#that's a belief i have about media in general tbh
Explore tagged Tumblr posts
Note
So I'm pretty new to comics and the DC comics fandom and I've been noticing this interesting parallel in the cultural ideas and fandom discussions with the star trek fandom, specifically the concept of Kirk Drift. In brief the term was coined by an article talking about how the cultural perception and modern conception of Jim Kirk is completely made up and utterly divorced from the Kirk we actually see in the original series. And your analyses of male characters as they were portrayed in the 70s and 80s (Hal Jordan and Bruce Wayne in particular) really reminded me of this article.
It's interesting how similar the warping of these massive cultural icons is given the similarities (being a part of a decades old property and having been written by multiple writers over a long stretch of time) and the differences (the sheer volume of material that dc characters get as opposed to 3 seasons of a tv show plus some movies, the mediums, different industries, and being a part of a genre that kind of espouses different ideals). Another interesting commonality is that they're both media that everyone knows about but very few people have actually engaged with.
I don't know how much of star trek you've watched but the idea of a hotheaded, rash, womanizing dick is wildly different from the canon Kirk who was a nerd, pretty by the book, utterly devoted to his ship and his duty to his crew as a starfleet officer, was on really good terms with his exes who were all accomplished and intelligent women with lives and aspirations of their own, sensitive, and extremely professional.
The reason why I'm explaining that is that it's really striking how the imagined version of Kirk and various superhero characters ends up diminishing the point of these stories and the progressive themes that they actually did have and ends up creating a version of the story that is significantly more regressive than the source material. This not only affects the character in question but often also ends up flattening and erasing female characters that actually existed. For instance the whole purpose of star trek is to imagine a better future, a world where we've moved beyond the issues of today. It wasn't always great at it but the intent was always clear. Similarly the superhero comics genre to my limited understanding is meant to inspire the idea of regular heroism in the readers, to make you feel like you could be a hero too. And I get that these male characters get treated significantly better than their female counterparts but the destruction of their characters doesn't just affect them it also affects the overall story and the world of the story and ends up destroying anything good these stories had to say in the first place.
I don't really have anything to conclude this with just noticed this similarity and thought you might find it interesting given your interest in looking at stories within their cultural context and would love to know your thoughts. Have a nice week!
i unfortunately never got into star trek! i do think i've watched the first chris pine movie but i imagine going off of what you're saying here that it wasn't entirely accurate to who kirk is as a persongjkdfjlhdf. still though, this totally resonates and i couldn't agree more! i really believe there is a huge issue with with the life span of various media allowing their core message to deteriorate over time, esp bc that life span means they evolve in response to political changes in the real world. we are progressively moving into a very conservative time period in our history right now and that could not be reflected more than in what is being propagated via popular, long-standing source material. it's a very worrisome and disheartening phenomenon and i imagine much won't change unless the public political spectrum changes first :/
#esp agree with the part about male characters treating sort of having a ripple effect on everyone else#that's a belief i have about media in general tbh#misogyny is obv a significant contributor to poor writing of women but the chances are if women are being written poorly#the men are being written poorly too. and often in facilitation of the misogyny that in turn affects the women#outbox
9 notes
·
View notes
Text
I'll never forget when i was discussing self reliance by Waldo Emerson with my teacher and it evolved into well-needed deep conversations about media literacy and pro/anti-ship debates found online
#it was nice talking to someone who was outside of my hyper online bubble and have them be earnestly-not bad faith-interested in the#complexities of it#and she also brought up the very real topic of being self reliant enough to stand on 10 toes and believe in your beliefs#(whether considered right or wrong by the general populous u inhabit)#and cool topics on whether fiction effects reality etc etc#i wish i could have these genuine conversations with people bc it IS and interesting topic boiled down to them vs us debates#like can we talk about ideas of censorship and when does something become a slippery slope authoritarian kinda thing#and if the slippery slope fallecy is even a valid thing to work off of in both sides of the debate#(antis saying that depending on how degenerate a piece of media u like to consume can make you spiral and impact real life people and thing#or pros saying how the very idea of wanting to censor certain type of media based on how others feel about it is authoritarian and fascist#by nature and can be seen in things like modern day book banning)#interesting stuff tbh!#ship discourse#but i can also say as soon as I log out idc about this stuff?#the only ppl irl who ik care about this stuff are people my own age who are also hyper online#like a microcosm of fandom most people will never interact with aha#rant.txt
1 note
·
View note
Text
Astrology Observations Pt. 8 🦂
materialist🔖
DISCLAIMER: These are just my personal observations and are meant for entertainment purposes only; it may not resonate with everyone due to the nuances of astrology. Please respect my work and avoid copying or stealing it. Enjoy reading!! 🦂
🦂 I think people who have their chiron in the 3rd/7th or 11th house may experience significant insecurity about posting on social media and being in front of a camera, or even commenting under various posts online. They often overthink the things they put out online/the things they were going to post online 😭 and also if they post pictures/videos they might rewatch the picture/video 984726261 times and often find a SOME tiny fault and convince themselves to delete whatever it is that they have posted. This placement can create a deep-seated fear of judgment and a tendency to second-guess every public interaction
🦂I have noticed that scorpio moons and capricorn moons have very involved and critical mothers/parents, exhibiting behaviors typical of helicopter parenting. For instance they could micromanage every single thing you do or have some sort of comment to make about every little thing you do (also applicable to aries and virgo moons). I also feel that cappy and scorpio moons may find it the hardest to detach from their generational trauma because their parents may have instilled strict principles/beliefs into them and they end up carrying forward all these beliefs which in return makes them more susceptible to repeating toxic patterns which then ends up causing A LOT of trauma to these individuals ❤️🩹
🦂 honestly taurus placements aren’t always mindful and demure, despite being ruled by venus. Most taurus placements (esp sun,moon and mars) are NOT afraid to call people out on their bs and are extremely straightforward and direct. The type to insult you straight to your face if you annoy them or smtg 😭 and you’d be like ouch, what was the reason for that??💀. They can come across as arrogant and rude sometimes BUT this all makes a lot of sense as a lot of them tend to be sidereal aries placements after all🙏😂
🦂 speaking of sidereal placements I wanna talk about how virgos can be super playful and child-like (esp with the people they are comfortable with) because they’re leo placements in sidereal + virgo placements also really crave attention, sometimes way more than Leo’s tbh✨
🦂 aries and scorp moon/venus women often attract guys who initially start off as wanting to be/being their “friends” BUT the only reason they wanted to be their friend in the first place is because they see potential for a romantic/sexual relationship with them. It’s sad because literally every guy friend you have/had TOTALLY had other intentions that weren’t platonic 🥲
🦂 having placements in the 2nd house (esp if there are no harsh aspects) just mellows down the intensity of the placement. For instance moon in the 2nd house people can regulate their emotions much more stable and easy manner. Having placements in the 2nd house is such a BLESSING.
🦂 if you think you know someone with a scorpio moon, moon in the 8th house or moon-pluto native, trust me you DON’T😭. no one will ever KNOW every single part of them. They remind me of onions yk? SO MANY LAYERS to them and no one will ever truly know everything about them
🦂 also idk if I’ve mentioned this before but CAN WE JUST TAKE A MINUTE TO APPRECIATE HOW FUCKING FUNNY/HUMOROUS CANCER PLACEMENTS ARE???? literally SO SO witty and make you laugh till your stomach hurts😭🫶🏻
🦂 with age, saturn in cancer natives can look a lot like their mothers 💗
🦂 shadow traits are often expressed through the moon and mars, as these planets govern our raw emotions and drives. For example, an aries moon’s may react with impulsive outbursts and frustration, while a scorpio mars might exhibit controlling, obsessive, or manipulative behaviors to maintain power. These primal reactions tend to surface under stress or vulnerability. To work on your shadow self, it's helpful to focus on your Moon and Mars placements, as these often reveal where you're repeating or expressing toxic behaviors. By understanding how these signs influence your emotional reactions and drive, you can better recognize and address patterns that need healing.
banner/pic credits to the rightful owners
© cazshmere 2024 [All Rights Reserved]
#astrology#astrology notes#astro notes#synastry#astrology blog#synastry observations#astro community#composite#astro blog#astrology observations#synastry astrology#astro observations#astro placements#astrology works#astroblr#houses in astrology#venus astrology#moon aspects#mars in scorpio#vedic astrology#aries#taurus#gemini#cancer#virgo#leo placements#scorpio#virgo placements#sagittarius#chiron
1K notes
·
View notes
Text
Subject Diaries #0.5 - Jockout the Subject, Part 2
(okay this is the last edging post of this series lol)
Last time I discussed my history/beliefs around masculinisation and erotic TF hypnosis, just to give a foundation of how I think about this stuff.
NOW to get into the slightly juicier details; what am I into, and what have I achieved so far with hypnosis?
WELL. What I'm into is an interesting question; and it's changed a lot in the last 2-3 years. If you'd asked me then what I was into, the answer was a fairly limited range of hypnosis: I was into "dumb jock" style brainwashing... and not much else. I didn't do a lot with either sub/dom-coded files, and had yet to discover several of my major kinks! It's kind of weird looking back at how little I used to be into, tbh. But I feel like that's often the way with kinks, they kinda spread over time.
For hypnosis, my current core interests are the following:
Masculinisation - specifically shit like changes in media consumption, physical mannerisms like manspreading or gait, and attitude adjustments. This blurs the line with the next point, but really just covers the whole gamut of a "bro" or "jock" type personality, and is the primary thing I've been into for years.
Dumbing Down - this was a kink I was very on again/off again with for a while before finding my balls and embracing it wholeheartedly. Like many subs, I used to really fear being "Permanently Dumbed Down" and losing skills and traits I need for work/my ambitions. But that's not a realistic fear and not really how hypnosis works, so now I embrace it pretty wholeheartedly. Nothing hotter than coming out of trance unable to spell or think straight. I love seeing the changes in my communication that come from it, and the actual feeling of hypnosis-induced brain fog. (And, being seen as a dumbass is a big kink too, and a nice ongoing goal.) Also included here is the whole subcategory of like, wanting to be malleable and easily hypnotisable, wanting to be someone who drops like a stone and is super impacted by suggestion. I've got some friends who come to mind when I talk about that, and it's always hot to see how easily they sink.
Corruption - this is sort of a broader, underpinning kink to the rest of the stuff I'm into; but it's a desire I have to want to be changed, to have someone coy and sly and sneaky manipulate me into changing in ways most would consider "for the worse." Making me dumber, more single-minded, more narcissistic, more self-indulgent. Fuck, bro. I get off on the idea of someone making me into their personal monster... especially if it goes a little too far from their POV and they can't walk it back. This underpinning desire for corruption is sort of what fuels my love of Dumbing Down and, in recent years, super Dom-coded Toxic Alpha type hypno generally. It's play I think you need to be careful with, but I've been having a good time so far and don't think I'd have ever started making files like Brute if I hadn't gone in that direction myself.
I listen to files outside these three themes, but generally they need to have at least one for me to be into them, and the best tick all three boxes.
I briefly listed a few files I'd listened to a bunch in my previous Diaries post; those being Jack Drago's Masculine Conditioning series, Avis' Sapiens general catalog, and Rigsby's Absolute Jock. I've probably listened to 100s of hours of both the MC-series and Avis' work. My time on Absolute Jock was a looot lower, but tis the best of the old guard of jock files on WarpMyMind. Overall, it's a lot of time to have dedicated to this kinda hypno! So you'd expect to see some results, right?
...Yeeeahhh, well, I'm still kind of a Work In Progress on that front. I have seen results, but I held myself back with anxiety and overthinking (about hypnosis) for years of this, so I've really only started to show change in the last year or so. That being said, the years of repeated conditioning have done a number on me lol.
EFFECTS I'VE SEEN
Successful Media Brainwashing - I did the unthinkable and successfully made myself a sports fan via hypnosis. It's kinda weird. For years I really struggled to even get through a game; then with hypnosis, I gradually started to just get suuper horny when I watched sports instead, which wasn't really any better because I'd just jerk off and lose interest. But sometime in the last two years, I kinda just got into it gradually and now watch for authentic, general interest. This was a real pipe dream at 17 when I envied how all the jock-types in my class could be totally absorbed and single-minded watching or playing a game, but I ended up getting there in the end! Not American so don't watch American Football/basketball/baseball or whatever, but I like rugby/hurling/F1 ✌️I credit this to Jack Drago's work, specifically Files 2 and 4 of the MC series; Manly Media Bubble and Male Oriented Interests.
General Personality Change - this is a WIP suggestion, but it's been interesting seeing myself change over the last 12 months especially. I've become a lot more dominant, confident, cocky, and even self-centered especially in online kink type contexts. IRL, I've just become more dominant and less willing to take shit; but that's only ever a good thing. It's interesting Because the nature of this kind of change, which happens so slowly over time, is that it can be difficult to look back and see the points where you used to behave differently. But sometimes like... especially since doing Douchebag-type files, sometimes I'll criticise someone or make fun of something and get a surprised reaction from a friend who wasn't expecting me to take it that far. And it always makes me feel a little good to surprise them in that way, to violate their expectations of how Nice I should be. I'm always Nice to them, and to anyone decent, but you've really gotta make me WANT to treat you well to get that now. Some people will read this and feel annoyed, or roll their eyes, but I kinda don't care. It's what I'm into. It's what I've GOTTEN into. (It's all Avis' fault really tbh.)
Libido Increase - this was a slow creeping change overtime, but went from getting off maybe 1x a day/5x a week or so to probably getting off 3x a day currently. Got a lot better at thinking with my dick and am super easy to make horny, which helps feed into the next suggestion on the list;
Dumbing Down - this is the suggestion I've had the MOST recent breakthrough with. For the month of January, I listened daily to @hyphyphurray's Muscle Boy file, interspersed with his Happy Horny Himbo and @avissapiens' Intellect Drain. Dumbing Down was always something I'd struggled to conceptualise hypnotically, but I had a perspective shift this month as to what dumbing FEELS LIKE on an ongoing basis. While under some mild post-trance haze, I wrote this snippet about it in preparation for the post a week ago:
(Don't worry, I'll summarise it.)
The tl;dr of that message is that I realised "permanent" dumbing would feel less like brain fog/tipsiness, and more like apathy towards intellectual topics. It's a priority shift, or a behavioural change; not a magic finger plucking facts out of your brain so you forget the answers. It's sort of like it just fucks with your desire to know things/answer questions instead. The information might still be there, if you hunt; but why would you? Who cares, bro? Does it even matter?
Since making that perspective shift, it's like a few years of dumbing has crept in all at once, and it's been super interesting. I'm not going to over dramatise it (I'm desperate NOT to become an RP-type blog with this) because in contexts like writing, schoolwork, etc., I think just as clearly and easily. But in leisure contexts, in hypnosis, just in chatting with bros... I feel that intellectual apathy creep in allll the time. Trying to think of an answer to something and just giving up two seconds in, because "it's easier not to think about it." Trying to remember something and quitting because "if it was that important, I'd have remember." Letting my typos and message flubs sit because "they can figure it out lol" and not over analysing whether everything I say is totally coherent or rich.
I understand the irony of me speaking in huge depth about this here, when what I'm saying is that I'm thinking less. But like I said, it's kinda contextual. If anyone was interested, I'd consider writing a hornier post under the influence of trance sometime so the difference can be seen, but right now... I'm just taking this a little more formally, I guess? Idk, I'm torn between wanting it to be pseudo-educational and also just having made myself horny writing so much about dumbing, and when I'm horny I REALLY feel that haze start to creep in and I kinda wanna just stop this an edge or something and go do anything else that's more fun 🥴
So in the spirit of the post, I'm gonna go do that.
JANUARY WRAP-UP
For the month of January, most of what I listened to were Hyphyphurray's files listed above (the number in green = the number of times I listened to them). They are paid files, but they're well worth the price, and I recommend them to anyone into this shit. I also listened to Avis' Intellect Drain 5-6 times as a supplement because I love how that just makes my brain turn off for a while.
Not sure atm what I'm gonna listen to through February, I've bounced between Muscle Boy and Avis' Toxic Douchebag Alpha a few times so far but will likely commit to one track for the month.
-------
This is post #2 of my broader Subject Diaries series, a blog series I plan to maintain on a fortnightly/monthly basis updating people on what I've been listening to, files I've been enjoying, and effects I've been experiencing. When I'm not trancing, I'm usually off being a mystical forest bro in the wilderness of Ireland, but I am always available for commissions here on Tumblr/Soundcloud if you reach out via DM. My flat rate is currently $55-80, but you can always check my pinned post for more up-to-date info. You can also support me with a one-time tip either via Paypal or Ko-Fi, but you'll have to DM for the first.
172 notes
·
View notes
Text
pokemon dick grayson WOULD have:
NB: these pokemon are battle focused/ like that because these are intended as nightwing's pokemon this is because i kinda believe in this regard dgs 'a blank in a mask' all his pokemon are for combat because thats what he prioritises (and helping people but you know) not his public image. i feel like he wouldn't bring light to his pokemon in media presences because a) he ain't brucie b) the disparity between richard grayson and a media version of him is much less than batman and brucie i.e his pokemon aren't suspicious in the context
Now, onward!
(i) Beldum/ Metang (eventually metagross): one of the smartest pokemon, the key reason they're together is because of the detective work. metang hasn't quite evolved yet, but dick hatched a tiny beldum that then became metang. i hc dick being someone who's thinking is hard for other people to keep up with due to his lateral thinking which is quite different to bruce's and a lot of other people- he uses logic like a tool or a toy to augment manipulations basically. beldum didn't use to be very vocal so dick just talked to it all the time kinda like a recorder when it evolved it was able to strengthen his own leaps in logic. icl it's kind like batman- someone who's way of thinking is very different and direct compared to dicks but complements it nonetheless.
(ii) Corvisquire, eventually Corviknight (find me a better pokemon allegory for the robin- nightwing- batman pipeline. also: mask like markings?? take on much larger predators despite the size difference and are known to be fierce and territorial?? it writes itself..) i feel like rookidee would be a peak robin pokemon who baby dickie had in the circus because it's his family tradition that every grayson gets a flying type when they start performing to 'remind them of the sky they seek and the closed grip of gravity they escape' i'm romanticising but!!! it finally evolves into corviknight after the whole 'leave your keys with alfred thing' because that's the point at which adulthood is realised for the both of them: banishment. growing pains. side note his dads starting flying type was a talonflame. dick still has a soft spot for them: all those fiery aerial displays.. ik a lot of people headcanon bruce having a corviknight but i think noivern fulfills his 'dark knight' aspect as corviknight does for dick
(iii) Salamance (clearest realisation of flight- dg would so relate to that kinda will power unflinching attitude and belief and faith in one's self. also i think he also deeply understands the urge to leave gravity behind that binds him and bagon almost immediately. i see him getting bagon in peak robin days 10/12 a cackling imp of a boy 'fearless' and 'full of grace' and finding this pokemon with the same urge to challenge gravity. dick never tries to stop bagon from jumping from great heights and instead jumps with him which basically makes the little guy imprint on him straight away. alfred probably jokes about their being two who disregard gravity in the manor now while bruce is exasperated. i think the salamance evolution happened in tamaran/ brothers blood era importantly away from bruce to kinda exacerbate their sense of alienation from one other. salamance loves flying duh and dick and him have a ritual of flying so high and far whenever he wants to abandon the world slightly.
(iv) alolan ninetales i think ninetales is a really common choice for batfam or aus in general cause tbh just look at it!!! but i hvnt really seen alolan ninetales for nightwing. so reasoning: they are considered sacred messengers of sorts and protect packs of vulpix viciously. unlike the normal ninetales which is often standoffish, they are quite gentle. i think that kind of corresponds to dicks image of being a saviour you know?? just optimism, guiding light for bruce and a lot of the DCU something different. i think ninetales is a really strong counter to a lot of pokemon but dicks is a bit of a glass cannon. it can deal out a lot of damage but it really relies on agility and not being hit. he uses it against dragon types and fairy types exclusively. hc that he found vulpix during peak crutches/ renegade arc ie blüdhaven destruction on the horizon and hid it from everybody. vulpix didn't like him at first but it has a really strong sense of judgement. i think it reminds him of donna- the idea of guiding light and stuff. i also see it as kind of his fanon self- people see it on the surface and think it's easy to fight or it only knows elegance but it has greater depths than that. it's the idea of staying true to yourself and deliverance in the dcu. idk man it's kinda like the faith that goes on to define nightwing.
(v) Zeraora the pokemon dick handspars with and an inspiration for riolu. zeraora genuinely distrust all humans because they were betrayed. dick met in an alternate universe that there's no lack of. there he gained its trust by defending it in battle then fighting alongside it. i can otherwise see it being a tamaranean pokemon that decided to follow him back. it heavily distrusts everybody but dick himself. an electric type it tries to get his other pokemon to battle it regularly. it rarely stays in its pokeball and wanders the rooftops with him and complements nightwing. i think it kinda of showcases ash's strength of character that zeraora trusts it now- kinda like his ability to maintain relationships throughout the hero community again it's all about faith and belief. also it represents his inner desire to get stronger all the time- his desire to do good.
(vi) Zoroark: this one was really hard but i think it got down to dicks whole 'i'm whoever you want me to be' attitude the idea of he perceives himself is so alien to how he's perceived by others. dick captured zoroark in his role as batman with damian a point at which he basically abandoned his own identity to use bruce's which was really powerful. i also think someone who infiltrates organisations as much as he does needs a flexible partner n that role.
in reserve:
greninja but that deserves its own post
(i) Intelon (sniping skills? specially identifies perceived weak spots before attacking so it knows where to strike? the SECRET AGENT pokemon?? cmon tell me that's not SO grayson themed..) (also the imagery of having a lazy drizzile he doesn't understand because he's been 'on the go' his whole life and kinda wishing he'd get sobble back and immediately whiplashing when he realises he's thinking like bruce.) i feel like he'd get it during the grayson arc tho and just kinda want to care for something.. keep something safe and be useful so he'll happily adopt a crying sobble. he normally wouldn't but in that scenario i think he'd miss caring for something so he'd do it.
(ii) dragonair definitely a gift from clark which is quite a popular hc i think. he doesn't really use her in battle but mostly to calm down civilians because of serene nature and elegance. pairs well with ninetales and the both of them work really well together. dragonair is also more on the undercover side like inteleon and it's probably never going to evolve into dragonite which is fair. it does acrobatics with ash and they enjoy doing silk together.
thoughts for others in DCU while writing:
bruce as already mentioned would have a noivern to kinda contend with the bat ideal plus the dark knight thing.
i also hc him having a malamar partially because of batman detective duties clues amalgamation and also to make him worse in the feelings department. malamar would have def been the one agreeing dick should spend all time ever by bruce (their) s side. he's personally emotionally stunted.
i see bruce having a gothitelle as well: they're supposed to be able to see the future and when people and galaxies die so i guess it probably saw jason would die not as robin so knew nothing. she met bruce in the league of shadows and she saw something in him that compelled her to follow. she's quite detached and doesn't really like fighting- so she's part of the detective and interrogative style of things due to her sharp mind.
jason's starter would so be a nickit he found by chance it takes a while for them to build up trust with each other but they def ran cons together when that happened
i also low key see jason with a typhlosion but i can't explain it. also galarian corsola
tim has quite a few psychic pokemon: partly i'd say because of leading the teen titans and all the collaborations that needs is made much easier when you have psychics to link people up: i hc him finding a yamask at an archaeological site with him parents that kinda imprinted on him-
and a female meowstic one day when he was at boarding school. since females are more selfish averse and generally more territorial than males this was a hard road but she's now his most loyal partner probably and willing to use full force a lot.
i also hc him having a kirlia when he goes to bruce after jason's death- since the ralts line is known for their relationship with emotions i feel like the boy with enough empathy to intentionally don the mask to save batman is probably most relatable to one.
another one i can so see him having is a flygon: cool personality ideal for carrying dragon type moves. i think this is solidly one he catches as robin or while he's training to become robin maybe with lady shiva.
i feel like damian would def get a riolu when he gets gotham (idk it that very done before?) probs by dick/ alfred to teach him the concept of saving not hurting. since riolu is known for aura + sensing emotions i think it kinda helps damian develop more empathy for those ard him. also they would definitely spar with each other as bonding time. riolu looks up to ash a lot as well i think.
i think steph would really vibe with an alolan raichu psychic/ fairy type. she loves having something that's really effective against the dragon types common in the other bats and leverages it. i feel like she probs relied on it a lot during her robin era to make up where she struggled with sheer power. it's a psychic that get along with tim's yamask quite well.
can def see steph with a rillaboom to contend with the power issue. it's her starter i think and she found it as a grookey that her dad had captured. she probably stole it away and they've been close ever since. rillaboom can be quite serious and it enjoys showcasing its power with wrestling displays
i can so see cass having a weavile. she bonded with it before she killed anyone as a kid and her dad obvs encouraged it. weavile has an impulse for acting before thinking like cass so they just indulge each others worst impulses. it hates jason as all who treat the no killing rule as sacred do. weavile the most because it was with cass the whole time and know how much it means to her.
i also see cass with a togekiss and the idea of again calming down civilians it's an extension of her personality away from batgirl.
that's kinda it for now but who knows maybe i'll elaborate on all the batfam
#dick grayson#dc#don't think i'll tag the rest as it really isn't elaborate for them#pokemon#dc x pokemon#pokemon au#nightwing
18 notes
·
View notes
Note
Hi, big fan of your fics. I've just found your Tumblr and binged everything Icemav-related. When reading about Icemav's political beliefs, I've gotten curious. Does Bradley share the same political beliefs as Ice (and Mav)? Does being raised by them or them pulling his papers influence how he votes? Or there are other factors in the play (e.g. generations, social media)? How about Jake and the other Daggers? How does this young generation of the Navy perceive politics (elections, gender, etc.)? My apologies for bombarding you with questions. But as a non-American, American politics have always been something we must pay attention to. I've seen many interesting interpretations on Tumblr but it feels more or less wistful than realistic, but I might be wrong (again not an American) so I would love to see your perspective on this. Thank you.
a good politics roundup post before i leave this blog
icemav & their conservatism: here, here, here
ice’s NECESSARY conservatism as commander of the pacific fleet (i.e. officers who are most likely to get promoted to the highest ranks do NOT break the service line when it comes to domestic politics, so by necessity ice would’ve had to keep his mouth shut, he Cannot be both a four-star and a revolutionary, like he just can’t; and being a revolutionary is otherwise antithetical to his character anyway): here, here.
and the original “ice & mav politics post” which is being updated here: here
I’ve gone back and forth on everyones politics over the last year of me being involved with these characters, but let me just tell you where I’ve ended up headcanoning them politically, if ur interested
ice: reagan democrat. “educated moderate” who was more right-leaning pre-9/11. now just a regular ol liberal (did you SEE those gay little round glasses in tgm? no way this guy isn’t a straight-up lib) with absolutely no strong feelings about most domestic politics besides “fascism bad”. Has some foreign policy opinions that areeeee questionable at best, like all members of the military elite (hangman voice: DO NOT ASK ICEMAN ABOUT CHINA. WORST MISTAKE OF MY LIFE). foreign policy neoliberal favoring the dovish side of the spectrum. A force conservator (“let’s save our military assets [read: my boyfriend maverick 🥺] for when we really need them, not for any old conflict. the deterring specter of the American war machine should outweigh the risk of underperforming”). He’s in favor of marriage equality of course, but treats it like a privilege and not a right. would be sad/upset if it got repealed but wouldn’t necessarily fight for it. “well at least my marriage will always be legal in california so i just won’t leave, problem solved.” Normie median Biden voter.
mav: political wildcard tbh. original 1986 mav is DEFINITELY right-leaning (i think i’ve written elsewhere, “he fully believes bill clinton is an affront to god”). i get young republican vibes from him. Full on patriotic (but dispassionate) 1980s reaganite anti-commie neoconservative. but after the 2010s i am very confused tbh. Tom cruise’s political aura is an insanely confusing one. idk. No matter what, Mav has some Hot Takes that a.) can immediately be shot down by ice using Facts and Logic at any time and b.) are not strictly partisan. He’s registered democrat just to support marriage equality (his marriage is his top priority but he doesn’t care about Other gays’ marriages, only his own), doesn’t care about any of the party’s other lines. Votes however ice tells him to. I get real “kind clueless libertarian” vibes from 2022 maverick tbh. Especially with the “isolating himself in a hangar in the middle of the mojave desert.” that has a political connotation to it for sure. bro just does whatever he wants out there
also, ice & mav live in San Diego, which… while in blue/democrat leaning California…is famously a bastion of right-wingers & has a hitler particle level off the charts… (sorry its not my favorite place in the world). That’s why they’re both continually so disgusted by San Francisco (a metonym for effete liberal homosexuality). Theyre from San Diego, hatred of SF & liberal SF politics is kinda par for the course down there.
Bradley: as u will see in the extras i definitely hc Bradley as an activist, but because he’s… in the navy and also like in his 30s… It’s not college campus activism, it’s just “things all of us in the left wing can agree upon” activism. so, like, BLM or pride, etc. He’s an “in this house we believe” yard sign liberal. He is 38 years old. hes a solid millennial so not politically hip with the kids (me)
Bradley & ice/mav disagree on the VISIBILITY of politics. Ice & mav, who did live through the vietnam era draft/near-dissolution of American society in the 60s and 70s, are not in favor of possibly losing their job/honor they have fought and killed for, for the sake of a political statement. And they believe their relationship IS a political statement, whereas Bradley would rather encourage them to treat their relationship like, I don’t know, a relationship that has a right to exist independent of politics!
Jake and the other daggers: idk. i don’t really give a shit about the daggers sorry. They r blank slates 2 me. jake especially is canonically frat-boy sexist in a way that gives me the heebs, much like original 1986 maverick and ice. But the navy tends to be the most left-wing (or thought of as left wing in common thought) service of the military, if that helps. But it is also the most traditional service of the military, and by traditional I mean BRITISH!!!! 🇬🇧💂there’s so much pomp and circumstance and hoity-toitiness that comes from the navy’s origins in the Royal Navy. A lot of sticking to outdated tradition in the very fabric of the navy itself, while the navy’s enlisted demographics shift younger and more left-wing/“revolutionary…” some interesting conflicts there. Like that one sailor who got blasted by multiple congressmen on social media for (with permission!) reading a poem about their queer identity on the USS Gerald ford’s intercom a few months back, if I remember correctly. Hoo boy the Takes that day were wild. Younger Americans tend to be more liberal but YMMV with officers, who are by nature trying to uphold outdated traditions of the navy for the sake of keeping the navy a unified service
i am of course writing carole as a christian republican who has gay friends and a gay kid not by choice but by the Grace of God
#i realize some terminology in this post is so hyperamericanspecific that you may need to Google it#like the in this house we believe yard sign#it’s… like… i can’t even describe it. it’s a kind of well meaning liberal who can sometimes be a little cringe.#and Reagan democrats (which ice is) are a whole political subgroup in and of themselves#maybe not Reagan democrat but like conservadem? but no that’s different too#blue dog democrat? but not sure he’s that conservative#THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY HAS BECOME SUCH A BIG TENT POST TRUMP THERE ARE 50.000 TYPES OF DEMOCRAT YOU CAN BE#san francisco as a metonym for effete liberal homosexuality of course (it’s where im from 😎😎)#it’s a ten hour drive from SF to San diego like they might as well be different countries. san diego secede from the US when 🙏🏽#pete maverick mitchell#tom iceman kazansky#top gun#icemav#top gun maverick#jake hangman seresin#bradley rooster bradshaw#normie median biden voter ice#the navy is liberalizing but veeeeery slowly#most of the conservative pressure ive seen towards the navy is external! policymakers & budget drafters etc#the navy is very liberal BUT that makes it a laughingstock among conservatives!#so a desire from higher-ups to push the Navy more conservative to be taken seriously…is kinda understandable#when being taken seriously means more ships more capability more money etc#instead of GOP culture-war-pilled pennypinchers going ‘hey why are we givin the gay service so much money’#take this post with a grain of salt. i have never been old enough to vote in a federal election.
74 notes
·
View notes
Text
@piratedllama I can but you’re not going to like it!
Void’s guide to getting a job in conservation
My story
My educational credentials: BAs in philosophy and creative writing from a big cheap state school, and a PhD in English literature with a specialization in environmental humanities from a small private R1. Couple years as an adjunct professor.
I trained my entire life to be a literature professor. It’s all I ever wanted. By the time I was finishing my doctorate, I had a very limiting belief that I was either over- or underqualified for any job outside academia. I was wrong.
By the time I made the decision to leave academia, I had published 2.5 peer reviewed academic articles and several magazine pieces. I also had about 5ish years of part-time communications consulting under my belt from helping run the writing center at my institution. I got a part-time social media/SEO management gig, and then used a grant to fund a comms internship at a local environmental nonprofit. Then I straight up just applied to jobs at conservation orgs on LinkedIn at a rate or 5 per week for about 6 months. I was looking for jobs in communications and education. Landed a couple interviews then got a position as a comms manager. My islander heritage ended up being relevant too bc I have a cultural insight into the regions where the org works. I’ve worked here for about a year, mostly wfh desk stuff, but I like to tag along to projects so I can take pics/do interviews/help with fieldwork/coordinate community meetings & info sessions. I still have a publishing career on the side, with 2 new articles out and a book manuscript in the works.
I do not recommend doing it this way lol.
What I would do instead
Conservation orgs have room for people with all kinds of backgrounds and expertise. If your goal is to have a job similar to mine, get lots of writing and science communication experience. Be able to show that you’ve built impactful campaigns and learn your way around SEO and communications terminology. Start with internships/social media, try and get some experience working with journalists, and have a nice portfolio of campaigns (easy way to start is an awareness campaign for a particular policy or science issue). Other creative experience is a plus (photography/graphic design/web design/UI).
Fieldwork is not that hard to get into. You can get field experience as an undergrad by working in research labs or volunteering. From there, lots of conservation orgs in your area are probably looking for volunteers or part-time workers to do field monitoring. TBH you don’t really need a degree to get into fieldwork, but the ceiling is kind of low without one. With a BS you can work your way up through an org probably to a manager level position where you could lead a field team but not direct a program. Generally, without a MS or PhD, you won’t be designing programs—just carrying them out, which can be really rewarding. You can also make lateral moves towards things like project management—coordinating supplies, transportation, methods, and problem-solving stuff.
Other ways to get into the field: orgs often contract out conservation tech companies to carry out specialized operations, like aerial monitoring and bait distribution. Getting a license for like a heavy-lift drone, an ROV, or boat stuff can also get you in the thick of it.
If you want to design and direct conservation programs, unfortunately you probably need to go to grad school. I can write up a separate post about how to decide whether to pursue an advanced degree if people are interested, but my general advice is Never Enroll In A Masters Program. Either do it as a 4+1 with your undergrad or go straight for the PhD. That’s where you’ll get experience designing your own experiments and contributing to the sum of conservation knowledge.
Extremely important caveat
You do not have to do any of these things in any particular order. It’s totally cool to work in the field for a couple years before going back for the PhD. You also do not need to link your education to your job (god knows I didn’t). My side hobbies of wildlife photography and scuba diving made me a great candidate for the job I eventually got, and they didn’t have anything to do with my degree or original career path. There’s also a million other jobs that conservation orgs have that don’t involve having a science background at all—HR, finance, admin, philanthropy, consulting, & policy analysis are huge parts of this. So are other jobs that aren’t *within* conservation at all, like journalism & social organizing.
A lot of folks I meet out here in the conservation world are on their third or fourth careers. It’s very, very normal to switch it up, try many things, land somewhere, leave, and pick up somewhere else.
All this to say: the world is really, really big. Don’t feel pressured to take the shortest most linear possible path. There are a million ways to have a good life.
18 notes
·
View notes
Note
I was shocked to know that the mom of one of my brother’s friend is terrified she might be lesbian, all because she hangs out mainly with boys, they’re 10-11!!!! (my brother and I have a +10years age gap). She’s told another mom, my mom and their teacher, of how scared she is that her daughter might be gay, she’s taking her to therapy (let’s hope it’s an ethic non-biased professional), but this has been going for like a year and she just won’t drop it, she just adds more things why she’s worried, that she likes soccer and basketball, video games… and she says things like “she’s my only daughter, I don’t want her to be butch”.
Tbh I think the girl needs more love and attention, she’s much more open with the other mom and my mom, she hugs them and has talked with them about grades and stuff, before she tells her mother because she’s afraid of her reaction.
The other mom, my mom and I were shocked that a youngish mother would still think like that!! Both my mom and the other mom are in their 50s and I’m in my mid 20s, I think the mom is closer to my age than to their age. I can’t believe there’s still people that won’t accept their children for how they are, and she doesn’t even know if her daughter is truly gay, she’s just assuming because of the things she likes 💔
There is this pervasive idea (related to the "theory of progress" in history, which is equally false) that the younger generations are always more progressive, more tolerant, more open-minded, and generally "better" than the older ones. Which can sometimes be true, but not at all in every case, and not nearly as much as common wisdom would hold. That's why we're getting worrying polls about Gen Z boys and men being more likely to view feminism as "toxic" than baby boomers, that ever-increasing percentages of young people either don't know about the Holocaust or doubt that it happened, and other troubling statistics that show the result of years of propaganda, social media disinformation, fake news, big-time misogynist manfluencers like Andrew Tate, leftist antisemitism, and all the rest. So.... yeah. It makes for grim reading.
This is why, as noted, the idea of history and human belief only moving in one direction (from "less progressive" to "more progressive") is flatly false, as we've seen over the last decade in particular. Human beliefs are malleable, can (and often do) go backward as well as forward, are dependent on social context, and will by no means get better just because chronology has gone forward. So yes, a young mom could absolutely have deeply stereotyped and harmful gender/LGBTQ+ views, especially thanks to the social media culture that glorifies "tradwifing" and "cottagecore" and all these other concepts that represent patriarchal gender roles with a dash of Instagram Aesthetic and "free thinking" (which somehow always ends up as "don't trust modern medicine and don't vaccinate your children!") That stuff is absolutely RIFE, and plenty of supposedly more-liberal younger moms and women are eating it up. Obviously, worrying that your daughter "might be butch and/or non-girly" because she likes sports and video games is dangerous nonsense for any number of reasons, but it shows how this been almost as effective (if not more so) than plain blunt misogyny at encouraging women to embrace regressive mindsets and decide that no actually, feminism is bad. Welp.
Anyway, I feel bad for the kid. I hope your mom and the other mom, and any other actually supportive female mother figures, are able to give her positive affirmation, regardless of what her identity is or ends up being, because it sounds like her mom is going to do a number on her. Hoo boy.
39 notes
·
View notes
Text
Yeah, so... Just to clarify a specific TotK-related thing I haven't been super transparent about, or not enough perhaps? I'm not accusing Nintendo of being this machiavellian entity with TotK's storytelling. I mean, it's not impossible that some narrative limitations were put in place to avoid rocking the boat too hard (and some people actually are conservative and have conservative beliefs that they champion in the work they make/fund, it's A Thing too also that we tend to ignore or wave off because Surely nobody would actually think like that, buuut sometimes people do think like that also and it's really unfortunate but people do be conservative the same way people do be gay and try to inject gay stories in corporate settings that try to maximize profit and audience reach, conservatives also do that it turns out!!! not saying it's what happened because I have no idea but I'd hardly say it's impossible), but: I think the final result and what I criticize about it happened mostly because of carelessness and/or lack of power from the narrative department to make their case (I didn't even see a "Writer" or any mention of a narrative department in the credits btw, so I don't know what's up with that), and not from active malice.
I am a consultant, it's kind of my job to work with game companies to mesh gameplay and narrative together, and honestly an enormous portion of my job is to just... point out that some tropes and some "evident" writing shortcuts have Implications, or might end up saying the opposite of what the game wanted to say (not my favorite part of the job, let me tell you this). The game industry is really super fucking bad with themes and media literacy in general to be really honest with you, so sometimes this conversation goes over super well and lead to very interesting places where we get to define a clearer narrative purpose to collectively push, and sometimes people get incredibly defensive and reject all and any criticism before slamming the door on your fingers. It's a known thing in the industry (and everywhere tbh, like trying to get a guy who is "such a feminist" to admit that he's systematically torturing his female characters to give them character growth is uhhhh very veryvery fun as you can imagine)
So while I'm not blaming Nintendo for twirling their copyrighted Italian Mustache while secretely trying to inject imperialist propaganda in their good fun game, I do blame them for not spotting their biases during a 6 year development cycle and for not making their narrative ambitions a bigger priority given the subject matter, and I do side-eye them for addressing said biases in ways that reinforce the core issue, which is to create a fictional conflict that refuse to self-examine and will sabotage its emotional beats, its writing and its character arcs to preserve, at almost all costs, an extremely flat worldview that also happens to parallel really unfortunate real life propaganda stories in its imagery, themes and tone (and this is a criticism I only have for TotK, and not towards the entire Zelda canon which has historically been much, *much* better than this, even in entries that were pretty close plot-wise).
#thoughts#totk#totk spoilers#totk critical#nintendo critical#when will my brain return from the imprisoning war....#(it's getting better but I am starting to see some stuff getting mischaracterized when it comes to the Imperialist Argument)#(and I kind of want to make my position a little clearer in case it wasn't)
58 notes
·
View notes
Note
I thought about your question...how could people hate the Xiao Long Rose Sisters? I think its not what Ruby and Yang are doing...its what they're not doing. They're not in conflict with each other. Sasuke and Itachi from Naruto Ben and Gwen from Ben 10 Examples of not getting along. Then there are rivalries Luffy and Ace from One Piece Then there are cases where its nothing but one sibling protecting the other and that's it. But Ruby and Yang treat each other as equals, are supportive of each other, and care for each other. They also make up after fights. So, this positive sibling energy and relationship? I don't think people are used to it. Or? I don't think people like that positive energy. I've seen too many fanfics where people are opposed to that. And people like to have this belief that siblings are supposed to hate each other, a stereotype perpetuated by media. RWBY doesn't do that stereotype.
Not to mention, when has there been a positive half-sibling relationship in media? Other than say, RWBY? Normally, those cases are conflicts as well! What are your thoughts on this?
i'll admit, while i meant it as a rhetorical question, you raise good points. a lot of people see characters with happy relationships, and/or a positive outlook, and get jealous cause they don't have that in their lives. and that's not judgement because i have and am there myself with several characters + character dynamics. combine that like you said, with the stereotypes esp around half siblings, and humans being on the more reluctant side when it comes to change/something new and yeah. there's also the thing of when a character or relationship is set up to be mainly one thing, that's what people generally expect, so when it isn't that one thing, it's a surprise and it feels like a betrayal. tbh i supposedly have a half sibling myself, and when i learned about it, it does and still feels unreal partially because half siblings are like, that thing in soap operas and dramas exclusively around which there is a lot of AngstTM and beef between the siblings in question. In a similar vein, i feel like i'm really rolling in the metaphorical gold a bunch with rwby because i love the variety of platonic and familial relationships in the show, esp because of the "unconvential" relationships. like team rwby, team jnpr, and many teams in general are canonically platonically the world to each other, but they clearly don't and feel no need to clearly label and define their relationship to each other. and qrow, taiyang, ruby and yang!!!!! I love love so much that qrow and taiyang raised ruby and yang together, without the need of something like "qrow was in love with summer/tai" "raven made qrow promise to look after yang" etc, or the need to have qrow start being called dad in canon. i could also get into how much i love yang's relationship with summer & raven, the fact that she calls them *both* their mom, because *she* gets to define her relationship to them, no one else, and in general yang's complicated relationship with raven, but that's a whole another post. there's also the schneeblings obv, which is more on topic, but there's so much to say about them and unfortunately i need to be getting to sleep soon, homophobically enough and my bad, this turned into just me gushing about platonic and familial relationships, but alas, i am but a stereotypical aroace that way
#my bad on answering this so late#school got me busy and i didn't notice this#whoops#rwby#asks#iamafanofcartoons#thanks for the ask btw!!
29 notes
·
View notes
Text
𝓟𝓮𝓷𝓹𝓪𝓵(𝓼) 𝓦𝓪𝓷𝓽𝓮𝓭
Seeking soft like-minded penpal!
Hoping to find someone with overlapping tastes and interests with interested and passionate in writing and exchanging letters~
︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵
Howdy! My name is Quinn (Doll, Jinx, Ghost, etc~) I’m in the US and I’m looking for a penpal! I’m hoping to find someone with similar tastes and interests to me so we can talk about all sorts of wonderful things together! I’m AuDHD, have some other things on the side, and a chronic pain condition that keeps me from working a “normal” 9-5 job so I freelance and do graphic design/illustrator work which usually ends up being commission work for people!! I’m passionate about art and have a wide plethora of interests that I would like my penpal to match up with to some degree!
ABOUT ME Born in the US. English speaking. I was born in Texas before relocating a bit north. I’ve been penpalling semi-regularly since 2013 and really enjoy what I do. I sometimes will record the process of preparing a letter to post to my very small tiny youtube channel and use it as a way to preserve the letters i send out? I do a lot of decorating so it’s a way to preserve these pieces of “interactive art” that I send to people~ I’m a student currently in school for graphic design and someday I’d like to become a tattoo artist but I don’t know if I will ever be able to accomplish that goal because of my joint pain. I’m hoping that if someone answers this they’re wanting the same things I am? I’m pretty prompt with snail mail replies and would love a semi-regular exchange or updates if you expect for letters to get sent out slower?
Hobbies Sewing - crafting - journaling - writing (rp and fanfic, but some original things on the side!) - embroidery - art!! I use a lot of different mediums from watercolor to oil pastels!! Someday I hope to get into model making or miniature making à la “Studson Studios”!!! - Collecting (teacups, stamps, stickers, stationery, postcards~) - reading! - character/oc design~
Interests & Passions This is going to be a longer section, sorry in advance!! A lot of my interests rattle around in my head and because of the autism I cling to these things feverishly. They all overlap and I talk about them obsessively, tbh? So if these things and vibes aren’t something you enjoy please just skip over this~ “Cozy” Gaming ♡ Genshin Impact (wanderer main, thats my pookie) ♡ BG3 ♡ Anime (specifically magical girls and romance! I love a select few shonen anime such as Naruto!) Big favs include Naruto, Death Note, TBHK, Horimiya, and Orange just to name a few ♡ JFASHION!; I *love* Gyaru and EGL specifically and also enjoy mori kei quite a bit! But I love fashion in general and am always eager to talk about style and clothing (especially on a budget!!!) ♡ MUSIC!!! I’m very particular about my music tastes. I listen to a lot of jrock/jpop, rock, metal, nu metal, post hardcore, EDM, house, trance, and techno! I also love a lot of music that was very popular circa 2010s youtube~ ♡ Vocaloids!! ♡ BDSM/Kink lifestyles~ ♡ Dolls! Specifically BJDs, though ♡ Ballet ♡ Renaissance and baroque art ♡ Dungeons and Dragons and TTRPGs in general ♡ Tea ♡ Bridgerton ♡ Period Peace romances~ ♡ Romance in general ♡ Fairies ♡ angels ♡ new age beliefs and practices ♡ journaling ♡ therian/otherkin identities ♡ ghosts/spirits/paranormal/occult things ♡ vegetarianism/veganism ♡ photography
If I had to sum myself up in a few words I suppose I’d say something like… “Dusty regal doll left on a shelf or in a glass box, haunted by an ancient spirit of questionable origins.” Or something along those lines. Sounds a bit cheesy but again, these things are important to me!!
︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵
Style Preferences I tend to send wildly different letters. I specialize in “themed” letters, though. I love to decorate pertaining to certain things- Seasons, media that I and my penpal like, or even focusing on specific colors and color palettes. If everything before this sounds good, and you do end up reaching out? Please let me know what kind of letters you like the most! What are your favorite styles? You can probably get an idea of my tastes from my blog so I’ll spare the ramble.
IDEAL PENPAL Above 20 years old Long term! Snail mail *and* email penpals welcome!! Though I do prefer snail mail~ LGBTQIA+ friendly. Someone inclusive who is also maybe a part of the community. Any gender, identity, etc welcome. Someone open for heavier conversations who are looking to form a genuine friendship?
︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵
So! If any of this sounds good to you/is interesting? Or if you have questions, comments or concerns, feel free to DM here? Or you can reach me at,,,
Starchyu@gmail.com
#dnd#ttrpg#genshin impact#penpal wanted#snail mail#email penpal#bg3#gaming#cozy gaming#grandmacore#princesscore#bjdcore#autism#audhd#LGBTQIA+#anime#naruto#death note#romance anime#romance#new age#pagan#paranormal#therian#otherkin#magical girl#mahou shoujo
11 notes
·
View notes
Text
i just finished the last season of sex education and i have some thoughts:
first of all, i really do love what the show did. they brought sexuality, queerness, disability, mental health, and other "taboo" topics to light. it wasn't perfect, and i think they took on a lot of new arcs that were a little unresolved this last season. but overall, a solid show that i will probably re-watch in the future.
i'll list out the specifics of what i liked and disliked below, so spoiler warning! (also tw for anything mentioned in the show)
---LIKED---
ADAM
i was surprised that my favorite interaction was between adam and his father (michael).
i liked how the show handled adam's character development. we are introduced to him in season 1 as a bully. but wait, it's because he is emotionally repressed and has internalized homophobia. this is not an excuse, but an explanation. he is still accountable for the pain he caused (namely, to eric).
and being with eric helps him a lot, but they were not compatible. i really liked how they showed that dynamic. like, some people are so pivotal in your life, but they are not meant to be in it in the same capacity forever (or at all).
i also love how adam is able to admit he's bisexual to the horse girl and she's so normal about it.
MICHAEL
i am very happy they kept michael in the show even though i probably would have been fine if he never returned after the first/second season. but that's not life. people who hurt you stay in your life. and they either turn a blind eye to the pain they caused or try to make amends and change.
seeing michael come to terms with his part to play in his separation with maureen and his lack of connection with his son was peak. a father figure learning how to feel his emotions in a healthy way and take responsibility for how his behavior has hurt others? what a groundbreakingly average thing to show.
his redemption arc is clumsy. he makes adam feel uncomfortable by saying sorry and by voicing his emotions. but he is trying to break out of the cycle of emotional repression. yes, it's too late. damage has been done. but that doesn't mean you don't still work on changing yourself to stop further damage.
in general on this show, i like how character's backgrounds are shown so we understand why they act the way they do. but those are not excuses. those characters must come to terms with what they've done and put in effort to mend relationships.
(also, i cried during this scene ^)
idk like this father-son depiction was so helpful for me to see. seeing a parent take accountability was huge. i really haven't seen many depictions like this in media.
but i hope to see more.
ERIC
love love love this character! he's the flamboyant, confident gay some part of me wishes to be.
i was surprised to like his character arc this season too, even though it involved religion. tbh, when the religious scenes with him would pop up, i'd sort of ignore them and want to get back to the other stuff. but i am actually happy with what they were trying to show with him here.
i loved how they showed eric's conflict. his queerness is at odds with his spirituality. okay, what's new? well, he also wants to stay within the church because he does truly believe in its teachings. plus, his cultural identity is tied to his church, and he doesn't want to give that up.
so again, we as viewers do not get the easy way out (to just leave). we must stick it out and wade our way through the messiness of it all with eric.
i have a personal connection to this character's story as i am queer (more proudly and confidently now) and grew up catholic. i love how the show showed the pastor and other people in the church turning a blind eye to eric's queerness (at first), expecting him to hide it while citing "beliefs" as to why when it's clear jesus (if he was ever a real person) would have never done that.
i do not believe in god anymore. so i thought i'd not relate to anything more of eric's arc after it was clear he wanted to stay religious. but i think they did a great job showing how queerness and religion are not mutually exclusive for people who want/believe in that.
i love how eric stayed true to himself. he is proudly queer AND christian. and i found myself respecting that, even though i, of course, do not fully understand it.
also the moment when his mom stands up and says "i love you as you are, my son" after he comes out to the whole church was peak. a mother who is proud of their queer child? again, groundbreakingly average.
another quote i loved from eric: "i love myself too much to not tell my truth." this is now my mantra.
also, i was surprised i didn't find the whole "seeing god" thing super cheesy.
but it was kinda healing for me, as if i got some closure from my time being queer and catholic.
i remember reading a catholic book in high school that said people who had "homosexual tendencies" were just called by god to be stronger and resist those feelings, as if we are soldiers in a war. as the good little catholic girl i was back then, i obeyed.
so seeing this "god" say "i made you this bright so that others would see in the darkness" was really huge for me.
ERIC & OTIS
i always loved their dynamic. a straight man being able to show affection for his gay best friend (and even dress up in drag together)? groundbreakingly average.
i really liked how they showed their dynamic change, too. otis is eric's best friend but that doesn't mean he's going to understand everything about him. eric needs more friends than just otis. he needs queer friends, black friends, religious friends.
i loved seeing eric come to terms with this. he needs more! he feels guilty! he feels annoyed that otis doesn't listen to him! he tries talking about it with otis but otis shuts him down again and again.
but as this show likes to do, they find a way to work things out. otis is able to look inside himself and realize they don't relate to each other about things that are important to each. and that's okay. they talk. they communicate. they apologize. hurt is acknowledged and repair is happening.
they can still be really good friends, even best friends, even though they are really different than when they started.
i'm so glad a show called "sex education" knew to put a big focus on the importance of deep friendship.
---DISLIKED---
VIV
i really like this character! she is focused on her goals and straight to the point. no bullshit. (and maybe autistic-coded??) i'm glad we still have her in season 4. plus, her and jackson's friendship is still going strong (again, love me some friendship rep).
BUT i do not think they did a ~great~ job with her arc. it was too rushed. they had some great things to say, but little time to properly execute it.
i think the show did a good job showing beau's love bombing and how viv didn't mean to get caught up in the vicious cycle of emotional coercion and abuse (as it is never the victim's fault).
and i really like what aimee had to say to viv about love: "love should make you feel braver... it shouldn't be confusing and it shouldn't be scary."
i also love that viv stands up for herself by saying: "i don't wanna hear from you. i don't know what made you like this, and it's probably something really sad, and i hope you seek some therapy, but if you keep trying to contact me, i will report you."
it's such an emotionally mature response. she acknowledges that there is probably a misguided or potentially traumatic reason beau acts they way he does. but that does not excuse the harm he caused. and she makes it clear there is no avenue for repair in this relationship, so he must do the work of healing (if he so chooses) on his own. she will not allow him access to her.
but idk this whole arc seemed rushed and almost just thrown into the season. like trauma for trauma's sake.
and don't get me wrong, i am glad this was portrayed. it helped me and i imagine many other people in similar situations. but i hope to see a depiction of this more fully fleshed out in media in the future.
CAL
i have similar sentiments for cal's (and jackson's) arcs.
showing how trans dysphoria affects mental health and how medical transition is life-saving is super important !! it's not talked about or shown in media enough !!
but omg this sensitive topic was so rushed. and what was the conclusion? did cal get top surgery? did they finally get to experience gender euphoria? did they go to therapy to help them with their suicidal thoughts? we don't know.
JACKSON
i feel like they really should have kept him as a supporting character this season. he really didn't need his own storyline.
he already had a big arc when he self-harmed to get out of swimming. that was really important to see.
but this whole thing with his dad not wanting him seemed so rushed.i feel like there was something there. some message. but it totally fell flat for me. it was confusing and underdeveloped.
i really like his character so it was a little disappointing to see how he was written this season.
---HONORABLE MENTIONS---
AIMEE
i've enjoyed her character throughout the seasons. she's light-hearted, goofy, and a solid friend to maeve.
showing how she has been processing her sexual assault was liberating. i liked how the writers show her process of accepting it, naming it, and finding her power again. she learns how to continue living and loving with, and not despite, it.
ISAAC
i'm glad the show included a visibly disabled character that didn't seem like pandering (since he wasn't just added in last minute).
he's rough and abrasive sometimes. he's a lil bit of an asshole. but he's kind and has a big heart.
i have a soft spot for purposely written annoying disabled/sick characters. yes, you are allowed to not like a disabled/sick person because of their personality. please do. please just treat them like a human (cause god knows you don't like every single human on earth).
JOANNA
even though her character arc could be categorized as one that was rushed and unresolved, i think she brought a little more insight into jean's character which evened things out (for me).
i like how they show her denial of her childhood trauma. like, it's okay to not want to confront it. it makes sense. and if she never wants to, jean will still love her and help her (to a certain extent). but joanna might be able to be happier if she addresses it.
this quote was amazing: "i'm scared that if i stop moving, and start properly talking about what happened, then it might all catch up on me, and i won't be able to pretend that i'm okay anymore."
MAEVE
kinda weird for her to be so low on this list because she's one of the main characters, but idk i think that's okay. she needed to break free from moordale. she gives herself permission to do so once her mom dies and jean steps in to say the thing she needed her mom to say to her. she needs to go back to america to finish her studies, believe in herself, and see how great of a person she is. and that's hers to do, not ours to see.
the only disappointment i have with maeve just not seeing more of her being happy/content on screen. (i know i literally said that could have been the point, but idk it still would have been nice). she has a big heart, is so resilient and smart, and goes through a lot of heartbreak and loss. she deserves happiness!
THE NEWBIES: THE COVEN & O
super psyched we had some trans, disabled, ENM, and ace rep... but it did feel a little pandering ngl
i think what i liked most about these new characters was seeing the different reasons behind abbi's and o's need for control.
like yay! we're showing that queers are unlikable for their personalities (and not for their sexual orientation)! genuinely so happy to see that (for the same reason i like seeing unlikable disabled characters)!
OTIS
oh otis. he was definitely on the backburner this season. and i was fine with that. it seemed natural? idk. i don't really have much to say about him, even though he is the main character lol.
---CONCLUSION---
and there you have it! my take on the last season of sex education. like i said, i think this show did a great job talking about topics that our society deems "taboo." it gave a platform to many different topics, identities, and experiences. it portrayed sensitive topics tactfully and injected humor at the right moments. it wasn't perfect, but what show truly ever is.
if you have anything to add to my review, feel free to comment. just please be nice! these are just my opinions. and i wrote this for fun! thanks!
#sex education#sex education season 4#sex education meta#adam groff#adam#michael groff#headmaster groff#adam and michael groff#michael and adam groff#sex education adam#sex education michael#eric effiong#sex education eric#otis milburn#sex education otis#otis and eric#eric and otis#viv odusanya#sex education viv#cal bowman#sex education cal#jackson marchetti#sex education jackson#aimee gibbs#sex education aimee#isaac goodwin#sex education isaac#joanna franklin#sex education joanna#maeve wiley
20 notes
·
View notes
Note
LOVE your new Sonic AU piece. If you dont mind my asking whatsss the dynamic between Blaze and your OC I presume?? Gorgeous art btw keep it up uwu
Ahh tysm anon!! Tbh I've been hoping someone would ask! And yes, that OC is Vendetta! :)
In Sol Dimension Expanded, Vendetta is the Shadow rival-type character to Blaze.
HUGE Loredump incoming lol
Their dynamic is... complex, but their rivalry is fundamentally driven by veeery different worldviews on how the Sol Empire (slash their world in general) should be run.
Blaze was raised by the empire, for the empire - it's a matriarchy that's only ever been run by her family. It's the only system she's ever known. Sure, Blaze is a kind and fair leader... but at the end of the day, it's an empire. I don't want to get TOO into spoilers but basically, even as the empire's ruler, Blaze doesn't know everything. History books are written by those with the power to do so, after all. She doesn't know the extent of what her ancestors did to form the empire, or the conditions for some of her people... and she especially doesn't know about what some of the koalas do behind the scenes.
Vendetta's not royalty - hell, she probably doesn't even have a birth certificate. Locked under Blaze's own castle in cryostasis after an entire prequel's worth of events, Vendetta doesn't even know who Blaze is at first. However, she has no belief in the Empire. She is of the opinion that Blaze can't rule well enough, no matter how hard she tries. Blaze's ignorance of certain things the common people see much more clearly is the exact reason the Empire deserves to be torn apart from the inside out. This sentiment isn't helped by Vendetta's knowledge of what exactly was going on under the castle all those years ago.
But Vendetta also knows that Blaze stepping down would only cause chaos, and destroy the lives of her people. So, they're left at an impasse - their relationship tends to be rocky, but not so full of hatred to the point where they can't work together. And in a way, they're good for each other, always keeping the other in check.
Obviously, they're the Sol Dimension's Sonic and Shadow, so it's fairly easy to make the comparison. But I wanted to add more of an in-depth explanation to this because I think Blaze's role opens up a lot of interesting possibilities for rival dynamics that haven't been explored in actual Sonic media :)
#sonic#sonic au#sonic au infodump#answering asks#sonic fandom#sde au#sol dimension expanded#sol dimension#sde#blaze the cat#vendetta the vandal
2 notes
·
View notes
Note
Hello Eden (is it okay to call you that?)
Do you have any current favourite songs? What kind of music do you generally listen to?
And do you have any favourite books? What kind of books do you like to read?
If you are okay with sharing, no pressure.
Sending you love and strength ❤️
Ah!!! Thanks for this ask @sunnenfinster! What a lovely change of pace.
Eden is fine!!!!!
Ok, so I love music and books!
Of all broad genres of entertainment media, music is probably what I follow least closely. It’s not that I don’t like it; I just am always behind the curve in my tastes. I love listening to most confessional singer/songwriters. I love folk, rock, pop, and rap. I also get a lot of music I like from the background of media like TV, Movies, and podcasts. In general, I love confessional singer-songwriters from any genre.
Fave singers (and the albums I’d recommend from them: songs I’d recommend from that album [notes]):
Jem (Finally Woken: Come on Closer, Falling for You, Just a Ride). All songs on this album rock, to me.
Sheryl Crow (Sheryl Crow: A Change Would Do You Good, [about choosing love over anger and stopping gun violence], Redemption Day [about the Bosnian war], Maybe Angels [could be about aliens or being in a cult idk but it’s a good song about misplaced belief] I love every song on this album tbh. Wall-to-wall bangers.
Missy Elliot (Under Construction: Gossip Folks, Work it)
Suzanne Vega (99.9 F: 99.9 F, Blood Makes Noise, Rock in the Pocket, When Heroes Go Down)
Artists and songs I like in general: Aimee Mann (her voice is like butter and I could listen to her sing forever); Eliza Rickman: Pretty Little Head; Sims: Icarus; Dessa: Call Off Your Ghost; Sifu Hotman: Matches (I know no other songs by this artist but I LOVE this one so much. I’m gonna go listen to it right now); Lorde: Yellow Flicker Beat; Björk: Human Behavior; G Flip: Hyperfine, Gay 4 Me, Killing My Time; Aimee Mann: That’s Just What You Are [I love Aimee’s voice and could listen to her sing the phone book. All songs off her Magnolia Album are amazing too]
And gosh. So many more…
As for books!!!! OMG! I love books so much. I love so many different kinds of books. Some fave genres include: Classic Lit, Magical Realism, Sci-fi/Fantasy/Speculative Fiction; Engaging YA Series, Historical Fiction; Culinary History and Analysis; and Mythological Retellings
Classic Lit Faves:
“To The Lighthouse” by Virginia Woolf [This contains my fave quote in all of literature. This could also never be adequately adapted into a movie. It’s a fascinating look into how people think and how we all process internal thoughts. Must be comfortable with long sentences, semicolons, and allowing sentence clauses to wash over you like ocean waves in order to enjoy this book]
“Cider with Rosie” by Laurie Lee
“All Quiet on the Western Front” by Erich Maria Remarque
“The Portable Dorothy Parker” by Dorothy Parker
“The Odyssey” by Homer, translated by Emily Wilson
“The Iliad” by Homer — both Emily Wilson’s Translation and Stanley Lombardo’s Translation
Magical Realism
“The House of the Spirits” by Isabelle Allende
“Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter” by Mario Vargas Llosa
“Bless Me Última” by Rudolfo Anaya
“Like Water for Chocolate” by Laura Esquivel
SFF Faves:
“An Absolutely Remarkable Thing” and “A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor” by Hank Green
“The Martian” by Andy Weir
The Tiffany Aching line of the Discworld Series by Terry Pratchett (“The Wee Free Men,” “I Shall Wear Midnight,” “A Hat Full of Sky,” and “Wintersmith”)
“The Locked Tomb” Series by Tamsyn Muir (“Gideon the Ninth,” “Harrow the Ninth,” “Nona the Ninth” so far)
Engaging YA
“The Hunger Games” Trilogy by Suzanne Collins
“Grishaverse” Series by Leigh Bardugo
“Shadow and Bone Triogy” (related to the Grishaverse) by Leigh Bardugo [note: I didn’t know until making this list that Leigh Bardugo is an Israeli Jew! Very cool]
Historical Fiction:
“Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistlestop Cafe” by Fannie Flagg [the associated cookbook is very good. Also, you’ll never eat ribs the same again]
“Tracks” by Louise Erdrich [one of the most interestingly written books I’ve ever read. Has two dueling narrators. This is part of a series of books but can be read as a standalone]
Culinary Analysis History
Bree Wilson’s books (“First Bite: How We Learn to Eat,” “Consider the Fork,” and “The Way We Eat Now,” specifically) are some of the best out there. [I didn’t realize until a couple weeks ago that Bee Wilson and the classicist translator Emily Wilson are sisters! They are both extremely smart, engaging writers.]
“Omnivore’s Dilemma” by Michael Pollan
“An Edible History of Humanity” by Tom Standage
“Food: A Cultural Culinary History” by Ken Albala (this one is a Great Courses course, so not technically a book. But it’s available most places you can get audiobooks. And it’s what got me fascinated with this subject)
Mythological Retellings
“Circe” and “The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
“The Silence of the Girls” and “The Women of Troy” by Pat Barker [TW Rape]
“Norse Mythology” by Neil Gaiman
Genre Defy-ers
(These are some of my All Time Faves that can’t really be confined to any genre)
The “Outlander” Series by Diana Gabaldon [and the related “Lord John” Series by the same author] (TW: for Rape)
“The Anthropocene Reviewed” by John Green
Just Finished Reading
“Breakfast at Tiffany’s” by Truman Capote (Wow it was so good. I haven’t seen the movie in a while but I seriously doubt they adapted it faithfully. It was so surprising!!!)
Currently Reading
“Murder on the Orient Express” by Agatha Christie
Selections From My To Be Read List
“The City of Brass” by S.A. Chakraborty
“Lessons in Chemistry” by Bonnie Garmus
“The Source” by James Michener
“The Secret of Cooking” by Bee Wilson
“Equal Rites” by Terry Pratchett
“A Time Traveler’s Guide to Medieval England” by Ian Mortimer
“What You Are Looking For Is In The Library” by Michiko Aoyama
“The Doomsday Book” by Connie Willis
I also love to read cookbooks from various cultures to gain insight into those cultures in a very tactile way.
Sending you love and gratitude! 💜💜💜💜
I’m always down to discuss books!
#about me#books#lit#book Recs#culinary history#historical fiction#YA#Classic Lit#Queer Lit#book worm#reading#reader#mythological Retellings#ask me stuff
11 notes
·
View notes
Note
So excited to know that you also love Link Click...! I watched it first before JJK (I know, still kinda new in thw fandom), so Cheng Xiaoshi/ Lu Guang are special to me. And after 2nd season with that finale, wow, for me it feels like came out of a fanfic. So when I got to know Gojo/ Geto somehow they remind me of Cheng Xiaoshi/ Lu Guang, cause both couples are doomed by the narative....
And what do you think after you finished TGCF? Have you read the novels? Just so you know, it is worth it to collect the books. Their story is that good. Also when you finished it, most likely you'll also have some non-canon fav couples (I have 4 non canon fav couples from TGCF)....And have you watch MDZS or SVSSS?
Sorry for my rambling, MXTX is one of my favorite author ever and I like to talk about their works. (And now I'm still depressed with the latest JJK update and nervous with the BNHA update)......
OMG SEASON TWO FINALE OF LINK CLICK ABSOLUTELY SLAYED ME. Lu Guang, the enigma that you are. This whole time!? What a damn reveal! Just thinking about it, tbh, I'm gagged. I like to guess at things, obviously, but just never even fathomed.
I don't know if I'd mentioned that before RE: Gojo and Geto but same. It might be on an anime recommendation draft 😅 Like, sure, their character design is an obvious indication but it's really all the anguish bubbling just beneath the surface. And now I need to read all the source material because I'm not sure I can wait for them to animate (even though the animation is just 😘👌🏾
For background on my experience while watching TGCF, there are a lot of cultural/religious things that were completely out of my current realm of understanding re: ascension, conditions/relation of the supernatural beings discussed, etc. but I was still able to really enjoy it without and prompted curiosity to learn more before jumping into the novels. Like, having watched and read media informed by Japanese culture (and growing up on Inuyasha), you understand the idea of youkai, general types and their dispositions, even some religious aspects to practices by priestesses and even everyday people, etc. so it's a little easier to navigate. So getting into Chinese media of a certain time period where those beliefs and practices inform the story was a challenge but it also just kind of opens your eyes to how much you don't know which is exciting. I absolutely want to check out the books because I need to know Xie Lian's whole origin (including his 17th birthday and his parents backstory) and what transpired to have created the delicate soft spot San Lung has for him. I hadn't heard of SVSSS yet but MDZS is on my TBW and I'm wondering if watching it will help clarify my confusion from TGCF or if I should do some research ahead of time so I'm not as lost.
Never apologize, I love when people are inspired and passionate! Lol and makes the conversation I have with you guys feel less one sided (with my disproportionate essay responses haha). 💛 I'm sure I'll post when I start watching/reading any of the above so we can reconvene! I'm currently finishing up Stars Align and, from what I've gathered might need to add this to my TBR to get a satisfactory end to things, too. 😭
I've been running on an empty battery lately so Tumblr's really the only social media platform I've been consistently perusing and posting on (RIP to twitter, insta and tiktok, ig). The upside of this being that I see JJK and BNHA leaks less frequently so I'm out here living in ignorant bliss ✨ So if you're out in these virtual streets, be safe out there, anon!
#neon asks#anon asks#anime#manga#donghua#manhua#danmei#tgcf#tian guan ci fu#heaven officials blessing#hob#link click
9 notes
·
View notes
Note
🔥 for AOT!
Man, I had something in mind, but I'm wimping out because I don't have the energy or will to deal with the possibility of people coming at me for it. I will say that the fandom, particularly the English speaking fandom, has a very stifling (and anxiety inducing tbh) way of enforcing headcanons on everyone else. It doesn't end up feeling safe to give truly different perspectives, so I generally don't, just cuz fan discourse is so exhausting to me. It's definitely not an issue specific to the AOT fandom, of course, but AOT is the only fandom I'm active in these days.
Something actually specific to AOT? I still think the ending sucked and was cheap, and not innovative or imaginative at all, making it a serious letdown at the end of a very long, engaging story. Nothing about it felt consistent with earlier themes of perseverance and belief in a better future that's worth fighting for, and bleak endings where nothing that was accomplished actually matters are SO. FUCKING. COMMON. in all forms of media that it felt like a cop out to me. It's fine if people do enjoy it, but the idea that fans who didn't like the ending 'just don't get it' or are naive or whatever is insufferable.
2 notes
·
View notes