#origin of state societies

[hersurvival]

I loved him, I did, I swear.

I did.

Passive-aggression grows thorns,

Becomes resentment,

Blossoms into violence.

Forced ourselves to be symbiotic

But never meant to be in the same garden.

And I love her, I do, I promise.

I do.

But perhaps she is a trellis

I have simply grown attached to

Because she was near.

Or maybe we were placed here with intention

In this same dirt, to entwine together.

Time will tell.

Though my heart is flourishing, overgrown,

Tangled with her.

And I already know.

@nosebleedclub June 13th - The State of Your Heart

[matt-barber58]

Fever Dream, the other shot

[seriousbrat]

100% agree on the last post! James is the norm in terms of teenage boys in his society, unfortunately that is not speaking much of that society considering he’s blackmailing his crush through doing harm to her friend and pantsing people. Which is honestly the problem, that specific behavior isn’t seen as an issue it’s the other stuff he does (his arrogance is what’s mostly focused on by the other characters). Looking at violence and gender in that society and how it functions, I really don’t think James is transgressing any of these norms but falling right into them. Which again is the problem. His behavior is a product of the culture which shaped him, that’s not an excuse, but it is an explanation.

Exactly. Like on a scale from Woke Feminist King to Inbetweener, I think James would have been decent enough, average, like I said, maybe even a little bit better than average because of his sense of 'honour' or whatever lol. But not that much.

Also, I know people might not agree with this but I do think the WW is less misogynistic than the Muggle. I think this is logical in a society where magical ability is what primarily contributes to raw labour rather than physical strength. Not to get Marxism 101 on everyone but if we look at the origins of patriarchy as based in the Agricultural Revolution, the division of labour following the emergence of private property (men work in fields, women produce men to work fields, men accumulate resources) is somewhat lessened if everyone can use magic equally, and when women can defend themselves very effectively against becoming the resources that are accumulated.

I say somewhat because yes, women (cis women, I don't think we can expect neolithic farmers or Engels to be trans inclusive haha) are still the ones who can give birth. Obviously for this reason (and also because of influence from the Muggle world) the WW is still a patriarchy and misogyny does still exist, just slightly less acutely than in the real world, and women have an easier time advancing within it.

(((In pureblood society, because they value bloodlines and heirs, there is undoubtedly more misogyny. But we know from pottermore that pureblood supremacy is a relatively recent advent, certainly much more recent than the Agricultural Revolution and the emergence of private property haha. I can imagine that misogyny grew stronger alongside pureblood supremacy quite naturally. This is why Narcissa acts more as a handmaids tale esque wife to Lucius than Lily or Tonks or even Molly and Fleur, who are still housewives themselves.)))

I think there's evidence of women generally faring a bit better in the WW, such as female Ministers long, loooong before Muggle women even had the vote, and culturally I think this is reflected too:

From the intro to Beedle the Bard, which goes on to talk about 'The Warlock's Hairy Heart' in which the female character does have a passive role, so it's not like this is unheard of, just a bit less common. In 'The Fountain of Fair Fortune,' the aforementioned Asha, Altheda, and Amata are all much more useful and powerful and active characters than Sir Luckless who basically just follows them around. (I actually really like that story, and 'Hairy Heart' is delightfully creepy. Probably my faves.) James would have grown up with these stories.

Anyway this got VERY off track but for for this reason too, I think James and the other Marauders would probably be a little bit better than their Muggle equivalents, but also not perfect. Just like Ron, to whom it's perfectly normal that Hermione would be top in everything and that Gwenog Jones ('THE Gwenog Jones') would be someone to idolise, but he also displays misogyny such as when he calls Hermione a 'scarlet woman' lol. As do others. (For contrast, ask an average teen boy in our world to name 3 female football players. Yeah.)

And yes maybe some of it is jkr's learnt misogyny leaking through too, from growing up in a patriarchy along with the rest of us (and let's be objective about this, she has been a victim of it too, very much so.) But personally I think the WW still being misogynistic but slightly better than irl actually ends up being realistically relatable while also providing a level of escapism and aspiration for young girls. It doesn't feel that inconsistent to me but idk. Hermione easily outstripping her male peers in intelligence and talent, Ginny and other female Quidditch players being on the level of men and often better, and this just being accepted, was inspiring for me, anyway.

[watermelinoe]

i'm also a bisexual woman and i feel exactly the same way you do re: penises. i actually found your post really validating lol

i think attraction takes a lot of forms and it's really not just about genitalia - which is why it's so frustrating when transactivists go on abt ~genital preferences~ as if intimacy doesn't involve the whole body. if you somehow mister potato head slapped a vagina onto a male body, lesbians are not suddenly going to see him as a viable sex partner like the rest of him isn't there??

on the other hand, i can find the rest of the male body attractive up until the peen and balls are involved and my attraction shrivels up, and i'm still bi. maybe there's a psychological reason for my aversion, maybe not, in the end it doesn't really matter bc i was only hurting myself by trying to like it

lesbians aren't attracted to male voices, male hands, male stature

i am genuinely attracted to males and i like being bisexual now that i understand there's nothing i have to fix about my bisexuality

[zatna]

my zatanna is transfem btw

[nando161mando]

Poem by Marcellus Williams

[claire-de-lune-poetry]

Identifying the python-

Reoccurring images stir me wide awake

The deep illuminated fear of this ginormous snake

Pythons are unique a select set of skills

Patient kind of hunters will have you in chills

Often remaining motionless for the unexpected strike

Not the type of creature you'll find on a hike

Not a poisonous bite but constricting in suffocation

Becareful for your waking life a plan might be in placement

Watch those around you, for they watch you too

A cold-blooded killer found a warm-blooded prey

Or am I entirely wrong in my interpretation display

Could I be rebirthed the symbolism misconstrued

Brought to my attention to usher in the new

I hope I can decipher the image in my mind

For on this back and fourth debate I seem to loose the time

Maybe it is both a warning and remind

For with either answer to not be so blind.

[cumtotheuniverse]

𝑴𝒚 𝑽𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝑸𝒖𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝑹𝒂𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒏𝒆

[eager-wolfboy]

Whenever you consider making specifically a bottom/top joke, please consider using omegaverse dynamics instead.

[shivasdarknight]

Oh wow would you look at that, a picture of Katsuro that isn't the one I keep using. Would you look at that!

[dogin8]

Ignoring every tiktok, scrolling past every post, skipping every song on spotify because IF I AM EXPOSED TO ONE(1)(SINGULAR) STRONG EMOTION RIGHT NOW THERE WILL BE CONSEQUENCES

[matt-barber58]

children and men

[raspberry-gloaming]

Having existing worldbuilding of your oc world and characters is great and all but then you realise you can't write the story you want to without one of the main characters being a child of 8 or younger, which sucks balls because you don't WANT to write about/from a child's perspective right now. But you would have to because the religious institutionalised framework within the worldbuilding of your fictional country exists in such away that this character would have to have a formal education and access to certain archives in order to complete a good section of the plot, and not have access to this at the beginning of the story, but in order to even have a formal education the character would have to enter the religious order and framework as an 8 year old.

So to be pre-that they would have to be a small child with only a current informal education because the Church in your fictional world is incredibly tied to the state and any job that requires a formal education is held by someone who also entered the Church age 8. You wanna be a doctor? Congrats, first you need to go to priest school, and if you decide you want to do that too late, welp sucks to be you I guess, because we get these kids in the system YOUNG.

[gainaxvel3o]

Gotta confess something... during a flight, I watched the original Ghost in the Shell, then watched the Solid State Society movie. Since I did no research before watching them, I thought Solid State Society was a sequel to the original and Motoko's absence was because of what happened in the original. Was confused why she had purple hair and had a new body, but I figured that was some weird evolution thing from the ending of the last one hahahaha. I didn't know Solid State was a separate continuity.

[dravidssideblog]

Yet another idea for a setting that facilitates unwilling play: Role swaps. There's two groups, like angels and demons, or humans and plushies, whatever. And they very much enjoy ownership and dominance and all that fun, human-rights-violating stuff. So for example, the plushies are bigger and stronger than the humans and they love to own humans and play with them and the humans have no freedom or agency and it's super unethical and sucks for them, all the stuff that makes me sad, BUT!

Then New Year's Day rolls around. The plushies shrink in size, and now the humans are the big strong ones. So THEY get a turn owning and dominating and playing in whatever unfair way they want. Until next year, when it's plushie-time again.

This hits a lot of notes that I like, namely a long-term or even (kinda) permanent ownership situation, and can be almost fully unwilling. I've always kinda liked the idea of a setting where one species owns another, but it always feels so cruel and unfair to the owned species. This makes it all feel very fair by flipping the script; you WILL be nonconsensually owned, but not only will you have freedom, you'll get a turn being on top!

It's not even about the "getting to be the dom" part, it's just about the fairness; when everyone, including the owners, has to deal with being owned, it's not cruel or unfair, it's just part of life. And getting a turn on top is less about owning and more about freedom; the ownership situation is kinda permanent, yet you still get to live your life. It's the best of both worlds, permanent unwilling ownership yet without robbing the victim of their life.