#there's no narrative value in them being ugly they said

[keyknows]

i just played a few hours of the silent hill 2 remake on my brother's ps5

and i'll be honest with you folks. the models look kinda weird, in the proportions, and also kinda of ugly

and i don't think it matters one bit

[david-talks-sw]

I'd say where the dissonance really starts, when it comes to the portrayal of the Jedi in more recent Star Wars stories, is the perception of what the Prequels are about.

They're not about the Jedi.

George Lucas said over and over that they're about:

How a democracy turns into a dictatorship, we see this in the background of the films, as the Republic descends into becoming the Empire.

That first theme is then paralleled with a second theme: how a good kid becomes a bad man. We see this in the more character-driven and personal exploration of Anakin’s fall to the Dark Side.

The Prequels’ focus is on Anakin and the Republic, these films are not primarily about the fall of the Jedi. In fact, I’d argue they aren’t about the Jedi at all!

And when you look at the original backstory, you’ll notice that it also primarily focuses on:

The political subplot of the Republic’s downfall and Palpatine becoming the Emperor.

Anakin’s turn and his betrayal of the Jedi. 

So, there too… the Jedi themselves aren’t really that big a part of the Prequels’ original idea. They aren't mentioned much, beyond their trying to save the Senate and getting wiped out.

The Star Wars movies aren't about the Jedi, they're about Anakin and Luke, they're about Obi-Wan and Padmé and Han and Leia, the Rebellion vs the Empire, the fall of the Republic.

They're not about Ben and Yoda and Mace and Ki-Adi and Plo Koon and Shaak Ti and Luminara.

Just like Harry Potter isn't about Dumbledore and McGonagall. Just like the Lord of the Rings isn't about Gandalf.

On a functional level, the Jedi are:

POV characters who witness the events unfold with their hands tied, they're our anchors, whose eyes we see through to see democracy crumble into dictatorship.

Embodiments/vectors of the message George Lucas wanted to get across through these movies, which is the conflict between selfishness & selflessness, greed & compassion (Sith & Jedi).

But that's about it.

However, if you ask today’s fans and Star Wars creatives, most will say the Prequels are about the fall of the Jedi Order.

This is a take shared by a big chunk of the fandom, including various filmmakers, authors, and executives involved with Star Wars, so much so that the time period the Prequel films cover has now been redubbed by Lucasfilm as the “Fall of the Jedi era”.

Which leaves us with a question... why? Why the dissonance?

My guess? It's because the Jedi are cool. They're awesome.

And deep down, they wanted the Prequels to be about the Jedi. About the Jedi Knights at their height, errant warriors like the Knights of the Round Table.

And they didn't get that. They got a bunch of diplomats serving a political institution. And that didn't make sense, right? That's not what they expected so it's bad. And it's Star Wars. It's Lucas. It can't be bad, right? So like... what were they missing?

Oh... wait... what if... that's the point? That the Jedi were supposed to be Knight Errants and being guided by the Force instead of like - ew - space ambassadors for the Republic. Yeah now it all makes sense.

The Jedi in the Prequels aren't what we wanted them to be and that's their failure! Like, it's not just that I didn't like them because they weren't likeable to me, it's that I'm not supposed to like them because the narrative totally says so--

-- it doesn't.

The Jedi preach and practice the same Buddhist values as George Lucas, mirroring what he says in interviews almost verbatim.

The relationship between Obi-Wan and Anakin/Qui-Gon mirrors the dynamic between Lucas and Coppola.

The designs of the Jedi and their temple had to be toned down because they looked too bureaucratic and systemic.

This is Lucas we're talking about. "On the nose" is his middle name. He named the drug-peddling sleazebag "Elan Sleazebaggano." He ditched an elaborate introduction of General Grievous in exchange for just "the doors slide open, in walks Grievous and he's ugly."

If he had really been hell bent on framing the Jedi as elitist squares who lost their way and were mired in bureaucracy, he would've made them and the Jedi Temple look like the authorities in THX-1138.

They weren't likeable to some fans because, well, they weren't developed or shown as much as someone like Anakin. Because it's not about them. It's not their story. It's Anakin's. It's Luke's. It's their respective friends'. Or maybe it's an adversity to "perfect goody two-shoes" characters (which the Jedi are not). But hey, it's a movie for kids. Some 2-dimensionality is forgivable.

Bottom line, had more time been spent on the Jedi, had Lucas made the Prequels into a limited show and give them a whole subplot, had he decided to do away with the 30s serial dialog and let someone else write the dialog, maybe the reception might've been different.

But that's what we got. And guess what it's fine.

It's more than fine, it's fucking awesome.

I proudly and confidently say that I love the Prequels, with and without The Clone Wars.

I love my space monks, I love that they're diplomat wizards, I love that there's such a variety of them, I love that Mace is a no-bullshit guy who genuinely cares about his fellow Jedi and how screwed the Republic is, and Yoda is wise and kind but also a gremlin weirdo who'll embarass you in front of a classroom full of kids, and Ki-Adi has a penis for a head, is constantly calm and yet goes down like a champ even though they take him by surprise. I love that Shaak Ti can kung fu an army full of Magna Guards and still have the energy to charge at Grievous. I love that Obi-Wan is a sass machine who is also hilariously oblivious to the fact that he's just as terrible as Anakin.

They're awesome even if they're not perfect. They're awesome because they're not perfect.

But the movies are not really their story.

They're Anakin's. They're Luke's. They're the Republic's and the Rebellion's. And the fight against a space Nazi emperor/empire.

[hallowpen]

One of the most important aspects to consider in The Loyal Pin, in this episode especially, is perspective. I have been really trying to establish that Anil's perspective and choices come from a place of royal privilege combined with western influence; Patt's come from a place of honoring status and tradition; and Pin, being influenced by her aunt / adoptive mother, knows the affordance of having title vs. not.

Anil is willing to sacrifice her title in order to be with Pin, but it's not as simple as it might seem. Renouncing one's title is a very formal process, where it is required that the King be officially informed of her decision and the reason behind that decision. Anil would have to relinquish any property or assets that were afforded to her because of her title; and would, therefore, be unable to stay at the Savettavarit Palace. She would lose any monetary benefits and be required by law to change her royal surname. Most importantly, she would have to sever all ties with her family... a commoner cannot visit or casually interact with royalty, especially when that commoner previously held title that once afforded them the privilege to do so (it is considered to be socially inappropriate).

Pin is unwilling to have Anil sacrifice her entire life for her. Instead, she is willing to make the less extreme sacrifice so that Anil does not have to suffer the loss of her family or live within the uncertainty of her future. As Prince Anan points out, Pin loves Anil more than she loves herself.

"Where else could I go? I could only go as far as the wall of this palace would allow me to."

Anil wants nothing more than to love Pin, but her title does not 'allow' her to. It can be said that both Anil and Pin value each other more than themselves, but their choices and decisions are bound to their status within society and its imbalance within their own relationship. And which character within the narrative could truly understand that? Ironically... Princess Patt.

And though Anil was prevented from renouncing her title, she can still twist her privilege to suit her future resolutions... something that Pin, given her position, is unable to do.

"I will give up on this love, only when you can find someone I truly love, who is also of the same or higher rank. Only then will I allow myself to completely erase her from my heart. Otherwise, never expect me to waste my time and marry anyone for the rest of my life."

Kuea's entitlement continues to rear its ugly head.

"How embarrassing it is that my ring seems to be of very little value and elegance when compared to her own ring."

For someone who claims to love and cherish Khun Pin, he rarely considers her happiness. Because, as Anil rightfully pointed out, Pin is nothing but an earned possession- a trophy to him... though he is hardly worthy of her. KNOW. YOUR. PLACE.

The series highlights a traditional Thai engagement ceremony known as ของรับไหว้ (pronounced 'kwang rap wai'). The 'exchanging of blessings' is a practice where the engaged couple pays respects to their family through order of seniority / rank. The couple presents the พานธูปเทียนแพ (pronounced 'phan thuup thian phae') in exchange for blessings and gifts from their elders. The offering consists of an arrangement of items used in blessing ceremonies (like candles and incense) combined with flowers and decor that signify auspicious values.

[herejusttosufferalong]

Ehhh totally understand if you don't post this because it's depressing af. I'm choosing violence today. I was awash with lovey dovey feelings for our couple after re-watching L&N interviews, re-watching B3, re-watching BTS footage. I was full to the brim with LOVE. These guys had me in a choke-hold. Actually had me reviewing and reflecting on my life and relationships, adding so much joy and self-acceptance, reflecting on my self-worth, improving my world view. Allowing me to breathe in deeply, and expand myself in ways I didn't expect it to.

BUT yesterday was a mess. For so many reasons, not just because of L&N-related content. There were some bad vibes circulating. Then I made a really poor life decision last night. I decided to do some stalking of third parties, which I don't normally do. And of course, it had to be the night where said parties were posting and I saw all things unfolding in real time. My predictions were coming true in real time. It was like the granting of a wish in reverse. And look, I'm not naive to think that these things aren't happening, but when you see it unfold in front of you, it just hits differently. These people are so. fkn. toxic. It drains the life from me. The same occurred this morning when I awoke to see a timeline of HBS. I knew about it, but seeing it, with receipts, fkn disgusted me to my core. It was a visceral reaction. All of a sudden, what looked cute and puppy dog became unsafe and ugly. My empathy dissolved. The thing that gave me the most discomfort was the possible connection to the young dancer who was in B3. It made me think such awful things. (the worst being, is he just a fuck boy who was starved during tour?).

But why, why does it have such an effect? I don't interact with these people, no real relationship. So why? I think because we have been sold a certain narrative, through B3 and the press tour, that being authentic, having depth, focusing on 'the real bones' of people is paramount. Beyond the aesthetic. 'The truth will set you free' kind of thinking, right? And here we have the literal antithesis to that. People who promote and value aesthetic over substance. People who are egocentric and appear to have a very limited worldview. People you expect more from given they sold that 'depth narrative' looking you in the eye. People who are old enough to know better. People who choose to surround themselves with younger folk so that personal growth is disallowed. People who care more about their shallow life fulfillment, their hedonistic desires, than the feelings of others whom they purport to love and care about. People who hide behind ignorance, as if that negates them from consequence. The stereotype celebrity. It's truly deflating. I expected so much more.

And my original thinking of 'oh it's ok, he needs to grow and learn from his mistakes, he needs to find himself...", well, I'm finding it more and more difficult to believe. Because why give him grace? Why is he deserving of grace? Because he acted real well? What does he add to society? What do these fked up people add to this already fked up world? You've got N literally changing a whole landscape, waving her wand and creating light in darkness, urging us to think deeply while laughing at the same time. And no, we don't all possess that kind of magic, but hell, shouldn't we all be striving to be authentic, kind, thoughtful people? Shouldn't we try to promote these things if we believe in them?

Look, in this life, people are always showing you who they really are, telling you exactly what they value, what fills them up, and it's up to us to really look and listen. I'm disappointed in myself for not properly seeing what was in front of me all this time... You can't change those who do not want to be changed. My respect and my fucks given need to be earned, and honestly, we need to reflect on our own self-respect if we are willing to fawn over or idolise someone undeserving. As always, I have hope for people, but I'm no longer holding my breath.

Please, give me that Xanax and wake me up when September ends.

#fkeverything #ohthereyouareteenangst

.

[sevilynne]

Sorry in advance, I'm going to rant here a bit.

Why do 80% of Snaters have to bring his looks into the discussion? Like, the way he looks has nothing to do with his character! I just saw another post calling him a "disgusting, oily, ugly man" in their rant on how he is an evil person, like... I look, apart from being a woman, exactly like him. Like, I 100% match the book description. Crooked teeth, shoulder long hair that gets greasy way to quickly, big, hooked nose, dark eyes, too skinny, walks in a "gliding" way: that's me! Why do the marauders fans have to do this?! Don't they realize that there are people, who will look like the charakter they hate on? This fucking fandom made me so insecure about my nose, that I am considering an operation at 19 years old! I just cried for half an hour after seeing jet another post about how ugly Snape is and no wonder he never found love! It just causes so much pain. If they want to hate on Snape's character, fine by me! But why can't they leave the way he looks out of it? Why?

Sorry for freaking out here, but you are one of the few pro Snape accounts one can write to anonymously and I don't want them to be able to figure out who I am. Thank you for reading this messy thing i wrote, it just needed to be said.

I must offer my deepest, sincerest apologies for posts you’ve seen. Alas, Marauder Stans possess a troubling insensitivity and thoughtless disregard for the nuances of character and narrative. In Sev V. S Marauders arguments, when they find themselves cornered without a coherent defense for their beloved quartet, rather than talk about the substantive truths about Sev, they instead throw callous, almost vulgar fixations on his appearance.

Marauder Stans, as fervent as they may be, are often proved problematic. Their disdain for Sev runs so deep that they not only dismiss his importance and erase him from his own circle but also stoop so low to attacking his appearance and ridiculing his poverty.

Marauder Stans seem to revel in disparaging Sev, often going out of their way to strip him of any redeeming qualities. It's that they take pleasure in rewriting his narrative, erasing his virtues and amplifying his flaws, making a one-dimensional caricature that serves their biases. It's a weird thing, revealing more about their own prejudices than about Sev himself.

Your appearance is a distinctive and beautiful part of who you are, but it does not, in any way, define your value or your capacity to be loved and cherished. Those who resort to attacking someone’s looks often do so because it’s the quickest, most mindless way to inflict pain. It says more about their own insecurities than it does about you. You deserve to be appreciated for the incredible person you are, far beyond the surface.

Please remember that you are so much more than any fictional character, you have your own unique story, rich with experiences and emotions that are entirely your own. Here, you are loved and valued for who you are, regardless of how you look or the way you express your personality.

You can always try to block every Marauders Stan who spews negativity about Severus’s appearance. Hypocrisy is those are often the same people who accuse him of bullying, completely oblivious to the irony of their own actions. They fail to recognize that by mocking an 11-year-old who grew up in the grip of poverty and isolation, they are perpetuating the very behavior they 'condemn'.

Have a pleasant day! (Apologies, I'm bad at comfort. And in summary, they hate Severus's character by itself and it's appearance and NOT because he bullied kids, and people like spewing insults at Severus because he is conventionally unattractive, unlike Potter and Black.)

[lebensmudewing]

Incels are not the (only) problem

They are males with low mate value, probably autistic or with terrible personalities. I don't buy for a single moment the idea that they are inherently ugly men, but more likely "mentalcels".

There are studies on them and they are most likely to have an external locus of control, mental illness, autism and obviously hostile misogyny and more prone to believe in rape myths. But they are not uniquely conservatives or alt-righters, nor fully "blackpilled", there are incels out there who don't believe in manosphere ideologies.

Blackpill is a set of beliefs around dating and women, it's often said that it is based on evolutionary psycology and biological determinism. But I disagree, there is evidence that these people can't read properly any study on the topic. Blackpill says that women are always looking for "Chad" and only tolerate regular males, that women are more superficial than men and that female choice is creating more incels.

Incels, in their communities, recognize that there are plently of men who are "fakecels". Men who are not virgins or even men who get laid on a regular basis, but support blackpill and manosphere ideologies. And also suggest that there are men who disagree with manosphere ideologies but are incels themselves.

What I see is that there are more men and people in general talking about incels as a male issue and using manosphere ideologies to explain inceldom than incel men promoting misogyny or blackpill ideology.

In that regard, the blackpill community who have more audience than incel content is MGTOW. And there is evidence that incel and MGTOW communities are growing and are more toxic and misogynistic than PUA and Redpill communities. Those are men who have experience with women, men who still sleep with women or hire prostituted women, men who have female co-workers, classmates or even daughters.

I see that what is happening is that, since regular people bought the "disbalance" in the dating market caused by women and accepted the term "incel", nowadays there are more men who are prone to identify with that label. I have seen 16 yo teens call themselves incels because this whole "male loneliness epidemic" and manosphere narrative includes early sexual experiences in the package, and since they are not having sex like "Chad", they see themselves as unsuccesful with women.

And also, they are more likely to be dragged to blackpill content. There are content creators who have been profiting from making blackpill youtube videos, and provide services of "objective rating inside the dating market". They re earning money by spreading harmful ideas about women and by sharing a kind of painful epistemology; the more inflammatory the idea is, the more truthful is.

The major displays of incel violence against women are not isolated, but they are also downplayed or excused within those communities and bystanders. It's seen like a feminist hysteria to call Elliot Rodger an incel who killed because of his misogyny and beliefs. Male surpremacism is not being met with instant censorship and banning on major social media plataforms, but it is subjected to a constant analysis, debate and support even from the most unexpected places,

Researchers have wasted time on it, multiple youtubers and social media content has been dedicated to this issue. And they usually call for empathy for "incel men". It's like most people are blind to incel misogyny, they are asking women to be empathetic with men who constantly express on the internet that women are inferior.

They are also victimized, it is said that is incredible that such innocent men with "complex feelings" are being labeled as terrorists and male supremacists, and it is taken as another proof of a "gynocentric society".

I see Rodger as a major piece in these scenario. It is assumed of him that he was just an isolated autistic kid, and sometimes, assumed that he believed in the blackpill. While I recognize that he held misogynistic and male supremacists ideas, in his manifesto there are observations about women who are not coherent with blackpill ideology.

He says that women he desired were dating men much more unfit than himself, something that according to blackpill ideology doesn't happen. Rodger also expressed that he wanted to date a blonde bombshell in order to obtain status among other men.

For me it seems like he wasn't interested in dating women for the sake of it, since he expressed to other men that he saw as something useless to try to talk to women and be kind in order to obtain a relationship. He was trying to compete with other men and feel validated and accepted by them.

The problem was not his desires of dating not being fullfilled, but his need of wanting to be in a higher position within men's hierarchy and men rejecting him for not achieving a major requirement. He grew resentful since his entitlement wasn't fulfilled. I also want to point out that he wasn't a real incel; he didn't try every single thing on the planet in oder to get laid and he was still young. There are plently of late bloomers in the world who lose the V card in their mid twenties.

My point is reinforced when I see incels talking about not wanting to pay for sex, because is not about sex, is not about being a virgin. Is about getting validation and being seen as a real man, a sexual being.

It's not women, it's not sex, it's nor virginity or celibacy. MGTOW ones preach that robots will replace women, but they don't offer sexdolls to incels even after performing empathy towards them. It is about being in a higher position, it is about their entitlement.

If all women were having sex with all men no matter what, I'm sure these men would find another reason to complain, another reason to compete each other, another reason to create and reinforce a hierarchy throught humilliation and labels.

I think that there are celibate men who have no problem with it, the same way I think there are men who are not virgins or celibates, but pursue their domination over women in order to feel better with themselves. They are the ones running the whole show with the excuse of feeling it for incels, they will pretend empathy and concern about society only to spread male supremacy rethoric.

It's not enough to understand incel men or recognize their more terrible acts, but the whole gearing around it.

[kaddyssammlung]

Sundowning

– Transcript from Revolver Sleep Token Special Edition

Sleep token formed in 2016 in the UK. They self-released their debut EP “One” in December of that year, before signing to Basic Records for their 2017 three-track follow-up “Two”.

From the beginning, there was a mystique about them: The image of four anonymous musicians in cloaks and ornate-looking masks, their exposed chests and arms, daubed in the thick black paint, invited questions. At first, Sleep Token answered those questions if cryptically but soon they would begin declining all interviews. In the early days, it seems, Sleep Token acknowledged that their story required a little exposition. A commonly held misconception among the fandom is that Sleep Token had only ever done one interview with British music magazine Metal Hammer in 2017, around at that time of the “Calcutta” single release. In fact, the band granted another interview in 2018 to Kerrang and in both of those rare press engagements, Vessel underscored the artistic purpose of their concealed identities.

“How we got here is irrelevant,as irrelevant as who we are - what matters is the music and the message” Vessel declared to Metal Hammer. “We are here to serve, Sleep and project his message”. When asked in that same conversation about the band's genre-defying approach, he said, “life is dark, life is bright, life is ugly, life is beautiful. Don't get lost in genres. They will disorient you, music, as for everyone”. In the Kerrang interview, Vessel doubled down on Sleep Token's philosophy of unhinging the art from its makers. “The true identities behind Sleep Token are immaterial and ultimately irrelevant”. As Vessel said at the time, “art has become entangled with identity...our aesthetic is there to fill the void left by that absence. True to those words, Sleep Token have remained anonymous and eschwed interviews ever since. Instead, they have communicated about entirely through their music and its accompanying visuals. Each song is an apparent offering to the primeval deity known as Sleep.

A once powerful being who, according to the band's lore, promised Vessel ultimate glory if he were to devote himself fully to him. He is now known as Sleep because, as background information shared by Basic Records put it, no modern tongue can properly express its name.

His past saw him wield far greater power than in modern age, bestowing ancient civilizations with the gift of dreams and the curse of nightmares. As insightful fans have noted, Sleep bears a wealth of similarities to the shadow archetype in Jungian philosophy, which is part of the unconscious mind and is composed of repressed ideas, weaknesses, and desires, and the aspects of oneself that are seen as not just unacceptable to society but contradictory to one's own personal morals and values. Is Vessel devoting himself to Sleep by offering him this music as a token or is he appeasing him? The consequences among the fans will have poured their free time into unpacking the overarching narrative in the band's music as that it's the story of a toxic power struggle. Vessel oscillates from a love bordering on obsession to frustration, desperation, and anger at Sleep's apparent indifference or even outright resistance towards him explaining the fluctuations on Sleep token's song to the text. This narrative had already been foregrounded in the band's first two EPs, but it was much more fully realized on the 2019 debut album “Sundowning”, which also marked the first release on Spineform Records. Its title refers to a phenomenon experienced by dementia patients regarding a range of behavioral changes that typically, but not necessarily, begin as the sun is setting and resolves themselves by morning. Those who experience it may become agitated or anxious, sometimes feeling like theyare in a wrong place, like they need to go home despite already being at home.

Sundowning, the album title, might then refer to a feeling of disorientation and distress that comes over Vessel whenever Sleep, presumably a creature of the night, arrives. The lyrics of “the night does not belong to God”, seemingly confirms this. You can remember only till the sun recedes once again. Vessel groans before the chanted hooks come in. The night comes down like heaven. “Sundowning” didn't get a typical album rollout. By the time it was released in November 2019, all of its 12 songs were already in fans' hands. Starting on June 21st, the summer solstice, the band dropped a new track every other Thursday at that time of sunset in the native United Kingdom. Beginning with album opener, that night does not belong to God and proceeding along the tracklist order. From both an artist and a marketing perspective, it was an innovative approach. One of many Sleep token were out to buck tradition, but only did the regularity of the world build a sense of anticipation. But it also kept Sleep Token at the front of fans' minds as they outpaced the speed at which most bands could release singles ahead of a new album.

Brilliantly, the campaign also fit into the band's story. Every fortnight as the sun was setting, Vessel presented yet another offering to Sleep. On “Sundowning”, as well as the band's subsequent LPs, each of these offerings had its own visual identity. In a case of Sleep token's first album, every song is represented by a sigil, a series of interconnected shapes, often lines, triangles, and circles that construct some sort of meaning. It is believed that the symbols have various origins. Some reference the Elder Futhark, (the oldest runic alphabet, which is also referenced in the Sleep token's logo,)

and the Enochian letters (an occult language) while others resemble the symbols for demons in the goetic grimoire Ars Goetia (a 17th century book oof sorcery). The aspect of the sigils that has most fascinated the fans, however, is the connection to alchemical symbology. Alchemy is an ancient tradition that is both philosophical and proto-scientific, and fans have latched onto the alchemical meanings of the sigils as meanings of finding hidden significance written within the songs. For instance, the sigil for the offering features the symbol for a callous or crucible and the symbol for fumes or smokes, suggesting the idea of something being burned as a ritual sacrifice. Within the song itself, Vessel makes this notion more explicit. This is a giving, an offering, in your favor, a sacrifice in your name, he sings.

That's one of the simpler examples. For a song like Dark Signs, the symbology becomes a little more complex. One of the individual symbols in the sigil refers to sublimination, a phenomenon in which someone witnesses something that challenges the limits of human understanding and the capabilities of human comprehension. This may well be that Vessel experiences interacting with sleep. In a chemical context, sublimination refers to a substance transformation from the solid to the gas stage or vice versa, which could be interpreted as a metaphor for the transition from being in one's body to being only a spirit. Meanwhile, the symbol for iron, which also appears in the Dark Signs sigil, is traditionally associated with the process of making two opposite chemical components separate from each other. Consequently, it's hardly a coincidence that the song itself establishes a growing sense of the division between Vessel and Sleep. Where we met, there must have been dark signs. Vessel sings while he later contends in the chorus that I hate who I have become, as a result of surrendering himself to Sleep. Vessel's feelings toward Sleep fluctuate so wildly, that the over-aching narrative of “Sundowning” is hard to grasp at first. The album opens by establishing Vessel's devotion toward Sleep in its most straightforward and reverent form. The minimalistic “the night does not belong to God” is practically a modern devotional hymn, presenting Vessel at his most eager to worship Sleep. In contrast, the offering introduces not only heavier riffs but also a fuller picture of the seemingly limitless capacities Vessel believes he has for love. The reoccurring image of biting and feeding is underscored by every repetition of take a bite, suggesting that Vessel is fully willing to lose parts of himself, even violently, to sustain and please sleep.

By the third track, “Levitate”, the foundations begin to wobble with Vessel, now gripped by anxiety over the prospect of being separated from Sleep or of Sleep no longer needing him. I can tell you won't remember my cracking bones. He despairs, eventually asking, will you levitate, where I won't reach you? In the next song, Dark Signs, his fears have come true and he's looking at the wreckage of the relationship, missing the man he was before the first, before the first even again. Yet after the conflict between them intensifies and “Higher”, “Take Aim” finds Vessel so deep in a state of love that he's defiant, almost daring Sleep to come back to him. Make me tear my body, make me yearn for your embrace. He challenges. “Sugar, a couple of tracks later represents the second emotional peak of the album with Vessel in the full throes of desire but with an undertone of darkness and violence. He knows Sleep plays a twisted little game but remains addicted to the pain none of the less. After the romantic dreaminess of “Drag Me Under”,

“Sundowning” ends on a note of frustration with Bloodsport. Once again, everything for Vessel has fallen apart and he's left exhausted by all the sacrifice for limited reward: “I made Loving You a Bloodsport I can't win” he curses, making the second downturn in his mood and fortune on the record. It serves as a lasting reminder, intensified by the singer sobbing over the final thrills of the piano that their bond as a destructive force where Vessel gives and Sleep takes. Musically speaking, “Sundowning” is arguably Sleep Token's softest album. It might be the most pop-oriented as well. Give, for example, has the slickness and the arcing, aerobic shape in the melody of something that might have floated around the mainstream in the mid-2010s while a vibrating synth lands that and trap percussion of “Dark Signs” and “Sugar” evoke the feeling of modern R&B.

On the other hand, there's plenty here that verifies Sleep Token's metal credentials. The bite of the guitars cut through like a surprise attack in the middle of a song, a bait-and switch structure that has become all the more frequent as Sleep Token have evolved. A notable expectation is “The Offering” which melts siren-like synths with noshing guitars and intertwines them tightly rather than handling them as a separate tool. By far the heaviest song on “Sundowning”, however, is called an alternative metal slice of fury that stones and swaggers with greater harshness than anything else on the album. Recalling Death Tones at their angriest as well as Sleep Token's contemporaries in Liverpool metal upstarts “Loathe”. Regardless, it's rare for Sleep Token to stick to just one sound. Even the anger of “God” dissipates for a while with a delicate, twinkling piano bridge. When “Sundowning” was released, Sleep Token were in a promising position. On October 3, 2019, they performed a ritual at the Underworld, a 500-capacity venue in London that often acts as the first rung on the ladder of an up-and-coming band's success.

Plant a flag at the Underworld and it's a sign your band is truly going somewhere.

Later that year, the album brought them to the US for the first time and then they returned to the UK for a headline tour in the early 2020s. Unbeknownst to them, however, the ritual they played at the 900-capacity Islington Assembly Hall on January 31 would be the final one for almost a year and a half. Not even the act of worshiping Sleep could justify gathering during the COVID-19 pandemic. The band did attempt to organize a series of socially distanced shows known as the Isolation Rituals in March 2021, but the virus was still too rampant at the time for them to go ahead. Not even Sleep himself could know how fast Sleep Token might have risen if there hadn't been a pathogen standing in their way. None of the last, when the stacking of ritual was approved by the government again, would neatly coincidence with a whole new chapter for the band. Sleep Token's son was about to rise to another level.

(This text was taken from the Revovler Special Edition Collector's mag; I don't own any of this)

[johnegbertlover413]

i feel like we're forgetting here that the entire time dave is like 13-16! which like, of course he'd be immature as shit, not to mention bro has been beating his ass since he was a BABYYYYY, bro exposed dave to smuppet porn at like a hella young age, i'm not even a fan of dave strider and i feel like that says something! bro isn't 'the victim' i swear you only say that shit about dave to defend bro's actions so you can ship him with john or some dumb bullshit. if you're gonna have a take on a character at the very fuckin least don't just skim through every panel dave just happens to be in and dramatize every single bad things hes done. another thing, john is just canonically straight! he was never gay, and dave didn't make him homophobic! i'm hoping this is ragebait because you sure as hell are good at it, i really don't wanna think that buffoons like you actually walk the streets.

1) u dumb fuck did you READ the shit I said about it being premeditated (that might not be thee bessssst word to describe it but u get the point). Obviously Dave wasn’t a horrible person a horrible person as a baby but the thing is he is a time player and he has the power to break linear timeee. So following that logical through line his karmic justice (terezi relation heheh or should I say h3h3h) would also not be linear!!!!!

2) bro never exposed him to Smuppets porn I AM TIREDDDDD OF THIS UGHHHH. Smuppets are clearly not supposed to be genuinely sexual in universe or out. I’m sorry but u getting a boner ISNT PROOOOOFFFFF. Liek sex jokes r illegal to u chronically online motha fuckas because u get off to everything u see n blame everyone else for it!!!!

3) Dave was a child HOWEVER so was everyone else. None of them acted like that did they ???? Like Jake had to dispose of his grandmothers remains and had to raise himself as liek a toddler. Now Jake sucks ass but he actually gives a shit about people other than himself!!!! The reason Jake is so manipulative is because he thinks that’ll make everyone happy. It doesn’t but at least he’s trying!!!!! U got me defending that identity stealing shulb ova this wowwwww. What does Dave do for his friends? And like actually his friends, not himself and coincidentally also then? FUCKING NOTHING. He doesn’t even TRY to. He shoves some dead bodies out the window for Jade, so what? She could handle it, she stuffed her grandpas dead body as a child she’d probably be delighted to see Dave dead (as would anyone forced to commune with him). He does it so he can persevere the narrative in his head that he is so cool and so good and he is the most important and everything about how he is some tragic hero when in reality all his friends fucking hate him!! And the braindead fandom takes this at face value!!!

4) the bro is da true victim thing was a joke u dumb fuck I SAID TAHG B4. Do ure reaserch b4 u say something stupid to me I do nowt deserve this. Along with that I don’t need to make bro a better person to ship him with jawhn!!! Imfact the worse of a person he is the betta he is to ship with sweet sweet Johnny.

5) I said Dave made John homophobic I said nothing about John’s sexuality. You know straight people aren’t inherently homophobic right? Anon u should really think about your view point on that u should also probably think about why you are sniffing Dave’s farts he is ugly.

Anyway good luck passing 7th grade English class (you’ll need it!!)

[lyledebeast]

Colonel Martin's Closet

A common sentiment I've found across many reviews of The Patriot is that Benjamin Martin could be an interesting character if the filmmakers were not so concerned with presenting him as "good." The contrast between what Martin claims to believe and value, and what others believe about him, and his behavior is certainly stark. However, I find the insistence of Martin, his community, and the narrative as a whole that his violence does not define him, despite being the most consistent thing about him, to be precisely what makes this character interesting.

It becomes clear early on that Martin has been keeping a secret from his family concerning his service in the French and Indian War more than a decade prior to the start of the film. The first allusion to this secret comes when a fellow Patriot expresses surprise that opposition to the impending American Revolutionary War arises from "the same Captain Benjamin Martin whose fury was so famous during the Wilderness Campaign." Martin's only reply is "I was intemperate in my youth." Yet less than twenty minutes of run time later we find him sitting on a British regular's back while hacking into his shoulders and neck with a tomahawk and screaming. Both of these scenes are witnessed by Martin's eldest son Gabriel, on whom the camera lingers in the aftermaths. Later, that son makes the observation, "Wherever you go, men buy you drinks because of Fort Wilderness. Strangers know more about you than I do." Up to this point, Martin has constructed a wall to separate his life as a soldier and his life as a father. Or, rather, several walls. And a door.

In Epistemology of the Closet, a foundational text in queer theory, Eve Sedgwick writes of the closet that "a whole cluster of the most crucial sites for the contestation of meaning in twentieth-century Western culture are consequentially and quite indelibly marked with the historical specificity of homosocial/homosexual definition, notably but not exclusively male, from around the turn of the century. Among these sites are, as I have indicated, the pairings secrecy/disclosure and public/private" (72). The Patriot's subject matter predates the historical specificity Sedgwick delineates, but the film's writing does not. Indeed, given its rampant historical inaccuracies, The Patriot may be said to tell us more about the early 21st century than the 18th one. It is no secret that Martin is a soldier, but the particular kind of violence he engaged in previously breaks containment over the course of the film even as most others' recognition of it does not. I want to propose that the closet is a particularly apt metaphor for the ways Martin's crimes are separated from his identity.

Just as the closet can manifest in different ways, so there are different ways to occupy it. Particularly striking examples of two of them can be found in Tony Kushner's two-part play from the early 90s, Angels in America. Joe Pitt rejects his desire for other men, not giving into it until halfway through the play, because he believes it is sinful. When his wife asks what he prays for, he replies, "I pray for God to crush me, break me up into pieces and start all over again" (Millennium Approaches, II, ii). An earlier attempt at disavowal finds him asking "Does it make any difference? That I may be one thing deep within, no matter how wrong or ugly that thing is as long, as I have fought with everything I have to kill it?" (Millennium Approaches, I, viii). Joe hopes to find salvation in inaction, but ultimately cannot maintain this resolve. Still, the conviction that action will damn him remains sincere. Before going home with his soon to be lover Louis, Joe tells him, "I'm going to Hell for doing this" (Millennium Approaches, III, vii). Joe uses the closet to conceal a part of himself of which he is deeply ashamed, that he has fought, unsuccessfully, to rid himself of. Joe's mentor Roy Cohn, though, insists that his actions do not define him because of his political standing, his "clout." When his doctor diagnoses him with AIDS, he says, "Your problem, Henry, is that you are caught up on words, on labels, that you believe they mean what they seem to mean." Later in this scene, he clarifies:

"I have sex with men. But unlike nearly every other man of which this is true, I bring the guy I'm screwing to the White House and President Reagan smiles at us and shakes his hand. Because what I am is entirely defined by who I am. Roy Cohn is not a homosexual. Roy Cohn is a heterosexual man, Henry. Who fucks around with guys" (Millennium Approaches, I, vi).

There is no shame in Roy's closet. There is instead contempt for other gay men: "Homosexuals are men who in fifteen years of trying cannot get one pissant antidiscrimination bill through City Council." While Joe fears action for the impact it will have on his identity as a married Mormon Republican man, Roy insists that no such connection exists. He believes he can do as he pleases with impunity and his community will keep the secret, as he coerces his doctor to do.

Early on in The Patriot, Martin's way of inhabiting the closet appears to have more in common with Joe's. When he discovers that his son Thomas has gone into his room and opened his trunk full of French and Indian War memorabilia to put on his red British Colonial Army coat, not only does he immediately insist on taking it off of him, but he does not look at it until the end of the scene. When Thomas asks, "What happened at Fort Wilderness?" Martin cannot make eye contact with him and says, "Put it away." What is a trunk but a horizontal closet? And yet this closet serves two purposes for Martin. It conceals these souvenirs from his past, yes, but it also assures that he knows exactly where they are and can access them quickly when he needs them. This is also true of Martin's relationships with the men who fought with him in the previous war, as we see when he is recruiting men in the tavern later. One acquaintance asks Martin if he is paying any bounties, and Martin responds: "No scalp money this time Rollins, but you can keep or sell back to me the muskets and gear of any redcoat you kill." Not only does Martin easily, even flippantly, confirm what is arguably the most shocking of his past actions, but he is offering to do it again with one important modification. He is no longer trafficking in human remains, but he has no qualms about incentivizing murder. Where did his shame go? Like Roy Cohn, Martin has no problem discussing his "secret" with men who already know it. And Rollins is certainly not going to judge Martin; they are allies, and the relationship is mutually beneficial.

Martin's allies support him in more ways than one. In addition to giving him space to operate outside the closet, they also aid in its maintenance. As Sedgwick writes, "'Closetedness' itself is a performance initiated as such by the speech act of a silence--not a particular silence, but a silence that accrues particularity by fits and starts, in relation to the discourse that surrounds and differentially constitutes it" (3). Coming out is not an autonomous, individual action. Much depends on the response of those who witness the silences and confessions, whose response shapes the speech act as much as those whose secret it reveals or conceals. When Gabriel follows his younger brother in asking about Fort Wilderness, Martin answers by telling the whole story. If he may be said to truly "come out" anywhere, it is here: "And not a day goes by that I don't ask God's forgiveness for what I did." As much as Martin centers his current feelings at the expense of his past actions, as much as he'uses collective pronouns when describing those actions--as though he was part of a committee rather than a commanding officer--he does, at the very least, own that he did something wrong. But Gabriel's response is quite telling: "Thomas was my brother as well as your son. You may not believe this, but I want satisfaction as much as you do." This has nothing to do with Martin's confession. It is not even in the same stratosphere as Martin's confession. Like so many loved ones of LGBTQ people in response to their acts of coming out, Gabriel does not accept or condemn what his father has revealed about himself. He simply changes the subject. This scene is comparable to the one in Angels in America when Joe makes a drunken call to his mother in Salt Lake City to tell her "I'm a homosexual," and she responds with "Drinking is a sin! It's a sin! I raised you better than that." (Millennium Approaches, II, viii).

For all these similarities in characters' interactions, The Patriot and Angels in America's uses of the closet could not be more different. When Joe's relationship with Louis comes to an abrupt end, he tries to return to the safety and familiarity of his marriage only to find that his wife is leaving him. Roy, whose body is already marked by Kaposi sarcoma lesions when he meets with his doctor in the first play, is dead from the disease he himself connects with the group he refuses to acknowledge his inclusion in at the end. Ultimately, they are unable to detach identity from action. Martin can, not only owing to his loved ones' cooperation but to the narrative's.

Of course, the main point of contrast to Martin's closetedness is the open-ness of his antagonist Colonel Tavington, who kills both Thomas and Gabriel by the end of the film. Tavington's words, actions, and identity exist in seamless unity with one another. Most of the war crimes shown onscreen are carried out on his orders; he speaks violence into existence. Moreover, those in his community do nothing to conceal his crimes: quite the opposite. In a deleted scene, Cornwallis tells Tavington in a tent full of British officers, "General O'Hara informs me that you've earned the nickname 'The Butcher' among the populace." Not only does Cornwallis uncritically accept that Tavington's behavior warrants such a name, but he assures that all of his officers know of Tavington's actions. Yet neither here nor elsewhere does Tavington deny or diminish his application of violence. And he is aware of the consequences. When he argues to Cornwallis that "brutal" tactics are necessary to capture Martin, he also acknowledges, "If I do this, you and I both know I can never return to England with honor" before asking for land on the frontier, beyond the reach of British law. The closet has not been built that could contain Tavington.

Martin's nickname evokes his closetedness as much as Tavington's does his outness. His actions at Fort Wilderness included both cutting Cherokee and French men's bodies into pieces and distributing those pieces, butchery in the most literal sense of the word. Yet his nickname, first coined by Tavington himself, is "The Ghost," an allusion to his way of appearing out of nowhere to surprise the British forces far more than what he does to them afterwards. Not only are Martin's past victims erased from the narrative, but his present ones are wholly silent on the subject of his violence except, ironically, Tavington, who has to remind his superior that Martin "has killed [eighteen] officers in the past two months" when General O'Hara stops him from drawing his sword on Martin. Perhaps it is not surprising that he sees the truth about him so much more easily than others. The wider Martin's closet door creaks open, the more what we glimpse within resembles Tavington, red coat and all.

Tavington does play some role in the opening of that door, and it is the same role Louis Ironson plays in coaxing Joe Pitt out of the closet and into his bed. Joe knows he is gay long before he meets Louis, just as Martin's taste for violence is well established more than a decade before he encounters Tavington, but these meetings with men who are already "out" create ideal opportunities for Joe and Martin to give in to the desires they have repressed. Ironically, it is during his fight with Tavington at the end of the film, the consummation of the bloody courtship carried out between them since Tavington recognized Martin at the prisoner exchange, that Martin chooses to shut the closet door from the inside. After stabbing Tavington through the torso, the same way he killed Gabriel, Martin tells him, "My sons were better men," and puts a bayonet through his throat. This is not about gratifying his own desire for violence; it is just about avenging his sons. The sons his closet protected him from, whose refusal of knowledge reinforces that very closet, have the final word on defining who their father is. Benjamin Martin is not a war criminal. Benjamin Martin is a war hero. Who likes to kill men in rapey ways.

The final few scene of the film only serves to reinforce how little Martin has changed. He returns home to his children to marry their aunt and produce more "good stock." The final scene reveals his men building him a new house in the exact spot where the one Tavington burned once stood. This house will no doubt contain a new trunk that itself will contain the weapons he used in the American Revolutionary War, waiting for an opportunity when violence, once again, proves the only option. Martin is able to inhabit the closet in a way Roy Cohn can only dream of. Roy believes other Republican lawyers will help keep his secret; instead, they rejoice at his demise. And when he dies, his mourners consist of two out gay men who detest him and the ghost of a woman he helped the state murder. The historical Roy Cohn is remembered as much for dying from AIDS as for anything he did in his lifetime; his panel on the AIDS Memorial Quilt is inscribed with the words "Bully, Coward, Victim." Kushner chose to include a characterization of Roy Cohn because his failure to remain closeted in death so well illustrates the play's themes surrounding the difficulty of change, the importance of community, and the inevitability of progress.

The men on whom Benjamin Martin is based have fared better than Roy Cohn thus far, though that is changing. They are honored in history books and by statues and plaques and the names of universities. It is only in recent decades that the racist acts accompanying their fight for freedom from tyranny have been brought to light as worthy of public as well as academic attention. The Patriot represents an argument against this type of outing. What does it matter that these men who fought for American freedom may have done unsavory things to win it? Is it not better to keep that part secret to better appreciate what they were able to accomplish? It does matter, and it is not better to hide it, because to do so erases the histories and silences the voices of those whose lives were destroyed by the victors' hunger for power, namely Native and Black Americans, and how is that not tyranny in itself?

[pinkiepiebones]

Dear Zombie! Please write about the time Rebecca, unprompted, looked up whether I have living descendants. Your not sure how to feel about this friend, Robbie

Narrative shift it's the only way I can see this one

One of the things that came with Robert's rehabilitation from being a familiar was the full grasp of his longevity. He was over a century old. He had ben obliquely aware of it during his time in the thrall, but he had never had time to sit down and fully grasp what that meant. The years and minutes and months and days all blended together under Dracula's shadow.

A few times during that century, the few terrifying times the darkness ebbed from his mind and he could think without Dracula's whispers, Robert hoped his family was okay.

"Oh, I looked up your daughter," Rebecca says over dinner one night. They were at her place, eating carryout from a new barbecue place called Devil's Moon ("You gotta admit you're intrigued by the name, Robert." "Oh, yes, I totally am. I don't even know what food they make, I'm sold."). She brought this up out of nowhere and Robert had a hard time swallowing.

"W-what?"

"Your daughter? Lillian Renfield? I looked her up with Kate's laptop- she never changes her passwords." Rebecca looks at Robert and says, "Oh, yeah, kinda came out of nowhere, sorry. I was just thinking about the name of the barbecue place, train of thought went to names in general-"

"Why?"

Rebecca shrugs. "Who knows how brains work." Robert has stopped eating now, feeling... weird. He's not upset, but he's not not upset. There's a feeling of gravity shifting, that ugly sort of lurch of the stomach when you walk up a flight of stairs and anticipate one more step than actually exists.

He's thought about it. He is cognizant of Google. He uses the Internet. Still...

Rebecca stops eating and pulls a manila folder from a bag beside her. "I thought it might make you feel better to know, even though you feel like you abandoned them, it looks like Dracula kept sending your payment to them, at least for a few years. Adjusted for today values, they got a lot of money. You provided a good life for them, even if you didn't see it."

She hesitates just a moment, attempting to gauge Robert's reaction. She's good at reading people. Always has been, though her aggression clouded it in the past. But she can't read her friend. She reaches across the table and puts a reassuring hand on his.

"You can tell me to fuck off, Robert. You can say, 'don't look into my shit without my asking,' and really, I should have asked." She raises her hands. "I'm impulsive, and I'm workin' on it."

"No."

Rebecca makes a face. "Yes I am, the fuck dude?"

Robert smiles a tiny bit. "No, not- I mean, 'no, don't fuck off,' I guess." He sits up a little straighter. He asks a question that has been stuck to the wall of his mind for eighty years. "Is- was Lillian okay?"

Rebecca opens the folder, full of notes written in her speedy flowy script. "She was. Like I said, your pay went to them. Your wife didn't have to work, she sent Lillian to college, she married right after World War Two, had five children..."

"Five chi-" Robert slumps in his chair. "Holy shit, I'm a grandfather..." He makes an undignified noise and buries his face in his hands.

After a moment, Rebecca asks gently, "You good?"

Robert scrubs at his face and sits back up, eyes tinged with tears. "I'm going to have to take some time later to process this." He glances at Rebecca's notes. "So are they-"

"They're still alive, yeah. All married, and three of 'em had kids."

"I'm-" Robert folds in on himself. His skeleton isn't working right. He starts to say something, stops, starts again.

"You're a great-grandfather," Rebecca offers softly.

Robert chokes out, "I think I'm going to faint," and Rebecca eases him to the tile floor and situates him on his back. She grabs a throw pillow off her couch and carefully lifts Robert enough to slip it under his head. She checks his pulse and her watch; his eyes flutter open and she pats his head, her expression unreadable.

"I should've known an old English man would faint," she sighs, and glances at him, grinning very slightly. She strokes his hair. "But seriously, you okay? That was too much to throw at you, wasn't it."

Robert shrugs as well as he can with his back on the floor. "I was going to find out eventually, I suppose. One of these days curiosity would get the better of me." He looks at the ceiling. "I think it's better to hear all of this from a friend than to read it all on my own, so thank you for that." He tries to smile but a sob escapes his heart. Rebecca eases him up and holds on to him as he cries into her shoulder.

Rebecca hugs him tight and smooths a hand over his back, soothing. She doesn't talk, doesn't say 'it's okay' or 'let it all out' or anything Mark says in group. She just sits and holds him and finally he leans away from her, his face that peculiar blotchy red of a long-overdue cry session. She retrieves the pile of napkins from the dining table and Robert's water. Before he can take it from her she dips a napkin in and uses it as a makeshift washcloth to wipe his face. The cool touch almost stings but Robert lets her fuss over him as he steadies his breathing. He sips the water and thinks.

"I have living descendants."

"Yeah."

"I am a great-grandfather."

Rebecca reaches over to brush a stray lock of hair away from Robert's face. "And you look really good for a great-granddad. Total G-GILF material."

"A gee- what?" Robert asks, chuckling nervously.

"Great-grandfather I'd like to fuck. Not me, it's what the acronym means."

Robert laughs. It's so stupid it's funny. "I suppose I am, huh. Officially at least."

[saltwukong]

Kdin didn’t leave RT because of the transphobia she experienced, nor for the flagrant labor abuse. She was let go simply because her labor is no longer of value. It’s silly to pretend that Kdin didn’t contribute to RT’s workplace toxicity when her racism was an open joke, and no, she did not apologize for being racist, she brushed it off as being edgy. None of the PoC that worked with Kdin came out to suggest that Kdin stopped being racist, and in fact called her out for lying and embellishing scenarios that fed into her white savior narrative. My dude, white trans woman can be racist. And clearly being able to say C***k and N****r while serving the people that worked on an ugly looking, badly written webtoon was good enough for her for years until she got casted aside. Not sure how pointing out that RT kept a racist on staff and gave her screen time to spew racism is defending the company to you.

Kdin didn’t leave RT because of the transphobia she experienced, nor for the flagrant labor abuse. She was let go simply because her labor is no longer of value.

You don't get to say that, though. Regardless of the exact impetus of her leaving, the fact is that she was the victim of virulent transphobia, was denied pay, and was not credited for work she did. How many ex-employees, Kdin and otherwise, have to repeat to you that it's not as simple as being hired and leaving whenever you like?

It’s silly to pretend that Kdin didn’t contribute to RT’s workplace toxicity when her racism was an open joke,

Citation necessary.

and no, she did not apologize for being racist, she brushed it off as being edgy.

None of the PoC that worked with Kdin came out to suggest that Kdin stopped being racist, and in fact called her out for lying and embellishing scenarios that fed into her white savior narrative.

Would this be one of them?

Name names.

And clearly being able to say C***k and N****r while serving the people that worked on an ugly looking, badly written webtoon was good enough for her for years until she got casted aside.

What I said before stands: this is a dire way of looking at things. It might be easier to simply dismiss Kdin Jenzen as a virulent racist and therefore complicit in Rooster Teeth's racism, but that's not how the world works. Your anger's coming from the right place but this is still not taking a meaningful stand either way.

Look, at the end of the day, I can't make you forgive Kdin. I can't forgive Kdin for you. I see and hear what she did and am appalled and I'm not much of a forgiving guy myself.

But I also recognize that there is a reason that her history was strewn across the internet the exact time when it was, and I am not unfocused enough to fall for it. So someone who worked at a racist company was a racist and practiced racism? Shock of shocks. That doesn't mean that one of them who managed to get out from under that company and spoke out against them is any less wrong to do so.

Not sure how pointing out that RT kept a racist on staff and gave her screen time to spew racism is defending the company to you.

It's not, but it sure is playing into the company's hands.

You know, if you want to have a talk like this, why don't you just go ask Kdin yourself? She's on Tumblr. Personally, I don't want to discuss this anymore, because my ultimate point (which is that RWBY stans are boneheaded jackasses who will excuse or over-examine literally anything depending on the situation in order to take heat off their favorite company) still stands.

Please don't try and continue this topic with me, I won't answer. Clearly this issue isn't one I'll convince you on.

[midnightsunnyday]

Long take, incoming!

So, you have to admit that there's a certain irony being a part of a fandom who, despite its main characters being the literal princes of hell, will occasionally become outraged over any and every morally questionable habit they may do. And I suppose the writers, to avoid their Twitter mentions being blown up with inane accusations, sugar coated certain aspects of demon nature to make it a bit more "friendly."

Unfortunately, those are SOME of the types of people you'll run into within the Obey Me! community. Actually, in most fandoms, you'll tend to come across people where either a character is "good" or "evil" and nothing else. That sort of either/or mindset is to me, slowly killing fandom discourse, but I won't get into that.

What I am getting at is while I didn't start Obey Me! near the very beginning of the fandom, I remember coming across the occasional "call out" posts when they were at their most...heated. Some of the interpretations made about certain characters and their fans were nowhere near accurate, yet people tend to get weird when they project their shit onto fictional characters, so you end up with the most shitty of takes.

And since I'm noticing some of this behavior popping up again now that the anime, and in turn the game, is becoming a bit more popular, I'd like to give a simple reminder that:

liking a morally complex or even reprehensible character does not make you, an actual breathing human being capable of critical thought and in control of their actions, beahviors, and emotions, a bad person.

Nor are you obligated to justify your like of said character or even involve yourself in any discussions regarding them being "bad" or "good." There's a space for just enjoying the less critical parts of fandom if that's what you choose to stick to.

The only reason I personally do character analysis isn't because I want to berate anyone for liking a character or make them feel bad about it emotionally. I find that sort of tactic to be rather manipulative (like, this is a fictional character who has not and can not harm you or anyone in any way. I don't see why a real person's morality should be brought into question because they happen to be less upset over what they did than you).

It's because I'm a nerd who wants to get better at writing their own stories and loves to torture themselves with research. It's easy to boil a character down to a trope, but it's harder to break down all the pieces that go into a character, if that makes sense. I don't take things at face value or at least try not to. If there's something behind it, then I'd like to know what it is. Though there are times my biases show, and I have to dial it back a bit, I really do try to look at every character and what the narrative is trying to say with them.

At the end of the day, Obey Me! is ultimately an otome, and at worst, a horrible cash grab of a gacha game, and if I'm being honest, maybe we're all taking this thing a bit too seriously. This isn't the Epic of Gilgamesh, after all.

Yet maybe anything worth liking is worth engaging somewhat critically about? Recognizing the good, the bad, and the ugly. Knowing where it needs to and where it doesn't need to improve. Like, yeah it's kinda a silly game with a lackluster plot, but Obey Me! and its characters are worth examining further, and despite some receiving more development than others (Mammon, Lucifer), we can still see that there are attempts at developing complexity beyond the two dimensional (Satan and those fucking cats I swear to god he is more than that the story shows that he is and I swear I to god--).

So yeah, ignore shitty bait, understand that analyzing characters requires nuance, and curate your fandom space the way you want to. That's all.

[browningsugaruk]

Interesting how you have no reply for my last ask…and are relying on a gang of dumb whores stuck in a circle jerk of self-pity to cope.

You are in fact jealous of white women. You wish you could get away with being ugly and still get paid like them. You’re bothered that’s why you started the discussion and why you were on the verge of posting said frumpy white woman that got under your skin because she had the audacity to charge high rates lol.

You are also mad at the disgusting Johns y’all share for valuing them more. None of this is untrue ❤️

Please girl because I’ve decided to stop fighting stupid, here’s the attention you want go on!

You sound stupid as hell omg, keep running with this narrative like I said everything went over your head and you’re clinging on for life with this one. This is the last reply you’ll get from me as I said I can’t find narrow minded stupidness — you’re part of the problem😂😂

[levyfiles]

Watcher fumbled their launch. No one I know is arguing otherwise; what was a hard launch should have been a soft launch to a small group in their fanspace while their website was in beta test mode. We don't know just how long this plan was in the works for them because the internet didn't let them do much in the way of explaining; any mention of their business as a reason to make the move had people calling them greedy, capitalist assholes who didn't care about their audiences. A simple statement as "we wanted to choose a price we thought everyone would consider affordable" has now been twisted to "that must mean they think I'm poor because I disagree with the price".

All it took was one commentary youtuber sitting in his bedroom in front of a single camera googling them once and saying "they have 3k patrons; they must be ad-friendly because they don't capitalise on drama like I do, and I make plenty of money on Youtube so clearly they're doing this out of greed."

They literally say in the Goodbye Youtube video that they are constantly at war with being able to make content for two different audiences: their fans and the advertisers; they cited Weird, Wonderful World, a show that most of their fans love which does not get the views that Ghost Files gets--as one of those the streaming service would give them an opportunity to give us back without the pressure of the algorithm.

You mention that Watcher's failing was that they said money was their reason for jumping platforms and in the next line you directly cite Keith and Zach complaining about being demonitized.

You see, my issue isn't that the Try Guys was a better launch. I have been a Try Guys fan and with the full roster of people joining their team I'm just as excited as I am for Andrew and Adam joining Watcher.

My issue is that the end game is the same; Watcher should have had an opportunity to advertise their new talent, their new medium and even potentially continue to collaborate with an ever broadening market of diverse content both parties are launching but the Try Guys merely dodged the front line bullet, got to watch hellfire and racism rain down on their old colleagues, delay their own announcement to pivot the spin, and their fandom is being so ugly dropping in the Watcher tag with the same old misinformed narrative like they've successfully summarised why Steven deserved the name-calling and the racism, why people telling them to lay off their employees was the answer, telling them to go back to the quality they had with their limited resources and lack of ownership at Buzzfeed, why their response to the backlash is still not good enough because the internet--for some reason- believes that entertainment and content is a human staple like food or water. Like it's some kind of justice move that people like you still believe the lie that they were privating videos at the time of launch (what?) or that they're not a smaller company than the try guys trying to make it on the scorched earth platform that is Youtube now.

It's the same damn thing and villianizing them for the move while accepting the Try Guys for it is hypocritical especially because the people who have real grievances with what this means for the industry of free internet content are being shoved toward bullying Watcher for it.

I said this before in April and I guess I gotta say it again. Creators who have any real investment in their audience and their craft are eventually all going to migrate and instead of bullying these creators or starting up an unhealthy narrative by not supporting each other or even saying a word edgewise in support when the tide was so ugly, get on the advertisers and Youtube and social media platforms for enabling the shift which values attention mining spam and distraction propaganda over really good content that we all collectively actually enjoy!

The Try Guys sure didn't mince words in their flagrant attempt to ride the wave on Watcher's mismanaged launch by acting like they didn't already have this in their pocket as they watched Watcher being raked through the coals.

Imagine supporting your fellow independent creator. Imagine going through a terrible scandal yourself that had you guys pinned as the laughing stock on SNL but you really launched the same damn thing with all the smug wording knowing that it would get people angry all over again at Watcher.

[fozmeadows]

race & culture in fandom

For the past decade, English language fanwriting culture post the days of LiveJournal and Strikethrough has been hugely shaped by a handful of megafandoms that exploded across AO3 and tumblr – I’m talking Supernatural, Teen Wolf, Dr Who, the MCU, Harry Potter, Star Wars, BBC Sherlock – which have all been overwhelmingly white. I don’t mean in terms of the fans themselves, although whiteness also figures prominently in said fandoms: I mean that the source materials themselves feature very few POC, and the ones who are there tended to be done dirty by the creators.

Periodically, this has led POC in fandom to point out, extremely reasonably, that even where non-white characters do get central roles in various media properties, they’re often overlooked by fandom at large, such that the popular focus stays primarily on the white characters. Sometimes this happened (it was argued) because the POC characters were secondary to begin with and as such attracted less fan devotion (although this has never stopped fandoms from picking a random white gremlin from the background cast and elevating them to the status of Fave); at other times, however, there has been a clear trend of sidelining POC leads in favour of white alternatives (as per Finn, Poe and Rose Tico being edged out in Star Wars shipping by Hux, Kylo and Rey). I mention this, not to demonize individuals whose preferred ships happen to involve white characters, but to point out the collective impact these trends can have on POC in fandom spaces: it’s not bad to ship what you ship, but that doesn’t mean there’s no utility in analysing what’s popular and why through a racial lens.

All this being so, it feels increasingly salient that fanwriting culture as exists right now developed under the influence and in the shadow of these white-dominated fandoms – specifically, the taboo against criticizing or critiquing fics for any reason. Certainly, there’s a hell of a lot of value to Don’t Like, Don’t Read as a general policy, especially when it comes to the darker, kinkier side of ficwriting, and whether the context is professional or recreational, offering someone direct, unsolicited feedback on their writing style is a dick move. But on the flipside, the anti-criticism culture in fanwriting has consistently worked against fans of colour who speak out about racist tropes, fan ignorance and hurtful portrayals of living cultures. Voicing anything negative about works created for free is seen as violating a core rule of ficwriting culture – but as that culture has been foundationally shaped by white fandoms, white characters and, overwhelmingly, white ideas about what’s allowed and what isn’t, we ought to consider that all critical contexts are not created equal.

Right now, the rise of C-drama (and K-drama, and J-drama) fandoms is seeing a surge of white creators – myself included – writing fics for fandoms in which no white people exist, and where the cultural context which informs the canon is different to western norms. Which isn’t to say that no popular fandoms focused on POC have existed before now – K-pop RPF and anime fandoms, for example, have been big for a while. But with the success of The Untamed, more western fans are investing in stories whose plots, references, characterization and settings are so fundamentally rooted in real Chinese history and living Chinese culture that it’s not really possible to write around it. And yet, inevitably, too many in fandom are trying to do just that, treating respect for Chinese culture or an attempt to understand it as optional extras – because surely, fandom shouldn’t feel like work. If you’re writing something for free, on your own time, for your own pleasure, why should anyone else get to demand that you research the subject matter first?

Because it matters, is the short answer. Because race and culture are not made-up things like lightsabers and werewolves that you can alter, mock or misunderstand without the risk of hurting or marginalizing actual real people – and because, quite frankly, we already know that fandom is capable of drawing lines in the sand where it chooses. When Brony culture first reared its head (hah), the online fandom for My Little Pony – which, like the other fandoms we’re discussing here, is overwhelmingly female – was initially welcoming. It felt like progress, that so many straight men could identify with such a feminine show; a potential sign that maybe, we were finally leaving the era of mainstream hypermasculine fandom bullshit behind, at least in this one arena. And then, in pretty much the blink of an eye, things got overwhelmingly bad. Artists drawing hardcorn porn didn’t tag their works as adult, leading to those images flooding the public search results for a children’s show. Women were edged out of their own spaces. Bronies got aggressive, posting harsh, ugly criticism of artists whose gijinka interpretations of the Mane Six as humans were deemed insufficiently fuckable.

The resulting fandom conflict was deeply unpleasant, but in the end, the verdict was laid down loud and clear: if you cannot comport yourself like a decent fucking person – if your base mode of engagement within a fandom is to coopt it from the original audience and declare it newly cool only because you’re into it now; if you do not, at the very least, attempt to understand and respect the original context so as to engage appropriately (in this case, by acknowledging that the media you’re consuming was foundational to many women who were there before you and is still consumed by minors, and tagging your goddamn porn) – then the rest of fandom will treat you like a social biohazard, and rightly so.

Here’s the thing, fellow white people: when it comes to C-drama fandoms and other non-white, non-western properties? We are the Bronies.

Not, I hasten to add, in terms of toxic fuckery – though if we don’t get our collective shit together, I’m not taking that darkest timeline off the table. What I mean is that, by virtue of the whiteminding which, both consciously and unconsciously, has shaped current fan culture, particularly in terms of ficwriting conventions, we’re collectively acting as though we’re the primary audience for narratives that weren’t actually made with us in mind, being hostile dicks to Chinese and Chinese diaspora fans when they take the time to point out what we’re getting wrong. We’re bristling because we’ve conceived of ficwriting as a place wherein No Criticism Occurs without questioning how this culture, while valuable in some respects, also serves to uphold, excuse and perpetuate microaggresions and other forms of racism, lashing out or falling back on passive aggression when POC, quite understandably, talk about how they’re sick and tired of our bullshit.

An analogy: one of the most helpful and important tags on AO3 is the one for homophobia, not just because it allows readers to brace for or opt out of reading content they might find distressing, but because it lets the reader know that the writer knows what homophobia is, and is employing it deliberately. When this concept is tagged, I – like many others – often feel more able to read about it than I do when it crops up in untagged works of commercial fiction, film or TV, because I don’t have to worry that the author thinks what they’re depicting is okay. I can say definitively, “yes, the author knows this is messed up, but has elected to tell a messed up story, a fact that will be obvious to anyone who reads this,” instead of worrying that someone will see a fucked up story blind and think “oh, I guess that’s fine.” The contextual framing matters, is the point – which is why it’s so jarring and unpleasant on those rare occasions when I do stumble on a fic whose author has legitimately mistaken homophobic microaggressions for cute banter. This is why, in a ficwriting culture that otherwise aggressively dislikes criticism, the request to tag for a certain thing – while still sometimes fraught – is generally permitted: it helps everyone to have a good time and to curate their fan experience appropriately.

But when white and/or western fans fail to educate ourselves about race, culture and the history of other countries and proceed to deploy that ignorance in our writing, we’re not tagging for racism as a thing we’ve explored deliberately; we’re just being ignorant at best and hateful at worst, which means fans of colour don’t know to avoid or brace for the content of those works until they get hit in the face with microaggresions and/or outright racism. Instead, the burden is placed on them to navigate a minefield not of their creation: which fans can be trusted to write respectfully? Who, if they make an error, will listen and apologise if the error is explained? Who, if lived experience, personal translations or cultural insights are shared, can be counted on to acknowledge those contributions rather than taking sole credit? Too often, fans of colour are being made to feel like guests in their own house, while white fans act like a tone-policing HOA.

Point being: fandom and ficwriting cultures as they currently exist badly need to confront the implicit acceptance of racism and cultural bias that underlies a lot of community rules about engagement and criticism, and that needs to start with white and western fans. We don’t want to be the new Bronies, guys. We need to do better.  

[relax-and-read-on]

Some rambling idea idea about Chaos, narrative theme and mental health for the Traitor Primarch.

I can't sleep and I'm horizontal again, so, why not attempt to get philosophical before the painkiller kick in.

Disclaimer: while I work in healthcare and mental health, I am not a psychologist nor a psychiatrist. I may get things wrong, or say thing you perceive as wrong. It is mostly based on my experience with people suffering with those problems. Mental health is complicated, and this is for entertainment only.

I love thinking about narrative theme. About what an author is trying to express with the story, implicitly. I think it offer new perspective on a text, and in general is a fun exercise. Does it mean sometime some cheap fun get overanalyze? Yes. Is that a bad thing? Not at all! Imo, there is literary value even in the cheapest story, and they still deserve some love. That said, the Horus Heresy is especially interesting, because it's basically 9 "good" character having an enormous "fall from grace", be it more or less well written. Here is my theory:

Chaos, and how it affect the primarch, is about mental health, and how we society react to it.

To prove my point, let's go at it, primarch by primarch:

Horus and Psychosis

Let's start with my weirdest take: Horus. I think that there is something to be said about a man who, basically, go to sleep one day, and woke up as "someone else", and how everyone seem to mourn the man he was. While some are in disbelief of his actions and his heel face turn, from what I remember, very few, if anyone, actually ask "hey so, why is Horus turning now?" His story take another color when you start thinking of how chaos started to directly affected him: strange delusion and believe systhem, paranoia, literal freaking voice in his head...

Does that not remind you of the classic image of a "schyzo" in media? Of a raving madman attacking others for no reasons or logic? It's especially flagrant, imo, since he had a complete 180, personality wise. Schizophrenia, and a few other similar mental illness, often appear well into adulthood, and is seen as a tragedy by the people around the sufferer. We, as a society, often demonize those who suffer from it, and do not offer appropriate help. No one tried to offer support or "heal" horus, they all just went either with or against him.

Fulgrim and Addiction

That one is so very clear, and yet has some very ugly implication. First, we have to sit down and agree on somethings: Fulgrim is queer coded. He may not explicitly be queer in canon, but for all intent and purpose, he was written as a queer character. He also happen to fall to slaanesh, and no matter what you say about them being the God of desires and sensations... A lot of it is associated to sex. The perpetual quest of it's follower for more sensation, for the next high, is literal textbook addiction.

Almost everyone has some sort of low level addiction, and yet, we collectively hate on the people who loose control of their life to their addictions. Not only that, but we as a society are especially harsh on the queer people who suffer from it- it's either validation that the queer are "sinful", or a bad exemple who give a poor image of the community. Like everyone else, Fulgrim lacked support, and now he's so deep in his addiction, he just... Cannot back down. Because it would imply that everything he did before was wrong, and he cannot live that.

Lorgar and Trauma Response

When people talk the primarch that had it "worst", they usually point at Angron, Konrad or Morty, for good reason. Very few seem to remember that Lorgar also had a horrific childhood. I will argue that, in his case, it's maybe even more vicious, because he does not see it as abuse himself. He *love* Kor Pharoe as his father, even if the mf is in competition for "worst dad" with Big E. Not only that, but his abuser is STILL around, because dying is apparently only reserved to good parents.

So, he's in a constant state of re-trauma, and adopted what is often seen as the most "controversial" trauma response (if we go with the classic quatuor of Flight Fight Freeze and Fawn, even if that model is flawed), as a defence mechanism: fawn. He act soft and kind, he doesn't want to fight, he want to please others. Even his over the top reactions to Big E, worshipping him like a god and everything, would be considered a fawn response, from his background with Kor Pharoe. After all, that's how you please a father, right??? Except his one copying mechanism, his one defence, only engendered his biggest trauma, with the destruction of Monarchia. As such, he had reverberate to another extreme, with Fight. Narrativly, he's probably one of those that have the most reasons to hate big E, and yet, no one seem to accept or forgive his transgression. It should never had been a surprise, that he reacted so strongly, and yet it was. And it's easy to see why: people don't consider fawning as an acceptable response, and as a result, he "deserved it".

Angron and Disability

That one is just so sad to me, because it deal with a lot of very uncomfortable subject, like brain injury and sever disability. Angron is disabled. He has difficulty performing some simple, "standard" task, and would need accommodation.

But society hate disabled folk. And it count double when it's a debilitating mental disability. He is seen as "broken" by the people around him, no one try to actually help by making things easier. In fact, Big E even said that he would not care if he died. Because Big E is a eugenic asshole (and that's another big post rant). For society, having the support in place to help people with such severe disability is difficult, and it's so much easier to just.... Let them die. So that's what Big E did.

Magnus and Narcissism

I love Magnus. Out of all the traitor primarch, he's easily the "Nicest". And yet. He's far from perfect. Everything has to go back to him. He has trouble relating to others. An overblown ego. He might not be the most flagrant case in 40k (Im looking at you Big E), but he certainly present as having a narcissist personality.

And already, I can feel you reader grimacing. Why? Why do we, as a society, always demonize those that suffer from it? Why is this one, specifically, so unforgivable for so many people? Is it the apparent lack of sympathie? The perceived unwillingness to change? That they made their own misery, and are somehow more responsible for their actions than others? Magnus is also a victim of his own thought and illness. The unwillingness that we have to accept that those people can change... It help no one.

Konrad and Offender

I have explained myself so many, many, many time about Konrad, but I still won't shut up: this lil gremlin was hurt so bad. He has so many issues, and cannot hope to live a normal life.

Society, when someone is hurt badly, expect people to become a "perfect victime". They want them to be doe eyed and have trembling lips and needing protection. Those that react in violent, ugly ways are not well seen. Those that get mental illness, are uncontrollable and hurt other, are often seen as unworthy of treatment and and help. After all, they became the monster, right??? And that's the most disgusting part of the discourse, especially when it's so normalise: aggressor deserve to die. The moment you hurt others, you loose your status as a human being. It help no one. It sent the wrong message. And in the end, it only perpetuate the cycle.

Perturabo and Borderline Personality Disorder

Borderline is... A complicated mental illness, because it is a self fulfilling prophecy. Your sense of self is awful. You self sabotage your interpersonal relationship, leaving you more isolated and suffering, wich fulfill your self hatred, wich feed in your outward behavior.... It never stop.

And there is no easy way to "fix" this one. Theres no easy fix for any mental illness, really, but this one is especially ugly due to the unwillingness of the sufferer. Perturabo... Get very, very little sympathy and understanding in the narrative. His persecutions complex has actual, ugly root, and only feed his delusions and paranoia. As such, it's easy to call him and asshole, and dismiss what is actually some very real symptom of mental illness, thus denying him care and understanding. It only get worst with time, as people blame his misery on himself. It's a pattern that is very difficult to accept, understand and forgive.

Mortarion and Depression

Oh Morty. I have extreme sympathy for him. Depression is, without a doubt, the realm of Nurgle. The apathy, the stagnation, and how it grow like an horrible gangrene.... Even visually, with the rot and bloating, the lack of hygiene, is representative of the symptom of depression.

Morty suffered some extremely severe trauma. Physically and mentally, henever had the time to heal, never had the occasion to sit down and process what happened to him. No one else had the time either, but while you can argue that most have high functioning depressions, Mortarion is far from being functional. Even after he fall to nurgles, unwillingly, he just... Answer in apathy. He does not react. Doesn't do much. He doesn't even have the energy to hate. And we hate him for that. We, as a society, judge people that let themself go, we criticize their choices and tell are very unforgiving toward externalized symptom of depression. Mortarion was never able to control his problems, his fall, or his mental health. And we still judge him for it.

---

.... Wow. Ok, that was a lot lmao. I actually skipped Alpharius and Omegon because.... Well. They are just so complicated, I don't know by wich corner I should attack them. Did this amount to anything??? Idk. It just felt right to say so. I think naratively, it really paint the picture that Big E, and by the extension, the imperium, failed them. Imo, all could have been saved. But no one bothered to *try*.