#she was pro human but not anti aliens

[heshwalkers]

Ashley Williams gets more hate then she deserves

[trexiejan]

What Batman thinks of Starfire.

Okay so I've seen many people curious about what Batman thinks of Starfire. I've seen a lot of people say Batman hates her and that he doesn't trust her cuz she's an alien and cuz he's a dickbabs shipper. I will explain why those statement aren't true. That's not who the original Batman is.

Let's go back to the original canon before all the stupid ooc retcons were created.

The first time Batman ever mentioned Starfire's name was in Tales of The Teen Titans #50 (1985) where Dick and Kory have already been dating for years.

and behold

- Bruce never referred to Kory as "the alien" he called her by her real name.

- He knows his son is in a real serious relationship with her.

- Bruce never made any bad comments about her nor did he show contempt for their relationship.

- He acted like a kind father who just wants to know how his son is doing with the woman he loves.

The 2nd time he mentioned her is in Swamp Thing #53 (1986) where he defended Human/Alien relationships like Dick and Kory's.

again he called her by her actual name and showed no issue towards Dick and Kory's relationship.

The 3rd time was in Funeral For a Friend (1993) where Bruce greeted her and Dick. He was happy to see both of them attending Superman's funeral. And for the 3rd time he called her by her actual name.

The Original Batman was a kind father who respected his son's alien girlfriend. Who wasn't spiteful and xenophobic towards Starfire and doesn't compare her to Barbara. and no, he wasn't a pro-dickbabs shipper. That ship didn't even exist before they retconned a lot of shit.

That everything changed after Dick and Kory got broken up. Reason for their break up? The Bat-editorial demanded they wanted Dick Grayson back to the Bat-office. The Titans Editorial had no choice but to pull him out of the Titans books and hand him back to the Bateditorial.

The Bat-editorial didn't like the idea of Dick dating someone outside the Batfamily like Kory so they couldn't continue their relationship in the Bat-books. It needed to end. The original wedding plan for Dick and Kory got cancelled. They don't like Dick and Kory? Okay fine, no one is forcing them to like them, whatever.

but no they couldn't just move on and leave Dick and Kory's past relationship alone.

They just had to say something negative about their relationship and put down their shared history, didn't they.

Why?

Is that really necessary?

Why can't they just respect the love that Dick and Kory had for each other when they were together and leave it at that ?

Cuz they did love and care for each other. It was a genuine love.

You can ship him with another woman without undermining and invalidating his history with Kory.

Like what did Kory ever do to them to make them hate her so much.

After they deaged Barbara to be the same age as Dick and pushed them together as the new pairing, they made a lot of comics degrading Kory, minimizing her interactions with Dick, and retconning her history and relationship with Dick into a one sided sexual fling.

and they turned Bruce against Kory too. This is where the idea of Bruce being a "anti-Starfire" and "pro dickbabs shipper" started.

They created this retcon in Gotham Knight #43 (2000) where Bruce acted xenopobhic towards her, making him refer to Kory as the alien and belittling her relationship with Dick, something he's never done before. Just to portray Barbara as his one true love. Bruce has never even talked about Dick and Barbara before and now suddenly he's shipping them. This retcon is not only an assasination of Kory and Bruce's character, it has also done a lot of damage to people's perception of Bruce and Kory's relationship.

All of this for the sake of propping up a retconned romance.

Not only is Bruce mischaracterized here, Babs is also acting so weird and ooc.

There was no reason for her to moon and whine over Dick like a lovesick girl from highschool.

She was a congresswoman when Dick was still in highschool. She called Dick "a child" and "little brother". She wasn't interested with him, he was too young for her 😭

Barbara already had a life of her own and own relationships, she dated Superman and got enganged to Jason Bard 😭

Dick had a precocious crush on her but he moved on from her when he moved out of Gotham. Even the original dickbabs writer said they were never meant to be together 😬

Barbara and Dick weren't pining over each other when Dick and Kory dated for years!

Dick never even once mentioned Barbara's name in the New Teen Titans books!

There was no reason for Babs to pursue Dick and vice versa, Both have already moved on to other people but stupid dickbabs retcons just had to exist 🙄

So yeah Bruce only hates Starfire when he's written by dickbabs writers and bateditors.

He was fine with her in canon before they pushed their dickbabs agenda.

Even in elseworld stories where it's not written by dickbabs writers.

Like in the animated show He supported Dick and Kory's relationship.

and in Kingdom Come he literally went to find the best doctors to help cure Kory's illness 😭

There's no logical reason for Batman to hate Starfire other than just to shit on Kory and prop up Dickbabs.

the whole "He doesn't like her cuz she's a dangerous alien" form of excuse is also BS

his bestfriend is literally Superman, an alien who is far more powerful than Starfire, he's also teammates with Martian Manhunter who is also an alien 😩

Overall yeah Fuck Dickbabs. It's the only ship that is good at character assasinating characters.

[inbarfink]

So the thing about Tak’s Holo-Disguise is that it specifically might not be an example of Tak using more advanced technology than Zim.

The implication in “The Nightmare Begins” is that Zim maybe also have access to Perfectly Realistic Human Disguises, probably similar to Tak’s Hologram - but he intentionally rejected them because he saw them as too ugly. He deliberately chose his shitty little costume because he thought that was the only one that looked ‘good’.

And these terrible disguises are also pretty consistent with how the actual official Invaders disguise themselves. If anything, Zim’s got the best costume of the lot!

So with Zim dismissing the more realistic disguises as being ‘ugly’ and ‘stinky’ and those being… basically the most common insults he throws at humans. ..I think the implication here is pretty clearly that Zim’s (and the actual Irken Invaders’) disguises are bad because he doesn’t want to look too human because Irken Imperial Indoctrination has taught him every other species in the universe is revolting and so he cannot stand the idea of looking too match like the people he is trying to infiltrate.

So it is interesting that the one Irken who actually uses their advanced technology to actually look like another species is Tak. Maybe she’s just being a bit of a show-off overachiever. So driven by the need to prove how competent of an Invader she can be she decided to suffer through the indignity of Using a Competent Disguise. 

Or maybe there’s sort of an implication that Tak doesn’t really buy into Irken Ideology that much?

Like, obviously, she’s not, like,  some sort of anti-Imperial pro-alien advocate or anything. She’s still trying to gain the respect of the Tallest, she still wants to become an Invader, she is still willing to sacrifice an entire planet in order to achieve her goals. 

I’m thinking more, like, Zim is 100% a true believer in Irken Imperial Ideology. He wants to be an Invader at least in part so he could use his ‘amazingness’ to contribute to the conquests of the Irken Empire. And he legitimately believes the Tallests are superior beings worthy of his admiration. And he legitimately believes Irkens are superior to all other sapient beings in the universe in general and to humans especially.

Meanwhile, Tak’s main goals might just be to gain as much power and prestige as she can - no matter what or who stands in her way. If she lived in a society that valued dentists above all she would’ve become a dentist. But she was born in the Irken Empire, and the most prestigious not-height-dependent position available to her in Irken Society is the one of an Invader, so that’s what she dedicated her life to. Not out of any ideological commitment to help the Empire's conquests.

She tries to gain the Tallests’ favor because she knows she needs them to get ahead in life, not necessarily because she craves their tall, superior approval the way Zim does. She can kill a lot of non-Irkens on her way to ‘greatness’, but it’s more of a general callousness towards other people - rather than loyalty to the superiority of the Irken people. 

That might also explain why she’s the one Irken with the sense of individuality to customize her uniform

And design her own version of the Irken Empire Flag, based on her own look.

Because maybe she’s not trying to serve the Irken Empire, maybe she’s just trying to serve Tak.

[autistic-ben-tennyson]

Steven Universe: A Complicated Relationship

I’m starting to fall out of love with this show. I used to be obsessed with it and it was important to me as a way of figuring out my gender and sexuality. Yet, my relationship to it has become more complicated as of late. I’ve defended it myself and have been passionate about it, yet seeing the way a lot of stans have acted has kind of ruined it for me especially due to dismissing any criticism. This is not me saying I hate it or think it’s irredeemable Nazi propaganda but not everyone who dislikes it watches Lily Orchard and there are valid things to criticize about it.

There’s definitely bad faith criticism of the show such as flanderizing Steven into a crybaby with those Jack Horner/Hitler memes or claiming it was made to attack Christians but some people do have valid points. The episodes Bismuth and Gem Harvest may have not intended to come off as racist but one could interpret them as forcing people to forgive their abusers or bigoted relatives. As someone who’s Asian and knows about the way we’re represented, the way Priyanka and Doug were portrayed in the early seasons as tiger parents has not aged well.

One other criticism I’ve seen is that the show copies a lot of old sci fi or anime tropes without recognizing the issues with them or removing them from their original context. I and others have compared the show’s ending to the Highbreed arc from Ben 10 Alien Force. The difference is that the Highbreed were treated as supremacists who needed to be stopped, not as abusive family. People can debate over whether they should have gotten more consequences but they were not treated as dorky relatives. The only one Ben befriends was a low ranking officer who became the new leader and convinced the high council to accept having their DNA changed. There’s also the human zoo, another sci fi trope that’s aged badly with the racist implications.

The series is also compared to a lot of anime. There’s references to Ghibli, NGE, Sailor Moon and Dragon Ball and many have compared the show’s idealism to that of magical girl shows like Madoka Magica. The difference is that those shows didn’t use subjects like colonialism as a backdrop for family drama. SW suffers from that as well especially with the rebels only wanting to restore the old liberal system while taking imagery from the Viet Cong. People who wanted a revolution story weren’t necessarily wrong as that’s what the early seasons did set up.

Some will accuse me of fandomizing the war but I’ve noticed a lot of the hardcore stans are white queers who support Israel or demand complete support for democrats. Not saying every SU fan is a bad person btw. There are a lot of decent people who are anti Zionist and like the show but a lot of these pop progressive cartoons as well as SW, Disney and Marvel/DC are used by people with gross beliefs to infantilize themselves and dismiss any criticism from POC fans. If mainstream kids media is where you’re getting your all political takes from then maybe you do need to branch out and watch more mature stuff. Watching NGE helped me grow up a lot and learn nuance.

As a recap, I’m not saying SU is a bad show or that people are bad for liking it. It was important for my own development as well as a lot of lgbt youth and was a jumping point for a lot of my current interests such as classic anime or Lisa Hannigan, who’s an amazing musician and is pro Palestine btw. Future did help me a bit with mental health yet people are allowed to dislike it or find that even if it wasn’t intentional, there are some implications that should be addressed. I don’t hate it and there’s some stuff worth defending in it but it’s not the greatest show ever and people who get all their politics from it need to grow up. Between it, TOH, Dead End and She-Ra, I think a lot of the pop progressive media that we have today will not age well and that’s something we need to accept.

[wheredidhiseyebrowsgo]

Hi! Hopre youre fine and all! Can you give me som military fics like Squared Away? Where no real countries are involve but they are fighting monsters or something? Thanks <3

Sure!

Squared Away by Suaine

(1/1 I 15,809 I Teen I Sterek)

Alpha LT Derek Hale gets a promotion, a pack, and a mission. Stiles is a complication.

***

We Fight Monsters Together by scarlettletterr

(1/1 I 11,555 I Explicit I Sterek)

Derek Hale doesn't trust humans anymore and is determined to pilot his family’s mecha alone. Too bad he doesn't get a choice when he's paired up with the brightest most sarcastic human mind to ever come out of Beacon Hills in the form of Stiles Stilinski.

Second Galaxy to the Right and Straight On Til Morning by spurklie

(1/1 I 16,679 I Explicit I Sterek)

Stiles is reading reports on his tablet and drinking from a bottle of water in the base mess hall when he realises there is someone standing at his table. Dragging his eyes up from the calculations, he chokes on his water and then spits some all over Derek, who barely flinches.

Ultra Violet by ElisAttack

(3/3 I 16,836 I Teen I Sterek)

"There's no way he's a quarian. Least of all the quarian prince we're supposed to be escorting." Erica whines, and Derek wonders why he named her his staff lieutenant, she has no tact whatsoever.

"I'm sorry, but you must be a level 4 friend to unlock my tragic back-story." The prince jokes. "And call me Stiles, even I can't pronounce my actual name."

Or the one where Derek and his crew are assigned to be the glorified babysitter of an alien prince, and everything is not as it seems.

Triton's Folly by Kaye_Fraser, S3anchaidh

(8/8 I 46,185 I Teen I Sterek)

As an officer in the United Earth Alliance, Major Derek Hale understands the order of things and his place in the world. Yet, a decade of war and a lifetime of dedicated service have taken its toll. The only thing that has kept him sane all these years is the video logs of a scientist he’d found years ago, buried in the rubble of a research station on Callisto. He knows that the man in the videos – Stiles – is long gone, lost to the vastness of space, but to Derek, he’s alive. In fact, he thinks he has fallen half in love with the boundless energy and bright-eyed optimism of the image he sees on his screen. Then, everything changes when a fateful mission strands him on the surface of a desolate moon … and brings him face-to-face with a man he had only ever dreamed of meeting.

Relationships That Start Under Intense Circumstances by seraphina_snape

(1/1 I 59,448 I Explicit I Sterek)

In a world where werewolves are a normal part of life and the Argents have turned from being hunters into leading one of the biggest pro-wolf organizations in the US, Stiles is the newly promoted assistant head of the Argent Weapons International R&D department. When he uncovers a conspiracy and finds evidence of an anti-werewolf movement that spreads into the highest positions at AWI, he knows he must do what he can to stop Kate and Gerard Argent from destroying what the rest of the Argents (and the rest of the world) have worked for so hard.

Things get a little complicated when Kate and Gerard turn the tables on Stiles and accuse him of treason and espionage. On the run and with killers on his tail to shut him up, Stiles has to find a way to stop the release of a dangerous product, prove his innocence and find a way to implicate Kate and Gerard in the conspiracy. With his dad, Scott and Allison in danger from Kate and Gerard, Stiles is incredibly grateful when he meets Derek Hale who promptly saves his life. But it soon becomes clear that Derek is hiding something that could be the undoing of Stiles and everything he's trying to do.

Specialized Technical Intelligence and Logistics for Earth and Space (S.T.I.L.E.S) by Yiichi

(10/10 I 73,419 I Not Rated I Sterek)

“What the hell kind of a name is Stiles?” he asked.

“You know, a series of sounds spoken in a particular sequence that represent my identity, primarily, referring to me?“ the AI – Stiles – answered cheekily, crossing his own arms in front of his chest, mirroring Derek’s position.

“Ooh, this one’s feisty,” Peter smirked.

War Crimes by loserchic

(69/69 I 81,840 I Mature I Sterek)

In a fantastical military state, Stiles, an orphaned nobody, street smart omega was rescued as a child by war hero alpha, Commander Derek Hale. Six years later, Stiles still maintains an obsession with taking care of himself and a blatant mistrust of alphas. Stiles becomes the first omega to be accepted into elite training with the Black Wolves, the military's special operations force. Derek has always intended to mate with Stiles and is furious at the idea of him entering training. However, Stiles' guardians only agree to allow Derek to mate with Stiles if he allows Stiles to attempt Black Wolves' training. Derek becomes Stiles' commanding officer and the war between them begins. Also a lot of fraternization.

[sixofravens-reads]

re: 2023 new releases. hope you're ready for a long message because there were a lot.

hot new releases/things that were relatively popular

He Who Drowned The World, Shelley Parker Chan (Chinese mythological historical, very gay, very stabby a la Baru Cormorant. Book 2 of 2. A particular favorite of mine from this year)

Witch King, Martha Wells (New fantasy book by author of murderbot fame. I didn't actually click with this one but I'd be remiss to leave it off)

House With Good Bones, T Kingfisher (Southern gothic rose horror by the very talented Ursula Vernon)

Translation State, Ann Leckie (high sf alien horror regency romance. Wheeeeee. I had a lot of fun reading this. You can read it as a standalone, but you get deeper context if you've read the ancillary justice series, also highly recommended)

Will of the Many, James Islington (futuristic roman empire aesthetic rigged murder school. Not precisely good but appallingly catchy, I read all six hundred pages in pretty much one sitting. If you liked red rising you'll like this, if you hated red rising you will Not)

OH YEAH THE ACTUAL NEW MURDEBOT NOVEL (System Collapse)

A Power Unbound, Freya Marske (book 3 of 3, magic alt edwardian romances with murder. This is more romance proper but it's about equal with the action plot and Marske is very good. I don't think you've read these so you'd have to start at book 1)

Some Desperate Glory, Emily Tesh (The book that absolutely knocked my socks off, my pick for the best sff release of the year. I forget if I've already told you about this one)

Starling House, Alix Harrow (Southern gothic house drama. Similar feel to Ninth House or The Book of Night)

The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi, Shannon Chakraborty (Divorced lady pirate adventure-drama a la Arabian Nights.)

Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries, Heather Fawcett (Charming, heavily fairy tale trope themed, vaguely reminiscent of the Lady Trent books)

more obscure new releases from this year that I thought were cool, but not in the Hot New Reads You Can't Miss Because Everyone's Read Them category

Under Fortunate Stars, Ren Hutchings (sf timey wimey space shenanigans with aliens. Immensely cool premise.)

Small Miracles, Olivia Atwater (fallen angel sent to tempt a too good mortal. Extremely charming)

The King Is Dead, Naomi Libicki (vaguely persian flavored fealty romance, very heavy to the fealty. Original, thorny, and intriguing)

The Deep Sky, Yume Kitasei (What if we terribly traumatized everyone going on a generation ship by making them go to viciously competitive boarding school together and then act surprised when a murder mystery occurs. Heads up that it's more interested in the human drama than the SF worldbuilding)

The Saint of Bright Doors, Vajra Chandrasekera (early modern fantasy world anti-imperialism fever dream narrated by a cult survivor. Brilliantly written, spectacularly original, one of the best books I read this year)

Things for 2024, content warning for being (obviously) things I haven't read and thus without quality control

The Warm Hands of Ghosts, Katherine Arden

The Familiar, Leigh Bardugo

The Dead Cat Tail Assassins, P Djeli Clark

Long Live Evil, Sarah Rees Brennan

Goddess of the River, Vaishnavi Patel

The Woods All Black, Lee Mandelo

Exordia, Seth Dickinson

A Sorceress Comes To Call, T Kingfisher

Running Close To The Wind, Alexandra Rowland

Wow tumblr just lets me keep writing words. I didn't think they let me have this many in asks. Oh, and pro tip-- keep an eye out for tordotcom's most anticipated upcoming books for the first six months of 2024. They should be publishing it within the next week or so and I always add masses of books to my tbr from there.

oh holy crap, thanks!! I'll have to check these out!

thoughts on a few of em:

He Who Drowned The World - still have to read She Who Became the Sun lol but hopefully I'll get to em next year!

Witch King - Martha Wells has been recced by like All my sci-fi mutuals now lmao I REALLY gotta get into her!

House With Good Bones - THIS ONE IS ACTUALLY ON MY SHELF!! I just didn't fucking read it this year whoops. Very excited for new Kingfisher

Starling House - I was on the fence about this one since I really didn't like Once and Future Witches, but those comparisons give me hope! I'll add it to the library list!

Some Desperate Glory and Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries are 2/3 of the books published in 2023 that I actually managed to read (the 3rd is The Woman in Me lmao), I can't remember if you recc'd Some Desperate Glory, but it was SOOOOOOOO GOOD OMFG

Small Miracles - my aunt has been trying to convince me to read Atwater for quite a while, I'll have to give this one a try!

The Saint of Bright Doors - I have this one on hold!! Saw a post for it a week or so ago and it sounds absolutely delightful!

The Familiar - SO SO EXCITED for this one! I hope Bardugo is maybe...slowly....extricating herself from the Grishaverse and going to write more books not related to it... (not that they're all bad, I loved the Six of Crows duology, I'm just not into it anymore and I reeeealllly like her adult books lol)

Running Close To The Wind - oh yay new Rowland! I still haven't read her last book (the one with the guy on the cover who looked EXACTLY like my boss to the point where it became an Office Meme that [Boss] Is A Gay Romance Cover Model, still meaning to get a UK version of it but haven't yet) but I'll have to look this one up!

[artist-issues]

i think you might be reading too much into it. obviously i'm not rebecca and i don't know what she was thinking when she made it but at the end of the day it really is just a children's cartoon about gay space aliens lmao, probably not in your demographic given your interests and dislikes, but i think really if anyone's comparing white diamond to God, it's you.

I appreciate your genuineness and how respectful you're being. Politely, though, I think you're either not understanding me or not looking at what I'm saying carefully.

If all the show said was "the space aliens are gay and that's good," it would be inherently anti-Biblical worldview. It would be enough to make what I'm saying true.

But the truth is, not only is the show's inclusion and enormous focus on and celebration of LGBTQ+ worldviews anti-Biblical in nature, but there are too many similarities between the role White Diamond plays and the role God plays in the Biblical worldview, which is anti-LGBTQ+.

White Diamond is responsible for the creation of gems \ Yahweh is responsible for the creation of humans

White Diamond is perfect and pure \ Yahweh is perfect and pure

White Diamond speaks to Steven like he is a child \ Yahweh speaks to us like we are children

White Diamond shines her light through her servants and evilly declares that as "now they are perfect! Now they are ME!" \ In more than 20 places across the Bible, across hundreds of years, Yahweh literally describes Jesus and Himself as the Light of the world, and His own Spirit as a light that shines out of His servants during the process where we "become more and more like Him"--more perfect.

White Diamond wants all of her created subjects to do what they were made for and claims that what they're made for is their "true selves." / Yahweh says the same thing about his created subjects, us.

When we're introduced to White Diamond, she is part of a group of three god-like beings (even after introductions are over; Pink Diamond never truly felt like one of them and was not treated equally to them) / Yahweh is 1 God, 3 Persons, a Holy Trinity.

White Diamond punishes those rebellious subjects she created who don't want to be what they were made for by blasting them with a white light that "corrupts" them and makes them monstrous / After His creations rebel, Yahweh pronounces a curse on them, too, telling them that they're all spiritually dead and corrupted

White Diamond declares that if Pink can't be herself (by which she means, act the way she was made to act) White Diamond will "do it for" her / Yahweh says in Ephesians 2:8-9 that we can't be righteous on our own, and only He can do it for us by giving us His righteousness

White Diamond talks to Steven like she knows him better and knows what's best for him better than he knows himself \ Yahweh says several times that He knows His creations, and what's best for them, better than they do themselves.

I'm not pulling this out of thin air. You only have to know the barest minimum about the opposite worldview of Steven Universe to know that White Diamond is representative of God, and the villains are representative of a Biblical, anti-LGBTQ+ worldview.

Do you think I was looking for this, determined to find it whether it's there or not? I saw Steven Universe before my formal education. I wasn't asking myself hard questions about it right away. I liked the show. I didn't want it to be so anti-everything-I-believe. But it is--it's too crystal clear and obvious and weirdly specific to be anything else. But that's natural. It is natural for a show that is pro-LGBTQ+ to be inherently anti-Bible--because the LGBTQ+ ideaology is inherently anti-Bible. They literally couldn't have made a show championing the LGBTQ+ cause without being anti-Bible.

[skelegun]

So as I mentioned earlier I watched House of the Dead 2 which is a reskin of Aliens but with zombies and no budget. A tale as old as time. Well I had enough free time to watch another movie and after looking shortly I found one. I chose Navy Seals vs Zombies. The reason I picked it was two fold, the cover poster thing on Amazon Prime had Ed Quinn on it, Ed Quinn played the protagonist in HotD2, and when I read the summary I realized that it was ALSO A FUCKING ALIENS CLONE WITH ZOMBIES!! So I essentially watched the same movie twice in row, but like with a kinda Yin and Yang sorta thing going on.

House of the Dead 2 (2006) is unapologetically schlocky, and it flagrantly rips off the narrative structure of Aliens. Basically 2 agents who work for some kinda secret anti-zombie task force are paired up with some meat head soldiers to go and investigate an outbreak at university. The soldiers are all cocky and bantering with each other until two of them get taken out like 5 seconds into the mission. Much like in Aliens, The rest of the soldiers get picked off, they almost escape but realize they need to go back, someone betrays the group, big explosion, the heroes escapes. The two agents I mentioned earlier kinda fill the role Ripley had in Aliens, but instead of one character it’s two people (one being the aforementioned Ed Quinn) and they this kinda lame sexual tension thing going on. The movie is pretty meh. Given how catastrophically awful HotD1 is, this one is shockingly mediocre.

Navy Seals vs Zombies (2015) is somehow far more interesting than HotD2, and not for good reasons. This one is still an Aliens rip off like I predicted, but to a lesser degree. I’ve done zero research, but if I had to guess, I would guess that this movie was partially funded by the US Military, which isn’t some crazy conspiracy thing, it is well known and documented that the Military will cooperate with movie producers as long as you go ahead and make your movie into propaganda, the Transformers movies are one of the most flagrant examples of this. Well anyways, Aliens was not a very pro military movie, the soldiers are bumbling stereotypes who are being manipulated by evil corporations into assisting with unethical human experiments. This movie tries to be like “what if Aliens but the Military is good and competent” which causes some interesting narrative things to arise. There is no outsider protagonist, well there sorta is, but she is a pointless side character, instead 2 actual main characters are like Soldier Guy played by Ed Quinn, and New Guy who just joined the squad and has a pregnant wife and he repeatedly mentions how hot and pregnant she is. There mission is to rescue the Vice President, they do but his helicopter blows up because one of his interns or something was bit, so they get a new mission from HQ, go to the hospital and rescue a lab worker who is working on a vaccine. It’s mentioned that the zombies are caused by a bio weapon, one that America was working on a cure for it, because they “heard rumors” about it, but it super definitely was NOT America that caused the outbreak. It was someone else. Idk. The Navy Seals guys never display any negative character traits and the ones who die all die heroically and you never see any of them turn into zombies. So your probably like well how do they handle the traitor concept? Well they don’t. The closest thing they have to it is that New Guy gets separated from the crew early on, and gets bit half way through the movie, and I’m like oh dang that’s kinda ballsy considering he’s the closest thing we have to a character with some depth (he’s afraid of heights or something and he’s got a family), and when he shows back up there is like a second of disagreement as to whether to continue the mission or rescue him, doesn’t matter, they do both, and then at the end when they are getting to the escape chopper and they find out New Guy was bit, Soldier Man is like you have to come with us no man left behind and New Guy is like Noooo leave me I’ve been bit. Well eventually New Guy gets on the chopper and we cut to like a debriefing where some lady reveals that New Guy never turned into a zombie! He was immune, all the soldiers were! Turns out the vaccines they got when joining the military made them immune, cut to him going back home and telling his wife she is the sexiest pregnant woman on earth in a moment that is meant to be sweet. Wow a terrorist bio weapon that doesn’t effect the military is a pretty big design flaw when you think about it, also how was America actively attempting to synthesize a vaccine for a theoretical virus?

[neurotheascars]

TRIGGER WARNING-

this blog has lots of unpleasant imagery on it and I'm too cognitively handicapped to tag reliably. This is my uncensored safe space.

I complain here so I don't complain out loud too much. I'm a reformed persecutor alter from a mixed origin system. Happy to explain to you how we exist if you think we don't.

18+ please.

Scroll at your risk.

I follow from my hosts account @polychaeteworm

My name is pronounced "Sara". I'm not a girl, not a boy, not a man, not a woman. I'm a tall alien. Femme like an elf, masc like a vampire. I'm mostly autoromantic and objectum for large bongs and blades.

I don't care what pronouns you use on me. My host defaults to he/him but I do not mind she/her or shee/hir. My species only has one sex, but an individualistic gender system, so I am Xenogender and genderflux in every sense of the words. I don't human gender concepts.

I love swords and smoking weed and I have a strong desire to run into the woods/onto a highway/into the ocean when I'm upset because I get weird alien homesickness. I talk about that here a lot, but don't worry, I am safe and supervised.

Really into Saltburn right now, so that shows up here too. Felix Catton is my Tumblr blorbo. I also just really really like dark royalty/vampire and academia in general as well as sick little freaks.

Kinks that might appear here- smoking/intox, blood/blades, shibari, parasitism/corruption, and maybe sometimes consang.

Discourse positions-

I'm anti misinfo and support all forms of plurality. My system is traumagenic but I do not like associating my existence with a mental disorder because of my origin within my paracosm. I respectfully don't like being referred to as having "come from trauma". My origin is complex and unrelated to any trauma. Do not call me an "apparently normal part" I'm not a part, I'm a complete entity and there is literally nothing normal about me.

I don't have a DNI, I just block if I don't want to interact. Just be nice and don't violate your own DNI to speak to me.

I'm a survivor of complex abuse (not quite RAMCOA but damn close) who writes and reads nasty things to cope and I'm not interested in hearing why you think I'm a freak for my kinks or the stuff I reblog. I'm pro-recovery and pro fiction. I do not support irl harm. I don't think of what I write as "shipping" because my system only reads and writes OC and we associate the term shipping with fandom. We don't mind fanfics, we just favor focusing on OC content.

Send all complaints to my host and steward, Orn (@polycheateworm) he is better articulate and I'm not nice to have an argument with because of my language challenges so please be patient. He also is better equipped to answer most questions you might have about me. Most of what I say here is dictated within the system so I'm actually less articulate as an altar than I appear on average so if I get upset and don't have an alter to dictate to, my language might decline.

What does your username mean?

My system has maladaptive daydreaming and I am an introject of an extremely developed OC from a paracosm.

Because I spent most of my life living inside an inner world that is as complex as the real one, my personal history and memories are not fully Earth Related.

Neurothea is an illness on the planet I come from. It hurts your brain in a lot of ways, you catch it from parasites and it can kill you. If you survive it you will have large scars from it. it's an exotrauma embodiment of complex abuse my human body has suffered. Its a fictional way that I as an alter interface with the difficulty my body has.

[xalecjacobs]

TASK #10 - GET BOLD

—

TW: mentions of drug use, alcohol abuse, arrests, teen pregnancy, sex, and politics

WHERE DO THEY FIT IN

financial / class status: wealthy | middle class | poor

grew up: wealthy | middle class | poor

health / wellness: fit/healthy | moderate | disabled | ill

education: below high school | high school | college | beyond

legalities: clean record | has a record | trouble / prison

town status: local | new in town | somewhere in between

lives: downtown | suburbs | coast | countryside

Additional Information: Alec moved to Merrock at the age of 14, and though he now considers himself a local, his roots will always be in California. Alec has been arrested on multiple occasions, primarily during his time on the road touring. His record includes charges for drug possession, drunk and disorderly, and failure to disperse.

FAMILY LIFE

parents: alive | deceased | unknown

came to be: blood | adopted | other

siblings: multiple siblings | one sibling | only child

extended family: large (aunts, uncles, cousins) | small | none

children: none | has children | wants children

relationship status: single | complicated | taken

if taken: dating | relationship | engaged | married

if single: looking | not looking | whatever happens

pets: no pets | has pets | wants pets

Additional Information: Though Alec has never met his father, he knows who he is. He has simply never had a desire to meet him out of respect for his mom, who raised him all alone since she was 16. He himself is not really interested in ever settling down in a serious relationship but if he manages to find a person who changes his mind, he’s open to it.

PERSONALITY STUFF

extroverted | introverted | somewhere in between

organized | disorganized | somewhere in between

close minded | open minded | somewhere in between

calm | anxious | somewhere in between

easy to get along with | not so much | somewhere in between

cautious | reckless | somewhere in between

patient | impatient | somewhere in between

outspoken | reserved | somewhere in between

leader | follower | somewhere in between

empathetic | careless | somewhere in between

optimistic | pessimistic | somewhere in between

traditional | modern | somewhere in between

hard-working | lazy | somewhere in between

cultured | uncultured | somewhere in between

BELIEFS AND IDEALS

are they: religious | agnostic | atheist

do they believe in ghosts / spirits: yes | no | unsure

the afterlife: yes | no | unsure

reincarnation: yes | no | unsure

aliens: yes | no | unsure

astrology: yes | no | unsure

fate: yes | no | unsure

political alignment: conservative | liberal | independent | other

are they: pro-choice | anti-abortion | unsure

are they: pro-death penalty | anti-death penalty | unsure

are they: pro-euthanasia | anti-euthanasia | unsure

are they: pro-legalized drugs | anti-legalized drugs | unsure

Additional Information: Alec wasn’t raised with religion and has never felt the need to explore it. He himself identifies an atheist but is very accepting of others’ belief systems. It simply isn’t something he puts too much thought into. Politically, he is a registered democrat for convenience purposes, though he is more truly an independent in beliefs. He believes in human rights, and that’s kind of the gist of politics for him, what would improve the lives of the masses.

SEX, ROMANCE & RELATIONSHIPS

sexuality scale: allosexual | in between | asexual | other

romantic scale: allromantic | in between | aromantic | other

experience: virgin | very little | moderate | experienced

number of partners: 0 | 1-5 | 5-10 | 10-25 | 25+

number of relationships: 0 | 1-5 | 10-25 | 25+

preferred partners: men | women | any gender | other | none

relationships: monogamous | polyamorous | other | none

with others: relationship person | casual sex | other | none

in bed: traditional sex | adventurous | kinks/fetishes | other

Additional Information: Alec hasn’t really allowed himself to fall in love since the girl he considers to be his one true love in life left him. Instead, he’s taken to years of casual hook ups and a multitude of friends with benefits situations. The array of connections with those he sleeps with lends to the manner in which he approaches sex. He’s fairly open to most things though adventure isn’t necessary either. It all depends on the partner and moment.

ABILITIES AND SKILLS

cooking: good | in between | bad

cleaning: good | in between | bad

musical ability: good | in between | bad

artistic skills: good | in between | bad

driving: good | in between | bad

athleticism: good | in between | bad

swimming: good | in between | bad

horseback riding: good | in between | bad

fishing / hunting: good | in between | bad

gardening: good | in between | bad

communication: good | in between | bad

handiness: good | in between | bad

handwriting: good | in between | bad

technology: good | in between | bad

HABITS, GOOD & BAD

alcohol: excess | frequently | average | infrequently | never

smoking: excess | frequently | average | infrequently | never

pot/weed: excess | frequently | average | infrequently | never

drugs: excess | frequently | average | infrequently | never

shopping: excess | frequently | average | infrequently | never

gambling: excess | frequently | average | infrequently | never

sex: excess | frequently | average | infrequently | never

Additional Information: Alec has a history of coping with the stresses of life with various substances. He spent most of his life living as a rockstar, that came with access to plenty of drugs and alcohol. In the past, he has struggled with excessive use of hard liquor, cocaine, weed, and nicotine, though since settling back into town he has worked on it and cut back significantly and found other outlets for life’s problems.

[staticflavourlessbuzz]

!!Temporary pinned!!

Hi welcome to our page!

We are the Chaoticlimes system

The host is Denny, Me (Pepper) and Spamton are co hosts, I am helping Denny with making this pinned post

We are a system of 16, we are a DID system (yes we have DID)

We are intersex and we collectively are systemfluid, genderqueer, daisy gay, abrosys and polyamsys and our collective pronouns are He/they/it, our collective name is Limez

»»————-　♡　————-««

Members and pronouns

Denny - They/it/xe/ne/bun (He/him accepted) (Xe/xim, xe/xem, ne/nym, ne/nem)

Pepper - They/it (she/her accepted if only referring to Pepper)

Luca - It/zem (They/them accepted)

Rick - He/him

Yosh - He/him or name

Tash - Void/he/it

Stocks - He/xim

Spamton G. Spamton - He/it/them/nya

Jevil - He/they/it

Mia - they/it/nya/meow

Minmin - They/it

Nacho - He/it/they/ze

May - They/them

Zwapz - He/they

Razch - They/it/vamp

Razz - He/it

»»————-　♡　————-««

We are extremely tired of system discourse, queer discourse, neurodiverse discourse and disability discourse

We (especially Denny and Yosh) are not afraid of fighting back or biting scumbags

If you’re here to start fights or discourses over small things like flags, identity, gender, orientation, mental health, systems/plurality, personas, oc’s (especially Mary/Gary stues), disabilities and/or neurodivergency please fuck off, we do not have time or spoons for you - Denny

»»————-　♡　————-««

Not sure what you're looking for

»»————-　♡　————-««

BYF

We post content involving clowns, horror, body positivity, feminism, LGBTQIA2S+, MOGAI, anarchy, furbies, animatronics, furry, body horror, food, Pokemon, My Little Pony, space related stuff, frogs, autism acceptance, neurodivergent acceptance and anti ableism

Art that we post usually have this content

Horror, clowns, body horror, horror, gore, My Little Pony, Pokemon, animatronics, robots, demons, angels, anthros, ferals, humans, humanoids, aliens, monsters, certain kinks, nudity, violence, vent art, self ship, self insert, body positivity, trans bodies, queer couples, fat bodies, chubby bodies, anarchy, feminism and characters from media (Take Undertale and Super Mario Bros as some examples)

»»————-　♡　————-««

WE ABSOLUTELY DO NOT ACCEPT THIS

Ableism, demonisation of cluster b disorders, fatmisia/fat phobia, queermisia (queerphobia), flag or sexual/romantic/tertiary orientation discourse, flag discourse, exorsexism (anti enby), intersexism (anti intersex), anti xenogender, anti neogender, demonisation or stigmatisation of mental illnesses psychosis or disabilities, general nastiness, catcalling, think it is okay to harass minors or anyone in general, harassing our alters or us in general, harassing individuals for their hobbies (geek, furry etc.), general nasty people, people who send unsolicited gore (fictional AND/OR IRL) to people to trigger people

DNI

General DNI criteria, if you stigmatize or demonise cluster B disorders (This includes using narcissistic and/or narcissist as insults), if you stigmatise or demonise mental illness disabilities and psychosis, if you believe or do eugenics, BMI scale, Anti-recovery, act like assholes towards individuals struggling with addiction, Sysmed, Proana, Promia, Fatmisic, Ableist, Kodocon (loli/shotacon/both), Proship/Neuship/Comship, Anti-anti, Pro/neu/com contact (you’re a predator), Overall nasty people, Pro-fetus, Pro-birth, Pro-life, TERF/SWERF/TIRF/TEHM, Radfem, syscourse/flagcourse (People are literally fucking dying out here Susan), exclusionists or neutral on exclusionism, exorsexist, intersexist, anti cringe, support/promote or even neutral on Autism Speaks and ABA

Scott Cawthon endorser, JKR endorser, Emily Gwen endorser

Think mspec sapphics can't: use butch/femme, reclaim the d-slur, use the ⚢ symbol, call themselves lesbians

Think that fiction can't or doesn’t affect reality (It indeed can)

Teeth divider by @mmadeinheavenn

[abyssal-werewolf]

time for a new pinned post >:)

DNI and intros to my headmates under the cut!

I'm Istasha, a shapeshifting void-creature and the host of a monoconscious median system called The Exodus Fleet. I'm 21 years old (same as the body) and all of us either share that age or are adults without a defined age. My pronouns are she/it and I'm female, just not in an (entirely) human way. We're autistic and have ADHD and BPD, which is also where our nonhumanity comes from (mostly from the BPD tho). We are not at all spiritual or religious, but support any and all belief systems!

Who you might meet here:

me (lol)

Frank - he/him, hellhound

Wave - they/he, water dragon/dinosaur

Sun/Sundrop/Sunny - he/it, jester angel

Opportunity - she/her, Mars Rover

Kali - she/her, human

Kade - she/fae, forest elf

Beast - it/its, canine monster

Autumn Trees - he/him, frisian horse

Ghost - she/it, ghost dog

Ember - she/it, cyborg dragon

NME - he/it/code, AI in a synthetic wyvern body

Selkie - she/her, spirit fox

Sissix - she/xir, alien

DNI:

Ohan - he/they (they in a plural sense), alien

Kairo - they/them, anthro feline

anti-endo

supportive of inherently harmful paraphilias (not limited to "the big three"), doesn't matter if you're pro- or anti-contact ("supportive" means in this case any action that tries to normalize or encourage these paraphilias. I DO know that not all zoophiles/pedophiles/etc are abusive but the second you try to normalize your paraphilic DISORDER (yes there is a difference), I'm done with you)

demonize ANY disorder or mental illness, including all personality disorders, schizophrenia, psychosis, etc. Also "narc abuse" isn't real, you're just ableist :) self-proclaimed "Empaths" are on thin ice

try to bring shipcourse to this blog in any form

anti-alterhuman, -otherkin, -therian, etc.

kinnie/kin for fun

racist, homophobic, antisemitic, ableist, etc.

against any and all good-faith sexualities and gender identities

people who try to force spiritual explanations for any of our experiences on us

transX/transid/radqueer (this does NOT include people with BIID, transspecies folks and people who identify as transage due to being plural or certain kintypes)

p-shifters (does NOT include endels and other nonhumans who are physically-identifying due to delusions)

anti-factkin

additionally, if you piss me off in whichever way, you'll be blocked.

[possibly-in-wonderland]

I posted 935 times in 2022

That's 935 more posts than 2021!

450 posts created (48%)

485 posts reblogged (52%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@gointothevvater

@possibly-in-wonderland

@twigg96

@neil-gaiman

@thatwritingho

I tagged 860 of my posts in 2022

Only 8% of my posts had no tags

#reblog - 417 posts

#original post - 335 posts

#metalocalypse - 22 posts

#lmao - 22 posts

#oof - 18 posts

#its such a wonderful life - 16 posts

#original reblog - 16 posts

#stranger things - 13 posts

#pickles the drummer - 10 posts

#metallica - 10 posts

Longest Tag: 137 characters

#this is like that episode of courage the cowardly dog where muriel gets turned into a child and she wants more cheese on her mac n cheese

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

*dantdm mod video intro plays*

top o' the mornin' to ya bros, my name is markiplier and welcome to my lovely world

10 notes - Posted February 20, 2022

#4

me, wanting to cuddle and have a roommate in the future bc i don't like being alone:

my aroace ass who wants a house all to their self bc of growing up in a small single-wide trailer with eight people: ew no, wtf?

17 notes - Posted April 17, 2022

#3

Humans Are Space Orcs: Venom in Humans

alright, since my most famous post is about humans and tunnel vision i bring to you: humans and their poisonous bite.

if you get bit by another human it WILL get infected. its common knowledge and due to the number of bacteria in your mouth. in fact, scientists believe that humans are developing a VENOMOUS BITE (which is basically gender euphoria to me).

with that being said, imagine a human bite being absolutely lethal to aliens.

aliens whispering about their human crewmate, knowing just how deadly they truly are and being starstruck that the human crewmate hasn't gotten aggressive with anyone and bitten someone.

alternatively: a group of aliens adopting a human as a ship pet, treating it like a exotic and relatively dangerous pet. someone breaks into the ship, trying to kill the crew. but they didn't take into account the ship has an extremely dangerous pet. only to get bit on the shoulder and soon die within the next 30 minutes.

imagine the crew not even knowing the human has a lethal bite.

80 notes - Posted April 20, 2022

#2

Humans Are Space Orcs: Tunnel Vision, Anger, Seeing Red, Loyalty

I was on Pinterest...bc that's something I do...when it occured to me. Humans are dangerous but loyal (said in almost every post especially the post comparing humans to pitbulls)

Imagine an alien crews reaction to their human witnessing another alien crewmate die by the hands of some other alien at a space dock or planet they landed on. The human is hunched over the body silently crying and anger is boiling.

They carefully place the crewmate's head down that was previously resting in their lap, they stand up, crack their neck, and turn towards the other crewmates.

And what they see terrifies them.

Non of them had ever seen an angry human. Especially one with a face that red.

The human pushes past them and up to the alien that killed their crewmate and goes apeshit.

There's screaming.

There's blood.

There's broken bones.

The alien that killed their crewmate is long dead but the human is still beating the shit out of them and the aliens know that enough is enough but should they step in?

Eventually, the human tires and shakily stands up before hauling themselves back over to the body of the crewmate and picking them up bridal style so they can be properly buried (in whatever way was sacred to them).

The crew watches the human board the ship holding the corpse and silently they follow.

Later when asked if okay, the human responds, "I saw red." They explain what that (and tunnel vision) is.

The aliens are absolutely terrified but understand why the human did what they did and understand they would have done it for any of them.

453 notes - Posted March 13, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

this blog is pro johnny depp

this blog is anti amber heard

3,189 notes - Posted April 21, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[berylian]

Text Id: During the first 13 weeks of pregnancy, when about 90 percent of abortions in America are carried out, the fetus's appearance ranges from a small clot of phlegm to an alien-like ball of flesh. At 22 weeks, though, a human fetus has grown to about the size of a small melon. The procedures that Hern performs result in the removal of a body that, if you saw it, would inspire a sharp pang of recognition. These are the abortions that provide fodder for the gruesome images on protesters' signs and the billboards along the Midwest highways, images that can be difficult to look at for long.

Many of the women who visit Hern's clinic do so because their health is at risk - or because their fetus has a serious abnormality that would require a baby to undergo countless surgeries with little chance of survival. But Hern does not restrict his work to these cases.

The phone at Hern's clinic rings constantly these days. Since the overturning of Roe and the corresponding blitz of abortion bans, appointment books are filling up at clinics in states where abortion remains legal. Women who have to wait weeks for an appointment may end up missing the window for a first-trimester procedure. Some book a flight to Boulder to see Hern, who is treating about 50 percent more patients than usual.

These later abortions are the less common cases, and the hardest ones. They are the cases that even stalwart abortion-rights advocates generally prefer not to discuss. But as the pro-choice movement strives to shore up abortion rights after the fall of Roe, its members face strategic decisions about wheter and how to defend this work.

Most Americans support abortion access, but they support it with limits - considerations about time and pain and fingernail development. Hern is reluctant to acknowledge any limit, any red line. He takes the woman's-choice argument to its logical conclusion, in much the same way that, at this moment, anti-abortion activists are pressing their case to its extreme. Hern considers his religious adversaries to be zealots, and many of them are. But he is, in his own way, no less of an absolutist.

"The fee will be about $6,000," the receptionist said. Late abortions are expensive because they are medically complex. For patients who need financial aid, the National Abortion Federation may cover some of the cost, and local abortion funds often contribute. The receptionist told this to Lindsey, and offered her the organization's number. "You can do partial cash and credit card, yes," she said. Often, if a woman cannot afford to pay for her hotel, her transportation to Boulder, or some part of her procedure, Hern will foot the bill himself, staff members told me.

Hern stopped performing first-trimester abortions a few years ago; he saw too much need for later abortions, and his clinic couldn't do it all. The procedure he uses takes three or four days and goes like this: After performing an ultrasound, he will use a thin needle to inject a medicine called digoxin through the patient's abdomen to stop the fetus's heart. This is called "inducing fetal demise." Then Hern will insert on or more laminarias - a sterile, brownish rod of seaweed - into the patient's cervix to start the dilation process.

When the cervix is sufficiently dilated after another day or two of adding and removing laminarias, Hern will drain the amniotic fluid, give the patient misoprostol, and remove the fetus. Sometimes the fetus will be whole, intact. Other times, Hern must remove it in parts. If the patient asks, a nurse will wrap the fetus in a blanket to hold, or present a set of handprints or footprints for the patient to take home.

I interviewed half a dozen of Hern's former patients. Most of the women who agreed to talk had wanted a child. But they'd received serious diagnoses late in pregnancy: disorders with disturbing names such as prune-belly syndrome, trisomy 13, Dandy-Walker malformation, and agenesis of the corpus callosum. Some said they considered their abortions a kind of mercy killing.

Amber Jones, who terminated her pregnancy at about 24 weeks in 2016, told me that her baby's diagnosis meant he would not survive. Hern reassured her, she said, that she "shouldn't be made to carry the pregnancy. That it's bullshit, and we have the right to access health care."

Abortions that come after devastating medical diagnoses can be easier for some people to understand. But Hern estimates that at least half, and sometimes more, of the women who come to the clinic do not have these diagnoses. He and his staff are just as sympathetic to other circumstances. Many of the clinic's teenage patients receive later abortions because they had no idea they were pregnant. Some sexual-assault victims ignore their pregnancies or feel too ashamed to see a doctor. Once, a staffer named Catherine told me, a patient opted for a later abortion because her husband had killed himself and she was suddenly broke. "There isn't a single woman who has ever written on her bucket list that she wants to have a late abortion," Catherine said. "There is always a reason."

The reason doesn't really matter to Hern. Medical viability for a fetus -or its ability to survive outside the uterus- is generally considered to be somewhere from 24 to 28 weeks. Hern, though, believes the viability of a fetus is determined not by gestational age but by a woman's willingness to carry it. He applies the same principle to all of his prospective patients: If he thinks it's safer for them to have an abortion than to carry and deliver the baby, he'll take the case -usually up until around 32 weeks, with some rare later exceptions, because of the increased risk of hemorrhage and other life-threatening conditions beyond that point.

Hern was 34 when he performed his first abortion, a year before Roe v. Wade would be decided. A friend in D.C. who ran a local clinic invited him to come learn the procedure. Hern's patient was 17 and in her first trimester of pregnancy. She wanted to be an anesthesiologist, he remembers.

Hern had learned how to do a dilation-and-curettage abortion in medical school, but still, he was terrified -and so was she. He recalls that after he finished and told her she wasn't pregnant anymore, she wept with relief. He did too. " I was overwhelmed by the significance of this operation for this young woman's life," he told me. "This was a new definition, for me, for practicing medicine."

Regardless of the circumstances of pregnancy, in Hern's view, a woman's life -her humanity, her wishes- isn't just more important that her fetus's. It is virtually the only thing that matter. That approach is diametrically opposed to the view of anti-abortion advocates, for whom pregnancy means motherhood and, often, self-sacrifice.

"So if a pregnant woman with no health issues comes to the clinic, say, at 30 weeks, what would you do?" I asked Hern once. The question irked him. "Every pregnancy is a health issue!" he said. "There's a certifiable risk of death from being pregnant, period."

I asked Hern whether he ever worried that now, in a post-Roe world, he might have an even bigger target on his back. I wondered whether it was a bit reckless for him to be so outspoken with reporters like ,e. Actually, it's the opposite, Hern replied. Being so vocal "increases the political cost of assassinating me."

"That's dark," I said.

He simply shrugged. "This is what I have to think about."

This was an interesting read. Surprisingly nonpreachy given the subject; and well worth the time.

[meinyourbones]

I guess you can probably bully Taylor Swift into speaking out on Palestine, it seems to have worked with the jet use, although that did bookend with threatening to sue a college student so idk how noble she would realistically be.

I also wonder if she's even pro-Palestine. The left isn't exactly united on this issue, and she needs to be liked so bad, it would make sense if she was pro-Israel and -- knowing that her fanbase skews younger and therefore pro-Palestine -- didn't want to talk about Israel's war and risk alienating any fans. Anyway, that's neither here nor there; the point is that people on the left want her to speak up about Palestine (and the right seems to think she's in cahoots with Biden, idk wtf they're on about over there).

It's easier for her to take action/speak on something that affects her (sexual harassment, artists' rights) or something that is definitely popular with her fanbase (the LGBTs). If she is pro-Palestine, there could be any number of reasons why she doesn't want to talk about it. Security concerns is one. Not having a fully-formed, well-educated opinion is another. There's the reason that she doesn't care/want to be that voice, which antis imply and I find hard to believe (though her apparent lack of public support to less popular Spotify artists does make this more likely in my mind). The major one, I suspect, is that it's so divisive and the last thing she wants is to be more divisive. Any more (and louder) negative attention while she's still in the middle of this tour brings with it certain potential issues. Do I wish that she was just 100%, definitely on our side and decided to direct some parts of her machine toward this? Absolutely. But are her antis gonna buy her next album if she does, or will she lose sales? Is she gonna be more or less safe or generally liked? Are people going to call her antisemitic? Are the Nazis going to embrace her again? I can see her in a meeting having these conversations, or at least thinking about things like this.

I'm still on the boat that I don't need my celebrities to be political advocates, but I also understand that it is different with Taylor Swift and it is different with genocide at this magnitude. Honestly, I hope the "bullying" works but I doubt it will. Still I do not understand getting mad at her for going to a club to celebrate the superb owl. Some of y'all really need to understand that unless someone is a full-time political activist, and actually I'm sure this is true for full-time activists as well, they absolutely have to do something other than be miserable about injustice at some point in their lives ever. I do understand if, like, you hate her as a person because she appears to you to be a business woman first and a human woman second. She'd kind of been doing this since she was 12 or something.

[eclipsecrowned]

frankly put, i don't know if i can convey just how viscerally, deeply horrifying the circle system/chantry stranglehold on magic is to aria.

meeting a tranquil in ostagar utterly broke her, because this beautiful, talented person, someone her own culture would uplift and treasure, was totally stripped of their core being at the whims of their oppressors. the circle quest is a further study in how alien human/chantry-compliant culture is to her. alien and terrifying. being locked up just for the thought you could one day do harm with a gift the gods gave you, to be held in perpetuity at the whims of a power-grubbing institution... it's a totally skewed, accusatory view of magic -- which, to her, is a neutral force -- that cannot be a part of any civilization worth saving.

the whole thing fucks with her greatly, and is part of her endeavor to never 'play nice' or stay quiet about her views once she has power as a warden commander. she's pro-mage, anti-warden, anti-chantry, and she's going to make those beliefs known loud and clear so there is no miscommunication. someone has to stand up to it. someone has to fight back, in whatever way they can. and that's also why, once events in kirkwall are at their end, aria hangs up her commander title and becomes a free agent once more, defending displaced mages against those who hunt them.