wore and the way it outlined your breasts.

You didn’t like the pet names he gave you, Robert rarely called you your proper name. Only ever something to cheapen your status compared to his. It was never a compliment, you were convinced. He exhaled as you didn’t answer, you were too stubborn to apologize. But then you promised your sister you would, you huffed in frustration and put the candle down. 

“Darling?” Robert cocked a brow. 

“I apologize” you mumbled, arms crossed over. 

“Pardon?” Robert acted dumbfounded. 

“I apologize for my behavior today” you repeat yourself more loudly. “I should never have spoken to you that way, especially in your own home” you continued on, mentally kicking yourself. 

This was so humiliating. Robert chuckled and shook his head as he straightened out his papers. 

“My wife put you up to this, didn’t she?” he questioned with a click of his tongue as he stood up. He wandered around the desk and leant on it, you nodded, his eyes ran up and down your body slowly. “But are you sorry? For humiliating me in my own home?” He challenged. 

Your eyes widened with irritation. Breathe… It was hardly humiliating, no one else was even in the room. Robert was the one that stormed out like a child anyways. Oh, your father had warned you of your bullheadedness. This was not the right time and place to act as such. 

“I am” you nodded. 

“Are you now?” Robert hummed as he stepped closer to you. 

It felt snakelike, the way he was slithering towards you. This ball of anxiety grew in your chest, that look in his eyes felt unhinged even though he remained to tame. You didn’t even notice yourself stepping back towards the large bookshelves. A gasp left your lips as you pressed up against the hardwood, his hands rested on either side of your head. His tongue rolled over his lips as his breathing slowly grew heavier. 

“Mr Fischer” you gulped. 

“Mhm, it is I” he grinned. 

His hand caressed your face gently. It was a rare occasion that he could look you in the eyes so up close, he always admired the way your compelling eye color matched your soft skin tone. It was when his thumb pressed onto your lower lip that you felt your throat go dry. The naiveness disappeared from your body, you knew his intentions clearly. 

The secret was, Robert Fischer always desired your hand in marriage. When he saw you for the first time, he couldn’t help but to finally smile and feel a wave of satisfaction course through him. Finally, his father had done something not out of spite. But when it was declared that you were not Franseca, his heart fell and anger blazed once more. 

He wanted you, even tried to convince his father. But no, you weren’t the first born. You were stubborn, very strong minded for a woman, Robert desired the challenge to break you. Robert was condemned to a loveless marriage with the punishment of adoring you from a close afar. 

It was immediately expected for an heir to be born, but every time she bled brought shame on his status not hers. When his father gracefully passed shortly after, he couldn’t live by his commands any longer. Robert longed for you day and night, and began to form a plan to bring your souls together with minimal catastrophes. 

But with you here now in this gown for only his eyes, mouth and well… you know what. He simply could not wait any longer, he needed you now. Your sister Francesa was hideous in his eyes, you’d never know why. He could hardly get erect in her presence. But you, oh you were the forbidden fruit he had no guilt in demolishing. 

“Your sister is dying, that much is obvious” Robert stated emotionlessly, you felt a stab to your heart. “I’ll desire a new wife and you seem rather fitting” Robert lifted the right corner of his mouth to reveal his sharp teeth. In a state of panic, your lips wobbled and he predicted your next action. “Don’t you dare scream in my home” Robert grunted as one hand clamped over your mouth and the other pushed your chest back. 

“Rob-Robert” you grumbled out through the gaps of his fingers.

“Robert?” he furrowed. 

“Mr Fischer” you quickly corrected yourself through a wobbly tone, eyes swollen with tears ready to hydrate your flustering cheeks. . 

“Your sister is my burden of life, she could not even bear me an heir. Damn your father for cursing me with her! And damn mine for allowing it!” Robert raised his voice. 

The repented anger coursed through him once more. He slammed his hand on the shelf, you squeaked out and shoulders raised. Robert’s heavy breathing went muffled on your blocked ears as you tried to make sense of the situation. 

“Mr. Fischer please! She is sweet, nurturing, thoughtful!” you pleaded. 

The room drew silent momentarily. 

“Well, you better hope that she passed on those to you” Robert huffed.

Abruptly, he kissed you passionately, his tongue slithered into your hot mouth as you grumbled against him. His hands roughly scrunched up your dress and squeezed your hips, the bookshelves dug against your posterior chain. The sounds that came from his mouth sounded like a starved animal desperate to devour his prey. As badly as you wanted to fight him off, your body went into a standby state, you trembled and muscles turned stiff. When his hand rubbed over your panties, you gasped out in fear, breaking your connection.

“Please! Don’t take my innocence away!” you sobbed quietly, too fearful to raise your voice. 

Even though your parents told you little about intercourse, it was drilled into your mind that it was forbidden, a dangerous sin to engage in these pleasurable events premarital. Being touched and kissed was already filthy enough. If society found out, you’ll be an outcast. If Robert deflowered you, you would certainly never marry and be known as a whore.  

“Shhhhh, I see the way you stare at me, even when you think I am not watching” he smirked sinisterly, speaking in hushed tones. 

His digits found their way into your warmth, you shrieked out but he was quick to clamp his hand over your mouth again. Robert grunted out, his fingers sucked into your warm cunt, they wickedly curled inside of you, earning a long deep moan from you. Your thighs shook like leaves in the wind, eyes pleaded for mercy but his lips latched onto the skin of your neck. Robert moaned out in pure desire, his teeth tugged at your flesh.  

“It should have been you, I know you think it too. I will ensure that our future combines as one” Robert determined with a quick nod, his hand slipped down from your mouth.

“Mhmm ahhh, please stop sir, it hurts” you begged. 

You squeezed your eyes shut as you felt a small bubble of bliss seem to grow inside of your core. Suddenly, your arms latched around him for support, his jaw hung low as he watched you try to deny the pleasure. You were balling your eyes out as you tried to stay quiet, the lights flickered over his crazed expression. 

“It eases eventually, stay quiet for me my dearest, let’s not awaken your sister” Robert soothed cruelly as he pushed his fingers completely inside of your clenching walls. You bit onto your lower lip until you drew blood. 

“Robert, please. Have the doctor see her again, tend her back to good health!” you panted out, crying out for mercy for your poor sister. 

Robert exhaled and drew back his coated fingers. Stepping back slightly, you watched in fear as he untied his pants and allowed the fabric to his knees. You gasped, your face cringed as you looked down to his throbbing member being stroked by his hand. 

“But my dearest, don’t you understand?” Robert tilted his head at you. His body pressed up against yours, you felt his member poke against your thigh. “We need her to die so we can marry” he chuckled darkly into your ear.

[ckret2]

Any mention of shape segregation

Nope.

Here's what we know about how his dimension handled shapes and how it compares to canon Flatland:

Bill mentions rhombuses and trapezoids when talking about his home and that they're wasting his oxygen. In Flatland, rhombuses & trapezoids would never be allowed to live—only squares are regular quadrilaterals, and any deviation from regularity so great it can't be fixed in childhood (about 1º) is grounds for execution or imprisonment. So the mere existence of rhombuses & trapezoids in great enough numbers that Bill can comment on them means his dimension was MUCH more tolerant of irregularity than Flatland.

A triangle suggesting quadrilaterals are wasting his air could mean that quadrilaterals don't outrank triangles in his dimension—or, that could just be Bill's ego talking. On the other hand, a regular(ish?) triangle suggesting irregular quadrilaterals are beneath him could be prejudice against irregularity... or, again, could just be Bill's ego talking.

When Bill claims to be geometrically perfect, he tells the reader to stop staring at his "hypotenuse." Only right triangles (triangles with a 90º angle) have a "hypotenuse," while equilateral triangles are 60º/60º/60º An irregular that's 30º off of regularity is unheard of in Flatland, and would be MILES beyond grounds for execution, never mind wasting time surgically correcting it. IF Bill really had a hypotenuse, the mere fact that he's alive means his dimension is incredibly different from Flatland. (Or: it could mean that Alex is playing fast & loose with what he remembers from geometry class and he just used "hypotenuse" to mean "the longest side.")

When he claims to be geometrically perfect, he doesn't say that all his angles/sides are the same. Only that they add up to 180º, which is true of every triangle.

Bill seems to be very proud of being a triangle, at odds with how low-ranked they are in Flatland; again, this could mean triangles WEREN'T low ranked in his world, or it could just be Bill's ego.

His fake magazine cover says "FEELING OBTUSE? Get acute for the summer!" This could be only a joke about fad diets in magazines: but IF we decide to take it seriously, obtuse angles are anything over 90º, so that suggests ideal triangles have all acute angles, but that having an obtuse angle is something that can be address through a fad diet rather than through infant surgery or execution. (This would only apply to triangles: a regular quadrilateral would have all right angles, not obtuse or acute; and any higher regular shapes are supposed to have all obtuse angles.)

One of the hidden codes in the book says "IRREGULAR," that's it, no further context. It stands to reason, though, that this means the concept of irregularity exists in Bill's dimension, and it's a sore point. (But we have no context yet for what "irregular" means in the Gravity Falls setting; maybe it has nothing to do with a shape's sides/angles, and just refers to other disorders or mutations like Bill's ability to see the third dimension.)

Another hidden code says "HIS DIMENSION NOW DECEASED SCALENE AND EUCLID REST IN PEACE". We don't know who/what "scalene" and "euclid" are yet. Another couple codes suggest "Euclidia" might be the name of his dimension and/or homeworld, so "Scalene and Euclid" might be the names of worlds; another theory is that Scalene and Euclid are his parent's names. At any rate, "scalene" means a triangle with no matching sides/angles; Flatland allows for isosceles triangles with two matching sides, but not scalene. It seems unlikely that a person or planet would be named Scalene unless being scalene was normal and accepted in society.

The codes mention a fair amount of medical trauma in baby Billy's childhood, but it all seems to revolve around his eye, not his shape. If he was a right triangle and became equilateral, either he got surgery too young to remember; got medical interventions he could remember that were not traumatic; or had no medical interventions at all, and maybe in his dimension a growing triangle can naturally develop from a 90º angle into a 60º angle.

tl;dr:

NO mention of segregating shapes

NO mention of a hierarchy based on how many sides you have

extreme irregularity seems to be tolerated and NOT grounds for execution

there's evidence to suggest that, at minimum, ideal triangles have all acute angles; this implies the possibility that regularity was still preferred to irregularity, even if irregularity is tolerable

evidence suggests they believed you could change your angles via personal decisions (i.e. diet) and therefore your shape isn't permanently set or a reflection of your intrinsic morality

medical interventions for irregular angles were either milder compared to Flatland or non-existent

"irregularity" in their society might refer to mutations unrelated to their geometric shapes

And that's everything we know about how shapes are treated in his dimension.

Let me know if I missed any mention of angles or shapes in his dimension.

[charlotttte-427]

As much as people claim that transmisogny and other internal prejudices are just the domain of the terminally online, the reality is just so much worse. As a poor trans woman, nothing will radicalise you more than going to university and seeing how tme people treat tma people when they have no community to protect them.

I've seen trans women be abused and socially annihilated by trans guys on a whim, because even if a trans guy doesn't pass well enough to access male privilege he can always leverage the instability of a trans woman's womanhood to paint her as a monster, no matter the circumstances. A trans woman is the only type of woman you can easily sexually abuse and then smear as a rapist when she speaks out about it.

The idea that trans women hold any amount of power over trans men is infuriating precisely because it flies in the very face of everything you can see happening to your sisters day by day. I've tried discussing materialist transfeminist theory with a trans guy -- the same one who abused and alienated that women -- and he undermined me at every turn, determined to keep gender as this ineffable essence precisely because it benefits people like him if it's kept that way.

I came to university expecting revolutionary action and what I got was a bunch of misogynists rebranding ancient sexist tropes to me and dismissing my every attempt to organise. The reality is that privileged queer people will fight you at every turn when you do anything which upsets the power balance that allows them to exploit those beneath them without consequences.

Yet, despite how self-evident this all is, I still see people online making the insane argument that transmisogny isn't real or that it's equal to "transandrobrobia" or "transmisandry". Maybe it's uncharitable, but I see no difference between this male exceptionalism and any other attempt to elevate the comparatively minor inconveniences that men suffer from Patriarchy to the very real and deadly violence that women suffer from it.

Trans guys will degrade themselves by invoking some essence of womanly victimhood in order to undermine and revoke the womanhood of trans women. This isn't internalised transphobia, it's a deliberate act of violence. They do it because they know that being a woman is better than being a freak and by pretending to be the former they can force trans women into the latter, thus exposing them to much worse violence.

Trans women are women, that means they are the intended targets of misogyny. Nothing about it is accidental. Trans men are men, that means they are just as capable of wielding Patriarchy against women. This includes trans women.

I've lost sisters in my community. They were good women who never hurt anyone and they were systemically torn apart limb by limb from every possible support system. All they had left was quiet communities. Communities which these men weaponised against them. These brothers betrayed their sisters and became accomplices in their systemic social murder.

Despite my anger and grief, I still love trans men. Just as I love men in general, no matter how naive it may feel at times. But I will always be afraid of what they can do to my sisters and I. We will never be safe in our own community unless trans men learn to listen to us and call out this behaviour when it happens.

Because like it or not, trans men are the men of trans people and they do have power over trans women. If you want our trust then you have to earn it. We want to trust our brothers, we really do. So, don't be another reason why we don't.

[mysunfreckle]

When it comes to adaptations of Pride & Prejudice, especially modernised versions, it's always quite clear that Jane Austen is a lot harsher towards Lydia Bennet than we are generally comfortable with nowadays. She's barely sixteen and yet is held fully responsible for all of her actions and thereby deserving of how she ends up (with Wickham).

But there's something else that I think is integral to Lydia's character and her treatment in the narrative: she is not sorry and she is not miserable. And while her gleeful "Lydia was Lydia still" attitude just after she got married could be just another piece of evidence that she's simply too unprincipled to feel any sort of shame, all the information we get about her future implies that she pretty much stays that way:

Whenever [Lydia and Wickham] changed their quarters, either Jane or [Elizabeth] were sure of being applied to for some little assistance towards discharging their bills. Their manner of living, even when the restoration of peace dismissed them to a home, was unsettled in the extreme. They were always moving from place to place in quest of a cheap situation, and always spending more than they ought. His affection for her soon sunk into indifference: hers lasted a little longer; and, in spite of her youth and her manners, she retained all the claims to reputation which her marriage had given her. Though Darcy could never receive him at Pemberley, yet, for Elizabeth’s sake, he assisted him further in his profession. Lydia was occasionally a visitor there, when her husband was gone to enjoy himself in London or Bath; and with the Bingleys they both of them frequently stayed so long, that even Bingley’s good-humour was overcome, and he proceeded so far as to talk of giving them a hint to be gone.

It is very likely Lydia does not enjoy being poor, but she has no qualms about asking her sisters for money. And while I presume Wickham isn't faithful to her (especially not when "enjoying himself" in London or Bath), it says in the text that her affection for him only lasts "a little longer" than his for her.

It is remarked upon that Wickham and Lydia's characters "suffered no revolution from the marriage of her sisters" and, although she is always refused, she keeps trying to get Kitty to visit her with the promise of balls and young men.

Compare this to how Maria Betram's future is sketched at the end of Mansfield Park:

It ended in Mrs. Norris’s resolving to quit Mansfield and devote herself to her unfortunate Maria, and in an establishment being formed for them in another country, remote and private, where, shut up together with little society, on one side no affection, on the other no judgment, it may be reasonably supposed that their tempers became their mutual punishment.

No such promise of punishment for Lydia! If she really stays "Lydia still; untamed, unabashed, wild, noisy, and fearless", perhaps she is allowed to skip through her unsatisfactory marriage with the same energy she skipped into it: flirting left and right, spending all her money, and thinking only of her own enjoyment.

Which is probably the kindest ending the story can give her, considering she insisted on marrying Wickham.

[sepublic]

            I wanna analyze part of the exchange between Luz and the Titan, because I’m seeing some people misunderstand it by claiming the show is saying that Luz doesn’t need to self-reflect because she always means well, unlike THOSE guys (Nevermind everything she and others have gone through up until this point). Maybe I’m repeating the obvious, but;

         “I’m not so kind. When I saw the Collector fly up to Belos, I hoped with all my heart I would see them blast him away, and-”

         Here we have Luz insinuating that she’s not kind, simply on account of wanting Belos dead; Nevermind the fact that she has plenty of justified reason to want gone someone who has maliciously caused her and her loved ones so much pain, trauma, and agony across so much time.

         “Hey, I can relate. I was willing to do anything to keep my kid safe. But I attacked the wrong person, dragged the Collector down here for nothing.”

         The Titan does relate to feeling shame over ugly emotions like hatred and anger, which can make people lash out; Bringing up how those feelings brought him to make a terrible mistake that would have a lasting ripple effect on the Boiling Isles up until now.

         “Does that make us as bad as Belos?”

         At which point, Luz drops the question, the false equivalency that it’s fair for her to nevertheless entertain for the sake of self-reflection; Does her and the Titan feeling anger and even hurting people over it, or planning to, make them as bad as Belos?

         “What? Have you been drinking Eda’s homemade apple blood?”

         The Titan’s skepticism over this false comparison is self-explanatory.

         “Well, Belos says he’s trying to save humanity, and we’re saying we want to save our families, so isn’t that the same thing? Don’t- Don’t these feelings come from the same place?”

         When Luz says ‘feelings’, she’s very much talking about anger, even hatred; The kind that drives people to fight and even hurt others. Belos is angry, but Luz notes that so is she, as was the Titan, and all of them claim to do this over loved ones they’re worried about, right? That’s the ‘same place’ she’s referring to.

         “Well, you assume Belos’ goal comes from a genuine place. But, that man doesn’t care about anything but his need to be the hero in his own delusion. And because of that, he fears what he can’t control.”

         That’s when the Titan clarifies the difference; The anger of the victim is not the same as the anger of the abuser. The anger of the oppressed is not comparable to the anger of the oppressor. Anger doesn’t necessarily make you the bad guy, especially when it moves people to do the right thing. Both Luz and the Titan are angry, yes; But they’re angry because they legitimately have loved ones, and themselves, who have been hurt, and are genuinely at stake here. They're still allowed to feel this way. They only want Belos dead because they can’t get him to stop hurting people, so this is the only option left to make him stop endangering others.

         Whereas Belos’ hatred is that of the colonizer; He never really had anyone at stake here. Humanity was never in any real danger, especially not Caleb, whom Philip consciously disrespects by going against everything Caleb stood for, despite Caleb having made it clear with an open-armed welcome that this would never have to exclude his love for his brother. Philip made the decision to choose a world over his brother, NOT Caleb who understood he should theoretically have both, as a parallel/foil to Luz who wants both, but is still struggling to accept she can have that.

         Dana confirmed at Pixelatl –and it’s fairly obvious even without said confirmation- that she based Belos off of televangelists, cult leaders, the conservative relative, etc. The first two especially are hardcore bigots, the kind who really double down on their prejudice, and actively make it happen on a larger scale; These are the kind of people who go past that reasonable point of being well-intentioned but misinformed about their biases.

         Yes, Luz and Belos are both angry, but Belos’ anger is that of the reactionary conservative, hence “fearing what he can’t control.” He claims to feel threatened, but unlike people like Luz who really are endangered and fighting for their lives, the only thing being threatened is Belos’ worldview of supremacy and self-righteousness, so like a lot of right-wing “morality police” and the like.

         In the end, TOH is calling out how bigotry did not start from a place of good intentions, which is fitting given Belos represents the type of OG bigot, the Puritans who were among many who made contact with the Native Americans and vice-versa; Prejudice was born as a way to justify narratives of power and control, by dehumanizing others and thus justifying their suffering and exploitation for the sake of those who ‘really’ matter. These narratives, when perpetuated, create self-fulfilling prophecies and issues that the misguided but well-meaning are concerned about, which leads them down flawed attempts to address these problems.

         This is to say people who genuinely mean well, who have been hurt and do have others at stake, can make mistakes; This very exchange reminds us that the Titan hurt the Collector, something she does nothing to justify, and something the viewers know was objectively wrong, and has deep consequences as we’re currently seeing. Luz and the Titan both contributed to the Collector falling into Belos’ hands, but while Luz was genuinely manipulated and didn’t realize what was going on, the Titan chose to lash out at a bystander because she couldn’t channel her anger successfully towards the Archivists.

         But the Titan has learned, and she’s recognized what she’s done as wrong, and she’s made efforts to undo and make up for that. And it’s important to remember how all of this was prompted by the genocide of the Archivists, who claim to be preserving life, yet destroy it when it does not heed their plans. People are still responsible on an individual level, but it’s also worth noting how the system can influence them, just as it did for Amity and Lilith. And the system was started by people who didn’t really have a system over their heads, or were rebelling against a different kind.

         It’s not as if TOH is saying you can’t mean well and make mistakes; So much of the show is about people meaning well and making mistakes, especially parents towards their children. And this is fitting since a well-meaning parent nevertheless hurting her child is the inciting incident of the series, and it’s something that is brought up and resolved in the previous episode between Luz and Camila. Hell, Luz herself understands that meaning well can hurt others, like when she kept secrets from Amity, under the guise of not wanting to burden her girlfriend.

         TOH still has plenty of examples of genuine intent leading to bad things; So it’s entirely reasonable, in this case, to bring up the original people who codified bigotry and prejudice, because being a freak and a weirdo does not happen in a vacuum, it is in relation to a society. At some point you have to discuss WHY someone is considered strange; Who designated the guidelines for the deviant, and by extension, what are the guidelines for what is ‘normal’, who decided this would be normal, and why? And that’s why the story brings these back to the settlers who made contact with the Native Americans and vice-versa, and established a precedent for prejudice towards these people.

         The point is that the show is refuting the centrist idea of Both Sides, that if you’re violent and/or angry then you’re just as bad as the oppressor, if not worse; Victims are allowed to be angry, they have a right to be upset, as Eda herself says. You can’t expect them to appeal solely by peace when that’s clearly not working out, hence Raine and Darius’ rebellions, which do necessitate violence at times, even if they’d love to minimize it and try; Which is why the finale shows the initially-cautious CATTs accepting covenscouts who are willing to change, why Kikimora is shown doing community service (and that's assuming it's not just a job given her lack of uniform; She may have been allowed to reintegrate into society as a regular citizen).

         Between the juxtaposition of the Collector hearing about how Amity and Lilith were successfully appealed to, and applying that to Belos, only for that to fail as Luz explains this individual situation is a bit more complicated… Basically, what the show is saying is that you should choose to be kind and give chances and grace, anyone can change; But people also have a right to prioritize themselves in self-defense, and just in general health, when people continue to refuse to reciprocate, and leave no other choice. Because there’s still responsibility on the other party to respond to these offers of kindness, and make the same choice to improve the world; They have free will, everyone does, and you can’t force people to be better, anymore than the Collector can force people to be their friends.

         Not to mention how victims have a right to be upset and don’t owe forgiveness, but at the same time, the concept of Restorative VS Retributive Justice argues that it’s better for the world if everyone improved; That doesn’t mean victims have to forgive or even necessarily help, because improving oneself does not rely on your victims doing you favors. It’s ultimately about harm reduction; Ideally, harm is reduced by helping people open their minds and change, but if that isn’t working and the person keeps hurting and even killing others, then yes, harm must be reduced by imprisoning, or even killing them in self-defense.

         Hence the difference in that Luz’s anger comes from ultimately wanting to reduce harm and being frustrated by those who continue to perpetuate it; Versus Belos whose anger isn’t really meant to prevent harm, but pointlessly cause more of it, because of his immature disgust towards those different, as well as the supremacy and selfishness that actively puts down others for Belos’ own sake (because Caleb isn’t allowed to have more than one person in his life, apparently).

         And note that Belos is already at the end of his life (because people only have so much time to change before it's cut short by death), because extending it requires sacrificing palismen, which goes against harm-reduction; So they can’t just imprison Belos without killing him. And in the end, the protagonists don’t prolong Belos’ misery by letting the boiling rain finish him off, they get it over with by stomping on him; Not only does this allow them to vent much-deserved anger towards an oppressor, but it cuts away any chance of Belos coming up with something last-second by just ending him right there. That reduces harm from Belos, and harm TO Belos, because his death isn’t any longer than it needs to be.

         And on Luz’s side, her not doing anything to Belos is justified because it’s about her refusing to help him, thus standing for herself and what she believes, and not letting this traumatic, gaslighting presence have any more power over her. Luz still allows her loved ones to finish off Belos; Her not responding to Belos is about reducing harm to herself.

         It’s a lot of stuff. It’s about balancing a lot of seemingly conflicting, opposite ideas, like Luz balancing two worlds; As she herself explains to the Collector, it can be “complicated.” It’s about nuance, and a case-by-case basis; Because note that the Titan doesn’t tell Luz that she will always be right because SHE always means well. Just that in this specific case, in regards to this specific guy, things are not equivalent. Hence why the Titan focuses on deconstructing Belos and not Luz. 

This moment specifically is breaking down colonial rhetoric by calling it out for what it actually is, because Belos is 100% a colonizer and this is one of the most important aspects of his character, and his contributions, to the narrative. And whatever mistakes Luz and the Titan made, at least they care enough to make up for it, because they really are trying to do this for others, instead of prioritizing an ego trip; That kind of mentality is doomed to being static. I'd argue the Titan isn't necessarily saying that Belos never cared about anyone (AKA Caleb) period, just that in the context of his 'protecting humanity' claim, he wasn't doing it for anyone because there was nobody in any actual danger, and he knows it. Philip wasn't actually concerned for Caleb's sake when he killed him.

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AMITA for lying to everyone I know about my identity’s as a queer/neurodivergent person?

I (18M) am a bisexual, transgender man who is also autistic, ADHD, and OCD. When people hear this about me, even if they know me, I feel like they build up this image of me as an awkward, “cringy” 11 year old who’s obsessed with “cringy” fandoms. And while i have a qualm with this because I know they are looking down on people who are just less masked/higher support needs, I also dislike that they do this because it’s just not who I am. Without the labels, I mostly seem like just a normal dude, if not a bit nerdy.

I also used to be extremely bullied as a kid (7-12) to the point of a suicide attempt, mostly due to homophobic, transphobic, or ablest remarks about me. Since then I’ve completely changed community’s and do not talk to anyone i knew before high school.

When authority figures (Teachers, Show Directors, Investors of the teen programs I lead) apply ablest/transphobic stereotypes or prejudices to me, they also tend to be less,,, normal? around me. Less kind compared to other kids, call me an “inspiration”, or they’ll coddle me when I’m incredibly capable. I do a lot for someone my age- and I know the connections I make now at conferences and whatnot will help me in the long run. My dad’s family is poor, and my immediate family is more comfortable but not that much. I know I’m smart, and I can weaponize that to get a better life for my family by getting good scholarships and jobs in good fields. I can’t just let people who could be very important to my goals look down on me. So i just.. don’t tell them anything about me. They might assume Im odd or “not normal”, and for the most part I let them assume whatever, but if i’m ever asked directly about anything I deny it. Especially in relation to me being transgender; I have the very privileged ability to pass without any medical intervention, and I use that to pretend to be cisgender. Living in the deep south of USAmerica, most of who I am could make my social life very uncomfortable to downright miserable.

Here’s where the problem starts happening. when my social and (what i consider to be a) “professional” life occasionally touch, I wouldn’t be able to be out everywhere socially without someone I don’t want knowing finding out. So i don’t tell any of my classmates/friends/peers about any of my identities either. I hang out with queer and straight people, never be actively homophobic/ablest, and will be very vague about the two questions i’ve ever received about any of that stuff. It’s very, very exhausting to pretend all the time, every day, especially pretending that I’m cisgender because it’s a tricky game, but I can’t really back down and I’m afraid that I might get bullied again if I was ever open about it with classmates.

A few months ago, I was dating this guy, who i’ll call Kai (17M) Kai is also a transgender man, but does not pass at all and is comfortable with it. He’ll get shit sometimes, but also has essentially no straight friends. I told him I was queer when we became good friends, and then told him I was trans after we started dating. I also told him why I lie about being cishet or neurotypical, and while he didn’t seem happy he didn’t push it at first. I told him that I understood if he didn’t want to be in a secret relationship, but because of where we live and what I want to do I wasn’t comfortable with being out again. He said he still wanted to date me, and claimed he would support me, and we had a pretty good relationship overall.

A month after that, he started bringing it up again. He told me that I was more than my identity, and if people didn’t see me for who I am instead of stereotypes, it isn’t worth talking to them at all. And while I agree with the sentiment, it’d never be possible to just not hear someone if they were harassing me, and while I truely dislike a lot of the authority figures that I engage with, they are in the professional fields I’m interested in, and I’m incredibly lucky for getting where I am so early. Kai also said that since I am well known in our very small school (only 300 kids), being out could be a positive influence on what people think about autistic people or trans people. In a particularly heated fight, he even said I was doing a disservice or betrayal to my community by not representing or being proud of being apart of them publicly.

We broke up pretty soon after, but I think about what he said a lot. I know that I wouldn’t be the only out person at my school, and that my school is actually a lot better compared to most local schools, which are a lot larger and… dramatic, but I just don’t think I could be out without going back to how I used to be mentally. And Kai was right about how I could be a good influence on some of the meaner classmates- I do think some of my peers who I ingenuinely connect with might reconsider their prejudices if they knew I was transgender.

I’m intentionally choosing not to take the opportunity to do better. It wouldn’t ruin ALL my relationships with the authority figures I consider to be important holding, since it would just be my school, It might dampen one or two of them. Plus, I’m lying to pretty much everyone who knows me. They build relationships with a false idea of me, and I feel like an asshole sometimes because I’m not honest.

TLDR: I’m a transgender, autistic guy in a very bigoted community. Everybody thinks i’m cishet and neurotypical. AMITA for not being proud of who I am because of potential social losses, and AMITA for lying to people and giving friends/peers false ideas about who I am even if they would not be friends with me if they knew?

What are these acronyms?

[grilde1chesse]

idk abt u guys but i feel like the argument that transandrophobia isn't real is borderline so stupid. the words existence isn't to imply that androphobia/misandry is an actual issue at all or somehow deserve more attention than womens experiences, or thatmen are somehow not privileged. its refering to trans men's experiences with being shamed for "choosing" to be men. its saying the demonetization of our identities is harmful, that trans men are not misogynists for being men, that trans men should not have to apologize for their identity.

i will admit, transandrophobia is definitely misleading, and implies its a similar form of gendered oppression to cis men, (in the same way transmisogyny and misogyny are similar oppression wise), which it's not. being a trans man doesnt exclude or save you from misogyny, nobody is saying trans men and transmascs cannot weaponize misogyny. please stop believing radfems who claim men can only exist in opposition to women.

think about it this way: cis men are not oppressed, they are incredibly privileged, these are well known facts, yet transwomen are demonized for "being men" or "pretending" to be a woman. trans women are oppressed and shamed for being "predatory" and fitting other male stereotypes. in this situation, she is being oppressed because society views her as a man, and therefore easily targetable as a threat. this is a mindset put forward by transphobic politicians, radfems & terfs in order to oppress and harm trans women.

you see where im going here? a similar tactic is used on trans men, where again men are momentarily viewed as evil and violent. this is projected onto trans men in order to justify hatred towards them. cis men are not oppressed, trans men are however. this tactic is used to discourage transmascs & men from starting t, putting forward stereotypes and rumors that t will somehow turn you into a perverted violent asshole, or queer communities isolating transmascs when they embrace their masculinity.

its taking societies hatred towards patriarchy and projecting it onto vulnerable minorities. this form of oppression is less similar to any prejudice put forward towards cis men in order to stay safe, and rather violent stereotypes made about trans women.

i could get side tracked and talk about how womenhood is used in a similarly weaponized manner, one that (because women are oppressed and misogyny is an issue) also affects cis women. like how trans women are discouraged from starting e in fear of "becoming weak" and other misogynistic stereotypes, and how trans men are told they'll never be "real men" because they'll always be a "weak little girl". i could also compare that to my previous examples with men being deemed violent and dangerous in order to harm trans people, and mention how those stereotypes do not harm cis men, because for so long being violent has been deemed desirable and masculine, and that cis men do not experience oppression.

transandrophobia isn't saying trans men aren't in any way more privileged than trans women. we are. it isn't saying cis men are oppressed. they aren't. its simply stating that our gender is treated like something dangerous, and like an opposition to womenhood. its talking out about the problems with a system that cannot support men and women without demonizing one, about how the concept of manhood being an opposition to women is a harmful stereotype used against trans individuals, rather than cis men. please stop listening to radfems. we're all on the same side, we're all fighting for the same rights. stay alive and take care of each other.

take my little guy i made 4 pride last year. he wants friends

[ribstongrowback]

re: "what if Callouts For Good tho?"

i need you to think of callouts like you think of the cops. you'll hear this retort often, when one professes their mistrust of the police establishment: "okay, but what if you get mugged, huh?".

it is a fair question, after all, we are told the police is here to serve and protect, nevermind the fact that most of the time what you'll get out of reporting a theft to the police is that you'll be able to make an insurance claim later.

the reason why this is not the armour piercing question some people think it is, is that the police is not, in fact, here to help you if you get mugged. we all know this. the police protects capital, and if you don't have that, they won't protect you, especially if you're a minority.

you know what i mean. i'm summing this up because i assume that you're coming to this debate from a broadly leftist point of view, and only repeating them so that you put a pin in that as i make my actual point. if you don't think all cops are bastards, i don't think the rest of this post will convince you either way.

the point is that the police can and will only help you if you are a person of means. the actual things that police can do, the violence cops are capable of, only works on the poor and disenfrenchised. on anyone who's not the bourgeoisie.

callouts work in a similar way, because what callouts attack is social capital.

the point of a callout is that it's a non-police solution, essentially, right? in the ideal scenario, you're pointing out harm that someone is doing so that the community wises up to how dangerous that person is, in order to reduce their ability to do harm. most people who use a callout are aiming at least on paper for the target to lose their status in the community, or for their exclusion.

the issue here is that for this to work, you have to convince the community, and even with the best intentions in the world, this only works if you, as the caller, have enough social capital compared to your target that you will be trusted over the established feelings the community harbors towards that target.

you'll notice, whenever a callout works, that the people will line up to declare that they never trusted the target anyway. that they caught a "vibe" or whatever. true, some of that might be people exonerating themselves, but mostly i think these people just feel vindication over having their biases confirmed.

in other word, callouts that work work because the target already has low social capital.

now, in a community, who has the lowest social capital? why, the minorities, of course. this is why black, disabled, trans people are the most common target of any callout that works. because these people are not trusted by the community as much as white abled and cis people, because even in progressive spaces, prejudice persists.

all of this to explain something that @txttletale said in a much more succint way: callouts only work when you're punching down.

like the police.

[lean-mean-demon-genevieve]

I’m not interested in defending celebrities, to be so for real, but I am interested in a crumb of whatever drugs this blogger is on. This kind of standom delusion must feel amazing. 💊💊

It’s so funny to me when stans go after each other and fail to realize that they are all engaging in the same kind of “Nuh-uh! That other side sucks the hardest because of all this very biased data I’ve compiled” type of arguing. I’m also not interested in warring with any stan blogs, but this was just so egregious and needed to be debunked. So let’s unpack:

Right off the bat, this blog has used the word tokenize incorrectly. This means to use someone as a symbol of inclusion or compliance with regulations, or to avoid the appearance of discrimination or prejudice.

I think they are intending to refer to the kids being a commodity to exploit in the overall branding of the family; that they are being objectified. And one only has to skim the Instagram feeds of Danneel and Gen to see which family is more heavy-handed. “Danneel’s entire Instagram use to be solely about that.”Based on what, exactly? Danneel’s very first post is of Jensen and JJ, yes, and her identity as wife and mother is (gasp) very much on display ever since. But…that’s to be expected, right?! After all, sharing those parts of their family life on socials is exactly the whole point and why anyone initially followed. It is that behind the scenes peek into the family lives of J2 that drew people in. It’s not as if either of these women has much of a fan base on their own and neither of them were acting at the time their IG accounts launched.

A quick side-by-side of the 2 accounts at about the same point in time (2017/2018) shows little differences in themes of content:

This blog further claims that “Genevieve and Jared are intelligently including their children where needed” and doing so in “genuine, selfless ways.” *snorts* At the time of this writing, Danneel has 458 posts and Gen has 1,833. Now, I didn’t review each post but the few tags I saw included in family photos were Disneyland and Warner Bros when they visited in recent years. I did not see multiple paid partnership ads featuring the Ackles children. I’m open to anyone proving me wrong, because by sheer volume my argument will still stand. In a random sampling of 2021, we have a string of posts of the Pada-kids that double as ads to varying degrees. Here are just a few examples:

Now you might say, “ok but these are products for children and families…that still seems pretty thoughtful.” Except that one need only scroll a little farther to see the kids included in brand deals for adult supplements, exercise gear, cleaning products, and even shampoo.

All of these products still fit in the “items that help me be a great mom” theme of the Now & Gen era, but this is still blatantly using images of the kids for profit in ways that the Ackles just have not done. What is shown here is just the tip of the iceberg and does not include the other attempts at branding on the failed Now & Gen blog or the YouTube vlog. So I’m not sure how the Pads have only used the kids “when needed” when this family was never going to go hungry without these endorsement deals.

Comparing the volume of likes on Gen’s IG posts that contain the children vs those that do not makes it seem likely that someone has been paying attention to the trends and has concluded that utilizing the children in ads has more earning potential. This is the current climate of social media marketing. These outcomes are in fact considered.

The idea that kids should be allowed to “earn money or have a brand” if they want is actually incredibly irresponsible. Protecting the safety of children that are a part of family content creation was a popular topic over the last year. There have been several examples of families who lost the plot in their efforts to market their children in order to achieve financial gain. What an asinine claim to make for children in general when Google is right there. And I love a link, so here’s a few: X, X, and X. It’s too early to definitively summarize the harm that the Pads might be causing their kids with all the exposure. Even when parents are not intentionally exploiting, their children are too young to consent to this type of “work.” Their brains are literally not developed enough to consider the long term pros and cons. All of this sets them up for potential harm, the risk of which makes none of this a need.

“What’s wrong are self-centered, clueless parents who only show off their kids to benefit off of a certain image.” (Pretending I can’t see the self-centered bit because woooo boy…Gen…😬) But aren’t both families posting photos of their kids to “benefit” off of their image of “family?” It’s baked into the Spn and even Walker marketing. The fandoms have been referred to as a family almost since their inception, so it only makes sense that fans were interested in the leads and their own growing families. Again, both families have benefitted but the Pads have benefitted all the way to the bank. And some Padalecki stans are quick to point this out as a win. If the above blog wants to congratulate Gen on her shrewd sense of business and use of capitalism, then that is a whole other thing and they should just come out and say that without making anyone out to be a saint.

One should take note that nowhere in here have I said that Danneel or Jensen are better people than anyone. I didn’t praise them for anything or proclaim their intentions are always pure of heart. How could anyone know that, except by virtue of the faith that comes along with extreme fandom? And that faith isn’t the same as screenshots, numbers, and patterns.

As always: Pedestals aren’t for people. Hold everyone accountable, even your faves. They will survive.✌🏼

[boopshoops]

Ayo??? Aro is trending? I wonder why- haha oh wow I wish i didnt see that today!

Hi! Aromantic individuals, you're welcome in the lgbtqia+ space. You're welcome here. I hope you find a positive space and feel safe.

It truly hurts my heart to see other people of lgbtq identities hurt their own. Why do people have to compare and gatekeep a community based on the amount of prejudice placed against them? I am a biromantic asexual, there are things I may be confused about regarding aromantic identities, but it costs literally nothing to respect them and offer a place of solace. Nothing!!!

"Well they never went through this." And they shouldn't fucking have to. None of the lgbtqia+ should have to go through atrocities and horrible situations in order to be accepted. None.

I say this a lot to myself and my friends as well: you're allowed to be upset about things that other people may think to be a "minor" issue. Shit is still shit. Everyone naturally goes through different levels of bullshit. It doesn't make you any less of who you truly are or devalue the trials you went through in life.

You're cis and aro? You belong. You're trans and aro? You belong. Aroallo? You belong. Aroace? Belong. Demi, lithio, grey, cupio, abro? You belong. Any fucking identity???? You should be allowed to belong.

Aphobes? Go outside. Take a breath of air. Get off the internet for a while. Why does someone have to go through as much shit as you or more in order to be seen as "acceptable?" In this world, we should make living in it as easy as possible. Not harder. It's awful when I see some claiming that aros have no prejudice against them, only by saying that, they literally create prejudice. Yikes! Be kind. Accepting. It's really not that hard to simply let others be.

Anyway, ramble over, have a nice day.

[lollytea]

"there's a bit where hunters life falls apart" HELLO?? MISS TEA ELABORATE (if you please)

Alright. Walk with me. Let's talk.

(Potentially triggering content ahead.)

So imagine you're a teenage boy. Around 17-18. Imagine you're out in public and you've snuck away somewhere discreet to make out with your girlfriend, who you utterly adore.

Someone catches the two of you in the act and snaps a picture. If you were a normal teenage boy and she was a normal teenage girl, this would be a little embarrassing at worst.

But neither of you are normal. So that one little picture means the end of the world for you both.

Since you were little, you've been taught that you have to work extra hard to keep your secrets, because the whole world wants to know them. The whole world is obsessed with you and you should be grateful. However, there are certain things about you that could tarnish your golden reputation so you need to do whatever it takes to keep them to yourself.

And if they find out and make a mockery out of you, it's your own damn fault.

Don't say Uncle didn't warn you.

Do not tell the world the secret to your lean build and muscled limbs. If they found out about the ballet, the rumors would swirl. You don't want them thinking you're gay, do you?

Because you're not gay.

At least not entirely. But they can't know about that either.

Do not tell the world about your Diva Tantrums. About how even insignificant things like the stage lights being too bright or your costume being a weird texture can lead to you having a complete episode on set. You don't want them thinking you have a mental disorder, do you?

Because you don't have a mental disorder. You're perfectly sane. It's just hard to explain why silly things bother you so much.

However, if a rumor goes around that earns you positive attention, then by God, you encourage it.

You are not dating your co-star Emira Blight. Actually you're pretty sure Emira Blight hates your guts.

But neither of you are allowed to say that. It's good publicity for both of you. So you're kinda shackled to each other.

Neither of you are obliged to claim you're dating. But you're not allowed to deny it either. It's the speculation that keeps the interest alive.

She seems like a nice girl but she feels a lot of resentment towards you because all of her magazine/red carpet interviews are questions about you and her relationship with you. For some reason.

"Sexism," Says your girlfriend when you tell her about it. This explains a lot.

Your girlfriend knows a lot about sexism. She knows a lot about various types of prejudice. She deals with at least 4 of them on a regular basis.

She's tough though. Tough as a tree. But she's young too. Young and sensitive. It wears her down, all of this. It really does.

Like you, your girlfriend lives in the spotlight. Unlike you, she's a rather divisive person. A lot of people in Hollywood don't like her for stupid reasons.

You love her though. You love her to pieces.

She's a little like you and you're a little like her. You trust her enough to tell her your secrets. She knows about the ballet. She knows about the way you sometimes look at boys. She knows that your brain does not operate the way it should.

But she loves you. She loves you to pieces.

The little trail of kisses that she leaves down the slope of your nose makes you like it more.

You've always been insecure about your large hooked nose. It makes you a little less marketable so it sometimes sabotages your chance at booking roles.

You're no Edric Blight, that's for damn sure. Button nosed bastard.

But your girlfriend cups your face in her hands and calls you her prettyboy and it makes you melt every time.

It's the nose thing. And the teeth thing. And the hooded eye thing. You'll never be the most attractive young actor in Hollywood.

But you're not doing badly, all things considered.

Especially when it comes to how you are treated compared to your girlfriend.

"The perks of being a slim white man," She says jokingly, cuddling up against your chest.

"Also nepotism," You reply.

Your girlfriend makes you like yourself in a way you've always had to fake.

She also fakes a lot. She fakes confidence when it's not really there. She fakes cheerfulness and nonchalance when she really wants to burst into tears.

So you're determined to make her like herself too.

It took a long time for her to let you hold her. She was afraid you'd notice how soft her body is.

But when you're kissing her neck on that day, you're squeezing her thighs and she squeaks and giggles. Because you're tickling her and not because her thighs are off limits.

You're allowed to touch her now without reservations. Because she trusts you wholeheartedly. Thank God.

You promise you're always going to be there for her. She promises the same for you.

You promise that whatever happens, you'll figure it out together.

You're not allowed to tell the world that your girlfriend is your girlfriend.

There's a few reasons for this. The first being that this is your first relationship. It's hers too. Neither of you really know what you're doing at first but you certainly don't want millions of eyes watching you both awkwardly try to navigate romance.

But the second reason is what really matters here.

If people found out, they would be really really really mean to her.

"I look weird standing next to you," She murmurs. "Nothing like Emira,"

Whenever you tell her that she's the prettiest girl in existence, she grins, flipping her hair. "I know!"

But that's only in the privacy of your dressing room. When it's just you and her and you both feel safe. It's when she steps back out into the spotlight that all that confidence fizzles away.

But it's been a while since you started dating and honestly, it's getting exhausting. A little sad too.

One time you were both at the zoo. A few of the cast members of Hexside and Golden Guard were there too so it wasn't suspicious that you were out in public together.

Your girlfriend saw another teenage boy thread his fingers through those of the girl beside him, happy and carefree. In broad daylight too! But nobody cared about those two kids dating. Because the whole world wasn't watching them.

She had to go slip away somewhere quiet and wipe away a few tears before anybody saw her.

It's not fun living like this. Always nervously glancing over your shoulder. Always checking yourself to make sure you're not smiling too warmly at the girl you are hopelessly weak for. It's extremely draining to live in paranoia.

The two of you have been talking and you're thinking about going public. Not because you want the whole world in your business but after the initial burst of attention, it'll probably calm down.

If anything, you just want people to not care. Indifference is all you could ask for.

But public indifference is a privilege that people like you don't get.

Things have changed over the last year. Your girlfriend is way more popular than she used to be. She has a dedicated fanbase. So....maybe people will be nice?

You're hopeful. So is she.

The picture is snapped.

The picture spreads.

The world knows.

And people are not nice.

This is the part you don't want to talk about. Describing it in detail is painful.

Things were said about your girlfriend that hurts to think about.

And it's because of you. If it hadn't been your stupid face she was kissing, you wouldn't hear her uneven breath over the phone as she tries to keep herself from crying.

The two of you stay up for hours, trying to figure out what to do next and are essentially just talking in circles until your throat hurts.

Neither of you know what to do next. So you give up and call it a night and promise to think about it some more in the morning.

You sleep for 3 hours and when you regain consciousness at 5am you find a long string of notifications on your phone.

Texts from your girlfriend.

Wait.

No.

These aren't texts from your girlfriend.

You don't have a girlfriend.

You reply immediately.

You stand up. You get dressed. You go to work.

At some point you're obliged to be out in public.

You're swarmed by a crowd of cameras with people attached. Questions are hurled at you.

They ask about her.

You black out.

You break someone's nose.

You get punished.

You've never been punished to such an extreme extent before but you understand why.

You have spent a lifetime being perfected by your Uncle. Your image is spotless. You're a polite, charasmatic young actor with an admirable dedication to your Christian faith.

You're considered a role model by many.

And what have you done?

You've ruined it.

You're ruined everything.

The rumors are already erupting in the distance like a mushroom cloud and it's only going to get worse.

Within days, you're somebody else in the world's eyes.

You're a troubled teen star.

You're ignorant.

You're aggressive.

You're violent.

You've lost your way.

Don't you know that children look up to you?

Why would you do something like this?

You're pretty sure it lasted days. Or maybe weeks. But it was endless to you.

It's your wardrobe stylist that discovers the bruises before your attendant can sneak you to the makeup artists (who are apparently great at keeping their mouths shut.)

You and the wardrobe stylist have become close. He likes you a lot more than he used to.

The bruises alarm him.

"I'm sorry," He apologizes but doesn't elaborate. You don't ask.

What happens next is a very long arduous blur.

You're in a contract. This is significant.

There's lawyers involved. The wardrobe stylist fights tooth and nail to get these lawyers.

There are litigations.

You're required to talk about your relationship with your Uncle in painful detail. It's necessary. But there's always a hand on your back to keep you anchored to reality.

You're 18 now. This is also significant.

One thing happens after another.

Until one day you wake up, emancipated.

Your Uncle is no longer your legal guardian.

You're not an actor anymore.

Thank God.

This is good for you, you know that. You wouldn't have lived to see 21 if this had carried on.

But....who are you now?

You're nobody.

You live with the man who saved your life in a nondescript house he bought in a nondescript neighbourhood.

You think it will be nothing but smooth sailing from here. But it's not.

You don't know how to be nobody. You've never been nobody before. You have to adjust.

You've always been discouraged from eating and now you can barely keep down a whole meal. It takes time.

You usually operate on 5 or less hours of sleep so you struggle to stay unconscious the whole night. That takes time too.

Sometimes you think you're fine but you're not.

It's scary not knowing who you are anymore. And when you get scared, you tend to get angry.

You fight with everyone when you're in one of these moods. You fight with the man you live with.

You fight with the woman next door who treats you like her own son.

You fight with her two daughters. The one who also lost her girlfriend around the same time you did. The one who's become your best friend in the world.

You fight with the other daughter. The one who has scars like yours and had a breakdown when you yelled at her and you hated yourself for weeks.

You never knew you were so mean.

Maybe the things people said about you were right.

You have a therapist now. The man you live with arranged it.

The therapist has to come to your house for sessions because you can only go as far as the end of your block.

You have agoraphobia now, apparently. Being out in public makes you have some nasty panic attacks.

The thought of being photographed is enough to make you spiral.

You haven't left that neighbourhood in months.

You miss her.

You also miss your best friend, but he's cut you off too.

It was nothing personal. It's just...you were always a trio. But she's made it clear that seeing you again would hurt. Thinking about you hurts. Having any lingering trace of you in her life would hurt.

He decided that it would be better if he didn't have contact with you either. He was going to stick by her side.

You're proud of him. And thankful that she always has him looking out for her.

You can't bear the thought of them seeing you like this anyway.

Things are bad.

But it's always worse before it gets better.

And it does get better.

It just takes time.

You're 19, going on 20 and your ribs no longer poke out jaggedly against your flesh.

There's fat on your stomach.

Your face is less gaunt. Your skin less sallow looking.

You like to read.

You like to sew.

There's a gym downtown that you like to go to, with a large studio on the floor where you can practise ballet.

You and your family often have barbecues in your backyard when it's warm out.

Sometimes you like to sit by your open window for hours and listen to the birds. There's a bluejay that really likes you.

You're 19, going on 20 and you're lying in the grass as the sun lulls you to sleep.

It's getting you, you can feel it. But you can still hear the birds, the breeze, the kids yelling from three doors down.

And then you hear it.

But you almost don't believe it.

It's a voice that you're advised to avoid.

It crops up on television sometimes and it hurts to listen to.

That being said, you still torture yourself by not reaching for the remote control right away.

You're desperate for that voice to fill your ears again. You know that you might be weak enough to beg for it.

But it hurts, it hurts, it hurts.

The voice is soft, tentatively so. And the single word wobbles like she's about to cry.

But as shattered as it sounds, it's a word that you utterly adore on her lips.

"Hunter?"

[lovemyromance]

Not the Gwynriels & Eluciens comparing their ships to Outlander, How to Train your Dragon, Shatter Me, Pride and Prejudice, Twisted Love (Ana Huang), etc. because they don't have canon evidence IN ACOTAR 😭😭😭

Never been in a fandom where people cited OTHER media sources to claim evidence of a ship.

[justali-anne]

Thought Week: Undyne

Undyne. Oh, Undyne Undyne Undyne. Oh, shoot. I can't think of an intro. So I'm just gonna get into it.

(You know the drill by now, I think. If you have any thoughts about Undyne, please please PLEASE leave them in the notes.)

First Impressions

I think I first encountered Undyne during my own playthrough? I never really saw her in any comic dubs or songs, which were my first exposure to Undertale. And I don't particularly remember watching other people play the game either, besides DanTDM and Jacksepticeye, of course (my childhood YouTubers besides Stampy and Squid). I knew she was the third boss and Papyrus' friend somehow (idk when, I just did). That's all I knew about her.

My earliest memory with Undyne was struggling at her boss fight during my first playthrough because I couldn't figure out how to spare her, and I was terrible at blocking her attacks, ESPECIALLY HER YELLOW BACKWARDS ONES!!!

Excuse my language, but THIS IS BULLSHIT! It's because of HER that I ended up resetting the entire game because I didn't get good enough healing items. SCREW YOU, UNDYNE!

So, yeah. Tough boss.

My Impressions Now

When it comes to playing the actual game, Undyne is my third favourite character to be with. She is a super fun, super passionate character that makes everything more exciting! Her "date" is actually amongst one of my favourite scenes in the game just because of how fun and silly it was! I don't know if you can tell, but I love lighthearted, silly, goofy stuff, so this was right up my alley!

(Jeebus, Undyne, no need to be so aggressive, I just wanted a drink lol)

In terms of depth and issues, she doesn't exactly stand out compared to characters like Sans, Alphys and Asgore, but honestly, I still think she's a complex character in her own right! It just doesn't seem like it because there are a lot of other characters with mental health issues and angst while Undyne... doesn't really have any of that? She's a fun, confident, tough warrior who takes it upon herself to protect the hopes and dreams of every monster in the underground. Although, on the other hand, Undyne taking so much responsibility on her shoulders means that she's prone to blaming herself whenever a fellow monster gets hurt because she's unable to protect them. She cares a LOT about her fellow monsters, so while she rightfully hates you if you kill people after befriending her, she's also angry at herself too.

(I skipped over some dialogue, but here's the gist of it)

I like how loyal she is and how fun she is. She's generally a very enjoyable character. Unlike Sans and Papyrus, who I love to dissect and analyse, I just like Undyne because she's got really awesome scenes, a bunch of passion, and a really enjoyable fight (that caused me to reset, forgiven, but not forgotten). Also, her determination. HOW ON EARTH DID SHE GET DETERMINED ENOUGH TO BRING HERSELF BACK TO LIFE TEMPORARILY?!?! That is an AWESOME power!!!! She isn't just a monster. She is a BEAST. And I love her for it.

Undyne and her Complicated Relationship with Humanity

A lot of fans mentioned something about her prejudice against humans, and while that's a part of it, it doesn't seem to be the whole picture when it comes to her thoughts about humanity.

Let's start off with the prejudice side of things. She does hold a bit of prejudice towards humans, like a lot of monsters do. And it's not like she doesn't have a reason for that. When you think about it, it's a pretty understandable character flaw to have with a character like Undyne, someone who wants to make everyone's hopes and dreams come true. In her eyes, humans have denied her people their rightful freedom. She wants to claim the last soul so she can bring them that freedom. Like I stated earlier, she cares very deeply for her people. She takes her position as the Head of the Royal Guard extremely seriously, despite her otherwise "overdramatic anime protagonist" attitude.

And come to think of it, this is mostly just speculation, but she's really close to Asgore. Surely she must have heard the story of how his kids died at the hands of humans. Surely she must know how much killing humans takes a toll on Asgore. She definitely knows that he's a big softie at the end of the day. So it wouldn't be a stretch to assume that maybe she wants to take the last human soul so he wouldn't have to do it? Sure, her main motivations mostly involve herself and her people's hopes and dreams, but she could be doing it for Asgore too. I dunno, it's more of a hunch than anything. Take it with a grain of salt.

But here's where things get more complicated. Everything Undyne knows about humans comes from "human history" AKA anime. And she's clearly a huge fan of it! She's outright disappointed in the mercy route when it turns out that you're a merciful wimp, at least until you change her mind.

So she doesn't see humans as all bad. She thinks they're cool. Also, consider how fast she becomes friends with you after you deal a super wimpy punch to her. Like seriously, that's all it took? A trick from Papyrus and then a disastrous friendship date was all it took to get her to change her mind about you? People with prejudices in real life, as I've heard, are really stubborn and set in their ways, and then Undyne comes in and after a day, she's like, "Nah, we're not enemies anymore." Freaking love this woman.

The Narrative

Undyne is an amazing support for other characters, I've realised. She's close with depressed King Asgore, she's Papyrus' first friend besides you and his own brother, and of course, there's her relationship and crush on Alphys. And like Papyrus, she's a crucial stepping stone for you to get the best ending. It seems that your chances of getting everyone to the surface hinges on whether you can befriend Undyne or not. It's her love letter that allowed you to befriend Alphys, after all.

She's also pretty realistic in her reactions if you kill literally ANYONE. Imagine if someone came into your community, a community that you swore to protect with your life, and killed someone, or even multiple people. Like, why would anyone want to befriend someone like that? Seriously, killing ONE person is enough for Undyne to hate you forever. And it's even worse if you befriend her and THEN kill a guy. To her, that's the ultimate betrayal! So, yeah! Pretty realistic, I'd say! It definitely puts into light how much of a scumbag you are if you kill anyone.

And then there's the murder route! She's among the toughest monsters in the Underground, so managing to kill her Undyne the Undying form really puts into perspective how hopeless the situation is for the monsters in the underground. She was their guardian, their light. She actually had a chance of beating you, and let's be real, she probably beat you over a dozen times by the time you finally got to her. And it was her death that triggered Alphys to evacuate the survivors, too. Her Undying battle has a bigger impact than you might expect. After all, at that point, there was no one left that could possibly take you on except Asgore and Mettaton, to the monsters' knowledge. I doubt they knew about Sans' abilities, anyway. So for them, Undyne was their best shot. It's heartbreaking, really.

Conclusion

So, Undyne! Very fun character, definitely in my top three favourite characters! She's so passionate and it rubs off on me easily. I still haven't forgotten that time she made me reset because I didn't have very good healing items... HAHAHAHAHA, I will never forget. I can't wait to write her, she's a blast!

Remember to add your thoughts about Undyne in the notes! Please?

[menelaiad]

Agamemnon is explicitly stated to be hot/muscular. It's in the source material. Books 2 and 3 in particular. I highly doubt being compared to the Gods meant being "chubby" or super old. The ancient text obviously wouldn't say "ripped" because that wasn't in their vocabulary. But they refer to him as everything else that such a body would imply.

And Achilles was saying things in anger in Book 1. Everyone forgets how in Book 23, Achilles pretty much retracts everything he said and claims Agamemnon is the best natural warrior which he was.

tldr; im a petty bitch

y'all are SO PRESSED ON THIS LMAOOO I'M CRYING

'ripped' isn't in their vocabulary?? but 'hot' and 'muscular' are? really?

AGAIN about your last point, cause people who are so pressed about this just keep ignoring it: YOU CAN BE A WARRIOR. AND NOT BE CONVENTIONALLY 'RIPPED'. NOTHING ABOUT A HUMAN BEING - A HUMAN MAN HAVING A SLIGHT TUMMY WILL STOP HIM BEING ABLE TO RUN, FIGHT, KILL PEOPLE AND BE A WARRIOR. YOUR WEIGHT IS NOT AN AUTOMATIC INDICATOR OF YOUR FITNESS LEVEL/ABILITIES.

that's y'alls prejudice about larger people coming through. this stupid belief that the ancient world represented 'the peak masculine alpha ideal' no????? this whole 'if man strong and can stab and have sex with woman then man must be muscley and ripped cause that make man sexy' like shut up.

it's baffling to me that you're all so heated on this. the mere thought of a human man having a tummy is sending you all west. you can't cope. a human man who consumed copious amounts of alcohol (because ancient greeks just did???) and probably had a very rich diet. having tummy??? NO. ILLEGAL.

im sorry but im cracking up over here. i couldnt care less whether people think aga has a 16-pack, that he's skinny as a twig, that he's fat, that he's not, that he's somewhere in between - idc. but your adamancy against 'slight tummy' aga. is just ..... fatphobic. and i never thought i'd type that word out being a fucking classics blog lmaooo.

i have shared so many DUMB opinions on this blog. from menelaus' teeth to odyssues' hairy feet and yet the thing that gets the most reaction from people - is agamemnon's weight.

that's what's pissing me off. everything else? whatever have your own opinion, you weird menelaus girl. but the sECOND i say why i think i character might be a lil chubby OOF ouTRAGE. IM A FOOL.

also your point is just so incredible. my issue isn't with you thinking aga was a ripped sex god crafted by aphrodite herself. it's your use of the word 'explicitly' cause aga's size (in regards to his weight) is NEVER explicitly stated ANYWHERE. so we're both just having our own opinions. but mine has got you so pressed????

i own a couple translations of the iliad. lets look at some. and see the descriptions of aga, shall we? cause i know exactly which sections you mean in book 2 and 3. contrary to your apparent belief, i have read the iliad.

we'll do book 2 first to make it all easier to follow:

PETER GREEN

“among them the lord Agamemnōn, in eyes and head like Zeus who delights in the thunderbolt, like Arēs in girth, and with the chest of Poseidōn. As one steer in a herd of cattle stands out, far above them all— the bull, distinguished among the cows assembled round it— such a one on that day Zeus rendered Atreus’s son, preeminent among many, of heroes the foremost.”

... again. nothing really? girthy??? eyes like zeus (nice)??? tall??? nothing about weight here babes.

CAROLINE ALEXANDER

there to go into combat, and with them was lord Agamemnon— his eyes and head like Zeus who hurls the thunderbolt, his girth like Ares, his chest like Poseidon’s. As when an ox stands out from all others in the herd, a bull who is preeminent among the gathered cattle, so did Zeus on that day render the son of Atreus conspicuous amid the multitude, outstanding among warriors.

pretty much the same?? gets called an 'ox' here though. ooooh

ROBERT FAGLES.

and there in the midst strode powerful Agamemnon, eyes and head like Zeus who loves the lightning, great in the girth like Ares, god of battles, broad through the chest like sea Lord Poseidon. Like a bull rising head and shoulders over the herds, a royal bull rearing over his flocks of driven cattle — so imposing was Atreus' son, so Zeus made him that day, towering over fighters, looming over armies.

just more girth stuff. that can mean his shoulders?? his chest?? his ass? bro we don't know. was aga just THICC. his cheeks always alerting the trojans???

ROBERT FITZGERALD.

Agamemnon's lordly mien was like the mien of Zeus whose joy is lightning; oalken-waisted as Ares, god of war, he seemed, and deep-chested as Lord Poseidon, and as a great bull in his majesty towers supreme amid a grazing herd, so on that dav Zeus made the son of Atreus tower over his host, supreme among them.

i like this one tbf. this one has got more meat on it. 'oaken waisted'. nice nice. again. i don't see oak trees are particullarly 'narrow' but hey. interpretation is what makes this field so great.

RICHARD LATTIMORE

“powerful Agamemnon, with eyes and head like Zeus who delights in thunder, like Ares for girth, and with the chest of Poseidon; like some ox of the herd pre-eminent among the others, a bull, who stands conspicuous in the huddling cattle; such was the son of Atreus as Zeus made him that day, conspicuous among men, and foremost among the fighters.”

STANLEY LOMBARDO

To enter battle, and Lord Agamemnon Moved among them like Zeus himself, The look in his eyes, the carriage of his head, With a torso like Ares', or like Poseidon's. Picture a bull that stands out from the herd Head and horns above the milling cattle— Zeus on that day made the son of Atreus A man who stood out from the crowd of heroes.

SEE this one we're not even talking about his LITERAL appearance but how he's holding himself. how he acts. his CONFIDENCE. cool take, stan. i like it.

STEPHEN MITCHELL

“and among them was Agamemnon, his splendid eyes and head like almighty Zeus’s, his thighs like the thighs of Ares, his chest like Poseidon’s. As a bull stands out in a herd above all the others, sovereign among the cows as they graze in a field: just so, on that day, did Lord Zeus make Agamemnon supreme over all the warriors massed before Troy.”

LOVE the thigh mention Mitchell. nice nice.

'The ancient text obviously wouldn't say "ripped" because that wasn't in their vocabulary. But they refer to him as everything else that such a body would imply.'

bro all i'm getting is the word 'girthy'?? if you want me to be a bitch about it, that's not a word i'd put with someone who is 'ripped'. if anything, they're implying he got junk in his trunk. i truly hand on heart. cannot see anything in the book 2 translations that imply or indicate to me that he does not have a tummy. that he is rocking a six pack. WHICH IS FINE. we can play with it and form our own opinions. but you're THIS IMPLIES .... is wrong??? it doesn't imply anything dude????

all we can infer from any of the book two stuff is that he's a man who is larger than the other men around him - literally? metaphorically? we dont know. (which is all horseshit anyway cause priam later goes on to say he's a short arse which is helpful). and that he shares qualities with the gods. again, literally? metaphorically? bit of both? we. don't. know.

TIME FOR BOOK 3. the priam and helen thirst.

PETER GREEN

“and to put a name for me to that huge warrior down there, that Achaian leader, of such stature and so strong: others there may be taller still by a head, and yet so fine a man have I never set eyes on, nor one so majestic in bearing—he looks to be of royal blood.” helen later calls him a 'strong spearman'

CAROLINE ALEXANDER

tell me the name of this gigantic man, who is this Achaean man, good and great? To be sure there are other men even greater in height, but I have never beheld with my eyes a man so handsome, nor so majestic; for he seems a kingly man. helen later calls him a 'powerful spear-warrior'

ROBERT FAGLES

“ tell me the name of that tremendous fighter. Look, who's that Achaean there, so stark and grand? Many others afield are much taller, true, but I have never yet set eyes on one so regal, so majestic . . . That man must be a king!” helen later calls him a 'strong spearman'

ROBERT FITZGERALD

Come, tell me who the big man is out there, who is that powerful figure? Other men are taller, but I never saw a soldier clean-cut as he, as royal in his bearing: he seems a kingly man. helen later calls his a 'formidable warrior'

RICHARD LATTIMORE

“You could tell me the name of this man who is so tremendous; who is this Achaian man of power and stature? Though in truth there are others taller by a head than he is, yet these eyes have never yet looked on a man so splendid nor so lordly as this: such a man might well be royal.” helen later calls him a 'strong spearfighter'

STANLEY LOMBARDO

Now tell me, who is that enormous man Towering over the Greek troops, handsome, Well-built? I've never laid eyes on such A fine figure of a man. He looks like a king. helen later calls him a 'strong warrior'

STEPHEN MITCHELL

“Tell me now, what is the name of that splendid man who is standing down there, so powerful and so tall. To be sure, there are other men who are even taller, but never before have I seen a man so majestic, so splendid in form and bearing. He must be a king.” helen later calls him a 'mighty soldier'

again. in all of these - nothing. all that's consistent is that he's not the tallest man at troy. which means ..... very little ASDFGHJK. there is Nothing concrete here. nothing that points us more one way than it does the other.

ultimately, dude, what we've got is.... nothing. nothing concrete. nothing definitive. i can't say you're wrong and you can't say i'm wrong.

i saw the phrase 'wine sack' and interpreted it my way and you saw it and interpreted it differently. but books 2 and 3 certainly don't back either of us up more definitively.

and in regards to his age. same thing. you can't say i'm wrong and i can't say you're wrong. but i've explained my reasonings for aga's age using sources HERE

idk man. if you're looking for an EXPLICITLY YOUNG CHISELED ABS LEGEND MALE CHARACTER. look elsewhere.