#there's actually no way they meant no harm with this because it was so blatant it activated my fight or flight response

[aluminia]

Ok but like, you see why I'm going to be repulsed by your video if your thumbnail includes lizardman Mark Zuckerberg, right? You can understand what it is implying when you say that about a Jewish man, right? Right??

[funhouse-mirror-barbie]

I can understand why people don’t like “The Substance” and why it’s divisive. It’s very intense, VERY gross, and very in-your-face about EVERYTHING.

The biggest criticism I’ve seen is that the movie is TOO on-the-nose and TOO blatant in its themes, the main theme basically being “beauty industry = bad and harmful”

While I understand why people are frustrated by how unsubtle the movie is in delivering this message, I actually really love how blatant it is.

Because it is that simple. I don’t think there’s a lot of subtleties to the cruelty of the beauty industry and the way society treats aging, especially aging in women, as something horrific and terrifying. 

The beauty industry is literally just billion dollar companies saying “Here’s everything wrong with you! Don’t you want to fix it??? Don’t you want to stay young??? Isn’t aging horrible and scary and terrible???? Don’t you want to wear 30 products at night to keep you from getting wrinkles??? Don’t you want to scrub your skin off? Shave your hair off???? Don’t you want to be perfect???”

That’s so impossible. And it’s cruel and vile to expect ANYONE to try and do all of that.

To me, THAT is why “The Substance” is so maximalist and SO simple in its premise and themes—because the horror of the beauty industry is that simple.

The film is aware of that, and it’s aware of how ridiculous the paces we put ourselves through to conform to beauty standards, to stay looking youthful and perfect all the time are.

The true beauty of “The Substance” is in this simplicity. It is violent in how it gets in our faces, and hits us on the head with the same message over and over again.

It’s making us confront how clearly flawed and horrific the beauty industry, and the expectations we put on women, are.

That’s a very uncomfortable thing to have to look at and realize, “oh, it really is that simple, and I’ve been complicit in it too, whether I knew it or not”.

Of course people will disagree with me and that’s fine. There are movies that I love and adore that are extremely subtle and open-ended. But I don’t think ALL movies have to be like that to be good. You can have a story that’s smart in the way it’s presenting itself, and that is self aware of how obvious it’s being, and have that work in the story’s favor.

Idk man, not EVERYTHING that’s blatant is as bad as Max Landis’ “Bright” making THE shittiest racism allegories ever. You can have a story be stylistically plain in its message while still carrying the emotional weight that comes with the subject it’s talking about.

Way more ramble-y than I meant, but either way, if you like horror and BODY horror especially check out “The Substance”.

[crows-sleepy]

Chapter three of, "Robin's are meant to fly, how did you lose your wings?"

This one will have a content warning for slight depictions of self harm, if you are sensitive to this do not read the last paragraph or the chapter, stay safe!!

•

The sound of cutlery against porcelain screeches in Damian's ears as dinner goes on, and on.

He hates it, hates the sound, hates the room, hates the people in the room, hates that he loves them, hates that he knows normal families wouldn't find family dinners strange.

But he does, he did, for so long, but how long until they are just a distant memory?

How long until he no longer has these?

These beautiful fond memories, these wonderful, lovable family members, how long exactly until he, Damian himself, is a long lost memory?

Long since living? Long since a part of this family?

He wasn't completely sure when his head had tilted to the side slightly, barely noticeable to anyone else.

Anyone except everyone in this house.

He didn't know when he leaned closer to Grayson, he didn't like that at all, didn't know when his fork paused over his meal.

How had he missed all of this?

Missed the way Grayson snuck worried glances to him, missed the way everyone stared down at him, like he was some kind of exhibit, like he was some kind of product.

But then again, that's what he always was wasn't he?

Why had he ever thought he would be anything more...

Even to any of them .

They were wonderful, beautiful human beings...how could he be anything more than a weapon, that was it wasn't it?

They kept him around because of what he could do? Because they hated him.

They thought he would be better left watched , like some kind of ticking time bomb.

That is exactly what they thought he was!

He hated them, hated, hated, hated, hated, hated!!!

Oh, how he loved them...

Grayson's worries gaze wouldn't leave him, it was as if the man didn't care that he was caught staring, how could he be so blatant?

Damian could almost roll his eyes at the observation, how dumb was he? Being so obvious, at least try to hide it.

"Hey, you okay kiddo? You haven't been eating.."

Grayson's sentence softened at the end if that was even possible, everyone was already speaking so softly to him nowadays.

"I'm fine, Grayson."

Damian had been quick to assure the man, he could still do that much at least, but that didn't make Grayson look any less upset, maybe even made him look more so than he did before...maybe Damian couldn't successfully assure anyone.

But that was fine, really, he was an assassin after all, he didn't need to assure anyone, he needed to dispose of them, needed to provide pride to his family.

Needed to stop being a failure.

"Are you su-"

Grayson had been cut off before he could finish his question.

"I am positive."

Damian had spoken firmly.

He didn't want to talk about this, didn't want anyone else to know anything was wrong, why couldn't they just leave him alone?

But still, still, Grayson's unwelcome questions continued.

"Damian, you know you can tell us what's wrong, you are allowed to talk to us."

Dick tried to reassure, but it only made Damian feel worse.

Because why, why, couldn't all of them just stop testing him?

Of course he wished it was real! But he knew it wasn't, it was just getting cruel at this point...

Even if he could never admit it, even if he would never be allowed to say it aloud, he loved all of them dearly, why were they so fixated on testing him like this?

Unless it was real.

Unless they actually cared.

Unless they really loved him.

But that couldn't be it, he knew that could never be true, not for someone like him.

"Grayson, I said I was fine, I do not need help, I do not need to speak to any of you, because you can't fix anything!"

Damian regretted snapping immediately as the loud clatter and screech of his fork scraped against the delicate plate, it didn't break thankfully.

It seemed like it might, it felt like it might.

It felt like it might snap in two, right on the table, in front of everyone, as Grayson ever so slightly flinched back at the outburst.

Damian felt like such a disgrace, he couldn't help but be reminded, just how much he hates himself..

Especially in that moment.

He knows he shouldn't care.

He knows that it shouldn't bother him that no one tells him off for it, that they don't grab him by the collar and throw him to the floor, drawing any and all weapons they have on them.

Telling him how terrible he is.

Telling him how he should never have been born, how he didn't have the right to be called human like the rest of them.

How much he hated that he would agree if they ever told him that...

But they didn't, no one even reprimanded him, and he knew he should be, knew he should be yelled at, even Todd didn't say anything!

He wasn't called a brat, why wasn't he berated? Scolded for the defiance, and why, why did Grayson back off when told to?

Why did they all listen to him without question?

His eyes burn with unshed tears, he can only stare down at his full plate as he feels all of their eyes on him.

He just wants them to stop.

Why wouldn't they stop?

Why the hell did it bother him so much?

He knows , he shouldn't be an heir to mother or father, knows that he shouldn't be human, knows he shouldn't be alive, knows he shouldn't have made it past one year old, let alone ten, why did he have to be reminded every day?

He can feel his heart race under his skin, thumping against his bones, desperately trying to escape.

Feels the way the oxygen begs and pleads to leave his lungs to no avail.

Feels the way his thoughts race and run wild as he finally realizes..

He can't breathe.

Slow deep breaths through his nose seem to at least fix the most noticeable problems, but as he glances up, his eyes meet Cain's, almost immediately.

Hers with concern and understanding coiled deep within them, but how could she ever understand?

★

Cass peered at her youngest brother for longer than she had admittedly meant to.

She watched and waited, and observed as his breathing gradually came to a complete halt.

She couldn't help the anxious feeling that enveloped her as she saw that.

She was sure everyone else did too, it wasn't to hard for them to be able to tell when someone was on the verge of a panic attack right in front of them.

She was sure someone would give some kind of signal to help him if it was needed, they wouldn't just leave that alone.

But still, worry crept up her back, clawing at her shoulders as it latched onto her in a surprise attack.

She needs to know what was happening with Damian.

It feels so important, so much bigger than anything she's ever worried about for him.

She is his older sister, it is her job to help him, to know what's wrong, and she should be able to, but she doesn't know.

Doesn't know what's wrong, but she knows that it had to have started one day after patrol.

No one seemed to have picked up on that yet, they all over looked it, she knew they had to step back though.

They were too close, too involved in the issue to ever hope of solving it.

No one could look at it from an outside perspective, but she knew they had to.

She can't help the overwhelming feeling of guilt when even after she tries to look at the bigger picture she can't solve it.

This is her youngest brother, and yet she can't fix it.

She can't be the strong older sister she wants to be.

Cass's eyes drift away from Damian as his gaze quickly fleets away from hers right after making contact.

Did he dislike their concern so much?

She would have to file that away for later...

She doesn't know what to do as she is reminded for what seems like the hundredth time, that she doesn't know what's wrong with her little brother.

★

As dinner comes to an end Damian feels like an absolute fool.

Pushing himself harshly out of his seat he stands eagerly, silently excusing himself as he turns without a word, walking away from the rest of his family.

He yearns for the only part of the day he gets to be relatively alone.

As he tried descending down the hallway he took note of the fact that Thomas had started quickly making his way after Damian, the younger of the two noticed relatively fast.

Not good enough, know he's about to before even he knows, you'll never survive if you can't outsmart these idiots.

That wasn't right...was it? He doesn't think he even remembers anymore..

"Hey Damian!"

Thomas had called after him, as he waved at the younger boy.

Damian glanced back, his steady footfall coming to a complete stop.

"What is it, Thomas?"

Damian's tone was colder than he would have liked, he knew what everyone thought, but he didn't want to come off hateful to everything..not anymore.

"I was just wondering if I could talk to you? I wanted to make sure you knew that you can talk to any of us if you need to, or even just if you want to, we're all here for you anytime you want us. We care about you, and you've been a little..off? Recently, I guess I just wanted to say that you can come to any of us no matter how little you think the problem is."

Thomas had explained, a kind smile gracing his lips, so kind, so warm, it melted Damian's heart slightly, it made Damian want to spill his guts to his older brother.

To everyone.

But he also heard how soft the tone was, how gentle, and that wasn't right.

Damian didn't need him to be gentle, Damian didn't need anyone to be careful with him, he wasn't made of glass, he was strong, he didn't need protection from anything.

"I am not weak Thomas, I am not a child, I do not need your immature assurances, save those for someone who actually wants them, goodnight."

Damian could feel bile burn, and tear at his raw, blood tasting, throat as he saw Thomas looking like a kicked puppy.

The older boy's shoulders slumping slightly as his line of vision drifted away from Damian.

"Right.. Yeah, night, keep it in mind though? I mean just in case.."

Thomas had all but pleaded, Damian hesitated, but nodded, he needed to fix what he said wrong, he didn't even care if he failed these stupid tests anymore.

Thomas smiled again, so, so brightly, nodding, and walking off to his room, as if he was content with just the fact that Damian said he would consider it.

Even though Damian didn't do what he wanted.

So odd.

Damian doesn't need to talk to anyone, he wasn't like Thomas, he wasn't like anyone here, he didn't have the privilege of being weak.

He didn't have the privilege of being human, as much as he wished he had.

When had he gotten so envious?

Damian shouldn't, he shouldn't even feel bad like he had before, he should make them feel bad, and he shouldn't care when he did, but, oh, how badly he felt for it.

Damian's small feet padded against the wood of the floor as he made his way back to his bedroom, the door clicking open and closed as he slipped in.

Locking it as he went over to his closet, creaking the door ajar as he slid his hand into the darkness, easily grabbing onto his Robin uniform.

Distantly he thinks about other children, the foolish thoughts of monsters dwelling in the darkness of the closet or under the bed.

He finds it odd, and even a little silly, but for a brief moment wonders, if maybe there was some truth to it?

He feels envy pooling in his heart again.

Why did other children get to have such innocent fears?

Why couldn't that be him?

Why was this who he had to be?

His mind raced with all kinds of questions, but he pulled the Robin suit close to his chest, clutching onto it tightly as some of it brushed against his lap when he pulled it.

When had he sat?

His gaze drifted to the mirror across the room, he saw a little boy staring back at him in the mirror.

Jet black hair, bright green eyes met his own, the boys stature so small compared to Damian, but as he looked back at himself, outside of the mirror, he was that small wasn't he?

Was he always that small? He thought he had been bigger...older.

He pulled his mind away from his thoughts, he didn't want to think right now, or ever, ever again.

Tugging his civilian clothes off, his eyes drifted to the scars lacing his body, the small ones, the large ones, the faded ones, the puffy ones.

The ones caused by grandfather, the ones caused by mother, any others felt so unimportant.

He pulled on his Robin suit, a long familiar vigilante staring back at him in the mirror, the only thing that felt familiar anymore.

But even with that comfort, his mind drifted back to his scars, he was right...

They do not love him, how could they?

He had been left, and he will again, by everyone, forever, over, and over, again.

He tries so hard to push those thoughts out of his mind, he knows he should not listen to him, knows it's dumb, that he shouldn't believe a word he says, but he can't help it.

He knew he was right anyway...

Damian's nails dug into his forearm until he was sure he left dents in his skin, he just needed a distraction right now, his hand fell from his arm as he entered the Batcave.

Word count: 2369

[steaming-system-takes]

Well here's your first actually hot take:

The creation of this blog and the original call out post are symptoms of the holier-art-thou call-out mentality the system community is plagued with. Everyone jumps down your skin if you accidentally say even one thing a bit wrong.

I'm not defending those takes from pipinghot, the quality control was obviously shit. But the aggressive "agree with all my points or delete your blog" mentality kills discussion and has done nothing to actually correct the misinformation spread.

The call out post (like they all are) was just a bunch of angry ranting and ALSO DIDN'T CITE ANY SOURCES to correct the misinformation.

If you actually intend to do better than pipinghot, you should respond to misinformation with proper citations (no, "I've read the DSM" is not a citation) and let actual controveral community topics be discussed. Otherwise, it's only a matter of time before someone's calling you out next.

I'm not counting this as one of our tagged takes, because I don't think you understand what we made this blog for.

This blog is not meant to debunk misinformation, there are plenty of blogs out there made for that exact purpose. This blog is to spark discussion, yes, but we've already pointed out that this blog is NOT being used for us to dictate what's right and wrong as we ARE NOT a professional or expert on system topics (nor will we claim to be). The reason we don't post misinformation is because there is genuinely enough misinformation being posted on this site already. We refuse to spread misinformation in any way shape or form. Like I said, there are plenty of other blogs out there dedicated to collecting misinformation and debunking them if that's what you're looking for. We're here to offer people a place to discuss nuanced system topics, which misinformation has no place in. That is why we refuse to post anything containing misinformation.

As for the call out post regarding pipinghot, every point made in it was valid. The point of that post was to bring light to how pipinghot neglected to properly make sure they weren't posting things that harmed the system community. They posted genuinely harmful things, and refused to change anything to ensure it wouldn't happen again. That is a valid reason for people to be upset and angry, especially for those who were triggered by some of their posts. Pipinghot was not a blog for debunking misinformation either. Pipinghot posted blatant misinformation as if it should be considered within nuanced topics. That is harmful. Pipinghot did not combat misinformation with sources. They participated in spreading misinformation. As I've said, the call out post was made to hold them accountable for their actions. Not because they "disagreed with someone's point" or made a simple mistake. These mistakes were not small or mundane. They caused genuine harm, and that needs to be talked about. Making a genuine mistake and posting MULTIPLE "hot takes" that have triggered and upset people are two drastically different things.

We are not wasting our time bringing any attention to misinformation. That is not what we made this blog for. It is not our responsibility to educate others. That is their responsibility. What is our responsibility is making sure our blog's content doesn't contain misinformation and is not harmful to the community. That is all we're concerned about. We will offer explanations on things if we feel we have the ability to do so, and if not we will allow someone else to do so. Knowing what we do and don't want on our platform and being responsible with it is not comparable to posting racist and triggering things on a blog that is meant to be void of misinformation and harmful content.

Yours truly, Mod Green

[system-community-corner]

support people with DID!!!! but not people with DID who think endos are real!!!

take that shit out of ur bio

Check your entitlement towards another person's blog.

I will always support people with my disorder, even if they support people who make a mockery of it. Do you know what DNI stands for, Anon? it stands for Do Not Interact. It's exceedingly simple.

I doubt you'd care enough about the reason as to why I have such a simple, easy to follow rule for my blogs. Yet I'll always be willing to repeat myself. Pro endos and the endogenic community heavily traumatized me and my system.

We were avidly groomed by multiple people who either identified or supported endos. We were told point blank our trauma would never be enough, that the abuse we went through as a child and young teenager wasn't actual abuse in any way and that we should be thankful to have it so good compared to others.

We were manipulated into believing that our trauma was point blank - not real. The symptoms we showed meant we were endogenic and that we deserved much worse treatment if we ever disagreed with that. We were manipulated into sending adults sexualized photos of ourselves to prove that we supported endos against those bigoted anti-endo sysmeds!!

We were threatened with being doxxed, among other things, if we talked about our experiences publicly. It sounds so stupid as an adult who Knows Better - but I need to be kind to our younger self. We just wanted to fit in, we craved approval, and we didn't care how we got it or from who just so long as we were liked and valued.

Got to the point where we eventually met our ex partner system, one that over time convinced us that alter death was a real thing and that they were able to system hop and kill our alters for stepping out of line.

Multiple people routinely used our trauma against us (after they couldn't claim it wasn't real anymore) to cause us to forcibly split new parts to mold into however they wanted. Oftentimes, they'd attempt to mold the alters into a new efuck buddy <3 our in our ex partner systems case yet another fictive to roleplay with and date <3<3

It took us far too long to recognize that as harmful and abusive behavior because it was heavily normalized in the spaces we were in. We are WELL aware that not every single pro endo or endogenic person is like that.

That said, I don't think its unreasonable for not wanting them to interact with the damage a certain subset of the community has caused me. Even still with how the majority of the community continuously harms people with severe disorders with the blatant misinformation they push - willingly.

[indieyuugure]

Hi! Let me start off by saying that I absolutely adore your ROTP series. This is also one of the very few Rottmnt/2012 crossovers in existance that does justice to both verses and doesn't put a biases on any. I love this comic.

Now that aside, I need to get something off my chest. I wouldn't have gone on Anon but experience has taught me that opposing opinions will make the followers of a blog insult and harass you so I tend to err on the side of caution. You see, I Love Love Love TMNT. And I love 2012 series, it's something I relate to so much and grew up with. It's my most favorite version of TMNT.

But the thing is, ever since the Rise movie got released, I've been seeing nothing but slander against the 2012 series and it breaks my heart every time I come across it. It has escalated to an unfair point that I've seen even 2012 fans who love it just as much begin hating aspects of it. I mean, don't get me wrong, it does have its flaws but it's unfair how highlighted those select few flaws are to the point of extremely biased comparisons and blame games and general 2012 slander which half the time doesn't even comply with canon. Moreover, literally every TMNT has its flaws just the same.

And recently, I've been seeing an increase in posts on your blog that have 2012 slander undercurrents or simply blatant frustrations with it. I love the comic but keep seeing this hatred still is just... it hurts ya know. Like really actually hurts.

So if possible, can you plz tag such posts with something I can filter out? (And let us know what that tag will be?) You don't have to but I really really love your art and comics, it's just the 2012 slander again that hurts me and I don't want to see it anymore. I've been seeing it everywhere.

Again, plz don't take this the wrong way, it's just something that's been hurting me and I had to get it off my chest. And find a solution to it that doesn't involve blocking or unfollowing because I genuinely do love this fancomic

Thank you for your feedback!!💕 (seriously feedback is extremely appreciated to me!)

I sorry my posts came off as 2012 slander, I really never meant it like that. I will admit I do critique media pretty aggressively, but I never mean it in a hateful way. TMNT 2012 is one of my absolute favorite shows and I love everything about! It’s the weird quirky stuff about it that while yes, I will criticize, I still love. It wouldn’t be the same without it. Just like the weather, I will complain about it, but I don’t want it to actually change.

I will try to be more conscious of how my posts are perceived, I really never wanted there to be a bias on my blog. I love all of TMNT for all it presents, and I don’t want to ever be slanderous!

Thank you again for your kind nudge! I’m very thankful to have people like you who’ll tell me if I’m making a mistake! I truly do love TMNT 2012. I can’t fix what I’ve said, but now that I know, I can be sure to be more careful to not sound biased going forward.

Again, I’m very sorry it came off that way, I didn’t mean to be so harsh. I never want to harm a series’s reputation, especially one that I love so much!

You are truly appreciated!💕

I know this won’t fix the things I’ve said, but I’ll say 3 of my top favorite things about 2012:

I love the way they depicted characters! They do an amazing job using indirect characterization that makes the characters feel so real. The characters don’t have to tell you things about themselves, you learn about them from the way the interact with each other, the way they solve problems, the things they like and dislike, and even what they’re doing in the background! It really feels like you’re there getting to know these fun people and go on adventures with them! Truly amazing!

I love the way the turtles look! Seriously I think they look so cool, and at the same time cute. They’re visual designs inspired me so much in my art and I will watch hours on end of them because they’re just so freaking cool!

I love the way their stories are told! The episodes are so well paced that it never feels boring to watch an episode! Believe it or not, I have never once wondered how many minutes are left on an episode. It’s so good at sucking you in and addicting you, that while I was watching it for the first time, I was straight up binging it and would be forced to put it down by my parents. Several times I would stop to eat something and have that weird “wait, who am I? What is my life?” Thing you get from a really good story. The stories and arc pacing are so good that Indie TMNT, my original series is using massive inspiration from 2012.

Once again, I am truly sorry for coming off as slanderous. Thank you for being so brave and telling me what many people were probably thinking. I want to do better. Thank you! :]

[utilitycaster]

Fjord

2. Favorite canon thing about this character?

3. Least favorite canon thing about this character?

25. What was your first impression of this character? How about now?

2. Favorite thing: so much, but I particularly like how good and effective he is at herding the cats of the Mighty Nein. There are many reasons why they bonded so tightly, but a factor was that Fjord early on was insistent that they figure out ways to work together. You can tell how carefully his backstory was constructed; part of why Sabian and Vandran are such beloved figures despite almost no screentime is because you can get such a clear an outline of them from Fjord’s behaviors and discussions that is honestly more thorough than that of some fully introduced NPCs. Getting back to the original point, you can tell from early on that this is someone accustomed to team dynamics under pressure (ie, a sailor). In general, everything we learned about Fjord, as it was revealed, made me go “ohhhhhhh yeah that makes sense,” which is in my opinion the sign of incredibly skilled storytelling and character building.

3. This is tough; this is a character I truly love and I am always team “this person’s flaws are an important part and erasing them means you do not fucking get it," so like, I am in favor of his perfectionism and control issues and closed-off-ness and in case it's not clear from my Midst blogging and which characters I'm drawn to there, nor my enjoyment of Vex, a particular vibe of which he is one of the best examples. I also, admittedly, am defensive because while people watching C2 now without all the fandom discourse of C2 tend to enjoy him, he got done rather dirty by the fandom and was the recipient of basically every single thing I dislike that fandoms do (he is not alone; Keyleth got this with the added complication of rampant misogyny, and Veth got shades of this too, and all have similarly been received much better by people watching without fandom influence). So, for example, while I would love to have seen more of his backstory in-game, I am hesitant to say that because, well, ever notice how Caduceus was sidelined by the party and we didn't explore his past but Fjord avoided his backstory? Ever notice how Caleb's asshole behaviors are because of trauma but Fjord (grew up in a Dickensian orphanage, bullied over his race to the point of willing self-harm from a young age, betrayed, stabbed, and left to drown at which point he was forced into a warlock pact he didn't remember) is just an asshole? (I'm saying this as someone who very much likes Caduceus and Caleb, but this was blatant from the fandom, and pretty constant too.) So to be clear I think he has plenty of flaws, as a complex character, but I do not dislike those flaws as canonical aspects of him.

Anyway. The joke but also kind of true answer is, as Laura herself pointed out, why did he wait 7 entire years to propose to Jester.

25. I liked him from the start but Beau was actually my favorite in early C2! I liked the top table (and what faint impressions I had of Yasha) from the start, but Fjord had the Percy and Vex trait of "guy who can act normal in a social situation when no one else can" for the first stretch of the campaign, which meant he was high up there but didn't move up in my estimation until he started to reveal how civilizedly (not a real word, but vitally important as a modifier here for a number of reasons) unhinged and insecure he was.

[jakowskis]

@buffetpallascat doing a good ol' days reply because i had enough thoughts on this to warrant some meta, in my typical rambling fashion. hope you don't regret engaging by the time im done dfhkdsf

for starters, you're very welcome, i'm glad you enjoy the post :D

as for your question - i meant moreso that it was typical of the fandom, although it was also very much influenced by societal trends of the time, too. fandom's always had a rocky history with women, especially women who supposedly 'get in the way of "slash" couples', but the way fandom misogyny is performed has changed; i see more willful erasure of female characters these days than flat out blatant misogyny. in tw fan content from the 00s, i've seen gwen hatefully AND casually called some pretty horrible things that i rarely see fictional or real women called nowadays, simply because standards have changed. hell, one of the comms i linked, the twgenre finders one, there was several entries requesting fic where gwen experiences, like, bodily harm? not in a whump-y way, they actually wanted to recreationally read fic about her getting physically injured and suffering, out of some bizarre sense of malice towards her. simply because she 'gets in the way of janto'. and i can't even fathom that existing nowadays. pretty much everyone outside of weird little 12 year olds knows that's not acceptable. not to mention it's just weird.

interestingly i've also noticed a lottttt of change in how the fandom... reacted to and treated janto as a couple back in the day, versus now. people in 2006 were not normal about gay people. we know fandom's history with fetishizing gay men, and it was even worse in 2006 with an exceptionally rare canon gay couple being received by a jarringly hetero-but-'slash'-obsessed fanbase.

i mean, i don't wanna generalize. i saw a poll recently about how fandom is not mainly composed of straight women, contrary to popular belief, at least anymore, and i guess the question is, was it ever? i have seen a lot of the people involved in fandom in the 00s identify themselves as straight, but was that partially because of the culture of that era? have any of those people since come out as some type of queer? maybe, for some of them, that was them exploring their queerness in a safe environment, when the culture around being gay in real life was a lot different.... the same way modern fandom culture continues to be for those of us who aren't in accepting homes. if they were 20smth year olds in the 2010s/2020s, rather than the 2000s, would they still identify as straight?

not sure. but i've made a habit of going on the profiles of old lj accounts, and i'll sometimes wind up going through the journals and the personal posts of authors i respect, etc etc. a significant amount of mid 00s fic writers were straight women in their 30s - 40s, many married, some with kids. very different demographic to modern fandom. very different climate they lived in vs the one we're in.

(although, bonus note, i also once found a thread of bisexuals in 2006 praising torchwood's depiction of bisexuality, and that made me exceptionally happy. but also maybe a little sad, because torchwood's my personal fav bi rep, too, in 2023, and the fact that we've had nothing better in seventeen years is a bit of a bummer. but i digress.)

anyway, this is all to say, i've seen some insanely fetishy shit about jack and ianto that rubbed me exceptionally wrong. that gross dehumanizing, severely homophobic place where it's like... ahh, ok, so you don't see them as people, you see them as sexy dolls you can mash together. but, ofc, that's how i view it as a bisexual person in 2023 who's been on tumblr far too long. they didn't see any problem with it. they might've even seen it as progressive. how can you be homophobic when you're obsessed with the little gay people on ur screen? but it's the opposite end of the 'homophobes reducing gay ppl down to what they do in their beds' trope, and it comes across as dated and icky now.

i mean, i consume a lot of older media, i know how to turn off my 21st century sensibilities and remind myself things used to be different, but it's honestly an impressive difference. there's some fantastic fics from that era of the fandom, in fact most of my favorite fics are from that era, but i often get quite a bit of culture shock reading things. particularly, i'm always impressed by people in the 2000s, an extremely biphobic era, applying their impressive period-typical 'bisexuals aren't real' beliefs to The Bisexual Show. torchwood's rep's not perfect (again, a product of its era), but i've seen a fantastic amount of gay!ianto and straight!owen, because bisexual men don't exist, obviously, and jack's not bisexual, he's the amazing slutty space man, except he's mostly gay because all that matters is janto. and i don't even really see explorations of gwen or tosh's bisexuality at all, because, again, women who?

i found a comm a while back, i didn't include it on my list because it wasn't torchwood-exclusive and didn't have much content in the tw tag, but it was a lgbtfest, and contained fics about the team and their relationships with their bisexuality, and it was really intriguing to me to see queerness as understood by regular people in 2007/2008, y'know, not by gay writers or activists or films. i have no way of knowing if any of them were speaking from any personal place, but it was just interesting, because none of the fics i read in that comm had that same brand of tone-deaf sex-focused homophobia to them, they were progressive for the time, but it was still apparent to me that they were written by people with a mid to late 00s understanding of being gay, and i do think it's interesting, that substantial difference.

got a bit off topic, but now that i mentioned the initial fandom being overwhelmingly composed of women, i can also add that i think internalized misogyny factored hugely into the fandom's disdain for gwen. the 'strong female' trope doesn't just annoy straight men, it also annoys a lot of women (though not consciously) - not because they're opposed to well-written women, but because society tells us certain things that'd be admirable and complex and sympathetic out of a male hero are unacceptable out of a female one. it's the double standard. jack does some awful shit, but i rarely see him criticized. i've straight up seen fans go "jack's kind of a bastard, but it's ok because he's hot", which is fine in jest, i've joked about shit like that with characters, but it's not so cute when those same people turn around and condemn gwen for her actions. hell, or owen. i've literally seen someone say they'd like owen more if he was more conventionally attractive. like, ok, you're clearly just here for the janto eye candy. you haven't brought any substantial critical thinking skills. pls take ur shallow ass and leave. but back to gwen - she was held to a standard none of the other characters are held to. they picked on her for the stupidest shit. and her worse sin, the infidelity, it's bad, sure, but i've seen countless male characters who cheat on their partners who are beloved by their fandoms. it's just fucking gross. i fucking hate hypocrites.

dude, yknow what?? i've even seen fucking tosh bashing. WHO THE FUCK HATES TOSH????

ok im done. sorry for my babbling. but yeah, i think it's a fascinating thing. i love how humans change and develop with the times and how we can map the changes and how they affect media, and it's fun to observe in fandom because it's there, too, but no one's looking so i get to feel like a little scientist fdskjfds. ok i will cease with the excessive babbling now

[salempie]

tell me about your daisy girlie i can tell you’re about to burst like a can of soup

i’m mostly curious on how psilirim would affect her, as well as non-psychics. or maybe she was originally a non psychic? i genuinely can’t tell from your post oopsies

but yesssss i love people working in psilirim beyond “makes brain hurt and cause delusions” or whatever rhombus of ruin did. idk i couldn’t play it without crashing because the vr headset i used was ass in a tin

if you’ve already answered something in the same vein ignore this oopsie…. i just immediately wanted to ask before scrolling ur blog

Sorry if this is all a mess, I’m not so good at organizing my thoughts!

I’ve actually tried to put some thought into psilirium, because it’s such a neat rock! But it’s basically just…Psitanium but worse? From what I could glean from the game. And other than ‘psilirium poisoning’ mentioned in the second game (bear with me I haven’t played either in like half a year) it was mostly ignored after Rhombus.

As for how it affects Daisy who yes, was born psychic! The first thing I focused on was its ‘magnetic’ effects when it comes to drawing people towards it. The commune she essentially takes over was formed far before Daisy had even considered running off. And it was formed due to the psilirium drawing people to the area! This quality gives Daisy somewhat of a charismatic edge with all that psilirium getup she’s got on. Call it a ‘magnetic attraction’ but people just seem to like the girl <3!

As for how it affects her psychics, I’m not sure how accurate the ‘fandom wiki’ is but it described psilirium as ‘distorting psychic energy.’ With the only other confirmed effects being “mania, hysteria, hallucinations, suppression of psychic abilities, and paranoia in psychics” (according to the wiki). I figure a handwaving of ‘distorting psychic energy’ is vague enough to let me add my own flair. Suppose it’s somewhat of a souped up version of psitanium the way I have been using it? But with the blatant psychological harm a bit more evident.

When Daisy first arrived psilirium had still been mostly undiscovered in the area, so she hadn’t had too much exposure to it. Some people (rarely) reported having strange hallucinations or unusual dreams, but it was mostly chalked up to the area just being a spiritual hotspot. Occasionally some weird glowing rocks would be found, but with no geologists or psychonauts to identify them, no one really knew what they were and kept them around mainly for their striking appearance. As more and more of the rocks were eventually discovered (or dug up), the effects began to compound.

With worsening mental health abound, as well as the decline of the hippie subculture as a whole into the 70s, many began to leave the commune. This left Daisy desperate, as I think I’ve mentioned before, and not in her right mind, she began to hypnotize the remaining members. Only a few at first but later the commune as a whole (though not on purpose). Those effected would begin subconsciously contributing their mental energy to Daisy, thus making her extremely resistant to the psiliriums negative effects.

That’s great! Because despite her resistance due to her now greatly increased mental energy, her mind was still heavily affected by those neat glowing rocks! She was left somewhat delirious, witnessing hallucinations as well as experiences delusions of grandeur at times. She began to order (like, it was more of a suggestion than an order, man, this is a commune not a dictatorship <3) the rocks be dug up more to aid them in their meditations and spiritual connections. Thus, the commune as a whole became a psilirium hotspot.

This meant Daisy, with her heavily fortified mental energy, was the only one to really be able to effectively use her psychics, with the psilirium’s repression of psychic abilities shown in RoR. Technology in the area bugs out too! So it really is a naturalist ‘utopia,’ at least in Daisy’s eyes.

So that’s! Yeah! Most of my thoughts I think? Idk! Heres also some somehow even less organized thoughts too that I can’t seem to place anywhere well:

There’s kinda just a general vague energy in the air around the commune due to the intense ‘radiation’ from all the unearthed stones

Daisy herself is like! Actually psycho-reactive at this point! Like! A walking hunk of psilirium…on a smaller scale of course. It kinda mixes with her actual psychic energy, making that ‘radiate’ as well. Basically with all that psilirium her hypnosis kinda has the effect of making a certain range of people around her more susceptible to suggestability by her! I wouldn’t call it full hypnosis though.

To add to that, she is constantly (and I do mean just like 100% of the time (except sleep I suppose?)) levitating! Part of the vague ‘radiation’ of her psychics. As well as her generally just being in a great mood thanks to weed and delirium!

The psilirium itself ‘warps’ and amplifies her psychics abilities a bit. It kinda ‘enhances’ them in the sense that there is sooo much psychic energy it’s just bursting to get out.

For example, she’s an Empath of sorts (an ability @spaloonbabooguuscooties came up with for her Franke in our ramblings) but, distorted in a way so that, while she can still somewhat feel what others are feeling, it’s more her forcing her own emotions onto them. Not fully but, they can certainly feel what she is feeling. In addition her ‘sensing’ of emotion isn’t just relegated to having to touch them either! Close enough, in tandem with her rudimentary telepathy, she can basically understand entirely what her ‘followers’ are thinking and feeling! Though it’s partially due to their obvious psychic connection.

Her hypnosis of course was effected, becoming a vague radiation of charisma and charm around her even when not using her own abilities.

Aside from just the constant, constant, use of it, her levitation wasn’t changed much.

Her herbophony hasn’t really changed much either, but some of the plants in the area have become psycho-radioactive as well, giving them a bit of a psychic edge. It allows her better communication with them as well as giving some plants psychic abilities for themselves.

Most of what psilirium has done to Daisy is make an unstable person more unstable and a psychic person more psychic. But in an obvious much worse, much faster, and much more overt way than psitanium. Or at least I hop im that’s how it comes across <3!

[plaquerat]

Hiii I have been seeing your strong Cumulus posts and I have been eating them UP and I also saw the post that may or may not be vagueing your post (the one that's like let fat people be fat or whatever) and on my life I really think that there's no winning with writing about fat characters!! So we shall just continue to have fun and do what we please!! Also I am so sorry for how kind of out of hand this is gonna get but I think ur really neat and I don't like to see you feel bad and I have a lot of feelings so pls just ignore if this is overwhelming 🙏

But anyway, no winning when talking about fat characters... Like with strength:

If fat Cumulus is strong, people will say let her be weak! She doesn't have to be strong to 'apologize' for being fat! But also if you write Cumulus as weak, then people can go the other way and be like ugh fat people can be strong too! In fact many are! This is such a fatphobic take!

And im here with the extremely loud incorrect buzzer for everyone! Lmao everyone relax!! We are here to be fun and silly and!!! Perhaps!!! Even horny!!!!!! I think quite a few people are too eager to read posts in bad faith because of the weird little morality police officer in their head that won't let them just scroll past something they don't like? Also idk how to even say this how I mean but like the energy of wanting to defend people against fatphobia (or ableism or homophobia or you name it) is GREAT but also if there's no discretion with what's made from love and what's made from hate (internalized or blatant or whatever) and you just go after any little thing then there will be NO writing or drawing or art in general of fat characters and idk how to express that that is literally infinitely worse to me?? Like pls don't bully people into silence even if that's not what you think you're doing my loves it really can turn into people just giving up and doing nothing at all! A direct and kind conversation about what is bothering you is waaaaay more effective and may reveal that in fact you agree about many things!!

BUT what's so wonderful is that there are sooooo many nice and lovely people and what else is wonderful is that I am deeply in love with Cumulus and every iteration people want to share oh my LORD I am a winner no matter what!! Strong Cumulus my beloved weak Cumulus my beloved mom friend Cumulus my beloved mean Cumulus my beloved weird Cumulus my beloved I can't lose!!! I'm here to have fun and I keep that front of mind and it's so good for me! And if I don't like something?? That's just not for me, actually! I shall scroll along!

Anyway a lot of people must learn to relax and have fun and stop making problems where there aren't any! You also don't have to have the excuse that you're a lesbian and you love women and you want strong Cumulus to carry you it's literally fine to just write whatever you want about a character you love this is all fiction and fun and we are here to share our love! Uuugh I'm gonna stop now before I get weird and sentimental but anyway don't let anyone get you down too bad the important thing is to have fun and adore Cumulus!!!!!! And be nice to each other!!!!!

Truly. Truly, truly. I'll complain about things but ultimately they don't affect me. I think if anything it's really great people have so many different takes. We're playing toys. I was just so ?????? when I saw that post that feels like a vague like hdbghjs i very much make my posts with myself in mind first. "Apologizing" for being fat by being strong is such an insane like. thing because I'm very much. I mean I've said it plenty. I'm like exclusively attracted to fat people. I should be allowed to make this beautiful fat woman strong.

I do think there are explicitly harmful headcanons ie a lot of infantilization allistic people can have toward autistic characters but most headcanons like. Aren't meant to do harm. Most of the time it comes deeply from love for a character. I'll side-eye stuff like mom friend Cumulus but like that's really the furthest huh. Not gonna let it ruin my day. I know I can come across as kinda mean but I'm just blunt with my words and if I'm on my own blog I'm gonna rattle off thoughts since you know. Basically infinite journal. and it helps knowing I'm not alone in opinions I have but good lord we all (me included) should calm down more.

I think fandom culture's shift to being like. Ahhh I don't know what to call it. Like character takes Define You as a person and people Need To Be Right. And it sucks because with Ghost the lore is. Not super duper deep or rigid and with ghouls specifically there's literally nothing. Everything people do with them is made up. it's like- it's like when you play Pokemon. My team isn't going to be the same as your team and you use what you like and some people get way to into it.

It's been said to death but let's all try to be nicer to each other. Life is scary. It's not worth it to fight over things that don't matter when you can be putting joy and love out into the world. Let's not forget how Papa himself tells us how to treat each other, huh?

[the-power-of-stuff]

yes you GET it!!!!

i love the idea of live actions sokka’s blatant sexism being almost triggered. it comes out when he’s agitated and has been shown up which i think would translate better to live action than just straight up jokes like in the cartoon. i think we’re in an age where misogynistic remarks are made more out of anger than in old timey jokes

“the pride she feels about being a guardian for her village ends up damaging his pride” completely!!! not only do we get to see her as the badass warrior that she very obviously is, but her drive beliefs and motivations behind what she does and who she is are so clearly laid out.

my biggest gripe with the episode was definitely the lack of buildup for sure. and the kiss. not that sukka were ever really slow burn, but that constant distance where they would meet intermittently and have those intimate moments made it feel like they were

maybe that’s something that can be not so much rectified in the next season, but worked on? because if their first kiss came about so quickly, i feel like the conflict of them next time they’re together should be greater than sokka’s overprotectiveness. or maybe it should be played up more - which i guess it will be as their whole arc that episode was condensed to twenty minutes. idk!!!!

ooo i like your predictions!! i feel like if they go with a year or so time jump then maybe it’ll go more similarly for them in s2? sure, they kissed when they last saw each other, but there’s been some time since then.

sokka’s been involved with yue, and i’d like to think amidst her travels with the kyoshi warriors suki has had time for a fling or two herself. they were each others first kiss, their first encounter with someone from the opposite sex their age, and while it clearly meant something to them, they were younger.

idk though, that’s me trying to rationalise their first kiss being so early. i’ve been interpreting their kiss as yes, definitely a romantic one, but also as a thank you from suki for, like she said, showing her the world. for being that last big push towards her leaving.

i’m rambling now so sorry for another long ask!! but on a slightly different note, i’ve seen some float around the idea of the suki and the kyoshi warriors having their own sort of mini subplot in s2 to do with the dai li.

i’m not 100% sold on this idea yet, but i thought it would be an interesting angle to have two groups/organisations that kyoshi founded at conflict. if done right it could just alter where the kyoshi warriors find appa without changing much else.

here’s the link that i saw posted on the atlatv sub - https://knightedgemedia.com/2024/02/suki-deserves-her-own-original-subplot-in-netflixs-avatar-the-last-airbender-season-2/

anyway thank you for such a detailed response! i love your blog so much and always appreciate how much detail you go into even answering lil old asks like mine <3<3

and i’d definitely be interested in reading a reimagining of the ep from you👀👀 no pressure tho!!!

Ooh, thank you for sharing that Suki theory! I do love the potential for building out more of the Kyoshi Warriors' storyline and explaining what they got up to between leaving the ferry station and discovering Appa. In the episode where they're crossing the Serpent's Pass, Suki mentions that she's heard the Fire Nation is working on something on the other side of the lake that they don't want anyone to know about, so clearly she's privy to some gossip at her ferry job. I always thought it would be neat if she and the Warriors decided to leave the ferry station to investigate, and that's how they ended up in the forest where they found Appa. But the idea of tying the Kyoshi Warrior's adventures into the Dai Li's conspiracies could be a cool way to pull Suki more deeply into the main story.

I wrote into a fic a while ago that Suki and the other Kyoshi Warriors got fed up with the bureaucracy of the ferry station and how trying to "maintain order" actually ends up being harmful to people (e.g., the lady in charge would rather force a pregnant woman to walk across a deadly pass than help her find her stolen property or otherwise get her onto the ferry), and it ends up being sort of eye-opening for them that the Fire Nation aren't the only ones doing harm in this war. (And in my story, that's ultimately why the Warriors end up leaving.) I think it could be interesting for the LA to delve more into this aspect of how the Earth Kingdom is dealing with the war, and it seems like the kind of thing that could fit with the darker tone they want the series to take. But however they end up doing it, I'd love to see them develop more of an explanation for why the Warriors are where they are when the find Appa!

Also I had a lot of fun thinking about a different take on the second episode of the LA. Got me through a dentist appointment lollll... Throwing my thoughts under the cut!

Okay, I’m totally stealing your idea about Sokka’s latent sexism coming out when he's provoked, cuz I just think 1) it makes sense as a defense mechanism for a guy who's feeling insecure in himself, and 2) it raises the stakes for him and Suki. XD

So! We keep “you’re trespassing on sacred ground!” and Suki being the one to tackle Sokka. I would’ve liked to have seen a little bit more of an action sequence during the ambush, so we (and Sokka) get a real taste of the Kyoshi Warriors’ skill. 

The Kyoshi statue glows, they have the village hall meeting. Sokka’s eyeing Suki the whole time with grudging interest. Suki notices and looks at him narrow-eyed, tilting her chin up at him and then looking away abruptly. She’s not sure how she feels about him yet.

Afterwards they walk, and Sokka does his whole, “I’m my village’s protector, too,” thing, to which Suki responds, “I don’t see how that could be true if you’re here.” Sokka stumbles, says something like, “Yeah, I mean, good point, it’s just…this was more important.” And then Suki gets heated (what could be more important than protecting your people??) and gives the Kyoshi Warrior spiel. 

That evening, Sokka rants to Katara and Aang about it. Katara’s like, “Sokka, it doesn’t matter, just let it go,” and Sokka’s all, “It does matter! Just because we’re here with Aang doesn’t mean our village isn’t safe! I worked hard to protect us all those years and— and anyway, helping Aang helps the village!” But inside he’s also thinking, “Have I let my people down? Or did they not need me that badly in the first place?”

The next day, Sokka storms over to the dojo, sees the Warriors practicing, and scoffs. “Fans? That’s your weapon?” and Suki’s like, “Excuse me?” Sokka goes, “At least I trained with real weapons—” “Real weapons, huh? Fine, let’s see it, then.” Sokka’s a little taken aback but he pulls out his club, they get into a stance, Sokka attacks, and Suki easily disarms him with her fans. “Well, Southern Water Tribe warriors are more known for hand-to-hand combat—” Suki immediately puts her fans away and gets into another stance. Sokka grits his teeth and attacks again, but Suki tackles him much like she did at the beginning of the episode. She’s hovering over him and he looks at her and his look of shock becomes a little sad. “I’m a bit out of practice,” he says, and Suki straightens, crosses her arms, and says snarkily, “Feel free to come back when you’re better prepared.”

Later, he comes back and Suki’s like, “Ready for a rematch?” but he gets on his knees and asks to be trained. Suki’s very surprised and just stares at him for a while. He apologizes. “Truthfully, there isn’t much need for warriors in my village…” And this strikes a chord with Suki because it’s not like there’s much need for warriors in her village, either (seeing as how they've kept themselves out of the war)… So she agrees to train him. But she says, “If we’re going to do this, we’re going to do it right,” and pulls out a spare uniform.

After Sokka gets dressed he looks at Suki and asks, “Face, too?” “Of course.” And he tells her—but sincerely; not bragging, this time—that he actually knows about putting on facepaint because of the SWT warrior paint. And this time when Suki asks him to demonstrate, she's also being sincere. He starts putting on the Kyoshi Warrior paint, and she helps him, and oops! romantic tension.

They train. Suki is strict but there’s still a lot of closeness and touching. We get to see Sokka use the fans. We get to see Sokka almost best Suki before she gets over her surprise thirst and overtakes him. But then she’s still all “oh shit he’s hot” so she gets up. Training’s over.

I loved the delivery of, “Thanks, um…you’re a great teacher.” “And you’re an excellent student.” So I’m keeping that. Suki acknowledges Sokka’s role as his village’s protector. Sokka, sadly, “Can’t protect them if I’m not there, can I?” And Suki looks at him earnestly. “I’m sure that you made sure they were safe before they left.” “Why are you sure of that?” “Because we’re warriors. And it’s what I would have done.” Enter “you’re the fiercest warrior I’ve ever seen” and “truth is I envy you” spiel. They share an intimate look, like maybe they’re about to kiss, and then the bell rings.

I also really, really loved the moment where Suki goes, “The bell,” and Sokka, all dreamy and lovestruck, says, “You hear it, too?” because OMG what an adorable sap. So I’m keeping that, too. 

They go kick ass together. Sokka jumps in front of Suki to save her from a fireball with his fans. And as much as I like the idea of Suki getting to see a manifestation of Avatar Kyoshi right before her very eyes, I would actually take that part out because for a lot of thematic reasons that I won’t get into here, I prefer Aang and Katara realizing they should retreat to draw fire away from the island, rather than being told they have to leave. And because of that, Sokka and Suki’s goodbye has to be hurried.

While they're ducking for cover, Sokka apologizes again. "Suki, I'm sorry... For treating you like a girl. I mean...you are a girl, but for treating you like just a girl. I mean, a girl who isn't a warrior. I'm sorry for treating you like girls can't be warriors—"

Suki smiles and shakes her head, then kisses his cheek.

"Thank you, Sokka. For showing me that there's more out there."

He gapes at her.

"Now get out of here! We'll hold them off.”

He escapes with Aang and Katara, and while they're flying away on Appa, Sokka pulls off the headdress and runs his thumb over it thoughtfully. Aang says “Nice dress, Sokka,” and Sokka looks up and says, “It's a warrior’s uniform.” 

~fin!~

(I, too, enjoy the sort of slow burn way their relationship develops in the animated show, so I definitely get how you feel about the lack of buildup, Anon. So if it were my rewrite, I would keep that aspect in. ;))

Thank you so, so much for your asks!! I'm having a blast answering them, and I'm so happy to hear you enjoy my blog! 💗💗💗Feel free to keep 'em coming if there's anything else you wanna talk about!

[syscourse-confessions]

I'm tired of people pretending that persons language is more accepted than parts language. We were not bullied, treated like shit, harassed, and had people try to actively force us to go against our own wishes and our therapists advice because other systems were so offended we dared to see ourselves as people- just to have people turn around and claim that people who use parts language are actually the most harmed people.

IT IS THE SAME IT IS THE FUCKING SAME NEITHER OF US HAS IT WORSE!!!!!!

This idea that "nobody forces part language" is just such a blatant lie- When we use person language every fucking sysmed we were in spaces with would CONSTANTLY get in our face and tell us how we were lesser than them- that we were obviously not trying to heal and we were "anti-recovery". We got ganged up on in MULTIPLE discord servers. And even people who publicly pretend to be okay with person language bully and force systems into using parts language in private or go back on their previous claims. And I'm sure this happens the other way too.

We had to force ourselves to actively deteriorate to be in most CDD spaces as a DID system because we dared to have atypical philosophies and a marginalized religion. CDD spaces specifically are so much cruel, conniving and forceful than general plural spaces and literally worked against our therapy and halted progress. And part of it was through trying to force us to use parts language.

Stop pretending you're the only one with issues. I am so fucking sick and tired of sysmeds specifically pretending the way they use parts language and talk about it isn't meant to mock and belittle people like us. No parts language doesn't imply you're broken or anything- but SAYING ALL OTHER LANGUAGE IS "ANTI-RECOVERY" MAKES YOU A FUCKING ASSHOLE.

.

[djarinova]

Keeping things simple to understand:

Some migrants that come to the UK (a big percent of them tend to be Muslim) and think they can continue to do the stuff they did in their home country, and that includes hurting vulnerable people

This ofc upsets the local British people and they start fighting back, some riots are violent but most have are starting to become more peaceful

They blocked the way to the Immigration Centre because too many migrants screw up people's lives and then leave facing no consequences, and these protesters want something to be done about that

I'm not actually from England, I'm actually Scottish, but I'm sending hugs to you and all of your friends, because this situation sucks

i cant tell if this is meant to be condescending but let me address some of the points you've made.

first, muslims make up 6.5% of the uk population, so they are by no means a majority of the country. second of all, i do not appreciate this very blatant insinuation that muslims, or migrants, are inherently violent and cause harm to people. i think you well know that non white people are more likely to be victims to violent crime than white people.

if you're referring to the horrific riots that are going on around the uk right now then the british people you are referring to are violently rioting against an attack done by a british person born in cardiff. these riots are only becoming "peaceful" as you say because of the brave people showing up for anti-racism and anti-fascist rallys all around the country, and they are helping to protect the immigration centres and the high streets and cities and shops that are being attacked by racists.

if your "local British people" are so intent on protecting this country then they shouldn't be attacking british police, british corner shops and looting (which is just stealing) from these shops.

by definition, i am certain that immigrants are people who come to live permanently in a new country. your arguement about them coming, "screwing up peoples lives" and then leaving is completely baseless and ridiculous. the people you are talking about would not be migrants, and therefore would not be an immigration issue.

these people that are causing these far right riots are not helping this country. they are causing a strain on uk based resources, like the police, and they are taking away time that these officers could be using to battle actual issues around the different counties.

i dont know what you wanted to get out of sending this message to me. but i do not need your hugs as i am not someone who is being targeted by these vicious rioters.

[transgenderuwo]

I’m so sorry, OP, you wrote a hell of a lot here and I love it all, but I just can’t get over the statement “trans men do not experience intersectionality at All while trans women do.” You put that in this post a whole year ago as one tiny thing to lead into many other things with so much else to say afterwards – yet nothing fills me with more white-hot rage than that person’s assertion that transmascs and trans men are only ever oppressed by transphobia.

Nobody has any goddamn right to tell me that I only get to react to “saying that Asians have been eating soy for countless generations actually proves that soy’s phytoestrogens are feminizing” with either “that’s racist” – the icky option because it includes m*n – or “that’s transphobic” – the Discourse Approved option because it includes white women. Whether or not that’s what anyone meant, that’s all I can hear from this shit any more.

You can’t try to dress that up as progressive and go “oh oopsie, I meant gendered oppression” or whatever without throwing queer men and masc folks of color – particularly those with cultural-specific genders – under the bus. We always knew y’all weren’t guaranteed to give a shit about us whenever you’d just barely acknowledge our existences as a token “gotcha” in transphobic arguments. There is no possible way to salvage that line of thought while removing its inherent racism. My gender – my maleness – cannot be divorced from its cultural context, and like hell I’m gonna let people whitesplain my own fuckin’ culture back to me.

We put the black and brown stripes on the fucking progress pride flag so y’all wouldn’t forget how you’ve treated us and as a reminder that y’all need to treat us better. That y’all continue to hand-wave blatant and deliberate racism because you are so divorced from reality that y’all would rather kiss white supremacist asses than acknowledge marginalized men is beyond revolting. You’re not an ally, and you don’t deserve to have that sugar-coated.

Of fucking course misogyny is still a problem worth talking about. Of fucking course transmisogyny is also a problem still worth talking about. The only people here pretending that any of this means that women’s issues don’t matter are people who haven’t internalized what any of this shit actually means. This kind of dogshit separatist ideology encourages people to perpetuate the same nonsense we’re already dealing with, and nobody is truly safe if we keep pretending that leaving men to fend for themselves, including marginalized men, is an idea worth saving.

It’s eugenics to insist that marginalized men must suffer in silence, never speak up, and live in misery because their problems can’t measure to those of white women. It’s white supremacy to deny all of this is a problem and that the problems of white trans women are orders of magnitude more important than those of queer men of color like myself.

If, somehow, you still don’t see how any of this is a problem, then I only have two things to say to you: one, “you are not an ally and can never be one until you put the effort into dismantling why certain ideologies are harmful,” and two, “stop trying to colonize me and shut the fuck up, 紅毛鬼.”

tumblr can make fun of Blizzard’s Oppression Calculator all they want, that’s exactly how people act with discourse poisoned queer discussions.

“m-spec people are capable of being ‘straight passing,’ which means they Categorically Rate As Less Gay.”

“yes you’re Trans but you’re also a Man, and the Man Modifier makes you Less Oppressed By Default, which means you don’t get to decide what you do and do not experience.”

“yes you’re Nonbinary, but you have to tell us What’s In Your Pants so we can decide What Kind Of Oppression You Experience and How Much Of It You Experience.”

“aroace people don’t have Any gay points which means they’re Basically Straight and don’t belong.”

“you’re not allowed to mix the Counsel Decided-Upon Queer Categories, if you Bend The Rules then that means you’re Actually A Bigot Trying To Make Queer People Look Bad.”

just because you don’t have a literal graph that charts out which identities you think have the Decided-Upon Oppression Points doesn’t mean that you aren’t doing the exact same thing when you make sliding scales of oppression with “gays and trans women” at one end and “straights and cis men” at the other

[sokkastyles]

I keep seeing increasingly bizarre claims by Azula stans about how she’s being discriminated against by the fandom, the other characters, and the narrative, and then these same Azula stans will be like “oh, but why can’t we love all the characters equally?”

I mean, because we don’t have to, nor are the characters meant to be interpreted this way, and this kind of media analysis, while it is something I have seen throughout my years in fandom, always comes across as utterly deaf to the context of whatever media this person is arguing about.

Characters in stories aren’t meant to be loved equally. We aren’t meant to have positive discussions about how this racist imperialist abusive villain really had a point, after all, and doing so is not only ridiculous, it runs the risk of being seriously harmful and propagating harmful rhetoric.

No, we should NOT be treating Zuko and Azula equally, because one atoned for their bad actions and the other one didn’t. One stopped being angry and hurting others and the other one didn’t.

I actually do love both characters but that does NOT mean I am going to talk about them in the same way and pretend they both equally deserve to be talked about positively, because they don’t. This weird performative positivity thing which seems to be unique to fandom is how you get posts arguing that a scene where Azula is belittling Zuko for not believing fascist propaganda in “The Avatar and the Firelord” is a scene of them bonding together. It’s how you get people saying that acknowledging that Katara beat Azula in Sozin’s Comet is antifeminist because it’s “pitting two women against each other” when what actually happened is that Azula was beaten by a woman she thought she was superior to. We should be talking about that. We should be pitting them against each other and acknowledging that Azula lost because this is a story about love triumphing over hate.

I mean, look, I’m all for stanning the villain. What I’m not here for is toxic positivity that makes room for abuse apologism for fear that we might say something negative about a character who hurt others without remorse, or in many cases, blaming other characters for reacting negatively to being victimized. It’s just fiction, which means that stanning villains isn’t a reflection of your moral character, but the fact that it is just fiction also means that it isn’t a moral flaw to be critical of a character, especially when that character should rightfully be criticized.

“But isn’t pitting Zuko and Azula against each other what Ozai wanted?”

No, I’m pretty sure Ozai wanted Azula to be his perfect princess and for Zuko to believe he was worthless. He was perfectly happy when he had both Zuko and Azula under the same roof as long as he could control them, and Zuko believing blatant lies and accepting his sister being cruel to him makes Zuko all the more easy for Ozai to control. I’m pretty sure Ozai would agree with the people saying that Zuko is just so ungrateful to Azula and wasn’t Azula just being nice? Isn’t that more than Zuko deserves, after all? To be fair, Ozai also doesn’t want Azula to realize self-actualization, but as long as Zuko stayed in his place at the bottom, I think he was fine with Zuko and Azula “bonding,” aka Azula insulting Zuko for daring to question the status quo, because that meant Zuko stayed in his place as the family scapegoat, Azula continued to believe Fire Nation propaganda unquestioned, and Ozai got exactly what he wanted.

[slytherinsnekxvii]

let's talk about lily evans and the marauders, aka moony, wormtail, padfoot and prongs. given that i didn't use their actual names, i think you can figure out where this is going. it's also long as hell, so. canon vs fanon, marauder edition, except snek is sleep deprived.

now, before we begin, i don't dislike the marauders. or lily, tbh. if I'm being perfectly, genuinely honest, i still go back and forth sometimes but they've been growing on me for a while now. the canon versions, at least. fanon does them real dirty, and that's part of why i'm writing this, because i'm genuinely tired of it. it's an injustice.

you can at least make excuses for james and lily, who were so undeveloped that jkr practically dropped a fill-in-the-blank sheet of character information in our laps, but sirius, remus and peter were around long enough for y'all to get real acquainted with them.

in canon, sirius black is an unhinged mf. genuinely. this isn't to say he's a bad guy, in fact, we see that he's still capable of doing good things, still capable of love, still capable of all the things that prove he's actually not bad at heart, just,,, severely traumatised and very steeped in negativity from his time with the dementors. what i'm saying is that this man is absolutely, no questions asked, no holds barred demented, and how could he not be? the guy sat wrongfully imprisoned in azkaban for twelve years, a good portion of which he spent as a dog in order to protect himself from the dementors. he certainly wasn't completely insane, but you cannot tell me that he was all there. he got out of azkaban fuelled almost solely by the intent to get revenge on pettigrew, tried to commit murder in front of three witnesses who were also children—one of whom was his godson—ate rats and was also malnourished, which i'm certain did not help the situation any. this man is off his goddamn rocker, and you know what? you love to see it. good for him.

oh, but, snek, that's what he's like as an adult. what about when they were at school? before azkaban? my guy, the reaction he has to grimmauld place is not the reaction of someone without trauma. i don't believe that walburga and orion were the type to physically abuse their children, but whatever happened in that house helped to fuck him up enough that he skipped the joke of part of practical joke, and pranked snape by telling him how to meet a werewolf that he knew would be fully transformed and dangerous to humans. more than that, the werewolf was remus, whom he's friends with, and who—best case scenario—would be facing a trial if james hadn't stepped in. you can say that maybe he didn't think about or understand the gravitas of his actions, but at the end of it, that's not how properly sane people react to people they dislike, and that's not how they treat their friends. if anything, it reads like he was in the middle of a breakdown and absolutely losing his shit and he wasn't thinking at all.

my guy went through some serious shit, and was in no way completely mentally stable. we can see pretty clearly that he's got a serious dark side to him that probably would have gone unbridled had he not disagreed with his family, and yet, fanon took one look at him and went, "teehee, uwu bad boi go vroom."

fanon said padfoot is a pretty boy with nice hair who is tastefully traumatised from his horribly abusive household. sirius rides his motorcycle and plays jokes and flirts with anything that moves, but he can do no real wrong and always comes back to his soft, bookish, chocolate-loving boyfriend remus, who will laugh about his lycanthropy and quietly disapprove but secretly laugh at his friends' antics while hiding his smile in his cardigan.

respectfully, what in the absolute fuck.

i'd put that meme in here if i could, the one that's like, "well done, you've broken _______ down to its bare essentials," but no. i can't bc it doesn't even apply. this isn't a meme, it's theseus' fucking ship.

fanon broke it down, and replaced the pieces one by one until we got to this point, where we need to sit down and ask ourselves, "is this even the same character?"

the answer is no, by the way. it isn't. when people talk about woobifying characters—you know, taking away every flaw they have, romanticising everything they do and making them only capable of doing good, wonderful, lovely things?—this is what we mean.

and it'd be one thing if it was just the one character, but, no. fanon went all in and made them all squeaky clean and boring, especially peter, who draws the shortest of the straws.

remus got fucked, too. not just because fanon insists on sticking him into a relationship with sirius. which, we'll tackle wolfstar in a bit, but that's not even the worst of it. here, we have yet another example of blatant, rampant woobifying. again, is he a bad person? no. we know he's a good guy, we know he's generally kind and well-mannered, we know that he wants to fo the right thing but hey, fun fact. did you know that you can be nice and a coward? did you know that you can be benevolent and good and kindly and have the greatest of intentions and still be shady as fuck? no? ask dumbledore. the man played people like chess pieces when he needed to, and he was a twinkly grandpa. these are things that can coexist.

teenage remus is a coward who, understandably, does not stand up to his friends, likely for fear of being ostracised, and doesn't uphold his prefect duties as he should and takes part in their bullying of snape as a result. he lets them romp with him in werewolf form while they are in their animagus forms and then, he lets them continue to do so even after they have multiple close calls, which, again, had anything happened, would have resulted in a trial in the best case scenario.

grownup remus is still a coward, he tells no one that sirius can move about the school in his animagus form despite wholeheartedly believing that he's a mass murderer, he tries to run out on his wife and unborn kid. he isn't deliberately making attempts to harm anyone, but he's content to sit back and let things happen to him and around him so he doesn't rock the boat, although he is capable of action, which we see when he is more than willing to help sirius merk pettigrew in the shack. he can be careless, he runs out to the shack knowing he hasn't taken his wolfsbane and ends up transforming in front of the students he, as a teacher, is meant to be protecting. of course, this doesn't negate his good qualities, it just bears repeating that his flaws do exist, and they're pretty serious.

fanon moony is always pleasant and kind and soft-spoken and bookish, and he always has to have his chocolate. he knows when to tell off his friends, and he'll do it, even if he's secretly amused by everything they do and laughs about it with his best friend, lily evans, who coincidentally spends all her time with them so he and sirius can go on double dates with james and lily and no one has to remember peter exists.

why. theseus' ship 2.0. does the actual character still exist or is this something entirely different thing bearing the same name?

as for peter, who needs peter pettigrew, the actual, legitimate, fourth marauder when you have lily evans? canon pettigrew is opportunistic as fuck. he's latching himself to the biggest bad on the block and he's going all in. for teenage peter, that was james and sirius, and for adult peter, that's voldemort. canon peter is good enough at transfiguration to master the animagus transformation, just like his friends, and he's good enough at potions to brew the potion that gives voldemort a body. and honestly, you can't say he wasn't brave. he could've run off somewhere and died, or changed his identity or something after he faked his death and framed sirius, but, no. he goes and resurrects voldemort. that's fucked up, yeah, but it happened and honestly, i respect that it. he stuck to his guns.

fanon wormtail is lucky if he exists beyond being a spineless sycophant for james and sirius, or an evil conniving little rat who's looking to toss his entire friend group to the wolves at eleven.

of course, this isn't meant to negate his bad qualities, he still murdered people and framed sirius and sold out the potters to die, but his good characteristics do exist, and james, sirius and remus genuinely were his friends.

and now, we get to lily and james.

we have hardly any information on either of them. they're a pair of cardboard cutouts that we can paint and stick flyers to and colour outside the lines however we want. we can do whatever the fuck, as long lily is brave and smart and somewhat kind and james is brave and willing to die for his family. we were essentially handed a pair of ocs.

and yet.

what little bits of canon we have are thrown out of the window regardless.

james is privileged and rich, and he throws hexes for fun. he's willing to hex lily when she disagrees with him, and then, he goes behind her back to continue hexing snape after she believes that he's stopped doing so. and that's all we know about him until he dies for his family at twenty-one years old. once again, say it with me: this does not negate his good qualities. he definitely had them, he took sirius in when sirius ran away from home, he became an animagus to keep remus company as a wolf, and he saved snape in the shack, thereby saving remus and sirius by extension. him having flaws does not make him a bad person.

fanon prongs is a feminist. he fights for equal rights for women everywhere, and he constantly treats his girlfriend, lily, like an absolute queen. he's the hottest boy in school and everyone claps when he walks through the halls. mcgonagall and dumbledore are always patting him on the back and making jokes with him. he has a built-in dark detector that helps him sense when someone is a evil and needs to he punished.

give me a break. the dude's cool and all, but was the gary stu treatment necessary?

...oh, he needed to match fanon lily? right, right.

canon lily is a contradiction unto herself. she's supposedly a great friend, but since we see her at a point where they were already drifting apart, we see her putting little effort into keeping their friendship afloat. she victim blames based on rumours, she doesn't seem to care over much about what snape has to say about the people who have been tormenting him since day one. and she's justified, of course, she doesn't have to stick around. canon lily is a bit of hypocrite, she says that snape calls everyone of her birth mudblood, but then that begs the question why she still hangs around with him if that's the case. he calls her mudblood, she retaliates by calling him snivellus, and finishes up with a dig about his underwear, which, sure, it's kicking a man with a rusty spoon and pouring salt in the wound, but she's, again, justified. i get where she was coming from. and then, of course, she dies for her kid after marrying the guy who relentlessly bullied her quote-unquote best friend for their entire school careers. but, like i said, canon lily is, in many ways, a contradiction.

lily is basically a plot device. she pushes everyone's narrative but her own, and does little else.

of course, this trend would continue in fanon. fanon lily exists to be the perfect girl who gets really angry over the slightest injustice, and of course, she gets to be one half of one of the oldest enemies-to-lovers "it was just sexual tension" cliche pairings in the book. she's just,,, a mary sue. in so many fics, so many headcanons, she's just pettigrew's stand-in, a girl to form a gang with marlene, mary and dorcas—who happen to be more undeveloped ocs who also get the woobify mary sue treatment—to parallel the marauders. there is nothing compelling about her character when she's presented as a saint, and even less when she's supposedly the other moral compass for the marauders that doesn't actually work because she thinks that james is cute.

and this brings me to the next topic. jily. what, why, how. this was supposed to be a healthy, happy relationship that would have lasted in the long run? absolutely not. even for its time, i can't say that i see it lasting.

first of all, jkr presents james' crush on lily as just that: a crush. a mildly obsessive one, but a crush nonetheless, which she tries to liken to the pulling of pigtails. and then, we see that james' way of getting her to go out with him consists of blackmail, and when that doesn't work, he resorts to threatening her. this could have been set aside if he had actually, genuinely changed when they started spending more time together, but as we're told by sirius and remus, he didn't. he just got better at hiding what he was up to. and it has to be that he hid it, because if she knew, this further damages the character that she's set up to have and paints her out to be either unable to stand up to him or an enabler.

regardless, they get married. and while i have trouble believing that it was out of genuine love, there are scenarios that could make some semblance of sense. it's wartime, after all, and maybe lily is worried about her stability in the wizarding world, so why not marry into an established family whose son is already showing interest? or perhaps, she falls into the trap of every bad boy cliche ever, and she thinks to herself, well, i got him to be better then, maybe i can get him to do even better in the future. or maybe, she doesn't get into a relationship with him immediately and sees him on and off, until eventually, she accidentally gets pregnant and they scramble to have a shotgun wedding so as not to leave lily alone at nineteen with a baby. or maybe they marry each other because they're there and sure, neither of then is ready and they don't know what love even is but what else is there to do when there's a dark lord about? anyways, the point is, they get married.

and then what? if we count pottermore into canon, he goes on to further damage her relationship with petunia and vernon, to the point where she ends up crying. if we don't, she fades into the background enough that nobody has anything to say about her. she's harry's mum, she's james' wife, lily potter, she was kind and smart and brave and that's it. her agency is gone, anything else we have of her personality is gone.

jily just,,, wasn't built to last. and, yeah, this,,, this is a hill i'll die on.

same with wolfstar, honestly. there are so many reasons why it wouldn't work, but fanon has made it so fucking prevalent that it's literally everywhere no matter where you look.

first of all, i've said it before and i'll say it again. sirius is more likely to get with james that he is to ever end up in a relationship with remus. their chemistry is just,,, underdeveloped. net zero for a relationship.

secondly, sirius instigated the werewolf prank, and lupin would have paid the price for it. this could have been overlooked, but he doesn't seem the slightest bit guilty about any of it when it's brought up in poa. he could have been responsible for lupin losing the security of his place at hogwarts in the best case scenario, and in the worst case, his life. and he seems to look forward to full moons, even though they clearly aren't pleasant for remus, which,,, yeah, you're going to have fun, but like, maybe be concerned about the fact that your friend undergoes excruciating pain and it isn't a pleasant time for him? read the room, my g.

thirdly, they don't trust each other as much as fanon seems to think they do. they were both willing to believe each other the traitor before ever suspecting pettigrew. sirius thought remus gave away the potters, hell, he thought remus was a spy for voldemort, and remus was convinced that sirius was a mass murderer. neither of them needed to be convinced.

fourthly, maybe i'm reading too much into it, but like. sirius had money. remus had no money, since, yk, he was a werewolf and struggling for cash and still, sirius,,, did not leave him any money. i feel like if you had money to spare, you would give to your friend who is literally poor. but, again, maybe i'm reading too much into it and this isn't as valid a point as i think it is.

and ehh, the fifth reason is that it's,,, actually very much not the representation for the ltgbt community that fanon says it is but y'all aren't ready for that conversation.

anyways, just,,, even when you set the couple shit aside, the power dynamics between everyone here is fucked. like, james and sirius are clearly at the top of food chain calling the shots and egging each other on. then there's lily, who isn't even a marauder, but is always ever-so-slightly above remus but still not on their level, because, well. neither of them actually listen to her. remus is the novelty friend, the friend who's,,, alright, i guess, but you keep them around specifically because they're funny or they can dance or they have something that you can either show off to other people or keep as your little inside joke, your little secret, yk? and peter is just sort of there. like, yeah, he can do what we can but does that make him as good as we are? no. does he have a funny little something about him that we can exploit? nah. therefore he sits at the bottom. and like, yeah, james and sirius are on the same level, but james is yanking sirius' chain, not the other way around. anyways, like i said. power dynamic's fucked and it bothers me that we were given all of this, and fanon decided to take it all and throw it away so they could give us flamboyant!badboi!sirius black x softboi!motherhen!remus lupin going on double dates with feminist!trustfundbaby!james potter and saint!lily evans while ignoring peter pettiwho?

theseus' fucking ship, indeed.

anyways, this needed to be said. it might not make as much sense as i want it to, considering it's 4:12 in the morning as i'm posting this, after taking a break from writing to do some research and coming across way too much content about fanon marauders, but it's here and it still makes enough sense that you can read it and understand what i mean. and like, at the end of the day, you can go ahead and headcanon whatever you please, you can write fic and make art and do whatever you like, just,,, remember that they're exactly that. headcanons. stop presenting fanon as canon. please. i'm literally begging. we actually have evidence against it. just,,, acknowledge that they're headcanons and stop putting them forward as though they're able to fit into canon. please.